UPS knowledge needed..

[Tony]

Well also consider Fed EX or DHL as well as the USPS service for all your shipping needs.

You did mean United Parcel Service right?

Tony Salgado

[Alexander Gao]

haha. Forgive me for not having any info to share about ups’s, but tony, that was a joke, right? (I can’t tell!)

Alexander Gao

“When the revolution happens, I’ll be leading it.”

[Alexander Gao]

(Uninterruptible Power Supply)

Alexander Gao

“When the revolution happens, I’ll be leading it.”

[Wes Plate]

Buy the most expensive UPS that CompUSA has, that should be fine.

If you want to math it out, add up all the wattages of the devices you need to plug-in to the UPS then make sure the sum is less that the capacity of the UPS you buy.

Also, your Mackie and studio monitors don’t need to be on the UPS, nor does your video display, but you’ll want your main computer monitor on it so that you can see to close all your applications and shut the system down.

I always buy APC.

— Wes Plate
Automatic Duck

[Bj Ahlen]

Do you truly need to power those Rokit monitors and the Mackie?

Most people just use a UPS to get time for an orderly shutdown in case of a power failure.

If so, you could do OK with the largest UPS you can find at say Staples, or CompUSA if you live near one.

Note that UPS boxes are rated in VA (Volts x Amps) because that’s a bigger number than W (Watts) which indicates how much power is actually used.

You can add upp the VA ratings for the various units you have and see if you can make do with an 1100VA unit, which is still not expensive.

There are mail order companies specializing in UPS boxes, but then you have to pay for shipping which can cost as much as a Staples UPS.

You could also use multiple UPS boxes for the G5, the external drives, etc.

[Bj Ahlen]

Seems we answered simultaneously…. :O)

I have been very impressed with Belkins Pro serie of UPSes, bought several at CompUSA on sale afte years of using only APC (which are very good).

[E. Eric johnson iii]

thank you for the replies… jokes included!

the reason for backing up the mixer, audio monitors, etc is the building i work in is subject to brown-outs, sometimes pretty good ones. so i wanted to put as much of what i’m using on a UPS; however, when i did the VA math, it turned out to be some astronimical number that ended-up telling me that i was needing a UPS that could back-up an airport 😉

since the dollar differences are so huge, the avenue is to UPS just the necessities. i’m gonna hit the compusa or competitor and get a good size UPS. but i probably won’t get it shipped via United Parcel Service 😉

thank you for the help to all!

long live the cow!

e3

e. eric johnson iii
eric@lillcreates.com
lill creates: founder/executive producer
Water Channel: producer/virtual set operator

[Moody Glasgow]

I work in Santa Monica, which is notorious for bad power. We run EVERY editing system on UPS. In my opinion, its insane to invest $20k + on an editing system and not have basic power protection. At the very least you should have your computer, any hard drives or RAIDS, and computer monitors on a UPS. Brown out and black outs can cause corrupted data on your drives. For around $500 dollars you can buy a 1500VA Smart UPS from APC. This should have enough power to run your critical systems when the power fails, and give you enough time to save your work and shut down.

moody glasgow
smoke artist

[E. Eric johnson iii]

moody-

this is a good sign… i just purchased that exact APC model for my system. i’m going to set it up exactly as you mentioned. i was definitely thinking of getting the rack-mounted $600 version, but the VA on the 1500 is sufficient.

thank you for the info and all the best,

e3

e. eric johnson iii
eric@lillcreates.com
lill creates: founder/executive producer
Water Channel: producer/virtual set operator

[Tony]

But seriously as I was just joking about Fed ex and DHL.

If you need to deal with brown outs the best solution in addition to the UPS is a Furman voltage regulator.

If the incoming voltage is between 80-120 volts the regulator will always output a steady 115 volts.

There is a voltage indicator which shows if the unit is in regulation + or – 5 volts and what the output voltage currently is.

I use a Furman 1215 in addition to a trip lite UPS which also has a voltage readout on it. I keep my mac and main computer monitor powered off the UPS.

The UPS worked great the one time I lost power and was able to run for about 15-20 minutes.

Tony Salgado