Theatre Design & Technology - May 1968 - 6

group and a university management willing to offer its facilities for development of an automatic system. The cooperation by Prof. Fred Buerki, evidenced by his statement that
"One of the main purposes of fJ university theatre is to investigate new products and help bring them to a point where
they are feasible for the theatr~ industry," was invaluable
during our one year experiment in his theatre.

Figure 2 is a schematic of the machines on the gridiron.
Each winch winds up seven cables on a two-foot-diameter
drum which raises the scenery batten. One of this system's
innovations was an unusual staggered single-sheave headblock. We had to position the headblock sheaves in order to
direct the cables properly toward the drum. Space was definitely a problem here.

The rigging system we installed at the Wisconsin Union
Theatre consisted of two battens and one spotline. In addition, we had a patching system which permitted reliability
tests of cross connection to the machines, with alternate
power sources and control circuits. The control console included four control stations: two for the battens, one for the
spotline set, and one master control station. These were installed in the basement of the theatre so that work could
proceed without interrupting normal theatre productions. The
winches had a 2 ft. dia. drum, 3 ft. long, and each weighed
1,600 pounds. During this time, we installed and replaced
4 motors and 6 gear boxes.

Figure 3 shows the console on a raised platform. The entire
system is operated from a vantage point where the operator
can see what is happening on stage. Here also is located
the patching system. There are 30 power source jack handles which are patched into any of 90 sets. This is the
heart of the system.

In 1963 the technicians and engineers of the Metropolitan
Opera House visited Madison, Wisconsin. They were at first
critical of many aspects of the fly system, such as noise
of running winches, configuration of the controls on the console, vibration of the pipe battens during movement, and a
variety of other problems. Changes had to be made to the
original design, and performance specifications written, based
on the observations of Mr. Kuntner and others during this
visit.
Shortly thereafter, we had a second visit to Madison by the
Met representatives for approval of the contract. The system
was approved and we were authorized in early 1964 to proceed with the contract. Additional improvements and adjustments to the system were tested prior to dismantling the
equipment at the Union Theatre. Approval was granted, installation began early in 1965, and was essentially completed in mid-1966.
OPERATION: This system for flying stage scenery allows
the 109 battens and 8 spot lines to be programmed and operated by one man. Each of the 109 battens, of which six
run up and down stage, are "pure" winch variable-speed
sets. To operate these 109 battens we have thirty power
supplies which are selected through a patching system, plus
six master controls. Figure 1 is a line drawing facing the
stage.

BASIC SPECIFICATIONS
Main Stage Fly System
Maximum Travel.
Batten Weight.
Maximum Load on Batten
Cable Weight (108 ft.)
Maximum Total Load
Minimum Total Load

108 ft.
350 pounds
l 000 pounds
66 pounds
1416 pounds
350 pounds

Adjustable Working Height Limits (At full Load)
Repeat Accuracy
+ 1 / 16 inch
Set· up Accuracy....................
+ 1 / 1 6 inch
Adjustable Speed Control (At Full Load)
Range
Controlled speed
Infinitely Variable
Direction
Type
Acceleration Distance
Maximum Normal stopping distance
Maximum Emergency stopping distance

Master Position and Speed Control
Batten Position Matching Accuracy
Maximum Units on one Master.
Minimum Units on one Master.
Number of Masters
Number of Drives
Maximum Number of Active Drives
Number of Power Sets
Power Supply

0 to 180 F.P.M.
1 to 180 F. P. M.

Spot Line System

Reversible
Remote Manual
12 inches
12 inches
2 inches

Same as main stage fly system. except:
Maximum Load Speed
Maximum Travel.
Maximum Total Load
Constant speed A.C., 1200RPM
Number of Active Drives
Power Supply

+ 1/16 inch
30
1
6
109
30
30
.440 Volt AC. 3
phase 60 cycle

60 F.P.M. constant
175 feet
1020 pounds
5 hp. motor
8
220 volt AC. 3
phase 60 cycle

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

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