Standards News

Draft ACN revision available for Public Review

Posted on Monday, June 28th, 2010

BSR E1.17-201x, Entertainment Technology – Architecture for Control Networks
BSR E1.17-201x is a revision of ANSI E1.17-2006, Entertainment Technology – Architecture for Control Networks (ACN), which is a suite of documents that specifies an architecture, including protocols and language, that may be configured and combined with other standard protocols to form flexible, networked audio, lighting, or other control systems. It can be implemented on networks that support UDP, IP, and related protocols. The revision is to correct errors and to improve functionality.
The review period extends until August 24, 2010.

Copies of the draft standard and the forms for submitting your comments are available from the ESTA Public Review Documents page.

You can get your own RSS feed of the ESTA documents currently in public review.

Test & Tag standard (AS/NZS 3760) – further public comment

Posted on Friday, June 18th, 2010

In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment

Public comment

The following draft Standard is available for you to comment on. The closing date for comments on this draft Standard is 9 July 2010.
DR3760 CP, In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment

The committee, in conjunction with Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand, has decided that it is important to now invite a second public comment on DR 3760, In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment for the following reasons:

Maximum leakage current in Table 1 and Minimum insulation resistance in Table 2 for Class I and II equipment do not align. Comment is requested on whether leakage current value for Class I should be reduced to 1 mA or minimum insulation resistance value for Class II should be increased to 2 M?.
Table 4, there is now no difference in the intervals between inspection and tests of Class I equipment, Class II equipment, or cord sets, cord extension sets, and EPODs. Other significant changes include the intervals between inspection and tests of Class II (double insulated) for factories, workshops, and equipment used for commercial cleaning reduced to every 6 months from every year. Also the push-button test for portable appliances used in commercial cleaning has changed from every 3 months to daily or before every use, whichever is the longer.

The committee seeks specific comment only on these proposed changes.

To download a free copy of DR3760 CP, In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment CLICK HERE

(Hint: this draft will be substantially similar to the final version that you will have to buy once it is published)

New Draft Chain Hoist Standard in Public Review

Posted on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

BSR E1.6-3–201x, Selection and Use of Chain Hoists in the Entertainment Industry, is available for public review at the ESTA website (the URL is provided below) through 3 May 2010. The review is over when the posted “Review End Date” of May 4 is reached.

The draft standard is part of the BSR E1.6 powered theatrical rigging system project. This part, BSR E1.6-3, establishes minimum safety requirements for the selection and use of serially manufactured electric link chain hoists having capacity of two tons or less in the entertainment industry. This standard does not address the design or maintenance of these hoists. The standard is intended to provide for the protection of life, limb, and property.

www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

Comments on Draft Test and Tag Standard Close Feb 12th

Posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Last Chance to Submit
If you intend to submit comments on the draft of the revised AS/NZS 3760 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment (Test & Tag) standard, your submission, on the appropriate comments form, must be lodged with Craig Watkin at Standards NZ by close of business (15:00 AEST) Friday 12th February.

Draft Lighting Control Protocol amendments available for public comment

Posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010

BSR E1.20 – 201x, Entertainment Technology — Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512
The existing E1.20 – 2006, Entertainment Technology–Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512, is being revised to correct errors in the published document and to add a new message enhance functionality. ANSI E1.20 is an extension to USITT DMX512 and ANSI E1.11 that allows for bi-directional communication on the primary data link for lighting control.

BSR E1.30-1-20xx, EPI 23. Device Identification Subdevice
This document is part of BSR E1.30, Application level equipment interoperability for control of commonly encountered entertainment technology devices using ANSI E1.17. It specifies a templated device for device identification as typically used for remote hardware and software devices.

Copies of the draft standards and the forms for submitting your comments are available from the ESTA Public Review Documents page

You can get your own RSS feed of the ESTA documents currently in public review.

Draft Powered Hoist standards available for public comment

Posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

ESTA has two standards for Powered Hoists open for public comment until February 16, 2010.

BSR E1.6-2–201x, Entertainment Technology — Design, Inspection, and Maintenance of Serially Manufactured Electric Chain Hoists for the Entertainment Industry
This draft American National Standard is a part of the BSR E1.6 powered theatrical rigging systems project. This document, BSR E1.6-2, covers the design, inspection, and maintenance of serially manufactured electric chain hoists used in the entertainment industry as part of a performance or in preparation for a performance.

BSR E1.6-1–201x, Entertainment Technology – Powered Hoist Systems
This draft standard is part of the BSR E1.6 powered theatrical rigging system project. This part, BSR E1.6-1, deals with powered winches that are not serially manufactured electric chain hoists, and is intended to establish requirements for the design, manufacture, inspection, and maintenance of powered hoist systems for lifting and suspending loads in theatres and other places of public assembly where the failure of such systems could endanger life or limb of performers, audience members, workers, or the general public.

Copies of the draft standards and the forms for submitting your comments are available from the ESTA Public Review Documents page

You can get your own RSS feed of the ESTA documents currently in public review.

Draft of Test & Tag standard available for comment

Posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009

The draft of DR 3760, In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment is available to comment on. The closing date for comment on this draft Standard is 12 February 2010.

This draft is a revision of AS/NZS 3760:2003, and specifies procedures for the safety inspection and testing of low voltage single phase and polyphase electrical equipment, connected to the electrical supply by a flexible cord and/or connecting device.

This draft also includes fixed RCDs and portable inverters.

NOTE — Additional requirements for portable generators are covered by AS/NZS 3012.

[Hint: This draft will look VERY much like the final version which will cost you abut $100 to buy, so it's well worth downloading - even if you don't intend to make a comment.]

You can download a copy of this draft from the ALIA web site.

Followspot position planning guide review

Posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

The latest version of the draft standard, BSR E1.28 – 200x, guidance on planning followspot positions in places of public assembly, is available for public review through 28 December 2009. The document can be downloaded for free at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php. Comments should be submitted before the ,End Date’ shown on the website.

The E1.28 document offers guidance on the planning of permanent followspot positions. It is a guidance document, not a mandatory compliance document. The document offers recommendations on the locations of the followspot positions within the venue, the power likely to be needed, the waste heat generated, the amount of space likely to be needed, and the fall protection and egress issues to be considered for the operators’ safety, among other things.

The E1.28 document was developed at the urging of some followspot vendors and users, who found that some performance venues are built without competent design advice or in disregard for that advice, and the resulting followspot positions are sometimes unusable or dangerous.

www.esta.org

Revised RDM Available for Review

Posted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

BSR E1.20 – 200x, a revision of the existing ANSI E1.20 – 2006, Entertainment Technology — Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512, is available for public review on the ESTA website through October 19. The draft standard and its supporting public review materials are available at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php.

BSR E1.20 – 200x, Entertainment Technology — Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512, is a project to revise the existing RDM standard, ANSI E1.20 – 2006. There are some errors in the published document that need to be corrected, and some issues about proxy devices that need to be clarified. The review materials include the revised standard, a listing of the errors that are being addressed, and, as background information, the resolutions to the comments received during the previous public review of the draft standard. The intention of the revision project is to correct errors, not to change the existing functionality of RDM.

Please note that the ESTA website shows a review end date of October 20. The review has ended when that day is reached. Comments should be submitted before that date.

In addition to being asked to review the document to see if it offers adequate advice, reviewers are asked to look for protected intellectual property in the draft standard. ESTA does not warrant that its standards contain no protected intellectual property, but it also does not intend to adopt any standard that requires the use of protected intellectual property, unless that property is necessary for technical reasons and can be licensed and used by anyone without prejudice or preference for a reasonable fee. Any protected intellectual property in the document should be pointed out in the comments.

Electrical Safety Standards in Review

Posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009

The EL-036 standards committee is meeting in Sydney next month to look at revisions of:

AS/NZS 3760:2003 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment

AS/NZS 5761:2005 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment-Second-hand electrical equipment prior to sale

AS/NZS 5762:2005 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment-Repaired electrical equipment.

As ALIA is directly represented on this committee, now is your opportunity to bring to the committee any problems or suggestions you may have as to improving the operation of these standards. There are already agenda items covering the issues of who is a competent person and how should that competence be specified and tested. Please make your views known by an email to our representative, Andy Ciddor.

ESTA News: Four Draft Standards in Review

Posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

This document is part of BSR E1.30-200x, Application level equipment interoperability for control of commonly encountered entertainment technology devices using ANSI E1.17. This part defines protocol-specific extensions to ANSI E1.17’s Device Description Language for describing DMX512-type devices. Comments are due before the End Date; the review has ended when the End Date is reached.

More details available at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

ESTA News: Five Draft Standards in Review

Posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008

Three Fog & Smoke Working Group draft standards were been posted October 15 on the ESTA website at the address below for public review through December 15. (The reviews are over when December 16 starts.) The three draft documents are:

• BSR E1.5 – 20xx, Entertainment Technology – Theatrical Fog Made With Aqueous Solutions Of Di- And Trihydric Alcohols;

• BSR E1.23 – 200x, Entertainment Technology – Design and Execution of Theatrical Fog Effects; and

• BSR E1.29 – 200x, Product Safety Standard for Theatrical Fog Generators that Create Aerosols of Water, Aqueous Solutions of Glycol or Glycerin, or Aerosols of Highly Refined Alkane Mineral Oil.

The one completely new standard in this list is the last one, BSR E1.29; the others are revisions of existing American National Standards. The revisions consist of changing the CAS registry numbers for dipropylene glycol and mineral oil to better specify the chemicals used in fog effects and for which we have health and safety data in the scientific literature. The last draft standard, BSR E1.29, is a new standard, intended to help guide product safety testing laboratories (e.g., UL, ETL) in evaluating fog-making equipment for design or construction defects that might create unacceptable hazards. It is based on ANSI/UL 998 – 2006, Humidifiers, but has modifications to deal with safety issues peculiar to fog generators.

Two draft Control Protocols Working Group draft standards continue to be available for public review on the ESTA website through November 24. The two draft documents are: BSR E1.20 – 200x, Entertainment Technology – Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512, a revision of the existing American National Standard E1.20 – 2006. The goal of the BSR E1.20 – 200x project is to correct errors in the document, not to add new functionality or to change existing functionality. The review documents consist of an errata list and the text proposed for the existing standard to correct the errors. ANSI E1.20 is an extension to USITT DMX512 and ANSI E1.11 that allows for bi-directional communication on the primary data link.

BSR E1.27-2 – 200x, Entertainment Technology – Recommended Practice for Permanently Installed Control Cables for Use with ANSI E1.11 (DMX512-A) and USITT DMX512/1990 Products, is a recommended practice for permanent data cabling installations for interconnecting lighting equipment that comply with ANSI E1.11 (DMX512-A) or with USITT DMX512/1990. The recommendations include definitions of acceptable cable and connector types and the ways in which they may be used.

In addition to being asked to review the documents to see if they offer adequate advice, reviewers are asked to notify ESTA of any protected intellectual property in the draft standards. ESTA does not warrant that its standards contain no protected intellectual property, but it also does not intend to adopt any standard that requires the use of protected intellectual property, unless that property is necessary for technical reasons and can be licensed by anyone without prejudice or preference for a reasonable fee. Any protected intellectual property should be noted on the public review response form.

www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

Proposed revisions for RDM standard and Recommended Practice for DMX cabling now in public review

Posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

This document is a recommended practice for permanent data cabling installations for interconnecting lighting equipment that comply with ANSI E1.11 (DMX512-A) or with USITT DMX512/1990. The recommendations include definitions of acceptable cable and connector types and the ways in which they may be used.

Review Begins: September 24, 2008 , Review Ends: November 25, 2008

All documents, instructions and comments forms are available from the Public Review Documents page:

www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

Proposals for DMX over Ethernet, Luminaire Inspection and Floor Sliperiness standards, now in public review

Posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008

This document provides guidance in the inspection of stage and studio luminaires used in the entertainment industry to evaluate their safety and any needed maintenance. The information contained in this document is intended to supplement the information contained in manufacturers’ maintenance instructions. .

Review Begins: July 24, 2008, Review Ends: September 23, 2008

BSR E1.34 – 200x, Measuring and Specifying the Slipperiness of Floors Used in Live Performance Venues

The draft standard describes a means of measuring and specifying the slipperiness of floor surfaces used by performers in live entertainment venues. The standard is not intended to be applied to normal walking and working surfaces, but only to those floor surfaces used by actors, dancers, and other similar artists, when performing before an audience. .

Review Begins: July 25, 2008, Review Ends: September 23, 2008

All documents, instructions and comments forms are available from the Public Review Documents page:

www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

ACN Interoperability profiles now in public review

Posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008

This document is part of BSR E1.30-200x, Application level equipment interoperability for control of commonly encountered entertainment technology devices using ANSI E1.17. It specifies how draft DDL modules that may be changed frequently during development shall be marked as experimental.

Review Begins: June 27, 2008, Review Ends: August 26, 2008

All documents, instructions and comments forms are available from the Public Review Documents page:

www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

Draft revision to DMX512-A standard available for comment

Posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2008

BSR E1.11 – 200x, Entertainment Technology–USITT DMX512-A, Asynchronous Serial Digital Data Transmission Standard for Controlling Lighting Equipment and Accessories.

This revision of ANSI E1.11 – 2004, describes a protocol for transmitting digital data used to control entertainment lighting equipment and accessories. Entertainment lighting equipment and accessories includes, but is not limited to, dimmers, robotic luminaires, colour changers, robotic mirrors, dousers, colour wheels, motion effects wheels, and pattern rotators. The revision is being done to correct errors and to clarify text, and to add an Alternate START Code for UTF-8 transmission so that languages other English can be used for sending diagnostic text messages.

Comments close on 8 July, 2008.

(Unofficial note for anyone who wants to read a copy of the DMX512-A standard. The ongoing drafts of this standard, freely available for download and comment, will be almost identical to the one that you will later be able to buy from ESTA or USITT.)

http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

ESTA draft standards available for Rigging, Floors & Power

Posted on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

Two Fog and Smoke Documents Available From ESTA

Posted on Monday, January 21st, 2008

Two Fog and Smoke documents are available for public review for free on the ESTA website. The public reviews run through March 17.

The first is a reaffirmation of the existing ANSI E1.5 – 2003, Entertainment Technology – Theatrical Fog Made With Aqueous Solutions Of Di- And Trihydric Alcohols. The standard describes the composition of theatrical fogs or artificial mists that are not likely to be harmful to healthy performers, technicians, or audience members of normal working age, which is 18 to 64 years of age, inclusive. It is limited to those fogs and mists made from a solution of water and one or more dihydric or trihydric alcohols, and is intended to be applicable in theatres, arenas, and other places of entertainment or public assembly.

The second is a new draft standard, BSR E1.29 – 20XX, Product Safety Standard for Theatrical Fog Generators That Create Aerosols of Water, Aqueous Solutions of Glycol or Glycerin, or Highly Refined Alkane Mineral Oil. The draft standard is intended to help guide product safety testing laboratories in evaluating fog-making equipment for design or construction defects that might create unacceptable hazards. It is based on ANSI/UL 998 – 2006, Humidifiers, and offers some additions and modifications to the requirements in that UL standard. Products covered are theatrical fog generators rated 600 V or less, and intended for use in professional theatrical entertainment, film and video production, theme parks, and fire safety training.

In addition to being asked to review the documents to see if they offer adequate advice, reviewers are asked to notify ESTA of any protected intellectual property in the draft standards. ESTA does not warrant that its standards contain no protected intellectual property, but it also does not intend to adopt any standard that requires the use of protected intellectual property, unless that property is necessary for technical reasons and can be licensed and used by anyone without prejudice or preference for a reasonable fee.

www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

Phasing Out of Incandescent Lamps – Technical Report Released for Comment

Posted on Monday, January 7th, 2008

The Depart of Climate Change’s Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) Committee has released the technical report – “Phase-Out of Inefficient Incandescent Lamps and Standards for Compact Fluorescent Lamps” for comment by 1st February. This is the report on which the forthcoming elimination of General Lighting Service incandescent lamps will be based.

There is a recognition in the report that there are many incandescent lamps that are not GLS and that these are not directly targeted for elimination. However we already know from the horrendous problems caused by the implementation of the removal of piggy-back plugs from retail sale, that unintended consequences are no less severe than intended ones.

It would seem that the key number in the report is the minimum required energy efficiency requirement of 20 lumens per Watt. From a greenhouse emissions perspective this number is surprisingly low, but it will mean that many of our current tungsten halogen incandescent lamps will probably make through the process unscathed, even without direct exemptions.

You can download a copy of the report from http://www.energyrating.gov.au/library/pubs/200718-phaseout-incandescent-lamps.pdf

and pass your views on to ALIA for inclusion in our submission.

Please send your comments to E3@alia.com.au.