34046 Andover to Stratford-Upon-Avon. 23/04/14

May as well start a thread seeing as the tour is tomorrow.

Does anyone have any knowledge of where to phot this in the Cropredy area? A standing start from Banbury up to Claydon summit should produce some sort of effort from the loco.

 

You'll get some effort, but you won't probably hear much. Will be trying Little Bourton on the outward leg and hoping for the best. Wilmcote on the return should give the loco some work to do. Only problem is, that if there's any sufficient wind around, it will just blot out any audio.

 

There used to be a good spot just east of Great Bourton, looking downhill to the line. Or maybe try the footpath crossing at Clattercote, which might be better at that time of day - the sun will just be on that side of the line, since it's curving slightly westwards.

 

A separate microphone and a good wind muffler (e.g. something from Rycote) should allow you to get useable sound in all but a gale, especially if you are careful to chose a spot with a bit of shelter. Experiment with manual level control - auto level (ALC) can exaggerate wind noise when there's no "real" noise. Or, if your camera has it, try switching on the microphone attenuator, which effectively reduces the mic's sensitivity.

I use a Rode NTG1 in a Rycote S320. The mic relies on phantom power, which not all cameras can provide. If yours doesn't, get a battery-powered mic, such as the NTG2. If you don't have balanced inputs (usually XLR sockets) then get the shortest connection lead possible, to minimise interference from phones, overhead power lines, etc.

 

Thanks for the info. Having just forked out for another Panasonic camera, i will wait till the end of year until i purchase a high end mic. The rode video mic i use at the moment has done a good job so far.

 

Yes, the VideoMic is a very good product, and the sound is very similar to the NTG1 - I think many of the internals are shared. You won't notice much difference between the 2. It's a very "hot" mic, producing lots of signal for not much sound, which is great but exaggerates the ALC's behaviour. The good bass response means it's particularly prone to wind noise. Rode's own "Dead Cat" (sic) furry cover is better than nothing, but you really need something like a Rycote Softie. BillR, of this parish, made a very neat DIY "basket" a few years ago, and published the method on the web. Is it still up there, Bill? Can you give us the link, please?

 

Left Andover right time acording to RTT

 

She left Andover on time, with a box in front of her

 

Not looking too good = droped 3 mins already and only got to Salisbury

 

Was right time leaving Salisbury. A friend just saw her in the Wylye Valley - no mention of a diesel, so I guess it came off at Salisbury.

 

Is that the field to the west of the line between Bishopton and Wilmcote ?, I had heard about that so avoided it last week, shame but he's within his right, got a cracker of 30777 as King Arthur there a few years ago.

With going to Kyle on Friday, I coulden't secure day release for this one , hope some good pics and vids appear later

 

Was the diesel booked to be on the front ?

 

The shot used to be from the farm track parallel to the line between the council tip and the footbridge half way up Wilmcote bank. Used to be no problem but it seems one of the brothers became anti photographer and even if brother no.2 had given permission, brother no.1 would come and have a go at anyone on the farm track. A couple of years ago brother no.2 did say he'd stop giving permission at the end of that season as he was tiring of answering the door so many times on the day of a steam run. They used to sell eggs at the door so I wonder if everyone who went to ask permission had bought a dozen eggs, maybe answering the door wouldn't have been such a chore. I witnessed one of brother no.1's rants on a day permission had been sought and given. Foul mouthed and threatening, even though ladies were present.

 

It seems to have come off at Salisbury,this must be the LE move:

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U53036/2014/04/23/advanced

 

on time and going well just east of swindon

 

Indeed, I didn't see any other way of getting Kyle in without taking out a mortgage or suffering a 67 and unit (urgh).

Sounds like the spot I'm thinking of