My datacards, have no video on. Can anyone help?

[Paul R Johnson]

Absolutely a gamble. With video kit, it's usually worked, with lighting, I am wary as moving lights are usually sold on when a problem, and audio gear just dates too fast, apart from decent mics which appreciate.

Overall, I have saved thousands. However, I always spend my money - I never gamble with borrowed money.

I needed a particular PA system for my contracts for this year, so in February I spent five figures, searching the world for specific kit - a product nearing the end of it's time. A few dealers had demo stock, and were supply direct from the factory, but I bought every ex-demo product I found advertised. I couldn't get any in the UK, but found some in Germany, some in Mexico and some in the US. Shipping costs were terrible by air freight, so in the end, some came via sea - 4 boxes took nearly 60 days in the end - the ship ending up going to Australia before coming to the UK. I figured I'd lost loads of them, but in the end they all arrived. Most, as expected, had small dings in the finish - and one had a big bump in the grill, but parts were OK to replace this at my cost. I got the complete rig for 65% of the normal price, including the shipping and duties. A risk, but my rule I work to is never spend what I could not afford to use. ironically, after making all the bank transfers, Covid hit, and I have now a pile of flight cases in my store that look like staying there for a long time!

[Josh Bass]

Yeah that's unfortunate. Interesting you say audio gear goes out of date too quickly. I would think, other than wireless with the changing spectrum, it would be viable much longer than a lot of other gear. A good high end boom in the 80s is probably still viable now. Early sound devices mixers are probably perfectly suitable for just about anything even now, aside from the fact that they don't have built in recorders.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I disagree. I've got perfectly fine shotgun mics (audio technicas) that are over 10 years old. I don't want to sell them but I doubt anyone would want them unless I was selling them for a steal like $50. Besides vintage in demand mics no one wants old audio gear, just like loud speakers. I think most pro gear gets used until you get out of the business and then you just give it away or throw it out. Look at c-stands, think of how many there out there. I recently did a quick craigslist search. I found only 1 in a 500 mile radius, an old beat up Matthews. The guy was asking almost the same price as a new one. A lot of gear big heavy making it difficult or too pricey to ship. Heck I couldn't sell a quality 30' hdmi cable that I bought on B&H, I kept lowering the price until I was at the point I would have lost money to sell it. Anything tech related forget. I saw someone trying to give away an expensive tungsten and florescent light kit.

[Josh Bass]

I would happily get stuff like that if I were in the market and it were without issues.

[Battle Vaughan]

A little Googling says the problem is caused by a hardware or firmware error in writing the files. Here is a link to a program I found that says it can fix this particular problem DISCLAIMER I have no personal experience with this, just found it doing research:
https://www.isobuster.com/news/isobu..._release_notes

Apparently a well-known problem with SD cards. Might check out the release notes and see what you think. Many other references to the problem say definitely don't do chkdsk on the card. Hope this helps.

From release notes: "Work-around for a certain type of data corruption that appears to happen frequently using certain USB card readers (internal and external). Symptoms are the sudden loss of files and or partitions etc. Usually in combination with FAT. Remaining files and/or folders may get names such as "USBC◘╧è◘" or "USBC..". Possibly related to ADATA NH92 adaptors though that is not certain! After researching the issue online it seems a lot of people think this is a virus. I see mention of the "USBC virus" and "USBC malware", yet it's not. It's a hardware / firmware failure that happened while data was being written to the SD card. IsoBuster is now able to detect and compensate for such issues on the fly so that files and folders can still be found and extracted"

[Greg Miller]

Pete, you're right about short supply of C-stands on the market. I have read that the virtual reality crowd use these to mount video cameras at the ceiling corners of their rooms. I guess I understood the concept, although in retrospect it makes no sense. At any rate, you're right, any good hefty ones are rare and pricey. (Tons of cheesy imported ones, though.)

As far as old speakers, I have a pair of JBL 4412s, a pair of 4410s, another similar pair so old that I don't recall the model number. For background music at home I have two pairs of Dynaco A25s. Some unknown qty. of DIY subs, mostly with KEF drivers.

As far as old mics, my brother got the best of the ribbons. I still have a pair of RCA BK5Bs which are wonderful on vocals (and nice and warm when aimed at the soundboard of a piano). Also a pair of AKG C412s, a C451, a Beyer and an A-T single-point stereo mics, and an assortment of AKG, Beyer, E-V, and Shure hand mics.

I can't imagine why there would not be a demand for old stuff like this. I sure won't be selling it any time soon. If I suddenly wanted to replace this kind of gear, I think it would be pricey and hard to find. Am I wrong?

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay well I didn't buy it used.

[Brian Drysdale]

No one is suggesting you bought a used SD card, just the thread has drifted from discussing poor quality counterfeit cards into used equipment in general.

The advice still is to buy a new SD card from a reputable source.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Oh Okay thanks. :-p