Hoster 4.21 Vs. 4.22

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by kod

Skybird,
A power conditioner regulates the power to a steady flow so that you don't get spikes in power. Computers work best when the power is steady.

I don't ever remember anyone recommending something like that before. I just plug the laptop directly into a wall or into a normal power strip/surge protector. Once I week I have to use an extension cord also.

[kod]

Skybird,
I don't know if it's always necessary, but it's probably best to use one. Most of the Bars where I play are old and power is not always from top of the line wiring.

Even using it, Hoster was still stopping!

The bar where I play on Thursday nights is over 40 years old and the section where I play was added about 20 years ago...

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by kod

Skybird,
I don't know if it's always necessary, but it's probably best to use one. Most of the Bars where I play are old and power is not always from top of the line wiring.

Even using it, Hoster was still stopping!

The bar where I play on Thursday nights is over 40 years old and the section where I play was added about 20 years ago...

I think I better look into getting me one. Hoster still stops on me when using BA too. I'm beginning to think it's just you & me I'm updating again, adding SP2 on Vista. Maybe even upgrading to IE8, although it is still listed as "Optional" for Vista.

Where do you buy a "power conditioner"? I just searched Radio Shack & it didn't come up.

[kod]

Skybird,
Google "Computer Power Conditioner."

IMHO, you don't need to spend a lot of money for one.

Go to this site and read: http://ecmweb.com/mag/electric_surge_strips_vs/

An excerpt form this site: Power line disturbances can destroy, degrade, and disrupt electronic systems. Plug-in surge strips are only capable of reducing surge energy — not eliminating it. Plug-in power conditioners that include a surge diverter, isolation transformer, and power line noise filter in their design can eliminate system destruction, component degradation, and operation disruption by exhibiting much better control over surge voltages.

[ddouglass]

The only thing I can add though is that unless it is an UPS (battery backup) also, then it will not take care of low voltage drops. The problem with an UPS though is they are very heavy to carry around because of the battery. Mine here at home kicks in quite a few times a week because of voltage drop outs (old wiring and too small a transformer on the pole).

Low voltage may or may not cause damage as much as spikes, but it can cause problems with the computer's operation. That said I would say that for you two, at least for the time being it would be best to leave off using the BA. Hoster does have the capability to import those MP3 files you use for the BA and playing them from the playlist too. That is what we do for 15 - 20 minutes before show time.

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

The only thing I can add though is that unless it is an UPS (battery backup) also, then it will not take care of low voltage drops. The problem with an UPS though is they are very heavy to carry around because of the battery. Mine here at home kicks in quite a few times a week because of voltage drop outs (old wiring and too small a transformer on the pole).

Low voltage may or may not cause damage as much as spikes, but it can cause problems with the computer's operation. That said I would say that for you two, at least for the time being it would be best to leave off using the BA. Hoster does have the capability to import those MP3 files you use for the BA and playing them from the playlist too. That is what we do for 15 - 20 minutes before show time.

Dale, have you ever run BA during an entire 3-4 hour Show? If not, then how do you know that it's our machine & not BA causing Hoster shutdowns? There were apparently many users requesting BA that got MTU to add this feature. Since then, very few people on this forum even talk about BA or have let us know how they liked it once they got it. And now, I see many more say that they still use a separate program for playing their music files in-between, so that makes me wonder, how many people are actually using BA.....?????

Also, can I ask what prompted you to ask what kind of "power conditioner" was being used, which started this discussion???

[kod]

I am definitely going to go back to my little mp3 player I was using before I moved to Hoster. I can do without BA in between Karaoke songs, but I do like to play music before I start the show.

I would like to have some type player on my laptop so I wouldn't have to carry an add-on, but I'm very cautious about putting anything on my Show Laptop that might conflict with Hoster...

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Skybird74

Dale, have you ever run BA during an entire 3-4 hour Show? If not, then how do you know that it's our machine & not BA causing Hoster shutdowns? There were apparently many users requesting BA that got MTU to add this feature. Since then, very few people on this forum even talk about BA or have let us know how they liked it once they got it. And now, I see many more say that they still use a separate program for playing their music files in-between, so that makes me wonder, how many people are actually using BA.....?????

Also, can I ask what prompted you to ask what kind of "power conditioner" was being used, which started this discussion???

Yes I have run extended test shows at home with the BA on the whole time and never had any problems. As I said we don't use it during our shows mainly because our patrons don't like it. Too confusing to them. MTU has said all along that those who have under-powered computers (most of those being laptops) would have problems with using the BA with or without visualizations. This is a very large processor hog compared to the rest of Hoster. This is also why we ask the age of the computer and when or if it has ever been cleaned internally (mainly laptops).
The reason I asked about his power conditioner was to look it up and see if it had a battery backup to control low voltage. Surges will not cause the computer to have reduced power available but a low A/C input will. That is not to say surge isn't a problem but not the same kind of problem.
I have no doubt that the BA needs more work to fine tune it and get the amount of processor time down to make it work correctly for everyone.

[billyo]

Originally Posted by Skybird74

Dale, have you ever run BA during an entire 3-4 hour Show? If not, then how do you know that it's our machine & not BA causing Hoster shutdowns? There were apparently many users requesting BA that got MTU to add this feature. Since then, very few people on this forum even talk about BA or have let us know how they liked it once they got it. And now, I see many more say that they still use a separate program for playing their music files in-between, so that makes me wonder, how many people are actually using BA.....?????

Also, can I ask what prompted you to ask what kind of "power conditioner" was being used, which started this discussion???

i only used BA on my show once and i stop using it , didn't have a problem with it,it's just you can only play a few sec. of a song anyway, and in my opinion BA is only used to fill in for dead time, which is under a minute or less and for slow shows..i have a Furman power conditioner and and it measures the line voltage from 90-120