Everyone is familiar with that feeling: when the cable doesn't quite reach to the light, or the speaker, or the video projector. Not by much, but by just enough that, after a vain tug or two in the hope that some slack will mysteriously appear, you have to interrupt what you're doing to go find an extension cable. Which will always be too long, and so have to be tidied away on the bar or truss.
Now, combining the twin goals of providing creative solutions backed by technical excellence that has driven the company throughout its history, specialist entertainment technology supplier WL has created a solution: StretchCable.
The result of a top secret, highly intensive research project begun exactly one year ago today, StretchCable replaces the traditional rubber-sheathed copper cable that is a mainstay of the entertainment industry with a unique new formulation of Lycra, copper and graphene that retains the electrical conductivity of the copper, but imbibes it with the remarkable properties of Lycra familiar to anyone who's been involved in staging dance shows or taking part in cycling events - particularly the ability to stretch up to five times its original length then return to its original length when released.
In practical terms, this means that there is no longer any need to take flight cases full of assorted lengths of cables on site, to be pieced together to form the lengths needed. Instead, a 2m length of StretchCable can be used for any cable run from two to ten metres; a 10m length will provide any cable run from ten to fifty metres.
The advantages of StretchCable are plentiful. Key, of course, will be just being able to make cables reach even if they at first don't quite seem to: while the five-times stretch is the publicised ratio, in practice there's a little more wiggle room, so if that cable doesn't quite reach just pull it a little more - but just be sure to securely attach the cable to the bar so it doesn't contract back to its original length or come pinging along the truss towards you. As important a consideration: that when the cables are released and contracted back to their original length, they take up a tiny amount of space relative to traditional cables matching their longest length. This means fewer cases required, less truck space needed - key environmental advantages.
WL first produced StretchCable in low-power formats for DMX lighting data, audio data and video signals, since the company now works across all of those fields, particularly in the corporate and event fields where the ability to reduce the number of flight-cases on site, and to be able to run each cable just that little bit further, provides fantastic advantages. With the technology proven in those areas, the range has been expanded to mains power in both the traditional theatrical 15A and newer 16A CEE-form formats. From today, it is available from WL as a sales item, or as an option over standard cable on any rental project. If enough people fall for it, the next phase of the process will see the mains tails on all of the company's rental stock - lighting, audio and video - replaced with StretchCable, to give just that last extra bit of reach that will be particularly welcomed by those rigging gear in difficult to access spots, or just in control rooms where the nearest 13A plug is just that bit too far away.
"We've always strived to bring technical innovation to those working in lighting, and now we're doing the same to those involved in audio and video as well," comments WL's Technical Director, Dave Isherwood, whose twin loves of electronics and cycling were perhaps instrumental in driving this seemingly foolish idea forward to reality. "Getting StretchCable to work was a bit of a, well, a stretch, but it is an achievement that serves every area we work in, particularly those that can't use the battery-powered, wirelessly controlled lighting products that do away with the need for cable altogether. We've already reduced our cable flightcase order for the coming year in anticipation that everyone will adopt it very quickly, and we will also soon be making available a product that came out of the need to measure this new cable: StretchTapeMeasure, perfect for when things turn out to not be quite the size they were shown on the drawings..."
He adds, though, that "excited as we are by these Stretch-Innovations
