Equipment_what is needed

Equipment, what is needed?

In addition to a DVD or CD-ROM containing campaign graphics, a guest evangelist needs three pieces of equipment to preach a campaign. 1) A video projector so the audience can see the graphics, 2) A hand-held remote-control unit so the speakers can advance to the next picture, and 3) a piece of equipment that processes and sends the pictures to the projector. So, let me go through these one at a time, describe them and point you to some sources for each.

1) Video Projector: Most video projectors made within the past few years will work just fine. Of course the more powerful the projector the easier it is to see the picture before there is complete darkness. But a projector with 1000 or more ANSI-Lumens will normally be perfectly adequate. Obviously the prospective evangelist will want to see if he/she can borrow one locally before considering renting or purchasing one. Besides the brightness (lumens) you should check to be sure a) it will work with BOTH 110 volts (standard voltage in the US) as well as 220 volts (standard in most of the rest of the world). It is unusual to find a projector that only operates on a single voltage, but please look on the projector itself to see if it says that it will operate on "110 - 240 volts." Also you should check to be sure the projector will accept both "video" and "RGB" signals (from a videotape player, DVD and computer). Again, it is rare to find one that won't handle both types of input programming, but it's better to check before leaving to be sure yours isn't the exception.

You can purchase a wide variety of brands, sizes of video-projectors with the full scope of "lumen" output. There are two dealers who have been providing many evangelists in North America high quality projectors at discounted prices. I have bought products from both of them. Here is how to contact them:

Ritz Audio-Visual, 6620 Virginia Manor Road, Beltsville, MD 20705. Contact the SDA owner, Gary Lunsford. His telephone number is (301) 4190-3101 and website is www.ritzav.com
Slide and Sound Corp., They are in the process of moving and expect to be at their new location about the end of September, 2002. Their current address is 2184 S E 53rd Ave., Hillsboro, OR 97123. You should contact Rick Boer by telephone. Their current telephone number is (503) 649-6055 and, after the end of September it will be: (503)-615-0402. Their new address will be on their website after the move and, of course, their website address will remain the same as: www.slideandsound.com

2) Remote-Control unit: Vital! There are two basic types of remote control units. Only ONE of them is usable! The unusable system is the one in which the hand-held unit has a laser pointer. It requires the speaker to try to find in the dark the precise place to aim his/her hand-held unit! Needless to say that will always be very frustrating. Be SURE you don't depend on one of those.

The second type is one in which the hand-held unit contains a very low power radio transmitter. These are not directional and will advance the picture regardless of the direction the speaker is pointing the unit. This is the type that will provide the speaker the greatest freedom from worry and frustration. So, of this latter type here are the options available to the speaker:

David Johns, who has worked closely with Advent Digital Media for many years, has developed a tiny, two-button, hand-held transmitting unit that is very easy to manage. It will work with a DVD player or a laptop showing a PowerPoint presentation. This system has solved the problem of using video clips in a PowerPoint presentation that, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't been solved in other remote control systems. Those who are interested in this remote control system should go to his website at http://www.presentsolutions.biz/ or calling him at: (509) 538-0016.
I have used the RemotePoint Interactive RF remote control unit made by Interlink Electronics many times and it is available from either Ritz Audio-Visual or Slide and Sound Corporation. The contact information of both is provided above. Though it may be possible for to program one of the buttons to use video clips in a PowerPoint presentation, the standard buttons provided cause the video clips to go into a loop and play repeatedly each time the button to go to the next graphic is pushed.

3-a) DVD-player: Any DVD player the evangelist may buy in North America will work, as long as it includes an infrared remote control unit. Dave Johns' remote control receiver is made to emulate the remote control unit of most DVD players. So, the smaller the DVD unit you purchase the easier it will be to transport. It should operate on both 110 and 220 volts. Again I'm sure either Ritz Audio-Visual or Slide and Sound will be happy to help you with this purchase.

3-b) Laptop computer: Most (if not all) windows-based laptop computers will be able to handle the projection graphics for a campaign. You will need two programs to handle the material on the CD-ROM.

Adobe Acrobat Reader: You will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to print out the sermon notes that are on the CD-ROM. Clicking on the Adobe logo to the left will take you to their website where you can download a free copy of an Adobe Acrobat reader. You will find instructions about how to download and install the Acrobat Reader on that website. Also, be sure to read carefully the "Sermon Notes" section of the Global Evangelism website that provides insights about how the notes should be printed.

Microsoft PowerPoint: The computer must have Microsoft PowerPoint installed in order to project the sermon graphics which are on the CD-ROM. Many, if not most, computers with a Windows operating system may already have PowerPoint installed. While it is possible to download a free PowerPoint viewer from the www.Microsoft.com website, that isn't enough. Yes, you can view and project the slides with the free viewer. But it is important for the speaker to be able to modify, especially to shorten, the presentations and to do this the computer must have the full PowerPoint program installed. So, check to be sure the laptop computer you are going to use has PowerPoint installed.

Renting a graphics system: The Carolina Conference has purchased 40 graphics systems (video projector, laptop computer, remote-control unit, in a case suitable for checking on an airline). In harmony with the donor's instructions, college/university students have first use privileges for these systems. Any other time of the year, however, the Carolina Conference rents these units to individuals who are unable to otherwise secure the use of the equipment necessary. The cost of renting the system for a campaign is $350 plus the round-trip shipping costs by "UPS Ground" (which averages $50 each way in the US). In order to reserve one of the sets please contact the Global-Evangelism office by e-mail at: Send e-mail... or by calling (540) 296-1602. If the units are available a reservation will be indicated by an "X" after you name on the specific campaign website. At least six weeks prior to departure you should send a check for $450, covering the rental plus round-trip shipment of the equipment to you. Make the check out to the "Carolina Conference of Seventh-day Adventists" and mail it to the attention of Raymond Earle, at P O Box 560339, Charlotte, NC 28256-0339. You will find the UPS label enclosed. On arriving home place the label on the case. Close and lock the case. UPS will come to pick up the equipment on Tuesday after.

If you are operating under the previous rental agreement in which you sent a check for $400 and are responsible to pay for the return shipment. It is vital that you return the equipment immediately after the campaign is over. The shipping instructions will be included in the case.