Dover Cliffs Job Ran on Anker Batteries and Fx4

The British Museum needed a visible thank-you projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover. Pixel Sharp handled the one-night mapping job using four Panasonic RQ35K laser projectors. Installers notice these temporary coastal jobs because power, weather sealing, and quick teardown matter more than brochure brightness numbers.

Battery Packs on

an Exposed Site Anker Solix F3800 units supplied all power.

No generators ran on the cliff edge. That choice removed fuel logistics and noise complaints but forced tight runtime calculations. Coastal wind increases cooling load on the projectors. Techs had to verify actual draw at full output before the show window opened. They logged 1870 W per RQ35K at the chosen brightness level, then added 15 percent headroom for the Fx4 and media server. Three F3800 packs in parallel gave the crew a measured 4.2-hour window before voltage sag became a concern.

Cooling and Environmental Monitoring Wind across

the cliff face helped dissipate heat from

the projector bodies, yet it also pushed salt mist into the intake paths. The crew fitted fine-mesh screens over the vents and checked them every ninety minutes with a flashlight. One unit showed a 4 °C rise above baseline after ninety minutes; swapping its screen restored normal temperatures without interrupting the feed.

Controller and Software Path A single Datapath

Fx4 handled splitting and warping across

the irregular cliff face. MadMapper drove the content timeline. The signal chain stayed short: media server to Fx4 to the four projectors. Longer cable runs would have invited ground loops and moisture entry points. The team kept everything within one weatherproof rack footprint. They used four 15 m runs of Belden 1694A terminated with Neutrik etherCON connectors rated IP65. Each connector was torqued to 2.5 Nm on site to keep the seal intact under 40 km/h gusts.

Field Commissioning Realities Setup happened after dark.

Focus and blend had to hold against changing ambient light and wind vibration on the stands. Pixel Sharp already knew the 8-mile stretch from prior work, which cut survey time. They mounted each projector on Manfrotto 546B tripods with added sandbags and guy lines rated for 150 kg working load. Blend zones were adjusted live using a 10-bit test pattern from the media server; final edge softness measured under 12 pixels at the 38 m throw distance. A similar temporary install in a stadium or festival site would face the same issue: limited generator windows and strict load-in schedules.

Practical Takeaways for Next Job - Calculate true runtime with all four RQ35K units

at target brightness plus headroom for the Fx4 and media playback.

• Pre-test the full signal path on a spare machine the day before load-in. - Carry at least one spare Anker pack and pre-terminated weatherproof jumpers sized for the actual rack-to-projector distances. These steps reduce 2 a.m. surprises when the only access is a narrow coastal path and the client expects the image to stay locked until teardown.