Airsoft El Paso

New Class of events

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: RipperPost Time: 01-01-2009 at 06:03 PM

Airsofters in houston

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: shootkillreloadPost Time: 01-02-2009 at 07:05 PM

were can i find airsoft events close to me?

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: austinassassinPost Time: 01-02-2009 at 11:26 PM

Looking for airsoft near me

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: Nate Da GreatPost Time: 01-03-2009 at 02:48 AM

Viewing the Enhanced Podcast

Several people have said they can't get the enhanced podcast to work. There are a couple ways to see the enhanced podcast:

1) Download from iTunes onto your video-capable iPod or iPhone and check it out there
2) View it on iTunes
3) Download the .m4a file directly and watch it on the quicktime player (not recommended)

For those of you watching it on iTunes You first have to download the actual episode. Playing it from our iTunes store page won't show you the pictures. I'm not going to explain how to download the episode cause you should all be subscribed and it will do it automatically

When it's downloaded- you must click this button:

Which will open the appropriate window to see the images:

Taso!

Forum: TASO Policy DiscussionsPosted By: hellhoundsPost Time: 12-12-2008 at 07:42 PM

Best airsoft for...

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: xCobaltPost Time: 12-13-2008 at 12:47 PM

Greetings

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: fijkusPost Time: 12-19-2008 at 01:41 PM

front sight on Jg m4

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: bigjgwPost Time: 12-22-2008 at 08:09 PM

Episode 14

It's up! So check it out- you guys asked for it so we did it: Episode 14 is an "enhanced podcast" meaning when you listen to it in iTunes, be sure to open the album art window and you should see our logo. That will change throughout the show with pictures of what we're talking about. Kinda like a powerpoint presentation. Also, some of the images have embedded links so if we're talking about an event, for example, you can click it and be taken to the website. Also if we're reviewing a gun, you can click the picture and go directly to the store to check it out. We're pretty happy with the quality of the sound too and we hope you'll enjoy!

This episode is packed full of firsts! It's our FIRST enhanced podcast, FIRST episode with our new awesome studio and FIRST episode with an actual in-studio guest! Our guest is our very own TOP, MSGT Alex Radke of Bulldog 3 fame. We review the CA SA58 OSW and the CA Sportline P90. We also come back to a couple guns we reviewed before to give some long-term follow up reports. We have airsoft news featuring our official correspondent, Booligan and for Tech, we talk about tactical gear that's not "tactical".

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Also- if you really love us and want to help us out, there are a couple things you can do. First- we're selling DeadRag patches on the website now! And a way that's absolutly FREE that helps us is, hop over to our iTunes page and write us a 5 star review. Tell us what you think! It'll help keep our rank up and give people an idea of what we do. Thanks for your support!

Behind The Scenes at DeadRag 2.0!

Ok folks, here's a behind the scenes look at our NEW AND IMPROVED DeadRag studios!

Here's me rockin the mic

Here's Micah similarly rockin the mic

Here we are having one of our typical heated discussions on the show

And here we are test firing the review guns into our faces to see how hard they shoot (our normal testing method)

This is a CA P90

Ok, for you folks that want the technical specs, behold!

Here's my station

I did a BUNCH of research into gear in preparing for the new equipment. I looked at pics of actual talk radio studios and looked at other's podcast studios. There was ALOT of cool stuff. What I decided on though was this boomerang-shaped desk that would allow 3 people to have a workspace, myself with the mixing console, micah with a laptop and room for notes and a guest would just get a small portion of the desk since we will rarely have actual guests here.

1. My set of AKG K77 headphones- pretty decent for monitoring. They were relatively inexpensive and they are pretty darn comfortable while blocking out external noise well.
2. Behringer AMP800 4-channel headphone amp. This allows us to have 4 sets of headphones hooked up so we can monitor ourselves (hear our voices while we talk) as well as hear callers and playbacks for editing. We can also have 2 individual inputs piped into the headphones if we need and each pair has it's own individual volume control
3. 20" 2.4GHz iMac with 4 gigs of RAM. This is the computer where we're now recording the show. We're using GarageBand right now for doing the show. We used to use a PC with Audacity and Cubase but Garageband, while simple, is surprisingly well-suited for making a podcast and has all the built-in vocal effects that do stuff like make us sound extra-sexy and block out background noise and any hiss. We also have stuff set up that's called a compressor which keeps our vocal volume consistent- kinda like auto volume control on the voices. all that software tweaking will keep the show overall volume consistent so we don't have loud bursts and really quiet parts like we used to.
4. The oh-so-beautiful MXL 990 phantom-powered condenser mic that I use. I did exhaustive research into mics and while there are mics that range form $10 to $1000, this mic got alot of great reviews from podcasters as well as singers and musicians. The price isn't really bad at all and it comes with the nifty cool spider shock mount to isolate the mic from the vibrations that travel through the mount. So if we set something on the desk, the mic won't pick it up.
5.Musician's Gear double pop filter. It's basically a disc with pantyhose material stretched over it to keep you from blowing into the mic on the P sounds and breaths. I went for the double-screen model cause I wanted the extra protection. Singers are picky with these cause people say it can "color" the voice a tad but for us, that dosent matter. It's so good that I can blow as hard as I can into it and the mic won't max out.
6. KRK Rocket 5 powered studio monitors. These are commonly seen at Guitar Center and are a really good quality affordable monitor with built-in amps. They are not just fancy speakers for listening to iTunes! They are a flat-range monitor. Meaning they are suitable for mastering your audio mixes and hearing the sound accurately which is important. I actually had these for a couple years from my music days. We use them to playback and edit the show. If you master with monitors, the mix will usually sound good on all kinds of different systems that the end user will have.
7. Q-Mic scissor boom stands. These are AWESOME! They are the kind of mic stands used in talk radio studios for good reason. You can basically "float" the mic wherever you need it and it keeps your desk surface free. They're pricier than most alternatives but worth it if you need to type, take notes and stuff while recording. They clamp to the desk with c-clamps.
8. Phonic Helix Board 12 Firewire Mixer. This one is greatness. A mixer is a MUST for a podcast. Another piece of gear I did exhaustive research on. Our mics require what's called "phantom power" so you have to have a mic pre-amp that provides power to the mic. This one will power 4 mics and has a bunch of other goodies that I won't go into. The main coolness though is that it's firewire. It's it's own soundcard. With USB mixers, they will output all the mics or whatever into one track and send to the PC. So if we had that style, Micah, the guest and me would all come in on the same track in the software so any effects we applied would just blanket all three people. With Firewire, each person comes in as his own separate track so we can individually customize each person's sound. It's great!
9. The geisha statue- a very important piece of the show.
10. Authentic Ming Dynasty vase- for real! I swear!

Here's Micah's and the guest station:

1. Some external hard drives for the Mac
2. Micah's AKG K77 headphones- see #1 above
3. Micah's MXL 990 microphone and double pop filter- see #4, 5 and 7 above
4. Laptop for internet useage- gotta have a way to quickly know prices of products and stuff from the interweb!
5. The guest AKG K77 headphones- see #1 above
6. Guest mic and basic mic stand. This mic is one I already had- it's a basic AKG OT 100 dynamic mic and an inexpensive adjustable desktop stand. While not nearly as clean as the MXL, it's good enough for the limited use it'll get and sounds surprisingly good but it requires a ton of gain from the mixer to get it to the volume of our mics. (It was from Mars Music! Remember them?)
7. P90! Just in case...
8. The guest chair! It's a "whatever I have handy" kind of thing. This time, it was my official Craftsman creeper stool that I use for working on suspension and brakes in the garage. It has wheels and adjustable height. Yay!

Other items:
All furniture provided by Ikea. Yes, I'm an Ikea-whore. This room is my "formal dining room" that we didn't use for anything. Just an empty nook so that's where I put the studio. It's an all-tile room so I got some pretty neat rugs from ikea to match the rest of our stuff and help block some echo. Also of note is my wife's MASSIVE DVD collection. I think 3 or 4 are mine but I picked out the shelves ;) Also the collage of childhood photos behind Micah. My wife did that one and I really want to take them all down but will probably have to leave them. It's only embarrassing after the first 50 people see them. There's also a bunch of other stuff like misc cables and doodads. Alot of it I already had.

So that's it! We're going to be bringing you the "next generation" of DeadRag and we hope you'll enjoy. We recorded on Saturday and will have Episode 14 up probably by mid week. Of note- besides the new smooth vocal sounds, we have a new Kapowwe commercial that Micah and I produced using only our bare wit and we have a new cool "stay-tuned" bumper from TOP himself! If you didn't guess, he was our first DeadRag 2.0 guest for ep 14!

Laser Weapon Sights

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: boingoPost Time: 12-07-2008 at 09:54 AM

harlingen area???

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: MokyPost Time: 12-11-2008 at 03:00 AM

Ares AEGs coming to the US!

There will soon be a new AEG manufacturer that is now going to be officially available in the U.S.. You mihgt have seen some of their products like the DSR and some of their FALs over at Gunners and other overseas stores but now they're coming to the U.S.. DeadRag will be getting some of their products starting probably in a month or two and we'll be doing reviews and photos of some of the AEGs they have to offer. We're really excited about seeing their line of weapons! Check out their official press release below:

Press Release? ARES USA LLC

Austin, Texas? A new brand introduction to the airsoft gun market, ARES (name based on the Greek God of War), has just released its new line of Automatic Electric Guns (AEG) and Gas Powered guns for the North American market. Distributed and Marketed through ARES USA LLC, the new line of guns and accessoriescaters to the avid airsoft player and collector. With a high standard of quality and performance to back up each gun?s realistic features and markings, each ARES AEG gun is built around a durable and reliable reinforced metal gearbox with an out of box performance of 360-380 FPS. The standard motor included in ARES AEG?s are high torque 1000 rpm which produce a high rate of fire and all AEG?s are Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery compatible (although batteries are not included). All of ARES gear boxes and firing mechanisms are upgradeable for higher performance and adjustable for optimal accuracy. For its line of highly realistic gas propelled sniper rifles, ARES prides itself on high performance and long range accuracy with guns models held in high regards by military and law enforcement snipers. Each ARES gun replicates the look and feel of real steel with most designs havingCNC milled components and rails, metal magazines, steel bodies, and reinforced polymer grips. ARES designed guns are not replicas or clones from other airsoft manufacturers, but rather each gun is designed and tested in-house to meet player?s needs while focusing on authenticity. In its initialdebut to the US market, ARES will release the following weapons:
AEG Assault Rifles

6 types of M4 variants
FNC SCAR Light and SCAR Deluxe (with grenade launcher)
HK G36C
L85A2 Carbine

AEG Support Weapons

M-60E4
MK-43

Gas Sniper Rifles

AMP DSR1
Cheytac M-200

In addition to its line of airsoft guns, accessories sold through ARES USA LLC include various fore grips, magazines, sights/scopes, and flash hiders. ARES is also scheduled to release several new designs for 2009/2010 that are both popular models for the airsoft player and unique models for the collector enthusiast. For information regarding the product line and manufacturer specs, please visitwww.aresusa.com, and for reseller inquiries/pricing, please emailinfo@aresusa.com.

Production Update: Episode 14

We'll be recording Episode 14 this Saturday and we will sound awesome with our new audio gear! Our guest will be MSGT "Top" Radke, an Iraq vet and 20+ year career Marine who has started playing airsoft on a pro level in the last year. We will have some great reviews of some new AEGs and we'll talk about inexpensive tactical gear alternatives.

OP: Sunrise

Forum: Upcoming EventsPosted By: ShadowFox101Post Time: 12-01-2008 at 11:38 PM

Austin area team needs players

Forum: AnnouncementsPosted By: KroenenPost Time: 12-02-2008 at 04:43 PM

Pics from DeadFest!

Yes- people actually came to DeadRag's 1st ever event! Thanks to the support of everyone that came, we'll be upgrading our podcast. So no more wierd audio and glitches (hopefully)!

Here are some pics from the event:

The Russian Commander, JR!

The Georgian Commander, Mulder!

Me and some other guys using our vehicle as cover (you can see the new ICS L85 A2 that we'll be reviewing)

More pics here!

Announcing the Incarnation of DeadRag 2.0

I want to give an update to all those who follow the show. As you may already know, we've put on our first OP, DeadFest: Sphere of Influence. The goal of us doing this event (and possibly future ones) was to first, work for the community and try out a new style of game. We don't have any real Russian-themed games so we're thinking of possibly making future DeadFests (if there are any) into Russian conflict games to give a variety over the stuff we normally do. We also tryed out the Battlefield (1942, 2, 2142) style conquest game and even built some cool flags that can be raised and lowered. But all that aside, our second reason for doing DeadFest was to benefit the radio show. We used to take cash from our sponsors to help with operating costs and equipment but the problem with that was, while money helped, we didn't get much gear to review. What we heard from our listeners was "MORE GEAR REVIEWS!" so we shifted and stopped asking for monetary contributions from our sponsors and now only get gear so we can review it on the show. Gear is fun, but it doesn't pay the bills.

Here's how our show works- a "behind the scenes", if you will:
Our DeadRag studio is my room basically and we use some crappy Fry's gaming headset mics with a headphone splitter that goes into the soundcard on my computer. My room is packed with airsoft gear and Micah has to sit close to the back of my desk in a wierd position so the cables reach- and it gets hot with the equipment and the door closed haha. Callers are piped in from Skype. Everything is recorded into a free program called Audacity and then outputted into Cubase so I can mix the pre-recorded stuff like the commercials, bumps and music beds with the recorded audio. It takes us a FULL Saturday to record one show then it takes me another 5-6 hours processing the audio and trying to make it sound non-crappy (which works sometimes, sometimes not). Then I have to create the RSS feed and write the show descriptions, upload the files to my server (which I luckily borrow space on from a friend) and ping itunes to let them know that the show is up. At some point in the middle of all this, we would have set up my lighting and backdrop in my living room and done photos of all the review gear. Then I take a few hours processing the photos, adding our watermark, saving them to a web-friendly format and uploading to my server space. After all that goodness, I then create a new post on the DeadRag site with the notes from the episode, upload pics, get links posted and add a link to the MP3 episode file so people can download it directly from our website that's usually another 2 hours.

And that's how we make one episode! This is why it takes up so long between episodes.

This brings me to the next section- DeadRag 2.0. The goal was to be able to drastically increase our sound quality and make recording the show more streamlined so we can produce episodes faster and at a higher quality. We want to be professional radio quality. This equates to money which is where DeadFest came in. It was a small OP with about 70 players total but, through the participation of a BUNCH of great local listeners, we were able to raise enough money to dramatically upgrade the show as well as cover the expenses for putting on the event. We are not pocketing a dime of the proceeds but dumping it all into equipment for DeadRag Radio! We are building a home studio which includes a firewire mixer, some phantom-powered condenser mics with shock mounts and pop filters, mic stands, a headphone amp with 4 studio monitor headphones, a new iMac to use as our recording platform with some nifty new recording software, and a big desk to put it all on. And I have a big empty space in my living room that we can move the studio into. We also want the option of doing the show in other locations, either at events or airsoft stores or whatever. Another goal is to be able to record shows in one-shot or close to one shot to cut down the editing time and to possibly enable us to do live shows where people can call in (hopefully we can get there!). If we get to that point, then it's possible that we could do a Howard Stern style videocast of us recording the show. So DeadFest was a HUGE key to getting up a step closer to where we'd like to be.

We really appreciate all the support that the local community has shown us! The game was a BLAST and we're hoping to do another one in the spring. We've ordered our equipment and I'll put up some pics of the new studio once we get it all set up. If everything goes smoothly, we'll be able to do our next episode with substantially better quality and do more of them. So Episode 14 will be the first episode of DeadRag 2.0!

Support weapon fps limit question

Forum: TASO General DiscussionsPosted By: GunnyPost Time: 11-11-2008 at 06:44 PM