Wireless/DTV

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:02 pm

OK so with the DTV switchover (heard about it on the news), how are you guys doing with wireless mics?

Not that I know much but are you finding it easier or harder to find operational frequencies and get noise floors down?

We still have analog TV in this country, although some places have swapped. Maybe we have and reclusive me failed to notice...

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:01 am

No big disturbances yet. The problematic frequencies in the 700 MHz range that have been auctioned off will be for a wide (and largely unknown) variety of wireless devices that may take weeks / months / years to implement. Satellites, terrestrial towers, repeaters and such will take some time to get up and online. Urban areas are likely to be affected first as they become one big wireless hotspot.

Broadcasting TV in digital is just Step #1. We'll have to watch as the other pieces start falling into place.

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:48 pm

All of us are operating illegally. There are only about 99 licenses issued by the FCC.

Many areas will not be experiencing any problems in the 700MHz band for a couple of years or so. It will be 2012 before many of the new networks in major markets will be complete. There should actually be more space available in some areas until then.

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:41 am

Last week, a local church asked me to check out their pastors' wireless rig. They were having issues with sound quality, mainly excessive handling noise and rumbling. After a quick check, I determined that the problem was a combination of poor operation at the board and a lower quality A-T model mic (plastic). Some quick adjustments (mainly bass roll-off and minimizing the cheesey compression on that channel) minimized the problems. The exasperrated pastor was astounded. He said that they called the A-T tech suppport who asked him for their zip code. The tech support came back and stated that their area was loaded with "all sorts of interference" in the operating band and that there wa nothing that they could do to alleviate this. I was surprised that they were so quick to blame the new FCC guidelines without asking probing questions....they're already on the defensive.

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:13 am

moonbaby wrote:

Last week, a local church asked me to check out their pastors' wireless rig. They were having issues with sound quality, mainly excessive handling noise and rumbling. After a quick check, I determined that the problem was a combination of poor operation at the board and a lower quality A-T model mic (plastic). Some quick adjustments (mainly bass roll-off and minimizing the cheesey compression on that channel) minimized the problems. The exasperrated pastor was astounded. He said that they called the A-T tech suppport who asked him for their zip code. The tech support came back and stated that their area was loaded with "all sorts of interference" in the operating band and that there wa nothing that they could do to alleviate this. I was surprised that they were so quick to blame the new FCC guidelines without asking probing questions....they're already on the defensive.

Well, having been on AT's side of things myself, I have experienced communications with novices myself. I understand how people mis apply labels to sounds and effects. I also understand that customers do not know our lingo. In the case of small churches and bands that most generally purchased their wireless from a box house and did not bother to buy the appropriate system, much less the appropriate frequency, I can see how AT would have told them that they have the wrong tool for the job, by the math/info that they have.

AT has been proactive, as have Shure, Sennheiser, etc. They have been publishing press releases and white papers for years now. I guess that they are pretty sick of the uneducated, head-in-the-sand, people calling them with complaints. We have all known that this was going to happen for 5 years for crying out loud.

This is no different than the "second coming".

This topic sponsored by: