What to do with a 700 wireless system

Hal Harrison

Hal Harrison

Sophomore
Sep 22, 2011
151
0
16
Greenville, SC
www.harrisonpro.net
Hello all,

So a church called me in today to assess their current sound system to begin master planning a new system based on their current and future needs. When I went to the church I noticed that one of their Sennheiser G1 handheld wireless systems was in the 700mHz band. I proceeded to tell the music minister that wireless systems in the 700 band had been outlawed by the FCC in 2009 and he actually made a good point in his reply stating that "what's going to happen, is the FCC police going to come to my church and arrest me?" After a good laugh between the 2 of us I told him probably not but if they had not already done so, they may start having frequency issue problems and the 700 band becomes allocated to other wireless devices. He then asked if he could sell the the perfectly working unit to someone and I told him that they can be purchased overseas but in the US. I also told him that several wireless mic manufacturers had offered trade-up rebates to old 700 systems but most all (including Sennheiser) has since ended. My question to you guys is - does anyone have any ideas on how to sell 700 wireless systems to other countries beside here and on eBay and is there any real reason the church cant continue using the system until interference becomes a problem?

Thanks
Hal Harrison
 
Re: What to do with a 700 wireless system

Unfortunately companies like Verizon and such who are using the band (not to mention the life safety systems, which you should never ever interfere with) don't care whether your a church or not, they will sue to as much extent as possible for you even having a small transmitter like that operating. Selling overseas takes an exporting license even for something as small as that. There best bet is to find out if Sennheisser will change out the frequency for a certain amount of coin. Otherwise cease use of the system. While receiving interference isn't a big thing a $120k fine isn't so small
 
Re: What to do with a 700 wireless system

Jordan Lahr said:
Selling overseas takes an exporting license even for something as small as that.
Click to expand...

Not always. Something as benign as a microphone is usually an EAR 99 Classification-NLR. That means that the Commerce Department has decided this is covered in that class of goods (Class 99) for which there is No License Required. I haven't checked this specific item, but I work for the US Government in a field that deals with EAR and ITAR on a daily basis and this would be my guess.
 
Re: What to do with a 700 wireless system

http://www.mbcb.org/business_services/cs/microphones.aspx

As far as getting caught, it may be more likely than you think. The cell phone companies do drive around with some pretty sophisticated equipment measuring RF signals of all types. They can easily detect when microphones are being used. And the range of transmission can be surprising. They can detect it much further away than your usable range.

But, hey, if you're willing to risk a 6 figure fine, then keep using that mic.
 
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