Re: 131st AES Convention Observations
I normally use normal power (10mw) and either stock whips or a combination of passive paddles and whips for exactly the reason you state. Sometimes I end up with the Shure active paddles but almost always run them @ +3. Henry has emphasized over the years (and I've been listening) that over-driving the receiver is a common issue and that generally the only reason to use a lot of gain on an active antenna is to overcome a lossy cable. Using high power on the transmitter is also often an unnecessary thing, especially in the distances that I normally work (<120'). I also generally follow the rule of setting all the mics in the Shure prescribed groups. But let me clarify the "issue". I often see a strong signal on an unused mic receiver when I have a couple or more transmitters in close physical proximity (6"?) to each other and within 10-15 feet of the receivers.
I had some issues with a rack of receivers in Detroit once where I had drop outs and whirlybirds despite all mics being UR and set to the same group (and clean RF meters when all transmitters were off). Between sessions I went through all 10 mics and tested various combinations of transmitters on and off (with all transmitters over 30' away from the antennas). After finding the problematic combinations I switched some frequencies (to other open numbers in the group) and had no issues from then on. I may have had some bad kit that caused those problems but I have adopted this test into my normal routine when using more than a few mics and I often find a few combinations that really seem to peg the meters. So, I find myself concerned about my lav mics (on-stage 30+ feet away) when I have a pile of Q&A mics on my tech table right next to the receivers/antennas.
Now, I'm not literate enough about RF to know where exactly this issue is happening but I do realize that there is a real world limit wrt transmitter power and proximity to the antennae. I'm also aware of intermod issues in the transmitters themselves. BTW, just what is being shown in the graphs that Bennett posted? Also, I'm curious why the single Axient shows about 15db less level than the 2 peaks in the graph of 2 Axient transmitters.
