RF Issues with radio mic system

D

David Luscombe

Sophomore
Mar 24, 2011
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Hi All

Well its that time of year and I will be doing the local theatre companys musical again and so once again out come the radio mics.
The theatre company owns 16 Channels of AKG WMS4000 with antenna distro and paddles and so thats all pretty sweet.
The issue I have is that when they bought the units they didnt buy the hubs for them and so its hard to co-ordinate them around the interferance we have with the local digital TV.

I have been following the various threads here about it and have a few questions. I have had a look at RFGURU and the IAS system and even downloaded a demo of the IAS program. So the first question is whether anyone knows whether those two programs might work in Australia.

The second question is that i also looked at the Shure Wireless workbench unit and Also the Kaltman Creation Invisible Waves X and both these need add on units obviously to see whats going on with the RF. So i dont have any shure stuff and wont be buying anything in the near future and some people seem down a bit on the Kaltman stuff (it also seems unavailable in Australia) so my question is what are my other choices inthis style of unit that is available?

So far i have done the frequency by trail and error but i would like to see if there is a cost effective way of doing it a lot better.

cheers Dave
 
Re: RF Issues with radio mic system

I just installed Shure Wireless Workbench 5 because I just picked up a UHF-R wireless system. Even without the system (which can do live environment scans), WW is excellent; it looks up where you are and can tell you what is registered with the FCC in your area. You can add custom wireless systems along with Shure systems and auto-allocate frequencies to avoid IMD and other bad RF things.

Check this link for more info:

http://www.soundforums.net/live/threads/3220-RF-Coordination-for-Roadies-a-manual

I'm pretty new at advanced wireless, but I can already see that my RF is going to be rock-solid from now on.
 
Re: RF Issues with radio mic system

The IAS (IMD) rf coordination program will work in Australia. However the TV station databases are only for the USA and Canada. This means that you must manually enter the stations on use at a location. This is the method I use anyway since the FCC database is sometimes not totally current.

Checkout http://www.bestaudio.com/Freq_coord.htm for more information.
 
Re: RF Issues with radio mic system

Peter Erskine said:
The IAS (IMD) rf coordination program will work in Australia. However the TV station databases are only for the USA and Canada. This means that you must manually enter the stations on use at a location. This is the method I use anyway since the FCC database is sometimes not totally current.

Checkout http://www.bestaudio.com/Freq_coord.htm for more information.
Click to expand...

I just realized the OP is in Australia. :blush:
 
Re: RF Issues with radio mic system

Hi Dave,

Here are two options for scanning the local rf enviroment for TV stations.
Maybe look at the winradio scanners as they are based in Australia. www.winradio.com
I am very happy with my TTi PSA1301, but it is a bit more money.
 
Re: RF Issues with radio mic system

David Luscombe said:
.... Australia. ....i also looked at the Shure Wireless workbench....

So far i have done the frequency by trail and error but i would like to see if there is a cost effective way of doing it a lot better.

cheers Dave
Click to expand...

Hi Dave,

Shure Wireless Workbench (WWB) does include Australian data and a postcode look-up. I tried it just a few days ago (for Sydney) and compared it's results to data I'd compiled from looking up TV licenses, transmitter power and locations. WWB matched perfectly, although it was a little conservative. It showed up analog stations around 40km's away in Wollongong that were not radiating into my area of southern Sydney.

Personally, I don't know WWB much at all. I use mostly Sennheiser gear and their SIFM software - it's only good for intermod checks. (I wish Sennheiser would add more features.) A few years ago I was introduced to the lead RF guy at Norwest Productions. He used/uses WWB extensively and had been feeding updates on the Australian data back to Shure.

I have used the WinRadio WR-G33WSM receiver (standalone) to look around. And according to their website, it interfaces with WWB 5.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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Re: RF Issues with radio mic system

Hi All

Thanks for the responses so far. I am having a play with the shure WWB. I will be back with Questions I am sure. Any other ideas are welcome!!!

Cheers Dave
 
Re: RF Issues with radio mic system

OK so I have been playing with Shure WWB and have been using just the Shure units and i think it will do exactly what i want. The next question is where do i get the info for other wireless units so that i can add them in.Obviously i can get it off the units themselves but i just wondered if you can download the relevant info from somewhere for a range of units?

Cheers Dave
 
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