Shure Wireless Antenna Questions

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Brian Lloyd

Freshman
Nov 28, 2011
13
0
0
so i had a brilliant idea, but think i might have shot myself in the foot. i was hoping to get everyones take on this issue.

the setup was in place before i got my hands on it...and don't have the funds to alter it...so i need to make it work as well as possible.

the setup is 6 Shure ULXP wireless body packs and receivers. there is a Shure antenna brain unit that can handle 4 units. 4 of the 6 units were linked through this for antenna and power. the catch is...there are no paddles...it was just equipped with 1/2 wave antennas. the other 2 are set up with their own power and 1/2 wave antennas.

i arranged everything so that each unit has their own set of 1/2 wave antennas...but the 4 units still use the distribution unit for power. lately I've been getting slight pops through some of the mics. I've had a ton of wireless interference lately, but i believe this is due to being in the LA area and other major metro areas.

have i shot myself in the foot by giving antennas to each of them? or was there some kind of advantage to using 2 antennas for the 4 networked units? in my head...it seems like the right move...but wanted some more expert opinions.

I'm open for any suggestions.

i do retune the packs daily to work around interference. i move cities every day.

thanks
 
Re: Shure Wireless Antenna Questions

If you retune your packs without coordination, that's your problem. Even if each frequency is clear individually, once all transmitters are on, things like IMD can really get you. Also, I'm not sure about the Shure antenna combiner you mention, but it may amplify the signal a bit.
 
Re: Shure Wireless Antenna Questions

yes they are re-coordinated every day. using a 3 step process. shure wireless frequency recommendations, RF Guru and Invisible Waves.
 
Re: Shure Wireless Antenna Questions

Scott Helmke said:
How close together are the receivers and their antennas? Having the forest of antennas in the back of a rack can definitely cause problems.
Click to expand...

Good shot, as every receiving antenna is always a transmitting antenna also.

I see nothing wrong with 1/2 wave antennas on a distributing unit, as long as there's a ground plane (front rack panel, for instance). This is better than sets of antennas on every receiver.
Are you scanning with Invisible Waves?
 
Re: Shure Wireless Antenna Questions

First thing to try is cutting down the forest and going back to the antenna distribution unit. When you have a bunch of antennas close together they can detune either other just by the presence of more metal in RF-friendly shapes.

Also, if it's the Shure half-wave antennas you don't need to worry about having a ground plane - those antennas are actually center-fed dipoles, and don't need to be on a ground plane. So you could put them on couplers on the end of a cable and get them up higher.
 
Re: Shure Wireless Antenna Questions

Scott Helmke said:
First thing to try is cutting down the forest and going back to the antenna distribution unit. When you have a bunch of antennas close together they can detune either other just by the presence of more metal in RF-friendly shapes.

Also, if it's the Shure half-wave antennas you don't need to worry about having a ground plane - those antennas are actually center-fed dipoles, and don't need to be on a ground plane. So you could put them on couplers on the end of a cable and get them up higher.
Click to expand...



This.



A little Coax and some BNC adapters will get those antennae out of the rack and into useful places.
 
Re: Shure Wireless Antenna Questions

Was it working before you got your hands on it? If so, why did you change it?

Using the distro is actually a better solution, as it contains an amplifier inside for the RF which can boost the signal slightly, and it keeps the mess down. If you picked up another distro, you could run the whole thing with 2 antennas.
 
Re: Shure Wireless Antenna Questions

Brian jojade said:
Was it working before you got your hands on it? If so, why did you change it?

Using the distro is actually a better solution, as it contains an amplifier inside for the RF which can boost the signal slightly, and it keeps the mess down. If you picked up another distro, you could run the whole thing with 2 antennas.
Click to expand...

Plus you can feed the scanner with exactly the same RF signal the receivers get as well.
 
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