Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

Jason Raboin

Sophomore
Apr 6, 2011
224
2
18
Northampton, MA
I was seriously considering taking the plunge and getting the Lectrasonics kit for wireless tuning purposes. I am finishing up a tour where it was common to have flown left and right arrays, stacked left and right arrays, side fills, front fills, and even rear choir fills. Time is of the essence trying to get it all sounding like music, and running hundreds of feet of xlr is a pita. I knew that you couldn't buy the TM400 in Europe, but just yesterday realized you can't USE it in Europe. So now I'm left looking for another solution. Any suggestions?
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

I am using the Line6 wireless with an AKG battery phantom power unit. 2.4 GHz legally.

You could get a license for the Lectro in Germany, but it may be more expensive than buying the Line6. Quite silly license pricing for touring and single gigs.

Edit: which frequency band are you using? At least for Germany I could give more information based on the band.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

We have the big Digital Dividend I change in Europe, so a lot of spectrum is allocated to LTE providers. We are still allowed to use that 800 MHz band, 790-865, without a license, we are not allowed to harm LTE and of course we are harmed by LTE, which is starting to lift off here.
Under 790 we need to have a license, under 710 local licenses (more expensive, less flexible). Plus there are digital TV stations there.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

According to another forum they aren't ROHS compliant, so it's not really about the frequency. If that is no longer true, getting licenses for the frequency would be considered a tour expense.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

According to another forum they aren't ROHS compliant, so it's not really about the frequency. If that is no longer true, getting licenses for the frequency would be considered a tour expense.

I'd contact Lectrosonics on this. These days, it's pretty hard for electronics equipment to not meet RoHS unless they are still using leaded solder. And switching to lead-free solder hasn't been a big deal for several years.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

One more thing: Europe is not a harmonized area regarding UHF spectrum. Every country has its own laws and licensing. We are in the process of harmonizing spectrum allocation but it's not likely to have harmonized licensing within the next century or two.
This can be confusing when Europe is seen as an entity it simply can not be.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

While it may not be fair to consider Europe as a whole, when my tour goes to France, Germany, Italy, and Austria I need to consider it as such. That said I will contact Lectrasonics and see what they think.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

While it may not be fair to consider Europe as a whole, when my tour goes to France, Germany, Italy, and Austria I need to consider it as such. That said I will contact Lectrasonics and see what they think.

Some of us think of Europe as a hole...:-).. Just teasing Europe, you know I love ya...

How was a the mess in Frankfurt? Kind of peaceful not having to work that puppy. :-)

JR
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

While it may not be fair to consider Europe as a whole, when my tour goes to France, Germany, Italy, and Austria I need to consider it as such. That said I will contact Lectrasonics and see what they think.

For Germany I can give you advice on everything wireless, partly for Austria as well. Just PM me with details. I know how wireless measurement is addictive as it saves so much time and hassle during the process.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

are you saying your show doesn't use ANY wireless channels?
surely there are frequencies that have already been licensed for the show that you can borrow during tune-time?

Jason
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

Some of us think of Europe as a hole...:-).. Just teasing Europe, you know I love ya...

How was a the mess in Frankfurt? Kind of peaceful not having to work that puppy. :-)

JR

Oh, it sure is a hole. One that swallows money. But we can use one currency in a lot of countries and that's a plus.

Frankfurt was on my list but I did not make it for work reasons. And sleep after work, I rate this higher than a few years ago.

I would love to see more harmonization regarding wireless frequencies, so touring in Europe would be more easy for everyone.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

I would love to see more harmonization regarding wireless frequencies, so touring in Europe would be more easy for everyone.

It's logical and makes sense to everybody involved except the several separate bureaucracies that would lose their justification to exist.

If only the public could have some say into making the rules. :-)

JR
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

The problem AFAIK is the 75khz deviation as used in 400 series mode is too large for some european countries.
The danish wireless situation is actually very good, we can use the white spaces between DTV for free, maximum transmitting power 50mW. An official app will give you the white spaces you can use at any given adress: Find frekvenser til trådløse mikrofoner — IT- OG TELESTYRELSEN try typing in "aarhus" under the map and click "find".
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

According to another forum they aren't ROHS compliant, so it's not really about the frequency. If that is no longer true, getting licenses for the frequency would be considered a tour expense.

I'd be interested to know where that information is posted. We've had ROHS compliant product now for several years.

Regarding frequency bands: We make 17 different frequency bands, some specifically for the EU (block 606 for the UK comes to mind).

Regarding the FM deviation, our EU-specific transmitters have the legally allowed amount - I think it is 45 kHz.

The HM/E01 is the EU-specific variant of the plug-on transmitter that is used for T&M: hm | Transmitters

The one item we DON'T have in the EU market is the commonly used R400A receiver. This may be why you run into the statement that "the TM400 System isn't available in the EU".

However, many other receivers can work in place of the R400A. Most commonly is the Venue system, which, understandably, may not be for everyone - it is a modular rack-mount receiver. When it DOES make sense is if you are planning to use more than one channel for your T&M rig. Many customers are using 3 or 4 channels, and the Venue makes perfect sense. venue-series | Receivers

Another receiver we know is being used for T & M is the SRa dual-channel mini receiver. There are a number of accessories for this receiver allowing different powering, mounting, etc. sr-series | Receivers

I hope this clears everything up.

Sincerely,

-Karl
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

The post I was referring to is from 2008, so it makes sense that you have in the last 4 years become ROHS compliant. Thank you for the information and the options.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

FWIW. I've been in contact with the dealer here and according tho the information provided by them Lectro wireless measurement products should be legal here in Norway. AFAIK the biggest issue is that their US plug-on transmitters has a RF output of 100mW, maximum RF output in Norway is 50mW.
If your RF output is below 50mW and you stick to frequency range 510–790 MHz or 823-832 MHz there should be no legal problems.
 
Re: Wireless measurement in Europe (legally)

FWIW. I've been in contact with the dealer here and according tho the information provided by them Lectro wireless measurement products should be legal here in Norway. AFAIK the biggest issue is that their US plug-on transmitters has a RF output of 100mW, maximum RF output in Norway is 50mW.
If your RF output is below 50mW and you stick to frequency range 510–790 MHz or 823-832 MHz there should be no legal problems.

As I mentioned, we make a 50mW, EU-legal version of the HM transmitter for export to the EU. The specific model number is HM/E0-1, and it is available in a number of different frequency blocks.