Wireless Microphone Distance

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Billy James

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Oct 2, 2014
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Hello all!! Got a question, been to all brands and they all say theirs is the best. I have a customer that is looking for a wireless microphone with the longest reception distance. They currently use a sennheiser g2 and it does work decent but is not a good fit for a company that needs to mute it regularly this is a race track and the announcer uses it a lot. We have replaced the mute switch 3 times. Just looking for a good mic that will serve their purpose. Thanks or any help!

Billy James
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

While it may be above your price range, Lectrosonics with proper antennas is your best bet. The body packs are practically indestructible, and they have options for higher power systems if you really need the extra distance (though I believe you'll need an FCC license for that).
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

Thanks Max! I thought about getting an external antenna for the system. I have used a G2 receiver with a plug on transmitter on a Sennheiser e835 switched mic for years now for directors. Just add the antenna and maybe this mite work. I have several tracks that are asking about being able to walk around the pit areas and such. I announce also and I travel with a cheap Galaxy Any Spot HH64 wireless and it works great up to about 600 feet.. But drop it one time and it's done lol!!
Thanks again!
Billy James
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

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Sennheiser SKM 300 G3 with rubber mute/unmute switch.
For a racetrack i would mount a proper set of antennas on a mast or some where up high. 2 Sennheiser 2003 paddles mounted in free air should give very fine coverage.
 
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Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

Newer Shure with the axient talk switch (AXT651). I believe it will work with UR (and UXLD) as a mute only.

Everyone deals with the same Tx power in the UHF band, best way to pick it up, is to use external antennas covering the area of operation with proper, low-loss cables.

BRad.
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

Thanks guys! I do theatrical work and I have used 36 sennheiser wireless body mics. I use the Shure Helical antennas with no signal loss. For this particular venue I think a paddle antenna will work. Thanks for the help!
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

Max Warasila said:
While it may be above your price range, Lectrosonics with proper antennas is your best bet. The body packs are practically indestructible, and they have options for higher power systems if you really need the extra distance (though I believe you'll need an FCC license for that).
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Lectrosonics are great-not cheap-but quality never is.

Also using directional antennas can help quite a bit.

I have used lectoronics in cases where other mics simply did not work (for a variety of reasons) and they work great-especially in high RF situations.
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

Y not use two receivers tuned to the same frequency spread across the area that your trying to cover and go with the one that's receiving best? Yagis seem to give excellent directional coverage in my expertise.
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

Chris Greco said:
Y not use two receivers tuned to the same frequency spread across the area that your trying to cover and go with the one that's receiving best? Yagis seem to give excellent directional coverage in my expertise.
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This has been common practice for years. It's called a diversity receiver, although locating the antennas remotely from the receiver is not as common as the receivers are.
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

What max distance are they looking for? Usually most applications are only looking a maybe 100 feet or so as the delay times make working with them very difficult. That said, higher power and lower frequency would be the best place to start looking. IN the US you would need a license for anything over a 50 mW transmitter. There are also specialty antennas that could be helpful depending on how mach/far you expect the transmitter to be moving. You could also explore a multi antenna setup.

Ever consider a walkie-talkie :)
 
Re: Wireless Microphone Distance

Billy James said:
Hello all!! Got a question, been to all brands and they all say theirs is the best. I have a customer that is looking for a wireless microphone with the longest reception distance. They currently use a sennheiser g2 and it does work decent but is not a good fit for a company that needs to mute it regularly this is a race track and the announcer uses it a lot. We have replaced the mute switch 3 times. Just looking for a good mic that will serve their purpose. Thanks or any help!

Billy James
Click to expand...

The specific model you might consider from Lectrosonics is the HH handheld transmitter. It has an external button that can be set as a mute switch (latching) or a cough switch (momentary). The HH can be run at 100 mW which is the most available for any standard handheld as far as I'm aware. Any standard capsule can be threaded on (Shure, EV, Heil) and of course, we make our own capsule, too (HHC). This transmitter can be used with any Lectrosonics receiver. Probably the model that makes sense for your application is the R400A.

On the receiving end, use LPDA or helical type antennas, and get them high (10 - 15 ft) so they are over everyone's heads and spread them at least 10 ft. apart and have them pointed to where the mic is going to be. These antennas have a roughly cardioid pickup pattern, so they are not like a laser.

Be sure to have low loss antenna cable, and use RF boosters only to overcome the losses in the cable. Using LPDAs or helicals gives you about 4dB of passive boost, which is already enough to overcome the loss of 100 ft. of 9913F7 cable, so, in that scenario, no boosters needed.
 
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