Wireless microphone receivers dropping signals during a city parade (follow up to previous issues)
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2024
- Looking back at the years of 2022 and 2023 with the problems of the wireless microphones during a city parade.
After some brief research on the audio drop-out issues we were experiencing, it became very evident what was taking place to cause the drop-outs with the wireless receivers.
This video covers the issues with the wireless mics and receivers, and the reasons why they occurred.
If I didn't live on the wrong side of the Atlantic it would be a pleasure to come and sort things out! My suggestions are:- Use a pair of paddle antenna on a tall lighting stand, say 3m up spaced about 1m apart. Put the receivers in the base of the stand tripod - for protection - and run as short an RF cable as possible (say 4m). Remember thin 50 ohm coax presents a receiver signal loss to the receiver for every metre of cable (Loss tables available on line) Passive paddle antenna give you about 4dB of gain (to combat the cable loss) active paddle antenna will give you about 10-15dB of gain but you need phantom power from your receivers, and I don't think the model you use will do that. Put the tripod as close to the action as possible but in a safe environment - suggest in the closed off area around the centre piece. Run a couple of audio cables and a mains - that will all be in the closed off area. Another trick I do is as soon as I am on site I switch on my transmitters. That stops any auto scan receivers thinking the frequency you want to use is free. It just costs a couple of batteries, and it you use re-chargeables, almost no cost. Hope that helps. I have also posted my details via your website.
Great information! Thanks for including it. Some time ago, we looked at paddle antennas (Sennheiser and RF Venue). I'm fairly confident they would work, however, we could not justify the cost just for a 2 hr. event once a year. Would we use the paddle antennas for other events, probably not... We do not have issues with the wireless gear on our larger events. My thought for now is if the emcee will not be moving from the corner, I may throw an XLR over the street light where the emcee stands and run a wired mic. Thanks again for your great response.
look into getting some paddle antennas, there directional so point them into the middle where the mc stands you shouldn't have any issues
Thanks. We looked at paddle antennas some time ago, but could not justify the cost just for this parade event. We do not have these issues with larger events, it's just the parade. I may actually go back to using a wired mic; especially if the emcee will not be moving.
Paddles help tremendously! I went paddles for outdoor gigs a while ago, and no dropouts!
I do this kind of events once or twice a year. I use Audio-Technica ATW-1322. You can take off the antenna receiver and extend it cat 5 and put it on top of my speaker way high or use a light stand. It works for me.
I've read some of the other comments, and I've been watching the Christmas Parade Saga since like 2019, seeing the issues and changes as they've arisen each year. If buying a paddle antenna isn't worth it, could you rent one? I don't know much about renting audio gear though. Another observation when looking at your receiver tower: would it be possible to put your wireless receiver on top of one of your mains? From the camera's POV, it looks like the top of the speaker would have a better line of sight to your mic. Maybe something to try?
Thanks for your comment. "Saga" is correct! It has been suggested to put the receivers on the top of one of the speakers. I'm not opposed to this, however, there is some logistic issues with it, mostly due to ensuring protection of the receivers from high wind, rain, snow, without impacting the actual speaker. I'm still looking at other options, but have not ruled out using the speakers as stands.
It looks like you used an Audio Technica ATW-T220a handheld transmitter. It also looks like there are two power output settings for that unit. Low which is a 10mw output and high which is a 30 mw output. Have you checked to see what setting you are using for it?
Good observation! The mic is actually the T220b; not sure what the differences are between an "a" and "b". Yes, the mic is set for 30mW.
How I would handle this situation. I would run power and an XLR cable to the street light post on the corner where you can mount your receiver on the light post with long wire ties you can get from home depot. So you mount a shelf on the light post with super long wire ties, running the cables overhead and put tripod stand behind the bushes we're public can not interfere with the wiring. (Power and XLR Cables). The public Will be walking underneath the cables by the sidewalk. So you essentially have the XLR cable running from the receiver directly to the mixer no wireless.. And I think that would solve your problem the RF where you need it. Just a thought Carmine the Sound Guy
Thanks for the comment. That may work!
To add to that the recommended distance for overhead cables is 12 to 15 feet. Good to keep in mind when you're doing anything overhead as that's what most everybody expects and what most things are built to so unlikely to get snagged (then you can blame the guy with the 20 foot costume). This is of course assuming you can get things up that high sometimes you just can't.
What frequencies are you using?
The fact that it used to work but in the past few years has had issues, sounds like 5g. In the past few years 5g has been coming online.
Wireless microphones can no longer operate above 608 MHz or tv 36. If you are in a higher frequency in the UHF band you can and probably will get inference from 5G.
If you are not in that range, I think you are on the right path. Getting the receive antennas up over people and line of sight. A shark fin / paddle antenna might help because it has gain in the direction it is pointing.
Thanks for the comment. The frequency band we use is between the high 400 and mid 500mhz range. The issue is the amount of people that are collecting at the corner, in addition to the MC not moving around. In previous parades, we've never had the number of people at the corner that is there now. I'm currently working on a taller tower for the receivers, and to have the taller tower closer to the MC.
Why not use your sennheiser wireless? I feel like that would already do a much better job than what you're using here.
We keep the Sennheiser mics for large events only; these mics are racked in their own case. As well, sometimes during the past parades, it has rained, snowed, and a couple of emcees have dropped the mics. I would hate for the Sennheiser to suffer through things like that. If something should happen to an MiPro or the AT mic, it would be easier to justify the expense of replacing those.
@@stageleftaudio I mean they're tools meant to be used! Things sometimes get broken in the line of duty, and that's okay. Surely if somebody breaks something due to negligence, you can just bill them for the replacement. I've had to do that before when a drummer blew up the snare mic for example... if somebody drops a wireless mic and it breaks, you better believe I'm going to bill them for it.
I'm pretty sure those sennheisers are robust enough to take a pretty good fall and be unharmed. Much more robust than those plastic ones...
@@dustinthiessen I don't have any expensive wireless yet but one of the things I did during 2020 was pick up some foam covers. I decided to just completely always use them from now on. First I can take them off and throw them in the wash after use, keeps my Mics nicer. Second it's at least some drop Protection. I am so glad we're moving out of the whole mic drop phase that was a scary time.