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[Kevin Maxwell]

Shure UHF-R Bodypack transmitter problem.

I was doing the rehearsal for a musical tonight and had a weird problem with one of the Shure UHF-R Bodypack transmitters. It stopped working and when I retrieved it from the actor the power switch was still on and the display read “Dead Battery” they shouldn’t have been dead, all the other transmitters that had been on for the same amount of time where still fine. I popped the batteries out and put them back in and it turned back on and was at 3 out of 5 bars on its battery meter.

I manhandled it to see if I could make it fail and it kept on working. I left it on as I finished up for the night, about an hour and it was still working fine. I always roll the batteries after I put them in to make sure that they are seated properly, but it was crew that put the batteries in so I don’t know how they did it. I wish I had tried to just roll the batteries first to see if it came back to life but I didn’t think of it at the time. I am using Duracell ProCell AA and they have been working fine. I even metered the batteries and they were at 1.35v each. I looked the batteries and the battery compartment (with a jewelers eye loupe) and there wasn’t and residue that could have interfered with the batteries making good contact.

Has anyone else had a problem like this and do they know the case and cure?

[scottstephens]

Kevin,,

   I don't know that we've ever had that particular problem, but a couple of times some that were similar. Did the pack lose sync? If the transmitter and receiver stop communicating all kinds of weird things can happen.another thought, did the talent leave the building or go far away from the receiver, like down a flight of stairs or into an interior bathroom or something? Sometimes that can also do bizarre things.

Just guessing.
scott

[Scott Helmke]

The battery terminals do wear out and start to make poor connections.
Also look for little scraps of Duracell battery wrapping on the terminals.  Look *very* closely.

[Ray Aberle]

If the batteries are metering at 1.35v (not 1.61v I would expect from a brand new battery) then 3 out of 5 bars is absolutely to be expected. So, if they were slightly off kilter in the install, and maybe one wasn't feeding properly into the pack, I could see it registering the pair as dead, and then when you rolled/re-installed them, you got a solid feed from both batteries, and the expected 3 of 5 bars displayed.

-Ray

[Kevin Maxwell]

Thank you for the replies.

As I said “I looked the batteries and the battery compartment (with a jewelers eye loupe) and there wasn’t and residue that could have interfered with the batteries making good contact.” So I did look at it VERY closely, No residue that I could see at all. I mentioned the battery voltage because that is exactly what I would expect after the length on the rehearsal. That was my way of saying that they batteries looked fine.

I just hope this is a weird anomaly. The crew is instructed to roll the batteries after installing them in the pack but I asked one of them after this if they are doing that and she said that she wasn’t. I am going to STRESS this today and keep an eye out for this pack.

I have Shure Wireless Work Bench software running on one of the computers next to me hooked up to a switch at the receivers in the pit so I can see what is happening. I am just so busy mixing the show that I only look at that screen if something sounds funny to me, to see if I had a warning or can see an issue. I will have to make a habit of looking at it more often.

To scottstephens – thank you for the suggestion, but there is no “turn on” handshake in the Shure UHF-R system like on some Lectrosonics wireless I used to use. With the Shure they are recognized as long they are within range. The antenna system is aimed for pick up on stage and in the theater when they are back stage enough I do sometimes lose them but that isn’t a problem and it wouldn’t cause the pack to display Dead Battery. There is no communication from the receiver back to the transmitter in the UHF-R, only from the transmitter to the receiver.

[Magnus Högkvist]

I have Shure Wireless Work Bench software running on one of the computers next to me hooked up to a switch at the receivers in the pit so I can see what is happening. I am just so busy mixing the show that I only look at that screen if something sounds funny to me, to see if I had a warning or can see an issue. I will have to make a habit of looking at it more often.

In the latest software version of WWB You can record the timeline and have a closer look at what´s going on.

[Kevin Maxwell]

In the latest software version of WWB You can record the timeline and have a closer look at what´s going on.

Thank you. I haven't played with that feature yet I will have to try it tonight. I do have the latest version of WWB.

[Kevin Maxwell]

I made sure they rolled the batteries after they put them in and I had no issues tonight. I have to assume that the batteries weren’t seated as well as they should have been and teaching the crew to seat them right is what was needed.

I ran the time line and it looks interesting but I realized without knowing what was happening at the time it might be hard to decipher. If I had a video tape with time of day time on it I might be able to watch it and compare either what I might hear or what I might see in the time line with what was happening at that time. Due to the theater layout and the antenna system I am going to see a lot of time when someone off stage will look like there is an error on their mic but in reality it is by design. We don’t want to pick up RF from outside of the performance space. And it all works very well. 

Thank you everyone.

[Ike Zimbel]

I made sure they rolled the batteries after they put them in and I had no issues tonight. I have to assume that the batteries weren’t seated as well as they should have been and teaching the crew to seat them right is what was needed.

I ran the time line and it looks interesting but I realized without knowing what was happening at the time it might be hard to decipher. If I had a video tape with time of day time on it I might be able to watch it and compare either what I might hear or what I might see in the time line with what was happening at that time. Due to the theater layout and the antenna system I am going to see a lot of time when someone off stage will look like there is an error on their mic but in reality it is by design. We don’t want to pick up RF from outside of the performance space. And it all works very well. 

Thank you everyone.

I've certainly been burned by crew installing batteries incorrectly, especially on BTR packs (two classics: putting one of the six batteries in backwards, or, putting one in with the pull strap between the battery and its terminal...both will make the pack run long enough to test it ). Are you sure they were both in the right way around when you first opened the pack? Or, did they get mixed up and put one old and one new battery in (I know they both metered the same, but...). I would put this one down to crew error and keep an eye on it...as you are.

[Jordan Wolf]

I've had this same thing happen when a beltpack gets sweated out.

How are you protecting them from moisture?


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