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[Mike Monte]

The new pastor of my church contacted me a few days ago with questions about wireless microphone system in the sanctuary.
I have not seen the wireless mics in use for many years....
I took a look.  (Mind you, I am not in the install business.)

It seems that our previous pastor disconnected things to hook up an audio feed for a video that was being shown.
ok
Upon checking things out, there are two wireless units, both TOA's; one a handheld and one a lav.
The gear was installed 15+ years ago....

The lav is in the 700 bandwidth thus unusable - so I left it disconnected.
The handheld is in the 600 bandwidth...and is operable.

Both units are connected to what seems to be "power assisted" antennas that are in the sanctuary.

I told our priest that things should be upgraded - which he agreed.
He immediately found a donor to fund the upgrade.

My question: Can I use a different brand of wireless unit with the TOA powered antennas??
The connectors (coax) seem to be the same.
My guess is that it would work....

I know if I call Shure (for instance) they would probably insist that I use matched components...

Has anyone had experience mixing brands (base units/antennas)?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.


 

[Jordan Wolf]

Mike,

If you can get us specific make/model & frequency range details, that will help a lot.

[Taylor Hall]

Knowing the specs/model of the existing antenna would help. Generally speaking it is ok to mix and match equipment brands like that, but be mindful of the frequency range(s) being used and be sure the antennas match the receiver/mic's operating range.

Depending on where your TOA antenna lives in the 600MHz spectrum you may have a hard time finding a compatible receiver/mic setup, so be prepared to go whole hog with an entirely new setup end to end.

[Mike Monte]

Knowing the specs/model of the existing antenna would help. Generally speaking it is ok to mix and match equipment brands like that, but be mindful of the frequency range(s) being used and be sure the antennas match the receiver/mic's operating range.

Depending on where your TOA antenna lives in the 600MHz spectrum you may have a hard time finding a compatible receiver/mic setup, so be prepared to go whole hog with an entirely new setup end to end.

Both wireless mic systems need to be upgraded - that is a given.  My question, to be more specific, is: Are power-assisted antennas tuned to receive a specific range of the spectrum?

The TOA wireless units have ins/outs for antenna A and antenna B.  One antenna was connected to the top unit's "antenna A in" and then there was a coax cable from the same unit's "antenna A out" to the bottom unit's "antenna A in".
Likewise with the B antennas.

One unit was in the 720 band while the other unit was around the 690 band.


 

[Phillip Ivan Pietruschka]

Both wireless mic systems need to be upgraded - that is a given.  My question, to be more specific, is: Are power-assisted antennas tuned to receive a specific range of the spectrum?

The TOA wireless units have ins/outs for antenna A and antenna B.  One antenna was connected to the top unit's "antenna A in" and then there was a coax cable from the same unit's "antenna A out" to the bottom unit's "antenna A in".
Likewise with the B antennas.

One unit was in the 720 band while the other unit was around the 690 band.

All antennas have bandwidth limitations. Some active ones will have a filter in front of the amplifier circuit. Without more information it is not possible to advise what the operating bandwidth of those antennas are.

Whilst I have no experience with TOA RF gear. Mixing brands of antennas, distribution systems and receivers is absolutely common and not particularly challenging if one is aware of and respects the limitations of all equipment in the system.

[John Sulek]

Both wireless mic systems need to be upgraded - that is a given.  My question, to be more specific, is: Are power-assisted antennas tuned to receive a specific range of the spectrum?

The TOA wireless units have ins/outs for antenna A and antenna B.  One antenna was connected to the top unit's "antenna A in" and then there was a coax cable from the same unit's "antenna A out" to the bottom unit's "antenna A in".
Likewise with the B antennas.

One unit was in the 720 band while the other unit was around the 690 band.

All antennas are tuned to a specific frequency range. You need to check on the range that these antennas are tuned for and see if it overlaps the frequency range of your new receivers. They may well work outside the stated range but at a much reduced effectiveness.

The antenna in/outs you describe are a feature of many receivers so that you can daisy chain a few receivers off of one set of antennas.
You should check if these powered antennas are expecting a dc voltage from your new receivers that they can supply.

[Taylor Hall]

Both wireless mic systems need to be upgraded - that is a given.  My question, to be more specific, is: Are power-assisted antennas tuned to receive a specific range of the spectrum?

The TOA wireless units have ins/outs for antenna A and antenna B.  One antenna was connected to the top unit's "antenna A in" and then there was a coax cable from the same unit's "antenna A out" to the bottom unit's "antenna A in".
Likewise with the B antennas.

One unit was in the 720 band while the other unit was around the 690 band.

All antennas are crafted with a frequency range in mind (typically this will coincide with a given manufacturer's product family lineup), so it could be that yours in particular covers the two bands that your wireless setup currently uses, or perhaps only covers one and you've gotten lucky so far. Knowing what that range is for your antenna will help you to be able to select a new receiver and handset/beltpack (assuming that there is one that falls into that range). There should be an identifying sticker somewhere on the antenna which will tell you what that operating range is. Barring that, the model number might also get that info with a little googling.

[Jason Glass]

The new pastor of my church contacted me a few days ago with questions about wireless microphone system in the sanctuary.
I have not seen the wireless mics in use for many years....
I took a look.  (Mind you, I am not in the install business.)

It seems that our previous pastor disconnected things to hook up an audio feed for a video that was being shown.
ok
Upon checking things out, there are two wireless units, both TOA's; one a handheld and one a lav.
The gear was installed 15+ years ago....

The lav is in the 700 bandwidth thus unusable - so I left it disconnected.
The handheld is in the 600 bandwidth...and is operable.

Both units are connected to what seems to be "power assisted" antennas that are in the sanctuary.

I told our priest that things should be upgraded - which he agreed.
He immediately found a donor to fund the upgrade.

My question: Can I use a different brand of wireless unit with the TOA powered antennas??
The connectors (coax) seem to be the same.
My guess is that it would work....

I know if I call Shure (for instance) they would probably insist that I use matched components...

Has anyone had experience mixing brands (base units/antennas)?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

We need the specific model number of the antenna to answer your question.  RF is an art and science in which no detail can be ignored.  If it's not labeled, post a photo and we'll probably be able to identify it.

Many TOA wireless systems are 75Ω impedance, while most of the industry is 50Ω, and mixing up components of different impedance is not best practice.

[Tim Hite]

With the advances in wireless technology over the past 15 years, you probably don't need to reuse anything. When you do replace, you certainly don't need to use 'matched' components from a single manufacturer for your antenna system.

Select new wireless units, bring them on site and see how they work with the included antennas. You may not end up needing an external antenna array at all.

If you need to add antennas and cables, RF is brand agnostic. You can mix and match at will as long as the impedance is correctly matched. Selecting the right gear for the job is a whole other thing. . .

The new pastor of my church contacted me a few days ago with questions about wireless microphone system in the sanctuary.
I have not seen the wireless mics in use for many years....
I took a look.  (Mind you, I am not in the install business.)

It seems that our previous pastor disconnected things to hook up an audio feed for a video that was being shown.
ok
Upon checking things out, there are two wireless units, both TOA's; one a handheld and one a lav.
The gear was installed 15+ years ago....

The lav is in the 700 bandwidth thus unusable - so I left it disconnected.
The handheld is in the 600 bandwidth...and is operable.

Both units are connected to what seems to be "power assisted" antennas that are in the sanctuary.

I told our priest that things should be upgraded - which he agreed.
He immediately found a donor to fund the upgrade.

My question: Can I use a different brand of wireless unit with the TOA powered antennas??
The connectors (coax) seem to be the same.
My guess is that it would work....

I know if I call Shure (for instance) they would probably insist that I use matched components...

Has anyone had experience mixing brands (base units/antennas)?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[John Penkala]

With the advances in wireless technology over the past 15 years, you probably don't need to reuse anything. When you do replace, you certainly don't need to use 'matched' components from a single manufacturer for your antenna system.

Select new wireless units, bring them on site and see how they work with the included antennas. You may not end up needing an external antenna array at all.

If you need to add antennas and cables, RF is brand agnostic. You can mix and match at will as long as the impedance is correctly matched. Selecting the right gear for the job is a whole other thing. . .

+1,

 To the OP- FWIW In an RF class held by Shure, they mentioned that they don't think it's necessary to use an active antenna unless your transmitters are 100+ feet away. Another benefit of those antennas beyond the extended range is rear rejection of the RF signal. That may or may not matter to you. Keep in mind that proper line of sight placement of any antenna is important, as is the proper cabling. 

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