Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[brian maddox]

What I tell folks when they use the "who's actually going to come looking for me if I use it?" line is that the regulatory body (FCC / ISED in Canada) probably wont, BUT the people who are paying for the use of that spectrum ARE paying attention, and monitoring, and they WILL. The money thing seems to get their attention.

Of course a church arguing that something is okay because "well we probably won't get caught" always brings to mind a certain fruit/serpent story.

But I digress....

[Riley Casey]

This discussion always brings me back to the few faith healer gigs we did. My question was always " if this guy's so good why do we need the chain motors?"

 

Of course a church arguing that something is okay because "well we probably won't get caught" always brings to mind a certain fruit/serpent story.

But I digress....

[Keith Broughton]

I was chatting with a tech that works for Rogers wireless and deals directly with cell tower operation.
After explaining what I do in wireless world, I asked how close I need to be to have a negative effect on telcom RF.
He said as far as 2 km away!
As noted, you can bet if we are causing them problems, they will be looking for the reason.
As such, a company I work with will not even service customer  RF mics that are in banned freqs.

[Mike Monte]

Of course a church arguing that something is okay because "well we probably won't get caught" always brings to mind a certain fruit/serpent story.

But I digress....

Two years ago my church's PA system gave up the ghost and the priest asked me to take a look to see if I could resurrect it.
A 25 y/o 70v TOA system that included two wireless mics, one handheld in the 700 bandwidth and lav in the 600 bandwidth...
The power wiring was a total hack-job (hole punched in a closet wall to pass a power strip, etc.) so I didn't want to touch it....

The mixer/amp had toasted (caked with dust).....which I told the priest.
(I could have sourced another mixer/amp but I did not want to have my hands associated with shotty wiring & illegal frequencies.)

I put in a temporary rig (not using any of the existing stuff) until they could gather bids, etc. on a new system.  The priest asked me if they could still use the wireless mics ("they worked last week...") and I told him that the units were using illegal frequencies which I will not integrate into my rig.

I did not put in my wireless mics as I needed them for my gigs.
It worked out fine.

[Bill McIntosh]

This is only applicable if the user is attempting to operate wireless mics in the downlink blocks; the tower TX to the subscriber unit. However, if the wireless mic were to operate in the uplink block (subscriber TX to tower), the spectrum will seem clear to the mic receiver, the wireless mic will likely work fine, but the cell tower will be experiencing interference. That in turn sends a notice to the head end control room, and if the interference (wireless mic operations) persists, the technical folk from the carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) come looking for the interference. They in turn report any unlicensed users they find to the FCC Enforcement Bureau. (You think a channel of wireless mic is expensive?)

Thanks for correcting my lack of understanding.  So like "loudest sound at the mike wins" then "biggest signal at the antenna wins". Or loses, when the FCC shows up.

[Brian Jojade]

Back when wireless mics got to hang out in TV bands, the tiny handheld transmitter accidentally transmitting on TV broadcast frequencies was so minuscule by comparison that the chances of causing interference would be essentially nothing.

Now that some of those frequencies have been converted to cell phone use, you're now competing with transmitters that are much much closer in power and they certainly can cause undesirable interference.

And yes, cell companies actively do watch their network and frequencies, and yes, they can detect wireless mics in use and yes, they can typically quickly pinpoint the source if the need to.

Will you get caught right away?  Probably not, but there's no guarantee.  Most likely, you'll simply start finding that your mic stops working well, or becomes extremely intermittent.  This is because phones vary frequencies being used, and interference will come and go.  This becomes a case of 'it worked well in setup' but when the punters arrive, now the problems become apparent.  And each cell phone that decides to use the overlapping frequency is going to up its power if need be to get over the top of the interference.  Phones typically can transmit at over a watt if need be, so it's an easy win over the 10mW power of your mic.  Game over.

[ProSoundWeb Community]