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[Alan Hewlett]

As with most churches, we have a number of wireless mic systems that fall within the TV frequencies being "reassigned" in 2/09. I assuming that we will have to upgrade or replace all the wireless systems at the church at some point in time and I was just wondering what's on the market (if anything). What are other people within the industry planning to do after 2/09? Thanks!!!

[Jeff Ekstrand]

Most, if not all newly designed wireless systems on the market will have solved this problem, and I would expect to see a lot more solutions in the next 6-9 months, especially from the major brands (Shure, Sennheiser, AT, AKG, etc.)

Read all that you can find about "The White Spaces."

I'm already working with Shure, since I have a couple team members who work there, to make sure our church's wireless will be as functional as possible. This includes new systems from the UHF-R model range, which is pricey but should be flexible enough to work around the DTV channels.

Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in '09 since we have a giant window behind the stage (in line with our antennas) that faces the City of Chicago and its vast array of radio signals.

[Henry Cohen]

Jeff Ekstrand wrote on Wed, 23 January 2008 08:51

Most, if not all newly designed wireless systems on the market will have solved this problem, and I would expect to see a lot more solutions in the next 6-9 months, especially from the major brands (Shure, Sennheiser, AT, AKG, etc.)

Really? If by 'solved' you mean wireless mic/com/IEM/IFB manufacturers will simply no longer sell bandsplits above 698MHz, then you are correct, except I wouldn't by any stretch of the imagination consider that 'solving' the problem(s) that will accompany the mere re-allocation of spectrum. One of the biggest unknowns that could affect production wireless equipment is that of license free whitespace devices (WSD) that will potentially share the 470 - 698MHz spectrum and use the same non occupied DTV channels we would use. These devices, which would eventually be as ubiquitous as cell phones (in fact the technology will be built into cell phones, along with PDAs, laptops and other devices), will randomly show up and turn on with no warning. Although there is a second round of [somewhat] rigorous testing beginning next week at the FCC OET lab of WSD spectrum sensing technology performance so the devices will not interfere with incumbent wireless equipment/services (DTV receivers as well as wireless mics/coms/IEM/IFB), there are still no specifications, production prototypes or QC measures in place to determine their effectiveness.

Further, wireless mic/com/IEM/IFB manufacturers still don't have cost effective technological solutions to the interference and shrinking spectrum issues that can still provide the high audio quality, near zero latency and RF robustness we've come to enjoy with the traditional UHF FM wireless and known spectrum over the last two plus decades.

Quote:

Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in '09 since we have a giant window behind the stage (in line with our antennas) that faces the City of Chicago and its vast array of radio signals.

You might want to investigate metalized coatings and curtains made of copper screen.

[Sean LaRussa]

We too are concerned about this change over next year.  We currently have 8 channels of Shure U4 system all in the low 700MHz band.  Just recently we got a quote for a system for our new social hall we are building and the Shure (now UHF-R) system is all in the low 500MHz band.  Looks like that is Shure's solution to this.  I still can't believe we will have an unusable rack of wireless next year that we paid over $10,000 for just 5 years ago!  While we are hopeful that whoever gets the 700 frequency doesn't actually do anything with it that will conflict with our system, we are still planning for the worst and looking into replacing our entire wireless system next year.

[Henry Cohen]

Sean LaRussa wrote on Wed, 23 January 2008 11:29

I still can't believe we will have an unusable rack of wireless next year that we paid over $10,000 for just 5 years ago!

Five years ago (2002/2003) the DTV transition date was still 2006, congress had already mandated the reallocation of the 700MHz band and indicated they would add the new public safety spectrum. Shame on your dealer or consultant for not making your facility aware of the pending changes when you were purchasing your wireless.

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While we are hopeful that whoever gets the 700 frequency doesn't actually do anything with it that will conflict with our system, we are still planning for the worst and looking into replacing our entire wireless system next year.

Whereas it's not likely you'll see a completed buildout going online in February 2009, you must realize you are in a major metropolitan market that will see the first rollout of all the major services to be offered. You should be experiencing MediaFlo on channel 55 now. Don't be overly optimistic: Companies that have spent scores or hundreds of millions of dollars on spectrum will want their services to be generating revenue as quickly as possible.

[Gary Creely]

I would budget for the worse, and cross that bridge when you get there. In other words be prepared for an issue, but don't run out and buy new stuff unless there is one. Keep in mind many of these frequencies are already in use by DTV, some folks may not have a problem. Now if it is a traveling system that is a different story, but for a fixed install I would wait and see what happens.

[A.J. McGlynn]

My In Ear system works in the 700MHZ range. I talked to my dealer/system designer and he had no idea of this issue. I just found about from this thread. Hopefully I can get him to figure something out. This equipment was only purchased 3 months ago. Luckily we are not in a major metropolitan area so hopefully we wont be affected but still.

[Sean LaRussa]

Henry Cohen wrote on Wed, 23 January 2008 11:43

Shame on your dealer or consultant for not making your facility aware of the pending changes when you were purchasing your wireless.

I agree.  The is one of the reasons we don't use that dealer anymore.

After seeing A.J.'s post, I checked our two in ear wireless boxes and they too are in the 700MHz range and are only 6 months to a year old!  I will be contacting our new (and much better) dealer about this.

[Chris Juried]

I still find it quite surprising how many Professionals and Organizations are still not aware of the issue.

[Don Boomer]

btw ... the FCC auction is going on now.  Here's a link if you are interested.

https://auctionsignon.fcc.gov/signon/index.htm

go to auction 73 in the Public Access section.

[ProSoundWeb Community]