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Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => Wireless and Communications => Topic started by: Justin Goodman on June 30, 2018, 06:33:14 PM
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Primarily do wedding ceremonies where I'll be anywhere from 50' to 200' from the officiant/groom (bodypacks usually behind their back, sometimes in jacket pocket/front) and a stand mic. As wedding planners are allergic to almost any visual impact, I usually set up LPDA's on the same stand with opposite polarizations. Spatial diversity would be nice, but that's not a conversation that goes over well with wedding planners.
Even at 50', the 50mw setting doesn't ping the OL lights on the rx's at all. The bodypacks often being behind their backs is what parimarily worries me in terms of choosing low power mode. That and sometimes being between a crowd of 200 people and the officiant then all 200 of them stand at once and now the signal is going through 15-20 people to reach me.
Any good rule of thumb to use in terms of signal strength? If I'm using a spectrum analyzer to test during sound check, is there any quantifiable signal strength that's too high?
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Primarily do wedding ceremonies where I'll be anywhere from 50' to 200' from the officiant/groom (bodypacks usually behind their back, sometimes in jacket pocket/front) and a stand mic. As wedding planners are allergic to almost any visual impact, I usually set up LPDA's on the same stand with opposite polarizations. Spatial diversity would be nice, but that's not a conversation that goes over well with wedding planners.
Even at 50', the 50mw setting doesn't ping the OL lights on the rx's at all. The bodypacks often being behind their backs is what parimarily worries me in terms of choosing low power mode. That and sometimes being between a crowd of 200 people and the officiant then all 200 of them stand at once and now the signal is going through 15-20 people to reach me.
Any good rule of thumb to use in terms of signal strength? If I'm using a spectrum analyzer to test during sound check, is there any quantifiable signal strength that's too high?
Outdoors, I wouldn't worry except for excessive battery drain. Indoors, in a ballroom for instance, high power might work against you. Getting you RX antennas high to avoid the audience will help but may be too unsightly. Small antennas hidden near the ceremony would be another option.
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Outdoors, I wouldn't worry except for excessive battery drain. Indoors, in a ballroom for instance, high power might work against you. Getting you RX antennas high to avoid the audience will help but may be too unsightly. Small antennas hidden near the ceremony would be another option.
Thanks for the reply! Luckily indoors most planners opt to skip ceremony sound reinforcement other than maybe recorded music--in that way they can be quite reasonable. But outdoors antennas 10-12' in the air to maintain LOS over a standing crowd wouldn't fly.
Smaller antennas near the altar would be nice, but most venues usually have cocktails outside as well, so planners don't want me running cable from "FOH" to the altar (both for strike time and because we're usually in grass where I can't use a cable runner or tape down). So I use an IEM tx and battery powered speaker... up in 5-10 mins and down even faster.
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Any good rule of thumb to use in terms of signal strength? If I'm using a spectrum analyzer to test during sound check, is there any quantifiable signal strength that's too high?
The UHF-R want to see (at most) -20dBm input level.
A 50mW transmission @ 8ft is just above that -20dBm threshold (not factoring in antenna systems and cable losses)
Brad
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As wedding planners are allergic to almost any visual impact, I usually set up LPDA's on the same stand with opposite polarizations. Spatial diversity would be nice, but that's not a conversation that goes over well with wedding planners.
Somebody ought to make a nice diversity antenna that's covered in stretchy white fabric and maybe some fake flowers.
Or mount some flashing/spinning lights on it and plant it right by the dance floor.
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Somebody ought to make a nice diversity antenna that's covered in stretchy white fabric and maybe some fake flowers.
Or mount some flashing/spinning lights on it and plant it right by the dance floor.
Paint the antenna white and apply a cherub decal?
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why don't u use a fin and one of the akg/red venue pads ... out of the way visually and would get great reception
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Wedding consultants/planners should be shot - by the photographer. ;)
Seriously, I've met very few tradespersons as neurotic or as impossible to please as "wedding planners."
"We need to hear the vows!"
"Ok, then we need microphones close to the couple and officiant, and the loudspeakers need unobstructed coverage of the audience."
"Nothing can be seen."
"Thank you, but we'll decline your work."