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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: Aaron Vockley on July 07, 2016, 11:03:58 PM
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I'm having an odd issue with the wireless system I'm currently running. It's a bit of a hodgepodge of equipment. The main channels are 12 Shure ULX-S systems with 12 ULX1 bodypack transmitters. I also have 4 channels of Shure PGX, and 4 channels of *really* old Sennheiser EW300 G2. Oddly enough, the PGX and EW300 channels have been rock solid. The only issue was a bit of interference, but relocating the receivers from the FOH position to directly off stage and changing frequencies fixed that.
The problem I've been having is with the ULX1 transmitters. There are 2 or 3 of them that randomly stop transmitting. When I check the transmitter, it looks fine. The battery isn't dead, and the screen shows everything it should, but the receiver shows no RF signal. The only way to fix it is to pull the battery out and replace it. It doesn't need a new battery, just a reset. After that it works fine. There has also been the ongoing problem where none of the battery meters on the ULX-S channels work, but that's not really a problem.
Any thoughts on what could be causing this?
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I'm having an odd issue
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I'm having an odd issue with the wireless system I'm currently running. It's a bit of a hodgepodge of equipment. The main channels are 12 Shure ULX-S systems with 12 ULX1 bodypack transmitters. I also have 4 channels of Shure PGX, and 4 channels of *really* old Sennheiser EW300 G2. Oddly enough, the PGX and EW300 channels have been rock solid. The only issue was a bit of interference, but relocating the receivers from the FOH position to directly off stage and changing frequencies fixed that.
The problem I've been having is with the ULX1 transmitters. There are 2 or 3 of them that randomly stop transmitting. When I check the transmitter, it looks fine. The battery isn't dead, and the screen shows everything it should, but the receiver shows no RF signal. The only way to fix it is to pull the battery out and replace it. It doesn't need a new battery, just a reset. After that it works fine. There has also been the ongoing problem where none of the battery meters on the ULX-S channels work, but that's not really a problem.
Any thoughts on what could be causing this?
Sounds like faulty hardware: Return to Shure for repair.
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I'm having an odd issue with the wireless system I'm currently running. It's a bit of a hodgepodge of equipment. The main channels are 12 Shure ULX-S systems with 12 ULX1 bodypack transmitters. I also have 4 channels of Shure PGX, and 4 channels of *really* old Sennheiser EW300 G2. Oddly enough, the PGX and EW300 channels have been rock solid. The only issue was a bit of interference, but relocating the receivers from the FOH position to directly off stage and changing frequencies fixed that.
The problem I've been having is with the ULX1 transmitters. There are 2 or 3 of them that randomly stop transmitting. When I check the transmitter, it looks fine. The battery isn't dead, and the screen shows everything it should, but the receiver shows no RF signal. The only way to fix it is to pull the battery out and replace it. It doesn't need a new battery, just a reset. After that it works fine. There has also been the ongoing problem where none of the battery meters on the ULX-S channels work, but that's not really a problem.
Any thoughts on what could be causing this?
Could this be a squelch issue? Did you relocate the ULX receivers to off-stage as well?
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I know for a fact that it's not an issue with the receiver. I have external antennas with amplifiers and distributors for all the ULX channels, and bringing the transmitter back to the receiver rack shows nothing on the meters. It's definitely a problem with the transmitter. I kind of figured it was a hardware issue, I was just hoping that there might be something I was missing.
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. . . I have external antennas with amplifiers and distributors for all the ULX channels . . .
How did you determine amplifiers were needed?
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The system I'm using was already in place before I started working on the show. I assume there were reception issues when the antennas were at the FOH position, so they were moved to the booth on the second floor. There are ~30' runs of coax between the antennas in the booth and the distributors in the racks, so I assume the amplifiers were added to deal with signal loss over the long run.
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The system I'm using was already in place before I started working on the show. I assume there were reception issues when the antennas were at the FOH position, so they were moved to the booth on the second floor. There are ~30' runs of coax between the antennas in the booth and the distributors in the racks, so I assume the amplifiers were added to deal with signal loss over the long run.
Even with 30' of RG58, which would be about 4dB of loss at 600MHz, an amplifier is not necessary, and will only contribute to RF problems (IMD and receiver front end saturation). I would suggest removing the amp and using a lower loss coax to get the antennas closer or in a more advantageous position relative to the performance area.
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When this is happening, if you looked at the transmitter itself do you see that it has power? I have had problems with some transmitters getting hit just right and dislodging the batteries. Some have required putting strips of stick on foam on the battery door to secure the batteries. Have you tried tapping the transmitter to see if it comes back? Or the batteries weren’t properly seated in the first place. I always roll the batteries after they are put in. I have been assuming that these are transmitters that use AA batteries. If it is 9v batteries then that is a whole other problem. I just looked up the ULX1 and it takes a 9v battery. Depending on how the batteries are mounter in the transmitter it can possibly have issues with making proper contact. One of the problems with 9v batteries is the different manufacturers offerings are different sizes. I have found that the EverReady energizer batteries are taller than the Duracell and if someone uses EverReady all the time it pushes the terminal back just enough that when someone else uses Duracell they don’t make very good contact. You either have to bend the terminals out just enough to make them tight or you have to put something under the bottom of the battery to shim it up so it makes good contact.
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Something to check also is for foreign matter on the battery terminals. Recent Duracell batteries can sometimes leave sticky little bits of plastic on things, very hard to see.