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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 => LAB: The Classic Live Audio Board => Topic started by: Ivan Feder on December 09, 2014, 02:39:58 PM
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Hi,
My company has been using HME DX200 wireless intercoms for quite a while but it has become more and more unusable. First off, the audio quality of this system has always been mediocre, especially when interfacing with Clear-com wired headsets ( poor bandwidth, heavy delay, unusable in a noisy environment )
This system also transmits over wifi frequencies which are often polluted by routers and mobile phones.
We want to upgrade to a UHF system. 2 channels would be nice but will settle with one.
It seems like there are only a few choices out there:
RTS, Clear-com and Tempest, Overline is way out of our budget.
http://www.clearcom.com/product/wireless/wbs670-680 (http://www.clearcom.com/product/wireless/wbs670-680)
[/size]=60]http://www.rtsintercoms.com/cr/rts/products/UHF_Wireless_Intercoms/61?fam[]=60 (http://www.rtsintercoms.com/cr/rts/products/UHF_Wireless_Intercoms/61?fam[)http://www.tempestwireless.com/products/tempest900.php (http://www.tempestwireless.com/products/tempest900.php)
Would love to know what you are using and any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
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I toured the last bit of 2012, most of 2013, into the beginning of 2014 using wireless com. We started off with the HME DX200 system. I had quite a few issues, the first being if I scanned and found more than five wireless networks, it was going to be a bad day. We then moved up to the Clear Com Tempest system. For the most part stable, but many complaints on bulky, and coverage was limited.. Finally, we moved to the Telex BTR-800 system. My troubles were over.. Yes occasionally I would have to find clean frequencies, but by hitting the scan button, it found them for me. GREAT distance. I was able to spread my antenna's out and got even better distance. Rock solid. Again bulky packs, but you can use slim headsets if needed.
Hi,
My company has been using HME DX200 wireless intercoms for quite a while but it has become more and more unusable. First off, the audio quality of this system has always been mediocre, especially when interfacing with Clear-com wired headsets ( poor bandwidth, heavy delay, unusable in a noisy environment )
This system also transmits over wifi frequencies which are often polluted by routers and mobile phones.
We want to upgrade to a UHF system. 2 channels would be nice but will settle with one.
It seems like there are only a few choices out there:
RTS, Clear-com and Tempest, Overline is way out of our budget.
http://www.clearcom.com/product/wireless/wbs670-680 (http://www.clearcom.com/product/wireless/wbs670-680)
[/size]=60]http://www.rtsintercoms.com/cr/rts/products/UHF_Wireless_Intercoms/61?fam[]=60 (http://www.rtsintercoms.com/cr/rts/products/UHF_Wireless_Intercoms/61?fam[)http://www.tempestwireless.com/products/tempest900.php (http://www.tempestwireless.com/products/tempest900.php)
Would love to know what you are using and any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
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We've been using the HME DX200s in busy convention hotels in major markets ( read venues in which my wifi scan result exceeds the screen height on my MacBook ) for years without RF issues and with minor interface to wired comm issues. Not rock & roll level capable but excellent for corporate and special event work. The beltpaks that talk to the user about power on/off and out of range are golden for non-technical types like client provided Q&A mic runners. Last week the venue lighting staff in the theatre we were in used our DX200 system for light focus because their DX200s were being cranky. If you need to use RF comm in high SPL environments the BTRs are pretty much the only answer but we've had very good luck with the DXs and I don't have high end corporate clients ripping their comm headsets off because they got an earful of full output noise from loosing analog RF connection to the base because the squelch is never smart enough to squelch effectively.
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Would love to know what you are using and any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
For many years the Telex BTR 800 has been the industry standard. I don't know, however, how many years of life it has left. AFAIK Telex can't source all the parts anymore, and the BTR as it exists now is probably on its way out.
There are a couple of bright spots on the horizon though, the new Clear Com Freespeak II (http://www.clearcom.com/upload/download/Clear-Com_FreeSpeakIIBrochure_2014June.pdf) uses the DECT 1897MHz-1933MHz band and is supposed to be much better than the original Freespeak/CellCom. Pete Erskine gives it good reviews. The other promising newcomer is the Radio Active Designs UV-1G (http://radioactiverf.com/products/products/uv-1g-wireless-intercom-system/). This was developed by Henry Cohen and James Stoffo along with a couple of partners, and moves the belt pack to base station RF link to the VHF band, freeing up a lot of UHF bandwidth for RF mics and IEMs. Initial reports are very positive.
Both of these system address a very real concern with available UHF bandwidth in the 450-700MHz band that we have traditionally used, and that is now becoming much more limited in availability. I think they are both worth a look.
Mac
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I was going to suggest both the Cell Com Freespeak II and the RAD UV-1G.
But, I didn't know if the RAD guys have gotten their systems approved for use in France yet.
We have been using the original Cell Com system for about two and a half years now. Mostly happy with it, except for some user interface issues and I hate the battery pack/charging systems. But, we spent a shit load of money on the system.
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. . . the new Clear Com Freespeak II (http://www.clearcom.com/upload/download/Clear-Com_FreeSpeakIIBrochure_2014June.pdf) uses the DECT 1897MHz-1933MHz band . . .
That's the band in Europe. In the US, the Dect band, known as the Unlicensed PCS band, is 1.92 - 1.93GHz. 1.93 - 1.945GHz is PCS block A downlink. Be careful deploying UPCS gear in a market where Sprint has Block A: Their out of band emsissions are pretty bad compared to those markets where Verizon has PCS block A.
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I was going to suggest both the Cell Com Freespeak II and the RAD UV-1G.
But, I didn't know if the RAD guys have gotten their systems approved for use in France yet.
[RAD hat on] Although we meet all EU and Industry Canada technical standards, confirmed when we performed testing for FCC certification, RAD has not filed for, nor received, any authorizations for any jurisdiction outside of the US. We will file in the future, but right now we're concentrating on fulfilling a significant quantity of stateside orders, as well as wanting to keep closer tabs on the first months of deployments for inevitable glitches.
Henry Cohen
Radio Active Designs
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There are a couple of bright spots on the horizon though, the new Clear Com Freespeak II (http://www.clearcom.com/upload/download/Clear-Com_FreeSpeakIIBrochure_2014June.pdf) uses the DECT 1897MHz-1933MHz band and is supposed to be much better than the original Freespeak/CellCom.
Mac
Thanks Mac,
I was actually looking in to this one. DECT definitely looks like the way to go.
And thanks to all the other posters!