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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: Steve Larson on August 16, 2016, 08:24:09 PM
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Does anyone know what brand/model of mic, waist band switch and transmitter/receiver that the NFL referees are using? My client has asked for a system for a college football stadium.
Thank you
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EV, Shure, and Lectrosonics all make NFL acceptable switches and transmitters.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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It is important to recognize that the transmitting beltpack and the mute switch are two separate items. The mic plugs into the mute switch and then the mute switch plugs into the belt pack.
I have used a Shure Axient system that David had installed in a collegiate football stadium and I must say that I really like the live scanning features of the spectrum manager and the control functionality provided by the control link. It is definitely good stuff, but you will pay for it. If I were in the market for this sort of thing, this is probably the way that I would go because it is what I am familiar with.
I've always heard good things about Lectrosonics wireless but I've never used them and am wholly unfamiliar with their features.
I am not familiar with offerings from EV that are of equivalent performance.
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We use Shure Axient for a local Big Ten team's ref mic. It works great, though it can be a bit tricky to get the Showlink control (wifi frequencies) to reliably work all the way down on the field.
Shure sells two different mute switches - the pushbutton version they've had for a while, and more recently a really nice toggle switch version. The refs definitely prefer the toggle switch.
The best mic we've found is the Shure WL-184, with a custom windscreen.
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We use Shure Axient for a local Big Ten team's ref mic. It works great, though it can be a bit tricky to get the Showlink control (wifi frequencies) to reliably work all the way down on the field.
Shure sells two different mute switches - the pushbutton version they've had for a while, and more recently a really nice toggle switch version. The refs definitely prefer the toggle switch.
The best mic we've found is the Shure WL-184, with a custom windscreen.
Henry Cohen did this trick for the last show we were on. Set your showlink to use ch 25 or 26 which are essentially outside the wifi band in ch 14
http://www.mobiusconsulting.com/papers/ZigBeeandWiFiInterference.pdf
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Set your showlink to use ch 25 or 26 which are essentially outside the wifi band in ch 14
Thanks!
Actually the bigger difficulty is maintaining a connection from several hundred feet away and sometimes on the other side of a human being (refs often want to put pack on their back).
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Thanks!
Actually the bigger difficulty is maintaining a connection from several hundred feet away and sometimes on the other side of a human being (refs often want to put pack on their back).
I have had very hit or miss luck with the showlink antennas One SEC football stadium, I simply placed the showlink transmitters (AXT610) on each end of the pressbox (close and far 20yd lines), on the top back wall of their respective room, with the standard antenna. The showlink reception was flawless, never a dropout all throughout the stadium. At another SEC stadium, they had metallic tinted glass, so the AXT610 was placed inside, with the remote show link antennas (AXT644) mounted to the face off the pressbox pointed at the field (close and far 20yd line). The showlink connectivity was only maintained about 40% of the time. i tried multiple showlink channels and switching back to the stock antennas with no luck. A RF scan using WWB didn't show anything for interfering freqs. This year, I am adding two more antennas to the opposite side of the field. Even with this issue, I would highly suggest an axient system if it is in budget, otherwise the WA-661/WA-662 switch should work with UHF-R and ULX-D body packs.
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As it is I don't have network to the other side of the field (or even network down at the side of the field), so I'm stuck putting my Showlink up on the press box with the UHF antennas. I've been fooling around with better antennas, and I just ordered something that would look more at home on a cell tower for the upcoming season.
(L-Com HG2414SP-090 if anybody is curious)
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Even with this issue, I would highly suggest an axient system if it is in budget, otherwise the WA-661/WA-662 switch should work with UHF-R and ULX-D body packs.
The remote control is *very* nice to have on a beltpack that's mostly out of reach. I think maybe once or twice out of four seasons has the system switched frequencies, but we've had to tweak the gain a few times. And we leave the RF transmit power at a lower battery-saving setting up until the game is about to start, and then use the remote control to switch to full power.
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As it is I don't have network to the other side of the field (or even network down at the side of the field), so I'm stuck putting my Showlink up on the press box with the UHF antennas. I've been fooling around with better antennas, and I just ordered something that would look more at home on a cell tower for the upcoming season.
(L-Com HG2414SP-090 if anybody is curious)
You could try this for 12dBd (15dBi) of gain. Also, use 400 series cables if they'll be more than a few feet long. That L-com has a very narrow vertical pattern for such a wide coverage application.
http://www.rfvenue.com/rf-venue-24-ghz-microphone-helical-antenna (http://www.rfvenue.com/rf-venue-24-ghz-microphone-helical-antenna)
Sent from my mobile phone. Please excuse the inevitable spelling and grammatical errors.
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Depending on what conference the college team is in there may be guidelines for the mute switch. I worked for a school in the Big Sky conference and they mandated that all facilities use the same Telex mute switch. We had Sennheiser 2000 series systems so integrating the Telex switch required some custom cable builds. Just food for thought.
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You could try this for 12dBd (15dBi) of gain. Also, use 400 series cables if they'll be more than a few feet long. That L-com has a very narrow vertical pattern for such a wide coverage application.
http://www.rfvenue.com/rf-venue-24-ghz-microphone-helical-antenna (http://www.rfvenue.com/rf-venue-24-ghz-microphone-helical-antenna)
The pattern seems pretty close to the situation - 50 yard line from six stories up and some distance back. Last season I ended up with two access points in that spot, a few yards apart and with different antennas. And I put the access points right by the antennas, with very short cables.
BTW, our "custom windscreen" for Shure WL-184 has worked out pretty well after a couple seasons of trying other approaches. It's the plastic frame from the standard windscreen, then a layer of Meyer grill foam, then a layer of automotive headliner foam (comes with a layer of thin cloth glued to it). Sounds good, is quite wind-resistant, and nobody seems to care that it's about an inch in diameter.