Article posted on November 29, 2017
A large percentage of our service calls, related to wireless microphone performance, could have been prevented. A knowledgeable contractor and/or owner’s manual has the information required to prevent wireless microphone performance issues.
All Wireless Microphones should be the same make and model
The picture above is from a church customer of ours. This particular church only calls us after they have exhausted funds purchasing equipment themselves, without consultation. The equipment is generally the wrong tool for the task.
Their heart is in the right place. They believe they are saving God’s money by doing things themselves. Unfortunately, they have spent more time and money doing things the wrong way, than if they had done things the right way.
The church has purchased illegal 700MHz wireless systems from an un-reputible dealer. The illegal 700Mhz wireless systems are still in use. Because this church has exhausted all funds and cannot purchase new wireless microphones to replace the illegal 700MHz systems, the church has opted to continue using them, until they receive a cease and desist letter. This has happened. We have had customers receive the letter. The IRS has threatened a church in CA with the loss of their tax exempt status, for failing to comply.
Receivers have been placed inside of a wood soffit, behind thick, theater, curtains. The antennae are not on the same plane as the transmitters. The antenna are too close together. This spacing causes interference and drop outs.
There is ample space in the soffit to space out the other wireless receivers. Some of the receivers should not be stacked, because their antennae are in the top of the case. Stacking the receivers greatly reduces reception and increases drop-outs.
The distance between each antenna is the height of the antenna. Without proper spacing, there will be interference. The receivers should be spaced out, so the antenna are not touching. Again, they should be about 4″ apart, the height of a 1/4-wave antenna.
Since the displays are not usable to the house sound tech, it doesn’t matter which direction the wireless receivers face. The church should turn them around, so they face the rear of the box. Turning the receivers around, will put the antennae at the front of the opening. The antennae will have a better chance of receiving the signals from the transmitters in the front of the opening.
This church continues to operate the wireless systems as you see here. They continue to have wireless issues. But, someone there plays in a band and knows better. We have told them how to fix their problems, but they refuse to follow industry standard best practices.
We highly recommend reading the operators manuals. If you need someone to help you troubleshoot after you have done everything the manuals says to do, give us a call. If you want to scrap your bunch of parts and start over with a true system, we can help.
Brent Handy,
Advanced Sound & Communication
Phone: (816)564-7281
Email: brent@advancedsoundkc.com
