Simple (I hope) question re wireless systems

[Jim Andrada]

I got hold of an AudioTechnica System 10 and have been running tests here at the house, which is a tad over 100 feet end to end.

I put the included lav mic and transmitter at one end of the house in my office, started something playing on my monitors, and went to the garage about 100-110 feet away through a few walls and the fire door. At that distance I was getting a very occasional dropout but it sounded pretty damned good about 98% of the time.

Just for fun I went outside and around 15 to 20 feet further away I began to get a significant number of dropouts and at about 20 to 30 feet I lost the signal completely

All in all I'd say that based on this exacting scientific (ha!) test it seems more then adequate for a sync track up to about 110 feet through walls and doors.

Since I need it to work at 70 to 80 feet clear line of sight I think it will do the job. If I get a chance I'll run over to the church one day this coming week and run a quick test, but so far it's encouraging and for $449.95 it even fits the budget. And the included lav sounds much better than I thought it would. So far I'm pretty impressed with the product.

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Jim

It's great to get a "real life" test. I'm sure it will work for me as at weddings I'm seldom more than 30' from the transmitter and it's line of site too with no walls!! The only thing I'm still struggling to find is a second transmitter only?? The System 10 apparently can handle up to 8 transmitters and at Church weddings I do need an extra one for bible readings ... the cost of a system 10 plus an extra transmitter would be significantly less than buying two wireless systems like I have now.

Your comments after the Church test will be appreciated ...I think it would also be good to test it in a crowd with people using IPads and phones and see if there is any conflicts.

Chris

[Andrew Smith]

Just an offbeat suggestion / question ...

Does the facility have a closed induction loop for people with hearing aids? And can you possibly make use of it?

Andrew

[Jim Andrada]

Hi Chris

There's one nice thing about recording 2 hour classical concerts - people are good about turning off phones and etc so I'm not too worried about interference (I know - famous last words...) And this is Tucson so most of the audience is too old to know what a cell phone is! I'm getting close to turning 75 and I feel like a kid at the concerts!

The biggest "interference" issue I have to deal with is the chorus of coughing and sneezing that seems to go on for the first 10 minutes of the concert. I spend a lot of time in Izotope "curing" colds and allergies. Now if only there was a plug-in to make the cure work on the people instead of just the audio track.

@ Andrew - There doesn't seem to be a closed loop system in place.

[Andrew Smith]

Hey, a 74 year old on the internet. Awesome! :-P

(ducks low-flying incoming object)

Andrew

[Jim Andrada]

I had a mis-spent "childhood" - started programming for pay in 1959 when we were still running computers on steam. Shoveling enough coal to make the steam was tough.

Actually the old disk drives used hydraulics to move the read-write heads around. There were several calibrated cylinders with varying amounts of fluid in each one and tracks were physically addressed by activating a set of pistons that would inject a known quantity of hydraulic fluid to move the heads across the platters.Simple.

Memory - well I worked on systems that used tubes of Mercury as memory, as well as systems that used CRT tubes as memory devices (Google "Univac I" and "Williams Tubes").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_tube

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jim

I'm not that far behind you (69 this year and still feel sprightly and can handle a wedding full day shoot with no issues)

Can you guys get transmitters only for the System 10?? I can only find the pair locally but I'll contact the agents here. AT must supply just a transmitter if the system can handle more than one.

Our frequency changes here are becoming ridiculous so I need to go to a band where they don't decide to re-allocate the frequencies to new TV and digital radio channels ... for now I can sneak into the guard band between bands as there are no transmissions there and 10mw from me won't cause any issues!

They changed the allocation on 1st January 2015 but most equipment suppliers were not ready to change frequencies and ended up telling clients they have to wait or buy new gear!!

Chris

[Jim Andrada]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/907667-REG/audio_technica_atw_t1001_system_10_digital.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/907668-EG/audio_technica_atw_t1002_system_10_handheld.html
BH sells the transmitters and mic separately

I think you can pair anything with the receiver but it has to be "one at a time" ie if I understand it correctly you can switch the receiver from one transmitter to another, but at any time there can only be one transmitter in contact with one receiver.

Of course I may not know WTF I'm talking about (as usual according to my lovely wife - whom I really miss since she's been in Japan for a few weeks now. Comes home tomorrow so I only have one more day to turn the dining room back into a dining room instead of an AV test lab)

[Andrew Smith]

I'd recommend the Rode approach with their new wireless kit. They've made use of the WiFi transmission standard and hence the WiFi frequency spectrum which can never be shifted because (politically) it would tick off roughly every one in the country.

I for one am looking forward to the next purchase being the last for a very long time.

Andrew

[Jim Andrada]

Found this on YouTube

Audio-Technica System 10 Unboxing and Product Overview - YouTube

Basically you need a pair (Transmitter - Receiver) set up - if you have multiple transmitters live at the same time you'll need multiple receivers. But you can pair any transmitter with any receiver so you can use different transmitter with a single receiver, just not simultaneously

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jim

I read the specs differently but I could also be wrong ..they said you can pair up to 8 transmitters but say nothing about being only able to use one channel at a time .. however no big deal for me as at the price it's still cheaper than two UHF units. Something I would really like to know is how badly the signal is attenuated if the transmitter is inside clothing ... Could you maybe try your unit and see if it works OK if the transmitter is dropped into an inside jacket pocket?? Range for me isn't a huge deal as I'm seldom further away from the subject than 20' or so ... just need to know if it works if the transmitter is covered by material or even clipped behind the subject but still covered by a jacket ??? That would be really appreciated ..maybe drop it on your desk and throw a jacket over it and see if you get a signal say 30' away??? Since it seems to not be phased by walls I can't see an issue

Andrew?? The AT system also uses the 2.4GHz wifi band ... Rode is slightly more costly BUT what I don't like is the physical transmitter size ..it is bigger than AT's and I always need to hide the transmitter. I suspect both would have the same range

Chris

[Andrew Smith]

Hi Chris,

I suspect that they would be both just as reliable for the frequency transmission methods mentioned in the embedded video up above.

The body pack is a bit smaller than the Rode one, but the receiver is much bigger. Apart from being a bit of a Rode fanboi, I'd be inclined to go for the Rode one so that I could have a "normal" sized receiver on my camera.

But the AT definitely looks like a great system. Well done to them for hopping (forgive the nerdy pun) on the 2.4GHz bandwagon.

Andrew

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Andrew

You win ..I only saw the pre-release unit with no dimensions and yes the TX is a fraction smaller! I wonder what local prices will be like? I'm a Rode fan too and a locally manufactured unit is ideal. I see that the pre-release price at B&H is now lower than the AT unit too !! The AT unit here is close to $500 locally so here's hoping Rode will release their's under that? B&H say it's coming on 10th May

Chris

[Andrew Smith]

I've seen an RRP of $499 at VideoGuys Australia, and $445 at VideoPro in Brisbane.

I do know that the first shipment will be in comparatively limited numbers, and that (unusually) there have been no initial pre-launch units for Rode's sales team to take around to the various retail business whom might wish to stock them for sale.

Andrew

[Paul R Johnson]

If you put the cable in nicely, could you not just leave it? Throwing technology at the problem seems a bit risky to me. People are working on the premise that line of sight radio is solid. It's not. It's fine when signal strengths are high. In practice, walking away from the source until it cuts out is a very unreliable method of working out usable range, even outside. Walk till it stops, walk back until it starts again and call this range? T