What are you doing about wireless mic ban?

[Mike Harvey]

Originally Posted by Tom Sessions

You guys aren't thinking this through. It's not so much your wireless units will interfere with emergency bands as most wireless systems only travel an extremely short distance.

What's going to burn you is when the bride and groom are in the middle of their vows and all of a sudden, you are recording the broadcast of a much more powerful incoming signal of an ambulance tech calling in a dead body at the corner of 12th and Vine.

Won't that just be lovely.

Bingo.

Even if the stronger signal doesn't come through due to some sort of encryption, it can (and probably will) still cause interference. Before, you could at least easily check to see what frequency the local TV stations were broadcasting on (Sennhieser even had a website listing them all). I wouldn't even know who to call to get a list of all the frequencies the local government agencies are using.

[Stephen J. Williams]

Finally an upside to using digital recorders :-)

[Waldemar Winkler]

Originally Posted by Terry Esslinger

Yea, go ahead, rub it in [:>)
I just think it would have been more ethical for the salespeople to have warned anyone about this when they sold them. I still can't believe that Samson is saying just go ahead and use them!

I absolutely agree. Better than a year ago I tried in vain to find a definitive opinion regarding what would happen following the auctioning of frequencies to private enterprise. No one, not even the FCC, would offer an opinion. I suspect most manufacturers cancelled production orders but had to obligate themselves to receiving competed orders. A few have graciously offered to refit transmitters/receivers in the banned frequency zone while others are simply selling off inventory with no refit offers whatsoever.

The fact is that 1) the FCC does not, nor is likely, to have the staff to police violations. That said, the owners to broadcast rights on these frequencies will, over time, fill those frequencies with legal broadcast data. 2) At some point in time there will be a conflict between the licensed product and the illegal product.

If your equipment broadcasts on frequencies outside the ban, you have no issue for concern. That is straight from the FCC web page ( see earlier post for link).

[Kelly Langerak]

I can't find any info on my wireless mic.

Does the Sennheiser EW 100 G2 fall in the safe zone?

I found this but i'm still not sure.

"The ew 100 G2 systems are available in five UHF frequency ranges with 1440 transmission/receiving frequencies per frequency range. Please note: Fre- quency usage is different for each country. Your Sennheiser agent will have all the necessary details on the available legal frequencies for your area:

Range A: Range B: Range C: Range D: Range E:
518 to 554 MHz 626 to 662 MHz 740 to 776 MHz 786 to 822 MHz 830 to 866 MHz"

[Zach Love]

Reading this thread just reminds me of why I spent more money to purchase & will continue to purchase Lectrosonics.

First off they have easy to find & up to date info:
Lectrosonics 700 MHz and White Spaces Update

Secondly Lectrosonics stopped selling units in the 700 range years ago in the USA. To me, that is looking out for your customers. I wonder how many other brands have been happy to sell units that will be illegal soon b/c they are hoping on a new wave of purchases after the ban goes into full effect.

Third, I use Lectro sets b/c I think hands down they are leaps & bounds better than any other wireless sets I have ever used. They are built like tanks. It is easy to get a real person on the phone if you need help & their website has PDFs of nearly EVERYTHING they have ever made.

A few years ago I had a lav on a guy, he walked into an elevator, the mic didn't start having hits until he was 5 floors away. Can your wireless do that?

(Granted I had trouble with some of their old VHF units, I just LOVE their UHF units.)


Now for everyone that is just going to keep on using their 700mhz gear, I just have one question for you: Do you consider yourself a professional?

B/c in my mind it isn't very professional to ignore the ban. You're risking massive amounts of dropouts & hits. These frequencies are going to be taken over by cell phones, laptops, emergency responder radios, etc. etc. etc.

I doubt the FCC is going to start to go around with devices to track people down, but I think it is similar to using copyrighted music. If you piss off the RIAA by using their music or Verizon by using their frequencies, they're going to come after you with expensive fines & lots of high priced lawyers.

I know I wouldn't want to explain that I lost all the crucial audio b/c I was breaking federal law & then still ask for the check in full.

In everything I do, I try to live under the "common sense hindsight" philosophy. It is like driving while talking on your cell phone, w/o your seat belt & eating at the same time. If you crash your car, the hindsight will be that you weren't using ANY common sense.

Keep using the 700mhz if you want to turn off your common sense & win a videographer's darwin award.

[Chris Soucy]

Why doesn't some enterprising soul work out where these sets ARE legal and either publish the list so that USA owners can offer them for sale "off shore" or buy them and flog them S/H themselves?

Come on guys, there's a money making opportunity in every negative, that's how the system works.

They've gotta go, so try to recoup your losses.

Bet the're still legal in Canada (?), why doesn't B&H do a "buy in" special for Canadian buyers, for example.

Just a thought.


CS

[Marty Welk]

also couldnt an enterprising person change the crystals in them, to put them on a legitimate frequency?

[Michael Ojjeh]

Originally Posted by Kelly Langerak

I can't find any info on my wireless mic.

Does the Sennheiser EW 100 G2 fall in the safe zone?
"

I was at a camera show last week and I spoke with Sennheiser salesman about the ban, he told me that all wireless mics that has a C. on it will be illegal to use after June12, 2010.
The are giving you a rebate I think about $80 if you send your old wireless mic back to Sennheiser, unless you sell the Mic on eBay for an overseas customer and get a lot more money than $80. Here is the link Sennheiser USA - Spectrum Reallocation.

He also told me that if you bought your Mic within the last two years you should be okay, I bought mine 3 or 4 years ago, and the back of it is so worn out that I cannot read any numbers on it at all, I'm just assuming it's bad news.

I think a lot of people here don't realize how big this problem is until the day comes when some company like Verizon might buy that frequency and have all blackberry on it and when you are in the middle of the shoot your realize that you are picking up so much interference and your sound bite is completely useless.

[Joshua Reafsnyder]

just checked the FCC site, the ban covers everything from 689 mhz to 806 mhz I believe. So yes even the high end of 600 is affected. Sucks, I thought I was buying smart with getting my samson system that had tunable frequencies, despite being all the way up in the 800 band, all the frequencies are banned. Samson is now offering a rebate program. But if you bought you system more than a year ago then they are only giving a 25 dollar rebate pretty much and you have to first buy a new mic system then send your old one back to them. And you have to do it right now before march is over. I think I am going to gamble that I can sell it for more than that on ebay.

[Terry Esslinger]

Even though I have been more than happy with my Sampson unit I WILL NOT be purchasing another one after the way they have handled this issue. A $25.00 rebate BFD.

[John McQuiston]

Originally Posted by Kelly Langerak

I can't find any info on my wireless mic.

Does the Sennheiser EW 100 G2 fall in the safe zone?

Check the back of your transmitter or receiver. Mine says right there that its range is 518 to 554 MHz. I bought my set from B&H in 2004. If your info has rubbed off or is otherwise illegible, I'd try to find any kind of identifying information, such as a serial number, and contact Sennheiser to see if they can track down what frequency range your set has.

[Dave Stewart]

If a mic transmits at a range of say 450-950 mhz can it still be used if both mic and receiver are set outside the banned frequencies?