Best way to avoid dropout with multiple wireless systems?

M

MrP

Member
I recently used 3 wireless mics at a wedding and experienced several dropouts with each of them simultaneously. My 2 mics were the Sennheiser ew100 G2 wireless receiver/transmitter and the Sony UWP-C2 wireless receiver/transmitter. The 3rd source was recorded courtesy of the church's soundboard operator. I don't know what the churches setup was but it was wireless as well.

At several points in the wedding there is a total dropout on 1 mic (one of mine, not the churchs) while at the same time a click/pop on the other two mics. I am not at my editing system now so I don't recall which mics did what but I will find out tomorrow and post then. Without know what mics did what (if that even matters?) what do I need to do differently next time? I was excited to find the video tutorial someone posted on the Senn G2 system so I will certainly check that out.

I assume it was interference somehow that caused all the drop outs but what could I do differently? I know each receiver/transmitter is totally different so I don't expect step-by-step instructions, just some leads. I need to learn this stuff if I want to get it better.
 
There's no way to absolutely 100% eliminate outside interference without having the system inside of a faraday cage, which is why having a wired backup is almost essential. For a wedding, I'd try planting a lav in either the altar or a nearby decoration (lattices and flowers are great) and then running the cable out of the way and back to either your recorder or the church's mixer.
 
Yes, it sure sounds like an interference gotcha (hopefully it was someone on your crew that inadvertantly turned on an extra transmitter to the receiver's frequency. And if you can't wire a backup, consider using a portable MP3 recorder for your backup; I don't do weddings but I'd put my Marantz 660PMD somewhere on the altar and remix it in post production (when I'm recording a telephone interview on my PC or face-to-face on my laptop, I use the Marantz as a backup).

Warm Regards, Michael
 
Hey, here's another option for the Zaxcom ZFR100 (see other thread for details). Mic the groom, stick the ZFR in his pocket, and let it run. You can get a full 12 hours out of it, so you'll get clean audio through the whole event.

(But, be sure to do a full edit on it before you share the audio - you probably don't want the bride to hear the nice things the groom might say about her mother to the best man... ;-)

Phil
 
what can i suggest you if you are working wire less setups mostly and quit depend on it to bring the product , buy a uhf scanner , so you can easily established free frequency channels ,
you also have to know that 2 wireless which are in the same place make third fq wave which can influence on your other recievers
another stuff which can decrease your range is cellularphones (always ask people who you are recording to close their phones - not silence - but completely off ).

you ncan check the lectrosonics site to find the best fq coordination betwen yourtransmitters

http://www.lectrosonics.com/service/PreCoordWebVer.pdf
 
I'd be curious to learn the benefits of a UHF scanner since the Sennheiser receiver has a built in scanner to find idle frequencies. If I was still working at the satellite earth station, I'd borrow one of the spectrum analyzers but these are way beyond the affordability of our group.

Here's another possible tip if you need extra assurance - while doing prep work onsite before the shoot, find several possible frequencies, let's say three. Tune the transceives (microphone disconnected) to the 1st frequency and while doing other site prep before the shoot, record 10 minutes of audio (note frequency on a piece of paper). Change the frequency to the next channel, make a second recording, writing down the new frequency, etc. When you return to the home/office, scan the audio recording with your software. If there is spurious frequency interference or noise, you should be able to quickly see it on your monitor. Or if you want a quick and dirty method, rather than make three recordings simply plug in good quality earbuds to the receiver (I love my Sennheiser CX300s) and listen to several frequencies for 10 minutes while doing prep chores.

Good luck, Michael
 
For some reason I didn't even stop to think about wireless dropout. We've just budgeted for the sennheiser wireless kit mentioned...but now with the advent of camera phones i'd be willing to bet that usage of phones at ceremonies has gone up pretty drastically. I mean statistically how likely would this occurance be? Audio is half the picture in an event so surely wireless can't be that risky..or can it?
 
frmain said:
so surely wireless can't be that risky..or can it?
Click to expand...

Yes it can ;)

The one 100% wireless is the new Zaxcam with an internal recorder and TC. Anything else has the potential (and likelyhood) of taking hits at one time or another depending on your location.

Cheers
 
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