How many produciton sound people 'register' their wireless mics for location shooting

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

In looking at the FCC regulations on wireless mics and interactions with 'white space' devices, apparently there is a procedure for a wireless mic user to 'register' their device for use in an area, for some time interval.

A couple of points. The FCC has allocated 2 TV band channels in various regions to be reserved for wireless mics. If those channels are 'occupied'... as in 'a lot of mics in a given area', the mic user may register the device on some other unused aka 'White Space' channel, which reserves that channel for mic use, and would disallow a White Space device from using that channel.

It seems to me that only fixed facilities, like churches, conference venues or schools would do this, where as a film production would not ordinarily.

It is legal for a wireless mic to be used across its 'legal band', regardless of occupancy, but with the registration, the idea is that a 'white space' device would be disallowed from using those channels.

The problem with registration is that one must register 30 days in advance of the time of use, give reasonably exact location information, and indicate that the allocated 'radio mic' channels are unavailable.

In my recent use of wireless mics, all I did was 'scan' then select a mic defined 'channel', which happened to be 531 or so MHz, and not one of the 'reserved for mics' channels.

The question I have is, do productions consider registration, or is it a greater hassle than it is worth?

 

[Rick R]

"FCC has allocated 2 TV band channels in various regions to be reserved for wireless mics"
That's 'in-the-works' at best and the 600Mhz block is still legal as well, which was slated for auction this year but put off to 2015 a few months ago.. A few of my colleagues over on the JW group have registered but at this point many are taking a 'wait and see' approach as things
(and frequencies) could change.

 

[Run&Gun]

This isn't what you're talking about exactly, but in some venues and events, Like NFL games, you MUST register you're wireless gear before hand with the designated team/facility liaison. If you don't, you will not be allowed to use you're wireless there. Some teams check and mark your gear for registration as you enter. And if you are caught using unregistered wireless, they can confiscate your wireless for the rest of the game, pull your creds and boot you and even ban you(deny credentials) for the rest of the season. I wish all sports I covered were like the NFL in that regard. Too much of it is like the wild west. Everything can be fine one day and the next a crew can show up and blow you out of the water, with no warning at exactly the wrong time when there is nothing you can do about it, but take it in the backside...

 

[Richard Crowley]

But even back in the "good old days" when the FCC (and other federal government agencies) were at "full-strength" they never attempted that level of frequency coordination for portable devices.
With the state of the agency these days, your nearest office may not even have anyone the understands what "frequency coordination" is.
That kind of frequency coordination only works with high participation, and participation is only forthcoming when there appears to be a positive cost/benefit ratio.
And if they did, they would likely store the information on one of those flaky federal disk drives we've been hearing about in the news. :badputer:

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

But even back in the "good old days" when the FCC (and other federal government agencies) were at "full-strength" they never attempted that level of frequency coordination for portable devices.

With the 'rolling out'... perhaps 'creeping out'... of 'whitespace devices', there are two methods outlined by the FCC for using 'whitespace'. One is using a certified 'database' provider that is supposed to be 'up to date' with the FCC records. How that 'up to date' status is determined, is a mystery of FCC life...

The other method is 'sensing'. As far as I know using the 'database' is the only current method used by actual 'white space' devices.

This is why for radio mics, 'registration' is important, since unless it is registered, it won't be in the FCC database, and hence, channels are 'free' for whitespace devices. Wireless mics take priority if registered...

There is no FCC regs on frequency coordination of whitespace devices and so whitespace usage is similar to 900/2.4/5.8 ISM bands.

And yes, the FCC seems to be inclined to 'sell off' spectrum, which had an impact when they reallocated the above 700 MHz band... for everyone who is not a major player.

 

[paulears]

In the UK when the government sold off our channel 69 allocation, they offered compensation to those who had licenses, leaving a few channels in ch 70 for the masses and non-pro use, in theory. Broadcasters, and people in the know still have access to some TV channels other than this, on an allocation and pay basis, while other pro general users are now in ch 39 with new kit, much paid for by what was decent compensation from the government. Non licensed and technically illegal users now have phones to content with, and as these get rolled out from the cities to the towns, it's getting tricky. Many of course had no idea at all that they should have had a license in the first place, and nobody in power really cared. So people here have a choice. Use technically illegal kit until interference increases enough to drive them out, or buy new kit and move to a new band.

When special events are on, as in the Olympics in 2012 and now with the commonwealth games, all radio mics get coordinated in bands other than ch 39. Only fools would use ch 70 for broadcast as every pub has DJ Dave doing the three foot jump from mic to DJ console on these channels, and ch 39 is full of theatre mics. Broadcasters sensibly coordinate their use. I don't know about the commonwealth games, but at the Olympics, no rf kit got into the park without being inspected and tested. I assume the US do things in a similar manner or it must be chaos.