Sennheiser G2, soon to be obsolete?!

You know...the FCC has their whole "public airwaves" thing yet THEY get to sell off the spectrum! They get to regulate language/content on TV shows/the radio yet they get all the profit from the auctions to telecom companies, etc. I wonder where that money is going anyway?

They should be giving us the rebates, not Sennheiser or Shure or Audio Technica. They are the ones who made our expensive devices useless. Where is OUR wireless audio stimulus package? REVOLUTION! LOL...
 
adamr316 said:
You know...the FCC has their whole "public airwaves" thing yet THEY get to sell off the spectrum! They get to regulate language/content on TV shows/the radio yet they get all the profit from the auctions to telecom companies, etc. I wonder where that money is going anyway?
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There are a number of public 'resources' which the government seems to mismanage, or, worse assist near monopolies to control that resource. In the case of the FCC, due to 'relaxation' of various regulations regarding how many stations one entity can 'own/control', most radio markets have narrowed down to a few 'big/powerful' stations owned by entities like Clear Channel, and the rest, perhaps owned by some variety, but definitely not on the same 'power' capabilities of the monopoly inclined.

Further, in regard to the 'language', etc. regs. The spectrum that has been TV, and Radio, has been pretty much 'free', with the requirement the stations operate 'in the public intrest'... These days, that just means diddly, except perhaps for the occasional disaster and having a working transmitter for public safety messages. Otherwise, as long as there are no dirty words, the few owners need not worry about the FCC interfering.

In the case of the TV bands, 90% of the country did not use most of that spectrum. A few major metropolitan markets did fill up the spectrum, but otherwise outside of these areas, it was 'white'... with a few RF mics operated at mega churches, and perhaps some other types of uses...

The problem of course is that without regulation, things would be worse... and unfortunate as well, regulations help established corporations, big corporations, better than small operations.

As for whence the money... it will go into the Federal spending sand pit, like off- and onshore oil leases, major mining operations on shore, etc, or your taxes...
 
Which frequency is better on the Sennheiser G3, A / 516 - 558 MHz Frequency or B / 626 - 668 MHz Frequency ?
 
ZazaCast said:
http://74.205.3.123/ff/

This will allow you to see what's in your area....and pick the best frequency.
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So, if there are vacancies in each frequency I can use either one? And if I can use either one, does one frequency work better than the other. In other words does a higher frequency inherently perform better than a low frequency?
 
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On the topic of the frequency finder, one tip I got from a Sennheiser guy the other day was to set the "Att.:" (attenuation) field to "40 dB (Indoors)" rather than the default "30 dB (Mixed)". He felt that the engineers who designed the site had perhaps over-engineered it. :)

There's no difference between one open frequency and another. Higher, lower, doesn't matter. Find one that works and stick with it. :D
 
Chadfish said:
You know the G3 system has been available at Sweetwater for over a month...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EW122PG3-G

It comes with an ME4 mic though. I prefer the ME2.
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This is very misleading!

The ew 112-p-G2 has been replaced by the ew 112-p G3 - both come with the omni ME2.

The ew 122-p G2 has been replaced by the ew 122-p G3 - both come the the cardioid ME 4.

You are trying to compare the 112 G2 with the 122 G3 - they are different beasties.

You should have linked to THIS page on Sweetwater, which is the ew 112-p G3 with the ME 2 omni mic. :D
 
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John I wasn't trying to compare the 112 G2 with the 122G3. It was an oversight. I did notice that there was no ME2, which I prefer. I'm glad you found the right unit though. It seems to be unavailable at the usual places one purchases wireless units for video.

I am interested in the performance of the G3 units, as I plan on getting one eventually. I use the G2 now. It does well usually, but some rooms just don't play well with it - I get endless RF hits. I'm out in Northmost California, and there is no competing use of wireless devices, so things usually go well. I heard the G3 have some form of passive diversity, which may be all I need to defeat the RF in some of the places I work. I use a Letrosonics unit from work that has never had an RF hit happen on any of my jobs, but that is expensive, and bulky. But I digress...

I am interested in a comparison between the G3 and G2 wireless.
 
Chadfish said:
John I wasn't trying to compare the 112 G2 with the 122G3. It was an oversight. I did notice that there was no ME2, which I prefer. I'm glad you found the right unit though. It seems to be unavailable at the usual places one purchases wireless units for video.
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No probs. I just wanted to correct the impression that the G3 didn't come with the ME2 omni.


Chadfish said:
I am interested in the performance of the G3 units, as I plan on getting one eventually. I use the G2 now. It does well usually, but some rooms just don't play well with it - I get endless RF hits. I'm out in Northmost California, and there is no competing use of wireless devices, so things usually go well. I heard the G3 have some form of passive diversity, which may be all I need to defeat the RF in some of the places I work. I use a Letrosonics unit from work that has never had an RF hit happen on any of my jobs, but that is expensive, and bulky. But I digress...
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The RF hits may be due to the choice of frequency.

The body of the evolution EK camera receiver is too small to have all the extra circuitry required for true diversity (true diversity requires two complete receiver circuits)

tfig13.gif


- instead it uses adaptive diversity (or antenna diversity). This is *not* passive - basically, the diversity switching is done between two antennas and feeds a single receiver circuit.

tfig14.gif


The G3 uses the output cable as the second antenna - as this is normally in a totally different orientation to the main antenna it is likely to work better than two parallel antennas close to each other.


Chadfish said:
I am interested in a comparison between the G3 and G2 wireless.
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G2 has a 36MHz switching bandwidth
G3 has a 42MHz switching bandwidth
2000 series (top-end G3 - replaces G2 500 series) has a 75MHz switching bandwidth

G2 100 series had 4 frequencies per bank
G3 100 series has 10 frequencies per bank

For Europe and the UK:-
G2 had the de-regulated frequencies as version E - bank 8 - 1st 4 frequencies
G3 has the de-regulated frequencies as version E - bank 1 - 1st 4 frequencies
(so anyone who just turns on and uses is now legal instead of illegal)

G2 has a non-diversity camera-mount receiver
G3 has a diversity camera-mount receiver

G3 has an extra "G" band available between the "A" and "B" bands - specially useful for the USA

G3 has major improvements in the hand-held transmitter - looks much better and now has screw-on interchangeable microphone heads.

For the 1U (half width) diversity receivers - the antenns splitter (ASA1) is now an active splitter that also powers the receivers down the antenna cables

The G3 hand-held receivers (300 / 500 / 2000 series) can now be recharged without having to remove the accupack

+ more - but these are the main things.

I hope this helps.
 
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Chadfish said:
I am interested in the performance of the G3 units, as I plan on getting one eventually. I use the G2 now. It does well usually, but some rooms just don't play well with it - I get endless RF hits. I'm out in Northmost California, and there is no competing use of wireless devices, so things usually go well.
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What is meant by the timer 'RF hits'?
 
Thanks for the info John! Very helpful.

I'm happy to hear the G3 has adaptive diversity at least. It should give me a more robust signal in the few places I get trouble. Once in a while I get interference from metal jewelry like bracelets. As far as switching frequencies goes, it's usually too late to change settings when I hear the first RF hit. I film seminars or Yoga classes in front of an audience, and can't stop the show.

As I write this I'm starting to think it's just best to save the extra money and get a Lectrosonics unit. But you say that you can't get true diversity in a small receiver? I have use of an older Lectrosonics UCR 195D, that is the size of an 80's era walkman cassette player, and twice as heavy. The unit works wonderfully. It's just the size I have trouble with as a "one man band".

Are you (or is anyone) aware of any smaller, true diversity wireless systems that won't break the bank?

Thank you again.

Chadfish
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
What is meant by the timer 'RF hits'?
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j1clark

I mean interference in the wireless signal. RF means "Radio Frequency". So in my mind, a "hit" can be anything that causes a noise in my signal. Usually it's a burst of white noise or static. Many times it's just a quick "thud", but sometimes it's a "shhhhhh" sound followed by a "thud".


A few of these is not a big deal, but sometimes in a situation where the "show" has started and I can't stop to play with my gear, it can be a real drag to deal with in post. I have to duck out the hits with volume points on the time line. Many times I have a hypercardioid mic on the camera as well, and can replace a fowled word with mic audio. This is very time consuming and it's almost worth it to spend 1,200.00 on a unit just to avoid the whole thing. It's not so bad if I am doing something with actors for a TV spot, and I can just have them do the line over.

Like I said, it's an uncommon occurrence with my Senn G2, but it does happen. I just was interested if the G3 units will be more robust in defeating these RF hits.

Chadfish
 
Chadfish said:
Thanks for the info John! Very helpful.

I'm happy to hear the G3 has adaptive diversity at least. It should give me a more robust signal in the few places I get trouble. Once in a while I get interference from metal jewelry like bracelets. As far as switching frequencies goes, it's usually too late to change settings when I hear the first RF hit. I film seminars or Yoga classes in front of an audience, and can't stop the show.
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If you are getting RF interference at the same frequency as your radios, 'diversity' will not help... unless one of the antennas is 'shadowed' from the RF interferer...

Diversity helps in what audio people would call 'echo', in RF it's called 'multipath'... as well as a few other distortions that can occur from the transmitter to the receiver.

There was a post for a spectrum listing site further back up the thread (or was it a different thread)... Anyway, have you used that tool to see if there possibly could be an 'incombant' on the channels you are using.

One of the problems with RF interference is that it varies (otherwise you'd just choose a different channel...) and for example, there may be an intermittent transmitter that is quiet, but starts up... or the atmospheric conditions allows a distant transmitter to be received locally. Even though the UHF band is predominantly 'line of sight', things can happen fringing on mountains, that may be affected by weather conditions, (like heatwaves in the desert for the visible spectrum...). Further depending on the construction of the building, various multipath 'pathways' could be present, such that things change from the time you sweep the spectrum, and the time the event which is to be captured occurs...

Here in San Diego we have alot of naval RF 'things'... now some things are not supposed to be operated within so many miles of the coast because of their deleterious effects on civilian activities... but then one never knows what some ship's been authorized to do...

Radars that sweep can be 'detected' because the interference occurs with a periodicity of the sweep.

Also, in the UHF band, even though there may not be a TV station actually operating on a particular TV channel, even if licensed to do so, sometimes they will 'sell' spectrum for other uses. As long as the transmitter operates in accordance with the licensed parameters... all is 'well' except for anyone wanting reuse the spectrum, having sniffed it as 'clean'...

The other radar use in the UHF band is for 'foliage penetration'... and has been used to find 'marijuana fields' under a canopy of trees... but I digress...
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
If you are getting RF interference at the same frequency as your radios, 'diversity' will not help... unless one of the antennas is 'shadowed' from the RF interferer...

Diversity helps in what audio people would call 'echo', in RF it's called 'multipath'... as well as a few other distortions that can occur from the transmitter to the receiver.
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Not exactly true. Multipath - the fact that the signal from the transmitter bounces around and arrives at the receiver multiple times and all slightly out of phase from each other - can cause a "hit". What can happen is that at one specific antenna, two or more versions of the signal can cancel each other out, causing a null in the response. Different receivers handle such a null differently - sometimes it causes white noise, sometimes it causes a moment of silence, etc. For that moment (or longer, depending on the situation) the background RF engergy on that channel is predominant.

Diversity solves this by providing a second antenna - chances are that such a null will only affect one antenna at a time, basically.

How the different receivers handle such nulls is important - sometimes it's OK to have an instant of silence (although, certainly not desireable) but it's almost never OK to have a burst of white noise. Usually, modern wireless mic systems and some dating back a few years use "pilot tone squelch" which helps keep the white noise out. And again - diversity goes a long way towards preventing it in the first place.

Karl Winkler
Lectrosonics, Inc.
 
when finding frequencies on sennheiser's page, is it better to opt for A, which has one free blue one and the rest yellow, or to opt for B which is in the 600s and all yellow?

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/FindFrequency/ SEATTLE 98105

and why is there no description on what BLUE means? Is yellow usually fine, or do people run into problems?
 
When you run the frequency finder, click "help" over on the left and then click on "Recommendation" in section 2. That will give you the legend of what color means what.

Blue is vacant, yellow is either vacant with a high-power transmitter on an adjacent channel or a very low power transmitter on that channel which shouldn't interfere with you (but no guarantees, of course. :) ). The pink is for channels not allowed for wireless, and the white are high-powered transmitters that are going to drown you out.

Personally, I would probably go for block A, just because there is a blue (vacant) channel. OTOH, for all I know, everybody else in Seattle went for block A because of the blue channel, and so it's swamped. :D A local dealer might be able to give you some advice, or you could maybe look at renting before you buy and doing a frequency scan to see how much those low-power "yellow" channels are usuable...
 
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