wireless mic extender

[hadyn]

Hi
Its that time of year again when i will be doing football presentations and this year, the club have asked if they can have a speaker about 100 metres down the field for announcements only.
i have recently purchased some seinheiser uhf wireless freeport microphones and recievers to use for speeches and that so i was thinking of using these for the announcements rather than purchasing about 100 metres of xlr cable.
question is whether the mic and reciever will travel just over 100 meters reliably which i wont know untill i am on the ground there, or if you can buy such a thing as a uhf signal extender which would be similar to a wireless network signal extender.
Hadyn

[Excalibur]

As far as I know, there isn't an extender ( waits for some technocrat to post details of exactly such an item :D ) this (http://http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar06/articles/live_freeport.htm) article indicates that it ought to cope at 100 metres fine, as long as it has line of sight. Can you set the mic up with a small speaker and measure how far away you still get a viable signal beforehand?

I don't know if there's any mic with a longer alleged range, so can't offer much more than that, sorry.

[hadyn]

i think your right about the uhf extender so i thought of another idea
i will use the xlr cables i do have to exend the reciever from the speaker and so reduce the range to about 70 metres which should be fine.
i might try the setup in line of sight and see how far i can get.
also i suppose i have to think about the atmosperic conditions as well which i know affect signals normally bit i dont think they will affect it that much over a short distance.
thanks

[DazzyD]

I'd have thought the mic should be fine but, like Peter says, best signal is going to be a direct, clear, unobstructed line between transmitter and receiver. With it being radio waves, even atmospheric conditions can affect the signal. I thought I'd heard of UHF transmitter amplifiers that might do the trick but I can't find any of these on the net (maybe they were a tech DIY project I'd read somewhere) so that's not helpful. I've checked some other forums and there doesn't seem to be any conclusive solution other than to put your receiver on longer cable and position it closer to you. This will result in a longer sound-to-speakers delay which, if you're not used to it, can be a bit off-putting but it's something you have to live with.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I did find a series of devices from an Australian manufacturer who appear to have such a device for boosting UHF/VHF signals but they're not portable and cost an awful lot of money (with some higher-range models running in to high 5 figures when converted to UK Sterling!!! :eek:

EDIT:

Can't believe you managed to answer my comments as I was typing them and before I'd pressed the Post button!!! :zip:

[SamV]

You can replace the antennae on the freeport to a high gain one if you know what you're doing but it's not a job for the feint of heart. While 100m line of sight should be ok, the level wouldn't be great and I'd hazard that it might suffer from the odd drop out. I'd personally opt to have however many XLRs you might have daisy chained. Question is though, with a speaker at 100m away from the mic, what's happening at 50m or 0m? No audience there?

[hadyn]

You can replace the antennae on the freeport to a high gain one if you know what you're doing but it's not a job for the feint of heart. While 100m line of sight should be ok, the level wouldn't be great and I'd hazard that it might suffer from the odd drop out. I'd personally opt to have however many XLRs you might have daisy chained. Question is though, with a speaker at 100m away from the mic, what's happening at 50m or 0m? No audience there?

Hi
The idea is to have a couple of speakers and normal set up at the pavilion end where the wireless mic and everything is and then a speaker positioned a 100 metres away where the other football matches are taking place just for the announcments .
I did recommend a tannoy to them last year which I think would have been better for clearer announcements but they declined.

[deltic]

Cheapest solution would be 100v line,then you won't have delay issues with speakers 100m appart,unless I have misread your op

[DJ Jules]

I've got to agree with the above, the cheapest/best solutions would be wired.

Failing that there's always things like this (http://www.maplin.co.uk/b-grade-digisender-5000m-audio-video-link-684218) (there are audio only equivalents kicking around as well).

Julian

[Excalibur]

Cheapest solution would be 100v line,then you won't have delay issues with speakers 100m appart,unless I have misread your op

I was waiting for that suggestion. Obviously, it's the correct solution, but may involve the expense of hiring in kit, which the operator isn't even familiar with. I've tried to read up on it before, and I'm not too hot on it.

I'm toying with the "Halfway house" option. Put the receiver and mixer/amp fifty meters away from the mic, and run your longest speaker cables as far as they'll go in the same direction. That might add up to the magical 100 metres. Speaker cables could be extended by use of connectors, or other cabs with two sockets ( dependant on impedance shown to the amp of course. No shoving two four ohm cabs on each channel of a Legendary Prosound. :eek: )

I'd have a dry run with the freeport beforehand and see how it fares. If it's fine, then that's good. If not, then time for Plan B. ( Whatever Plan B is ) :D

[DJ Jules]

I'd have a dry run with the freeport beforehand and see how it fares. If it's fine, then that's good. If not, then time for Plan B. ( Whatever Plan B is ) :D

I've used a Freeport at outdoor events before but the maximum distance I've ever had to use it must have been only about 35-40m from handset to base station (alebit round a corner and through a brick wall!) I don't think I've ever gone as far as 100m, but I have never, ever had it drop out on me.

I expect this (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100m-Reel-of-Black-Microphone-Cable-2x0-08mm2-/330880224574?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Cables_Leads_Conne ctors&hash=item4d09ff8d3e) is probably plan B :D (back to the debate on cable quality though - how much difference will there be between this reel (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100m-Reel-of-Black-Microphone-Cable-2x0-08mm2-/330880224574?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Cables_Leads_Conne ctors&hash=item4d09ff8d3e) at £21/100m and a reel of Van Damme (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microphone-Mic-Cable-Van-Damme-100m-Reel-10-Colours-/110448729237?pt=UK_Musical_Cables_Leads_Connectors&hash=item19b741dc95) at £109/100m? :D )

Julian

[SamV]

I have dental floss that is thicker than that cheap reel. If you don't want to stop up for VD, have a look at Sommer, Proel, Kelsey and other reliable brands.

[hadyn]

i did toy with the idea of making my own cable as im familiar with soldering and the like and then purchasing a 100 metre reel of cable and making the lead up but once you add the cost of two xlr plugs plus the cable and the solder and my valuable time then i would be better off finding a reel for about 50.00 which i would probably be happy paying.
if i knew this would be a regular event and there was chance of other similar events then i would have no hesitation in buying the van damm cable at 109.00 but this could be a one off so i am hedging my bets at present.