Wolf124

Hi Everyone. Yes, it's that time of year again and panto reigns supreme...oh yes it does. Sorry, mine has now come and gone and I am currently working through the debris of this year's trantec 'demolition derby'. Except that this year, after the event, I notice that there is a new (to me) version of the trantec monitoring software v1.6.11. The usual appears to apply. No download or info. Has anyone used it, got it, does it work, is it any better than the old version......any thoughts/advice anyone. Cedd, did you ever get your system off the ground? By the way, happy new year everyone...2023 that is!!!!

DrV - Thanks for the lead on that. I might try to disassemble the body to get at the PCB and give it a squirt of switch cleaner. The buttons do appear to click nicely but of course that doesn't mean that the contacts aren't gummed up I suppose.

Hi Everyone. Here's one for the electronics whizz kids. I have got hold of a second-hand Trantec S5.5 hand-mic, but when I turn it on the display rotates from 'S5.5-3' to 'Gain 2' to 'off', and then goes around this circuit for a few minutes and eventually, when it appears to get bored with this game, settles onto the pre-set frequency. Is this any easy fix, is there a fix, can I simply replace the circuit board and if so how or, is it a specialist repair from my normal dealer?

Thanks Brian. I think that the reception indicator on the RX units will be more than adequate for my needs.

Whoops. Sorry to have caused problems. Anyway, CPC have delivered the bits for me to experiment with. Just normal copper Flexi cable for now, but made up nicely. Now to test it with a 'proper' aerial and then test it's durability to destruction!!!

Thanks Cedd. I too ended up with two packs without antennae and still got a signal. Never found them and no idea what happened to them. Of course there's the usual batch of bent, folded or just where the h*ll has that been, antennae!!?? I also as mentioned way back, I have got antennae whose length bears little resemblance to that indicated by the standard formula for the frequency the pack is tuned to, so while I have the time, thought that I would check each one and fit with something that I know should be correct. Hence all the (sometimes repeated within the thread) questions. It doesn't help that I have acquired so many models covering so many frequencies, many of which are no longer available so these have been returned but I think that I have now got it covered and have decent separation between the frequencies. Time will tell. Thanks.

Cedd- Talking about 2W at 900mhz transmitters, what is the current situation (if any) regarding interference from mobile phones with UHF radio mics? I haven't noticed anything recently but everyone was threatened with having their phones nailed to the flats if I caught any live ones backstage during a performance. Not that that would have stopped them, but the threat sounded good!!!

Thanks. Is there any health and safety issues having a transmitter so close to the head for over 2 hours. I realise that there is probably more danger with a mobile phone but for normal use, probably not two hours. What type of transmitter were you using. I would have thought that most would be too heavy for practical use.

On a slightly different note but could be Trantec related. After watching the televised stage version of 'Anything Goes' over Christmas, I could not help but notice that the girls were wearing head mics with no visible transmitter wiring to a leg pouch etc. Is now standard to put the transmitter in the singers wig? All the girls had suspiciously large hair styles with a sort of 'bulge'. If this is the case, it is not something that I have come across before and interests me. Education required please!!

Could that have been the source of his problems and why the kit came in for repair?

Thanks Cedd. I am assuming that the overall length of the aerial does not include the thread which 'becomes part of the PCB' when screwed in. I have cut mine from the tip of the aerial to the 'shoulder' of the thread, where it sits up against the PCB. I don't know if I have done this correctly. I have a motley selection of aerials on my 4 different models (D2, D3, G1 & G2) of belt-pack. Some of these have been tuned to Ch65. I have worked out the length using the formula posted earlier in the thread but the lengths don't appear to coincide with what came with the transmitters!!! Admittedly, they were all second-hand so the provenance of the aerials is suspect!! I am trying to standardise them before they go into store. This is the first time that I have not been under pressure to get them on stage and working in some way. I have even only just realised that I had two working on frequencies which I feel are too close to prevent intermodulation (826.225 & 826.050). Just goes to show what you put up with without realising.

Hi Cedd. Compliments of the season to you. Yes, I was very careful when choosing the M3 screw attachment to make sure that it cleared the casing and didn't put any strain on the PCB. I noticed after your previous warning earlier in this thread, that some of my secondhand units came with badly oversized bases on the aerials. The have upgraded and the boards checked for damage. What type of solder did you use on the brake cable? I assume that you soldered then into a brass M3 fitting and heat shrinked the lot.

Ok Gents. Thanks for the discussion. Merry Christmas to you all. I have ordered some of this... https://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/20333-4/5m-black-test-lead/dp/CB00101 and will give it a try against a Trantec supplied aerial of the same length and let you know how things turn out.

No, a bit more like this one....https://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/20333-4/5m-black-test-lead/dp/CB00101?fi=wp but I see that there are others which may be better...like this one...https://cpc.farnell.com/mc-multi-contact/60-7190-21/tpe-insulated-1-00mm-black-25m/dp/CBBR1406?MER=sy-me-pd-mi-alte ...but I don't know which would be the best, hence the post. I am in no hurry. I still have enough of the old cable to make up a few new ones for the time being.

Nearly finished my replace/repair session on my Trantecs and am now into the find/repair/replace the lost/mangled where/how the h*ll situation with the antenna. After my enquiries in 2018 (was it really that long ago), I made up some very successful replacements using the 'extra flex' cable. Now, of course, CPC are no longer listing it. Can anyone give me a link for something similar please, before I order the end caps and M3 fittings as the cable diameter will, without doubt be different from the 'extra flex'. Yes, I know that aerials are available (for a price!!) ready made from several sources, but it is very handy to be able to make up replacements of the correct length quickly from stock items, cheaply. My last homemade set cost about 75p each. PS. Still trying to find the 'space' in the Trantec ASCII character set. It must be there, but I keep missing it...like reading the instruction manuals, you don't find it until you ask everyone who then know that you have lost it!!?? Not really something that you can order as a spare part!!

Hi Everyone. I am going through my Trantec S5 stock to deal with repairs prior to the next production. I remember from a couple of years back that on the S5.5 units there is a way to label the artist/instruments etc but for the life of me, I can't remember how to do it (I need to reset some artist's names for which the units are labelled). I have the Installation Guide but can't find it... but I have seen it somewhere!! Can the collective point me in the right direction please. Edit... Typical, Just as I posted this enquiry, I found the answer on page 9 of my manual!! Doh... However, I am having trouble finding the 'space' in the character set, any ideas please.

Well Gentlemen. I am astounded, not just with the excellent advice that I always get here, but that my very, very, el cheapo head mic is now working and at UK£7.00(ish) plus the cost of an 11K ohm resistor, an absolute bargain for a 'disposable' headset mic. The addition of the resistor across pins 2 and 3 works a treat without the need to connect pins 3 onto pin 4. Whether this would improve things I haven't tried due to the difficulty of removing the connection if not needed. If you think it advisable I will give it a go, but for the moment things are looking good. Thank you for your advice, this will save a lot of money and hopefully will be useful to others on the forum who are looking for something cheap for school and other similar use where high end kit would get just as easily mangled as the cheap stuff. I have not tried it through the board yet, only with headphones out of the RX unit, so a little EQing may be needed, but a great result up to now. Thanks again.

Thanks. Not really worried about vapourising the mic but I don't want to damage the transmitter. You may class yourself as "just some bloke" on the internet but you are more knowledgeable than me and also willing to share, for which I am most grateful.

Hi All. Bringing this one back up as it appears to partly cover my current enquiry. Needing some 'disposable' headsets for our recent panto I got a couple of really, really cheap Chinese headsets of Fleabay (about £6.00 each ---- yes I know). Of course, although supplied with TA4F connectors, they don't work with my Trantec S5 units. Taking a damaged lead plug apart I noticed that '+' goes to pin 3, ground to pin 1 and that pins 3 and 2 have a resistor between them with the colour code Brown, Brown, Black, Red, Red or the reverse which I believe is either 11K ohms 2% or 2.2k ohms 1% depending on which direction your read the colour bands (this resistor is tiny). The plug on the cheap mics only have pin 3 (+) and 1 (ground) connected. So the question, if I take the resistor from the damaged lead and rewire the cheap mic's plug is there a chance that it might just work or simply vaporise the mic or, more seriously damage the transmitter? There is no tech spec with either the damaged (ex working) lead, or the cheap (not working at all) mic.

Thanks all for your help. Yes, I was aware of the dangers of using an oversize connector and ripping off the connector. As for copying an original, that was what started my enquiry as I have acquired many secondhand S5.3, S5.5 & S4.4 units which are wearing a motley selection of aerials of different lengths and types a wire from a rubber duck through to a piece of brown mains lead. I have collected all that I need to make new aerials (at about £2.00uk each) and now want to standardise with two/three lengths for channels 38, 65/6 & 70. It was just the overall length that was causing me concern. So now thanks to you all, I can make up some at 8.2cm, 9.0cm & 11.6cm from aerial tip to bottom of screw thread and be happy. Paul - My PMSE licence only covers me from 830-832 on ch66 so 8.9cm should do me!! ,but who's to 1mm

Thanks all, just what I needed. Only thing remaining is the aerial measurement from where to where. Tip of the aerial (obviously) to tip of screw thread or shoulder where the screw threaded section ends? Not sure exactly where the pcb (pub!!) point is. Took one apart to have a look but still not sure.

Paulears. What is the aerial length for ch65/66. The formula that I found elsewhere on here gives (300/frequency)/4 which gives an aerial length a little longer than those you give earlier. Is this just a 'ballpark' formula, if so, can you give the correct one please. I am making up some new aerials and want to make sure that I have it right!!! Thanks in advance. When you mention the length from the PCB, and not the case grommet, does that exclude the length of the screw section of the aerial?

Hi All. Finally got the software running. Thanks to all contributors whose posts I have found very valuable. Now, a couple of questions and observations. I have connected 10 Trantec S5 series units to this. 7 x S5.5 and 3 x S5.3. 1. The first thing I have noticed is that using the S5.5 only, everything appears to work as far as I have tested the laptop system (Win XP SP3). 2. Connecting the S5.3s immediately cripples many of the functions, probably due to the firmware in these units. 3. I also notice that there does not appear to be a choice of full screen, size to suit or minimize in the top RH corner of the screen. 4. When the software loads, it only fills about three quarters of the screen (as mentioned, there is no means to re-size it). This could be a function of the screen resolution setting in Windows5. As is mentioned elsewhere, the RX units load in a random order, which can't be easily moved around. They won't drag and drop, the only way to re-position them is to re-plug the USBs in the USB hub, which I have found to be a nuisance and suspect that on re-loading the system, they will move.6. The software shuts down every time I change a plug or turn off an RX unit, often hanging the software Is this the worse piece of software ever or am I doing something wrong or am I expecting too much?

James - Thanks for you reply and well done. These were S5.3 units. Swopped to S5.5 and the functions are there including right click on screen to update. Thanks for putting me right as I thought I had connected the S5.5s to start off with.

Just downloaded the software as I think the copy I had was corrupted, but cannot get the new version to install. Is it compatible with Windows 10 or should I dig out the old XP gear? Finally got the suite to install on both xp and win10. I notice that the release is 1.5 but the manual is for rev 1.3. I have not been able to access any of the functions such as name change and other things on 1.5 and there is no drop down other than exit, from the file command. Right clucking on the display windows for each RX unit does nothing. Have these features been lost in 1.5 or am I missing something vital?