Bobbsy Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 What's a factor of 1000 between friend? Give me a break...it was getting late and I'd had a half bottle of nice wine! It must be very hard to estimate the value of the entertainment industry to the country. Certainly tourism is a big contributor to the economy and half the voices at most west end shows are foreign...but how many would stop coming without the theatre? Who knows? Ah well. We can't win a purely economic debate anyway. I really believe the best argument is the voter outrage if the local schools and churches lose there mics. The thought of lost votes will focus an MP's mind very nicely indeed. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightsource Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 I would like to think that we had at least a 'little' polotics in this country ... So in the words of Kiss Shout it, Shout it, Shout it out loud..... If you don't state your objections, then nobody will hear you, and nobody will care. It's up to all of us, as industry professionals to state our point, so if you haven't done so already, then do it now, please, for the sake of all of us The more, the better.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 In the US we have had industry professionals meeting with the politicians, but so far it looks grim. Several of my friends were in that group, and they did not come back hopeful. Last month Qualcomm fired up a transmitter on ch 55, which was the 716-722MHz range. This was for a data service called "MediaFlo" that seems fairly undefined at this point. Many of the shows currently running on Broadway had to reconfigure their RF systems to cover what they had been using in that band. Politicians are the only ones who can save the bandwidth we need, but at this point the data service industry seems to have a far larger voice. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 No just in Mac's territory: QUALCOMM and British Sky Broadcasting Complete Second MediaFLO Trial I don't need to remind anyone about the depth of BSB's pockets :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Mac, am I right in my understanding that the situation in the States is even worse than here? From what I've been told, even before any new spectrum sales, there is already no legal standing for radio mic users outside the broadcast industry. I gather that even big users like a Broadway musical are technically pirates, squeezing in their bandwidth as they can, using luck and a spectrum analyser. ...which is likely what will happen in the UK if Ofcom don't make suitable, affordable provision: just a lot of illegal transmissions and complaints of interference. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Mac, am I right in my understanding that the situation in the States is even worse than here? From what I've been told, even before any new spectrum sales, there is already no legal standing for radio mic users outside the broadcast industry. I gather that even big users like a Broadway musical are technically pirates, squeezing in their bandwidth as they can, using luck and a spectrum analyser.You are correct. There are no licensed frequencies for wireless mics. Broadcasters can get a license, but I think it would be for a particular frequency, which odds are they wouldn't be on at any given time. There has always been whitespace available between analog UHF TV channels because they are widely spaced. There are also some UHF TV channels that are rarely used. This has allowed us easy access in the past, but this is the very spectrum that is being, and has been auctioned. It looks like hard times ahead for all of us in regard to RF spectrum. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 I think we should have a national "no radio mic" day, preferably on a day that happens to coincide with a political conference of some variety. For that one day, all equipment that will be affected by the DDR stays switched off. It would only work with 100% cooperation from users of such equipment, but I think it would make the point we need to get across. Massive publicity would ensue (although news reporters would be shouting in to wired mics...) Something like this seems like it would be the only to make the powers that be realise just how dependant we all are on the use of this spectrum. Thoughts please? The more I think about it, the better an idea it seems - kind of like a strike, but for equipment, not people. I don't think anyone in this industry has anything to loose by trying something like this and it would be rather revealing for all of us to find out just how much things would fall apart without this technology. I can see lots of disappointed west end attendees, but that only serves to reinforce the point. If Joe Public realises what he stands to loose, he might start to make his voice heard. Shez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip T Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I like your idea, it would certainly ram the point home.... :huh: But I can't see the producers of large west end shows who may have to refund vast quantities of tickets being so amused by it, and I have a hunch that pullling that kind of stunt may be seen as gross misconduct and there for fairly sackable :) But maybe sendind someone influential a list of everything that would fall over might work a bit - it would be a very very long list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 But I can't see the producers of large west end shows who may have to refund vast quantities of tickets being so amused by it, and I have a hunch that pullling that kind of stunt may be seen as gross misconduct and there for fairly sackable I think (hope) you're missing the point slightly. The west end producers & their TV / radio / film brethren are the ones who should be leading this. They stand to lose far more than the person on the ground who actually switches the thing on. It would need support from everyone in the industry, not just the people who use the equipment. This will affect all of us, and I sincerely hope that the management folks are every bit as worried as we, the equipment users, are. If they're not, we should be doing our best to educate them. I think compiling a list of everything that would be affected would make for interesting reading - I bet there are loads of uses of the spectrum that those of us working in one specific area of the industry aren't aware of. The radio station I set up whilst at University uses a UHF link to get their signal from the studio to the transmitter; I would put money on them being blissfully unaware of the pending forced obsolescence of their equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosxuk Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 We borrow radio mics from our university AV dept, and the first thing they knew about the changes (they're responsible for all the loanable radio mics, and the ones installed in lecture theatres, so quite a bit of kit), was when we asked them if they'd signed the petition. I'd imagine most universities are in a similar position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Update: JFMG have now published their response to the OFCOM discussion paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 JFMG have now published their response to the OFCOM discussion paper.Makes for an interesting (and pretty well thought out) read.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Yup, the JFMG document does make interesting reading and there are some good points. However, it also leaves me with some concern that, like so much of this campaign, it is focusing on the big users like West End shows and major events who, reading between the lines, may have the ability to spend huge amounts to buy spectrum. As far as I can see, the only consideration for small users may be the total deregulation of UHF Channel 69. This actually works against those of us who used the licenced frequencies on 69 as we lose any protection against interference. It's also potentially inadequate since I know of many amateur/small professional users who regularly operate more than the 8-14 channels that can be crammed into one TV channel. I think this makes it even more important that the thousands of small users (Amdram groups, schools, churches etc.) put their own point across, otherwise we risk losing out to the interests of people like Andrew Lloyd Webber who can afford to pay! Coincidentally, I received a letter today from my MP in response to my email to him. He basically says that he's forwarded my concerns to Tessa Jowell who is the Minister responsible for the Digital Dividend Review. I'm going to be replying to him about some of the detail of the letter but think I may also contact Jowell directly. Who knows? With the usual quality of government computers, I may count as two letters, not one! Finally, just a point for everyone: the closing date for contacting OFCOM directly is March 20th. Even if it's a simple letter, it's worth all the BR's radio mic users getting your voice heard. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 All, Do get your letters and responses in, as Bobbsy has urged. If you need any proof as to the demands that may be placed upon available spectrum, read this article. There will be much more pressure from the many who don't have Sky wanting "HD for all" than a few radio mic users... Simon edited for clarity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Thanks for that link, Simon. Very interesting. My first thought on this is that it's potentially good news for radio mic users. If some or all of the old analogue TV spectrum is given over for HD-DTT, I'm pretty sure that low power mic users could co-exist with this use in the same way we do with broadcasters today. The the spectrum planning for the high powered TV transmitters would have to leave them far enough apart (in physical distance) that I'm pretty sure radio mics could be licenced in much the way they are today. However, there's a long way to go before this becomes a possibility. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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