djburnage Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Hi,We recently brought a Shure PGX24/SM58 UHF for my sister www.myspace.com/clareburnagejazz. As I'm not a sound guy I don't really know about mikes and frequency licenses. So what I need to know is:1: does the Shure PGX24/SM58 UHF require a licence to be used in the UK2: If my sister does need a licence for it, where do I get it? and does it cost money? CheersChris Edit: Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Riley Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 If you buy a new radio mic in the UK from a dealer, then it will be set to work within the permitted RF bands for radio mics. The manual should give clear guidance about this issue, but the relevant license free frequencies are: Ch13 = 863.100, Ch14 = 863.900, Ch15 = 864.500, Ch16 = 864.900 (MHz) The people to go to for questions and licensing are JFMG who administer the licenses in the UK. If you do need to operate on licensed frequencies, then there is a cost for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 If you buy a new radio mic in the UK from a dealer, then it will be set to work within the permitted RF bands for radio mics. Really? That's not my experience, buying from the usual online sources. Three issues stand out: 1) Multi channel devices such as Sennheiser G2s come set at the lowest frequency in the lowest band. You have to manually set it to channel 70. (As an aside, it also comes set for maximum sensitivity and maximum receiver output!). Therefore you cannot rely on the mic being set to a 'free to use channel'. 2) Many manufacturers - Shure is a prime example - state in their instructions "Use the auto channel select to find a clear frequency". This could put you anywhere in licenced territory. JFMG state that you shouldn't use this feature, but the manufacturers make this a selling point. 3) It can be quite difficult to get frequency information on a given radio system. The G2s mentioned above can display frequency, but many systems (including the PGX) show only a channel number. The Shure manual doesn't help either - because it's a) American and b) tells you to simply change channel if there's interference. In fact, if you have bought one, you might have a single sheet of paper inserted in the box that give channel information. DjBurnage - you need to operate on one of the four frequencies that Matt has stated. Any others require a licence, that JFMG will happily sell to you. This could be for a single frequency or for a block of frequencies that gives you some leeway over which one is used. Regards, Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Alcock Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Chris, Well done for buying a good system. I expect your sister is very pleased with it. As Simon says, your system can automatically set a frequency (channel) for you, however that frequency could be in an area of the radio band that requires you to have a license (i.e. won't be legal unless you have one). Some of the channels your PGX can be set to, will be in the license-free area of the band (anyone can use them), and these are the ones you should really use. There may be three or four and they'll be between 863 and 865 MHz. Your sister will probably find that for most gigs these will be fine and she won't get any intereference. If she has a gig where other people are using radio mics she may need to try one of the other license-free channels. Outside the license-free are of the band is a range of channels you can use once you have a license from JFMG. This costs £75 per year. Now the crucial missing bit of information here is which PGX channels are in the license-free bit of the band! I've scoured Shure's website but no luck. I would suggest a call to Shure in London who are generally very helpful (020 8808 2222), and ask them specifically which PGX channels are in the license-free area. If you find out, perhaps you could post back here as it'd be useful information! Cheers. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djburnage Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hey,I've just been I contact with sure and the liecence free channels are21,22,23,and 39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hey,I've just been I contact with sure Well done for getting this information. My brain was somewhat addled at 2am, so I didn't add in the detail that Pete has kindly provided, or indeed suggest that you contact Shure - who are actually very helpful! My comments regarding the difficulty in finding this information on paper or on their website seem to be substantiated, and the instructions given to UK users is still " use the auto channel feature" !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 My comments regarding the difficulty in finding this information on paper or on their website seem to be substantiated, and the instructions given to UK users is still " use the auto channel feature" !!Which is probably based on US sales, as ISTR from another thread that there are no licenced channels across the pond, and it is a free-for-all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Anyone happen to know what frequencies the PG series come set to? I'm guessing license free UHF, as they only have 4 freqs available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacher Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 My comments regarding the difficulty in finding this information on paper or on their website seem to be substantiated, and the instructions given to UK users is still " use the auto channel feature" !!Which is probably based on US sales, as ISTR from another thread that there are no licenced channels across the pond, and it is a free-for-all. Same goes on for Denmark where 800-820Mhz and 863-865Mhz is free to use without a license. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Anyone happen to know what frequencies the PG series come set to? I'm guessing license free UHF, as they only have 4 freqs available. At the moment I don't know the exact frequencies used with the PG series, but the earlier UT were different from the Sennheiser G1 and G2 (annoyingly).The ULX series can get four into 863 - 865MHz (hint - have a look at the front panel frequency read out the next time you pass a stack of four at FOH). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 We get some issues with international acts who bring their own kit, we've got a generous allocation of (free to use) wireless mic bandwidth, but it stops at 806MHz, channel 62. Don't bring your channel 69 stuff with you to New Zealand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chappie Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 A UK spec PGX system will be set to 846-865 MHz (channels 68-"70"). If you use the system in channel 70 (863-865) you will not need a licence as these are harmonised free-to-use frequencies. If you use channel 69 (854-862) you can purchase a licence for a year to use specific frequencies within it for about £80 from JFMG (www.jfmg.co.uk) which you share with other users. If you use channel 68 you will have to apply to JFMG for a location and date specific licence each time you use it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.