Intercom??

[tolley1466]

hi,

 

does anybody have a stage intercom for sale or know of, AND does anybody know where I can buy one for under £400??

 

or if I buy seperate beltpacks do they just tune into eachother or do I need a main base unit?

 

Cheers

[gareth]

does anybody have a stage intercom for sale or know of, AND does anybody know where I can buy one for under £400??

Under £400? If you're buying new, then no. If you can find some second-hand kit, then you might get a PSU and a couple of beltpacks for that, but that'll probably be about it.

 

or if I buy seperate beltpacks do they just tune into eachother or do I need a main base unit?

You need a power supply - either a basic PSU or a base unit that you can also use as a headset station.

[tolley1466]

when they say "wired beltpacks" can I walk around with them or do they need to be attached?

[Alexb_01]

...you can walk around but you will have a wire trailing after you...

[paulears]

Well, wireless beltpacks don't have cables, and wired ones do.

 

Assuming that you are genuine (the question is a little, erm, obvious) the most common stage communication system simply links the individual beltpacks with a standard microphone cable. As Gareth says, somewhere you'll need a power supply. The Master stations are designed to fit into a rack, have a power supply inside, and usually allow two separate circuits to be controlled - so the Stage Manager can talk to maybe the stage crew on one, the lx on the other, flys on one, technical on the other - or technical on one and maybe even backstage paging on the other, with loudspeakers dotted around rather than belt packs. They also offer the facility to add audio from maybe a mic above the stage to allow the dressing rooms to hear what is happening on stage.

[tolley1466]

they look abit expensive :|

 

would it work if I made an intercom out of Wireless Beltpacks e.t.c and in ear monitoring?

[pritch]

Not entirely sure what you're getting at with your last question, but the wireless systems are far, far more expensive than the wired ones, and I'm sure someone here has made comments about them eating batteries.

[paulears]

well, first thing is to read all the topics on this subject (as mentioned, it's been done to death)

starting points are an old but useful one

this one about more complex systems

and this one too

 

there are many others.

 

Moderation: Please - let's not cover identical ground here. If people would like to read those old topics and maybe continue those discussions there it is fine. If you do, the mods will close this duplicate in a few days, and let it vanish!

[gareth]

tolley, with the greatest of respect it's clear that you're shopping for something about which you haven't got a clue. Rather than confuse yourself by asking ill-informed questions (sorry, that sounds a bit like I'm trying to insult you in some way - I'm not, honestly! I'm just trying to be helpful ...) on an internet forum and getting a whole bunch of answers which will, in all likelihood, confuse you even more, get in touch with a decent supplier like AC Lighting - they sell a great range of budget intercom kit by ASL which is about as cheap as you can get while still being sturdy enough to be durable, and will happily advise you on your requirements before selling you what you need.