dfs04 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Hey, I was wondering if anyone could help... I must point out that im a complete beginner at wired comms so bear with me... I was given the task of modernising our local theatre. its quite small. As far as comms are concerned, in the past I tried to get away with walkie talkies but found them extremely unreliable. Could anyone tell me a little bit about wired comms, ive been reading about master stations but do I really need it? bearing in mind that I only need about 6 headsets. I found this link: http://www.ajs.co.uk/Products.aspx?Section...BgColour=ffeedd. would the system work with just the power supply and beltpacks and of course the headsets? Do the beltpacks daisychain into one another like DMX? If not, where do they plug in? (Again sorry but I am completely new to this stuff ). Any info would be greatly appreciated as well as if anyone could reccomend a cheap system (limited budget) that ships to Europe. Many Thanks, Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 The link you posted answers almost all of you questions apart from recommending a cheap system. But the Tecpro are fairly industry standard -or one of a couple at least - so you should have no problem finding additional bits to buy or hire as and when you need to expand you system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfs04 Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 The link you posted answers almost all of you questions apart from recommending a cheap system. But the Tecpro are fairly industry standard -or one of a couple at least - so you should have no problem finding additional bits to buy or hire as and when you need to expand you system. Soooo just to be clear, I simply need to buy the power supply, belt packs and headsets and daisy link the belt packs in order to have communication with all 6 comms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 yep. The tecpro power supply has 3 outlets. with the green switches in, each one can be linked to the next. with the switch off, each outlet operates independently, so if you have two packs on each outlet, if you need them to work in isolation, you can. handy if you need lx on say 4 packs, and stage crew on their own one with just two packs - that kind of thing. A proper master station is power supply combined with a comms section so one person can control who is spoken to, with maybe normal comms ring and a dressing room relay on the other, or foyer speakers. It also offers the facility to insert a mic input to feed stage sound to the dressing rooms - that kind of thing. Some have a loudspeaker in as well. Neat, but VERY expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 This one page flyer from Canford gives you a simple explanation of the Tecpro system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanhill Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 As an aside, I wouldn't bother with the Tecpro headsets as I have always found them to be overpriced and a bit flimsy. Beyer DT108's are an excellent alternative and are considerably cheaper. As mentioned above, I would go with a recognised brand as finding hire stocks will be easier if you need to expand for one-offs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krais Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I wouldn't bother with the Tecpro headsets as I have always found them to be overpriced and a bit flimsy As an amateur group we purchased a set of 5 Techpro headset/beltpacks and a master station some years ago. I can't comment on the Beyer kit, but the Tecpro has proved very reliable (bar a dry solder joint in one headset), and certainly puts up with getting knocked off tables several times a show!Our stage crew would rather not have cables, but we ensure they have plenty, and careful placement of the master station means they can be plugged directly into it, rather than needing another cable daisy chaining to the next user. We may look into the wireless option at some point, but as I understand it, you don't get quite the same open channel usage (I believe those running wireless use the flash button to talk, and nobody else can talk while they have the button pressed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 ..We may look into the wireless option at some point, but as I understand it, you don't get quite the same open channel usage (I believe those running wireless use the flash button to talk, and nobody else can talk while they have the button pressed). It's worth hiring an AD913 simplex radio interface to try. I've used one in conjunction with a set of PMR446 radios with great success. I know its a long way from Berkshire, but Ian at 888 Productions has one in his hire stock. To dfs04: There's a more comprehensive document describing a wide variety of Tecpro configurations on the Technical Projects website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marti Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I've tried the wireless option for tecpro and have found it to be quite a challenge. Receiver placement is very important and you should allow time to get this system working. It is certainly not plug and play. I have, however been playing with a Spanish system from Altair which is normally supplied as a 4way radio beltpack system and a single receiver. The system also has a socket which links to tecpro. I used it last summer to great effect and was blown away by the reliability and speech quality. It works as tec pro, full duplex etc. and has a range of about 80m, line of site. If you can afford this then this is a fabulous solution. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 The ASL comms kit, sold by 10 out of 10 among others, is a cheaper equivalent to the Techpro stuff, yet fully compatible when you need to hire in more bits. Its got a few potentially nicer features, like very loud buzzers (which you can turn down/off), which are great for noisy environments. Their cheapest stuff is mostly plastic, but if it won't get too much abuse it may well be fine for you, although its probably worth a dab of hot melt or something semi gluey on the internal connectors for the headsets inside the beltpack, a few I've used have just fallen off in the past. They also sell some budget but less durable headsets to go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.Miciak Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 We may look into the wireless option at some point, but as I understand it, you don't get quite the same open channel usage (I believe those running wireless use the flash button to talk, and nobody else can talk while they have the button pressed). This is not true witht the system we bought. Our pack also came with "ISO". It allowed a DMX to be run to the sound board, and priveleged users could speak through the speakers in the house. (Great for rehearsals and level sets.) We also had great reception over large distances and through a limited amount of cinderblock. I don't know if that company ships to Europe (I will get back to you...), but there should be a comparable product available there. Our one wired and four wireless headsets (inc. base station) cost $2000 CND (about 1150 Pounds). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I wouldn't bother with the Tecpro headsets as I have always found them to be overpriced and a bit flimsy.Tecpro flimsy??They may be over-priced, but I don't think I'd call them flimsy. The moulded mic boom is in fact very sturdy. The other thing in favour of Tecpro/Canford/Stonewood (all the same basic kit) is that the spares aren't hard to come by and repairs relatively easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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