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Does anyone know a piece of software or any other means of connecting multiple bluetooth headsets together to make a wireless comms system, for a backstage theatre. I'm sure that bluetooth is spec'ed to do this but I am wondering whether anyone has put this into practice.
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Battery life isnt too bad if you charged it between shows, however you would be extremely limited in range. I use a bluetooth headset for my computer and if I so much as walk to the door, the signal starts breaking up.
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Bluetooth range is not a problem and neither is battery life I would just like to know if this is possible as a cheap way of producing a wireless intercom system. We would not be using this on a permanent basis; we would need it when we use some of our other venues... I was hoping that someone on the blueroom may know of a piece of software we could load onto a PC that will enable a few bluetooth headsets to link up as a comms system.
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Bluetooth range is not a problem and neither is battery life

I'm sure the rest of the community would be excited to hear how you have overcome these 2 major obstacles. The microwave frequencies that Bluetooth operates at are not very good at penetration, even the user's body can effectively shield the device. Range will be severely effected by walls or bodies between the user's headset and the computer base station. Even if those difficulties can be overcome, there is the problem of a Bluetooth master only being able to communicate with one device at a time. In a computer network it's pretty straight forward to quickly switch between network nodes so that it appears they are all working simultaneously. In a real time audio application, not so much.

 

There are products that use similar technology like the HME DX series which uses WiFi technology. With the HME there are minor issues with latency, which would only be exacerbated with a technology that has to scan through the nodes on the network. I suspect we will not see Bluetooth intercom anytime soon.

 

Mac

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You can see a bluetooth intercom product at www.callpod.com. A five way intercom is provided by their Phoenix base unit. They use "Class 1" bluetooth which is higher power for extended range in both their Dragon headset and the Phoenix base unit. It provides a design range of 100m instead of the usual 10m. The Dragon headset can also intercom with another Dragon headset. They also offer a firmware update to the Dragon headset which allows it to intercom with any make bluetooth headset. Of course, range would be limited by most headsets which are Class 2, 10m range.
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Thanks for that Mr Jim,

 

That could be what we are looking for, we would only want to use something like this for the backstage in our theatre and the 100m range would be fine. Battery life on a Bluetooth headset is easily over two hours on most modern headsets, so like I said before that won't be an issue. As for the range of Bluetooth I used to work as a mobile telecoms engineer and I know how good Bluetooth can be; even the 10 meter range of Bluetooth 1.0 is very liberal I've used that at distances well over 10 meters.

 

 

 

 

I will keep looking into this and if anyone has any suggestions then please let this post know.

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I'll keep looking into this and if anyone has any suggestions then please let this post know.

 

I think using a PC as a mux for bluetooth headsets is great idea, and better than the horrible walkie-talkies my theatre uses!

 

I've had a google around and cannot find anything about using a PC, however I have found instructions on using two bluetooth analog interfaces used back-to-back and paired with a headset each.

 

Perhaps you could do the same but using a mixer and several interfaces or wandering slightly off-topic, maybe these analog interfaces could be used to couple a bluetooth headset to a beltpack to give the best of both worlds.

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Bl...-rides-motorcy/

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Thanks for that Mr Jim,

 

That could be what we are looking for, we would only want to use something like this for the backstage in our theatre and the 100m range would be fine. Battery life on a Bluetooth headset is easily over two hours on most modern headsets, so like I said before that won't be an issue. As for the range of Bluetooth I used to work as a mobile telecoms engineer and I know how good Bluetooth can be; even the 10 meter range of Bluetooth 1.0 is very liberal I've used that at distances well over 10 meters.

 

Well, as a mobile telecoms engineer you also know that those 10metre/100metre figures are theoretical and based on a clear line of sight. The microwave frequencies used by Bluetooth do not penetrate obstacles well and the range will be seriously reduced if anything gets in the way.

 

Just as Bluetooth 2 can go more than 10 metres in perfect conditions, I can also lose signal in a couple of metres if I go around the corner and there's a brick wall in the way. Similarly, the theoretical 100 metre range of Bluetooth 1 will be reduced in a typical back stage area.

 

By all means experiment if you wish but personally I wouldn't spend a lot of money just just.

 

Bob

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Just as Bluetooth 2 can go more than 10 metres in perfect conditions, I can also lose signal in a couple of metres if I go around the corner and there's a brick wall in the way. Similarly, the theoretical 100 metre range of Bluetooth 1 will be reduced in a typical back stage area.

 

By all means experiment if you wish but personally I wouldn't spend a lot of money just just.

 

Bob

 

Maybe if the PC could host multiple bluetooth receivers they could be distributed around the building.

 

At the end of the day however, I wouldn't bet my show on anything wireless a solution.

 

It interesting idea never the less

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Just as Bluetooth 2 can go more than 10 metres in perfect conditions, I can also lose signal in a couple of metres if I go around the corner and there's a brick wall in the way. Similarly, the theoretical 100 metre range of Bluetooth 1 will be reduced in a typical back stage area.

 

By all means experiment if you wish but personally I wouldn't spend a lot of money just just.

 

Bob

 

Maybe if the PC could host multiple bluetooth receivers they could be distributed around the building.

 

At the end of the day however, I wouldn't bet my show on anything wireless a solution.

 

It interesting idea never the less

 

This is exactly what we want to use. The range would not be a problem as I said before; we wouldn’t be using this over long distances and through wall. It would just be a solution when we use our other venues. But the question is: Is there a software solution to overcome this problem of allowing multiple headsets to communicate...?

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This is exactly what we want to use. The range would not be a problem as I said before; we wouldn’t be using this over long distances and through wall. It would just be a solution when we use our other venues. But the question is: Is there a software solution to overcome this problem of allowing multiple headsets to communicate...?

You seem determined to come up with a bluetooth solution to avoid established commercial products. You say range and battery use are not an issue because you have used BT at more than 10M. Have you used BT at over 10M with no dropouts for a couple of hours, with obstructions like scenery and human bodies blocking the signal? What about when the assistant stage manager has to run to the dressing rooms to get an actor? Would that involve walls and longer distances? Were you dealing with data that is not time dependent, or audio where a dropped cue could have a safety impact? Present day RF intercom using tested high power (relatively) transmitters on both ends are only barely reliable enough for a production environment, do you think bluetooth can match or surpass that?

 

The most reliable and best sounding intercom will almost always be wired. In those situations where wireless is critical, so is reliability, and I don't think BT is going to compete today.

 

Mac

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What about when the assistant stage manager has to run to the dressing rooms to get an actor?

 

Might just me being a little pedantic, but an ASM on wired cans wouldn't still be on if s/he was using a wired system and had to fetch something.

 

To put a different view in to the topic, if the communication is just wanted between stage hands in a smaller stage (presuming the stage is not a big-un. then what's wrong with using legs to go and tell that crew? or having a bit of fun doing some signage and lip reading?

 

If I'm SMing a show, my team will never have comms. unless it is crucial due to a very large stage etc. I think it just creates more noise back stage with the team all talking off topic.

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Does anyone know a piece of software or any other means of connecting multiple bluetooth headsets together to make a wireless comms system, for a backstage theatre. I'm sure that bluetooth is spec'ed to do this but I am wondering whether anyone has put this into practice.

 

This may be a silly question, but have you got a couple of headset and just tried it?

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To put a different view in to the topic, if the communication is just wanted between stage hands in a smaller stage (presuming the stage is not a big-un. then what's wrong with using legs to go and tell that crew? or having a bit of fun doing some signage and lip reading?

 

If I'm SMing a show, my team will never have comms. unless it is crucial due to a very large stage etc. I think it just creates more noise back stage with the team all talking off topic.

Nice. I wonder why they bother with all that comm in the West End and on Broadway, it would be so much simpler and quieter if they just read lips.

 

Thanks.

 

Mac

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