Sennheiser 1800MHz ew100

[cedd]

Title speaks for itself, Sennheiser have launched an 1800MHz ew100 system. They quote 12 channels simultaneous and license free.

 

More details here

 

discuss........

[boatman]

Title speaks for itself, Sennheiser have launched an 1800MHz ew100 system. They quote 12 channels simultaneous and license free.

 

More details here

 

discuss........

 

Unfortunately, a closer look at the country list on their website reveals the band is not license free in the UK and not deregulated at all in the Irish republic or Northern Ireland. However, it looks like some nice kit and could be useful in many parts of Europe.

[chelgrian]

Unfortunately, a closer look at the country list on their website reveals the band is not license free in the UK and not deregulated at all in the Irish republic or Northern Ireland. However, it looks like some nice kit and could be useful in many parts of Europe.

 

I was going to say 1800MHz is used for GSM in the UK particularly Orange and Three. In fact ofcom have just liberalised the spectrum so the telcos can use it for both 2G and 3G services.

 

There is a bit of spectrum from 1785.7 to 1799.3 which is set aside for radio mics in the UK however I don't know of any manufacturer that uses it.

[cedd]

Aha, yes indeed, closer examination of this page shows that a license is required in Great Britain. I'll check my sources more carefully next time!

I wonder what the fees would be? That would be this spectrum from JFMG. I'm struggling to find their pricing (if indeed, they sell it) on their calculator.

Would this license be site specific or shared I wonder?

 

It's another 12 channels if it is accessible. If you're lucky enough to live in a country that doesn't require a license then it's good news!

[chelgrian]

It's another 12 channels if it is accessible. If you're lucky enough to live in a country that doesn't require a license then it's good news!

 

Oooh interesting so the 1800MHz version works is legal in the UK across some of its range if ofcom could actually tell you how to buy the license or if one is required.

[Joe Mitchell]

I think RevoLabs radio mics are also around 1800 - 1900MHz range? I first saw these at PLASA in 2009 when Polar Audio were distributing them here in the UK. Interesting that Sennheiser are looking at this frequency band too.

[chelgrian]

I think RevoLabs radio mics are also around 1800 - 1900MHz range? I first saw these at PLASA in 2009 when Polar Audio were distributing them here in the UK. Interesting that Sennheiser are looking at this frequency band too.

 

The RevoLabs Systems use DECT frequencies, 1880MHz to 1900MHz, and have an end to end latency of 14ms. As such they are not really suitable for live sound reinforcement they are aimed at the conference and corporate market.

 

The band Sennheiser are using is 1785.7MHz to 1799.3MHz which is a band available for wireless microphones on an EU wide basis. Certianly in the UK this band was only available for 'digital' systems but as far as I know no one ever launched a product. However since Sennheiser have launched an existing analogue system in this band it seems that in at least some countries clue has been obtained.

 

This disadvantage of the 1800MHz band is that you tend to be more restricted to line of sight between the antenna and the beltpack and you have more problems with abosorbtion from actors bodies, on the plus side the antenna on the beltpack is shorter so less likely to snag.

[cedd]

This disadvantage of the 1800MHz band is that you tend to be more restricted to line of sight between the antenna and the beltpack and you have more problems with abosorbtion from actors bodies, on the plus side the antenna on the beltpack is shorter so less likely to snag.

But the line 6 systems up at 2.4GHz seem to be behaving ok. Yes they're digital - but all the more reason for it to be fussy, it either works or it doesn't. Only worry for me would be that lack of a quick confidence check by PFLing channels in the dressing rooms prior to curtain up. I doubt you'd get reception through walls.

I'd thought that about the antenna length, but if the products shown in the video I saw of the launch are anything to go by, the antennae actually look longer! Dunno if they're mock ups or what!

 

I'll see what I can find out at Plasa Focus

[chelgrian]

But the line 6 systems up at 2.4GHz seem to be behaving ok. Yes they're digital - but all the more reason for it to be fussy, it either works or it doesn't. Only worry for me would be that lack of a quick confidence check by PFLing channels in the dressing rooms prior to curtain up. I doubt you'd get reception through walls.

I'd thought that about the antenna length, but if the products shown in the video I saw of the launch are anything to go by, the antennae actually look longer! Dunno if they're mock ups or what!

 

I'll see what I can find out at Plasa Focus

 

The pictures on the Sennheiser website seem to be identical to the pictures for the channel 38 systems so I suspect their marketing people just used the units they had. It wouldn't be the first time something had been paper launched before they had real systems.

 

I'm sorry but I'm not going to trust anything in the 2.4GHz band, all that has to happen is that some one turns on a barely legal wireless video sender(1) obtained from Maplin anywhere within line of sight of where you are using the system and everything will be blanked out.

 

1) And yes I am talking from personal experience here of show critical stuff running over WiFi (against my advice) being fscked over by such a piece of equipment. The show critical system was put on wired ethernet *very* quickly after it failed due to the video sender.

[Rob_Beech]

Well I'm sure the guys at Line 6 will be happy to test their systems with said Video sender in operation. I have a feeling they might cope better than wifi but it would be interesting to see what DOES happen, given the recent findings.

 

Rob

[Joe Mitchell]

I've used Sabine 2.4GHz radio mics with Maplin Video Senders very close by and with WiFi and Bluetooth and lots going on in the band.

 

I've been a regular user of this band for the past five years but yes as time goes by the 2.4GHz band is only going to get more and more cluttered which isn't going to make things any easier and I do sympathise with anyone suffering RF problems.

 

I've only ever had issues with Sabine systems using remote antenna with the gain set to High as it's a very high gain. On the Low setting which is still a good deal better than using these systems on their own antenna all has been calm but perhaps that isn't the case everywhere.

 

Joe

But the line 6 systems up at 2.4GHz seem to be behaving ok. Yes they're digital - but all the more reason for it to be fussy, it either works or it doesn't. Only worry for me would be that lack of a quick confidence check by PFLing channels in the dressing rooms prior to curtain up. I doubt you'd get reception through walls.

I'd thought that about the antenna length, but if the products shown in the video I saw of the launch are anything to go by, the antennae actually look longer! Dunno if they're mock ups or what!

 

I'll see what I can find out at Plasa Focus

 

The pictures on the Sennheiser website seem to be identical to the pictures for the channel 38 systems so I suspect their marketing people just used the units they had. It wouldn't be the first time something had been paper launched before they had real systems.

 

I'm sorry but I'm not going to trust anything in the 2.4GHz band, all that has to happen is that some one turns on a barely legal wireless video sender(1) obtained from Maplin anywhere within line of sight of where you are using the system and everything will be blanked out.

 

1) And yes I am talking from personal experience here of show critical stuff running over WiFi (against my advice) being fscked over by such a piece of equipment. The show critical system was put on wired ethernet *very* quickly after it failed due to the video sender.