Choosing New Cans

[FHS]

Hi

 

Our school has decided to buy a set of cans for shows and events. These will be used by both pupils and staff. Ideally these would be simple to use and look after. We have previously used cheap radios but the batteries died often and they weren't very clear. For this reason I'm considering wired cans. http://www.tecpro.co.uk/BeltPacks.html maybe these? We are also considering returning to radios. We would like suggestions of some options.

They will be used for cueing stage crew, sound and lighting including spots.

Thanks

[J Pearce]

I believe the Altair cans or the Granite Audio cans (compatible with the tecpro kit you link to) are the best value for money at the moment being quite a bit cheaper than the tecpro options. If you have a keen electronics hobbyist around see the blue room cans system in the projects section of the forum.

[david.elsbury]

Avoid wireless... The forum search here is awful but if you have some time do a google of something like "cheap coms " and stick site:blue-room.org.uk at the end of the search string

[FHS]

Avoid wireless... The forum search here is awful but if you have some time do a google of something like "cheap coms " and stick site:blue-room.org.uk at the end of the search string

Been lurking for a while! Seems to be quite clear that wired is the way forward.

 

I believe the Altair cans or the Granite Audio cans (compatible with the tecpro kit you link to) are the best value for money at the moment being quite a bit cheaper than the tecpro options. If you have a keen electronics hobbyist around see the blue room cans system in the projects section of the forum.

Sadly I'm not much of a hobbiest sadly! I was looking at the cans you mention - I couldn't find them much cheaper than the tecpro ones.

[johnhuson]

As suggested their are the Granite units which are compatible with Tecpro as are most other systems. Granit have also previously been known as Metro Audio and Stonewood Audio if you happen to look second hand, the product is the same.

 

Personally I'm not that impressed by the newer Tecpro range and prefer the older beltpacks but that is down to personal preference.

[FHS]

As suggested their are the Granite units which are compatible with Tecpro as are most other systems. Granit have also previously been known as Metro Audio and Stonewood Audio if you happen to look second hand, the product is the same.

 

Personally I'm not that impressed by the newer Tecpro range and prefer the older beltpacks but that is down to personal preference.

I hadn't considered second hand. I'm not sure the school would be keen but are these kind of things available often?☺

[Peter F]

As suggested their are the Granite units which are compatible with Tecpro as are most other systems. Granit have also previously been known as Metro Audio and Stonewood Audio if you happen to look second hand, the product is the same.

 

Personally I'm not that impressed by the newer Tecpro range and prefer the older beltpacks but that is down to personal preference.

I hadn't considered second hand. I'm not sure the school would be keen but are these kind of things available often?☺

 

You could try chatting with these nice people: ShowComms

I'm sure they used to have second hand kit available occasionally.

 

The price for their starter kit doesn't seem unreasonable. Maybe you could get it cheaper if you shop around, I don't know, it's years since I last had to buy comms for anyone. I do remember that this company have been good to deal with and I think that should count for something.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[FHS]

Another Question

How long should the XLR cables connecting the beltpacks to the sockets be? How much travel do people like?

Thanks

 

As suggested their are the Granite units which are compatible with Tecpro as are most other systems. Granit have also previously been known as Metro Audio and Stonewood Audio if you happen to look second hand, the product is the same.

 

Personally I'm not that impressed by the newer Tecpro range and prefer the older beltpacks but that is down to personal preference.

I hadn't considered second hand. I'm not sure the school would be keen but are these kind of things available often?☺

 

You could try chatting with these nice people: ShowComms

I'm sure they used to have second hand kit available occasionally.

 

The price for their starter kit doesn't seem unreasonable. Maybe you could get it cheaper if you shop around, I don't know, it's years since I last had to buy comms for anyone. I do remember that this company have been good to deal with and I think that should count for something.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

Looks good. I'm assuming I'd need a master station as well?

[david.elsbury]

How long? Depends on the venue ;) in practice however long you need to make then should be fine- there aren't really too many issues with runs that are too long. Enough slack to allow good movement and then a little more for fun? :)

 

The power supply does the same job as a master station (powering the packs) except it can't act as another pack (listen and talk) - and some master stations let you inject program audio to th Comms loop too

[FHS]

How long? Depends on the venue ;) in practice however long you need to make then should be fine- there aren't really too many issues with runs that are too long. Enough slack to allow good movement and then a little more for fun? :)

 

The power supply does the same job as a master station (powering the packs) except it can't act as another pack (listen and talk) - and some master stations let you inject program audio to th Comms loop too

Is program audio something like an ambient mic? I'm not sure we need that complexity. Is there a max number of packs on a power supply?

Sorry wasn't clear enough regarding XLR: I meant how much for ops? I'm now thinking maybe just enough to let people stand up and turn around.

Thanks

[Paul Turner]

The ELC Green go system is ideal for schools,. you can start with a simple 2 belt pack system and add more as you need them. Runs over POE over Cat 5 so the cable is dirt cheap too.

[timsabre]

The ELC Green go system is ideal for schools,. you can start with a simple 2 belt pack system and add more as you need them. Runs over POE over Cat 5 so the cable is dirt cheap too.

 

Um, costs rather a lot more than the basic Granite packs. £639 for the beltpack vs £165.

[Shez]

Not to mention the advantage of something that's totally plug & play vs something that needs to be programmed and has for more options to be fiddled with.

[J Pearce]

There is also ChromaQs packs, which are tecpro compatible, and from memory have pretty good pricing.

[FHS]

The ELC Green go system is ideal for schools,. you can start with a simple 2 belt pack system and add more as you need them. Runs over POE over Cat 5 so the cable is dirt cheap too.

Was probably thinking of a system using XLR as I thought Cat 5 would need new cable run?

 

Thank you very much for the suggestions.

We currently have XLR connections leading to either side of the stage from the FOH area. We normally use these yo wire mics into the amps. We Currently have more connections than mixer inputs. I was thinking if a master sration was FOH we could use the existing infistructure?