Radio Cans

[graemeftv]

Tom

 

sent you a Pm

[paulears]

Finally got around to building the interface, and as I had a rack mount Tecpro loudspeaker station doing not a lot, I spent today experimenting to get the pad value right to match the Canford audio ins and outs to the repeater - which isn't line level on TX or RX, but a bit lower and finally found the right values to keep the Canford stable, as the side tone seems to play up a little when the mic pre-amp input is loaded too much. Audio from the Tecpro ring sounds good, quality wise on the hand held radios. Transmitting on these sounds a little 'thin' when injected into the comms ring, but works pretty well.

 

I've got a brand new set of four Kenwood VHF handhelds on the shelf that have been there too long, so rather than UHF, I've gone VHF and I'll use those and see how effective they are.

 

The repeater has it's ins and outs on a 25pin D connector - which I made up to fit a new socket I fitted on the rear of the Tecpro - and didn't notice was upside down, so I shall have to live with one in the rack the wrong way around (at least for now.)http://www.limelight.org.uk/751-tecpro-link-crop.jpg

[paulears]

Just a kind of show report - the system has worked amazingly well, and is going to stay - the 4 portable have worked well with the remote mic clipped to V-neck and the plastic oily tube and silicone ear plug quite comfy. Best bit is that with the aerials up in the flys, I can sneak out for an all day breakfast in the cafe on the sea front, and still annoy people who think I'm backstage/FOH somewhere! Despite being more band limited, audio wise, it's actually fine to listen too - the HF cutoff doesn;t dull the speech but the low cut actually helps on the noise shows. Even when wired was available, I prefer it - AND of course it does allow me to say NO, interrupting others, which the non-duplex systems and walkie-talkie to walkie-talkie systems cannot do. If you had to buy one, then cheapest brand new would be around a grand for the repeater and comms station, although, a second hand belt pack and repeater could knock this down considerably.

 

Battery life on the Kenwoods with squelch permanently open isn't an issue at all, so no actual negatives. I have taken the view that any music content is simply spill, that every nightclub security radio system has, and is ignored by OFCOM.

[DrSof]

If anyone else is looking for "cheaper" alternatives which are'nt 600-900mhz;

Try out Gringo from Canford. It's a new wireless system which is really cheap compared to Clearcom/RTS. I have played around with it and its a solid piece of kit but it runs on cat5 not 3pin xlr.

 

The Clearcom dx121, dx100 might be usefull if you just want to add a couple of wireless people to an already wired system.

 

 

 

If you have money I would go with the dx410 which came out this year to replace the old HME dx210/200. Cant knock it apart from the price.

 

When it comes to Pro-Comms £10-100k+ I would Recommend; Ambersound, Stage Sound Services, Stage Electrics, Leisuretec, Britannia Row, Autograph sales ect. ( Not too many people know much about comms/wireless/matrixes)

[xllx]

 

Try out Gringo from Canford.

 

 

Might be better to try out Green-Go...

 

Looks quite nice, anyone have any real world experience of this system?

[James Remo]

Only the older wired system for a corporate company, but the ability to be on the "show" ring for cues, the "cameras" ring for talking to racks and having a private link to dimmers all from the same belt pack and headset was amazing.

[paulears]

I was getting very interesting reading about this new cost effective system. Impressive spec and lots of useful features - then I scrolled down to the price well into the seven hundred quid mark per basic pack, and lots more for the more sophisticated systems. Perhaps worth it for the new builds and funded projects, but not really a replacement for Tecpro users. I read it and got the impression we were talking similar money, for a more useful product, so a shame it's very expensive.

[timsabre]

It must be possible to create a system using android phones as beltpacks, they have all the necessary hardware. Nobody seems to have written an app to do it yet, there are a few motorbike type apps. You'd want dedicated phones probably without sim card on a dedicated wifi network, but they are fairly cheap to buy simple models.

[mac.calder]

Unity Intercom fits your bill Tim.

[timsabre]

Unity Intercom fits your bill Tim.

 

Hadn't seen that - shame the server software is mac only...

[mackerr]

Unity Intercom fits your bill Tim.

 

Hadn't seen that - shame the server software is mac only...

 

Why? The server is part of what you will need to supply. For an 8 user license the software is about $1000US ($500 for the first 3, $500 for an additional 5), a Mac Mini is $500. For about $1500US you have effectively replaced 2 Telex BTR800s at about $10,000 per 4 users, or a $30,000US RAD comm system for 6 users. It's still a pretty economical alternative.

 

Mac

[johnnymurray]

It must be possible to create a system using android phones as beltpacks, they have all the necessary hardware. Nobody seems to have written an app to do it yet, there are a few motorbike type apps. You'd want dedicated phones probably without sim card on a dedicated wifi network, but they are fairly cheap to buy simple models.

 

 

Do you mean something like this?

 

https://www.lineapp.pro/

[timsabre]

Unity Intercom fits your bill Tim.

 

Hadn't seen that - shame the server software is mac only...

 

Why? The server is part of what you will need to supply. For an 8 user license the software is about $1000US ($500 for the first 3, $500 for an additional 5), a Mac Mini is $500. For about $1500US you have effectively replaced 2 Telex BTR800s at about $10,000 per 4 users, or a $30,000US RAD comm system for 6 users. It's still a pretty economical alternative.

Having to get a mac just bumps up the cost a bit, that's all. If you already have a mac to use it's not so bad. I was more thinking of a cheap solution for simpler shows or amdram, that system is much more sophisticated than required for that.

[alistermorton]

Surely it makes little or no difference whether the platform is PC or mac? A decent PC will cost you roughly the same as an equivalently engineered mac, and for something which is a server, with little need "general crew" as opposed to technicals to interact directly with it, the platform is even less important. I wouldn't want to be putting something as important as the communications system on an el cheapo no name PC, based on my own experience of mac vs PC longevity.

[timsabre]

Surely it makes little or no difference whether the platform is PC or mac? A decent PC will cost you roughly the same as an equivalently engineered mac, and for something which is a server, with little need "general crew" as opposed to technicals to interact directly with it, the platform is even less important. I wouldn't want to be putting something as important as the communications system on an el cheapo no name PC, based on my own experience of mac vs PC longevity.

 

I don't want to start a Mac vs PC war as I think both have their place. But this is not a particularly demanding application (we are not talking network fileservers here) and I think a suitable PC would cost about half what the mac would cost. I repeat that I was thinking of an economy amdram type system here, not something for a commercial show. I will say no more on this topic so as not to derail the original conversation.