Radio System Question

[NCSHP311]

I wasnt sure where to post this so here it is. MY church has under gone some major changes our new pastor is a real mover and shaker. We are currently working on a $6 million dollar building project. In the process of the large growth we are looking at implementing a onsite radio system. The various uses would include, site communications, event comms, multi-media comms (this is my specialty used by camera operators and video mixing crew on Sunday mornings.) My main question is do you guys think we would be better off on VHF, UHF, 800? I dont think a repeater system is required for this. But give me some input on what would be the best way to approach this. Thanks in advance.

[MTS2000des]

UHF is probabbly your best choice for in-building coverage, also less prone to RFI from your computers, A/V equipment, lighting controls, etc. Also probabbly the easiest to get coordinated and licensed for. As far as repeater needs that all depends on how large a facility you are building and how many stories the building will be. Unless it's a giant structure, a 4 watt UHF 16 channel radio like an HT750 or PR1500 would be a good choice. As far as how many freqs to get licensed for that's up to you, decide on what talkgroups are needed and go from there.

[videonerd]

... there's also RTS/Telex intercoms that are specifically designed to do the job of talking to your crew... both wired and wireless exist. Plus depending on your cameras, intercom is also sent down your triax cables from the CCU to the camera and that has a 5-pin XLR for a headset... ?

[Tom in D.C.]

If you investigate production intercoms don't overlook ClearCom. Their wireless systems have available Motorola HT interface units if such a mix works for you,
and Telex probably has the same features. The disadvantage of the wired
intercom is the tether; the advantage is the great audio that never fails, plus
the multi-channel features if you include it in your system.

The old style wireless intercom systems were severely limited in their
capabilities, plus the fact that they were all VHF and subject to a lot of
outside garbage. Later versions by Telex have gotten into better spectrum
areas, I believe, though I've been away from the "front lines" on this stuff now
for a while.

[philn]

We are looking into some kind of system as well. We have a large physical building and need something reliable. We also want to place radios on some of our church vehicles. Our steeple is 180 feet above grade and already houses wireless communication equipment. We already have an equipment room with backup power etc. We are looking at UHF repeater system.

[tiawah466]

I have worked in the entertainment buisness for almost 20 years, I would recomend staying away from radios for production work, sound, lighting, video etc. Use a wired clearcom system for non mobile positions and a wirless system for anyone needing to move around. HME makes the best wirless intercom beltpacks and they are compatible with clearcom. Radios will sometimes cause interference with wirless mics, if they are used in a close proximity to them. Radios for front of house staff sould not cause any interference with the mics. By using an intercom system it will allow more than one person to talk at the same time, and also allows the stage manager or what ever you call that type of person to keep their mic keyed up at all times and freeing up their hands for turned pages in a muscial score or cue book. If you would like more input just give me a email at [email protected].

[videonerd]

My station has an RTS system, it hooks onto a 900mHz LTR trunking system. The gear/nittygritty details I don't know, but it works great for field use. Caveat is, it's simplex operation (a real intercom system is duplex) ... so if you have a director barking in your ear, you cannot respond other than by shaking your camera or doing something to indicate "ok," "no," "can't do it..." And those on radio won't be able to respond until EVERYONE on the system releases their talk key. And you can't tell them that their key is open because.. you can't talk back. So you realize for the most part, the director has their key locked on during the show because they have much more to worry about than pushing PTT everytime they talk.

For the most part the system works well, there's a few times like the one I just stated that makes you want to smash the radio.

[tiawah466]

I would also try to use higher end wirless mic products, you will have much less sress in you life and less intereference with other systems. We use XTS2500's on a digital talkaround group on a large smartnet II system and occasional when you key up the radio the light board will do something funky or the automated set pieces decide to automate themselves. It is possible to tie the radio system into the intercom system to some extent. We use our radios during the day while doing setup and tear down of shows, but when we start rehersaing or the performance starts we use the intercom system backed up by cue lights and radios. I am not trying to sell you anything but i could point you in the right direction to who would want to sell you a communcitions system package. the show i am on right now has about 30 portable uhf radios, 30 portable 800 trunking digital portable radios, and 20-30 intercom stations, most of these are of the wireless variety. Our wireless intercom system has i think 4 different channels on it, you can have program feed out of one ear and the director in the other ear. gets confusng untill you learn to miss the program feed when it is not there. one last thing before i quit for the night, on most intercom systems each user has the ability to lock their mic open. at the master console, usually the stagemanagers that person can have their mic turned off remotly. this saves some unneeded chatter if the person does not know that their mic is hot. I always get a beltpack that does not allow the mic to be locked on.