Wireless Mics

[notbradsohner]

So over the summer I started doing a lot of announcing, for things like 5k runs, professional bike races, etc. I want to move to a wireless mic system, but have no idea what I need to do. My main concern is range. I would really like to be able to walk around the course with a wireless. Is this possible? What is the maximum range I am going to get out of a wireless system. thanks....

 

[dgatwood]

So over the summer I started doing a lot of announcing, for things like 5k runs, professional bike races, etc. I want to move to a wireless mic system, but have no idea what I need to do. My main concern is range. I would really like to be able to walk around the course with a wireless. Is this possible? What is the maximum range I am going to get out of a wireless system. thanks....

Realistically... outdoors, maybe a couple hundred feet. If you want more than that, you're going to have to go with a remote unit like radio stations use, and those are anything but portable.

Assuming you're looking for a longer range, what I'd do is to have somebody back at the audio amplifier/speaker setup, and have a telephone there. Call that phone with a cell phone and announce that way. In fact, if you need to, you could use a cell on both ends.

Most cell phones use a 1/16" micro-mini stereo plug for headsets. I don't remember which is which, but either the tip is output and the ring is return from a mic or vice-versa. Gut yourself a cheap headset and hook a pair of 1/4" plus on it and plug the cell phone's output into your board's input, then plug the other one into the board's monitor mix output. Hook up a talkback mic at the remote end and feed it into the monitor mix. That way, the person at the control booth can talk back to you.

(Yes, I've done this with my old phone. Sadly, my Sony Ericsson doesn't have that connector, and I don't want to cut up a perfectly good headset right now.)