Recommendations for Two-Way Radios and Headsets

[awhaley]

While not exactly answering the topic (I've had the same experiences as others radio wise- MURS is incredible if someone will pay for them. FRS is cheap but after a couple of frustrating days, these usually go in a cabinet never to be touched again.) the value of a clear set of hand signals for focusing lights cannot be overstated!

I use a set of hand signals with clear voice instructions whether I'm focusing in complete silence, with the carpenters sawing, or with a rock band warming up.

I stand facing away from the light so I can see what I'm actually hitting, with my head where I want the center of the beam and use hand signals for left, right, up and down which ALWAYS refer to the direction I want the beam to move in relationship to centerline and plasterline... I don't try to second guess the electrician and tell him how I want him to move the yoke and tilt.

I have a hand signal for lock the fixture down, one for run the barrel, one for pull or drop color and one for spin the axis of a par or the barrel of a s-4. Shutter cuts are also always done with a hand signal. I use a big rotating gesture towards the console operator or ALD to signal that I want the next fixture, and just keep giving that signal until the bring up the right one... unless there's a simple way for me to give them a number sign or something similar to tell them which channel I want next.

These signals take the electricians about two minutes to pick up on, and then we can continue focusing no matter what happens noise wise in the space. They definitely don't replace all the things radios can do for you when working in a big space, but they do allow us to get shows focused under adverse conditions, which seemed to be your big concern in the OP.

Art Whaley
Art Whaley Design

[pacman]

Eboy87, you asked about the issues I had with the Anchor Audio interface. I have the Anchorman package with the Wingman interface Anchor Audio AnchorMan Wireless Intercom. Check the specs if you are interested; I'll stick to the problems I've run into.

There are four groups of four pairs of channels - one transmit/receive in each direction. It took some trial & error to find a group where we got reasonably clear signals with all four packs (they can communicate independently without a "base station"). Since they operate in the 900 MHz band, I suspected I might run into some interference problems, but thought it might be less congested than the 2.4 GHz band that the HME DX series runs. Range is adequate for my needs, but not spectacular. It covers a 710 seat proscenium theatre, catwalks and backstage areas including orchestra pit pretty well; much better than our failed attempt with FRS radios. Venture beyond this area & we get dropouts and/or static.

Next we tried the wireless to wired interface, which Anchor calls the "Wingman". They claim it is compatible with two wire or four wire systems. Documentation on the product is pretty skimpy. A call to Anchor produced little help (see more about other problems dealing with these guys below). Has anyone ever noticed that manufacturers seem to have never heard of anything except ClearCom? Well the folks at Anchor are no different. I guess they could have told me how to set the Wingman to work with ClearCom, but I have a Production Intercom wired system (not my choice... it was there when I arrived, but it works perfectly well, even through it's not CC). Of course, I called Anchor before purchasing the Anchorman/Wingman and they assured me it was compatible with P.I. I finally got it to work, but have never been able to use the 4th beltpack. It appears the Wingman interface uses the fourth pair of transmit/receive channels to communicate with the other three beltpacks. We initially had some volume level differences, but the Wingman provides an adjustment & that solved that problem. I'm not a fan of the VOX circuit, but I prefer to run them in push-to-talk mode anyway to avoid all the chatter.

My overall satisfaction is probably tainted by problems with the original shipment. It comes with four boom mic headsets of your choice, the beltpacks and a four pack charger (uses AA NiMH rechargeables or alkaline AAs). When the package arrived, I opened it to find that the headset connectors were 4-pin mini XLR, but the beltpacks require standard 4-pin XLR. How can that get screwed up when you are buying a standard package? I mean the factory should know what kind of headset connector goes with the beltpacks, right? The Wingman interface was not included. I got on the phone to my dealer & left a message, then I called Anchor. They promised to send replacement headsets with the proper connector right away. They had no clue that I ordered the Wingman & referred me to my dealer. When I talked to my dealer, he swore he ordered the Wingman along with the Anchorman. A call back from the dealer assured me the interface & proper headsets would ship out the next day via expedited UPS. Eight days later, nothing had arrived. I called the person at Anchor but he did not return my voicemails. Finally, I looked at the corporate directory on the website & called the Vice President of Sales directly. He took my info & promised to get the problems corrected. He also claimed they had no order from my dealer for the Wingman. Called the dealer, who called Anchor & said everything would be resolved. A week later, the stuff finally arrived. This was not exactly five-star customer service!

I originally considered the Anchor product & the HME DX series. The HME product is pretty impressive DX200 Digital Wireless Intercom - HME. I saw a demo at LDI a couple of years ago. It is license free & operates in the 2.4GHz band. Of course there's all sorts of stuff floating around there. It has rechargable batteries, but they are proprietary. As I said earlier, the Anchor uses AA rechargeables or standard AA alkalines. HME has voice prompts on setup & even tells you when you are getting near the edge of range. I think HME is probably pretty good stuff because they make most of the fast-food drive-up systems you see, so it has to be durable to stand up to that kind of abuse. What really pushed me to the Anchor product though, is it cost about half what the HME system would run.

[pianoman55]

I know that our theatre doesn't use them... but might I suggest a Clearcom Wireless system? I did a show once at a theatre that used them. They're pretty nifty things. I think these people used the ClearCom Tempest series. Any tech with a wireless pack could go anywhere.. wire free. Reception was pretty good. Receiver/Transmitter base stations could be set up in your PMs office so he could listen in if need be. Plus typical stage manager tasks could be covered through the headsets. They have the Stage-Announce system in case you have a backstage/dressing room monitor setup for a stage manager to make announcements on. All in all.. good product. Link below:
Clear-Com - Products: Wireless - Tempest® 2400 & Tempest® 900

[tech2000]

My theater uses Icom radios (good quality and build) but I would rather have wireless clearcom. Unfortunately the Tempest is 2.4ghz and we always have issues with 2.4ghz products as the wireless internet interferes with transmission.

[firewater88]

Check out Motorolas DTR series. I think there is a 550 and 650 model. They are basically a Nextel 2 way radio without the cell phone. They are license free. You can have 1 to group conversations, or 1 to 1 private conversations. The 650 is a master unit (if you can call it that) where you can shut off a unit from a menu. We have 10 units in all, one being a 650 (mine). They take normal 2 plug accessories for mic/speaker. We have many options on headsets, the mot popular is the 2 wire "Secret Service" earpiece and mic. I use a speaker mic on the shoulder for rehearsals/load ins and plug a earpiece in for shows. They can be labeled so you know who is calling you. There can be several public groups, for example we have all front of house on public one. Custodians are on public 2, EMT on public 3. When you need a specific group, just scroll to it and talk. That way the other groups don't need to hear all the other jargon online the whole time. They have great range, even in our building where you have trouble making cell calls! In fact they can go from our theatre into the basement of the next building here on site.

The other reason we went with these is that we have touring shows that come through and we didn't want to infringe on any possible channels they might be using with thier own radios or such. So going digital eliminated that. No interference and license free and secure.
Look into them...

[Seldred]

Originally Posted by pacman

I'm using an Anchor Audio system interfaced into my Production Intercom wired system. There are some issues I'll discuss if anyone is interested, but the bottom line is that it does work. My main interest was being able to have two or three key stage hands available to work with crews while still being able to communicate with everyone on wired headset, but not being tethered by a cable.

I'm looking to do exactly what Pacman described - I'm keenly interested in hearing about any and all cost-benefit issues regarding the Anchor Audio "Anchorman" system (Portable Sound Systems | Public Address and Wireless Sound Reinforcement), as well as the Eartec systems (index) which are similar. I just read Pacman's EXCELLENT detailed response on this topic - does anybody else have experience w/ Anchor or Eartec?

[shiben]

We used Icom radios and Clear-Com, both wired and wireless. I ended up getting my own earpiece and mic set for the radio so that I could still be on radio while in the house, but overall I think they were decent quality. I still prefer some of the newer Motorola handsets, but the Icom worked passably. We have a campus wide FCC license, however, covering 4 repeaters and something like 12 10 talk groups, so this system is probably not exactly what your looking for.

[KeepOnTruckin]

I used an eartec system a while back that was jsut eartec slapping their label over some Kenwood GMRS walkie talkies. The headsets were extremeley comfortable and had convenient PTT buttons but they weren't durable.