Wireless AC cable routing lesson learned

[Moose Hatrack]

I have ten AT2000 receivers that do a great job for me. Nine of them are rack mounted in a Gator case. After setting up Friday in an familiar venue, receiver 6 was cutting out during Saturday tech rehearsal. Since our actors are kids I figured I finally lost my first mic or transmitter. I tried different fixes Monday night and Tuesday night but no matter what transmitter and mic combo I tried, the dropout stayed with receiver 6. On Wednesday night I turned the case so I could re-patch to swap 6 and the lesser used 10. What did I see? An AC extension cord, plain old zip cord type, was casually draped over one of the rubber ducky antennas on receiver 6. The AC cord just fell over that antenna when I ran it down from receiver 10 (which lives on top of the case). Loss of a diversity side matched the symptoms perfectly. I lifted the lamp cord, routed it properly, and after that receiver 6 put in its usual perfect performance. Thoughts of kicking myself are quieted by the fact that the kids still have a flawless record taking care of the equipment!

 

[CanYouHearMeNow]

For permanent rack mounted units like that, I always try to make the rack as durable as possible. You may also think of considering an Antenna Distribution unit so you don't have 20 antennas to crowd the back of the rack.

Glad the kids haven't broken anything yet!

 

[JD]

Funny. I also use those Gator cases for receivers. Since I am too cheap to buy an antenna distro, mine also is in "porcupine" mode. One thing I did do is extend the antennas to the back of the case. I simply got a bunch of 50 ohm BNC-BNC cables ($3) and BNC-BNC bulkhead connectors ($2) and mounted them to 1U blank rack plates. The jumpers I got were 18 inches, so I could put the antenna plate on the back or the front. (I have mine on the back.) They are available from MCMelectronics.
Bulkhead connector- https://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/27-8255
Jumper cable- https://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/24-15622
That way it's easy to keep an eye on those pesky antenna! The case lids have enough room that I can leave them on and still put the lids on.

 

[Moose Hatrack]

Porcupine mode... I knew there was a term for that. These are both worth considerable pondering. Thanks!

 

[LavaASU]

Since I am too cheap to buy an antenna distro, mine also is in "porcupine" mode.

I am so stealing that term.

 

[Max Warasila]

As another avid user of Porcupine Mode™, I've loomed all of my cables together so as to reduce the chances of such a situation. Zip ties are often your friend.

 

[Moose Hatrack]

I go through tie-wraps like water! And next time I will use a couple more to keep that AC cable in its place. JD, I never would have guessed I could get the lid over rear mounted antennas so I gave your approach a lot of thought over the weekend. But I concluded that even a couple RUs worth of antennas on the back would make it difficult to plug in the XLRs... And that would necessitate extending the XLRs out to the back too... (Or maybe a short fan to fan $nake would fix it) I may attack that down the road, but now I'm spending more time thinking about changing the PC that controls lights, mics and plays .wav files over to a solid state hard drive. All those eggs ought to have the best basket possible and I hear solid state drives are getting "down there" in price.

 

[JD]

I just used a 1/4 balanced snake. ~ $30. (Hosa) They also make an XLR version for about $47. This also saves having to run a bunch of cables over to the board. Very flexible. My receivers are mounted in a 4U case and this rolls up nicely and also fits under the lid.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/24-13066

 

[Moose Hatrack]

The short XLR sounds reasonable. I've been looking for snakes in all the wrong places. In one venue I bring a 100' snake into the rack. With that set up, the rack is offstage left. It is ideal. In the other venue the only possible location for the rack is up in the balcony with me. In that setup I spaghetti ten 25' cables between the rack and the Audia 12x4. That makes for really time consuming setup and strike! Yes, short snake is in the future. Thanks! Last night the family cat went into Porcupine Mode. Glad I was able to identify it.

 

[TheaterEd]

Has someone added "Porcupine Mode" to the Wiki yet?

 

[kwithnok]

Can someone define "porcupine mode" please?

 

[TheaterEd]

Can someone define "porcupine mode" please?

Wireless receivers comes with their own pair of antenna that attach to the unit. If you have many of them together in a rack all of their antennas stick out of the rack like a porcupine. Thus, your wireless rack is in porcupine mode.

The alternative to porcupine mode is buying an antenna distro which they all hook into.

This is my interpretation of the term coined by JD in post #3 of this thread.

 

[venuetech]

the XLR connectors on the hosa snake are a bit of a disappointment so buyer beware. Think you may be able to upgrade to neutrik version.

I just used a 1/4 balanced snake. ~ $30. (Hosa) They also make an XLR version for about $47. This also saves having to run a bunch of cables over to the board. Very flexible. My receivers are mounted in a 4U case and this rolls up nicely and also fits under the lid.

 

[NickVon]

"Porcupine mode" SEE: Antenna Farm; similiar to "Antenna Farm" where instead all antennas are pointed skyward from wireless units stacked on top of each other with out the luxury of a case. Porcupine mode is the Voltron of the Antenna Farm.

 

[JD]

the XLR connectors on the hosa snake are a bit of a disappointment so buyer beware. Think you may be able to upgrade to neutrik version.

I would agree that the XLR Hosa is an entry level piece, with not the best strain relief on the connectors. As an intra-rack patch, it is not too bad as there is not much strain on the cabling. The 1/4 balanced patch with molded connectors isn't too bad. As to if it is suitable for a given task, yes the buyer should beware. So far, I am happy with it (the 1/4.) Of course, I will probably remain happy until one night it doesn't work

 

[venuetech]

The 1/4 balanced patch with molded connectors isn't too bad. As to if it is suitable for a given task, yes the buyer should beware. So far, I am happy with it (the 1/4.) Of course, I will probably remain happy until one night it doesn't work

I do have the Hosa XLR snake and have had no trouble with it, but i am very easy on things and do not put a lot of duty cycles on it. and like you JD "I will probably remain happy until one night it doesn't work". I have many Hosa products that have given me very good service, year after year.
AudioPile has one worth looking at, with neutrik knockoff connectors.

 

[Max Warasila]

I always carry around an iron and spare connectors anyway, as things get beaten up where I work.

The EWI connectors are cheap and not the best but they are still solid products. A fair portion of my Whirlwind xlrs went first, but I suppose that might have been an issue with random abuse rather than wear and tear. The EWI snakes are perfectly fine products in my experience, especially if you are able and willing to repair them.