Labeling Mic Elements

Primo109

Member
Hi all,

I am curious of your opinions about the best way to label lav elements. I purchased some new Countryman B3 elements and I want to tag them with a number (1, 2, etc.) as well as something that identifies them as our school's property. I thought maybe writing on a Hellermann sleeve with Sharpie could work, but it just rubs off after one use of the element. Has anyone found other successful ways of accomplishing this? Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Perhaps something like a brother p-touch lable on smallest font? Make some sort of flag at the bottom where the connector plugs into the transmitter? Honestly, it is a harsh enviroment for any labeling. Are you truly worried about labeling them as school property? (Perhaps it is a requirement?). It seems like an odd item to grow legs, that a label would "prevent".

We store our transmitters and elements in numbered zipper pouches together, so the element in that pouch is the corresponding mic element (i.e. transmitter #1 and mic element #1). When we are in production, we use ye old shoe tree organizer equally well labeled.

~Dave
 
Maybe wire marking tape (thin tape strips with numerals)? If you're into electronics and have good color discernment, you can also get colored tapes that follow the standard resistor color codes.

There are also systems available with heat-shrink tubing that can be printed in a label maker or dedicated special printer, but they might not go small enough for your use.
 
Hi all,

I am curious of your opinions about the best way to label lav elements. I purchased some new Countryman B3 elements and I want to tag them with a number (1, 2, etc.) as well as something that identifies them as our school's property. I thought maybe writing on a Hellermann sleeve with Sharpie could work, but it just rubs off after one use of the element. Has anyone found other successful ways of accomplishing this? Thanks in advance for any advice!
@TheBuzz Possibly write on your Hellermanns then cover with a layer of clear 2>1 heat shrink.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
I gave up on labeling elements years ago, but if you're really insistent I'd either grab some printable heat-shrink and print what you need on it, or some clear shrink and print whatever you need on a label and put the clear shrink over it and shrink it down.

Otherwise, a little P-Touch flag works just fine.

I tend to never disconnect an element from a Tx unless the element has gone bad, so I consider the Tx label the official label for the entire unit. When lavs do walk away, it is usually by accident and they tend to find their way back to me because folks just know they belong with the audio team.
 
I gave up on labeling elements years ago, but if you're really insistent I'd either grab some printable heat-shrink and print what you need on it, or some clear shrink and print whatever you need on a label and put the clear shrink over it and shrink it down.

Otherwise, a little P-Touch flag works just fine.

I tend to never disconnect an element from a Tx unless the element has gone bad, so I consider the Tx label the official label for the entire unit. When lavs do walk away, it is usually by accident and they tend to find their way back to me because folks just know they belong with the audio team.
Wondering why you never disconnect an element from a transmitter.
I know microdots have a short lifetime but I'm usually on TF4 or Senny's miniplug and not unplugging never even crossed my mind. Mostly to clean. Like backstage as an A2, I'd unplug almost every element every day, just to wipe it down.
 
The gold standard for wire marking is probably the Brady labeller. Since I also do a fair amount of permanent installs I have the BMP-61 but for a casual user the BMP-21 probably makes more sense. The 61 takes wider stock and both have options for self laminating types; the 21 has some options in flexible fabric types that are reminiscent of the Panduit Pan-code types.

Dan
 
Wondering why you never disconnect an element from a transmitter.
The only time I've seen this done is when working with Rental mics for a one week rental and the kids never switched mics. The sound tech left them attached and never wiped them down.

Note: This was a group who paid to rent our space and paid a different company to rent microphones. Thus I did not feel the need to say anything regarding their methods.
 
Wondering why you never disconnect an element from a transmitter.
I know microdots have a short lifetime but I'm usually on TF4 or Senny's miniplug and not unplugging never even crossed my mind. Mostly to clean. Like backstage as an A2, I'd unplug almost every element every day, just to wipe it down.

I'm lazy? I guess that's the best answer. I'm also almost never an A2, but I don't see my A2's disconnecting too much either. When I do my checkout I throw a pair of headphones on, punch the RF into them, and then with one hand I hold the pack, tighten the connector, and hold the element and with the other hand I wipe it down and shake out the cable and test for shorts. I have half an hour to punch thru 30+ RF on a given show so it really just comes down to being efficient. All my stuff is typically 3-pin lemo. I guess on work-calls we might disconnect them when we touch-up color.
 
I'm lazy? I guess that's the best answer. I'm also almost never an A2, but I don't see my A2's disconnecting too much either. When I do my checkout I throw a pair of headphones on, punch the RF into them, and then with one hand I hold the pack, tighten the connector, and hold the element and with the other hand I wipe it down and shake out the cable and test for shorts. I have half an hour to punch thru 30+ RF on a given show so it really just comes down to being efficient. All my stuff is typically 3-pin lemo. I guess on work-calls we might disconnect them when we touch-up color.
Good to know. I was worried you had a good reason to avoid unplugging!
 

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