Shure transmitter popping

In our Church we have wireless Shure PGX series transmitter and receiver‘s. We use an ear Mic. In a 45 minute verbal presentation, there are sometimes five or six Popping, static noises that I cannot discover what causes it. In testing, if the pgx1 transmitter is totally motionless, there is no popping at all. I have disconnected the ear mic entirely and also while motionless, it’s totally quiet, if I rub my shirt sleeve over the transmitter, there will be a popping sometimes a couple times in one minute. But it’s not consistent and not predictable. Any suggestions of what it could be? Could it be static electricity causing it?
 
It's likely static electricity. Try one of the commercial anti-static sprays for clothing on the user's coat, shirt, whatever is in contact with the transmitter. It may be necessary to treat the floor (wool or synthetic carpets) before services, too.
 
It's likely static electricity. Try one of the commercial anti-static sprays for clothing on the user's coat, shirt, whatever is in contact with the transmitter. It may be necessary to treat the floor (wool or synthetic carpets) before services, too.
Thanks TimMc. Will try that. Is there nothing that can be done to the transmitter to stop it? Also I found out that with no mic plugged in, and just rubbing the plain transmitter on my tee shirt, there is a sound transmitted thru the speakers like a buffeting wind. Rubbing on my jeans , there is nothing!
 
Thanks TimMc. Will try that. Is there nothing that can be done to the transmitter to stop it? Also I found out that with no mic plugged in, and just rubbing the plain transmitter on my tee shirt, there is a sound transmitted thru the speakers like a buffeting wind. Rubbing on my jeans , there is nothing!

It's possible that the pack needs repair but diagnosing that over the interwebs... well, my crystal ball ain't working. The folks at Shure service might be able to help, though. Give 'em a call.
 
It could be static electricity, but a very common failure is a broken wire in the mic cable. People like to wrap the cable tightly around the beltpack. That puts strain, on the fragile conductors, in the same places every time. Do that enough times and the wire breaks. Most of the time, the braided shield severs right where it exits the connector. It can happen at other stress points, too.

Plug the mic in then move and lightly stretch isolated parts of the cable. If you find a correlation between movement and popping, you found the culprit. I've had to repair countless lav mics by cutting the cable and re-soldering the connector.

I teach lav and headset mic users to never wrap the cable. That has reduced the failures significantly.
 
We used mostly sennheiser for years, and I can't tell you how many mic cable repairs I have done for just this. I sourced the jacks with the locking screw on them and cut and re soldered. Difficult because the cable has kevlar strain relief, and those fibers get in the way. They all fatigued right at the joint between the wire and the plug. I havn't done any shure becaue of the more proprietary connector, but would imagine similar problems. We're pretty careful about not strainig that point during "winding" and storage. Actors just put their packs in a shoe tree and sound tech does the battery replacement and storage.
 
Take the transmitter with no mic attached and try to twist it, tap on it, and otherwise mechanically beat it up. On pther Shure transmitters, i have found microphonics caused by poor/dirty connections on switches, poor battery contacts, and bad connections internally. the suggestions to wiggle the cables are also valid.
 
It would not be unusual for a transmitter to be a little microphonic. Any analog FM, wireless transmitter will be microphonic because they have a tuned crystal and frequency modulated oscillator. It's inherent in the technology.
 
Also remember this is just about the cheapest piece of kit Shure has ever put their name on. To make the price point, they have taken every shortcut in pcb design possible - buy a Yugo and expect it to drive/perform like a Yugo. Static is occasionally an issue but damaged grounds in the earset or the transmitter are much more likely causes.
 
The latest generation of Audio Technica AT3000 does have a proprietary connector, and they lost my business due to it.
I made the same decision for the same reason - since I manufacture mics for wireless, not being able to source the connector except thru AT USA spares department at $30 a piece and a max of 10/mpnth or quarter depending on who I spoke to it was just not worth recommending te 3000 series, so goodbye to a 100 plus systems a year ....yikes
 

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