Clear-Com TW-47... How is it?

gafftaper

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So I have a nice High School P.A.C. I've got lots of wired Clear-Com gear. But there are times that a few of us need to be mobile. Yet I'm not super excited about the official option of paying $10,000-$15,000 to add 4 wireless belt packs to the system. There MUST be a better way. So I'm looking at the TW-47 walkie talkie interface and thinking for $1,000 I can get a TW-47, some killer walkie talkies, and some really nice headsets for them. I've got an MS-702 base station with the ability to activate "call on talk" and "latch disable" which I believe makes the transmission to the walkie talkies fully automatic.

Other than no-one can latch th I also want someone running the fly system to be able to not be tethered. eir talk button anymore and it's not full duplex, what are the negatives of going this route? I want them so that I as the adult in the P.A.C. can listen to what the crew kids are talking about while I'm mobile running to put out a fire. It'll annoy my stage manager that she has to push the transmit button, but that's not worth $10,000.

@Stevens R. Miller you posted about using them last summer. How are they in general? Is it worth $9,000-$14,000 to move up to the full integrated system? What are you missing using the TW-47? Do the walkie talkies degrade the audio quality of the wired system at all? I imagine they don't sound quite as crisp. Is that it?
 
I have a few TW-47's out on a few shows, mainly as a backup system to FS-II wireless. They are really there so when the Head Carp goes to the dock for a break they can radio to the crew where they are. It's really just a little set it and forget it bonus system I add when I have the rental budget. Otherwise I just tie a radio into the paging system, which is much more inexpensive.

It's a huge bummer to have to press the CALL button to transmit from the wired system, and I couldn't put that on a professional SM, but if you can get away with it then go for it. I almost always have a Master Mic Mute box built for my SM's so they have a huge red button box and that's their only interface to the Clearcom system in a show run, having to latch Talk and hold a button while calling is a little much which strictly makes this a back up for me.

You'll also have to factor in which walkies you want -- stay away from 1. Digital radios. Just don't even think about it, they are the worst. You'll end up holding the Call button down extra long so the gate triggers on every walkie in the system, and the lag talking back is a huge bummer for end-users. 2. FRS radios. Can't use them for commercial reasons. If you're going down this route, I'd suggest the Motorola BPR40's as a nice cost-effective analog radio that doesn't need licensing.

As for degrading the audio quality -- your wired system will sound just fine, a well installed and routinely nulled 700 Series Clearcom system sounds really great and your wired users will have the same experience they are used to. The TW-47 is essentially a 4-WR interface with some extra bits, so it's not like slamming this into the system will instantly make everyone else suffer. They will definitely know when they are talking to a Radio user however.
 
It's a huge bummer to have to press the CALL button to transmit from the wired system, and I couldn't put that on a professional SM, but if you can get away with it then go for it. I almost always have a Master Mic Mute box built for my SM's so they have a huge red button box and that's their only interface to the Clearcom system in a show run, having to latch Talk and hold a button while calling is a little much which strictly makes this a back up for me.

So if I'm reading all the manuals correctly with "Call on talk" enabled and Latching disabled there's never a need to press the call button. It just goes automatically every time you press the talk button. Is that correct? Am I understanding that correct?

I assume you come through as a little funny sounding as the radio user, but again I'm more concerned about the ability for me to hear what the crew kids are saying. When I do interrupt, someone is probably in trouble so I don't care if I sound weird. In fact I kind of like the idea that maybe I would come in just a little hotter than all the other coms. :twisted:

What happens on the wired end if I transmit from my walkie while someone else is talking? Do I come in as just another full duplex voice or do I disrupt everything?

As for which radio, I would want to try get something compatible with the school's security radios so in an emergency I can use my gear to help out.
 
The TW-47 will have no effect on the audio quality of your wired stations. Yes, do you have to key the mike on the wired sets to speak. We actually like this, as it avoids everyone having to hear it whenever anyone mumbles in confusion, curses over a mistake, or has an editorial comment to make about the quality of an actor's work, their eating habits, ancestry, personal hygiene, and so on. Also, a lot of our work involves people talking to each other directly, which is also distracting to anyone on the circuit if they hear it. The wireless users (mostly stage hands) really love it, as wires would be a problem for them. It also lets us put a wireless in the lobby and one with a gofer. The audio quality sent by, and heard on, the wireless units is much inferior to the wired sets, but has never been so bad as to make anyone's words unintelligible.

As to the units themselves, one company I worked with had expensive Motorola sets (about $250 each). A ham radio operator who had joined the group pointed out that the Baofeng UV-5R could be had for one-tenth the cost of the Motorolas, and could be configured to be 100% compatible with them. Alas, in that configuration, using them probably violates FCC regulations in the United States. But, set to their lowest power mode and using a "peanut" antenna (really just a 50-ohm resistor in a capsule), odds were probably very low that anyone could even detect them outside the house. This must have seemed like a good risk to a few folks, as about a half-dozen crewmembers who had never been on the circuit before suddenly joined the conversation. While I am not advocating the improper use of a radio, I will say that the audio quality, range, and other behaviors of the Baofengs were impossible to tell apart from the Motorolas.

In short, I think the TW-47 is a great asset, and you have options on the expansion costs.
 
I wrote a lengthy review here last year of the FreeSpeak II's we put in at the beginning of that season; you might want to search for it.

My appraisal is "if you have the money, get them"; they're well worth it.
 
So if I'm reading all the manuals correctly with "Call on talk" enabled and Latching disabled there's never a need to press the call button. It just goes automatically every time you press the talk button. Is that correct? Am I understanding that correct?

You're correct -- I don't have the luxury of setting up Call on Talk because I'd make automation operators go crazy, they really need that Call button, but if you can do with call lights blinking, it works.

I assume you come through as a little funny sounding as the radio user, but again I'm more concerned about the ability for me to hear what the crew kids are saying. When I do interrupt, someone is probably in trouble so I don't care if I sound weird. In fact I kind of like the idea that maybe I would come in just a little hotter than all the other coms. :twisted:

Yep, you're just a little funny sounding. You can make the radios as hot or as quiet as you want them to be -- there is a separate Send/Receive volume control on the TW-47, just like on a 4-WR interface.

What happens on the wired end if I transmit from my walkie while someone else is talking? Do I come in as just another full duplex voice or do I disrupt everything?

If you key in a radio while wired users are going about their business, it's full-duplex business as normal -- the radios are effectively treated like any other belt pack in the system. If someone keys in a Call signal though you'll interrupt the walkies talking and you'll just get terrible x-talk noise.

As for which radio, I would want to try get something compatible with the school's security radios so in an emergency I can use my gear to help out.

The radios I posed a link to are generally my go-to for that reason, they can be tuned to work with CP200's, which are the usual default for most places but are just under the TX power limit so they don't need a BRS license.


As to the units themselves, one company I worked with had expensive Motorola sets (about $250 each). A ham radio operator who had joined the group pointed out that the Baofeng UV-5R could be had for one-tenth the cost of the Motorolas, and could be configured to be 100% compatible with them. Alas, in that configuration, using them probably violates FCC regulations in the United States. But, set to their lowest power mode and using a "peanut" antenna (really just a 50-ohm resistor in a capsule), odds were probably very low that anyone could even detect them outside the house. This must have seemed like a good risk to a few folks, as about a half-dozen crewmembers who had never been on the circuit before suddenly joined the conversation. While I am not advocating the improper use of a radio, I will say that the audio quality, range, and other behaviors of the Baofengs were impossible to tell apart from the Motorolas.

While the price point on the UV-5R's does look tempting to many, I would really suggest not using them unless you are licensed. It's too easy to pop out of a pre-configured mode and transmit illegally. The UV-5R's also aren't the most well-built devices and are known for their spurious emissions. Just because you can use them legally, doesn't mean you should.

I wrote a lengthy review here last year of the FreeSpeak II's we put in at the beginning of that season; you might want to search for it.

My appraisal is "if you have the money, get them"; they're well worth it.

+1 Agree. FS-II is fantastic for most users.
 
Thanks everyone, you've given me a lot to think about. I've contacted my I.T. department to find out if I can talk them into moving all their stuff onto two channels of 2.4ghz and leave one for me to play with. Then I could go with the DX410 and not worry about any of this. It seems like the TW-47 is a solution that would sort of work, but really isn't what we want.
I wrote a lengthy review here last year of the FreeSpeak II's we put in at the beginning of that season; you might want to search for it.
My appraisal is "if you have the money, get them"; they're well worth it.
Yeah the Freespeak II's are pretty sweet. I love the mesh network approach to the antennas. But they are not cheap! I can buy a lot of other stuff with that extra $5k!
 
You can. All comes down to how much hassle you're willing to put up with from comms while getting it done.

Very glad I work for a college with an annual budget. :)
 

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