Digital wireless and interference

[edisontheatre]

We've been using Line 6 XD-V75 systems and getting a lot of dropouts when the house is full. I've been told that this is probably due to interference from phones, Wi-Fi, blue tooth, etc. When we move the receivers closer to the stage, so audience members and their devices aren't in between the transmitters and receivers, we get much better signal. Has anyone else had this experience with digital wireless? We're told that remote antennas won't help much. Any thoughts?


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[FMEng]

Provided that the coaxial cable loss is within reason, moving the antennas to the stage should have the same result as moving the receivers to the stage. Because the frequency is quite high (2.4 GHz), use nothing smaller than RG-8 to minimizes loss, and it should be foil and braid shielded, not just braid. I suggest Belden 9913F7. The problem is not signal strength, but rather signal to noise ratio, so even some cable loss won't hurt. Putting the antenna closer to the desired signal and further from the interference sources will improve the signal to noise ratio.

Turn off any wi-fi network equipment that you have control of. I wouldn't think the patron's phones would be causing interference if they cannot find a network to try to attach to.

This validates my fears of wireless mics that use the wi-fi bands. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Cheap digital in unregulated spectrum is a free lunch.