Wireless Frequency Evaluation

[Landon2006]

I was wondering if someone on here could tell me how to do a radio frequency evaluation in my area? We want to look into wireless UHF mics, but need to know what frequency range has the most free channels in our area.

I thought I read somewhere that there was a website to go to and check which television broadcast's occur in the area, but can't find that again.

In case it helps, Zip code is "47404/47403" and state is "Indiana", City is "Bloomington".

Thanks!
Landon

 

[hsaunier]

Landon,

Go to the Sennheiser web site and they have a vast amount of info that wil help you select the proper group.

 

[Landon2006]

Sennheisers frequency finder did not include my city, but Shure's Did. According to Shure, we only have 3 stations that broadcast here in Bloomington.

 

[mbenonis]

Now is a pretty nasty time to be buying a wireless mic. The problem is that with the transition to DTV, tons of stations will be changing channels on the cutover date (it *was* Feb 17th but it's now June 12th). So the Shure site might not be entirely accurate.

What you should do is check the final list of DTV allocations (there's a link around here somewhere; I'll see if I can dig it up for you later). Note which major cities are around you and that will give you a good idea what stations will be an issue. Then plan around that.

 

[howlingwolf487]

Make sure you use the frequency finder for the manufacturer that you have/are going to purchase from.

From what I recall, the frequency banks used by Sennheiser and Shure are not broken up the same.

Sennheiser Frequency Finder

Shure Frequency Finder

 

[Anonymous067]

Even with advanced frequency coordination, it cannot be understated that the best way to check for interference and tv stations is simply, once you have the gear set up, turn all receivers on and all transmitters off. Look for RF. Especially with none of us knowing what LP, CA, and LX stations are in our areas (without FCC help in overly sized spreadsheets), and not knowing when certain tv stations are moving to what frequencies, just SCAN, SCAN, SCAN!!!!

 

[mbenonis]

I agree with Blah. Coordinate your frequencies to the best of your abilities, and then fire up the receivers, looking for RF on the input. Defeat the squelch if you can. Then fire up the transmitters, one at a time, and walk the space looking for dead spots. Then fire it all up and do the same test. If it all works, you should be OK.

 

[Anonymous067]

Especially without knowing what tv stations are moving to which stations and when with this whole DTV situation, just scan, and personally, I would recommend scanning every time the system is fired up!

 

[mbenonis]

I'm hoping that this whole DTV mess will settle down after June 12th - then I can make some simpler, more concrete suggestions on coordinating mics!

 

[Anonymous067]

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time this stuff has been delayed, which is exactly why I'm saying "SCAN SCAN SCAN". High power TV gives you a base to start with, then scan from there, that's how I do it.

And don't even get my started on this whole DTV issue to begin with, not to mention the white spaces issue.