Wireless Looking for a way to feed audio to a lighting booth

[Ikevis]

We have a sound booth below the balcony, and a lighting booth above the balcony. I get constant complaints from the lighting guys about not being able to hear what is going on. I am looking for a way to send them a signal from our board to them. Extra outputs are not the problem. Running a simple speaker cable is a last resort, as there is no easy or aesthetically pleasing way to do this for our setup. I'm guessing our other option is wireless. We have a moderately low budget, and several layers of lead paint blocking a good signal in the lighting booth. Walkies talkies rarely work, though they usually can hear us at the sound booth, just not from backstage. We may have some old wireless mics we could use to get a signal up there, but they may be included in the blackout frequencies, or may interfere with our vocal mics (we have 10). I will do some research on our mics and see if that is an option, but if anyone has had a similar problem or knows of a product or solution, it would be a great help. Thanks!

 

[jonliles]

Do you have a type of clearcoms unit (or similar)? You can often patch in an "AUX" send into to comms unit - say for instance on a B channel. If you have a 2 channel capable comms unit, have one channel for in-house comms and the other for the guys in the booth to hear the show.

Personally, I use a spot monitor that is fed from house mics that monitor the overall volume of the stage. You could sub in powered PC speakers instead of a monitor as long as you can send a signal to it.

 

[jkowtko]

We have used the ALD (assisted listening device) system to get the board signal to musicians on stage. We don't have personal monitors and the ALD headsets work out surprisingly well. We've also just used the ALD mic to pump house sound (from ~30ft from stage) to them.

I don't know what frequency the ALD runs on (probably a VHF band) and the sound quality isn't that great, but it's enough for people to hear clearly what's going on.

 

[Ikevis]

We're a pretty small high school, and dont have any sort of ALD system in place (catholic high school.) jkowtko, we do not have any sort of clearcom system, only a few nice sets of motorola walkie-talkies. Clearcom seems like a nice idea, but as we already have a somewhat working communication system that the rest of the school (IT, Maintenance) already uses, I doubt they would spring for a new system for us. Speakers for the lighting booth are not an issue, it's getting a signal to them. These are both interesting ideas, but with my situation will not work. Thanks for your input. I will welcome any further suggestions. Next time i am in the auditorium I will write down our models of wireless mic systems, and look up frequencies and such to see if I can do it that way.

 

[rwhealey]

We're a pretty small high school, and dont have any sort of ALD system in place (catholic high school.)

This could be a problem. I'm pretty sure the ADA requires an assisted listening system. Don't quote me on that, but that's the way it's been explained to me.

 

[Ikevis]

We'll, I'm not sure about anything, but a few things I know:

1. I don't know of any private schools with ALDs in place. (I don't know of many of their systems though.
2. We are the only Dominican High School in the country, and can therefore basically make all of our own rules (days off, classes, etc.)
3. I don't know if this law applies to private schools. EDIT its not a law, but a guideline. We are only partly ADA compliant I think.

If I can, maybe I can lobby to put a system in place, but I'm not sure if it will happen unless someone specifically doates the money for it.

 

[rwhealey]

I don't know if this law applies to private schools. EDIT its not a law, but a guideline. We are only partly ADA compliant I think.

That's flat out incorrect. The ADA is a federal law. It appears that Title III covers your facility:

"Title III covers businesses and nonprofit service providers that are public accommodations, privately operated entities offering certain types of courses and examinations, privately operated transportation, and commercial facilities. Public accommodations are private entities who own, lease, lease to, or operate facilities such as restaurants, retail stores, hotels, movie theaters, private schools, convention centers, doctors' offices, homeless shelters, transportation depots, zoos, funeral homes, day care centers, and recreation facilities including sports stadiums and fitness clubs. Transportation services provided by private entities are also covered by title III."

Title III requires facilities it covers to establish
"effective communication with people with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities""

Source:
A Guide to Disability Rights Laws

 

[jkowtko]

Here ... get a portable radio, and one of these babies, and you'll be all set --

 

[Soxred93]

If the two booths are right on top of each other, chances are they share the same circuits. Try buying a cheap pair of intercoms over eBay, they just plug into a wall outlet. The only drawback is that they need to be on the same circuit, else they don't work.

 

[DennyMPP]

HI, I think I would check out a bluetooth transmitter/receiver. You may have to mount the receiver outside the booth and run a audio cable to a amp or amped speaker inside the booth, If a BT headset inside the booth and a cell phone out side works then I would check with a good local stage lighting sound dealer and see if you could just test one, or I found a GE one on ebay that was at .99 (with time to go). I had a old audio/video trans/receiver (not BT) and I got about 100ft range.
Just my 2 cents
Denny

 

[Clifford]

I'd look into a wireless ClearCom system like the WBS 670. It's relatively simple (if a little pricey, you might try Production Intercom), and you expand it to the rest of your production operations. It'd be good for you guys to work on a professional system anyway. Then run an aux send to the production intercom and everyone can hear.

 

[cprted]

We have a sound booth below the balcony, and a lighting booth above the balcony. I get constant complaints from the lighting guys about not being able to hear what is going on. I am looking for a way to send them a signal from our board to them. Extra outputs are not the problem. Running a simple speaker cable is a last resort, as there is no easy or aesthetically pleasing way to do this for our setup. I'm guessing our other option is wireless. We have a moderately low budget, and several layers of lead paint blocking a good signal in the lighting booth. Walkies talkies rarely work, though they usually can hear us at the sound booth, just not from backstage. We may have some old wireless mics we could use to get a signal up there, but they may be included in the blackout frequencies, or may interfere with our vocal mics (we have 10). I will do some research on our mics and see if that is an option, but if anyone has had a similar problem or knows of a product or solution, it would be a great help. Thanks!

Low budget+wireless doesn't usually have good results.

I'm finding it hard to believe that there isn't a good way to run a line between the two booths. Care to elaborate on why running a small monitor off an Aux isn't a viable option?

 

[SHARYNF]

Here is a quick solution that is pretty cheap and works reasonably well that you could look at

Electronix Online

Sharyn

 

[Chris15]

If the two booths are right on top of each other, chances are they share the same circuits. Try buying a cheap pair of intercoms over eBay, they just plug into a wall outlet. The only drawback is that they need to be on the same circuit, else they don't work.

Close but not quite right... They only need to be on the same phase of supply, they work by modulating the audio onto the mains wiring, I have a vague recollection that it's in the region of FM radio frequencies, which would make sense given the methods of FM transmission are well known and the components are in bulk and hence cheaper...

 

[artisanrhodes]

Try RADIO SHACK the make an A?V transmitter that might do the trick.

 

[AlexD]

Not a very tecnical suloshion, But if the booths are on top of each other then you could just simpaly drill a hole in the back of the room in teh celing of the sound booth that will go up into the floor of the and just run a wire up. Very simple, cheep and wont look bad becaus you wont even see it.

just make sure you DO NOT drill through a power wire in the celing! that could be very bad. If you can wire an conector then you ccan just drill a tiny hole and run the wire up you wont even see it then if you knew it was there.

 

[2mojo2]

I agree. There is nothing more reliable and simple as a hard-wire connection.

Our amplifiers are in the light booth while the sound board is at the back of house. We have a monitor speaker patched into a spare outlet on one of the main house amplifiers.
If your amps are on the lower level, you can pull a speaker cable up to the booth.
If you are feeling sheepish about it, hire a commercial electrician to run some conduit. One of your students may have a dad/uncle/etc who is an real electrician and will do the work gratis.

 

[TimmyP1955]

Try RADIO SHACK the make an A?V transmitter that might do the trick.

Yep, one of those gadgets that allows you to connect your cable box/VCR/DVD to it and broadcast it throughout your house, for pickup on an unused TV channel. You can then use an old TV or VCR as a tuner to dial it in.

 

[museav]

ADA interpretation is best left to attorneys or ADA experts, however my experience is that it is indeed Federal law but enforcement is based greatly on non-compliance, you may get by without being compliant but that does exempt you from having complaints filed and then being held liable to show compliance. The age of the facility may also matter, if it was built prior to ADA requirements and never had any significant improvements then that can be a factor. I'm not sure how the church and private club exemptions from ADA may apply to private, religious based schools, it may depend on other details and that is where a subject expert might have more insights (for example if a church rents out facilities to outside groups then those areas must be ADA compliant, I would think that a similar concept would apply to spaces such as gyms and theatres where the public or non-members may often be present or that may be used by other groups), however I can tell you that every Catholic or private school that I've worked on has been designed to be ADA compliant.

I am concerned that if walkie-talkies did not work well then many of the other less expensive wireless solutions may have similar problems. Given that the spaces are adjacent, I agree that you can't beat a wired connection and believe that this option should really be fully explored before looking at any wireless or AC carrier type options.

 

[Anonymous067]

Not a very tecnical suloshion, But if the booths are on top of each other then you could just simpaly drill a hole in the back of the room in teh celing of the sound booth that will go up into the floor of the and just run a wire up. Very simple, cheep and wont look bad becaus you wont even see it.

just make sure you DO NOT drill through a power wire in the celing! that could be very bad. If you can wire an conector then you ccan just drill a tiny hole and run the wire up you wont even see it then if you knew it was there.

Yeah, I'm sure maintenance/custodians will just love that...
Not to mention it could be illegal...