NYT article about Broadway use of wireless spectrum

What do they expect us to do? They took our frequencies once, we got used to doing it another way, and now they want to change it again? I guess we have to fund Obama's weekly vacations somehow. I hope that people come out of the wood works to protest this. Last time they reassigned frequencies, the FCC was met with protests from the NFL, NASCAR, several political figures, and several major performing acts. Hopefully they will come together to express their dissatisfaction with this proposal.
 
What do they expect us to do? They took our frequencies once, we got used to doing it another way, and now they want to change it again? I guess we have to fund Obama's weekly vacations somehow. I hope that people come out of the wood works to protest this. Last time they reassigned frequencies, the FCC was met with protests from the NFL, NASCAR, several political figures, and several major performing acts. Hopefully they will come together to express their dissatisfaction with this proposal.

I don't see President Obama's vacation having anything to do with wireless microphones. It's not a Democratic or Republican thing, it's a money thing.

Julius Genachowski, the head of the FCC, was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate in 2009. He did announce last week that he's stepping down. I don't know if that will make any difference in what happens in the future.

If you're talking about the changing allocation of the radio spectrum, you really have to discuss politics and big business.

The increased use of all those nifty internet phone gizmos we crave gobbles up the radio spectrum. The large communication companies want more spectrum to make more of the gizmos we buy. The companies lobby the politicians. So, the FCC tries to make more space for them by cramming the other users closer together. Goodbye analog TV, hello choppy digital TV. Goodbye old VHF-HI and UHF business and public safety 2-way radios, hello all new "Narrowband" equipment. And goodbye wireless microphones in the 700 mHz band, hello less frequencies.

I don't see it getting any better for wireless microphone users in the future. Who knows what's next. Maybe the FCC will require narrowbanding for the wireless microphones down the road.

That's how I see it. Feel free to disagree!
 
All I meant by that was that the federal government is trying to get every cent they can doing whatever necessary to reach that goal. I was only referring to expenses in Washington in what I thought was a funny and relevant way. Sorry you took that the wrong way.
 
But can't we just download the Wireless Mic app onto every performer's smartphone? :D

But seriously, I swear we went through this a few years ago.
 
But can't we just download the Wireless Mic app onto every performer's smartphone? :D

But seriously, I swear we went through this a few years ago.

700MHZ man, we did. But again, this is nuts! Leave it alone and WORK WITH YOU HAVE! (Sorry for screaming, ugh it just irks me when people want more and more money to pay for "big business" when big business is already costing a lot to keep it going, whats next, microwaves having a band selection instead of a hi/lo power button, hah that'd be a joke ;p) But I like the idea of the smartphone app, ha ha that gave me my theater/sound related laugh for the day.
 
The government calls it 'public airways', then takes it away from the public and sells it. Then throws most of it away. This is just one example of what happens when you elect idiots. One by one, they destroy every industry that has growth potential.
 
Just spitballing here: I wonder, with the shrinking of the bands, if well eventually see wireless microphones that use wifi and some sort of ip assignment, basically streaming to a computer or specialized box with multiple breakouts, or that can interface directly with a digital console. I realize that bandwidth would be a problem with larger shows, but this could probably be overcome with multiple closed networks.
 
All I meant by that was that the federal government is trying to get every cent they can doing whatever necessary to reach that goal. I was only referring to expenses in Washington in what I thought was a funny and relevant way. Sorry you took that the wrong way.

No need to apologize. You hit a nerve and helped spark an interesting discussion!
 
Just spitballing here: I wonder, with the shrinking of the bands, if well eventually see wireless microphones that use wifi and some sort of ip assignment, basically streaming to a computer or specialized box with multiple breakouts, or that can interface directly with a digital console. I realize that bandwidth would be a problem with larger shows, but this could probably be overcome with multiple closed networks.

Congestion would be a problem: if every audience member has a phone, each connected to your public wifi network (or vainly trying to connect to your neighbors'), there wouldn't be much bandwidth (literally) left over for your microphones. Proper channel assignment could help, assuming you and all your neighboring wifi networks were able to coordinate.

Beyond that, even in ideal conditions, jitter would be an issue - one moment your audio is arriving in 2ms, the next it's taking 20, or 200, just because two mics decided they wanted to transmit at the same time, or someone turned on a microwave, or...
 
It's easy to dismiss a complex issue as being the work of a corrupt or greedy government agency, especially in this age of it being popular to hate on the government and ignore the positive value of its work. But that's an oversimplification. The RF spectrum is a limited resource with a great deal of value to the public and to corporations. The FCC pretty much can't win, having to find a way to balance the interests of the public in using the spectrum for the public good, the interests of the public in gaining financial compensation from the corporations allowed to use the spectrum for commercial means. They have to use government regulation to gently prod users into more and more efficient use so as to prevent wasteful use. They have to determine if the needs and complaints of wireless providers are a result of greed or to better serve customers. There are an awful lot of wireless handheld device users as compared to wireless microphone users. Throw this all in the pot, mix it up with the politics of having a budget and leadership determined by Congress, add in a bit of corruption, and it's just not so simple as some would have you believe.

Kevin McCoy
 
like the 700MHZ issues the FCC ties this move to "Public Safety".

That's the way government works. Just like all the internet regulation they keep pushing is to "protect the kids and stop child porn." Sure it's a worthy goal and I'm all for doing what we can to stop it, but we all know it's really the MPAA and RIAA pushing it to try and stop piracy. Big government learned a long time ago that they can pass just about anything they want as long as it's cloaked as stopping or doing something that none of us dare object to.
 
This plan was announced a while ago, and the FCC also learned from the backlash last time that major broadcasters for NFL, academy awards, etc. need wireless as well. There was a podcast recently with a Lectrosonics guy talking about it a few weeks ago (I believe it was Church Tech Weekly, but I may be off). Basically he said that the FCC has been proactive this time and has already been talking to them, Shure, and Sennheiser about the future of wireless mics and what's possible. They posed the question "if digital TV channels can consume less bandwidth, will future wireless do so as well, or do you need the spectrum?" Interestingly, all the major wireless manufacturers agreed that digital wireless was the future and that it will continue to get better and cheaper in coming years. Last I read, the roll out for the frequency sale was over ~10 years, and with technologies like Shure's Axient already available (although insanely expensive) it bodes well for the future in my opinion.
 
Or we all go to wired lapel mics... not so discrete though....
 

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