Remote dressing rooms with no speakers

[KBToys82]

For our plays and musical productions, our cast uses 2 classrooms that are at least 150 feet away from the auditorium. At one point I had debated sticking a speaker in a hallway pointed towards the classroom, but it would be FAR closer to the auditorium doors then the classroom and I don't want the audience to hear sound coming from an echo-ey hallway. My other thought was running an XLR cable all the way to one of the rooms into a portable sound system - and the only issue I have with that is taping the cable down the entire length since the audience must traverse the entire length in order to get to one of the bathrooms.


Any ideas? Right now, in order for any curtain calls or stage manager directions, we must use a walkie-talkie type app to a stage-hand who has to stay in the dressing room the entire time in order to hear the calls. A big problem with that is, only 1 person can use it at a time, and unfortunately I'm always on it giving directions to the students manning the light/sound board (awful placement of control booth - another story for a later day.)

 

[jkowtko]

I don't understand why you can't run an XLR cable down a hallway. I lay cables on the edge of floors all the time. Just use a small piece of runner carpet to cover the cable over areas like doorways that you have to cross and don't waant people tripping. You don't even need a runner -- you can just lay some tape across that span to completely secure and cover the cable across the opening.

Or am I missing something here?

 

[sk8rsdad]

The classrooms probably have a PA and/or phone system installed. Is there any possibility of tapping into that system to pipe sound during performances? It might be as simple as making a phone call. Alternatively, have the school run permanent wiring between the auditorium and those 2 classrooms with wall jacks on either end.

 

[BobHealey]

If its not forbidden by network policies, and if some latency is okay, what about using something like skype to stream the audio to the rooms over the network?

 

[venuetech]

The classroom likely has unused cat5 drops you may be able to patch tie classroom drop with one near the sound booth. Send a signal to a monitor amp in the dressing room.

 

[KBToys82]

Only reason I didn't want to run the XLR, is that I would probably have to wire and remove it at least 4 times per show because the admin would never permit the chord to lay there during school, regardless of it being taped. So that would be a lot of gaff tape and time since this is pretty much a 1 man operation until the end.

 

[KBToys82]

No ethernet jacks in the sound booth.

Also, I did debate having a secondary computer hooked up to send an audio signal to another computer on the internet. Lack of trust with students, room in the booth and wanting to just set it and forget it leaned me towards not doing it.

 

[microstar]

How about giving the stage manager a wiress mic, placing the receiver in one of the classrooms, and hooking up a powered speaker to the wireless receiver?

 

[lwinters630]

I have put a video camera in the booth an connected through a channel plus box to the schools TV broadcast system. Every room had it then. It can also run coax direct to a TV. Then you get audio and video. Drape cable in ceiling tile.

 

[FMEng]

A part 15 FM transmitter might go that distance, depending upon the building between. All you'd need in the classroom is a decent quality FM radio.
http://www.ccrane.com/FM-Transmitters/transmitter

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I have put a video camera in the booth an connected through a channel plus box to the schools TV broadcast system. Every room had it then. It can also run coax direct to a TV. Then you get audio and video. Drape cable in ceiling tile.

The space above ceilings in schools is sometimes a return air plenum and therefore cable needs to be plenum rated. Also any partitions extending through the ceiling - like above the door between corridor and classroom - are there to stop spread if smoke and/or fire and you should not poke holes in them.

 

[seanandkate]

Would a baby monitor work? I was concerned with range, but a quick search yielded this with a stated range of 2000' . Even if you take that with a grain of salt, I would imagine you could milk 150' out of it or a similar device.

 

[dbaxter]

Baby monitor is a great idea! There are brands/models with video too.

 

[FMEng]

The space above ceilings in schools is sometimes a return air plenum and therefore cable needs to be plenum rated. Also any partitions extending through the ceiling - like above the door between corridor and classroom - are there to stop spread if smoke and/or fire and you should not poke holes in them.

The code permits wires to pass through the partition, as long as it is done correctly. A stub of metal conduit has to go through the wall, and it has to be sealed with fire rated (red) caulking. No big deal.

 

[Moose Hatrack]

This is probably not helpful to the OP, but I keep these on hand http://www.altoproaudio.com/products/stealth-wireless for dressing rooms and cry rooms. Used it last weekend for a wedding to get the mic (not the music) into the bar. Works SO much better than the Listen system I used to use for the same purpose.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

The code permits wires to pass through the partition, as long as it is done correctly. A stub of metal conduit has to go through the wall, and it has to be sealed with fire rated (red) caulking. No big deal.

It can be done in compliance with code, and I was not clear that by "poking holes" I meant the common bash with a hammer. Yes, drilling for conduit and rated caulk, it can be done. I think some people would consider that a "big deal" compared to just tossing some non-plenum rated wire - in the ball park of half the price - up there and bashing a hole in the drywall. I'm willing to wager that in retrofit work it is more often not conforming with code than it is. I regularly see holes bashed in these out of sight partitions and finding zip cord in plenums is not rare. Some jurisdictions require signs be posted stating it's a required barrier just to prevent the not-to-code work.

 

[AlexDonkle]

I have put a video camera in the booth an connected through a channel plus box to the schools TV broadcast system. Every room had it then. It can also run coax direct to a TV. Then you get audio and video. Drape cable in ceiling tile.

This would be challenging at most schools as it requires access to the school's CATV headend, adding a filter to knock out one of the existing channels, and merging your own signal onto that frequency. It also requires updates whenever the local cable provider re-shuffles channels, since the filter removing QVC from the school's cable system may suddenly be removing a major news network. The plenum cable and pass-thru issues were already mentioned.

I like the FM audio transmitter idea. Other options are using a WiFi camera (if the school has WiFi available to students), or possibly an RF video transmitter. Higher frequency transmitters may bounce around the hallway better, but lower frequency will travel through walls better. There's a lot of variables and any wireless system for that distance going through large concrete walls with steel rebar is most likely a "guess and check" type of condition.

 

[KBToys82]

I think I may just have to run the XLR, and use tape sparingly when it comes to doorways. No drop down ceilings in this hallway - it's an archway, part of the original 1932 building. No ethernet connection, no tv. I wasn't sure if maybe there was a wireless device that I could plug an XLR into, and have a receiver pick up the sound and hook it up to a sound system.

 

[KBToys82]

Actually, second thought, with the solid walls and the far distance, I think there will be pretty big signal decay.

 

[dbaxter]

Wireless to a powered speaker from an XLR source: http://www.altoproaudio.com/products/stealth-wireless