Lancashire soundie

Have you tried setting your gains and then turning the individual receivers off, using the fascia power buttons? Rather than "at the socket" if you know what I mean.

They look like a nice idea but I'd be concerned about the torque one could apply to the plug, given the combined length of a 3.5mm jack and a TA5 connector. I have a couple of leads that go from Lectro to 3.5mm Sennheiser or Sony, they're a much safer solution.

Just wash them out with hot soapy water and when they're dry, spray a tiny amount of light oil in there. The drivechains on my bicycles see far more grit and crap than a Quicklock ever could and I just clean them with diesel and a rag.

Many top end smartphones have a built-in IR blaster.

If you already know the language used for the IR communication I think it'd be much more convenient to use an app on a smartphone. Many have IR ports, those that don't, well you can just plug an IR transceiver into a USB OTG cable. It's a nice project though, little boxes like this can be quite handy to have waiting around in the bag. Although personally I'd go with Jeff's suggestion above.

I must be the only person here who's never bothered to update their Nomad's software. I'm still on version 6 point "something" - essentially, whatever version Zaxcom was at around April last year.

While you're at it, could you ask them to stop randomly placing buttons and sockets in different positions on each of their cameras? Ask if they can keep the headphone socket in the same place, the menu buttons on the same side, and some proper audio meters that aren't blocked by the operator's head. Oh and input XLR sockets at the back please.

And suddenly, the popular search on Ebay becomes "AES digital microphone"...

Look at cycling multitools. There's a huge range and they're almost all designed to be as light as possible.

Thanks all.

I was watching some Reagan press conferences and noticed two men holding what appear to be extremely long microphone baskets, aimed at the reporters asking questions. Anyone know what they were?

Apologies if it's already been posted here. Watch on YouTube if you don't see any subtitles.

I'm still holding out for a microphone basket that can fold flat and be stored on the back of my audio bag, rather than left rolling around on a table somewhere. I mean, you can buy a whole tent that pops up in seconds. Why can't that be done with a basket?

Thanks for the input, unfortunately we have minutes at the most to wire people up. I wonder if putting the barrels/cables on a squat little box in front of them might help.

I do the occasional news live, always an exciting experience (I mean that). For the more complicated jobs, with a presenter or two and several contributors, I tend to use wired ECM-77Bs as I consider cables to be more reliable for live work than radio mics. Almost always, all those in shot are standing. The only issue I have doing that is that a participant sometimes ends up standing on a cable, which then runs the risk of dragging that mic off their lapel. To counter this I always make sure the cable isn't spooled on the floor near their feet (I place it a couple of feet away) and I use a cable clip below the actual mic clip so that the cable clip takes the initial strain, but does anyone have any useful suggestions on how best to make it foolproof? You have to bear in mind that I will only have, at the most, five minutes to mic up three guests. There's nothing quite like seeing a microphone become unclipped as you're live on air, standing out of frame, completely unable to do anything about it. Of course I could just use radios, but when it's a developing story with several other news crews around...

Almost everything I do is mixed down to the camera's two tracks. If a boom and radios, then boom on one channel, mixed radios on the other. If four radios, two on one channel, two on the other.

I think the point of such outlandish cables is to attract attention. Nobody is going to buy one of those, but through the coverage offered by the various websites that "review" them, they may sell other cables that people think look nice.

Clicking the website's contact details brings up no contact details, which means I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Also - "Aspen Mics is a design and research lab based in the United Sates of America." China isn't in the USA. No thanks.

I think he means "no belt packs". So what about this? http://www.phonak-communications.com/en/products/ear-prompter/

Thanks, I intend to buy a Micplexor 2 at some point, perhaps this year, but for now I just need a cheap off the shelf solution. The SMA-BNC adaptor looks interesting although it'd have to be a slim BNC cable to avoid ripping the socket off.

I have a couple of Zaxcom bluefin antennas I picked up second hand. Can anyone recommend a decent, lightweight ready-made cable I can buy to connect them to my Lectro SRa's, for bag use?

I've always used Tram TR50s. Never had an issue with them, if people think they're too bright then that can be dealt with in the edit suite. They're invariably very quiet against clothing and skin.

Thanks, I've bought a couple of Bluefin antennas and just need some cables making up. Zaxcom receivers is a future purchase.

I don't have any Zaxcom gear to hand, so can I ask someone who does - is the antenna connection on Zaxcom receivers the same as that found on Lectrosonics SR receivers?

Is the NT4 mounted on the camera? If so, the VMP X will pick up the same camera handling noise. Personally, I wouldn't bother - spend the money on lenses, you'll get more benefit. If you need good sound, hire someone to provide it.