Boom Op PL and Talkback

[saadasound]

Looking to set up a new PL system on my new show. Prepared to wear a wire, but want to have the ability to mute on the boom op side. Tried out the Lectro REF Mute switch, but didn't seem to work for me. Thinking of G3's, but every channel I tried seemed to interfere with our Lectro IFB feed. 

Anyone have a setup of their own that they would recommend?

[Philip Perkins]

Can you get some G3s out of the block range of your IFBs?  I used G3s for TB to boom for some time w/o issues.  Were you trying the Lectro Ref Mute for the boom op's TB mic or for their return feed?  I've only used them with Shure wireless mics but they worked very well (clickless) for that in some very high profile "nowhere to hide" type gigs.

[saadasound]

Yeah looking to get some outside our range. Tried out the ref mute on the boom end, had the wire on boom go into channel 12 of fusion, pre fade to headphones, so when mute switch is on, TB goes only to right ear of headphones. In theory, should be perfect, but the ref mute i rented to test out didn't seem to work on the day. Gonna try out the G3's again away from block 19 IFB.

[ryanpeds]

The L series transmitters have an assignable switch that can be set as a mute switch. You could try that as an option 

[Derek H]

Yeah I'd try out the G3s one more time. If they are close in freq range just set it as far away as possible from your IFB receiver and maybe have the boom op wear it on the opposite side of his/her belt. 

[pkautzsch]

SK 300 has a 2.5" input for remote controlled mute or PTT function, which basically just opens or closes a switch. We trigger it (in PTT mode) from a remote photo trigger velcroed to the boom, so my boom op can trigger it even while holding a fully extended boom with an 816 on the other end.

On my end, it's rather improvised right now, as an IEM 300 headphone output is passively summed with the 788T's headphone output. It goes only to the left channel, so I still hear my mix on the right ear. We have different antenna orientation for RX and TX to minimize RF hits on my end, and he wears his TX and RX on opposite sides.

Read up about intermodulation and use a tool like Audio Ltd.'s "Winmod" or the big Sennheiser tool (which works without Sennheiser hardware too - just can't scan) to calculate matching frequencies. You can fit quite a lot of channels into a 24 MHz window, and the G3s are in .025 MHz steps.

[Derek H]

Peter, would be interested in seeing a pic of your remote PTT setup on the SK300.

[pkautzsch]

On 1.8.2016 at 9:54 PM, Derek H said:

Peter, would be interested in seeing a pic of your remote PTT setup on the SK300.

First pic shows the receiver that connects to the SK300's mute input. Actually it's a remote trigger system for photography. Second pic shows the remote trigger that we velcro to the boom. We taped down the hot shoe adaptor on the RC, and use an elastic velcro tie round the boom so we can adjust to different booms and arm spacings. As long as the button on the remote is pressed, the SK300 is unmuted and I can hear the headset mic in my headphones.

[Derek H]

That's pretty brilliant. Does the positioning of the receiver matter? Does it have to have line of sight like an infra red remote?

[pkautzsch]

Thanks for the flowers! It's a 2.4 GHz system IIRC so works fine without line of sight, but of course with the usual 2.4 caveats. It runs on AAA rechargeables. The SK300 and trigger RX live in a pocket on a belt.

[Malcolm Davies Amps CAS]

Quite a few mixers here in the UK use the G3 for IEM/ Boom. we all have a Sennheiser stereo TX on the cart and feed sound to whoever wants it with the TX in stereo mode and the RX switched to Focus and panned hard right. Anyone who needs to be on the private line has their receiver set up the same but panned hard left. Works perfectly.

[Jim Gilchrist]

On 7/30/2016 at 6:21 PM, saadasound said:

Looking to set up a new PL system on my new show. Prepared to wear a wire, but want to have the ability to mute on the boom op side. Tried out the Lectro REF Mute switch, but didn't seem to work for me. Thinking of G3's, but every channel I tried seemed to interfere with our Lectro IFB feed. 

Anyone have a setup of their own that they would recommend?

Hey, Steve,

If a regular ref mute switch isn't working for you, Evan and Bruce at Vark Audio can build one that will. (301) 229-0288. Or maybe just don't talk so much.

There's also this from Professional Sound Services.

JG