Sound Intuition Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Paul and Dan great post. I am taking a PWS kit out next week for testing and I will post my results. I have been using the Wallen external mag mounts for years but never with the helical antenna. I bought a pair of yagi's years ago but I must admit I seldom use them. As other post have mentioned "the times they are a changing". We seem to be pushed farther away from set and with multiple cameras on everything now and more and more RF out there to interfere with our own stuff I'm willing to try anything. Dan I may have missed it but I was wondering what radio mics are you using and at what frequency? Also are they 1/4 watt? In the photo's posted here and on the PWS site the grouping looks very close and you have some in front and some in back. Is one set transmit and one receive? What do you do with the Comtek phase right in the middle of the grouping? Sorry for so many questions. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ledford Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Bill The Comtek phase right antenna is for the Comtek headset system ... I am using the BST-25 transmitter for TV5-6. Covers the folks in the van as well on the insert car or chase camera cars so the camera operators could here the dialogue. 12 Rounds had a separate free running camera car at times and we outfitted the camera crew with snug Comteks. Boom op would wear Lectro IFB. That helical antennas up front are the video assist antennas for their rig. I run the three in the back. Two helicals for the Lectrosonics six pack in the van on the unfortunate Blocks 27 and 28. The one in the middle can either serve as a backup video receive or IFB transmit. That depends on the setup such as doing free cars or insert car. As camera would change, we would just swing the antennas front to back or off a side angle. Grouping close did not seem to degrade our capture, but the two outside ones are for our diversity and the middle is for something completely different. Grouping the transmit antennas is more of a problem ... space those out. When doing a lot of moves or turning we would slightly angle the helicals inward to form a X cross and that would give you a sum of a wider angle without a hole in the middle on your RF coverage. Bill, we used the 3/8 inch C-stand adapters so we could swing when necessary. The mounting blocks on the antenna have both a 3/8 inch thread and a 5/8 inch thread if you invert the mounting block. I use generally the 1/4 watt and then 100mW units if I needed to. Both have great range when you get the transmit antenna out of the vehicle. Get your story straight when testing on your own because I was stopped by the local police when making adjustments in a parking lot. He was very curious but amused when I told what we were up to. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael P Clark Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Hey Paul! Thanks for the info on the rig. My question is, because I plan on using the rig on a vehicle soon, is how fast could you travel before you worried the antennas would become too much of a sail and start tilting in the wind? Thanks again for the great photos and experience in the field. FWIW, I just used a Helical for my last studio job and they work very well indoors on a set as well. I placed the helical in the corner, above the set walls, away from the lighting grids and towards the opposite floor corner where most of the action was taking place. I had to place them behind some show card to remain invisible from cameras. I didn't have two antennas for diversity, to spread out over the set, so I coupled it with a dipole. The coverage was very good, and didn't receive any drop-outs, where I use to get a couple every now and then. Especially when the Stedicam would get in bewteen the antenna's. The next set of shows, I will be using two. Although for set work, I am not sure two is necessary. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ledford Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Michael Our van driver on 12 Rounds was a stunt driver because we were clipping along at almost full speed of the picture cars. I am not sure we went over 55 mph because we could hang or fall back a bit and still be safe. I too was worried about the wind, but with the driving speed and in heavy weather the antennas remained as firm as our mountings. They are very well built and durable. On one show, the transportation department went out and got the roof rack made out of round tubes. The clamps did not always hold on that. Stick with the square tube or the larger rigs with a good flat surface. I went ahead and bought a roof rack set of my own after that and that is what is on the picture. Professional Wireless recommended to me to bag them for rain. We used them with large storage bags or backpack covers to keep the rain from changing the tuning. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 " unfortunate Blocks 27 and 28 " unfortunate?? why, they will soon (June) be clear of any TV transmissions, and it will be a while before anything new comes on. when new stuff comes on, it will be about like it is now, scan for clear frequencies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roundbadge Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Thanks guys for the great info. Anyone compare these to the Sennhieser helical's? Think I'm gonna try a little side by side w/ the A5000CP and HA-8089 Helical this week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ledford Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 No I did not compare other than on paper. Please let us know what you find. That would be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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