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Audio Technica 1800 Dual Wireless used as camera hop...


Adam Bowick

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Hi there.

Has anyone used the AT 1800 dual wireless system as a camera hop?

In particular, an AT 1820 system (two end plugs).

I am using a SD 302 for a mixer.

I know it's not ideal, but it's the best I've got at the moment.

I've done some basic tests with it and am not really overwhelmed by the sound quality.

There seems to be a fair amount of "noise"... but I was feeding an older camera (GL2) using a beachtek.

Is this system simply not good enough or am I not using it properly?

Has anyone used this system much?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments.

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Uh-oh... My boom op buddy (who has been spending a recent windfall on gear for both of us) just bought one of those series here with just that usage in mind. Now, I'm not so sure that was a good purchase, although I didn't get a chance to give a lot of input about the cost or the selection before he got it. Personally, I think he paid too much, but I haven't seen it yet to really evaluate it.

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I havnt tried that model, but I do have an older AT wireless system, and it has the same problems. Noisy especially. Ive used it primarily for IFB purposes, but since Ive gotten Comteks I havnt used it at all. Still trying to find a use for it....

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Adam!

Nice to see you here. Make sure your coming out line level from your receiver and into your camera if possible. The beachteck could be adding another gain stage that makes a marginal system even more marginal. I'd wire up a xlr to mini jack cable and go direct in line level to the camera if you can.

Best case scenario, pickup your PD204 and record master audio to your harddrive and give the camera a GUIDE only audio track.

Good Luck! Call me direct if you like.

Eric

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Hi to all of the newcomers here...

" Is this system simply not good enough or am I not using it properly?

Has anyone used this system much? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments. "

well, have you searched this forum for references to it??  maybe that is a clue .

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Hey Eric!

Those are all excellent suggestions... thank you.

I'm going to borrow a 442 (so I can feed it instead of my low quality camera) and do some more comprehensive tests.

My gut feeling was that the AT 1800 series isn't quite good enough to send high quality audio to a camera.

A good guide track, yes...

Thank you for everyone's input... looks like I'll try to upgrade down the road or rent in the short term if needed.

For what it's worth, when I'm done testing, I'll let people here know what I find out.

Adam

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When setup correctly, the AT1800 performs as a reliable and solid unit. I have used it in many difficult RF environments including, NBA Finals, NFL football, and other large media events. Use the Tape out of any Sound Devices mixer.

Follow this setup plan:

The configuration of the camera hop is the audio out of the tape out of the Sound Devices mixer TA3 stereo Y to  two XLR male connectors to two XLR female to Hirose 4 pin input connectors of the AT Transmitters.  The settings on the transmitters are Mic level, RF High and 0db.  The AT1800 Receiver is connected to the camera via xlr cables with the output level at about 9 o'clock.  The camera input level is set to mic level and faders adjusted accordingly.  I have found that  this configuration has the best signal to noise ratio for the two devices to work properly. I like that I don't have to push the AT1800 receiver output level very hard to get enough level. 

I have tried using the other outputs of the Sound Devices mixer with the AT1800, but I have found an impedence mis-match.  Any other setup with the two units provided an undesirable noise floor.  The audio would not be acceptable on any shoot.

Tape out of the 442 (TA3 unbalanced) to a Y XLR's into the transmitters

Transmitter settings:

Mic level

RF high

0 db

Receiver output into camera Mic Level.

With this setup I didn't have to push the output of the receiver very

hard.  The level was set at about 9 o'clock on a 7-5 clockwise scale.

I used this configuration at the NBA playoffs with no problems and

clean audio.

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