abuela

Am I able to use a RF Venue Diversity fin with the nova? Will I still need to used a PSC SMA Multi Splitter or something similar?

Thanks everyone for the response! I've implemented a lot of your suggestions and seem to have found a middle ground. I changed my TX channel 1 to a more open frequency, swapped my Comtek cable for the manufacturers cable, and changed the Sony TX (hops) freq as far away from everything else as I could. My range has mostly returned to normal but I am still battling some issues with the Comtek's. They seem to work decent indoors but when running around outside every so often theres a terrible clicking sound that lasts 3-5 seconds sometimes. It's pretty loud and persistent and seems to overtake any audio being sent. Is there anyway to scan for more open channels on the Comtek M216 / PR216's? (I've attached an img of freq finder with my current frequencies) Also I've ran into a different issue recently - whenever dialog gets close to or barely hits the limiter on the SD633 I get distortion (+14db hard knee). I feel like I shouldn't be getting distortion as the level's aren't super hot. Normally I shoot for 0db and +8db for peaks but it seems any louder than that will cause distortion(maybe talent will yell or cheer and hit roughly +16db) . It doesn't happen every time but often enough to look into it. I reviewed some files to see if the distortion is just from hitting my L/R too hard or if it's on the ISO tracks and it seems to be distorting on both. The distortion isn't super prominent, after reviewing the files you kind of have to be listening for it to notice. In hopes to isolate the source of problem, I cranked the 633 channel gain to hit the limiters very hard and I got the same distortion sound (trying to rule out the lav's being overloaded, TX turned up too high, and RX being turned up to high). The interesting thing is, I'm working on a home renovation show, and there's lots of hammers, power tools, etc.. The power tools or hammer transients never seem to cause distortion - they'll hit the limiter and be fine. It's only the talent's voice that will cause distortion. I've tried different thresholds for the limiters as well as hard and soft knee. In the end I just started shooting for 0db - +2-3 for my peaks and for mix L/R +8 for peaks and +10 for the limiter threshold hard knee (these levels are for dialog). I'm using Sanken Cos-11, with SMQV's and Lectro 411a's. Has anyone experienced this? Am I just recording too hot? I feel like in the past I've hit my L/R pretty hard and have never really heard distortion under normal circumstances. We've been working in rainy or super humid conditions. Thanks everyone!

Hey all! Firstly I want to say thank you to everyone within this community for sharing and passing on insight and knowledge. Also I just want to say I'm a bit of a location sound noobie so go easy on me! I've recently started a show in Galveston, TX and am having some range / RF issues. I'm running block 20 / 21 Lectro 411a's with SMQV TX with a PSC Multi Splitter and RF Venue Diversity Fin Antenna in a K-tek bag with a Comtek M216. Also the DP provided some Sony TX/RX units to be used as camera hops as he has a super slot within his Sony camera. I've been clipping the Sony TX (hops, 10 mW) on my belt on the small of my back. He swore these units wouldn't interfere with my Lectro's but every time I power it on I can see additional RF interference on my 411's. Also the Sony unit's cause terrible interference with my Comtek's, the only way I've figured out how to have them play nice is by dropping the mW. SMQV (100 mW, sometimes 250 mW ) TX placement on talent has been mostly in the small of their back, but if the wardrobe allows it I'll try to position the TX off to the side a bit. Normally there's 2 - 3 talent. For the most part I'm getting 15 - 20 ft. of range and often I find myself having to position myself off to the side of talent to get line of sight on the TX's during cross coverage. Galveston has been very rainy, hot, and humid. Also I don't have any 100% clean channels within block 20 / 21. I've coordinated frequencies using the 411's tuner setting (D) and also checked all channels with Freq Finder for intermodulation and selected the most clear channels. Usually they read about 80% clean. Is this normal given the circumstances? Is there something I'm doing wrong or can be doing different to increase range? Any insight is much appreciated! Thanks you!