Philip Perkins

Was possible in old analog VHF wireless (we used to carry a scanner around with our freqs programmed into it), with later hybrid and digital, not.

A lot of the confusion with TC and sync is (I think) left over from the analog days, when running TC WAS the sync signal between multiple machines which had the ability to pull playback speed and location data off the timecode and align their own playback with that. In digital audio the only thing that matters for playback speed is the word clock, as was said, the TC here is just a time stamp at the start of the recording. This is why you can change timecode numbers and rates at will on audio files and they will play the same in an audio app. How video cameras treat incoming TC is different: higher end cameras can derive frame rate info from external TC: this is one reason we don't tend to use TC boxes for cameras that output genlock in addition to TC so much any more. Where TC used as a playback speed reference can bite you is in post, if an editing app helpfully decides to pull down or up your audio so its frame rate matches that of an edit. Editors have to be careful about this, and the TC frame rate DOES matter a lot in a picture editing app.

Sorry, the camera dept. will not be allowed to colonize my mic booms. They can get their own. I have been asked about this a few times and demurred.

The only issue with this thinking is that you are probably not an island universe--you have to maintain sync with cameras. That means TC boxes for the cameras, and having everyone on the same clock (via the TC boxes) is the best way to go. A console that can't take external WC is no more accurate a digital audio interface than a regular desktop interface, and if they are deriving their clock from a laptop then they aren't really very stable at all. I lock my JoeCo up to a 744T (WC and TC), and that lock is accurate enough that the 4 tracks of the 744 can be mixed with those of the JoeCo with sample-level accuracy and freedom from artifacts.

The only thing that will make digital audio recorders stay in sync is shared word clock. As was said, TC only labels the first frame of a recording, the speed at which the samples are created is controlled by word clock. If you have two machines with very similar internal clocks then you can jamsync their TC and they recordings will stay close but not sample accurately in sync. To record something like a drum kit or a multi-actor scene across multiple recorders you need word clock sync in order to have a mix of tracks from the two machines not drift on each other, which causes audible artifacts. If the recorders are hearing very different audio you can probably get away with just a TC jam between two professional digital recorders that are in spec.

Before you decide what to do find out what the production and the post people want. There are an infinite number of ways to skin the playback-shoot cat. Having a clear idea of the workflow from the track prep through post is a really good idea--this is a team sport.

On shows I've been on (or just out in the world) it was stressed to us that being a large object high off the ground was a bad idea during a lightning storm. The genny (and the trucks etc etc not to mention flown grip frames and large lights up high on stands or even your raised-up wireless antenna array) seem like they'd be attractive targets for a strike? We were all shoo'ed away from those and told to shelter inside a building...

I haven't gotten full earn-out of most of my new gear in 12 months probably ever, maybe getting close after a few years. But a lot of gear is what a rental-house-owning-friend of mine describes as "the ante". You want to play? You have to ante-up. This is why big ticket items like mixer-recorders might not ever earn-out for a soundie until you sell them, but more minor, cheaper things that can be charged extra for like Comteks/IFBs, playback gear etc can make their cost back faster. At my friend's video equipment rental house the most profitable vs cost items were client-viewing type monitors and accessories for DSLRs and GoPros, lenses+support, batteries etc etc..

More or less no one on this list buys gear that they don't intend to use professionally, if not now then soon. For a soundie doing small jobs the decisions about when and how to upgrade are often far from clear, so you might want to spreadsheet your jobs from last few years in terms of # of inputs/tracks needed, # of wirelesses, how much monitoring (Comtek etc), what was the timecode usage, how many cameras you had to feed in what way, did you need playback or other extra gear and so on. For me that revealed trends in what was actually getting used, what sort of gigs I seemed to be getting and what sort I wasn't getting any more (so did not need to equip for them). Armed with this sort of info you can then engage your intuition about where your career is heading...!

470-1525 MHz! Pretty cool!

I thought this issue had been solved in the world of RV vehicle electrical? Years ago I had my Econoline work van modified by a truck-repair place to have two batteries that the alternator kept topped up, but drawing from the 2nd battery, there for sound equipment power via an invertor, did not affect the truck or "starter" battery. So maybe there is a mass produced solution for this from RV equipment companies? I apologize if I've misunderstood your project.

Rabbit Ears gives you a bit more info....

You can certainly get busted for being out of legal and or assigned bands at events that have on-it freq coordinators--it has happened to me. But in the "wild' where most of us work (ie locations) I have not heard of that happening so far. But I have been warned by my local FCC coordinator that it IS possible.

The Duplex Gap is your friend......

"C -link" died with the 7xx series, I'm sorry to say (I asked SD about this a few times). Yes, it was VERY handy, and I've done a lot of recording with 2 7xx machines C-Linked together. Somewhere in the JW archive is a post from a mixer who recorded some shows with 3 788s C Linked together (3 was the max number of machines that could be linked) and it worked out very well. But there is no similar linking for the SD machines 6xx and onward except via TC and (if the machines have the necessary ports) word clock. I link a 744T (or 2) with a 664 very frequently: like most but not all later SD recorders the 664 has external clock and TC inputs (which are supplied by the 744). I think it would be a great idea if SD could figure out something that works like C-Link for the recorders they make now--it really makes a temporary track-count expansion very easy.

The lower machine is a Pilotone Nagra? Assume this was a special order--good move having the mic input be female!

Be careful what you wish for.

Great idea imprinting "Smart Battery" on them--tell the TSA folks what they are without them having to ask! The people in line behind you will thank you!

Diagrams or photos for me--the pin numbering on small connectors is too small for me to read!

Way cool, nicely done, but a big job to keep up with all the cameras in common use these days! Thanks!!!

Battery extract via drill and an easy-out...

Can't you rent a GVC for your shoot?

Not an easy biz to be a dad in, right?

Ditto Nikon.

Me too--I had the manuals for the III, the 4.2, and the IV-SL long before I could afford to own the machines themselves, and learned a great deal from them.