karlw

USB is fine!

Check with our dealer in Italy: Nagrit SRL - they can advise on the best blocks there and whether or not Block 21 is good https://www.nagrit.com/en/lectrosonics-m-12.html

If they never worked well, we would have liked the chance to provide assistance! Let's get those units in for a checkup. There are probably some hardware & certainly firmware updates we can do that will likely improve the performance. Please contact our Parts & Repair dept. at 800-821-1121 or service.repair@lectrosonics.com. In terms of finding and coordinating frequencies, an app like Freq Finder will work better in multi-channel situations than just using SmartTune, which was designed for small channel-count situations like ENG.

The thoughts I have are: 1. The 788 was fairly well known for radiating RF - have you tried the setup with the recorder off? I realize this isn't a useable solution, but may point to part of the issue. 2. The Betso antennas are wideband, and may be picking up strong out-of-band RF energy, which doesn't make your receivers happy. 3. You may be in an area or on a location where there is a lot of RF energy - again, out of band, but may be affecting your system. 4. As others have asked - how are you choosing your frequencies? This can have a major effect on performance. First, any hops or IFBs should be as far away physically and frequency-wise from your talent channels as possible. 5. Consider adding passive filters. This is becoming more necessary with the very crowded UHF spectrum and high-energy sources outside the band (Walkies in 450-470, 5G in the 600 Mhz band) 6. You don't mention the age of your units or the firmware versions - there have been many revisions to the SRc over the last 5 years. Yours may be due for a checkup by our techs. 7. Are your receiver antennas remoted away from the bag? This can help a great deal. 8. Someone else asked about your distro - lower quality units can have issues with strong out-of-band RF energy.

FWIW the way I've understood to best use RHCP and LHCP antennas is to use one type on your receivers, and the other on your IEM/IFB transmitters (assuming you're using helicals for that purpose) because of the resulting inherent slight attenuation of the IEM/IFB signals getting into the receive antennas (the polarizations "cross" at 90 deg. which is akin to having your transmit antenna vertical and your receive antennas horizontal).

Back in the '90s when I was much more into the "audiophile/hi-fi" thing than I am now, belt-drive 'tables were the thing. DD tables have advantages, too, of course. And Doc - you're right, DD tables come up to speed quickly, have more torque, can often be more accurate in terms of on-pitch or speed. These are huge advantages for DJ work, and of course can sound great if designed right into an audiophile 'table as well. If I remember correctly, the advantages of belt-drive is that any motor chatter would be absorbed by the belt. I still own a VPI HW-19 mark II, that I modified a bit here and there, purchased used in probably 1995. It is the simple silicone belt, heavy platter (19 lbs) unipoint bearing design. I've never once been disappointed by this 'table - it sounds truly great when set up right and with a good cartridge, which has been the case for the past 26 years... And I don't think I've ever heard a better 'table than a Linn LP-12 with all the trimmings. But I haven't listened to many newer 'tables since the '90s. So, there could well be newer ones that are equally or even more impressive.

Hi, normally scan files in CSV format import easily. Can you send me one of your files in a PM? I'll take a look at it here and if need be, show it to our programmer.

There are passive splitters that pass DC on one leg, i.e. there is DC coming from one receiver, say, and no DC coming from or going to the 2nd receiver. But the DC from the first receiver gets to the antenna. Audio Technica and Shure offers one that appears to be exactly the same, made by RF Venue. https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/2x1split

Any big difference in audio gain between the DCHR/DCHT channel and the other 3 channels?

Donald, glad to hear you have it sorted!

MGRK, yes - as RunAndGun explains, you can independently set the input and output type in each unit. The transmission itself is digital, but you can decide what source or load types you want the system to do. In terms of firmware, it is always advisable to update to the latest version, so that documentation matches, features match, etc. between units. You can always check your firmware versions here: https://lectrosonics.com/firmware/category/157-digital-camera-hop-series-firmware.html

There currently is not a version of WD for iOS. But any Windows tablet will work fine, and USB is fine for the Venue 2 (although it has an Ethernet connection, too).

Audiofp, Thanks - glad to hear the DSQD is working well for you. Yes, we plan to have the DCR822 connect with WD and offer full functionality, including scans. Stay tuned!

Great video - how did this stay under the radar since December? Also, I didn't realize until now that Ben worked on one of my favorite cult classics: Strictly Ballroom.

Congratulations to Phillip Bladh (production sound mixer), Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michellee Couttolenc and Carlos Cortés for their Oscar win for Sound of Metal! And, let's not forget boom op Jeremy Eisener! Fantastic job, guys. And, congrats as well to all the nominees for their fine work on: GREYHOUND Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman MANK Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin NEWS OF THE WORLD Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett SOUL Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

For those interested, the live stream link is here:

Yes - 6:35 is the correct run time for that setting.

With those compat modes in the list, that is an EU receiver - should be marked SRb/E01 on the case. So the issue wasn't happening before but at some point started up - it would seem that the receiver and the transmitters should be examined by our HQ - it is certainly not behaving correctly. When you have time, please give our shop a call at 001-505-892-4501 or send an email with serial numbers and detailed problem description (and recordings, if you have them) to service.repair@lectrosonics.com

Hi Peter, digital receivers can (and are in our case) backward compatible with FM/Hybrid transmitters. The new Transmitters, however, are digital only, i.e. not backward compatible. It would be impractical to design transmitters that fit all the needs (small size, efficient battery life, etc.) and have two types of output stages. So, these units work with the DSQD, DCR822, and DCHR receivers (and future digital units) only.

Donald, thanks for covering all those questions with the details - looks like you've tried all the right things, but that you also have your setup well dialed-in. What compat mode are you using? If you are in Europe and your transmitters are the E01 type, then they conform to the ETSI mask and have +-50 kHz max deviation. If your receiver is set to "400 mode" or "NA Hyb" then this could be the problem. The receiver should also be set to "EU Hyb". Powering may be the issue - if you have a way to test each receiver separately with battery power (I once rigged up a ratty DC cable with a 9V battery) then you can eliminate this variable as well. Failing all these things, we should probably look at those units at the HQ. Since we haven't sold SRb receivers in some years now, I'm assuming you purchased these used?

Hi Donald, Often, audio issues can be traced back to a number of different factors. None of these are "we think you're doing something wrong" but nevertheless we have to ask these troubleshooting questions: First, sometimes interference that is low-ish in level and allows for relatively normal performance can cause a certain amount of noise in the audio. How are you choosing your frequencies? Are these frequencies coordinated with other RF sources via an app like Freq Finder? Are there any wideband digital RF sources in the vicinity, like wireless cameras or other digital equipment? Next is audio gain structure - how are you setting your gain? If you are not "tickling the limiters" on your audio peaks, then you may get an improvement simply by increasing transmitter audio gain and reducing receiver output levels or mixer input levels. What mics are you using and how are the mics wired? Some wirings have lower sensitivity, thus more noise gets into the transmitter input from the beginning due to the required higher gain setting, then "envelopes" to follow speech, as a function of the noise reduction. Are you running SmartNR noise reduction? If so, how is it set? Do you have "hop" transmitters, or any digital transmitters adjacent to these receivers in your bag? How are the receivers powered? We have seen issues with ground loops causing audio issues before.

Yes - at 50 mW. Longer times at lower powers, with 8:55 at the 2mW HDM mode setting. No Yes, it is on our list. No timeline yet, though. Stay tuned! Stay tuned...

Nevo it is a little "dongle" unit - not sure the brand, possibly Belkin - I bought it so long ago I can't remember. It is not marked with a brand, unfortunately.

I've walked these outside at the 2mW HDM setting, with a DCR822 on whips, and went 80+ yards with it. I think the HDM mode is basically designed for the kind of scenario you described - not a lot of spectrum, and perhaps not great distances, but multiple channels in a tight slot. We're looking into those figures now - updates when I know more.

Battery run times: Models Lithium Alkaline NiMH DBSM-A1B1 (1 AA): 2 mw - 8:55 2 mw - 2:15 2 mw - 5:25 10 mw - 7:25 10 mw - 2:00 10 mw - 4:55 25 mw - 9:35 25 mw - 1:25 25 mw - 4:25 50 mw - 4:45 50 mw - 1:10 50 mw - 4:20 DBSMD-A1B1 (2 AA): 2 mw - 18:20 2 mw - 7:45 2 mw - 10:55 10 mw - 16:35 10 mw - 7:10 10 mw - 10:30 25 mw - 15:10 25 mw - 6:20 25 mw - 9:20 50 mw - 12:10 50 mw - 4:30 50 mw - 7:25 You are correct - these have TA5 input connectors (the SSM is the only one with a Lemo). There are two accessory TC jam sync adapter cables, one with a BNC and one with a Lemo 5.