WhyOne

Group, please correct me if I'm wrong, but the operative word in this quote is 'electret'. as opposed to a standard condenser mic. A standard condenser uses phantom power, not only to allow sufficient potential to support the audio voltage swing, but also to charge the condenser itself (establishing the 'zero' level). An electret condenser has a permanently (sort of) charge on the condenser, and the applied voltage drives an audio amplifier. Electret mics are much cheaper (inexpensive - some sound very well); the 'sort of' refers to what happens when a violently strong pressure wave at the diaphragm may actually fully discharge the electret, requiring a significant amount of time to recharge its condenser. A 'phantom' voltage refers to where the potential applied is between the hot and return, and the cold and return, so that there is no apparent voltage between the hot and cold (as opposed to T power, which is applied between the hot and cold). I believe the standard phantom voltages are 12VDC and 48VDC. DPA has mics that require a 'phantom' voltage of 140VDC. Electret mics require 3VDC to 5VDC. Some electret mics may be supplied by a true 48V phantom voltage, where 5V of the 48 are used to drive the internal amplifier, and the rest of the pressure is wasted. Just decided to check my assumptions, and here are two good links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condenser_microphone#Condenser_microphone Jay

I believe your professor is a bit out of touch... Syncing picture to sound is only one use of code on the set. As intranets evolve over sets, timecode (or perhaps satellite time-of-day code) will drive the timebase of the intranets. An intranet set will coordinate scene/take metadata between camera, sound and script. Timecode also assigns a unique ID to every frame, rather invaluable down the workflow... Source timecode on audio is still the only way to find pieces of things in audio-post. Perhaps your professor hasn't noticed that the "clapper slate" which was to have become obsolete with timecode, is still used on every take - sometimes the cool new electronic stuff doesn't work; redundancy rocks!

During the nineties, I traveled extensively doing longform drama. If I was headed out of the country, I used the carnet process for shipping my gear, billing the client through the expediter used. Just tell the production company, "If you want a guarantee that my gear will get through customs and arrive on time, pay the professionals. I am a good sound mixer - do you want to gamble on my ability to negotiate all this stuff in a land where I don't speak the language?" If you are going to multiple countries, a carnet is the ONLY way to go. If your client insists the gear travels with you, do the carnet work yourself. Instead of claiming full value for the gear (cost of thre carnet bond is based on value...), I calculated my full rental charges over real value as a percentage, applying that percentage of an individual item's cost as it's 'carnet' value. As my gear has always been in a FileMaker database, easy... Get to the airport earlier than usual, find any customs agent - they will direct you. After a quick inspection, your gear and personal stuff will be loaded by customs. After landing, get your cases and find an agent in the new land. They will send you to a room, open a case or two, stamp the forms and out you go. No waiting in customs lines! There is no easier, more reliable, fast and efficient way to get your stuff there on-time. BTW - the WORST border crossing, consistently, is getting in to the States. Period. If your destination is not under the carnet, careful pre-planned bribery is recommended, as in a couple of packs of costco sized alkaline batteries on top in each pelican with the note "Por Usted" tacked on. Don't think I'm kidding....

Senator, Thanks for these clips, it is hard to keep up. To All - PLEASE TAKE PART IN THE CURRENT TEST OF ONE OF THE DATABASES - Spectrum Bridge For LICENSED users: http://whitespaces.spectrumbridge.com/ProtectedEntityRegistration/LowPowerAuxRegistration.aspx For UNLICENSED users: http://whitespaces.spectrumbridge.com/ProtectedEntityRegistration/LowPowerAuxUnlicensedRegistration.aspx Though a touch tedious for several units, it's do-able. For our purposes, it is advantageous to spread out your freqs to as many UHF TV channels as possible (for example, Lectro Block 20 spans UHF-TV channels 21 through 25), as one registration in a UHF channel blocks the entire UHF channel. Jay

Last summer, under the aegis of 695, I visited the renowned "Reality" Sound Supervisor, Danny McCullough, doing Cupcake Wars and getting ready to go to Italy for Jersey Shore, in order to learn first hand, the complexities of the job. A couple of dozen production channels, eight to ten "camera hops," wired (16 channels on Aviom via cat5,) and wireless IFB channels. (Made my fourteen channels for episodic seem paltry!) At any given location, in prep, Danny would use the IAS software which would first download from the IAS database the clear bands, then calculate freqs within the available bands that would minimize inter-modulation issues. He would then use the TTI scanner to scan the area for local issues. Long story short - he uses both of the above products, together, to effectively plot forty plus channels...

Perhaps 3 perf and 4 perf?

Good timing...

Absolutely, positively a wonderful investment. The new lav rod is also good (a minor step above the shower rod we've been using.)

LMFAO

Day 2, no issues here at Universal...

Back up, back up, back up. I also carry a small 256G boot drive in my briefcase. Very useful for regular disk maintenance. I verify/repair all of my Mac drives weekly. Jay

Warning, Will Robinson! Having read the fine print in the FCC notice, THIS IS JUST A TEST. After this test of Spectrum Bridge's dynamic White Space database (45 days starting yesterday) ALL DATA FROM LICENSED WIRELESS MIC USERS WILL BE DUMPED. We don't know if other related databases (in theory they will all communicate with each other rapidly...) will undergo similar tests during or after Spectrum Bridge's, or if after the test the FCC will allow the entire WSD system to go on line. So what do we do? 1. Stay tuned in. 2. If you're licensed, register your usual operating coordinates as 'permanent' and enter your day to day locations at least 24 hours before call. 3. If you're unlicensed, register your usual operating coordinates as 'permanent' and enter your day to day locations at least 24 hours before call. 4. Save as .pdf files every 'receipt' page generated by the interface website, as documentation of one's correct behavior. 5. Immediately post any problems or interference to this website, and send a message to: part74users@ymail.com Keep trying, I had difficulty at first, but the interface uses error messages, and support from Spectrum Bridge is good if not immediate. Jay

Going with the group here.... Been using a 788T-SSD for 24 months, have had a glitch or two with the system but no issues at all with the memory - and yes it is all the same. SSDs are multiple CFs in essence. I only use Transcend, Lexar, and SanDisk, 400x UDMA or faster, and have over two hundred days of fast, reliable, multi-track recording. Hollywood post houses are re-fitting rapidly for CF now that the media has been proven. I am not, however, saying goodbye to optical disks completely, just not in production. There a few optical innovations that will keep them around for a while.... BUT NOT IN MY RECORD CHAIN! NO MOVING PARTS! Jay

I have five Lectro xmtrs in Block 21, three in 19, four in 22 and 3 in 25, and this morning at 8:30 EST went online and registered my stuff at the coordinates of NBC Universal, and it was fairly easy. I then took the "unlicensed user" path to register the two Modulus xmtrs used by my camera dept on 15 and 17, and that was successful also. Because the spectrum is being administrated in UHF TV channel "chunks", a dozen mixers, licensed and registered, could effectively tie up all of LA. Some of the engineers working for the database companies have admitted, off the record, that there may be many large cities where TVBDs will never get to operate...

I've always thought that a high pass filter should be as close to the capsule as possible, as the biggest problem with most unwanted low end is overloading a stage of amplification or saturating an input transformer. Looking at the situation from that perspective, the Schoeps CUT-1 which is in between the capsule and the first stage of gain in the chain, is optimum - wish it sounded better. Built-in low cuts are great, depending on their freq. and slope. Most high-pass filters on mixers are after the mixer's first stage of gain - really more about tonal quality as opposed to signal protection. An exception to this is the HP 1 filter on Cooper boards, which is before the input transformer, to protect it from saturation (sub-harmonics from boom handling, etc.). I do mostly dramatic television, and almost all of the dialogue editors I've worked with automatically remove most anything below about 100Hz, saving that real estate for M&E, so If I do it in the field, I have a few more dB of headroom.

Well Group, today the First White Space Administrative database went online for testing. Both licensed and unlicensed wireless mic users may register the TV channels their transmitters use by visiting: http://whitespaces.spectrumbridge.com/Trial.aspx# using their fairly easy interface pages. If you have your license, follow the appropriate link. There is also a link for unlicensed users (this page will ask for your call sign, enter 'none'.) Also check out the "Locate channels available exclusively for wireless microphones" link which will tell you the two TV stations (use the zipcode of your shooting location) that have been reserved exclusively for wireless mic use. By registering all of my transmitters on the licensed side, theoretically TV channels 19, 20, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 43, 44, and 45, for about one mile around NBC Universal Studios will be TVBD free from 07:00 til 10:00 Monday thru Friday for the duration of the forty five day test period. The camera department uses channels 15 and 17 for their Moduli, so I went through the non-licensed procedure to protect them also (I do not have a TV component to my license). Interestingly enough, it seems that the registration is by each 6MHz TV channel, which may mean that any metropolis with several mixers registering their units, may preempt ANY TVBDs from operation during normal shooting hours.

The FCC Public Notice: DA 11-1534 Released: September 14, 2011 Office of Engineering and Technology Announces the Opening of Public Testing for Spectrum Bridge’s TV Band Database System ET Docket No. 04-186 The Commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) announces that on September 19, 2011, it will commence a 45-day public trial of Spectrum Bridge Inc.’s TV band database system. This is a limited trial that is intended principally to allow the public to access and test Spectrum Bridge’s database system to ensure that it correctly identifies channels that are available for unlicensed TV band devices, properly registers those facilities entitled to protection, and provides protection to authorized services and registered facilities as specified in the rules. We encourage all interested parties to test the database and provide appropriate feedback to Spectrum Bridge. The Commission’s Part 15 rules (47 C.F.R. § 15.701 et seq.) require that unlicensed TV band devices contact an authorized database system to obtain a list of channels that are available for their operation (i.e., channels not occupied by authorized radio services) at their individual locations and must operate only on those channels. Such devices are required to provide their geographic location, by means of a secure Internet connection, to a TV band database system authorized by the Commission. The database will then return a list of the channels available for operation by the device for its reported location. As part of its authorization process for TV band database systems, the Commission stated that each database will be subject to a public trial period of not less than 45 days to ensure that the database is providing accurate results before it is allowed to be made available for regular public use. OET has examined Spectrum Bridge’s channel availability calculator and finds that it is ready for trial testing by the public. Trial Access and Details Parties may participate in the trial by accessing Spectrum Bridge’s TV band database test facility at: http://whitespaces.spectrumbridge.com/Trial.aspx. This website provides a description of the trial, instructions for participation, details on use of the database system, access to the database’s various capabilities, and a link for providing feedback to Spectrum Bridge. Note that the test facility will not be active before the date the trial is scheduled to commence. During this trial, participants are encouraged to test · the channel availability calculator; · the cable headend and broadcast auxiliary temporary receive site registration utilities; and · the wireless microphone registration utility to ensure that each of these elements of the database system is working properly and providing the interference protection required under our rules. In addition, participants are encouraged to report any inaccuracies or other issues with any aspect of the database system to Spectrum Bridge through the response facility on the trial’s website. Spectrum Bridge will respond, as appropriate, to such reports with an explanation and notification of any responsive actions it may take, as appropriate. During the trial, Spectrum Bridge may apply any corrective measures it determines are needed and will advise participants of such measures through the trial’s website. As indicated above, the trial of the Spectrum Bridge database system is currently scheduled to last for 45 days and will end on November 2, 2011. However, if the results of the trial indicate that additional testing is necessary, OET may extend the trial period. After the close of the trial, Spectrum Bridge will provide a summary report to OET that identifies: (1) problems reported and their disposition; and (2) descriptions of changes made to the channel availability calculator or registration systems. Once Spectrum Bridge submits its report, we will provide a short period of time for interested parties to submit comments on the report. Note that the successful performance of the database system through this trial is only one element in the commission’s evaluation of a system for approval to operate. Other requirements for TV band database systems are set forth in 47 C.F.R. 15.701 et seq. and OET’s January 26, 2011 Order on TV band database administrators (see Order in ET Docket No. 04-186, DA 11-131). OET would grant final approval for Spectrum Bridge to operate its database system with certified TV band devices once it determines that the system complies with all of the applicable rules and requirements. The public will be informed of such decision through a Public Notice. The FCC rules require that TV band database systems protect the following radio services: (1) broadcast television stations (including full power, TV translator, low power TV, and Class A stations); (2) fixed broadcast auxiliary service links; (3) receive sites (and received channels) of TV translator, low power TV and Class A TV stations and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs); (4) private land mobile radio service and commercial mobile radio service operations; (5) offshore radio telephone service operations; (6) radio astronomy operations at specific sites; and (7) low power auxiliary service operations (principally licensed and certain approved unlicensed wireless microphone venue sites). Except for MVPD receive sites, sites where licensed wireless microphones are used, and approved unlicensed wireless microphone venues, the necessary protection data will either be extracted by Spectrum Bridge from the Commission’s databases or are specified in the rules. Operators of facilities for which information is contained in the Commission’s records or provided in the rules do not need to take any action to obtain protection from TV band devices. Operators of MVPD receive sites and wireless microphones users must specifically register their sites to receive protection from TV band devices. As required under the rules, Spectrum Bridge is providing a registration capability for these facilities. These registration capabilities are available through the database test facility at: http://whitespaces.spectrumbridge.com/Trial.aspx. The rules also provide that responsible parties may request that the Commission approve registrations for protection of venues where large numbers of unlicensed wireless microphones are used. Such requests for registration will first be made available for public comment, and the Commission will subsequently review them for approval. However, the Commission has not yet completed the development of its process for acceptance and approval of registrations for these venues. In the interim and for purposes of this trial, Spectrum Bridge, with OET’s approval, has implemented a test registration capability for registration of venues where unlicensed wireless microphones are used; this test registration capability is also available through Spectrum Bridge’s the database test facility. Registrations for MVPD receive sites, sites where licensed wireless microphones are used, and venues where large numbers of wireless microphones are used that are made during the trial period will be deleted by Spectrum Bridge after the trial. Parties will be able to register their MVPD receive sites and sites where licensed wireless microphones are used in the database once general operation of the database for use by TV band devices is approved and implemented. Parties responsible for venues where large numbers of wireless microphones are used will need to request registration approval by the Commission once the Commission’s process for that function is activated. We encourage parties responsible for MVPD receive sites and licensed wireless microphone operations to enter trial registrations and make use of these capabilities in their testing of Spectrum Bridge’s database. OET will provide notice of, and time for, affected parties to enter active registrations into Spectrum Bridge’s database during the process for final approval of the Spectrum Bridge database system for full operation. We also note that once one or more additional database systems are approved and active, all registrations entered with a given database will be communicated to the other database(s) so that registrations will not need to be entered with multiple databases. The TV bands database systems are the subject of a docketed proceeding, ET Docket No. 04-186, and responses to the trial of Spectrum Bridge’s database system conducted pursuant to this public notice may be filed with the Commission at any time using the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) as described below. A simplified interface for ECFS has been implemented to facilitate consumer comment. Documents filed on ECFS may be accessed and reviewed on that system, which contains copies of written submissions and summaries of oral submissions regarding the white spaces proceeding. Pursuant to sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments and reply comments on the trial of Spectrum Bridge’s database system at any time during and after the trial period. Comments may be filed using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998). Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. Paper Filers: Parties that choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or rulemaking number. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. § All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12 th St., SW, Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. § Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. § U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12 th Street, SW, Washington DC 20554. People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (tty). All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Marlene H. Dortch, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. Parties should also send a copy of their filings to Hugh L. Van Tuyl, Office of Engineering and Technology, Federal Communications Commission, Room 7-A162, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554, or by e-mail to Hugh.VanTuyl@fcc.gov. Parties must also serve one copy with the Commission’s copy contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. (BCPI), Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 488-5300, or via e-mail to fcc@bcpiweb.com. Documents in ET Docket No. 04-186 are available for public inspection and copying during business hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY‑A257, Washington, DC 20554. The documents may also be purchased from BCPI, telephone (202) 488-5300, facsimile (202) 488-5563, TTY (202) 488-5562, e-mail fcc@bcpiweb.com. Questions regarding this Public Notice may be directed to Alan Stillwell at (202) 418-2470 or Hugh L. Van Tuyl at (202) 418-7506. By the Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology. -FCC-

Group, Spectrum Bridge, the same Database Administrator that was behind the incident in Florida, discussed several places on the forum, has received permission from the FCC to begin a test of their dynamic database for White Spaces starting September 19th, at 8:30 am EST. Here come the White Space devices. ARE YOU A LICENSED USER?

+1 Robert. Choice of HMO or PPO programs, relatively low co-pays, total major medical. Every three years the AMPTP tries to whittle away some of the benefits, or increase the hours necessary to qualify, but all in all it is better than average. jay

In a word, Michael, no. The CSATF will only consider payrolled work. I don't think call sheets are in the equation, Robert, but I'll check. Senator is right on both counts. Any client hiring you as an Independent contractor to avoid liability only has to have someone get injured while on the job - they will get creamed by the authorities, be 100% liable, and owe the state and federal govs back taxes,etc. The client will hire a payroll service the very next day. I've seen it happen - it's ugly. And sadly, four out of the five times I've seen a 695 trainee on the set, they were a relative...

...tease!

Mark, I gotta go with Perkins on this one. First, as Phil pointed out, Dan's original patents are up - that is a testament to how long ago he figured out his "gain sharing" approach to auto-mixing. For decades, Dan licensed Altec to use his algorithm. His technique is the only one to not have active gating - active inputs are summed, with gain shared between them (2 mics each down 3dB, three mics down 6dB, etc.) In the Silicon Valley teleconferencing frenzy of the eighties, I often used his rigs to auto-mix up to twenty people on-stage fielding unscripted questions from the audience and from remote locations via phone hybrids - flawless operation, live to fifteen cities, without ever missing the beginning of a word due to gating. There are several tv and radio shows that use his system, and it is transparent. Dan was also one of the first to really explore the "new" digital technology, and immediately started working on developing the digital rendition of his mixers (with ultra-clean analog mic pres). His latest effort - like announced last week - is a digital card (for all the Yamahas and others) that gives you up to sixteen channels of auto-mixing. No bull - there is no comparison between his stuff and gating systems, and on "Dugan" products, the audio quality is audiophile (don't tell Dan I said that - he's not too fond of "audiophiles".) Obviously, like Phil P. and anyone else who came up in the Bay area, Dan is a bit of a living legend. The term "Sound Designer" was coined to describe work of his in the early seventies, and he was/is the best Nagra tech ever (in his hands, my 1968 4S, at 15 ips NGRMSTR EQ, using 986, got >75.5 dB s/n, A weighted, down 1dB at 16K - transparent!). Any working mixer in the analog days in the Bay could tell you stories of sleeping on his couch in the middle of the night while Dan repaired one's machine. He once guided me through the replacement of a ruby bearing for the take up reel (always travel with a spare Nagra) while I was in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, half way around the world. I guess I'm biased.... Jay

I wish the process was better... Ultimately the sound crew and the UPM must be in sync. The 695 classification Y-16a, is the "trainee" position. If the producer/UPM agree to carry a trainee, and their rate (about $19/hr), then one can "intern" with the sound dept. and collect the rate, the benefit hours, and roster days. The catch is that as a trainee, any work one does cannot take the place of a needed additional man/woman member who is available. It is truly a trainee position. Matthew, Three ways to get in. Federal Law: work 30 union days in a one year period. Contract Services: Collect the pay stubs for one hundred days of work, with your position noted on the stubs. When you have the one hundred days, write a letter to all of the payroll companies involved asking for a "Record of Days." This is a "rubber stamp" operation, they will send you a record of all days worked for them, with a copy automatically sent to Contract Services. Go, in person, to Contract Services, WITH THE PAY STUBS THAT WILL COROBORATE THE "RECORD OF DAYS" and proof of citizenship, and you will be placed on the roster. You then have sixty days to join the local, at the position you have on the roster, or you will be removed from the roster and have to start all over. If you are on a show that turns, 695 will accept you immediately, in the position you are working, into the Local. The assumption is that you will soon make the remainder of the thirty days to get on the roster. Please DO call Scott Bernard at the office. Jay Vice President, IATSE Local 695

I agree with Mike - self insure (ya just gotta), scratch out "must have own..." AND !!! It costs the producers zero to issue you a certificate of insurance. If they are carrying legitimate producer's insurance, they have the capability of cutting a cert for you at no cost to them. If they can't do this, they probably don't have appropriate insurance, and you should not put yourself at risk working for them. When asking for a "Certificate of Insurance" for your gear, INSIST that in addition to being named as "Loss Payee in Regards to Rented Equipment" you are also named as "Additionally Insured" which means that if someone sues for an injury inadvertently involving your gear, and you are named in the lawsuit, the producer's insurance will cover your liability. One used to have to fight for this, but after many legal tests which have held the producers ultimately responsible, most insurance companies now automatically name the cert holder as Additionally Insured.

Glad to help. Ben Franklin says me and nine unemployed members of the group are in.....