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UCR411a/UM400, what am I hearing?


Cory Kaseman

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I've only used Lectro stuff a couple times, until I bought my first set, a pre-owned UCR411a/UM400 combo.

When I first got it and tried it out, everything seemed to work great. It sounded a HELL of a lot better than my old radio, and I was damned happy with it, overall.

But then I took it to set for the first time, today, and noticed an intermittent noise in the signal. At first I thought it was RF interference, but the onboard scanner told me the block was almost entirely clear, and I was using a channel that was definitely free of any other signals.

I'm not sure exactly how to describe the sound, so I'm going to attach a clip.

It's intermittent and inconsistent. Neither the rx or the tx moved at any point, nor did anything else in the room (sit-down interviews in a studio). Sometimes it would be fine for a couple hours, then I'd hear the noise constantly for a couple minutes, then it'd be fine for a couple more hours. Sometimes it would happen once every few minutes for a while. In the morning, it didn't happen at all, but it got worse throughout the day. I scanned between every interview, just to see if the RF environment was changing, but it was always pretty much clear. I checked all my cables and connections and made sure the antennae were securely attached.

I don't know what else to do. I've been sitting here for the last 30 minutes, listening to it and trying everything I can to make it happen again, but no luck.

Sample is attached. Please tell me this is an easy fix, that I'm overlooking something boneheadedly simple, and that I won't have to mail away my shiny new toy for some sort of expensive surgery?

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Don't see a sample attached (yet), but there's a few possibilities: noise in the cable or connector, incorrect wiring, moisture in the capsule, maybe some weird intermittent RF interference, or maybe the receiver was one click off the correct frequency.

Did you check to make sure you're in normal (Native 400 digital ) mode? Which specific microphones are you using? Did you try a different microphone?

There's also the chance the thing is just busted. Call Lectro at 800-821-1121 and see what the service department says. It may well need a trip to the mothership.

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Thats an unusual issue. I wouldn't expect that to be an issue with the 411 and is more likely an issue with your mixer or way its mixed with another bad source (cable or electrical issue).

This issue is mainly on the right channel. If your having an issue with a mono source your not going to get a stereo artifact on its own.

-Jesse

Okay, so, all I get is "Error No file was selected for upload" after trying about 8 times.

So, here's a dropbox link:

http://dl.dropbox.co...2Y06M05-001.WAV

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The left channel was my boom. I don't have any audio editor installed on this computer, so I couldn't split the channels.

I've had this issue with both a brand new cos11 and a brand new b6, so I don't think it's the mic, especially considering that I spent quite a bit of time tugging the cables and connectors in an attempt to repeat the noise, but didn't have any luck. And I don't think it's the mixer, since I've had the problem on different channels, while the mixer was plugged in, on battery, with and without a boom plugged in, etc. I guess I have to call Lectro?

Thanks for the advice, so far. If anyone else has any ideas, I'd love to know!

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Yea i'd send it in for sure. Good luck!

The left channel was my boom. I don't have any audio editor installed on this computer, so I couldn't split the channels.

I've had this issue with both a brand new cos11 and a brand new b6, so I don't think it's the mic, especially considering that I spent quite a bit of time tugging the cables and connectors in an attempt to repeat the noise, but didn't have any luck. And I don't think it's the mixer, since I've had the problem on different channels, while the mixer was plugged in, on battery, with and without a boom plugged in, etc. I guess I have to call Lectro?

Thanks for the advice, so far. If anyone else has any ideas, I'd love to know!

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Yep, seems like a transmitter power problem. Today it turned off for about a minute an I couldn't power it back on. Using an energizer advanced lithium disposable battery. Going to try an energizer max and see how that works, but it seems like it might be an issue with the tx. Thanks, everyone!

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My hunch at first would be the lav mike. At the connector point, maybe somehow the ground wire is in contact with the audio wire (hot signal). Swap mikes to see with that same transmitter.

I did get distortion pops and clips a few weeks back from a friend's 211 series set. And after our troubleshooting, we discovered it was actually the receiver. We knew it was the receiver, because we put it on trial pairing it up with a series of transmitters in its block and compatibility mode one after the other. And it failed. No type of repair could be done for that by us except to ship it to Lectro with a repair RMA number.

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The problem only in right channel as others have said. To me, it sounds like the RF is 'not strong enough' then, temporarily, it is 'strong enough'. It sounds a lot like the transmitter is being turned on and off, actually.

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