chris_bollard Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 At the risk of getting "it depends" - does anyone have a logical explanation as to why some people "suck" the RF for a radio mic Tx? Certain people, from experience, will have measurably lower RF on the receiver; trying alternate Tx, frequencies, and body placement does not seem to make a measurable difference. Larger bodied people exhibit this - and is understandable. It's this phenomenon on more regular sized people that I'm wondering about b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Good question. I wish I had an answer. I have had it happen with all body types. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Woodcock Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 More water retention on bigger people? Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 They're liberal, they "suck" up more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Larry Fisher of Lectrosonics has said on more than one occasion that humans are basically big walking bags of water, and unfortunately, that's not a friendly environment for RF transmissions. In some cases, if you can just avoid having the antenna touch the body, that seems to help a bit -- but it's not always avoidable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_bollard Posted December 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Had it happen on big people, explainable. Had it happen on other body shapes. +1 to keeping the Tx antenna off the body; sometimes easier said than done - wardrobe often will compress the antenna close to the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Nault Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Because they are sweaty. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 I had one actress tell me, as I prepared to mic her, that I "Wouldn't have much luck" with getting a good signal from her. Normal sized woman. She clearly had enough experience with this phenomena to warn me ahead of time. It was, indeed, quite weird. I should have chatted with her some more, since she was friendly and forthcoming, to try to get some scientific explanation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Wilkinson Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 some people suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Possibly something to do with their unique chemistry...such as high/low iron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_bollard Posted December 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Because they are sweaty. R Sweat sucks too, more for hygiene than RF. if I'm wiring a known "sweater" I put the Tx in a ziplock bag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
engaudio Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 I often work with a dude that's an RF sucker, seems I'm not the only sound op to experience his unique talent. Seriously, after fiddling with the channels/placement/etc he told me it often happens. He's a skinny guy too, probably about 70kgs. I asked and he confirmed that he drinks a lot of water/fluids, maybe connected? Grant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmahaAudio Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 At the risk of getting "it depends" - does anyone have a logical explanation as to why some people "suck" the RF for a radio mic Tx? Doesn't water absorb RF? Perhaps it's people with a high water content in their bodies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrd456 Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 Yes, I've experienced this many times thru the years.there can be an extreme difference in different people----must be water.Drain them first ! J.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudRaymond Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 I had one actress tell me, as I prepared to mic her, that I "Wouldn't have much luck" with getting a good signal from her. Normal sized woman. She clearly had enough experience with this phenomena to warn me ahead of time. It was, indeed, quite weird. I should have chatted with her some more, since she was friendly and forthcoming, to try to get some scientific explanation. Clearly she was a Cylon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Not exactly the same thing but perhaps related... Years ago I knew a lady who said she always had to connect a ground strap from her body to a nearby ground. She said otherwise she would blow out electronics she touched. She said she had disabled car's electronics before discovering this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Zenz Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 I had a director that could not recieve the comtek broadcast. Everyone else at the village got good reception. After giving him the third reciever with no reception, I finally moved the transmitter to the village cart. As long as he was within five feet of the transmitter he could hear. He kind of sucked as a director, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisnewton Posted December 22, 2013 Report Share Posted December 22, 2013 did a shoot once with two presenters: one for english, one for french. no problem with the english presenter, big problem with rf on the french guy. same tx, basically same placement. always figured it was a language thing, now you tell me it's a salt water thing? Mon Dieu! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorgyD Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 I'm glad it's not just me or my imagination! Yep, thick or thin, must be chemistry. Keep a clear line of sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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