mulluysavage Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 On 12/1/2015, 2:46:49, afewmoreyears said: I said it before and I will say it again.... At the end of each day, as long as I am finding the units on the ground, in the Pass vans, in the gutter, behind bushes and mis-cared for in every way.... The Comteks they shall have!!!! PERIOD!!! For the same reasons, I use Lectrosonics. On 12/1/2015, 3:00:18, Tom Duffy said: Has anybody used "Tile" like locators on their gear to track them on/off the set at the end of the day? Transmitters stuck to transmitters might be asking for interference trouble though... I use an "invoicing" method which I find to be pretty effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 On 12/1/2015 12:00:18, Tom Duffy said: Has anybody used "Tile" like locators on their gear to track them on/off the set at the end of the day? Transmitters stuck to transmitters might be asking for interference trouble though... I have a tyle like device inside my OneUnit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afewmoreyears Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 3 hours ago, mulluysavage said: For the same reasons, I use Lectrosonics. I use an "invoicing" method which I find to be pretty effective. These new units look really nice, I like them a lot... I also like the color.. Now, nobody loves Lectrosonics gear more than me.... but, at a substantial cost difference and being a little more sensitive to being thrown around and stomped on...I will continue to use the older PR-72s.... The (Lectrosonic IFBs) are way too nice for these (Folks). I won't even use the 216s for these people.... They simply torture the units.. Whats the point to spending so much more, for people that treat them like Sh*t....? Not one person, in decades, has ever complained about the audio quality... I won't even mention the headsets, which are also stomped on regularly... sat on and smashed on a regular basis. These people simply do not deserve a better option.... If one or two are deployed for a caring and responsible director..OK, until the take does not go as planned... LOL, then we're back to that director being on the 72s.. If these Letros are to be used by Boom ops or other people that understand that they are bits of a cared about gear package... than I say no problem... but... everyone else??? No way.. at least on my crew... By the way, you could always properly prep the bezels and paint them with a high quality paint... not a big deal... done right, they may do ok... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codyman Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 I'm just glad I'm not the only one that has problems with producers etc. treating IFB's as though they are worth $5. Seems to be a universal problem! I label mine one through eight and keep track of who has which one so that I can hunt down them more easily at the end of the day (although I still find producers who I'll ask for theirs back and they go "Oh, I put it down somewhere...."). One producer on the show I'm on right now jokingly said, "Oh, I'm only your fourth favorite? (referring to having IFB #4)." So for the next day, I relabeled his to being #3,756 just to mess with him / keep him in line ;-) Gotta keep above the line on their toes some times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shastapete Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 I don't remember where I saw it, but one mixer had all of their comteks labeled #1 and tracked them via other means Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afewmoreyears Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 32 minutes ago, codyman said: I'm just glad I'm not the only one that has problems with producers etc. treating IFB's as though they are worth $5. Seems to be a universal problem! I label mine one through eight and keep track of who has which one so that I can hunt down them more easily at the end of the day (although I still find producers who I'll ask for theirs back and they go "Oh, I put it down somewhere...."). One producer on the show I'm on right now jokingly said, "Oh, I'm only your fourth favorite? (referring to having IFB #4)." So for the next day, I relabeled his to being #3,756 just to mess with him / keep him in line ;-) Gotta keep above the line on their toes some times! Problem with assigning them is they usually get thrown on floor or a table when were lucky... then they are picked up by someone else... your system is toast... this may happen 10 times in one day... they seldom hold on to theirs the whole day... There goes the assign system... I simply keep track of how many are out... we sometimes have 22 or more out... It's often the biggest pain in our ass each production day....especially if you have multiple location moves... I hate it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codyman Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 10 minutes ago, afewmoreyears said: I simply keep track of how many are out... we sometimes have 22 or more out... It's often the biggest pain in our ass each production day....especially if you have multiple location moves... I hate it... Thankfully I only have 8 to worry about so like you mentioned, I just take note of roughly who has what and how many are actually deployed. I can imagine having to worry about 20+ of them is a whole different ball game though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tresch Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 How do you manage 22 persons speaking in front of the camera? Or are they also 22 cameras? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bralleput Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 On 1-12-2015 18:26:43, LarryF said: Larry F Ex Lectro Janitor .........too funny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bralleput Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Patrick we are talking IFB (interruptible fold back)...22 people behind the camera listening to the production audio..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Like AFMY's I hate comteks and the villager's who abuse them. After decades of never loosing any comteks, last year 7 od mine were lost. Four the year before that. Not sure I'm seeing a trend or just my bad luck but it is our greatest frustration on most shoot days. Especially with multiple locations and moves. As for the new Lectro unit, I want to see/hear it. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bralleput Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 On 1-12-2015 18:26:43, LarryF said: Hey Crew,what do you do when units are missing end of day: you charge full replacement (I would!!) of the lost?David C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 3 hours ago, bralleput said: Hey Crew,what do you do when units are missing end of day: you charge full replacement (I would!!) of the lost?David C Absolutely. I give them a day or two and then charge full price new. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bacon AMPS Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 23 hours ago, RPSharman said: Can Lectro verify that UK licensable VHF frequencies can be tuned in on these new units? I would like to know also. Can UHF IFB units be "upgraded" to the VHF block? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek H Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 I heard no. Internally it's a totally different design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolo72 Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 The 175mhz band (173.8 - 175) is liscense free ( international I think) and is what I have my comtek pr72b's on here in the UK. Never had any problems always scanned ok - I have also used them in Paris and Nyon ( Switzerland) with no problems. I've got 22 of them and they sound just right for the clients so I'm not planning on changing but I applaud lectrosonics for making these in this VHF frequency range. I think it's an obvious move not sure why comtek haven't done this, they would sell many more units internationally. Lisala Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 My trouble with Comtek is the constant phone interference when not in a 3G area. As soon as someone's phone switches over to an older network, there's terrible bleed into the Comtek. Lectros seem to have a better build quality with better shielding. I'm also annoyed OFCOM won't give me a license for a frequency that is clearly not in use anywhere I have scanned. Currently my only option is operating with good intentions :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 5 hours ago, dolo72 said: The 175mhz band (173.8 - 175) is liscense free ( international I think) and is what I have my comtek pr72b's on here in the UK. Never had any problems always scanned ok - I have also used them in Paris and Nyon ( Switzerland) with no problems. I've got 22 of them and they sound just right for the clients so I'm not planning on changing but I applaud lectrosonics for making these in this VHF frequency range. I think it's an obvious move not sure why comtek haven't done this, they would sell many more units internationally. Comtek has never quit selling VHF units. They still offer both UHF and VHF versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryF Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 14 hours ago, Derek H said: I heard no. Internally it's a totally different design. Correct. Larryf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolo72 Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 On 4 December 2015 13:23:14, RPSharman said: My trouble with Comtek is the constant phone interference when not in a 3G area. As soon as someone's phone switches over to an older network, there's terrible bleed into the Comtek. Lectros seem to have a better build quality with better shielding. I'm also annoyed OFCOM won't give me a license for a frequency that is clearly not in use anywhere I have scanned. Currently my only option is operating with good intentions :-) I remember asking you about this range for another recordist from New York I was working with. Every scan i did was also clear and they worked fine throughout central London. The comtek frequencies are earmarked for DAB but digital radio is rubbish and the take up has Reflected this. I think OFCOM are still hanging on to it to save face for what has been a very costly waste of money to the taxpayer. It may be worth asking Micron about what deals they can do withtheir MR700's. They can make them in the UK legal VHF range across 24 or 32 MHz and I think they would be roughly the same price if not cheaper than the lectrosonics units. I have two on channel 70 for my boom ops because they are full frequency range and sound very transparent. They also have a much better battery life than that listed in the lectrosonics spec. Only thing is they need aerials (rats tails) so may be bulky. Lisala Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roundbadge Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 On 12/3/2015, 8:15:41, afewmoreyears said: Problem with assigning them is they usually get thrown on floor or a table when were lucky... then they are picked up by someone else... your system is toast... this may happen 10 times in one day... they seldom hold on to theirs the whole day... There goes the assign system... I simply keep track of how many are out... we sometimes have 22 or more out... It's often the biggest pain in our ass each production day....especially if you have multiple location moves... I hate it... We had 35 out last week on some nutty video game spot..amazing they all came back. certain directors/producers I never give em Lectro IFB's anymore.they've repeatedly lost em..and lost the privilege. downgrade them to comtek 216's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhys Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 It has the exact same form factor as the UHF version but completely different internals, Can someone clarify if these bad boys take 9V or AA? I have been moving away from 9V for a few reasons that I won't go into and it would be good to know if these are the same as all other new Lectrosonics products (AA) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codyman Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 2 minutes ago, Rhys said: Can someone clarify if these bad boys take 9V or AA? I have been moving away from 9V for a few reasons that I won't go into and it would be good to know if these are the same as all other new Lectrosonics products (AA) Takes a single 9 volt just like the original version. I too wish they would move away from 9 volts. NiMh are so reliable these days and between the cost savings + environmental reasons, it's kind of a no brainer. That being said though, maybe there's some sort of engineering reason as to why this is that I'm not knowledgable about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesH Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Hi Robert and Matt, On 12/3/2015, 3:57:22, RPSharman said: Can Lectro verify that UK licensable VHF frequencies can be tuned in on these new units? Unfortunately, only one frequency is a match -- 209.800 MHz maps to CC on the hex switches in our current operating parameters. However, your question has sparked some discussions around the plant. I have a question for you and/or Matt: Is the 15-channel list above exhaustive regarding the UK-available frequencies, or are there others? Best regards, Wes Herron Lectrosonics, Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 That list is exactly as it reads, "Frequencies that may be used for this license type." As ALL IFBs and radio mics must be licensed, the only way to use the new Lectro VHF legally in the UK would be to have these frequencies available. One single frequency would be very restrictive. That said, many people often operate Lectro radio mics outside of UK Block 606 with a site specific license, but do not comply with the allowable deviation, as there is no way to swtich from US mode to UK mode on the transmitters, only the receivers. That would be a great feature, by the way. The ability to switch deviation to comply with the country you're in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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