Zaxcom's new URX 100 IFB

[Jeff Wexler]

 

Good discussion with Glenn Sanders and Peter Schneider on Gotham Sound's YouTube site  ---   the URX 100 looks to be an incredibly useful tool for a whole host of IFB functions. I think there may be uses that are discovered that Zaxcom hadn't even considered.

[Chris Woodcock]

Think this will be my next setup for boom ops 

[osa]

Indeed i have one on order and i am not entirely sure what i will use it for until i get my hands on it. Could be using multiples today on a job. So much potential for so many uses

[withintheflux]

I also have one on order. Excited. I have a question regarding the 2nd antenna, which is built into the headphone output. Let's say I'm using the URX as a camera hop. Do I now need to plugin something into the 1/8" jack for the reception to be good?

 

Blake

[osa]

According to the video your cable from 1/8th jack feeding camera becomes the 2nd antenna. But i bet you can make a matching whip with 1/8 jack instead of bnc or sna to mimic when ta5f is used

[John Blankenship]

1 hour ago, osa said:

According to the video your cable from 1/8th jack feeding camera becomes the 2nd antenna. But i bet you can make a matching whip with 1/8 jack instead of bnc or sna to mimic when ta5f is used

 

What he said. 

 

The manual recommends you do just that -- about 5" long, wired just to the shield. 

 

[KGraham045]

I got 2 of them. They are excellent and have the ability to improve workflow

[glenn]

I can imagine one of our dealers making a plug in antenna wired  to a 3.5mm headphone plug as an after market accessory. Only the ground needs to be connected. Any connection longer than 5 inches makes a good antenna. 5 to 6 inches is probably the best to go for.

[Rich Reilly]

Or..OEM..

[Tony Johnson]

I am using two of these on a movie for my crew. I can confirm the range is incredible and so is the audio quality. The presets are a fantastic feature and as mentioned in the video my utility uses this function to check radio mics at trailer park before the actors come to set. A little trick i do is because i dont like the sound of a walkie with the PTT thumps you sometimes get on transmit i eq'd the input on my deva 24 to a very narrow freq band and removed these and it also made it easier to understand in noisy environments.

Great piece of kit.

 

TJ

[Michael Lindsay]

Sorry for my ignorance but am I right this tool can’t be fed by the nomad or nova like a ERX3TCD can? As in without another box...We will need a new UHF TX box?

 

thanks 

 

Michael 

[John Blankenship]

13 minutes ago, Michael Lindsay said:

Sorry for my ignorance but am I right this tool can’t be fed by the nomad or nova like a ERX3TCD can? As in without another box...We will need a new UHF TX box?

...

 

This is designed to receive any of the Zaxcom UHF transmitters, using any of the modulations.

 

[osa]

2x things i am excited to use these for 1) a quick zaxcom specific uhf scanner for avail freqs when scouting multiple locations and 2) when on an occasional job by myself on a cart i can self wirelessboom occasionally to grab sfx or pickups with total confidence monitoring a-straight from boom trx or b-from cart setup with automix lavs in left and boom in right which is something i felt i was always missing on these "let me grab this real quick" setups that happen from time to time with specific clients. I cant wait to hear all the other creative ways these can be utilized as time passes. So many possibilities

[Michael Lindsay]

22 hours ago, John Blankenship said:

 

This is designed to receive any of the Zaxcom UHF transmitters, using any of the modulations.

 

So does this inc zaxnet IFB?

[John Blankenship]

4 minutes ago, Michael Lindsay said:

So does this inc zaxnet IFB?

 

No.  Why would it? 

[osa]

I ordered one with my nova completely understanding this is uhf and coleen told the supplier "make sure your customer knows this will not work with the nova" so their must be a lot of confusion out there as to what this is designed for. I think for starters calling it an ifb with well established zaxnet erx's is throwing a lot of people off. I am buying multiples of this item fully knowing this is quite a powerful uhf tool

[Jack Norflus]

The URX is a UHF receiver.

It will receive signal from ANY zaxcom transmitter ever built. 

It will not receive a Zaxnet 2.4ghz signal.

If you want to receive audio via Zaxnet you will still need to use an ERX.

[John Blankenship]

This unit came about in large part because many people said they really liked the ERX but wanted a similar IFB receiver with more range and more solid reception than a 2.4gHz signal could offer.

 

Therefore, it's a UHF unit -- however that obviously means it's not a Zaxnet receiver since Zaxnet is sent via 2.4gHz. 

 

Instead, it is designed to receive audio and time code from any Zaxcom UHF transmitter, using any modulation, and tunable via programmable presents.  This means, for instance, that you can listen to each wireless rig as you're placing it on talent, or you can use it as a camera hop receiver by tuning to the transmission from a camera link transmitter.

 

[Nate C]

Look forward to hearing more about the app to set presets and permissions. How that is going to work with the CL confused me a little. I'm sure someone with more smarts will clue me in. 

 

The presets is what really interests me for boom ops. 

 

The more I learn about this unit the more I can see it being a versatile tool in the kit.

 

I've done a couple OMB gigs in remote terrain with nothing more then a ZMT-ph/boom and an ERX. Monitoring was an issue due to ZMT tx Zaxnet range. Wouldn't be with a URX-100. 

[Jan Moss]

Hi,

I was also surprised that URX100 does not receive Zaxnet audio. Somehow I assumed it's both an UHF and 2.4 Ghz receiver.

Since it isn't could someone please explain me what is a scenario for using it by a boom op? I understood that boom op can tune in directly into the signal of the TRX742/3/ZMT3PH that is mounted on the boom, but in what way can they communicate with the sound mixer? Do they really need to utilize Motorollas?

Motorolla integration is a really nice feature, but I thought that Motorollas are for communication with "the rest of the set" while Zaxnet is for communication between the sound mixer and boom ops. Possible?

 

 

[RocketTreeAudio]

On 10/4/2020 at 1:48 PM, Jan Moss said:

Hi,

I was also surprised that URX100 does not receive Zaxnet audio. Somehow I assumed it's both an UHF and 2.4 Ghz receiver.

Since it isn't could someone please explain me what is a scenario for using it by a boom op? I understood that boom op can tune in directly into the signal of the TRX742/3/ZMT3PH that is mounted on the boom, but in what way can they communicate with the sound mixer? Do they really need to utilize Motorollas?

Motorolla integration is a really nice feature, but I thought that Motorollas are for communication with "the rest of the set" while Zaxnet is for communication between the sound mixer and boom ops. Possible?

 

 

I just Boom Op’d for a feature using a URX100. Such a valuable tool!

 

Range is damn good. Our setup was my mixer sent me his coms and mix to a Sony receiver and I had a cable to input into the URX’s TA5. 3.5mm to TA5.

 

i sent the mixer com and mix (Sony Rx) to my right ear, tuned URX to my boom with ZMT3 phantom 2 and routed to left ear.

 

I programmed in all the talent Tx freqs into URX presets and could easily toggle between any Zax Tx to listen to mic mounts and make adjustments.

 

I just talked back to mixer with boom on this one, but walkies would have been cool, I would have given up mix for walkies. Next time.

 

URX100 is perfect for boom ops.