bary555 Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 Hi People! For some time now we have a big issue with our src setup. The setup is: SD 788t Lectrosonics octopack 4x src receiver 2x hma transmitter Some smv/smqv recievers Betso shark fin antennas A-band From the beginning of using this setup the range is really low also we get a lot of drop outs. We tried different antenna cables, we use smartscan all the time, tried different rf gain settings,tried to move the sd788t away. The antennas have to be really close to the scene to get something usable. Still it could drop out... I get much better range and stability on my g3s... The setup was at lectrosonics service and they claim that everything is fine... We are out of ideas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidelio Sound Co Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 Do you get the same results with the standard whip antennas that come with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.paterson Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 7 hours ago, bary555 said: Hi People! For some time now we have a big issue with our src setup. The setup is: SD 788t Lectrosonics octopack 4x src receiver 2x hma transmitter Some smv/smqv recievers Betso shark fin antennas A-band From the beginning of using this setup the range is really low also we get a lot of drop outs. We tried different antenna cables, we use smartscan all the time, tried different rf gain settings,tried to move the sd788t away. The antennas have to be really close to the scene to get something usable. Still it could drop out... I get much better range and stability on my g3s... The setup was at lectrosonics service and they claim that everything is fine... We are out of ideas... What rf dist are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codyman Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 Are you frequency coordinating all of your transmitters so that you aren't getting intermod problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom E Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 I’ve been having the same issue with my Src for as long as I’ve had it (since 2018). It’s back at lectro now, so I’m hoping it gets better. Same results with whips, bowties, ratio or switch diversity. And I mostly use smart tune and coordinate all wireless with FreqFinder. manual scan and tuning doesn’t help either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlw Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 The thoughts I have are: 1. The 788 was fairly well known for radiating RF - have you tried the setup with the recorder off? I realize this isn't a useable solution, but may point to part of the issue. 2. The Betso antennas are wideband, and may be picking up strong out-of-band RF energy, which doesn't make your receivers happy. 3. You may be in an area or on a location where there is a lot of RF energy - again, out of band, but may be affecting your system. 4. As others have asked - how are you choosing your frequencies? This can have a major effect on performance. First, any hops or IFBs should be as far away physically and frequency-wise from your talent channels as possible. 5. Consider adding passive filters. This is becoming more necessary with the very crowded UHF spectrum and high-energy sources outside the band (Walkies in 450-470, 5G in the 600 Mhz band) 6. You don't mention the age of your units or the firmware versions - there have been many revisions to the SRc over the last 5 years. Yours may be due for a checkup by our techs. 7. Are your receiver antennas remoted away from the bag? This can help a great deal. 8. Someone else asked about your distro - lower quality units can have issues with strong out-of-band RF energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bary555 Posted August 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 4 hours ago, karlw said: The thoughts I have are: 1. The 788 was fairly well known for radiating RF - have you tried the setup with the recorder off? I realize this isn't a useable solution, but may point to part of the issue. 2. The Betso antennas are wideband, and may be picking up strong out-of-band RF energy, which doesn't make your receivers happy. 3. You may be in an area or on a location where there is a lot of RF energy - again, out of band, but may be affecting your system. 4. As others have asked - how are you choosing your frequencies? This can have a major effect on performance. First, any hops or IFBs should be as far away physically and frequency-wise from your talent channels as possible. 5. Consider adding passive filters. This is becoming more necessary with the very crowded UHF spectrum and high-energy sources outside the band (Walkies in 450-470, 5G in the 600 Mhz band) 6. You don't mention the age of your units or the firmware versions - there have been many revisions to the SRc over the last 5 years. Yours may be due for a checkup by our techs. 7. Are your receiver antennas remoted away from the bag? This can help a great deal. 8. Someone else asked about your distro - lower quality units can have issues with strong out-of-band RF energy. 1. Will try that, but the SD is separated from the receivers with cl8 2. Tried with sennhsier antennas. Which narrowband antennas would you recommend? 3. Location doesn't matter. Everywhere it is the same. Int or ext 4. Frequencies are chosen by smartscan on every channel, followed by freqfinder check. Hops are usually away, closer to camera/video village 5. I have to try that 6. The src and transmitters are about 2 years old. Never worked Good... 7. The antennas are usually far away 8. The distro is lectrosonics octopack. Earlier it was psc splitter. Same thing On both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlw Posted August 12, 2021 Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 16 hours ago, bary555 said: 1. Will try that, but the SD is separated from the receivers with cl8 2. Tried with sennhsier antennas. Which narrowband antennas would you recommend? 3. Location doesn't matter. Everywhere it is the same. Int or ext 4. Frequencies are chosen by smartscan on every channel, followed by freqfinder check. Hops are usually away, closer to camera/video village 5. I have to try that 6. The src and transmitters are about 2 years old. Never worked Good... 7. The antennas are usually far away 8. The distro is lectrosonics octopack. Earlier it was psc splitter. Same thing On both If they never worked well, we would have liked the chance to provide assistance! Let's get those units in for a checkup. There are probably some hardware & certainly firmware updates we can do that will likely improve the performance. Please contact our Parts & Repair dept. at 800-821-1121 or service.repair@lectrosonics.com. In terms of finding and coordinating frequencies, an app like Freq Finder will work better in multi-channel situations than just using SmartTune, which was designed for small channel-count situations like ENG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngooch Posted August 12, 2021 Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 Quote I had similar problem--new units etc... awhile ago. It took a bit to get it straightened out but now my SRCs have been rock solid for years.. Dean Slotness( who is no longer in Lectro customer service) persevered and got it done.. Very happy ever since.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillweii Posted August 12, 2021 Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 SrC’s and filters are a must . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bary555 Posted August 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2021 On 8/13/2021 at 1:03 AM, Stillweii said: SrC’s and filters are a must . I thought about that. Which filters would you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngooch Posted August 14, 2021 Report Share Posted August 14, 2021 And.... my issues were strictly in the A band. And i was using SL-6/688 combo-- so there was some filtering in there... You may not be having same issue.... but it does sound familiar... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GastonMA Posted April 1, 2022 Report Share Posted April 1, 2022 Hello, I’ve been having the same issue, got the SRC receiver with two smdwb, both B1, and I’m using a zoom f8n with a inspired solutions smart battery, and an audio root power distribution system. Made sure the compatibility mode was the same did smart and manual tune in locations both indoors and outdoors (New Jersey suburbs, midtown New York, brooklyn and queens) one channel I is giving me drop outs and a poor signal quality and the second one the quality of the signal is really poor, but no dropouts (there is some hissing in the high end every time someone talks) bought some new antenas (made sure they where the same block, block 22) any ideas on how to solve this? I have them back at the shop where I bought them from, but I don’t think they’ll give me any real solutions, this is the second time I’m bringing them in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilt Down Posted February 19, 2023 Report Share Posted February 19, 2023 I found that adding the silver paste to the thumb screw of the transmitters greatly improved my range. You can buy a syringe of the stuff by googling electronic silver paste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenLac Posted December 1, 2023 Report Share Posted December 1, 2023 On 8/12/2021 at 7:03 PM, Stillweii said: SrC’s and filters are a must . Bumping this up: I've been experiencing range issues with an SRc and an LT. I initially suspected the LT was the problem until I saw this thread -- because a SMQV on one side of the SRc was fine, but the LT always gives me issues, no matter whether in switched or ratio mode. Can someone steer me towards a filter that works with the SRc? Can it insert between the receiver and a standard issue whip antenna, or would I need to get into some deeper antenna accessories? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srsound Posted December 1, 2023 Report Share Posted December 1, 2023 I use these, PF25 (lectrosonics.com). Simple and effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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