Wireless Microphones - Need advice please?

Hi All

We are a primary school based in Stockport and our year 6 are due to put on the show ' Joseph and his Technicolour Dream Coat. Please can anyone recommend a decent wireless microphone set ( need 2) We have no technical knowledge in this area so would be very grateful for advice and how they work and what they plug into?

I have just looked at Maplins Twin UHF Professional Handheld Wireless Mic System > Maplin - would this be ok or can anyone suggest another supplier?

Have decided not to go down the headset microphones as have seen too many disasters using them in other school productions

Many thanks

Kathy

Hire them.

There must be a local theatrical hire company near you, go the them, get advice and you should end up with something that works well. This line

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User-definable 16-channel UHF microphone system, run up to 4 mics at the same time (4 full kits would be required)

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implies that you MAY not be able to use both mics at the same time. Strike that; I've looked at the instructions, and THEY are confused! You would only need two of the dual receivers, and 4 transmitters.

The licencing info is also a bit suspect, although not a problem in your case. Be aware that in 2012 the radio spectrum is likely to be turned on its head to facilitate selling more bandwidth to the telephone companies; any radio mics bought now could be useless after the change.

The receivers would need to be plugged into a mixer, or a mixer amp, and then to he speakers. Again, talk to a hire company.

Another thought; is there a theatre near you that you might ask?

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Originally Posted by Andrew_C

Hire them.

There must be a local theatrical hire company near you, go the them, get advice and you should end up with something that works well. This line implies that you MAY not be able to use both mics at the same time. Strike that; I've looked at the instructions, and THEY are confused! You would only need two of the dual receivers, and 4 transmitters.

The licencing info is also a bit suspect, although not a problem in your case. Be aware that in 2012 the radio spectrum is likely to be turned on its head to facilitate selling more bandwidth to the telephone companies; any radio mics bought now could be useless after the change.

The receivers would need to be plugged into a mixer, or a mixer amp, and then to he speakers. Again, talk to a hire company.

Another thought; is there a theatre near you that you might ask?

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I agree with you here.

Best thing to do is hire them, then you can be sure it all works and you have the correct system to hear them through.

Talk to full volume in sheffield I have bought quite a lot of kit from them for serveral primarys and a secondary. These guys know what they are talking about and i think they have a hire options as well as they do in house repairs Ps They do great prices if they know you are a school

0114 2448891

www.full-volume.co.uk website is pants but there shop is great

sales@full-volume.co.uk

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Originally Posted by alextreadwell

www.full-volume.co.uk website is pants but there shop is great

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Web site is borked!

If they are not going to be used that often I'd say hire them as well.

We had our wireless mics expanded from 4 to 6 and that cost the best part of £1300. Thats without all the amps and mixers. (2 hand held mics and 2 receivers plus commissioning).

HandHeld Audio do sales and rentals. We bought all our kit from them (8 way Sennheiser Evo with distribution amplifier and antennae etc) - superb guys to work with, and one of the most knowledgeable companies in the UK on the subject of wireless gear (they kitted out BBC Broadcasting House for instance).

01992 719078 - ask to speak to Mick Shepherd...

Yep, you are talking around the £500 mark as a starting price on wireless mics, otherwise it sounds like "Jims kareoke" down the social.

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Originally Posted by Marci

HandHeld Audio

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Perfectly reputable company; but I'd still be inclined to look for somewhere local as the OP may well need hands-on help.

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Originally Posted by j17sparky

Yep, you are talking around the £500 mark as a starting price on wireless mics, otherwise it sounds like "Jims kareoke" down the social.

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And that is £500 that could well be a doorstop in 2 1/2 years time. All but the most expensive systems are limited to tuning in a fairly narrow band. The current talk is that radio mics will have to move beyond that band.

The Maplin system linked to looks like it wouldn't meet Jim's rigorous requirements!

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Originally Posted by Andrew_C

All but the most expensive systems are limited to tuning in a fairly narrow band. The current talk is that radio mics will have to move beyond that band.

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Have you got any evidence of this? As there are millions of pounds worth of wireless mic's out there in use, and changing the frequency allowed would be akin to changing the frequency of Dect phones - they simply wouldn't do it!

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Originally Posted by localzuk

Have you got any evidence of this?

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There is a lot of info on the JFMG site. I have licenced channels, so have been keeping an eye on this. The current status is that I will be "compensated" for retuning, or replacement of devices that can't be retuned. That level of compensation has yet to be set.

JFMG are currently the licence managers for UK radio spectrum.

There are new 2.4GHz radio mic systems coming in, but I've not yet see/heard one, but professionals in the industry are sceptical of sharing this frequency with every router, baby alarm etc in the area.

Ah, this discussion of the changes should not affect the majority of light users then! The changover only affects those who are using the shared TV bands, and not the license exempt band.

This means that it only affects those who are paying for licenses.

Thanks all for the advice, will contact the companies and look into option of hiring too.

Kathy

Talk to your local secondary schools. We have a pretty sophisticated system which we are happy to loan to the schools in our pyramid.

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Originally Posted by laserblazer

Talk to your local secondary schools. We have a pretty sophisticated system which we are happy to loan to the schools in our pyramid.

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Same here... we loan gear out to our feeder Primary schools as part of being a specialist arts college. They also get me as a technician - which could be seen as a disadvantage by some!