We have 4 handheld and 4 lapels of the g2 100 range, in the rack they are set up with two splitters but per splitter we have only 2 hand helds and 2 lapels.
in a performance all 4 of the handhelds stopped working, but all of the lapels continued to work.
both the transmitter and reciever were un-muted, the reciever said they were un-muted but wasn't recieving signal. normally when they are not recieving they say on the reciever they are muted aswell. so they must have been recieving something or they would appear to be mute
we collected all of the handhelds in the middle of the performance and took them off stage to test them. they didnt work for 2 or 3 minutes and then they all came back on again. nobody toutched the recievers and i was the only one speaking into all 4 mics when they suddenly came on all at the same time. the total down time was about 5 mins.
This is really bizzare and has never happened in the 3 years we have had them
Hi kb
That is an odd encounter, and most probably one of the R.F.I. kind. Radio Frequency Inference can be caused by many things. Sometimes it can be a nearby piece of equipment creating that much interference, that the mics could not operate. It may have been a spurious mobile radio transmitter as used with two way radio for the cops, ambo's, firies,or even a nearby Cab!! Some times faulty light dimmers can also spray RF.
To what ever end, the fact that 4 mics went down together is indicative of an external problem, and being radio mics, it would have been radio interference.
The only other thing to check is that they are UHF. there are many VHF mic systems still about, but these frequencies are now being used as part of the soon to be introduced digital TV transmission. Best check that they are UHF, The VHF type have actually been illegal for a number of years Hope this info has helped you understand your problem. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Cheers
regards
robotek
I agree that it is a gut wrenching thing to happen. I too would be rather reluctant to expose myself to that type of failure again. The worst thing that can happen to an sound engineer really. I can only suggest having 4 hard wired mics on standby side stage in case it happens again. Just for piece of mind.:)
My suggestion that it would be a faulty piece of Radio gear(even a nearby cell phone user) with a spurious transmitter spraying RF all over the band would be enough to upset the mics, and explain the short duration of the problem relating to the 4 mics at once. The fact that the lapels do work ok through the problem may also be indicative of a solution. Check that they are not at the other end of the channel range perhaps. Set all mics up into the same frequency range as the lapels. If the problem occurs again, perhaps whilst they are all still turned on, turn off each mic in turn just to check that it is not one of your own mics causing the RFI.
Is it possible to spend a little more than just gig time at the venue? Just to see if the problem is local, or for recurrences at about the same time for consistencies sake. Just more piece of mind stuff. Good luck with sorting the problem. I had to answer because I know what it is like to have mic failures. Hey, any chance of an upgrade to "FixYa". I am happy to keep conversing with you on the problem.
regards
robotek
Heat could but would probably not cause this problem across 4 mics with different receivers at all at once. Because of the manner in which you have it set up sharing aerials, across the lapel mics and hand helds, then I don't suspect any wiring issue. I would perhaps check that the muting threshold of the handhelds was not set up finer than the lapels. They can still squelch at quite high levels of signal, if you had RFI occurring and the Squelch was set  differently, this would explain why only some stopped working, and some did not.  I still strongly suspect that you fell victim to a faulty RF transmitter operating close by, and it may never happen again.Â
There has also been a frequency listing released, and some UHF TV channels fo fall in the range that these mics work. Just a wild one, but it may be worth checking here what UHF channels are being used in your area and be sure that the mics are not in conflict with the frequencies.Â
I noticed in the user manual that they recommend to run only 3 mics collectively per bank. Although the mics have 25khz channel separation, if they are all close together, then this would compound the RFI issue I think you faced. The preference here is to spread the mics across channels from several banks. Just trying to find a common cause for the drama. Â Is that how you have your setup. I know that they have been going fine for years, but RFI could present an issue in the manner that it occurred if they were grouped closely together in the same bank. You can download a soft copy of the manual here
Thanks for the FixYa, makes it all worth while when working in the free listings :)
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SOURCE: All four hand held systems failed
check out override frecq see if you can change transmit and recieve switch settings ie dip switch sets sombodys overiding your freks
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thanks for your help, this is the strangest thing that has happened. they have been fine in the exact same location for 3 years, not moved an inch, and used pretty much every week an never have we had this.
They are deffinatly UHF because i made sure when we bought them.
thanks.
the lapels we were using are the same type of system and go through the same antenna splitters.
i am seriously considering blowing our budget on new ones if it is going to happen all the time.
i have spent all day there today testing because i had a telling off by the manager.
all of the mics and lapels have been set to exactly the same frequencies from the day i first set them up.
i had them on from 8 oclock this morning till about 3 oclock micing up an old stereo. and we had no faliure
one of my collegues suggests a broken cable but they dont just break and it would have happened again when i shook the cables one by one.
perhaps it was just a case of 'gremlins in the system' like a one off little glitch that turned out not so little.
however i also noticed that the rack was considerably warmer than usual but surely a mic of this price would have a failsafe?
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