My sound keeps dropping out

[Ty Ford]

Yes, perhaps, LOTS of reflective metal, but being surrounded by cars in a parking lot and still getting more than 125 feet sort of makes that seem unlikely.

Or, is there a massive wireless Wi-Fi router near by. That would be more likely.

Have you had drop outs at other locations or is this the first?

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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[Roger Van duyn]

The power plant shoot was unique. I never, ever, had anything like that happen before or since. Entire buildings at the plant were metal. Huge equipment, all metal, all over the place. Move a few feet and signal would come back. Distance didn’t matter. The talent would sometimes be moving toward me and I’d suddenly lose the signal. It would stay gone until he or I moved. That seemed strange, so I became very curious to find out what could cause a strong signal to drop out when talent got closer. So I started reading online. Then upgraded to diversity systems.

Good to know about the wifi routers. Once had a shoot out of town and there was an FM radio station around the corner, unknown to me. Was having interference, so switched to cabled microphone. Heading back home, saw the radio station not fifty yards from the gig.

Roger

[Ty Ford]

Thanks Roger,

Yes, the plant sounds like a reflective nightmare.

The FM station. Were you at the transmitter site or studio site? (or were they both together?)

You can actually be under the tower and not get hits because the largest part of the signal is flying out over your head.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford\’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford\’s Blog

[Roger Van duyn]

It was a rather small building with a transmitter tower beside it.

I believe this is the link for the station: https://radio-locator.com/info/W274BR-FX

The location link that opens up in Google maps looks right, judging by the other businesses that it shows on the map.

Interesting, the link says the transmitter is only 80 watts, but I’m pretty sure the sign outside said 100,000 watts. There are references to a parent station in Altamonte Springs and at least one other satellite station in Clermont. I have a friend at church who is a service engineer for radio transmission companies. If I remember (the old grey matter ain’t what it used to be…) I’ll try to pick his brain.

Wireless systems are so very convenient for the client, so I always start with them. But there are a number of potential points of failure, so I always have backup available. Sometimes switch to cabled microphones. Other times, have standalone audio recorder strategically placed, depending on the situation. Most of my work is in conference rooms now. Occasionally an auditorium. Not many gigs at construction sites. No more assembling scaffolding to shoot sports either. Too old for that…

Roger

[Ty Ford]

Yes, 80 watts ERP (effective radiated power). This is a low power repeater for the main transmitter which may well put out 100,000 watts ERP.

ERP is arrived at by an equation that also includes number of antenna bays and HAAT (Height Above average Terrain). You’d need more power at a lower height to achieve the same ERP that a taller tower with less actual wattage would give you. The number of bays (racks of radiators) also figures in there.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader (and once chief engineer at several terrestrial radio stations – but under protest) ☺ My protest. 🙂

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