[Ray Palmer]

I just tried your link.
Is there anything you don”t know?
Thanks for the reply and the laugh.
Later,
Ray

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

We use the Varicam and the HDX900 camera with the Tyler nose mount and this is what we have found to really work.
The helicopter we use is a Bell Jet Ranger with only two blades. This really causes a lot of vibration issues.

1)We use the widest lens possible, around 5-8mm. We have even used prime lenses with the servos that come with the nose mount for iris control. Zoom lenses though wide can be physically longer and more vibration issues.
2)We always use some type of iris control. The Varicam has a remote control that can paint and shade the camera from inside the helicopter. We also try to take a Waveform monitor with us to verify proper iris.
3)The varicam will only provide HD-SDI output and the Tyler mount that we rent only sees SD via composite. We rent an HD-SDI to Composite converter so we can all see the signal.
4)We power the camera from inside the helicopter not by a battery on the camera. This way we can power down the camera by removing the power inside the helicopter.
5)We always run the shutter at 180 degrees and we vary the detail by using the Varicam remote control.
6)We always shoot at 60fps and then convert to either 24 or 30p.
7)We have had success using the Fujinon Wide zoom but the challenge is that the front clear filter is attached to the rubber lens shade. To solve that problem, we took a rubber lens shade and removed the rubber parts and now we can attach a clear filter to the front element. We get a lot of bugs in Arizona.
8)We will sometimes put a simple lav microphone taped inside one of our headset ear muffs, and run it to the camera. This way it records all that we say in the ship. It really helps when you roll tape and “slate” where we are and where we are heading. Aerials tend to all look alike when you land and play back. It is nice to say that we are just crossing I-10 heading South East towards Butler Arizona, etc.

I hope this helps.
BTW, I will not have a computer with me for the next few days, until Friday evening.
Good shooting and let me know how it worked out.
Ray Palmer
Phoenix, Arizona

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

[Ty Ford] “three words: aerosol fart spray.”

Do you have a vendor for this?
(Tongue firmly planted in cheek)

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

Our Gen 10 just arrived today, Monday.
I will keep you posted when we test it.
Ray

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

[greg_vid] “what exactly does the “pilot” function on the Sennheiser’s do?”

The way it was explained to me was the the pilot is a frequency that rides along with the RF from the wireless mic. It was designed to make the receiver look for the pilot and when it sees the pilot open the receiver and allow it to pass audio.
A better explaination, if the pilot is NOT there, the receiver might see the RF signal but will not open the squelch. This was designed to keep stray RF signals from getting into the receiver.

[greg_vid] “should i have tried changing channels on the Sennheiser?”

Here is a tip that I use. Turn on the receiver without a transmitter on. If the receiver sees a signal that is not yours, move to another frequency. When you find a hole in the freq spectrum, dial your transmitters to that freq and hope that no one drops in.

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

Bruce,
Call Ray Palmer
602-809-1471 cell.

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

Are you familiar with phantom power? Most quality shot gun mics will either require phantom power from the camera or will use a built in battery in the mic itself.
I have never seen phantom power supplied from a camera via the 1/8″ mini but it might exist.

That is why some Beachtek adapters will provide the XLR to mini adapter plus it also can provide phantom power.

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

[john hatcher] “t looks like two oval shields with a place for the mic in between, sort of like a sandwich.”

Is this what you are looking for?
https://www.rycote.com/products/mics/undercovers/

They work great for me.
Ray

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

I just took a look at the Audio-Technica Pro 88 package. It appears that it is NOT a diversity receiver. If that is correct, then you are asking for trouble.
A diversity receiver has two receiving stages and typically two receiving antennas. The two built in receivers will both receive the transmitter. The receiver with the best RF will be the receiver that passes the audio along to your camera.
With a single receiver, you have a good chance of having “PFFFF” or dropout. This is due to the primary RF Sine wave and a reflected RF sine wave arriving at the same antenna but 180 degrees out of phase. Think of it as a black hole of RF. If you stand in one spot or move through that black hole, you will not have audio.

With a diversity receiver, if the drop out RF occurs, the second receiver is just far away enough to still have a good signal.

The Audio-Technica Pro 88 package that I located on the web was VHF. I also suggest that you look for a UHF package. Shorter antennas and I have found that the UHF band causes fewer problems for stray RF from other sources.

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Ray Palmer]

[RJ] ” had an Audio Technica mic with me last week that also runs on 48″

Did the AT mic have a place for an internal battery such as a AA battery? If so, you could still have a issue with phantom if the AT worked but was running off an “Internal to the Mic” battery.

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.