Ok, so it's that time of the year when the sales team sends promotions out (way out) to a remote on the fringe of your coverage area. Here is the question, what are you guys using on your tuners for the promotions department? We currently have a big SKB case where I front sided all the inputs and outputs for the mixer, mic and amp and provided them power on the side. They don't have to open the back, until now to drag out some type of antenna. I had a telescoping one on the side but they keep breaking it...any tips, trick, hints?
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Remote Gear
- Thread starter BrokeEngineer
- Start date
C
cranium
Guest
> Ok, so it's that time of the year when the sales team sends
> promotions out (way out) to a remote on the fringe of your
> coverage area. Here is the question, what are you guys using
> on your tuners for the promotions department? We currently
> have a big SKB case where I front sided all the inputs and
> outputs for the mixer, mic and amp and provided them power
> on the side. They don't have to open the back, until now to
> drag out some type of antenna. I had a telescoping one on
> the side but they keep breaking it...any tips, trick, hints?
>
I worked in a cluster once where one of our stations' signal was so poor that the only way to reliably receive the signal for off-air monitoring purposes was to install a car stereo in the rack back at the station and feed the pre-outs to the DA.
I'd start with the highest selectivity radio.
> promotions out (way out) to a remote on the fringe of your
> coverage area. Here is the question, what are you guys using
> on your tuners for the promotions department? We currently
> have a big SKB case where I front sided all the inputs and
> outputs for the mixer, mic and amp and provided them power
> on the side. They don't have to open the back, until now to
> drag out some type of antenna. I had a telescoping one on
> the side but they keep breaking it...any tips, trick, hints?
>
I worked in a cluster once where one of our stations' signal was so poor that the only way to reliably receive the signal for off-air monitoring purposes was to install a car stereo in the rack back at the station and feed the pre-outs to the DA.
I'd start with the highest selectivity radio.
> I'd start with the highest selectivity radio.
>
They are prety expensive, but the Fanfare tuners are really good. Highly sensitive with excellent selectivity. Rack mount, XLR's, etc. This is about as good as it gets.
On a cheaper note, the Boston Accoustics "Receptor" is a hell of a good radio. It's mono, but has audio outputs and external antenna connections. About $150 at Best Buy.
Chuck
>
They are prety expensive, but the Fanfare tuners are really good. Highly sensitive with excellent selectivity. Rack mount, XLR's, etc. This is about as good as it gets.
On a cheaper note, the Boston Accoustics "Receptor" is a hell of a good radio. It's mono, but has audio outputs and external antenna connections. About $150 at Best Buy.
Chuck
> Ok, so it's that time of the year when the sales team sends
> promotions out (way out) to a remote on the fringe of your
> coverage area. Here is the question, what are you guys using
> on your tuners for the promotions department? We currently
> have a big SKB case where I front sided all the inputs and
> outputs for the mixer, mic and amp and provided them power
> on the side. They don't have to open the back, until now to
> drag out some type of antenna. I had a telescoping one on
> the side but they keep breaking it...any tips, trick, hints?
>
You could mount the telecoping antenna inside the case with a 1" to 1 1/2" hole drilled through the top, so the jocks can grab the tip of the antenna and pull it out and then shove it back in before stowing the gear.
Maybe a JC Whitney power antenna?
We were fortunate enough that an old panasonic tuner with a cheap rolled up dipole works for us.
> promotions out (way out) to a remote on the fringe of your
> coverage area. Here is the question, what are you guys using
> on your tuners for the promotions department? We currently
> have a big SKB case where I front sided all the inputs and
> outputs for the mixer, mic and amp and provided them power
> on the side. They don't have to open the back, until now to
> drag out some type of antenna. I had a telescoping one on
> the side but they keep breaking it...any tips, trick, hints?
>
You could mount the telecoping antenna inside the case with a 1" to 1 1/2" hole drilled through the top, so the jocks can grab the tip of the antenna and pull it out and then shove it back in before stowing the gear.
Maybe a JC Whitney power antenna?
We were fortunate enough that an old panasonic tuner with a cheap rolled up dipole works for us.
Sounds to me like you have to drag a lot of unnecessary equipment to remotes. Why not invest in a POTS Codec such as the Comrex Vector? It can send a mix/minus feed back down the line to the remote site, from the studio. Your remote jocks will hear the station’s audio in their headsets, and there’s an output jack on the remote side portion of the Vector, which allows you to pipe the audio into an amplifier.
R
> Ok, so it's that time of the year when the sales team sends
> promotions out (way out) to a remote on the fringe of your
> coverage area. Here is the question, what are you guys using
> on your tuners for the promotions department? We currently
> have a big SKB case where I front sided all the inputs and
> outputs for the mixer, mic and amp and provided them power
> on the side. They don't have to open the back, until now to
> drag out some type of antenna. I had a telescoping one on
> the side but they keep breaking it...any tips, trick, hints?
>
R
> Ok, so it's that time of the year when the sales team sends
> promotions out (way out) to a remote on the fringe of your
> coverage area. Here is the question, what are you guys using
> on your tuners for the promotions department? We currently
> have a big SKB case where I front sided all the inputs and
> outputs for the mixer, mic and amp and provided them power
> on the side. They don't have to open the back, until now to
> drag out some type of antenna. I had a telescoping one on
> the side but they keep breaking it...any tips, trick, hints?
>
> Sounds to me like you have to drag a lot of unnecessary
> equipment to remotes. Why not invest in a POTS Codec such
> as the Comrex Vector? It can send a mix/minus feed back
> down the line to the remote site, from the studio. Your
> remote jocks will hear the station’s audio in their
> headsets, and there’s an output jack on the remote side
> portion of the Vector, which allows you to pipe the audio
> into an amplifier.
e do have a Matrix and a Vector but not all remotes require the use of them. Also, anything sent back down the mix-minus will be sent out to the audience, not good and our jocks need cues from the studio all time. I might just go with a beefier <sp> telescoping antenna with an amp on it.
> equipment to remotes. Why not invest in a POTS Codec such
> as the Comrex Vector? It can send a mix/minus feed back
> down the line to the remote site, from the studio. Your
> remote jocks will hear the station’s audio in their
> headsets, and there’s an output jack on the remote side
> portion of the Vector, which allows you to pipe the audio
> into an amplifier.
e do have a Matrix and a Vector but not all remotes require the use of them. Also, anything sent back down the mix-minus will be sent out to the audience, not good and our jocks need cues from the studio all time. I might just go with a beefier <sp> telescoping antenna with an amp on it.
> > I'd start with the highest selectivity radio.
> >
> They are prety expensive, but the Fanfare tuners are really
> good. Highly sensitive with excellent selectivity.
Chuck
Hello??? Is this thing on??? Chuck, are you serious? I did mention promotions and talent will be using this gear, a deadly combination for any gear! LOL I do love the fanfare gear however and am looking at a similar but cheaper antenna since this will have to be replaced again I am sure. I realize that gear will get damaged because of heavy use and need to prepare for it but they have to be able to hear the station on site. Maybe if I wasn't so anal.....
> >
> They are prety expensive, but the Fanfare tuners are really
> good. Highly sensitive with excellent selectivity.
Chuck
Hello??? Is this thing on??? Chuck, are you serious? I did mention promotions and talent will be using this gear, a deadly combination for any gear! LOL I do love the fanfare gear however and am looking at a similar but cheaper antenna since this will have to be replaced again I am sure. I realize that gear will get damaged because of heavy use and need to prepare for it but they have to be able to hear the station on site. Maybe if I wasn't so anal.....
> Hello??? Is this thing on??? Chuck, are you serious? I did
> mention promotions and talent will be using this gear, a
> deadly combination for any gear! LOL I do love the fanfare
> gear however and am looking at a similar but cheaper antenna
> since this will have to be replaced again I am sure. I
> realize that gear will get damaged because of heavy use and
> need to prepare for it but they have to be able to hear the
> station on site. Maybe if I wasn't so anal.....
>
Hey, you asked what works. The Fanfare does work. Bolted into a rack, it would be extremely hard to screw it up. They are built like a tank and will last for many years. Anybody who can turn on their home stereo can use it. Some versions even have wireless remote controls so the jocks can lose them.
The only peoblem is they are expensive. So, I offered a cheaper soluton. The Boston Acoustics Receptor has an "On-Off" button, a rotary volume control and rotary tuning control with a digital frequency read out. It doesn't get much simpler than that. The jocks do remember the frequency, don't they? In most cases, this radio works fine with the line cord antenna, assuming you don't tie wrap it into a nice neat little coil inside your rack. But there is an external antenna jack using an F connector.
Go to Pep Boys, and buy a car radio antenna that colapses all the way down. Mount it on your rack. Get a Motorola to F connector adapter plug from MCM or Radio Shack and you're done.
Failing that, buy a GE Super Radio. I bought some on line recently for $39.95 plus about $6.00 S&H. The dial calibration sucks, and I've had people break the volume control, but the radio is simply disposable.
> mention promotions and talent will be using this gear, a
> deadly combination for any gear! LOL I do love the fanfare
> gear however and am looking at a similar but cheaper antenna
> since this will have to be replaced again I am sure. I
> realize that gear will get damaged because of heavy use and
> need to prepare for it but they have to be able to hear the
> station on site. Maybe if I wasn't so anal.....
>
Hey, you asked what works. The Fanfare does work. Bolted into a rack, it would be extremely hard to screw it up. They are built like a tank and will last for many years. Anybody who can turn on their home stereo can use it. Some versions even have wireless remote controls so the jocks can lose them.
The only peoblem is they are expensive. So, I offered a cheaper soluton. The Boston Acoustics Receptor has an "On-Off" button, a rotary volume control and rotary tuning control with a digital frequency read out. It doesn't get much simpler than that. The jocks do remember the frequency, don't they? In most cases, this radio works fine with the line cord antenna, assuming you don't tie wrap it into a nice neat little coil inside your rack. But there is an external antenna jack using an F connector.
Go to Pep Boys, and buy a car radio antenna that colapses all the way down. Mount it on your rack. Get a Motorola to F connector adapter plug from MCM or Radio Shack and you're done.
Failing that, buy a GE Super Radio. I bought some on line recently for $39.95 plus about $6.00 S&H. The dial calibration sucks, and I've had people break the volume control, but the radio is simply disposable.
A car antenna is what I am looking at. I already have a hole for a telescoping one so it would be easy to modify it. The tuner is fine in the rack gear but it just wants more signal that the little (broken) telescoper has. I may even inline a small amp to increase signal. Thanks for the tip on Pep Boys, will get a car antenna from them and see how it works on the fringe, then amplify if needed.
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