Meeting Topic: Wireless Mics
Moderator Name: Elliot Kermit-Canfield
Speaker Name: Chris Spahr - Sennheiser
Meeting Location: State College, PA, USA
In this session, Chris Spahr talked about wireless mics and largely focused on the "700 MHz issue". He described how for a long time wireless mics were built to work in frequency ranges that were originally unused, but eventually the FCC sold these frequency ranges for other uses such as super wifi. Chris talked about how this affected churches and small businesses whose microphones were suddenly not able to be used anymore. As recently as two weeks ago, a ruling was made which dedicates two TV channels all around the country just for wireless mics. While this is great for those who use wireless mics, each channel can only support 6-8 wireless microphones which is not nearly enough for many large productions. However, the FCC is also working on making it possible to fill out a form 30 days in advance which will allow anyone to get a temporary license for a larger set of channels for a specific event. Chris also brought along many of Sennheiser's products relating to wireless mics and spoke about some of their upcoming technologies including the ability to monitor performers' wireless in-ear monitors remotely. Although the talk had to be scheduled for 8:30 pm, I was really pleased that there was a great showing of people who were really interested in this topic.
Written By: Nikolas Vitt
