Frequently Asked Questions...
These are the technical FAQs for the ABTT forum. It condenses some of questions which have been asked on the Green Room Forum and their replies. If you want to expand or amend an answer to a question, or have information on other technical subjects which you want to add to the FAQ then send your contribution to [email protected] or to the Green Room Forum. The ABTT publishes this information in good faith but no responsibility can be attached to the Association or any of its members or employees for its accuracy or for any liability therefrom. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Association.
Has anyone got any tips for the correct operation of up to ten vhf (trantec) bodyworn radio mics?
e.g. flexible or stubby transmitters, where should the receivers go. What do people use to stick the capsules onto sweaty skin with?
Posted by paul bull
Use a thin piece of elastic wrapped around capsule and place over head - then dress hair over the elastic to hide it. If you need to use tape, prepare skin with surgical spirit, then use (white) micropore or zinc oxide and cover with makeup. Toupee clips come in useful as well, to clip capsule into hair. If talent has no hair, use an earclip with capsule taped to it.
Posted by Paul Johnson
You shouldn't have too many problems with Trantecs. The best advice is to make sure the rx's are located near the stage, not the mix position. The trantec helicals are actually quite good, but you will have to watch for over-tight costumes, especially with sweaty talent. The dangly quarter-waves work better with that type. I have been using them for ages and don't find them particularly sensitive to sweat - not like some others. Could be the plastic cases? If you are using S2's or even S101's then it is worth remoting at least one of the antennas (or the only one in the case of the 101). Fly rail positions have always worked well. The only snag you should come accross is rf blocking when the tx pack is very close to the rx aerial, the de-sense effect makes the more distant transmitters noisy. Getting the aerials higher up cures this. One or two of the de-reg'd channels might suffer from a bit of inter-mod interference, but it's not normally a problem. I have found that you can mix most models of trantec together with few problems. As for the mic fixings - if you are using MKE-2 types then normal elastoplast or similar works well, if you are using the supplied 259 mic the stiffness of the cable sometimes causes them to come undone. The craziest soultion I ever tried was to stick the mic to a hard table top, pour on a blob of ordinary PVA woodglue and let it set. The PVA peels of the table leaving it still attached to the lead. Then spirit gum it to the forehead, a bit of makeup and you are sorted! A blob about 25mm sticks solidly to the head, but peels off fairly easily. I suppose some people may be alergic to the stuff, but I havn't had any trouble yet.
Posted by Gareth Hughes
To stick the mic capsules to the luvvies, I'd tend to use something like surgical tape, it's reasonably adhesive, not too bad in terms of sweat resistance, and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. But everyone has their own preferences.
In terms of antennae, use what works best in your situation - stubby ones (usually quarter-wave helicals, if memory serves!) are certainly more robust than flexible ones, and some would say that they give slightly better performance, but flexible antennae are much easier to conceal in costumes, and can be tucked out of the way if necessary (but take care to try and keep them as straight as possible - I've always found this helps).
