Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469942
14 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Summer 2022 to avoid intermodulation were made with pencil and paper. I can't recall how many RFs were in use at that Grammys, probably not that many compared with the shows we do now, but he made them work flawlessly. We hoped this new RF Coordinator position would catch on. Slowly, it became a reality, more and more shows added the position. For the record, twenty years later in 2008, the Academy of Country Music Awards Show held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, still did not have an RF Coordinator. There were thirty-eight RFs, predominately Shure, a few Sennheiser, and a couple from Audio-Technica, ugh. After many prayers to Our Lady of the Clean Frequency, I'm happy to report all went well. By the way, I recently found out that ugh is not officially part of the Audio-Technica name, maybe just an implied post-nominal. In the ensuing years, there is no doubt that the position of RF Coordinator has changed drastically. The hardware has become more stable with numerous technical advancements, including the ability to make changes in the transmitter wirelessly. For example, if an unfriendly signal (a bogey) is detected, with the right system you can now change the frequency of one of your transmitters while it is on talent. When possible, RF Coordinators make advance on-site readings with a spectrum analyzer. That and knowing the characteristics of familiar venues is very helpful in pre- planning the allocation of available frequencies. Software such as IAS (Intermodulation Analysis System) by Professional Wireless Systems, and Wireless Workbench from Shure, assist in frequency selection and provide real-time information about RF signal strength, audio level, battery life, and potential interference. The strategy for a big entertainment show often includes the organization of RF mics by function (production, performance, instruments, etc.), a layout for the physical arrangement of the RF rack or racks, and an antenna design which may range from simple to complex, usually a function of the coordinator and vendor. As the quantity of RFs has gone up (I had two shows last year with nearly seventy, and this year at ACM's, oh my!), the usable frequency spectrum has diminished. In a series of government auctions, all the 700 MHz and most of the 600 MHz bands have been sold to private companies. With the transition to digital television in 2009, a repack or reassignment of TV channels to fit into the remaining space that has not been auctioned further reduced usable frequencies for RF mics. One bit of favorable technology is that nearly all RF PL's have disappeared from the RF mic frequency spectrum, most now use the 1.9 DECT systems. An unexpected change in our use of RFs has come as part of COVID-19 protocols. We no longer use a mic on multiple people without a thorough cleaning. This often requires additional units. In the case of a familiar quiz show, pre-COVID, we would use the same three contestant mics all day moving them from one group of players to the next. Now the A2, Mitch Trueg, mics everyone at the beginning of the day requiring much more hardware. I'll take a dozen RF lavs for $200. Near the beginning of this ramble, I reminisced about Hour Magazine and the two Vega RFs. Last September, I worked on The Tony Awards, where we had nearly seventy, and in December, we equaled that amount on The Kennedy Center Honors. The Justino Diaz Tribute at the Kennedy Center featured seven principals and sixteen in the chorus, all singing on hair mics. That was immediately followed by the tribute to Lorne Michaels with another fourteen RFs, almost all lavs. Easily the busiest back-to-back segments in all my years on that show. Or any show. 2021 Kennedy Center Honors RF world. L-R: Tricia Reilly A2, James Stoffo RF Coordinator, Wendy Cassidy A2, Kate Foretek A2, Ali Pohanka A2 In Las Vegas, for this year's Academy of Country Music Awards at the new 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, RF technicians Stephen Vaughn and Corey Dodd from Soundtronics Wireless began planning several weeks ahead of the early March show date to put together the RF package. About a month out, Corey traveled to the stadium and did a multiple location spectrum analysis inside and outside the venue. Using those readings, a frequency plan was developed. The size of the venue and distances between the four areas assigned for performance and production required two separate filtered antenna systems for the microphones. One was divided into six diversity zones to cover three stages, the other used a Wisycom antenna-over-fiber system to overcome the long runs to the far end of the stadium. Next, hardware was assigned. The show's thiry-two Shure PSM1000 IEM (in-ear monitor) units were programmed into the quietest available spectrum. The next cleanest frequencies were used for the twenty-four Shure Axient host and production hand mics followed by performance vocal mics, eight Sennheiser 6000's in the A1-A4 and A5-A8 bands, and thirty Shure Axients in the G57 and X55 ranges. The last bit of the microphone puzzle was the addition of twenty-five Shure UHF-R bodypacks for instruments like acoustic guitars.