Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/757053
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y F A L L 2 0 1 6 49 There are only a limited number of RF vendors around the country with the engineering capability and equipment to make projects of this size work. Those that come to mind: (in LA) Soundtronics Wireless (also in Las Vegas), ATK Audiotek, (in NY) Firehouse Productions, Masque Sound, Sound Associates, PRG, Professional Sound Services, and CP Communications. My apologies to any I may have inadver- tently left out. From my experience, all the vendors are good people and support each other on very large projects or when multiple shows all fall at the same time. For purposes of this article, I'll focus on just one vendor, Soundtronics Wireless, and its owner, David Bellamy. If not the primary RF vendor for most live-event shows in the LA area, often the technology and attention Soundtronics Wireless has developed is in large part responsible for their success. One example: For more than eight years, I was the produc- tion mixer for American Idol on Stage 36 at CBS TV City. Idol typically used 50-plus RF's for its host, judges, con- testants, some instruments, vocals, etc., along with a large wireless stage manager and communications PL system. Next door on Stage 46 was (and still is) Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), with a similar complement of RF and com- munications channels. The two shows rehearse and are on air roughly at the same time. All in all, between the two shows, there are probably close to 150 frequencies operating simulta- neously. Soundtronics Wireless provides RF's and frequency allocations for both shows. Dennis Dreier is the CBS person in charge of approving frequencies. The stages are reasonably well-shielded from each other but Dave Bellamy, finding an unreasonable amount of reflected RF from Mount Wilson, from the west wall of Stage 36, covered that wall with an RF paint designed to minimize its effect on the stage RF sys- LISA PIÑERO CAS, Board of Directors, Production Mixer Recent and current projects: Steve Jobs, Suicide Squad Lisa works primar- ily on features and travels with about 18 Lectrosonics RF's. She also carries a variety of small mix- ers in addition to her sound cart to accommodate different shooting situations, exterior, interior, cars, etc., basically providing a "zone defense" in anticipation of both planned and unexpected situations. She too uses the RF manufacturers' software to scout for usable frequencies, along with additional com- puter software and brings with her a number of antenna options. Her preference is to hard-wire her booms. With her not in the car on "free drive" car recordings, she uses a version of a Dugan Automix available in one of her mix- ers. She finds that valuable in creating a better dailies mix. PART 1 IN SUMMARY At present, there seems to be a reasonable and clear path to usable frequencies for production people work- ing on features and episodic television. For their part, RF system manufacturers have stepped up with tech- nology to help RF system users quickly find usable frequencies for safe operation. At the same time, it seems logical that these manufacturers are looking to a newer generation of high-quality systems requiring less spectrum space. From my brief experience visiting the FCC, they are aware of the present prolific use of the RF microphone spectrum by many users for wildly different applications. Best to periodically check with manufacturers of the RF's you are using and/or the FCC at fcc.gov to learn of any pending reallocation of RF spectrum. Dave Bellamy NOW PART 2 RF spectrum users requiring a large number of frequencies While I will discuss primarily television projects requiring large numbers of frequencies, they are almost always associated with stadiums, concert halls, multistage motion picture and television facilities, etc. For these projects, there is often a person or office assigned by the venue to clear and regulate frequency assignments.