Heard my first wireless microphone

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k9rzz

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Going for a bike ride on the local trail, I parked my car across the road from a church because the are parks were full of graduation parties. After my ride I checked 6 meters for skip, hearing none I spun the dial up (IC706MkIIg) to the FM BC band when the S meter pegged on 72.900 Mhz. I had stumbled across the church choir transmitter in WFM, sounding good! I could hear the pastor also, but much weaker until I drove to the other side of the building. Just thought I'd pass that along.
 

mikepdx

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72-76 MHz :
According to
Frequency Spectrum for Wireless Systems

This range is sandwiched between TV channels 4 and 5 (channel (4) 66-72 MHz, and (5) 76-82 MHz)
In 1982, the FCC adopted this range of frequencies for use by low power hearing assistance systems.
...not legal for use as “wireless microphones” and so use is limited to hearing assistance systems
and auditory trainers.

These people make the 72-76 MHz eqpt:
http://www.williamssound.com/home.aspx

from one of their products:
*16 channels, 72.1, 72.3, 72.6, 72.8, 74.7, 75.4, 75.7, 75.9, 72.5, 72.2, 72.4, 72.7, 72.9, 75.3, 75.6, 75.8 MHz
Default channel: 72.9
Wideband, 75 KHz
RF Output (Field Strength): 50 mW typical
* FCC rules limit the use of the 72-76 MHz band to hearing assistance for the handicapped only.
 
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mciupa

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I had stumbled across the church choir transmitter in WFM, sounding good! I could hear the pastor also, but much weaker until I drove to the other side of the building. Just thought I'd pass that along.


Hallelujah !
teu79.gif
 

gewecke

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I'm bad,lol! When I was a teen ager I used ride around on my bike and jam these wireless mics on sunday a.m. just because I was bored!
n9zas
 

bassman21

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I'm bad,lol! When I was a teen ager I used ride around on my bike and jam these wireless mics on sunday a.m. just because I was bored!
n9zas

I'm sure the congregation at a few churches got an ear full when I use to push over a 1000 watts out of my truck on the CB radio.
 

poltergeisty

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:lol: I heard my first microphone in High School. Then I had my first transmission. :twisted:

Aren't pep assemblies just great! :p

Good ol' green dot and McDonalds was fun too! I love the sound of screeching tires.
 
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jackj

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Wow

I'm sure the congregation at a few churches got an ear full when I use to push over a 1000 watts out of my truck on the CB radio.

That's a little over 71 amps at 14 volts. What size wire did you use to feed that hungry beast?
 

methusaleh

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I'll never forget sitting in busy traffic in a friend's pickup who had some type of either illegally modified CB or a CB running an amplifier. His scanner picked up a wireless mic at a nearby church, and he turned to me and said, "watch this!" He keyed up the CB and made some comments, which came booming over the scanner (and, presumably, the church's speakers). When he unkeyed the CB, through the audio in the scanner you could still hear his words from the CB echoing inside the church, and the pastor made a comment and got a laugh out of the congregation.

It was strange incidents like that which led me to my fascination with radio above the HF bands...
 

bassman21

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That's a little over 71 amps at 14 volts. What size wire did you use to feed that hungry beast?

I used 1/0 awg welding cable which was overkill for an amp that size, but wanted the flexibility in case I ever upgraded. I used 2 batteries and a 2 fared cap. I tried using this device that stepped the voltage from 13.8 up to 17 volts, but it caused too much noise over my CB radio's receive end. I used a Wilson 1000 antenna and would put 10+ on my bases meter up to 30 miles away. The RF from that thing would mess with all kinds of electronics.
 

k8tmk

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Now to "take the wind out of some sails." Many current wireless mikes use frequencies in the 700 MHz band. But guess what? The FCC has reallocated that band for other use (this was part of the digital TV reallocation). So, anyone using wireless mikes in this band will have to stop using them after a certain date (sometime soon). Our church has four hand-held mikes and three lavalear mikes in the sanctuary, and additional wireless mikes in the social hall. All of these will need to be replaced, at our cost of course!

Randy, K8TMK
 

kb2vxa

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"I'm sure the congregation at a few churches got an ear full when I use to push over a 1000 watts out of my truck on the CB radio."

This is the LORD, thy GOD who commands thou to observe the TITHE and never, NEVER skip Mass for such is a MORTAL SIN and thou shalt burn in HELL forever and EVER because FOREVER isn't long enough for the likes of YOU!

And a hush fell over the crowd.............
 

bassman21

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lol @ kb2vxa

Now to "take the wind out of some sails." Many current wireless mikes use frequencies in the 700 MHz band. But guess what? The FCC has reallocated that band for other use (this was part of the digital TV reallocation). So, anyone using wireless mikes in this band will have to stop using them after a certain date (sometime soon). Our church has four hand-held mikes and three lavalear mikes in the sanctuary, and additional wireless mikes in the social hall. All of these will need to be replaced, at our cost of course!

Randy, K8TMK

Those mics are such low power and the chances of a public safety system using the same frequency within range to cause interference are slim. I don't think anyone will come knocking on your church's door if you keep using them. I also don't think most people will even know that channels above ch. 52 are for this use or that their mics operate there.
 

bm_north60

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Suspect in custody thanks be to God

This reminds me of when I used to go to church in my home town in my teens. The priest had a wireless microphone that he wore. Turns out the frequency was in the low VHF band, somewhere between 30 and 50 MHz. This was so many years ago that I forget the exact frequency. Every once in a while on a Sunday morning, when skip conditions were good, across the speakers would come the voice of a police dispatcher from the southern US. In the end the priest ended up ordering a new set of crystals.
 
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