Chris's Techie Tips

[ChrisPointon 0]

Ever worked in a venue with several rooms where you could benefit from plugging into their Background Music System - only to find it tucked miles away behind the bar??. Ever done a gig in a larger room with a P.A system which is just out of reach of your longest screened lead?. Ever wanted to locate an additional pair of speakers at the back of a large hall but didn't have long enough cables?

 

Well the solution is available.

 

Recently I had to do a gig in pub where there were 3 or 4 rooms away from where the D.J would usually set up, the management asked if it would be possible to place at least one speaker in each room. After visiting the venue, I found that it would be difficult to run a cable from the area where my amp would be located, to each room without tripping somebody up. However there were several small background music speakers already in each room, all pre-wired to an amp somewhere in the building.

 

Frustratingly, this Amp was in an office a long way from the main pub area. But I found a solution.....

 

Using a wireless video sender, similar to the one used to send SKY signals around the home, I simply used the Audio section of this unit and left the video input / output unconnected. Plugging the transmitter into the line level "AMP 2" output of my mixer and the receiver located in the office with its output plugged into a spare CD input on the pubs Background Music Amp - which in this case was basic Sony Hi-Fi Seperate.

 

The system worked a treat, and the management were very impressed, particually as they were still able to vary the volume in each room without affecting the main D.J P.A Rig.

 

Of course, you could use the same method in a large room, to drive a seperate amp or pair of active speakers at the back of the room, without having to run long lengths of speaker /signal cable down each side of the room http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif .

 

These units are available in Transmitter / Receiver Pairs for around £49, however (like me) if you already use one at home to send SKY signals to another TV upstairs then it won't cost you anything. They work on 2.4ghz frequency meaning that the stereo quality is very good and they rarely drop out.

[kazzachi 0]

Failing that you could always get "super del" to sort it out!

 

Fortunately for me, whenever I have been asked to plug into the in house system, whoever actually installed the system in the first place had the foresight to ensure that there were connectors available for djs - my resident hotel actually has their in house system in the gents in a cupboard (thank goodness that I dont actually have to go in there) - then there are a couple of xlr sockets which I just plug my mixer into and voila! Mind you - as my system sounds so much better I still put in my gear anyway!

Edited December 18, 2003 by kazzachi

[ChrisPointon 0]

LOL Kazz, you really need to venture "up north" sometime http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif . The idea of an "in house" system in pubs around here consists and landlords going to Makro and buying a Hi-Fi amp, a couple of small hi-fi speakers and a cheap CD Player, then linking it together with bell wire http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[YourBigEvent 0]

There is another way...

 

You can buy a module that fits onto a 'normal' mic to make it into a 'radio' mic, you can plug this gizmo into the output of a powered speaker and put the reciever into the the other speaker and bingo !!

 

[YourBigEvent 0]

But watch out on 2.4GHz it is the same as a lot of other wireless things, and bizarrly it will be affected by microwave oven too, so no going through the kitchen.