Airline Wireless

Skunkboy · Post by **Skunkboy** » Wednesday Mar 17, 2004

Anyone else use Samson wireless stuff? Maybe you'll recognize this problem...

After only a few gigs of use, while removing the transmitter from my bass, the jack pulled completely free of the rest of the transmitter, breaking the wires. I've resoldered the wires myself, but the jack still won't stay screwed into the transmitter. Is there any way to get the damn thing to stay, short of a big nasty glob of epoxy? The problem is, metal threads(the jack) have damaged the plastic threads they screw into(transmitter).

Craven Sound · Post by **Craven Sound** » Wednesday Mar 17, 2004

I've never had much luck with Samson, yeah it's cheap, but it's also built that way. I always say spend the extra few bucks and get the Shure. I've never had any trouble with Sure stuff.

Mike

facingwest · Post by **facingwest** » Wednesday Mar 17, 2004

Keith ended up routing a switch into his guitar and installed the wireless internally and has been working great for him. He has another one that he uses for his backup, but hasn't had any probs like that with his. My fear with the airline setup is I move around in the crowd and if it fell off, you might as well kiss it goodbye. At least with a belt pack, you know that it isn't going anywhere.

CMOR · Post by **CMOR** » Wednesday Sep 01, 2004

I've got an airline, and I've noticed another problem. Line of sight. It shouldn't be a problem being "uhf" but it's acting like infrared. Anything metal, from basement supports to monitors interfere with the signal. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?

Matt_22 · Post by **Matt_22** » Wednesday Sep 01, 2004

To fix the jack falling out mix some epoxy glue and smear the glue in between the metal threads. This way the epoxy will bond to the plastic and your new set of threads will be epoxy and a quality epoxy should not strip out. Go with the 24 hour stuff rather than the 5 min. If you are neat and careful with this project you won't notice any glue marks or defects.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Monday Sep 27, 2004

CMOR wrote:I've got an airline, and I've noticed another problem. Line of sight. It shouldn't be a problem being "uhf" but it's acting like infrared. Anything metal, from basement supports to monitors interfere with the signal. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?

That's the trouble with the AKG "bugs" and the Samson "airlines". They only put out 5 milliwatts with that single AAA battery. That just doesn't cut it. You need at least 10mW or more output for a consistent signal. The only systems I've seen that use AAA batteries and work well are the AKG WMS80/81/2000, but they use two batteries...and when the batteries die, they die all at once with no warning. Oops.

Your sound is only as good as the weakest link.

CMOR · Post by **CMOR** » Tuesday Sep 28, 2004

So does that mean, if I got a stronger transmitter, it would help? I'm not opposed to a body pack, I just wanted the receiver on my pedalboard where I can power it.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Tuesday Sep 28, 2004

CMOR wrote:So does that mean, if I got a stronger transmitter, it would help? I'm not opposed to a body pack, I just wanted the receiver on my pedalboard where I can power it.

If you can get a stronger transmitter in that frequency, it would definitely help, but they usually don't match frequencies between product lines. Unless you stay in the vicinity of your pedalboard, it would be a good idea to get the receiver up around eye-level. Its convenient to have the receiver on the pedalboard, but it won't collect many signals at floor level.

Radio frequencies don't need a line of sight, but the more you put between the source and the receiver, the less signal you get. If you go into the crowd, lots of people, tables, chairs, etc. will absorb the signal and if the receiver is low to the ground, not much, if any signal will get to it. The stronger the signal, the better chance it has of making it to the receiver.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Tuesday Sep 28, 2004

Craven Sound wrote:I've never had much luck with Samson, yeah it's cheap, but it's also built that way. I always say spend the extra few bucks and get the Shure. I've never had any trouble with Sure stuff.

Mike

Yes, and if you're having a slow night, with the Shures, you can go outside and flag down some customers while you are playing.