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LDI Day 1 Recap

October 28, 2011 at 8:05 pm

Welcome to LDI! We know not everyone gets to make it to the trade shows so we want to help you see what is going on at this year’s LDI show in Orlando, FL. Below are just come of the cool things we’ve seen at LDI so far.

Elation
With a wide variety of LED and moving head fixtures to choose from, Elation’s booth has plenty to look at. Some of the standouts include:

Platinum Wash LED Zoom – Moving head LED fixture with 30 10-watt LED’s and wireless DMX
Platinum Spot 5 R Pro – CMY color mixing moving head fixture with 22 gobos and wireless DMX
Moving Projection – If you’ve ever wanted to have an intelligent projector but thought you couldn’t afford it, think again. While we didn’t pick up the model number, we were shown a scanner which replaced the light source with a projector. It’s a very cool and affordable way to have movable projection.

Chauvet

Like Elation, Chauvet has no shortage of fixtures they are showing at this year’s show. In fact, according to one Chauvet representative there are 37 new products being launched at LDI. A few of these new offerings are:

Colorado Zoom CW Tour – With the ability to zoom and a mixture of 37 warm and cool white LED’s, this fixture tries to show LED is not just for colored light anymore.
Colorado 2 Zoom Tour – When you do need a colored LED fixture, check out this new fixture with a robust 61 3-watt RGBW LED’s, a 6 to 35 degree zoom and both 3 pin and 5 pin connectors built in.
Well – Until now, fast, simple, wireless colored lighting fixtures have not been readily available, but Chauvet has changed that with the Well fixture. With 12 hours of battery life, the 12 3-watt tri colored LED’s doesn’t need wires as it also has a wireless DMX receiver built in. Just as cool is the fact that the road case holds six fixtures and charges the fixtures in the case.

Lighting Consoles – Jands Vista Version 2 and GrandMA2

Most of today’s most popular lighting consoles are on display at LDI and today we had the chance to look at two of them:
Jands Vista featuring version 2 software Byron – The Jands Vista attempted to change the way you think about programming lighting with version one, and version 2 has taken by making complex lighting tasks even more accessible and user friendly. With control options from software only to the pictured T4, you can get a user friendly, highly powerful lighting controller that fits your budget.
GrandMA2 – Not to be outdone, MA Lighting has taken their popular line of controllers and released the GrandMA 2 software and consoles. With more power and features than ever before, fans of the GrandMA will be highly impressed with the new features and flexibility the GrandMA2 provides.

ETC etc
While there is much more to see, today we gave 10 church lighting designers the opportunity to have a sneak peak at the new Source 4 LED Ellipsoidal fixtures. Though still in development, the color, intensity and even distribution of light out of these fixtures would be impressive enough, but their efficiency is what makes them remarkable. We weren’t allowed to leak photos of these fixtures, but we can show you the chart used to show us just how efficient these fixtures are.

Vaddio

Last but not least, no lighting show is complete without… video? That’s right, Vaddio brought their video switching and PTZ camera solutions to LDI to show us just how amazing their solutions for IMAG, webcasting and video recording are. With both SD and HD options, one of the more impressive features of the Vaddio cameras is that they are controlled and powered via Cat5. Their ProductionVIEW HD MV switcher include many great features such as built in multi-viewer, touch screen switching and operation, camera PTZ re-callable programming and more. Most importantly, Vaddio’s options won’t break the bank.

Those are just some of the highlights from day 1 of LDI. Check back later this weekend for more features from the show.

Upgrade your sound systems with PreSonus StudioLive 16 and PreSonus StudioLive 24 Digital Mixing Consoles

November 9, 2010 at 12:13 pm

PreSonus StudioLive 24 Digital Audio Mixer

Digital consoles are rapidly replacing analog mixing consoles for churches. It started in larger churches with budgets that could afford some of the bigger digital audio consoles like the Yamaha PM5D, Digi-Design D-Show and Venue and the Soundcraft Vi6. Lately, medium size and smaller churches have been installing digital consoles such as the Yamaha M7CL and Roland M-400.

CCI Solutions has specified and installed scores of digital consoles into church sound systems. In fact, our first digital consoles were installed over 10 years ago! At that time, we started using the Yamaha DM2000 along with PreSonus recording preamps. The DM2000 was absolutely designed as a recording mixer, but was adaptable to live sound use. Now, Yamaha makes an even better digital console for live use, the Yamaha LS-9.

The benefits of using a digital audio console over an analog desk are pretty widely known by now. Complete capture of all settings during a rehearsal for recall during a performance is among the most popular. Churches with multiple service types, or churches sharing a common worship space, love a digital console for the ability to quickly and accuratly recall setting that apply to the next service in the room.

I think an even more powerful advantage is the ability to create and store a library of individual channel settings. I create libraries for worship team singers and instruments. As different singers and instruments are rotated every week, I simply recall channel EQ and effects from the library for each individual. Once those are set, sound check is a breeze!

Now, all of the power of digital mixing is available to any church starting at under $2000. CCI Solutions has a special promotion going on the PreSonus StudioLive 16 digital mixing console. By logging onto our site and becoming a member of the CCI Savings Club, you can get the lowest Presonus StudioLive 16 price on the internet. In addition, we’ll add a Sounman’s Survival Kit and a pair of headphones. Plus, we’ll ship it all for free.

If you need more channels, check out our lowest PreSonus StudioLive 24 price. 24 channels plus a free cover and headphones. Again, free shipping on everything in the package. For even more channels, double up two PreSonus StudioLive 16 consoles to make a 32 channel digital mixing for under $4000!

Get started in digital mixing now. Upgrade and replace that old analog console with new digital technology starting at under $2000.

I’ve also created a YouTube video on how to use the PreSonus StudioLive 16 mixer for live mixing. Check it out here.

Wireless Microphones Receive Dedicated Frequencies from FCC

October 19, 2010 at 5:47 pm

As you may know, the FCC voted on September 23, 2010 to open up spectrum adjacent to television frequencies for the use of broadband wireless devices. This is the so called “white space” decision. The FCC voted 5-0 in favor of this action. Here’s a short comment about the impact on small wireless users such as churches:

Shure SLX Wireless Microphone

In an effort to protect wireless microphones from interference, commissioners voted to set aside two TV channels nationwide for wireless microphones. Those channels should allow 12 to 16 wireless microphones to operate in an area at the same time, said Hugh Van Tuyl, a senior staff engineer with the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET).

If large sporting events or other users need additional spectrum for wireless microphones, they can ask to be temporarily included on an occupied-spectrum database designed to steer wireless devices away from those spectrum bands.

Wireless microphone maker Shure applauded the FCC’s decision to set aside channels for microphones.

“It’s clear that the FCC carefully considered the needs of wireless microphone users while crafting this order,” said Sandy LaMantia, Shure’s president and CEO, in a statement. “The reserved channels will provide a safe harbor in which musicians, small theaters, houses of worship, and businesses can operate their wireless microphone systems without interference from new TV band devices.”

CCI Solutions summary for our customers.

Bottom line, there will be two bands of frequencies (12-16 wireless mic channels total) specifically reserved for wireless operation in each city region. Wireless microphone uses in those reserved bands do not require licensing nor registration with the national white spaces database. In fact, most users cannot register their wireless microphones in the national database. Registration is reserved for large users of multiple channels of wireless systems such as theaters, travelling shows, etc.

Any user of a large number of wireless channels must state that they have exhausted all available “clear” frequencies in TV channels 7-51 prior to registering for protection from broadband devices. This will require the deployment of wireless systems in the upper VHF frequencies as well as throughout the entire UHF spectrum, other than 700Mhz, of course. Registering for protection without using other legal available spectrum is subject to disciplinary actions from the FCC.

The frequencies that the FCC ruling covered were TV Channels 7-51, except channel 37 which is reserved for radio astronomy use. Those channels cover the following frequencies (174Mhz – 216Mhz and 470Mhz – 608Mhz and 620Mhz – 697Mhz). A major unresolved issue is that the 2 special reserved channels may be outside the normal wireless mic frequencies that are currently used or that our customers can accommodate with their existing units. Some of those reserved frequencies may even be in the old VHF spectrum (174Mhz – 216Mhz). We won’t know which 2 channels are dedicated for wireless use in each city region until frequency allocations are published by the FCC.

We do not believe this represents a huge problem for our customers, however. In each city region there are frequencies in which broadband devices may not be operated due to potential interference with TV broadcast signals. Wireless microphones may be operated on those frequencies. And many of those frequencies should fall into the normal wireless microphone system frequencies that our current customer units are designed for.

Finally, wireless microphones may also be operated on white space spectrum that also supports broadband devices. Such use is not protected by the FCC and is subject to interference from broadband devices if those devices are operated within 4km of the wireless microphone. That is similar to the situation today. You can operate on any legal frequency that you care to, but you are not guaranteed that you won’t get interference on that frequency.

CCI Solutions Conclusion

700Mhz wireless operation remains as an illegal use. Users must cease operating their 700Mhz wireless microphones. This spectrum has been sold to Verizon Wireless and they are enforcing their rights to use this spectrum without interference from unauthorized users. Continue to replace any remaining 700Mhz wireless systems as soon as possible to avoid potential “cease and desist” orders or legal action from Verizon Wireless or the FCC.

The FCC has allocated spectrum for the exclusive use of wireless microphones. That spectrum may not be in the same frequency range as your current system’s capabilities. Operation on the other frequencies we are accustomed to using is still legal. Continue to use your existing legal wireless systems in the 470Mhz – 698Mhz bands. Be aware of potential interference from new “broadband” devices. If you are not operating in a “clear” channel you may need to change your channel allocations. If you add wireless microphones, make sure they can operate in the “clear” channels in your area. Contact your CCI Solutions technical representative for help in coordinating all of your wireless device frequencies.