A well-functioning audio system is crucial to the life of any house of worship. The spoken word and music are important elements of most religious services. If you’ve noticed that your audio system seems to be suffering lately from intermittent drop-outs and/or noise, this could be related to your wireless microphones.

There’s a good chance that what’s causing issues with your wireless microphone systems has to do with the frequency these systems use to broadcast sound wirelessly. We’ll get into the technical details a little further on, but essentially a portion of the wireless spectrum used by wireless microphones in places like churches, theaters, schools and other venues has been auctioned off to telecommunications conglomerates by the FCC.

This could present a whole host of problems for churches using wireless microphone technology, but not to worry. We have extensive experience installing wireless microphone systems and church audio video systems, and we’d be happy to lend our expertise to any house of worship in Wildwood or any other area of Missouri or Illinois.

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THE 600/700 MHZ PROBLEM

There are a whole host of devices that we use both at home and at work that rely on wireless signals to operate. This includes phones, tablets, computers, Bluetooth devices, digital TV signals, and more. Waves at different ends of the wireless spectrum behave differently. AM radio waves can travel great distances but deliver a weak signal. X-rays are extremely powerful but only travel a very short distance.

The net result is that only a certain portion of the wireless frequency spectrum is usable or desirable for different types of devices and the government regulates much of this. Many, perfectly legal, wireless microphone systems sold over the years operated in the 600 and 700 megahertz (MHz) bands.

Due to huge demand for faster and faster internet on smart phones etc., Congress authorized the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which governs the usage of the wireless spectrum across the country, to sell off portions of the spectrum to expand coverage of broadband communication across the country. First the 700 MHz band and now the 600 MHz band have been auctioned off to Telecom giants like T-Mobile. This process will be finalized by July 2020, requiring any wireless microphone users to stop using the 600 MHz band. To further complicate the situation, wireless microphones were not the only users of the 600 MHz band. Many local television stations used this band for their digital broadcasts. These TV stations were paid with some of the auction proceeds to move down into the 500 MHz range along with the TV stations that were already there, making this a very crowded space. Guess what?  That is where the wireless microphones will be forced to live --- in this crowded RF space with all those TV stations!

This makes replacing your existing systems a bit tricky. Not only do you need to choose the right frequencies to avoid direct interference with the TV stations, you must also avoid interference from everyone else in your vicinity that is replacing their equipment, and you must also make sure there is enough spectrum for the number of systems you are replacing now to avoid something called intermodulation distortion. You should also consider future needs (what if you need to add 1 or 2).

WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?

Any facility using 600 or 700 MHz microphones will need to replace their systems to avoid technical problems and to stay ‘legal’. You may start experiencing wireless microphone issues even if your current systems are not in the 600-700 MHz band, due to all the changes going on or an improper installation.

This may sound like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be if you contact Elite Technology Solutions. We have been specifying and installing wireless microphone systems for 30 years. We will visit your site, analyze your needs and recommend the best solution for you. We use an advanced spectrum analyzer and wireless microphone software to survey the wireless traffic in your facility and deploy your new system.  We will work with you to design and install a system that fits your needs and budget. Don’t waste your valuable time and resources guessing yourself (or letting someone else guess for you).

Our expertise isn’t limited to wireless mics and sound systems. If you’ve been thinking about adding or upgrading a video system, camera system, lighting system, or data network to your building, we are experts there, as well. Whatever system you choose, let our team of professionals deliver exceptional service at a great price, guaranteed.

With the mandatory technology changeover going on, don’t risk your systems not working this Sunday. Now is the time to get started. To learn more, call us today at (636) 939-4474 or visit our contact page.