September 22, 2008

In response to your article entitled, "A Potential Onslaught of Wireless Microphones in the 944-952 MHz Aural STL Band," I have to say that the wireless microphone/white space debate has gone on long enough.  The reality is that all sorts of audio, film and television productions, as well as live productions from concerts to church services, use massive amounts of wireless microphones and monitoring devices -- and must do so in order to continue with the quality of productions that we have all come to expect.

Respectable wireless microphone manufacturers such as Sennheiser, Shure, EV, Lectrosonics, etc., have always complied with the FCC's rules in regards to the manufacturing and marketing of their products.  Likewise, users have been in compliance to the best of their knowledge.  Great numbers of these devices are traveling units that cannot be licensed for use in a particular location, since they move with a production as it tours.

The move to build and market STL band wireless mics has been brought on by the elimination of white space available for wireless mics.  The real problem here is not wireless mics -- it is that the FCC has allowed them to proliferate and is now proposing to eliminate them.  However, since they have become an essential tool in all facets of audio production, the only real solution is to block out a specific band for wireless microphone use.  Not only that, but it must be in the UHF band, so microphone manufacturers can provide a reprogramming option for their customers to avoid the customers' having to throw away and replace millions of dollars worth of great gear.

Finally, whatever band is allocated must take into account the nature of the beast.  High quality wireless mics are and must be analog, with sufficient bandwidth to sound good.  Other designs that are out there just prove this to be true.  Digital wireless for instance is either barely adequate for high fidelity speech (but not for music), or they are just plain unreliable in RF performance. Also, there must be adequate bandwidth to allow for the massive expansion of this technology that is sure to continue into the next century. By this, you must consider that many productions use hundreds of wirelss microphones or other wireless audio devices simultaneously - take the superbowl for example. What I'm saying here is that we can't live with a tiny little piece of spectrum, we need a substantial chunk.

So, here is a challenge to the FCC:  Stop looking for the highest bidder to support your budget, and think of the common good of the audio industry -- and in fact of the people.


In His Service,


James E. Hobbs
Director of Engineering, Mountain Top Media ("MTM")
Tel. (559) 658-6867,  jim (at) mountaintopmedia.org