Wireless Thoughts

[KillingFrenzy]

Anybody use wireless in a show environment?

I'm setting up an installation at a party, and it would be cool if I could just use a Remote administration tool to kind of check up on it and change things up a bit now and then.

There's going be lots of big speakers and general electric chaos. Anybody used wireless in this type of situation?

Also, any thoughts on what I should get?

I'll probably use it at home as well.
Right now I use;
A Laptop and Two Desktops
Connected through a hub to a DSL Router

[Morninglight]

I've never used my wireless in a club or something.. Wireless works fine at home after some tweaking and trying because it's very sensitive to noise from other electric equipment...

Buy quality stuff, preferably everything from the same brand!

[thomase]

I'll try a terravision babycam tonight. Yesterday doing rehearsals it worked fine. The thing is fun. Looks like a toy (it's yellow :rolleyes: ) and was built like a babyphone to watch your offspring while you're in another room. It comes with a reciever to which you can hook up 4 cameras and that thing also works as a switcher. It's somewhere between 100 and 170 Euros.

[bluntfaktory]

try a microwave video transmitter

http://www.pmicrowave.com/CODRTX.html

:p

[KimbroVideo]

At work I use a Modulus 3000 transmitter. It is a UHF (channels 13-69) transmitter that is just under 4 watts of power. The reciever can literally be anything that will tune into those channels. Just make sure you change the transmitter to something other than the local t.v stations use.
Look up a company called CIT. Good stuff but pricey!

[julez]

I've used wireless a couple of times at performances (as an experiment) but my equipment wasn't the best and i got a lot of artifacts. It was also in conjunction with audio wireless devices so this was probably why...anyway i haven't used it since, too risky:scared:

I've heard good things about the Modulus 3000 though, (Ive never seen one myself.) From what ive heard it's flexible and reliable if it's set up properly

[PatheticNonVJ]

1st post and not a VJ...but I thought the info would help many here. Hope this is the right place - enjoy.

In my research for creating a mobile media station for my work/live enviro [my apt.] I categorically eliminated any type of analog wireless video sender. And if I categorically eliminated it for home use, surely analog wireless would hardly measure up in a chaotic club were money and reputation were on the line. There is a burgeoning digital wireless product pool filled with affordable [and reliable] alternatives. My first find in my research was this:

http://www.jp.aiwa.com/corporate/report/2002_e/lt-20n1_dw-ss1e.html
(the DW-SS1)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=DW-SS1

and this:
http://sharp-world.com/corporate/news/010724-2.html
(the AN-SS700)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=AN-SS700

Problem is that they are only sold in Japan. I just had a friend who works over there [and has some friends who can read Kenji or whatever it is] price them. With the recent fall of the $ they are about $525. These transmitters are 2.4Ghz DSS [Digital Spread Spectrum]. After coming up dry on affordable options to wirelessly send A/V from my PC to my soon-to-be heavily modified XBox, I'm now in the research phase of building my own digital wireless "video senders" using Linksys WRT54G routers, WSB24 boosters, and/or WAP54G access points. Further, Linksys just started making their firmware open source so folks are beginning to write modified firmware for them that boost the signals and add other enhancements. Using this modified firmware would of course void your warranty and may place your device in violation of FCC regulations.

http://www.wirelessnederland.nl
http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/WordIndex

The venerable Tom's Hardware is a very good place for wireless information, tutorials & reviews:

http://www4.tomshardware.com/network/index.html
ttp://www4.tomshardware.com/network/20030114/wireless-02.html

As a side note I read somewhere in this forum something about the bandwidth of 2.4Ghz and how it just wasn't enough for HQ video. The bottom line here is that when you go DIGITAL the 802.11b, 11Mb [6Mb MAX in pratice] standard just doesn't cut the mustard for HQ DVD [MPEG-2] video [and audio]. BUT there is plenty of bandwidth in the 2.4GHz range with the new 802.11g, 54Mb [22Mb MAX in practice] standard. Also Linksys, among others, has tri-mode devices that work on and will combine the bandwidths of a & b/g. Here is a simple live streaming server that will push MPEG-2 video [unfortunately only while recording though for right now]:

http://www.snapstream.com
I'd be interested in other suggestions for this. 2003 server has some streaming functions that I have not investigated yet.

BUT for your guys' application, the hot setup looks to be the Linksys WPG12 "wireless presentation player":

http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=33&scid=38&prid=503

Your setup would look something like this [geared for maximum range]: PC->WAP54G->WSB24->0011101101001->[optional]WSB24->WPG12->Projector@1024x768. I have not tried it but its got to be better than using analog video senders!! Further, there is a modification for the WAP54G's firmware that will allow a user selectable increase in it's transmit power up to 8x the factory setting. Of course this is way beyond the limits the FCC has placed on these devices. Too bad I need audio too :( or I'd be all over this setup. Please keep in mind that using the WSB24 with anything other than 802.11b products will void the warranties and may be in violation of the FCC.

OK, that's it. Feel free to write with suggestions/questions. Hope this info will help you blow my mind at my next event!

[Portal]

All:

Has anybody used the Linksys WPG12 wireless presentation player in the "field" (i.e. club or party environment)?

How did it work out for you?

BTW - The of wireless networking signal amplification and the presentation player sounds absolutely fascinating!!

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[deadcode]

I was thinking in using wireless in my shows, using a pair of wireless webcams, one to capture djs hands over the turntables and other one to capture audicence, my show target will be allways drum'n'bass events and people dancing d'n'b are allways spectacular, use both streams for mixing with non real time content.

One good option for the webcams is D-Link DCS-1000W, but is really expensive, so anyone have use this kind of devices in a club? anyone knows another model of wireless cams, cheaper than D-Link one? about 100 euros or so?

Thanks in advance.
deadcode.

[xiayu]

Originally posted by bluntfaktory
try a microwave video transmitter

http://www.pmicrowave.com/CODRTX.html

:p

mmm... cook your food and send video transmitions

[lotech]

We just picked up a couple of Digitor Microwave Senders and used them over the weekend at a couple of gigs with pretty good results. We even tried to add interferance by placing the sender the monitor above the DJ with very few drops - these things could be the go for sending Camera feeds back and also as a backup for projectors.

Anyway the review is HERE (http://www.vjcentral.com/hardware/show/7048).

[mondo]

just come back from a 6 week workshop where we were attempting using wireless cams in teh mix.

it worked for several minutes (the minute cam was in a geodesic ball held by a performer) until the batteries ran out!!

we were transmitting to a pc, sending it via teh web into my pc then into the vision mix.
the time lag delay was good fun and something we work with a lot

trouble is teh wireless cam's transmitter is still too bulky even on small models (if you are using a wirless cam in true remote fashion that is)

also attempted a more static version plugged into mains but that defeated the object of a wearable moving cam on the performer.

also i believe one cam isnt enough...get lots to be really effective

btw ..there is a REAL difference between a wireless cam and a webcam.......basically software and direct connection to the pc.

there are no really cheap options for good quality wirless cams. we went to china and paid ?50 for a decent copied radio shack version that suited our intent.
there are an excellent korean spy wireless cam available if that helps anyone!!
my advice is spend good money after road testing a few in teh shops or get sponsorship.

definitely an avenue worth exploring more.

[krokodril]

when exploring wireless, keep in mind that the quality of the signal determines the bandwith.... good antenna's will result in reasonable results even on poor hardware...

hardly any av sender i've seen in the stores uses a good antenna

www.amsternet.nl > wikisite >antennatech

full of do it yourself and readybuild antenna's + it's the best textbook on wireless i know

in my own experience it can be done, as long as you take a few moments setting it up properly, and you avoid using moving senders/receivers

water is a problem as well

[SuperficiaL]

hi guys,

ive been using a marmitek wireless videosystem for about a year now...
i bought a marmitek sender receiver and made a rechargeble battery to make the sender portable, and it works great i must say. even when u walk with the camera. but you dant want to make sudden moves because the receiver doesnt get the signal than and it stalls for half a second or so...
but i usually use it to record a dj when hes spinning and than send the signal via the wireless marmitek to my comp...
the price of the marmitek was aout ?70....

greetz, SuperficiaL

[AJ]

I have been using wireless for aboput a yr now with a product called the CCTV-900. Now its not the best but it is descent. It's used in a Nightclub with a large square footage and 3 levels. Overall I have been happy with it but I still looking to improve the signal.

[vjTranceKoder]

http://www.almexltd.com/trango/

and this
http://www.phonecardslinks.com/miniature_wireless_camera.html

OMG! Look at this:
(pdf)
http://www.almexltd.com/trango/eaglemanual.pdf

seriously though look at the diagrams (page 4 & 6) It can be powered by a 3rd party battery/power supply and has standard BNC with both PAL and NTSC for video and RCA stereo. This looks like a nice possible solution for under $1000 USD.

[BrainStove]

Shit, some of those even are not so expensive either and certainly will allow me to perform from the comfort of my cave with no need to dismount & lug around my heavy crap everytime/everywhere and the best at all no need to deal with VIPs moroons whatsoever.

And no, I wont miss any of the crowd vibe in any way cuz I simply would slap a couple of those badasses in a 2WayComm arrangement even getting a live feed audio stream from the DJ-Mixer and until 4 different views from the show/crowd/stage/chicksbathroom realtime whilst swinging on my hammock tweaking some knobs and drinking beer on barrels in very good company. ;)

We?ll see how much money I can save for the rest of the year to put these babies under real lab conditions.
Thanks for the link VJTK. :up:

[iKande]

anyone use wireless for networking a control computer to the video generation computer? when i get an iBook be able to run two fullscreens from my linux box with a control panel and mixer running though X11 over wifi to the laptop so i can be anywhere in the club from next to the dj to backstage somewhere or on the john :) i've also been checking out DMX and Chromium to distribute opengl rendering over tiled displays. with these packages it's possible to run unmodified opengl programs on arbitarily large tiled walls or arrays of projectors. one example they've done is running a quake 3 server and rendering different floors/stories of the level on different screens so theres a complete birdseye view for all the action in the game! don't know how fast video playback would be especially over wireless but a 2048x1536@60+fps opengl setup would beat most video setups anyday. i can't wait to find a promoter that will pay for hiring 4 projectors and 4 smp geforced pcs to try this out.

[WordVirus23]

http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?action=zoom&prid=658&scid=

anyone had a go with one of these in nasty electro enviros?

..james...

[VJ555]

We tried similar 2-3 months ago, can't remember what make.... Probelm was continuos mobile phone interference. Ended up signal from PC's to video desk was hard wired, feed from desk to projector was wireless and worked well.... Several systems on sale here (Australia) for no more than $200..... Will be looking at it over te hcoming two weeks as we have two gigs in one night and i want quick easy mobile units........