I'm looking for a wireless unit with clip-on (not hand held) microphone to improve the audio on some home videos, not studio or broadcast quality. eBay and Amazon have stuff as cheap as £12 to £25, does anyone have any experience / suggestions?
They are probably illegal, using frequencies not allocated for such purposes. I once bought something like taht. It could be received on an FM radio.
I thought that some frequencies had been released for these? They seem to be 175 MHz which is out of the normal FM band.
There are 7 frequencies around that part of the band, so they appear to be legal. But, for that price you don't get a receiver.
Careful. 173.800 MHz to 175.000 MHz is "licence free" along with
863.000 MHz to 865.000 MHz (Ch70). "Licence free" means you don't have to specifically obtain a licence provided the kit is type approved and unmodified. 175.250, 175.525 & 176.600 are part of the VHF UK Shared PMSE (Programme Making and Special Events) allocation. You need to buy a licence to legally use those frequencies (unless you are in Northen Ireland were they are not available/allocated to PMSE).Most cheap, licence free, kit these days is likely to be on 863 - 865 MHz (Ch70).
I'm curious why you want wireless for this task?
And if you're adding a voice to home videos, a desk or stand mounted mic will give much better quality than a clip on one.
Yes I have one of those fm ones. No good in London, no spare room. However, some used to use frequencies in band 1 around 55 mhz, and they normally worked until people started to use that for cordless headphones. Nowadays most of the reasonable units use Wifi of some kind. Two main issues with ones I've heard. Congestion of the band, meaning low range and drop outs and a kind of mobile phone like gritty distortion on them. I don't know names unfortunately, and indeed there may well be blue tooth ones out there as well.
Brian
No that was withdrawn some time back in favour of some uhf spot frequencies. One thing, re reading the original post. the digital ones do have a latency, which if used for video and lip sync is required might pose a problem. Brian
Because the person I want to record will either be standing in the middle of a riding school, giving instructions to a rider going round them in circles, or sitting on top of the horse herself.
As I said elsewhere, my primary use is in a couple of riding schools, which are in very rural locations so I don't expect much trouble from interference, also I think I could reasonably take a chance with not having the "Performance and Special Events" license.
But thanks all for the comments.
I'm not too worried about digital latency for this application as I wouldn't be lip synching.
Bit out your price range, but we used these:
or something similar when I did my motorbike training. Worked very well, in the sense that we could hear each other.
Right. In which case a headset mic will give better quality.
I doubt you'll find a digital radio mic complete within your budget. ;-)
I was using "clip-on" to differentiate from "hand-held" mikes. The term "headset" is usually used for combined microphones and earphones, which again is not suitable when wearing a riding helmet (instructors wear these too).
Clip-on (lavalier) mikes seem to work OK for TV studio interviews, as does one which I use occasionally.
:-)
Provided the mouth does not move too much relative to the microphone. they are fine. A modern "over the ear" microphone should fit with a riding helmet. Headset mics don't need earphones.
You can get mics on their own, which would fit under a helmet.
They are used in TV for looks. Not quality.
A boom mic (or whatever you are calling it) with the capsule near the cheek but away from the wearer's breath would give far better results than any body-worn lavalier.
I am sure you could somehow strap a boom to the riding helmet even if it looks bizarre. :-)
earphones,
(instructors
Inside a TV studio is not the same as out in the middle of a field riding a horse. Movement/clothing noise is likely to be a problem particulary at a trot. Oh outside has a habit of being windy as well...
DPA in broadcast jargon(*) for the stiff wire over the ear round the back of the head mount for a tiny microphone on an arm to place it an inch or so from the corner of the mouth.
About £450 so a tad over budget.
CPC have a number of these mics but most of the omnidirectional ones are at the £40 - £50 mark.
A small foam windshield will keep some of the wind out with a bit of luck.
(*) DPA was the first manufacturer to produce this sort of mic that actually sounded nice. They make many other types of mic.
I've used those and they are remarkably good for the price. Use a VERY sma ll ammount of glue to hold your muff in place though. If you loose it, esp ecialy if in a riding school, you'll never find it again and as far as I kn ow spares aren't easilly available.
Bill.
You had me worried there, as our club venue has a VHF radio mike driving a hearing loop system. The following website says VHF is still OK:
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