"This presents two immediate problems," say Orbital, "the first being that under the current proposals there will be far fewer frequencies left for the theatre industry to operate in and the second being that there may be many new high power carriers like Mobile TV used in the frequencies that are to be auctioned off, that have the potential to create considerable interference spilling into previously available frequency bands such as Channel 69."
Recognising the serious implications of these proposals, Orbital is keen to provide a solution to what could otherwise threaten London's West End and touring musical theatre industry.
Embracing the potential of Zaxcom - a "revolutionary" digital radio mic system designed and manufactured in New Jersey, USA - Orbital says it has successfully illustrated the capacity of this powerful system on theatre shows including Sunday In The Park With George at The Wyndams Theatre, Cabaret at The Lyric, Little Shop of Horrors at The Duke of Yorks, and The Producers now on its first national tour.
The success of Zaxcom's TRX 900 system in these theatre environments and its ability to counter the threat from Ofcom, say Orbital, is down to its "unique technology that can 'cluster' a large number of microphones into one frequency block without interference or inter-modulation".
The TRX900 uses conventional frequency range between 518-870MHz but due to its use of 100% digital modulation is considerably less prone to intermodulation, say the company. 30 plus channels can be fitted into a single 30MHz wide frequency range, meaning a theoretical 200 plus units can be used simultaneously in the UK. The Digital modulation also means clashes and drop-outs are minimised due to the onboard error correction.
Orbital's MD Chris Headlam, says: "In the very near future we need to cram our radio mics into very small frequency slots and ensure their resilience to interference from high powered transmissions including Mobile TV and new communication devices currently being developed. Current analogue radio mics just don't provide this level of protection, which is why we have championed Zaxcom as a positive and realistic solution to the future of musical theatre because it allows us to continue to seamlessly operate multiple channels of radio mic after Ofcom's sell off.
Freelance sound designer of the award-winning musical Cabaret, Ben Harrison, adds: "Cabaret is a big show with very high production values - we deploy over 32 channels on the show; so we needed a system that would be immensely robust and cope with the challenges faced in an increasingly hostile RF environment. They do contribute to how the show sounds - 'transparent' is the best way to describe it, they make the show sound very natural. At points during the preview performances, I sat there wondering if the systems were on or not."
(Chris Henry)
