Topic: Weird on-stage antennas at Mars Volta tour

[sunjan]

Hi all,

I just got back from the Mars Volta gig here, and made an interesting observation.
Maybe I'm totally wrong, but I spotted some weird looking stands at the right of the stage:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24155612@N02/2294147961/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigonazzi/2295228248/sizes/o/
(on the far right next to the rhythm guitarist, three tubes sticking out)

I'm curious, are these some kind of on-stage mics, or do they belong to the monitor/PA system?

/J

[Church-Audio]

Hi all,

I just got back from the Mars Volta gig here, and made an interesting observation.
Maybe I'm totally wrong, but I spotted some weird looking stands at the right of the stage:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24155612@N02/2294147961/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigonazzi/2295228248/sizes/o/
(on the far right next to the rhythm guitarist, three tubes sticking out)

I'm curious, are these some kind of on-stage mics, or do they belong to the monitor/PA system?

/J

That looks like a directional antenna not a mic 

[sunjan]

Hi all,

I just got back from the Mars Volta gig here, and made an interesting observation.
Maybe I'm totally wrong, but I spotted some weird looking stands at the right of the stage:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24155612@N02/2294147961/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigonazzi/2295228248/sizes/o/
(on the far right next to the rhythm guitarist, three tubes sticking out)

I'm curious, are these some kind of on-stage mics, or do they belong to the monitor/PA system?

/J

That looks like a directional antenna not a mic 

I see.... so what are they good for? The band members running wireless instruments?
Or WLAN for their computers onstage?

/Jan

[John Willett]

Antennas - the cable looks like the thicker RG213 low-loss stuff.

Probably for the radiomics - if it was only one, could have been the transmitter antenna for the in-ear monitors.

[jlykos]

It's probably to pick up the outer space frequencies from which they draw inspiration.

[stantheman1976]

Could they be for wireless in ear monitors?

[BlingFree]

maybe wireless to FOH?

In shopping for the portable studio solution I read about multi channel wireless but never saw any of the devices for it.

[joeshambro]

those are helical antennas for both the in-ear monitors they're using and the wireless stuff on stage.  helical antennas offer a lot better RF performance compared to the onboard antennas on most tx/rx equipment.  although for such a small stage, traditional paddle antennas would've been just fine, too -- the helical antennas (and the new sennheiser dome antenna, too) offer great saturation for larger stages.

[flipzoso]

Thanks for the info! Always wondered what those were for, learned something new. They actually have a recording engineer behind Juan (bassist) stack staring into the laptop, I always wondering what exactly he was doing.

In Toronto, I think...I think I noticed a mic that Cedric (vocalist) used to communicate to mixers if his mix wasn't suiting him well.

http://flickr.com/photos/feiticeira_org/2302861442/sizes/l/ do you see it in front of Paul (rhythm, second stand from right)

[Church-Audio]

those are helical antennas for both the in-ear monitors they're using and the wireless stuff on stage.  helical antennas offer a lot better RF performance compared to the onboard antennas on most tx/rx equipment.  although for such a small stage, traditional paddle antennas would've been just fine, too -- the helical antennas (and the new sennheiser dome antenna, too) offer great saturation for larger stages.

I would say that the wireless mics and the in ear monitors are not going to share the same antenna I have never seen a system for wireless mics that would use the same antenna as in ears at the same time.. If this is the case I would like to know about it as I use wireless and inear all the time.. And if there is a single antenna system that splits to both systems I will tell my clients about it..

[flipzoso]

So I found out it is indeed only for "all wireless ear".

As for my own question, thats Cedrics effects mic, heh.