Wireless microphones
From ITS Wiki - Information Technology Services - University of Rhode Island
The Audio-Technica PRO 88W/R is a portable wireless microphone system (also called a lavalier mic) that uses the 3.5 mm audio-in jack on many camcorders to record high quality sound through a clip-on microphone. This kind of system is designed to capture excellent audio from a single sound source (for example: a person being interviewed). However, it should not be used to capture the audio from multiple people in a large scene. The clip-on microphone is very directional and won’t be able to pick up clear audio from people at great distances from the microphone.
This kit comes with two bricks, the Receiver and the Transmitter which require one 9Volt Battery each. In addition to these elements there is also an antenna, a clip-on microphone with a 3.5mm jack connector, an ear-bud headphone also with a 3.5mm jack connector and a 3.5mm jack connector used to connect the receiver to the camera.
Set-up
- Before setting up: on the right side of both bricks there is a slider marked FREQ. This determines the frequency that the system will broadcast on. Below the switch is a preference for A and B. It does not matter which one of these preferences you choose, but they both must be set to the same one or the system will not work.
- to set up transmitter: Plug the clip-on microphone cord into the MIKE INPUT jack on the top of the brick marked TRANSMITTER (the one without the antenna). Then clip the microphone onto your subject and slide the switch marked POWER to the ON position. A red light next to it should turn on if you have power.
- To set up receiver: Slide the POWER switch to the ON position. Then plug one end of the 3.5mm jack connector into the PHONE OUT jack on the right side of the brick and the other end into the MIC port on your camera. You should then be able to record sound with the clip-on microphone. To test this plug the ear-bud into the headphone out port on your camera and tap on the end of the clip-on microphone to see if you are receiving sound.
Troubleshooting
If after these steps you are not recording sound:
- Check to make sure that both the transmitter and the receiver are set to the same frequency (A or B).
- Make sure that the red power light on the side of each brick is on (if they aren’t then replace the batteries).
- Go into the menu for your camera and change the MIC IN selection.
