Telex 38109-977 manual Introduction to Wireless Intercoms, History of Wireless Intercoms

C H A P T E R

6

INTRODUCTION TO WIRELESS

INTERCOM SYSTEMS

TOM TURKINGTON

Introduction to Wireless Intercoms

Wireless intercoms have a long and important history as part of the communication professional’s repertoire. They have gone through many changes and technological improvements over the years to bring us to where we are today. The purpose of this chapter is to allow you to become familiar with the history, general workings, and special considerations of wireless intercoms. This includes their advantages and disadvantages so that in the next chapter we may explore the wild, sometimes weird, but almost never boring, world of wireless intercom systems design.

Note The use of the term RF is made extensively throughout this chapter and the next. RF is an abbreviation for Radio Frequency. If you are unfamiliar with the term and would like a detailed explanation of what RF is, see the definition in the glossary of this book.

History of Wireless Intercoms

In the beginning there was wire, and the wire was good. Soon engineers realized if they could cut the wires and move the audio, video and communications signals around the television venue without encumbering cables, they would have tremendous freedom to accommodate ever-increasing production challenges. They also believed that wireless transmission of signals would make their job easier by not having to run miles of cable for large remote productions. It turned out not to be so simple. Developing wireless microphones, wireless cameras and wireless intercom systems would be a trial and error adventure that has spanned the last 30 years or more, and it is not over yet!

In this section, we look back at the history of wireless intercom systems and see what we have learned about wireless communications in the process. The original “wireless intercom” consisted of two-way radios and (if you were lucky) a headset. The advantages were the technology was readily available and it was relatively inexpensive to use. Two- ways worked well for some applications, such as pre-show setup and post-show teardown where they are still used today in much the same way they were 30 years ago. Two-ways

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