Behind The Mixer

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Wireless Microphone Interference – Squelch It

Keeping Noise Out And Letting In The Good Stuff  Photo provided by peterzen

Last week, I was called into a church for resolving a wireless microphone problem. Over the phone, it sounded like an easy fix. Once I got there, that’s when the real trouble started.

“If I can re-create the problem then I can fix the problem.”  Those are the words I have used throughout my life. Whether it was a computer problem, electrical problem, or audio problem, if I could re-create the problem, I could fix it. It comes down to this; when you can recreate the problem, you can analyze the components and track down the source of the problem. Find the source and you’re right around the corner from a solution.

Talking with the guy at the church, he explained they were having interference with one of the microphones. Please note, this church is very close to the interstate and a huge truck stop. CB interference was likely. I checked all of their wireless microphones for the frequency ranges they used. Everything was in the UHF (Ultra High frequency) range – nothing in which the CB radios should interfere.

Next, I took to verifying all wireless microphones were on different channels. I had expected if that was the case, two channels would be picking up the same microphone and not getting interference. It was only at this point I decide we should turn on all of the wireless microphones and their appropriate mixer channels. Having a paper chart of the wireless microphones and frequencies was a good place to start so I knew what I had in the room.

All the microphones were active for about twenty minutes with zero interference. Then, I walked up to the stage and knelt down by the receiver units and the house speakers started emitting a painful sound. I looked at the receiver units and one had the clip light flashing. I moved back and it stopped. I moved in again and the awful sound started again. So I squelched it.

Squelch

A definition of squelch is, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “to completely suppress.” By suppressing or stopping a sound, you aren’t giving it any volume in your house speakers. Wireless receivers have the ability to squelch sound as well. Imagine a squelch circuit which acts much like a noise gate. If the signal level of the radio frequency is below a certain amount, the gate stays closed and nothing gets passed to the mixer channel. When the signal is strong enough, the signal is passed along. At this point, the squelch circuit is keeping background noise from being passed to your channel.

But what about interference? Is there a way to squelch that? In short, yes.

The folks at Audio-Technica describe it like this;

“Interference complicates the [squelch circuit] situation considerably. Interfering signals can trick the receiver into un-muting the audio output, especially when the wireless transmitter is turned off. One approach to this problem is to make the squelch point adjustable. Often a squelch setting can be found that will un-mute the receiver when the strong transmitter signal is received, but not when only the weaker interfering signal is present. Unfortunately, a high or “tight” squelch setting usually will also reduce the maximum range of the wireless system. This is because the transmitter must be relatively close in order to deliver the necessary strong signal to the receiver.”

On the back of your analog wireless microphones will be a small knob labeled “squelch.” Which begs the question…

How do I set the squelch?

Shure microphones give you a simple set of instructions;

  1. Turn the transmitter power off to eliminate the desired signal.
  2. Turn on all associated equipment in nearby locations to create the “worst-case” signal condition.
  3. Set the receiver volume control to minimum to avoid excessive noise in the sound system.
  4. Turn the receiver power on.
  5. Observe the RF and audio indicators on the receiver.
  6. If the indicators are showing a no-signal condition the squelch setting may be left as-is.
  7. If the indicators are showing a steady or intermittent signal-received condition increase the squelch control setting until a no-signal condition is indicated. Set the squelch control slightly past this point to provide a threshold margin.
  8. If the no-signal condition cannot be achieved even with high squelch settings it may be possible to find and eliminate the undesirable signal. Otherwise it may be necessary to select a different operating frequency.
  9. Turn the transmitter power on.
  10. Make sure that the receiver indicates a signal-received condition with the transmitter at normal operating distance.

The Take Away

There are a lot of benefits of using wireless microphones. At the same time, using wireless technology means you are introducing a whole new host of potential problems. The next time you have an interference issue with a wireless microphone, listen to what being emitting through that channel. If it’s the nastiest sound you’ve ever heard, then it’s likely a problem you can easily squelch.

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Comments

  1. Why would all my wireless work correctly until the church is full of people. We rehearsed several time during the week with no problem. Once church started only one wireless mic (mine) started acting up with interference. After church service was over we notice the interference had left. I guess it could be satan!?!?

    Reply

  2. I have the Sennheiser em10 wireless mic system, on the transmitter how far do you adjust the volume knob while performing?

    Reply

  3. I started getting static sound in a wireless lavalier mic at my church. It usually happened when the mic was turned off and the board was unmuted for that mic. It is a new static noise—I’ve been using this mic for years and never had a problem. I changed the battery and changed the squelch to no avail. It seems to be random as well. Most of the times I can’t get it to act up—until my pastor starts preaching that is. Any ideas on the problem? I’m wondering if a something new in the area may be bleeding a signal into my mic that is so weak it just causes static. Can you easily change mic frequency without special equipment? Thanks

    Reply

    • Yes, you could have another church in the area or another mic in the building (kids area, etc) that’s using that frequency or has an intermod frequency that’s doing it. Scan for a new channel. Some wireless have preset wireless channels. Open up the beltpack or handheld mic and you’ll see a knob or control to change this. It’s usually numbers 1-6, 1-10, etc. Then turn the receiver to the same channel number.

      Reply

  4. hi, how would this work with a act system uhf wireless transmitter using a plug in headset mic.
    I drummer will use one when he is needed to sing and play. problem is every time he moves around some it gives of static. the mic seams real sensitive and you get a lot of breath noise as well. his stage monitor is right at his side he leans it where the speaker is directed to his head so it is prob 2.5-3′ from the monitor speaker. I can take the headset and walk all around the church and only get a little problems from moving the wire not like he gets. also there is a old style tube light above where he plays and he is using electronic drums.i wonder should I get another mic that will works with the system or could it be the closeness to speaker and light. it is about I am guessing 40′ from transmitter to receiver. what you think?

    floyd

    Reply

  7. I have a technical pro uhf wireless mic setup. I keep getting an “electrical static” noise that is not consistent. The system did not come with a grounded power cord and am wondering if this could be the issue or if there is something else I haven’t thought of.

    Reply

  9. I teach a class for seniors that involves movement while both sitting and standing. I wear a tunebelt with battery pack that connections wirelessly. I’ve been having problems with static-type noise coming from the pack, which I suspect is related to the wire (connecting headset to battery) or antenna being bent. Can you give me tips for best placement of the tunebelt/battery to avoid this noise?

    Reply

  10. We have recently bought two 400W outdoor speakers along with two wireless mics. Whenever the anchor (holding the wireless mic) comes near to the speakers, the speakers give loud steep noise. Can you tell us what could be the problem and how to fix it?

    Reply

  11. Great article! I’m also having problems with my six wireless microphones. The problem I am is after an hour of use the radio signal of two of my six mics begin to drop. I haven’t changed anything on my mics and receivers; this just started happening.

    Reply

  12. Hi.. My problem is the signal is intermittent. Could this be a squelch issue? Shure UT4A-VF, Handheld. Never had a problem for years…

    Reply

    • It’s either interference or the equipment is showing its age. Try it on a difference frequency channel. Maybe there is something new in the church or the area that’s interfering.

      Reply

  13. I have a similar problem with a Nady-4 UHF wireless microphone setup in which the squelch was adjusted to remove interference from a second Nady-4 receiver set at a different frequency (rack mounted next to each other) but I am still having problems with the audio from the transmitter being muted due to interference. One of the units is set to about 911 MHz and the other is operating at about 915 MHz. Any thoughts?

    Reply

    • Matt, can you set the frequencies farther apart? With that much room between then< i wouldn't expect any issues. Have you tried the squelch on both?

      Reply

      • Chris,
        The frequencies are set at the factory for the units so I cannot easily modify them. I have also set the squelch on both units, but I am not at maximum adjustment. The interesting thing is that the handheld mic. (on the 915 freq. unit) doesn’t mute as bad as the hands free setup (on the 911 freq. unit), but you can still tell that there is a bit of interference because of the volume changes at times not associated with movement of the microphone.

        Reply

        • Just a follow up to my original issue. I ended up having a bad body pack transmitter on the 911 freq. unit that was causing my issues and once I replaced it my problems disappeared on that unit. I also resolved almost all interference on the handheld microphone by maxing out the input level control on the microphone transmitter to get my S/N ratio higher.

          Reply

  14. Great article. I am facing the interference issue at my church and I have set my squelch to high but I still have problems. Do you have any suggestions. I have a mix of sennhieser and shure mics.

    Reply

    • Check that your different wireless frequencies between the mic’s aren’t right next to each other. Also, is it occasional interference is could it be they are too close to the monitors?

      Reply

  15. Pardon the newbie question. I understand the use of squelch that you describe so well in the article. Thanks! However, in this case study, what exactly was causing the noise that needed to be squelched? Was the signal somehow disrupted by approaching the base unit?

    Thanks again for the great articles!

    Jim

    Reply