You're tx'ing IEMs a distance of 300'? I hope to god you're using helicals, and not shark fins!
Well, we use IFR Com120B, which is an uber-expensive IFR-- to test all RF gear. When you test antenna cable on a spectrum analyzer, it allows to check for any minimal loss, internal nicks, etc, and shows you serious loss- like the 6dB you get with a bad connector crimp. A regular cable checker won't do this, but it would be insane to buy a high end frequency spectrum analyzer for a few stops- you could buy new cable for every single stop for less money! If you are using one of the bigger rental shops, they should be doing this for you every time the gear comes back in the shop. Masque Sound, Sound Associates, PRG Audio- this kind of rental shop does this automatically, or the specialized RF rental providers, like - Professional Wireless, Production Radio Rentals, CP Communications, Wireless First - these guys are specialists in RF.
You should not have to test your antenna cable between jumps if you take care of it. I have seen tours go out with cable and come back four years later with the cable in excellent condition...of course, these are sitdowns, not one-nighters.
My own personal spectrum analyzer is a little ProTek 3201, which ran me under 2k, because it's smalll and does the job onsite...but can't do a serious cable test.
Hope this helps!
JvB
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr P  I will try this tomorrow on an IEM system I am using that could use a little extra range.
I'd like to know about the IFR, and which tests you perform. Futhermore, for cable that is either part of rental stock or sees alot or touring how often would you recommend the cable be tested?
I tour with a small theatre show that tours our own RF cable - precisely because too many places provide us with 3532s coupled with nothing but 60' RG58 cables - makes it very hard to get clean reception at 300' and beyond. I wonder if we should find a local audio house (System Sound maybe) or RF specialist that can test the cables between tours.
Cheers,
Phillip |