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Multiway Radio Mics - 1 - What is a radio mic system?

A single radio microphone system consists of a transmitter and a receiver.

The Transmitter
There are generally two types of transmitter - lavallier and handheld. These are pictured below:-


The Lavallier Transmitter	The Handheld Transmitter

The lavallier (or belt-pack) transmitter is usually about the size of a cigarette packet, and is worn on the person, either attached to a belt, put in a pocket, or placed in a pouch which is then tied to the clothing. If it is worn by an actor who sweats a lot, it may be advisable to make the 'pouch' a plastic waterproof bag to afford some protection.
The transmitter houses the electronics and a battery. You will need to attach firstly an aerial for better transmission of the radio output and secondly a microphone. Pictured above on the left is a black Sennheiser MKE2 Lavallier Mic connected to a Trantec S4000 Lavallier transmitter pack.

The handheld transmitter has the electronics and battery in the barrel of the microphone, and the Mic capsule is attached to this. Some models incorporate the transmitter aerial as part of the barrel, and some, as with the Sony handheld pictured above, have an external transmitter aerial.

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