Audio Solutions Question of the Week: How Do I Change The RF Transmission Output Level of The 5000 Series 3rd Generation Transmitters?

Question: What is the 5000 Series backup frequency function and how do I use it?

Answer: The Audio-Technica 5000 Series 3rd Generation wireless offers a Function button to activate a range of features. One of these features is the Bkup Freq (backup frequency), which allows the microphone user to change the transmitter and receiver frequency on the fly with a single press of the button. Engaging the backup frequency may be your saving grace if you encounter RF interferences while using the microphone. When the backup frequency function is assigned to the Function button, pressing the button will send a data packet from the transmitter to its matched receiver, resulting, within a few moments (up to 10 seconds), in a change to the designated backup frequency.

To properly set up your backup frequency, you have to first configure your receiver and transmitter. The first step is to properly configure your frequency coordination. This process will allow you to account for the frequencies you need, including backup frequencies to use in case of unexpected interferences. If you have five wireless systems, you may want to coordinate for an additional five backup frequencies if the RF spectrum is available. Remember, for properly coordinated frequencies, you do not just want to randomly choose frequencies, as that can cause a lot of issues of intermodulation between the frequencies being used.

Before you begin, please note the following:

  • If the procedure times out after an extended period, you may have to restart the process from the beginning.
  • To move one step back in the procedure, press the Back button.
  • To cancel and return to the home screen, press and hold the Back button.

1. Determine your backup frequencies via predetermined frequency coordination from the Audio-Technica Wireless Manager software or use the receiver’s automatic scan function* to view available frequencies. If you use the scan function, follow the instructions below. If you use the software, skip to Step 2.

*You must use the automatic scan function if you want to set Gr/Ch (Group/Channel) frequencies, as shown in Steps 7b and 16b below.

a. Turn on all of your properly coordinated transmitters and set them aside, roughly 10 feet from the receivers or the remote antenna, and at least one foot apart from each other.

b. On your first receiver, press the control dial to display the menu. The menu bar will appear on the right side of the display.

c. Turn the control dial counterclockwise to scroll down to display Scan. Press the control dial.

d. Note that the cursor is on the Scan Group number selector and the default is ALL. Turn the control dial to the same Scan Group you are using with the rest of your systems to avoid   intermodulation or leave on ALL to scan for all the programmed Scan Groups.

e. Once the desired Scan Group is selected, press the control dial.

f. The cursor will move to Threshold. Turn the control dial to the desired setting (Normal, Low, High).

i. The threshold default is Normal, which is adequate for most applications.

ii. You may select High to increase the channel count at the expense of stable frequency operation.

iii. You may select Low to increase the stability of the coordination of the frequency at the expense of the channel count.

g. Once the desired Threshold is set, press the control dial.

h. The receiver begins scanning and, once completed, will display the number of open channels.

i. If you selected to scan ALL, the list is one Scan Group per line.

i. Press OK to accept and display the frequency list, or press Retry to rescan.

j. Take note of the open channels (Group # and Channel # or Frequency.)

Now, we can actually begin the setup process for the backup frequency.

2. Power on you transmitter and receiver.

a. For the ATW-T5201 body-pack, open the battery compartment. Above the batteries are the menu controls, IR Sync button, and Power switch.

b. For the ATW-T5202 handheld, open the battery compartment. On the opposite side of the batteries are the menu controls, IR Sync button, IR Sync window, and Power switch.

3. On the receiver, press the control dial to display the menu. The menu bar will appear on the right side of the display.

4. Turn the control dial clockwise to scroll up to display Utilities. Press the control dial.

5. Turn the control dial counterclockwise to scroll down to display Backup Freq. Press the control dial.

6. If the backup frequency is turned off, turn the control dial to highlight On. Press the control dial. If On is already highlighted, press the control dial.

7. Select your backup frequency.

a. To set frequencies manually based on proper frequency coordination (from Step 1):

i. Turn the control dial to highlight Manual, if needed.

ii. Press the control dial to select Manual.

iii. Turn the control dial to set the first three numbers of the backup frequency, then press the control dial. Turn the control dial to set the remaining three numbers of the backup frequency, then press the control dial.

b. To set Gr/Ch (Group/Channel) frequencies based on your previous scan (from Step 1):

i. Turn the control dial to highlight Gr/Ch. Press the control dial.

ii. Turn the control dial to select the appropriate Group. Press the control dial.

iii. Turn the control dial to select the appropriate Channel. Press the control dial.

8. Turn the control dial to select Sync. This will allow you to IR Sync the receiver and the transmitter, pushing the data from the receiver to the transmitter.

9. Once the sync is completed, turn the control dial to select Set and display “Stored.”

10. Press and hold the Back button on the receiver to return to the receiver’s default display.

11. “BU” will now appear at the bottom of receiver display, indicating that a backup frequency has been set for that receiver.

If you did not IR Sync the receiver and transmitter in Step 8 above, you may set the frequency manually in the transmitter. On the T5202 handheld transmitter, use the Up and Down button to make changes and press the Set button to make the selection. On the T5201 body-pack transmitter, turn the jog dial left or right to make changes and press the jog dial to make the selection.

12. On your transmitter, press the Set button to enter the menu screen.

13. Press the Down button to display Tools and press the Set button. Select Fn Button.

14. Set the Function button.

a. If the Fn Button is already set to Bkup Freq, no additional action is needed.

b. If the Bkup Freq is not listed, press the Set button to edit the Fn Button.

i. Press the Up or Down button to display Bkup Freq.

ii. Press the Set button.

15. Press the Up button to display Frequency. Press the Set button.

16. Set the transmitter’s backup frequency from the results in Step 7 above.

a. If you set Manual frequencies using Step 7a:

i. Press the Up or Down button on the transmitter to display Manual.

ii. Press the Set button to select Manual.

iii. Press the Up or Down button to set the first three numbers of the backup frequency, then press the Set button. Press the Up or Down button to set the remaining three numbers of the backup frequency, then press the Set button. “Stored” will be displayed.

iv. Press and hold the Back button to return to the transmitter home screen.

b. If you set Gr/Ch (Group/Channel) frequencies using Step 7b:

i. Press the Up or Down button on the transmitter to display Gr/Ch.

ii. Press the Set button to select Gr/Ch.

iii. Press the Up or Down button to set the appropriate Group (“no data” will display if you did not use the automatic scan in Step 1). Press the Set button.

iv. Press the Up or Down button to set the appropriate Channel. Press the Set button. “Stored” will be displayed.

v. Press and hold the Back button to return to the transmitter’s home screen.

If you ever need to activate the backup frequency while using the transmitter, just press and hold the transmitter’s Function button. It may take a few moments to engage, but the transmitter display will show “Switch to Bkup Freq” and change to the new frequency. Once the receiver receives the data packet from the transmitter, the receiver will also display “Switch to Bkup Freq” and change to the new frequency. Once again, note that this may take a few moments to fully switch over, depending on RF congestion in your area. Once the backup frequency has been activated, the “BU” icon on your receiver will flash, indicating the frequency has been engaged. You may cycle the receiver power to stop the icon from flashing.

Hopefully you will never have to use your backup frequency, but in the world of wireless, having backups set in place never hurts. If you have further questions or need assistance setting your backup frequency with your 5000 Series 3rd Generation Wireless, please contact us in the Audio Solutions Department.