Not Fragile Stories

I once wired an older actor playing a night security guard in a TV show.  He was supposed to step out of a door and shine a light after some felons fleeing across a rooftop.  The director asked him at the last minute to chase the felons.  When he did his transmitter hopped out of his ankle pack and he punted it perfectly with his other foot, like a field goal, off of the roof, down five floors into the forest!  I found it buried in mud with just the antenna sticking up and the light still on.  

My lectros make a hero of me every day. 

Thanks for the great gear you crazy fanatics!

Mark Schroeder
Vancouver, BC

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

Here is my story about how my UM400a TX took a beating and kept on ticking. 

Years ago when I was just starting out.  I was working on a project in Disneyland.  It entailed following around a family of 4 with two small kids.  I had just gotten my first Lectro set which was a 411a receiver and 400a transmitter.  I was told that the two parents wouldn't be speaking much, and that the dialog from the kids was the most important.  So I gave the 400a to one of the kids, and a Sennheiser g3 to the other.  The parents got g3's as well. 

About halfway through the day, just after lunch when I was walking over to turn the transmitters back on.  I came upon the two kids swinging their transmitters around their heads by the lavalier cable.  Naturally, time slowed down as I absorbed this situation with super human speed.  Before I could get to them however, the kids both ended up smashing the transmitters against the pavement.  

The g3 broke into 3 or 4 pieces.  No if, ands, or buts about it.  It was broken.  The UM400a on the other hand, was miraculously intact.  Only some of the black paint got scratched off of the corners.  Still, I was expecting that it wasn't going to power on anymore.  But again miraculously,  it did.  And then I figured that it almost certainly wouldn't be transmitting properly, but it did.  In fact, except for a little bit of the paint scratching, it was unscathed.  And let me stress that these transmitters hit the ground violently.  I can't blame the g3 at all for breaking.  But what I can absolutely do is praise the 400a for being a literal bomb proof tank.  

It saved us that day because I only had one spare wireless channel beyond the 4 that were already in use.  It took a decent amount of assurances that repairs/replacements would he covered in a timely fashion before I let those kids wear the mics again.  Thank you Lectrosonics! 

Jared Elkin
Production Sound Mixer

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

Take a few minutes to watch a sizzle we put together for a friend who was trying to work his way up the stock car racing circuit. All wireless was Lectrosonics b/c I can trust them in the harshest environments. 

For every race I would put a mic in Roddey's helmet and tape the transmitter on the back. (The deedle function came in immensely helpful in these situations) and I would put a 411 and zoom recorder in the black leather bag and gaff them to a roll bar inside the race car. One race he was hit in the side and the crew had to cut some parts off. In doing so they somehow cut through some of the gaff and loosened the grip on the bag.  

After the race I went to retrieve the receiver and recorder from the car and they were gone. I freaked.

I looked over in turn 1 where a second wreck occurred near the end of the race and saw the black leather bag laying near the top of the track where it had fallen out the side of the car where they cut a panel off and slid to the top of the track.

I got an official to let me jump the infield wall and run up to the top of the turn to get the bag.  The batteries had popped out of the zoom but the 411 was still on and functional.  

That's jus one of the many stories I have to attest to the durability of Lectrosonics products.

Chandler Harkey

TA Films

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

Hi,

I worked on an 'action doc' about a woman who races highly-modified jeeps.

I had a um200c series transmitter on her. She wore it through her final race. At one point, the Jeep hit a huge jump, flies through the air, and lands in a massive puddle. The door-less and windowless Jeep was soaked! She was soaked and in the landing, the transmitter fell to the floor of the Jeep and was also soaked. I was worried. It was a bad drop and then all the water... When I got the mic back, it seemed dead. I turned it on and off...nothing. Put a fresh battery in, nothing. Dried it off as best I could (there was even water IN the battery compartment)...nothing. But after about an hour of drying out, I tried it again and it turned on fine. I checked the lav mic (Sanken cos 011), checked levels, listened for the sound and all was well. Not fragile!

Chris
http://www.christiancarriere.com

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

Here's another one for the "Not Fragile" Files... from the Astros game on 5/27. According to Jason Martin, "the mic worked flawlessly afterwards."

http://www.jasonmartinaudio.com/blog/

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

UT Transmitter take a hit from a foul ball at a Milwalkee Brewers game. The reporter and transmitter don't miss a beat.

 See video below!

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

This UM300B transmitter was run over by a Leopard tank while shooting an instructional film for the Dutch Military forces. The head of maintenance was laughing loudly when he fired up the transmitter and concluded that it was actually working 100%!

Fortunately, no talent was attached to the transmitter when it was run over.

Photos:

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

Scott Farr of Farr Out Productions states that he was contacted to set up all the production equipment for a documentary about the U.S. Coast Guard, 1 month before Hurricane Katrina hit. "I went with Lectrosonics MM400B's along with Countrymens B-6 lav's for the Rescue Swimmers to pick up the audio of the people they would come into contact with."

"Little did we know that a rather large Hurricane was about to change the entire playing field. The crews worked 24hrs and more rescuing for 30+ days. The swimmers were put into situations they had never trained for, including swimming in water that was contaminated with raw sewage as well as raw petroleum. The MM400B's never failed. They kept right on sending audio, allowing the documentary crews to capture some of the most heroic sights and sounds of our USCG in action and those whom they rescued."

Photos:

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

I wanted to share this picture this morning. Someone ran over our Long Ranger with a car at the back of the field while we were in marching practice. The funny thing is that it still works! The metal casing saved the unit! I know I will need a new horn since the plastic was cracked. However, I was amazed that the brains of the unit survived. Please pass this on to your design guys!

I will send a second picture right after this email.

Thanks,

Wayne King

Smithville Band

Photos:

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.

Sergey Karpenko is the sound mixer for the Russian production of the sci-fi film "Paragraf 78". Sounds were gathered from actual aircraft to give a realistic sonic environment, and part of the challenge was to use radio mics. In some cases, these were used onboard the aircraft. Although several brands of wireless mic systems were tested, only the Lectrosonics could provide an un-interrupted signal for the duration of a shoot.

Paragraf 78 stars Gosha Kutsenko (II), Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Yusup Bakhshiev, Anastasiya Slanevskaya, and Aziz Beishenaliyev. The film is directed by Mikhail Khleborodov.

Photos:

Tell us your “Not Fragile” story and get some Lectrosonics swag!

The Gnarly Files are now the “Not Fragile” stories, and we want to hear your experiences with our products that have taken a beating and still produced great sound. If we use your story, we will mail you something cool from Lectrosonics.

Your stories and support are why we strive to make the best products we can and make them “Not Fragile.” Send your story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, phone number, photos for the story, T-shirt size and address where we can send your swag!

We look forward to adding your stories to our archives of quality product stories.