Wire-Lists #37: Custom Tuning Ranges + 4 Other Cool Things in Wireless Designer

Social Media WireLists37 300pxOur newest version of Wireless Designer (version 2.0.25) for both Mac and PC comes with some great new features that should save you time, give you new control, plus added convenience that you might not have thought possible. Let’s dive in:

1) Offline Mode

The new Wireless Designer has an "offline mode" where you don't need to be connected to a system in order to start configuring. You can design all of your set-ups ahead of time. Here’s how. Click on any of the images to make larger:

 

Coordinate with spacing

  • With connected devices, chick on File, then New. Right click on Session, then Add Frame. You can add any of the devices shown.
  • To add channels, right click on any of the Channel Controls in the lefthand grid, then add a channel (s). You can also add a channel by right clicking anywhere in the grey area of the graph as shown below.

 frequency coord2 2

You can also Right click into any of the connected device areas to configure that device. Once you do that...

Show for offline mode and custom channels

...switch to frequency coordination, then click the new Custom Range tab.

Screencap 2

Unless you press "Deploy to System," this is just a sandbox area that doesn’t have to be stored, and you can try out different options without being locked into them. If you switch between tabs or push “Deploy,” you will get a 3rd box that comes up to ask you to save/apply settings.

Screencap 3

2) Frequency Coordination Options

Under “Frequency Coordination,” you also have coordination options that allow you to type values in to coordinate with spacing. There are defaults that we pre-programmed to be universal in most cases. If you change the defaults to closer than recommended, you see red type that indicates that the range might not be optimal. You can override this if you are sure that you want to use your ranges:

Coordinate with spacing

It will alert you if there are frequencies that may be too close by displaying caution triangles. You can still proceed, but if you want to adjust this range, you can do so by dragging the slider bars until the alert disappears:

Alert when two frequencies are too close2

If you’ve tuned to range that will not work, “Alerts Detected” will change to “Warning” and will be in red.

3) Custom Channels

Once you add channels, you can edit all of the channel properties except the block/band.

Add to custom section how to specify channels

If you right click or double click, you get a properties screen. You'll see, under Frequency Controls, "Custom Tuning Range." The “Use Custom Range” checkbox is blank by default. If you check this, you can edit the start and ending frequencies for that channel. The start and end will be limited to the band you have selected. This also comes into play when you are running the automatic frequency coordination.

Add to Custom the options that you can use to set up properties

If you click the Transmitter tab, you will see a "Narrowband TX" option. If you check this, you will get a dropdown. This limits your tuning range to a Narrowband block that you choose. This setting takes priority over the settings you set in Custom Ranges.

Custom narrowband TX option

Custom TX dropdown shown

You can also access this option from the Frequency Coordination tab, which is a new option. You can manually specify the ranges or carrier frequency in this section as well.

Frequency Coordnation where specify ranges and deployJPG

The most common use for this feature would be when you are using a wideband receiver. Configuring through this feature will allow you to use different parts of the spectrum for different parts of your system, an important feature for optimizing your band planning strategy.

4) Importing Scan Data From File

Within the Frequency Coordination screen, there is a new setting called "Import Scan Data From File”. This is handy when you know ahead of time which units will occupy which bands/blocks.
Generate Report Button2

In addition to being able to use stored scan data, the system now also supports different file types (SPA, CSV, Sdb2 or SDF). An online source for RF scans is https://taajuus.info/scan-database

Screencap showing import scan data from file different file types

5) Enhanced Reporting

This feature will allow you to save a graphic interpretation of your settings that you can then share with other sound personnel, front of house or others involved in your project. Use the Generate Report button to obtain:

Show for offline mode and custom channels

The result will give a report of the devices on the system and will look like this:

Generate Report

Be sure to check out the Revision History and Online Help section on our Wireless Designer pages to see all of the features that have been added. While you’re there, make sure that you have the latest firmware revision.