Save Our Sound UK

Thank you very much. I am wonderring if i can shar...

2010-12-13T07:43:16.268Z

Thank you very much. I am wonderring if i can share your article in the bookmarks of society，Then more friends can talk about this problem.

I am in the folk industry and playing regularly at...

2010-11-30T19:25:58.824Z

I am in the folk industry and playing regularly at festivals and clubs. Using a mobile system for my instruments is vital to my stage presentation and my existing equipment will suddenly become redundant at the whim of the government. disgraceful!!

Y.E.M. Theatre School I am sure all Theatre schoo...

2010-10-14T13:35:44.670+01:00

Y.E.M. Theatre School

I am sure all Theatre schools, Rock Choirs, and many Musicians will be devastated with this news. We our selves have spent a lot of money on radio mikes and can ill afford to replace them. Most of our performances are for charity, and therefore we would find it very difficult to raise extra money for something we have already paid for. It seems to me this will be one more kick in the head for entertainment, amateur or professional alike

I can't believe the government is supporting t...

2010-07-20T13:02:17.000+01:00

I can't believe the government is supporting this, it's going to cause so many more problems than it supposedly fixes. Not happy about this at all!

It has taken years for our church drama group to s...

2010-07-18T06:54:38.000+01:00

It has taken years for our church drama group to save to buy radio mics. It's quite easy for the government to say "just throw them in the bin and buy new" It should be their problem to provide replacements, not ours.

I will not give up using my expensive equipment th...

2010-06-23T15:39:50.000+01:00

I will not give up using my expensive equipment there is enough adjustment to use it illegally and still avoid new owners stuff em I doubt I will ever get caught Its all rock and roll

What a ridiculous proposition- and its just so tha...

2010-06-23T13:36:17.000+01:00

What a ridiculous proposition- and its just so that the already rich mobile providers in the UK can get richer!

Hi Karl

Technically you could still use yo...

2010-06-09T22:26:35.000+01:00

Hi Karl

Technically you could still use you system, and nobody would every know or care, lets face it it's only a 10 mw output you would be lucky to get outside of a normal building with that sort of power at UHF.

I have 14 ULX Shures with 4 distribution amps with remote antennas and I can't scan a signal outside the building the problem would be interference from mobile broadband devices, regarding the cost of new equipment the point that a lot of people forget is the transmitter and receiver is only the means of get the audio signal from A-B it's the microphone that gives you the quality.

You can still legally use you system till 2012 which according to the Maya calender it all comes to an end on the 21st December 2012, so does OFCOM know something we don't.

I am looking at http://www.trantec.co.uk/html/p_UHF_Systems.htm they work at the new frequency and the transmitters/receivers are around half the price of Shure they can take my Shure WL50 Microphones which we have 20

I have nothing against Shure, I have had this system for around 6 years it's never had a problem only artist/animals ripping the WL50 of f not leaving it to the microphone technician and hairdressers spraying hair spray into the microphones.

Get well soon

TS

I am worried to death about this my microphone cos...

2010-05-30T20:22:59.000+01:00

I am worried to death about this my microphone cost £2400 with an extra transmitter another £1000 I have been ill waiting to return to stage so my mic is still new looking I have been paying my license even though not able to work working again soon gotta pay off debt because was unable to work. To replace the equipment would cost about £5000 due to increase in exchange rates bought on by ressesion I believe there will be compensation for old equipment based on residual value which has been knocked down to practically nothing due to the fact that the mics are now unsaleable cause everyone knows they will be illegal soon also it will be a percentage of 10 parts residual value representing 10 years life span by the time of ban that means my mics wil be worth 2 parts of nothing cause it will be 8 years old still in prestine condition so I will be forced to use the equipment illegally cause I just cant afford to replace it this mic was my most expensive prized posession I worked so hard to get the mic used by the stars it was my dream now I feel awful and let down I will use my mic after the ban cause I have to if I could replace it I would the show must go on by the way when I got ill i stood on stage in agony trying to work for 6 months before it was too much for me show must go on rehearsing again in my living room with mic in question may be last chance to use it.

The government are (and always have been) more con...

2010-05-29T23:07:24.000+01:00

The government are (and always have been) more concerned with their own wealth than the best interests of the people. This is a prime example!

What happens to the creative industry? Do we convert our audio signals to bits and bytes over their new broadband frequencies using our mobile phones as microphones?

You have our full support on your campaign!!

Absolutely rediculous to take away our frequencies...

2010-05-23T20:39:04.000+01:00

Absolutely rediculous to take away our frequencies. I am involved in both churches and village hall who only installed their sound system last year and now find that we are at risk of needing to replace all our radio microphones.
Unnecessary expense and also waste of good mirophones and for what = for the government (instigated by a labour government) to make a profit.
Tory/Lib Dem Coalition requires to address this as soon as possible.

Wouldn't the best course of action be civil di...

2010-04-30T03:41:14.000+01:00

Wouldn't the best course of action be civil disobedience? Get the industry together issue a press release stating we're not going to junk our equipment, send out a warning to potential buyers that should they go against the industry though valid they face a fight to validate their licence(s).

Surely if it works one way ie the purchasers of equipment being refused compensation on the grounds that notice was given when in reality it was not as per your article no alternative was announced, no alternatives were made available, no choice, effectively making the notice itself null and void, then to warn off potential buyers is equally valid?

Now for the licences themselves did the equipment manufacturers have a licence to manufacture equipment using that bandwidth? Did not purchasers of equipment acquire (even if by default) a licence to operate said equipment on on said frequencies?

Hell I thought artists and by default the music industry was about being revolutionary! You asking us to go cap in hand to these underworked, overpaid, expenses fiddling...... Damn words fail me!

Even if your campaign was to gain some momentum, the larger organisations and charities as per ususal will be catered for, but sure as hell somewhere down the line the little guy will always lose.

What about the small bands with personal wireless equipment, those who do not keep receipts, those who purchased second hand? Will you guys hold out and say what about the little guys we want make sure they're taken care of too? I will not be holding my breath!

It has been proven MPs don't give a damn, they might give you some indicaction they care for your plight and then vote along party lines - like turkeys pleading to Christians at Christmas!

The government act like gangsters and like any playground bully they must be reisisted this is in effect day light robbery, changing the goalposts let them get away with it at our peril!

Let them take us all to court!

If you're serious come up with a slogan start a campaign backed by large venues, major and smaller acts, start a myspace, facebook, twitter!

Sporting venues will be affected, get them involved too, schools, colleges, universities, festivals.

This is the new poll tax! Just this time we don't want no rioting, no spilling of blood, just a defiant, quiet revolution!

Call To Direct Action NOW and damn well get them to back down!!

www.livingrebel.com

Absolutley agree with comments. Personally I look...

2010-04-24T12:33:55.000+01:00

Absolutley agree with comments. Personally I look after all the equipment I own and the thought of having to bin 35 channel 69 mics and purchase 35 channel 38 mics is crazy. Even though a number of them are several years old age has nothing to do with the mics. Unless they blow up, they are just as reliable and functional as the day they were purchased. It's going to be interesting how this process will actually work.

If they are not going to come and have a look at all the kit (which I very much doubt), how on earth are they going to police who says they have what? Interesting times, I await my big cheque in the post!!

We are right behind you on this. I would not be su...

2010-04-16T22:33:41.000+01:00

We are right behind you on this. I would not be surprised if the Irish Govt. follow suit in time.
Good luck from all in the AIST

Hi Adi - the answer is 'pushed back until afte...

2010-04-15T16:02:46.000+01:00

Hi Adi - the answer is 'pushed back until after it's over'...the campaign was informed that a decision could be expected before the end of March 2010. Well, that date came and went, with no decision forthcoming, the Election was then called and everything on funding has now been put into stasis.

Previously the campaign had been told that a decision would be made around the time of the pre-budget report at the back end of 2009. Obviously no decision was forthcoming there either.

Extremely frustrating...

Ofcom has said that funding will be provided for t...

2010-04-11T22:14:34.000+01:00

Ofcom has said that funding will be provided for the move from Ch69 to Ch38 subject to eligibility criteria, if you read the small print, Ofcom have stated that the cost of replacing equipment should be ‘based on the residual equivalent value of existing equipment and not the cost of buying new equipment’

The full lifecycle of equipment from the date of purchase should not be defined simply by the time it takes to write-down its value.

Ofcom must understand that PMSE owners of the equipment need to generate returns on their investment. But more importantly, the lifecycle of the equipment is how long it operates before it breaks and needs to be replaced.

Wireless microphones can last for much longer than 10 years and they retain use-value up until the point at which they need replacing; maximum depreciations are far less than the lifespan of the product. Therefore, financial assistance must be provided to replace any equipment that is still capable of operating in channel 69 at the point at which channel 69 will be cleared of PMSE.

Moreover, since Ofcom cannot predict how long that wireless microphone would continue to function if PMSE were not being evicted from CH69, then the full cost of replacing that equipment should be covered by the new licensees/Government.

At present, Ofcom’s assumed duration of the lifecycle of the equipment is conservative and consequently will therefore unfairly penalise those who look after their equipment, or specifically buy the expensive highly-engineered product, which is built to last 15 years.

The bottom line is that Ofcom will make a lot of money out of the sale of the 8ooMHZ spectrum, and end users should not have to fund this move.

I support this 100%, of course, but I must admit, ...

2010-04-07T10:31:09.000+01:00

I support this 100%, of course, but I must admit, I haven't heard anything about this.

Customers are screaming at us, asking us what we&#...

2010-03-30T12:36:36.000+01:00

Customers are screaming at us, asking us what we're going to do about the mics they bought last year. We don't even know where most of the Manufacturers stand on the issue yet!

With an election looming, is it possible that this...

2010-03-24T10:15:10.000Z

With an election looming, is it possible that this issue is going to be pushed back until after it is over, or rushed through before?

I agree with the comments about offcom. They are ...

2010-03-04T18:11:55.000Z

I agree with the comments about offcom. They are not trying to protect or serve us, they are here for making the deal happen and generate money. As for the non licensed users they are using a free band but at the same time they are buying a product that is able to operate in the bands that need license. So basically on the purchase they are paying an amount of money to the manufacturer. All these comapanies (Sennheiser, Audio Ltd etc) have bought license to construct and sell products that cover that range and they include this in the price of their product. So in a way a non licensed user is being charged for having the ability to expand if he ever needs. in the same way he is one of the victims. What if he decides that during 2012 he wants to purchase a license and use his systems in channel 69. Basically their systems are rendered useless for expansion after that date and they have to bear the cost of the situation as well and without any help.

Also has anybody thought the possibility that the quality of channel 70 might be severely affected by interference from the newly heavy loaded neighbouring bands?

There are many people out there that are just starting their business in the field and don't know their future but as things stand they are helpless in their effort to plan it. What happens if somebody gets a license today and registers his products? Will he be included in the list of people being compensated?

Myself want to replace my systems for better quality ones but I'm not willing to pay loads of money at this point when I'm not sure what the future will bring.

Also consider BT Vision powerline adapters are als...

2010-03-04T14:25:11.000Z

Also consider BT Vision powerline adapters are also known to fail EMC type approval, and can interfere with amateur radio bands, and were approved on a draft spec that was then removed as it was deemed unacceptable! Ofcom have done nothing to protect the wireless spectrum in that case either. Ofcom and the government are not there to serve us, they're there to stuff their dirty little pockets full of cash from the highest bidder! :-(

OK, so we spend considerable sums equiping the chu...

2010-02-26T19:52:18.000Z

OK, so we spend considerable sums equiping the church to meet the requirements of a AFILS (loop system) complete with, as far as we can tell, the latest thing in radio mics. Within a year or two, HMG now decide to sell off our spectrum, just to make more money. [How hard is it to excempt a few channels for radio mic use for, say, 10 to 15 years?] I can see the logic of European Harmonisation, but if they must force this on us (hardly an environmentally-sound decision) then they should be prepared to use some of the cash raised to retune (or replace) the equipment affected. It's quite unjustifiable from a moral perspective to force such changes at short notice.
It's a repeat of the TV debacle, where analogue TVs were still being sold well after the decision to 'go digital' had been taken by HMG. Yet another complete waste of the earth's resources (because you are replacing kit well before it's natural expiration - in this case around 15 to 20 years to early).

I do not think this forum should be at all concern...

2010-02-24T17:14:34.000Z

I do not think this forum should be at all concerned about the prospect of non-licensed users being paid compensation. I am fairly certain the government would never pay these usera a penny as they use such a limited and well publicised "free to all" part of the spectrum which will still be there for them after the sell off.
We are one of these so called freeloaders but our concern is that we regularly run at larger halls with built in sound equipment and licensed radio michrophones. This means they will need to replace their mics and thereby put yet another overhead in place for anyone renting their venue complete with sound.
The smaller DJs, Karaoke operators and solo artistes using the free band have no problems as they will just carry on as usual until the government decides to license or sell off that small band.
Mt main co0ncern for putting us behind this campaign is p[urely to add more weight to the license fee payers who will be affected as we may not always be running smaller venues and may have to get a license if we want to use more than 4 or so mics.
If this happens then we will have to purchase all new radio mics. we therefore are supporting those already in that position but have no axe to grind with the smaller musicalact/dj/karaoke operator making use of the free band.
It makes sense that those affected get the compensation and naturally those using licensed bands without paying will be forced out of using them and will have to but new equipment without compensation.
I do believe that anyone buying equipment for use in the licensed bands should have to show their licence and this sell off will actually facilitate that as the mics now available will no longer be able to tune in to those bands being sold off and will not tune in to the newly licensed replacement bands.
I hope that makes sense but you will see people like Sennheiser making mics specific to the new bands and also specific to the free frequencies.

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No Gil. That just doesn't mak...

2010-02-17T22:57:34.000Z

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No Gil. That just doesn't make sense, it gives them no excuse at all. In fact the opposite is true.
Ofcom have already agreed to pay something to licensees. Not enough of course, they should refund the full cost.
But extending the payments to anyone who can produce an old radio mic, regardless of whether it was ever licensed or even whether it is still in use, can only dilute the amount available to those who have played by the rules. It would make Ofcom even more reluctant to pay the full value.