Small Church Overflow Room

[timmylange]

Hello, I am seeking advice from those more experienced than I. I belong to a small church that is quickly growing. The main room of worship can fit about 35 people. We now have need of an overflow room. There is another room in our building (we rent the building space) that we want to turn into an overflow room. We do not own any audio/video equipment, so I am in the process of purchasing. Our goal is to setup a TV in the overflow room and broadcast the audio/video of the church service to the TV in the overflow room. What equipment do I need? I assume I will need a camcorder, mic w/ wireless transmitter and receiver, cable to connect camcorder to TV, and the TV itself. Do camcorders transmit directly to TV in real time? Can camcorders transmit to the TV and record at the same time? What are quality wireless mics for an affordable price? Ideally, I'd like to have a mic on the podium that will allow the pastor to roam a few feet on either side and still pick up the audio. Do I need any other equipment than what I've mentioned? Being a small church, we do not have large amount of funds for equipment. I appreciate any and all help that can be provided. Thank you!

[waynehoskins]

Hi, welcome.

I'll tackle the wireless microphone part. What's an affordable price? If $500 is affordable, then it's doable, but that's about where the ones that aren't junk start.

Also you mention a podium mic. Is this in addition to the wireless bodypack, or is that where you plan to put the wireless? If that's where you put the wireless, it will probably work, but your background noise levels will be higher than we like. It becomes an ambient mic rather than a spot mic. You could perhaps cover two feet each side of the podium with that, but only if people actually project; if they don't, then the first row of congregation will be picked up louder than the people on stage.

[bpalermini]

Do you have multiple speakers at services? If not I'd go with a wireless lavaliere mic (one that clips on) for this use the sound will be much better and more consistent. And, as Wayne said, please don't spend less than $500 for a wireless transmitter/receiver/mic set. Something like this Sennheiser set would be good for this application. It costs $600 and will do a great job getting the audio to the camera.

Most cameras have the ability to send audio and video to a monitor while they are recording. You will have to verify that the camera you are purchasing will.

Then to get the picture and audio from the camera to a television you will need at least two cables. One for the video and one for audio coming out of the cameras AV out. What sort of connectors you will need will depend on the camera you buy but it is likely that they will need RCA connectors. I would recommend using coax cable with the proper adapters unless the run is very short.

You will also need a tripod for the camera.

[timmylange]

Wayne/Bob - Thank you very much for your responses! The Sennheiser set that was recommended looks great. Ideally, I am looking for a solution that is mounted to the podium and allows any one person or group to be heard. I'd rather not keep the pastor the only one to be mic'd. What kind of wireless mic could I use for the podium? Anyone have any experience with using a boundary mic on a podium?

The run between rooms is about 50'. Initially, I was thinking of running HDMI from camcorder to TV. Will signal degrade over that distance? I did find a way to splice HDMI onto Ethernet cable for long distances. Anyone have experience with that?

This last part is on my wishlist. Eventually, I'd like to stream our Sunday service live off our website. How would I stream to the TV and stream live at the same time?

Thank you for all help provided!

[sien]

Hi Tim
What kind of wireless mic could I use for the podium?
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EW135G2-A
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EW100ENGG3-A/

The ENG set has a plug on transmitter you could use with an existing wired mic.
Or you could use the handheld transmitter on a mic stand.

Anyone have any experience with using a boundary mic on a podium?
We used to have one and it's not ideal, do consider a handheld mic on a stand.

A wired mic would be cheaper than a wireless mic but you would have to send it to
a dvd recorder rather than a camera.

Do you have an audio mixer?

[waynehoskins]

I've used a Crown PCC-160 on a podium in a play, and it worked well enough -- but this was for light reinforcement with actors who could project.

I know boundary mics have been used on conference room tables for some time, but no idea how well they actually work.

It would certainly work as well as, perhaps better than, a lavalier element taped to the podium, but my gut feeling is that with either solution, in such a small room where the pastor doesn't have to project at all, background noise would make it far from ideal -- background noise from other people, moving air, etc. They'd also be sensitive to "handling noise"; it would take some trial and error to sufficiently isolate the mic from the podium. I used foam with good enough success in that play, but also there wasn't stuff like paper noise.

Is a move to a larger single room practical? I think the return on investment, and the scalability, would be much better there. In a room that seats one or two hundred, by the time you need an overflow room, you'd likely have some audio and video infrastructure in place, making the overflow feed much easier to do and better quality.