700 mhz wireless
 

anyone stuck with 700 mhz wireless gear? I have Azden stuff which I guess im not supposed to use. What could be the worst that could happen? The FCC come after me?

FCC fines are roughly $500/channel in use. At least here in LA, there are a few pretty nasty areas of interference due to DTV and some of the new communications uses of that area of spectrum.

Chances you are caught are slim unless you piss off the wrong folks (ie Google, ATT/Cingular, etc... that owns the spectrum). Then you are in for a world of hurt. In the venues where I work, we have just banned gear from our stages in that spectrum as it is just too big of a liability to worry about.

--Ben

I do weddings so its only an hour at a time.

Like all things illegal. Do so at your own risk. Personally, I don't risk it.

There is plenty of open spectrum (good), but the penalties are not fightable and the stuff that occupies that spectrum isn't necessarily consistant. You may be good for most of the time, but just because frequencies are clear at one moment does not mean they will be in the next.

Check with the manufacturer of your wireless. Many of them can retrofit the units by swapping chips at a reduced cost. Some require a new box to be purchased, but for a long time there were some pretty good trade-in deals.

--Ben

I thought the trade in deals were a rip off - the lav mic were worth more than the trade in value. I sold my 700 mhz kits on ebay because a number of other countries can use them. I got around $450 for each one.