One transmitter on speaker/two receivers?

[Rita Hanson]

This weekend I am videotaping at an event where the speaker will be already wearing a wireless microphone (for the audience). I would like use my Sennheiser EW100 receiver on my Canon GL2.

This seems like it must be a common situation. My question is, should I plan on having the speaker wear my mic as well or is there a way to have my receiver pick up on the transmission from the other transmitter? If he wears two transmitters, will there be interference? Unfortunately, I won't know what type of unit they are using until I get there. What is the correct way to handle this situation?

Thank so much!
Rita

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Plan on using your own transmitter/reciever. There is a possibility they'll have a splitter, and you can split the feed from their receiver off to your camera, but no way can your wireless receiver pick up their transmitter and keep good, stable audio throughout the event.
There should be no interference if he's wearing two transmitters, unless they happen to be extremely close in frequency, or their antenna's are crossed on his body.

[Rita Hanson]

Great, thank you. That's just what I needed to know!

Rita

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Douglas Spotted Eagle

Plan on using your own transmitter/reciever. There is a possibility they'll have a splitter, and you can split the feed from their receiver off to your camera, but no way can your wireless receiver pick up their transmitter and keep good, stable audio throughout the event.
There should be no interference if he's wearing two transmitters, unless they happen to be extremely close in frequency, or their antenna's are crossed on his body.

I certainly agree that one shouldn't trust to luck that your wireless receiver will be the same brand, operating frequency, etc as the venue's system but assuming that it was, why do you say it wouldn't provide stable audio? Radio signals aren't affected by the number of receivers tuned in to them and if the speaker is wearing a wireless transmitter that is sending good audio to the receiver on the house system, why wouldn't it be sending equally good audio to an identical receiver plugged into a camera?

[Jay Massengill]

If the two sets are identical and on the same frequency block, it will work fine to use two receivers if they are set correctly. I think Douglas meant if they were different brands or models even if they are in the same frequency block. That would be no guarantee of stable operation.
Since the OP won't know til they get there, then it would be luck that the two sets were identical and they should plan accordingly.
If both transmitters are employed on the presenter, I would certainly keep them on opposite hips. The greater distance between them the better to reduce the chance they will interfere with each other. I would also have the presenter remove keys, change, pagers, cellphone etc. (They should be doing that anyway.)
Keep in mind that if there is a third transmitter in the room, you can have interference even if all 3 frequencies are different.
Every two transmitter frequencies combine to create a third frequency at a reduced power level. If you have bad luck, one of those resulting 3 additional ghost "transmitters" can interfere with one of your real transmitters.

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Originally Posted by Jay Massengill

If the two sets are identical and on the same frequency block, it will work fine to use two receivers if they are set correctly. I think Douglas meant if they were different brands or models even if they are in the same frequency block. That would be no guarantee of stable operation.

Exactly what I meant. And be sure to use coat pockets or outter hip areas, particularly if the person has some "girth." Additionally try to place the receiver as close to the person with the transmitter as possible and use long cable runs vs using long wireless runs.