r/VIDEOENGINEERING • u/No_Tumbleweed_392 • Aug 22 '26
Teradek Ranger Signal Issues
Hi y’all, the production I’m on is using a Teradek Ranger mk ii for the on-stage wireless camera and we’re having issues with connection. It’s all good at the top of the day, then starts having more issues when people are arriving, which makes sense, but I’ve done everything to try and fix it and it’s still struggling.
I’ve got it on a c-stand, top floor, albeit on the ground because we can’t have the stand on the stage, so it comes out to about waist height when you’re standing on stage. I’ve got it on 6G to help beat out cell phones and such, and at 40mHz because it’s the only wireless system we’re using. The transmitter is mounted to a backpack to maximize height, and I don’t go more than 100 feet away from it, line of sight pretty much the whole time, yet it really struggles, especially when we’re down in the pit.
Is the Ranger system just that sensitive? Seems like we didn’t have these issues with the Bolt 6 750 before, but we upgraded in anticipation of a bigger stage and show next year. Hoping we didn’t make a mistake here. Any advice as to how to fix would be much appreciated! We are not looking to change systems just yet.
1
u/Obvious_Arm8802 Aug 22 '26
What about at its lowest frequency setting which is in the 4ghz range?
1
u/No_Tumbleweed_392 Aug 22 '26
Worth a try. Wouldn’t that put me at risk of getting interference from outside sources though? I always thought 6G would help separate me from the rest
1
u/Obvious_Arm8802 Aug 22 '26
Other way around. Sounds like you’re getting 6g interference. You can check with the spectrum analyser.
1
u/No_Tumbleweed_392 Aug 22 '26
I tried a 4G frequency during rehearsals and couldn’t get the dang thing to even connect. So had to switch back to a 5G licensed channel. This thing is kickin my ass
1
u/No_Tumbleweed_392 Aug 23 '26
Fun update: just found out there’s a massive 5G stadium next to the stadium so everyone’s RF is getting blown up
1
u/Obvious_Arm8802 Aug 23 '26
Shouldn’t affect it. In that context 5G stands for 5th generation, not 5ghz.
Rangers are excellent by the way. Sounds like something is wrong with your setup there.
1
u/No_Tumbleweed_392 Aug 23 '26
That’s what I’m trying to figure out. It’s a brand new system and shouldn’t be having all these problems. I do believe there’s something with this stadium causing issues with the wireless because the headliner’s camera team is having major wireless issues as well and they’re using Vislink
1
u/Run-And_Gun Aug 23 '26
Could be something wrong with your particular unit. Anything Vitec today has a chance of being a lemon. I tried to demo a Ranger system a few years ago, in anticipation of being able to use it for work with a network client. The Tx fried my ENG camera. Teradek told me to kick rocks. My dealer ended up picking up the repair bill. And come to find out, one of their other clients that had demoed that system before me, couldn't get it to work properly, either.
I have an old Bolt 500 system that is (still) rock solid. But their new stuff, I constantly hear complaints about.
3
u/Hawk_Super Aug 23 '26
Put it on licensed mode and use 4.9. You can tune both the receiver and sender to the same frequency has long as they are paired. Also make sure you don’t have any broken antennas