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FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS<br />
Hedy Lamarr and George<br />
Antheil patented a frequencyhopping<br />
technique to control<br />
torpedoes and avoid detection<br />
and interception.<br />
Result Oriented<br />
P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S&<br />
Marketing Strategies<br />
P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S<br />
continued from page 39<br />
chronometers.” And to insure further accuracy,<br />
they suggested the use of a synchronizing<br />
pulse, which would be transmitted<br />
periodically to signal the receiver when to<br />
start the clock.<br />
The use of frequency-hopping would<br />
effectively spread the carrier signal<br />
among a wider spectrum of electromagnetic<br />
radiation. This is a technique known<br />
as frequency-hopping spread spectrum<br />
(FHSS) transmission. It differs from fixedfrequency<br />
transmission in that the transmitter<br />
and receiver are not set to a single<br />
frequency, as is sometimes the case with<br />
wireless microphones. Instead, the carrier<br />
signal ranges from 2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz,<br />
which is known as the ISM band (industrial,<br />
scientific, and medical), or from 5.47 GHz<br />
to 5.725 GHz, which is known as the U-NII<br />
NEWS<br />
EVENT PRODUCTION DIRECTORY<br />
With Verifiable Results<br />
<strong>PLSN</strong> & EPD<br />
A Case Study in<br />
EFFECTIVE Advertising<br />
Bob Morrissey is a tough customer… You have to be tough<br />
to run a production <strong>com</strong>pany in Rhode Island for 35 years.<br />
You also have to be smart and know what works – on stage<br />
and in running a business. When it <strong>com</strong>es to marketing his<br />
<strong>com</strong>pany, East Coast Lighting & Production Services, Bob is<br />
sure of one thing, advertising in Projection, Lights & Staging<br />
News and the Event Production Directory works!<br />
band (unlicensed national information infrastructure).<br />
Refresh Rates<br />
plsn<br />
The bandwidth of transmission is less<br />
than 1 MHz, so several hops can be made<br />
inside each range of frequencies. Depending<br />
on the manufacturer, the number of<br />
hops can vary from tens to thousands of<br />
hops each second. The maximum refresh<br />
rate of DMX is 43 Hz, which means that<br />
most wireless DMX systems are easily capable<br />
of transmitting the maximum number<br />
of data packets with plenty of room to<br />
spare. If there is any loss of data or data corruption,<br />
the data will be refreshed quickly<br />
enough that the error will most likely go<br />
undetected by the user.<br />
If any of the frequencies in the transmission<br />
band have interference, then some<br />
FHSS technologies will adapt by hopping<br />
over those frequencies. This is a technique<br />
known as adaptive frequency-hopping. This<br />
helps improve the reliability of transmission.<br />
For example, if someone in the production<br />
office decides to pop some popcorn<br />
in the microwave oven while you’re<br />
trying to control the lighting system, then<br />
the wireless transmitter will detect interference<br />
at a certain frequency and hop over<br />
that frequency in the course of sending a<br />
data transmission.<br />
Microwave ovens, cordless telephones<br />
and Bluetooth devices all operate in the<br />
ISM band, which can potentially cause interference.<br />
For that reason, many of the<br />
new wireless DMX devices operate in both<br />
the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands. When<br />
you see the term “dual band,” that’s what it<br />
means.<br />
FHSS offers a variety of advantages<br />
over fixed-frequency radio transmission. It<br />
helps make it more immune to interference<br />
by spreading the energy over a range of<br />
frequencies so that any narrowband interference<br />
has less of an impact on the entire<br />
transmission signal. It also allows a transmission<br />
to coexist with other devices in the<br />
same transmission band and still operate<br />
effectively.<br />
Advertising in Projection, Lights & Staging News and the<br />
Event Production Directory WORKS!<br />
“Thank you for the opportunity to be on the EPD Directory cover last year.<br />
The EPD and <strong>PLSN</strong> are the best advertising money I have ever spent.<br />
I look forward to a long term relationship with <strong>PLSN</strong> and the EPD.”<br />
—Bob Morrissey, President<br />
East Coast Lighting & Production Services (ECLPS)<br />
Being on the cover of the Event Production Directory and maintaining a continuity advertising program in Projection,<br />
Lights & Staging News has paid big dividends for Bob, and this is one piece of insider knowledge he doesn’t mind<br />
sharing.<br />
So if your <strong>com</strong>pany is looking to make 2011 a breakout year, the time to ensure your success in the New Year is now.<br />
Make a solid marketing decision today. Create a “strategic plan” to market your <strong>com</strong>pany in the magazines the<br />
industry has turned to for over 10 years.<br />
Result Oriented Marketing Strategies With Verifiable Results<br />
PUT A PLAN INTO ACTION. Stop going to the “Shoot from the Hip School of Marketing.” Strategize with your <strong>PLSN</strong>/EPD<br />
marketing consultant to devise a plan to keep your <strong>com</strong>pany’s name and products in front of the largest circulation<br />
of potential customers available in the industry today – the subscribers of Projection, Lights & Staging News.<br />
Greg Gallardo<br />
702.454.8550 • gregg@plsn.<strong>com</strong><br />
Mike Devine<br />
702.478.8112 • md@plsn.<strong>com</strong><br />
Matt Huber<br />
702.932.5585 • mh@plsn.<strong>com</strong><br />
2010 DECEMBER <strong>PLSN</strong><br />
41<br />
Wireless Advances<br />
plsn<br />
Wireless DMX transmission has been<br />
around for several years, and it keeps getting<br />
better by taking advantage of improvements<br />
in wireless technology. In the last<br />
five years, it has be<strong>com</strong>e more reliable, easier<br />
to implement and less nerve-wracking<br />
than ever before. In my experience, those<br />
who argue that wireless DMX is unreliable<br />
are typically reflecting on a bad experience<br />
they had with it several years ago. If you<br />
give the current technology a try, chances<br />
are you will not be disappointed.<br />
These advances owe a debt of gratitude<br />
to a number of people who have contributed<br />
to the technology dating back to the<br />
early 20th century, including Hedy Lamarr<br />
and Geore Antheil. Lamarr and Antheil were<br />
never successful in selling their idea to the<br />
Navy. The mad scientist in the Naval officer<br />
who reviewed the patent might have been<br />
impressed with the resourcefulness of the<br />
duo, but the officer in him likely choked<br />
on the idea of using a low-tech solution<br />
in their high-tech, high-dollar submarines.<br />
FHSS technology was eventually used by<br />
the Navy, but not until the Cuban missile<br />
crisis in 1962, three years or so after the<br />
Lamarr-Antheil patent had expired.<br />
Get on Richard Cadena’s radar by sending an<br />
e-mail to rcadena@plsn.<strong>com</strong>.<br />
epd-plsn varifiable ad.indd 41<br />
40 <strong>PLSN</strong> DECEMBER 2010<br />
12/3/10 11:30 AM