1) Offline Mode
The new Wireless Designer has an “offline mode” where you don’t need to be connected to a system in order to start configuring. You can design all of your set-ups ahead of time. Here’s how. Click on any of the images to make larger:
- With connected devices, chick on File, then New. Right click on Session, then Add Frame. You can add any of the devices shown.
- To add channels, right click on any of the Channel Controls in the lefthand grid, then add a channel (s). You can also add a channel by right clicking anywhere in the grey area of the graph as shown below.
You can also Right click into any of the connected device areas to configure that device. Once you do that…
…switch to frequency coordination, then click the new Custom Range tab.
Unless you press “Deploy to System,” this is just a sandbox area that doesn’t have to be stored, and you can try out different options without being locked into them. If you switch between tabs or push “Deploy,” you will get a 3rd box that comes up to ask you to save/apply settings.
2) Frequency Coordination Options
Under “Frequency Coordination,” you also have coordination options that allow you to type values in to coordinate with spacing. There are defaults that we pre-programmed to be universal in most cases. If you change the defaults to closer than recommended, you see red type that indicates that the range might not be optimal. You can override this if you are sure that you want to use your ranges:
It will alert you if there are frequencies that may be too close by displaying caution triangles. You can still proceed, but if you want to adjust this range, you can do so by dragging the slider bars until the alert disappears.
If you’ve tuned to range that will not work, “Alerts Detected” will change to “Warning” and will be in red.
3) Custom Channels
Once you add channels, you can edit all of the channel properties except the block/band.
If you right click or double click, you get a properties screen. You’ll see, under Frequency Controls, “Custom Tuning Range.” The “Use Custom Range” checkbox is blank by default. If you check this, you can edit the start and ending frequencies for that channel. The start and end will be limited to the band you have selected. This also comes into play when you are running the automatic frequency coordination.
If you click the Transmitter tab, you will see a “Narrowband TX” option. If you check this, you will get a dropdown. This limits your tuning range to a Narrowband block that you choose. This setting takes priority over the settings you set in Custom Ranges.
You can also access this option from the Frequency Coordination tab, which is a new option. You can manually specify the ranges or carrier frequency in this section as well.
The most common use for this feature would be when you are using a wideband receiver. Configuring through this feature will allow you to use different parts of the spectrum for different parts of your system, an important feature for optimizing your band planning strategy.
4) Importing Scan Data From File
Within the Frequency Coordination screen, there is a new setting called “Import Scan Data From File”. This is handy when you know ahead of time which units will occupy which bands/blocks.
In addition to being able to use stored scan data, the system now also supports different file types (SPA, CSV, Sdb2 or SDF). An online source for RF scans is https://taajuus.info/scan-database
5) Enhanced Reporting
This feature will allow you to save a graphic interpretation of your settings that you can then share with other sound personnel, front of house or others involved in your project. Use the Generate Report button to obtain:
The result will give a report of the devices on the system and will look like this:
Be sure to check out the Revision History and Online Help section on our Wireless Designer pages to see all of the features that have been added. While you’re there, make sure that you have the latest firmware revision.