CP Communications Delivers Sennheiser Wireless Systems to Fox For NFL Games

CP Communications has delivered eight virtually identical custom Sennheiser wireless systems to FOX for the television network's coverage of the new season of NFL games.
Each package includes a custom EM 1046 modular multi-channel receiver, SKM 5200 handheld transmitters outfitted with the Command Channel option, custom SK 250 body-pack transmitters, and the recently introduced A5000 CP antenna.
CP Communications, which has been working with FOX for many years, initially approached Sennheiser for a workable, universal and flexible wireless solution to the increasingly crowded radio frequency spectrum. Sennheiser was able to supply CP Communications and FOX with eight complete broadband RF packages, which are typically used for the sideline on-air talent, umpires and parabolic microphones picking up audio from the field, that are custom modified for increased frequency agility and setup continuity.
Sennheiser supplied EM 1046 mainframes, each with eight receiver modules fitted, custom-engineered to operate across a wider frequency band and multiple frequency ranges, instead of the usual single band.
The almost identical custom rack packages are travelling from stadium to stadium with FOX as the season progresses, streamlining frequency coordination.
CP Communications also ordered SKM 5200 handheld microphones with the Command Channel option, which allow the on-camera talent to easily speak to a producer. "There's a switch on the battery-pack that slides into the handheld transmitter," said Ciaudelli. "There's a modification at the receiver end that routes the audio either to the main outputs that is broadcast or what we call the Command Channel output, which is the 'private' channel."
The FOX packages additionally incorporate the Sennheiser A5000 CP, an antenna that was recently introduced with a very uniform hemispherical polar pattern that operates throughout the UHF range. "We love those. We use those because they're also wideband. Not only that, but they allow us to get a lot more gain from the stick mics," Heitmann added.
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