After a month working with the Rangemaster. I've put the Procaster back on air. The Rangemaster just wasn't able to perform as well as the Procaster no matter how much I tried.
I'm not sure what I'm doing with the Rangemaster at this point. For right now It's sitting in a corner out of the way. Thought about selling it.
Interesting. Have you contacted Keith about the Rangemasters inferior performance? Could be something wrong with it. I'm sure Keith would be willing to look at it, especially if you bought it direct from him.
And what exactly do you mean by "doesnt perform" as well? Less range? Sound quality?
@richpowers It barely make half the range of the Procaster and the sound quality isn't as good as the Procaster.
I'm wondering what kind of ground you're using for both transmitters. Just curious, the kind of range you're getting for the Rangemaster doesn't sound right; it should be in the same ballpark as the ProCaster at the very least.
I've found that sometimes, one type of transmitter is more tolerant of a specific ground than another.
@wefr - are you sending unprocessed or processed audio to both units? I think you have an SW200 don't you? I only mention this because the Procaster has some kind of onboard processing, whereas the Rangemaster has none. This wouldn't explain the big difference in range between the two units, though it might help to explain the difference in audio.
Given that you have an SW200 (and an SW300 - I'm envious!) I doubt that processing is to blame for the difference in audio quality between the two units, but I thought I'd mention it.
Half the range with poor audio? There's no question that something has to be wrong with the transmitter.
Dont hesitate, send it back to Keith, he'll find the problem, correct it and send it back in no time.
@artisan-radio A solid copper standard ground wire connected to a copper ground stake driven about 8 feet into the ground.
@wefr I figured that was probably what was going on, but thought I'd check. Regarding your ground - that sounds like a good ground for lightning protection, but not necessarily for RF purposes.
A question about the cable you are using to feed the balanced audio to the transmitters. Does it have a sheath around it that connects to ground at the transmitter end? If so, it's possible that this sheath is radiating, causing it to behave like one element of a dipole, with the antenna being the other element. It's also possible that these ground connections are connected differently inside the Procaster and the Rangemaster, which could explain the different coverage between the two transmitters. I hope the explanation of my speculation made some kind of sense.
@wefr Alternatively, the audio or power cables to each transmitter could be acting as radiating elements, and could be radiating more efficiently in one transmitter than the other. I guess a way to eliminate this as a possibility would be to remove the outer sheath from the balanced cable (if any) and put some kind of RF choking in the power and audio cables.
As has been said in this thread, the fact that you're getting such disappointing performance from your Rangemaster as compared to the Procaster is puzzling, and there must be a good reason. Depending on how motivated you are, you could either investigate further or, if you're happy with the performance you're getting from the Procaster, stick with that.
Rugsyer said: if you're happy with the performance you're getting from the Procaster, stick with that."
I say, yes, stick with whatever your happy with, but if your $1,000 transmitter is malfunctioning send it back to the manufacturer (Keith) for service, or at least give him a call for advice.
I dont comprehend why you haven't already.
@richpowers I have contacted him. I'm sending it to him to have it checked out.
@rugster I did investigate that before taking it down. It didn't appear that was a problem. There was already a choke on it at the bottom transmitter as per it's instructions. I've always been pleased with the Procaster.