Introduction, About digital hybrid wireless, Three block tuning range – Lectrosonics SSM Digital Hybrid Wireless Miniature Transmitter (A1: 470.100 to 537.575 MHz) User Manual

Page 4: About frequency blocks

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SSM, SSM-941, SSM/E01, SSM/E02, SSM/E06, SSM/X

LECTROSONICS, INC.

4

About Digital Hybrid Wireless

®

US Patent 7,225,135
All wireless links suffer from channel noise to some

degree, and all wireless microphone systems seek to

minimize the impact of that noise on the desired signal.

Conventional analog systems use compandors for

enhanced dynamic range, at the cost of subtle artifacts

(known as “pumping” and “breathing”). Wholly digital

systems defeat the noise by sending the audio informa-

tion in digital form, however, it is often at the cost of one

or more issues regarding power, bandwidth, operating

range and resistance to interference.
The Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless

system over-

comes channel noise in a dramatically new way, digitally

encoding the audio in the transmitter and decoding it

in the receiver, yet still sending the encoded informa-

tion via an analog FM wireless link. This proprietary

algorithm is not a digital implementation of an analog

compandor but a technique which can be accomplished

only in the digital domain.
Since the RF link between transmitter and receiver is

FM, channel noise will increase gradually with in-

creased operating range and weakened signal condi-

tions; however, the Digital Hybrid Wireless system

handles this situation elegantly with barely audible

audio artifacts as the receiver approaches its squelch

threshold.
In contrast, a purely digital system tends to drop the

audio suddenly during brief dropouts and weak signal

conditions. The Digital Hybrid Wireless

system simply

encodes the signal to use a noisy channel as efficiently

and robustly as possible, yielding audio performance

that rivals that of purely digital systems, without the

power, noise and bandwidth problems inherent in digital

transmission. Because it uses an analog FM link, Digital

Hybrid Wireless enjoys all the benefits of conventional

FM wireless systems, such as excellent range, efficient

use of RF spectrum, and long battery life.

Introduction

Three Block Tuning Range

The SSM transmitter tunes across a range of over 76

MHz. This tuning range covers three standard Lectro-

sonics frequency blocks.

TUNING RANGE

BLOCK

BLOCK

BLOCK

Four tuning ranges are available covering standard

blocks as follows:
Range

Blocks Covered

Freq. MHz

A1

470, 19, 20

470.1 - 537.5

B1

21, 22, 23

537.6 - 614.3

B2

22, 23, 24

563.2 - 639.9

C1

24, 25, 26

614.4 - 691.1

C2

25, 26, 27

640.0 - 716.7

606*

606.0 - 631.5

*See Down Button Menu for more information

**Export Only (not available in US or Canada)

To simplify backward compatibility with earlier Digital

Hybrid Wireless

®

equipment, block numbers are pre-

sented along with frequencies in LCD screens.

About Frequency Blocks

A 25.6 MHz band of frequencies, referred to as a

Block

, came about with the design of the first frequency

tunable Lectrosonics wireless products. These prod-

ucts provided two 16-position rotary switches to select

frequencies as shown in the illustration below. A logical

method of identifying the switch positions was using 16

character hexadecimal numbering. This naming and

numbering convention is still used today.
The 16 switch positions are numbered

0

(zero) through

F

, presented in a two-character designation such as

B8, 5C, AD, 74, etc. The first character indicates the

position of the left hand switch and the second charac-

ter indicates the position of the right hand switch. This

designator is commonly called a “hex code.”

FREQUENCY

1.6MHz 100kHz

0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E F

0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E F

On older transmitter models, the left hand switch
makes steps in 1.6 MHz increments, the right
hand switch in 100 kHz increments.

Each block spans a 25.6 MHz band. A simple formula

is used to name the blocks according to the lowest

frequency in each one. For example, the block starting

at 512 MHz is named Block 20, since 25.6 times 20

equals 512.

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