That solution came last year, leading up to the major Christmas event, in the form of six RF Venue Spotlight antennas, four of which were positioned equidistant 30 feet apart behind the orchestra on stage, and two more placed near the end of the stage thrust built for the production. The Spotlight antennas were linked using an RF Venue 4 ZONE active antenna combiner placed in the stage-right equipment area used to house the wireless-microphone receivers. The RF Venue solution became the pathways for reception of the 40 channels of Shure ADX1M micro body pack wireless microphone transmitters used during the production. “The Spotlight antennas gave us much more latitude in terms of placement of RF antennas, which was critical for a complex show like this, and as a result there was less distance between the antennas and the transmitter on stage, allowing them to use the Micro transmitters, which are much smaller and really help with costumes and makeup,” he explains.

What the new RF Venue antennas and combiner have offered on the operational side for the church has been no less than a true game changer. “I now no longer have to worry about wireless,” says Mike Smith, Lead Audio Engineer and Live Production Lead for Prestonwood Baptist Church, who mixes front of house for services as well as the seasonal productions. “For the Christmas production, there were some 70,000 seats sold over two weeks, so the pressure to make it perfect is there. You do not want dropouts, which had been a problem in the past.” Smith says that he and Sartell will work together for next year’s event, looking to fine-tune antenna placements even further. “Because of the extensive staging, once you place an antenna it’s not easy to go back and reposition it, so we’ll learn from this year’s experience,” he says. “But the improvement we had this year because of the RF Venue antennas was very real and very welcome.”

“The RF Venue gear took a rough RF environment and smoothed out its inconsistencies,” Sartell sums up. In addition to how the RF Venue technology helped make the annual Christmas spectacular’s sound as flawless as it was, Easter 2022 was another success, with a setup including two Spotlight antennas under the pulpit and integrated with the 4 ZONE active antenna combiner supporting another huge (yet less massive than Christmas) production. And a pair of Spotlight antennas and a DISTRO4 Antenna Distribution System are permanently in place in the church’s student building. “Coverage for RF is no longer a concern anywhere here now.”