PA System

I am looking for a PA system for our new NAR section for under $250. Does anyone have any suggestions? The amps and speakers I have searched for have mixed reviews. Any first hand advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Generally speaking, go for high voltage horn style. The wattages will be LOW compared to what you might expect, but the speakers are designed for voice, for out door use, and the high voltage lets you use light gauge wire for setup.

You don't need much power with this style set up... MARS can run 4 horns at 60watts total. It's plenty. You could probably manage with one 15 watt horn.

Wingarcher is correct. A few quality horns (loudspeakers) running on a 25v output line can support most clubs' needs.
I can point you in the right direction, but first some questions.

How large are your launches? For example, how much area are you trying to cover with your PA system in front of the flight line?
Do you have a generator for your launches?
Does your field allow you to drive stakes in the ground (for the loudspeakers), or do you have to use tripod style mounts?

There is some good quality used professional PA equipment available, if you're selective.

Moon Knight said:

I am looking for a PA system for our new NAR section for under $250. Does anyone have any suggestions? The amps and speakers I have searched for have mixed reviews. Any first hand advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

Chris:
I'm the ROMCC (Range Operations and Maintenance Committee Chair) for Narhams MRC Section 139.
For many years we have used Radio Shacks 20watt Pa systems with weatherproof OD speakers in our 4 Launch Range setups. These little systems are Great for all types of launch set-ups for small groups to Major Launches such as NARAM's. These systems including wireless mic add-on Transmitter and corded mic's, speakers and 16/2 white lampcord wire come in under your 250.00 budget. The Bad news is these units are getting harder to find.

For our small group out-reach Launch set-ups we just recently purchaced and 20watt All-in-once system adding a folding Stake&post along with corded mic that came in under 120.00. This is a perfect little unit for smaller group launches of LPR & MPR rocketeers. Some Photos and info below. Poles and Stakes, Speaker mounting heads and other alterations were made in my Townhouse basement with basic hand tools
You might what to check out www.mcmelectronics.com which is where I picked up the base 20watt all-in-on unit on sale.
Hope this helps.

We bought one off of Ebay a year ago for $10.
It runs on battery or 120.
Has am/fm radio.
Has siren.
Has hi volt output for horn type speakers.
Not real powerful, but has everything.
ER Public Address Amplifier PA-1000RS (PA Receiver - AM/FM) , Item# 130851585137
Pretty cool if you can find one....

John, thanks for posting the MCM link. Good site.

Our flight line is "offset" in that the everyone is located to one side of the LCO location. Thus, it is twice as far to the end of the flightline as it might be with a symetrical layout. Our PA can't be heard at the end of the flightline (or along most of the flightline, actually). So, I'm trying to come up with some sort of a wireless design.

My first approach was to use an FM transmitter. The remote stations could be a simple as a boombox or jobsite radio (haven't found a good candidate for this), although a car stereo receiver to a horn speaker was what I had in mind.

When I visited the MCM site, I saw this:

https://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/50-12980?green=50F2310C-D860-507A-BCE0-1A9BC682A535

Just in case the link doesn't work, this is a multi-point audio transmitter that would use bluetooth to transmit up to 300 feet to multiple, matched receivers. With this, the remote stations would be the receiver, an inexpensive car stereo amplifier, and a horn speaker (and the ever-present car battery of course). The base station would be a mic into a preamp into the multi-point transmitter.

I'd appreciate any feedback on the feasibility of this approach.

Jim

I think that from a cost and complexity standpoint, 70V horns (this was the high voltage I meant, not 24V) and relatively inexpensive wire would get it done. We use heavier wire than necessary because it's easier to handle, less likely to damage, etc.

No need for batteries (should be deep cycle marine trolling batteries-- car batteries aren't designed for large discharge) and a lot of duplication at each speaker location. The 70V horns we use can be run in series (keeping the load under control with the on-horn transformer adjustments) so you don't even need to run wire to home for each speaker, just the first one.

Nat

Wingarcher said:

I think that from a cost and complexity standpoint, 70V horns (this was the high voltage I meant, not 24V) and relatively inexpensive wire would get it done. We use heavier wire than necessary because it's easier to handle, less likely to damage, etc.

No need for batteries (should be deep cycle marine trolling batteries-- car batteries aren't designed for large discharge) and a lot of duplication at each speaker location. The 70V horns we use can be run in series (keeping the load under control with the on-horn transformer adjustments) so you don't even need to run wire to home for each speaker, just the first one.

Nat

Click to expand...

Not sure if you're responding to me, but you might be. Yes, the 70 volt option is viable and we already have the equipment for it. However, the wire has to run down the flight line (one side or the other) and people trip over it. I'd like to get rid of the wire. And yes, deep cycle. We have a solar charging unit, so we can keep as many batteries as we need charged up.

Jim

I own an older version of the system sold by DAK electronics and it has worked really well. I needed some new headsets and they directed me to the company that actually made them. I can't remember the name of the company but could find it if you were every interested. But they were a large company that sold sound systems to the music industry and had all sorts of accessories for these units. I have a few headsets and transmitter boxes for backups. What I've done in the past is to hook up my FRS radio into the input jack of the transmitter for this sound system and that gave me many miles of range for the overall system.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I will post a review of whatever we end up getting.