Re: Comrex Remote System

[SteveOrdinetz <steveord@bit-net.com>]

Aaron 'Bishop' Read wrote:
>What Cooper is referring to is a POTS codec (Plain Old Telephone 
>Service)...for Comrex the models are BlueBox, Vector and Hotline.  There's 
>also another company called TieLine America that makes similar models.   I 
>have been told the TieLines are a little better at maintaining connections 
>across poor connections and sound a little better than the 
>Comrexes.   Personally I think I prefer the Comrexes due to their 
>simplicity and their tougher-looking construction...plus they're located 
>in Acton, MA and their service is fabulous.


For the past 6 months we've been using a pair of Hotlines for sporting 
events and remotes at WKXL.  As others have said, they're easy to use for 
the non-technical...I have the number for the station unit programmed into 
the quick-dial so all they have to do is connect cables & push 2 
buttons.  Audio quality is very good, but they are a little fussy about 
line quality.  The Hotlines work best with a direct phone line, we've had 
mixed results trying to get them to connect thru a PBX, and Comrex doesn't 
recommend it.

The only thing that is a bit disconcerting, is that there is a slight delay 
(roughly the equivalent to record-to-play head delay at 7 1/2 ips) in each 
direction.  Since our board is ancient and has no direct way to get a mix 
minus, it's distracting for the remote announcer to listen to a 
backfeed.  Henry mix-minus boxes don't null completely, and enough audio 
gets fed back to make it annoying, especially when we're trying to do a 
talk show and taking calls.