Static/White Noise in Chapel Audio

1990's building. Chapel audio has loud white noise/static coming from speakers. Podium mic still working but white noise much louder. So had to turn the system off for sacrament meeting.
My first thought was satellite receiver, however that audio feed was turned off at podium control. When I turned it on, the satellite feed worked fine.
Power cycled the on/off at the podium and still the same.

Ideas?

Kevin

Hearing aid loop system? These are common in the UK and can cause problems, if the gain is set too high.

kreeve wrote:When I turned it on, the satellite feed worked fine.

And did the white noise go away? If so, your problem is probably a loose microphone connection. I would start with the sacrament table microphone plug. Ours comes loose about once a quarter.

Podium mic, sacrament mic, satellite, and organ are the usual inputs for the chapel. But there are two other mic inputs for hand mics that need to be checked. Perhaps a tech left a test device behind.

I'd you fall to find anything, if recommend reporting it to FM via the FIR app/webpage.

All great ideas. Thank you! Interesting enough, they tried to turn it on several times during the meeting to see if it went away, however the loud white noise was still there. After the meeting was over I went in and turned it on, and the system was fine. So will go start playing with all the mic inputs and see if I can find the culprit.
Thanks all for the ideas.

Kevin

As a very temporary fix, if the noise goes away when you turn the satellite system sound on, you can do that and turn the satellite volume all the way down. That will still give you a pulpit microphone, but it will be about 6 dB lower in volume (because the satellite is on). Better than nothing, though.

Hopefully, you will find the errant connector and, if not, do submit a FIR to the FM Group. And put it on a 7-day deadline since it affects sacrament meeting. If you have it in by Tuesday, they are supposed to have it fixed by Sunday.

lajackson wrote:As a very temporary fix, if the noise goes away when you turn the satellite system sound on, you can do that and turn the satellite volume all the way down. That will still give you a pulpit microphone, but it will be about 6 dB lower in volume (because the satellite is on). Better than nothing, though.

IIRC, it disables the sacrament mic. It also disables the other microphone inputs.

The theory of a forgotten noise generator starts sounding better.

Does your building have a sound masking system around the bishops' and stake presidents' offices? Could the output from the masking system noise generator somehow be going into the chapel? It depends how it's set up how easy it would be to make that happen by accident. If you're still living with a 1990s audio system, it's more likely a mechanical issue somewhere (connection, dial, etc.). If it's a newer system, it's all controlled by connecting a laptop.

If it's a newer system, I think your options are limited to prayer and calling the FM group. If it's an older system, there could be options, which besides the obvious mechanical connections might include dials or dip switches on circuit boards.

If it's a newer system with Ivie DSPs and such, there's a slight possibility the DSP or switch matrix simply had a soft error and got into an odd state, possibly routing masking noise to the chapel amplifiers. If that were the case, power cycling the whole rack (either by circuit breaker or by pulling the plugs to the PDUs if you can get into the rack) _might_ clear it up.

1990 building - We have a similar problem but it is the satellite feed bleeding into the chapel PA instead of white noise.
Our problem just started,
If the satellite sound push-button switch is off (NO LED light) with volume set to zero, the satellite audio bleeds through at a low but VERY noticeable level.
If the satellite push-button switch is on (RED led lit) the satellite volume can be controlled, and when satellite volume is set to zero there is no satellite sound.
I have witnesses (me includes) that this did not happen before.

Is that just the way it is nor or is there a problem developing ?

davepet wrote:If the satellite sound push-button switch is off (NO LED light) with volume set to zero, the satellite audio bleeds through at a low but VERY noticeable level.
If the satellite push-button switch is on (RED led lit) the satellite volume can be controlled, and when satellite volume is set to zero there is no satellite sound.

I'd call FM and ask if the sound contractor has been out to your building. I'm thinking someone changed the programming and made an error. But the only one with access to the programming is the contractor.

davepet wrote:If the satellite sound push-button switch is off (NO LED light) with volume set to zero, the satellite audio bleeds through at a low but VERY noticeable level.

We had the same problem in a new building. The FM group needs to ask the audio contractor to adjust the default satellite audio level.

davepet wrote:1990 building - ...
Is that just the way it is nor or is there a problem developing ?

Does the system have the Ivie DSP-based system? If so, the only place the audio could mix is inside the DSP (unless somebody did some unauthorized rewiring, which is not likely).

In 2005, I was told by PA system installers that the Ivie equipment had reliability problems. In fact, one of the pieces of equipment installed at the stake center was defective on initial installation. (It produced a DC offset on one of the main outputs that went to a power amplifier, and the audio was distorted.)

If that happened at my meetinghouse, I'd call the STS and ask him to call Church headquarters. They probably have historical data that would indicate whether the problem is benign or likely to indicate a more serious failure on the way. As a workaround, if you have access to the rack, you could unplug the audio cable from the satellite receiver (except during a satellite program, of course).

Addendum after seeing the other intervening posts: The English audio from the satellite receiver usually goes through an audio distribution amplifier, which has a gain adjustment. If someone (with or without authorization) changed the gain setting on the DA, that might account for the change in system behavior.

Thanks for the responses.
Just FYI
1. Our STS was called on a service mission and has not been replaced.
2. Our FM group is unresponsive. PFR High Counselor did not know what to do.
3. Global Service Center had very little to offer.
4. As of last Sunday, the problem was no longer there.

davepet wrote:1990 building - We have a similar problem but it is the satellite feed bleeding into the chapel PA instead of white noise.
Our problem just started,
If the satellite sound push-button switch is off (NO LED light) with volume set to zero, the satellite audio bleeds through at a low but VERY noticeable level.
If the satellite push-button switch is on (RED led lit) the satellite volume can be controlled, and when satellite volume is set to zero there is no satellite sound.
I have witnesses (me includes) that this did not happen before.

Is that just the way it is nor or is there a problem developing ?

Did you get your problem solved? If it's still happening, have you contacted the FM group (or whatever FM is changing into these days)?

Is your A/V system still from 1990 and not upgraded since then? Do you know what equipment you have? I suspect there's nothing you can do about it these days without the FM group sending out their rep. Some of these things are quick fixes. I don't know where you're located, but if you're in the United States, I think there are only a handful of techs that the church uses for such troubleshooting and quick fixes. If it's a more extensive issue, then the FM group needs to budget for an A/V overhaul by one of the contractors the church uses. I've met with one of these people a couple of times for matters in our stake's buildings. He quickly solved some problems, but another problem had to be budgeted by the FM group for replacement later.

The FM group fixed it.
No real info from them just "it is quiet now."
thanks