WIRELESS AUDIO STATION

FINAL REPORT
SENIOR DESIGN GROUP 246

ZAINAB SANUSI
JOHN CHRISTENSEN
DIPTESH PATEL

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.) Background...3
2.) Requirements.4
3.) Block Diagrams.5
4.) Design Implementation Methods...9
A.) Main Control Unit.9
B.) Dual Receiver Relay Board.11
C.) Packaging.11
5.) Schematics12
6.) Technicians Troubleshooting .13
7.) Lessons Learned...14
8.) Appendix...15
A.) PCB Layout..15
B.) Budget...16
C.) Software Code...17

Final Report: Group 246

Background:
The goal of this project was to take a cost effective wireless microphone system and add
enhancing features which would normally only be found on very expensive high-end
wireless systems. Then combine them into a portable easy to use package that provides
quick setup and takedown times. The features that were added are as follows:
1.) Auto Channel Selection. System scans its 16 available frequency channels for
interference and selects the best three for use.
2.) LCD Display
3.) Convenient carrying case with system base station integrated into it for very fast
setup and takedown times
The system will be used during the ECE departmental meetings to supply high quality
wireless audio from the speaker and the audience to a video camera and the PA (public
address) system.
The graphic below illustrates how the wireless audio station will be used.

Figure 1: Operation Illustration

Final Report: Group 246

The person speaking will use a wireless lapel microphone and there will be a wireless
handheld microphone in the audience. Both will send audio to the wireless audio station.
Once sent, the audio will be sent through a mixer and then sent to a video camera which
will be recording the meeting and also to a transmitter which will send the mixed audio
wirelessly to the PA(public address) system.
Requirements:
The requirements of our project are as follows:

The collection site needs to be capable of receiving at least two sources.

Each audio source needs to be able to attach to an appropriate transmitter.

At least some of the transmitters need to be able to conveniently attach to

something like a lapel microphone.

The transmitters need to be able to operate without causing interference to one

another.

The transmitters connected to the audio sources need to be battery operated and
should provide some indication of battery condition.

Transmission range must be reliable and noise-free up to 70 feet.

The frequencies used for the wireless links should be flexible/changeable,

should there be interference on the default frequencies

The transmitters need to meet FCC guidelines.

The audio at the collection site needs to be in an appropriate form so that it can be
routed (under adjustable gain) to a recording device or to the input of other audiotype equipment such as a mixer.

The system should be easy to set up and take down because of time limitations.

The collection site needs to be able to selectively transmit any of the received
audio sources or an external audio source to an auxiliary sound system.

Final Report: Group 246

Block diagrams:
During the beginning phases of our project we had three different design options to
consider before we finally settled for the design below. One of the options involved more
equipment than was necessary and one design option was determined to be not possible
without running into interference problems. This left us with the design shown in the
following block diagram. This option was also good because it was economical and
required the least amount of setup.
Mic 1

Mic 2

Transmitter 1

Transmitter 2

Receiver 1

Receiver 2

Audio Mixer
Recording
Device

Interference
Detecting
Receiver

Main Control Unit

PA Transmitter

Receiver 3

Speaker
System

Fig.2: Entire system block diagram. Un-bolded devices were provided, and bolded
devices were obtained or produced as part of the project. (The dotted lines indicate
wireless connections).
Final Report: Group 246

The following flow chart in figure 3 is for just the main control unit.
Interference
Detecting Receiver

Sallen-Key Active Filter 2nd Order Low Pass

Filter Cutoff Freq. = 1Hz, Gain=1

Bilateral
Switch IC

PIC 16F877A

Bilateral
Switch IC

UX16
Transmitter

LCD SCREEN

16-Bit Shift Reg.

Serial to Parallel

10 Reed
Relays

UF2064
Receiver

Fig. 3: Main Control Unit Block Diagram

Final Report: Group 246

Shown below in figure 4 is a flow chart for the scanning portion of the software.

Start
i =0

Increment i
Read A2D

No

Save A2D read

i<
16

Yes

Compare all 16 channels

Select lowest 3 channels

Set receiver1 & 2 and Transmitter 3

to selected channels

Display selected
channels on LCD

Stop
Fig 4: Scanning Software Flowchart

Final Report: Group 246

Receiver 1, receiver 2 (receiver 1 and 2 are part of a dual receiver box), the interference
detecting receiver, the PA transmitter, the mixer, and the main control unit were all
placed together in a convenient and portable package. For this project all of the devices
were packaged into a medium size duffle bag. All together, the devices and bag make up
the wireless audio station. The wireless audio station is shown below in the following
pictures.
Ready for Transport

Ready for Operation

Final Report: Group 246

Design Implementation:
The project design implementation can be divided into four main sections:
1.) Main Control Unit
2.) Dual Receiver Relay Board
3.) Packaging
A.) Main Control Unit

Figure 5: Main Control Unit

The main control unit is the heart of the project, or brain if you prefer. It contains the
microprocessor and other IC (Integrated Circuit) chips used to control the wireless audio
station. The main boards purpose is to control the channels of the dual receiver, the
interference detecting receiver, and the PA transmitter. It has the ability to accomplish
this in several different ways. It has the ability to scan through all sixteen available
channels, select the best three, and set them to the dual receiver and the PA transmitter.
Also, it has a manual mode feature which allows the channels of the dual receiver and PA
transmitter to be selected manually by the user. For user convenience the main control
unit sets the interference detecting receiver, the dual receiver, and the PA transmitter to
the same four channels every time it starts up. This reduces setup time if interference is
known not to be a problem.
Inside the main control unit lies a PIC16F77A microcontroller, two quad bilateral switch
ICs, an op-amp, and a 3V DC (Direct Current) voltage regulator for powering the PA
transmitter without the need for two AA batteries. The bilateral switch ICs are used as
an electronic replacement for the original 4 DIP switches used to set channels on the

Final Report: Group 246

interference detecting receiver and the PA transmitter. The op-amp is set up in an active
Sallen-Key 2nd order low pass filter configuration.
The main control unit receives a DC signal from an IC chip inside of the interference
detecting receiver that was identified as an FM (Frequency Modulation) IF
(Intermediate Frequency) System. This IC chip is listed as having several abilities
included quadrature detection which can be used to demodulate FM signals. This chip
has a signal power output that ranges from 0-5 volts depending on received signal
strength. This signal power output serves as the input to the main control unit. Once
inside the main control unit this input signal goes through the low pass filter to filter out
noise and achieve a cleaner DC signal which is then sent into the PIC16F877A A/D
converter.
During scanning mode the main control unit goes through all 16 of the interference
detecting receivers channels, taking an A/D reading for each, comparing, and setting the
dual receiver and PA transmitter to the channels with the lowest A/D reading.
Figure 6 below shows the PIC16F877 pin connections.

Figure 6: PIC16F877 Pin Connections

Final Report: Group 246

10

B.) Dual Receiver Relay Board

The dual receiver has the ability to be set to sixty-four different channels but in order to
work with the other sixteen channel equipment only the sixteen common frequencies are
used by the wireless audio station. Having more channel options means that there is
more manual switches to replace with switches that can be controlled by the
PIC16F877A. A second PCB was made to be placed inside of the dual receiver
enclosure. This PCB contains a 16-bit serial in parallel out shift register and ten 5V
mechanical reed relays. The shift register allows the PIC16F877A to expand its output
ports and the reed relays are used to replace the manual mechanical switches that
originally controlled the dual receiver channels. The shift register outputs 1-10 control
the 10 relays.
C.) Packaging
The bulk of the packaging work was the process of constructing the internal frame for the
wireless audio station duffle bag. The material used for construction was sheets of five
eighths inch black plastic and quarter inch white plastic. All frame pieces were machined
using a mill to achieve great precision.
The main control unit is housed inside of a 4.88x6.88x1.5 enclosure made of black
ABS plastic. The holes for the LCD screen, buttons, and connectors were also made
using a mill to achieve great precision.
Connecting cables were made using CAT-5 networking cable. The connectors used on
the connection cables were 8-pin mini DIN connectors.
The DC power supplies for the devices within the wireless audio station are all plugged
into an AC power strip that was mounted in the left pouch of the audio station as shown
below in figure 7.

Figure 7: Wireless Audio Station Power Supplies

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11

Schematics:
Shown below is the schematic for the main control unit PCB.
HDR1X5
Voltage Regulator J7

J4

J5

J3

J6

HDR1X6

HDR1X5

HDR1X5

HDR1X2

TEST_PT1
J8 Signal Input
2

1
14

13

12

11

10

14

13

12

11

10

U5
DIP14
Quad Bilateral Sw itch
8

U4

DIP14
Quad Bilateral Sw itch

1.0uF

C3

C5
22pF
C2
C4

1.0uF

X1 22pF
HC-49/U_1.5MHz

J2

R10

R11 1.0k
1.0k

R12

6
2

U28

R2

R1

1.0k

1.0k

C1
1.0uF

741

28

27

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

19

18

DIP28
PIC16F877A
17

16

15

12

11

10

R5
HDR1X7
R6

10

11

12

13

14

U1
DIP12

1.0k

U3

R4

100

R7

R8

100

100

R9
100

1.0k

R3
1.0k

J1
HDR1X14

1.0k

Fig 8: Main Control Unit PCB Schematic

The following figure 9 shows the schematic for the dual receiver relay board. The socket
in the upper left of the schematic is for the shift register and the other sockets are for the
ten reed relays and the input/output wires.

Final Report: Group 246

12

U1

U11
1

24

23

22

21

20

19

18

17

16

10

15

11

14

12

U2

U3

U4

U5

14

14

14

14

14

13

13

13

13

13

12

12

12

12

12

11

11

11

11

11

10

10

10

10

10

DIP14

DIP14

DIP14

DIP14

DIP14

13

DIP24
U12
1

10

U13

DIP6

DIP10

U6

U7
14

14

14

13

13

13

12

12

12

11

11

11

10

10

10

DIP14

DIP14

DIP14

U10

U9

U8

14

13

12

11

10

DIP14

14

13

12

11

10

DIP14

Fig 9: Dual Receiver Relay PCB Schematic

Technicians Troubleshooting
Problem No audio is heard
What to do Check all cable connections to make sure they are making contact. Check
power lights on receivers to make sure that they are on and units are receiving power.
Make sure that audio mixer battery is not dead. Check status light on receivers to make
sure that they are receiving the microphone signal. If status light is not turning on double
check to make sure the transmitter and receiver are on the same channel. Make sure
transmitter batteries are charged.
Problem Audio is distorting
What to do Make sure that receiver gain knobs are set to the 1 oclock position and the
mixer gains are set at one eighth and then adjust the PA transmitter gain until distortion is
gone.
Problem No matter how wireless audio station gains are set the microphones do not get
loud enough.
What to do Turning up the gain on the microphone transmitters should solve this
problem

Final Report: Group 246

13

Note: For microphone specific problems see the Gemini UX-16 and Gemini UF-64
manuals that came with the wireless microphone systems.
Project Comments
Throughout the designing and building process there were several important problems
encountered and corresponding lessons learned from them. The following is a list of
these problems and the lessons that were learned.
Quad bilateral switches worked with sixteen channel units but not with sixty-four channel
unit. After building our secondary dual receiver PCB using bilateral switches we
discovered that the bilateral switches would not work because they do not make a perfect
closed connection and they do not make a perfect open connection. The bilateral
switches were later replaced with the mechanical reed relays.
Lesson Learned Test, test, test, before building. Much time can be saved that way.
Even if it seems like the test is not necessary it should probably be done anyway.
The original design involved taking a high frequency signal from the interference
detecting receiver and amplifying it on the main control unit PCB. Our original main
control unit PCB did not have a ground plane and there was a fair amount of cross talk.
Lesson Learned Always use a ground plane when high frequencies are in play
A lot of constructive criticism and ideas were received during faculty review day. After
which we discovered that we did not need to be manipulating the high frequency
intermediate frequency signal from the interference detecting receiver. It turned out that
a chip in the interference detecting receiver had a received signal strength output which
already ranged from our desired voltage.
Lesson Learned Be careful to consider all design options and look for shortcuts that
may have been missed.

Final Report: Group 246

14

Appendix:
1. PCB Layout

Fig 10: Main control unit PCB layout

Fig 11: Relay switches PCB layout

Final Report: Group 246

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2. Budget
The items below are the items we had paid for:
Qty
2
1
1
8
1
1
1
3
3
1

Part Name
UX-16L Wireless Mic System
UF-2064ML Wireless Mic System
16-bit Shift Register (digikey-74F675APC-ND)
Bilateral Switch IC(s)
Plastic Enclosure Box
Power Supply
5-pin DIN Female Panel Mnt.
8-pin Mini DIN Female Panel Mnt
8-pin mini DIN Male In-Line connectors
3-VDC Voltage Regulator
Total

Unit Price ($)

89.99
219.99
9.66
.50
9.73
12.95
1.35
1.53
1.32
2.14

Total Price($)
179.98
219.99
9.66
4.00
9.73
12.95
1.35
4.59
3.96
2.14
448.36

The items in the table are the items we got for free from Bart and from ourselves:
Qty
1
2
2
2
12
5
1
2
4

Part Name
20 x 4 LCD Display
PIC 16F877
LT5537 Chips
Chip Holders
Resistors
Capacitors
20MHz Crystal
PCB Boards
Normally Open Momentary Buttons
Total

Final Report: Group 246

Unit Price($)
29.17
9.68
4.20
3.98
0.42
0.45
2.78
20.00
1.25

Total Price($)
29.17
19.36
8.40
7.96
5.04
2.25
2.78
20.00
5.00
99.96

16

3. Software Code
// --- wireless audio------------------//
// SENIOR DESIGN GROUP 246
// MEMBERS:
//
ZAINAB SANUSI
//
JOHN CHRISTENSEN
//
DIPTESH PATEL
//
// This program reads the RF power detected by the RF Detector from the
// 16 channels of our scanning receiver,compares all the 16 channels and selects
// the lowest three of the RF power read,then sets the PA transmitter, and the
// dual receiver to these channels
//
//
// I/O connections:
//
RA0 = analog A/D input read
//
RC0..RC3 = outputs 0/1 to change channels on RF Interference Receiver
//
RD0..RD3 = outputs 0/1 to set the PA Transmitters channels
//
RE0..RE2 = outputs 0/1 to the shifts registers for the dual receivers
//
//-------------------------------// Revision History
// 1/30/2006: Starting program (ZYS).
// 4/10/2006: Added subroutine to change channel on RF interference receiver.
// 4/18/2003: changed all output and input pins due to change of PIC from
//
PIC 16F7876 to 16F7877. More output pins were needed to and PORTA
//
can only supply so much,so we needed PORTS D and E on a bigger PIC.
//
//-----------------------------// Global Variables
unsigned int Data1;
unsigned int Data2;
unsigned int Data3;
#define NUM_CHANNELS 16
#define NUM_MIN 3
// Subroutine Declarations
#include
"a2d.h"
#include
<pic.h>
#include
<string.h>
#include
"lcd_20x4.h"

Final Report: Group 246

17

#include
#include

"function.h"
<math.h>

// Subroutines
#include
"a2d.c"
#include
"lcd_20x4.c"
#include
"lcd_msg.c"
#include
"function.c"
#include
"bootloader.c"
void Timer2_Init(void)
{
T2CON = 0x47;
// 10ms interrupt rate
PR2 = 100;
TMR2IE = 1;
PEIE = 1;
TMR2ON = 1;
}
//---------- this is the A2D subroutine---------void a2d_Init(void)
{ ADCON0 = 0x81;
TRISA = 0x01;
ADCON1 = 0xB4;
}
unsigned int a2d_Read(unsigned char c)
{
unsigned int result;
c = c & 7;
ADCON0 = (c << 3) + 0x81;
ADCON0 += 4;
do {} while ((ADCON0 & 4) > 0);
result = (ADRESH << 8) + ADRESL;
return(result);
}
//------------this is the LCD message subroutine----void lcd_msg(void)
{

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unsigned char A[20];

unsigned char i;
lcd_move(0,0);
strcpy(A, "SET DEVICE CHANNELS");
for (i=0; i<19; i++) lcd_write(A[i]);
lcd_move(1,0);
strcpy(A, "LAPEL MIC: CH");
for (i=0; i<13; i++) lcd_write(A[i]);
//lcd_move(1,14);
//strcpy(A, "CH");
//for (i=0; i<2; i++) lcd_write(A[i]);
lcd_move(2,0);
strcpy(A, "HANDHELD MIC: CH");
for (i=0; i<16; i++) lcd_write(A[i]);
//lcd_move(2,17);
//strcpy(A, "CH");
//for (i=0; i<2; i++) lcd_write(A[i]);
lcd_move(3,0);
lcd_write('P');
lcd_write('A');
lcd_write(' ');
lcd_write('R');
lcd_write('E');
lcd_write('C');
lcd_write('E');
lcd_write('I');
lcd_write('V');
lcd_write('E');
lcd_write('R');
lcd_write(':');
lcd_write(' ');
lcd_write('C');
lcd_write('H');
}
//-----------functions subroutines-----------

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// Generally useful functions

//
// void hex2dec(unsigned int X, unsigned char *A[5])
// separate an unsigned integer into decimal
//
A[4] * 10E4
//
A[3] * 10E3
//
A[0] * 1
//
// void Wait_ms(unsighed int X)
// wait approximately X milliseconds and return
void hex2dec(unsigned int X, unsigned char *A[5])
{
unsigned int Y;
unsigned char a4, a3, a2, a1, a0;
a4 = X / 10000;
Y = a4;
X -= 10000 * Y;
a3 = X / 1000;
Y = a3;
X -= 1000 * Y;
a2 = X / 100;
Y = a2;
X -= 100 * Y;
a1 = X / 10;
Y = a1;
X -= 10 * Y;
a0 = X;
A[4] = a4;
A[3] = a3;
A[2] = a2;
A[1] = a1;
A[0] = a0;
}
// ---- WAIT_MS ---------------void Wait_ms(unsigned int X)
{
unsigned int Y;

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20

do {
Y = 500;
do {
Y -= 1;
} while (Y > 0);
X -= 1;
} while (X > 0);
}
// - ASCII -----------------------unsigned char ascii(unsigned char c)
{
c = c & 0x0F;
if (c < 10) return (c+48);
else return(c + 55);
}
void Display_Data(unsigned int Data)
{
lcd_write('0');
}
unsigned char switch_channel(int channel)
{
PORTC = ((PORTC &0xC3) | (channel <<2));
}
// Main Routine
void main(void)
{
unsigned int a2d;
int channel[NUM_CHANNELS];
int minimum[3];
int i = 0;
int j = 0;
int k = 0;
char min;

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TRISC = 0xC3;
a2d_Init();
lcd_init();
Wait_ms(1000);
lcd_msg();
Timer2_Init();

// make init routine and put it in there TBD

// initialize the LCD

// initialize Timer2 for 10ms

do{
for (i = 0; i < NUM_CHANNELS; i++)
{
switch_channel(i);
Wait_ms(10000);
channel[i] = a2d_Read(0);
}
do{
for (k = 0; k < NUM_MIN; k++)
{
minimum[k] = 0;
min = channel[0];
for (i = 0; i < NUM_CHANNELS; i++)
{
skip = 0;
for (j = 0; j < k; j++)
{
if (i == minimum[j])
{
skip = 1;
break;
}
}
if (skip != 1 && channel[i] < min)
{
min = channel[i];
minimum[k] = i;
}
}
}

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22

Data1 = minimum[0];
Data2 = minimum[1];
Data3 = minimum[2];
lcd_move(1,13);
lcd_write(ascii(Data1));
lcd_move(2,16);
lcd_write(ascii(Data2));
lcd_move(3,15);
lcd_write(ascii(Data3));
} while(1>0);
}

Final Report: Group 246

23