Tech Gadgets in the Chapel

Some discussions just don't fit into a well defined box. Use this forum to discuss general topics and issues revolving around the Church and the technology offerings we use and share.
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hkk2
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#61

Post by hkk2 »

garylm wrote:...

Do you bring gadgets to church, and where do you personally draw the line?
Yes, but I only use my Palm T5 for scriptures and lesson manuals. And to take notes in church.
Do you WAN from church?
No.
What apps do you run at church and what materials do you access at church? Scriptures? Lessons? Conference talks? Church mags? Presentations? Attendance spreadsheet? Meeting minutes? Personal journal?
Mark My Scriptures, eReader
What is the largest gadget you would feel comfortable powering up in a church meeting? Beeper? Cell phone? PDA? Tablet? Laptop?
PDA and tablet if I had one for taking notes and looking up scriptures. Solitaire would have to be uninstalled by default.;)
What precautions do you take to keep from distracting yourself and others?
Only use it when I need it.
Does the fit and finish of a gadget affect its church-ability?
I find the nice silver finish on my PDA isn't too distracting and that a nice leather zipper case makes it fit in more with the scripture and planner crowd around me.;)
I'm alone in my own little world.
KGBurton
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#62

Post by KGBurton »

The sound system trainer indicated that the principal reason for having a mic in the primary was to help children become familiar with using it and assist in overcoming public speaking.
rmrichesjr
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#63

Post by rmrichesjr »

junkman1989 wrote:The sound system trainer indicated that the principal reason for having a mic in the primary was to help children become familiar with using it and assist in overcoming public speaking.
That's what I was told by the consultant (trainer) a few years ago. Then, (as I might have mentioned earlier) he also said the main reason for a PA system in the Relief Society room is the sisters would complain if the Primary room had a PA system and the RS room didn't. However, my wife informs me there are sometimes sisters who can't hear well, and the PA system helps them.
FltWilliam-p40
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Cordless Mike

#64

Post by FltWilliam-p40 »

[rmrichesjr;13197 However, my wife informs me there are sometimes sisters who can't hear well, and the PA system helps them.

We also had a problem with our relief society sisters not being able to hear the teachers. We also had the same problem with many of our brothers and sisters in Sunday school. You hear the old saying of "My ward is mostly made up of newly weds and nearly deads." Our ward is made up of mostly nearly deads. :D We couldn't get the Sunday school teacher to use a microphone and the Sisters wouldn't have anything to do with it either. Our solution was to get a cordless clip on mike at the end of the year with surplus budget. We got a small Samsung which clips on easily to a tie or shirt front and is unobtrusive. The receiver plugs into your standard mike jack and runs off of 120a/c wall power. We have had great success with it and virtually all of the complaining over not being able to hear the teachers has been done away with. Our relief society sisters love it and the teacher (who initially hated it) likes it because she can crank up the volume over the sisters that feel they must keep socializing. ;) I want to say we paid about $300.00 for it but I'd have to dig my receipt out to double check. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll go back to last year's records and check. It has been a blessing for us. Thank heaven for great technology!
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opee
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#65

Post by opee »

FltWilliam wrote:If anyone is interested let me know and I'll go back to last year's records and check. It has been a blessing for us.

I think it would be nice for you to post what you used, for other units to look at options.
russellhltn
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#66

Post by russellhltn »

I wonder what I'm doing wrong that I have such bad luck with lapel mics. I find that I can't get the volume that high before feedback. I'm sure it would work OK if the speaker maintained their "un-miced" volume, but many times the teacher will use a softer voice if they know they have a microphone. :(

It's possible that the RS room would work since the speakers are further away from the "stage". My bad luck has been in the chapel where the whole room has speakers.
rmrichesjr
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#67

Post by rmrichesjr »

That's great that the cordless/wireless lapel mike worked. If I remember correctly, at least a few years ago, a corded lapel mike was standard Church issue with new or upgraded PA systems. If anyone could make use of a lapel mike with a tail, it might be worth asking the FM group if they can get you one.

Feedback is the killer of PA systems. One of the best solutions is to get the mike very close to the speaker's mouth. Another phenomenon that can help a little is that reversing the polarity of the electronic signal path from the microphone to the speakers will disrupt the feedback energy in the room. In about 1975, I experimented a little with a polarity reversing switch in a signal processing device. I found that if I cranked the gain up so feedback would build up over a second or three, switching polarity would essentially instantly silence the feedback. If I left the polarity switch alone, the feedback energy would build back up. If someone made a way to periodically reverse polarity of the electronic channel a couple of times a second without a lot of popping and clicking, it should be possible to get at least 2-3dB more gain out of a system. A DSP setup that could scramble the phase without making the sound too weird might be able to allow for several dB of additional gain.
FltWilliam-p40
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#68

Post by FltWilliam-p40 »

:)
opee wrote:I think it would be nice for you to post what you used, for other units to look at options.
I will check today at church and post this information later today.

I'm back from church. Go to this link http://www.audiogear.com/Samson-Airline ... hones.html and scroll down to the Presentation System and click on it. This is the mike that our ward purchased. We have had great sucess with it. You can actually clip the whole transmitter onto your shirt front. It is small and has a built in mike in it. There is a lavalier mike that plugs into the transmitter thereby bypassing the mike in the transmitter. You can then clip the transmitter to your belt and run the lavalier mike up to your lapel or some other out of the way place. We don't generally use the lavalier mike as we have found that it is hard to get the volume right without feedback. It took some trial and error to figure out where to set the volume on both the receiver and the controls for the building (ie the volume knob for the podium in the chapel or the knob on the wall in the relief society room) without getting feedback. It works good now. There is also a mike gain on the microphone but we haven't had to mess with it. Anymore questions let me know. :)
kennethjorgensen
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#69

Post by kennethjorgensen »

garylm wrote:Do you bring gadgets to church, and where do you personally draw the line?
What apps do you run at church and what materials do you access at church? Scriptures? Lessons? Conference talks? Church mags? Presentations? Attendance spreadsheet? Meeting minutes? Personal journal?
Great question Gary.

I totally believe in using the tools which are available but I have a hard time seeing how many of them belong at church during lessons and especially sacrament meeting.
I personally draw the line at bringing any of them on a Sunday.

A few of those who bring their own gadgets have oftened looked at me and asked why I dont bring mine but to be honest I really love to bring my own scriptures and my lesson books and my printed out talks and lesson notes. For visuals during lessons I find the whiteboard will do.

I have yet to capture how portable electronic versions of the scriptures and lessons can enhance my usage of them during Sunday meeting. I simply fail to understand how I can effective make notes on them. I also find it hard to type on a PDA with small keyboard and stylus is even worse. It's much easier for me to use pen and paper.

I do however make plenty use of lds.org before I come to church but then bring that as additional lesson/talk material.

I think the only thing I do bring is my laptop sometimes. That is when I need to show a video clip to my Sunday School class. I will then download it from lds.org beforehand. It works well as I am in control myself and dont rely on booking TV, DVD etc. Yesterday it was the video clip "The Mediator", great clip.
garylm wrote:What apps do you run at church and what materials do you access at church? Scriptures? Lessons? Conference talks? Church mags? Presentations? Attendance spreadsheet? Meeting minutes? Personal journal?
During Sunday meetings I dont. Pen and paper is enough for me.
garylm wrote:What is the largest gadget you would feel comfortable powering up in a church meeting? Beeper? Cell phone? PDA? Tablet? Laptop?
For local unit leadership meetings I dont unless I get asked something that I need to check on my Windows Mobile calendar. When our Branch President felt we could do with more effective meeting minutes and actions assigned and for these to be distributed fairly quickly we discussed it and since we didnt have an Exec Sec he asked if I, as his counsellor, would take that onboard. My main concern was the additional time it would take so in order to save time he suggested I brought my laptop and did it during the meeting. You could hear the quiet keys slightly when nobody was talking but everyone felt the benefits of this change outweighted the downside.
After each meeting I still needed to type up a bit more and correct mistakes but the extra work was minimal.

Once as a Branch President I did bring a projector together with my laptop for a Branch Council meeting to aid me with a powerpoint presentation I gave but it was because I was using quotes mixed with pictures of new converts in order for the Aux leaders to appreciate the souls that had joined our branch that year.

I think we should use the tools available but also remember the difference between what is a tool and what is merely a gadget. Any item can be a tool to one person and just merely a shiny gadget to someone else. There are plenty places and situations when gadgets are not suitable.
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SingerGuy
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#70

Post by SingerGuy »

More than once since I got my Treo Palm cell phone I have been in a class discussion that took a side track the instructor wasn't prepared to handle. I have done a quick search of lds.org and found a general conference talk that addressed the question and allowed the discussion to move back to the main lesson topic. Since I have never been a note taker I find that freeing my hands from the weight of scriptures and manuals has been a great blessing. I also like having my full appointment calendar with me for those times that I need to set up a home teaching visit, get reminded of a meeting, etc.
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