Sacrament Meeting

[rmrichesjr]

There is a deficiency with the Zoom Platform for attending virtual sacrament meetings and Sunday School. The problem is, unlike any other streaming service, to have the family gathered around the TV using an HDMI cable from a laptop, the sound does NOT transfer from the laptop speakers to the TV speakers. ...

Please help.

If this problem is seen/heard when using the Zoom app, there's a (perhaps small) chance the web app might be a useful workaround.

[russellhltn]

If you're running the Zoom app, you can select the "speakers" in the audio section.

I'm not sure if that is available if you're running Zoom from a web page without the app installed.

Following this article, you could answer "No" to "Do you hear a ringtone" until the sound comes from the TV.

[CalS201]

I have had the same thing happen on a few occasions - video but no sound. It happens when I startup the computer before turning on the TV and having the TV on the correct HDMI input. Everything works properly if I turn on the TV and have it on the correct HDMI input before turning on the computer. Disconnecting and reconnecting the HDMI cable "should" also make it work.

[ccordoba24]

I know the server is up before 10 am but not sure if people can log in before 10am.

People can begin viewing at any time. If you're not webcasting yet, they will get a canned video from the church. As russellhltn pointed out, any time after 9am, you can begin webcasting. When you do, any viewers already online will be automatically switched over to your video feed within a minute or two.

Yes, got it..Thanks for the advice.
Cheers,

[ggg123]

Just wanted to post this out there. We use a zoom webinar running from a laptop to broadcast sacrament meeting. With that, we can mute all participants and not allow people to unmute themselves. I also turn off the "Raise Hand" and "Chat" functionality. The webinar seems to be a good option since we are not looking to have an interactive meeting, just a broadcast. Once the zoom webinar is setup, the URL link is established and doesn't change. We can also generate an attendance report to aid in our overall sacrament meeting attendance count.


Audio setup:
We connect directly to the church sound system. Here is how we do it:
I bought two audio cables listed below to connect to the Record Out (Line level) port on the side of the podium. The cables are listed here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DI ... UTF8&psc=1
https://www.headsetbuddy.com/mic-line-p ... artphones/

Connect the first 10ft cable from the Record Out (Line level) port on the side of the podium to the blue input connection on the headset buddy cable. Then connect the headset buddy cable to your laptop's microphone port.
See attached PDF for more details.


Video setup:
I use my cell phone as a remote camera. You can do this by downloading and installing an app called "DroidCamX". It can be found here: https://www.dev47apps.com/
This app is free (although there is a paid version of it). There are two parts to this app: The first part is the app itself that you install on your cell phone. The second part is a client program that you install on your laptop. The beauty of this is the app allows your cell phone to be setup as a remote webcam and connects to your laptop over the wifi. I can then mount my cell phone on a tripod in the middle of the chapel facing the speaker. The tripod is setup in the center of a middle pew. Then I can use my camera's zoom to zoom in on the speaker (admittedly, the zoom is not great but it's adequate). This is all for an android cell phone and a Windows laptop. I know there is an iPhone equivalent out there, too.

On your laptop, Zoom will recognize the DroidCamX program as a video source so you can broadcast it.

Seems to work pretty well for a minimal cost.

[rmrichesjr]

To save a few dollars on the longer audio cable, you might check my favorite cable store: https://www.pchcables.com/12fo3stplplb.html I have no affiliation with that store other than as a very satisfied customer. I used to work a couple of blocks from the store, so I would drop in and buy cables, gaffer tape, velcro, etc. on the way home from work. As far as I can tell, their shipping charges are the actual USPS or UPS charge, with no mark-up. Their prices are insanely low, but I have rarely if ever been dissatisfied with the quality of their product.

[russellhltn]

Rather than use Headset Buddy which is a bit pricy, you can use the Sabrent USB External Stereo Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac.. While it says "mic in" it works fine with the chapel "line out" without distortion. The only drawback is it takes up a USB port and it's a bit wide.

But it does avoid the whole discussion of what kind of mic input the laptop has. There's a couple of different ways it could be, and they're incompatible with each other.

[allenjpl]

Rather than use Headset Buddy which is a bit pricy, you can use the Sabrent USB External Stereo Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac.. While it says "mic in" it works fine with the chapel "line out" without distortion. The only drawback is it takes up a USB port and it's a bit wide.

But it does avoid the whole discussion of what kind of mic input the laptop has. There's a couple of different ways it could be, and they're incompatible with each other.

The Sabrent was upgraded sometime between November 2020, when I bought our first one, and February, when I broke it and replaced it. The device is now encased in sturdier aluminum, and it ships with a 4" or so USB extension cable, so the width of the device isn't a factor anymore. Also, the adapter has the aux ports labeled for those of us who can never remember whether green is supposed to be for a microphone or a speaker. It works wonderfully, but isn't ideal for another ward in my building who uses an iPad with no USB ports.

[evancpugh]

We just switched from youtube live to Zoom using the headset buddy adaptor (line version) connected to the chapel sound system. I'm using my iphone 12 as the host (camera). Having the report data that is collected by zoom gives the bishop the data he needs for attendance. I have one complaint from one member - The aspect ratio is 4:3. With YouTube Live using my lapstop it was 16:9. I want to change it be 16:9 but I see no way to change it when using my iphone. Zoom support will not talk to me because our church account does not have phone support. Does anyone know how/or if the aspect ratio can be changed when using the iphone? With a camera that supports 4K you would think that should be possible.

[awev]

Hello Brothern,
This is an old topic that has not been replied to in three years, yet it is still on the first page of this sub-forum. Just some current feedback.

The General Handbook has seen a number of revisions, and the two that most concern us is sections 29.7 and 38.2.3. Sunday service and general conference, along with some ordiances (baby blessings for example) can be broadcast for those with special reasons as to why they can not attend in person. If a Sunday sacrament service is to be broadcast the administration of the sacrament itself must be blocked from the broadcast.

During the COVID-19 broadcast of everything era my branch president and I figured out that if I started a Zoom webinair that I could invite him as a speaker, and I could manage things from the back of the chapel (over flow area). He would set up his iPad on the poduim, leaning it agains the mic stalk/stand, and it would be good enough for a live audio/video feed for the person speaking. A sister in the audiance would play hymns from a church app via bluetooth to a reciever that was plugged into the second RCA jack that our organ uses - that was not included in the broadcast I had downloaded a painting of the last supper from the church's media library and added text to it stating that we would be right back after the administration of the sacrament, and I could switch to that while pausing the live feed from the pulput. I reconized phone numbers and device names so I could figure out the persons/households viewing, and guess the number attending remotely. During this time the church made two licesense availbe to each unit for Zoom, and so we used that. The wifi in our chapel is limited by an usable (if slow) DLS connection from the local phone company, I found it better just to broadcast using my cell phone's internet. A link was included in the weekly program/bulletin that was emailed to all members that had an email account on file.

After the hieght of COVID-19 we where instructed to stop broadcasting our Sunday services by our then current stake presidency, as the handbook was revised with information on streaming, supporting our stake presidency in this, and stake conferences where never broadcast so this was not effected. This was for the sacrament services, other meetings, such as High Council, was still able to be done via Zoom, as some HC members would have to drive 90 minutes to attend the meeting, then another 70 minutes to their assigned unit. As of now we have a new stake presidency along with a new Stake Technology Specialist (STS). Also a couple members of our branch are not medicaly able to travel 75 minutes or more to attend stake conference, with no internet connections at home (a very rual area), who are on a fixed income. We have just received special permission from our new stake presidency to be able to view remotely, at our local chapel, the stake conference, and I'll be working with the STS to set that up. Our STS is new in his calling, and is more comfortable with Zoom than the other options, such as the meeting house streaming option from the church (which we may switch to in the future). It is easy to have the general wifi network in a building switched off, and have the hidden IoT network still on, so you can stream a broadcast to/from your unit.

The help and training information avaialbe to Technology Specialist (and executive secretaries/clerks if no TS is called) is helpful. Just note that some things that the Faculties Management Group (FMG) is being told is different from what we have seen in the training and advisories. This includes that the FMG is to ensure that all units are able to recieve broadcasts, yet the FMG is not issuing streaming devices such as Roku or Amazon Fire devices (think fire stick, fire cube, fire TV). The FMG is to ensure that stake centers can transmit and receive broadcasts, yet that might not be the case, or they are slow to replace end of life equipment (such as the satilite system when the FCC reallocated the frequency spectum from North American satilite systems to the cell phone companies for 5G service).

Please take the time to review the latest information avaiable, and if you are a Stake Technology Specialist, be ready to support your requests with the proper documentation as it is easier to work with the FMG that way. And if you are a ward/branch TS please do your research as well, and reach out to your stake TS with questions and to find out how the stake can help support you.