Help with ALS for sacrament meeting: name, password, channel?

[mpownby]

Hello,

I've been assigned to be our stake's technology specialist, and know almost nothing about the ALS system for getting help hearing sacrament meeting. A ward member asked me for help setting up the ALS system for his building so he can hear sacrament meeting and I'm kinda stumped here.

He says:
"I plugged the church's listening receiver/listening device into my laptop on Sunday. I have a program for the Listen devices. However, to connect to the server or the transmitter for our building, I need to know its name and there is also a password required. I found that it operates on channel A but I also have to have the code."

He also says:
"I have the same receiver that the church has. I just bought my own so I didn't have to worry about checking something out of the library each week before sacrament meeting. They can be programmed for different channels with various codes for each channel. I have to have the code that the system uses for channel A in the building so I can fully program my receiver. I know that they run in our building on channel A and it is labeled Chapel. But without the password for the server or speaker system, I can't find out what the code is, in addition to being on channel A. The 70 MHz band can contain numerous channels."

Does anyone know what he's talking about? Is there a password or a code that he needs? I've done some searching in the official documentation and only found mention of the 70 MHz band as if that is all anyone needs to know to get up and running and everything else is obvious. (it's not obvious to me, unfortunately)

[russellhltn]

The most common system in the chapels is a built-in 70 MHz system running on Channel A. Just get a receiver, set it to Channel A, plug in a set of headphones - done. There is a Windows app to help customize the receiver, but I don't recall any password or server name being required to use it.

There has been some talk about the Church switching to ListenWiFi where the audio is streamed via WiFi to one's phone. I'm not sure if it uses Liahona or some other WiFi channel. I don't know the details on that. But unless the chapel's system has recently been upgraded, it's unlikely you have that, but that may be what the member is getting confused about since "server" and "password" makes more sense in a WiFi setting. Both systems come from the same company, Listen Technologies.

[dave.swartz]

You want the iDSP software suite from Listen to program receivers such as the LR-5200-072. This software is freely available. Then find a micro USB cable to connect the receiver to your computer. Like Russell states channel A is the usual default channel.

Listen Everywhere was rebranded as ListenWiFi and they have receivers that work with this system as well as using a smart phone with the appropriate app. This is a completely different system and technology.

[mpownby]

The ward member has tried the steps you've mentioned and now believes that the transmitter may just not be powered on or disabled in some way.

Is it possible that the transmitter may just be powered off? If so, is it usually stored in the tech closet? (what would it look like if I were to go hunt for it and verify whether it has power?)

[russellhltn]

The transmitter can fail and if no one uses them, it can go unnoticed.

I have had times when the transmitter indicates an antenna problem (RF light is on), and simply disconnecting and reconnecting the antenna connections has fixed that.

Don't worry if the transmitter is a different brand. They all use the same frequency and standards.

The transmitter is part of the chapel sound system and powered on with it. It may be in a locked cabinet. You may need to get FM involved as the sound system is their responsibility.