Premium Members Daniel Stilling DFF Posted June 19, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 I just recently purchased a brand new Arrow-X and I have to say the performance is incredible. It looks like the Tomahawk physically, but has not quite that long of a range but the price point is quite less. The RX is SDI but the TX right now is HDMI, but they will offer an SDI version next month, which I will be upgrading to. It kicks the but, range wise, on the regular Arrow and also on the standard Bolt. I had my Arrow-X on a Disney commercial where we moved locations quite often. Never once did I hear that the village had lost video. Solid as a cable. On my setup I had the regular Arrow for the directors monitor and the 1st's monitor as well, and had the X for video village. On the X's receiver I also had the Array antenna. I had a moment for a little test, where I walked away from the village and my 1st stayed there with his monitor for comparison. After a while the signal on the regular Arrow was lost. I kept walking and the X kept going. I lost sight of the village around a bend quite far away. I decided to head back when my AC informed me that the connection was never lost. I don't know number wise what that distance was, but unless it's something really particularly different than regular shooting, I've never been that far away from the village. I have to say, finally there's a wireless system that works solidly, connects super fast (15-20 seconds), and it's built solidly. Looks great and professional. I'm very pleased with this purchase and it has already become a hot item on my rentals. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Mike Germond SOC Posted June 19, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 That's great to hear. My Universal clients have been renting my Arrow kit, even when I'm not on the shoot, ever since I introduced them to it. I sub-rented it for a Disney shoot once, the success rate of these in theme parks has me shocked. Not that the range on the Arrow is bad, but a little extra never hurt. The Arrow-X has caught my eye and sounds like a good upgrade path! When you're in Orlando and have a moment, let's meet up and compare notes.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil nixon Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Daniel, I'm interested in your comment that connection times in the region of 15/20 secs, can you be 150 feet away and still connect ok in that timeframe or is it a case of being within 20 ft to connect. More importantly if it's a battery change, do both tx & Rex have to be power cycled for a reconnection. I ask these questions as a former Bolt 2000 owner with 1.5 to 4 minute connection times needing both tx & Rx units needing to be power cycled at the same time after a battery change..... Hopeless for live events working 150ft away from Rx point. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Daniel Stilling DFF Posted June 21, 2014 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Those are good and more specific questions. The connect times I noted were with TX and RX in close proximity. I can't see why it would be different further away, but I'll definitely test that. I didn't have to power cycle the TX. It stayed on for most of the time, with the RX getting it's power cut every time we moved location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted June 21, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Arrow-X does not need to be power cycled when powering down the transmitter or receiver. Tomahawk also does not need to be power cycled when in multi-link mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil nixon Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Daniel and Alan, very interesting results, I look forward to your test results with regards to powering up at a distance. This would make for a better purchase for me if reconnects are feasible after powering down just for a tx battery change at 150 feet. Good to hear the Tomahawk will produce similar results. kind regards phil nixon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted June 23, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 For anyone looking for updates on SDI Tomahawk & Arrow-X, please follow this link to the SDI mailing list: http://eepurl.com/XjotT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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