If you’re going to rely on public (corporate) airwaves these day, you’re going to need to be committed to the concepts, educate yourself and be smart. Things have only become more and more difficult for users of wireless mics (RF mics) over the last 2 decades. With the previous sell off of the 700mHz band and the recent 600mHz band sell off to T-Mobile which forces the reallocation of DTV stations through out the nation, the available bandwidth for wireless mics has gotten smaller and smaller.  Some territories will still have plenty of clear RF spectrum for most opera productions but in a place like Dallas Fort Worth, we’re dealing with a worst case scenario. By the time the DTV reallocation is complete, we’ll be left with a few small slivers of empty RF spectrum and everyone in DFW will be fighting for the same bandwidth. What this means is that there is no guarantee that you can successfully get your wireless mics to work in DFW regardless of how much you paid to buy or rent them. A typically musical theater production might use as many as 40+ wireless mics. To do this going forward you’ll need to build a system that spans multiple spectrum options. For example, where as before you might be able to get all 40+ mics to play well together between the 470mHz to 600mHz range, now we have (2) 6mHz slots left after DTV takes the rest. Doing 8 to 12 wireless mics should continue to be easy to manage but doing a lot more is going to require a lot more work. There are a few tools we can use to assist with the RF coordination process which includes wireless gear that can scan for clear RF spectrum. Most modern receivers can do this. We can use a 3rd party RF scanner such as the RF Explorer which is by far the most cost effective RF scanner on the market. http://rfexplorer.com/

There is an upgraded version that is better prepared for what we do in a theater. https://www.rfvenue.com/products/rf-explorer-pro-audio

A tool that I have used for RF coordination purposes is a device made by RF Venue called a Wave Tower. It’s unique in that you leave it at the venue 24/7 and it collects and uploads scan data back to a server in Boston. From there you can coordinate your RF based on the last 24 hours of peak or RMS scan data or travel backward in time as much as 2 months (requires that the device was in the venue actively attached to the internet for that period of time).  https://www.rfvenue.com/wavetower

Here is the bad news. None of these tools are going to help you if you don’t know how to use them and don’t know what to do with the data they help collect.  Let’s assume that you do know what to do. The data that comes out of these devices can be loaded into various software to help coordinate your RF. A few examples include Wireless Workbench by Shure.  https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/software/wwb6

Sennheiser has their own software for achieving the same result called Wireless Systems Manager.

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/service-support-services-wireless-systems-manager

There is also a 3rd party app for coordinating RF called IAS (Intermodulation Analysis System) available through Professional Wireless Services. IAS is used by the biggest RF coordinators in the industry for events like NFL’s Super Bowl, Grammys, Oscars, etc… Not easy to use but it’s the industry standard.

http://www.professionalwireless.com/product/intermodulation-analysis-system/

The term, “If it was easy, everyone would be doing it” stands for RF. You have to establish a foundation for how the technology works and a foundation for how physics works to truly understand how to make your wireless mics work for you.