The Conex FlipJack provides an extremely cost effective audio mixer interface to a standard cellular telephone.
OK, hands up! How many of you have a mobile 'phone? Yup, I thought so! So how many of you have used it to report back to the studio from a special event. Handy isn't it? You can stand there reporting away, but what about that exclusive interview you recorded on MD earlier? Or that chance of a live, two-way interview with the big celebrity? Not so easy with just a 'phone, is it? You've got to stand there passing the phone between each other and one of you is missing out on what is happening on air! Well, here's great bit of kit that's the answer to your prayers! The Conex Electro-Systems FlipJack!
The FlipJack is a small mixer with a headphone amplifier fitted into a robust metal case. It weighs about the same as an average mobile phone and fits in the palm of your hand, although there is a handy belt clip attached to it. Along with two balanced microphone inputs it also has sockets for headphones, a tuner input (so that you can hear your own station) and an aux output so that you can record your interview onto MD or cassette. Think about it! OB's from the middle of a field, a carnival or anywhere in the world with mobile 'phone technology. On the front of the FlipJack are two "push-in" buttons, on/off and air/cell which switches your headphone between the 'phone or the tuner. Finally there are two LED's, red for low battery power and amber which assists in setting mic level.
So, lets look at some of the features.. The two mic inputs are XLR's and mic 2 can be switched between mic or line. So you could use the FlipJack to record a series of interviews at an outside event onto a mini disk, and then play them down the line to your studio. Because of the versatility of the MD you could also edit items in the field and then report back live, adding your own inserts as you went. You'd be on mic 1 with the MD on 2. For something like a council meeting it would be possible to set up more than two mics, feed them through a small mixer, like a Spirit Folio, and then send the audio back on the mobile, via the FlipJack. We've noticed that audio quality is much improved using a good quality microphone through the FlipJack rather than just using the mobile's microphone, another bonus.
NB: This item will require a 'hands free base adapter' to operate with some phones. Please follow the link below for a selection of adapters available from a mobile phone accessory supplier Hands-Free Base Adapter
Features
- Compact self contained unit. Just 3.5" x 1.5" x 4"
- Two XLR Balanced Mic inputs, one switchable to balanced lin-leve input
- Front panel LED level and low battery indicator
- Headphone jack with level control
- Tuner input for off-air monitoring
- Balanced line-level output
- All IC's are socketed for easy maintenance
- Interconnect cable provided
- Transformer isolated input and outputs
- Operates from it's own 9 V alakline battery
- Adapter available soon for driving a dial-up telephone if cell connections not available
Not expensive, but very good for reporters
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