Show prices
Tap to switch between Inc. and Ex. GST — your choice is remembered.
Show prices
Tap to switch between Inc. and Ex. GST — your choice is remembered.
Solutions · Crew communications
Wireless intercom rarely gets the attention a camera or a light does — until the crew has to work without it. Here’s what it actually does, when a crew outgrows radios, and how to pick a system that fits the way you work.
The problem
Think about the last day that ran long. Odds are it wasn’t the camera. It was the gaffer waiting to be told the shot had changed, the first AD shouting a reset across a car park, and two people keying up at once so neither message landed.
A two‑way radio is a one‑lane bridge. One person talks, everybody else listens, and you have to hold a button down to take your turn. That works well when the traffic is occasional and one voice at a time is all you need. It gets in the way on a crew that talks the way people actually talk — over the top of each other, in half sentences, while their hands are busy.
The moment a crew stops having to take turns, the day gets shorter.
That is the whole idea behind a wireless intercom. Everyone can talk and listen at the same time, the way a phone call does. No button to hold down, and no waiting for the channel to clear.
The difference
Two-way radio
One voice at a time, one direction at a time, and a button to press. If two people transmit at once, part or all of a message can be lost.
Wireless intercom
Everyone talks and listens at once, hands free. You can cut in mid‑sentence, say “hold”, and be heard — which is the entire point when a crane is moving.
What changes on the day
No push‑to‑talk button means the camera operator, the rigger up the ladder and the grip pushing a dolly can all talk without letting go of anything. When both hands are already committed, that matters more than the convenience does.
A quiet word to the gaffer fixes a light without cutting; a cue changes without holding the room. Notes that used to cost a reset now cost a sentence.
Nobody shouts across a room they are trying to record in. On a live stage or in a congregation, that difference is the whole reason the system is there.
Where they earn their keep
Director, 1st AD, focus puller, gaffer, sound. Everyone stays within sight of the set, but the conversation is constant and the floor needs to stay quiet enough to record on.
Needs: full duplex, low latency, comfortable headsets for a twelve‑hour day. Groups are optional, and a smaller crew working one area may not need a hub at all.
Stage manager calling cues to lighting, sound, flies and front of house. Cues are time‑critical, and half the crew is somewhere the stage manager cannot see.
Needs: talk groups so a lighting call does not fill every ear, plus a wired tie‑line into the venue’s existing comms.
Camera positions spread around a ground, a director in a truck, and operators who move between positions during play.
Needs: long range and roaming — extra antennas so a beltpack hands over between coverage zones without dropping.
A volunteer team running cameras, vision mixing and sound each week — often a different set of people every service.
Needs: something that switches on and pairs itself. Charge case in, headsets out, and controls a volunteer can pick up in a minute.
The step up · Roaming systems
Every wireless system has an edge. Walk far enough — or put a concrete wall and a stairwell in the way — and the link drops. On a system with one antenna, that edge is simply where your coverage ends.
Roaming moves the edge. You place antennas around the site, and the system hands each beltpack from one to the next as its wearer walks, the same way a phone moves between cell towers. It happens by itself — nothing to reconnect, nothing to re‑pair.
That is the difference between a system built for a set and one built for a building. A stage manager can call a cue walking from the bio box to the dock to front of house and stay on comms the whole way.
The Hollyland Solidcom range
2–9 crew
Hub‑free. The headsets pair with each other, so there is nothing to rig and nothing to power. Best where the crew works across one area.
9–20 crew
Add a hub and you get talk groups, room for a bigger crew, and XLR / RJ45 sockets to tie into the comms already installed in a theatre or truck.
Crew on the move
Roaming systems place antennas around the site and hand each beltpack between them, so people keep talking as they walk the building.
Complete systems — talk to us about spares, antennas and roaming layouts.
Plain English
Side by side
| Model | Crew | Range | Hub | Talk groups | Roaming | Noise cancelling | Wired tie-in | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solidcom SE | 2–5 | 350 m | Hub-free | — | — | Yes | — | 2.4 GHz |
| Solidcom SE Pro | 2–9 | 400 m | Hub-free | — | — | Yes | — | 1.9 GHz DECT |
| Solidcom C1 | 2–8 | 350 m | Hub-free | — | — | — | — | 1.9 GHz DECT |
| Solidcom C1 Pro | 2–8 | 350 m | Hub-free | — | — | Yes | — | 1.9 GHz DECT |
| Solidcom C1 Pro Hub | 9 | 350 m | Hub | 2 | — | Yes | XLR + RJ45 | 1.9 GHz DECT |
| Solidcom M1 Pro | 4–8 | 400 m | Base station | 3 | — | Yes | XLR + RJ45 | 1.9 GHz DECT |
| Solidcom C1 Pro Roaming Hub | 20 | 500 m | Hub + antennas | 6 | Yes | Yes | RJ45 | 1.9 GHz DECT |
| Solidcom H1 | 2–20 | 500 m | Base station | 12 | Yes | Yes | XLR + RJ45 | 1.9 GHz DECT |
Range figures are Hollyland’s published line‑of‑sight maximums — expect less through walls and structure. Every model listed is full duplex. Hub and base‑station systems can be cascaded over 4‑wire or IP to cover a larger crew than one unit handles.
Tell us how many people need comms, how far they move, whether they need to split into separate groups, and whether there is already a wired system in the building. From there we can work out which setup actually fits the job — nothing here is a package you have to take whole. The fastest way to the right kit is a short conversation.
