RE: Outdoor dirt go kart track. Audio has been 6 siren-type horn speakers with what looks like a Navy ship-type on one end. All are wired together to ONE 1/4” male cable that was inserted into an old Peavey powered mixing board. (Last weekend water got into the board and shut it down but a couple hours later another board was brought in and finished the night of racing.)
I’m assisting the gentleman who has been donating his time and the mixer to make the P.A. happen…
I’ve not been able to see these horn speakers up close and only found one tag on one unit that showed it as a Radio Shack unit. These 6 horns are not all matched so we’re not sure of anything other than they have “worked” in this configuration for several years. (Scary)
I can see the wire connecting them all but any connections are hidden behind a rear cap I believe.
Today, I think we’re gonna try to split them up—one line on three to left of race director box, and one line of three to right. (We can get to the line easily in the Box to split it up.)
We have several pieces of equipment we’ve used in years past in bands, so we’ll try to see how that works.
Not knowing how they’re wired I know could be an impedance nightmare, but…they have been working…somehow…lol
I know of the 70v systems but very little and will study it more. I’ll add a few pics…

 

Some pics:
(Please continue to be kind—it’s a rural area and the folks are doing all they can to try and build it)

 

We have several pieces of equipment we’ve used in years past in bands, so we’ll try to see how that works.

Tell us about this equipment with photos of the front and rear.

 

i think the 70V systems are for more distributed setup so the speakers there use transformer.

 

Tell us about this equipment with photos of the front and rear.

We have a couple or three powered mixers but really too “big” for what they need. (too many channels and knobs and you know it doesn’t take much for someone to start turning knobs and get all out of whack) I’m leaning on using a cheap 3 or 4 channel passive mixer, and then run that into a power amp. Currently I have a Peavey CS1000 and a smaller Peavey 2.6 with 2 channels at 130 watts each. The other fellow was using his larger Peavey desk that had I think 600 watts per side and it was working fine—no heat issues or anything else. He did note that his SM58 XLR mic he’d have to run “wide open” to get good level at the track, but music played from an iPad came out good and loud. So, that was working but that board is too big and heavy to move and too easy for rain to get in it…(the little passive mixer can be tucked under an arm and stowed away) The power amps though, that’ll be a bigger issue to protect. Currently there is no protection from weather in the flag stand, but the other fellow is going to try and get them to put some Plexiglas panels on three sides which would help a ton…we’re going to head over again this evening and start trying some things and I’ll report back later.

 

The "70 volt" connection scheme provides two benefits, the most obvious being a lot less line resistance loss than an 8 ohm connection. The other benefit is being able toset the amount of power to each speaker independently. The down-side is the cost of the transformers, and having to know how much power should go to each speaker.

 

i think the 70V systems are for more distributed setup so the speakers there use transformer.

Yes I believe from what I read that would be the best method, especially with the fairly long wire runs. But for now, we’re hoping to just get it running again without any major hiccups until a better system we can put in. Positive thing is my other fellow will be there every race date so he will be keeping an eye on the system and maintaining as he has been.

 

Protecting electronic equipment from the weather, especially from rain getting inside, is indeed important. Both mixer panels and power amplifiers can suffer damage from water entrance, both from electrical voltage and current leakage and from corrosive damage.

 

Protecting electronic equipment from the weather, especially from rain getting inside, is indeed important. Both mixer panels and power amplifiers can suffer damage from water entrance, both from electrical voltage and current leakage and from corrosive damage.

Yes, protecting electronic equipment from rain and moisture is very important. Water ingress can cause electrical faults, leakage currents, and long-term corrosion, which may damage mixer panels, power amplifiers, and other electronic devices. Proper weather protection helps ensure safe and reliable operation.

 

Latest: we went over a couple days ago and tried to assess what we had to work with. Other fella wanted to try hooking back up to the one cable (running to all 6 horn speakers) with his board that had gotten wet. It seemed to work fine for a little while and after about 10 min. started to make some “static” or some distortion. We then decided to cut the speaker string in half and make two cables to plug in board outputs. So three on left and three on right. We then tried a couple more boards with power amps, and eventually settled on using an old Carvin powered mixer. It worked well with good volume levels but we still heard some distortion underneath. Found the first horn to the left bank wasn’t working. Disconnected it from the line and the sound cleared up. Ran it through the paces for an hour or so and no problems. The owner came by and said he would take care of the mixer himself and tote it back and forth to a little storage building nearby. And he’s going to look into some protection during events to keep moisture from blowing in on the equipment should a shower pop up.
So for now, we’re back up and running, but I’d like to soon look at replacing these old horns and wiring. I found the wire linking them to be a pair of about maybe 18-20 gauge solid core, and would break easily.
But again, for now, back up and running audio for the racing. Thanks again yall.

 

Solid wire for PAspeaker connections can work out very well, and it costs less. BUT it is important that it is not used in places where it will be constantly flexing.

 

Horn speakers should last unless they are over-driven. They DO have power ratings, and they can be damaged by excess power. AND water inside can lead to rust, which rust particles are very abrasive, and can cause problems. The clearance between the voice coil and the pole-pieces isvery small and that is the reason that anything getting into the horn can cause big problems.

 

Just a little update that so far, everything still working fine so far…I did order another small horn speaker to replace the one not working. (Hope that doesn’t screw things up LOL)

 

Impedance matching often matters in multi-speaker sound systems, especially when there is a need for a lot of sound at a high level. Some amplifiers will tolerate a mismatch forever, others seem to fail, as a protest.
There is a real challenge in longer speaker connections done with low impedance loads and source, because a large part of that expensive to generate power is wasted heating the wires. THAT has been the reason we have the 70.7 volts systems and the 141.4 volts systems. With the much higher voltages the power lost in conductor resistance is much less. BUT there is the added cost of the transformers that must be used for every low impedance speaker position.

 

Impedance matching often matters in multi-speaker sound systems, especially when there is a need for a lot of sound at a high level. Some amplifiers will tolerate a mismatch forever, others seem to fail, as a protest.
There is a real challenge in longer speaker connections done with low impedance loads and source, because a large part of that expensive to generate power is wasted heating the wires. THAT has been the reason we have the 70.7 volts systems and the 141.4 volts systems. With the much higher voltages the power lost in conductor resistance is much less. BUT there is the added cost of the transformers that must be used for every low impedance speaker position.

I can’t begin to imagine the depths of how all of this matters, and would love the opportunity to “dig in” to it with this track system. It’s really a rag-tag mish-mosh getup, but it’s “working” and the sound guy and managers are happy for the moment. (They have a whole bunch of things that have nearly overwhelmed them in these early stages, but they are slowly getting it all together. Maybe soon when things calm down some I can get in and see about getting this system right. Thanks again for the great guidance MisterBill2

 

The sound system is working, and so I do not want to suggest any changes presently.

There does exist a scheme that allows fairly simple setting of the power for each speaker, but that scheme requires a transformer at each speaker location. BUT, because it is currently working there is no need to consider changes. AND, if the present amplifier output connections do not show a "70.7 volt" output terminal, that choice is not available.
So the big deal will be to keep the electronics dry, a totally different challenge, because heat may also be a concern.

 

The sound system is working, and so I do not want to suggest any changes presently.

There does exist a scheme that allows fairly simple setting of the power for each speaker, but that scheme requires a transformer at each speaker location. BUT, because it is currently working there is no need to consider changes. AND, if the present amplifier output connections do not show a "70.7 volt" output terminal, that choice is not available.
So the big deal will be to keep the electronics dry, a totally different challenge, because heat may also be a concern.

Yes sir, you’re exactly right!
Honestly, I’m big-time curious to take it all loose and see exactly what’s there—specs and all. I’m sure there’s a lot of funky-stuff going on, but as you said, it’s working, and everyone is happy. Plus, I’m just a volunteer “helper” to the guy doing the audio. (He lost an arm-to-the-shoulder in a motorcycle accident years ago, so I’m able to move things around too)
I just got word the replacement horn speaker I ordered came today but I’m over at the track already working on other stuff. Maybe tomorrow…lol…big race coming up Saturday. These folks have been working their tails off upgrading the facility. Come visit my friend!

 

VISIT??? What part of the world?? If in the USA, what state and what city??
That much information should be OK to share with those viewing this thread.
If not in the USA, what country and what city??