Re: Two stories:
Curate: "I need to hold a microphone when I'm baptising so-and-so."
Solved that at the Baptist chapel I grew up in by using two cheap pressure zone or boundary microphones firmly screwed to something wooden around the pool. Not the best or clearest sound, but perfectly sufficient and they were a: cheap, and b: next best thing to waterproof. This isn't quite the thing, but similar
Standard waterproofing for a microphone, I hear, is a condom, by the way.
As for radio microphones, yes there are cheap ones that can be horribly unreliable, but if you are willing to spend a little bit more there are some nice ones about. For example, at work we have several Sennheiser G3 series microphones which have been rock solid (and they use AAs), though we do use them on "co-ordinated" spectrum. I'd recommend staying clear of UHF channel 70 but if you don't want to pay for co-ordinated channels, the "shared" channel 38 licence is a bit cheaper.
The G3 retails at about £800 a set (inc. VAT), but Sennheiser also produces the XSW and XSW2 series which come in significantly cheaper. The XSW2 has very similar features to the G3 series for well under £400. The XS is a bit more spartan and is perhaps half that price.
M.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
