PA System

Click on the images to see enlarged version.
The steps for using OBS Studio to stream slides/video to 3rd floor are at the end of this page.

  • [ 1ST FLOOR – SANCTUARY ]
    1. Amplifier

      • Switch on, adjust gain dials to about 3/4 of maximum.

    2. Mixer

      • There are 2 switches at the back of the mixer – the power switch is the one nearer the power cable.

      • Leftmost slider is for the speaker’s wired mic on the pulpit, 2nd slider for wireless mic (need to turn on wireless transmitter), 3rd slider for 2nd wired mic, 4th slider (blue connector) for piano.
      • Rightmost slider controls volume for upper room, 2nd rightmost slider controls volume for sanctuary.

      • Switch on the piano before the PA system else recording laptop may not pick up sound. The piano is connected to the PA system’s mixer via its audio output port at the back. The microphone at the pulpit is not able to pick up the sound from the piano, so without this, the congregation upstairs will not be able to hear the piano.

    3. Projector Table

      • Switch on everything on the power strip. Ensure that the projector and small monitor are turned on BEFORE turning on the laptop. The power button for the laptop is a small button on the right side of it.

      • Under Display Settings in Windows, 3 displays should show up. Display 1 is the laptop screen, Display 2 is the projector connected to the laptop via the USB-C hub and Display 3 is the HDMI switch connected to the laptop via the laptop’s own HDMI port. The HDMI switch is connected to the 2nd and 3rd floors as well as a small 7″ monitor beside the laptop. In the event that the 3-display setup is not working, just connect the projector to the HDMI switch to revert to a 2-display setup (note that the next 3 steps will not be applicable then).

      • Start up the slideshow in Powerpoint BEFORE starting up OBS Studio. The fullscreen slide should show on the projector and the Powerpoint presenter view should be on the laptop screen. Resize the Powerpoint presenter view window to fit just the left half of the laptop screen.
      • Start up OBS Studio and resize it so that it fits just the right half of the laptop screen. Right-click on the preview in OBS Studio and select “Fullscreen Projector (Preview)” directed to the HDMI switch. The small monitor beside the laptop should show the output from OBS Studio. Click on the Powerpoint presenter view and try advancing the slides to see if everything runs smoothly.

      • In OBS Studio, click the gear icon for the Mic/Aux under the Audio Mixer tab, select Properties and ensure the device is set to “SoundBlaster Play! 3 (Microphone). Click the gear icon again, select Advanced Audio Properties and choose “Monitor and Output” for Mic/Aux. Ensure the system audio output for Windows is set to the HDMI switch by clicking on the volume icon in the taskbar. Use the wired earphones connected to the small 7″ monitor beside the laptop to test if the audio is being sent to the upper room and church office.

    4. Ushers’ Table

      • Switch on the HDMI to composite RCA (red/white/yellow) adapter.
      • This adapter connects to the composite RCA cables from the 2nd floor. Without this, the TV in the Cry Room on 2nd floor will not get any video/audio signal via the composite RCA cables.

  • [ 2ND FLOOR – UPPER ROOM ]
    1. TV

      • Switch on everything on the power strip.

      • Check that the output from OBS Studio is shown on the TV (source is set to HDMI 1).

  • [ 2ND FLOOR – CRY ROOM ]
    1. TV

      • Switch on the TV. The video and audio signal are via the composite RCA cable connected to AV 2 at the back of the TV. Volume can be adjusted via the TV itself. The TV is connected to the power strip behind the shelf which in turn is connected to the wall socket beneath the window in the upper room (2nd floor).
      • In the event the TV audio is not working, connect the thin speaker wires to the small black passive speaker, both of which are located at the top of the shelf beside the TV.

  • [ 3RD FLOOR – CHURCH OFFICE ]
    1. Getting video/audio via OBS Studio streaming

      This step no longer applies but is kept for reference.. Refer to the section at the end of this page on using OBS Studio to stream video/audio to 3rd floor.

    2. Power Strip

      • Turn on the 2 switches for the HDMI over Ethernet receiver and the small monitor.

    3. Small Monitor

      • Check that the output from OBS Studio is shown on the small 7″ monitor (source set to HDMI).

    4. Projector

      • To use a projector instead, unplug the HDMI cable connected to the small monitor and plug it into the HDMI port of the projector. Remember to plug back the HDMI cable into the small monitor after the projector is no longer in use.

[ Using OBS Studio to stream slides/video to 3rd floor using Wi-Fi ]

  • This method is used as the total RCA cable length from the 1st floor to the 3rd floor is too long, causing the video/audio signal to degrade by a lot. The audio is barely audible even on a loud speaker. Just for reference, the RTMP streaming server that OBS Studio streams to was set up using this article.
  • On the Windows laptop at the projector table on the 1st floor:

    1. Ensure the HomePlug and router are on.

    2. Ensure the laptop is connected to the Wi-Fi network berean_5G or berean. The password is stated on the router beside the laptop. Note that there is no Internet connection. The laptop is issued a static IP of 192.168.1.100 by the router.
    3. Click on the Ubuntu icon in the taskbar or the Start Menu. A terminal window will open and ask for a password, after which the RTMP streaming server will be started. OBS Studio will be streaming to this server.

      What happens in the terminal window can be replicated manually as follows, if need be:

      • Right-click on the Start button and select Run.
      • Type bash and click OK.
      • Start the RTMP streaming server: sudo /usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx
      • Check the IP addresses of the laptop on the Wi-Fi network (may have more than 1 including 192.168.1.100): ifconfig | grep 192.168
    4. In OBS Studio, go to Settings, Stream and ensure the following settings:

      • Service: Custom
      • Server (use the other IP address if this doesn’t work): rtmp://[2401:7400:8000:0:4:0:c0a8:0164]/live
      • Stream key: test
    5. Click “Start Streaming” in OBS Studio. If there is an error, try changing the server IP address in the Stream settings.
    6. Open up VLC Player on another device (laptop/projector/phone) and connect it to the same Wi-Fi network. Go to Media, Open Network Stream and key in the network URL (server + stream key): rtmp://[2401:7400:8000:0:4:0:c0a8:0164]/live/test
    7. Once the above is working, either switch on the HomePlug on the 2nd floor (at Berean Corner beside sofa) which has a better connection, or switch on the HomePlug on the 3rd floor (below the wall-mounted fan). The Wi-Fi signal will be coming from the HomePlug and should be strong enough for the other device to connect to. Monitor to see if VLC Player is still showing the live stream smoothly, with video and audio.