Danley Supplies Springfield High School
The Yellow Jackets football team is the pride of Tennessee's Springfield High School, but, until this season, the team hadn't played a proper home game in 35 years. All of its home games took place at Springfield Middle School because the high school had no football stadium. That has all changed now: Two Danley Sound Labs GH-60 Genesis Horns and a Danley TH-115 subwoofer supply Springfield’s new state-of-the-art stadium.
System Integrations is a Tennessee-based integration firm with broad expertise in IT and related technologies, and it has a history of successful projects with Robertson County Schools, the district to which Springfield High School belongs. "Springfield High School really wanted to showcase its new football stadium. It had been such a long time coming – and with the help of James Marshall, Robertson County Schools’ supervisor of technology, the stadium finally was completed.” explained Jeff Ledford, president of System Integrations.
"Danley has been our go-to loudspeaker manufacturer for a while now. Danley boxes have excellent pattern control, fidelity, and reliability. They're very flat, and straight out of the box we get good, crisp, clear sound that doesn't require very much in the way of DSP. Moreover, Danley boxes are pretty forgiving, which is great because none of the school staff who will be using the system are audio experts. Danley gives them a pro sound without requiring a pro on the staff."
The system that Ledford designed and that his company installed is wondrously simple. For full-frequency coverage, two Danley GH-60 Genesis Horns fire from either side of the large scoreboard in the end zone, one covering the home side and the other covering the visitors side. "We've tried a lot of different loudspeaker manufacturers and models over the years, and the Danley GH-60 Genesis Horn gives us the most consistent, even coverage," Jeff said.
The GH-60 Genesis Horn combines several of acoustician Tom Danley's patented technologies to deliver phase-coherent audio in such a way that fans not only get high-fidelity coverage, they also get even SPL coverage, thus delivering, via Danley's point-source technology, on the promise of line arrays without the nasty comb filtering and other side-effects that are inherent to line array technology.
In addition, a single Danley TH-115 subwoofer fills out the low end with honest, undistorted bass. Crown XTi-Series amplifiers power the system, and an Allen & Heath digital console provides the front-end interface along with modest output signal conditioning. "The system sounds great and everyone at Springfield High School is pleased with the results," Jeff concluded. "This is not a typical high school sounding football field system. It sounds like something you would hear in a college stadium.
ProPlay Installs Field Under Extreme Conditions
ProPlay has recently completed highest altitude field, located in Estadio Municipal Villa Ingenio in the municipality of El Alto in Bolivia.
El Alto is the highest major metropolis in the world, with an average elevation of 4,150 m.
It makes this field the highest altitude FIFA Quality Pro certified field in the world. Moreover, it is also the first synthetic turf field with a horizontal drainage system in Bolivia, using the ProPlay-Sport23D shock and drainage pad with an outstanding drainage capacity.
Temperatures in El Alto vary between -17ºC and 18ºC which can make the installation a challenge. This was no problem for the professional installation crew who completed the installation in just two weeks.
ProPlay panels produced by Schmitz Foam Products B.V. are puzzle shaped and therefore easy to install during all weather conditions.
Broadcast Solutions Founds Robycam Germany
Broadcast Solutions transferred rental and sales of the Robycam cable camera systems to a new company - Robycam Germany. Philip von Senden and Stefan Breder will manage Robycam Germany.
With Philip von Senden appointed managing director and leading the company, a specialist in cable camera systems with more than 25 years of experience in live TV production joins the company. With his most prominent function as managing director at Spidercam, von Senden previously worked in leading positions at Plazamedia, White Balance, TVN and SAT1, among others.
After establishing the new Robycam business unit at Broadcast Solutions, the Robycam System has since been used in many high-profile events throughout various fields, including concerts, Live and TV-shows, as well as sports events ranging from biathlon, handball and ice hockey to UEFA Champions League matches.
Stefan Breder, CEO of the Broadcast Solutions Group, commented: “Rental business and productions with the Robycam system at major national and international events are booming, and with the new company we can even better meet increasing customer requests. To do this, we will add more systems to our rental stock. I am happy to have Philip von Senden with us. He trusts in the system’s qualities, has excellent knowledge in the business area, and I am sure, as a team, we will successfully establish Robycam Germany in the market.”
Philip added: “I see a tremendous commercial potential for the Robycam system in the market and the focus of the new company is to expand Robycam's market presence significantly. I am very much looking forward to actively contribute to the success of Robycam systems and Robycam Germany, with all my know-how and commitment.”
Marc Schroeder, former contact at Broadcast Solutions for rental and sales of Robycam systems, also joins the new company as Senior Operation Manager. He continues to lead the system’s distribution and the realisation of productions.
Manufacture, assembly and production support of all Robycam systems within Robycam Germany is in the hands of the new company. All systems have a DGUV certification and therefore comply with all essential national and international safety regulations.
Funktion-One and MC2 Sounds Volgograd Arena
Funktion-One Russia has supplied and installed a permanent state of the art sound system for Volgograd Arena – one of the World Cup 2018 stadia. Working closely with the Funktion-One design team in the UK, the company specified a system that features 638 Funktion-One loudspeakers and 50 MC2 Audioamplifiers.
The project, which started life in spring 2017, demanded high-levels of support and commitment from both manufacturers, in order for Funktion-One Russia to meet all of the criteria and deadlines en route to delivering a world-class audio installation.
Funktion-One Sales Director, David Bruml comments: “We are extremely happy with the sound system installation at the Volgograd Arena and are grateful to our Russian partners for their unwavering support and excellent communication throughout. The whole company was energised by this major contract, which is amongst the largest Funktion-One installations to date.”
XTA’s Technical Brand Manager, Waring Hayes, added: “This was an amazing opportunity to showcase our latest DSP amplifier platform, and we were thrilled that Funktion-One chose to specify DSP amps exclusively for the entire system. The amplifiers come in DSP and non-DSP (but still with network audio) flavours, so the additional monitoring and control aspect was important in the choice of DSP models.”
The loudspeakers are accurately arrayed and aimed using bespoke metalwork – 24 C-shape clusters along the sides and 12 Y-shape clusters for the corners. Each array features Evo 6SH loudspeakers with 50-degree horizontal dispersion for the closer seats and Evo 7SH loudspeakers with narrower dispersion and resulting higher intensity for the further seats. Alternate clusters are supplemented with either two F215 Mk2 midbass or a single F221 enclosure. Under-balcony coverage is provided by Funktion-One's highly intelligible and compact F81 and F101 loudspeakers.
Funktion-One Evo loudspeakers are renowned for their high output with efficiency and control. Bruml said: “The Funktion-One Evolution system offers class-leading clarity and intelligibility for voice announcements, and the system delivers impressive and truly immersive full-range musical reproduction to enhance the match-day experience for fans.”
Amplification comes from 50 OEM Delta amplifiers from MC2 Audio. The amplifiers are all quad output, providing 200 channels of DSP and amplification, and a total power just short of 500kW.
Richard Fleming, Sales and Applications Manager, who was involved in drawing up the specification of the amps explained: “All the amps are connected via Ethernet and configured using our ‘AudioCore: Amped Edition’ software with our killer new feature – grouping architecture. This allowed channels to be logically grouped and sub-grouped to minimise the apparent complexity of the system, simplifying It from 200 channels down to just eight sets of grouped controls.”
Discussing the impact of the project, Bruml reflected: “Following largescale installations for the Winter Olympics in Sochi and for Krasnodar stadium, we’re honoured to have now supplied the loudspeaker system for the Volgograd Arena World Cup stadium, particularly in light of the historical significance of the city. Our designs are perfectly suited to the demands of world-class sporting applications and we look forward to furthering installations in similar venues in the future.
“John Newsham and I visited Volgograd in May 2018, ahead of the World Cup, to help finalise tuning. The system performed fully as modelled and predicted during the design phase. The sound feels perceptibly close to the audience, with an intimacy and accuracy rarely heard from stadia sound systems.”
Funktion-One Russia’s Andrey Kremenchugskiy commented: “The fully redundant Dante network and easy control of this huge system is second to none. It gives me the confidence to say that we have installed a system of the highest audio quality from these two prestigious British manufacturers. It sounds absolutely amazing and, long after the World Cup is over, I expect it to be thrilling sell-out 40,000 crowds!”
AudioTek Upgrades Newmarket Racecourse with Community
Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk, England has undergone a major upgrade to its PA, with new systems designed and installed by leading integrator, AudioTek.
Known as the home of horse racing, and with a history spanning three and a half centuries from the time of King Charles II, the prominence of the racecourse is sustained by its unrivalled programme of races and events and its continual modernisation that ensures high standards for visitors.
AudioTek was chosen to do a full survey of the current site and to recommend a new solution to the problems and complaints that the venue had been having. From this it soon became obvious that certain areas on site were having issues, with a combination of aged components failing and the need for an upgrade to a more modern sound from the original speech PA with its limited frequency bandwidth.
AudioTek identified and proposed solutions for the main spectator standing areas, Premier Enclosure, betting ring, and second and fourth-floor balconies, with integration into the existing PA for other areas. Christopher Kmiec, AudioTek’s UK Installation Manager designed the new systems using EASE 4.3.
Kmiec explained: “We evaluated a number of different brands with EASE, and Community’s R SERIES gave the best acoustic results for the size, weight and budget of the project. The extreme weatherproofing of the loudspeakers as standard was also a big advantage. To its credit, the previous system was installed for a 20-year span, and we are confident we will match that with Community’s reputation for long-term reliability.”
The main outdoor system comprises six high power Community R2-77Z-EN full-range defined coverage three-way loudspeakers, located under the main canopy at a height of 25 meters. These provide smooth coverage of the main spectator standing areas, Premier Enclosure and betting ring.
“In addition to high intelligibility speech, the new system was specified to provide good quality music and the R2 delivers both,” commented Kmiec. Sixteen R SERIES R.35-3896 loudspeakers were also installed in the venue with the system being run from a QSC Q-SYS system. QSC CXD-Qn amplifiers provide power, monitoring and control of the system, as well as a redundant backup.
“The Community loudspeakers allowed us to model the system in advance, and be confident the results would be achieved in practice. Everyone who has heard the new system cannot believe how loud and clear it sounds” concluded Kmiec.
www.newmarket.thejockeyclub.co.uk
Arena Events Group Acquires Events Solution
Arena Events Group is pleased to announce it has once again expanded its product portfolio in the UK with the acquisition of Events Solution Ltd. The Company’s equipment range covers pedestrian, front of stage and Metropolitan Police barriers, gantries and fencing. This product offer closely complements Arena’s Mass Participation division and has synergies with its structures, seating and scaffolding capabilities.
Arena UK & Europe CEO, Grahame Muir, stated: “Our business strategy is to provide a comprehensive suite of services to event organisers. Events Solution Ltd is a very well run and invested business and one we believe has significant growth opportunities. Having a new northern base works strategically very well and we aim to replicate this at our Cambridgeshire hub next year.
“Building on this years’ recent acquisition of furniture specialist hire companies, GLD and portable refrigeration supplier Ice House Rentals, the addition of Events Solution adds yet another in-house capability to Arena Events Group. This diversification adds expertise, extending our offering to existing clients as well as attracting new clients to Arena’s services. As a leader in the events market, we hope this acquisition will further solidify our position as the business that can provide the highest quality turnkey service to those who choose to use us.”
Events Solution Ltd MD, James Wood, added: “Since being established in 2010, Events Solution Ltd has established a phenomenal array of clients ranging from film premieres in Leicester Square to mass participation events to national music tours and festivals. Joining the Arena Group will give us the resources and extended client network to continue growing our client portfolio in line with our ambitions. I and the team are very excited about a strong future as part of Arena.”
Absen Europe Kicks Off Summer LED Showcases
Absen Europe today unveiled the schedule for its ‘Stronger Together’ showcase events, taking place across 30 European cities throughout the summer. The events kicked off in Madrid and Barcelona (Spain), and will be followed by open days in Italy, France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and Turkey. With further dates to be announced in Portugal, Poland and Sweden.
Further demonstrating its commitment to the European region, Absen invites current and prospective clients to gain insight into the latest in Absen’s innovative LED display technologies. These events are also opened to rental stagers, integrators and distributors alike, giving them a unique opportunity to join Absen Europe’s growing network of Value Added Partners (VAP) and Value Added Distributors (VAD).
Borja Janariz Sanchez, Absen Europe’s Corporate and Retail industry director, commented: “We pride ourselves on being true partners to our valued clients. We know that these relationships are the backbone of our growing business, and key to our European success. Our commitment to being reliable and powerful partners in business is unwavering. We’re excited to share our knowledge with our existing and future Partners by showcasing our solutions on the road this summer – giving clients the opportunity to get their hands on our comprehensive fixed install and rental staging product range.”
With each event taking place over the course of one day, they will be attended by Sanchez alongside Absen Europe regional managers. Harnessing their collective expertise, the Absen Europe team will deliver key insights on the current status of the market and industry trends, as well as an overview of Absen’s LED solutions and latest technologies.
The regional sales managers and sales teams for each respective region will also be in attendance at each event to support with client discussions and conduct demonstrations. They will also be on hand to showcase key products in Absen’s range, including the new rental & staging Polaris Series, the award winning fixed install Acclaim Series as well as an introduction to Absen’s control room dedicated CR Series.
Concluded Sanchez: “Spending time face to face with our clients is still so important. With these events, we look forward to discovering more about their businesses, as well as sharing the latest developments in ours – and introducing more businesses to our VAP and VAD programs and demonstrate how we can be stronger together.”
Chapman University Implements Joseph Electronics
Joseph Electronics (JE) announces that Chapman University has purchased a specially designed fibre transport system for its student-run Chapman Sports Broadcast Network (CSBN). The new system supports CSBN's live broadcasts for local TV, radio, and online streaming services. It replaces multiple flight packs and allows the university to consolidate production into one central control room in order to make better use of existing equipment.
Chapman University is a private, four-year university in Orange, California, and home to Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, one of the top ten film schools in the world. "We were looking for a 'magic transport box' that we could connect and forget, and that's just what we got. Joseph Electronics had the experience and expertise to give us a fully customised solution," said David Goedhart, PEG engineering operations manager at Chapman University.
The JE-designed transport system is housed in a mobile case that allows crews to connect to multiple fibre points around campus, including the university's football stadium, aquatics centre, and gymnasium. A typical broadcast includes eight cameras; two replay channels, four graphics channels, 64 audio channels, and three on-camera talent positions. Through the mobile system, crews can transport signals over 3,000 feet between the venues and the television control room at the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Chapman University's world-renowned film and broadcast school.
The system is robust enough to support eight cameras, four video returns, and four additional fibre connections all over a single existing fibre pair, yet simple enough not to add multiple layers of complexity to an already advanced production system. JE's design overcomes challenges inherent in the Chapman University deployment. For example, because crews are piggybacking on existing fibre runs, the fibre cables connecting the system go through seven different connection points. Joseph also implemented wave-shifting technology to accommodate some existing fibre gear that did not have a CWDM option.
Importantly, the new JE system takes the place of multiple flight pack cases that formerly housed the entire production system — including the control room portion — and had to be transported to the venue and assembled on location for every production. The JE design moved the control room portion of the workflow into the existing Dodge College facility and put all on-location fibre-transport gear into a system that fits in a single case. By taking control room functions out of the flight pack and merging them into an existing production environment, CSBN can now produce live sporting events out of the same control room as the school's newscasts, narrative television shows, and talk shows — thereby producing significantly more content through equipment the university already owns.
"Joseph Electronics has allowed us to maximise our existing resources and consolidate future purchases," David continued. "As an engineer, I appreciate the speed at which Joseph Electronics allows us to work. Setup time for productions has been reduced from seven hours to 90 minutes. Maintenance is also considerably easier since the control room equipment is always available, unlike with the old system, which we had to physically pull from storage just to do simple tasks."
"Chapman University and Dodge College are well-known for their state-of-the-art production facilities and award-winning faculty, many of whom continue to work in the film and broadcast industries," said Bruce Arnold, West Coast regional manager of Joseph Electronics. "It's been an honour to help such a prestigious organisation take full advantage of its resources while bridging the gap between venues and the control room."
Bosch Outfits Ion Oblemenco Stadium
Ion Oblemenco Stadium in the Romanian city of Craiova is the country’s most modern football arena at a capacity of over 30,000 seats. The futuristic stadium, inspired by the art of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, was built from the ground up over the course of two-and-a-half years at a total cost of 51 million Euros. It is home to football club CS Universitatea Craiova.
Hosting international and premium league matches not only in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, but also in the city on the river Jiu. For this reason, the municipality of Craiova required a stadium security solution on par with stringent guidelines – according to the year 2020 European football championship standards – to guarantee safety during mass events.
Looking for a trusted vendor with sports stadium experience, plus the ability to deliver the majority of necessary equipment as a single point of contact, Craiova officials opted for Bosch. Working closely with the on-site team, Bosch experts installed a fire and safety solution composed of four fire panels and 1,500 detectors. The stadium also received a quality sound system with Electro Voice Pro Sound speakers for music and commentary, Dynacord Promatrix for evacuation, Bosch loudspeakers for interior sound, as well as a conference and interpretation system for the pressroom.
Ion Oblemenco Stadium boasts a fully integrated Bosch video security system including 211 cameras, centrally managed on a single platform through an enterprise edition of the Bosch Video Management System (BVMS).
The networked cameras serve a wide range of functions at entry and exit points and areas surrounding the stadium: On the perimeter, 115 robust DINION IP bullet 5000 cameras watch central avenues leading to the stadium, while 86 discrete FLEXIDOME IP 5000 cameras monitor visitors. For added security, eight AUTODOME IP 7000 cameras – two on the stadium outside, six inside – safeguard the surroundings with on-board Intelligent Video Analytics. Intelligent Video Analytics (IVA) allows for “smart” video surveillance functions. For instance, Intelligent Tracking automatically tracks moving objects based on predefined alarm rules. Besides automatic tracking of objects of interest once certain predefine rules, like loitering, security operators in Craiova can also manually track groups of football fans or follow specific individuals.
Video streams of all 211 cameras are monitored in a central security room, manned by operator personnel and members of Romania’s police during matches. Video data is safely stored on two Bosch DIVAR IP 7000 network video recording units with a total of 256 Terabyte storage capacity. The recorders feature Video Recording Manager (VRM) software to increase reliability and reduce storage volumes and costs, by automatically balancing the video stream load to the free available storage devices. Also the recording units support forensic search enabling security operators to quickly retrieve the relevant video data from hours of stored video to deliver irrefutable evidence.
Craiova officials are satisfied with the easy-to-use and cost-efficient solution. Because Bosch products fulfilled international guidelines, the stadium is now fully certified to host matches of the First Romanian Football League, European league matches, Champions League and national team matches. As the first stadium in Romania constructed in line with guidelines for the 2020 European football championship series, Ion Oblemenco Stadium serves as a model for future stadium projects planned to be built for the 2020 tournament and beyond.
www.boschbuildingtechnologies.com
L-Acoustic Shines at Gold Coast
Over 6,600 athletes and team officials from more than 71 nations descended on Australia’s Gold Coast to compete in the Commonwealth Games. To achieve this epic outcome, audio production specialist and Official Sponsor, Norwest Productions, deployed over 500 L‑Acoustics cabinets, including 124 K2, in 22 sporting venues.
“With the Games being held in our backyard, we’d always set our sights on being involved,” said Norwest’s Gra Whitehouse.
At the end of last year Norwest Productions decided to add 370 L-Acoustics cabinets to its inventory, including a substantial K2 system, as well as K1-SB, KS28, Kiva II, SB15, ARCS WiFo, LARAK II and LA4X amplified controllers.
Gra said: “Combining this new stock with our existing inventory of dV-DOSC, Kudo, and 12XT, we were able to put together a proposal that delivered almost all games systems as a single-brand solution, with the exception of some application-specific paging systems.”
Employed by the event’s producers, Jack Moreton Worldwide, Norwest then established itself as an event sponsor directly to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC), carrying the prestigious mantle of ‘Official Audio Supplier to the GC2018 Ceremonies’. The sporting venues audio overlay was a separate contract, with Norwest sub-contracted by Sports Technology, headed up by Damien Rowe and his experienced project management team.
The remit for the entire contract was about achieving excellence for the spectator. Each audience member had to receive as near as possible the same SPL and high degree of intelligibility, with the additional requirement of catering to the full range of the Sports Presentation creative: high-impact play-on and play-off stings, background music, and audience warm-up commentary.
The Ceremonies system was designed by Norwest’s in-house team of Ian Shapcott (Head of Audio) and Andrew Marsh (Head of Special Events) and comprised mainly ground-based arrays of K2 atop K1SB, flanked by KS28 subwoofers. The sporting venue systems were originally specified by Damian Rowe, who worked with Shapcott on the adjustments needed to suit Norwest’s inventory, while remaining within the all-important brief, and made use of approximately 200 smaller format cabinets. Both teams modelled their systems with L-Acoustics 3D acoustical simulation programme, Soundvision, to ensure optimal coverage would be achieved.
Norwest substituted a pole-mounted, distributed system of ARCS Wide in the northern stands to account for the lack of rigging infrastructure. Arrays were still flown where possible with ARCS WiFo and 12XT as additional fills. All K-Series cabinets were powered by LA12X amplified controllers, while the fill speakers used LA8, housed in distributed nodes around the field of play or in catwalks in custom, rain-proof tents.
Gra praised: “This was our second ceremonies event using our fleet of KS28 subs; they’re truly a stunning unit. Like all L‑Acoustics products, they do so much more than simply produce a pleasing picture on the analyser; they’re very musical. The K2 dolly and jack system makes for exceptionally quick deployment and recovery, a necessity when the team have less than 24 hours to turn an athletics stadium into a theatre. Using our existing systems combined with our K2 / K1SB system produced a simply wonderful end result, with great reports coming from all quarters.”