German digital console manufacturer Lawo could hardly have planned a more successful foray into the Australian broadcast market; having just completed the first installation stage of one of two broadcasting audio systems in the Australian Federal Parliament in Canberra, Lawo Australia have now been commissioned to supply a number of Zirkon consoles and a 64 x 64 Nova17 router into new radio studio facilities 4BC and 4BH, currently under construction in Brisbane for Southern Cross Broadcasting.
The new Australian Federal Parliament systems will provide the means for recording the daily proceedings in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and will provide the produced audio feeds to ABC Radio. Data streams for the control of the automatic camera positioning system are also provided in addition to the psycho acoustic setting of the chamber sound reinforcement system.
The solution consists of a number of Nova17 router frames working on a 200 x 64 matrix integrated into a custom built console surface set-up in the same layout as the chamber seating. A Zirkon console in each chamber for ABC Radio provides the ability to share audio talkback and system control—both chambers being connected by MADI.
Each Nova17 frame boasts the highest level of redundancy possible in a system of its size. Each frame has redundant power supplies, redundant Madi rings, and redundant master cards, effecting performance reliability similar to the larger Nova73 console. The entire project is scheduled for completion by May 2005.
Southern Cross Broadcasting has commissioned Richard Fleming from Radio Support Services (RSS) for the Brisbane 4BC and 4BH installations of Lawo’s Zirkon consoles and Nova 17 router.
The entire outside broadcast and the on-air transmission chain for each of the stations will utilise the two Nova17 frames. Integration between purely analogue sections of the installation such as News and Production will utilise LAWO intercoms and the KS-16 auto label button cassettes. Each of the four studios has an identical Zirkon configuration comprising four of the four-fader modules plus a central module.
“With each of the modules being interconnected by CAN bus, it has allowed us to be innovative with the studio furniture design”, says Fleming. For 4BC’s News Talk station there are five microphone positions. RSS has designed the custom-made furniture in a dispersed manner, positioning the modules according to where the station’s programmers wanted the various talk show hosts and guests. “You’ve got to be careful with this number of open microphones,” declares Fleming. “It’s best to spread the talk show guests out as much as possible, making the most of the room acoustics, whilst still allowing for good eye contact between all positions.”
A MADI fibre optic ring interconnects the studios and router. Each studio can add or subtract audio sources on the MADI. “Instead of being one centralised, dispersed audio infrastructure you have in fact got one big virtual router that works independently or as a whole,” explained Lawo Australia’s Technical product specialist Tony Fitzsimmons. “It’s literally like the internet for audio.”
In addition to the router and console solution Lawo Australia will be providing new audio visualisation software that provides an accurate audio status including level meters of all consoles from anywhere within the network, enabling technical support staff to see exactly what faders are open and what busses are assigned—from anywhere in the world—provided they can get access to the IP address of the Nova17 frame.
RSS is utilising their new innovative software, Termdata for the project. Termdata allows the station engineer a simple method of maintaining and tracing the cable terminations throughout the installation. The software provides a fast and effective solution to record keeping in a facility where, due to multi-tasking, the station engineering staff have limited time.
RSS now design all of the terminations for new installations using Termdata. “We are very pleased with the product,” says Fleming, “it has sped up our design time and the station engineers are rapt”. In past times it would take an hour to trace a signal path through a system by referring to Excel worksheets or hand written data, now it is instantly available, even across multiple sites due to the networked capability of the product.
The new facilities for 4BC and 4BH are due for completion at the end of November 2004.
