Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Business

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Unitek’s new Activ Banner system delivered an impressive performance at its inaugural race meeting at Chester. Installed and operated by event display specialists ADI Group, two Activ banner systems were used to display announcements, race results and sponsors’ messages at the May Vase Day event, televised by Channel 4 Racing.

This is the first time Unitek’s Activ Banner system has been used at a UK horse racing event: based around Unitek’s industry standard LED display cabinets, the low-profile, banner format displays can be installed quickly and easily, virtually anywhere. The Activ system allows real-time textual information, announcements, graphics and animations to be displayed with pin-sharp clarity and in vivid true colour, even in strong direct sunlight.

The fully weatherproof displays are controlled by a dedicated processor and Unitek’s Activ-8

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The management of Telex EVI Audio is planning to market Dynacord’s pro audio products in the US. The person charged with responsibility for introducing the brand to the US market is Ernie Lansford, vice president and general manager of Dynacord Pro Audio, USA. Lansford will begin with a campaign to launch the new Dynacord COBRA line array system in the US, has been enjoying enormous success throughout Europe since its launch in the spring of 2002.

(Ruth Rossington)

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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The Greek pro audio industry has received a major boost thanks to a joint venture between the London-based FX Group and Athens-based db Mediahire that will enable the Greek audio industry to tap into the FX Group’s extensive equipment hire stocks.

Db Mediahire was established earlier this year by sound engineer Christos Tsakiridis after he noticed a gap in his local market for a professional pro audio equipment rental company. He explains: "Although there are a large number of companies hiring PA equipment in Greece, there was definitely a need for a company that could supply pro audio equipment to the local audio industry. Almost every day I was receiving requests for this type of equipment, so I set up db Mediahire as a direct response to this demand."

Tsakiridis first came into contact with the FX Group while he was studying and working as a sound engineer in the U

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Unusual Services Ltd are main contractors for the massive Golden Jubilee weekend celebrations that are happening in The Mall, Green Park, St. James’s Park, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park and at the Queen Victoria Memorial.

The company is supplying all technical infrastructure, co-ordination, site and production management for this mind-boggling task, working closely with show producer Major Sir Michael Parker and the Golden Jubilee Weekend Trust. Unusual has employed over 250 sub-contractors and mounted a major logistical exercise to ensure the event - being broadcast live worldwide - is a well-oiled operation. To this end, the company has been interfacing with various authorities including Westminster City Council Special Events, the Metropolitan Police, Royal Parks, the GLA, the WRVS, London Underground, London Ambulance, St. John Ambulance and the British Red Cross.

The event i

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The Public Address, Voice Alarm and Public Safety Conference and Exhibition 2002, organized by the Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers, will be held on 9-10 July 2002 in Regent's Park, London. The conference will feature a series of presentations that will take a wide range of construction, insurance and regulatory professionals through the issues surrounding the use of voice alarm systems in emergency evacuation from buildings and stadia. Current, changing and new Standards that impact upon safety compliance issues will be treated in depth.

Detailed consideration will be given to BS EN 61508 for which a new sector specific version applicable to voice alarm systems is now under consideration. This could revolutionise the way insurance companies and underwriters deal with compliance requirements when insuring buildings. The 'Total Systems (Risk-Based) Approach' to safety is

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PSL has announced that it has been awarded a certificate of approval by the BVQI. The award states that the Quality Management Systems in place have been assessed and found to be in accordance with the requirements of Quality Standards, as set out under BS EN ISO 9001:2000. This is the latest internationally recognised standard of Quality Management Systems, established in December 2000 and supersedes previous standards issued in 1994.

PSL is the first (and currently the only) rental and staging company to be awarded this accreditation. The process involves an ongoing quality audit by an independent professional body and covers all operating divisions within PSL, who have qualified independently in their own areas of expertise. Gary Davis, managing director of PSL stated: "This accreditation illustrates our ongoing commitment to providing the highest levels of service to our custo

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Cadac Electronics Plc reports that it is supplying four J-Type Live production consoles in a prestigious contract with Singapore's brand new Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, which opens on 12th October this year, following a 10-year multi-million dollar building project.

The J-Types will be used in two spaces - in the main 2000-seat theatre and in the 1600-seat concert hall - with each space having a console located in its own dedicated control room, plus another console for the FOH mix position. This is complemented by two floating 24-input extension frames that can be deployed whenever needed. The desks arrive on-site in early June, with Cadac working closely with Esplanade's sound team to provide on-site training sessions to ensure a smooth, fast commissioning process.

Production Manager Kenny Wong explains: "Our mission is to make Esplanade totally accessible. It may sound

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Hand Held Audio, specialists in wireless and in-ear technology, supplied a substantial radio system for The Planets performance at the Classical BRIT Awards, which took place at London's Royal Albert Hall on 23rd May. The young eight-piece band is currently taking the classical world by storm with their fusion of classical and pop music and has recently spent an impressive 12 weeks at the top of the classical charts with their first album, Classical Graffiti.

The gala evening proved to be a spectacular occasion with performances from the world's best-selling classical artist, Andrea Bocelli who was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award, as well as from Britain's Russell Watson, recently knocked from the number one spot by The Planets. Other performers included the OperaBabes, first discovered busking in Covent Garden a year ago, who will be singing for the World Cup

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Sound Art Canada has established a new division for servicing national and international touring artists. Named ‘Sound Art Touring’, the new division builds on the cross-Canada resources of its parent company to provide custom-configured sound systems for major recording artists in North America and abroad.

Based in Toronto, the Touring Division is managed by concert sound veterans Jon Erickson and Jeff Berryman, formerly of Jason Sound. Erickson, a seasoned touring professional, brings hands-on experience in operations and skills in account and project management. Berryman, an audio and loudspeaker systems architect and computer expert, brings strategic design and planning skills. The parent company, Sound Art Canada of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a 21 year old sound reinforcement organization with a strong track record in special events, regional touring, corporate audio, and

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Lightfactor Sales has supplied the majority of the lighting fixtures for two completely new floors and a refitted entrance area at the famous Madame Tussauds Waxworks exhibition in Amsterdam. The supply includes a wide variety of instruments - nearly 500 James Thomas MR16 ‘Birdies’ with integral dimmer - chosen for their neat, unobtrusive appearance; MAD ITM moving lights; LDR Tempo fresnels with long-life bulbs; Optikinetics GoboPro fixtures, and customised Thomas PAR 36 and 46 cans, utilizing 12.8 Volt halogen sealed beam units - to produce a tight, crisp beam. These lights are mounted on custom Internally wired bars also manufactured by James Thomas.

Lightfactor also supplied AVR colour-changing down-lighters and special connection cables, surface-mounted UV fittings, chandelier bulbs and several hundred metres of three-circuit tracking. LightProcessor Power Station II d

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During a total refurbishment of The Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, technical director Andy Mahaffey selected the Special Projects division of A.C. Lighting Ltd, to install the architectural lighting and audio solutions.

The first stage of the project involved architectural lighting, comprising clusters of three 500W fresnels, each fitted with an amber filter; these were used to give a soft glow of light to the stage and bar area. The second stage covered the event and effects lighting system; this employs custom internally wired bars, all with switched and dimmed outlets, as well as DMX connections. A Jands Event 24/120 console was also supplied, which provides control over all functions of the system. The audio requirements were the final stage of the installation and AC were handed the brief of providing infra-red hard of hearing systems in both the theatre and cinema complexes

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Pulsar has added TMB to its existing US dealer network. With offices in Los Angeles and New York, TMB is an established supplier of lighting products to professionals in all areas of the entertainment industry. The appointment will strengthen Pulsar’s existing US distribution network, currently represented by New York based Group One.

TMB’s CEO Colin Waters comments: "LED lighting is an exciting technology with untold potential. Pulsar, with its ChromaRange, has introduced the first viable LED technology for performance lighting and made architectural LED lighting affordable. TMB is excited to join forces with Pulsar in growing this new market, bringing the artistic and economic possibilities of LED lighting to TMB’s customers."

(Ruth Rossington)

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Spider Engineering has opened a ‘Flightcase warehouse’ in the UK at its Tamworth site in the Midlands. The new look warehouse, which is open to the trade and public, has over 6,000sq.ft of space, including a new flightcase dept, a used flightcase dept and a used equipment dept. "This is an exciting project which we’ve been working on for three years," comments managing director Steve Austin. "We saw that there was a huge potential market for ‘off the shelve flightcases and have spent the last three years developing our manufacturing process to place us in the best position to supply that market." The company now carries over 700 cases in stock.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Nils Thorjussen, co-founder of Flying Pig Systems and subsequently marketing VP at High End Systems until last year, has returned to the lighting industry with a new company. Along with industry veterans Chris Varrin and Jeremy Hochman, Thorjussen has set up Bright Lighting LLC to market lighting products using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). LEDs deliver long life, minimal maintenance and high energy efficiency, while providing extremely bright colours.

Color Stream, the first product from Bright Lighting, looks like a fluorescent tube, but changes colour, generates patterns and moves them along the tube. "It’s just like neon with pixels," says Thorjussen. The intriguing effect is created by a linear array of LEDs housed in an IP66 weatherproof tube suitable for interior and exterior applications. When multiple tubes are linked together, pre-programmed or custom effects

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A blustery afternoon set the scene for an industry five-a-side football tournament in late May hosted by Fourth Phase London. Creative Stages, DHA Lighting, Vari-Lite, White Light and the Fourth Phase team were out in full force for the five hour session.

Despite a fiercely fought semi-final between Vari-Lite and White Light, particularly as the scores drew closer, there was an atmosphere of fun and a great day out was had by all. As the final whistle sounded, the scoreboard read Fourth Phase as the winners, with Vari-Lite as runners up, followed by White Light, Creative Stages and DHA. DHA were 'compensated' with wooden spoons that have since taken pride of place on their desks. Louise Tester, UK & Eire sales manager at DHA, also received a plaque for being the only female willing to take part! Sadly, for all his pains, Nigel 'the cat' Sadler only got a pain in his back, having spen

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Rainmaker founders Jim Hepplewhite and Paul O’Brien have moved their base to Wimbledon, and will be focusing on their increasingly prolific lighting design portfolio. Hepplewhite and O’Brien are renowned for their work as creative lighting designers of a myriad of corporate and industrial presentations and events. Equipment supply for all Rainmaker’s forthcoming projects will now come from Colourhouse Technical Presentations.

Jim Hepplewhite states: "We’ve seen our business expand rapidly in recent years, and the time came where we had to decide between being equipment suppliers or a design agency. With our projects getting increasingly diverse and needing such a wide spectrum of gear, we decided to make some changes." Paul O’Brien adds: "We’ve used Colourhouse for several recent projects. As part of the White Light Group, they offer t

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On 10 July, the FX Group will be popping champagne corks in celebration of its 10th anniversary as Europe¹s premier pro audio equipment company. Over the last decade, FX has grown from a pro audio equipment rental company (FX Rentals) into a Group that now includes equipment sales (FX Music Control), equipment servicing and repairs (FX Cimple Solutions); copying across all digital and analogue formats (FX Copyroom), equipment rentals in southern Europe (FX Spain) and, most recently, audio and video installations (FX Technical Services).

"Diversification has been an important factor in our success," says FX Group chairman Roger Evan. "The pro audio industry has undergone significant changes in recent years and, as a company, we have always endeavoured to stay relevant to our customer base so that we continue to provide them with the highest possible levels of service. Th

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As ESS’ London office remains focused on the Golden Jubilee celebrations and the Commonwealth Games, and the UK’s commercial summer outdoor events season, the rest of the world has other fish to fry. In the USA, ESS is servicing events far removed from Her Majesty’s festivities and the spectacle of the Commonwealth Games.

ESS’ US team has just completed a Memorial Day Concert, honouring US soldiers, at Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas. Grammy Award winners Asleep At The Wheel and Travis Trite headlined the day, performing on an ESS Orbit 15m stage. A second ESS stage hosted five bands billed to provide a backdrop to a traditional Texan barbecue ‘cook-off competition’. In true Texan style, 30 accomplished contestants arrived with their barbecues toed onto the site by trucks and prepared their fayre over 24 hours throughout the course of the event. &

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Hand Held Audio, specialists in wireless and in-ear technology, have recently sold a substantial radio system to the popular Irish boy band Westlife. Westlife are currently on their latest sell-out tour in the UK and Europe to promote their latest album, World of Our Own.

The system comprises six Shure SM58 UHF Premier Series microphones, six Sony Freedom headset systems for the numbers that include a dance routine, and six Shure PSM 700 in-ear monitor systems. The SM58s, apart from being favourites of the engineers, Chris ‘Privet’ Hedge at front-of-house and John ‘Grubby’ Callis on monitors, (who claims he wouldn't leave home without them), were also chosen because the capsules work very well for the band. They decided to go with the Sony headsets because they are both light, compact and comfortable, and the Shure PSM700 in-ear systems have a proven track recor

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Gomez’s recent sold-out UK tour was the first British Theatre Tour for JBL Vertec line array, supplied by Liverpool-based Adlib Audio. The system was specified by Gomez’s front-of-house sound engineer, Chris Leckie. He had listened to the system on several occasions prior to the tour and conducted comparisons to other systems at Liverpool Royal Court Theatre before making his decision.

"I’m really pleased with it" he says, "It’s a very easy-to-adjust, flexible system, I would never return to using loads of boxes when I can now use just one. I’ll definitely be specifying it for other bands I engineer for in the future.” He also comments that many venues they’ve been able to leave the system EQ flat or use it very minimally.

The Gomez system consisted of 16 VerTec High packs - eight per side - and 12 Adlib Audio subs. The optimum

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White Light Hire continues to serve its usual diverse range of productions as it enters the summer season. Perhaps the biggest opening was the new stage adaptation of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium, where this year’s Olivier Award-winning lighting designer Mark Henderson is using an enormous range of equipment from White Light and The Moving Light Company to bring the magic of the film to life. Working with Henderson were production electrician Fraser Hall and moving light programmer Stuart Porter, with a rig that included Source Fours, CXI colour changers, High End Studio Beams, Martin MAC 500s, 600s and PAL1200s and Vari*Lite VL2202s. After rave reviews, the show looks set to run and run.

Henderson moved straight from Chitty to another star-studded project, the play Up for Grabs at the Wyndhams Theatre, which features Madonna in the leading

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A new batch of television programmes is calling on the versatility of Audio-Technica’s Engineered Sound microphones, thanks to experienced broadcast engineer, Oliver France. France first discovered the suitability of the ES range for television work during the audio set-up for the phenomenally successful second series of Big Brother, and so impressed was he that he has since gone on to specify them for a number of other high profile shows.

The Mark Thomas Project now features ES933s suspended above the audience, Remotely Funny, a new show scheduled for the summer, employs ES933’s as hidden mics, Channel 4’s Richard & Judy show calls on ES915s in the main host and celebrity chat area, and the third series of Big Brother will see A-T microphones once again occupying every single wired position throughout the house.

France took time out during the build period for Big

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In preparing for the soccer World Cup, which kicks off today in South Korea, the major Korean broadcasting companies have invested in more than 200 channels of Sennheiser wireless microphones and more than 400 shotgun microphones.

The three main broadcasters, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation) and SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) will be using Sennheiser wired/wireless microphones to report on the soccer matches live from 11 stadiums all over Korea. These three broadcasters will share resources by stationing three to four OB vans equipped with Sennheiser systems at each stadium. MBC, the official World Cup broadcaster, will be using Sennheiser 3000 Series systems for the opening show. "We are very pleased that these renowned broadcasters opted for Sennheiser RF wireless. As during the Summer and Winter Olympics, our equipment will ensure thrilli

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Fans of FA Barclaycard Premiership club Bolton Wanderers FC will be able to enjoy next season’s soccer action in crisp close-up, following the installation this summer of a 16:9 format Lighthouse LED video screen at the Reebok Stadium, replacing an earlier LED screen installation.

The screen, whose sale was negotiated by VRS (Vision Reality Systems Ltd), is a fully weatherproof Lighthouse LVP2056 (20mm pixel pitch, 5600 Nits of brightness). Gareth Moores, Bolton Wanderers’ commercial director, comments: "We bought the screen for two reasons. We’re constantly looking to enhance the matchday experience for all our supporters, including live relays of away matches, and the video screen and the content on it is an integral part of that. Secondly, it’s an important revenue generator for the club as a high-impact advertising medium for our partners, sponsors and

  1. Firefly projection for Spiderman
  2. A.C. offers free training on MA and Jands consoles
  3. Avolites specified for Gomez
  4. Unitek On Tour With XL Video
  5. Cats put to sleep
  6. New web initiatives strengthen manager/producer links
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