UK - Canford provided a world-wide preview of the new RTS BTR-240 Wireless Intercom System at this year's ABTT Show in London. Canford will be the exclusive UK outlet for the new system which is expected to start shipping in October 2011.

The BTR-240 system operates in the licence-free 2.4GHz frequency band and delivers full-duplex operation for up to 8 beltpacks with an almost unlimited number of half-duplex beltpacks. The system offers two separate audio channels allowing users to communicate on either or both channels. Talk and listen and listen-only modes are selectable on individual or both channels.

The BTR-240 wireless intercom system is suitable for stand-alone operation or can be directly interfaced to wired systems including RTS, Tecpro and Clearcom.

TR-240 beltpacks can be configured in one of three operating modes: wireless, wired or master wireless. In wireless

The Netherlands - Philips Digital Cinema Xenon lamps are specially designed to meet the demands of today's digital cinema projectors. Each lamp is customised by projector model to maximise projector performance and to provide the required light output for 3D presentations.

In addition to large-screen applications, digital projectors are now also increasingly being used for small screens and/or 2D applications. In order to respond more effectively to the specific requirements of those applications, Philips has extended its current Digital lamp range. The new Digital Cinema Xenon lamps make it possible for small-screen and/or 2D applications to enjoy the benefits of Digital lamps in a cost effective way, says the company.

With these latest additions, Philips now offers an extensive Digital lamp range that minimises total cost of ownership, no matter which projector, screen or fi

UK - Pharos is introducing its latest RIO, providing distributed DALI control over an Ethernet network. The Pharos RIO D is a Power over Ethernet-based remote device, delivering the DALI protocol to where it is needed.

Pharos LPCs can send DALI ballast configuration and control signals via multiple RIO Ds, each connected to a local DALI bus with up to 64 ballasts. RIO Ds acting in Slave mode listen to all commands on the local DALI bus and transmit them back over Ethernet to the lighting controller to be used as triggers for the Pharos system.

With the convenience of single-cable installation using PoE, drag-and-drop DALI patching and timeline programming in Designer software, the Pharos RIO D is a ground-breaking new solution for DALI installations, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Rental company White Light has recently added 50 Martin Professional MAC III series fixtures to their extensive inventory of Martin Professional lighting gear. The new purchase includes both MAC III Profile and MAC III Performance fixtures, Martin's leading 1500 watt, high-output profile moving heads.

Hire & Technical Director at White Light, Dave Isherwood, comments, "The MAC III has a great feature set that includes superior optics and excellent colour mixing and is amazingly quiet considering its high level of intensity. We're thrilled to have them as part of our inventory and have already had them out on key local events."

(Jim Evans)

UK - LD Systems has introduced the BM1 boundary-layer microphone, an electret condenser microphone with a hemispherical directional characteristic. Designed for the micing of upright and grand pianos on stage or in the studio, additional applications include conferencing technology, micing of roundtable discussions and theatrical performances.

According to Andrew Richardson, managing director of Adam Hall UK, "The BM1 boundary-layer microphone is a rugged unit that can be used for conferencing applications as well as traditional audio scenarios."

(Jim Evans)

UK - PixelRange has expanded its range of intelligent and fully programmable LED luminaires to include a batten fixture, SmartLine 6. The "powerful yet aesthetically slimline" batten can be stacked either horizontally or vertically with no change to the pitch of the CREE MCE high intensity quad LEDs in any direction.

Measuring a slender 6ft by 50mm, the SmartLine 6 LED wash fixture assures instantaneous colour mixing across its length, via the 36 high intensity Quad emitters - each of which provides red, blue, green or white sources. SmartLine is fitted with a 20 degree beam angle as standard, though other light-shaping diffusing lenses are available to vary the output beam, says the company.

SmartLine is manufactured in heavy duty, machined billet with an external heatsink and a clear polycarbonate lens cover. Durability and longevity are assured. The unit is cool r

USA - Xantech has expanded its line of IR products with the introduction of the new CIRP (Projector IR Control), CIRS (Conference Room/Classroom Control) and CIRV (Large Venue IR Control) kits. The announcement was made by Rick Seegull, Xantech director of business development.

Developed with direct input from leading contractors and system integrators, Xantech's new IR systems are specifically designed to address typical challenges facing installers today, including IR operation with plasma or LCD TV's; interference from CFL (compact fluorescent lighting) and sunlight; and distance limitations within a single kit. These kits are specifically geared for use in classrooms, conference rooms and houses of worship and engineered for the utmost in reliability, says the company.

Two of the systems come with an amplified connecting block, which allows the connection of Xantech IR rec

UK - The Components Co has released the first glimpse of the Smart-e compact wireless LED fixture, measuring just 154 x 115 x 104mm and weighing in at a mere 1.2kg. It is billed as the first wireless LED product to scale down the size without compromising the performance, the whole unit is only round the size and weight of a standard bag of sugar.

The lithium polymer battery drives three groups of Luxeon Rebel RGB+W emitters using the latest Quad Lens form Carclo Optics, lasting up to eight hours on full output and in excess of 12 hours on colour scroll. The unit has two power modes to further increase battery life with output selected via the digital LCD address interface to either 350mA or 600mA.

The fixture supports W-DMX and has a 5pin XLR DMX output to supply other DMX fixtures that you may wish to rig in its vicinity. With the head detached the Smart-e can be used as a b

UK - This year's ABTT Show saw Philips Entertainment Lighting (PEL) showcase a raft of lighting solutions from its flagship brands Philips Selecon, Philips Strand Lighting and Philips Vari-lite.

The Philips Entertainment team was out in force at the Royal Horticultural Halls to demonstrate the latest developments in LED and intelligent luminaires alongside its dimming, control and distribution solutions.

The Show opened hot on the heels of recent news that Philips Vari-lite has realigned European product distribution, parts, and support services. Since June, Philips Vari-Lite has assumed direct control of its relationships with its dealers, previously taken care of by European Master distributor PRG Distribution. Philips Vari-lite will now provide its dealers with goods and service direct from its HQ in Dallas, Texas.

David March, previously with PRG Distribution and now dir

UK - MSL Professional has launched a special summer promotion that enables UK customers to evaluate TL Audio products in the comfort of their own home or studio prior to purchase. Participating TL Audio dealers will arrange for time-limited loans of selected products over the summer.

MSL Professional's Simon Lowther commented, "The sound quality and warmth of TL Audio products really does have to be heard to be believed. So what better way for customers to experience this than by trying the outboard on their own tracks in their own studios. We look forward to running this particular promotion throughout the summer."

(Jim Evans)

UK - The newly developed MAUI 28 from LD Systems is billed as a compact, active and modular 'all-in-one' system.

It is designed for use by r musicians and DJs as well as for presentations and events with sophisticated music playback. Because no cables and stands are required, this 'plug-and-play' system can be quickly and easily set up and dismantled, says the company.

Andrew Richardson, managing director of Adam Hall UK, comments, "With its outstanding features, the exciting new Maui 28 is sure to be a winning solution for all performers. It is extremely portable and given its amazing price, represents one of the most exciting products we have released to date.

"Frequency-response-based 4.1 five-way amping results in a clear, dynamic and balanced sound throughout the frequency range of this system. The array configuration ensures greater coverage with well-balance

Canada - CAST Software of Toronto has announced the release of wysiwyg R27, for members only, on 11 July 2011.

New features include: Beam optimization - lights respond 5X faster, keeping up with how fast you work; Native Art-Net connectivity: receive and render realtime DMX data over Art-Net directly into wysiwyg; Improved Attribute Layout: speed up your plotting and designing process; New Image Manager: Easier and faster browsing through images and textures.

As with every release, wysiwyg takes the new features and improvements from the previous release and brings them to the next level, says the company. R27 is no exception.

With the 3D mouse users can pan, zoom and rotate as if they're holding the model in their hand. Users can also operate cameras with this new powerful addition to wysiwyg, focus conventional fixtures, and create amazing flybys as well as switch camera v

UK - Distributor Proel (International) has announced the launch of a new wireless in-ear monitoring system from JTS - the SIEM2

The SIEM2 joins the JTS range of microphones and professional audio products at a time when increasing numbers of performers are making the switch to in-ear monitoring and offers the usual JTS combination of a high quality professional specification product at an affordable price, says the company.

The SIEM2 also addresses a major objection from performers to the use of in-ear systems - the common complaint that they leave the user feeling isolated from audience feedback. With the SIEM-2, performers can connect an optional lavalier microphone to the beltpack, allowing them to hear stage and audience ambient noise.

Operating on channel 70, 863-865 MHz, the JTS SIEM2 is ready to go and licence free for use in the UK.

(Jim Evans)

USA - EAW last year entered into a strategic partnership with Lab.gruppen and Powersoft, whereby those manufacturers would integrate proprietary EAW DSP algorithms into a subset of their product lines. As the first fruits of this partnership, the three brands announce that the latest software upgrades for Lab.gruppen's PLM (Powered Loudspeaker Management) Series amplifiers and Powersoft K Series DSP Series amplifiers introduce support for EAW Focusing.

Jeff Rocha, EAW vice president and general manager, stated, "Our partners, Lab.gruppen and Powersoft have developed new firmware for their DSP-enabled amplifiers that allows direct importation of standard EAW Greybox files - the very same files that you can currently load into an EAW UX8800 Digital Signal Processor.

"This brings the power of EAW Focusing to a wider range of hardware platforms and provides a huge advant

Germany - Steinberg Media Technologies has announced the shipping of the Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5033 EQ and 5043 compressor, two pro-audio VST/AU signal processing plug-ins, unveiled at this year's NAMM show. Each plug-in is available as boxed version at authorized Steinberg dealers and as boxed or download version.

Thanks to Yamaha's Virtual Circuitry Modeling (VCM) technology, the hardware of Rupert Neve Designs has now been successfully emulated in the digital domain, says Steinberg.

"At Yamaha and K's LAB, we apply very strict circuitry modelling if required. This way we can choose how to emulate the sound and tonality of each hardware unit accordingly," comments Toshifumi Kunimoto, general manager of the Corporate Research & Development Centre at Yamaha Corp. "We invest lengths of time to obtain the right sound."

The RND Portico 5033 five-band e

Belgium - On the occasion of their 2011 distributor meeting in Belgium, APart Audio has announced a number of new products for the second half of the year.

OVO is a new cabinet speaker series that combines budget with quality sound. Available in low impedance as well as 100 Volts, and ready to fit in any décor or interior style, OVO can be used in covered outdoor applications and exists in three sizes : three, five and eight inch.

The MA247 (100V mixing amp) replaces the MA246 and has been improved with 24V dedicated priority output per zone and folder selectable MP3 playback.

CMAR is a new range of low-impedance marine speakers. A series of three in-wall/in-ceiling speakers designed especially for use in the most humid and hot conditions like on yachts or in saunas.

CHAMP-3D is still the flagship of the 2011 line up. The three-channel fully programmable digital amp

UK - Marl International's recently extended Colorbeam range of linear lighting solutions features a 1.6m+plus RGB colour palette, lower power consumption and a long life of 25,000 hours in a typical application depending on the product specified. They are easy to install and maintain, and many products support the DMX512 control interface, says the company. Some versions also have a built-in power supply to eliminate the need for a driver, or offer IP65 sealing for use in outdoor lighting applications.

Adrian Rawlinson, managing director of Marl International comments, "Linear LED lighting strips are growing in popularity as a way of delivering creative effects in retail, office and other environments. They are energy efficient and last so long that they are essentially maintenance free. The Colorbeam range is particularly attractive as these are high quality products that

USA - Acclaim Lighting's new Rebel Band 600 can scale 100' buildings with amazing ease, says the company. This powerful IP-rated LED wall wash provides lighting professionals with a solution for long throw dynamic illumination of large structures, façades and landscapes.

The biggest and brightest LED fixture introduced by Acclaim to date, the Rebel Band 600 is equipped with 104 high-power Rebel LEDs. It provides enough output and covers enough area to handle large-scale applications where LED fixtures typically haven't been used, such as washing 100' building façades.

With an IP-65 rating, the Rebel Band 600 is able to withstand rain and dust, so it can be used either indoors or outdoors. In addition to architectural applications, its precise light distribution and extremely even field make it perfect for high-impact stage scene settings, adds the company.

The Rebel Band 6

UK - Cooper Controls has announced the launch of Version 7.0 ZerOS software for the Zero 88 Leap Frog 48, Leap Frog 96, Frog 2 and ORB Series consoles.

ZerOS 7.0 is the most substantial update to the ZerOS software platform to date, says the company, incorporating over 30 new features including: a completely redesigned look and style for an enhanced, clearer user interface; colour filter lookup - match your moving lights to any Lee, Rosco or Apollo filter using on-screen palette keys or syntax; a new 'Fixture Levels' window to provide instant view and modification of tracking data for the entire cue stack, and an updated fixture library with over 2500 fixture types from 175 manufacturers.

"The launch of ZerOS 7.0 is a testament to the investment Cooper has made in Zero 88 over the last four years. During this time our software capability has been growing and growing, and

UK - Tower Productions has recently devised a showpower package of four generators in an attempt to lessen fuel use and 'empty running' at concerts and other applications where the load profile changes dramatically.

The synchronised package of two small and two large machines has proved popular with promoters as it offers fuel saving and greater redundancy than a traditional two-engine set up, says Tower. Typically only one small machine is needed for the fit-up period or night running, this can be synchronised with its mate or left running/standby, with the large machines not commissioned until rehearsals/showtime.

All four machines can be synchronised together to give 600kVA. So far, Rod Stewart and JLS have had this setup, with Simple Minds and Boyzone coming up.

Tower's Pete Donald comments: "It's a fantastic set up as it allows us to shoe-horn machines into tight s

USA - The Christie YK100 won the title of Most Innovative New Product at the InfoComm/Rental & Staging New Product Awards ceremony held in Orlando, Florida.

The Christie YK100 single-arm yoke system is designed for use with the Christie M Series and Christie LX1500 projectors, offering brightness levels ranging from 5700 to 15,000 ANSI lumens and a choice between 3-chip DLP and 3LCD technologies. DMX512 protocol manages projector movement and control - empowering users to integrate and control lighting equipment and video projectors easily with the same console. Another advantage of the Christie YK100 design is its quick lock system. This interchangeable head system lets users replace the video projector with another Christie projector or Xenon light - on the same yoke.

Installed at ground level or rigged to truss, Christie Nitro Solutions are designed for video projection map

USA/UK - Following the unveiling of their latest design/documentation tool, Stardraw Design 7, at InfoComm last month Stardraw.com has reported a massive uptake for the public beta programme.

Stardraw.com marketing director Rob Robinson explained that the beta program for Design 7 was announced publically on Friday 1 July and interested parties were invited to register. "Considering that it was the start of one of the biggest holiday weekends in the US, we were anticipating a slow take-up in the first week following the announcement. However, by Tuesday 5 July, despite the fact that there had been no working days in the US since the beta programme was announced, we already had well over 1000 registrants."

The application is Stardraw.com's seventh-generation software solution for systems integrators. Offering a holistic approach to system design and documentation, Sta

UK - The XPar 390 from PR Lighting is brighter than the earlier XPar 348, while the XPar 390-W, which broadens the width of the beam, offers greater white light.

The key features of the new DMX-controllable XPar 390 are the 90 x 3W high quality LEDs (24 each of RGB and 18 white) rated at 50,000 hours. This offers full colour mixing and linear CTO, with 0-100% linearly adjustable dimmer; 1-20 fps strobe; Beam Angle of 14° (Field Angle 28°) and IP67 waterproof rating. Power Consumption is 300W@220V and the weight is just 14kg.

Contained in the same housing, the XPar 390-W offers 66 x white 3W LEDs and 24 amber, with full colour mixing and linear CTO. It comes with standard 14° lens (8° and 45° optional) and beam angle of 32° (24° and 55° optional), with 0-100% linearly adjustable dimmer. Other features include: 0.3-20 fps strobe; IP 67 waterproof

UK - GDS recently exhibited at the ABTT show for its fifth consecutive year. The event saw GDS win the ABTT Lighting Award of the Year, become the sponsor of the new Student of the Year Award for The Stage Managers Association and collect its Theatres Trust People's Choice Award which was won at PLASA 2010.

Richard Cuthbert, director of engineering comments: "This is our fifth year of exhibiting at ABTT, it is a fantastic show for us and a great opportunity to meet end users, customers and most importantly theatre consultants who have valuable input in to our product development."

The ABTT Lighting Product of the Year Award was given to GDS for ArcSystem, its new LED house-light system. The award was presented to Richard Cuthbert, director of engineering for GDS. The judges were impressed by the wireless dimming performance of ArcSystem, a bespoke fitting manufacture

Latest Issue. . .