High-Tech Park Gets Fiber-Optic AV Systems for Amphitheater’s Floating Stage
Aug 9, 2006 4:43 PM
FiberPlex’s LightViper fiber-optic digital audio transport system has been chosen for installation in Cranes Roost Park, a multi-use venue located in a rejuvenated green space in the city of Altamonte Springs, Fla. AV systems integrator Teer Engineering recently completed the first phase of a large-scale, sophisticated AV system installation, including the upgraded venue’s 900-seat amphitheater, which features a 100’x60’ floating stage on the park’s 37-acre lake.
Cranes Roost Park sits at the center of Altamonte Town Center, a 25-acre, 1.5-million-square-foot, master-planned development connected to a 1,400-acre business and residential district.
John Teer, president of Orlando, Fla.-based Teer Engineering, comments on technical aspects of the cutting-edge fiber-optic audio transport technology employed in the unique, high-tech park’s amphitheater:
We deployed 80 audio channels of LightViper fiber-optic electronics (64 sends and 16 returns). The underground Mil-spec tactical fiber cable run is a 12-strand bundle of single-mode fiber for all audio, video, and background music. We dedicated four strands to the LightViper system for the stage-to-FOH audio.
We simply couldn’t use traditional copper wiring for this project for a host of reasons, including the obvious safety issues in a multi-use public venue. Because the stage literally floats on a lake, and will be repositioned from time to time, we needed an extremely safe and ultra-reliable method for providing easy-to-use, plug-and-play interconnections for outside rental or client AV production companies. These are the primary users who will be utilizing the park’s new technical facilities.
Teer adds, “We looked at other available audio fiber components, but the simplicity and reliability of the LightViper system won out. It’s an elegantly straightforward design: a point-to-point, stage-to-control, professional digital audio system that doesn’t rely on computer software control to do its thing. The Viper’s abilities to switch phantom power and gain at the stage box were also crucial features we needed that none of the other systems had.
“Because of the many outside vendors who will be using it, we truly had to make this entire audio system very user-friendly. When our client told us all technical systems not only had to be state-of-the-art, but plug-and-play too, they meant it.”
For more information, visit www.lightviper.com.
