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At left, the AV control position at the Simpsonville Arts Center; at right, the AV rack includes a pair of linked RF Venue DISTRO9 HDR distribution amplifiers that feed the 16 channels of wireless microphone signals captured by an RF Venue Diversity Fin antenna to Sennheiser G4 wireless mic receivers.

RF Venue Enhances Wireless Backbone At Renovated Performing Arts Venue in South Carolina

DISTRO9 HDR RF distribution amplifiers for venue's Sennheiser G4 wireless systems joined by hybrid-design Diversity Fin antenna that helps prevent dropouts at Simpsonville Arts Center.

A recently concluded year-long renovation of the Simpsonville (South Carolina) Arts Center came with an update of all sound equipment, including a new RF Venue wireless infrastructure comprising two DISTRO9 HDR antenna distribution systems to accommodate the facility’s 16 channels of Sennheiser G4 wireless microphones joined by a cross-polarized, hybrid-design Diversity Fin antenna to help prevent dropouts.

The RF Venue equipment was installed by Roebuck, SC-based integrator Productions Unlimited, which also designed and installed a new house reinforcement system utilizing TW AUDiO mains, Danley Sound Labs subwoofers, and an Allen & Heath Avantis front-of-house console. The renovated venue gives the city a quality locus for performing arts, including a second home for the Mill Town Players, who will stage its inaugural season of six theater shows there.

“The city had been looking at creating a performing arts space for some time, and this was an older city school building that was a good fit for that,” says Jordan Tripp, A/V department manager for Productions Unlimited, which also installed lighting and rigging systems for the new venue. But the wireless audio was a particular concern. The venue management wanted as much of it as could fit, in this case 16 channels, and it had to be able to negotiate the architecture and geometry of an older building.

Perhaps most concerning of all was that the center is literally next door to First Baptist Church Simpsonville, which has a large stage, auditorium, and balcony, and uses what Tripp estimated is more than 60 channels of wireless microphones for its services. “A pair of multi-zone RF Venue DISTRO9 HDRs gave us the channel count we needed, and it let us split the 16 channels into two bands for better management and maximum system stability, as well as consolidating all of the receivers into a single rack,” Tripp says, crediting Productions Unlimited senior A/V systems engineer Jim Breitmeier for completion of the design, including having the foresight to divide the Senneiser G4 wireless into two frequency bands.

“But we also had to keep an eye on all of the RF next door,” he adds. “The Diversity Fin antenna was the perfect solution for that — its cross-polarized hybrid design pretty much eliminates the possibilities for dropouts. It’s the anchor for what is an incredibly stable, rock-solid RF environment here now.”

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