Sydney’s Eastern Creek Speedway
… audio system for new motorsport venue!
Due to officially open in March after recent construction works, The P.A. People was asked to install a ten-zone audio system at the new venue in Western Sydney. The scope includes speakers, amplifiers, audio mixers, digital signal processor (DSP), microphones, paging units and message replay equipment. Event commentators are also catered for with four sets of Commentator Dante Belt Packs and Headset microphones.
The challenges in this setting included – the general outdoor issues of potential wet weather, wind speed & direction, motor-event noise impacts, audience locations and related issues.
To provide comprehensive coverage of the site, speaker placement was required on the track safety fence, on the leading edge of the Grandstand roof, in the corporate box ceilings and on the lighting poles in carparks around the venue. We have used specially designed Community speakers around the track area and in the Grandstand. These are a specialized version of the R.5HP loudspeaker, with the high frequency driver mounted 20° vertically. Specially designed for racetrack ‘catch-fence’ systems, it is a 3-way horn-loaded, weather-resistant loudspeaker system, engineered to offer maximum intelligibility.
To enable operation of the audio system from either the Comms Room, adjacent to Race Control in the Grandstand or the Comms room in the Pits Building, we installed two Yamaha TF1 audio mixers fitted with Dante cards. Within the site, Community and Redback speakers are used and Community ALC series amplifiers drive the output, rack mounted in Comms rooms and Media Rooms.
A Yamaha MTX-D digital signal processor (DSP) is installed as the central audio router and paging microphone manager. The DSP stores messages for playback from either Paging Station and one Engineering PC is supplied to manage the Dante configuration around the site.
Shure ULXD handheld radio microphone systems, with external antennas will be located in the Track Commentator Room in the Pits Building for use by commentators. This includes Quad receivers and external antennas.
Three Yamaha PGM1 Paging units and PGX1 button extensions (one set in the Ticketing office, one set in the Admin building and one set in Race Control) will allow paging and pre-recorded message and Race Tone replay to the different zones in the venue. Audio signal transport around the venue is Dante – over the site’s converged network.
Hearing Augmentation System
A BCA-required and important service to patrons, we supplied hearing augmentation equipment – described here:
a. the main arena is covered by an FM transmission system. We added a WiFi Server, attached to the network arranged by the venue and supplied externally. There are also three Univox counter loop systems at specific locations in the Ticket Booth counters.
b. For the Arena, we installed a single Listen Technologies LT800-150 FM transmitter and external antenna, located in the Comms Room and in the Grandstand. We supplied LT5200-150 Receivers and headsets along with a 12-way charger case, to complete the system. Finally, we have supplied one Listen Everywhere server, located in the Comms Room and cabled to the site network for access to the wireless access points.
‘With a challenging design and installation task, this is a comprehensive solution to the client’s requirement” said Frank Zayzon, Project Manager at The P.A. People.
