System integrator Dega Broadcast Systems has selected Wood & Douglas, a leading creator of wireless products and services, to provide studio wireless talkback communications for BBC regional and sports programming at MediaCityUK, the BBC’s new creative hub on Salford Quays. Dega’s contract with the BBC was awarded following competitive tender under EU regulations. The installation by Dega incorporates Symphony and Duo products from Wood & Douglas to provide a duplex radio link enabling studio floor communication simultaneously in both directions. Duo is a compact push-to-talk wireless intercom, which uses narrowband FM techniques to provide clear, crisp audio. Incorporating an operator-worn headset and boom microphone, Duo gives professional studio crews an effective means to communicate during productions. With a 50mW RF output, it provides more than enough power for operation in the largest studio. Designed to be used with Duo; Symphony provides broadcasters with a wireless intercom duplex base station. Using advanced synthesiser frequency control techniques, Symphony delivers low distortion, high quality audio. The audio quality from the Symphony and Duo range enables production crews to work for extended periods without experiencing the fatigue associated with noise interference. Working together, the Symphony base stations and Duos provide coverage across the entire news and sports studios and even outside the building, encompassing the entire Plaza area to accommodate local outside broadcasts. Alan Wood, managing director, Wood & Douglas said, “Production and studio floor staff can experience audio fatigue with many talkback systems, meaning that crews need to take breaks more often, costing time and money. We designed the Symphony and Duo talkback systems to remove interference and reduce down time for production crews. The Symphony range also enables the gallery producers to communicate with different teams (such as lighting and camera crews) on different channels – meaning users of the Symphony talkback system only hear information relevant to them.” David Addey, project director, Dega Broadcast Systems said: “The Corporation’s studio facility is a large scale and complex installation that demands working with dependable partners. With Wood & Douglas we have just that: a long term working partnership based on proven reliability, so when it came to the technical installation for the corporation we would never consider going anywhere else.” www.woodanddouglas.co.uk
