Riedel Communications, pioneer of advanced intercom and radio technology, is providing ten stadiums throughout France and England with its state-of-the-art Artist Digital Matrix intercom and Digital Trunked Radio systems to ensure seamless communications during the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Riedel‘s Rental Service Division, which is one of the world‘s largest rental service providers in the field of radio and intercom, is supplying the equipment.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup is the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union world championship inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations are competing for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament hosted by France from September 7th to October 20th and comprising 48 matches over 44 days.
Based on its successful formula at many international events including the recent Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Riedel configured an integrated infrastructure consisting of digital matrix intercoms, digital party-line systems and professional mobile radios to facilitate the venue communications at the individual sports sites.
“There is a tremendous amount of small critical details that go into planning these games and Riedel is here to get the job done,” says Simon Korzen, Riedel‘s rental project manager. “The sports presentation area is employing Riedel‘s intercom system to ensure seamless communications between audio and video operators, announcers, presentation managers and assistants to organize these games. Simple tasks as having players enter the field need to be executed in a precise manner. Sports presentation managers get the heads up that they are on the air and can send players out onto the field through the use of the digital radio and intercom system.”
Riedel‘s Artist Digital Matrix intercom is functioning as the heart of the installations. In each stadium an Artist 64 digital intercom system is being used along side five control panels, six C3 two-channel digital beltpacks and Riedel‘s RiFace. The dimmable alphanumeric 8-digit LED display keys of the Artist 1000 series control panels allow clear labeling of destinations and excellent readability under all lighting conditions including direct sunlight. In addition, the Artist 1000 panels provide broadcast quality audio and individual listen level control for each talk key.
The matrix intercom system is seamlessly integrated with Riedel‘s Performer digital partyline systems. This combination of Artist and Performer offers a completely integrated solution for combining of matrix systems with conventional partyline applications. The partylines are connected to the matrix via the Performer C44 system interface. The interface supplies the beltpack-lines with power and enables the smooth incorporation of the partyline system into the matrix environment. The partylines, which consist of 6 Riedel digital C3 2-channel beltpacks, are daisy-chained via microphone cables in the same way that analog beltpacks would be connected. Unlike its analog counterparts it‘s completely noise-free and hum-free. The configuration of the partylines is simply being done via drag-and-drop in the same configuration software as the matrix configuration.
The wireless communications solution for venue communications is supported with the proven quality of professional radios from Motorola. The walkie-talkie radio systems are connected to the wired communication systems via Riedel‘s universal radio interface RiFace.
In addition to the venue communications infrastructure Riedel is also providing a digital trunked radio installation for each stadium to be used by the organizing committee. “The TETRA systems are being used by the GIP, which is the organizing committee,” says Korzen. “The organizing committe is utilizing the TETRA systems for its logistics and security. Each stadium is using about 15-20 talk groups, making it easier to locate certain individuals who handle different responsibilities. Riedel is not just providing equipment but also offers solutions to help simplify event planning behind the scenes. Our customers profit from our extensive experiences in world-class events like Formula 1 or Olympic Games. ”
The “heart” of the digital trunked radio installation is being utilized in each stadium with four TETRA base radios. TETRA combines the advantages of analog trunked radio with those of digital mobile radio, resulting in optimal frequency usage, the highest transmission quality for speech and data, maximum security against eavesdropping, as well as flexible networking and connection management. Additionally, digital trunked radio offers full duplex communication, GPS-positioning and connection to the public telephone network or company telephone systems.
Each stadium is equipped with over 250 Motorola MTH800‘s to assist in the production of the games. In total more than 3,000 radios of Riedel‘s rental stock have been utilized at the Rugby World Cup.
About Riedel
Riedel - one of the major suppliers of communications equipment to the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino - designs, manufactures and distributes the most sophisticated intercom and radio technology for customers worldwide in the broadcast, pro-audio, event, sports and theatre industries. The products reflect today‘s leading-edge technologies that expand conventional concepts into tomorrow‘s applications. The Riedel group of companies also includes a European based large rental operation that provides radio, intercom services, event accreditation & ticketing systems as well as fiber-based audio and video transmission systems. The Company was founded in 1987 and today employs over 150 people located within 7 locations in Europe, Asia and North America.