Calvin College, a comprehensive liberal arts college based in Grand Rapids, MI, has installed a Telecast Fiber Systems CommLink TR6442i fiber-optic intercom link to enable cross-campus communications for a wide range of college video productions.
The CommLink TR6442i is a fiber-optic transceiver system that carries two intercom channels seamlessly over a single strand of fiber, spanning distances of up to 30km. At Calvin College, the CommLink is primarily used to transport intercom signals between the school's video production center and the Covenant Fine Arts Center recital hall and auditorium, halfway across campus. The 2000ft distance was at the outside limit of the capabilities of copper cable, and the college saw an opportunity to make use of its preinstalled dark fiber network. The CommLink's advanced digital noise-elimination circuitry and the noise-free properties of fiber-optic cable ensure that intercom transmissions are free of interference.
The Campus Events Office at Calvin College staged more than 1900 non-classroom events last year. The College put the new CommLink system into action for the first time to facilitate production for this year's January Series, a 15-day award-winning lecture series streamed to more than 30 remote webcast locations in Michigan, across North America and into Europe, drawing a daily audience of more than 2600 both on and off campus.
Visit Telecast Fiber Systems at the 2012 NAB Show, Booth C8925.