SRG chooses Stage Tec equipment for World Ski Championships

SRG chooses Stage Tec equipment for World Ski Championships posted: 10/02/2017

NEXUS, AURUS and CRESCENDO in St. Moritz with the OBVans from tpc

The World Ski Championships in St. Moritz are a real challenge for Alpine downhill skiers. From an altitude of almost 3000 m, after a steep start, athletes descend at speeds of up to 140 km/h. Covering the event comes with its own set of challenges: complex logistics, extreme weather conditions and the lack of space for equipment close to the slopes. Host broadcaster SRG (Swiss Broadcasting Corporation) and tpc defy the difficult conditions regardless. They produce the global feed for live broadcasts of the World Ski Championships and rely on Stage Tec equipment to do so: a large NEXUS network and several AURUS and CRESCENDO consoles.

The Swiss production company technology and production center switzerland ag', tpc for short, is a long-standing Stage Tec customer. Many of its production studios and OB vehicles are fitted with equipment from the Berlin-based manufacturer of digital audio equipment. tpc is the organiser of this World Ski Championship. Throughout the event, tpc and Stage Tec equipment ensure that picture and sound transmissions from the St. Moritz World Ski Championships is broadcast seamlessly to the world. Fifteen Nexus Base Devices are installed alongside the slopes, some of them right in the snow and others in containers (HUBs). Fibre-optic cables connect them to each other. Since the number of cables is limited, all communication, audio, video and control signals are sent via the same cable. One critical factor in planning is the ability to cascade multiple Base Devices easily. NEXUS forwards the signals from the field cameras and microphones to the TV compound.

The TV compound is located at Salastrains, 2048 m above sea level, where all 11 races finish. More than 100 containers crammed with TV and broadcast equipment, editing desks and studios were built here. Several OB vehicles from tpc and other SRG subsidiaries were also present to produce the feeds for all the connected TV customers around the world. The incoming fibre-optic cables from the NEXUS network come together in a NEXUS STAR router installed in an additional tpc OB vehicle in the TV compound. The router serves as a temporary central control room, with lines running to the OB vehicles of all the connected broadcasters.

Four OB vehicles from tpc and SRG are fitted with Stage Tec AURUS consoles in addition to NEXUS networks. They broadcast the opening ceremony, all the events, the award ceremonies and the closing ceremony. The wind, snow and the cold are the big challenges here in St. Moritz. We had an excellent experience with Stage Tec equipment at the last World Ski Championships here in 2003. The NEXUS Base Devices in particular are extremely reliable, remaining operational even in the snow, says Markus Brockmann, team leader for TV outside broadcasting at tpc. Thats why we chose Stage Tec again. NEXUS and the Stage Tec consoles are versatile, and flexible to configure and control. They make our work a whole lot easier.

Before the World Ski Championships commenced the tpc OB vehicle HD-1, which acts as the production control for the downhill races, was fitted with seven of the new Platinum DSP processing boards. The console in HD-1 is a first generation AURUS and about 12 years old. Now the console provides triple its former channel capacity and powerful audio processing, explains Felix Binder, head of sales and system integration at Stage Tec. The AURUS still has the same control surface, but now has much more power. The upgrade went smoothly and only one type of board has been replaced.

Audio mixing console CRESCENDO with NEXUS from Stage Tec in sub-control room

Two Stage Tec CRESCENDOs are used in smaller sub-control rooms producing additional feeds such as the World Feed Plus, which supplies rights holders with additional impressions and raw material from the ski races.

The World Ski Championships are being held in St. Moritz from 6th to 19th February. Here, around 600 athletes from more than 70 countries compete for medals and the title of World Champion in six disciplines Downhill, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Slalom, Super Combination and the Team Event.

An independent company based in Berlin, Germany, Stage Tec Entwicklungsgesellschaft f r professionelle Audiotechnik GmbH has specialised in developing and manufacturing digital audio equipment. Its flagship products include the digital routers NEXUS and NEXUS STAR as well as the professional mixing consoles AURUS platinum, CRESCENDO platinum, AURATUS and ON AIR flex.

Assisted by a business partner, Stage Tec was established in 1993 by 13 engineers (nearly all of whom still work there). The company is headed by Dr. Helmut Jahne, who was one of the founding members of the Stage Tec team and who continues to drive the technological supremacy of the product lines.

A leading pioneer in the transition from analogue to digital audio technology, Stage Tec has an international reputation and raised the bar in digital audio technology with a continuous stream of developments and innovations. Today, Stage Tec offers a comprehensive range of products ranging from the smallest to the largest of mixing consoles.

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