In Broadcast - December 2015 - 34


34

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 12 | December 2015

InStudio

Intercom Systems
And Talkbacks
Contributing Editor David Kirk rounds up some of the advances in
intercoms and talkback technology for broadcast applications...

T

he past year has seen continuing
fast development in the field of
broadcast intercoms and talkbacks. It
is a product area that remains largely
invisible to television viewers, and
inaudible to radio listeners, unless
something goes wrong. One of the most
notable developments in this category
is the Sonifex RB-AEC acoustic echo
canceller which won the company a
very well deserved IABM Game Changer
Award at the April 2015 NAB show in
Las Vegas.
Audio Ltd's 1010 digital wireless
microphone system allows up to 20
systems to be operated together.
Transmitter and receiver have OLED
menu driven select-and-click displays.
Brightness can be reduced or the
screens and LEDs switched off entirely.
A free downloadable app will control
the main functions on the transmitter
from an Apple iPhone or iPad as well
as monitoring battery levels. The units
have black anodised cases machined
from solid aluminium with rounded
corners and recessed buttons on
the TX1010 transmitter. The DX1010
receiver has a pivoting OLED display.
Measuring 83 x 64 x 18 mm, the
TX1010 transmitter can operate at 5,
20 or 50 milliwatts power level and is
driven by two 1.5V LR6 AA cells housed
in a hinged lockable compartment.
A built-in SD card reader can be used
to update the system's firmware and
capture the live audio stream.

CTP Systems
DC2012 commentary box

Broadcast Bionics' Intercom-plus
expands Axia Intercoms to two or
more geographically diverse sites
over a corporate WAN or the public
internet. Intercom-plus runs as a
service on a Windows PC for use with
local or remote Livewire-connected
intercoms. All Axia intercom units can
be managed from a single location.
Remote users can select available
intercom stations. Remote station
names can be changed to make
them appear more logical to users.
Intercom-plus requires a single
gateway PC per site.
Clear-Com introduced at NAB
2015 a newly-designed set of
interruptible foldback assignment
and management capabilities within
its EHX configuration software. The
new facility can support installations
from a few IFBs to hundreds of lines
from a single central view, making
it suitable for small studios, large
events and geographically distributed
intercom infrastructures. Up to
200 virtual IFBs are supported on a
single matrix system and up to 64
matrices can be networked together
to form one system. Up to 15 system
administrators can work in parallel
using Production Maestro Clients
to manage a network of Eclipse-HX
matrix frames. Dynamic visual views
are provided for monitoring IFB
status and troubleshooting, such as
a detailed and a summary view; an
option for assignable VU meters;
dynamic assignment of programme

sources, intercom panels,
destination ports and talent
return;
multi-level
undo
and redo of all assignments;
and configurable screen layouts
tailored and annotated for changing
requirements.
MCR
operators
can select to hear the various IFB
contributors as they are modified in
real-time. The user interface scales
up to large touchscreen monitor size
and down to tablet devices such as the
Apple iPad.
CTP Systems' DC2012 is the latest
version of the company's DC99-II
commentary box. It has a paper-white
liquid crystal display and six control
pushbuttons which can be locked to
prevent accidental resetting. The unit
includes three microphone amplifiers
with built in limiters, separate line
level microphone outputs with a
mixed output facility, four lazy
talkback outputs and 10 monitoring
inputs. Microphone amplifier gain
is adjustable in 1 dB steps from
+15 to +70 dB or can be set to +5
dB. Each microphone amplifier has
an individual XLR electronically
balanced output. Transformer output
is available as an option. Each line
level microphone output also has a
limiter with adjustable threshold. Also
incorporated is a mixed output with
its own limiter. Phantom power (48
volt) is available for each microphone
amplifier and selection is shown on
a front panel red LED for each of the
three inputs.
Delec's Oratis intercom system
can be scaled from
eight ports to more
than 4,000 ports,
all
accessible
simultaneously, by
adding more matrix
cards. Each matrix
card acts as a selfcontained independent
audio
router.
Small
installations based on a
single matrix frame can fulfil
the communications requirements

Audio Ltd TX1010 transmitter
- is controllable via an app

for a theatre application. Larger
system installations, capable of serving
the communication needs of an entire
broadcast facility, are built using
multiple networked matrix frames.
Glensound's Expedition is a portable
broadcasters' phone offering 7 kHz HD
Voice on compatible 3G UMTS and 4G
LTE networks. It also offers normal
narrow band connections on 2G, 3G
and 4G networks. The Expedition has
two microphone/line/48 volt inputs
that are separately switched, and
two 6.35mm headphone outputs.
Two commentators can take the
unit to a field event and operate
as a commentary team. A reporter
can give an interviewee a dedicated
microphone and headphones. A
small ENG crew can have off air / IFB
with monitoring for the talent and
cameraman. The Expedition has a top
panel screen allowing easy dialling,
caller ID display, signal strength
metering, and configuration.
Lectrosonics has introduced the
latest version of its Digital Hybrid
Wireless handheld transmitters. The
HHa features a 75 MHz tuning range
(or three standard Lectrosonics
blocks), selectable RF power (50 or
100 millwatts), infra-red sync

Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless
handheld transmitter system
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.audioltd.com/1010digital/ https://www.youtube.com/user/lectrosonics http://www.ctpsystems.co.uk/comm_box.html
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - December 2015
