LVPR_TheVillages

LightViper™ Solves Lightning Problem in Florida

Annapolis Junction, MD, May, 2008 — FiberPlex, Inc., announced that their LightViper™ fiber optic audio transport system was recently installed at the central Florida-based, The Villages, a large adult-living planned community. The Villages features nine live performance venues. The largest, Market Square at Lake Sumter Landing, was recently upgraded with a LightViper Model 1832 “plug n’ play” fiber optic audio system. The large outdoor covered pavilion, adjacent to a large, man-made lake within the extensive Villages complex, is one of the most active live performance stages in the nation with shows every day of the year.

Orlando, FL-based Turnkey Media handled the design and installation of the fiber audio upgrade supplied by Sound Productions of Dallas,TX. Turnkey Media is the exclusive provider of audio services to The Villages. A standard LightViper system was customized with special weatherproof enclosures and custom interface panels at both stage and FOH mixing positions to help protect the audio gear in a moisture-laden, demanding environment. The stage-to-FOH fiber run is approximately 150’ to the sound mixing console. Two new fiber optic cables (one for redundancy and possible future use) were pulled through existing conduits at the performance venue. Turnkey Media’s Director of Operations, Gerry Tacker, who single-handedly installed the entire fiber upgrade, shared some of the unique technical challenges he recently faced at the facility:

“We’ve been wrestling with a difficult audio problem on our largest stage for years. Central Florida is the lightning capitol of America and for obvious safety reasons, outdoor facilities need lightning protection — arrestors on roofs. The four on top of the Pavilion are tied to thick, braided copper leads that run from each side of the roof into the ground at both sides of the wide stage. Under ground, there’s several tons of buried iron ore; these “grounding pits” are designed to act as the safe termination ‘sinks’ for the building’s lightning protection system. Unfortunately, the iron ore pits also behave like a very large electro-magnet by inducing an annoying electronic ‘buzz’ into all the audio lines! This problem has been especially aggravating over this past year as we’ve been unable to pass-on a decent-quality broadcast audio feed during the many political rallies we’ve had here. After we presented Management with a reasonable budget to fix this on-going problem, they decided to change to a modern audio fiber optic system and get away from old copper wires. I even looked at CAT-5 Ethernet solutions initially. Even though the audio signals are digital, it’s still using a copper wire, subject to all the attendant safety and reliability issues we routinely experience here.

Tacker elaborated further about the fiber conversion:

“Installing the fiber optic cable runs from the stage to the FOH was a breeze; it took a total of 40 minutes to pull both lines.

“The comments I get now from my sound crew about the new LightViper system are all positive. I’ve heard the words: ‘brilliant’ and “full-range’ a lot. In addition to this, there’s absolutely no latency, a concern I had knowing that the LightViper system converts all our on-stage analog audio into a pure digital signal that travels over the fiber. To my ears, there’s considerably more clarity to the sound now. The audio quality is 70-80% better. But, the high-quality of the audio aside, the phrase we use most around here for the LightViper system is: The ‘Buzz Killer.’ That pretty much says it all.”

Editor’s Technical Notes:

Fiberplex manufactures the LightViper fiber optic audio cable transport systems. The LightViper systems offer total signal path isolation between both stage and mixer as well as between the mixer and power amplification; the cable is totally immune to ground loops, RFI, EMI and electromechanical noise, and runs of up to 1 1/4 miles (6,600 feet) can be easily accomplished without signal loss or degradation. FiberPlex includes a limited lifetime warranty with all of its LightViper system components.

Additional story Link: http://www.thevillages.com/lifestyle/marketSquare.asp

10840-412 Guilford Rd, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701• Phone: 301-604-0100 • Fax: 301-604-0773