October 21, 2013 – Los Angeles, CA – Bexel’s focus on the development and installation of Managed Antenna Systems over the last decade have ushered the growth of a philosophy and a product line, which together provide a highly organized and robust solution to wide-area coverage of low-power RF devices for television, film and stage applications. The inclusion of specialty RF devices into the ASG Products line has allowed the quality and versatility of the RF system to keep pace with the dependability of the wireless devices it supports. Frequency coordination, antenna selection/placement along with system design and equipment manufacturing are each part of the total service that Bexel offers when called to provide a complete solution. For the “Invisible Cities” project, Bexel implemented a system using a variety of components based on our MAS-500 series of modular RF terminal products which allowed the Sennheiser-provided transmitters and receivers to work seamlessly throughout the performance space.

Bexel used a total of 17 antennas, all supplied by Sennheiser. These were allocated among four concentrated locations throughout Los Angeles’ historic Union Station: (1) on top of the convenience store in the Main Hall, (2) outside in the South Garden, (3) inside the station near the main entrance across from the Traxx Bar and, (4) coverage for the North Courtyard above the Traxx Restaurant kitchen. Each location featured antennas for microphones, audience headphones and, except for the North Courtyard, talent in-ear- monitoring (IEM). A single microphone receive antenna was placed in the Bagel Shop to allow testing of the microphones at the audio console.

All of the cables from these antennas made their way to the equipment racks in the control room, situated in the Bagel Shop, where the Managed Antenna System components were located. There, Bexel manufactured MAS-500 Series equipment was used to combine or distribute the various signals as needed. The use of ultra low-loss cables were impractical due to the public space issues. We had to get creative with amplification and signal routing to deliver the maximum allowable energy to each transmitting antenna and provide the cleanest signal for the wireless microphone receivers.

While the science is well known, and one in which Bexel has much experience, we had to apply our knowledge and expertise to an environment that required more than our customary methods. The greatest challenge was working in a public space with such a large, long-term installation. Cables and antennas had to be set-up and torn down before and after each night’s performances, risking misconnected cables, incorrectly aimed antennas, and damage to cables due to pedestrian traffic or other forms of stress. In addition, compromises on antenna location had to be made to allow the technicians to place antennas without the use of electric man-lifts, modifications to the building or otherwise excessively complicated mechanisms. The show’s audio department embraced these challenges with great professionalism and skill.[sc name="news-footer"]