Riedel’s NAB 2005 Line-up Looks Toward the Future

New York, NY – Riedel Communications, known for pioneering advanced intercom technology in the broadcast industry, announced its NAB 2005 exhibition plans at a press event held at the Marriott Marquis in mid-town Manhattan, NYC on February 9 & 10, 2005. The suite of breakthrough products, including the world’s FIRST digital belt-pack/ headset intercom station, a digital telephone hybrid and VoIP interface, a line of Artist 2000 LCD-panels, a synchronized two-way radio network, trunking software and other enhancements, will be officially unveiled at an NAB press luncheon at Noon on April 18, 2005 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth #C11107.

New C3 Digital Belt-pack / Headset-Station for Artist Intercom Systems
Riedel is presenting the C3 Digital Belt-pack / Headset Station - the First fully integrated ‘digital’ solution for combined digital matrix and party-line style intercom. The platform can be used stand-alone or in conjunction with matrix systems such as Riedel’s Artist platform. The product series is comprised of the C3 Digital Belt-pack, the C44 System Interface Box and the C31 1x3 splitter.

The C3 is an ergonomically shaped, fully digital 2-channel belt-pack that includes popular features from conventional analog party line systems including daisy-chaining. Operation is extremely convenient; one control is used for talk and listen for each channel. The C3 has two XLR connectors, one for input and one for loop through. The loop through XLR connector can be used as an additional analog program input.

The belt-packs are connected to the C44 System Interface via standard 3 pin XLR cables. The C44 is a 19”/1RU unit which converts 4 two-channel CAT5 matrix ports to 4 powered belt-pack lines. For stand-alone use the device features an integrated audio matrix. Up to 16 belt-packs can be daisy-chained on each line, one single C44 can power up to 38 belt-packs. Full digital interface is provided for Artist matrix systems. Analog 4-wire I/O is provided for interface to other matrix or non-matrix systems.

The C31, 1x3 Splitter, splits one signal input on XLR3 onto three XLR3 signal outputs. The set up of distributed party-lines can be easily adjusted to any demand.

1000 Digital Belt-packs were used during the XXVIII Olympiad games in Athens in all venues.

Artist 2000 LCD-Panels
The Riedel 2000 Series control key-panels fulfill all requirements of high-quality versatile and economical intercom control key-panels. The 2000 Series are available in 19“/1RU and desktop versions. They feature 8-digit, high-contrast, full graphic LCD displays, showing label and cross-point level for each talk key. The rack mount panels can be mechanically positioned horizontally or vertically. The LCD display readouts can be rotated horizontally or vertically providing easy reading.

Each talk key has individual listen level control and LCD level indication. All control key-panels are equipped with a “shift”-page, essentially doubling up the number of keys. Up to three expansion panels can be daisy-chained to the 19” rack-mount control key-panels providing up to 128 control keys with displays.

The standard Series 2000 control key-panel connections to and from the matrix frame are RJ-45 for CAT5 wiring and 75 ohm BNC connector for coaxial video cable. All 19”control key-panels have a recessed depth of only 2.2 inches and are ideal for use in modern control room architecture and mobile production vehicles.

New digital telephone hybrid / VoIP interface for Artist Intercom Systems
The DHY-101 digital telephone hybrid interface is making it’s official US debut at NAB 2005. The DHY-101 is designed to be compatible with all of Riedel’s Artist Series intercom systems as a plug-in card for the 19”/1RU DHY-401 mainframe. It provides bi-directional communication between the intercom matrix and a standard DTMF capable analog telephone line. The hybrid, featuring advanced DSP processing and echo canceling on both send and receive, can be used stand-alone or integrated in an Artist intercom system. Both transformer balanced analog and AES3 audio I/Os are provided on individual RJ-45s to connect to analog or digital matrix ports. DIP-switches are used to set the unit to auto answer and to select the analog or digital I/O. The DHY-101 can be fitted with the VoIP option to provide interfacing to H.323 VoIP telephone systems, to provide VoIP based trunking-networks between Artist systems and to remote panels via VoIP.

VoIP Interface
The DHY-102 provides all features of the DHY-101 plus provides voice over IP (Internet Protocol) communication connectivity. The DHY-102 establishes an integrated solution for connecting Artist intercom matrix products over standard IP networks. The H.323 Gateway functionality of the DHY-102 enables your local IP-phones to call out to the PSTN if no active WAN connection is available. The DHY-102 therefore provides redundancy in terms of the public network infrastructure IP/PSTN. Intercom calls can be tailored to one or the other depending on the available network bandwidth and/or the required audio quality.

Synchronized Radio Network, (SRN) for extensive radio coverage
Riedel’s new synchronized radio system provides extensive and interference-free two-way radio coverage without the common use of higher antenna height and more transmitting power leading to overshoot. The “Synchronized Radio Network” consists of a central matrix (i.e.: Artist S or M) connected to several “base stations” via fiber, CAT5 or Coax Cable. Each “base station” consists of one SRN-2065 controller unit and up to two SRN-1001 / SRN-1004 transmitters. The SRN-1001 is designed to operate in the frequency range of 146 to 174MHz (VHF), the SRN-1004 of 400MHz to 512MHz (UHF). By using several transmitters with overlapping radiation fields to send out the same signal on the same frequency the SRN system resolves the problem of one powerful radio antenna reaching its limits This allows a very economic use of frequencies, i.e. one frequency per channel and makes it possible to cover a topographically difficult area.

Trunking Software for networking of Artist intercom systems
Riedel will also show new trunking software developed for Artist systems placed in diverse locations. The trunking software provides effective and powerful networking of individual Artist Fiber Network installations. Each system connects to a central trunk master via a WAN connection that dynamically allocates the audio trunks between the systems. The audio trunks between the systems can be analog or digital (AES3) and routed through ATM, ISDN, VoIP, digital leased lines or analog landlines.

ADAT audio interfacing for Artist S matrix systems
NAB will additionally see the debut of Riedel’s ADT-208 ADAT client card for the Artist S matrix system. The card provides Toslink connectors for the optical input and output enabling peripheral audio equipment like mixing consoles, pre-amps, multi-track machines to be directly connected to the Artist system via fiber. The ADT-208 additionally provides the electrical ADAT signal on RJ-45 for CAT5 cabling extending the maximum distance for an ADAT connection to approx. 300 feet. These multi-channel audio interfaces are a step further in integrating audio and intercom infrastructures.

Artist Panels support Japanese KATAKANA characters
Riedel is demonstrating its support of the Japanese market by making the 1000 series Artist Panels available for KATAKANA.