MIX FM SELECTS AEQ ARENA 22/04/2014
AEQ DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE HEART OF THIS NEW COMMUNITY RADIO STATION
Mix FM 93.8 is a licensed community FM radio station, serving the Midrand and north-western parts of Johannesburg. The radio station began its existence in December 2009 and has steadily built up a credible listenership base, as testimony to its nature of being a community station, serving its community.
The station recently embarked upon a project which saw the installation of a complete digital ‘on-air’ audio mixing console which the station purchased in late 2011. LS of South Africa served to coordinate the design of the AEQ Digital Audio Router, along with the rest of feed infrastructure as was presented with the project and worked with local volunteers at the station to do the installation.
The digital console as was installed comprises of two control surfaces and a time division multiplexed (TDM) based digital audio routing system, as manufactured by AEQ. The AEQ Arena/BC2000 digital audio routing system remains in present production by the Company (located in Spain) and have built up an extensive install base throughout Spain, China, Russia and Angola to name but a few countries where the product is installed. The BC2000 integrates all of the stations audio feeds (from microphone sources, analogue playout computer feeds, telephone hybrid and OB channels) as available in balanced analogue and AES Digital in a compact 4RU frame. A separate, dual 48VDC power supply feeds the frame.
The installation of the BC2000 in the station’s master control rack room (along with its IT infrastructure) has afforded the station the opportunity to effectively consolidate all of its technical hardware into two 19-inch 42U equipment racks.
At the very heart of the station’s FM transmission infrastructure is a Nautel VS300, being an integrated digital exciter/FM transmitter, operating at 300W which the station owns and operates. The installed configuration permits great flexibility in terms of redundancy throughout the audio chain, through feeding the transmitter with simultaneous AES digital (derived directly from the BC2000) and balanced analogue feeds.
