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Shure Wireless Technology Delivers Flawless Audio Over Water at Harbour City in Hong Kong
Posted on Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Outdoor Venue Hosts Opening Ceremony for Maritime Exhibit with Support of Shure PSM®1000 and UHF-R® Systems 

NILES, Ill., July 24, 2013—Marking the city’s first maritime art exhibit, Hong Kong’s busy Victoria Harbour recently welcomed a 16.5-meter inflatable “Rubber Duck,” a floating creative project that signified youthful optimism in the form of free public art. To celebrate the exhibit, Harbour City, a large outdoor shopping center, organized a public ceremony—filled with music and entertainment—to honor and draw excitement around the community’s new art installation. 

Before the opening ceremony commenced, Harbour City needed a wireless system that could support the event’s performances to ensure the large number of attendees scattered throughout the complex could hear and experience the entertainment. Challenged to find a solution, Harbour City tapped Amek Services Co., a Hong Kong audio rental company, to select audio gear that would not only deliver clear sound to a large crowd, but had the ability to transmit audio signals from performances to ceremony attendees located across a bend in Victoria Harbour. Wireless microphone setup was complicated by the fact that many attendees were separated from the performance area by a large gap of water.

Understanding event requirements, Amek Services opted to use a point-to-point wireless configuration—equipped with Shure PSM®1000 Personal Monitor Systems and UHF-R® Wireless microphone technology—to combat the issues posed by the harbor’s challenging environment. Anson C.W. Wong of Amek Services, who has previously relied on Shure technology for large-scale events with successful outcomes, turned to Shure systems for their high-fidelity sound, stable RF signal coverage and ability to operate reliably via AC power.      

Wong explains, “A Shure point-to-point wireless setup was the solution needed to allow secure and safe wireless transmission. With the ability to transmit high-fidelity audio from one area of the harbor to another area—separated by water— we were able to address a difficult challenge and execute ceremony performances with the level of sophistication needed.”

A point-to-point configuration is recommended for applications that require audio transmission in large outdoor and temperate environments where laying long audio lines is not feasible. With help from the Shure Asia Applications team, Wong and his team added not only two channels of PSM 1000 and six channels of UHF-R to the point-to-point setup, but also four UA874WB active directional antennas and two HA-8089 helical antennas, which improved RF performance and allowed for audio signals to be distributed over a longer range multi-dimensionally.

Commenting on the important placement of the UA874WB and HA-8089 antennas, Owen Leung, Applications Engineer for Shure Asia, noted: “Because the ceremony’s environment had large pillars that could potentially block the audio signal’s line of sight, we had to position antennas on both sides of the harbor very carefully, making sure they were raised up high, pointing directly across from each other.”

Once the antennas were set, the technical teams relied on Shure Wireless Workbench® 6 software to efficiently scan and coordinate frequencies of the wireless systems directly from a computer, which helped maintain the RF signal strength throughout the ceremony. 

Welcoming a large crowd, by relying on the expertise of Amek Services and Shure, Harbour City was able to produce a flawless public ceremony that effectively celebrated art and music, instilling smiles and laughter among the urban community. 

“The opening ceremony was executed without a hitch. The ability to transmit audio through our point-to-point wireless configuration meant there were no signal interruptions during the event—something we always strive for,” explained Wong. “During a live event, we only have one chance to get it right, so we needed top-of-the-line audio gear that we could trust. Shure technologies exceeded our expectations.”

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