USA - L-Acoustics US has now effectively doubled the size of its new independent rep force with the appointment of three additional firms. The R.Joseph Group in Columbus, Ohio will handle the territories of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and western Pennsylvania for L-Acoustics US. Cordial/Riley Marketing, directed by partners Glenn Cordial and John Riley, take over the state of Michigan while Mainline Marketing of Melbourne, has similarly been named the Florida rep.
"Once again, we're really pleased with the firms that we've been working with," says Paul Freudenberg, L-Acoustics US director of sales and marketing. "Each of these companies was represented at our most recent rep orientation in June and we're all excited about the terrific opportunities to branch out into their territories and expand L-Acoustics US' domestic presence."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
UK - Denon UK, the exclusive UK distributor for Denon pro audio products, is sponsoring a new DJ website called DjinTheMix, a revolutionary music promotional service offering the distribution of pre-release promotional music to working club and radio DJs.
Denon UK's Dave Morbey says: "With MP3 being such an exciting and up-to-the-minute format, Denon has developed a full a range of products to meet the demand for reliable MP3 and data disk playback. Therefore it's totally appropriate for us to support DjinTheMix." The distribution of music is combined with an on-line DJ Reaction and DJ Chart system. These report DJs' reactions to the sites clients in 'real' time, allowing feedback within 48 hours of DJs inputting their comments and opinions.
Each DJ has their own unique password-protected login area, allowing them to access promotional music. MP3 files are not sent out as attachments to e-mails, instead preview and MP3 download links are made available within each DJ's login area. This gives the DJ full control of what tracks to download and when they do it. The method also enables DJinTheMix and the relevant record label to control the distribution.
The system can be calibrated to allow a set number of downloads per-DJ-per-track, and a time period denoting the availability of any tracks. This ensures DJinTheMix can make selected tracks available to a specific genre of DJs, e.g. if a trance record is targeted as a promotion to DJs in the North of England, filters can be set providing the download links to those DJs playing trance music, valid only for
UK - Arbiter Pro Audio, exclusive UK distributor for JBL Professional, has supplied Installation Technologies Ltd with two complete EVO systems (upgraded to four speakers per system) for their installation in the conference and exhibition suite at the Gaydon Heritage Motor Centre.
The Heritage Motor Centre is home to the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, which maintains the largest collection of classic vintage and veteran British cars in the world. A soundproof, sliding partition transforms the conference and exhibition suite quickly and easily into two conference rooms each seating 250 delegates. Both conference rooms are equipped with fully independent audio-visual facilities and special lighting. Each room contains an EVO system that comprises of four EVO speakers, an EVO Net Controller and an EVO Mixing Desk.
The two rooms can also be combined to form one large room (seating up to 600 delegates) and therefore requires a flexible AV installation. The two EVO systems can be linked together and either of the main racks can be used as the 'master rack' providing the input source. Changing the configuration of the room inevitably changes its acoustical properties and its AV requirements. The EVO systems can adjust themselves to suit the changing environments both in terms of equalization (to flatten the frequency response for each room configuration) and delay (to ensure time in the correct direction for each orientation).
Project designer and manager John Matcham explained that they wanted to build a system that was completely secure so there was no sound
UK - Brown Box AV wholesaler has just announced the launch of Audeon, the first fully legal, wireless entertainment system for health clubs and gyms. Wireless entertainment systems for use by gym users has long been on the wish list of operators. The benefits of not having to build platforms for music system ducting in cardiovascular areas and the user friendly build of the product make Audeon one of the most innovative systems for music within clubs.
Audeon is the only product currently on the UK and European markets that can transmit sixteen audio and music stations within the narrow, legal transmission bands of 863-865 MHZ, on a wireless system to a very high quality, offering operators something for every members. Audeon also features a revolutionary headphone system. Where current systems have headphone wires that can be time consuming and need tools to replace, Audeon offers a wire replacement system that takes the average instructor just seconds, and has very low cost parts. As headphone wire problems are amongst the commonest causes of complaints from operators, Audeon's new system means that no headset should be out of service due to headphone lead problems, keeping members happy for longer.
Audeon works within a 150m range of the transmitter and weighs an unobtrusive 200g. It connects easily onto any piece of equipment and has flexible recharging facilities, either through a C-socket on the equipment or through a remote recharging station. Audeon features a strong and sweat-proof box with superior build quality and virtually all the components in the bo
UK - TSC Music has welcomed Trevor Phillips, Sandra Platts and Tim Brooks to its UK operations based in Crawley. Phillips joins the Logistics Team, providing essential back-up and support to TSC's network of engineers and agents around the UK. He will also assist with purchasing, together with coordinating stock control and equipment servicing.
Sandra Platts joins TSC's Customer Support Team, working closely with the Projects Team to help coordinate new projects as well as handling sales and service issues, and providing key customer support. Tim Brooks joins TSC's Music Team, where he will coordinate and administer the distribution of music to customers as well as providing customer support by dealing with music enquiries and providing the latest new releases information.
The company's head of development, James Abdool, said: "The appointments of Trevor, Sandra and Tim help us to reinforce key strategic areas of our business, so that we can confidently and effectively, work collectively towards implementing our strategies with the intent of achieving our short-term goals and objectives as well as our long-term mission and vision."
TSC's core business involves the profiling and compiling of various styles and genres of music into bespoke productions, tailored to individual businesses needs to compliment their corporate image and brand identity, as well as appealing to the their own target customers. Amongst TSC's 3,000 customers are well known names, such as British Airways, Alliance and Leicester, Gala Bingo, Starbucks, BBC, McDonalds, Hewlett Packar
UAE - 1 May 2003 saw the opening of Clay Paky UAE, the new branch in the United Arab Emirates founded by the well-known Italian manufacturer of professional lighting. Clay Paky has gained a good reputation over many years in the flourishing Emirates market, and decided to open its own branch there in order to provide more presence and support as it acquires an ever-greater market share. The new branch manager, Egor Popowsky, has extensive experience in professional, architectural and entertainment lighting.
Clay Paky UAE is based in Dubai and has a showroom for presenting its systems 'live', as well as making demonstrations and immediate comparisons with all the various technologies available. Clay Paky UAE is also setting up a selected network of business partners to develop projects all over the country in professional fields such as the theatre, TV, concerts, live events, dance halls and architectural lighting.
Clay Paky's sales manager for the Middle East, Alberico D'Amato, told us: "The UAE has turned out to be a dynamic, evolving and expanding market, despite being relatively young and inexperienced. Clay Paky has almost 30 years of experience in lighting, so we will certainly benefit from this growth. We will also be able to study projects at close hand and offer our support by providing a prompt service and more competitive prices."
(Lee Baldock)
USA - Lycian Stage Lighting has appointed Steve Lerman as director of sales and marketing. Lerman will be responsible for distributor relations, as well as advertising, marketing and promotions and will also be involved in trade show decisions. He comes to Lycian from the wireless telecommunications industry where he spent the last 12 years, most of it spent in developing dealer distribution for Arch Wireless and satellite voice and data provider GlobalstarUSA.
Lerman brings a wealth of distributor development to the industry and also has background in advertising, having run an advertising company in the 1980s. He will be located at Lycian Stage Lighting's office and production facility in Sugar Loaf, NY.
(Lee Baldock)
UK - Stardraw.com has announced a new productivity enhancement as part of their Feature per Month update service. Using a current design as a source document, Convert Environment automatically creates new layouts in other environments within Stardraw's design and documentation packages.
Stardraw marketing director Rob Robinson explains: "Stardraw has always used different environments to allow you to present your system documentation in the most appropriate format. For example, engineering layouts are best produced in the Block Schematic environment, while sales presentations benefit from the Pictorial Schematic and Rack Layout environments.
Stardraw has long had a 'Convert to Rack' function which analyzes all the data in your Block Schematic, selects those elements that are rack-mountable and then puts that information into the Rack Layout environment. July's feature, the Convert Environment tool, broadens that capability to allow you to move easily between Block Schematic, Pictorial Schematic and Rack Layout environments without having to re-select symbols from the Library list each time you create a new drawing in a different environment. Furthermore, any attributes that you define in one environment will automatically be passed to the new drawing. All you have to do is position the symbols as you want them and add any objects that are specific to the new drawing. It's a great time-saver."
(Lee Baldock)
UK - Large format projection specialists E/T/C UK is supplying four 1.5kW HMI projectors for the recording of 'The Big Read', a new television series, made by Lion TV in London for BBC Scotland and broadcast on BBC 4.
The projections, two per show, feature the authors and their respective book covers and is rear projected onto four screens in the studios. They dominate the programme as the primary set pieces, making them an important source of interaction for the presenter. The programme is seeking to establish the UK's top 100 works of fiction. Invited celebrities, politicians and assorted VIPs present the case and cast opinions on individual books. The public can also vote on their favourite books each week, via a website, which is proving very popular.
Producer Richard Shaw approached E//T//C UK looking for a no-fuss solution to show the 80 author and cover pictures in the studio over the 20 programmes. Two pairs of books compete per show, and the changeovers need to be quick and seamless. Shaw explains that they investigated many technologies and avenues in their quest for large, bold pictures before finding E//T//C, and a cost-effective solution. "It's absolutely fantastic" he enthuses "The images come alive and sing out at you when you look at them . . . they're very strong on camera".
Shaw also wanted a supply company able to produce all necessary artwork in-house. E//T//C UK takes the images and scans, colour corrects, keystones and re-touches as necessary, before delivering to the studio.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
Malaysia - D.A.S. Audio's Factor 5 loudspeakers have been installed in no less than 120 McDonalds restaurants throughout Malaysia. The compact two-way systems have been installed in 75 restaurants in the Klang Valley, with the rest located in Penang, Ipoh, Malaca and Johor.
D.A.S. Audio's distributor in Malaysia, Syarikat Instraco, was in charge of the design and installation project and found the Factors to be ideal for the requirements of the McDonalds installation. The installation of the products lasted almost three months. The Factor 5 systems handle background music and paging in the restaurants.
(Lee Baldock)
UK - The traditionally sedate world of ocean cruises is undergoing a revolution. In a move intended to attract a more youthful clientele P&O has just refitted the Arcadia, now re-named the Ocean Village, as an eclectic and vigorous entertainment centre. Central to this reorientation is an entirely new presentation concept by film director and choreographer Micha Bergese (of MBP), the man responsible for the aerial spectacular that proved the most successful and well-regarded element at the Millennium Dome. "What I've done is create a series of four events," said Bergese. "A themed narrative, like Inspector Morse, episodes of discovery, which take place over the course of a one-week cruise. Three are staged within the ship's theatre, the fourth, and arguably the most spectacular, is presented up on the main deck."
There is a strong aerial content to all four episodes, the main deck show is based upon a huge 23m diameter arched lattice structure of aluminium and steel. "This proved particularly interesting," continued Bergese. "This is a first for any cruise ship; Paul Staples did the design for me, Atkins the engineering, and Total Fabrications built it. I'd worked with Chris Cronin at TFL before, but this was a very different kettle of fish for us both."
"The challenges are three-fold, how to protect the integrity of the structure against the oceans corrosive elements, how to resist the dynamic pressures of rough seas and crashing waves in stormy weather, in combination with all the dynamic safety factors for the vario
China - Dynacord Hong Kong is installing a new sound system in the Ningbo Exhibition Centre, in eastern China. Ningbo is the largest commercial seaport in Zhejiang Province, and its new venue will host trade fairs as well as a new tourist attraction. With four main exhibition halls, plus one slightly smaller hall, a conference centre and six diversely equipped business centres, this is one of the largest multi-function complexes in the country.
At the heart of the sophisticated audio system is a Dynacord Promatrix System, which provides safe and precise control over 84 loudspeaker zones, 28 fire alarm inputs, four digital DPC 4520 paging stations for the main exhibition hall and the control room, a CD multiplayer controlled by the DPC 4550, four different sources of background music (selectable via a DCS 409 interface control card) and 32 amplifiers, controlled by the system and with all their parameters and operating modes displayed on the DCS 420 monitor.
The system allows precision monitoring of the loudspeakers, while the DSP technology allows the prevailing conditions in all the individual halls to be monitored and accounted for. The DPM 4000 can also be employed as a system master control unit. The loudspeakers used in the complex are Electro-Voice EVI-15 Vari Intense Speakers, which combine high quality sound with considerable coverage.
(Lee Baldock)
France - Digigram, innovator in digital audio network solutions, continues its effort to make its sound cards compliant with the next generation of PCI bus with the shipment of four updated cards operating at the 3.3V standard. The new sound cards, available only through Digigram OEM partners, include the PCX822v2, PCX442, LCM440v2 and VX822. The updated cards will replace the following existing cards: PCX822np, PCX440np, LCM440 and VX820, all of which will be discontinued as of 1 September 2003.
"All Digigram multi-channel sound cards have been updated with a Universal PCI interface, making them compatible with 3.3 V, 5 V, and mixed 3.3/5 V environments," said Digigram managing director Philippe Delacroix. "The updated cards offer equivalent, and in some cases, better performance than the previous cards. Every effort has been made to ensure compatibility with existing applications."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
UK - Steve Morris has joined Switchcraft, Inc as European regional sales manager, based at the company's international office in the UK. Morris will be responsible for Switchcraft's business in northern, eastern and southern Europe and joins the company with a wealth of experience in design engineering, sales development and account management. Switchcraft Inc is a US-based manufacturer of a broad range of connectors, audio and video patchbays and related products for audio, broadcast and post-production industries.
(Lee Baldock)
Switzerland - For the ninth consecutive year, US-based manufacturer Shure has been chosen as the official supplier of microphones and wireless systems for the Montreux Jazz Festival. Providing nearly 50 U2 premium wireless systems and over 1,000 additional pieces of audio equipment, such as the company's venerable SM58 and KSM studio condenser mics, Shure will take the stage at numerous festival stages including the celebrated Auditorium Stravinski, Miles Davis Hall, and Casino Barriere. In addition, Shure will also be providing 24-hour, behind-the-scenes technical support for the duration of the festival.
Faced with the challenge of accurately capturing the variety of onstage performances at Montreux, Shure Europe marketing director Ron Marchant said: "With almost a decade of experience to our credit, we've carefully tailored each venue's microphone offerings to the express needs of that stage. As far as festivals go, this is one of the most demanding. I couldn't possibly think of a better environment to put our products to the test."
Beyond supplying the gear, should a technical question arise, Shure service manager Michael Wolf is on the spot to provide support. Wolf remains 'on call' via a phone hotline so that he can be reached 24 hours a day to ensure that Montreux staff can utilize Shure's expertise to answer any audio questions quickly.
In addition to the various festival performances, this marks the first year of the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition. Run in conjunction with Universal Music and the Bea Young Artists' Foundation, the compe
UK - Bosch Security Systems has announced what it calls a breakthrough in line array loudspeakers with the new XLA 3200 (extended Listening Area) range designed especially to create a clear, fuller sound, evenly spread over a wider area. Greater directivity means more sound is beamed towards the listening area and much less is directed towards the floor, ceiling and walls, minimizing sound reflections and thus optimizing intelligibility.
The XLA 3200 range provides a choice of three models, all fully voice-evacuation compliant (EVAC) for emergency evacuation applications. They also feature a simple new mounting procedure. In re-thinking the technology used in conventional column loudspeakers, Bosch has used advanced filtering and positioning of the loudspeaker drivers (patent pending) to give the XLA 3200 speakers greatly improved audio directivity. The state-of-the-art drivers in the array produce high SPLs, even far from the loudspeaker. Together with the extended listening area, this results in less loudspeakers and amplifier power required to cover a venue.
XLA 3200 line array loudspeakers have a modern extruded aluminium housing and silver grille that helps them blend equally well with classical interiors and modern architecture. Their compact dimensions with some models at just 8 cm wide, make them even less obtrusive.
Three XLA 3200 models are available and can be connected to 100V lines. The LBC 3210 (90/60W, 120cm), with its excellent directivity and high power output, can handle large (reverberant) indoor environments like airport departure lounges, t
UK - Arbiter Pro Audio and Maverick Presentation Products have recently held three separate Academy training seminars across the country to fall in line with the new department created at Maverick to provide pro audio solutions for its AV customer base. The seminars were designed to offer basic audio training, aimed at demystifying audio products to Maverick's AV customers.
Peter Morrison, audio specialist at Maverick said: "These academies are to help get audio across to a greater number of resellers in the AV market place. All too often resellers shy away from quoting audio under the impression it's too difficult to sell. This is simply not the case and we hope that the majority of people at these events will go away with a far greater understanding of how audio systems are put together. We wanted to show them that they could provide the complete package and be confident in selling the right packages to their customers. Our dealers are very competent at the visual side of the market and if they could be shown that there are simple ways to break into the audio side it would benefit all parties."
The roadshows have been held at Reading in Maverick's head office, Leeds and Birmingham. The format for the delegates consisted of two half-day sessions - one based around Sony product with Maverick and the other with Arbiter Pro Audio detailing JBL speakers, AKG Microphones, and DBX speaker management systems. Both sessions offered a hands-on approach to the equipment and training with an extensive amount of equipment being demonstrated. Indeed, sporadically t
UK - Scene Change, the video projection specialist, has brought theatre video projection a step closer, Until now, the cost of 'theatrical'-style video projectors - DMX-controlled and with automated positioning - has been prohibitive.
Now Scene Change has introduced BeaMover, a more affordable DMX-controlled video projector which takes a bright (3,000, 4,000 or 5,000 lumen units available with a contrast ratio of up to 800:1) video projector from Sanyo and fits it into an automated yoke, which has positional feedback to ensure accuracy. Five lenses are available for the projector, giving a choice of beam angles. Edge focus and zoom are remotely controllable via DMX.
The BeaMover also offers DMX control of horizontal and vertical keystoning, image flip, projection blackout, unit reset and signal source selection.
BeaMover can simultaneously accept three input signals, with any combination of RGBHV, YUV, HD, D-Sub, Composite and S-Video connectors specified at the time of purchase.
Images can be provided to the BeaMover from any suitable video source, such as a computer, video or DVD player, or a device such as the Hippotizer digital media server, also available from Scene Change.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
UK - Duran Audio UK has recently supplied four AXYS Intellivox 2b loudspeaker arrays to Surrey-based installation company Sysco for their installation at the Saga Pavilion, located in the grounds of Saga's headquarters in Folkestone. The pavilion is used for a wide range of events and will be one of the venues for the Folkestone Literary Festival later this year.
Steve Jones of the sound division of the consultancy firm, Symonds Group, recommended the AXYS Intellivox after their survey of the building back in 1999. The pavilion, in contrast to the neighbouring HQ Building, is an architectural statement built of glass and steel with a fabric tent-like roof covering. The result is a reverberant space that poses acoustic problems for its secondary use as a performing arts and corporate presentation space. The choice of Intellivox was based on their ability to control the dispersion in such an acoustically hostile environment. The result is that the sound reinforcement system is tailored to its purpose and that potential problems of environmental noise to the residential neighbours is minimised to acceptable levels. When not being used in its primary role as a restaurant facility for the Saga Group of Companies, the venue hosts such diverse events as the Young Musician of the Year Awards and a press briefing auditorium for the Conservative Party.
The four Intellivox 2bs are arranged to allow for multiple room configurations and Sysco have installed digital routing and control systems to enable even the most inexperienced of operators to get the most from the system a
UK - Shure Distribution UK (previously HW International) has been appointed the exclusive distributor of Sound Devices products in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Founded in 1998, US-based Sound Devices produces a range of specialized audio products for field-production, including portable audio mixers, microphone preamplifiers, computer interfaces and recorders. Designed and assembled in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, Sound Devices audio products are designed specifically for audio applications in documentary film and video production, feature film production, sports broadcasting, news-style video production, sound effects gathering, acoustical test and measurement and live music recording.
The Sound Devices range of audio products joins an impressive array of brands on offer from Shure Distribution UK, which includes Shure, QSC Audio, Phonic, PreSonus and Aviom. All these brands will be represented at the forthcoming PLASA Show on stand F50, where Shure Distribution UK will officially unveil the company's new identity, including new website and product catalogue.
(Ruth Rossington)
UK - Further expanding its product range, Trantec has introduced a new concept in sound reinforcement with the addition of the S10 Soundfield System. This has been designed at Trantec's South London HQ by its in-house R&D teams specifically to augment the potential of audio in educational establishments. It helps to alleviate the problems caused by inherently poor acoustic conditions in Schools, Colleges and Universities, which can lead to prohibitive learning conditions - particularly for students who suffer from a slight loss of hearing or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Trantec's S10 minimizes teachers' stress levels by delivering evenly distributed sound across the classroom and enables them to be heard loud and clear over most ambient background noises, without the need to strain their voices. The system has also been designed to promote the creative use of audio as a powerful learning tool. Whilst allowing the teacher or lecturer the freedom of movement he desires.
The system comprises a lightweight radio beltpack transmitter, which is fitted to a small lapel or head-worn microphone. The transmitted signal is recovered by the combined receiver/amplifier unit and distributed to speakers positioned strategically around the room. The teacher has full audio control by virtue of the volume and equaliser controls on the receiver unit. The control unit is very intuitive to use and the functions can be mastered in less than a few minutes.
Feature packed the S10 additionally boasts a number of auxiliary inputs, making it infinitely flexible, as well as a powerful
UK - Stanton has introduced the SA-3 2-channel scratch mixer and the SA-5 Professional Turntablist Mixer. Both mixers are now available from UK distributors Lamba plc and bring a host of features not normally found in their class, as well as the reliability and sound that have become Stanton hallmarks.
The SA-3's intuitive interface starts with two phono, two line and one mic input with volume and mute control, allowing for simultaneous connection of multiple turntables, CD players and a microphone. For smooth, fast mixing, each channel sports independent gain, 3-band EQ and pan controls. A full-featured cue section includes cue pan, cue select, and two headphone outputs. And DJs can further customise their mix with Reverse and Curve adjustments on all three faders.
Optimum sound quality is ensured through the SA-3 contributing to the most durable and smooth cross fader designs on the planet. And this excellent sound quality is guaranteed through high quality components and professional balanced Master outputs.
The SA-5 is a 2-channel battle mixer with custom Penny & Giles line faders and crossfaders, giving DJs more natural control during heated turntable competitions. And with audio specs on a par with pro audio mixers, the SA-5 is a great choice for both competition and studio use. The SA-5 was designed from the ground up by Stanton's new engineering team, for fast control and quiet operation. Many of Stanton's engineers come from the pro audio and broadcast mixer world, and that expertise has been incorporated into the SA-5. With a dynamic range better than
UK - SARAS Technology is a new company specializing in the delivery of custom-made RF solutions to the professional audio and entertainment technology markets.
Based in Leeds and set up by brothers Dr. Ashwain and Raj Rayit, the new company has already secured orders from a number of established pro audio suppliers. As one of the first companies approached, broadcast solutions supplier Gearhouse Broadcast quickly recognized the potential of the SARAS Technology service and took full advantage, ordering a custom-designed RF distribution system for a recent episode of the BBC's 'House Call'. This system is now available for rental for other projects from Gearhouse Broadcast's Wembley office.
Gearhouse Broadcast also included a number of SARAS signal booster amplifiers in its channel list for Granada's recent 'I'm A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!' giving SARAS an opportunity to demonstrate the broadcast reliability of its product in the inhospitable climate of the Australian rainforest.
As well as building bespoke RF solutions on a project-by-project basis, a range of finished RF accessory products, including distribution systems, signal booster amplifiers, and a variety of system splitter and combiner options will be available through selected trade resellers and pro audio hire companies. The company is also keen to become involved in the OEM market, with a view to producing re-branded RF products for a limited number of partner manufacturers.
(Ruth Rossington)
UK - Trying to match the energy and impact of Robbie Williams on-stage was never going to be easy. The creative team behind his latest 'Weekends of Mass Distraction' tour came as close as possible however with a massive automated video show to complement the set-list perfectly.
Kinesys were happy to provide the expertise and equipment necessary to control this huge undertaking. Eight columns of LED video screen had to travel around a 360° oval track, perfectly synchronized with each other. In order to ensure a high quality picture when all the screens were brought together, millimetre-precise movement was essential. The reverse sides of the screens were lined with lights and so a rotate mechanism had to be included to allow either video or lights to face the audience at any location around the track. Finally the geography of the stage dictated that the columns must be almost touching the floor when downstage, in front of the set, and raised to be visible over the band when upstage.
In all, 30 axes of motion control were supplied. Eight Velocity drives provided the control to move the columns around the track. The integral microprocessors within the drives also allowed the fixed speed rotate mechanisms to be controlled via the existing drive cables, reducing the quantity of cabling required. Finally fourteen Elevation 1+ variable speed chain hoist controllers provided pinpoint accuracy and speed control for the lifting and lowering of the columns. Crucially the ramping facilities within the Elevation 1+ allowed the dynamic load of starting and stopping the column