In full flight: Riedel solutions for Red Bull Air Race

Peter Besenyei (HUN) - ActionRiedel Communications equipment has been specified to provide flexible and reliable signal transport and communications for the Red Bull Air Race World Championship season that started on February 28 in Abu Dhabi.

The series continued on to Rovinj, Croatia on April 12 and then to Putrajaya, Malaysia on May 18, and makes several more stops before finishing in China in November.

For the first three races, the solution supplied by Riedel not only supported wired and wireless communications among the more than 300 people — from pilots to security to referees — involved in the race, but also facilitated distribution of video and audio for production of both the live show and the international broadcast and web stream.

Riedel engineers built a signal distribution infrastructure for video, audio, communications and data with the MediorNet real-time media network, comprising seven MediorNet Compact frames and three MediorNet Modular frames. Technicians interfaced audio signals via MADI and Riedel’s RockNet digital audio network solution in combination with MediorNet to integrate the event’s main mixing console, located in the OB van that provided the big-screen mix for the live audience. The company also supplied the wireless video links and HD cameras for the racing planes’ onboard cameras.

Using MediorNet as a backbone, a Riedel Artist digital matrix intercom served as the event communications infrastructure. This intercom system, made up of two Artist frames equipped with MADI cards and 20 control panels, was integrated seamlessly with Riedel’s digital trunked radio (TETRA) installation. Two TETRA base stations supported 300 handheld radios to assure full event coverage, and two of Riedel’s RiFace universal radio interfaces allowed another 24 analogue radios to be added to the mix. To bridge the distance between the race airport and the event site, Riedel set up a broadband link connecting the two via trunking over IP.

“Riedel often works at the cutting edge of live sports and entertainment productions, where clear communication and reliable, flexible signal transport are essential to a safe, successful, and exciting event,” says Yungmin Lee, project manager at Riedel Communications. “We’ve been involved in other groundbreaking Red Bull events and look forward to a great season working on the 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Championship.”

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