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Delta Sound

Delta’s PA for the Square comprised L-Acoustics V-DOSC loudspeakers controlled via XTA DP226 digital signal processors. "We had a DiGiCo D5 Live digital mixing console, operated by Richard Sharratt, covering playback from CT and radio microphones along with around 40 press feeds and a broadcast mix", explains Delta designer and project engineer Steve Lutley. "A Yamaha PM5D, L-Acoustics FM115 wedges and Sennheiser G2 in-ear system covered monitor requirements and we had a Midas H3000 for Lamar, who was the main act for the opening ceremony, as requested by his front-of-house engineer, Steve Levett."

"We were controlling the system with XTA’s AudioCore 8.4 software, but we used a slightly different way of wirelessing it than we would normally", adds system technician Al Woods. "We put a rack-mounted computer at front-of-house and we network that wirelessly to a tablet, to take over the whole of the mother computer. This is a great method because it means you can access more than one programme on the tablet. You can have your Smaart analysing system on the tablet, carry a mic around with you and switch between Smart and AudioCore, working in real time instead of having to go back to front-of-house, which is quite an interesting way of doing things."

"The music for the Opening Ceremony had been specially composed by Julian Scott", adds Delta managing director, Mark Bonner. "The show’s executive producer, Kathleen Gearhart-Filmer, is a really clever lady and produced a show with Will and the innovision team that was perfect for the audience demographic and did an excellent job of breaking up what was, in effect, simply introducing 190 cyclists."

Two French and two English children moved around the different areas, performing live to camera footage. Steve had to follow them around, getting radio mics on top of buildings, backstage and away up the street. In fact, the communications and stage management for that element became a job in itself, as there were so many people coming on and off stage and everything had to be done in two languages.

Delta Comms

The size and scale of the communications system for the Tour de France was unprecedented and to ensure delivery was joined up, innovision developed a master plan for London, Medway and Kent. This was coordinated in one central location with the implementation of a powerful, secure and simple to use web-based information portal, allowing registered parties to share information in a structured manner and all using the same protocols.

From an original brief to supply 250 walkie-talkies, Delta’s communications systems grew to encompass 200 vehicles, all kitted out with radio systems (which took vehicle fitter, Jack the Fitter, a week to install, taking care not to damaged council vehicles in any way), around 2,400 marshals, the innovision team and all-subcontractors.

In charge of this aspect for Delta was Phil Kidd, who arranged for 19 antennas to be set up in London and across Kent, covering 30 on-site personnel at the press centre in ExCel, as well as around 300 units for the marshals in London. This spread across 11 sectors out to Dartford (with another 300 radios in Kent) and all the way from Medway down to Canterbury for the Kent County Council Marshals, to form the most complicated communications system that Delta has ever tackled and probably the biggest ever used in the UK.

Meetings were held with each different department involved, including the police in both Kent and in London. Delta was invited by Ofcom, which was liaising with the French authorities on how frequencies would be allocated, to talk about the frequencies required. "When we turned up to the meeting, which was held in both French and English, we were told not to worry as all our frequencies were already allocated. Not only that, but we’d been given twice as much power as we asked for just in case we needed it", says Delta managing director Mark Bonner. "That is unheard of in our industry. If anything, you are always fighting to get more and they were giving us twice as much as we needed. Nothing was a problem, which was indicative of the whole event."

Kidd’s imaginative layout included putting systems into a waste disposal dump in Averly near Dartford, because the hills between London and Canterbury meant it was impossible to get transmission into the area without installing another complete system.