From Space To Sport

Date: 28th May 2005

Ampetronic induction loop systems are a fundamental part of two major installations in Cornwall, aiding learning and leisure for both the local population and - in the latter case - the many thousands of tourists who visit the ‘Cornish Riviera’ each year.

Once a hub of the county’s famous copper and tin mining industry, the town of Camborne isn’t the first place you’d connect with space exploration, but such a link is now firmly made with the opening of Camborne Space Centre.

The Space Centre is one of 12 ‘Classrooms of the Future’ - a £10 million government initiative aimed at using innovative design, learning environments and interesting themes to raise learning standards. Located at Camborne School and costing £1.3 million, the building comprises a central lecture room with ‘pods’ either side which represent ‘Mission Control’ and a ‘Martian Mining Area’. Designed to work with Camborne School of Mines' Holman Test Mine facility, the latter is highly appropriate for the Centre’s location.

Launceston-based Kernow Installations was contracted to install an Ampetronic induction loop system in the central classroom. “The requirement was for an induction loop in the central area that would not spill into the other areas of the building,” says Kernow Installations’ Stephen Gilbert.

Ampetronic designed a low spill system, centred around a pair of ILD122 loop amplifiers and an SP5 phase corrector. Kernow Installations laid out the loop’s copper tape on the uncovered floor to the required - highly accurate - configuration, after which a flooring contractor installed the vinyl flooring.

 “This was the first complex low-spill loop that I’ve installed,” continues Stephen. “And having installed a lot of simple loop systems in churches and halls around Cornwall, it was a real eye opener. Coverage using a Shure EUT14/93 wireless lapel microphone was superb across the whole of the lecture room, but it virtually disappeared as soon as you walked out of any of the exits.”

Meanwhile, further west in Penzance, Kernow Installations put in multiple Ampetronic loop systems at the town’s leisure centre, where several technical challenges were overcome by Ampetronic’s design ingenuity.

A counter loop at the main reception desk was provided via an ILD20 with boundary microphone, while a similar installation was provided in the nearby 3m x 4m Club Room, but with the addition of a copper tape perimeter loop.

“However a major challenge awaited upstairs in the venue, where a 6m x 6.3m meeting room is situated close to the Aerobics Suites - both of which also required loop installations.

Spill from one to the other could not be permitted, so Ampetronic’s designers solved the problem by running the perimeter loop around a small store room which is positioned between the two areas. This cancellation loop provides enough attenuation to prevent any interference between the two main areas.

With that challenge overcome, a further major test awaited in the Aerobics Suite itself.

The entire suite measures 15.3m x 11.7m and can be split into two with an acoustic room divider. Each half required a separate induction loop for use with a wireless headset microphone, but with the facility to combine both systems into one.

Ampetronic’s designers devised a complex loop design for each half of the suite. Each half was a mirror image of the other, giving a total of four multiple loop arrays which were laid under the sprung dance floor.

“This was a challenge in itself as the flooring contractors were trying to lay the flooring on the timbers as fast as we could lay the loop!” smiles Stephen.

The four loops are powered from a rack unit in a neighbouring storeroom, which houses four ILD122 loop amplifiers and a pair of SP5 phase correctors. The amplifiers are fed from a Cloud CX242 zone mixer with a pair of Shure EUT14/20 UHF wireless headset microphones as inputs, meaning that either microphone can be used in either or both halves of the suite.

A patch point for additional audio input in each half of the suite can also be added at a later date, if required.

“Commissioning of all the loop systems was problem free and the clients are both very happy with the results,” says Stephen Gilbert. “There's a lot more to induction loop systems that chucking a bit of cable around a room. But there isn't a loop project that I wouldn't tackle knowing that I have Ampetronic’s build quality and endless support.”