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UK - With wide-ranging changes in Safety and Fire Legislation coming into effect during autumn 2006 and spring 2007. Safety Solutions (UK) Ltd and Fairfield Halls are working together to assist employers in understanding the legislation and how to comply with both the existing and forthcoming requirements in a practical and realistic way.

The Fairfield Halls in Croydon offers excellent facilities with easy links from London, Brighton and Gatwick Airport. Safety Solutions (UK) Ltd are an accredited centre for City and Guilds, NEBOSH qualification programmes and provide short courses regulated by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

Summer Safety Week at Fairfield (7-11 August) will consist of a series of updates on legislation and stimulants for compliance and the a

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Germany - The new L.U.C.A.S Performer is the latest "refinement" of HK Audio's successful L.U.C.A.S line of active sound reinforcement systems aimed at solo entertainers and combos, the company says. The new model is more compact, lighter, and more powerful than its predecessor. Total system weight has been reduced from 60 to 44kg, thanks to the use of digital power amps and neodymium loudspeakers in both the subwoofer and the satellites.

HK Audio claim: "The lean new components not only reduce the system weight, they also give it more muscle, agility and definition. The extended headroom, fast signal processing and excellent pulse response work together to produce a precise yet powerful soundscape that remains full and rich whether the system is operating at minimal levels or is being pushed to the limit."

L.U.C.A.S Performer sports a 500W power amp for th

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Australia - Foxtel in Sydney have reconstructed a small studio at their Pyrmont premises as well as building a large studio at their Ryde complex. The larger studio, which measures 300sq.m has been in use since the beginning of May.

Coemar De Sisti Australia were contracted to supply a complete lighting installation including De Sisti hoists, wiring and dimmers resulting in a complete turn-key system. Peter Kemp, CDA's managing director, surveyed the market for a wall mount dimmer suitable for the application.

"We decided that the LSC Lighting EKO was suitable for the requirements we had for the studio. There were a number of features that we favoured; ease of installation including the facilities within the rack for logging and various functions you can set up with the EKO. They were the best dimmer for the job and fitted the need."

Ease of installation is one of

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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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UK - Cheshire-based rental, sales and installation company VME Ltd has purchased two Allen & Heath GL2800 dual-function live sound consoles, as part of an upgrade to its PA hire stock. VME already owns several Allen & Heath consoles from the ML, WZ, PA and Xone Series, and the 24-channel and 32-channel GL2800 mixers have been added to service the smaller gigs, festivals and events that the company regularly manages.

"The GL2800 is the perfect size for smaller venues, gigs and festivals, which make up a huge portion of our hire business. The mixer's 10 auxes provide plenty of capacity so we are easily able to manage FOH, monitors, and have room left over for effects," comments VME director,Dion Davie. "The GL2800 has a new mic preamp design, which offer great headroom and clean sound, and a brand new 4-band EQ, which is incredibly accurate and musical. All in all,

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UK - Headed by Peter Church, the recently formed JI Entertainments has pledged to develop its estate, heavily branded in favour of Idols and Blue.

Church enlisted the expertise of TMC - with whom he first worked during his days at First Leisure - and Paul Smith, a director of the Bradford-based technology specialists, was called in. As a result the former Julie's in Newcastle has now been converted to Blue, and The Square Bar in Swansea to Idols, alongside the technological upgrade of Idols in Newcastle.

TMC have evolved a winning formula when it comes to brand selection, and for their automated lighting they return time after time to Futurelight fixtures (distributed in the UK by DiFuzion, a subsidiary of Fuzion plc).

DiFuzion's Graham Barron has a long relationship with the installers, and aside from the product's inherent reliability, Paul Smith knows he is also guarantee

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UK - Dublin based Ballyfermot College of Further Education was in the news recently when the Irish Minister for education and science, Mary Hanafin T.D. opened their new media building. The building, designed to be multifunctional, will be home to the college'sdepartments of animation, television and film, multi-media and games, music performance, management and sound. "Prior to this, all these departments had been scattered around the college campus," said Larry O'Toole, the College's course co-ordinator for the Higher National Diploma in Music Technology. "It was a most unsatisfactory arrangement."

"This building has been on the cards for nearly ten years," said the College's John Moriarty, "and now, at last, we have a purpose built facility for our students." The building is the realisation of a long held dream for Moriarty who was inst

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UK - PLASA's AGM and Members Lunch is fast approaching but, if you haven't already done so, there's still time for members to reserve a place. With nearly 200 confirmed attendees, it promises to be a really good networking event as well as the ideal opportunity to find out more about the work PLASA has been doing over the last year and its plans for the future.

Guest speaker, Alasdair Jeffrey, has some strong views about business and anyone that has seen him in action in the BBC's The Ferocious Mr Fixit will know that he delivers as a business trouble-shooter.

If you would like to join us at the Hurlingham Club on Tuesday 6 June, get in touch with PLASA today on 01323 410335 or via the e-mail address below.

(Chris Henry)

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UK - Three DiGiCo D5 Live consoles are being used on the touring musical version of Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds: two at front-of-house, routing audio to a full surround Meyer Sound loudspeaker system, with another at the monitor position.

Gary Langan, who has spent a great deal of time deep inside the recording aspect of The War of the Worlds, is in charge of the master FOH console, whilst experienced D5 operator Richard Sharratt controls the other. Robin Fox sits at monitors and Ali Viles is designated the challenging assignment of system technician.

"I think Jeff had been secretly planning this stage show for more than 20 years," says Langan. "But it's only now that technically there's the wherewithal for him to be able to bring some of his ideas to life.

"As a sound engineer, there's no way I would have attempted this without some

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UK - Rigging, drape and starcloth specialist Blackout, have further strengthened their UK sales team functions with the appointment of Heidi Dieckman and Lucy Akillian.

Both new staff members are responsible for developing and managing the hire and sales of Blackout products including starcloth, drapes and rigging, working closely with Blackout's project management team, headed by Chris Brain and Kevin Monks.

"We're delighted with the two appointments. Both staff members are very enthusiastic and have settled in well in their new roles," says Steve Tuck, managing director at Blackout Ltd. "At Blackout, every member of our team is passionate about delivering the very best in products and services."

(Chris Henry)

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UK - Tryka L.E.D. Ltd is the lighting sponsor of the Design Talks at this year's bar show. The seminar area hosts a series of talks from high-profile figures taking place under the watchful gaze of Tryka luminaires, which provide the sole illumination in a stunning wash of colours to bring the forums to life and provide eye-catching, colour-changing surroundings for speakers and attendees alike.

The new MR16 Module 3 and Module 6, as well as the latest Module 12 - all featuring the unique Easy-Link System for simple installation and control - are applied to great visual impact. All units feature 25° optics and RGB LEDs, with optics being interchangeable in the MR16 fixtures for adaptability to different application needs.

Several Strip Modules - fitted with oval optics for wall-wash effect - illuminate the interior walls with a glow of ever changing hues to complete the st

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USA - Leading Internet Equipment broker, GearSource, has created a new Online project that promises similar rapid growth and success. LED Source (www.LEDsource.com) promises to deliver a quality range of LED products from leading manufacturers through their innovative and simple to navigate e-commerce Internet site. In fact, LED Source are 100% exclusively dedicated to the LED market and will always try to offer a unique product mix.

Founder and president Marcel Fairbairn says: "LEDs have obviously become a leading component of today's lighting market. Although we've never really been driven to establish a site for sales of 'new' gear, the market for LED sales is so fragmented and confused right now. We saw an opportunity to step up and establish a sales entity online where we would could provide quality LED products to both dealers and end-users."

LED Source has cre

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UK - The historic Coronet Cinema in South London's Elephant & Castle has undergone a multi-million pound refurbishment to create a stunning new live music and club venue. The 2,200 capacity Art Deco building, which began its life as a theatre in the early 19th Century before becoming a cinema in 1910, now houses regular live music gigs and club nights, with a newly-installed EV XLC line-array sound reinforcement system.

The team behind the Coronet re-launch includes Simon Parkes, the man who rescued the derelict Brixton Academy in the 1980s. Unsurprisingly, he has put live music at the core of the Coronet's new business plan, and wants to put the venue firmly on the touring circuit. So far, the club has hosted Franz Ferdinand, The Orb and Macy Gray, and is nurturing a commitment to showcasing new bands and avant-garde events.

Bernard Mani of Systems Etc has had a long relation

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USA - Color Kinetics Incorporated and iLight Technologies Inc have announced an agreement through which iLight will license Color Kinetics' patent portfolio to add colour-changing offerings to its LED-based product lines. This includes the Plexineon RGB Series, introduced this week at Lightfair International, as well as future products.

"We are very pleased to offer dynamic colour control together with our award-winning Plexineon profile," said Mark Cleaver, chairman of iLight Technologies. "Our agreement with Color Kinetics makes this exciting opportunity possible, and reflects our commitment to the growing market for intelligently controlled LED lighting."

"We believe that LEDs offer the best method for lighting with colour today, and we're pleased to help companies like iLight take advantage of this accelerating market shift," said Bill Sims, P

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UK - South London based PA company Systems Etc is the first in the UK to embrace Electro-Voice's new X-Line XLE compact line array system, supplied by Shuttlesound. Company owner Bernard Mani has customised the XLE system with EV's new 2x 15" subs, nominally part of the XLC range, and a perfect match for Systems Etc's dance music clients.

Last year, Systems Etc invested in an EV XLC system, which has been used for mainstream events for up to 30,000 people. Mani has bumped up his XLC inventory as well this month, encouraged by the mix-and-match quality of the two systems. "The XLE is really tiny, compact and user-friendly, and apart from the obvious advantages of its size, the other thing that impresses is its clarity. We're tailoring the system to our own needs, using the new XLC 215 subs which are a perfect fit. And we're just waiting for the new grid adaptors, which

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UK - A talented design student from Napier University is celebrating winning two prestigious awards after coming up with a way to make museums and art galleries more accessible to those with hearing impairments. Kim Robertson, a 21-year-old fourth-year student on the University's BDes (Hons) Interior Architecture course, designed a system to make exhibitions more inclusive.

Now her hard work has paid off and received recognition from key industry figures - she has scooped a British Museum Award worth £1,500 and an Adapt Trust Award worth £2,500 from the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).Kim, from Catrine in South East Ayrshire, said: "The term 'inclusive design' is about ensuring environments, products and services are accessible to people of all ages and abilities. However, I became aware that inclusive design does not

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UK - Eclipse Lighting and Sound have designed and installed an integrated sound, lighting and vision package for Live Leisure's new £3m Opus complex in Manchester. Situated in the high-profile Printworks, it has presented them with one of their most prestigious contracts yet.

Opus will accommodate up to 1,200 people across four floors, which contain four rooms, with two restaurants and five bars. But it was the multipurpose Live Room that provided Eclipse director John Fearon with his biggest challenge. "We had to build a versatile lighting rig that would accommodate comedy acts, live bands, corporate nights and a full-on nightclub - as well as general ambience," he said.

While this would require some generic stage lighting he knew he could depend on the recommendation of DiFuzion's Graham Barron for all his automated requirements.

"I have known Graham f

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Greece - "Eurovision is a fabulous European institution and we were proud to be part of it, especially in its 50th year," said Stage One's technical director, Jim Tinsley. He added, "The organisers were aiming for the most impressive show that Eurovision had ever seen and I think you'll agree that they, and us, certainly delivered."

Working for Greek television company ERT, Stage One was asked to build the entire set for Eurovision 2006, which was held at the Olympic indoor arena, Athens. Designed by Ilias Ledakis, the set combined high technology with elements of Greek Theatre and comprised the main stage, the surrounding moveable stepped elements, along with aerial engineering.

The circular stage was 13m diameter, with a black laminated facia and a seamless plexiglass floor, beneath which were thousands of Bahco LED panels which could be lit in a myriad o

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Germany - ChainMaster recently delivered a mobile chain-hoist system to Norddeutscher Rundfunk. The chain hoists, which comply with the BGV-D8 code of practice, will be used (among other things) for outside broadcasts wherever the need arises to position heavy stage elements. The ChainMaster system comprises 20 hoists, for loads ranging between 250kg and 1,000kg, and a 20-channel manual controller.

(Lee Baldock)

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Hungary - ACF Budapest - the first Audio Visual creative fair in the Central Europe region - will open its doors in a few months' time (21-23 November 2006) in Budapest. So far, over 30 exhibitors have reserved their spaces at the exhibition, including American DJ/American Audio, ADB TTV, Chromatica, Sonoss, Verbiest, Show Solutions, Meyer Sound, Laser System Europe, ADC, Barco, ZAJ/Discotechnika, Balogh Studiolighting, Mikropo Systemhouse LTD, Panasonic Madyarorszag, Rexfilm, R-Digital, Whirlwind Digital Europe, Ampco - Flashlight, Luminis, Highlite International, Doremi and Audmax.

The fully renovated Hunguest Europa Congress Centre site will host exhibitors and visitors on several floors and in different halls. The Congress centre is less than half an hour from Budapest international airport and offers all the facilities needed for this type of event. A shuttle service will l

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Liechtenstein - One year after Neutrik was named 'Pick Hit' winner by Broadcast Engineering magazine, the award was presented once again to the Liechtenstein connector manufacturer for technological innovation. This time, the award was given to Neutrik AG on the occasion of the NAB 2006 in Las Vegas (24-27 April 2006).

"Neutrik is proud to receive the Pick Hit Award again and eager to continue research, development and production of innovative connector systems for the entertainment industry," say the company. The winners of the Pick Hit Award were selected by an anonymous group of judges from the broadcast, postproduction, network or satellite industries and were neither known by the editors nor by the publisher of Broadcast Engineering in advance.

Neutrik's OpticalCon was found to be outstanding due to its impact on everyday work life, technological improvement ove

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UK - Three leading UK rental operations have invested in Robe moving lights in the last two months - London-based Colour Sound Experiment and Halo, and GLS from Southampton.

Colour Sound Experiment has purchased 17 ColorSpot and 17 ColorWash 575 ATs - its first Robe fixtures. CSE's Haydn Cruickshank says they made the purchase because "people want to use them", adding that they also have a place in CSE's hire stock as a "well specified, good value, mid-range" moving light. Their first show was the legendary Southport All Weekender, where they received a good caning! They will also be out on the Ascot Charity Ball, Hi Fi North and South festivals and the Metal Hammer Awards plus numerous dry hires to other companies.

16 ColorSpot 1200 ATs are the first Robe's bought by GLS, although they already have another order placed with Robe UK. The purchase followed b

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