Iconic Australian radio station 2GB has completed the installation of a large Lawo and VSM system. The equipment supply, configuration and commissioning was handled by Professional Audio & Television Pty Ltd (PAT), one of Australia’s leading broadcast suppliers.

After an extensive evaluation process, 2GB owner Macquarie Media Limited (MML) opted to purchase a Lawo solution for all on-air studios, news booths, newsroom, transfer booths, and MCRs for the newly built Pyrmont facility. The facility will bring the 2GB, 2UE and 2CH stations together under one roof, and is set to be one of the most technologically advanced radio systems in Australia.

MML required a total rebuild of 11 services – including the primary services 2GB, 2UE and 2CH. Additionally, all primary services needed to feature fully redundant transmission paths that were independent of the redundancy of the Lawo Nova73 router.

The new system uses a VSM control system for the overall core control – a proven solution that has already been highly successful for the control of Lawo Nova73 Core routers at SBS in Sydney and Melbourne. MML opted for 16-fader Lawo sapphire consoles for seven on-air studios, while the news and transfer booths are equipped with Lawo eight fader crystal consoles. The newsroom will soon be upgraded with Lawo VisTools touch screen terminals, which will include virtual faders and customised user interfaces for workflow optimisation. Three Lawo compact frames and a Lawo Nova17 will be the I/O backbone for the newsroom, combining virtual user terminals with more traditional I/O hardware.

In the MCR, Macquarie Media chose a fully redundant Lawo Nova73 Star2 topology, offering two redundant Lawo Nova73 Core routers, controlled by a very powerful and extremely flexible VSM system. System flexibility was achieved by virtualising DSP resources on the Lawo Nova17 frames in MCR acting as both DSP resources and breakout I/O via VSM. VSM also provides system wide alarms, tallies, metering and the management of apology rules in case of a signal path failure. Macquarie Media Limited and PAT aimed for maximum flexibility in the system design, while still maintaining user friendliness through a decentralised redundant approach. VSM was the obvious choice to provide hardware and software interfaces in order to achieve maximum workflow efficiency.

With a large focus on outside broadcast content, Macquarie Media required an OB system that was built beyond the traditional limitations of fixed systems. Professional Audio & Television developed an advanced OB system, which allows each individual codec to be permanently connected to an OB line while remaining within the same DSP footprint. This saw the system increase from 16 virtual OB lines to 68 physical OB lines, whilst still offering all the standard features that are expected, including system wide labelling,iDSP, Talkback and metering of presets.

Instead of an external Intercom system, MML chose a native Lawo Intercom solution. With the levels of redundancy available in the system, it became quite apparent that Lawo’s VSM Intercom system was the perfect choice, using the Lawo Nova73 Core routers for crosspoint control of the intercom with user control being based on VSM software and hardware panels.

‘MML decided on Lawo’s Star2 Topology at the heart of their new system due to the extremely redundant design,’ says Patrick Salloch, Managing Director of Professional Audio & Television. ‘This offers maximum security for their technology investment.

‘2GB, 2CH and 2UE not only have an extremely large audience base in Sydney, but with many of their programs syndicated nationally, a fully redundant core infrastructure was imperative to ensure maximum up-time, while also providing the possibility to take an entire Lawo Nova73 router off-line during maintenance or upgrade work.’

‘It is fantastic to see that MML has chosen Lawo technology for this high-profile project,’ says Lawo APAC Sales Director, Philipp Hey. ‘More and more Australian Broadcasters are relying on Lawo technology, when redundancy, quality and flexibility is needed.’

‘We are pleased with the Lawo and VSM system and the delivery of the initial phase of this project.’ Adds Macquarie Media Limited Director of Broadcast Systems, Aaron Alphonso. ‘Close cooperation between MML, PAT and Lawo has delivered a solution with solid broadcast capability, redundancy and versatility, which will serve our business well for years to come. PAT’s and Lawo’s engineering staff were reliable, accommodating and able to react quickly given their high level of system knowledge, which made a complex change in technology a straightforward exercise.’

Phase two of the project will see Lawo and VSM technology being brought online to replace ageing infrastructure for 2UE and 2CH.