In response to social distancing measures, the Cherry Hills Community Church presents its Sunday services to worshippers gathered in the parking lot in their cars – with Riedel’s MediorNet real-time signal transport, processing and routing providing transport of all video, audio, and intercom signals between the control room and an outdoor stage. The gatherings are also streamed to various social networks and OTT channels.
‘We had used MediorNet previously to handle camera feeds and intercom for an event taking place on the other side of our campus. Therefore, MediorNet was the first thing that came to mind when I was thinking about how to get interconnectivity between the building and a trailer set up in the parking lot that served as the front of house mix position for our drive-up services,’ said Chris Thomas, Technical Arts Director at Cherry Hills Community Church, a large house of worship based in suburban Denver
‘Also, we had only three days’ notice to get the drive-up ministry up and running in time for weekend services. The Riedel support team was incredibly helpful, and they were able to show us via remote conferencing just how fast and easy it is to set up MediorNet with its drag-and-drop configuration.’
Given the short notice, the church called in Riedel partner Touring Video Inc, based in Burbank, California, who quickly configured and installed the technology required for the project. Touring Video provides remote entertainment television trucks that feature Riedel MediorNet decentralised routing products within a mesh network and was eager to help fulfill the hardware requirements.
The modular Riedel network at Cherry Hills comprises two MediorNet MicroN high-density media distribution network devices. Acting as an extension of a permanent IT network, the MicroNs also provide an Ethernet tunnel between the control room in the building’s main auditorium and the outdoor stage. The MicroN unit in the control room is patched directly into the church’s video router and interfaced with an existing network switch and a Riedel Artist-128 intercom mainframe.
The MediorNet network carries the video programme feed from the control room to LED screens in the parking, lot and also returnd three camera feeds from the outside back into the building. In addition, the MicroNs supply a confidence monitor feed to display lyrics for the singers on stage.
For audio, the MicroNs extend the Dante VLAN feed out to the parking lot and then bring the audio feed back into the auditorium, where church technicians use an existing front of house mixing console for the broadcast audio feed. The connection with the Artist mainframe also facilitats intercom feeds from Riedel’s Bolero wireless intercom.
‘As long-time Artist users for our intercoms, we’re well familiar with the flexibility and reliability of Riedel systems,’ Thomas adds. ‘That flexibility carries over to the MicroNs, which allow us to add signal paths at the last minute as needed. And we’ve been completely amazed with MediorNet fibre multiplexing capabilities, which have allowed us to transport all of our signals over a single fiber. Best of all, our congregation loved being able to gather for worship, albeit in their cars – they were still able to have connection, which is especially important these days.’
‘A parking lot ministry presents technical challenges that most houses of worship aren’t equipped to tackle, but Cherry Hills Church has really risen to the occasion,’ says Riedel Communications System Consulting Manager, Rick Seegull. ‘We’re very pleased we were able to help Chris and his team pull this off using MediorNet – it’s a reminder of how our unique products and technologies can help any organization face a challenging situation. The Cherry Hills drive-up services have been so successful that other churches are taking notice. In fact, we can see how a drive-up church might become a permanent approach for something like an Easter sunrise service or even a service under the stars in warmer weather.’
More: www.riedel.net
