A growing college preparatory Christian school in Willow Park, Texas, the Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) recently established a new home for its football team, Eagle Stadium. With seating for 1,000, the stadium has an OES digital scoreboard and a sound reinforcement system headed by Electro-Voice and Dynacord components.
Since its launch in 1993, the school has partnered with other local schools over use of sports facilities. Eagle Stadium is the first part of a multi-million dollar three-phase project that includes baseball and softball fields and track facilities.
Colby Howerton, the US Southwest regional sales rep for OES Scoreboards recommended the installation of an Electro-Voice MTS-4153 three-way point-source loudspeaker mounted on the scoreboard for full coverage of the field and seating areas. The selected MTS-4153-64 version features a 60° x 40° coverage pattern. Designed for large-scale applications, the MTS-4153 combines four 15-inch woofers with dual coaxial mid/high compression drivers via a single waveguide in a design focused on cohesive high output with a strong bass response.
‘The school was looking for a digital scoreboard and sound reinforcement solution that would provide audio coverage on the field and stands while offering the visibility the fans need,’ Howerton says. ‘To mount the loudspeaker to the scoreboard, our engineering team designed a custom bracket for the top of the centre I-beam. The bracket fits the shape and bolt pattern of the bottom of the MTS loudspeaker and was easy to disguise with a scrim featuring the Eagles mascot.’
The fully weatherised MTS loudspeaker is driven by a Dynacord IPX10:4 power amplifier equipped with Omneo IP networking to support operation over Dante and OCA/AES70 networks. IPX models offer 96kHz DSP with low latency and a high signal-to-noise ratio, and are equipped with technologies for added energy efficiency and system protection.
The amplifier is located in the press box along with a Dynacord MXE5 Matrix Mix Engine that serves as a control centre and communications hub for system devices and IP-based peripherals. The system is controlled and monitored via a Dynacord TPC-1 touchpanel working with the mix engine. Using Sonicue Sound System Software, installers can freely configure the TPC-1 interface screen with customisable controls enhanced by images, such as schematic diagrams, school colours or corporate logos.
‘One of the features the school required was a system that could easily grow,’ Howerton adds. ‘Not only might the stadium itself expand with additional guest seating, but the additional phases will require networked systems. This system allows for all that and more – it seems simple, but it’s quite sophisticated. This was one of the first applications done with an MTS loudspeaker, and we will recommend similar packages again.’
