October 23, 2006

Mission Accomplished with Sabine Smart Spectrum Wireless!

SABINE WIRELESS SAVES THE DAY
Wireless and DSP products used on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

The crew of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis had been working for almost two months straight without a day off when the commanders decided to give the crew a full-scale party on July 4th. The Chuck Alvarez Band featuring JR Richards of the band Dishwalla got the call, along with comedians Dave Mishevitz, Gary Brightwell, John Bizzare, and Blake Clark, all part of the Comics On Duty tour.

Steve McNeil, president of Mac West Group in Long Beach, California also got the call, and his job was to provide the sound system for the show. “They told me I could bring 2000 pounds of gear because they were also flying in watermelons and supplies for the big party. And we had to be completely self-sufficient. There was no Radio Shack to run to once we were out there.”

With that “it has to work no matter what” requirement in mind, McNeil packed his Sabine 2.4 GHz Smart Spectrum Wireless Systems and Graphi-Q2 Multi-function Processors as key elements in the sound reinforcement package. Sabine’s SWM7000 Wireless operates in the license-free and globally accepted 2.4 GHz band. Each system offers a total of 70 channels, all available simultaneously. Once the gear was packed the band and crew settled in for the short ride to the ship. “Coming in for that landing was amazing. All the gear was packed into a turbo prop COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) plane and we came in at 170 miles per hour,” said McNeil. Luckily all the gear made it just fine, with the exception of one speaker cabinet that “did not stop.”

“The Stennis has a crew of over 5600, including the air wing. They were a big help in our setup. They constructed a stage for the show and helped place all the gear,” said McNeil. The stage was placed on the almost 5-acre deck, right in front of the main superstructure of the ship.

Sabine’s 2.4 GHz Wireless Systems were used for lead vocals, the comedians, and the announcers. “The Sabine Wireless performed flawlessly – no need to adjust a thing. The stage was right below their main radar array, and we had trouble with all our wired connections due to leakage from that high-powered radar signal. But the Sabine Wireless was never affected – it worked great.”

“We used several Graphi-Q2 units with built-in FBX Feedback Exterminator® for system processing. In fact JR Richards had a problem with his UHF in-ear monitors but was able to pull them out since the wedges sounded great. It only took me five minutes to ring out three mixes. I also used the Graphi-Q2 on the house because the Commanding Officer did not want to address the troops from the stage but from in front of the speakers! Not a problem, in fact the Graphi-Q2 fixed some of the issues with the bounce coming from the steel backdrop of the ‘74,’” said McNeil, referring to the official number of the Stennis – CVN-74.

“The day after the show we packed the COD for the trip back, and the takeoff was quite an experience. There was even a moment of weightlessness as we rocketed off the deck,” recalls McNeil. Comedian Dave Mishevitz describes the takeoff experience on his blog: “Yes it has been two weeks since the shows on the USS John C. Stennis, but it's taken that long for my brain to reconnect to my skull after the 0-160 in 2 seconds catapult off that bad dog.”

“Amazing!” McNeil reports.

The USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) is the lead ship of the Stennis Carrier Strike Group. This nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is over 1000 feet long with a beam of 134 feet, and displaces 91,300 tons. The Stennis can carry up to 90 aircraft, and her maximum speed is classified but is well over 35 knots. Two Westinghouse reactors drive geared turbines that deliver a whopping 260,000 HP, and the ship is propelled by four screws.

In addition to aircraft carriers, Sabine’s Wireless and DSP products are used in a wide variety of applications all over the world, anywhere from Brittany Spears’ European tour, to Harvard University, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and The White House.

Contact Sabine for more information on how the 2.4 GHz Smart Spectrum systems can solve your biggest wireless challenges!

Thanks for all of your support,

Rob Rothschild
Director of Sales and Marketing