Rock Solid AVL Power Control
The best music venues heighten the concert experience into something truly memorable. FirstBank Amphitheater in Thompson’s Station, TN, is unique. Honed from the former Graystone quarry, the 138-acre site is now home to a 7,500-seat amphitheater that sits the base of a 100’ cliff. Creating the remarkable live entertainment and premier concert center required not only clearing an incredible amount of rock and debris but also installing miles of fiber infrastructure and state-of-the-art audio, video, and lighting (AVL) systems that allow thousands of fans to rock out with the brightest stars in music. Integration company Integrated Production Solutions (IPS) was responsible for powering, managing, and protecting the amphitheater’s AVL systems.
Reaping the Benefits
Providing simple, easy-to-use power control to the extensive lighting system was a top priority. The venue’s LED lighting features are numerous. The installation includes architectural lighting that illuminates the jaw-dropping cliff as well as perimeter, concession, step, VIP seating, and emergency lighting. With all the lighting systems required throughout the space, it was critical that each fixture be powered down completely after each performance. Although LEDs are built to deliver incredible brightness, years of use, and cost savings over incandescent fixtures, they must be fully shut down to reap those benefits. Otherwise, they can fail prematurely and drive-up energy costs unexpectedly.
Another obstacle for the amphitheater was that each lighting component was yards away from each other. The owners, Rick and Nancy McEachern, didn’t want to have to spend time going around the entire venue after each event to switch them off manually, or risk missing any switches by accident. IPS is no stranger to lighting systems, the operational costs behind them, or the management they require. Besides integration, the company also provides live production services for houses of worship and entertainment venues, which rely heavily on dramatic lighting sets along with audio and video.
Switch Off All the Lights
“This isn’t like leaving one light on in your restroom,” said Bryan Levy, project manager for IPS. “With a project this big, it’s 97 lights in the restroom. If you have hundreds of fixtures, do you want to wonder if you’ve got everything off after everyone’s gone home?”
With a project of this scale, the need to easily shut down systems at the end of the night wasn’t a nice-to-have line item but a must-have to ensure all the fixtures were off. For IPS, power control plays a central role in system maintenance and production management. For years, the company’s go-to solution has been LynTec, which has a powerful and unique innovation for simplifying these tasks. LynTec power control systems integrate with IP to provide a remote management system for even the most complex AVL systems.
LynTec’s patented RPC Series of self-contained controllable breaker panels and its RPCR Series of controllable relay panels all deliver easy remote setup, control, and monitoring. With web-enabled control and monitoring, they allow remote operation of up to 168 motorized circuit breakers—or up to 12 breaker group zones—using a single controller. Their built-in browser interface makes it simple to control and monitor the system from any remote location via smart phone, tablet, or laptop. And their new programmable software platform includes built-in scheduling along with sequencing and voltage protection that can be customized for optimal power management. Further, it grants flexible lighting and AV control across multiple control zones and multiple control protocols, including HTTP, Telnet, sACN, DMX, RS-232, or contact closure control systems. From LynTec’s GUI, users can select the protocol for each zone as well as set up, troubleshoot, control, and monitor the status remotely across existing networks from any connected computer or hand-held smart device. The system also can send alert notifications via text or email to warn of panel anomalies. “You can log into the interface from anywhere, click a button to shut everything down, and call it a day,” said Levy.
For FirstBank, IPS first pulled roughly 7.5 miles of fiber cabling, which would provide the venue operators with the infrastructure to control everything, from the d&b audiotechnik PA system to the lighting. From there, the company installed a LynTec RPC 383 84-circuit main panel along with two RPC 329 42-circuit secondary panels mounted 600’ away for the concession and perimeter lighting from Cameo, which illuminates more than 800’ of rock face. The emergency lighting panel is running high-voltage power that’s fed from a generator through a transfer switch to the third RPC 329. In addition, IPS installed an RPCR-8 8-relay panel and an XRS 20-rack sequencer bring power to the rack of the artist’s studio, which the owners have plans to expand in the future with broadcast capabilities. Every single solution has a stacking 10-gig network switch from Luxul IP networking.
Lighting and Video Control
The VIP boxes feature dimmable lights controlled by sACN that can then be cut off completely via the LynTec system whenever the artist comes to the stage. There’s virtually no latency from when the master electrician presses a button in the data center to black out the stage for the show to start. The company also provided I-Mag with LED videowalls on either side of the stage, which can be shut off through the panels as well.
The Live Nation representative who brings all the concerts to the venue was stunned by the dramatic power control capabilities available at FirstBank Amphitheater versus other Live Nation facilities in Nashville.
“I’m proud to say that we’ve done something that’s impressed people who do concerts for a living, and put on shows nationwide,” said Andy Bosquet, Integrations General Manager of IPS. “This job was massive—one of the biggest outdoor projects we’ve ever worked on—and the simple LynTec power control system is truly a template for next-level outdoor music amphitheaters everywhere.”
LynTec, leading manufacturer of electrical power control solutions for AVL systems, shared this content with PLSN. Learn more about LynTec at www.lyntec.com
FirstBank Amphitheater
Partial Gear List
- 1 ETC Unison Foundry Phase-Adaptive 600W Dimmer
- 1 Interactive Technologies CS-950 Din-Mount Cue Server 2
- 1 Interactive Technologies ST-DE3-I7-CB Desktop Enclosure
- 2 Interactive Technologies ST-IET7-CB, Insite Touch ETH/7IN/BLK
- 4 Pathway Connectivity Pathway Demultiplexer
- 1 Pathway Connectivity Pathport UNO Portable Gateway
- 1 Pathway Connectivity Pathport 4-Port Gateway
- 2 Pathway Connectivity Pathport UNO Gateway
- 4 The Light Source 16” Mega-Beam Clamp
- 4 The Light Source Mega-Truss Pick
- 2 Tyler Truss 16 x 16 x 120 Centerline
- 2 Tyler Truss 16 x 16 x 96 Centerline
- 45 LynTec MBR-20 Bolt-On Motorized Breaker
- 20 LynTec MBR-220 Bolt-On Motorized Breaker
- 1 LynTec MBR-330 Bolt-On Motorized Breaker
- 1 LynTec NEMA 3R Upgrade
- 3 LynTec RPC 329 Remote Power Control Panel
- 1 LynTec RPC 383 Remote Power Control Panel
- 1 LynTec RPCR-8 RPC Relay Panel
- 8 20A Single Pole Panasonic Relay
- 6 LynTec UBR-20 Bolt-On UnMotorized Breaker
- 4 LynTec UBR-230 Bolt-On UnMotorized Breaker
- 1 LynTec XRS 20 Rack Sequencer
