Client: Manawatū People’s Radio (MPR), 999AM
Location: Broadway Avenue, Palmerston North
Timeline: Funded mid-2018; installed from late September 2018, on air from the new studios in early October 2018
Services: Studio design, Wheatstone WheatNet-IP systems, equipment supply, installation and commissioning
Overview
Manawatū People’s Radio is Palmerston North’s community access station, broadcasting on 999AM, streaming online and turning its programmes into podcasts. Its volunteers range from first-timers to seasoned broadcasters, and many have never used a radio studio before they walk through the door.
With funding secured in 2018, including support from NZ On Air, MPR engaged Southern Broadcast to replace its ageing studio equipment with a modern, networked system that volunteers could learn quickly and that would grow with the station.
Our solution
Southern Broadcast designed and installed two new studios around Wheatstone’s WheatNet-IP audio-over-IP system, with the station’s playout, phones and online streaming all connected to the same network.
The standard access radio package. MPR was one of the first stations to get the now-standard package we use in all of the access radio stations we build or refit: a Wheatstone IP-12 digital console in each studio, Wheatstone M4IP-USB four-channel microphone processing for a consistent, broadcast-quality sound from every presenter, Electro-Voice RE320 microphones, and a Wheatstone Aura8-IP multi-channel audio processing Blade in the technical area.
Two on-air studios. Like most of the access stations we build for, MPR has an A and a B studio. MPR runs both as on-air studios, handing the station from one to the other between live shows, so the next programme can set up in one studio while the current one is on air in the other. Both are also fully equipped for pre-recording, with CD players, turntable access, phone and online call recording, and inputs for presenters’ own devices.
Any studio, any role. Because the system is digital and networked, each studio’s role is set by the events and scenes stored on its IP-12. At the press of a button a studio can be live on air, pre-recording, voice tracking or feeding a podcast, and the two studios can be linked together for larger discussions of up to eight people. This flexibility is designed into every station we build.
Built for volunteers. Each IP-12 has one fader per source, clearly labelled on the console’s display, so presenters always find the same things in the same place, whichever studio they are booked into.
Networked and supportable. The whole system is configured and monitored through Wheatstone’s WheatNet-IP Navigator software, allowing Southern Broadcast to support the station remotely.
The result
MPR went to air from its new studios in early October 2018, with two matching on-air studios that volunteers could pick up quickly and a networked system ready to grow with the station.
Key facts
- Two new studios for Manawatū People’s Radio, Palmerston North
- Wheatstone WheatNet-IP audio-over-IP, with a Wheatstone IP-12 console in each studio
- Wheatstone M4IP-USB microphone processing, Electro-Voice RE320 microphones and a Wheatstone Aura8-IP processing Blade
- Two on-air studios with live handover between them, switchable to pre-record or voice tracking at the press of a button
- Studios can be linked for group discussions of up to eight people
- Installed in late September and early October 2018
Southern Broadcast Ltd is Wheatstone’s New Zealand partner and a broadcast engineering company providing studio, RF and transmission design, installation and support to broadcasters across New Zealand and the Pacific.
Planning a studio upgrade? Talk to Southern Broadcast about design, supply, integration and commissioning.