Campbellsville University and JCA Media Goes Live with LynTec Power Control at New Broadcast Studios

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian school with more than 13,500 students and offering over 100 programs of study. Recently, the university opened its new mass communication center, which moved it mass communications department and broadcast services under one roof. What was once a hardware store just off the main campus was gutted and renovated to become academic offices, classrooms, the newspaper office, two computer labs, and a radio station. More significantly, it took the school’s broadcast services from one small TV studio approximately 20’ x 25’ with a tiny closet control room to two studios with a full-size control room to broadcast the content of its local TV station, WLCU. The broadcast studios were equipped with cutting-edge audio, video, and lighting equipment. The broadcast team had a very specific vision in mind, especially when it came to the lighting.

“They wanted lighting grids in both studios, like those used in professional TV studios. We installed The Light Source MEGABATTEN connector strip, which have both power and DMX inside the pipe and every 16 inches is a plug and a DMX output. It’s a lighting tech’s dream,” said Alex Peake, integration specialist at JCA Media.

With the light grids installed, the large studio had 22 circuits in the ceiling while the small studio had 16 circuits, for a total of 38 circuits. Once JCA put in plugs on the walls, house lights, and the control room AV — an Allen & Heath SQ-6 mixing console with two DX168 stage boxes, Powersoft amplifier for Danley Sound Labs Studio 1 reference monitors and all building audio, a NewTek TriCaster Elite 2 live production system, Blackmagic Videohub, 16-foot monitor wall with 12 NEC displays as well as the team’s Green-GO COMS, and eight Shure QLX-D talent wireless mics — were factored in, Peake had 62 circuits that called for robust, reliable power control solution.

“We wanted an all-in-one, intelligent power control solution where we could install simple switch plate in each room for on and off, but behind the scenes, it could be programmed with more advanced capabilities, such as zones and master clock automation to power down the equipment at the end of the night if someone forgets to turn something off,” said Peake.

Campbellsville and JCA Media, the university’s AVL integrator, have long relied on LynTec power control for audio, video, and lighting. LynTec’s relay panels are found throughout many buildings on campus. JCA installed LynTec’s LCRP retrofit DMX Lighting Control Relay Panel in the wrestling gym to trigger their tournament lighting. JCA also redid the press box, installing an LCRP-4 to control the DMX lighting in the small studio. An LCRP-10 relay panel was installed for the music recital hall stage lighting. The school’s chapel benefitted with a small retrofit of three LCRP panels installed to support the move from dimmer circuits to LEDs. In the future, the chapel’s houselights will also be changed over.

“We consistently use the company’s LCRP retrofit boxes for churches that are changing out their old-school dimming systems to LED, where they need be able to have DMX relays to turn off their circuits,” said Peake. “LynTec has always been a great solution for us. It’s 100% reliable and they have great customer support that always takes the time to walk me through any questions I might have. It was the perfect answer for the university’s TV studio.”

Rather than install multiple LRPC panels, JCA chose LynTec’s RPC Remote Control Breaker Panel with 66 circuits to support all three spaces. The RPC is a single panel with the flexibility to accommodate a multitude of control platforms, including DMX, sACN, HTTP, Telnet, RS-232, or BacNET, found in AVL in space. Built on the industry accepted G3 Powerlink™ hardware platform by Square D, the patented RPC family combines circuit protection and power management, on/off control, and power sequencing in one affordable and scalable panel.

In the new broadcast space, JCA programmed the RPC for three zones: one for each studio and the control room. Interoperable with the DMX, JCA was able to easily and quickly wire it to command every circuit in the lighting grids with a flip of simple switch. Beneath the switch JCA added a Doug Fleenor DMX preset panel, allowing the broadcast team to hit a particular preset to power on the necessary lighting setting for that day’s show. In the control room, the RPC properly sequences on and off the audio and video equipment, thanks to LynTec’s circuit-level sequencing.

At the end of the day, the broadcast team can rely on RPC’s astronomical clock to shut down any circuits that need to be turned off. This has the advantage of extending and prolonging the life of the station’s new lighting and AV gear. If the power in the building goes down or is tripped, the system will also protect the circuits that require and are programmed for brownout, under-voltage, and over-voltage protection and send an alert to the broadcast department. From the system GUI, they can remotely monitor the situation and ensure they’re production-ready.