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WKAQ-TV Readies for the Future

WKAQ has been using Sennheiser Digital 6000 wireless microphone systems.
WKAQ has been using Sennheiser Digital 6000 wireless microphone systems.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (July 20, 2020)—Laying the foundation for its next phase of audio equipment upgrades, WKAQ, owned and operated by the Telemundo Group and the largest and longest-running television station in Puerto Rico, has implemented a Dante-enabled Sennheiser Digital 6000 wireless microphone system and facility-wide networked antenna installation.

“WKAQ wanted talent to be able to walk from Studio 1 all the way through the hallways and rear corridors to Studio 8 and have perfect, broadcast-quality coverage all the way,” says Sennheiser’s Andrew Kornstein, customer development and application engineering, Americas. “It was a very complex requirement. This is not just something that we have in the catalog.”

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Conceived, installed, and commissioned by San Juan-based equipment provider AVL Group and custom-designed by Sennheiser, the new system provides wireless microphone coverage throughout the building’s eight television studios and outdoor production areas. Alexander Rojas, AVL Group’s vice president, reports that WKAQ-TV wanted to be able to access any production audio source in the building from any control room. Those sources can include the on-air talent, who sometimes move between studios. Now, with Sennheiser’s facility-wide coverage covering the studios, hallway, lobby and outdoor areas, Rojas says, “They don’t have to switch microphones, because the whole system is on a network.”

Further, with the new networked Sennheiser setup, each control room is no longer limited to the number of wireless microphone channels installed in the studio but can scale the system up if a production demands it. “It’s just a matter of audio routing,” says Rojas.

Following Kornstein’s initial site visits and consultation with AVL Group, Michel Morrisette, customer development and application engineering at Sennheiser’s Montreal office, drew up a system design to meet WKAQ’s requirements. In all, the networked antenna system comprises 20 Sennheiser A 2003-UHF passive directional antennas and six A 1031-U passive omni-directional antennas. An equipment rack centrally located in the main hallway interconnects the distributed antenna system and the wireless microphone receiver racks through a series of ASA 214 antenna splitters, ACA 3 antenna combiners and AB 3700 broadband antenna boosters. The racks also house custom connector panels designed and built by Morrisette.

AVL Group also delivered a total of 22 Sennheiser EM 6000 Dante two-channel digital receivers plus 14 SKM 6000 handheld transmitters topped by MMD 945 dynamic super-cardioid capsules to WKAQ. Thirty-two MKE 1 miniature clip-on lavalier microphones are paired with 29 SK 6000 pocket transmitters, with three SK 6212 mini-bodypack transmitters additionally available for female on-air talent. All of the equipment uses rechargeable batteries and Sennheiser’s L 6000 rack-mount chargers, says Rojas.

Sennheiser  • www.sennheiser.com

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