Archive: News & Press Releases

10/2005

NEXUS and C.A.S. 300 at Hallenstadion in Zurich

New public address and emergency evacuation system conforming to EN 60849, based on NEXUS and C.A.S. 300 in refurbished Hallenstadion

Buttenheim (Germany), October 2005: In the summer of 2005, Hallenstadion Zurich reopened with an EN-certified public address and emergency evacuation system based on SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP NEXUS and C.A.S. 300 systems. Designed to meet even the most stringent safety standards, this newly designed system conforms to the EN 60849 directive. The safety features include permanent status monitoring of all signal lines and all components, from the microphones to the speakers, combined with a high degree of redundancy.

The stadium’s NEXUS system consists of five base devices, two of which have been installed under the roof to drive the amplifiers that feed the arena’s five speaker clusters. An additional base device, located in the control room, acts as audio router and I/O unit. All foyers, hallways and auxiliary rooms are connected to a 100V-based speaker network used for both background music and paging. The two remaining NEXUS base stations are acting as subsystems for the 100V loudspeaker distribution.

C.A.S. 300 provides additional monitoring of the public address network. This monitoring is performed in real-time during operation. For this, C.A.S. 300 transmits an inaudible test signal to all devices on the network. The outputs of the various components are monitored to verify that the test signal has indeed been received. A damaged cable or device obviously does not pass on the test signal, which makes it easy to pinpoint the exact location of the failure and to switch automatically to a redundant device.

 

The NEXUS digital audio router also performs permanent self-checks. If for example a power supply breaks down, instantly an error message will be displayed, while the NEXUS base station automatically switches to the redundant power supply. The malfunctioning part can then be exchanged without powering down the system.

This hot-swap capability is supported by all of NEXUS’ components. To make the system even more reliably, each fibre-optic link is made by two and thus redundant cables. Thanks to its reliability and high redundancy, NEXUS appears the premier choice for evacuation installations that need to conform to EN guidelines. Hallenstadion also added a special error indication panel in the central control room. It provides a clear idea of the installation’s spatial distribution. In the event of an error, the panel indicates the location within the arena where the error occurred. Each error message is accompanied by a warning signal in the control room.

The combination of all these precautions clearly justify Hallenstadion Zurich’s claim to have one of the most reliable public address and emergency evacuation systems in Europe.

About the project:
Built in 1939, Hallenstadion Zurich was first and foremost intended as a venue for in-door cycling events, and is now under a preservation order. In 2004, its interior was entirely refurbished in a mere 14 months, preserving the original wooden ceiling and original outer walls. Today, the new Hallenstadion is Switzerland’s biggest venue seating up to 11,500 visitors. The venue’s oldest tenant – and one of the most famous – is the ZSC Lions, the Zurich ice hockey team which still is one of the hall’s main clients.
The stadium’s public address and sound systems were projected and built by Bose AG Switzerland, with SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP planning and providing the fibre-optic audio network as well as the status monitoring systems.