Renkus-Heinz STXLA/9 - Manual (Page 4)

Line Array User’s Manual Line Array User’s Manual
TABLE OF CONTENTS T
ABLE OF
C
ONTENTS
TECHNICAL SUPPORT ......................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................3
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................... 4
LINE ARRAY SYSTEM COMPONENTS ......................................................................................... 6
PN102/LA SYSTEM ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
PNX102/LA SYSTEM ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
ALL PN/LA SYSTEMS ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
STLA L
INE
A
RRAY
S
YSTEMS
................................................................................................................................................. 7
STXLA L
INE
A
RRAY
S
YSTEMS
.............................................................................................................................................. 7
A
LL
STLA S
YSTEMS
............................................................................................................................................................. 7
ALL LA SYSTEMS ............................................................................................................................................................ 8
ARRAY DESIGN USING AIMWARE ............................................................................................. 10
Basic C
ONCEPTS
.............................................................................................................................................................. 10
L
INE SOURCE COUPLING ONLY OCCURS AT LONGER WAVELENGTHS
/
LOWER FREQUENCIES
...................................................... 10
T
HE LONGER THE LINE
,
THE LOWER THE FREQUENCIES IT WILL CONTROL AND THE TIGHTER THE BEAM
.................................... 10
H
IGH FREQUENCIES ARE ALWAYS RADIATED FROM SEPARATE SOURCES AND WAVEGUIDES
......................................................... 10
V
ERTICAL ARRAYS TAKE ONE OF THREE POSSIBLE SHAPES
:
FLAT
“|”,
SYMMETRICALLY CURVED
“)”
AND
asymmetrically curved “J”. ...................................................................................................................................... 12
V
ARIANTS OF THE
“J”
PRODUCE THE BEST RESULTS IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF APPLICATIONS
................................................... 12
L
INE ARRAYS ARE NOT
“
POINT AND SHOOT
”
SYSTEMS
.......................................................................................................... 12
A
IM
W
ARE PROVIDES A VISUAL INTERFACE TO THE COMPLEX MATH BEHIND VERTICAL ARRAY OPTIMIZATION
.............................. 12
SYSTEM SETUP: ELECTRONICS ................................................................................................. 13
STLA S
ELF
-P
OWERED
S
YSTEMS
......................................................................................................................................... 13
Source Signal ............................................................................................................................................................. 13
STXLA E
LECTRONICS
...................................................................................................................................................... 13
STX Amplifier Selection .......................................................................................................................................... 13
PN/LA E
LECTRONICS
....................................................................................................................................................... 14
Source Signal ............................................................................................................................................................. 14
PNX/LA E
LECTRONICS
.................................................................................................................................................... 14
PNX Amplifier Selection ......................................................................................................................................... 14
RIGGING PROCEDURES ............................................................................................................... 15
SAFETY FIRST ............................................................................................................................................ 15
Flying Loudspeakers Safely ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Ground Stacking Loudspeakers Safely .................................................................................................................. 16
Training & Education................................................................................................................................................ 16
Vertical Array Configuration
Are the splay angles the same on both sides of each module? Are the splay angles set as per the design generated
by Aimware? Are the aiming angles the same for both left and right arrays?
Final Pre-Sound-Check Check
Play a CD and send a mono-summed signal first to the left array, then to the right. Both sides should sound the
same when listening from a position along the center line between both arrays. Now play both sides at once, in
mono: all frequency bands should appear to originate from a “phantom center” source located on the center line
between the two arrays. If this is not the case, you must lower both arrays and repeat the previous steps to
locate the source of the problem.
INSTALLATION TOOLS AND SYSTEM MAINTENANCE
Recommended installation tools and equipment
Many of the tools listed below are not actually required if you used AimWare to design your line array. However,
they are useful to verify that the array’s location and aiming conforms to the AimWare design criteria.
Tape measure – should be 30m/100ft in length and be of durable fiber material. Have one per array available to
speed up the installation process.
Laser inclinometer – For measuring vertical and horizontal angles in the venue. An ideal product is the Calpac
‘Laser projecting a dot’ version.
Carpenter’s level – used to ascertain the trueness of the surface from which the angle measurements originate.
Rangefinder measuring device – either a Disto type laser measure or an optical laser rangefinder can be used.
Sports rangefinders, such as the Bushnell “Yardage Pro”, provide sufficient accuracy, are easy to use, and work
outdoors in bright sunlight.
Electronic calculator with trigonometric functions to calculate the height from ground level to points in the
room. The formula to calculate height of a point from measured angle and distance is:
Height of point = Sin(vertical angle in degrees) x distance to point NB: Take care when using Excel or other
spreadsheets, which typically default to a calculation using radians. To convert degrees to radians use the formula:
Angle (in radians)=3.142 x Angle (in degrees)/180. The factor 3.142 is, of course, an approximination of p (pi).
Computer – Laptop or Desktop PC running Windows 95/98/2000 or XP with the current version of Renkus-
Heinz AimWare installed. It is not possible to configure a Renkus-Heinz Line Array properly without using
AimWare. Designs can, of course, be prepared prior to arrival at the venue, but it is often necessary to modify
or update the design to accommodate special circumstances. A PC is absolutely essential to make such changes.
4 29