| Finishing Strong |
Special Event Radio
Stations Mitigate Communication
Snafu's for Major Venues |
 |
| Riders
in Queen's Cup Steeplechase near
Charlotte, NC. |
| Photo
courtesy of Charlotte Steeplechase Foundation |
CHARLOTTE, NC: The
2022 Queen's Cup Steeplechase Race was a thundering
success for the horses and jockeys and almost all of the
patrons. But an unexpected cellular network overload
made it obvious to organizers and safety officials that
when that element stumbles out of the gate, it can take
a lot down with it.
“The outage caused an emergency issue for medical and
fire apparatus just with getting people onto the race
grounds,” Chairman Bill Price told The Source.
“The 2022 event became a traffic nightmare.”
Incoming patrons count on their GPS systems for directions and
can become disoriented if that service would be
disrupted. So this year, event organizers will operate
an
EventCAST Radio System on 1620 AM in parallel with
their other communication systems to make sure everyone
is on the same page, no matter what.
Price stated, “With a 3-mile radius, the EventCAST
station will be a great way to communicate a variety of
things to patrons that will make their trip in and their
access to the gate easier.”
Virtually everyone
has a car radio right in front of them, which allows
attendees across a spectrum of technical abilities to
receive parking, traffic and event background
information in advance of their arrival.
The EventCAST System can also be employed to transmit live public address audio
during an event. The Queen's
Cup will broadcast the call of the races and will have
the capability to make instant announcements if needed.
The nearby Town of Mineral Springs, North Carolina, will
hold the FCC license for the radio service. |
| * * * |
| Motor
City Concert Venues Greet & Guide Guests |
 313 Entertainment, which manages Pine Knob
and two other amphitheaters in the greater Detroit area,
in 2022 provided three separate
EventCAST Systems for concert
attendees on 1640 AM in cooperation Oakland County
Emergency Management. 2022 was the 50th anniversary of
the Pine Knob Music Theater, where the radio service was used to
set the theme for their summer of celebration.
If an emergency (traffic, cellular, safety, severe
weather, etc.) were to occur at an event, EventCAST
Systems provide an efficient way to apprise patrons, who
can be instructed what to do, and especially how to make
an orderly exit. Emergency messages can be kept on hand
for instant insertion and broadcast by security
personnel.
See
also the story " Lightfest Adds Soundtrack in Wayne
County, Michigan, to Direct Thousands through a Mega
Light Display." |
| * * * |
| Safety:
a Fair Question |
 DALLAS,
TX: On October 19, 2012, visitors to the Texas State
Fair watched in disbelief as their historic 5-story
talking mascot caught fire before their eyes. “Big Tex,”
the Fair’s gargantuan greeter and personified public
address system, had experienced an electrical fire that
forced him into early retirement at age 60.
The same year, the State Fair launched an Information
Radio Service whose parallel job it is to welcome and
inform patrons – though over a much larger area. The
1650 kHz signal is heard all around downtown Dallas each
summer and fall. The “howdy pardner” style broadcast
directs motorists to available parking lots and suggests
efficient travel routes in a distinctly urban
environment.
The next summer the Fair made their broadcast antenna
and their FCC license permanent, expanding the operation
dates to coincide with "Summer Adventures at Fair Park,"
which runs through August.
The Texas event joins the South Carolina and Kentucky
State Fairs, which have employed Information Radio
Stations in the recent past, to prepare patrons with
event parking and traffic info, as they approach the
state fairgrounds. Should visitors be required to exit
parking lots due to an emergency, the service can become
a critical conduit for public safety information for
motorists in harm’s way who might be required to take
alternate routes or who could become gridlocked.
 Large
gatherings, including major golf tournaments and music
festivals, have provided this service to visitors in the
past, and so have smaller ones. In June 2013, the
Douglas County (Nebraska) Department of Emergency
Management employed a portable Information Radio Station
to inform and advise 30,000 visitors at the College
World Series games in Omaha. Allegan County, Michigan’s
Department of Emergency Management provides a similar
service to alleviate traffic congestion at an annual
music festival "Birthday Bash," which draws 70,000
people. The Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois,
reaches out to its 150,000 attendees using the EventCAST
Radio Station (rental)
provided by Information Station Specialists.
Meanwhile, the Texas State Fair continues to upgrade and
enlarge their Information Radio Service for patrons. And
Big Tex has returned too – with all new wiring – to keep
guests informed and safe and providing them an
occasional "howdy" along the way.
See
also the article "South Florida Fair Answers with
Special Radio Frequency for "Patron Communication." |
|
| Annual
Hamvention Event Uses Radio Broadcasts to
Counter Congestion |
| XENIA, OH:
Like a match made in – well, Ohio – Amateur
Radio and Information Radio were on display at
the same venue in 2018. The Amateur Radio
“Hamvention,” that happened near Dayton, Ohio,
utilized an Information Radio Station on AM 1620
as a new tool to push out traffic, parking and
event details to attendees, as they approached
the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center.
The service has since been used at the national
event.. |
 |
Portola Valley, CA's, Amateur Radio Operator
Mark Bercow (W6MSB) at Work
Courtesy of Portola Valley Radio Club |
Perhaps it’s good that Xenia’s name means
“hospitality,” because the town braced to host
an influx of nearly 30,000 “HAM” radio operators
– roughly doubling its population for the
weekend. Due to the web of two-lane roads that
served the venue, a shuttle-bus operation was
set up to alleviate traffic congestion. Helping
people understand the need to park at the
special shuttle lots and how to find them was a
key goal of the new radio service.
The Information Radio signal blanketed Xenia and
3-5 miles into surrounding Greene County, Ohio,
directing approaching motorists to the five
special park-and-ride facilities.
 Hear an
example recorded at Orlando's Hamcation Amateur Radio
Convention in 2022. |
| * * * |
| Nation's Grand
Prix Road Race Acquires Info Radio Station |
 |
|
The Grand Prix of Long Beach course was
comprised of streets near the City's convention
center. Photo
Cheryl Day Anderson, CC BY-SA 3. via
Wikimedia Commons |
LONG
BEACH, CA: Event planners and city officials are
taking a victory lap after the success of their
new information radio service that debuted at
this year’s Grand Prix in April. The Nation’s
longest running road race regularly draws more
than 200,000 spectators to the IndyCar course
comprised of city streets near the City's
convention center. The upshot: locals need to
know which streets are closed or re-purposed and
suggested alternate routes; visitors are hungry
for parking and event information; should
schedules be disrupted by weather or a security
issue, everyone needs to know how to conduct an
orderly evacuation and other safety information.
“It worked perfectly,” stated Director of
Operations Dwight Tanaka, unequivocally. “The
City was very pleased.”
Echoing Tanaka’s assessment, Long Beach’s
Wireless Communications Manager John Black
added, “The system was an excellent investment.
The coverage was phenomenal and it’s absolutely
unbelievable that a 10-watt station can be heard
nearly 6 miles away in an urban environment with
many tall buildings.
Hear
the Grand Prix of Long Beach broadcast message.
The Long Beach station was licensed to broadcast
on the frequency 1680 kHz for the 2015 event.
Attendees learned about the radio frequency by
encountering trailer-mounted
changeable message signs that were
positioned on incoming routes. The signal was
delivered by a
RadioSTAT portable station. According to
Black, the City is making arrangements to use
the service for other events throughout the
year. |
|
