Revving up for the tradeshow season, Clear-Com is ready to unveil significant advancements in wired and wireless intercom systems. To demonstrate how its belief in the strength of wireless fits with the merger of HME Pro Audio wireless intercom products into Clear-Com’s wireless portfolio, the company will have 10 wireless intercom systems on display at NAB.
“Wireless systems are so affordable at this point,” said Vinnie Macri, training and certification program manager, Clear-Com. “You could almost do away with wired intercom.”
The hallmark of the new offerings is the HME DX210, the latest edition of the HME DX Series digital wireless intercoms. Replacing the HME DX200, the DX210 is available in a single- or two-channel wireless intercom configuration. The DX210 supports up to 16 full-duplex and 44 half-duplex beltpacks and/or wireless headsets by linking four base stations, and more flexible capabilities. The DX210, as do all DX Series systems, features Spectrum-Friendly Technology to avoid frequency conflicts, digital 64-bit encryption to prevent unauthorized users, and Digital Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) technology for interference-free communication.
Clear-Com’s HME DX210 digital wireless intercom system
One of the new features included in the DX210 is digital auto-nulling, which allows users to easily null two-wire connections and eliminate echo automatically. Also incorporated in the DX210 is support for two separate two-wire and four-wire channels. For clearer signal transmission, the DX210 offers two-wire circuit protection to prevent feedback from un-terminated 2-wire channels. It also supports an assignable AUX input for program. The DX210 allows for relay (GPIO) actuation with ISO function from either base station or any one of the appropriately configured Communicator (wireless headsets, beltpack, or wireless speaker stations), allowing the system to work with third party products. The DX210’s wired intercom input/output interfaces make the system compatible with existing 2-wire partyline or 4-wire matrix systems provided by Clear-Com or RTS.
Clear-Com will debut the Tempest900 900MHz digital wireless intercom, the newest member of the Tempest family of digital wireless intercom solutions. Designed to operate in such large, enclosed areas with thick reinforced walls and ceilings and other structurally challenging environments, Tempest900 comes in two- and four-channel versions, and fully-loaded with the same set of features, functions and operations as the Tempest2400, including the ability to operate in Normal, Split, and Shared Modes, and the support of up to five Tempest beltstations in Normal Mode.
With all the issues surrounding White Spaces, offering a microphone that operates at a lower frequency has advantages. As Tempest900 operates in the 902 to 928 MHz frequency range, the longer wavelengths and wider symbol width of which enables the intercom’s signals to penetrate walls and other structures more readily, greatly reducing the amount of reflected signal. This allows for better coverage in environments where there are more structural obstacles present, including the beltstation operator’s body and other people in the general area. There is also less packet loss caused by intersymbol interference. In addition, for applications where long lengths of coax cabling are being employed, the 900MHz technology offers an RF signal loss of roughly two-and-a-half to three times less than when using 2.4GHZ-based technologies. As a result, users have the option to employ smaller gauge, easier-to-run and less expensive cables.
Also new will be the Eclipse Digital Matrix System Version 5.2, with its new line of V-Series rotary control panels enhanced with yellow OLED displays—because yellow “lasts longer and is easier to see,” said Macri. In addition, Clear-Com will also demonstrate its HelixNet Partyline intercom, including the HMS-4X Main Station and HBP-2X Beltpacks.
