When more than one hundred of the world’s best BMX bike racers met in California for this year’s BMX Supercross World Cup in October, a Shure PSM 700 personal in-ear monitoring system was used for the sound system.
The Shure installation took place at the U.S. Olympic Training Center racecourse in southern San Diego County. The track was modeled after the course at the Beijing Olympics, but the three-acre site created some challenges as far as audio was concerned. With leased audio systems costing close to $30,000 per event, center officials decided to install a permanent sound system
Quiet Voice Audio of Fallbrook, CA, was hired to design and build the system. Because the track had no conduits for loudspeaker cable runs and balanced audio lines, plus a shortage of electrical outlets, wired installation was cost prohibitive.
A tower located on the east side of the track was chosen to serve as a vantage point for mixing and as a main system control center. UHF-FM was used to get the signals the distances involved. A Shure PSM 700 personal in-ear monitoring system, normally used for music, was deployed to supply sound to eight of the 14 self-powered speakers located around the track.
Made safe by mounting inside of a weatherproof Pelican box outfitted with a Lemo connector for an antenna connection, a TRS 3.5mm connector to manage audio output and a Shure PS9US 9V battery eliminator with a female 9V terminal clip added, the PSM 700 receiver was attached to the side of one of the self-powered loudspeakers distributed on the opposite side of the track facing the control tower. Shure paddle antennas were used at the receiver and transmitter end in the tower.
