NEW YORK— When basketball enthusiasts united in New York City for the 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend, Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) was courtside at both the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden to fully supply wireless receivers and specialty RF gear, as well as manage all player microphones in partnership with Quantum5X Systems during the sporting extravaganza.
The 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend officially kicked off at the Barclays Center with the Rising Stars Challenge, pitting the young stars of the NBA against one another in a fantastic display of what the future of the league has to offer. Continuing the festivities, players competed in two of the most popular events of the weekend: the Three-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest, which all culminated with the 2015 All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. This year’s lineup included some of the top players in the league, including John Wall, Kyle Lowry, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol.
Throughout the All Star event, the PWS team consisting of John Garrido and Cameron Stuckey remained in constant transit to ensure a flawless production. The team managed the equipment for the multitude of games at the Barclays Center and MSG and worked in tandem with Mark Donkers, Quantum5x’s lead on-site engineer responsible for proprietary hardware/software modifications. PWS supplied the ENG crews with portable diversity ENG receivers to work with Quantum5x’s new QT-5100 PlayerMics, as well as supplying both venues with courtside RF wireless gear.
With a smaller footprint than the previous version, Quantum5X’s new remote PlayerMics were custom-designed to enable full remote operation. The remote operation capabilities of the PlayerMics, i.e. power, gain control, and frequency changes, were crucial once the mics and transmitters were on the players because they were off-limits. The transmitters were small enough to be sewn into special pockets of the players’ jerseys and left in place without interfering with the players’ movement.
PWS also supplied their Helical and Domed Helical Antennas. The combination of the two ensured a wider pattern of coverage across the entire court, with inherent circular polarization for improved signal strength.
“We were very happy to be working with the Quantum5X crew once again,” says Jim Van Winkle, general manager, PWS. “They are a terrific group to work with and managing their new, durable PlayerMics was very easy and contributed to the whole event being a huge success for all parties involved.”
For more information about Professional Wireless Systems, visit http://www.professionalwireless.com.
