Walpole, MA, USA, August 23, 2024 — A Silver Jubilee Celebration for His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan was held on June 6 to honor his 25 years on the throne. Amman-based Tritec AV, established in 1984 as Jordan’s first pro AV provider, was commissioned to manage audio and video for the high-profile event based on its long experience and familiarity to the Royal Court’s organizers. “We were called in to handle the complete technical requirements for the event,” says Marwan Abujaber, owner of Tritec AV. We handled the FOH sound reinforcement, stage monitors, OB feeds, the fiber network, wireless IEMs, wireless mics and wireless talkback.” Tritec AV turned to RF Venue, a leading global manufacturer of essential RF accessories for wireless audio, to solve challenges with the celebration’s wireless IEM systems. “We made the right choice to invest in RF Venue products,” says Abujaber.
The site was a large open area in a business park in Amman that is the local home of multinational companies like Google and Amazon. A stage was built into a hillside facade with a 300-meter parade route corridor between the stage and the audience of more than 10,000 and FOH on the opposite side of the tarmac. The IEM channel count was modest at four, Abujaber shares, “but the distances were great.” The show’s MCs were following precise cues in conjunction with signals from event organizer and producer Hana Zureikat from 165 Entertainment, who was instrumental in running the show. “We had to have a bulletproof system to keep the show running on time.”
Abujaber had no previous experience with RF Venue, only an awareness based on the company’s internet presence. RF Venue’s CP Beam circularly polarized antenna for wireless IEM transmission was recommended by a friend and Tritec AV Technical Director/FOH Najib Al Bakhit insisted on obtaining the RF Venue kit. A “very smooth and quick ordering service” led to the purchase and three-day delivery of two turnkey RF Venue Four Channel In-Ear Upgrade Packs, which include a CP Beam Antenna with stand mount and a COMBINE4 IEM Antenna Combiner with all the needed cabling including jumpers to power the connected IEM transmitters directly from the COMBINE4. “It’s exactly what you need,” says Abujaber.
While the airwaves in Jordan are beginning to be regulated by a communications commission, Abujaber says it is still the “Wild West. There is so much equipment already in use that everybody's basically doing whatever they want.” After “a bit of work” explaining the gear to the customs officials and the communications commission, the RF Venue gear was cleared into the country and approved for use
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For the event, the RF outputs of four Shure PSM 1000 wireless IEM transmitters were connected to the COMBINE4. The combiner output fed the CP Beam antenna to cover the 60 meter x 60 meter performance area. “When we did our technical rehearsals, we quickly realized that the CP Beam really works well over long distances,” says Abujaber. “Immediately we felt secure; it was connect-and-forget. I believe we could not have pulled this off with our regular kit.”
The performers, MCs and Tritec AV’s client, the Royal Court, were appreciative and happy. “All thanked us for the reliable and secure service. We made them look good. We are using CP Beam antennas all the time now in our events. Just seeing it there, set up on or near the stage, gives us a sense of security in our signal quality. This is the best upgrade you can do to any system. We will be looking at more of their products.”