2006
Doha 2006 Asian Games, Opening and Closing Ceremonies
Head RF and Systems Technician
Khalifa Stadium, Doha Qatar
Official Asian Games Website
The first Asian Games were held in 1951 and they follow the Oriental Games, which date back to 1913. Doha 2006 will be the largest Asian Games ever with 45 countries and regions taking part in 39 sports and 423 events. This is the first time the Asian Games has been hosted in the GCC region, and only the second time after Iran in 1974 for the Games to be staged in the Middle East.
I was asked to work on the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar by Scott Wilsallen, of Auditoria Pty. Ltd. And worked directly for Norwest Productions Sydney under the title of RF Engineer / Systems Technician. The contract involved following an audio design by Scott, and adapting where necessary to accommodate RF performance requirements. 2 weeks were spent in Doha during the early setup of the audio systems, followed by another 3 weeks up to, and around the opening and closing ceremonies.
The system design was very concise and streamlined, necessitating the use of only 11 PSM transmit frequencies, and 4 Radio mic bouquet positions consisting of 6 receive channels, each on rotating frequencies. PSM performance was flawless for all 120 packs used by headline and level 2 talent including dressing and green rooms inside the concrete stadium, without the use of re-radiating repeaters.
Equipment used was Shure UR series radio microphone systems, Shure PSM 600 and 700 systems on HA, HB, HC, HD, HE, L2, and H3 bands, Shure PA821 wideband combiners, Custom built super-linear wideband RF power amplifiers, and Commercial grade wideband Log Periodic antennas.