Real-time communications solutions manufacturer Clear-Com was chosen to be a Communications Technology Supporter for television relay service for China’s 2016 Great Wall Marathon race. The sporting event saw thousands of athletes take on 45.195 kilometres of the monument that is largely considered to be one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

To help cover this event, Clear-Com supplied an Eclipse HX digital intercom matrix to connect the production team. Via the IVC-32-HX frame card, Clear-Com’s Agent-IC app for iOS devices was deployed for the production team to use on site via their Apple smartphones. The Agent-IC app turns an iOS device into a two-way duplex intercom for its user, connecting them into the main intercom system and with other users on the IP-based V-Series control panels.

The Clear-Com intercom equipment was provisioned and managed by the Beijing Longway Broadcast Technology Company, one of the technical support companies for this year’s Great Wall Marathon televised relay race. The IP-based system connected the Eclipse HX at the Beijing production facility to 20 personnel with Agent-IC loaded smartphones at the marathon’s starting and finish line. The system even connected motorcycle-mounted camera operators back to the production centre in Beijing.

“Broadcasting for long distance outdoor events generally uses simple intercom systems. Such wired systems typically offer limited functionality and range, which is very inconvenient for the director who is organizing and controlling the broadcast event,” said Yang Xiang, Longway’s production director. “In contrast, the IP-enabled Eclipse HX system and Agent-IC app provided us with the kind of secure, reliable duplex intercom service normally only found inside a studio. The IP-based system outdoors allowed us to cover a huge area efficiently and effectively.”

Longway was so impressed by Clear-Com’s intercom system’s performance that the company will be using it to cover all major outdoor events undertaken in 2017, such as the TDQL cycling race. Approved by the International Cycling Union in 2002, the TDQL14-day race has been ranked as 2.HC level, the leading and largest cycling event in Asia, running through the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia.

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