Wireless Solution Sweden AB recently joined the fun at the 2008 Mardi Gras Parade in Sydney, Australia, with W-DMX™.
Viewed by over 300,000 spectators, the 30th Annual Sydney Mardi Gras Parade was held in Sydney’s Darlinghurst on March 1. The 2.5-mile procession travelled over a 1-mile route and was made up over 150 floats and 10,000 participants. The Parade is considered “the jewel in the crown” of the Mardi Gras festival and this year Wireless Solution was on board to help the parade maintain its unrivalled reputation for glitz and glamour.
Produced and designed by Wayne Mulder of Sydney’s Action Sound, the Wireless Solution system was featured on the Surf Life Saving Australia’s float themed “Whatever floats your boat.” W-DMX was used to communicate between the two float trucks that travelled anywhere from 500-650 feet. Dancing between the two trucks was a contingent of Life Savers, illuminated by 4 City Lights that were required to change color on cue. Mulder states, “It was very important that the lights on the two trucks were in sync without the need to have two lighting controllers and two operators. Through the use of W-DMX we were able to control all the lighting from the front truck with one transmitter.”
The W-DMX rig included the W-DMX BlackBox S-1 transmitter, which features “One-Button-2-Go” technology, to transmit to the BlackBox R-512 receivers on each truck. The S-1 and R-512 system transmits and receives 512 channels of DMX (one universe) wirelessly through the W-DMX technology and uses a number of advanced techniques to avoid interference and create a very reliable wireless link.
On W-DMX’s reliability, Mulder states, “the W-DMX system never skipped a beat and there were no problems with signal strength or reliability.” He also goes on to say that without W-DMX the project would have been impossible as “we wouldn’t have been able to do it any other way.” The Wireless Solution is a new addition to Action Sound’s inventory.