While we’ve had a basic PA system in the church for about as long as anyone can remember, this kept growing with wired and wireless microphones, and other input devices, to the point where it got unwieldy and an update was necessary. Dick Hewitt took on this task and worked with a professional service to revamp the system into something that would better suit the church’s expanding requirements. Dick also built the nice oak enclosure the components reside in. The major components include:
- Panasonic HD video camera (not shown)
- Toshiba DVD recorder
- DVD reproducer (not shown)
- HD Monitor
- 12 channel single + 2 channel stereo Soundcraft analog audio mixer
- 12 channel digital Symetrix signal processor/mixer with digital controller box
- Crown power amplifier to drive monaural speaker system (main unit is mounted in the front ceiling of the sanctuary, not shown, and several satellite speakers are positioned in various rooms)
- Numerous microphones, wired and wireless
- Headphone system for hearing impaired
- FM transmitter
- Miscellaneous power strips, cables, and junction boxes
This system is flexible. We routinely record worship services, and have been posting videos on Facebook weekly during the coronavirus pandemic in lieu of live indoor services. We found that the range of the wireless microphones was sufficient to provide a strong signal from the front lawn of the church, and actually used the sanctuary A/V system to facilitate live in-person outdoor COVID-compliant services during the late summer and early autumn, cabling the mixed output signal from the sanctuary sound system to the keyboard amplifier, relocated to the front lawn. We are continuing to evaluate further refinements to the A/V system, particularly a camera with remote positioning control.
