Sacramento Production Services has completed a wireless audio overhaul at Sutter Health Park, home of the Athletics during their three-year residency in Sacramento. The upgrade replaced the stadium’s existing wireless system with a Wisycom antenna and fiber-based RF distribution system ahead of MLB broadcast demands.
The installation includes MAT244 RF combiners, LFA wideband antennas, ADFA active directional antennas, and BFL2T2 and BFLR2 antenna-over-fiber links. Ten Wisycom antennas now cover the facility, with four deployed in the outfield via fiber and six others positioned across the home side stands, roof, and concourse.
“This was game-changing for us,” says Anthony Brown, Project Manager, Sacramento Production Services. “We have wanted tools like this for years, and suddenly the technology caught up. The fact that the antennas have telemetry, remote control capabilities and built-in fiber links is excellent; it’s all just there, ready to go. With the Wisycom antennas, we were able to narrow the bandwidth and lower the noise floor. We went from wireless being a problem every other day to it not being an issue at all. Producers and talent can move freely throughout the park, do interviews anywhere and focus on the production instead of the RF.”
“When the A’s came in, it very quickly became clear that the existing wireless frequencies were a pretty bad choice,” says Keith Wackford, Sales and Production Manager, Sacramento Production Services. “Minor league games never had the RF congestion that major league broadcasts bring. Things looked fine in rehearsal but, come game time, everything changed. They told us, ‘We want our wireless microphones to work in the outfield.’ That’s about 460 feet from the nearest antenna. Without fiber, it would’ve been impossible. In a facility this size, remote control is a massive timesaver. It’s a four- or five-minute walk to the outfield. The production team really doesn’t have to do anything anymore, they’re off addressing other concerns.”