Canford has supplied Tecpro comms equipment, cabling and racking infrastructure to Audio Light Systems for installation in the newly opened Michael Croft Theatre, the new home of the National Youth Theatre. The theatre is located at The Alleyn’s School in South London and has already been recognised as a “fabulous facility” by the likes of Sir Trevor Nunn and accolades in the Daily Telegraph and the London Evening Standard.
Canford were asked by Eddy O’ Hare, Audio Light System’s managing director, to supply a Tecpro single channel comms system for the ‘new build’ theatre along with over 5000m of various cable types for the infrastructure alongside racks and Canford manufactured patch panels.
Tecpro is a full duplex, two wire communications system that was designed for live event and theatre applications. Since its launch over twenty years ago, the robust build quality and reliability of the Tecpro components has lead to their widespread use in sectors as diverse as national opera houses, touring rigs and the offshore oil industry. Canford is now introducing Tecpro2, an updated and backwards compatible development of the trusted range with feature enhancements and operational benefits.
Also supplied were several ESL racks and wall boxes including the 262 series, the 404 and 406 series. Amongst other panels, the racks were populated with Canford Universal Connection Panels which allow the mounting of a mixture of Neutrik ‘D’ flange connectors and Canford Universal connectors in a single panel without the need for costly custom metalwork. They are offered in 1, 2 or 3U heights and an angled 2U version to relieve cable stress. The recently launched Canford Universal Modular Panel system extends this concept with dedicated connector mounting plates for a wide variety of larger connectors. RPP mains power distribution strips were also supplied for use in the racks.
Canford FSJ multi-pair cable was used extensively including the 12 pair, 8 pair and 4 pair versions. Also both the standard version of Canford FST (Foil Screened Twin) and the FST-HD (heavy duty) version were widely deployed in the installation. The heavy duty version of the cable is a low loss type and is especially useful where DC current will be travelling long distances such as with the Tecpro comms system.
Alleyn’s School was founded in 1882 and was originally part of Dulwich College. The school can trace its origins back to 1619 and the founding of the college by Edward Alleyn, the famous Elizabethan actor, a contemporary of Shakespeare. This long standing connection with the stage was further developed when Michael Croft, after whom the new theatre is named and a former head of English at Alleyn’s, founded the National Youth Theatre in 1956.