This year's show, as always, showcased the latest in aviation and airborne defence technology alongside displays of period aircraft and aerial acrobatic prowess, to the usual mixture of aviation industry experts, defence procurement mandarins, and the aircraft-loving general public.
As far as audio systems were concerned, however, it was all change; after the last show in 2012, Show Hire - one of Europe's leading event communications companies - were appointed for the first time to install and manage the on-site PA and audio systems.
The Airshow site at Farnborough is very large, covering approximately 2000 acres. From a PA perspective, it comprises several different elements, from the two-mile-long viewing areas alongside the main runway and public areas, to the exhibition halls and chalet accommodation for trade exhibitors.
Rather than following in the footsteps of their predecessors, and installing literally miles of 100V analogue cable with multiple amplifiers to cover the site, Show Hire elected instead to employ a fibre-optic network over which the vast majority of the PA system was run digitally.
Overall networked audio distribution was managed using the state-of-the-art Q-Sys platform from QSC. The fibre-optic network used for Show Hire's Q-Sys system was installed by DB Event Networks, who began a wholesale refurbishment of the networking facilities at Farnborough in October 2013 in order to be finished in time for this year's show.
Show Hire purchased the system and associated equipment from QSC UK representatives Shure Distribution, after extensive consultation about their requirements for Farnborough.
Ross Slaughter, technical director at Show Hire and chief Q-Sys engineer at the Farnborough event, explains: "We invested in Q-Sys primarily for Farnborough, but we carried out some pretty extensive testing beforehand at other events. We wanted to ensure not only that we were making the most of what Q-Sys can do, but also to ensure that it would withstand the challenges that an event like Farnborough can present."
Although, ultimately, the speakers positioned alongside the runway were fed by an analogue signal, Show Hire chose to do this in order to establish a comparison between the two systems, and to provide a robust back-up in the event that the fibre optic network was compromised.
The finished Q-Sys network installed by Show Hire incorporated two Core 500i processors (one active and one redundant back-up) as well nine I/O frames and two I/O-22 miniature frames. Staff in the Airshow's Show Control were given a QSC PS-1600H page station, programmed to give priority to the control centre over all other PA feeds if necessary.
Another PS-1600H paging station was installed at the Airshow's commentary centre, allowing commentary to be routed across the entire site with ease. A TSC-3 touchscreen was used in the exhibition halls, so that routine PA announcements could be muted in certain areas while various demonstrations and talks - such as addresses from the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg - were in progress.
Using Q-Sys, Show Hire were also able to distribute Radio Farnborough across the entire site before and after the show, as well as during quiet periods when there were no aerial displays or interviews underway.
Show Hire provided each exhibitor with a dedicated speaker system in their chalet offices, the volume of which exhibitors were able to control themselves. Show Hire used Q-Sys, in conjunction with a 24V relay rig, to trigger an override system that would allow any necessary evacuation announcements to be heard at full volume, irrespective of the individual settings on each chalet speaker.
"The audio networ
