Call to prayer

A/V systems for mosques are a regular request now. Usually they will tackle the reverberation problems common with the traditional architectural style to provide better clarity of speech for worshippers on the audio side and provide information through digital signage on the visual. However, some larger sites are also looking to spread their message further with the addition of broadcast systems.

As a significant new addition to Doha’s worship community, the State Mosque in the Al Khuwair area of the city has embraced the opportunities broadcast presents by incorporating a state-of-the-art setup into its A/V design. The aim of the new system is to allow Qatar Television (QTV) to take a live feed from the mosque during Ramadan and every Friday during prayer time and broadcast it to the nation. The company tasked with installing this solution was local integrator AV-Tech, and the most important opportunity to put its offering to the test came over the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Rising to the challenge

With an area of about 19,550 sq-m across three levels, a capacity for 12,000 worshippers and a land area of 175,000 sq-m, the site is Qatar’s largest religious edifice. It is also the first mosque in Doha to offer a complete broadcast system which allows daily live broadcasts.

Incorporating traditional Islamic architectural elements, the new mosque’s main prayer hall has 28 large domes and a single 65m minaret. While these features and the polished marble interior make the mosque a place of beauty, the numerous domes and unique architecture required special attention when choosing the locations for the sound system, broadcast cameras and lighting.

For Hadi Arzouni, managing director of AV-Tech, rising to this challenge meant selecting of the right equipment for the job. ‘Our main concern has been the right design, not the cost,’ he recalls. ‘In the end, applying the right system through professional service will result in cost savings. There will not be any need to change the system for the next 20 years.’

AV-Tech was not alone when it came to the building a turnkey broadcast solution, it turned to one of its regular partners for expert assistance. ‘We partnered with Gearhouse Broadcast Qatar Ltd, who are specialised in broadcast systems,’ notes Mr Arzouni. ‘We have worked with them several times before to provide the broadcast cabling for the stadium projects we have participated in since we were established by Sharif Hashisho in 2003.’

Equipping the mosque

The partners selected 25 different camera locations and built a main control room on the mezzanine floor to enable the live broadcasts. Specialist remote cameras have been distributed around the mosque’s main locations and are monitored and controlled from the control room for transmission. As well as the mounted cameras, there are custom wall boxes throughout the mosque. These allow greater flexibility for broadcasters as each is fitted with varying numbers of triax, video and audio cables, providing connectivity back to the control room.

The broadcast control room has been equipped with a Sony DVS 9000 vision mixer, Harris audio/video distribution and conversion units, glue and Inscriber graphics, Triology Communications talk back system, and Sony VTRs as well as a Miranda Kaleido multi-viewer driving six JVC 42-inch LCD display monitors. The audio mixer supplied is a Soundcraft BB100 and Genelec 8040 monitors are also in use. All the equipment has been fitted into bespoke Custom Consoles technical furniture.

Providing the video feed from the mosque are a range of cameras from Sony and Panasonic. Five Sony BVP-E30 system cameras have been supplied with a mix of Canon J35 and J22 lenses. These are supplemented by 10 Panasonic AW-E860 cameras with Canon YJ20 lenses on hot-heads. Some of the other major system components are provided by Tektronix and Evertz.

The audio feed for the broadcast system is taken from the mosque’s Renhus-Heinz IC Live sound system (see Sound solutions). Microphones from Sennheiser, Shure and Sony are in use alongside other signal sources from Tascam. Completing the system is a Sonifex DHY-03T dual digital telephone hybrid and Bel BM-A1SD audio monitoring panel.

‘Installing the broadcast cameras and broadcast lighting was difficult due to the short timeframe,’ explains Mr Arzouni. ‘We had to supply the complete system in two months. Due to the shortness of time we had to use air freight to transport all the material. We had made a commitment to deliver on time and we would not break this,’ he continues. ‘Another problem was the lack of facilities to provide all the infrastructure cables needed. This was a real headache for the contractor,’ he recalls.

‘The difficulty that we met was that the electrical work was nearly finished,’ adds project manager Harish Kunju. ‘It was difficult for the contractor to provide the power supply and the services required where we had to install the new camera, lighting, and speaker points,’ he elaborates. ‘The contractor and the electro-mechanical company did a great job. We all worked as one team together with the consultant. At the end of the day it is a mosque, a special building.’

The camera positions are supported with broadcast lighting fixtures to provide the correct light level, colour temperature and most importantly the light angle onto the Imam’s face for the broadcast. Twenty Balcar lights have all been hidden around the main Qiblah wall to provide the lighting of the first front rows of the main prayer hall. They can be removed when no filming is taking place and returned when needed.

For the Imam position, AV-Tech opted for a 10-degree fixed beam spotlight and two 14-degree fixed beam spotlights for front light positions. Added to this a 750W zoom profile spot provides backlighting, and the general lighting for the Imam area is provided by 2000W Tungsten floods.

Away from this area, as the worshippers move into the open courtyard so does the broadcast system. The courtyard is lit with 2.5kW HMI fresnel’s. The fixtures provide both key and back lighting to this area in order to provide satisfactory television lighting. One fixture has been mounted at each corner and another mounted in the middle of each of the long sides. These external lights feature a weatherproof housing in order to prevent sand and dust getting inside the fixture.

Lighting did provide one of the major broadcast challenges for the system. ‘The original tender design had a mixture of lighting fixtures giving different colour temperatures which would be difficult for the cameras to handle,’ explains Mr Kunju. ‘AV-Tech came out with a solution of common colour temperature lighting fixtures to solve this.’

Control for all of these lights is once again located in the broadcast control room. A preset manual/memory console and dimmers provide the control and balance for the tungsten fixtures. The fluorescent fixtures can also be controlled directly by the console using its DMX output and hence balancing the elements.

Building for the Future

While this is a large amount of equipment to discretely install around the mosque, AV-Tech and Gearhouse Broadcast were determined it would not have a detrimental effect on the aesthetics of the building. ‘We worked with the consultant for a long time on the design to ensure that all the high-tech products we installed didn’t affect the beauty of the design,’ recalls Mr Arzouni. ‘The complete system is built up around state-of-the-art equipment from the best-known suppliers of professional audio, video and lighting,’ he continues. ‘Future changes and expansion of the system will be possible and easy to insert into the system.’

Reflecting on an all encompassing project that took in the full range of audio, visual, and lighting systems for broadcast, Mr Arzouni is clearly very happy with the end result. ‘The dedication of all parties participating in the project, whether the consultant or the contractor, who worked together with AV-Tech as one team, made the project successful,’ he reflects. ‘Everyone did an excellent job and their cooperation made it possible to achieve the project in time despite the challenges.’

With the successful use of the system during the mosque’s Ramadan broadcasts, it has overcome a major hurdle in proving its worth. Its continued use by QTV will take the sermons from the mosque and deliver them around the country, vastly increasing the number of people it is able to touch. It may also serve as an example to other establishments looking to expand their systems to include broadcast options.

Comparing this part of the project at the mosque to the audio installation shows the absolute care that has gone into ensuring this building has the best possible A/V systems. As the first mosque in Doha with a system that will allow daily broadcast, this will serve as a useful reference for both the companies involved and other places of worship looking to follow the same path.

www.avtech.com.qa

www.gearhousebroadcast.com

Sound solutions

Away from the broadcast side of the project, AV-Tech was also responsible for the installation and tuning of the mosque’s sound system. For this the company enlisted the help of Swedish consultancy Soliflex.

The major challenge, as found with many mosques, was to cut the reverberation times and get the acoustics under control. The initial stage was to use around 6,000 sq-m of dampening material from Fellert to bring the reverberation time from 9s to around 4.2s. This material was chosen because not only was it able to be effective at a low thickness, it was also possible to get a smooth surface that would fit in with the architect’s demands. The same treatment was also used on the rear wall of the ladies prayer room and under the mezzanine, where the ceiling and cupolas were dampened due to the severe focusing of reflective sound.

The next stage was to design the sound system itself with speakers that would be able to work with the dampening treatment to further improve the room acoustics. To achieve this, the team opted for Renkus-Heinz Iconyx speakers. The main speakers are 3m tall IC24R columns, six of which have been fitted on the 120m long main wall in the prayer hall, three either side of the Qiblah. Further to this, there is a 16m deep space underneath the mezzanine floor which is served by six IC8Rs for delays that have been fitted in spaces carved into the columns. Above this on the mezzanine floor is the ladies prayer hall which has a further six IC8Rs fixed on the columns. The same speakers have also been installed to cover the corridors and external courtyard.

The audio system at the State Mosque runs over a digital optical network with all cabling from Klotz. The sound system is controlled by a Yamaha DME64N DSP using D-Link DGS-1216T with DEM-311T gigabit switches to convert from optical to digital CobraNet. On top of this there is a traditional analogue network to act as an alternative should there be a problem with the digital network.

Projects like this show that while reverberant spaces can pose a major challenge for acoustics, they can also be tackled. Selecting the right equipment is key to getting intelligible sound, and the work done here by Soliflex and AV-Tech has ensured Qatar’s new State Mosque will get the best out of its system.

(for further detail please see Pro Audio Middle East January-February 2011)