Quartz chosen for Broadcasting House development

Quartz is to provide a routing system that will monitor the BBC’s entire radio broadcast chain as part of its major redevelopment at BBC Broadcasting House in the centre of London.
A Quartz Q256 multi-format audio router, configured for 640x96 with 480 digital inputs and 160 analogue inputs, will permit operational staff to check various stages of the Transmission Chain for monitoring and faultfinding purposes. Interfacing with BBC Technology’s Colledia Control system, the Q256s digital inputs accept any of the standard sample rates, up to 96KHz.
Launched at NAB 2003, the Quartz Q256 router converts all signals into AES digital audio internally, removing the need for separate external converters. As well as supporting both digital and analogue audio I/Os, this highly flexible router features the latest technical developments in audio routing, including soft switching, wild shuffling and sample rate conversion.
The new Broadcasting House development works across two phases: Phase 1 ending 2005 sees the refurbishment of the original 1932 building; Phase 2 ending 2008 delivers a brand new extension which will contain six studios for TV news, 140 acoustic spaces and one of the world’s largest live newsrooms, with 10,000 miles of cabling. The new development will be a cutting edge broadcast centre in the very heart of London.
The Quartz router system will be delivered in time for training of the new operators and staff entering the building in Phase 1.
Quartz, www.quartzuk.com
(GB)