We at iZ Technology are working hard to fulfill our Mission Statement: Helping customers realize their goals by delivering excellence and innovation in recording products of the highest quality.

So it is our pleasure to bring you this Winter 2012 edition eNewsletter, where you'll find Special Offers on ADA, RADAR, upgrades, accessories, Session Controllers and Meterbridges in the Winter 2012 Specials, and a look at the unique application of RADAR at the H.R. Macmillan Planetarium.

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• Winter 2012 Specials
• H.R. Macmillan Planetarium

HR Macmillan Planetarium uses RADAR

The H.R. Macmillan Planetarium has been using RADAR in their facility for the past nine years. We asked Craig F. McCaw to tell us a bit about their unique application.

"The HR Macmillan Planetarium presents a variety of astronomical, educational, and entertainment shows here in Vancouver B.C. Our RADAR system in the Star Theatre is often powered up at 8:30 AM in the morning for school shows, runs continuously throughout the day for public astronomy shows, and shuts down at midnight after the last laser show.

For nine years now the theater RADAR has been running continuously every day except for Christmas Day throughout the year, and we have not lost a single show due to a RADAR malfunction in all that time. Although we have replaced hard drives to be on the safe side, a quick switch to a backup drive is all that was needed to keep the shows rolling.

In over 33 years of production at this location, I have never seen a piece of playback equipment that has been so reliable. We also have a second RADAR system located in the production studio that has performed flawlessly for all that period of time. Our RADARs are configured to run two tracks of stereo, a track of time code to sync the computer system that controls the theater effects, and 12 tracks of laser X., Y., blanking, and color data. Our particular application is unique in that any slight imperfections in the signal output to the lasers would immediately be visible in the laser imagery, and in this aspect any slight imperfection that would probably be inaudible, would compromise the laser projection.

The RADAR has enabled us to speed up our laser programming tremendously by being able to use all the standard cut-and-paste features of a hard drive recorder combined with the graphic editing features of the RADAR. One of the first things we noticed when switching over to RADAR was the improvement in sound quality produced by the RADAR digital to analog converters when we dubbed our shows over from our DAT recorders.

Having worked in the entertainment business for many many years as a recording artist, a television composer, and a planetarium producer, I know how important it is to have a team on your side when the chips are down and the clock is ticking. The RADAR support people are simply the best I've ever encountered. Every time I needed to perform some atypical operation, or even just made a goofy mistake, it usually comes up when the deadline monster is looming, and the RADAR staff has always come through quickly and efficiently.

Over the past couple of years HD immersive all dome video has at last created compatibility amongst the various planetariums around the world and we look forward to continuing to make RADAR part of our operations in responding to the recent requests for shows we have received from other planetariums across Canada and the US.

In closing I would just like to say thanks for creating such a great and reliable product that certainly has made my work a lot easier."

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