Five years ago, Hospital Radio Hillingdon completed its first phase of refurbishment in Studio 1 at Hillingdon Hospital. With a team of 30 or so volunteers and entirely funded by donations, Radio Hillingdon in Uxbridge, England, near Heathrow, took to the airwaves with a Sonifex Sovereign desk. After so many years of putting up with home-built equipment, the Sonifex Sovereign desk proved such a hit with the presentation team that the thought of installing any other desk for our second studio just didn’t enter into anyone’s head! So, after more fund-raising efforts, a second desk was ordered.
The second studio was designed to serve two purposes. Firstly to act as a training studio for new presenters and secondly to be there when the second channel from the privately funded Patientline service came on stream. Patientline provides a terminal at each patient’s bedside which includes TV, internet and e-mail services. These services are paid for by the patients or their visitors buy buying credit cards available throughout the hospital, but for Radio Hillingdon, the best part is that all radio services are free of charge to the listener. Studio 2 was built as a mirror image of Studio 1 and as well as using the same desk, exactly the same audio equipment was installed.
With two studios to take care off, it became apparent that the control room would have to be kitted out with more equipment than was fitted previously and so as well as re-fitting Studio 2, the decision was taken to rip out the old rack room and install new, modern equipment. Only one company could provide everything needed at the price required and once again it was Sonifex to the rescue!
From their vast Redbox range a number of different modules were fitted, including two six way distribution amps, stereo to mono converters, dual unbalanced to balanced converters and twin stereo limiters. One of the biggest bonuses from Sonifex was the introduction of their “Redbox” RB-LC3, a light controller that indicates mic live, studio live and telephone ringing, all from one centrally placed unit. This had to be one of the best pieces of equipment that we’ve installed simply from its sheer ease use!
It was eleven years ago that a small group of volunteers from Radio Hillingdon sat down around a table at a hospital radio conference in Plymouth, with a clean sheet of paper with the idea of building a studio complex that would benefit listeners, presenters and the engineering team at Radio Hillingdon. Today, with both studios running Sonifex Sovereign desks and backed up with their Redbox range of ancillary equipment we know that the decisions taken then will ensure that the legacy of Hospital Radio in the UK will continue to provide a service to our listeners for many years to come.
Written by Jeff Brown, Chief Engineer, Hospital Radio Hillingdon, Hillingdon Hospital, Teddington, Middlesex, Email: jeff.brown@radiohillingdon.com
