Yamaha QL1 Is The Compact Solution For RTV Drenthe’s New Outside Broadcast Van

The regional broadcasting industry is bigger than ever in Europe, with webcasting running alongside television and radio to provide content specifically aimed at local populations. High end facilities in a very compact footprint make Yamaha’s QL1 digital mixing console a great solution for local broadcasters, highlighted by a recent investment by the Netherlands’ RTV Drenthe.

RTV Drenthe is a regional broadcaster for the province of Drenthe, in north-east Netherlands, which covers 2700km2 and has a population of around 492000. Based in the provincial capital Assen, RTV Drenthe has 82 full time employees and a pool of more than 60 freelancers. Its content mainly comprises local news, interviews, music and talk shows, broadcasting 24 hours of radio a day, a repeated 30 minutes of television, and webcasting.

The broadcaster is a long-term user of Yamaha digital mixing consoles, with a number of 01V96s used for live events and a DM2000 in its large DAF outside broadcast truck. It recently added a new, medium-sized Volkswagen OB van - which has the advantage that it can be driven on a normal driving licence - featuring a Yamaha QL1 digital mixer. Designed and built by the broadcaster’s own technicians, the van is specifically tailored to their needs.

“As we have a long history with Yamaha mixers and our experience with them has always been positive and reliable, it made sense to look at Yamaha again for the new OB van,” says RTV Drenthe project manager Martijn Woering.

“We spoke to Rob Kuenen of Winterswijk-based systems integrator Soundsolution and he showed us the many features of the QL range. The facilities and small footprint of the QL1 were exactly what we needed, so it was an easy choice.”

The QL1 was supplied with an MY16-AE AES/EBU interface for routing audio to the video-embedder, the Comrex audio codec and a GSM fork for telephone connections. A Tio1608-D I/O rack was also supplied, for routing the audio inputs to the console via Dante and outputs to in-ear monitors via beltpacks. Dante is also used for routing the intercom network between the RTV Drenthe production staff.

One of the regular television programmes that the new OB van is used on is weekly business talk show Ondernemen in Drenthe (Economics in Drenthe). Filmed on location at the picturesque De Havixhorst chateau hotel, near the town of Meppel, RTV Drenthe supplies all of the necessary technical facilities. Using the Tio1608-D makes it simple to feed the outputs of multiple wireless microphones to the van via a single Dante cable.

“The QL1 sounds excellent and the Dan Dugan auto mixing is a big help for doing talk shows on location,” says Martijn. “It’s also very easy to use, being very similar to the older Yamaha mixers that all our engineers know so well. They can all get the most from the QL1 without any problems whatsoever.”