LONG BEACH, CA — The crew of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis had been working for almost two months straight without a day off, when the commanders decided to give the crew a full-scale party on July 4th, and the Chuck Alvarez Band got the call, along with the Comics On Duty tour. Steve McNeil, president of Mac West Group in Long Beach, also got the call, and his job was to provide the sound system for the show. "They told me I could bring 2000 pounds of gear. And we had to be completely self-sufficient."
McNeil packed his Sabine 2.4 GHz Smart Spectrum Wireless Systems and Graphi-Q2 Multi-function Processors. Sabine's SWM7000 Wireless operates in the globally accepted 2.4 GHz band.
Once the gear was packed, the band and crew settled in for the short ride to the ship. "All the gear was packed into a turbo prop COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) plane, and we came in at 170 miles per hour," said McNeil. Luckily all the gear made it just fine, with the exception of one speaker cabinet that "did not stop."
The stage was placed on the almost 5-acre deck, right in front of the main superstructure of the ship.
Sabine's 2.4 GHz Wireless Systems were used for lead vocals, the comedians, and the announcers.
The USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) is the lead ship of the Stennis Carrier Strike Group. This nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is over 1000 feet long with a beam of 134 feet, and displaces 91,300 tons. The Stennis can carry up to 90 aircraft, and her maximum speed is classified, but is well over 35 knots. Two Westinghouse reactors drive geared turbines that deliver a whopping 260,000 HP, and the ship is propelled by four screws.
Sabine Wireless receivers feature built-in signal processing, and transmitters come with rechargeable batteries. Handheld transmitters, lavalier and head-worn microphones and a variety of antennas are also available.
For more information see the website at www.sabine.com.
