Wireless Solution Sweden AB recently joined the fun at the 2008 Mardi Gras Parade in Sydney, Australia, proving once again that there are just some things that can't be done without W-DMX^TM.

Viewed by over 300,000 spectators, the 30th Annual Sydney Mardi Gras Parade was held in Sydney's Darlinghurst on March 1. The massive 4km (2.5 miles) procession travelled over a 1.6km (1 mile) route and was made up over 150 floats and 10,000 participants. The Parade is considered ‘the jewel in the crown' of the Mardi Gras festival and this year Wireless Solution was on board to help the parade maintain its unrivalled reputation for glitz and glamour.

Produced and designed by Wayne Mulder of Sydney's Action Sound, the Wireless Solution system was featured on the Surf Life Saving Australia's float themed "Whatever floats your boat". W-DMX was used to communicate between the two float trucks that travelled anywhere from 150 to 200 meters apart (500-650 feet). Dancing between the two trucks was a contingent of Life Savers, illuminated by 4 City Lights that were required to change color on cue. Mulder states, "It was very important that the lights on the two trucks were in sync without the need to have two lighting controllers and two operators. Through the use of W-DMX we were able to control all the lighting from the front truck with one transmitter."

The W-DMX rig included the user friendly W-DMX BlackBox S-1 transmitter, which features "One-Button-2-Go" technology, to transmit to the BlackBox R-512 receivers on each truck. The S-1 and R-512 system transmits and receives 512 channels of DMX (one universe) wirelessly through the W-DMX technology and uses a number of advanced techniques to avoid interference and create a very reliable wireless link.

On W-DMX's reliability, Mulder states that "the W-DMX system never skipped a beat and there were no problems with signal strength or reliability." He also goes on to say that without W-DMX the project would have been impossible as "we wouldn't have been able to do it any other way." The Wireless Solution is a new addition to Action Sound's inventory, but due to its ease of use and reliability, it is sure to feature in many more projects.

W-DMX is the perfect solution for applications where running DMX cable is not practical. W-DMX technology uses Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum to avoid interference. Critics worldwide have hailed the system as the number one product for interference-free wireless DMX technology.