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The American School of Doha in Qatar is reaping the benefits of its recent expansion, which has enabled it to deliver state-of-the-art audio video facilities to more than 1300 students. Key to the installation is a distribution system based on Cabletime's MediaStar Pro.

Originally founded in 1997, the school wanted to expand so that it could provide a new library, dining hall, computer and science labs, presentation rooms, recreation and sports facilities, art studios and a 630 seat theatre. Work started last year, and Doha-based specialist systems integrator, Techno Q was appointed to oversee the audio visual and lighting elements.

Flexible, friendly and failsafe

Abdulla Alansari, Executive Director of Techno Q said: "We have installed Cabletime products in a number of projects, so we were familiar with MediaStar's flexibility of usage, user friendly interface and high reliability. We also needed to ensure that the client would have stable transmission over long distances, because the American School occupies a large campus, and we knew that the MediaStar Pro would deliver."

MediaStar Pro can provide up to 180 channels of live TV across Cat-5/6 cabling. At the American School in Doha, it transmits a signal coming from two satellite dishes delivering 30 channels to over 75 points across campus. These include classrooms, boardrooms and laboratories, and additional video sources such as DVD are also available.

"Our client is particularly satisfied with the multiple administrative functions of MediaStar Pro. Selective channels can be set up for each point of distribution, preventative controls can be put in place, and programmes can be broadcast at specific times into the classrooms to ensure they coincide with lessons", concluded Abdulla Alansari.

Having completed the Middle and High School facility, the American School is now on stage two of its reconstruction project, renovating the old building that is situated just beside the new facility.