The racecourse, located in High Gosforth Park, has been the home of the biggest racing event in the North East, the Northumberland Plate, since 1891.
Over the last two decades the racecourse has seen an investment of over £11m, including the development of new facilities for racegoers, new stands, a parade ring and a straight mile flat track and most recently, a brand new floodlighting system that illuminates the track during night meets, the car park and other outdoor areas.
Saving Time with IP Building Management
Utility Connections, who are responsible for all of the power works on site, approached Advantex, an IT & Communication specialist based in Gateshead, to help them provide a remote IP-based management solution for the new floodlighting system.
The problem with the existing system was that it required highly trained staff to manually walk the track and turn on the lights. In addition, the process took over an hour to turn lights on before the meet and the same to turn them off again afterwards.
Advantex were invited to design a remote lighting system that was user-friendly enough to be operated by any member of the racecourse staff, not just specially trained ones, whilst also enabling remote access for system maintenance and operation.
Solving Problems at the Touch of a Button
Advantex’s CCNA-certified network design and data cabling experience made them the perfect choice to find an IP-based solution to the problem. An IP-based solution would allow the Racecourse to leverage their existing network infrastructure whilst also giving them all the remote functionality they needed.
Having gone through all of the training and certification to become a Paxton10 Platinum partner, Advantex had the expertise and knowledge to propose a bespoke IP building management system based on the powerful Paxton10 platform.
- The bespoke design would successfully allow any member of staff to turn on all the track lighting at the convenient and easy touch of a button – from any device connected to the internet.
- The proposed solution would reduce the need to train manual staff to turn on and off the lights and reduce the amount of time necessary to complete that task.
- In addition, having IP access would give Advantex the perfect opportunity to maintain the system and run regular testing to ensure optimal performance throughout the year.
Raising the Profile of Evening Racing at Newcastle Racecourse
The proposed solution was agreed and installed in 2017.
Racecourse Operation Manager, Paul Elliot has said of the solution since it’s installation that having the ability to remotely turn on and off the lights has helped the racecourse to fulfill its potential as a leading entertainment venue providing twilight and evening race meets.
The IP Building Management solution successfully enabled any member of the racecourse staff to remotely turn on and off the lights, which means the entire process now takes around 10 minutes, rather than over an hour. A boon to staff and local residents alike, who now no longer have to suffer floodlighting late into the evening, well past the time when the last race has completed.
Operationally, the installation was completed to the proposed budget and on time with forecasts.
Advantex continue to offer support and maintenance to the racecourse and are ready to continue to help realise its ongoing ambition to remain the leading race venue in the North.
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