Rane Factory Tour - December 4, 1996
On December 4, 1996, 26 members and guests of the Section were treated to an extensive tour of Rane Corporation's manufacturing plant in Mukilteo, WA. Rane has been in business for 15 years, after evolving out of the Pioneer, then Jensen buy-outs of Phase
Linear in the early '80s. Rane now has over half a million products in use in over 60 countries around the world.
We walked through the plant, starting in the service department. There are only 2 employees actually fixing gear, with one more on the telephone, and yet turnaround is usually only 3 days.
We then saw their 4 CAD stations, and heard how their products are developed by teams of people defining the products. The teams are made up of representatives from Manufacturing, Sales & Marketing, Engineering, Purchasing and actual product users, among
others.
After examining the manufacturing process, including their new 60-station, Universal "Radial 5" radial insertion machine, and their new Electrovert "Econopak 2" flow solder machine, we spent quite a bit of time discussing and observing the testing process
. Rane generates Audio Precision test limits from computer circuit models called "Monte Carlo Analysis." This provides extremely accurate and very tight tolerances for production test procedures which are customized for each product. Custom relay boxes a
nd test fixtures, all under computer control, allow units with many Ins and Outs to be tested without the need to constantly plug cables in and out.
Each and every unit is 100% tested at one or more of 6 test stations (4 analog only, 2 analog and digital), either using connectors hooked up to inputs and outputs, or using "Bed of Nails" jigs. These custom-made jigs test many points on each circuit boar
d with spring-loaded contacts connected to analyzers. Rane has an extensive stock of beds of nails since they make 50 different products, set up for 3 different power sources (120 volt, 220 volt, and 18 VAC "RAP" supplies contained in a wall mountable "bu
mp in the line cord").
Members and guests were then treated to refreshments and snacks which set a new plateau for AES meetings, featuring cookies, pies, cakes, soft drinks and coffee, as well as several other delectables.
After waddling to our seats, we heard descriptions and demonstrations of a couple of upcoming products:
The first was the Engineered Conference System (ECS) for teleconferencing and distance learning applications. ECS is actually multiple products designed as a system. There is the main base unit (ECB 6) with 6 audio ports (inputs & outputs) for any type of
line level audio source. The base unit interfaces with up to six, 8-channel automatic microphone mixers (ECM 8), permitting up to 48 mic channels. There is also an optional Multi-Zone Acoustic Echo Canceller (MZAEC) available - 1 canceller per mixer, no
t per system. The ECT 1 product interfaces all of this with 2-wire telephone service and allows remote diagnostics and setup. All ECS products are equipped with RS 232 system setup under intuitive Windows computer control.
The Multi-Zone Acoustic Echo Cancellation device struck this observer as especially trick; it cancels echoes that would otherwise be created by open mics in remote locations picking up what is coming out of the speakers in those locations when you are tal
king in your location, thus sending your own sound back through your speakers, but delayed by the distance between the open mics and the speakers. It is able to keep track of and cancel many simultaneous echo-producing situations, and worked quite well in
the demo. Release date for the ECS products is before NSCA.
We then saw a demo of the RPM 26 DSP Multiprocessor, which contains 2 analog inputs and 6 analog outputs, and a whole bunch of digital processing in between. In a single space chassis, it contains preprogrammed "setups" containing anything from a dual 2
or 3-way crossover, up to a mono 6-way crossover, all with compressors, delay, parametric EQ, and limiter on any or all of the outputs, configurable as desired by the user. It is also set up via Windows® computer, but recallable via 16 non-volatile memori
es, 8 of which are contact closure accessible from the rear panel. Release date for this product is sometime just after NSCA.
Thanks to Rane and Committee member Steve Macatee for giving us such an informative and interesting meeting (not to mention the fabulous desserts!).
By Dan Mortensen, PNW Chairman
dansound@worldnet.att.net