News
16–07–07 – May Madness @ MiB!
With May the traditional busiest month of the year for the Mi Broadcast Hire department, May 2007 didn't let us down. The majority of MiB's 30+ km of fibre cable and multiple video and audio Telecast systems were hired out to some of the most prestigious events of the year. From a single HD link at the FA Cup final to 20 HD Links at the Champions League Final, MiB appeared to have a hand in most major televised sporting and non-sporting events at some point in May. The following diary is a basic outline of all the jobs covered.
Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4 |
01–04–07 – MiB Turns Teacher of MX in Barcelona
Mi Broadcast was given the task of teaching the maintenance team of TV Catalunya how to terminate the new Telecast MX expanded beam fibre optic connector. Apart from the obvious language barriers MiB’s Michael Griggs had to teach the TV3 team from scratch as they had no previous fibre optic knowledge, and in the space of a week give them the confidence to repair and re-terminate all of their 2 core fibre optic stock.
The first few days of the week in Barcelona were used to get the principles of fibre optic termination across, the most obvious choice was using ST connectors on 900mn cable to keep the cost down and to keep it simple.
A few days of ferocious gluing, polishing and inspecting went by and they were ready to start on the chassis mounts. By the end of day 3 the more confident were starting to get their polishing success rate up and by day 4 they were ready to start on the pile of cable reels that had been put aside and labelled as ‘to be done by the time Michael goes home!’
By the end of the week it was obvious who the main terminators were going to be and the cable reels had been finished, tested and now labelled as ‘ready to go!’
In what was assumed to be a difficult task by the end of the week TV Catalunya were left confident and eager to crack on with the rest of their stock using their new skill.
TV Catalunya have 4 trucks each using 2 Telecast CopperHead systems on TAC2 Military spec fibre optic cable. On each truck they carry approximately 4 cable drums with either 50 or 100m’s of cable plus 2 Telecast MX chassis mounts at the back of the truck going to the CopperHead base stations.
For more information on the CopperHead go to the Telecast Products/Outside Broadcast section of this site. For more information on the MX contact Michael on the details above.
16–03–07 – XL Video purchase HD Viper System
Mi Broadcast Ltd, UK distributor for Telecast Fiber Systems, has recently supplied a Telecast Viper HD fibre optic transmission system to XL Video Ltd. The system can transport 4x HDSDI video, 4 audio, 2 intercom and 4 data circuits over a single 6mm tactical fibre optic cable, TAC4. Designed for field use the system has two portable “Mussel Shell” housings and is fitted with the new Telecast MX expanded beam fibre optic connectors.
Coax cables can only send HD video a few tens of metres beyond which fibre optics must be used. Telecast’s Viper System converts video, audio and data signals into light enabling them to be sent many kilometres without loss or interference. The new MX connector is easier to clean and with less physical contact offers greater reliability.
XL Video are international market leaders in the field of video production for trade shows, outdoor events, indoor events, concert touring and television shows. They are a leading rental supplier of video display systems with indoor and outdoor LED screens as well as having one of the largest fleets of high-brightness projectors. Malcolm Whittall, XL Videos Broadcast Director, said “XL is investing heavily in HD projection and video/data systems with the latest addition of an HD flyaway broadcast camera system. Projectors or host broadcasters can often be more than 100m from the screens control area which is asking a lot for cable to pass HD without problems. Telecast offered a very flexible and reliable solution to XL’s requirements. I have used Telecast products in the broadcast environment for many years and have been very satisfied with the results. The Viper was the obvious choice to use for handling multiple signals between broadcasters and XL with communications and audio feeds managed at the same time.”
23–11–06 – Ryder Cup Success for Mi Broadcast
Coverage of golf creates particular challenges for broadcasters because of the distances involved, but when the event is The Ryder Cup being televised in HD then the demands are even greater.
Fibre experts Mi Broadcast were on site to help ensure the success of the event by providing fibre optic cable and transmission equipment to carry the multiple HD, ASI and Audio over distances of 2.4 Km from the furthest greens back to the TV Compound.
The company’s hire department supplied 24Km of TAC4 cable together with Telecast fibre links for 40 HD signals and 170 audio. In addition to these circuits for broadcasters they also supported the course coverage on the large screen displays. Mi Broadcast sales also supplied equipment used for the event. Outside broadcast companies CTV and Telegenic have recently taken delivery of Telecast Pythons. The Python carries 8 HD/SDI signals on a single fibre core offering savings in cost and fibre count. Telegenic along with Irish OB operator Observe took delivery of Telecast SHEDs. SHED or SMPTE Hybrid Eliminator Device converts from the copper/fibre cable used on HD cameras to low cost installed or TAC4 fibre. The camera head can be locally powered or via the SHED-HDX which puts power back onto the camera cable. 2006 has been a busy year for Mi Broadcast who have supplied equipment for all the major sporting events, from the Winter Olympics to the World Cup and Ryder Cup and finishing with the Asian Games in December.
06–03–06 – Winter Olympics 2006 in Torino
Mi Broadcast’s normal hire season for fibre equipment got off to an early start when they received an order to supply 27 individual links for the Winter Games in Turin. They were located in all of the venues for the various disciplines at the games with a typical link being 2 Video and bi–directional 4 Audio over 2 fibres. The equipment was supplied to Mi Broadcast’s intercom partner, Riedel Communications, who were responsible for the venue communications throughout the Games. Fibre optic cable was also used to connect the Riedel intercom panels to the various Artist Digital Intercom matrices. Recent years have seen a major move away from copper to fibre optic cables in SNG and Outside Broadcast. Fibre has proven to be reliable and to offer many advantages in TV and Radio production. The Telecast “Viper” with 6mm TAC4 field deployable cable can carry multiple HD/SDI/Composite Videos, Audio and Data signals long distances without the need to equalise and with immunity from crosstalk, hum and electrical interference. Rigging time is reduced, cabling is more discrete and transportation costs are less.
Details of the Telecast & Riedel range of equipment for purchase or hire can be viewed on the product pages.