34 TVBEurope The Workflow
are very busy and don’t have time to read the instruction manual when they need to change something.”
It has some 96 systems in use, most with two transmitters and one receiver. Most are on UK frequencies, but because the bandwidth is so wide, the transmitters can also meet the RF specifications for other countries, which can be selected reasonably simply, as Davies programmed in the bandwidth selections for each country on a computer, then downloaded it to the systems. “The cameramen don’t care
what the frequency is. They just need to have a number of legal channels for each country,” he says. The UK, like most of Europe, can be covered by the low band transmitter, while the high band transmitter is needed in fewer countries, mainly in the Middle East. “There are far more low band countries in the world than high band, but our receivers do all of it.” Sky Sports, Sky Sports News, Sky Sports F1 HD, BBC News Channel and ITV are also using the Wisycom systems.
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Even during the broadcast.
Getting the signal back To get news reports back to base, Sky uses a wide range of technologies, from copper cable to various wireless links, such as LiveU or Dejero, and various satellite systems. It uses standard 3G dongles for feeds and occasionally for live use if there is a good enough signal, via a laptop. “One of the problems with 3G, whether combining
one of the ingest points, it can set up a Wi-Fi network and link back via this. Beyond this, “the only reliable
way to guarantee transmission from anywhere, at anytime, is satellite,” he says, so it has a variety of satellite systems including IP-based Tri-Sat, some older Norsat, and various forms of generic uplink dishes. Sky also has about a dozen uplink
better signal available, such as 3G or broadband, even better. If the story grows, Sky can send a full uplink. “It’s very dynamic and all entirely story dependent,” says Davies. It also uses some domestic
broadband over satellite systems. Although these offer limited bandwidth, “it’s better than BGAN and smaller than a full uplink.”
Everything’s going H.264 and IP, so the next generation cameras need IP encoders built in… We spend our lives bolting IP encoders onto the backs of cameras”
multimode or single dongles, is that cellular networks at a big event become overwhelmed, and the bandwidth just falls off,” making it unusable.
It such cases it might use
hotel broadband, if available, or smaller satphones, such as BGAN. It also has its own MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) network around London, and if a report is near
trucks, spread around the UK and in Brussels, which are available to news when necessary. But for a mobile cameraman, especially having to fly anywhere, being able to have a full kit, including camera, laptop and BGAN phone, in carry-on luggage means “they aren’t reliant on anything around them to get the story back.” Although if there is a
“When you can have fibre to the home at 80Mb, the line between what is domestic and what is commercial is very blurred.” In the UK, Sky (which offers broadband and telephone to its customers as well as satellite TV), is rolling out its own FTTH network, and Davies sees “potentially huge savings, if the availability is there” in using this fibre.
“In some cities a 3G dongle
George Davies, Sky News Sky uses a system from
Tooway, which can provide 4Mb uplink in the UK and across Europe, and even in some places in the Middle East. Unfortunately, the bandwidth isn’t high enough to meet broadcast spec, and it still needs a dish that has to be set up and powered, but it is an indication of how domestic alternatives are advancing.
can give a 2.6Mb uplink, our current record. That exceeds BGAN and often hotel broadband, but there are some days you can’t even get a signal.” In the near future there will also be 4G. Like 3G, such services can be great in theory, but we have to see how well they work in operation. “All telcos want to run their system up to capacity. That doesn’t leave much space for a big event to happen and to cope with it.” 4G will just be another tool that will be good in some locations but not everywhere. “You can still drive to places in the country and not even get a 2G phone signal,” he says.
www.tvbeurope.com September 2012
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