June2013 www.tvbeurope.com


“For what you spend on a helicopter for half a day you can buy one of these”


HD cameras with three cameras and recorders run for 16 hours in all conditions, even -26ºC, and we have had them working down to -52ºC in Siberia using onboard heating,” says Schaale. But even they can’t eke out much power from their drone


is as much dictated by weight as by technical considerations, and many systems use pro-sumer or DSLR cameras. Extreme Facilities use the Panasonic GH3. “We like the quality and flexibility with the micro-4/3 system,” says Schaale. “We


“They are alright in the hands of experts, but their use is completely unregulated in the hobbyist and low-budget filmmaker world”


Scott Walker, Boxx TV


set-ups. Luckily, for what it typically needs to shoot with a drone, “eight minutes flying time and a very conservative safety margin of 30% works for us and after an intensive flight of eight minutes it is only a quick change to be in the air again.” Because of the limited carrying capacity, camera choice


can start/stop recording in the air and also take stills while recording video with no disturbance to the video recording and 1080p 24/25/30/50/60 from 50-72Mbps.”


Lightweight links Extreme Facilities has used Link, Gigawave, and Cobham systems for HD transmission,


TVBEurope 29 Summer of Sports: OB Focus


Heli health and safety By David Fox


THE LOWcost and ease of use of the new drones could create problems that might cause government regulation, predicts Walker, who believes that they “will raise a lot of privacy issues” once they start to be used by paparazzi to get spy shots of celebrities, royalty or politicians. There may also be safety


issues. “They are alright in the hands of experts, but their use is completely unregulated in the hobbyist and low- budget filmmaker world. If they lose an engine, they can


using a number of Cobham HD four-way diversity systems for live transmission from its aerial systems. “These have proven to be reliable and robust as the whole Cobham system is built to military spec, but this quality does come at a high price,” says Schaale. That cost is something Boxx TV aims to address with its new


come down pretty quickly,” so he is concerned that any serious accident could see limitations imposed for more responsible users. Of course, any responsible


production company will have proper training and the necessary specialist airborne insurance. Most suppliers (including those quoted below) offer training, and the systems themselves offer useful safety aids. Many drones, such as the Heliguy SkyJib octocopter, have waypoint GPS mapping and can “return to home, and land itself and take off itself,” according to Heliguy sales


Zenith Light, which is “specially made” for drones. It weighs 400g in its plastic case, although Boxx can also custom make units using a buyer’s own carbon fibre case, to bring the weight down to about 320g. It can be powered from 9- 36v batteries — most drones seem to have batteries around 11v. The codec goes up to about 30Mbps (H.264), but “for


manager Alex Prentice, but users still need training. “For commercial use, you need a CAA licence – a two- day ground school and one-day practical course,” says Tully. “Other countries have their own licensing, but most recognise the CAA licence,” adds Turner. “You can’t go above 400ft (120m) without specific permission, and have to fly no more than about 500m from the pilot. The drone also has to be under 20kg in total weight, which it will be anyway — the 8V2 is about 10kg fully loaded,” he says.


broadcast between 10-20Mbps is sufficient for most HD use. Even 10Mbps looks great because the movements tend to be slow and graceful and they are fairly wide shots,” he says. During flight tests Walker


didn’t see any breakup, except when he pointed the antennas in the opposite direction. “With the antennas facing the right


Dear video engineers, Happily, for you it is.


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Lawo | Rastatt / Germany


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