34 TVBEurope Summer of Sports: OB Focus
Pushing boundaries: Kilimanjaro case study
By Ronen Artman, VP of Marketing, LiveU
A GUSTING wind, a long, hard day of climbing followed by another long, hard day of climbing makes you want to simply crawl into your tent high up on the slopes at the end of the day and shut out the world. At one point on our trip it had been raining, snowing or hailing constantly for three days, the temperature was diving towards -20°C, the altitude was really taking its toll and yet before we could crash for the day we had to stick to our webcasting schedule and beam out to the world. If anyone thinks climbing Kilimanjaro is easy, rest assured it isn’t!
In January this year, six
LiveU employees flew to Ethiopia and then on to Tanzania, to a small airport near Kilimanjaro to complete an eight-day climb of all 19,340ft (5,895m) to the summit. Six
outset for facilitating live video transmission anytime, anywhere. Of course the company’s primary solutions are based on bonded modem technology to allow content acquisition via cellular networks (3G, 4G, Wi-Fi and WIMAX).
The reasons for this trip were
two-fold: to test ourselves physically; and to push the technology. It’s easy for manufacturers to make strong claims for their technology but it’s a very different thing to go out
You can’t stand on the summit for more than 20 minutes because of lack of oxygen: broadcasting from the summit for us non-climbers wasn’t realistic
days up and two days down to be precise.
The idea had formed a year
before, with careful planning taking part in the intervening months. LiveU has prided itself from the
But LiveU recognises that sometimes, cellular connectivity simply doesn’t exist so the easy use of LiveU units in conjunction with BGAN satellite technology has always been possible.
and really push the boundaries in real-world conditions. Once we had sketched out the plan, Go-Pro was quick to come on board with GoPro HD HERO2 cameras. For the most
remote areas the setup also included a Cobham Satcom Explorer 500 BGAN terminal using the Inmarsat BGAN satellite network. This was in addition to a LiveU LU40 handheld unit. We carried out a lot of tests on the equipment and also built the streaming interface to ensure that we could broadcast successfully during the trip. We set up the channel and a streaming server so the content was transmitted from Kilimanjaro to our offices and from there to the streaming server. We also built a dedicated website.
On the mountain With that working, we started testing our own abilities and realised that we also needed to
www.tvbeurope.com June2013
Designed for the Most Challenging Sports Productions Ahead
As the latest designs in intercom, Clear-Com’s HelixNet Paryline and Eclipse HX matrix intercoms deliver unparalleled fl exibility, quality and reliability. They have proven themselves in numerous mobile sports productions and will continue to prove themselves in the demanding productions that lie ahead.
Eclipse HX offers a wide range of powerful system frames that enable rapid system changes, provide ease of operation, and offer high capacity. The new Eclipse HX-Delta brings the unmatched capabilities of Clear-Com’s larger matrices to a cost-effective 3RU frame. The system offers many connectivity options and can be conveniently installed in areas where space is limited, such as in outside broadcast vehicles, or throughout a studio facility. This infrastructure permits shorter cable runs and puts users closer to their intercoms.
HelixNet Partyline is the leading network digital partyline intercom system for broadcast productions requiring quick setup and multiple channels of intercom. HelixNet enables linking of Main Stations on a LAN to support dozens of beltpacks. Many audio and program channels as well as power for each beltpack run over a single, shielded twisted-pair cables. The cost-effective HelixNet Partyline with network linking expands communication for even the most complex workfl ows in stadiums and arenas.
www.clearcom.com
Copyright © 2013. Clear-Com, LLC. All rights reserved. ® Clear-Com, the Clear-Com logo, Eclipse and HelixNet are registered trademarks of HM Electronics, Inc.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52