Megahertz Delivers New OB Vehicle

Megahertz has delivered a new HD satellite/production OB vehicle to Tinopolis Cymru, it has been announced.

The production vehicle captures two hours of live local interest and welsh-focused content per day for S4C's Prynhawn Da live five-day-a-week magazine show.

"From the off, Megahertz's ability to grasp our vision for the truck and then interpret our needs from a technical and production point of view, have been spot on," said John Griffiths, Chief Engineer, Tinopolis. "They truly understand our workflow and were able to develop the finer detail with the level of expertise that can only come from those with such a wealth of experience."

Replacing the company's 10-year-old one-cam SD van, the new HD vehicle is based on a Mercedes Sprinter Chassis boasting three Panasonic PSE HD cameras that can be converted to studio/live cameras using three Ereca fibre systems and a Cobham radio camera system, enabling live vision control of cameras and tallies. This means that the entire welsh-language programme can be anchored as a live outside broadcast anywhere in Wales. A Blackmagic Atem vision mixer and two Blackmagic HyperDecks allow the van to operate in a production capacity with the ability to cut live footage and pre-recorded rushes live to air as well as preparing content for social media.

In addition, a Ku-band Advent NewSwift 1.5m dish addresses SD/HD transmission with two SpacePath HPAs providing a change over, and a second Ka-band antenna accesses IP networks to ensure transmission to social media channels, downloading of scripts, programme running orders, emails and voice comms.

Jon Flay, Managing Director, Megahertz, commented: "We're building more and more outside broadcast vehicles that take advantage of IP networks to carry data to and from a remote location, essentially equipping crews with more production tools in the field. We were delighted to build and deliver this HD satellite truck to Tinopolis Cymru and to help bring more live on-location and HD content to its primetime viewers."

www.megahertz.co.uk

(JP/MH)