Newly-Independent Argosy Drives Infrastructure Innovation At IBC2018

On 26 July 2018, Argosy completed a management buyout from its previous parent company and it is now under the direct control of existing directors, Chris Smeeton and Josh Simons.

"We are delighted to be able to do this," said Chris Smeeton. "We have long had the ambition to take the reins of the business. This gives us the commercial agility to respond dynamically to the market. Argosy will continue to grow, providing the very best in technology and services across all areas of the broadcast market while pushing further into the AV industry."

Originally established as a one-stop shop for cables and connectors, Argosy has grown to become a trusted source of a broad range of infrastructure products. A good example being the recently signed partnerships with 'kvm-tec' and 'Barnfind', for the supply of extension and distribution technologies.

"Pushing into new markets and new technologies is a critical part of our growth plan for the future," added Josh Simons. "Now we control our own investment plans, we can quickly respond to the market and offer cutting edge technologies as well as new ways of doing business."

Argosy also provides services alongside the distribution of products. These include life-cycle management and termination services for fibre optic assemblies, CAD system design and manufacture of bespoke solutions. This is particularly important as the AV market adopts technologies from the world of broadcast, needing them to operate non-stop in a fully automated system.

IBC 2018
The Argosy team will be showcasing the breadth of their capabilities at IBC2018 on stand 10.C51. Demonstrations will illustrate the ability of the newly-independent company to provide a complete service to the AV and broadcast engineer.

"We know that systems engineers are looking for set-and-forget solutions: they need to know that something is going to do what they want, and carry on doing it 24/7 forever," commented Smeeton. "They turn to Argosy not just for ideas, but for products which give them that level of service. We are looking forward to talking to our customers at IBC, both old and new, about how we can help in the future."

Argosy supplies the advanced control solutions from Austrian manufacturer, kvm-tec, including its ability to handle 4k video. KVM – keyboard, video and mouse – solutions allow installers to put workstations where they are needed while keeping the computers themselves in a machine room. By connecting multiple KVM systems over a standard IP network users can quickly switch between services.

Traditionally used in system control rooms to minimise desk clutter, KVM is now becoming a popular solution in post production facilities. It eliminates downtime caused by the need to move content from machine to machine by simply connecting the edit suite to the content. With the ability to monitor up to 4k video with minimal latency, the kvm-tec solution is very powerful.

Also on display at IBC2018 will be the BarnMini range of fibre converters. Described as "the Swiss army knife" of converters, the range – implemented as SFPs (small form-factor pluggable devices) – can be set up to achieve everything from a simple conversion to a complex solution.

As well as Barnfind and kvm-tec, Argosy will be showing a sample of its huge range of infrastructure products at IBC2018, from cables and connectors to power management and system control.

This article is also available in the September edition of Broadcast Film & Video. Here.