Gigawave HD Logo

News Stories and Events
from around the world:


May 2007
Gigawave moves to its new Technical Centre
FA Cup Final joy for Gigawave HD D-Cams
No pain in the rain for Gigawave On-board systems
Gigawave's big HD weekend pulls in the viewers
HD D-Cam gets in the party mood at Eurovision
FIA GT Championship - Round 2
MotoGP gets the Gigawave Digital treatment

Archived News Stories 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007

Archived News Stories 2006
Jan - Dec 2006

Archived News Stories 2005
 Jan - Dec 2005

Archived News Stories 2004
 Jan - Dec 2004

Archived News Stories 2003
Jan - Dec 2003

Archived News Stories 2002
Jan - Dec 2002
Gigawave moves to its new Technical Centre
Gigawave has moved its technical departments into a brand new, state of the art factory, just a short walk from its current facilities. The new building will become the Gigawave Technical Centre, and is home to our Production, Sales, Development, Test and Customer Service Departments.
 
Gigawave’s original Technical Centre, becomes known as Gigawave Head Office, and is home to our Motorsport, Antennas, Special Projects and Administrative Departments.
 
The main reception remains where it always has been, in the Gigawave Head Office and all visitors to Gigawave should report here first.

Both Gigawave buildings offer spectacular views of the Essex countryside, and the new building overlooks a beautiful lake.
 

Operations Director Steve Rogers feels that the move can only help Gigawave continue to grow and operate at the forefront of technology.

“These are very exciting times for Gigawave in its 15th year of trading. The new Technical Centre provides the additional space we need to continue to grow and support our customer base. We are also very fortunate that both the Technical Centre and Head Office are located in such a beautiful area giving the ideal creative environment for staff and easy access to international airports.”

The move further strengthens Gigawave's position as the largest privately owned creator of RF products for the broadcast industry in the world.

Gigawave Technical Centre , England – May 2007
FA Cup Final joy for Gigawave HD D-Cams
Gigawave’s HD D-Cams were on-hand at the first FA Cup Final to be held at the new Wembley Stadium, as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in the showpiece event.
Presteigne Broadcast Hire supplied Sky Sports with the Gigawave HD D-Cam Digital Wireless Camera Systems and Thomson LDK 6000 broadcast cameras. The cameras were used by Sky for their pre-match build-up at the stadium and at full time on the pitch for post match interviews with players and staff of both sides.

The match saw the official opening of the magnificent new £757 million, 90 000 seater stadium. A Didier Drogba goal just 4 minutes from the end of extra time settled a cagey affair between the two sides that had been competing for the Premiership title all season. Chelsea were also the last team to win the FA Cup at the old Wembley Stadium, back in 2000 when they beat Aston Villa.

Wembley Stadium, England – May 2007
No pain in the rain for Gigawave on-board systems
 It was another highly successful weekend of racing for Gigawave’s digital on-board camera systems, which were in action in MotoGP at Le Mans, and at the FIA GT & GT3 Championships in Bucharest.
Despite heavy rain at both events, 100% track coverage was achieved, providing broadcast quality footage from the bikes and the cars during the races. Gigawave's Digital Wireless Camera Systems were also at both events offering wireless coverage of the pit lane areas.

Gigawave engineers were on site at both events in a normal support capacity. Mark Harrington and Richard Elliot were at Le Mans and got a chance to see the new logo to celebrate Gigawave's status as offical Radio Frequency Supplier to MotoGP. The logo has been added to the O-B trucks that are used for the broadcast of the races.
 
At Le Mans, Australian rider, Chris Vermeulen took the chequered flag with his first ever MotoGP win; it also ended a 6-year victory drought for the Suzuki team. The wet conditions made it a tough race with 7 riders crashing out. Championship leader and fellow Aussie, Casey Stoner, extended his lead over Valentino Rossi to 21 points by finishing 3rd, well ahead of his main title rival.

The historic city centre of Bucharest was the dramatic setting for the FIA GT and GT3 Championship races, the first street circuit to be used since Helsinki was used in 1997. The temporary circuit was built around the historic Parliament Building and offered a series of long inviting straights for the drivers to attack.
 
After a poor start to the season, the Scuderia Playteam Sarafree Maserati of Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Piccini finally had something to cheer as they emerged victorious from the 2-hour sprint, All-Inkl.com’s Lamborghini Murcielago came second. In the GT3 Championship, the JMB Racing Ferrari 430 won Race 1, while the Ford GT of Matech Racing won Race 2, despite it being only its fourth race in the series.

The Gigawave On-board systems head to Italy next where MotoGP will be at Mugello, while the FIA GT and GT3 Championships travel to Monza.

Le Mans, France & Bucharest, Romania – May 2007
Gigawave's big HD weekend pulls in the viewers
 The Gigawave HD D-Cam was in action at two major events and dominated the Saturday television schedules around the world. The Eurovision Song Contest and Red Bull Air Race both used the Gigawave High-definition Digital Wireless Camera Systems for their live coverage of the events.
The first ever fully high-definition broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest was a huge success resulting in massive audience figures. YLE, the host broadcaster, used five Gigawave HD D-Cam Systems giving them HD coverage on the stage and in the artists green room.

The Gigawave supplied HD D-Cam’s were used with Sony HDC 1500 cameras that came courtesy of Presteigne Broadcast Hire. The cameras had been fitted with a specially designed side cover that allowed the HD D-Cam to be clipped onto the side of the camera along with the camera control unit, giving the operator access to the rear set control panel.
Audience figures were expected to be around 120 million for the hugely popular event. The Serbian entrant, Marija Serifovic won the annual event with a powerful ballad, Molitva. It was the first time that Serbia had entered the competition and 25,000 people gathered in Belgrade to welcome home the Champion. She ended the evening with 268 points, comfortably beating her nearest rival, a Ukrainian drag act, into second place.
Gigawave’s HD D-Cam was also in action at the Red Bull Air Race in Monument Valley, USA. The seven systems, supplied by Presteigne Broadcast Hire to SIVision who screen the event were used to catch the stunning aerobatics of the planes flying over the Wild West terrain of Utah. Hungarian pilot Peter Besenyei was the winner in his Red Bull plane. He is now second overall in the championship standings after three rounds of the 2007 World Series.

Click here to view more Eurovision images from Helsinki

Helsinki Arena, Finland & Monument Valley, USA – May 2007
HD D-Cam gets in the party mood at Eurovision
 For the first time in Eurovision Song Contest history, the event is being broadcast in high-definition. Host broadcaster, YLE, is using 5 Gigawave HD D-Cam Digital Wireless Camera Systems, at the showpiece event in Helsinki.
For many people the Eurovision Song Contest is essential viewing, and will be beamed around the world, as much of Europe battles it out to see who has the best song.

Famed for its theatrics, as well as its music, Eurovision is the perfect event to showcase the stunning quality of Gigawave’s HD D-Cam, which will give the director the option to have high-definition cameras moving around within Helsinki Arena, be it on stage with the acts, in with the excitable crowd, or in the green room.
YLE are using the HD D-Cams on Sony HDC 1500 cameras, supplied by European rental house, Presteigne Broadcast Hire. The cameras have been fitted with Gigawave’s specially designed adapter panel, allowing the HD D-Cam and a camera control unit to clip onto the side of the camera. The battery unit is then mounted on top of the camera body, giving the operator access to the rear mounted operation panel.

The competition is split into two parts, a semi-final, which was held on Thursday, and the main event, which takes place on Saturday night.

Helsinki Arena, Finland – May 2007
FIA GT Championship - Round 2
The second FIA GT race weekend of the 2007 Championship at Silverstone Circuit was a frustrating time for the Gigawave supported cars, but a triumph for Gigawave’s latest digital on-board camera system, which was providing live on-board shots from GT race winner Mika Salo and Thomas Biagi in the Vitaphone Maserati MC12.
 
Gigawave’s on-board systems were installed on eight cars for the GT Championship race and a further four were used in both of the GT3 races. The live action was transmitted to the Gigawave OB truck where the shots were made available to the race director. In addition to the on-board systems, Gigawave D-Cam Clip-On’s were used in the pit lane, and up on the podium for the presentation ceremony.
FIA GT Championship
There was more incentive than usual to win Round 2 of the 2007 Championship. First off, the winner took the Royal Automobile Association Tourist Trophy, the oldest trophy in Motorsport, and secondly, former F1 World Champion, Nigel Mansell was behind the wheel of the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 GT2, a true motoracing legend, that everyone wanted to beat.

The Gigawave supported Barwell Motorsport Aston Martin DBR9 continued its solid start to its GT career, claiming tenth place in only its second race, adding to the eighth spot it picked up at Zhuhai. Starting from the fifth row on the grid, the DBR9 had a lively race and was the third highest placed Aston Martin.

The other Gigawave backed GT car, the Lamborghini Murcielago of All-Inkl.com, was having a good race until it was forced to retire with mechanical problems mid-way through the two-hour race.

Experienced duo, Mika Salo and Thomas Biagi collected the famous old Tourist Trophy for Vitaphone, the team’s second in two years, holding off the challenge of the Corvette’s.
 
FIA GT3 Championship - Race 1
After being made to carry an extra 20 kilos a car, the Damax Ascari team had mixed fortunes in Race 1.

Howard Spooner and Adrian Willmott in the #29 Damax Ascari fought their way through the traffic from the eleventh row of the grid to take fourth place overall. A great effort considering the extra weight that had been added to the car.

Car #30 collided with a Lamborghini Gallardo early in the race and was forced to retire. Large parts of the race were under the safety car due to another early crash, which Andy Thompson benefited hugely from. He emerged in third position when normal racing was resumed and was soon in the lead following a smart overtaking manoeuvre on the Aston Martin of Alex Frassinetti.

Unfortunately Thompson was given a stop and go penalty after the mid-race pit stop was deemed too quick. He rejoined the race down in 13th spot and was forced to retire shortly before the end with a gearbox problem.
FIA GT3 Championship - Race 2
Spooner and Willmott continued their good weekend in the Ascari, adding thirteenth place to the fourth position they took in Race 1.

Following a Herculean effort by the Damax mechanics to get car #30 repaired in time for Race 2, they suffered heartache seeing it retire in the opening lap. Their luck did not improve when car #28 went out one lap later with further mechanical problems.

The race was won by the Ferrari 430 of Kessel Racing, which also won Race 1, making it a perfect weekend for them.

Silverstone Circuit, England – May 2007
MotoGP gets the Gigawave digital treatment
MotoGP and its Official Radio Frequency Supplier, Gigawave, made history in Shanghai after successfully transmitting live digital on-board images on 4 separate channels simultaneously the MotoGP Grand Prix of China.
 
Gigawave’s latest digital on-board camera system, which was also in action at the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone, is designed to operate without a helicopter, dramatically reducing the cost of broadcasting each race.

Four receive heads were suspended on a construction crane, and the live images were transmitted from the bikes to the crane and then to a Gigawave ‘Flyaway’ receive system, set up in the back of a people carrier.
Sergi Sendra, TV Production Director at Dorna was delighted with the results. He said, “With a terrible old crane, a small van and a clever system, we have achieved your (Gigawave’s) predictions and promises. Last year, at this same spot we were nearly crying, disappointed, depressed…this year we are over exited, encouraged and so proud to be working with a company like yours that believes in the future.”

Dorna and Gigawave will continue to use and develop the system for the live broadcasting of MotoGP races. Australian youngster, Casey Stoner beat Championship rival, Valentino Rossi by more than three seconds, giving him a 15 point lead over the Italian superstar in the race for the title.Next up its France for the bikes and the Gigawave digital on-board system.

Shanghai International Circuit, China – May 2007

More News
To return to the Gigawave 'Home' Page, click on the: