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News Stories and Events
from around the world:

October
The Sky is the Limit for Sky News
Adieu Concorde
Rugby World Cup 2003

September
D-Cam 'Clip-on' Makes the News

Archived News Stories
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
Jan - Mar 2003
Jan - Dec 2002
The Sky is the Limit for Sky News
 With the installation of a digital downlink and a new auto-tracking antenna on the roof of the Millbank Tower, in Central London, completed, Sky News is poised to launch its first newsgathering helicopter, part of a major investment in digital links which will significantly upgrade its present ENG operations in the UK
Nik Brown, an engineer with Gigawave's Special Project Team, was smiling as the the Sky News helicopter landed at Redhill aerodrome. He had just completed a short test flight to test the new digital downlink and calibrate the system. Everything had gone according to plan and as far as the Gigawave team are concerned their part ot the Sky news helicopter is now fully operational.

Although Gigawave have now completed the installation of a MTV-D transmitter, digital power amplifier, and GPS controlled auto-tracking antenna Sky engineers still have to install the VHF comms and interface the various on-board camera systems with the MTV-D transmitter. Soon Sky News viewers will be be seeing the first live pictures from the new helicopter on their screens.

Based at Redhill aerodrome, just south of London, Sky's new twin engined AS355 helicopter is operated by Arena Aviation. When fully operational, the helicopter will have a crew of four: pilot, reporter, camera operator, and engineer. In addition to a 'FLIR Ultramedia' gyro-stabilised camera platform with 36X lens the helicopter is equipped with internal and external POV cameras.
Signals from the helicopter are received using a GPS controlled auto-tracking antenna system, also supplied and installed by Gigawave. Overlooking the Houses of Parliament, Sky's ground receive site is strategically located to provide the best possible coverage of Central London and the surrounding area.

The new auto-tracking antenna replaces the original antenna, which was used to receive signals from Sky's two ENG Trucks. In order to still be able to receive analogue signals from these trucks, as well as the digital downlink from the helicopter, the feed from the new antenna is split into two low noise amplifiers (LNA's) before being fed down one floor into the respective receivers. The auto-tracking antenna uses GPS data from the helicopter, sent via a VHF datalink, to control the antenna's pan table.

In order to test the system before the new Sky helicopter was operational, the Gigawave Special Projects Team rigged the helicopter transmit system into the back of a 'Land Rover' and then spent one and a half hours driving round Central London with a Sky cameraman.

According to Richard Westwood, Head of Links at Sky News, "The results we got from the simulated test are very promising. We had good images from them for 70% of the time as they headed up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, along Piccadilly, and then on to Covent Garden before returning via Waterloo to Millbank Tower. Considering the amount of real estate between us and them it was a pretty impressive performance "

It was not only Sky who were impressed. Len Howard, Gigawave Special Project Manager watching the images, on screen, at the ground receive site was astonished at the performance of the digital system, the first of its kind. "The next stage", he commented, "is to install the system in the helicopter and test the complete system. It will be interesting to see the range we get."

In addition to the ground receive site in Central London, Gigawave are supplying three portable versions of the GPS auto-tracking ground receive antenna systems. One will be carried in the ENG helicopter, whilst the other two will be deployed at other strategic locations in the UK
London, England - October 2003

Adieu, Concorde!
 Concorde may never have been a commercial success but it has always captured the imagination of the public. Its final flight after more than 30 years service was no exception. Joan Collins and F1 chief, Bernie Ecclestone, were some of the privileged few invited to take Concorde's final flight from New York to London.
As part of their coverage of Concorde's last flight, UK news provider, ITN, used a D-Cam 'Clip-on' to facilitate a live cross between a presenter, inside another Concorde on the ramp at London's Heathrow airport, and the ITN studios.
The D-Cam 'Clip-on' was supplied to ITN by specialised rental company Broadcast RF.
London, England - October 2003
Rugby World Cup Kicks Off in Style
 The 2003 Rugby World Cup has kicked off in style with a spectacular Opening Ceremony performed in front of 83,500 people in Sydney's Telstra Stadium. As with the Cricket World Cup, earlier this year, two Steadicam mounted D-Cam's covered much of the action.
As part of the show, several hundred children performed a choreographed routine depicting a rugby player, on a massive scale, who dives to score the first try of the tournament. This stunning performance was followed by a spectacular modern-dance/pyrotechnic display about fire, a constant worry during the summer months in Australia, and a surreal tableau representing the importance of water to Australians.

For their live coverage of the opening ceremony, the Seven Network rented two D-Cam wireless camera systems from BnC Television Services. Operating in 16QAM low delay mode, the director made extensive use of the two Steadicam mounted D-Cams, taking advantage of the black-clad cameramen's ability to move with total freedom.

In addition to the two D-Cams, live aerial views of the Telstra Stadium, from the Severn Network helicopter, were beamed down to the Channel 7 Studios using a digital MTV-D transmitter with 5 Watt digital power amplifier. As with the D-cams the signal was received using a MVL-D receiver with SDI output.

With the speaches over, the two D-Cams were again in action as Australian soprano Deborah Cheetham and Argentine tenor Jose Cura sang the tournament anthem World in Union to bring the ceremony to a dramatic close.
BnC Television Services

Sydney, Australia - October 2003

'Clip-on' D-Cam Makes the News
IMF/ World Bank Summit - Dubai 2003
 A 'Clip-on' D-Cam has made its international debut into theworld of electronic news gathering. It was used by Dubai TV to cover the IMF/World Bank summit, held at the Dubai International Conference Centre.
Working alongside a 'Dockable' D-Cam the two digital wireless camera systems have been used on tripods to cover the actual proceedings and conduct interviews in areas where, for safety reasons, the organisers refused to allow triax cameras. Both wireless cameras were operating at 16QAM modulation with exceptionally stable results

"We have been using a D-Cam for about a year now in a variety of roles and are delighted with the results", commented a Dubai TV engineer. "Now with the 'Clip-on' D-Cam, which has identical performance to the D-Cam, we are able to convert any ENG camcorder into a wireless camera".

As part of their coverage of the IMF/World Bank Summit, Dubai TV also used a Digital 'Mini' TX in an ENG vehicle to carry out interviews with delegates and and other VIP's in hotels, in and around Dubai. The link used QPSK modulation, giving a very rugged signal.
Dubai, UAE - September 2003

Hutton Enquiry - London
 Broadcast RF first customer for its newly acquired 'Clip-on' D-Cam was London based Sky News. The 'Clip-on' was used by Sky News for its live coverage of the ongoing 'Hutton Enquiry', held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
With 10 D-Cam wireless camera systems available for hire, rental company, Broadcast RF, is one of the world's leading suppliers of wireless camera systems for television outside broadcasts. The 'Clip-on D-Cam is primarily aimed at the ENG market but can be used for similar applications that do not require full camera control.
London, UK - September 2003

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