Faced with having to relocate from the 2.5-2.7GHz Band to the 2.7-2.9GHz Band, TVNZ seized the opportunity to scrap all their analogue equipment and go digital. The result is a brand new newsgathering system that provides live COFDM coverage in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.
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A view of the Auckland CBD from the 'Sky' Tower
The move to what TVNZ engineers refer to as the ‘OX-Band’ was first mooted around 2006. At the time, TVNZ believed they had until 2011 to complete the re-location. So it came as a surprise when the New Zealand Government told them that they had to complete the transition by the end of 2008. In the end, TVNZ were given until June 2009 to complete the work but, unlike the BAS 2GHz Relocation in the United States, TVNZ had to foot the bill.
With just two years to plan and execute the work, TVNZ invited bids from half a dozen vendors of digital microwave equipment. However, only two of the manufacturers had a track record of supplying the required digital microwave equipment in the 2.7-2.9GHz Band. One of these was Gigawave and the Company was subsequently awarded the contract by TVNZ, having carried out a series of rigorous tests in New Zealand.
TVNZ has two free-to-air network channels one of which, TV1, broadcasts six hours of news every day. With most of the news stories centred in the Country’s four largest cities, the Head of Operations - News and Current Affairs for TVNZ, Don Cunningham, decided to establish central COFDM receive sites in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, as well as locating a mobile system in Dunedin.
Auckland has two central receive sites, one of which is mounted high on the ‘Sky’ Tower. This is equipped with Gigawave’s Multi-channel Diversity Receiver (MDR). Camera crews using D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ transmitters operating in the CBD simply beam their reports to the nearest central receive site. However, when out of range (using the standard CP Omni antenna) the camera crew can extend the range using an external 2W power amplifier and a hand-helix antenna.
For more extensive news coverage and other outside broadcasts, the news team can call on ‘Live Eye 1’, a mobile production unit based on a Mercedes ‘Sprinter’ chassis. Live Eye 1 is also equipped with a 12 metre (40’) mast as well as a 5W power amplifier and a directional helix antenna. With eight ASI inputs, the truck can be configured to work with triax and/or wireless cameras.Currently, Wellington and Christchurch both have single central receive sites. TVNZ news crews operating in Wellington can cover downtown, the Parliament building, and city-centre sports stadiums using only a standard D-Cam ‘Clip-on’.
Don Cunningham who is currently in the UK to carry out factory acceptance tests is “Excited by the new technology” and the freedom it gives his news teams. Above all, it allows TV1 news editors to include a high proportion of live ‘stand-ups’ in their extensive news reports – and that’s, as far as Don Cunningham is concerned, what it’s all about!
April 2009
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