18
November 2018
Sending the
right signals to
its destination
10 years of Boxx TV
This year, Boxx TV is celebrating a decade of
designing and supplying digital microwave
solutions to the broadcast industry. The
company made its mark in the industry
with the launch of the Boxx Cobalt RF
transmission system in 2008. Two years
later, the Boxx Meridian HD wireless system
was introduced, and has been deployed
for several live productions, including
Australia’s Got Talent and The X Factor.
Scott Walker, co-founder of Boxx TV, added:
“We are now taking our expertise and
knowledge gained from operators in the
field to develop the industry’s first solution
for 4K/Ultra HD RF transmission.”
NEP acquires SIS Live
NEP Group has acquired SIS Live, a provider
of connectivity services and a subsidiary of
UK-based Sports Information Services (SIS).
The acquisition is said to complement NEP’s
Broadcast Services and Media Solutions
businesses, strengthening the company’s
support of live sports, broadcast and
entertainment clients across the UK, Europe
and worldwide. Following a short transition
period, SIS Live will be rebranded as NEP
Connect, which will serve clients globally as
part of the NEP Worldwide Network and go
to market under the NEP brand.
C
In any broadcast infrastructure, the cabling systems form the foundation
for direct communication between one piece of equipment to another.
Josephine Tan discovers how these cables interconnect over distances
while managing the ever-increasing bandwidth requirements.
ables are important bridging equipment
that link all systems and applications
together within a network infrastructure.
Besides its primary role of transmitting
signals, these communication cords have
to also be equipped with quicker speed
while running across distances for the
signals to ultimately reach its assigned
destination.
In an attempt to reduce configuration
issues and strengthen connections for
fibre-optic transport for live event pro-
duction, CP Communications purchased
and installed multiple VF-9000 bulk
fibre transport systems from MultiDyne
Fibre Optic Solutions. The US-based
solutions provider for live event produc-
tion installed the VF-9000s in its HD-11
Next Month @ Distribution
Broadcast Satellite Encoders
and Modulators
PANELLISTS
Martin Coleman
Executive Director
Satellite Interference
Reduction Group
The MultiDyne SilverBULLET series is a miniature, fibre-
optic link and signal conversion solution, and features 12G
capabilities for high-bandwidth transmission.
and HD-21 RF production trucks to
address the per-show scalability and
technical limitations of their previous
fibre solutions.
The VF-9000 has enabled a host
of new technical services for CP
Communications, including support
for native 3Gbps signal transport
on HD-11 and HD-21. According
to MultiDyne, 3Gbps transport is a
requirement for sports productions
that CP Communications routinely
manages for US broadcasters such as
Fox, NBC and The Golf Channel.
The installation of MultiDyne’s
VF-9000 allows CP Communications
to natively accept 3Gbps camera feeds
over RF into its fibre transmission
infrastructure, and is downward com-
patible for HD feeds. Furthermore,
the VF-9000 provides the flexibility to
hot-swap, add or reduce small form-
factor plugable (SFPs) to meet specific
production requirements.
The VF-9000’s value proposition
is extended through automatic recog
nition of SFP module connections as
inputs or outputs, as well as by format
and application. The flexible archi-
tecture, MultiDyne adds, allows CP
Communications to have an imbal-
ance of inputs and outputs based on
the needs of each production, instead
of being limited to a certain number
of each.
In addition to video and Ethernet
SFPs, the VF-9000 allows CP Com
munications’ production teams to
Amitabh Kumar
Director, Corporate
Zee Network
Louis Boswell
CEO
AVIA
(Asia Video Industry
Association)
CP Communications, a US-based solutions provider for live event production, has installed MultiDyne’s VF-
9000 bulk fibre transport system in its HD-11 and HD-21 production trucks.
transport MADI audio as part of the
video feeds. Following automatic rec-
ognition, the VF-9000 then transitions
to the desired set-up upon coming
online while eliminating additional
configuration steps.
Kurt Heitmann, CEO of CP
Communications, comments: “There
is enormous value in not having to
manually communicate what is an
input versus an output during con-
figuration. Live production moves
very fast, and the VF-9000’s automatic
recognition features remove what was
often a very time-consuming process.
“Before, the process required
adding an SFP and assigning it to the
corresponding BNC, and then pro-
gramming the connection as an input
or an output. In addition, my cable
lengths are now shorter, and there is
no need to re-patch the entire system
from show to show.”
The VF-9000 delivers multiplexer
features by combining up to 18 sig-
nals over one single-mode fibre for
signal transportation. Packed within
1RU, the VF-9000 returns 2RU spaces
that CP Communications’ previous
systems absorbed in each truck, thus
allowing more space for additional RF
equipment.
In both HD-11 and HD-21 trucks,
the VF-9000 integrates within the
complete RF infrastructure, which
includes a routing system, mesh tech-
nology, as well as wireless cameras and
microphones. The solution also con-
nects to signal monitoring systems on
both trucks, allowing operators to keep
an eye on the health and performance
of each feed and connection.
Fibre-optic cabling is said to offer
greater bandwidth over long distances.
And as more broadcast facilities
move to IP, there is a lot of concern
about managing the high-bandwidth
requirements associated with formats
such as 4K/Ultra HD (UHD), high
dynamic range (HDR) and even 8K,
says Frank Jachetta, president of
MultiDyne.