Swedish broadcast production provider Mediatec has moved the comms for its full fleet of OB trucks to a Riedel MediorNet infrastructure –20 MediorNet Compact Pro and eight MediorNet Modular systems are now installed in the company’s ten vehicles.
‘We believe that the future of mobile production lies within flexible set-up scenarios that can be adapted to specific applications as needed,’ says Mediatec CEO, Paul Henriksen. ‘Based on Riedel’s MediorNet, this approach not only offers us more flexibility, but also helps us to cut unnecessary costs in installation, production, and maintenance.’
Although large broadcast vehicles can be essential, they represent a major cost overhead, with facilities sometimes being unused. Mediatec prefers to use a range of medium-sized vans that can operate as standalone systems or be linked to provide larger systems when required. The MediorNet systems installed on Mediatec OB vans are one aspect of this approach – they can beconnected to provide an integrated infrastructure that feels and functions as a single system.
Depending on their field of application, the individual vans are equipped with different MediorNet set-ups. While three vehicles offer a capacity of up to 12 HD-SDI video inputs and outputs via MediorNet MN-HD-6-IO cards, five trucks provide eight HD-SDI-I/Os. The two smallest OB vehicles feature MediorNet Compact Pro systems instead of MediorNet Modular systems, and offer four HD-SDI inputs and outputs each. Mediatec also uses the MediorNet backbone to distribute signals for its Riedel Artist digital matrix intercom system. The Mediatec fleet is equipped with Artist 128 mainframes and Artist 1000 Series control panels, which interface seamlessly with MediorNet in a single integrated infrastructure.
To enable video connectivity between two remote locations, Mediatec has equipped each OB van with a stagebox system, comprising one or two MediorNet Compact Pro devices. Connected via simple fiber links, these will can transport up to 16 HD video signals.
The recent Eurovision Song Contest (where Mediatec was the official technical event supplier) called on the newly equipped vans, whose MediorNet system was interfaced with other Riedel systems, such as the 31 commentator booths that Riedel equipped on behalf of host broadcaster, SVT. The commentator booth set-up consisted of 31 Artist CCP control panels, more than 31 Connect Trio interfaces, seven MediorNet frames, and eight Artist digital matrix intercom mainframes.
‘A live broadcast production such as the Eurovision Song Contest is always a great challenge, especially in terms of setting up and maintaining the infrastructure,’ Henriksen says. ‘Riedel’s MediorNet system helped us tremendously by keeping the effort in cabling and setup requirements to a minimum.’
More: www.riedel.net
