2016 - Mi Broadcast 2016 Hire Grand Slam

With another hire season soon to draw to a close, our hire department reflects on another bumper year that has seen our kit and cable at the majority of this year’s largest and most prestigious global events.

Gearhouse Broadcast were the major users of our multiple HD solutions, using a combination of 8 channel ‘Pythons’, 30 channel ‘Bridge OTR’ racks and individual Rattlers, they hired;

  • 3x 40 channel kits for various broadcasters at Wimbledon
  • 82 channels of HD using various kit for the Australian Open tennis
  • 11x 8 channel, 1x 12 channel and 1x 16 channel Python for Euro 2016
  • 6x 8channel Python for South Africa’s version of ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here!’
Our relationship with Arena Broadcast continued and they continued to use our kit and services throughout the year, on;

  • 11x remote hubs, each 4 video and 8 e/way audio on 2 cores for Springwatch.
  • 4x ‘Stage Racers’, 14 individual ‘Rattlers’, 1 SHED HDX/BS, 1 Telethon and some lengths of TAC4 singlemode for Glastonbury
  • Multiple lengths of 12 and 24 core singlemode cable, 9 SHED HDX/BS systems and on-site support for Trooping the Colour and the Patrons Lunch at Buckingham Palace.
Long Standing Customers, CTV OBs, and relatively new to us, CrossPoint Solutions, took the opportunity to rent our newest product in our stock, the Stage Racer from Ereca.

  • 2x 12 channel HD versions of the Stage Racer for new reality series ‘I’ve got something to tell you’ for CTV
  • A Stage Racer at each of the French Open and US Open tennis for Crosspoint
Other televised events throughout the year used our rental stock in various ways, from customers who knew what kit they wanted to others who knew what they wanted to do but didn’t know what would do it. They include;

  • Children in Need
  • Crufts
  • SantaPod Racing
  • Henley Regatta
  • BBC Proms in the Park
For further information contact Mi Broadcast on +44(0)1223 411625 or visit the 'products' page above.

2015 – First sale of Ereca Stage Racer

Mi Broadcast is pleased to announce the delivery of an Ereca Stage Racer fibre optic signal transport system to Scorpio Broadcast Engineering. The twelve 3G/HD-SDI system will form part of Scorpio’s hire inventory and will be integrated into 4U flightcases to give easy access to Stage Racers multiple signal inputs and outputs. Scorpio’s Kevin Orwin commented “Stage Racer provides all the signals required for outside broadcast in one box. I immediately saw the potential applications for hire customers” Mi Broadcast was appointed Ereca’s UK distributor following their meeting at IBC in September and introduced Stage Racer in October to a very positive response from customers.

STAGE RACER is a flexible fibre optic signal transport for television broadcast applications.

Cost effective and easy to use each 1U 19” frame carries a range of signals to support most events where a full broadcast connection is required between two locations.
It has the following comprehensive set of signals:

  • 4, 8 or 12 video 3G / HD / SDI signals (direction configurable through built in web server)
  • 1 bidirectional Composite Video (PAL Video / Black burst / Tri-level)
  • 16 bi-directional analogue audio for intercom or broadcasting, optional 8Ch MIC/LINE
  • 2 Ethernet 10/100/1000Mbs (1 Gigabit trunk with 2 VLANS)
  • 4 Data RS 232/422/485, optional 12x RS 422
  • 8 Contact closures
  • 4 AES3 bidirectional (Riedel panel compatible)
  • 1 bidirectional MADI (AES10) Signal (Shared with 2 of the 4 AES3 connectors)
Requiring just 2 singlemode fibres, with optional redundant fibre path, these units can be fitted with standard SCs, Lemo or Neutrik connectors with the option of remote powering.
An internal Web Browser allows the user to quickly change the direction of 3G/HD-SDI videos, control the level and phantom power on the optional Mic/Line card and access all the status of the unit. The front panel LEDs give signal presence and alarm display.
Stage Racer supports intercom panels from the leading matrix based intercom suppliers including Telex, Clearcom and Riedel.

For further information contact Mi Broadcast on +44(0)1223 411625, visit the 'products' page on tac4.com or download the brochure here

2015 – New Connections for TruckLink

Mi Broadcast has announced new sales of its TruckLink portable fibre optic system.
TruckLink is a general purpose broadcast fibre link for outside broadcast applications. The system transports up to 6 HD-SDI videos (4 at 3G), bi-directional composite video, bi-directional 4 analogue audios, 4x serial data, 10/100MB Ethernet and 2x GPI over 2 cores of singlemode fibre. A choice of fibre connector can be provided including Neutrik DUO and QUAD, Lemo 3K.93C and ST/LC.

Six systems have been supplied to global content service provider TIMA via WTS Broadcast. Each system supported 6 HD-SDI signals together with other standard TruckLink features along with an additional 4 embedded audios. The order included six 500m reels of tactical fibre optic cable with Neutrik QUAD connectors.
TruckLink has again been included in Type 3 DSNG vehicles for BBC Regions. Each system has a 1U rack unit in the vehicle and a portable housing for the remote position. The two recent systems were supplied to leading systems integrator, Megahertz, as part of their contract with the BBC.

For further information contact Mi Broadcast on +44(0)1223 411625 or visit the Telecast page on tac4.com or download the brochure here

2013/2014 – CopperHead Hires

In 2012 Mi Broadcast added 10 CopperHead 3400 systems to their hire stock, making us one of the largest owners of 3400s to rent in the world.
Bought initially for the London Olympics, the 3400 is dual stream, 3D capable and, with the right kit, can power itself and the camera it's mounted on up to 1.5km away.

Hired to OBS for the duration of the games, all 10 3400s were used on Panasonic AG-3D P1 cameras for over 200 hours of coverage of the 3D sections at all venues and the opening/closing ceremonies.
Since then the CopperHeads have been, and are being, used at some prestigious events all over the world as customers take advantage of the 2x 3G HD-SDI, bi-directional 1.5G HD, PAL, Audio, camera control, data, tally and intercom. All down either the industry standard SMPTE hybrid camera cable with LEMO connectors or Neutrik OpticalCon DUO.

In early 2013 Panasonic Brazil and TV Globo hired all 10 of our CopperHead 3400 systems to produce Brazilian Big Brother, which was to be screened for the first time in HD and 3D. As a result we now have a full complement of Panasonic camera control cables to go along with our SONY cables.

With plenty of prep work in 2013 and the event in 2014, LMC in Germany hired 8 of our 3400s for their coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. They have been supplied with our full Power option, which uses a Telecast SHED as the power supply and a Telecast Power Plus to regulate at the head, allowing power up to 1.5km away.

For more on the CopperHead see the Telecast product page and for our hire rate card see our hire page.

May/June 2012 – BBC Springwatch

In early 2012 BBC Bristol asked Mi Broadcast to be part of the BBCs coverage of their annual nature programme, Springwatch. Based in the RSPB Ynys-hir nature reserve in Ceredigion, Mid Wales for the second year, the 3 week live programme brings the best of nature that Wales has to offer from this stunning remote part of the country.
Working with Engineering Manager Ian Dewar, it was Mi Broadcasts job to bring all the video and sound back from the remote nest boxes, feeding stations and wildlife habitats to the TV compound using fibre optic equipment. By using a combination of 4 core fibre cable Mi Broadcast could run just a single cable to each location and have a field box where the cable terminated to our kit. Basic requirements for each of the 10 hubs were up to 8HD-SDI, 8 analogue audio and a return audio path for control of the remote cameras.
From stock Mi Broadcast supplied an 8 each way analogue audio Behringer ADA8000 on a single singlemode core and a MiBlink 1U rack that is configurable up to 8 HD-SDI, also on 1 core. These were mounted in a 3U ‘skin’ that was left in each field box that just required power and the fibres attaching.
Due to the length of time that BBC Bristol are at Ynys-hir they had installed permanent fibre throughout the reserve with 24 core cables run in to major hubs such as the wood cabin, studio cabin and the cross-road in-vision point. Mi Broadcast then supplied multiple TAC4 fibres from these hubs to the remote points, eventually feeding everything back to a custom fibre in/out cabin in the compound.

This year was particularly successful/hard work for all involved as the Ynys-hir reserve was directly in the middle of the major mid-wales floods that happened at the end of the second week of filming. Despite the web cams coming off air temporarily, the TV compound seeing 4 foot of water, some remote boxes being washed away and the fibre in/out cabin moving 6 feet from where it once stood!, the hard work of all involved and an emergency rush over to Wales by Mi Broadcast got the show on air for its final week.

October 2011 - Doha Tribeca Film Festival

October of 2011 saw Mi Broadcast supply and support the Doha Film Institute (DFI), in conjunction with Peter Starling from SayHoo Media, at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
Over a 2 week period the DFI hosts its annual film festival, which is open to the public, at the Katara Cultural Village in Doha, Qatar. In those 2 weeks there is the opportunity to come and see up and coming producers, big blockbuster movie releases, live bands and concerts and open Q & A sessions. All this was streamed on the web across the world and shown live around the UAE with the help of the Mi Broadcast Hire and Mi Broadcast Fibre assembly departments.
There were 4 main venues all with a different role for the festival such as the KOAT (Katara Open Air Theatre), the main venue where the big opening/closing ceremonies and live performances from the likes of Leona Lewis were held and Building 16, glamorously hosting four red carpet evenings where Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong, Rob Lowe and Robert De Niro were all in attendance.
Between these venues there was a mixture of pre-installed fibre links and fibre runs, laid out with the help of on-site Mi Broadcast engineer Graham Herridge, to carry the video and audio back to the main MCR. This was then edited and uploaded to the web and uplinked via satellite.
The equipment used to achieve all this was a mixture of five 8 channel HD Pythons, four single channel HD Rattlers, 2 configurable HD ‘Miblink’ racks, a combination of bi-directional audio using Adder 2, Adder 161 and Adder 882 systems and notably an audio snake that solved a dogged audio hum problem from the back to the front of the stage.
Also supplied from our hire stock were some of our 600m lengths of TAC4 singlemode fibre cable terminated with the Delphi connector, and purchased for permanent installation were several 4 and 12 core singlemode fibres with ST connectors on Marcaddy cable reels.

For more information on our products visit the hire page.

2010/2011 - Westfield Shopping Centres

For the past couple of years Westfield, with the help of Mi Broadcast, have brought some of the UKs major film premiers, live broadcasts and concerts to the shoppers of the 2 largest urban shopping centres in Europe.
From its opening in 2008 when it was Europe’s largest (until Westfield Stratford City took that record over in 2011) Westfield London has held, with the help of MiB hire, prestigious events such as the Pirates of the Caribbean premier, the Coke Olympic Torch Relay Launch Show, the One Day Film Premier and the Larry Crown Film Premiere.
Using their installed Neutrik DUO infrastructure, typical requirements for the various events have been bi-directional HD and bi-directional audio over several runs such as the central control room to the waiting broadcast trucks and press pits.

In late 2011 the requirements stepped up a notch with the opening of the new 1.45 billion Stratford City, newly crowned the largest urban shopping centre in Europe, the gateway to the Olympic park with its 300 shops and 14 screen cinema.
Using their installed Neutrik singlemode QUAD infrastructure Mi Broadcast supplied kit and cable for the grand opening of Stratford City, the simultaneous Christmas light switch on with Westfield London & Stratford City and more recently the well-publicised Twilight – Breaking Dawn UK premier. Where the requirement included distributing the 2 film feeds to 15 cinema screens concurrently, linking the press-pen and the outside broadcast area with multiple HD and audio and transporting the cameras on the centre truss to the control room with individual Telecast Rattlers.

November 2010 - Commonwealth Games, Dehli

In 2010 the Mi Broadcast hire department took on its largest job when it worked in conjunction with SiS Live and their Fibre Systems team headed up by Dan Burbidge.
The task of transporting video and audio signals for the first all HD Commonwealth Games was made more difficult by the well-publicised difficulties faced out in India’s capital, Delhi, as Mi Broadcast engineer Michael Griggs found out during his 3 weeks on location supporting the kit and cable.

The statistics for one of the world’s largest outside broadcast events came in at 17 sport events, 12 competition venues plus the all-important opening and closing ceremony (pictured right) and it was the job of Mi Broadcast to transport the signals from the competition arenas to the local MCRs.
Despite the large stock of Telecast Fiber systems kits Mi Broadcast regularly rents out, the size of the event dictated the number of bespoke kits required. A total of 40 MiB 1U racks were made, venue specific, and contained a total of 98 individual HD links, 40 bi-directional HD links and 20 PAL links for Key, Fill and reference signals. Along with that there were 5x 8 HD channels Pythons kits, 5x 4x4 HD channels python kits, 6 Viper 442 modular video/audio racks and 3 POV camera control systems, all transporting signals ranging from the underground ‘goal cam’ Rattler used at the Netball court to the multiple site requirements of the Athletics arena (pictured left).

On top of all the kit Mi Broadcast also supplied over 46km of singlemode tactical 4 core fibre cable terminated with ST connectors and pulling socks, for use around the venues. The 134 lengths of 300m and 12 lengths of 500m were sent out in June for early deployment in the venues that were ready.

Dan Burbidge, head of the SIS LIVE Fibre Systems Department, said after the event “Having worked with Mi Broadcast for a number of years we knew they would be up to the challenge of supplying the bespoke systems to meet the demanding requirements of this project. With so many venues involved it was great to have an Mi engineer out in India for the games to help deal with changing requirements and issues as they came up. This was the biggest challenge SIS LIVE OB Fibre Systems have faced to date, and we are proud to have delivered a resoundingly successful service.”

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