| By: Carolyn Braff, Managing Editor | Published: November 5, 2009 |
As the temperatures in Western New York continue to drop, the Buffalo Bills’ game day presentation is heating up thanks to RF Central’s RFX-CMT-II camera mounted transmitter and RMR-X6-II diversity receiver’s rock solid signal coverage.
New for the 2009 season, the addition of the RF Central wireless camera system to Ralph Wilson Stadium’s DiamondVision control room now allows the Buffalo Bills scoreboard crew to provide their fans and advertisers with a reliable and more creative way to deliver content.
“On any given football Sunday, there is a large amount of RF clutter throughout the stadium,” says Stephen Asposto, Buffalo Bills video production director/engineer. “As the signal interference continued to expand, it became more and more apparent that the equipment we were using was not capable of providing us a reliable enough signal for the applications that were demanded of us. It was also time for us to upgrade our equipment so we could broadcast in HD.”
Once Asposto recognized the value the new RF Central equipment would provide, he knew the Bills needed to have it.
“After making my case to upper management, I was able to convince them how much better our game day presentation would look and how much more we could do from a marketing standpoint with it,” adds Asposto. “Being able to get coverage in areas around the stadium that we could never get into before is priceless. Anthony [Sangiovanni] worked within our budget in order to make the purchase become a reality. The equipment has performed amazingly and now I can’t imagine ever working without it.”
The license-free 5.8 GHz CMT-II unit, which the Bills use, is ideal for sports and remote production applications, live broadcasts, live stadium displays, surveillance, monitoring and situational awareness applications. The system offers a variable 6/7/8 MHz modulator, 100mw power output, and full MPEG menu control.
The reliability of the RF Central wireless camera system now allows the Bills to shoot in-game promotions live.
“Sponsor promotions sometimes used to have to be recorded because we couldn’t take the chance of losing our signal in the middle of the promotion,” says Asposto. “The reliability of the RF Central equipment now allows us to shoot live and have no worries about the signal freezing or breaking up. Our sponsors are pleased, the fans love it and our marketing sales team is happy.”
In addition to the license-free 5.8 GHz version, the CMT-II excels in the 2 GHz and 6.4 GHz frequencies as well. With inputs of HD, SDI, ASI or composite video signals, the CMT-II’s linear RF amplification technology limits spectral re-growth at full power to less than -35dBc, offering robust RF performance. Other frequencies are available upon request.
The CMT-II interfaces with all standard full-sized broadcast cameras as well as most smaller format camcorders, via the user specific mounting adapters.
The X6-II family offers diversity reception with new features, including on-screen display of stream data, Ethernet monitoring for remote control access, and IP encapsulation for Internet streaming broadcasts The X6-II is available either as a stand alone COFDM receiver with ASI output or with an integral HD/SD decoder making local decode and control available.
The HD-D is a stand alone decoder for HD/SD MPEG2 digital video. The HD-D accepts an ASI input and outputs CVBS (NTSC or PAL), SD SDI, HD SDI or Analog Component Y/C formats dependent on the originating video source. The HD-D has a comprehensive LCD display with full menu control of all vital parameters. The HD-D contains an array of digital and analog audio outputs including AES3, SDI embedded, and up to 4 analog audio outputs via the rear panel.
“This is our first year using the RF Central equipment and it has worked great,” adds Asposto. “The system has worked so well that I have approached management about purchasing an additional CMT-II and X-6 system so we can convert another one of our game cameras over to wireless. I have no worries using this RF system for game action due to the minimal delay we have experienced with the digital signal.”
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