United Broadcast Facilities Relies Exclusively on Anton/Bauer to Capture Climb Up Tanzania’s Renowned Mount Kilimanjaro
THE NETHERLANDS – Leading Pan-European audiovisual production company, United Broadcast Facilities, a full-service business providing access to facilities as well as technical and creative support for multimedia audiovisual productions, relies solely on Anton/Bauer battery power for some of its most demanding shoots, including a recent project on Tanzania’s world-renowned Mount Kilimanjaro. Thanks to the dependability and ruggedness of Anton/Bauer products, United Broadcast Facilities, part of the Euro Media Group (EMG), Europe’s first television and film facilities provider, can operate flexibly and effectively on national and international stages, taking on a variety of projects, from multi-camera shoots to reality television to capturing candid photo moments.
Anton/Bauer, a brand of The Vitec Group, and the world’s premier provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, has remained the exclusive battery of choice for United Broadcast Facilities and its veteran Technical Manager, Kees Knepper, since 1988.
In fact, when Knepper was called upon to prepare his crew to cover a project about the climb up Mount Kilimanjaro they didn’t miss a single shot while on-location from the world’s highest freestanding mountain, thanks to the Anton/Bauer batteries and a Honda generator, modified for use at high altitudes. “My team recently did a 10-day climb up Mount Kilimanjaro and as you can imagine, there was no infrastructure there for charging camera batteries,” says Knepper. They needed the reliability of Anton/Bauer’s Solar Panel, a unique charging option provided with the Tandem® 150 Modular Power System. Thanks to the Solar Panel, they made the 19,341-foot climb effortlessly.
The Tandem® 150 Modular Power System, the smallest and lightest charger and on-camera power supply available on the market provides ultimate flexibility for any location. For shoots in isolated areas the Tandem 150 provides two unique methods to charge any Logic Series® battery. Crews working out of their cars can simply use The CA-TMCL with their dependable vehicle AC power outlet. The CA-TMCL is the smallest portable car charger on the market and does not require an inverter. For productions where sunlight is available, the Solar Panel is the perfect solution. When operated from the AC Mains at 100 to 240 volts AC or 50-60 Hz, the Tandem 150 (QR-TM and PSU-15) is a fully automatic system. It will simultaneously charge a battery and power a camera under a 75watt draw and revert solely to a 150 watt power supply if a 75 watt draw is exceeded.
In addition to shooting in challenging environments, such as Mount Kilimanjaro, United Broadcast Facilities also relies heavily on Anton/Bauer when shooting entertainment events.
“Most recently we modified an Anton/Bauer CINE VCLX Battery for the MTV African Music Awards,” says Knepper. “There was a limitation on the available power so we used the modified VCLX to power up a scanner crane. The VCLX supplies unregulated 24V out and for the scanner crane we needed a stabilized power of 24V. Due to the fact that the scanner crane will damage if the input power hits 26V we needed to stabilize the VCLX at the required 24V. The VCLX output power can go up with a full charged battery to 29V. The crane worked for the entire production on this alternative power from Anton/Bauer and it was just remarkable.”
Anton/Bauer’s CINE power system provides ultimate performance, extended run-times and flexibility, which also makes it ideal while shooting in remote locations. The CINE VCLX is powerful enough to run a camera and stand-up light simultaneously for over five hours.
“Nowadays, everyone’s investing in expensive HD equipment,” adds Knepper, “but if your power supply isn’t reliable, you’re wasting money. Anton/Bauer is always dependable.”
About Anton/Bauer
Anton/Bauer is recognized as the world’s innovator and premier provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other key mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries. Based in the United States in Shelton, CT with offices in Europe and Asia, Anton/Bauer was established in 1970 and has expanded its product offerings to include many signature lines such as its leading Gold Mount® system, InterActive® chargers and Logic Series® batteries such as the HyTRON® 50, 100 and 140, and DIONIC® 90, 160, HC and HCX. Their products are compatible with virtually every camera brand on the market today. Other Anton/Bauer high performance products include the Ultralight®, ElipZ®, ElightZ®, CINE VCLX and CINE VCLX/2. Their superior-quality products have become an industry standard. For more information on Anton/Bauer, visit www.antonbauer.com.
A Snapshot of The Vitec Group Vitec is an international Group principally serving customers in the broadcast, photographic and military, aerospace and government (MAG) markets. Listed on the London Stock Exchange with 2009 revenue of £315 million, Vitec is based on strong, well known, premium brands on which its customers worldwide rely. Vitec is organised in three divisions: Imaging & Staging, Videocom and Services. Imaging & Staging designs, manufactures and distributes equipment and accessories for photography, video and events. Videocom designs and distributes systems and products used in broadcasting and live entertainment, film and video production and MAG. Services provides equipment rental, workflow design and technical support for camera, video, audio, fibre optic and wireless technology used by TV production teams and film crews. More information can be found at www.vitecgroup.com.
