The pace of electronic newsgathering (ENG) is likely to get a little faster with the presentation of a new concept in news transportation: the newsgathering motorcycle.
At IBC2007 in Amsterdam, Link Research — a sister company of Microwave Radio Communications under the Vislink umbrella — offered broadcasters willing to invest in the company’s city center cellular microwave receive system a way to race through traffic to get to the scene of a breaking story, in some instances before police or other authorities have even arrived.
As Link Research sees it, the newsgathering motorcycle will let news directors deploy a camera crew quickly, providing live pictures from on-board cameras as soon as it leaves the garage. On the street, the newsgathering motorcycle brings a level of agility in news transportation that’s only rivaled by news helicopters, but at street level. Additionally, the motorcycle should be easier to park, and, in theory, let a station’s camera crew get to a news story before the area has been cordoned off.
Once on-site, the motorcycle can continue to provide live video and sound from its on-board cameras, or it can deploy a radio camera that links back to the bike, which lets the operator get as close as possible to the action, even taking the camera inside buildings.
The motorcycle system has full audio and video monitoring, 4W RF output for a minimum range of 3.7mi and automatically switched external video/audio input. The system can be powered from the motorcycle’s alternator or two detachable camera batteries with a run time of about 90 minutes.
For more information, visit www.linkres.co.uk.
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