Bob Pectelidis
RICHMOND, VA.
Lockwood Broadcast Group has developed a Broadcast Operation Service Solution (BOSS) that provides television broadcasters with a turnkey system for content delivery and the back-office functionality they need for more efficient station operation.
We use BOSS for operation of our own group of stations and also make it available for other broadcasters too.
In providing professional broadcast operations for these stations, we rely on a complete range of Snell systems to ensure maximum reliability in program playout.
Our BOSS system integrates proven, industry-leading tools and systems to provide seamless content management and delivery and complete business tracking and reporting.
WHERE RELIABILITY REALLY MATTERS
Snell's modular and easily expandable infrastructure meets our complete routing, master control, and transmission automation needs for multiple-destination television signals. One reason we chose Snell equipment is because it is so robust. A master control operation has to remain functional all of the time, and Snell was alone in offering the high reliability that our operations require. The systems supporting BOSS give us the same powerful tools used by the world's largest and most respected broadcast networks.
The infrastructure gear throughout our facility is from Snell, and it has proven to be bulletproof. Our format-independent Snell Sirius router is a critical link in our broadcast chain, and provides tight integration with our Snell Morpheus automation system and our video infrastructure. The Sirius router offers unprecedented flexibility and total system redundancy, making it ideal for our mission-critical environment. The router's Aurora controller provides a dedicated, solid-state control system with a widely flexible range of features, including powerful multilevel, multi-matrix tieline management and support for multiple matrices.
One of the most attractive features of the Sirius router is its expandability, which gives us unlimited growth potential. As our operation grows into the future, all we need to do to expand the router is to add another frame alongside the existing one and plug in interconnecting cables. And we can do all this while the system is on air. The system's redundant broadband crosspoint cards switch AES, SDI, ASI, HD and 3G signals in a single frame—and in a worse-case scenario of a path going bad, the redundant card will automatically drop in to recover the connection and we're back in business.
SNELL THROUGH AND THROUGH
Like our Snell router, virtually everything in our facility is designed with backup of some sort. We have multiple ingest systems and know that we'll always be able to get content onto our servers and into the automation system. Our Morpheus automation system performs all of our master control functions, executing schedule playout and management, as well as all relevant data logging.
And as so much of our operation depends upon Snell gear, we also use their monitoring system to maintain and monitor systems at a very fine level of detail. We can set limits on virtually any parameter, with any breach triggering an alert to our engineering department. This capability gives us the control we need to ensure maximum uptime for our broadcast clients and a superb return on our investment.
Bob Pectelidis is the director of corporate engineering at Lockwood Broadcast Group in Richmond, Va. He may be contacted atbob@lockwoodbroadcast.com.
For additional information, contact Snell at 818-556-1616 or visitwww.snellgroup.com
