LOCUST VALLEY, N.Y. —Belton High School, north of Austin, Texas, is using MultiDyne's new SilverBACK-II with Juice camera-mounted fiber transport system to broadcast events.
Purchased from Omega Broadcast, MultiDyne's SilverBACK-II with Juice features a robust power supply that enables students to transmit camera signals at a distance of up to 300 meters.
“MultiDyne's SilverBACK-II with Juice is an integral part of our workflow as it gives our students the freedom to shoot from anywhere on campus without worrying about power supply issues,” said Mark Fitzwater, a teacher in the Career and Technical Education Department at Belton High School. “We’ve found it to be extremely reliable and user-friendly for remote broadcasts.”
SilverBACK-II with Juice enables students to support a live multicamera remote production environment by transmitting a variety of camera signals, including HD-SDI video, audio, intercom, control data, GPIOs, tally and power, over a single hybrid copper and fiber cable from remote locations around the school to a production studio for real-time editing. The video broadcasts are used by a local TV station and Tiger Productions, the student production group, which provides video production services for the district.
“They wanted to transmit multiple camera feeds from the stadium sidelines to a jumbo-sized video scoreboard during football games without video degradation or delay,” said Bart McNeil, sales, Omega Broadcast Group. “Through the use of fiber and a robust power supply, MultiDyne's SilverBACK-II with Juice allows the students to reliably transmit high-quality video signals from the football stadium to a control room located a quarter-of-a-mile away. Since we began this project, it has evolved into being about so much more than just football coverage; the entire school is now wired to support high-quality broadcasts and media productions.”
McNeil's colleagues, Omega Broadcast Group's Dave Fry designed the system, and Dean Raney was the project manager.
SilverBACK-II is aluminum and measures just over one inch thick, a little thicker with Juice, providing student camera operators with a compact, unobtrusive camera-backed system for remote signal transmission. Integrated dovetails on the front and back of the unit simplify camera operation by enabling users to add optional accessories like 15-mm rod adapters as needed.
Juice acts as a reliable power source at the camera and the other end can be built into the base station's 1-RU frame or housed separately. When built into the unit, it enables simple plug-and-play operation and delivery of up to 100 watts of power for a distance of up to 300 meters. When used externally, the system supports a wider range of cabling topologies and transmission distances.
