BRACKNELL, U.K.—NEP U.K. has rolled out Venus and Ceres, the latest in its fleet of OB trucks that are SMPTE-2110 compliant, joining NEP’s worldwide family of IP-based vehicles in Australia and the U.S. [Updated, May 15]
“We needed to replace two of our older vehicles, which gave us the perfect opportunity to invest in our first future-resistant IP capable trucks,” said Rob Newton, engineering and technical director, NEP UK. The vehicles, Venus and Ceres, will be used to televise sports and other events, NEP U.K. said.
A major benefit of the IP infrastructure is a significant reduction in cabling. Far less fiber optic cable is used than the miles of coaxial cable that otherwise would have been needed, says NEP U.K.
The ST 2110 infrastructure in both trucks is identical. Each is built on Grass Valley (formerly SAM) IQ UCP 25GbE Gateway cards that provide two-way links between IP-based equipment and existing broadband technology needed to accommodate clients using SDI feeds. The trucks can deliver dual level UHD and HD-SDI simultaneously.
[Read: What SMPTE-2110 Means For Broadcasters]
Test and measurement gear includes the Phabrix HDR and IP-enabled test and measurement solution with three Qx 12G signal generation, analysis and monitoring solutions and four Rx2000 with each providing up to four channels of 2K/3G/HD/SD-SDI video and audio analysis and monitoring.
For switching the trucks are relying on the Grass Valley Kayenne Video Production Center and Kahuna video switcher. They also include Calrec sound desks, Telex Talkback system, Arista 7504 IP switches and Axon Cerebrum control systems.
To meet the cooling requirements of the new trucks, NEP U.K. has designed the trucks with greater A.C. capacity, and all equipment can be cooled separately in operational areas.
Venus recently completed its first job, and both trucks will be supporting several major live events over the summer.
