The SOLO 4 Wireless Transmitter and PRORXB receive system have been successfully deployed by Cobham for live television coverage of the Abu Dhabi Yacht Club’s Ghanada Dhow Sailing Championship.
Cobham, in conjunction with Dubai-based GloCom SNG, installed transmitters on two race event chase boats and a helicopter, a receive and transmit ship, plus onshore receive systems at the ADYC headquarters and‘Nation Towers’, the two skyscrapers near the southern tip of Abu Dhabi.
“Cobham’s transmit and receive systems worked perfectly,” said GloCom senior engineer, Rakesh Mishra. “Reliable, high quality video and audio were sent and received from the chase boats and helicopter throughout the race from all the supplied links. These events are extremely challenging for the race participants and due to the performance of Cobham’s technology we were able to show just how challenging and difficult these races are to their enthusiastic, land-based, followers around the world.”
“The Cobham RF solution was comprised of a few different aspects,” said Cobham’s broadcast sales manager, JP Delport. “The onboard video from the chase boats was transmitted to the ADYC and Nations Towers using our 10W SOLO 4 H.264 ENG TX. The receive points were equipped with our high-gain PRORXB receive antennas as part of a rebroadcast solution. We also equipped a ship as a mid-point with receive and transmit capabilities, plus two fixed-camera positions.”
“The challenge we faced was to ensure that all of our onboard transmitters were not just completely splash proof, but able to work inside specially designed splash-proof housings at an ambient temperature of at least 50C,” he added. “All systems had been rigorously tested beforehand and performed flawlessly during the event.”
