Systems and Applications
Home » Systems & Applications » Asian Games 2007 Doha
«--- Back to Systems & Applications List
Asian Games 2007 Doha
Date: 30-03-2007
The 15th Asian Games Outside Races ReportSome of the most spectacular views of the 15th Asian Games came from helicopters, motorbikes and boats, covering events such as the Marathon, Triathlon and Sailing. To deliver all the dramatic action, from the middle of the desert to the finish line, required a large scale RF solution to be engineered. The final results were simply stunning.
The opening ceremony began with Qatari youngsters creating a traditional Qatari sadu carpet on the stadium floor with huge pieces of billowing cloth. The spectacle then continued on to celebrate all aspects of Arab and Asian culture with artists and athletes from all over the region coming together with a barrage of lights and effects to produce a show that really was a feast for your eyes.
The tale ended with a flourish as Qatar promised Doha would be a city of the future amid a flurry of fireworks that left the spectators spellbound.
The real scale of the event was to be seen from the air. The two camera ships used to get the amazing aerial shots were not only fitted with the latest in high definition stabilised cameras but also high definition RF downlinks which relayed these amazing shots back to the production suite.
The following two weeks would see broadcasting technology, brought in from all over the world, put to the test to cover the thirty-nine sports and forty-six disciplines that made up the games.
None would be tested as thoroughly as the facilities used to cover the events of Cycling, Cycling Time Trials, Walking Triathlon, Sailing and of course the Marathon, the group of events commonly called the "Outside Races".
Broadcast RF Limited provided the RF facilities for these events. Pictures from three chase motorbikes and two aerial platforms were required, with distances of up to fifty kilometres needing to be covered. They would work along side Helifilms who would fly and maintain the two BEL206 and two AS350 helicopters needed to produce this coverage.
As well as the challenge of getting stable pictures from these moving cameras from long distances, Broadcast RF were also keen to improve on the quality of the video generally seen on this type of coverage, and at the same time use less of the RF spectrum.
Two of the helicopters were fitted with the Cineflex V14 Gyro Stabilised camera system and an RF system capable of transmitting either the HD or SD video produced by the Sony HDC950 Camera built in to the Cineflex. Broadcast RF used Link Research's XP and HD transmitters for this purpose along with high power amplifiers and omni directional antennas to achieve stable pictures for all the Outside Races as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
The system worked so well that these aircraft were able to fly at altitudes less than fifty meters at some points giving even more scope for the camera operators to shoot all the action.
On the ground three specially prepared camera chase motorbikes provided by OYB Mobiles were rigged with Link Research XP transmitters and small power amplifiers. SDI video and up to four audio channels were transmitted up to the relay helicopters using a much higher bit rate than commonly used for this type to coverage. The result of this higher bit-rate would ensure much less of the picture quality was lost due to the compression of the digital links.
The second two helicopters were each fitted with a relay system capable of receiving the signals from all three of the bikes using four way diversity reception and re-transmitting all three sources simultaneously through a single high power transmit system. Broadcast RF obtained EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) approvals to install and operate of this new equipment. The interior frame, which was specifically designed for these games, incorporated full engineering monitoring and was described by the chief pilot as both "lightweight and elegant". A phrase not normally associated with RF technology!
Again Link Research receivers and transmitters were used along with Broadcast RF's specially made high power linear amplifiers The use of the single downlink from each relay helicopter dramatically reduced the amount of RF channels required and reduced the RF congestion in the area of spectrum needed to operate this equipment.
These use of two relay helicopters identically rigged allowed unbroken coverage to continue even if the chase bikes were far apart from each other or if one of the relay helicopters needed to re-fuel during longer events.
As well as all the video RF technology, Broadcast RF used a specially designed communications system from The Wireless Works. This provided two way communications between the director, helicopter camera operators, motorbike camera operators and pilots as well as full engineering talkback between all the engineers involved.
The final part of the chain, the receive site, was located on top of the QTel Tower in Doha. The use of a combination of two and four way diversity and shared high gain antennas assured that continual coverage was achievable from all directions and distances. A total of eight sources were continually monitored and then sent via fibre to the production area on the Corniche. In addition to these eight signals from the helicopters a further three signals from remote cameras and a fixed camera on the roof were continuously monitored.
Communications for the helicopters, chase bikes and remote cameras were also engineered from this site, which meant that the engineers on QTel were kept very busy.
During the later stages of the games, the motorbike transmit systems were moved to chase boats to cover the sailing. The re-rig had to be performed overnight as the schedule for outside races was a furious one with no time to rest between different events. Never the less the coverage of sailing was excellent.
All of the technology came together to give the director almost unbroken coverage at all times. The use of SDI as a source and a high bit rate assured that the ultimate picture quality was also very high, an achievement that certainly did not go un-noticed amongst the production teams involved.
The Head of Engineering and Operations and Senior Vice President, David Shields of IMG Media stated in a final correspondence:
"I was particularly impressed by the reliability of all the links. Sitting in the production control room it felt more like looking at line cameras than RF links. The quality of your solution certainly contributed to the success of what was always going to be a busy and complex OB - well done."
The author, Mark Houghton, is General Manager of Broadcast RF, who provided the RF Links for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the Outside Races at Doha.
Broadcast RF Tel: +44 (0) 1322 520 202
Email: mark.houghton@broadcastrf.com
Website: www.broadcastrf.com