COBHAM to launch mobile newsroom in flight case

Cobham will launch MediaMesh, a new concept in fast-setup field newsrooms for major breaking stories at IBC 2012, which will be held from September 7 to 11 at RAI, Amsterdam.

The new MediaMesh creates expandable networks for live production from the field employing cutting edge technologies to empower users to broadcast without boundaries.

MediaMesh uses wireless technology to enable a journalist in the field to establish quickly and simply all the technology required for a live broadcast. This includes a broadcast quality transmission path for live two-ways, the capability of controlling the camera remotely from the studio, file transfers and a high capacity internet connection, access to the base newsroom computer, and cellphone access. All of this is managed by equipment packed into a single pelicase.

For a typical story, the journalist will establish a base in a hotel room, with the camera on a balcony and a Ka-band satellite uplink on the roof. All equipment is connected over wireless, with standard Wifi also available for the journalist’s laptop and other devices.

If a dish is not available then connection with base can be over the public 3G/4G cellphone network, or via the hotel’s ethernet connection to the internet. If the requirements of the story develop, the capabilities and the area covered can be simply extended by adding additional nodes to the MediaMesh.

Television audiences now expect that, wherever a big story breaks, there will be a journalist on the ground with solid information and good pictures,” said Stuart Brown, Broadcast Systems director of Cobham.

“With MediaMesh all the equipment to do that is in a single box, designed for fast and foolproof set-up. It means the journalist spends as little time as possible establishing the connection back to base and the maximum amount of time researching the story.”

MediaMesh can be seen at IBC2012 on the Cobham stand, 1.F41 along with Cobham’s range of flyaway and backpack uplinks.