BMS Broadcast Solutions
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Airborne Downlink
In 30 years of business, BMS has earned the title “The Downlink Experts™”
The fourth-generation COFDM digital downlink system, powered by the flagship Heli-Coder 4 transmitter, represents the culmination of over 10 years of work, customer input, and BMS innovation in the digital downlink market. The Heli-Coder 4 incorporates MPEG-4/H.264 compression, uni-directional Ethernet input, and decreased power consumption into one box.
Great things come in small packages, and the Heli-Coder 4 is no exception. With a transmitter weight of 6 lbs. and a total system weight of approximately 8 lbs. (not including optional TAA-101 Antenna Actuator), the Heli-Coder 4 weighs less than 50% of the Heli-Coder II and exactly half of the weight of the Heli-Coder III. This reduction in weight is accompanied by an 80% reduction in volume over the Heli-Coder II, and a 50% reduction in volume over the Heli-Coder III.
Airborne Relay
News doesn’t happen where it’s convenient. When and where it does happen, the link has to work.
Airborne relay solutions from BMS fill in the blank for those tough shots from downtown, mountainous, valley, and out of the way areas where a microwave network lacks coverage. By installing a BMS relay system in air assets, broadcasters gain the ability to put a reporter live on the scene and not worry about whether or not they have a shot to the mountain top receive site.
Using the Sprite PRO Two-Way Diversity Receiver, an overhead air asset can receive and relay the obstructed signal from ground ENG/OB van assets and retransmit it through the Heli-Coder 4 Airborne Downlink Transmitter to a fixed receive site. By using DVB-ASI on the aircraft, rather than decoding to standard video and re-encoding, minimal delay is added to the link.
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Camera Control
Maintaining picture quality of wireless cameras is no longer a problem with wireless camera controls from BMS.
The BMS wireless camera control solution utilizes OEM remote control panels, offering a seamless experience in transferring from a wired camera. By adding a UHF return link and incorporating the existing COFDM data link, a bi-directional link is built that allows full duplex communication between the wireless camera and remote control panel.
By using the original OEM remote control panel, and not manipulating the data, the full command set is supported. Anything possible with a wired camera can be supported with a wireless remote camera control system by BMS.
Contact your sales representative to ensure that your camera and RCP models are supported.
Fixed Receive Site
Portable receive sites work wonders for wireless cameras and short distance shots, but the long shots back to the studio require more muscle.
Fixed receive sites from BMS create the backbone of a broadcast microwave network. The combination of the DR6000 MK2 Six-Way Diversity UHF receiver with VLA series High-Gain Panel Antennas (and an optional Silhouette GPS Tracking Antenna) enables HD coverage of a large metropolitan area. Building out a network of multiple receive sites around a city allows for increased coverage, where a single receive site will suffer from RF blockage, or “shadowing”, from skyscrapers, terrain, and environmental conditions.
Each receive site is capable of outputting SDI (with embedded audio), CVBS, Analog Audio, and ASI over IP for standard definition transmission, or HD-SDI (with embedded audio), Analog Audio, and ASI over IP for high definition transmission.
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Video Assist
With wireless Video Assist solutions from BMS, waiting for dailies is a thing of the past. Using license-free 5.8GHz COFDM wireless technology, BMS can transmit live footage in almost any environment with a delay as low as 40ms (one frame). This low-latency, high definition capable system allows directors and crews to see the action as it happens, just as the viewer will see it.
Powered by the lightweight, compact NT5723SDHD transmitter, the Video Assist system offers the closest substitute to a wired camera available. The DR2558HD receiver offers a small, easy to operate receive station that outputs SDI at standard or high definition. The DR2505HD offers the same capability, plus additional amplification to allow for distant antennas, potentially increasing reception range.
About BMS
BMS, a Cohu company (NASDAQ: COHU; www.cohu.com) and a leader in COFDM microwave transmission, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells microwave transmission systems. BMS has a broad range of microwave communication products and systems developed for law enforcement, unmanned aerial vehicles, government surveillance, news and entertainment applications.