In association with its partner Studio Hamburg MCI, DTC Broadcast recently deployed a complete DTC broadcast wireless system for coverage of the Hankook 24Hr DUBAI endurance race at the Dubai Autodrome in the United Arab Emirates, part of the 24Hr SERIES powered by Hankook.
Over 10-11-12 January, a total of 75 race cars set out over the 5.4 km course of the 24 Hours of Dubai, eventually won by Car Collection Motorsport in their new 2019 Audi R8 LMS.
DTC’s broadcast technology contribution to race coverage, specified and supplied by Studio Hamburg MCI to Cologne-based 0221 Mediagroup, was comprised of SOLO7 OBTX and SOLO7 Nano amplifiers coupled with PRORXD receivers to provide comprehensive coverage around the circuit.
Sebastian Scholz, managing director of 0221 Mediagroup said, “As an international operating broadcast service operator, we have gained a lot of experience with different kinds of wireless systems on the market.
Motor sport is only one part of a wide variety of application challenges that we face. DTC convinced us that, together with the high flexibility of their wireless system, especially given the PRORXD 8-Way Receivers, by using them we can quickly and confidently respond to the future requirements of our clients.”
Studio Hamburg MCI Project Engineer Richard Hardege said, “The DTC technology was brought in to replace technology that required twice the number of receive points and still could not consistently cope with the demands being placed upon it. Having successfully trialled DTC’s SOLO7 OBTX transmitters and PRORXD receivers with eight-way input and some ancillary fibre technology for the same motor racing series in 2018, it was rapidly identified as the way to get 0221 Mediagroup’s project done more efficiently, and ultimately less expensively.”
When Studio Hamburg MCI did the Silverstone test they hoisted a single receive point on a strategically located cherry picker and it covered nearly the entire race track save a small area of the back straight. By simply adding another small receive station, 100 percent coverage was achieved for more than 24 hours before, during, and after the 24-hour race.
Hardege added, “The use of the cherry picker made the system very quick, easy, and cost effective to set up rather than having to source and secure locations all around the track, which is costly, time-consuming, and often impractical. The PRORXD is absolutely ideal for the scale of motor racing events. Essentially, by using PRORXDs we cut the number of receive points required for the race season’s circuits in half.”
A select number of cars utilised SOLO7 OBTX transmitters housed with 1W amplifiers inside each car. Low-profile, omni-directional Domo antennas completed the transmit package.
The SOLO7 OBTX transmitter is a compact, and feature-rich COFDM digital video transmitter specifically designed for high quality OB applications. The SOLO7 Nano amplifier is an ultraminiature COFDM power amplifier designed specifically for small, discreet applications. The PRORXD receiver/decoder has excellent RF performance complemented by an extremely flexible decoding platform.
“The SOLO7 and PRORXD package has rapidly become the prime choice for motor racing applications as has been increasingly and repeatedly demonstrated in professional racing applications around the world. The upshot is that its success – coupled with our experience – has generated a significant number of new and exciting applications for such a package.”
