Austrian OB specialist MIKO installs HARMAN Studer Vista 1

MIKO Event & Rental of Austria has purchased a HARMAN’s Studer Vista 1 for installation in a newly configured OB van. The hub of a fully redundant system, the all-in-one Studer control package—which had been one of the specification prerequisites—is said to have provided MIKO with a ideal solution.

The company runs a fleet of trucks that provide outside broadcast services, mainly for ORF, the Austrian public service broadcaster, and Red Bull Media House, the multi-platform media company with a focus on sports, culture and lifestyle.

The new MF11D 15-ton Ü-Wagen (OB van) has been designed as a hybrid solution for video and Internet broadcasts or as high-quality radio. The sound infrastructure can also support complete live recording (up to 7.1). Originally built by Krämer in Germany it was rebuilt by MIKO to handle these video broadcasts.

According to Michael Kogler, who founded MIKO Event & Rental in 1991, “although the truck was built for a total weight of 15 tons, we reduced it to 12 tons to give us fewer limitations—leaving around 1.5 tons available for other equipment.”

He highlights a key advantage of the Vista 1: “Our previous console weighed 600kg and required 2,100W of power [as well as its own conditioning circuit]. The Vista 1, run in conjunction with our existing Studer MADI Compact Stagebox (CSB), is substantially more economical on weight and power draw – and it doesn’t need an air conditioning circuit. So we can drop the electric power consumption from 3-phase 400V-32A to 16A.

“But best of all in Austria the climate is only extremely warm in July and August, so we only need to circulate fresh air; it means we can drop the electric power consumption again to a single phase 230V-16A—this is really amazing for such a truck!”

Following on from their existing 3.5-ton Ü-Wagen, MIKO believe this is the logical progression to enable image handling and allow third video production companies to rent space and install their own equipment (whereupon the sound area can be compacted if necessary). Kogler adds that it also provides their technicians with a more enjoyable experience when handling events ranging from Ski Alpine to live music events and other high profile TV shows for ORF.

“We really like the Vista’s compact form factor, its ease of use and the excellent sound quality and we are now looking forward to adding the Vista FX option.”

The existing CSB, with 48 Mic/Line In and 16 Line Out, is linked via two Neutrik DuoCon Extreme 150m long fibre cables.