Dejero live streams ascent of remote Spanish summit
A feat of strength and perseverance by Spanish sports figure Miguel Ángel Roldán, known as Mikel, was recently live streamed from Spain’s most notorious summit, the Naranjo de Bulnes, using a Dejero EnGo mobile transmitter and Dejero Cloud Server.
Local production company JTM Broadcast captured and produced the live coverage of Mikel, which was delivered across multiple internet and social media platforms, as he scaled the mountain via its famous 500m-high vertical west face, to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). Mikel was diagnosed with ALS himself three years ago.
The EnGo mobile transmitter and Cloud Server simplified production of the event which used multiple cameras located in the harsh and remote environment of the Cantabrian mountains. The video and audio feeds from three cameras following Mikel on his ascent, as well as from one fixed camera and one drone, were fed via a wireless link into a mixer and combined. The resulting content then travelled through another wireless connection to the EnGo transmitter that was positioned at ‘base camp’, where it provided internet connectivity over cellular, despite the challenging network coverage at the mountain location.
From there, the Dejero Cloud Server, which enables the complex task of publishing live video streams in multiple formats to web and mobile devices, delivered the content via RTMP to the NIREStream distribution platform, making the footage available to broadcasters, platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, as well as to a large screen located in Roldán’s hometown.
“The most important feature of the Dejero equipment for me is its reliability,” said Javier Trifol, RF engineer at JTM Broadcast. “It has supported our productions perfectly since we purchased it last year, especially in locations with very little connectivity. This ascent was the most technically complex challenge I have faced, and also the most rewarding job of my life. I did not take any back up equipment, which illustrates my confidence in Dejero.”
The EnGo uses Smart Blending Technology which simultaneously aggregates diverse wired and wireless Internet Protocol (IP) connections from multiple sources to form a virtual ‘network of networks’ delivered as a single service, enhancing reliability, expanding coverage areas and delivering greater bandwidth.
“This accomplishment by Mikel was about transcribing the suffering and difficulties presented by such an ascent for an ALS patient in a very real way, so when the project was presented to me, I immediately reached for my Dejero equipment to address the live broadcasting requirements of the task,” Trifol added. “It took us little time to set up the equipment at base camp just one day before the event, with the help of a Guardia Civil helicopter. Blessed with clear blue skies, Mikel took on the ascent the next day. Everyone was ecstatic at the end of the programme. It was an immense success.”