Gearhouse undertakes first UK install of new Snell Kahuna 360 switcher

Prominent sports production company Input Media has selected Gearhouse Broadcast as its SI partner for additional facility refurbishments at its state-of-the-art west London facility. This has included the first UK install of Snell’s Kahuna 360 modular switcher panel, Kahuna Maverik.

The project was completed in early January and incorporates an HD upgrade to their presentation studio and an additional HD gallery to Input Media’s facility portfolio. This latest addition builds onto the continued Input Media infrastructure upgrade project started back in 2012, which was engineered by Gearhouse Broadcast. The final element put in place by Gearhouse’s systems integration division was the Kahuna Maverik, Snell’s modular switcher panel. The bespoke design of the Maverik control surface enables valuable space saving in the gallery production area as the panel design is built from independent modules and only the required modules can be installed creating a bespoke panel design, which is smaller in footprint and more specific in function than factory shipped 1, 2 and 3 M/E control surfaces.

“This switcher panel will give these production galleries a much more flexible way of operating,” said Simon Smith, systems integration engineer at Gearhouse. “And integrating it was a great final piece of the jigsaw after this complex and interesting install for Input.”

“We’re very excited about being the first UK facility to have the Maverik built into our live production workflows. It offers us much more agility to quickly adapt the facilities and technology to meet the requirements of our live operations. Our Directors working in our London HQ are going to have a more flexible and reliable control interface, as well as reducing the job setup time.” said Nick Symes, director of technology at Input Media.