Wireless camera tech delivers extraordinary SWR-TV cable car broadcast

On the occasion of the SWR-TV Family Fest 2016 on September 4, spectators and passengers experienced an amazing view of the Koblenz cable car. One cabin rode above the ropeway all day long as a floating live TV studio across the Rhine.

SWR commentator Anna Lena Dörr and YouTuber Phil Laude entertained with good-humored commentaries, chatting with passengers and invited guests while floating back and forth between ground and hill stations. In order to achieve this the cabin had been equipped with the relevant camera and transmission technology. A very special challenge for this unusual studio was that cable connections cannot be installed in moving cable cars.

Helmut Kremer, technical support manager of SWR, commented: “Our concept demanded a permanently moving set. This required an uninterrupted and stable implementation of a radio connection for video and audio signals. This is why we turned to HDwireless who had already quite frequently developed some tricky wireless solutions”.

During the planning stages HDwireless computed and coordinated all aspects of this radio transmission, including frequency allotments from the authorities. This also included close coordination with the manufacturer of the Aereal Ropeways, Seilbahnen of Austria.

The planned antenna fittings for the ropeways, as well as the technical equipment inside the cable cars were closely monitored and tested for safety while in operation and moving. SWR asked for three cameras inside the cabin whose signals would guarantee transmission from there without interruption.

HDwireless installed antennas within the ropeways and also on the 40ft high mast of its own RF1 production unit that would provide stable transmission. Patrick Nußbaum, CEO HDwireless, explains: “All signals in this live broadcast were wireless. Our client had to depend 100% on our broadcasting quality. They received the flawless signals at the transfer point via our glass fibre transmission technique. This production from the cabin is a very good example for individual and successful realisation of an extraordinary broadcasting concept.”