7NEWS Australia Uses TVU Transmitters For All of Its Live Coverage Needs
Simon Hydzik
News Cameraman, Leading Australian News Broadcaster
“TVU understands the challenges of broadcast and its packs allow flexibility when traveling to different parts of the world to easily add extra modems and sim cards as required. When placed alongside other bonded streaming products TVU seems to be more resilient to low bandwidth”
As a cameraman working for 7NEWS Australia, Simon Hydzik has been using TVUPacks, TVU’s mobile cellular backpack transmitters, since 2013. TVUPacks have been a daily part of his kit as a news cameraman as well as IRL backpack streamers around the area. According to Simon “Without a doubt, the packs have changed the way news is covered. The ability to cross live as you get off a plane, feed live pictures back from a moving vehicle or in the middle of a cyclone, all that would have been impossible with a SNG dish and a lot of planning.”
In addition to the packs, Simon uses TVU Anywhere, TVU’s mobile transmitter app, on MacBook and App on iPhone. In 2017 Simon was part of a team that ran 4 packs and 2 apps for rolling coverage out of Indonesia, running Apple devices with TVU Anywhere as locked off live shots to cut between the reporters on the ground.
Earlier this year, with no data cellular coverage, Simon fed pictures and crossed live using a TVUPack on Christmas Island with just an Inmarsat BGAN dish plugged into ethernet to provide all day coverage for TV Stations in Australia.
The TVU Nano for Video has been a game changer for Simon. He has been using TVU Nano Video to get a second live shot from drones. According to Simon “Since it’s a compact unit, it can be easily carried on airplanes and can be readily set up on landing without having to wait for baggage.”
TVU Nano Video offers other advantages apart from its compact size for Simon.” It’s a unit that becomes part of the camera which translates to carrying less gear around. The BNC cables also do not get tangled and everything is powered from one source. The mobile interface also provide all the information needed. In addition, the external antenna connectors provide a high level of flexibility with its different antenna options which is perfect when traveling. As the unit is very light you can even mount it on top of light stands to increase range if one is on the fringes of cellular coverage.”
Simon had to travel on an inflatable boat out to a cruise ship to cover the story on Coronavirus passengers. He used TVU Nano video to feed vision back and cross live. Having the smaller unit helped reduce cables getting tangled across the boat and allowed him to move around more quickly from either side of the boat. Since the ride was rough, it was reassuring to know that the camera was all that he needed to hold.
