WTS, a global systems integrator and broadcast equipment supplier, is close to
completing two new HD OB trucks for SuperSport Africa, together with two support
vehicles. The OB trucks are equipped with Snell Sirius 830 multi-format routers, IQ
Modular infrastructure and Snell control. One OB truck and support vehicle will be
based in Nigeria, the second in Zambia (OB6). The vehicles are the sixth and
seventh HD OB trucks built by WTS for SuperSport, all of which have incorporated
Snell routing, infrastructure and control.
The OB vehicles are built on 40ft rigid Mercedes chassis to cope with the rough
terrain they will experience on location, with double expanding sides, and each
boasting 14+4 cameras. “As with the previous HD OB trucks WTS supplied to
SuperSport, we have made ease of control the core attribute of these two new
vehicles,” said Ben Murphy, WTS sales director. “This is a touchscreen-based
system control and monitoring solution built on Snell control and customised by
WTS. It allows the engineers to use a variety of devices – laptops, iPads and
iPhones – to rapidly alter the setup of a truck, giving the production team the
perfect environment for a wide range of programme output.
“The terrain in certain areas of Africa can be very challenging, so robustness is also
a key consideration, and our experience over the last five OB projects demonstrates
that Snell systems deliver on this front too,” Murphy concluded.
Robert Rowe, managing director of Live TV at Snell said, “Control is a little-talked-
about issue but it’s critical in getting the most out of technology, and WTS’
implementation on these vehicles will enable SuperSport to do just that.”
