MAGNA SYSTEMS AND ENGINEERING UPGRADES ABC TV ENG TRUCKS
New IP-based capabilities
SYDNEY, 28 April 2016 – Magna Systems and Engineering has won the contract and begun completing a comprehensive SI upgrade of the ABC’s ENG trucks across Australia. The upgrade is as a result of the recent frequency band change from 2.5GHz to 2.0-2.3GHz and requires the trucks to be refitted accordingly to accommodate the change.
Having won the tender for the Systems Integration work on the project Magna has been responsible for designing and installing new mounting hardware, installing and commissioning all new transmitter systems and ensuring all the IP based systems are working to the ABC’s high standards.
All RF equipment including the GPS steering equipment has been supplied by Jantec and includes particularly intuitive geo location technology, two-way IP communication with the network and a clever network management system for communication with the trucks.
Part of the tender required Magna Systems to design a mounting solution for the diverse antennae array equipment that was not only practical but ergonomic and efficient too. This included designing all the relevant metalwork and fitting all the equipment into the vehicles making sure the antennae were perfectly positioned and had the correct clearances and spacing.
Magna also had to devise an efficient method of integrating all the vans’ existing equipment alongside the new systems and products that meant creating a clean pathway from the external, roof-mounted kit to the internal workings of the truck. Whilst integrating the equipment was a relatively straightforward task, designing new hardware for the antennae array and transmission units was a much more precise operation that took a great deal of skill and experience to perfect.
Magna completed the first truck for ABC Brisbane with the rest coming on line shortly thereafter. In addition to Brisbane the trucks are located in Sydney, Darwin, Perth, Hobart, Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra. With the complexities of distance also to factor in, Magna built vehicle specific kits and shipped them to each location to make the installation as easy as possible therefore minimising the risk of error.
Picture credit:
ABC Brisbane ENG truck refitted and upgraded by Magna Systems and Engineering.