Games of the XXVIII Olympiad

‘Athens 2004 ’
For the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, Total RF was contracted to NBC Sports to provide digital wireless cameras and other specialized facilities to ‘enhance’ AOB’s multilateral (world) feed.

In total, Total RF supplied NBC with ten Gigawave D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ wireless camera systems for the live coverage of a wide range of Olympics events, including Swimming, Diving, and Gymnastics, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. In addition to covering actual events, NBC used their Gigawave D-Cam wireless camera systems extensively to conduct live interviews and provide local ‘color’ from the main Olympic venues, plus different locations, in and around Athens.
NBC chose to use D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ rather than the dockable D-Cam wireless camera systems on the basis that they had never worked in a fully digital RF environment, and wanted the option of being able to use conventional ‘Pit Lane Pole’ systems, connected to the camera with an umbilical cable! In the end, their fears proved groundless. The digital links performed superbly, and the ‘Pit Lane Pole’ systems were never used.

One of the D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ systems was permanently located at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA), with a second system at the Helliniko Olympic Complex. At each venue, Total RF engineers installed a single receiver with Fanbeam antenna. These unmanned receive points allowed NBC’s ENG camera crews to provide live coverage from the two main Olympic venues by simply clipping a D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ onto the back of their camera and replacing the battery. The two receive points were linked back to the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) using optical fiber.

Faced with the problem that it may not be possible to use a conventional links truck in the narrow and congested streets of Athens, Total RF engineers came up with the idea of equipping a small truck with a Gigawave ‘Rebro’ system. When filming in downtown Athens, this ‘Rebro Truck’ would be parked in a convenient location and used to relay signals from a D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ equipped camera back to the IBC via a permanent ground receive site located on Mount Imittos, a hill overlooking Athens.
In addition to the ‘Rebro’ unit, the truck carried a couple of tripods, various helix and fanbeam antennas, plus some spare batteries for the camera. Early in the Games, an Iraqi team was unexpectedly leading Portugal in their Group ‘D’ football match. In the circumstances, NBC sent a camera crew with a D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ plus the ‘Rebro Truck’ to a local bar in downtown Athens to record the reaction of supporters who were watching the game live on TV.

The remaining seven D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ wireless camera systems were deployed as required by the NBC Sport production team. This entailed detailed planning to ensure that the requisite systems were in the right place at the right time. For the most part, the seven D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ wireless camera systems were deployed as follows:

  • Opening/Closing Ceremonies – 4 systems
  • Gymnastics – 4 systems
  • Athletics – 4 systems
  • Swimming – 2 systems
  • Diving – 2 systems

Apart from digital wireless cameras, Total RF also provided NBC with a number of analogue links. One of these was used to provide a downlink from the Blimp, which was used to provide aerial views of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA) and other Olympic venues. It was also used to provide aerial coverage of various events including Rowing, Canoeing, Beach Volleyball, and cycling. To ensure live coverage from all these locations, Total RF installed three ground receive sites, each comprising a PTV receiver and a 0.6m dish.

Four years ago at ‘Sydney 2000’, SOBO used 22 Gigawave analogue G-Cams. In Athens, Total RF engineers once again made use of some of the original analogue G-Cams systems - this time as fixed links! 

For equipment left standing out in the sun all day, high temperature was a crucial test, in terms of reliability. During one of the cycling road races, a ‘Clip-on’ transmitter that had been out in the sun all day showed a temperature of 72°C on its digital display, despite the specification listing 65°C as the maximum operating temperature!

  “The equipment performed flawlessly even under harsh conditions.  It was a huge success!”
Steve Gansky – Total RF

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