Telecast's Viper facilitates broadcast of Victory Anniversary in Russia's Red Square

Telecast Fiber Systems' Viper family of fibre optic transceivers was used for transmitting video and audio of Russia's 60th anniversary celebration of the country's victory against Germany in the Great Patriotic War during World War II.
Held in Moscow's Red Square, the event utilised multiple cameras from various outdoor locations around the venue. The Viper units transmitted the signals from each camera to a broadcast studio and press centre several kilometers away.
"We chose Telecast's Viper modules because they are quite compact, have low power consumption, and can work in all-weather outdoor environments," said Evgeny Gaskevich, Project Director. "Because of the long transmission distances involved, fibre was a natural choice for this event, and by using CWDM versions of the Telecast equipment, we were able to streamline our installation even more by minimizing the number of fibre cables needed."
Held on May 9, the Victory Day festival celebrated Russia's defeat of the armies of fascist Germany on the same date in 1945. Thousands of war veterans, plus leaders of 53 countries including the United States, attended the event, which featured a military parade and concert. The event was broadcast on main Russian TV channels and on some international channels. Telecom Transport supplied the Telecast equipment to the All-Russian State Television and Radio Co., or VGTRK, which handled signal transmission.
Signals from cameras scattered around the event were collected and transmitted to a studio in the Kremlin and a temporary press centre in the concert hall of a nearby hotel.
A variety of products from the Viper family were used in the transmission. HD/SDI signals were handled by TX/RX292 wideband modules, which support digital transmission rates from 19.4 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps, while TX/RX259 modules provided for 601 SDI. Audio transmissions were handled by TX/RX280 units.
All these modules were conveniently contained within Telecast's weather-resistant Mussel Shells, which house up to eight transmitter or receiver units plus an uninterruptible power supply. Military connectors provided a secure attachment of the fiber optics to the Viper modules, creating a cabling network that was able to withstand temperature extremes, vehicle traffic, and flexing better than coaxial or wire cables. Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexer (CWDM) modules were used to multiply the capacity of each fibre strand so that fewer were needed in the installation.
(GB)