RF Central, Nucomm Offer Second Generation of Sports Transmitters, Receivers

For the 2010 NAB Show, Vitec Group brands Nucomm and RF Central have rolled out the second generation of two of their most popular sports products: the CamPac2 HD/SD microwave transmitter and the DR2 diversity receiver.

“The CamPac2 is our Cadillac, our highest-end system,” says Deryk Thompson, customer/sales support technician for RF Central/Nucomm. “In a sports application, it is perfect for a scoreboard feed for your big screens.”

The CamPac2 can be mounted to professional cameras and is equipped with a variable-bandwidth COFDM modulator and an MPEG-2 encoder that can be configured for HD or SD. The variable-bandwidth modulator (between 5 MHz and 16 MHz) allows data rates in excess of 30 Mbps using QPSK or 16QAM formats. The CamPac2 accepts various video formats from SDI and HD-SDI, both component and composite, to DVB-ASI for repeating applications.

The DR2 diversity receiver, an updated model of the DR, offers a split box and the ability to receive UHF digital signals in the 150-850 MHz band.

“The DR2 is a four-way diversity input receiver that gives you the ability to have seamless coverage throughout the arena, without having a receive antenna,” Thompson says. “They’re all sector arenas, and they overlap their antennas.”

In using the external BDC, the DR2’s receive antennas can be remotely mounted at a distance from the main unit. It is outfitted with an integrated COFDM demodulator, an MPEG-2 HD/SD decoder, internal power supply, an integrated spectrum analyzer, and an on-screen display.

RF Central is also sowing the Pro-Link HD 5.8-GHz portable digital microwave link. Launched as a successor to the NLL-II, the Pro-Link HD offers MPEG-4 encoding/decoding in a bidirectional transmit-and-receive system, and balanced microphone and line-level inputs via XLR connectors on both the transmitter and receiver. Pr-Link HD is equipped with phantom power for microphones, which makes the product suitable for roaming sports crews.

“This is a great application for minor-league baseball and collegiate sports teams,” Thompson says. “It has a 2,000-ft. range and operates using spread spectrum technology, which is like a wireless router. When you turn it on, there’s no input that has to happen in terms of frequency; it will seek out an open channel so you don’t have to have any user input to make that happen.”

Pro-Link HD operates in the 5.8 GHz license-free band, and its range works in both HD and SD.

Ideal for Fan Cam applications is RF Central’s microLite HD transmitter, a miniature COFDM digital transmitter with full HD-SDI capabilities. Featuring MPEG-4 encoding/decoding in HD and SD with lower power consumption, the microLite HD is packaged in less than 6 cu. in., so it can easily mount on the back of a camera.

“We’ve got lots of these used in the NFL, NHL, and Major League Baseball,” Thompson says.

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