BSI Wireless Tech Takes to High-Wire for Grand Canyon Crossing

On Sunday, June 23, Broadcast Sports, Inc. (BSI) will show the world what it looks like to walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope suspended 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River. The Hanover, MD-based company will be outfitting high-wire artist Nik Wallenda with a vest equipped with two wireless POV cameras to document his 1,200-foot walk across the canyon. The cameras Wallenda will be wearing are the same ones BSI deployed for the WNBA earlier this month in a head-mounted, ref cam system configuration.

The tightrope crossing will take place in a remote section of the canyon operated by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation. To capture the walk from start to finish in this isolated location, BSI will provide wireless camera links with remote camera control for a Sony P1 Steadicam, a Sony HDC-2500 handheld camera, a Sony P1 horizontal cable camera provided by Sea to Sky Cable Camera and the two BSI 1080i mini POV cameras on Wallenda’s vest. BSI will also provide a wireless camera link for a Cineflex HD helicopter camera supplied by Helivision, LLC.

In addition to the wireless camera links, BSI will also be supplying many of the wireless audio and communication components for the broadcast including three BSI MIC1500 wireless microphones, five talent packs and three belt packs plus 100 handheld radios. BSI will provide a high power back-up system for the wireless microphone and wireless IFB communications from NBC that Nik Wallenda will be wearing.

“Our Intelligent Diversity Receive System is completely scalable both in terms of technology and geography,” explains BSI’s Technology Development Manager Clay Underwood. “We are able to operate numerous wireless components in almost any environment. For Nik Wallenda’s tightrope walk, we need to cover the start and finish of the tightrope and every step in between from multiple angles in a remote area in what may be extreme conditions. We’re preparing for all scenarios so we don’t miss a moment of this exciting event.”

BSI will also supply wireless HD program video for the press area, camera operators and a wireless teleprompter feed for the SteadiCam.