DIY Friday: Build Your Own Satellite Truck
Ever want to combine the life of the open road with your interest in satcom? Then checking out this blog on the life of a satellite truck operator is a must-do.
Of course, if you really want to turn the dream into reality, you’ll need a truck. And that can cost some serious dough.
This customized truck used by NBC news to cover the invasion of Iraq cost $500,000:
Frontline Communications builds and sells a variety of satellite trucks — but again, it costs a pretty penny.
The low(er) cost solution to living the dream, of course, is to Do It Yourself. Several years ago the Daily Wireless blog did a post on how to build your own satellite truck. Unfortunately, most of the links there are now dead.
But to stay in budget, you just have to make some serious decisions about what kind of equipment you want in your custom rig. Typically satcom trucks are pretty decked out — but how much do you really need?
For CNN’s Election Coverage, they decided they needed quite a bit — building their own Election Express vehicle complete with a portable HD studio:
Frontline Communications was the systems integrator and overall project manager for the vehicle. The two-year effort also included another Clearwater, Fla., company, Parliament Coach, a specialist in high-end vehicles….
The bus uses a satellite pool from iDirect Technology, a Herndon, Va.-based developer of satellite broadband systems. The system provides reliable bandwidth for the four video feeds as well as ordinary Internet, telephones and the intercom system.
With their Atlanta area codes, the onboard phones behave just like landlines, said Bohrman.
And the 64×64 RTS Cronus intercom system can connect over iDirect to Atlanta or anywhere else, according to Frontline Project Manager Jeff Steele.
Massive patch panels are on both port and starboard (so the bus can still operate with one side blocked). Two 25 kW diesel generators rumble in the stern—one for the lighting and normal front-end bus operations and one for the racks and racks of TV-related systems in the rear. And if one fails, the other can take over.
A video of the CNN rig can be seen here. Here’s a photo of the interior:
Daily Wireless has additional details, as does the Washington Times:
WiFi connectivity and a phased array Intelsat BGAN terminal allow the bus to transmit video while in motion. Two Clearwater, Fla., companies — Frontline Communications and Parliament Coach — spent two years merging the demands of a live satellite truck with a tour bus for the press, making the 45 foot Prevost H-45 bus into a traveling press room, capable of going live virtually anywhere.
However you decide to pimp your satcom ride, don’t forget to get Leslie Nielsen to promote your new rig, as this Sacramento station did back in 1986.
Happy DIY Friday!
