Uplinks
Linx runs a fleet of satellite trucks and fly-away dishes from its operations bases in Zagreb, Croatia, and Budapest, Hungary.
When news breaks in Central Europe, we are often the first to fix it. Our strategically placed mobile trucks are never more than a few hours drive from the story.
Our fly-away dishes and their operators have provided award-winning services to the world's broadcasters in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Asian tsunami.
LINX is one of the first DSNG providers in Europe to invest in High Definition equipment. We bought our first Tandberg encoders in 2004, and have already been servicing companies such as Japanese broadcaster NHK with their HD needs. HD equipment consists of Tandberg encoder E5788 with BISS and RAS encryption, IRD receiver TT 1282 and an accompanying monitoring kit.
With our fully redundant flyaways/driveaways and SNG trucks, we can provide satellite uplinks in Central-Eastern Europe at short notice. We have access to several SNG trucks and flyaways in the event our own uplinks are unavailable. Our Budapest-based SNGs can get to all of former Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany within a day. Our Cyprus-based flyaway can get to Israel or any other Middle East country at short notice.
The US TV Pool (CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox News) used LINX to provide uplinks facilities for former US President Clinton's trips to the region in 1997 (Kosovo, Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovenia, Bosnia, Romania) and for President George W. Bush's visits to Slovenia, Kosovo and Slovakia.
During the Iraq invasion in 2003, LINX provided uplinks and engineers to CNN (Qatar, Jordan and Iraq), Fox News (Jordan) and BBC (Jordan and Iraq).
LINX was the preferred provider for BBC and Sky News to operate out of Poland to cover the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.
LINX is not limited geographically - our flyaways and easy access to several airports (Vienna, Budapest, Prague) meant that we sent our flyaway to Sri Lanka for award-winning CNN coverage of the Tsunami; to India and Nigeria for former President Clinton visits, to Jerusalem and Ramallah to cover the funeral of Yasser Arafat.
In these cases and many more, our broadcast clients found it quicker, more efficient, and more cost-effetive to work with LINX.
Our uplinks are licensed for Eutelsat, Intelsat, Panamsat, Europestar, AB, Hellas Sat, etc.
We can add other production equipment and staff to the uplinks - Sony Beta SP/SX laptop editors live standup cameras with English-speaking cameramen and editors.
We can provide you with the specifications of each unit and rate card upon request.
Technical Information
Linx can provide you with High Definition Transmissions, C and Ku flyaways/driveaways. Our HD capability can be transferred to any of our SNGs, as our Tandberg encoder and IRD, downconverter and monitor are independently built to be portable and can be hooked up with all our systems. Some uplinks have a comms package installed (Paradise Modem with Vocality kit).
SNG – 001 Ku Band (HD/SD) – Fully redundant/dual path capable
Eutelsat Registration: UKI 1462
SNG vehicle: Mercedes Sprinter 413 Cdi, British licence plates KB51 BFA
Fully Redundant 1.5m CML Antenna System (Dual Path capable)
Standard equipment includes:
· 2 x Tandberg 4.2.2/4.2.0 encoders (SD),
· 2 x NTT Hitachi H.264 HD Encoders. DVB-S, DVB-S2
· 2 x 400w Dual band (Ku) TWT ETM HPAs
· Full Monitoring and Control Kit including:
· 8 x 8 switcher (router)
· Video switcher
· Waveform and Vector Scope
· Leitch ADA/VDA
· Audio monitoring with PPM meters
· Tone and Bars generator with character overlay
· IFB Kit and 4-wire Camera Comms
· Beta SP/SX laptop Editor for PAL/NTSC playout
· DVCam/DVC Pro Sony DSR 1500P player for PAL/NTSC playout
· On Board Generator as backup power
· 3000w UPS
Optional gear:
Sony HDW F900R Cine Alta HDCam camera kit for HD live position
Antenna diameter: 1.5 m
Max EIRP: 71.5 dBW
Uplink frequency: Ku-band - 14.0-14.5 GHz
Downlink frequency: Ku-band - 10.95 - 12.75 GHz
Max output power: single thread in hot standby mode - 350W per Amp
Feed options: Ku-band - Linear
Linx SNG 002 – Ku Band SD SNG - Fully redundant/dual path capable
Eutelsat Registration: UKI 1324
SNG vehicle: Mercedes Sprinter 311 Cdi, British licence plates LF53 ZWA
Fully Redundant 1.5m Gigasat Antenna System (Dual Path capable)
Standard equipment includes:
· 2 x Tandberg E5714 Encoders 4.2.2 / 4.2.0
· 2 x Xicom XTRD-400K TWT Amplifiers
· Tandberg TT1260 IRD
· 2 x Peak Upconverter P714
· Network Viking 8 x 8 router (audio / video)
· 2 x Leitch VDA / ADA
· Monitoring kit
· Anritsu MS2711B Spectrum Analyzer
· Tektronix WV500 Waveform Monitor
· Tektronix TSG95 Test Generator
· Prospect K6R Talkback Unit
· IFB Kit and 4-wire Camera Comms
· Beta SP/SX laptop Editor for PAL/NTSC playout
· DVCam/DVC Pro Sony DSR 1500P player for PAL/NTSC playout
· 3000 w UPS
· On board built in generator
Antenna diameter: 1.5 m
Max EIRP: 71.5 dBW
Uplink frequency: Ku-band - 13.75 - 14.50 GHz
Downlink frequency: Ku-band - 10.70 - 12.75 GHz
Max output power: single thread in hot standby mode - 350W per Amp
Feed options: Ku-band – Linear
Linx SNG 003 Ku / C dual band 1.9m Flyaway
Eutelsat Registration: UKI - 585
Fully redundant/dual path capable Advent Mantis flyaway system.
Standard equipment includes:
· 2 x Tandberg 4.2.2/4.2.0 encoders
· 2 x 325W Dual band (Ku/C band) TWT Xicom HPAs
· Full Monitoring and Control Kit including
· 8 x 8 router (non synchronized)
· Waveform and Vector Scope
· Audio monitoring with PPM meters
· Tone and Bars generator with character overlay
· IFB Kit and 4-wire Camera Comms
· Beta SP/SX laptop Editor for PAL/NTSC playout
· DVCam/DVC Pro Sony DSR 1500P player for PAL/NTSC playout
· Generator (Honda) as backup power
Antenna diameter: 1.9 m
Max EIRP: Ku-band - 71 dBW, C-band - 63.5 dBW
Uplink frequency: Ku-band - 14.0-14.5 GHz, C-band - 5.85-6.425 GHz
Downlink frequency: Ku-band - 10.95 - 12.75 GHz, C-band - 3.625-4.2 GHz
Max output power: single thread in hot standby mode - 350W per Amp
Feed options: Ku-band - Linear, C-band - Linear or Circular
Other systems and configurations are also available on request, please call us with your specific needs.
Any system can also be complimented with a 4-camera OB Van unit for Sporting and Special Events.