Uplinks
LINX runs a fleet of satellite trucks and fly-away dishes from its operations bases in Zagreb, Croatia, and Budapest, Hungary.
Our strategically placed mobile trucks are ever more than a few hours’ drive from the event – be it sports, news or entertainment. 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 was one of the first DSNG providers in Europe to invest in High Definition equipment. We have now upgraded to MPEG4 HD standard, in line with the latest requirements for Sports coverage. We have provided HD services to international broadcasters such as NHK, as well as to organizations such as the EBU, Arqiva, etc.
With our fully redundant flyaways 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.
The US TV Pool (CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox News) have used LINX to provide uplinks facilities for several US Presidential trips to the region - 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, Germany, 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.
We can add other production equipment and staff to the uplinks – and provide 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
SNG – 001 Ku Band (HD/SD) – 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:
· NTT HVE 9100 MPEG-4 HD encoder
· ADTEC E 91 MPEG-4 HD encoder
· 2 x Xicom XTRD-400K TWT Amplifiers
· 2x Ericsson RX 8200 MPEG-4 HD IRD
· 2 x Peak Upconverter P714
· Black Magic 16x16 router
·Black Magic ATEM Television Studio switcher
· Mackie 1604 VLZ3 audio mixer
· JVC 17" HD monitors
· Ilyama 27" HD monitors
· Black Magic rack mounted monitors
· Fostex 6301BX audio monitors
· Black Magic SDI distribution· Swires Annie Spectrum Analyzer
· Tektronix WV500 Waveform Monitor
· Tektronix TSG95 Test Generator
· Prospect K6R Talkback Unit
· IFB Kit and 4-wire Camera Comms
· Liebert 5000 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 002 – Ku Band SD SNG - 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),
· 1 x Tandberg MPEG-2 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 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.