Introduction

Watch a TV news or sports programme anywhere in the world at any time, and it is highly likely that some (or all) of the events being televised will have been relayed back to the studio by the use of microwave communications at some point. The technology used to do this is highly complex, but the aim of this book is to cover the basics, giving you enough information to understand how, why and where these processes are used.

Microwave communications literally form a link in the chain of covering an event (and are so actually referred to as ‘links’), and are a means to deliver TV signals back to the studio – a tool to get the job done.

Although we will primarily look at the use of microwave technology in an electronic news environment (with a particular focus on ‘live’ operations), we will also cover the differences when it is used in a sports or events situation – usually considered an outside broadcast (OB). We will talk about terrestrial microwave links and satellite links.

Both are essentially the same – with terrestrial microwave we are transmitting a microwave signal from one point directly to another point, a relatively short distance away on the Earth’s surface, while with the satellite link we are transmitting a microwave signal up to a satellite, which then instantaneously re-transmits the microwave signal back down to the Earth.

It is important to note that with both of these, we are dealing with a microwave signal – the only significant difference is the length of path it takes and the direction it is pointed (ignoring some other differences that we will cover later).

With the satellite signal, the actual distance that the signal is connected between points on the Earth’s surface could be 10 m or 10 000 km – a satellite signal’s range is far greater than the terrestrial microwave link, which might typically connect only between 50 m and 80 km.

However, irrespective of the direct line distance across the Earth’s surface, the distance the satellite signal has actually travelled will be around 70 000 km – the approximate round trip distance up to the satellite and back to wherever you are on the Earth’s surface within the ‘sight’ of the satellite.

Over the years, there have been various definitions of electronic news-gathering (ENG) and OB, and the various operations that have been ascribed to either ENG or OB, and we will clarify what is generally understood by these terms across the industry.

We will look at the differences as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each type of signal transmission.

Hopefully, by the time you have finished reading this book, you will know which tool to use effectively in a particular situation, and why it is the right one to use.