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How the TV System Works

  • G-Pixx in action
  • Controls of G-Pixx
  • G-Pixx sunset

It is a flying tv studio

We carry 4 cameras, 3 of these are lipstick cams. There are 2 inside (with lights) for presenters, one outside on the tail for a geography shot that is quite breathtaking. And then there’s the main camera mounted outside on the nose – or rather its gimbal is on the nose. Inside the gimbal is the lens and the front half of the camera. The rest of the camera electronics are inside the helicopter.

The gimbal

Designed and built by Cineflex (think Planet Earth – they made that camera system), the gimbal is a very clever camera mount. The gimbal’s job is to take out all vibration, all shocks and to position the lens where the operator needs it. The technology that does this is termed “point in space” – which literally means that you can point the lens at something and it will keep pointing at the subject no matter what the helicopter does. The operator has full control of all camera functions from the custom made laptop controller. This also has an X,Y,Z joystick for positioning the lens and full control of the 42X zoom.

Comms

We have a fully-integrated comms suite which can duplex with 2 separate sources of talkback. We can also monitor live tv and radio.

Our sound system is fully digital and can gather voices from any of the headsets.

Video switcher

We have a 5-way video switcher for live cutting. And we can record and playback from digiBeta, DVCAM or miniDV.

Working live

Most of our news work is rapid-reaction and live. We developed the technology for this with leading UK company Link Research. We can send sound & vision down the link by a choice of three antennae. One of these is an active directional antennae with no moving parts. We program this with the co-ordinates of a receive site (or we fly over the receive site and capture its co-ordinates) – and then the signal is constantly directed to that site. The distances achievable are greater than ever seen before in the UK. We have saved fortunes for our news clients by being able to gather shots at a great distance from the receive site and transmit with no need for a satellite link.

And that's why we call the helicopter a flying tv studio. ......because it is.