Jordan-based Roya TV deployed in-house expertise to build an OB van with four HD LDX80 cameras from Grass Valley, expandable to six cameras, to cover local productions including live shows and small events. The project began in June 2017, and the van was commissioned by the end of January 2018. The Amman division of Broadcast and Studio Solutions reportedly helped the Roya TV team in the area of systems integration.

Fares Sayegh, GM at Roya TV, said: “As a local TV broadcaster with continuous stream of productions, we needed to have our own OB van built according to our specifications and requirements. To cover daily news and live shows, it is vital to have such flexibility.

“This is the second OB van that we have built in-house since we have the technical capabilities. It turns out to be much cheaper and more efficient. We had two engineers who managed this project, and they collaborated with an external wiring team.”

The challenge for Sayegh’s team during the three-month process was to build a professional OB van at a lower cost. A local company built the chassis for the Iveco van under the supervision of Roya TV engineers, to ensure “heat insulation and effective air-conditioning within the vehicle”, said Sayegh.

After a week of training for the operators, the van was deployed and has reported no glitches. On lessons learned from the first OB van assembled in-house, Sayegh said: “We learned how to improve efficiency and design. We also worked on having similar equipment so we can share them between the two OB vans when needed. We worked with Grass Valley, SAM, Fuji, Ross, Digico, RTS and SWIT. Reliability and cost were the key factors in selecting the solutions within the OB van.”

Kit List
Camera: Grass Valley LDX80 cameras
Vision mixer:Ross Carbonite
Audio mixer: Digico S21

Glue from SAM
Router, playout/recording T2 servers: Grass Valley
Lenses: Fujinon
Talkback: RTS