As the FIFA World Cup reaches a climax and an estimated one billion people watch the final games, Sky Television's army of cameramen, presenters and commentators is using Tait's radio equipment to stay in touch.

From the outside broadcast truck, the director covering each match uses the TB7100 base station to communicate with his in-stadium team.

Reports from the tunnel on who is substituted or injured are relayed by radio back to the truck and fed into on-screen graphics. Data sent by radio through the TB7100 direct to/from the camera can control brightness and colour so the cameramen just have to point and focus.

The TB7100 was installed in the outside broadcast truck by The Wireless Works, a London-based Tait dealer owned by Tristian Bickerton.

"The TB7100 is the perfect choice for outside broadcast applications due to its small size: in these trucks it's a tight, confined area, so space is at a premium," says Tristian. "Flexible power options were important too. Having a choice of 12 or 240 volt power sources makes the TB7100 ideal for use on location and onsite."

"TB7100s are great because they have easy-to-configure buttons and you can make it do whatever you want it to do."

-Tristian Bickerton,
The Wireless Works

NEP Visions, the company that owns the World Cup truck also has a contract with Sky to televise UK premiership football games as well as UEFA Cup and other European games. Tristian doesn't get a huge buzz out of this because he is not much of a football fan. However, the TB7100-fitted derig portable systems will also be helping Australia's Channel 9 and ESPN to cover Wimbledon.

"TB7100s are great because they have easy-to-configure buttons and you can make it do whatever you want it to do," concludes Tristian. "The Tait equipment is very straightforward to install and set up to suit the customer. This is important for my customers because with broadcast and conferences, everything is 'I need it tomorrow!'"

Why did Wireless Works choose Tait's TB7100? "Well the size and power options make this an obvious candidate. And it's at a really competitive price point. But mainly it just works. Just take it out the box, configure the system and install, and most importantly meet or exceed the customers' very short delivery schedule!" says Tristian.

Doing business with Tait has also been successful for Wireless Works. "They are attentive and responsive and don't charge a fortune for a repair! My impression of Tait products? I compare Tait to a Toyota pick-up truck: tough and versatile."

More Information

Tait TB7100 Base Stations

A compact and affordable analogue base station that offers continuous duty operation at temperatures of up to 60°C.