Telecast Fiber Powers Upgraded SIU Production Facilities

The Southern Illinois University (SIU) Athletics Department has installed a suite of fiber optic transport solutions from Telecast Fiber Systems as part of an extensive upgrade of the department’s A/V master control and production facilities. The Telecast Fiber Systems equipment powers a fiber optic network that supplies video feeds to big screens in the university’s new Saluki Stadium, which has just wrapped up its first football season, as well as the newly renovated SIU Arena for basketball.

“The Telecast Fiber Systems equipment has worked flawlessly from day one, and the quality of the video sent up from the CopperHead systems is fantastic. Our fans are raving about the clarity of the video on the boards,” says Chris Hagstrom, director of video services for the Southern Illinois University Athletics Department. “Plus, the ability to manage all of our video and audio camera signals within a single box makes our lives so much easier during game production.”

Systems integrator and Telecast Fiber Systems dealer Media Support Group provided installation and technical project management for SIU’s A/V upgrade, which includes a new control room housed in the SIU Arena. Telecast Fiber Systems CopperHead camera-mounted transceivers exchange camera signals between both the SIU Arena and Saluki Stadium and the control room, providing SDI feeds as well as intercom and CCU signals that give engineers complete, remote control over the cameras.

In the control room, a two-channel Telecast Fiber Systems Python II bi-directional transmit/receive system provides feeds to video boards in both venues, including a 20×40 scoreboard with video replay capabilities, LED ring, and LED scores tables. The Python supplies raw camera feeds to the school’s sports webcasts on the school’s Southern Illinois Salukis website, and also exchanges feeds with broadcasters’ production trucks that are on site to provide televised coverage of the games.

“Southern Illinois University is a great example of the growing importance of fiber in the college sports market as universities move toward more centralized production. This requires technologies that can seamlessly transport high-quality signals over long distances to power large screens in multiple venues,” says Britt Morin, technical support manager, Media Support Group. “The Telecast Fiber Systems gear came highly recommended from one of our consultants, and it was the ideal solution for this project considering the distances involved — up to 2,000 feet from the control room to the truck bay. We won’t hesitate to spec Telecast Fiber Systems equipment for future jobs.”