To Uplink or Downlink?...That Is The Question....

Over time I have been asked by folks "How do you send the video back from various locations around the country?". Today, class is in session!

I had posted these pics before but wanted to show them again and talk about what we call an uplink truck. It is a portable unit that provides audio and video from a remote location. You can see from the dish on top of the truck that it can be programmed to be aimed toward the sky. The signal is sent toward space to one of many communication satellites that have been placed along the horizon. And over time, they have been developed for certain phone service and GPS navigation systems. We still use them for our work in television, but more and more we are relying on video fiber lines to provide us with delivery from the site to home base.

Now that's how the signal returns from Florida - and in our
case, to WKYC where our master control is located (we will have more on that later). From
there it is dispersed to your antenna, cable, or satellite services. So the thought for today is to think of how many connections we have from the beginning of the show we are producing to your
living room....depending on the path, it could be a few or many. Those are the real basics - but enough for you to know that when the slide on the screen says "Please Stand By - Technical Difficulties" there is a good chance we are working on the video signal!



The last part of the equation is the most important - the people that make this entire process work! We are fortunate to work with the best in that regard. To the engineering men and women from coast to coast that assist us with our signal - a very hearty thanks for all your help during the season. Without them, Indians baseball on the tube would not be possible.

More on this as the season progresses! Thanks for checking out the overview!