One "cool" win for satellite transmission!

Every now and then, I get an opportunity to work on a project that checks all the boxes for me. The Natural Selection Tour (NST) was one such project- technically and physically challenging. Beautiful, remote big mountain terrain. And of course, flying! The initial request really got my attention. "We are interested in doing a flyaway uplink, but first, how are your skiing skills?" Not the typical question I get as an uplink engineer! Next I was invited to go heli-skiing outside Revelstoke, British Columbia on a site survey with some of the best snowboarders in the world- the founders of the Natural Selection Tour- while they scoped out possible locations for their big project, something that had never been done before, and something that many in TV production thought was impossible- a remote integration (REMI) broadcast from the middle of the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia.

Uncle Toads is the creative vision behind the production, which had been previously done live at a ski resort, with a traditional Mobile Unit in the parking lot. It has also been done in the back country, recorded and edited together. This year they wanted to do a live broadcast, from the back country, relying completely on helicopters for everything.

Planning began months ago, and due to limited Ku-band satellite availability in the western arc, we were forced to consider a C-band option, on the SES-22 satellite.

While the big 2.4 meter dish and heavy 750 watt transmitters I used to cover Pope Francis' visit to the Canadian Arctic town of Iqaluit in July would have been perfect from a technical standpoint, on that job the equipment flew in on a Canadian Forces C-17.

In Revelstoke, we had a Bell 205 (the civilian version of the iconic Huey military helicopter) long-lining our equipment in.

C-band is the preferred option for high profile events, it's less affected by rain fade. However, due to the longer wavelength, C band antennas must be larger, and transmitters more powerful to get the same "gain" as a Ku-band system. And with 6 paths to uplink in high quality, we needed a lot of bitrate- 100mbps worth. I settled on 1.8 meter Cobham/Patriot dish and compact 250w transmitters.

Normally, a 1.8m dish and 250w transmitter would not have enough gain to transmit a full 36 MHz transponder on C band, however satellite owner SES worked with us to lower the "pad" on the transponder, making it more sensitive to signals coming from earth. There are tradeoffs, however, such as in more noise also. After some testing in Maryland we found a good modulation setting that would work, and brought the equipment up to Toronto to be loaded on a truck going out west.

Toronto-based RF Wireless was the glue that brought the show together. With six video sources spread out across two ridges, a finish line, start line, and TWO drones, the only option was to do everything wirelessly. RF Wireless designed a microwave solution that linked all cameras back to a central transmission tent on a south-facing ridge, where the uplink would be located.

As a REMI production, a director at Red Bull Media House in Los Angeles would remotely direct the show, insert graphics, replays and other elements of a live broadcast. RF Wireless built a UHF repeater system that allowed the remote staff to key up a walkie talkie channel and communicate directly with studio staff in California.

We utilized unused audio channels on the uplink paths to carry the various intercom audios to California, and a return feed of the production was sent back to us on satellite. Besides being microwaved to the start and finish to display on monitors there, the return feed also carried intercom and IFB audio which was injected into the UHF radio system. A Starlink terminal provided internet access for our transmission compound.

We had a clear day to setup the satellite antenna, however a storm moved in the following day and we could not fly. Arriving the day after, we had to trudge through waist deep snow and dig out our tent from under 6' drifts.

The following day we did a full rehearsal. And the day after, we flew at sunrise into a beautiful scene and did the broadcast! The NST trademark shot- a custom built racing drone following the riders- was absolutely incredible.

The broadcast went well, you can see the entire 6 hours on YouTube, or a highlights reel. The broadcast received attention outside the snowboarding community, with writeups in The New York Times and Forbes.

We showed what was possible with a group of dedicated broadcast professionals. I'm hoping for the chance to work with this fine group again next season!