Has anyone ever done this type of flying, covering a cycle race for TV? I'd guess there is "standard" TV work and then there is something like this, which requires a slightly different approach.
I did. Flying a relay for a motorbike camera that is. As this is usually done using a digital downlink, you need to be right on top of it. Therefore you spend a lot of time in the avoid curve and especially being downwind in a B206 keeps you focused. At the same time you need to know where the other helicopters are around you.
Those flying "Le Tour" have a quite impressive outfit. I would love to fly there once but i think it is a 'closed shop' and chances are rather nil.
The Basics
At the core of the live race broadcast is the use of five VHF wireless cameras on motorbikes, two journalists reporting from motorbikes, and images captured from two helicopters with Cineflex gyro-stabilised camera systems. The five cameras on motorbikes capture the drama of the race from within while the helicopters cover the race but also capture much of the beauty of the French countryside which is such a large part of the production. At the finish line there can be between 1 to 20 additional cameras in place (depending on the broadcaster’s production) to capture rider interviews and the post-race action. Also new this year is a camera mounted on the Tour de France race director, Cristian Prudhomme’s car.
The “HF Long Distance System”
Images from motorcycle and helicopter cameras are transmitted via VHF links to relay helicopters flying at ~600 meters altitude. The signal is then retransmit them to aircraft flying at 3000-8000 meters (dependant on weather). These aircraft (some are unpressurised) need to circle very slowly therefore the turbulence can be highly uncomfortable for the pilots and technicians. If the weather turns bad then the use of the aircraft flying above the clouds becomes integral to the broadcast. In this case the GPS system on each bike becomes very important so that the aircraft can actually locate the motorbikes from 25,000 feet in the air.
Once the signal is sent to the helicopters and aircraft they are then relayed onto intermediate points sitting along the course (trucks which relay the signal onwards). In a typical stage there are two intermediate points. If it’s a very complex course with difficult terrain, there are sometimes three. These intermediate points are needed because stages can be as long as 225kms and the video signals need to be relayed from start to finish. The first intermediate points receives the signal and send it up to satellite. The second intermediate point forwards the signal to the town where the finish line is located via 4 receivers mounted on a crane 50 meters high. The eight camera signals are then decoded at Euro Media France’s OB truck (outside broadcast truck) which then performs some signal processing and minor colour correction to then send onto the France Television’s production truck sitting next door.
Time gaps that you seen on television are measured via GPS transponders mounted on the television motorcycles. This is not the time gap information used by the race officials however. You might notice the time gaps changing wildly on television. This is because the motorcycles are moving quickly, not because the gap is changing. Read more about how the time gaps are measured here.
The 50m high crane at the finish line holds the antennas for the intermediate points along the course to transmit their microwave links
As you can imagine, coordination of all of the vehicles is very complex. All of the moving vehicles need to communicate their exact co-ordinates to each other via GPS so their antennas can automatically move in sync with each other via motor mounts.
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How the Tour de France is Broadcast To the World | News with Tags