Pops spent his fish year in the corps living out there and still calls it the old army barracks.
Fireworks at Rellis ?
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Last: 3 yr ago by Smeghead4761
Texas a&m research annex said so right on the sign on top of the guard shack when I arrived in 1978.
But standard nomenclature was "the annex"
But standard nomenclature was "the annex"
Doesn't that look like Donald Trump next to the speed limit sign? Time traveler?
Agree with Tim's assessment. Went with sister & met up with 2 of her coworkers. We sat outside our vehicles & there was a decent breeze. Getting was a pain as we got to the 'traffic' about 7:40. Didn't get into RELLIS until about 8:10pm. We were on the runway. Had our own music & just watched the show.
Slocum on a mobile said:
RELLIS, Riverside, Sharp's Institute for the Not So Sharp, Bryan AFB, all the same property....
The olds still call it Riverside. Just like we don't say "CStat".
Hell, I still call it Jersey Street.
Get off my lawn...
yeah, but do you know what a bar ditch is?
halibut sinclair said:
Doesn't that look like Donald Trump next to the speed limit sign? Time traveler?
Pretty sure that's 1986 Jonas
Have had this conversation many a times, but why is it called a bar ditch? We came up with the conclusion that the bar ditch is what saved the fence on your way home from the bar.
Gig ‘em and God bless
It's actually a "borrow" ditch. Bar ditch for short. They used to borrow the dirt from the ditch area to build up and level out the road, leaving the ditch. That's what I've been told. Now it's just used for drainage purposes.
Old Motorola Razrs, actually.Kashchei said:
Is KBTX filming this using potatoes? Pixelated af....
In all honesty, thank you for watching. This was the first time KBTX has ever produced a fireworks broadcast. Our equipment utilizes the cellphone network and we normally don't have an issue at RELLIS. We learned some lessons that we will absolutely apply at the next opportunity. Chancellor Sharp wants this to be a tradition, so who knows.
-Michael Oder
I'm really surprised by this. Is this industry standard? I thought it it was mostly satelite or microwave transmission that was used. Relying on a cell network seems fraught with potenatial snags. Concentrated populations overwhelming a cell's capacity is right up there. We see that all the time on Game days. They even bring in COWs to help with bandwidth on those days sometimes.
So being the tech-nerd that I am could we learn more about remote live broadcasts?
So being the tech-nerd that I am could we learn more about remote live broadcasts?
No it is not industry standard.
Smaller stations usually have a truck with a microwave link to get back to the station. Bigger market stations would have a full satellite dish on top of the truck. Next time a televised football game rolls around check out all those trucks with antennae and dishes all over the tops.
That is how it should be done.
KBTX just learned a valuable lesson. Cellular networks are worthless when 20 thousand people show up in one area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_truck
FWIW, I am not in TV production at all. In fact you couldn't pay me enough. I have been a live sound engineer for over 20 years and have had to interface with video crews both big and small.
Smaller stations usually have a truck with a microwave link to get back to the station. Bigger market stations would have a full satellite dish on top of the truck. Next time a televised football game rolls around check out all those trucks with antennae and dishes all over the tops.
That is how it should be done.
KBTX just learned a valuable lesson. Cellular networks are worthless when 20 thousand people show up in one area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_truck
FWIW, I am not in TV production at all. In fact you couldn't pay me enough. I have been a live sound engineer for over 20 years and have had to interface with video crews both big and small.
I hate to disagree with Tim Weaver, but cell network technology is very much industry standard for local news. Local tv stations of all sizes rarely roll a microwave truck anymore.
The tech comes from companies like TVU and LiveU. There are other brands and services, but they all use the same concept. Each device has about 6 cell cards inside a small computer. They combine signal to create a tube, if you will, that sends HD video and audio back to the station.
I was taught when I started in the industry that "microwave trucks are designed to kill you." KBTX lost a photographer in a live truck accident many years ago. Cell network tech replaces a dangerous truck with a shoe box-sized computer that is so easy to operate (a button and a cable).
KBTX still has a microwave truck. You can see it parked out front. We use it on rare occasions.
Like I said, we learned a lot about how to do television at RELLIS. Large crowds do impact signal, so we know we need to supplement that next year. With how quickly cell tech is improving, perhaps signal will be better out there in a year. Maybe we can lean on Chancellor Sharp to call in some favors?
-Michael Oder
Asst. News Director
The tech comes from companies like TVU and LiveU. There are other brands and services, but they all use the same concept. Each device has about 6 cell cards inside a small computer. They combine signal to create a tube, if you will, that sends HD video and audio back to the station.
I was taught when I started in the industry that "microwave trucks are designed to kill you." KBTX lost a photographer in a live truck accident many years ago. Cell network tech replaces a dangerous truck with a shoe box-sized computer that is so easy to operate (a button and a cable).
KBTX still has a microwave truck. You can see it parked out front. We use it on rare occasions.
Like I said, we learned a lot about how to do television at RELLIS. Large crowds do impact signal, so we know we need to supplement that next year. With how quickly cell tech is improving, perhaps signal will be better out there in a year. Maybe we can lean on Chancellor Sharp to call in some favors?
-Michael Oder
Asst. News Director
I appreciate you sharing that. Very interesting.
That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.Slocum on a mobile said:
Hell, I still call it Jersey Street.
KBTX had a Van with a STL link for many years. Drive up, raise the airmast and turn toward carlos and poof you had a video/audio & com link. But remote vans require maintenance, airmasts start leaking and require overhaul($10K last time I did one) and cellular bandwidth and improvement in video codecs have made public network remotes the norm. Hand every reporter a modern cell phone and poof you have a dozen remote trucks, but there are limits. Even sat trucks today use packet based networks to backhaul their video, and a simple version of that technology is on their weather edge vehicle. So less than perfect but significantly less expensive networks win the day.
Rellis will get significant upgrades in the near future with A&M's sway at Verizon Wireless and things like the Army's future command bringing people to the area that can make things, that you an I can't, happen.
Rellis will get significant upgrades in the near future with A&M's sway at Verizon Wireless and things like the Army's future command bringing people to the area that can make things, that you an I can't, happen.
Its not the Bush Library, its the pig farm.
I'm sure Rellis has significant wired internet infrastructure. They just need to open it up to KBTX or whoever for events like this.
I can certainly see the benefit to a cell based solution for a typical remote broadcast. But this was anything but typical. I would never rely on a transport medium which services the public for an event of any decent size. Say more than 2000 people.TVsMO said:
I hate to disagree with Tim Weaver, but cell network technology is very much industry standard for local news. Local tv stations of all sizes rarely roll a microwave truck anymore.
The tech comes from companies like TVU and LiveU. There are other brands and services, but they all use the same concept. Each device has about 6 cell cards inside a small computer. They combine signal to create a tube, if you will, that sends HD video and audio back to the station.
I was taught when I started in the industry that "microwave trucks are designed to kill you." KBTX lost a photographer in a live truck accident many years ago. Cell network tech replaces a dangerous truck with a shoe box-sized computer that is so easy to operate (a button and a cable).
KBTX still has a microwave truck. You can see it parked out front. We use it on rare occasions.
Like I said, we learned a lot about how to do television at RELLIS. Large crowds do impact signal, so we know we need to supplement that next year. With how quickly cell tech is improving, perhaps signal will be better out there in a year. Maybe we can lean on Chancellor Sharp to call in some favors?
-Michael Oder
Asst. News Director
This is something that is widely known and understood. It's the same reason the data on your phone stops working at football games even though they bring in "on demand" towers to supplement cellular coverage. And that's just one phone using lightweight data. You need 6 consistent streams to acheive the back haul it sounds like.
Surely the network at RELLIS is fairly robust. Why couldn't you get a fiber link and a switch on your own VLAN out to wherever you need it?
Remember. The most expensive wireless solution in the world is still not as good as a cheap, dedicated hardwire.
The wired/wireless infrastructure is where the buildings are. So nothing past the tarmac area (what was the a/c parking areas when it was Bryan AFB. Not sure where the optimum place to set up to get video of the fireworks would be. Maybe they could set up on the roof of the TTI building or something.bco2003 said:
I'm sure Rellis has significant wired internet infrastructure. They just need to open it up to KBTX or whoever for events like this.