Unitecnic custom designs the definitive mobile unit for Canal Sur

Channel On entrusts the integration of its latest mobile unit to Unitecnic, company MEDIAPRO GROUP, whose 'know-how' has allowed us to design a versatile, adaptable and multi-purpose vehicle.

The integration of a mobile unit is quite a puzzle in which each piece has to fit so that the technology be at the service of the vehicle usability. Unitecnic, GRUP MEDIAPRO engineering company, has been responsible for the creation of the latest big bet for outdoor productions of Channel On: a project 360 degrees, custom designed, in which bodywork, interior architecture and technology are part of a whole that allows us to provide new alternatives to the daily production of Andalusian television. Versatility, adaptability and customization are the key words that define this project.

Francisco Javier Periáñez, responsible for Unitecnic for this Canal Sur project, and Rafael Muñoz Moyano, director of engineering of Channel On, reveal the keys to this custom-made vehicle.

Adapted to needs

The design of a mobile unit must, above all, respond to the particular needs of the external television broadcast team. That's how he understands it Rafael Munoz from Canal Sur: “Customization of the mobile unit is essential. The experience that has given us years and years of outdoor broadcasts has led us to design a mobile unit with unique characteristics adapted to our coverage.”. The team of Unitecnic For this integration project, led by Francisco José Periáñez, he shares a philosophy with the engineering director of Andalusian radio and television: “Each vehicle we integrate is different and allows us to look for new formulas to continue finding the best solution: the one that adapts to the client.”.

"The personalization of the mobile unit is fundamental” – Rafael Muñoz Moyano, engineering director of Canal Sur.

It is accompaniment process to optimize the project is a maxim that is repeated in all the mobile units integrated by Unitecnic. This is how it was done with RTVE, a company for which a connectivity solution was designed that allows their PELs to be linked, so that today they can scale their capabilities to adapt to large productions; and is currently running on EITB, radio and television of the Basque Country, which required a stainless steel chassis to adapt to the weather conditions of the autonomous community: ““This material provides a lot of weight and adds complexity to the design, but we have been able to adapt to this very particular need without any problem.”, explains Periáñez.

In the case of Canal Sur, the objective, Muñoz emphasizes, was “have a mobile unit completely in high definition” that would adapt both to the typology of Andalusian television broadcasts (election nights, bullfights, holy weeks, fairs, sporting events...), as well as to the operational peculiarities that accompany the coverage in the south of Spain.

A mobile unit with unique features

Unitecnic prepared up three different interior designs to respond to all the requirements of the tender. The southern weather conditions of Spain and the architecture of southern cities also played a determining role.

One of Canal Sur's requests was, for example, that the vehicle not exceed nine meters to favor the maneuverability in the historic center of Andalusian cities and towns. Likewise, to face the high temperatures in the south, it was decided to integrate a heating system into the mobile unit. internal air filtration what keeps the thermometer at bay and the air clean inside the vehicle. These small adjustments, designs and redesigns allow the vehicle to fulfill its mission: “A custom-made and purpose-designed mobile unit always brings up small issues to refine, but UNITECNIC has resolved all of them without any problem. “It is currently operating at full capacity and is the mobile unit that has the most use in Canal Sur.”, confirm Muñoz.

Canal Sur - Unitecnic - Mobile Unit - Mediapro

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Another of the peculiarities of this vehicle is its tailgate: instead of opening in half, it unfolds vertically. The top part serves as awning to protect technicians and to the equipment when carrying out any type of interconnection or wiring modification, while the lower one is a structure that technicians can climb on to operate comfortably. The ladder, unlike that of other mobile units, is rotates 90º to be deployed on the body itself: an original design work for optimize deployment space y avoid the usual step in its removable flask.

Furthermore, the cabin has two peculiar characteristics: it exceeds the 195 centimeters tall, so that all Canal Sur technicians can work comfortably, and they have installed tieline panels for each job in order to encourage the exchange of positions in the different productions and thus gain flexibility. Likewise, they have arranged four positions of operation in the bag, separated two by two, in order to optimize the entry and exit of personnel to this work area. This intelligent space distribution allows the mobile unit to add 9 positions, a notable amount for a vehicle of these dimensions.

Top-notch technology

The design is important and the selected technology is even more important. In a live broadcast nothing can go wrong.

The mobile unit, which is structured on a vehicle Iveco, is made up of eight chambers HD Sony HXC-FB80L. The philosophy 12G-SDI extends to the rest of the vehicle's technical pillars: the video matrix Ross Video Ultrix 64×64, with four multi-screen outputs, double audio input/output via MADI with the capacity of up to 16 audios for each SDI channel (with the consequent savings in equipment glue), and redundant controller and PSU; the video mixer Carbonite Ultra de Ross, with 24 3G inputs (18 UHD), 14 3G outputs (10 UHD), 3 ME (2 UHD) and up to 4 Mini ME; a control panel Ross TouchDrive TD2 15 direct buttons; the replay server XT-GO six reversible UHD channels and two remote control panels LSM of EVS, oh come on three UHD recorders AJA Ki Pro Ultra 12G.

Unitecnic has created for Canal Sur a vehicle that is committed to top-notch technology, always at the service of production.

The intercom system chosen has been the digital matrix RTS Odin 1RU with 128 ports, of which 64 are licensed and can be assigned to technologies such as DANTE, RVON, RTS or analog, while for audio the DSP-RX engine has been chosen. Yamaha with the surface CS-R3 38 faders. The system has the card HY144-D, to provide it with 144 audio channels Dante, and the card HY128-MD of 128 channels via MADI, which interfaces with Ross's Ultrix video matrix. Other markings arranged throughout the installation have been Phabrix, Wohler, Orban, Albalah y Prodys.

He know-how, clave

Beyond the “irons”, the design and configuration of a mobile unit requires taking into account some functional keys that Unitecnic has translated into this vehicle. General precepts, such as that the bodywork must comply with all traffic regulations or the need to balance the interior design to facilitate the mobility and versatility of workplaces, coexist with more specific ones such as, for example, what electrical design must be implemented to adapt the vehicle to the requirements of sports entities such as UEFA.

"The South Canal unit is ready to be operational daily” – Francisco Javier Periáñez, project manager at Unitecnic

Everything will add up to maximize the usability of the vehicle: “Sometimes, customers have a type of use intended for their mobile unit. Even so, it is most likely that the vehicle can be used for all types of situations. “The Canal Sur unit, like many others designed by the Unitecnic team, is prepared to be operating daily,” says Periáñez.

This versatility is the direct consequence of a scalable design that allows you to work a day with five operators and, the next day, with eight users inside the mobile unit; that makes possible join two mobile units in parallel to create more complex productions; or the one who has all the necessary tools to adapt to the 100% remote productions.

Overcoming unprecedented challenges

The integration of the Canal Sur mobile unit experienced a complex context especially marked by the semiconductor crisis caused as a result of Covid. Some of the equipment initially chosen for the vehicle they stopped be available all over the world. Fortunately, the Unitecnic and Canal Sur team, in close collaboration, were able to find the most appropriate solution to these challenges.

Case by case, and with the collaboration of the legal teams of both parties (since the modification of public contracts requires a detailed study) it was defined which equipment could be replaced by another, and which one would have to wait because it was the solution that was adapted 100% to the needs of the project. All these processes were done maintaining the starting price.

A mobile unit for today and tomorrow

For months now, Channel On deploys its new mobile unit daily. The care in your design and conceptualization They have ended up giving shape to a vehicle capable of responding to all the needs of the autonomous entity.

The Canal Sur unit, supported by Unitecnic's experience, has become a solution ready for the gift, but ready to evolve as the technology, los operator profiles o to nature and philosophy of the media par excellence of Andalusia.