Clear-Com's Eclipse Drives IT home for Advanced Broadcast Solutions
ABS Outfits its HD Mobile Production Flypack with Eclipse PiCo Digital Matrix Intercom System
SEATAC, WASHINGTON, MAY 13, 2010 — Clear-Com®, a global leader in mission-critical voice communication systems, is the driving force behind Advanced Broadcast Systems (ABS) HD mobile production flypack. ABS, based in the Seattle/Tacoma metropolitan area, has outfitted the flypack with Clear-Com’s Eclipse PiCo digital matrix intercom system, giving its clients access to high-quality, flexible on-location communications round the clock.
ABS considered Clear-Com for the communications systems in the flypack early in the design process, finally selecting the Eclipse PiCo system for its ability to provide high-quality full duplex communication in a compact, 1RU frame. The PiCo system allows ABS to maximize the amount of space in the flypack while also providing customers with a powerful digital matrix intercom system.
“We built a flypack in response to the growing need in the local broadcast market for an affordable approach to high definition field acquisition and mobile production,” says Mark Siegel, president of ABS. “For the flypack we were building we needed high performance at a low cost of entry, and Clear-Com was able to provide us with a very comprehensive solution. It was able to offer a big boy system at a little boy price, making the entire production flypack affordable to a much greater cross section of the market,” he continues.
The Eclipse PiCo system is ideal for small- to mid-size production environments, with 36 full-duplex panels, including four 4-wire ports in one simple chassis. Each Eclipse PiCo has two power supplies for fail-safe redundancy and eight on-board general purpose inputs and outputs, with built-in support for Clear-Com’s V-Series, I-Series, 4000 series panels and ICS panels. In addition, for even easier set-up, the PiCo’s front user menu enables quick and easy changes to input/output levels, routes and configurations.
According to Siegel, the greatest strengths of the Clear-Com equipment are “configurability on the fly, expandability and scaling. At times we have to rent additional components, and it’s very easy to build upon, it’s very easy to expand.” ABS, which is also a dealer of Clear-Com equipment, praises the dependability of the Eclipse system as well as the company behind it. “Obviously a production flypack requires a high level of support. You’d better make a good product because you can’t fail in doing live production—it’s too costly. You have to have very reliable equipment. When you do have a problem you have to have a company that’s able to respond and Clear-Com has proven that it will be there.”
“In today’s challenging economic environment, broadcasters require the utmost value in their communications solutions, in the form of versatility and scalability,” says Bob Boster, Director of Sales, Americas and Asia Pacific, Clear-Com. “The PiCo is designed as a solution that offers all of those features, in a sophisticated yet affordable package. We are delighted that our Eclipse PiCo provided the perfect solution for Advanced Broadcast Solutions and its HD production flypack clients.”