Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 11, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The vehicle itself consists of a Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor unit and a 14-metre semitrailer with a single-sided expansion. The expansion houses the workstations for the graphics and slow-motion operators. ProVan is responsible for the bodywork as a subcontractor.
A Clear-Com Eclipse Median matrix with 32 ports is used as the intercom system, as the latest generation of Clear-Com software is highly configurable and therefore particularly well suited to use in OB vans. Al Jazeera Children’s Channel selected a Sony MVS-8000G vision mixer with 3.5 M/E banks and eight DVEs.
Monitoring in the control rooms uses Evertz multiviewers and 47-inch Barco displays, as well as 17-inch and 26-inch Panasonic displays. All recording is handled by two six-channel slow-motion servers from EVS. The cameras are connected via fibre optics and modified for this purpose by OSI Fiber Optics. MCI is also deploying a Link wireless camera system for transmission. In the physically separate audio control room, a 120-channel LAWO mc²66 serves as the central component, enabling end-to-end 5.1 audio processing.
Particular attention is being paid to the air-conditioning system. On the one hand, its cooling capacity must be designed for an average outdoor temperature of 50°C; on the other, the fresh-air and cooling-air intakes must be adequately protected against sand and dust contamination. Two redundant 50 kVA generators provide an independent power supply. The vehicle can be operated by a crew of up to 13.
MCI will conduct all required training for the operational crew in Hamburg and Doha. Contract negotiations were completed in July 2007, and the vehicle will be delivered in summer 2008.
