[Steve in Pudsey]

How portable could VSat be made, the tech used in the modern local radio cars?

[Stooky Bill]

How portable could VSat be made, the tech used in the modern local radio cars?

More portable than a vehicle?

VSAT just refers to the size of dish (under 3.6m) and being part of a centralised control system or network

en.wikipedia.org 

Very-small-aperture terminal - Wikipedia
Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main pageCon…
  Source: en.wikipedia.org

The size of dish is important for type of satellite and how powerful the satellite is. The ones for local radio are about 80cm as they use KA band. The TV ones use Ku band and are 2m-ish

No reason why you couldn't install a temporary fixed dish in a location without a vehicle, but obviously that needs someone to line it up, it's not press and go like a set up in a vehicle. VSAT installations on shops and other premises are fixed

'Fly away' dishes for traditional SNG have been around for years for use abroad or long term installations. For example setting up a live position for a news story such as a war - there was a BBC dish in a balcony in Kiev for a few months at the start of the Ukraine War.

[i.h]

I suspect the main reticence with Starlink isn't the technical reliability, but how reliable the service is in terms of the whims of its owner.

I'd say it's both. Starlink can be fast, but it'll be incredibly variable just like cellular connections are. I believe the transportable services run at a lower priority when away from the registered address. Then there's the expense of the higher performance terminal etc. It's an absolute winner in terms of cost and performance when compared to BGAN but harder to justify against most other connection types.

I'd say that if a venue has even a VDSL connection and it's not being used by anyone else, that's certainly a cheaper and more consistent bet!

There's also the relative pain of having to put the thing outside and run wires back to where you're set up. Fine if you're going to be there all night, but if you're just going to be live for a few minutes and the cellular bonding seems to be working well...?

I suppose one can hope that OneWeb (well it's Eutelsat now) gets off the ground and provides a bit more competition and less baggage.

[Steve in Pudsey]

More portable than a vehicle?

VSAT just refers to the size of dish (under 3.6m) and being part of a centralised control system or network

Thanks, I was thinking in terms of fly away kit. Doesn't VSAT have other differences from a traditional SNG in being simpler to operate and not requiring to be "talked up" onto the satellite?

[Technologist]

LEO like starlink one world etc use constellations which means that the base station has to hand off between satellites which means that for streamed Media you have to do clever things … BT M&B were demoing this at IBC ….and then using two constellations / providers to provide a bonded service …
www.mediaandbroadcast.bt.com 

IBC Event 2023 - Insights | BT Media & Broadcast
Check out our highlights from the BT Media & Broadcast stand at IBC 2022. Wa…
  Source: www.mediaandbroadcast.bt.com

And dB Broadcadt have supplied Starlink to itv
dbbroadcast.co.uk 

dB Broadcast Empowers ITV Studios with Innovative Starlink Solution - dB Broadca…
dB empowers ITV Studios
  Source: dbbroadcast.co.uk

[matthieu1221]

At the risk of bringing things on topic, the London Mayoral and Assembly elections have used electronic counting in the past, but this year will be counted manually - now it's FPTP it's simpler and therefore cheaper:
www.onlondon.co.uk 

Counting and declarations won't be until the Saturday:
www.londonelects.org.uk 

We're not going to get a London election night then... wonder if the other mayoral contests are doing the same with the 'slow' counting? At least the rest of the country will have the time to shine.

[Newshound47]

Why are they counting on a Saturday and not a Friday?

[DTV]

Local elections articles have begun appearing on the BBC News website, including elexagon graphics.

[peterrocket]

Local elections articles have begun appearing on the BBC News website, including elexagon graphics.

The general election graphics are also appearing if you look for them

   

[DTV]

The general election graphics are also appearing if you look for them

Possibly, but you can never be quite sure with GE graphics until the short campaign launches. IIRC, in 2015, variations of the 2010 'pins' graphics were used in the preliminary part of the campaign, with the elexagon only launching when the daily Election Today began at the start of the short campaign at the end of March.