Posted by Rich Cerny
We're proud to be the winner of BE Magazine's Pick Hit Award
at IBC this year, and the product that got it is our new modular Rattler™ 3G. This is an amazingly innovative product, even for Telecast.
The Rattler 3G HD/SDI fiber optic video link is the first product that allows you to configure exactly the device you need, whether it's a coax to fiber transmitter, a fiber to coax receiver, a fiber to fiber mode converter or CWDM wavelength shifter, or even a BNC to BNC coaxial inline equalizing repeater. 
Using the groundbreaking Telecube™ technology, you can even change the Rattler 3G into something different by simply replacing cubes whenever you need to.
Like the original Rattler, you also get that indispensible optical power meter on the side of the center "Pit" coupler. But unlike the original, you now have up to 16 CWDM wavelenths to choose from, as well as higher power levels.
According to the BE website "The prestigious Pick Hits Awards, which have honored companies and
their technology for more than 25 years, are selected by a panel of
independent judges who tour the convention floor looking for innovative
products and technology. The judges then meet to make their selections
based on several criteria, including the technical and financial
improvements the product can bring to a facility’s operation. Broadcast Engineering’s
editors and publishers have no vote in the selection process, ensuring
the winners truly represent outstanding achievement in the eyes of a
group of people who are representative of those making TV happen."
Posted by Steve Nelson
This last weekend I went to see WPRI-TV using our equipment at the Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, RI for their expanded news broadcasts from the rain soaked CVS Caremark Charity Golf
Classic. WPRI needed to set-up an announce position next to the course for two reporters, two guests, and a jib camera for beauty shots. The system operated for three days, much of it in the rain. As the broadcast area off the fairway turned into a swamp, it spotlighted fiber’s immunity to water; no hum buckers, no plastic bagging of connectors, no shock hazard, etc. The entire interconnect was accomplished on a single 500 ft. run of TAC-4 cable between the announce set and production trailer.
There was some old and some new equipment on site. 
A legacy Ethernet Viper was used for the heart of the announcer system, moving HD program video, return video, six program audio channels, IFB , and ClearCom channels. One of the new Sony EX-3 cameras was fed through the Viper Mussel Shell while the second set camera was connected through the spare Mussel Shell fibers to a new, Telecast Copperhead equipped to interface with the Sony EX-3. The Copperhead provided full camera signal interface, remote control functions, operator intercom, and tally. 
The third Sony EX-3 jib cam was fed back to the production trailer using a Telecast Rattler system.
At the very end, you should have seen the Jumbotron Truck trying to leave, driving up the muddy hill. A lot of money changed hands with each attempt up the slippery slope.
See Broadcast Engineering Magazine coverage.