MARLOW, UK – 16th November 2016 - Leading broadcast equipment manufacturer, TSL Products, today announced that RaceTech, a UK-based horseracing services specialist, is relying on TallyMan controller to coordinate critical broadcast infrastructure components in its new HD broadcast truck, providing RaceTech operators with a common platform to control equipment from different vendors.
RaceTech provides a unique range of technical and broadcast services to the horse racing industry, as well as the wider public and private sectors – from cameras and full broadcast services to building and maintaining the complete digital library of every horse race in the UK.
The recent installation of TSL’s TallyMan controller was managed by systems integrator WTS Broadcast Systems Division. For Project Engineer Chris Williams, the RaceTech truck provided another opportunity to deploy the TallyMan, whose capabilities had “really proven themselves” in a long line of previous installations.
Mark Johnson, Head of Engineering at RaceTech, explains: "We wanted to replicate the operational look, feel and functionality of the existing HD fleet. TSL and our systems integrator, WTS, understood how important this was to us and immediately set out to deliver these requirements. One key decision was that we had decided to use a different manufacturer’s router to that of our existing HD trucks, and the control panel functionality of the new router wasn’t close enough to what we wanted. TSL’s control panels were the closest fit to our existing brand so the technical team, along with our SI, embarked upon the process of developing our requirements into their panel functionality.”
“The TallyMan really started to come into its own when we had some particularly complex logic requirements that a lot of router controllers could not handle,” says Williams. “It was a combination of two cascaded routers and we wanted all the preview push-downs for the CCUs to be routed in a smart way so the operators could change them around really easily. Once again, the capabilities of the touchscreen and the control panels rendered the TallyMan a strong foundation for this project.”
The installation relies on TallyMan to deliver full signal flow management including grouped signal routing (with full breakaway). Automatic audio-follow-video across devices by different manufacturers from a single control surface has made it possible to select the equipment that most closely matches RaceTech’s requirements. All of this functionality runs in concert with the tally, UMD and router control TallyMan is well known for. In addition, the TSL and WTS teams worked on fashioning some fresh functionality, including the ability to provide freely assignable joystick controls and add camera assignment in the controls.
The RaceTech implementation of the TallyMan system utilizes the latest functionality to maximum effect in order to provide users with a truly intuitive control platform. TallyMan is managing all signal flow and logic, from signal grouping and emergency changeover to automated logic patching, freeing operators to focus on the task at hand without worrying about the underpinning systems.
The TallyMan system is part of a notably high-end specification that also includes equipment from TSL’s audio monitoring range, Ross Video, SAM (Snell Advanced Media), Sony and Ikegami, among other leading vendors.
Several months on from completion of the truck, Johnson confirms that the hard work is paying dividends: “Our technical and operational teams are delighted with what TSL and WTS have come up with as they have listened to and responded to RaceTech’s original core requirements,” he says.
