The largest ever Sony designed and constructed OB van is now owned by Gearhouse Broadcast to cover large scale sport events around Australia.

The unit, at a staggering 14.6 metres, is a $12 million dollar investment and has been built to the maximum legal vehicle requirements permitted in Australia. It enables 30 or more production personnel to be in the van at once, accommodating the largest production team requirements. The extensive commitment to the unit’s design and build program was led by Andries Theron and Keith Cooper, with its first production milestone being the Tri-Nations Rugby Union series for FOX SPORTS.

Subsequently, the OB van has covered key events, including the broadcast of the World Cycling Tour and will be used for FOX SPORTS broadcasts such as the Super 15 Rugby competition.

The van includes an extensive inventory of HD Sony broadcast cameras. It also offers a unique touch screen monitoring system that controls air conditioning and lighting and was customised specifically for this van based on previous user feedback.

“We were involved in every step of the design process to provide a fully customised solution,” said Brett Kilby, Group Manager for Professional Solutions at Sony Australia. “We take a hands-on approach with all our clients, so we were able to incorporate Gearhouse Broadcast’s feedback when developing this van. Significant time was spent modifying the layout inside the van to ensure operator practicality and comfort, not just engineer functionality. We continue to be involved in the van long after delivery via staff training and on-air support.”

“We wanted to ensure a full solution for our clients at any broadcast event,” said Andries Theron, Engineering Manager at Gearhouse Broadcast. “With this Sony OB van, we’re offering a solution that can manage the requirements of 30 cameramen in the field, with a Production and Tape area that can cater for almost any pre and post-game commitment. This OB van is built to be future proofed, yet scalable, offering the agility to accommodate events of all sizes.”

“We were able to deploy the van immediately to capture a Bledisloe Cup Rugby International event,” said Todd Procter, OB Projects Manager at FOX SPORTS. “With such a large crew we were impressed by the simple and fast operation of this vehicle. It was one of the smoothest first runs of an OB van we’ve ever had. We’re looking forward to using it at upcoming sporting events, such as throughout the Super 15 tournament.”

The OB van includes 30 HD Sony broadcast cameras, a Sony 80 input 4/ME MVS 8000G Vision Switcher, Lawo MC66 48 fader audio console with Madi 64 channels 32 analogue microphone or line inputs, 32 analogue outputs, eight EVS servers, four HD VTRs and a Riedel Artist 128 square talkback system. Vision monitoring is covered by Sony LUMA monitors, with over 52 panels in total, many with multi viewers

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