Hitachi Aids NESN hockey

New England Sports Network (NESN) is employing multiple Hitachi DK-H32 HDTV remote box cameras at TD Banknorth Garden to produce pre-game, intermission and post-game shows during its coverage of Boston Bruins hockey games.

The regional sports network is remotely controlling the Hitachi cameras from its Watertown, Mass., network operations facility, some 18 miles from the arena, via a bi-directional fiber-optic system from Telecast Fiber. The VIPER II system from Telecast Fiber is mounted on Eagle PT-101 robotic pan and tilt heads that hang from the Garden's lighting grid.

“With the Hitachi cameras, our equipment setup time has been cut in half,” says Dave Desrochers, NESN VP of engineering. “And it's easier to tear down, pack and move equipment to other locations. As a result, we're able to get by with fewer people to produce our interstitial programming.”