Debate Debacle

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I flew out to Colorado, to the University of Denver, as part of the ABC pool feed covering the 2012 Presidential Debate. We were the only unit covering the event, so our images were being transmitted out to the world. Our pool feed enabled ALL networks to take our images and use them whichever way they wanted, such as correspondents reporting live from the debate floor.

I was there to set up two remotely operated cameras, one of which I was going to operate. One was a MSE Bazooka telescoping camera mount, with a Sony HDC-P1 camera, and a Bradley Engineering Pan Bar System, gyro-stabilized, camera mount that can be operated remotely, via a monitor, using a standard, studio-configured pedestal.

Setup ran smoothly, we rehearsed the next day. Technically, everything checked out. All we had to do now was sit and wait for the debate to start.

We started broadcasting a live image an hour and a half before the actual debate began. Being the only source of coverage, anticipating any technical issues, many redundancies are built in. Extra cameras, back up power, switchers, just about any issues or scenarios are ready to be addressed. Needless to say, there is always that one unforeseen circumstance that can send the production into a tailspin. That one moment when good old Murphy rears his ugly head and instills his law.

Thirty minutes before the debate started, the transmission truck lost power. HD converters, distribution amplifiers, encoders, decoders were knocked off line. Basically, the signal coming out of the production truck was not being beamed out to the satellite or fiber. Networks in this country and all over the world were not receiving our images.

Engineers were quickly on it, trying to troubleshoot the problem and fix it. There was less than 30 minutes to fix the problem. The culprit was found. Apparently the loss of power was either due to a fried coupler, shorted connector or a bad cable. But due to the high level of security, the Secret Service had the whole place on lock-down. The transmission and satellite guys were trapped, they couldn't do anything. Running out, fixing or replacing any of the faulty components was not an option.

The quick thinking of one individual saved the day. They suggested running a regular AC cable from a small production trailer's 15 or 20 amp outlet out the window, across the parking lot and plugging it straight into the transmission trailer in order to power all the components necessary to transmit the signal out to the satellite, and in turn out to all of the networks.

The quick fix worked. The signal went out. The entire 90 minute Presidential Debate went off without a hitch. Good old Murphy and his inevitable law was rebuffed by the quick thinking of one individual.

Redundancy can give you peace of mind, but sometimes necessity and a good old orange power cable and power strip saves the day.

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