By Robert N. Wold
There have been differing opinions as to when commercial satellite news gathering-using transportable uplinks-really began.
The first live, remote, transportable-uplinked, satellite-relayed content was indeed "news gathering." On August 16, 1976, America's three nationwide commercial networks-ABC, CBS and NBC-began several days of news coverage from the Republican Party's political convention at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO.
The uplinking was provided by the operator of the first two U.S. satellites-Western Union (WU) and its Westar 1 and Westar 2 birds-using WU's own uplinking vehicle named the "Westar Mobile Earth Station" (MES).
All transmissions were in C-band. For domestic commercial Ku-band, TV relays did not become feasible until nearly eight years later.
The first use of Ku-band in commercial mobile uplinking was by Conus Communications in May 1984, to transmit news reports of a tornado's devastation in the town of Barneveld, WI, to KSTP-TV Minneapolis-St. Paul. The satellite involved was Telesat Canada's Anik C3.
The Pursuit Of ENG
These fundamental accomplishments in August 1976 and May 1984 were milestones in the TV broadcasting industry's pursuit of electronic news gathering (ENG) excellence, a campaign which had begun in the early 1970s. First came mini-cams and portable VTRs (videotape recorders), then terrestrial ENG microwave frequencies, followed by C-band satellite in 1975-76 and Ku-band in 1984, along with other technological advances. In uplinkers' vernacular, the use of "Satellite ENG" in 1980 became precursor to 1984's widely used "SNG" acronym.
At First, A 10-Meter Dish
The Westar MES of 1976 included a 10-meter polar-mounted transmitting antenna because, at the time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was not prepared to license a smaller antenna. In addition, the operator for either uplinking or downlinking was required to be licensed as a common carrier.
During the subsequent 27 years, regulations have softened and technology has improved such that tens of thousands, if not millions, of live-action satellite news feeds have been transmitted in either C- or Ku-band frequencies. In addition to both major and minor news stories, the numerous operators of transportable uplinking also continue to deliver sports events, pay-per-view boxing, horse race simulcasting, videoconferences, press conferences, distance learning and other applications.
A Downlink-Only Predecessor
The first non-military satellite truck to hit the road across the United States was operated in 1973-74 by TelePrompter Corp., which was then the nation's largest cable-system operator. To assist the growth of its industry, TelePrompter barnstormed Spacecast, a downlinking-only rig featuring an 8- meter TVRO (TV receive-only) at cable-TV shows nationwide, dazzling cable operators and potential investors with the promises of future satellite TV. Because the United States did not yet have an operating commercial satellite, TelePrompter had an agreement to downlink TV pictures and sound from Telesat Canada's Anik 1 bird.
Western Union executives were impressed with the concept of a mobile earth station, especially one that could uplink as well as downlink. By the time they had it built, the driver-engineer of TelePrompter's Spacecast had become an employee of WU, making Don Aisenbrey the natural choice to drive WU's behemoth from New York to Kansas City in 1976.
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