Jännerrallye, also known as the Internationale Jänner Rallye, an international rally racing event based in Freistadt in northern Austria, made rally car racing broadcast history this year with help from Dejero’s Smart Blending Technology and local technical AV specialist, Professional AV.
The 36th international Jännerrallye, was the first time bonded cellular connectivity alone was used to transmit live in-vehicle camera feeds from multiple rally cars, racing through rural locations, to a national TV broadcaster.
Three rally cars were equipped with Dejero EnGo 265 mobile video transmitters for the three-day event; two EnGos were placed at various start and finish lines, and an additional EnGo was connected to a drone. The live camera feeds were transmitted by the Dejero devices over bonded cellular, back to a production hub equipped by Professional AV in Messehalle Freistadt. Two Dejero WayPoint receivers reconstructed the feeds, decoded the HEVC and then outputted them for broadcast to television and streaming channels. Each receiver was fitted with four ports, enabling the production team to manage and switch up to eight streams simultaneously.
The EnGo transmitters in the cars, transmitting driver-perspective camera feeds, were secured into vehicle antenna docks, and connected to roof top antennas to boost cellular reception.
The transmission devices feature Dejero’s Smart Blending Technology, which aggregates multiple IP connections, in the case of Jännerrally, the EnGos used SIM cards for three Austrian telcos. The result is high-speed, reliable internet connectivity, which allowed Jännerrally to transmit broadcast-quality live video while reducing production logistics costs.
The new technology workflow gave them the confidence to make a giant leap to live broadcasting on a national TV channel.
The Dejero Control cloud-based device management, monitoring, and reporting tool was also implemented in the trailblazing workflow. With Control, technicians from the production company, Streamers Austria, could adjust settings and troubleshoot from the broadcast facility so that field crews could focus purely on capturing the content.
EnGo transmitters are built with aircraft-grade aluminium in a monocoque construction that’s lightweight and strong, as well as polycarbonate ABS bumpers for additional protection. This makes the transmitter ideal for in-vehicle applications such as rally car racing.
