Learning through play with Al Jazeera Children’s Channel.

JCC’s very first OB truck is equipped with a Lawo mc²66.

In Qatar, the conditions for an OB truck are hardly child’s play. Temperatures of up to 45 degrees in the shade are no rarity in summer in the land between the desert and the Persian Gulf. The air-conditioning unit of any outside broadcast vehicle for use in this environment therefore has to be designed to take this into account. This job requires a mains-independent power supply with two redundant 25 kVA generators for the brand new HDTV outside broadcast truck produced for Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC), which is based in Doha, Qatar. And naturally, the fresh air intake of the air conditioning unit had to be capable of keeping the hot desert sand out; otherwise the interior would then become a sandpit!

The 14-metre semi-trailer, expandable on one side to provide graphics and slomo work areas, is the first OB truck ever produced for JCC. It is equipped with ten standard cameras (plus an additional wireless camera) and is capable of accommodating a team of up to thirteen operators. In the audio control room, which is physically isolated from the rest of the vehicle, the central component is a Lawo mc²66 console. This ultra-flexible digital desk with 120 channels makes comprehensive 5.1 surround processing possible within the confines of the new JCC truck.

The OB truck was ordered from Studio Hamburg MCI in July 2007, and the vehicle was delivered to Qatar in the summer of 2008. Its first use is scheduled for autumn 2008, but before that a final inspection and training for the crew are scheduled. The task of briefing operators on the use of the system, and providing training for the sound crew, is being handled by Lawo itself.

The Al Jazeera Children’s Channel produces programmes for children in which educative content is combined with fun. Initially, JCC was not specifically committed to a mixing console from Lawo, but then quite deliberately decided in favour of a desk that has proved itself time and again in OB trucks – and for equipment ‘Made in Germany’. After all, even if the climatic conditions aren’t always the easiest in the world, that’s no reason why audio editing should be anything but child’s play.