New teacher hoping for some help with broadcasting hardware.
Hey yall, here’s the situation:
I got hired as a media teacher at a local high school starting this fall. Super excited, I feel confident about the majority of it- the exception being the broadcasting equipment.
There isn’t a broadcasting class, it’s all used by the media club to run a student run show. The software is easy enough for me to wrap my head around, the hardware is another story.
The program has been on a downward trend the last few years, mostly due to a high staff turnover resulting in a lower enrollment in the courses and clubs. It seems like the stuff hasn’t been touched since a year or so, I have no idea what stuff is usable and what is considered outdated and the cable management is nonexistent. The whole set up seems really bloated and I’m hoping to pair it down.
Im not looking for a full write up of each piece of equipment (unless your feeling incredibly generous) but if you can take a look at some of the hardware mentioned and just give me a sense of what I’m dealing with I’d be hugely grateful.
Or, if you have any resources to better learn this stuff. Manuals, YouTube channels, whatever- I’d love to take a look. I really just have no idea where to even start.
Here’s a list of the stuff on the wrack for all the network stuff (I think, anyway)
- 2 TeleVue B100 Hypercasters
- TeleVue Telecast Multirate HD encoder
- Extron Video/ Audio distribution amplifier
- Cisco 28 port Gagabit Managed Switch
There are a few PZT cameras also connected to these in an absolute rats nets of cables.
And from the looks of it, all of it runs into a LiveStream Studio 550HD, attached to a Tricaster Switcher. This unfortunately doesn’t seem to be working. I found it with a note attached which reads “Lag and overheating issues,” I have no idea what year that was written so for all I know this thing has been bricked for at least a year.
I also found what appears to be a brand new Black Magic ATEM Television studio. It’s not hooked up to anything, nobody ever took it out of its box. Is that something I could swap out with the Livestream studio 550HD?
Literally any words of wisdoms are appreciated. I just need a place to start. If any of this gear seems redundant please let me know. Again, I’d love to simplify and streamline this set up as much as possible. Thanks!