What do I do, anyway?

Realizing that I will probably have some folks reading this who aren’t familiar with what it is I do for a living, and why it is taking me to South Korea, here is a primer. I work as an Engineer on a set of two mobile broadcast production trailers (NCP 8 & NCP B8). My “office” for over 11 years! My employer, NEP Broadcasting Group, is the largest provider of theses facilities in the world. All TV networks contract services to companies such as mine to provide the technical components to their broadcasts. Over the 11 years this set of trucks has been on the road, I have worked on everything from regional sports broadcasts, to nearly every major sports championship and event.  The Masters, US Open Tennis, Superbowl, World Series, NCAA Men’s Basketball, etc. Except for the Olympics. Until this year. Our trucks are to provide NBC coverage of The Opening Ceremonies, as well as all coverage from the main Hockey venue throughout the Olympics. On this truck, my position is as “2nd EIC (Engineer In Charge).” There is a lead EIC (Marc). To use Star Trek terminology, he is Picard, I am Riker. Also on our team is a “Maintenance” engineer (Ramon). And two drivers (Ron & Eli taking them to Korea).

As Engineers, it is our job to maintain the equipment in working order for the various crews to operate. Something isn’t working–make it work. The walls of monitors are all set to the operator’s liking. Signals coming to & from the truck–ultimately the engineers have to make sure those are working. Our hectic time is mostly during set up (to get everything working), and the strike (teardown) to make sure all the gear comes back and will work for the next show. Now for a few pics of what all of this looks like:

A full size 53′ trailer with expandable side to increase the floor space inside.of the main truck (A Unit).	Second truck, the “B Unit,” a non expanding 53′ trailer, which houses the support gear, and can provide extra production space.