Cobalt Digital

Token Creek has rolled out the newest member of its mobile fleet with an extensive complement of Cobalt Digital’s sophisticated signal processing gear. The truck, named Chippewa, predominantly caters to sports events. “We’re building this truck to accommodate the growing demand for more vehicles with HD infrastructures, especially within sporting applications,” said John Salzwedel, president, Token Creek. “We made our equipment choices based on numerous factors, including performance and technological advancement, but we were particularly influenced by the reliability of Cobalt’s products and the support we’ve received from their exceptional sales and technical support staff.” Chippewa will be Token Creek’s fourth truck. Beck Associates, a television systems integrator, is building the mobile unit in its Pflugerville, TX location. Cobalt’s new award-winning HPF-9000 High Power Frames will comprise the core of the truck’s infrastructure and be populated with HD-SDI reclocking, MADI and audio DAs; frame syncs; and the Company’s 9901-UDX-HD 3G up/down/cross converters with 16 channels of AES embedding and color correction software. “With Cobalt’s large selection of terminal gear, paired with a variety of software, and input/output options we were able to select the exact configurations we needed,” Salzwedel continued. “The 3G video infrastructure and MADI distribution are both key pieces in this new mobile unit. This will be the first Token Creek unit to utilize a MADI audio system, which is the ultimate way to distribute audio throughout the truck. The signal flows flawlessly. It simplifies a lot.“ Token Creek, headquartered in Waunakee, WI, travels the country covering college and professional sports for major networks. “The key word is reliability,“ explained Salzwedel. “We can be working in Green Bay, Wisconsin one day and be in Miami, Florida within 48 hours. Our infrastructure must withstand the rigors of temperature extremes as well as highway systems in varying degrees of disrepair.” Token Creek’s membership in Alliance Productions, the largest group of mobile production companies in North America, also impacted its choices. The organization identifies and meets the demand for top-notch television production services at competitive rates through 13 partner companies. “Alliance Productions strives, and succeeds, to compete with the larger truck companies by furnishing services from a select group of companies reputed for their advanced technology and dependability. As a member, we pride ourselves in providing customers the best, most efficient gear available for exceptional, worry-free productions,” Salzwedel added.