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The DirecTV blimp launched in October 2007 at the MLB World Series in Boston and has been seen all over the United States since its inception. The blimp flies mainly over live sporting events but has also been seen at other entertainment and charitable venues. This second generation A-170LS Video Lightsign Lightship features the state of the art video screen that displays full color video images day or night. This lightsign, the only one of its kind in the world, is used to display messaging and advertising for DIRECTV. The blimp has been recently spotted on Twitter as followers track the journeys of the blimp from one event to another. The airship is owned and operated by an advertising company based in Florida with its airship division located in Orlando, FL. [1] The DIRECTV blimp was one of the three airships that took part in a blimp race held over New York City on July 4, 2011.
The A-170LS Lightsign Lightship is a relatively new product for Lightships and enables a client to take advantage of 21st century technology to interact with its customers and activate any promotional campaign by the ability to change the message almost instantly. [2] Manufactured mostly by American Blimp Corporation, the airship has a length of 178 ft (54 m) and a width of 46 ft (14 m) with a volume of 170,000 cubic feet (4,800 m3) of helium. The term Lightship comes from the internal illumination system which gives the advertiser of the airship a new reason to fly at night time. [2]
The Airship's envelope and ballonet were designed and manufactured by ILC Dover. A manufacturer of flexible materials and softgoods based out of Frederick, Delaware. The length of the cabin or gondola is 11.4 ft (3.5 m) with a width of 5 ft (1.5 m). The airship is also designed to carry a maximum of 8 passengers plus the pilot. [2] The desired cruising speed can vary, but it is generally around 32 mph (51 km/h) with a maximum speed of 48 mph (77 km/h) when favorable winds are present. The engines of this airship are from manufacturer Lycoming Engines with twin Lycoming IO 360, rated 180 HP with constant speed variable pitch reversible propellers. In order to make all the different part of the puzzle come together, the airship needs a crew of at least 14 members which includes 2 pilots, 2 crew chiefs, mechanics, video lightsign operator and additional ground team. [2]
Camera capabilities: Gyro-stabilized camera mounting capabilities, providing an excellent platform for high-definition TV/video filming. The fully High-Definition ultra high performance[ clarification needed ] camera is gyroscopically stabilized and mounted to the front of the airship when it is providing the aerial shots for the network television. This camera is linked to a control panel that is controlled by a camera operator who sits in the cockpit behind the pilot's chair. During each event, the camera operator and pilot work together with the show director to provide the requested shot. The camera lens can magnify what is on the ground 72 times with great[ clarification needed ] definition. Camera services for the airship are provided by Flying Pictures, an aerial video company based in the United Kingdom. [3] The signal form the camera is transmitted via microwave downlink, which is received on site by a microwave technician with a receiving antenna array. This receiving antenna array is hard-wired into the network's production facilities, which then use the aerial camera just as they would use any other camera. [4]
The airship's unique light sign makes this blimp the only one of its kind. With 33,600 pixels and 235,200 LEDs, the screen can be seen day or night giving the people on the ground the opportunity to see the sponsor's advertisements. at 70 ft (21 m) by 30 ft (9.1 m) the full color video sign is capable of displaying full motion and color TV quality video. The LED screen also has the capability of displaying live video action, concerts, highlights, scoreboards and interviews according to DIRECTV's website. The video screen has been part of marriage proposals, birthday announcements and network commentators play by play action calling. [2]
A blimp (/blɪmp/), or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships, blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas inside the envelope and the strength of the envelope itself to maintain their shape. Blimps are known for their use in advertising, surveillance, and as observation platforms due to their maneuverability and steady flight capabilities.
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
The Zeppelin NT is a class of helium-filled airships being manufactured since the 1990s by the German company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (ZLT) in Friedrichshafen. The initial model is the N07. The company considers itself the successor of the companies founded by Ferdinand von Zeppelin which constructed and operated the very successful Zeppelin airships in the first third of the 20th century. There are, however, a number of notable differences between the Zeppelin NT and original Zeppelins as well as between the Zeppelin NT and usual non-rigid airships known as blimps. The Zeppelin NT is classified as a semi-rigid airship.
The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light STOL utility aircraft designed in 1949.
Electronic news gathering (ENG) or electronic journalism (EJ) is usage of electronic video and audio technologies by reporters to gather and present news instead of using film cameras. The term was coined during the rise of videotape technology in the 1970s. ENG can involve anything from a single reporter with a single professional video camera, to an entire television crew taking a truck on location.
The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, or Technology and Engineering Emmys, are one of two sets of Emmy Awards that are presented for outstanding achievement in engineering development in the television industry. The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), while the separate Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards are given by its sister organization the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).
The Goodyear Blimp is any one of a fleet of airships operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, used mainly for advertising purposes and capturing aerial views of live sporting events for television. The term blimp itself is defined as a non-rigid airship—without any internal structure, the pressure of lifting gas within the airship envelope maintains the vessel's shape.
The K-class blimp was a class of blimps built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio for the United States Navy. These blimps were powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engines, each mounted on twin-strut outriggers, one per side of the control car that hung under the envelope. Before and during World War II, 134 K-class blimps were built and configured for patrol and anti-submarine warfare operations, and were extensively used in the Navy’s anti-submarine efforts in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean areas.
The N-Class, or as popularly known, the "Nan ship", was a line of non-rigid airships built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio for the US Navy. This line of airships was developed through many versions and assigned various designators as the airship designation system changed in the post World War II era. These versions included airships configured for both anti-submarine warfare and airborne early warning (AEW) missions.
HD Lite is the re-transmission of a particular HDTV channel at reduced picture quality compared to the original source stream.
The Airship Industries Skyship 600 is a modern airship, originally designed by British company Airship Industries, further developed by a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The type certificate holder is now Skyship Services of Orlando, Florida.
DirecTV is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It also provides traditional linear television service delivered by IP through its U-verse TV brand and a Virtual MVPD service through its DirecTV Stream brand. Its primary competitors are Dish Network, traditional cable television providers, IP-based television services, and other over-the-top video services.
SkyTerra (SKYT), formerly Mobile Satellite Ventures, was a Reston, Virginia company that developed telecommunications systems that integrate satellite and terrestrial radio communication technologies into one system. In March 2010, the company was acquired by Harbinger Capital Partners and under the leadership of CEO Sanjiv Ahuja became part of a new company called LightSquared. The company placed its first satellite, SkyTerra-1, in orbit on November 14, 2010. LightSquared has since then went bankrupt and emerged from bankruptcy as Ligado Networks.
The American Blimp A-170 is a blimp series built by the American Blimp Corporation now owned and operated by the Airsign Airship Group.
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves, and received by another antenna connected to a radio receiver. Radio is widely used in modern technology, in radio communication, radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing, and other applications.
The Goodyear GZ-20/20A was a class of non-rigid airship or blimp introduced in 1969 by The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in the United States as its signature promotional aircraft, the Goodyear Blimp. The design is based on the previous Goodyear GZ-19 class. The GZ-20 featured a larger envelope to carry the "Super-Skytacular" advertising night sign and more powerful engines. The GZ-20s were the mainstay of Goodyear's airship operations until 2017, when they were replaced with the new Zeppelin NT semi-rigid airship.
3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopic display, multi-view display, 2D-plus-depth, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D television sets use an active shutter 3D system or a polarized 3D system, and some are autostereoscopic without the need of glasses. As of 2017, most 3D TV sets and services are no longer available from manufacturers.
Aeryon Scout is a small reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was designed and built by Aeryon Labs of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The vehicle was developed between 2007 and 2009 and produced from 2009-2015. Production has been completed and it is no longer advertised for sale on the company website.
American Blimp Corporation (ABC) is an American privately owned Hillsboro, Oregon-based company that is the largest manufacturer of blimps in the United States. It manufactures the hardware and rigging for the Lightship and Spector brands of airships. In 2012, American Blimp Corporation and The Lightship Group were acquired by Van Wagner Communications LLC, and became referred to as the Van Wagner Airship Group. On November 17, 2017, the Florida-based AirSign Inc. purchased the American Blimp Corporation and the Van Wagner Airship Group. In additional to getting 15 airships in the acquisition, AirSign also purchased the A-170 airship (MZ-3A) from the U.S. Navy. With ownership and management of Van Wagner's global airship operations, including staff with decades of experience in the airship industry, AirSign became as the world's largest airship company.
DirecTV Stream is a family of streaming multichannel television services offered in the United States by DirecTV.