Anton/Bauer Goes Yard With Bridgeport Bluefish Ballpark Video

When it comes to keeping fans engaged at the ballpark, Anton/Bauer®, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company and a premier global provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, has got it covered for the Bridgeport Bluefish. The team, a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of professional baseball, employs Anton/Bauer HyTRON 50 batteries, a DUAL 2722 PowerCharger and an Ultralight camera light to power and light all of the stadium’s promotional video productions. The Anton/Bauer gear allows the team’s video production personnel to capture more game shots than with previous power systems, aiding its efforts to create compelling videos for the ultimate fan experience.

The Bridgeport Bluefish use the HyTRON 50 batteries in a wireless camera set up on the field of the team’s home stadium, The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, and another camera in the press box. In addition to the HyTRON 50 batteries, the field camera, used for close-up shots of games, the singing of the national anthem and other activities on the field, utilizes Anton/Bauer’s Ultralight camera mounted lights. The video productions are a simple operation, with employees feeding camera footage to a production switcher and then onto a video board for mixing. 

“We first got to know Anton/Bauer when they called us about their employee benefit program. As part of this, they ended up coming out and testing their production gear with us,” says Paul Herrmann, public relations director for the Bridgeport Bluefish. “We needed new batteries and accessories, so we swapped our previous systems for the Anton/Bauer ones. We’ve had a great relationship with the company since then, and really find the products have helped us with our video productions.”

While the production crew uses Anton/Bauer’s 50Wh HyTRON 50 NiMH battery and DUAL 2722 PowerChargers regularly, the team recently tried out a few of the company’s newest offerings, including the DIONIC® HCX battery, AB-HDRF system and AB Direct VU handheld monitor/receiver. With a 124 watt-hour capacity and the ability to sustain a 10 amp draw, the DIONIC HCX will run a 40 watt camera with a 20 watt light for 2 hours. “We especially liked the longevity of the DIONIC battery. It helped us get more shots inside the ballpark and we didn’t have to change out the battery during the game.”

Anton/Bauer’s new AB-HDRF is a compact 5.8 GHz COFDM RF system that can transmit a robust HD signal over great distances. Utilizing the license-free 5.8 GHz frequency band, the AB-HDTX sends its signal directly to the AB-HDRX dual-diversity receiver or the AB Direct VU handheld monitor/receiver. “When we tried out the system, we used it with our wireless camera to capture promotions, as well as shots of fans in the stands and players walking up to bat. We streamed them live onto the video board,” says Hermann. “The system was very simple to use and integrated easily into our workflow to the video board. The Direct VU really helped us see shots that we couldn’t view directly on the board. We were impressed with both new offerings from Anton/Bauer.”

For more information, visit http://www.antonbauer.com or call (203) 929-1100.