Allendale, NJ/Yonkers, NY —New York’s famed Yonkers Raceway, home to more than a dozen live harness horseraces every day (weather permitting), has used a Pan/tilt camera system and a Remote Camera Control Panel (RCCP-1) from Telemetrics, leaders in camera robotics and control systems, for several years to visually record races as the horses cross the finish line and broadcast those results to thousands of viewers, both on-site and worldwide. The Yonkers Raceway Broadcast Department recently upgraded its Control Room to full high definition (HD) technology, which included upgrading to a Telemetrics weatherproof PT-XLWP Pan/Tilt Head with a new Sony HD camera tightly integrated inside to ensure reliability in all types of weather conditions.

The latest unmanned servo-motorized Telemetrics PT-XLWP-S3 camera head and RCCP-1 control panel were installed and went live this summer to support a daily four-hour telecast from the track that is seen live on monitors at the venue as well as on TV via satellite to Roberts Communications Network subscribers for the Domestic and World feeds.

“Fans want racing results immediately and in the highest quality resolution,” said Michael Rooney, Director of Media Convergence, which is responsible for broadcasting the races. He’s also part owner of Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway. “We have both manned and robotic camera positions around the track to follow the horses, but the most important view is from the finish line and that’s where we installed the Telemetrics equipment.”

Rooney said that to achieve the best accuracy the finish line camera needed to be installed directly above the line, which made it impractical to support a manned camera position. That’s why Telemetrics’ PT-XLWP-S3 robotic pan tilt head with a Sony HD camera was installed. The camera control panel is located inside a trackside control room and used by a single operator. Training that operator took a few short hours.

“It’s clear that robotics are the best solution for our needs and the Telemetrics technology is the best on the market, in terms of the speed of the system to capture the fast horseracing action and the reliability and longevity of the product to work under some of the harshest conditions: wind, rain and dust.”

The Telemetrics PT-XLWP-S3 is a precision weatherproof pan/tilt head with smooth variable operating speeds.  Heavy-duty bearings and servo-controlled motors with isolation mounts provide smooth and quiet operation, which can be remotely controlled  using RS-232 or RS-422 serial data over a 10/100 Base-T Ethernet connection.

The Telemetrics RCCP-1 remote camera control panel is a single, integrated control surface that unifies command over camera robotics and camera shading under an intuitive software user interface. A single user can access the deep menu controls of several broadcast cameras without purchasing dedicated camera control units or paint boxes.  Unlike other brand control panels, operators prefer the Telemetrics RCCP-1 Control Panel because it has one Joystick that has controls from Pan, Tilt and focus.  This allows a free hand to control other features and devices in the Control Room.

“Yonkers Raceway is yet another example of a cost-effective installation that minimizes operational costs while offering repeated value and a fast return on investment,” said Anthony Cuomo, president of Telemetrics. “With every race, the results speak for themselves.”

For more information on Telemetrics’ camera control systems call 201-848-9818, fax 201-848-9819, or visit www.telemetricsinc.com.