Talking Heads Video Reporter Units

Video reporter units transmit data from remote locations where standard broadcast equipment won’t work. Journalists can communicate with their home studios through “two-way” reports and, in some cases, send live feeds. Talking Heads, developed by 7E Communications in the United Kingdom, transmitted reports from Sierra Leone during the civil war and from China after an American spy plane crashed there this year. They also were used in coverage after the attacks at the World Trade Center last month. The units are portable, weighing just less than 10 pounds without a battery, and can be used in a variety of environments. A complete Talking Heads unit, including the video box and two satellite phones, costs about $35,000.

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Sources: 7E Communications, Inmarsat

Researched by CHRISTINE FREY/Los Angeles Times