3 April 1999
Live telecast of World Cup cricket tourney on Swarnavahini
Dinesh Weerawansa
Here is good news for cricket lovers in Sri Lanka with just 40 days
away from the 'curtain raiser' match of the 1999 World Cup tournament
between Sri Lanka and England at Lord's on May 14.
The EAP Networks (Pvt) Limited, owners of popular television channel
Swarnavahini - the official rights holder of the live telecast of
World Cup cricket tournament from May 14 to June 20, brings the big
news for the sports crazy fans. Swarnavahini will commission its new
high capacity transmitter today which will enable more than 90% of
country's population to catch the 'live' action of the World Cup
cricket tournament from England.
The powerful new transmitter of Swarnavahini is situated on the
heights of Kikiliyamanne mountain in Nuwara Eliya. "It's a new
chapter in Swarnavahini and a heartening news for cricket lovers
anxiously waiting to see Sri Lanka defending the World Cup", Jeevaka
Edirisinghe, the Managing Director of EAP Networks said.
"The new transmitter will ensure a consistent signal quality around
the island", Swarnavahini Director/Engineering, S. Arambawela said.
It will telecast Swarnavahini programs on UHF Channel 33. In order to
reduce the shadow areas to a minimum, there is a transmitter in
Colombo to cater to viewers in the Western Province and seven more
relay stations to cover nearly 80% of area in Sri Lanka. The relay
stations are situated in Gongala (Deniyaya), Gammaduwa (Matale),
Hunnasgiriya, Hantane (in Kandy), Nayabedda (Bandarawela) and
Minuwangala (Ratnapura).
Arambawela said with the commissioning of the new transmitter, for
which they have invested a large sum of money they will have the most
powerful channel among private TV stations in Sri Lanka with the
largest coverage. Their coverage will be "almost equal" to national
television Rupavahini. "We cover areas by population and not by
extent. With the new venture, we will cover almost the entire island,
from Vavuniya to Devundara", except for some part of North,
Arambawela said.
The new 100m high Swarnavahini transmitting tower at Kikiliyamanne
will ensure the network's goal of providing uninterrupted coverage of
the 12-nation World Cup cricket tournament to every single home of
the country. It will ensure that any fringe areas of the original
transmission footprint, will not receive strong clear signal. In
addition, the imposing height of the Kikiliyamanne mountain ensures
that any pockets in coverage areas geographical interference will be
overcome.
But Arambawela had one final message to cricket fans and in general
all viewers of Swarnavahini: "Changing the direction of your antenna
towards Nuwara Eliya alone won't help you to get the best signal.
Once you do that, you must tune it to channel 33. But in some areas,
our transmission will be two or three channels due to relay stations.
There, you have the option of going for the channel with the best
reception".
Remember, Swarnavahini will be on the ball from May 14 as Arjuna
Ranatunga and his men will launch their World Cup title defence.
Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)