Remote Streaming in Sweden

Ahead of a newly commissioned 8-part Scandinavian documentary the WaveFX team have just returned from a 10-day trial filming and live streaming from a self-built raft drifting at 4mph down the Klarälven river. (“The clear river” in Swedish)

Sweden is simply stunning and once we built the raft and waved goodbye we didn’t see a soul for days. Our job was to test the internet link from the raft and also fly drones and check for any issues with connectivity and streaming. (I’m pleased to say all the equipment work perfectly)

The kit for remote streaming included a Mavic drone and Teradek Link Pro which provided us with an internet speed of approx. 50mb up/down throughout the entire stretch.

The tough part was the 20 hours of Swedish daylight during this summer’s heatwave, we had nowhere to hide from the relentless sun and all suffered mild heatstroke and burns. Once the sun finally nudged the horizon it was the turn of the 1500 species of mosquitos that Sweden boasts to have their party, fortunately we were well warned and prepared and camped out in basically bee suits.

The river winds for approximately 290 miles through some of the remotest parts of Scandinavia, previously used at a logging route until as recent as the 1980s it’s now very much a wilderness magnet for adventurers’ – the sunsets, sunrises and night skies are like none we’ve witnessed before and are simply breath-taking.

Would we recommend rafting? maybe, probably, definitely but choose your crew wisely we didn’t talk for a week once we returned to hot baths, air-con and hotel comforts.

The Scandinavian documentary team start filming next spring, we wish them well and look forward to seeing the final broadcast edit