DATE: Friday, October 10, 1997              TAG: 9710100909

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                      LENGTH:   36 lines

``TELEVISION WITH ALTITUDE'' TEATHERCAM WILL GIVE HOME VIEWERS AN EYE FROM THE SKY

It flies 500 feet above ground near the 15th green and is adorned with a huge Michelob emblem.

It's the Tethercam, a 50-foot aerostat balloon filled with helium. And it will provide ESPN and CBS with what's called ``beauty shots'' throughout the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill.

``It's a poor man's blimp,'' said Ian Carwardine, president of Tethercam Systems. ``But the PGA Tour likes it because it's silent and the networks get the shots they're looking for.''

Tethered to the ground on a cable, the mini-blimp not only provides a camera angle, but gives remote cameras on the course a target on which to bounce their microwave signals.

CBS, which will be using the shots along with ESPN this week, doesn't pay a dime for the Tethercam shots. The bill is footed by the tournament sponsor.

``Economically, it works,'' said Carwardine. ``The tournament sponsor gets advertising that can be seen for miles. TV gets free shots.''

Inevitably, the van on which the Tethercam is tied gets a lot of traffic. Everyone wants to know what's up.

``So we made these little cards that we hand out to people,'' Carwardine said. ``We'd like to give everyone a rundown on it, but we get busy. The cards are full of information and can answer most of their questions.''

The cover of the folding card says it all: ``Television with Altitude.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot

``It's a poor man's blimp,'' said Ian Carwardine, president of

Tethercam Systems. ``But the PGA Tour likes it because it's silent

and the networks get the shots they're looking for.''

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