portable electronic video-camera unit. It consists of a lightweight hand-held camera, a backpack containing electronic circuitry and power supply, and a videotape cassette unit. Developed in the late 1960s, the minicam has become the main tool of television news reporting, largely supplanting the more cumbersome film-loaded motion-picture camera. The minicam enables televison reporters to provide live coverage of news events, even from remote locations, since the signal can be relayed to the studio from a mobile van equipped with a microwave transmitter. The minicam also can transmit via coaxial cable (e.g., telephone line). In other cases, the reporter may videotape an event or interview for later editing and use.