Automotive ATSC Mobile DTV Tuner Announced

By Doug Lung
published

Car audio-video manufacturer Concept Enterprises in City of Industry, Calif. demonstrated a market-ready in-car tuner for the new ATSC Mobile DTV standard at the SEMA show last week.

Concept said the tuner is due to hit the market in early December and will cost $499. It will work with any aftermarket or OEM monitor that has RCA inputs. Concept did not have any information on the unit on its Web site, but an article in This Week In Consumer Electronics (TWICE) First Mobile DTV Car Tuner at $499 said the device will come with a six-inch long roof-top antenna. It will be interesting to see how well it works at VHF.

"Especially since AT&T CruiseCast is no longer, people are looking for an inexpensive TV solution to get TV in the car," said Al Miller, Concept national sales manager. "You get clean, clear reception of local broadcasting."

Concept appears poised to beat Kenwood to market with an ATSC mobile DTV tuner.

I suspect TV stations transmitting mobile DTV will be looking into the Concept tuners for their news reporters and crews. Stay tuned for an update on reception performance once these units make it to the market.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack. A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.