GatesAir Maxiva Transmitters Boost Louisiana Duopoly

CINCINNATI—KTBS, LLC double-dipped on its recent acquisition of Maxiva ULXT liquid-cooled UHF DTV transmitters from GatesAir, installing one transmitter in both its KTBS-TV3 and KPXJ-CW21 TV stations. Built on GatesAir’s PowerSmart Plus architecture, the Maxiva transmitters is a next-generation transmission technology designed to lower energy consumption.

Dave Hopson, GatesAir director of sales, and Dale Cassidy of KTBS next to the Maxiva ULXT transmitter installation at the KTBS/KPXJ RF facility.

KTBS-TV is using the Maxiva ULXT-80 transmitter to broadcast multiple DTV signals at 52.2 Kw. KPXJ-TV, meanwhile, has gone with the Maxiva ULXT-60 to broadcast DTV signals at 34.6 Kw. Both transmitters do not rely on high-voltage cabinets to make the units safer and feature a web interface to provide telemetry back to master control.

The installations was performed by Technical Services Group with a design that includes dual redundancy by leveraging legacy assets and a digital microwave system with an IP backbone to increase bandwidth between the studio and transmitter site.