RCA Converter Box Uses Broadcom DTV Receiver System

By Doug Lung
published

Broadcom announced that RCA is using the Broadcom BCM3543 “DTV system on a chip” in its recently certified DTA800B DTV converter box.

The BCM3543 supports the EIA/CEA-909 smart antenna interface and works with Broadcom’s exclusive antenna design. However, the chip does not demodulate NTSC and if the RCA box does not include RF bypassing, consumers will have to physically remove the DTV converter from their antenna connection to receive LPTV and translator stations, as these will still broadcast in analog after full-power stations shut down.

The Broadcom BCM3543 Product Brief does not mention the equalizer range of the ATSC demodulator, but it should be as good as, or better than the BCM3520, announced in 2004, which has a -35 to +49 microsecond range.

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.