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Digital TV: Charles W. Rhodes
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Charlie Rhodes is a consultant in the field of television broadcast technologies and planning. He can be reached via e-mail at cwr@bootit.com.
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Developing a 24/7 Digital EAS System
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 10.19.2005
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On Aug. 12, I sent my column for the September issue to my editor. Little did I know how soon the Emergency Alert System would come into play, nor the terrible destruction the homeland would soon suffer. After discussions with broadcasters and before Katrina, I started to study the EAS.
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Poised at the Great Analog/DTV Divide
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 9.21.2005
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While many broadcasters may wish that DTV was not about to replace analog terrestrial broadcasting, that is unrealistic. Broadcast spectrum is going to be reduced dramatically and soon.
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RF Power to the People: Measuring DTV Signals
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 8.17.2005
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Recently, a reader wrote to me seeking a copy of a paper on measuring the transient peak-to-average power ratio of DTV signals. So perhaps the topic of DTV signal power, which is so different from analog TV signal power, is of interest to many readers.
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The Superheterodyne Concept and Reception
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 7.20.2005
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Today we don't use vacuum tubes in receivers, but all radio and TV receivers use Armstrong's superheterodyne receiver principle. The strengths and weaknesses of this invention are important to the future of terrestrial TV broadcasting, so please read on ; you can quickly become an expert on superheterodyne receivers and amaze your boss.
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Not Everything is 'Lost in Translation'
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 6.22.2005
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I recently attended and participated in the annual meeting of the National Translator Association, which is composed of TV translator operators. You might be surprised at their number.
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Compression and Cross-Modulation
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 4.18.2005
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This column has been dealing with DTV-DTV interference and has almost completed this discussion.
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Farewell to the Great CRT
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 4.06.2005
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I replaced my 27-inch CRT receiver with a 42-inch plasma panel HDTV display more than a year ago, and I've never regretted doing so.
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Sorting Out Reception Obstacles
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 3.28.2005
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The future is digital, 16:9 and gigantic. And I believe the future is now.
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The Plotting Thickens
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 2.16.2005
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In January, Gary Sgrignoli of Zenith and I co-authored a paper presented at the International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE), the ideal forum to communicate with engineers designing future DTV receivers. We are concerned over the extent of DTV-DTV interference when all DTV transmitters soon go to maximum authorized power.
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The Challenge of Channel Election
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 1.19.2005
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My research into DTV-DTV interference resulted in some interesting spectrum plots concerning third-order intermodulation (IM3) products as a source of such interference.
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IEEE Symposium Highlights
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 11.24.2004
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By all accounts, the IEEE Fall Broadcast Technology Symposium was a success.
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Anticipating Signal Behavior
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 10.20.2004
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In 1998, the FCC revised--for planning purposes--its desired-to-undesired ratios for DTV-DTV interference between adjacent channels (ACI). Originally, the D/U ratio was -43 dB, but now it is -26 dB in one case and -28 dB in the other case.
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The Tide is Turning
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 9.22.2004
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Now that the FCC has established its timetable for broadcasters to elect which channel to return, I believe these same broadcasters will seek to maximize their DTV facilities.
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DTV Interference Could Be Mitigated by Receivers
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 8.18.2004
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My previous column introduced readers to a new parameter, third-order intermodulation (IM3), which is the sideband splatter from a DTV transmitter into both adjacent channels.
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Signal Distortion And Interference
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by Charles W. Rhodes, 6.23.2004
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Distortion comes in two basic classes: Linear distortion, which is not an oxymoron; and nonlinear distortion, which includes all other distortions except noise.
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Whatever Happened to Reruns?
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by Gary Arlen, 3.26.2004
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Ever since TiVo and ReplayTV blasted into the television environment, Madison Avenue and broadcasters have lamented that these devices will murder advertising, as users of these Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) skip through commercials.
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