New digital TV transmitter

Rohde & Schwarz SCx8000

While many US broadcasters have already built much of their digital plant, the need for lower power gap-filler and fully ATSC mobile TV compatible is growing. This is where the new Rohde & Schwarz SCx8000 transmitter fits in. This transmitter is designed for low- to medium-power market segments and is fully compatible with digital TV standards such as ATSC, ATSC Mobile DTV, DVB-T, DVB-H and MediaFLO.

The compact design of the R&S SCx8000 means a smaller footprint in the transmitter building. The unit uses a novel module-based air-cooling concept that avoids the need for a central rack cooling system. It uses an integrated RF splitter and combiner solution in the amplifier modules, resulting in less need for component real estate.

I found the transmitter’s ability to switch from analog to digital transmission at any time either by remote control or manually a really interesting concept. Not sure what this means once we all go digital, but the capability does mean you’d have great operation flexibility in the transitional phases. T

Power output ranges from 450W for UHF. Or, by adding a second amplifier it will provide 900W digital.

The transmitter has two power supplies and will remain on air with reduced power if one of them fails. If you’re really a belt and suspenders engineer, a third power supply can be integrated to provide 2+1 redundancy.

Check it out in their booth, (C8546P, C1933)