WGCL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Atlanta, recently upgraded its Thomson Broadcast DTV transmitter with a new mobile DTV exciter software and other related equipment that is it now using to broadcast mobile video content within its market via the ATSC A/153 Mobile DTV standard. The station began simulcasting its main DTV channel in September.
The basic equipment needed to begin broadcasting mobile video services includes a program encoder, a multiplexer, an electronic service guide server and a compatible DTV transmission exciter. Each of these devices is now available from Thomson.
WGCL-TV currently operates a two-tube Thomson DCX Millennium transmitter that already incorporates Thomson ADAPT-IV 8-VSB exciters. Thomson Broadcast engineers upgraded these exciters with new software for full compatibility with the A/153 standard. The ADAPT-IV exciters provide post-processing of the mobile DTV signal for maximum reception performance and simultaneous ATSC terrestrial and mobile DTV operation.
Steve Flanagan, director of engineering at WGCL-TV, said that leveraging the station’s existing transmitter platform got them on the air with a mobile signal quickly.
Thomson’s mobile DTV terrestrial broadcast technology is backward-compatible with legacy ATSC transmission systems, enabling stations to use their existing DTV channel and the mandated ATSC 8-VSB modulation scheme.
