CINCINNATI—GatesAir last week announced shipment of its 100th TV transmitter as part of the FCC-mandated repack of television spectrum to Hearst Television’s WMOR-TV in Tampa, Fla.

The station, which is taking delivery of a high-power Maxiva ULXTE liquid-cooled transmitter, is one of 13 Hearst Television stations GatesAir is supplying under an exclusive agreement announced in December 2017.

WMOR, destined for UHF channel 18, is installing a ULXTE-100 transmitter capable of 62.9kW. Initially, the station’s transmitter will operate at 58.9kW TPO, allowing headroom for future digital services. The station operates from Riverview Antenna Farm, which is owned by America Tower.

The FCC has assigned the station to Phase 5 of the repack, and Hearst VP of Engineering Martin Faubell has worked closely with GatesAir to make sure the new transmitter is delivered and installed to meet the phase deadline. According to Faubell, the performance of GatesAir during the initial repack phases has been critical to the station group meeting its assigned deadlines.

“We started working with GatesAir very early in the planning process with the knowledge that repack was going to be a serious challenge for Hearst Television, as well as the broadcast industry at large,” said Faubell.

So far, Hearst has taken delivery of five transmitters for stations being repacked. WTAE in Pittsburgh was the latest Hearst station to go on air with a new Maxiva transmitter. That station is not transmitting on channel 27.

The solid-state GatesAir Maxiva transmitters offer several benefits, said Faubell. “Solid-state technology has improved to the point where excellent efficiency is possible with high-power UHF transmitters,” he said. “With GatesAir’s Maxiva transmitters, the reliability will be higher, and the maintenance and power consumption in our facilities will be lower.”

For more information on the repack, visit TV Technology's repack silo.

LAS VEGAS — To enable broadcasters to remotely manage and secure mission-critical RF and IP systems, GatesAir will demonstrate several new solutions, including Intraplex IPConnect and StreamAssure QoS and QoE, at the 2018 NAB Show. These advanced solutions allow broadcasters to operate more efficiently in ATSC 1.0, while managing the more challenging control, monitoring and security requirements of ATSC 3.0’s IP-native infrastructure.

Designed to replace generic network appliances at studio and transmitter sites, Intraplex IPConnect devices ensure high service availability and SNMP compatibility. The demo will also show how broadcasters and network operators can reliably and securely extend LANs to accommodate secure backhaul of performance data across wide-area, single-frequency networks for ATSC 3.0 and global DTV standards.

The new StreamAssure solution, powered by Qligent, enables monitoring of RF and IP streams, regulatory compliance, and data from multiple points and layers. This helps engineers oversee and troubleshoot ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 transmitter and network performance, including multiplatform delivery and service level agreements, from a single dashboard.

[Read: NAB Show Exhibitor Viewpoint - Rich Redmond, Chief Product Officer, GatesAir]

GatesAir will also show IP-based remote control and monitoring of RF systems powered by Burk Technology. Using Burk’s ARC Plus Touch IP solution and SNMP Plus option, broadcasters can monitor equipment, control functions and log performance data over a single network cable, instead of parallel hard-wired connections and remote controls. This raises operational efficiency where broadcasters monitor multiple transmitters, RF sites, and ATSC 3.0 SFNs from a central studio.

GatesAir will unveil HTML5-based graphical user interfaces for Maxiva UHF (ULXTE, UAXTE) and VHF (VAXTE) transmitters that enable intuitive system navigation and monitoring from tablets and smartphones. With advanced transmitter security features, the HTML5 user interfaces prevent outside intrusions and protect broadcasters throughout the repack and ATSC 3.0 transitions.

GatesAir will be in booth N3703.

AMSTERDAM—At the 2016 IBC Show, GatesAir will launch its first transmitter range with native IP capability.

Likewise, its software-defined modulation allows broadcasters to seamlessly migrate to future digital TV standards worldwide, including the emerging ATSC 3.0 modulation.

To enable native IP capability, the Maxiva UAXTE directly integrates GatesAir’s latest high-performance modulator from the recently-released Maxiva XTE exciter into its architecture. This eliminates the need to retrofit previous-generation Maxiva air-cooled transmitters with additional gear to enable network connectivity, giving broadcasters an out-of-the-box solution to simplify the input and output of multimedia services via a local- or wide-area IP network. 

The high-efficiency architecture of the UAXTE, based on the GatesAir PowerSmart Plus architecture with broadband amplification for lower operational costs, reduced energy use and fewer internal parts, is further enhanced by optimization of the power amplification stage. Beyond enabling native IP connectivity and reducing componentry, the XTE modulator integration delivers a “dramatic increase” in digital signal processing capability, using the latest CPU processing technology based on Advanced RISC Machines (ARM); and state-of-the-art FGPAs, according to the company. The improved processing power correlates directly to enhanced real-time adaptive correction capabilities in the XTE modulator’s built-in, proprietary GatesAir RTAC software. The result is improved system performance, due to superior active signal pre-correction over a wider range of non-linear amplifier characteristics. The ultimate result is improved over-the-air reception for DTV consumers. 

The UAXTE design also features an integrated, unified control system that eliminates the standard practice of a separate user interface for the exciter and transmitter. By centralizing control functionality into a single, modernized user interface, engineers can more easily control all settings and parameters. This includes a simplified status page to easily monitor system health at a glance, and a more rationalized, uncluttered event and alarm log.

The UAXTE platform also extends Maxiva air-cooled transmitter power levels to new heights with the UAXTE-24 and UAXTE-32 models. The UAXTE-24 provides broadcasters with 12kW of OFDM power (DVB-T/T2, ISDB-T) and 21.6kW of ATSC power, while the UAXTE-32 delivers 16kW of OFDM power and 28.8kW of ATSC power. The UAXTE demonstration will complement several advanced application demonstrations on the GatesAir stand (8.C30), including an overview of ATSC 3.0 features and keypoints called “What is ATSC 3.0?” That video can also be viewed here in advance of the show, which takes place Sept. 9-13 at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam.