As the country marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, TV Tech has compiled highlights of our coverage.

Taken together these stories recall both the engineers who were tragically killed in the attack, as well as the many people who played a key role in restoring the broadcast communications infrastructures that were destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Below you will find remembrances of the six engineers who died in the attack that we published on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, as well as two detailed features by TV Tech columnists Frank Beacham and Doug Lung that were written on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.

In between, you will find our year-by-year coverage of the process of restoring the critical broadcast infrastructure destroyed in the attacks and the technical challenges that came along with those rebuilding efforts.

That makes this a story not only of people and technology but also expertise. Some of our most important coverage has been written for TV Tech by Doug Lung who was deeply involved in the rebuilding effort as part of his work at NBCUniversal. Many of the other articles draw on the expertise of the broadcast engineers who read our publication.

We have highlighted that expertise by listing the authors. Most of the articles were originally commissioned by TV Tech but a few were reposted from our sister publications Radio World and B&C on the TVTechnoloy.com website. We have left unedited the original opening sentences of each article.

Taken together that makes this coverage more than a remembrance of a tragic event. It is also a story of the innovation and engineering skills that make it possible, then and now, for broadcasters to deliver crucial news and information to the public.

Published October 16, 2001

9/11: What Worked, What Didn't

By Frank Beacham

The big technology test came on the morning of Sept. 11. Terrorists had attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Thousands of people were missing. Americans wanted to communicate.

Published September 3, 2002

Rebuilding NYC TV Transmission After 9/11

By Doug Lung

This month I'll look at some of the challenges New York City broadcasters face restoring TV coverage to what existed Sept. 10, 2001. As promised last month, I also will outline some of the reasons DTV to analog (and vice versa) interference in some cases is likely to be greater than what was previously predicted.

Published September 3, 2002

One Year Later: New York City

By Frank Beacham

Last Sept. 11, over-the-air television in the nation's largest broadcast market was devastated. A year later - in the most ambitious rebuilding effort in the history of broadcasting - progress comes painfully slow in a process so unprecedented that it's certain to rewrite the textbooks on television engineering.

Published January 1, 2003

WNET Rebuilding after 9/11

By Don Keller

Thirteen/WNET is New York City's PBS station. It serves a coverage area containing more than 18 million people. Thirteen's studios and offices are located on Manhattan's West Side. And, until Sept. 11, 2001, its transmitters and antennas were located on Tower One of the World Trade Center (WTC). It will take years for the station to fully recover from the disaster, and an estimated $16.5 million to even come close to restoring its pre-9/11 level of service. In the recovery process, the two most important and immediate issues the station faces are securing the money to rebuild its transmission facilities and finding a suitable place for them.

Published July 1, 2004

RTNDA to Conduct Mock Crisis Drills for Media, Public Agency Response

More than two years after 9/11, many newsrooms still don't have a crisis plan to follow in the event of another terrorist attack, and many communities have emergency plans that overlook the crucial role of the media in responding to a disaster. So says the Radio-TV News Director's Association, which is planning to produce workshops to cast a light on the problem.

Published January 18, 2005

DTV Returns to Empire

By Mary C. Gruszka

The Empire State Building once again became a hub of New York television transmission activity with the recent installation of a six-channel Dielectric UHF combiner for DTV in CBS's space on the 85th floor. This, along with the 8-bay broadband UHF omnidirectional antenna that the network had already installed on the northwest corner of the mast and had been using, is allowing full-power DTV broadcasts for five other New York City stations for the first time since 9/11.

Published December 6, 2005

9/11 Panel Doles Out Failing Grade on 'Spectrum Delay'

By TV Tech Staff

Getting letter grades like on a school report card, the federal government received several 'F's and other poor grades this week from a bipartisan group that had comprised the former Sept. 11 Commission, which was originally charged with investigating the government's response to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Published February 20, 2008

9/11 Recovery Continues

By TV Tech Staff

The collapse of the World Trade Center crippled New York City TV broadcasters. Today, these stations have restored on-air signals, but have not fully regained their pre-9/11 coverage. They continue to deal with the fallout from that horrific event.

Published September 6, 2011

A Decade Later, the Loss Is Still Deep

By John Merli

Bill Steckman was working on Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001, shortly before 9 o'clock. But unlike thousands of others in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the WNBC-TV transmitter engineer was not just reporting to work. Instead, he had already finished his regular overnight shift and remained at his post a bit longer to help install some new digital equipment.

Published September 7, 2011

A Decade Later

By Tom Butts

As this issue was going to press, the NewBay offices in northern Virginia experienced the East Coast's most powerful earthquake in more than 65 years. As we rushed from our offices, still wondering what was happening, I remembered what it was like the last time I experienced this kind of fear and trepidation on such a beautiful, sunny day. That, of course, was 10 years ago on 9/11. Of course, nothing that has happened since compares to what took place back then.

Published March 23, 2016

RFS Antennas to be Added to One WTC

By Michael Balderston

According to Radio Frequency Systems, the Durst Organization has placed an order for RFS antennas as part of an installation of a terrestrial broadcasting system at One World Trade Center. These RFS PEP antennas feature Variable Polarization Technology, which will reportedly enable broadcasters to set customized polarization ratios, independent of other broadcasters.

Published September 26, 2016

First TV Broadcast Antennas Go Up at One World Trade Center

By Tom Butts

The Durst Organization has begun installing the first of several UHF antennas atop the spire of One World Trade Center as plans to move transmission facilities from the nearby Empire State Building—home to New York-area TV broadcasters since 9/11—get underway. The first panels of a 40-foot RFS PEP-40 UHF antenna are currently being installed at approximately 40 feet below the tip of the One WTC spire, which stands at 1,776 feet above lower Manhattan. That antenna will be joined by an RFS 662-16D CP VHF antenna immediately below, along with another UHF, the RFS PEP-96 antenna below that. The first broadcasters to use the antennas will be CBS, WNBC, Telemundo’s WNJU and PBS, according to John Lyons, director of broadcast communication for Durst, which co-developed 1 WTC with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who added that transmission facilities should be ready in time for full operations by next May.

Published May 4, 2017

NAB Show: Durst Brings Broadcasting to One World Trade Center

By Michael Balderston

Fifteen and a half years after the events of Sept. 11 and four and a half years since the Durst Broadcast Organization took up the endeavor, broadcasting is on the eve of returning to lower Manhattan. The broadcast site on top of One World Trade Center will begin broadcasting in May.

Published May 9, 2017

ION Media to Broadcast From One World Trade Center

By Deborah D. McAdams

ION Media announced that it would commence broadcasting from One World Trade Center in New York. The announcement was made in cooperation with The Durst Organization and The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which co-developed and co-manage the property.

Published June 26, 2017

WNJU New York Brings Broadcasting Back to World Trade Center

By Diana Marszalek, B&C

On Friday morning, Telemundo-owned WNJU became the first New York TV station to resume transmitting its over-the-air signal from the site of the World Trade Centers. Twelve linear feet in size, Telemundo 47’s transmitter is powered by 66kW of state-of-the-air technology, providing WNJU full coverage of the New York market, the station said. Sister station WNBC, NBC’s New York flagship, will also relocate its transmission technology to One World Trade Center later this year, NBC said.

Published July 17, 2017

1WTC Launches OTA Broadcasts

By Doug Lung

On June 23, 2017, WNJU Telemundo 47 officially began broadcasting from One World Trade Center (1WTC) in New York, becoming the first station to return to this site since Sept. 11, 2001. Other New York City stations will be joining WNJU there soon—WCBS, WNBC, WPXN and WNET—sharing the UHF and VHF panel antennas mounted on the spire.

Published October 3, 2017

AES New York Hosting One WTC Broadcasting Operations Event

By Michael Balderston

2017 marks a big year for One World Trade Center, as television transmission will be returning to the building. To recognize the event, AES New York has announced it will host an exclusive event that will look at the broadcast operations of One WTC.

Published February 1, 2018

Details Emerge About 1WTC Transmitter Lineup

By Phil Kurz

Five TV broadcasters locating at One World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan have selected the Rohde & Schwarz THU9evo digital transmitter to serve over-the-air viewers in New York City and a sixth will partner to channel share with a sister station using the transmitter, the company announced today.

Published August 2, 2019

NYC OTA Viewers Need to Rescan for New Channels

By Tom Butts

With the channel repack entering its final year, Durst Broadcasting—which manages the broadcast antenna facility atop One World Trade Center—announced this week that it had successfully completed phase four of the repack. The organization urged New York City residents to rescan their TV sets in order to receive the channels in their new spots on the spectrum band.

Published August 26, 2019

Phase 4 and More: Surviving the Repack

By Doug Lung

I was on the 90th floor of One World Trade Center in New York with the transmitters on Aug. 1 when many stations in Hartford, Conn., New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. transitioned to their new channels. The switch took place at 1 p.m., in the middle of the day and not at the 11:59 p.m. Aug. 2 deadline. Boston changed channels at 1:05 p.m. the next day.

Published December 2, 2019

John Lyons Dies; Helped Shape New York’s RF Skyline

By Paul McLane

John Lyons has died. He suffered cardiac arrest at home Friday, according to his family. He was 71. Lyons was assistant vice president and director of Broadcast Communications at The Durst Organization. He was responsible for the communications infrastructure of Durst’s multimillion-square-foot commercial portfolio and played a major role in helping broadcasters return to the air in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack on the World Trade Center. Among his many accomplishments was leading the design and implementation of the redesigned master antenna at 4 Times Square and the new broadcast transmission facility at One World Trade Center. In 2006 Lyons received the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award; in 2017 he was honored with the NAB Television Engineering Achievement Award.

Published September 8, 2021

20 Years Broadcasters Will Never Forget By Frank Beacham

When the massive antenna mast atop the north tower of the trade center crumbled into rubble on Sept. 11, 2001—20 years ago—the on-air signals of most major New York City broadcasters went with it. The disaster was pure chaos, and six broadcast engineers lost their lives that historic day. It has taken most of the past 20 years since to get signals back on the air from the World Trade Center site.

Published September 8, 2021

Restoring Over-the-Air TV in New York City After 9/11

By Doug Lung

In our second of two features on the impact of 9/11, we look at the engineers and tech teams that helped restore broadcast signals and their eventual move to One World Trade Center.

Published April 20, 2022

One World Trade Center Ready for NextGen TV

By Tom Butts

In advance of the expected launch of NextGen TV in the U.S.’s largest market, Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), announced today that it has expanded the existing RFS antenna and combiner infrastructure atop One World Trade Center to deliver ATSC 3.0 to 7.45 million households across the New York City area.

[Editor's note: Because our coverage is focused on broadcast technology, our 9/11 stories have focused on New York City, where the collapse of the World Trade Center destroyed the broadcast transmitters of local TV and radio stations and had a profound impact the major broadcast networks headquartered in NYC. In addition to the 2,753 people who died in the collapse of the twin towers and the many others who were sickened and killed by the toxic smoke and waste produced by the disaster, 184 people were killed in the attack on the Pentagon and another 44 killed in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 that had been taken over by terrorists.]

MERIDEN, CT—In advance of the expected launch of NextGen TV in the U.S.’s largest market, Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), announced today that it has expanded the existing RFS antenna and combiner infrastructure atop One World Trade Center to deliver  ATSC 3.0 to 7.45 million households across the New York City area.

The installation is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 and will be the first high-power source of ATSC 3.0 for New York. The upgrade will allow NYC-area PBS stations to launch NextGen TV, announced earlier this year. The WNET Group's WLIW21 will serve as the host station for ATSC 3.0 broadcasts for the three major PBS member stations in the New York metropolitan area: THIRTEEN, WLIW21 and NJ PBS.

New York got its first low-power ATSC 3.0 service last month, with the launch of WNYZ-LD, a low power station that provides Korean language TV and radio broadcasts to the metropolitan New York City area and eastward towards Long Island. 

RFS has worked on installing broadcast equipment atop One World Trade Center since 2015. In this latest upgrade, an additional ATSC 1.0 channel, WMBC 18, an independent television station licensed to Newton, N.J. is being added to the existing RFS main and auxiliary antenna and combiner systems, which will allow WMBC 18 to upgrade to ATSC 3.0. In addition to the combiner add-on equipment, the system incorporates 12 pole mask filter systems for both main and reserve operation that are combined with an RF switching system to provide high levels of redundancy and flexibility.

Victor Joo of WMBC commented, “The aim of this project is to deliver the best for our customers in a timely and efficient manner. Working with RFS, tapping into its knowledge base, technical expertise, and experience in the industry, especially at One World Trade Center, is allowing us to achieve this. We believe the future looks bright for the industry and the general public, as ATSC 3.0 allows us to meet changing and growing demands.”

In addition to the new equipment, the RFS patented Variable Polarization Technology (VPT) antenna installed in 2017 to address the immediate spectrum repack challenges, but with NextGen TV adoption in mind, is ready to support ATSC 3.0. VPT technology is incorporated into the equipment to allow any of the stations operating into the system to optimize their radiated power by setting preferred polarization ratios for each of the main and auxiliary systems.

For WLIW21 (Channel 32), a station already on RFS’s One WTC combiner/antenna system, the recent optimization of its VPT input now provides circularly polarized radiation, which is vital for numerous ATSC 3.0 applications. 

Frank Graybill, Senior Director of Engineering and Technology at The WNET Group commented, “We want to be a leader in the broadcast space and ATSC 3.0 adoption is a key part of this. The system designed by RFS has the flexibility that will allow us to be nimble and adapt to several scenarios with this deployment.”

Marc Musgrove, Director of Broadcast Communications for The Durst Organization, at the One WTC site added “We see One WTC as the premier facility in New York City and to maintain that status, we have to keep pace with the latest industry developments. From deployment support to the system design itself, RFS is a key partner in ensuring we deliver this with a solution that adapts with broadcast evolution.”

Nick Wymant, Global Product Line Manager - Broadcast at RFS added, “One World Trade Center is one of the preeminent broadcast sites in the world and we are honored to support its ongoing development to deliver the latest in broadcasting standards. By selecting ATSC3.0 ready equipment in 2017 and continuing to build on that system, the One WTC site will now deliver the full potential of what is possible with NextGen TV.”

NEW YORK—John Lyons has died. He suffered cardiac arrest at home Friday, according to his family. He was 71.

Lyons was assistant vice president and director of Broadcast Communications at The Durst Organization.

He was responsible for the communications infrastructure of Durst’s multimillion-square-foot commercial portfolio and played a major role in helping broadcasters return to the air in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack on the World Trade Center. Among his many accomplishments was leading the design and implementation of the redesigned master antenna at 4 Times Square and the new broadcast transmission facility at One World Trade Center.

In 2006 Lyons received the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award; in 2017 he was honored with the NAB Television Engineering Achievement Award.

Earlier in his career he held engineering positions with several New York-based broadcast organizations and served two stints as chairman of the Master FM Broadcasters Committee at the Empire State Building. “He was a walking history of New York broadcasting,” said fellow New York engineer David Bialik. “In addition he changed the RF landscape of New York.”

Lyons is survived by his wife Natasha Lyons and sons Matthew, 26, and Constantine, 7.

He was former president and most recently treasurer of the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers; he was elected Fellow of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, and was active in the National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers, the NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference Committee and the Veterans’ Hospital Radio and Television Guild.

He was a devoted family man, and he made learning a lifelong pursuit. Among other things he was a licensed New York State Real Estate Broker and a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and the Building Owners and Management Association, and held a Certificate in Property Management from New York University.

Radio World described him in 2006 as “funny, brash, no-nonsense, unpretentious, sentimental … all characteristics we love in native New Yorkers.” He also enjoyed golf and competitive dancing; Lyons had met his wife in Siberia, while photographing a ballroom dance competition.

According to a biographical summary published earlier by Radio World, Lyons attended Brooklyn Technical High School and was a transmitter operator and studio engineer for radio station WRFM (later WWPR). He spent nine years as chief studio technical operator at WWRL and while there also worked as director of engineering at ZDK Radio in St. John’s, Antigua, a station he built and put on the air. He worked for WOR Radio as assistant chief engineer, then was moved by the company to WXLO (later WRKS) to be chief engineer, where he served for a decade.

During most of that time he was chairman of the Master FM Broadcasters Committee at the Empire State Building, coordinating the operations of 13 city FM stations with the broadcasters at Empire and the World Trade Center.

In 1990, he left WRKS to join DSI Communications (later DSI RF Systems), where he was senior project manager, responsible for communications facility build-outs, including TV and radio station transmitter facilities, two-way communications, point-to-point microwave and satellite communications systems. In 1994 he took a consulting position at the new Sony Worldwide Radio Networks, where he worked to establish and set standards for a nationwide satellite-programming network, built the studios and developed its operations system. With that established, Lyons moved on to WLTW with Viacom Radio (later Clear Channel Communications) as assistant chief engineer, and was promoted to become chief of the recently acquired WAXQ. He resumed his position as chairman of the Master FM Broadcasters Committee at Empire for four more years and was design engineer for many of the Clear Channel New York operations including the pioneer backup FM transmitting site at 4 Times Square for the five Clear Channel NYC stations.

After the catastrophic losses of Sept. 11, 2001, Lyons worked with the Empire State Building, 4 Times Square, broadcasters and contractors to restore broadcasting operations for all of the orphaned WTC stations. He designed transmission line runs, laid out transmitter plants and assisted the stations to return to the air as soon as possible.

In 2002 he was named manager of communications and broadcast operations at 4 Times Square for The Durst Organization and was responsible for removal of a 132-foot master FM antenna tower and its replacement with a 385-foot master TV and FM antenna tower, capable of accommodating all the TV and FM stations licensed to the New York metropolitan area. This facility also was capable of point-to-point microwave, spread spectrum, broadband, two-way, STL/TSL, RPU and ENG services.

In 2005 he became responsible for the communications needs of the entire Durst portfolio.

He also helped establish a state-of-the-art communications system for first responders in Durst skyscrapers in the wake of 9/11.

“His thumbprint is all over New York radio,” Radio World wrote in 2006, even before the new One World Trade Center and its showcase transmission facility were built.

“The Television industry has lost a great truly man,” Josh Gordon, president of the Josh Gordon Group, told TV Technology. “John Lyons defined and redefined the RF skyline of Manhattan. He oversaw the initial RF system builds on the Empire State Building and then One World Trade Center, and Four Times Square. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, John oversaw the rebuild of One World Trade Center. He was quick witted, incredibly funny, and one of the best organized people I have ever known. I never understood how he could manage so many people, tasks, and details and still have time to respond personally to small requests for details and decisions in near real time. He was a giant in our industry, yet very humble. He led by example with high energy, enthusiasm, and integrity. The first requirement of working with John was just keeping up with him. I have never met anyone like him. He will be missed by many.”

Funeral arrangements were not finalized as of Saturday evening.

The deadline for Phase 4 of channel repacking in the FCC’s incentive auction has passed and it appears to have been the most challenging one to date. This month I’ll outline some of the Phase 4 experiences and lessons for future transitions, and provide some tips on helping viewers with rescan and reception issues.

I was on the 90th floor of One World Trade Center in New York with the transmitters on Aug. 1 when many stations in Hartford, Conn., New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. transitioned to their new channels. The switch took place at 1 p.m., in the middle of the day and not at the 11:59 p.m. Aug. 2 deadline. Boston changed channels at 1:05 p.m. the next day.

Switching channels in the middle of the day has several advantages, the main one being more staff available to help resolve problems or answer viewers’ calls. While the FCC set the phase deadlines on Friday just before midnight, stations can transition anytime during the FCC test period before the deadline on the condition they provide proper public notice and coordinate with other stations.

The Phase 4 deadline was not the trainwreck many feared, but not all stations were able to operate with their final facilities. In at least two markets, New York and Boston, many stations were not able to transition to their final antenna or power because work could not start on the final facilities until the old channels were shutdown. In both cases, however, this had little impact on coverage.

ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER

UHF stations at One World Trade Center were all operating on the upper antenna (RFS PEP40 panel array) on their old channels at reduced power while the RFS combiners (two are necessary to achieve variable polarization) associated with the lower antenna (RFS PEP96L) were tuned to the new channels. You can see a snapshot of the job configuring and tuning the One World Trade Center combiners for the new channels in Fig. 1.

On Aug. 1, One World Trade Center UHF stations switched to the lower antenna and combiner system. For some stations, this was the antenna authorized in their construction permit, but even though they were able to test individually at full power they had to reduce power before all the UHF stations (WCBS-TV, WLIW, WNBC/WNJU, WNYW, WWOR-TV, WPXNTV) could operate on the antenna with a good safety margin. The impact on coverage from use of the One World Trade Center lower antenna and power reduction is minimal, thanks to the overall height of the antenna.

The channel changes occurred on time without incident thanks to the cooperation between all stations involved, including those out-of-market stations receiving interference during testing. Kudos to the tireless work by Joe Giardina and his team at DSI, along with the engineers from RFS, configuring the combiners and Durst Broadcasting’s John Lyons management of the project with what seemed like 24/7 availability.

In Boston, UHF stations on a tower owned by American Tower switched to a shared auxiliary antenna system, which closely matched predicted coverage from the main antenna system now under construction.

An easy way to check whether a station is operating at its final power level on its licensed facilities is to use the LMS search feature under “Technical Data” for the station (https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicSearchLanding.htmlorwww.rabbitears.info).

On www.rabbitears.info, a nonprofit website that tracks broadcast RF developments, “DTV-STA” indicates the station is operating under FCC special temporary authority, usually at reduced power or height. “DTV-LIC” indicates the station is licensed while “DTV-PL” indicates the license is pending. “DTV-CP” indicates the station still has a construction permit for the final facility. For Phase 4 stations, the CP expiration date was Aug. 2, 2019. Stations that were unable to complete construction of their final facilities were allowed a six-month extension of the construction permit to Jan. 29, 2020.

In my last column I described the importance of testing facilities before transitioning. At some of the stations I was working at, this turned out to be a valuable step as problems were discovered (and fixed) prior to the transition that would have caused major problems if they occurred after the switch to the new channels.

In situations where the channel was already in use in the market, the only way extended testing was possible was for the testing station to carry the ASI stream from the current channel occupant during the testing, avoiding any impact to that station’s viewers. Unfortunately, post-transition I saw some problems arise that were not caught during testing. Fortunately, the ones I’m aware of did not take the stations off the air for extended periods of time, but did result in some power reductions and temporary loss of coverage. Extended testing, for as much time as possible, prior to the transition date, should be a priority.

RESCAN REMEDIES

With channel changes comes the need to rescan. What happens, however, if during the first rescan the viewer is unable to receive the channel, perhaps due to the new channel operating at reduced power or height? Here are some tips that may help these viewers.

For technically savvy viewers, some TV sets have a signal quality indicator. If other stations are transmitting from the problem station’s location, optimizing the antenna using this signal meter may allow a rescan to pick up weaker stations. Viewers that are less technically savvy are likely to be confused by this solution.

A simpler option, which can avoid the need for a complete rescan, is to tune the TV set to the RF channel and program number (“Physical Channel” in the Rabbitears listing) of the station. For example, in the case of WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., the RF channel is 34 and the program number for NBC is 3. Punching in 34.3 on a TV set’s remote should take the TV direct to NBC, and, once locked, the displayed channel will change to 4.1.

Channel up to see the other subchannels. If there is no reception, the TV set should stay on 34.3, and the viewer can move the antenna to try to find a location or orientation where the signal can be received. Note this only works in markets where the RF channel and program number combination are not in use as a virtual channel by another station that’s been previously scanned. This should work on most TV sets, but I’d appreciate hearing from readers on the results of using this direct tuning method, noting the make and model of TV if possible.

For many broadcast engineers, www.rabbitears.info is the first stop for information on TV stations. The site provides excellent coverage maps showing contours and field strength as predicted using the Longley- Rice terrain sensitive model. The site has a new feature in beta—the Rabbitears Search Map—available at www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php. You can enter an address in the box on the lower left of the map, then use the “Move Pushpin to Center of Map View” to put a marker on the exact location, as shown in Fig. 2. An example of the output is shown in Fig. 3.

In markets with stations using mechanical beam tilt on antennas on high mountains, such as Los Angeles, the results from the Rabbitears Search Map will be much more accurate than those from other coverage prediction sites like www.tvfool.com and even the FCC’s www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps. The reason is that many of the antenna patterns stored in the FCC’s database for antennas with mechanical beam tilt are based on the horizontal plane radiation pattern—the power going straight out from the antenna and never hitting the ground. This is why the antenna patterns for Mt. Wilson stations appear to be aimed at Lancaster rather than Los Angeles. Where actual un-tilted antenna pattern is available, Rabbitears uses that pattern rather than the highly distorted horizontal plane antenna pattern, resulting in a much more accurate representation of signal on the ground.

The Rabbitears Search Map should be handy for engineers taking calls from viewers with reception problems as they can enter the address into the map and see what stations the viewer should be able to receive and at what signal strength.

ODDS AND ENDS

Finally this month, I have heard from some sources that Winegard has discontinued or will be discontinuing my favorite indoor/outdoor antenna, the Winegard Freevision FV-30BB. I hope that is not true. The antenna still shows up on Winegard’s website for $39.99 and remains available at some Home Depot stores.

This is the antenna I’ve been using for field strength measurements as it is small, works well on high-VHF, and even does a passable job on low VHF. I was surprised how well it worked picking up WPVI’s Channel 6 signal in Philadelphia during testing there. There are other antennas that have more gain and will do a better job at UHF and VHF, but none I’ve found that are as small as this one—easy to hang on a wall; easy to throw in a car trunk with the mast connected; easy to support on an extendable pole.

One thing I’ve noticed, as have some on www.avsforum.com/forum/25-hdtvtechnical, is that the antenna performs much better than the specifications and patterns from Winegard would indicate. I hope Winegard continues to manufacture it.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions atdlung@transmitter.com. Responses may be delayed if I’m busy, bug me again if you don’t get an answer in a week or two.

For more news and insight on the repack, visit TV Technology'srepack silo.

NEW YORK—With the channel repack entering its final year, Durst Broadcasting—which manages the broadcast antenna facility atop One World Trade Center—announced this week that it had successfully completed phase four of the repack. The organization urged New York City residents to rescan their TV sets in order to receive the channels in their new spots on the spectrum band.

The channel repack is a result of the 2017 FCC spectrum auctions, which requires nearly 1,000 U.S. television broadcasters to move to new channels to make way for new wireless companies to occupy former broadcast spectrum. For New York, where most of the TV stations host their antennas on top of One World Trade Center, Durst has been planning and coordinating the transfer for years, according to John Lyons, assistant vice president and director of broadcast communications for The Durst Organization.

“We have been working with the broadcasters and equipment suppliers for well over a year to make this transition a smooth one,” Lyons said. “Thanks to the efforts of the New York City broadcast community, equipment supplier RFS Myat and systems integrator DSI RF Systems Inc., we were ready for this operation on Aug. 1 as scheduled. Within a few minutes, the stations were on their new channels.”

The stations involved include:

WCBS

WLIW

WNBC

WNJU

WNYW

WWOR

WRNN

WPXN

Planning for the repack began before the World Trade Center Broadcast site became operational in mid-2017 and involved the installation of a redundant combiner and antenna systems that allowed all the stations to continue operations while Durst updated existing hardware.

Consumers who watch television over the air will need to rescan their TV sets in order to receive the new channels. Subscribers to satellite or cable TV do not need to rescan. Viewers should also rotate their antennas toward One World Trade Center for the best reception.

For more news and insight on the repack, visit TV Technology'srepack silo.

NEW YORK—Five TV broadcasters locating at One World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan have selected the Rohde & Schwarz THU9evo digital transmitter to serve over-the-air viewers in New York City and a sixth will partner to channel share with a sister station using the transmitter, the company announced today.

In June 2017, WNJU began using an R&S THU9evo, which Rohde & Schwarz says is the largest solid-state digital transmitter in the world. It soon will be joined by WNBC, which will share the transmitter.

John Lyons, assistant VP/director of broadcast communications for The Durst Organization, which owns 1WTC in partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, identified the stations in a previous interview. (As of this writing, Lyons has not yet responded to a request for another interview.)

Four more stations relocating to the Broadcast Center on the 90th floor of 1WTC over the next few weeks will each be using their own R&S THU9evo digital transmitter to serve New York viewers, Rohde & Schwarz said.

Read Also: 1WTC Launches OTA Broadcasts

Other stations committed to moving to 1WTC, which Lyons previously identified, include WCBS, WPXN and WNET. However, during that interview there was not a discussion of which transmitter those stations would use.

While the R&S THU9evo is a liquid-cooled transmitter, the company helped design a custom standalone liquid cooling system for the Broadcast Center to control the temperature of other equipment in the room, Rohde & Schwarz said.

The installed R&S THU9evo includes 72 PHU903 amplifiers, each with three redundant power supplies, and dual TCE901 exciters, according to Rohde & Schwarz USA transmission systems engineer/AE Glen Hurst. The installed transmitter is capable of producing 50kW of output power each for the vertical and horizontal, offering not only the benefit of signal strength to handle the challenge of covering a “concrete jungle” like New York, but also a vertical component that lends itself to reception by handheld devices in the future using ATSC 3.0, he said.

NEW YORK—2017 marks a big year for One World Trade Center, as television transmission will be returning to the building. To recognize the event, AES New York has announced it will host an exclusive event that will look at the broadcast operations of One WTC.

Part of the Broadcasting and Streaming Track of the convention, the One WTC event will feature a guided tour by John Lyons, Durst Organization, of the One WTC broadcast facility as it finalizes its preparations for broadcasting before the end of the year. In all, the event will cover the design, development and technology of the facility.

The event is opened to all convention attendees, but there is a limited capacity and requires mandatory pre-registration. Registered convention attendees can begin applying for the event on a first-come, first-serve basis on Oct. 9 at 11 a.m. ET. Individual registration only; no plus-one or group options.

AES will host the event on the opening night of AES New York, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.

NEW YORK—Fox will be broadcasting its New York-based TV stations from the top of One World Trade Center starting early 2018, the station group announced.

The station group will be moving the transmission gear that puts WWNY and WWOR on the air from the Empire State Building, Fox said. Once they make the move, seven New York stations will broadcast from the Trade Center, Fox said.

Telemundo-owned WNJU, the first to move its transmission gear, has been broadcasting from the site since June.

From TVT sister publication B&C

LAS VEGAS—Fifteen and a half years after the events of Sept. 11 and four and a half years since the Durst Broadcast Organization took up the endeavor, broadcasting is on the eve of returning to lower Manhattan. The broadcast site on top of One World Trade Center will begin broadcasting in May.

It was the trio of Durst, Myat Inc. and Radio Frequency Systems as well as the broadcasters of New York that made this return possible. “We found the best partners to do this, and it’s just about done,” said John Lyons, director of broadcast communications for Durst.

Not that it was easy. There were many challenges involved in the process, from the physical limitations of transporting the antennas, cables and other necessary equipment the 1,776 feet to the top of the building, to the future technical requirements of ATSC 3.0 and the spectrum repack. “We future- proofed the facility so whatever came through, we’d be ready for it,” explained Phil Cindrich, president of Myat Inc.

While there is no confirmed date for broadcasting to begin, the participating broadcasters — WNJU, WNBC, WCBS and WNET — will begin test broadcasting on May 8. Once finalized, it will be full steam ahead.

Copyright NAB 2017

NEW YORK—The Durst Organization has begun installing the first of several UHF antennas atop the spire of One World Trade Center as plans to move transmission facilities from the nearby Empire State Building—home to New York-area TV broadcasters since 9/11—get underway.

The first UHF panel, part of a 40-foot RFS antenna is being installed at One World Trade Center

The first panels of a 40-foot RFS PEP-40 UHF antenna are currently being installed at approximately 40 feet below the tip of the One WTC spire, which stands at 1,776 feet above lower Manhattan. That antenna will be joined by an RFS 662-16D CP VHF antenna immediately below, along with another UHF, the RFS PEP-96 antenna below that. The first broadcasters to use the antennas will be CBS, WNBC, Telemundo’s WNJU and PBS, according to John Lyons, director of broadcast communication for Durst, which co-developed 1 WTC with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who added that transmission facilities should be ready in time for full operations by next May.

“We’re still building the transmission line from the antennas down. Putting the combiner system in,” Lyons said. “Stations have to build their transmission facilities.”

When the antennas will be fully installed will depend mainly on the weather. The installation is being done by a composite crew of Hatzel & Bueler Electrical Co. and Skyline Tower.

When the new transmitters are switched on, viewers will notice improved reception but the range will most likely not be extended much beyond what it currently is now, according to Lyons.

“The way the rules are written, the higher you go, you have to lower your power to compensate for it, so you stay on the same curve,” he said. “So I expect the distance to maybe be a little bit further but probably comparable to what’s out there now.”

Lyons noted the unique nature of the project, with the challenge of installing new antennas on the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. “We were starting from zero actually, building the broadcast floor, putting in an emergency generating plant, and it was just starting from scratch with a spire that was designed to be an architectural spire regardless of whether there was going to be antennas on it or not.” 

See also: Broadcasters to Return to One World Trade Center

MERIDEN, CONN.—According to Radio Frequency Systems, the Durst Organization has placed an order for RFS antennas as part of an installation of a terrestrial broadcasting system at One World Trade Center. These RFS PEP antennas feature Variable Polarization Technology, which will reportedly enable broadcasters to set customized polarization ratios, independent of other broadcasters.

RFS began working with the Metropolitan Television Alliance (MTVA), the Durst Organization and independent broadcasters on UHF and VHF trial arrays at One WTC last year. The goal, according to RFS, was to demonstrate how the system and venue would perform in delivering terrestrial TV services to New York City’s entire coverage area.

After what RFS calls successful results, the installation of the company’s PEP40E variable polarization UHF array antennas, along with a 662-16D circularly polarized VHF array antenna, is the next phase of the plan. The order also includes radiation pattern testing at the RFS antenna test range and on-site installation supervision services by RFS field engineers.

Installation is planning to begin this summer, says RFS.

Durst previously announced that broadcasters CBS, PBS and NBCUniversal-owned WNBC and WNJU would be located at One WTC.

NEW YORK—More than 14 years after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the Durst Organization announced that broadcasters will return to One World Trade Center, using the 1,776-foot skyscraper as their primary broadcasting center for the New York/New Jersey markets, according to the publication Real Estate Weekly.

CBS, NBCUniversal-owned WNBC and WNJU, and PBS were located at One World Trade Center before the attacks on the Twin Towers. The new tower will house broadcast transmission equipment on the 90th floor, which will also serve as the communications hub for the entire building. Broadcast antennae will wrap portions of the spire and ancillary equipment will be housed on the building’s communications rings.

While Durst also hopes to attract radio tenants to its RF facility, none have yet signed on, according to TV Technology sister publication Radio World.

To read the Real Estate Weekly article, click here. 

For more TV Technology coverage of One World Trade Center, see:

Jan. 6, 2015

GatesAir Supplies Transmitters for OTA Tests from One World Trade
GatesAir is providing its over-the-air technology and RF service expertise to broadcasters testing over-the-air TV coverage from One World Trade Center in New York.

Dec. 30, 2013

One WTC Prepares for Station Tenants
This fall, TV Technology sister publication Radio World took a peek at the rooftop of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

March 18, 2015

Trial Antennas Installed Atop One World Trade Center
Radio Frequency Systems, a manufacturer of broadcast antennas and RF components, is providing a test broadcasting solution for One World Trade Center in New York City.