Radio Frequency Systems will “ramp down” most of its broadcast and defense systems business globally, according to a letter to RFS customers from President/CEO Monika Maurer.

“This decision was a very difficult one, and one that was taken only after many rounds of reviews and discussions with our shareholders.”

Maurer wrote that implementation has started and “is planned to be completed in the coming months.” RFS will fulfill outstanding orders.

With its roots in cable manufacturing, RFS plans to continue making broadcast cable, according to Maurer’s letter.

TV Tech sister brand Radio World reached out to the company’s German and North American operations for comment on the details including the impact on its workforce, and will report any reply.

RFS, headquartered in Germany, has five manufacturing facilities globally and more than 1,000 employees, according to its website, which describes its business as providing “innovative wireless and broadcast infrastructure products and solutions.” Much of that business is with mobile and fixed wireless operators, OEMs, distributors, systems integrators and microwave companies.

The company’s beginnings date to 1900, when a predecessor company, Hackethal Draht und Kabelwerke, was established to make electric cables.

Current product offerings for broadcast include television, DAB and FM antennas, combiners, filters and switching systems. Among recent broadcast work was television infrastructure for One World Trade Center in New York. Just last month RFS launched two new ranges of antennas for next-generation TV broadcasting standards.

This article originally appeared on Radio World. 

MERIDEN, Conn.—Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) today launched the new NGP and NGS series of antennas, which are particularly well-suited to next-generation broadcasting standards, including ATSC 3.0, 5G-TV, DTMB-A and Advanced ISDBT.

“Next-Generation broadcasting will fundamentally change the landscape of broadcast equipment,” said Nick Wymant, RFS global product manager for broadcast. “Although there will still be a need of the very high-power solutions that RFS has been providing for over 40years, there is also a demand for smaller antennas to enable an SFN [Single Frequency Network] model that is better suited to delivering NextGen requirements. These solutions deliver this in a way that is commercially viable for broadcasters and will allow them to be on the front foot when it comes to delivering the anticipated functionality of NextGen TV.”

The NPG series antennas are based on the RFS flagship PEP and PEPL antennas, which serve multiple high-power master sites, including One World Trade Center. The new series is designed for smaller sites operating at medium power levels, the company said.

NPG series antennas leverage RFS achievements, such as Variable Polarization Technology (VPT). The MIMO capabilities of the solution will serve broadcasters adopting NextGen broadcasting to deliver non-traditional content, such as datacasting. Finally, the reduced size, weight and cost also allows this solution to serve broadcasters deploying SFNs, it said.

The NGS series of antennas support multi-channel NextGen TV networks and are well-suited for standalone antenna and SFN uses. Based on RFS’s SBB solution, the smaller antennas are lighter, thereby improving tower loading, and more economical. They can work with RFS’s Starpoint combiners and HELIFLEX for complete NextGen RF systems, while enabling broadcasters to overcome some of the CAPEX challenges of moving to an SFN architecture requiring more sites, it said.

The new antennas also work with RFS’s antenna selection tool to ensure optimum performance.

More information is available on the company’s website.

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.”

MERIDEN, Conn.—Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) has announced it is ready to ship its new portfolio of ATSC 3.0 transmission solutions aimed at supporting U.S. broadcasters wishing to deploy single frequency networks to serve their markets with NextGen TV service.

The company designed the solutions specifically to SFN-related challenges. The portfolio includes broadband antennas with front-back radiation patterns and sophisticated antenna selection tools to assist broadcasters in selecting the right antenna pattern to cover their entire region without encroaching on neighboring markets, it said.

The antennas are light, easy-to-deploy and offer a low wind load. They are simple to install on existing towers to support SFN deployment, the company said.

RFS also is offering a line of combiners and filters to meet the needs of broadcasters looking to deploy 3.0 service. 

The solutions are designed with the flexibility to enable broadcasters to evolve service over the next decade to satisfy possible future requirements for 5G broadcast, the company said. 

“Despite the hype, 5G broadcast for the U.S. market is not feasible while 5G technology is in its infancy,” said Nick Wymant, RFS global product manager, broadcast. “The size of the population, geography and market set up in the U.S. make the next-generation TV standard an absolutely essential step in the evolution of over-the-air broadcast. We are delighted to offer a range of solutions that not only deliver on next-generation possibilities but are futureproofed for further evolution.”  

The portfolio includes: 

• NG Series: Broadband antennas for multichannel NextGen TV networks. The high-power rating and broadband performance allow multiple channels to be transmitted from an SFN site, reducing capital costs and providing consistent coverage across channels; 
• NG-RBL and NG-SBL Series antennas: Antennas with reduced back radiation for difficult site location network planning scenarios. These offer an easy way to meet FCC requirements without resorting to large reductions in radiated power; 
• CS Series: These Starpoint combiners offer an economical and compact solution for combining non-adjacent channels at multichannel SFN sites, while minimizing site infrastructure costs; 
• CA Series: Constant impedance balanced combiners offering a high-performance solution for combining both adjacent and nonadjacent channels at multichannel SFN sites; 
• HCA Series: Heliflex Air-Dielectric Coaxial Cable is fully broadband and well-suited for the requirements of multichannel SFN sites. Additionally, the Heliflex connectors offer quick installation, excellent gas tightness and extremely low losses; 
• Advanced RF simulation and modelling to ensure optimum network performance. 

More information is available on the RFS website. 

MERIDEN, CONN.—Radio Frequency Systems is getting its Olympic moment during the 2016 Games, as the company is providing wireless communication systems to several venues. Among the technology that RFS is suppling is its active DAS system equipment and passive components. RFS will also be on hand to manage the systems during the course of the Games.

RFS systems will be utilized for coverage at the International Broadcast Center and Main Press Center in Olympic Park, Engenhão Stadium, Rio Centro Convention Center, and the Maracanã Stadium outdoor arena.

RFS equipment includes an active DAS solution with Cobham Wireless, as well as passive components including cables, indoor antennas, diplexers, combiners, and low- and high-frequency stadium antennas. RFS’ Hybriflex feeder cabling system is also being used to connect master to remote units in active DAS systems. The company will also handle RF design, project management, field supervision, commissioning and tests.

The 2016 Summer Olympics begin Friday, Aug. 5 and run through Aug. 21 in Rio de Janeiro.

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.