CHICAGO—For more than four decades, Installation Services has been synonymous with RF atop Chicago’s Willis Tower. From early collaboration with the late and esteemed broadcast engineer Jeremy Ruck to coordinating antenna systems and transmission lines to helicopter lifts and structural upgrades, our team has worked on nearly every major broadcast installation on the building since the 1980s.

Most recently, we completed one of the most complex projects in the tower’s history: replacing an aging Dielectric triple-stack antenna system with two new UHF systems serving WLS-TV, WFLD-TV and WMAQ-TV.

The Importance of Advanced Planning
The original triple-stack system dated back to the industry’s digital transition in the late 1990s. It served Chicago viewers well for more than two decades, but evolving operational requirements and long-term infrastructure planning made it time for an upgrade. The new configuration includes a Dielectric TFU double-stacked slot antenna system for WLS-TV and WFLD-TV, along with a separate single-slot antenna UHF installation for WMAQ-TV. Both systems feature vertically polarized design elements to improve building penetration.

Projects of this scale begin long before anything leaves the ground. Planning alone took roughly one year and involved structural analysis, engineering reviews, fabrication work, Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission coordination, city approvals and extensive lift planning. On a structure as prominent as Willis Tower, every component must meet rigorous engineering and Chicago building code requirements. Multiple engineering teams and third-party reviewers evaluated every detail to ensure the systems would meet performance expectations for decades to come.

Before installation could begin, we first had to remove the existing 18,500-pound triple-stack antenna system. Using Helicopter Express’ heavy-lift aircraft, we dismantled the legacy system into sections and safely lowered it from the tower. Preparation work included replacing aging hardware with new bolts ahead of the lift to ensure smooth field operations during the critical removal window.

The replacement systems required substantial site preparation as well. We removed and replaced the original top plate assembly atop the tower with a newly engineered structure designed to current standards. That alone required a separate helicopter lift and additional reinforcement work beneath the mounting structure to properly tie everything into the tower.

Once the site was prepared, the real installation work began. The WMAQ-TV installation included a massive, fabricated transition section—what we refer to as the “wedding cake”—which serves as the primary support structure for the antenna above it. We also installed rigid transmission line systems to extend multiple floors down into the transmission facilities below.

The Big Lift
Coordinating the helicopter lifts is one of the most demanding aspects of projects like this. We shut down more than a dozen city streets, halted pedestrian traffic and coordinated with dozens of workers, engineers and public safety personnel. During lift operations, virtually every major TV and FM station on the building had to temporarily power down. It’s an enormous logistical undertaking that started before sunrise and requires precision from everyone involved.

Once the antennas were installed, the work shifted toward final optimization. Our crews spent weeks torquing hardware, verifying structural integrity and preparing the RF systems for operation. Third-party inspectors reviewed the completed work, after which transmission lines were connected and tuned. Dielectric engineers then performed system sweeps and final RF optimization to ensure peak performance across the entire transmission system.

These are extremely high-power broadcast facilities serving one of the nation’s largest television markets, so every detail matters. Seeing the new Dielectric systems successfully installed and operating atop Willis Tower is something that brings tremendous pride to our entire team. Projects like this remind you how much planning, engineering and teamwork go into keeping over-the-air television operating reliably for millions of viewers every day.

For more information, visit Dielectric’s website.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—At Badger & Combes, we specialize in delivering high-quality live production for sports and broadcast, focusing on scalable, remote workflows that support complex, multilocation events. Our team regularly works on fast-paced productions where reliability, flexibility and efficiency are critical to success.

One example of that is the Dubai Rugby Sevens, an international tournament featuring top men’s and women’s teams from around the world. During the 2025 event (Nov. 28-30), 664 competitive matches were played across a large multisport venue. Every game was captured and streamed live on YouTube, the Dubai Sevens official website and the official event app.

Remotely producing a live global sporting event on the scale of the Dubai Rugby Sevens is no small feat. With hundreds of matches played across multiple locations, a production hub thousands of miles from the venue and zero tolerance for downtime, delivering uninterrupted live coverage to a global audience is a major challenge.

Livestreaming Every Match
For the 2025 tournament, we took on the challenge of live­streaming every single match using a fully remote production workflow built for seamless worldwide distribution.

A Haivision-powered workflow, designed for high scalability, efficiency and rock-solid reliability, formed the backbone of our production. With Haivision’s contribution solutions and the SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) protocol, we delivered a resilient, continent-spanning broadcast network built to meet the intense demands of live, fast-paced sports.

Rather than deploying a large-scale broadcast setup at the venue, we relied on a flexible and lightweight contribution model using Haivision live video contribution solutions powered by SRT, a protocol developed by Haivision for low-latency, secure and reliable videostreaming over unpredictable networks, enabled the live production to be driven from a central hub in Manchester, England, while postproduction infrastructure operated live in Dubai.

On-site in Dubai, we deployed 12 cameras connected to a range of Haivision mobile video transmitters across eight pitch locations. The main stadium was supported by a Haivision Pro460 mobile transmitter, handling multiple camera feeds through its multiview feature. A second Pro460 was positioned at the engineering station, ingesting feeds from additional pitches alongside an RF camera, enabling real-time bidirectional communication between teams in Dubai and Manchester.

Across the remaining pitches, we deployed seven Haivision Air mobile transmitters and a Falkon X2 transmitter at individual camera positions, providing reliable, low-latency live video contribution from each game, along with return feeds so engineers could monitor activity across all pitches.

A Haivision Air unit was also used to support audio communications and file transfer. Our team in Manchester communicated directly with the on-site team in Dubai through the Air, allowing roaming crew members to coordinate production from over 3,000 miles away. This same infrastructure supported file transfer, consolidating workflows into a unified Haivision ecosystem.

All camera feeds were sent over the internet using SRT with latency as low as 1.5 seconds, arriving at Haivision StreamHub receivers in Manchester. From there, feeds were sent to EVS for replay, graphics, and postproduction before delivery to digital platforms.

The system proved highly reliable. Every incoming feed was recorded as it arrived, creating a backup archive of all camera footage for post-event use. The flexibility of the Haivision solutions allowed full visibility of the entire production across both locations.

Really Remote Workflows
Despite the distance between Dubai and Manchester, the camera-to-production workflow enabled effective live switching, replay and real-time communication across continents.

What would once have required large crews and significant on-site infrastructure was achieved through a centralized workflow built on Haivision technology and SRT. By the end of the weekend, we successfully delivered live coverage of all 664 matches with no major technical issues, using a production footprint small enough to fit into just three cases.

The equipment was lightweight, easy to deploy and highly cost-effective, enabling us to deliver full-scale production with a minimal on-site footprint and significantly reduced operational costs.

More information is available on Haivision’s website.

News-Press & Gazette is replacing its aging transmission infrastructure with a Rohde & Schwarz THU9evo liquid-cooled, high-power transmitter to enhance transmission efficiency, reliability, and reduce operating costs.

“Despite outputting twice the power of the transmitter it replaced, the THU9evo has actually reduced our power costs thanks to its improved efficiency and the overall savings from liquid cooling,” said James Crawford, Director of Engineering and Operations at NPG. “Our transmitter site is located on a mountain in the middle of a high desert tundra. It experiences outdoor temperatures ranging from over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer months, to sub-zero temperatures in the winter. Performance has remained rock-solid, providing our viewers with reliable access to news and information even in the most unforgiving weather events.”

Erik Balladares, Vice President of Sales, North America, Broadcast Distribution at Rohde & Schwarz, added, “We are excited to partner with News-Press & Gazette Co. and provide them with the THU9evo transmitter. Our solution directly addresses the challenges facing broadcasters today—the need for efficient, reliable, and high-performance transmission systems. We look forward to supporting NPG’s broadcast needs moving forward.”

NPG owns TV stations in 10 markets in the Midwest and western United States.

ABILENE, Texas—Following a severe June 8 storm that knocked down a tower onto the Sinclair-owned KTXS building, the initial scene at the site was devastating. The collapsed roof had destroyed the ABC affiliate's studio, wrecking a lot of equipment and making it impossible to produce newscasts.

Luckily, no one was injured in the disaster, and the station’s news operation was able to quickly recover thanks to a recently deployed cloud-based master control system that allowed Sinclair’s corporate, regional and local engineers to rapidly restore programming.

David Ostmo, a San Antonio-based senior regional engineering director at Sinclair, said he arrived in Abilene midday on Monday (June 9) with two engineers from the company’s San Antonio stations to help two engineers at KTXS survey and restore the damage.

By Monday evening Sinclair’s local, regional and corporate engineers had restored the station’s feed to cable; by Wednesday evening, less than three days after the wind storm knocked down the tower and ripped the roof off the KTXS building as its meteorologists watched in horror, the ABC affiliate was once again offering over-the-air broadcasts.

“Despite all the devastation, we were able to recover quickly, because we are a cloud based master control that is hubbed out of market,” Ostmo said. “We just made that transition about two months ago. If this had occurred earlier this year, we would have been off the air for a very long period of time because we would have had to spin up another master control from scratch.”

Sinclair has set up regional hubs for different network affiliates and is currently hubbing all of its ABC affiliates like KTXS out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is using Amazon Web Services for a cloud-based master control system.

“Our station [KTXS] is hubbed up from Chattanooga,” Ostmo said. “The Chattanooga hub was able to fiber over [a feed] to our station in Amarillo, and our Amarillo station then handed the signal off to the local cable provider, which returned our signal back to the air on Monday evening.”

This operational structure also helped quickly restore the over-the-air broadcasts.

The KTXS transmitter, which is about 25 miles from the station’s studio and building, was not damaged in the storm.

“We brought in a satellite truck from San Antonio and parked it at the transmitter site, which was a whole challenge in and of itself, because it's up on top of a fairly tall mesa. It’s a very rough road to get to the transmitter site,“ Ostmo said. “Fortunately, our truck was able to navigate the twists and turns and hairpin curves and make its way up to the top so that we could get it set up.”

Engineers they used the “satellite truck parked at our transmitter site to downlink the signal,” he continued. “Our hubbed signal is being uplinked at our corporate headquarters and then downlinked at the transmitter site [by the satellite truck]...where we are handing it off to the transmitter. Fortunately, the ATSC encoders at the station were not wet, and we were able to move them out to the transmitter side to encode the signal coming from the satellite and feed it to the transmitter.”

Newer workflows and some local help have also helped restore the station’s news coverage and operations.

Following the storm damage, nearby Abilene Christian University kindly let the station set up its news operations temporarily at its facilities.

KTXS also uses an anchorless news format, which makes it easier for reporters to put together stories and package them into a newscast.

"The newscast is done through Amagi automation,” he said. “So the reporters create their packages and essentially insert them into an Amagi playlist. [Initially] San Antonio was just feeding a newscast to the Chattanooga hub, and the Chattanooga hub inserted it into the program stream. After we reestablished our newsroom there [at Abilene Christian University], they continued using the Amagi workflow to put packages together.”

The station can continue to operate out of the university until early August, when students return. Sinclair is currently analyzing the pros and cons of rebuilding at the same site or moving to a new location.

Newer cloud-based workflows will also play an important role in that decision. “As long as we can access the cloud, we're golden,” Ostmo said. “We can set that up in any number of places. All we needed was some tables and internet access and we can get to work.

“It's kind of mind-boggling to think that we don't have to build out a great, big, huge studio to get up and running again,” he added. “We will have a studio at our new facility, but it's not going to have the same intensive requirements we once might have needed.”

LAS VEGAS—At the 2025 NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 6-9, Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its latest digital transmitter technology focused on the ATSC 3.0 standard (aka NextGen TV) and its new remote transmitter monitoring service.

Introduced at last year’s show, Rohde’s liquid-cooled, high-power R&STE1 transmitter has set new standards in technical design and performance, not least through its native ATSC 3.0 capabilities, the company said. Its software-defined architecture and highly resilient hardware simplify maintenance, while its energy efficiency of up to 50% helps dramatically lower operational costs. Its modular design enables continuous updates and potential support for applications like datacasting, emergency alerting as well as the Broadcast Positioning System (BPS), which is being touted as a potential backup for GPS.

Visitors to Rohde's booth can also take part in a schedule of Tech Talks and discussions covering key industry developments and opportunities. Reservations can be made here: rohde-schwarz.com/RS-TechTalks.

“We look forward to NAB once again, and welcome visitors to our booth to experience the future of broadcasting,” said Steven Edwards, Vice President, Broadcast Distribution at Rohde & Schwarz. “We are focusing on sharing knowledge and experience, and our series of Tech Talks will feature our partners talking about real-world applications. Alongside these presentations we will have discussion panels where we will talk about the real advantages and opportunities for terrestrial broadcasting in the future.

“Visitors will also be able to see the latest generation of software-defined, high-efficiency modular transmitters,” he added. “That includes our unique RMTX—remote monitoring of transmitters—a new service that provides real-time, secure and proactive monitoring and maintenance. When combined, our transmitters offer highly reliable and cost-effective performance, ease of operation without need for extensive specialist engineering operations, and the opportunity to open new revenue streams and services.”

RMTX provides expert monitoring and supervision of transmitters 24/7, from a dedicated Rohde & Schwarz operational support center. Should any issue arise with a transmitter anywhere it will be identified and triaged, and remote fixes applied. Should they be needed, spare parts will be rapidly shipped from stock. RMTX also incorporates routine preventative maintenance, scheduled to be most efficient for the operator and engineers, the company said.

Rohed & Schwarz will be in Booth W3043 in the West Hall of the LVCC.

At the 2024 IBC Show, Sept. 13-16 at the RAI Amsterdam, GatesAir will unveil the third entry to its IMTX Intra-Mast series, which consolidates miniature transmission modules inside a common chassis with minimal infrastructure. GatesAir will also showcase the two latest models for its Flexiva GX family of FM transmitters, one that is new to IBC visitors and the other which begins shipping in time for the show.

GatesAir has added to both lines in response to global customer demand for high-efficiency, low-power solutions that solve problems, reduce costs and reliably operate over the long term. The new IMTX 2+0 model packs two UHF modules into an ultra-compact chassis that come configured as low-power transmitters, transposers or gap fillers to address specific TV coverage needs, often for challenging scenarios. The Flexiva GX line adds 2kW (GX2K) and 3kW (GX3K) models that fill out the low-power end of the FM transmitter family, ensuring that all broadcasters have a very high-efficiency, analog-only option for their station’s power level.

“Five years ago, GatesAir laid the groundwork for a new era of low-power innovation with three key new product lines: the PMTX-1 outdoor weatherproof series, the MultiD Series of multicarrier DAB systems, and the IMTX Intra-Mast series,” said Ray Miklius, Vice President of Technology, GatesAir. “Through the unique vision of our European engineering team, these TV and DAB systems shed new light on the possibilities of transmitter design while solving existing problems and preparing customers for future opportunities in content delivery. The spirit of these high-efficiency designs are found in our Flexiva GX line in ways that best serve the FM market. All four award-winning lines will be on our IBC stand, and we’re excited to share the benefits of our latest IMTX and GX products.”

GatesAir’s new IMTX 2+0 system adds a two-channel option to the popular Maxiva IMTX 2+0 Intra-Mast series, offering the same benefits as its six- and eight-channel siblings with “some clever twists,” the company said. All three IMTX systems include a stacked array of transmission modules securely built into a chassis and pre-configured to provide TV service or fill coverage gaps where signal penetration is a challenge. IMTX systems are especially useful for populated urban areas with tight housing densities, or to establish a localized transmission point to serve rural or underserved communities.

The IMTX 2+0 substantially reduces the form factor to a sleek 13.35” x 6.7” x 12.58” form factor, simplifying its integration to fit into almost any structure. Its compact design, solid structural integrity and flexible connectivity points translate to clean installations inside hollow mast or traditional tower structures, according to GatesAid.

Its sturdiness and unobtrusive presence also work well inside an RF shelter in desktop form. From an efficiency standpoint, tower structures provide complete protection from the outside environment while allowing heat dissipation via convection and forced air cooling. Same as previous models, the IMTX 2+0 offers vertical air convection flow within the chassis, complemented by a series of small fans. A DVB-S/S2 satellite receiver option is available as well as GbE (TS over IP), ASI, T2MI, and SMPTE-310M inputs.

The IMTX 2+0 is the first IMTX system with a built-in N+1 architecture that solidifies on-air protection for broadcasters through a parallel redundancy layer. N+1 systems, especially popular in Europe, support automatic failure to a secondary system that provides the same functionality and performance. The IMTX 2+0 design is built for redundancy across channels, with automatic failover between a main and backup chassis and through a single, simple connection between the corresponding modules.

The initial rollout will serve UHF channels, with VHF and DAB radio versions to follow as market demands dictate. All IMTX transmission modules can deliver up to 70 W of average DTV power.

GatesAir will be in Stand 8.C74. For more information, visit https://show.ibc.org/

MT. OLIVE, N.J.—Vislink Technologies, Inc. has announced the release of its INCAM-GV RF and 5G wireless transmitters designed exclusively for Grass Valley's new LDX 135 RF and LDX 150 RF cameras. 

The INCAM-GV is a fully integrated HEVC 4K UHD, HDR-ready wireless system tailored to enhance the Grass Valley LDX 100 Series live production cameras. This latest wireless transmitter available in RF and 5G versions delivers full broadcast quality encoding at 4K UHD, 1080p, 1080i, and 720p, complete with camera control. The integration ensures the total flexibility that comes from wireless transmission and the delivery of high-quality, immersive viewing experiences to audiences, making it an essential tool for modern broadcasting, the companies reported. 

"The INCAM-GV represents a significant leap forward in our partnership with Grass Valley,” explained Michel Bais, chief product officer of Vislink. “This transmitter not only meets but exceeds the demands of modern live production, offering unprecedented wireless transmission robustness and image quality. Our goal is to empower broadcasters to deliver content in ways that were previously unimaginable."

Unveiled at NAB 2024, the Grass Valley LDX 135 RF and LDX 150 RF cameras provide the same cutting-edge camera technology as their non-RF counterparts, now with the added benefit of integrated wireless transmission capabilities. The INCAM-GV leverages this by utilizing HEVC video coding technology, allowing broadcast organizations to deliver high-quality images over less RF bandwidth or over longer ranges than was previously possible.

Klaus Weber, Director of Product Marketing at Grass Valley, added that the “incorporation of Vislink's INCAM-GV 5G and RF wireless transmitters for our LDX 135 RF and LDX 150 RF cameras offers our customers a seamless, cable-free experience without compromising on the exceptional picture quality Grass Valley is known for. This integration is a testament to our dedication to innovation in the media and entertainment industry."

Key features of the INCAM-GV include:

• Full Compatibility: Designed to fit perfectly with the mechanical and operational profile of the LDX 135 RF and LDX 150 RF.
• Licensable Frequency Bands: Provides flexibility for rapid, in-field changes to transmission settings.
• High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC): Ensures superior image quality with reduced bandwidth usage.

For more information, visit www.vislink.com. 

SOUTHWICK, Mass.—Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark has introduced the EC600HP-BB3 VHF Band 3 E-Compact series high-efficiency, air-cooled solid-state DTV transmitters.    

The EC600HP-BB3 product line is available with up to 4x power amplifiers (PAs) in parallel, producing from 1150W to up to 4.6kW, respectively. These output power levels are measured after the mask filter. The new VHF band 3 E-Compact delivers the same features as the UHF version, including:

• EXACT-V2 digital TV exciter licensed for ATSC 1.0 and optional license for ATSC 3.0.
• Hot-swappable rectifiers accessible from the front panel of the PA chassis.
• Dual commercial off-the-shelf GE AC-to-DC rectifiers per PA in load share mode.
• Single drive exciter & controller or optional dual drive with auto switching.
• Newly improved system controller with a simpler Graphical User Interface (GUI).
• Built-in surge protection devices (SPD) to minimize power grid overvoltage.
• Optional front panel touchscreen for easier user access to the control/monitoring GUI.

The EC600HP-BB3 features the latest broadband Doherty LDMOS RF power amplifiers with efficiency of up to 40%. The air-cooled PA design includes automatic cooling fan speed control that provides lower acoustic noise levels during operation while extending the life span of these fans. Each 3RU PA features a rear-panel plug-in design for easy installation and maintenance. Multiple RF amplifiers are combined with an insulated RF combiner enabling hot swap of the PAs, the company said.

The transmitters use a built-in embedded web server that provides control and management of the transmitter through a web-GUI (via PC or mobile phone standard browser) without the need for any external software or drivers. SNMP for transmitter remote control and monitoring is also available, it said.  

The E-Compact features the EXACT-V2 IP-optimized DTV exciters with DualCast technology and is easily upgraded from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0. EXACT-V2 delivers an ATSC compliant, on-channel RF output and performs RF precorrection of both linear and non-linear distortion via Digital Adaptive Precorrection (DAP) technology, it said.

DAP automatically corrects both the linear and non-linear system distortions inherent to all DTV systems. The use of DAP provides the lowest cost of operation with very high system efficiency and RF SNR performance, it said.

The E-Compact family is compact and rugged, well-suited for broadcasters looking to replace their older and less efficient equipment or for future ATSC 3.0 SFN systems. 

More information is available on the company’s website.

TOMBOLO, Italy—Wisycom has begun delivering its MTP61 miniature multiband transmitter, a small, lightweight multiband bodypack with support for tuning between 470 and 1260 MHz, the company said today.

The latest addition to the company’s Symphony product line, the MTP61 is being released with the LBC61 4+4 battery charger. Both products are being shown at InfoComm 2023 in Orlando.

The MPT61 is just over 2 inches tall and just under 2 inches wide. The transmitter weighs 3.1 ounces. It operates with a 3.7 V Lithium-ion battery, offering 10 hours of life, the company said.

“With this shipping announcement, audio professionals now have access to one of the industry’s most powerful transmitters, which is ideal for a range of applications from broadcast and film to live production,” saids John Kowalski, vice president of sales and marketing at Wisycom. 

“In addition to the comfortability and compact design of the transmitter, the new LBC61 charger gives users an even wider range of flexibility with file sharing capabilities and expanded charging options,” he said.

The transmitter builds off the company’s intermodulation cancellation circuitry. With its advanced linear technology, the transmitter enables users to deploy units evenly on the spectrum every 200 kHz. The result is a more robust signal, extended range and the ability to operate multiple transmitters close together, the company said.

With high-density, software-selectable narrow-band filters, the digital signal processing allows for easy switching between wideband and narrow-band operation. An integrated low-pass audio filter eliminates ultrasonic interference from devices, such as range finders and motion sensors, it said.

The transmitter also features an embedded recorder with integrated linear timecode decoder that makes it possible to record directly to an embedded industry rated microSD memory card. Simultaneous record and transmit functionality is also available, it said.

The LBC61 4+4 battery charger can charge up to eight LBP61 Lithium-ion batteries simultaneously, with four ports for MTP61 drop-in charging and four ports for standalone LBP61 battery charging. The latest charger has two USB-C 3.2 Gen1 ports and an RJ45 10/100 Base Tx Ethernet port, to download files from the MTP61 micro-SD card or interface with the Wisycom Manager software. The charger also has two 3.5mm connectors for linear timecode sync, the company said.

See Wisycom at InfoComm booth 4245.

More information is available on the company’s website.

NEW YORK—While most TV transmission coverage today is about the repack, sometimes a station just needs a new system. Such is the case with WJLP-DT, a low-band VHF broadcaster serving the New York City region on Channel 3 since 2014.

The FCC recently granted an STA for a power increase at WJLP, raising the Me-TV affiliate’s ERP from 7 kW to 15 kW from its current 4 Times Square location, which will become WJLP’s auxiliary site upon moving to One World Trade Center later this year. While the power increase will surely improve low-band VHF reception throughout the region, a thorough evaluation of the existing transmission system was required.

DOUBLE THE POWER, REDUCED COST

Low-band VHF transmitter purchase options are limited, and while the station’s GatesAir Platinum transmitters had served the station well, these are older, less efficient systems. It quickly became clear that WJLP could not achieve the proper balance of power and efficiency using the Platinum series transmitters at the higher ERP. Following an evaluation of two leading vendors, the GatesAir Maxiva VAXTE transmitter emerged as the clear winner.

The Maxiva VAXTE now in service at 4 Times Square is a 10 kW air-cooled model that feeds two redundant three-bay antennas. The VAXTE 10 kW has multiplied efficiency by nearly two-and-a-half times, allowing the station to double the RF power out without raising utility costs. This offers an enormous long-term ROI considering New York’s City’s ever-escalating electricity rates.

Cooling costs will also be reduced—the previous transmitter generated more than twice the heat load of the VAXTE. The Maxiva VAXTE also offers reduced site rental costs due to each transmitter’s much smaller, single rack footprint.

MEETING EXPECTATIONS

Preparing the transmitter for air was a simple process. As a shared transmission space, the grounding, electric infrastructure and air conditioning systems were ready to go. Working with WJLP’s contract engineer, Bill Kirkpatrick, the installation was completed in about two weeks.

Once the lightweight transmitter was in place, Kirkpatrick quickly connected the signal, control, RF and power, and began tests. This included confirming proper voltage and running a dummy load at 150W that was gradually increased to full power over approximately one hour.

The VAXTE is equipped with dual exciters, each with built-in adaptive correction software. Early returns show that a 3.5dB improvement in Modulation Error Ratio (MER), extends the station’s “cliff effect” point to several miles beyond the delivery ring, ensuring that the signal reaches a much broader audience with improved building penetration. This excellent performance means the station could potentially reduce the MER and further increase the transmitter efficiency rating—an option we are exploring. In either situation, WJLP expects the VAXTE to greatly reduce issues with momentary signal loss and pixelization.

The VAXTE design is lean, with minimal, hot-swappable parts that are easy to manage while on air. We have also purchased two additional VAXTE 7.5 kW transmitters, and spares can easily be shared among the three transmitters. The WJLP team looks forward to taking the 7.5 kW models out of storage and putting them on the air at One World Trade Center, where they will serve over-the-air viewers for many years to come.

Robert McAllan is CEO of PMCM TV, which owns WJLP-DT along with other TV and radio stations. He can be reached atbob@pmcmtv.com.

For more information on GatesAir, visit the company’s website atgatesair.com.

LOS ANGELES—The spectrum repack has produced unique challenges and situations to almost every affected broadcaster. Perhaps no case study is as compelling, or rare, as being repacked from UHF to low-band VHF.

Such is the case at KWHY-TV in Los Angeles. One of the first TV stations to broadcast in the city (as KBIC-TV in 1954), the station has served Los Angeles’ Spanish-speaking community since 1991, operating on UHF Channel 42 since its transition to digital in 2009. As an independent broadcaster—Meruelo Media purchased the station in 2016—it became clear moving to VHF would be our most economical option. As part of the TV Repack, the station received its Phase 2 Notice with a VHF Channel 4 assignment, broadcasting from a shared tower site on Mt. Harvard.

A CHALLENGING SWITCH

The move presented several technical concerns. For one, indoor VHF reception is a challenge, and would require proactive viewer education about antenna selection. Second, the fact that KWHY was moving to low-band VHF—an even scarcer scenario—left few professional supplier options. Third, with a fairly short, shared tower structure, a much lighter and condensed antenna was required versus the traditionally very large, low-band VHF systems.

Of the companies evaluated, only Dielectric could meet these three requirements, while also delivering the broad coverage patterns KWHY needed.

Following a mechanical analysis that determined that the tower structure could not support a low-band VHF panel antenna array, Dielectric engineers custom-designed a segmented helical antenna, borrowing technology from its DCR radio antenna family.

Widely used in high-power FM radio transmitter sites, the Dielectric DCR series of antennas provides full bandwidth, high-power handling capability and excellent elliptical polarity axial ratio. Dielectric’s low-band DCR-Q VHF antenna offers all of these features, plus the directivity required to fulfill the KWHY FCC construction permit and maximize their coverage over the L.A. market signal.

Consisting of eight circularly polarized ring-style radiating elements, the DCR-Q reduces the weight, wind load and required tower space to a fraction of that required by a traditional low-band VHF panel antenna system. The DCR-Q design is also ATSC 3.0-ready.

EXPANDING COVERAGE

The station was originally allotted 3.7 kW of power, which would serve only a small percentage of the Los Angeles DMA. Following legal challenges, the ERP was increased to 35kW when station representatives presented a directional pattern that matched the contour of the largest station in the market. In a clever arrangement, the directional pattern is created by the positioning of the radiating elements in relationship to each other and the metal tower structure.

Dielectric’s outstanding customer service extended into (and beyond) installation. The design team continued its work as tower crews prepared to bring the old antenna down and run new transmission line, also supplied by Dielectric. A 60-foot structure was added to the top of the tower, allowing KWHY to operate both antennas for a brief period and make a clean break to VHF.

The new Channel 4 system, which includes a GatesAir Maxiva VAXTE air-cooled transmitter, went on the air on April 10—just days before the Phase 2 deadline. With the coverage and performance solidly meeting our expectations, KHWY continues its efforts to educate viewers on antenna selection, with the goal of serving and supporting the local Hispanic community.

David Gray can be reached at 760- 275-9897, or via email atdgray@meruelomedia.com.

For more information on Dielectric, visit the company’s website atdielectric.comor call 800-341-9678.