Category
New studio or RF technology — station
Submitted by
Jampro Antenna Design Team
Jampro: Doug McCabe, COO; Dane Jubera, sr. eng.; Aaron Callahan, RF eng. Technology at work
Jampro
JUHD broadband high-power UHF panel antenna
RWCC UHF combiner/ splitter
Proline 6in rigid transmission line
Indonesia’s Indosiar extends its signal reach with a new high-powered antenna
After you build the tallest, most powerful TV broadcast tower in all of Indonesia, you want to crown the achievement with a far-reaching, impacting antenna. You also want the signal leaving the transmitter to flow cleanly 400m above with minimal impedance through a finely matched combining-transmission system.
These are the reasons why Indosiar (PT Indosiar Karya Media Terbuka), one of Indonesia’s largest TV networks, recently relied on Jampro Antennas of Sacramento, CA, to engineer and commission a UHF broadband antenna system. The new system supports 320kW of input power for four analog TV channels and multiple DVB-TV channels, to be launched in the coming years.
The challenges facing the Jampro design team were considerable, starting with the 1300-plus-ft antenna tower placement in the capital city of Jakarta, a necessary height for the network to even begin to acquire the desired coverage. Indonesia, spread over an area almost three times the size of Texas, is an archipelago consisting of more than 17,000 islands. Compounding broadcasting problems are difficult atmospheric and topographical conditions due to a hot, humid, tropical climate and mountains reaching 16,000ft.
Indosiar’s engineering team had been relying on Jampro for many years for antenna solutions and accepted its recommendation to use the company’s JUHD broadband high-power UHF panel antenna to transmit the new channels. This antenna comes DTV-ready for UHF bands IV and V. The flexibility of this modular design allowed various azimuth and elevation patterns to be configured, and by using its optional beam tilt and null fill, the elevation pattern was shaped to achieve maximum coverage. Bright orange fiberglass radomes were installed to protect the panels against the elements, assure peak performance and dominate the skyline with a symbol of Indosiar’s market leadership.
The transmission system was equally important to achieve the objective coverage. A Jampro RWCC four-channel UHF balanced combiner and output splitting systems were installed, and more than 1mi of Jampro 6in Proline rigid transmission line and components were used.
Indosiar’s engineering department was delighted with the coverage results. Field tests far exceeded signal strength expectations and reached households well beyond the ranges anticipated. Moreover, bright orange panels now loom high above Jakarta, confirming Indosiar’s No. 1 position in the country’s TV market.
