Harris Launches DTV Transmitter Production in Brazil


Harris announced that it has just opened a new broadcast manufacturing facility in Campinas, Brazil, 80 miles northwest of São Paulo. The new plant will produce Harris Maxiva UAX air-cooled solid-state transmitters for sale across Brazil, Mercosur, (the common market of South America) and other Latin American countries.

Brazil, along with other countries in the region, is transitioning from analog to digital. Harris said that to date, only 120 of the approximately 10,000 TV licensees in Brazil have made the conversion to digital.

"With the DTV rollout just beginning to gain momentum, and with the world's highest-profile sporting events coming to Brazil in 2014 and the 2016, the timing of this initiative could not be better for Harris or our customers," said Nahuel Villegas, vice president of CALA sales and service at Harris. "We are pleased to support this exciting time in Brazil's broadcast history with a local manufacturing presence that will enable us to maximize value for our loyal customers in the region."

The company reported that it is the market leader in ISDB-Tb systems in Brazil, with more than 60 transmitters sold throughout the region to date.

Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.