NAB 2014: Transmission

Harris Maxiva ULXT transmitter

LAS VEGAS—Believe what you like, but the data that I have supports the idea that over-the-air television is nowhere near dead. And judging by the list of transmitter vendors slated to be at this year’s NAB Show, I think that is truly the case.

TRANSMITTERS
ABE ELETTRONICA SRL will showcase their “MTX” series of transmitters, which feature multistandard digital and analog modulation with digital processing along with UHF and VHF high-efficiency power amplifiers. ABE will also display their GNS-1000 transmitter timing reference satellite system for SFN (single frequency network) synchronization.

COMARK COMMUNICATIONS will introduce the MPTV- 8000LDW, a medium and high-power solid-state liquid-cooled DTV transmitter for UHF broadcast applications. Also being shown is the DCX Paragon, an MSDC-IOT transmitter, featuring high-efficiency solid-state driver amplifiers, optimized IOT performance via Comark’s toaster, and digital adaptive precorrection.

HARRIS BROADCAST will show off their full line of Maxiva UHF and VHF transmitters featuring PowerSmart 3D architecture. This architecture elevates the PowerSmart technology that is at the core of the company’s DTV transmission solutions to deliver superior operational efficiencies and green transmission benefits to broadcasters with a 50 percent reduction in rack space.

NAUTEL will hit the show with the NT Series low-power UHF TV transmitters, including the new 250 Watt NT250. The NT Series transmitters can be managed remotely by way of Nautel’s Advanced User Interface (AUI). It includes built-in web-accessible instrumentation, metering and diagnostics.

Rohde & Schwarz THV9 transmitterROHDE & SCHWARZ will introduce the R&STHV9 high-power VHF transmitter. With a maximum output power of 30 kW for DTV, the THV9 provides up to 46 percent efficiency in Doherty operation for COFDM. Also on display, the R&S TMV9 VHF transmitter family, providing a maximum output power of 4.3 kW for DTV.

SCREEN SERVICE BROADCASTING TECHNOLOGIES will display their Ultra HE wideband transmitter series, with a design based on the New Technologies R&D Lab study on highperformance amplifiers and drivers specifically designed for broadcasters.

RVR ELETTRONICA plans to show their 10 kW Plugin Green Line transmitter, providing more than 70 percent efficiency and hotpluggable amplifiers. They will also feature their Holiday air-cooled transmitter line with output powers ranging from 3.5 kW to 20 kW. Liquid-cooled models will also be represented with the company’s Barracuda line. Also look for RVR’s Tex2000Light Green Line compact transmitter and Gold DTV exciter.

ANTENNAS/TRANSMISSION LINES
ABE ELETTRONICA SRL will display their LB series of VHF and UHF antenna panels and transmitting arrays. These feature rugged construction and are designed to resist extreme weather conditions.

ALDENA TELECOMUNICAZIONI will be at the show with their line of UHF antennas for analog or DTV broadcasting. The line includes panel and superturnstile antennas for medium and high power levels.

ERI (ELECTRONICS RESEARCH INC.) plans to unveil the UF250, a 250 Watt UHF filter that’s band-tunable and available in six-and eight-pole versions. They’ll also show higher-power models in their UF line, including the UF1500, a 1.5 kW UHF filter, that’s also band-tunable and available in six- or eight-pole versions.

JAMPRO ANTENNAS will show their UHF broadband medium power panel antenna designed for all polarizations, the JVD-U and JCD-U. The company will also show the JAT-U UHF superturnstile antenna, Prostar JA/MS-BB broadband UHF slot antenna, and Jampro’s family of RCEC mask filters which feature steep rejection skirts and high-Q cavities.

MYAT will show their DTV STF sharp-tuned mask filters which provide excellent out-of-band rejection for adjacent channels. Also look for Myat’s Spectra- Line and SpectraGuide wide band transmission line systems in rigid coax and elliptical waveguide configurations.

FACILITY CONTROL

Burk Technology Arc Plus TouchBURK TECHNOLOGY will maintain control with the Arc Plus Touch v5 remote control system which features the RSI (recordable speech interface) option. Burk will also show the Arc Solo, which offers the power of the Arc Plus with the simplicity of the Arc 16 in a single package.

DAVICOM will show their MEXM-2, 64 digital input expansion module which provides 64 optoisolated wet or dry contact digital inputs for use with any product in the DV line of remote monitoring and control systems. Also look for the company’s Dav2You Application for Android devices.

STACO ENERGY PRODUCTS will show the FirstLine PL/PPC, an electronic precision power conditioner for 208 Volt AC 10- 40kVA applications, along with their 480 VAC, 65-250kVA model. They’ll also show off their UniStarP 0.9 power factor UPS and the StacoSine Plus, a 208/480Volt, 25–300 Amp three-phase active harmonic filter.

WORLDCAST SYSTEMS (Audemat) will demonstrate their MasterView 2.0, an upgrade to their ScriptEasy software suite. It make MasterView available on any Internet-enabled device, allowing users to see exactly what’s happening at their transmitter from anywhere in the world.