Toshiba Announces New VHF/UHF TV Tuner RF Amp

By Doug Lung
published

Lower-efficiency TV antennas such as those used with mobile and portable devices require greater tuner sensitivity than the larger outdoor and preamplified indoor antennas used with fixed TV sets. Toshiba has introduced a new preamplifier, the TA4029CTC.

Designed for use with portable devices with built-in TV tuners; it operates on UHF and VHF bands. Power gain is at least 8 dB. With this much gain, overload could be a problem in strong signal environments. The preamplifier includes an LNA Off pass-through mode that shuts off the preamplifier and passes the input signal with a 2 dB loss.

The preamplifier noise figure is typically 1.2 dB, and the worst case figure is 1.6 dB, much lower than the typical 5 to 8 dB TV tuner noise figure. The third order intercept point is –5 dBmW. See the TA4029CTC news release for more information.

Doug Lung
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.