GatesAir To Unveil Expanded TV Transmission Family At IBC

GatesAir, a global provider of wireless, over-the-air content delivery solutions for radio and TV broadcasters, will unveil a broadened family of TV transmitters at IBC 2019 (Sept. 13-17, RAI Amsterdam) resulting from the company’s recent acquisition of ONEtastic, operating forward as GatesAir S.r.l. in Brescia, Italy.

The expanded portfolio both strengthens GatesAir’s low-power TV range and introduces several engineering innovations that will be new to GatesAir customers. GatesAir exhibits at Stand 8.D60.

While GatesAir has long offered low-power UHF and VHF air-cooled solutions through its Maxiva Compact series, the acquisition fills important power level gaps in the low-to-medium DTV product line. This includes ultra-compact 1RU transmitters at six power levels from 15 to 150 W; 2RU systems up to 400 W; 3RU systems up to 700 W; and 4RU systems up to 1100 W, with all systems available for analog TV.

At IBC, GatesAir will demonstrate the high-efficiency 1RU and 3RU systems, along with a new outdoor pole-mounted DTV solution that can house multiple UHF or VHF transmitters and/or remux up to four satellite feeds into a single transport stream for transmission.

The high-efficiency, DC-powered pole-mount design eliminates all moving parts and air filters, dissipating heat to the pole’s surface. The tower becomes the heat sink, eliminating the need for fans and cooling systems — making it a true outdoor solution.

The transmitter is completely sealed by a telecom-grade weatherproof enclosure, ensuring continuous operation even in the harshest outdoor elements.

GatesAir will also show a new “intra-mast” transmitter, designed for installation inside a cylindrical tower. It comprises a very compact chassis which and can house up to six 70 W UHF or VHF transmitters. Each transmitter can also be individually configured as a transposer or on-channel gap filler, offering customers a broad variety of options to fulfill all requirements for regional and national networks.

“GatesAir is extraordinarily positioned to equip today’s largest national DTV networks with complete, fully integrated solutions,” said Bruce Swail, CEO, GatesAir. “These networks require a significant number of transposers and gap fillers to address challenging coverage areas, especially in the valleys that experience blockage from hills and mountainous terrain. Our expanded product range also brings clever design philosophies that introduce new time- and cost-saving benefits to our customers, strengthening our ability to deliver high-efficiency, high-performance, and competitively-priced transmission solutions.”

These new design innovations and feature sets to the GatesAir transmitter family include no-cable, plug-in architectures that accelerate assembly and maintenance, reduce clutter and maintenance, and increase system reliability. Furthermore, these transmitters expand configuration options with extensive modularity, including plug-in input cards to support satellite reception, ASI, IP and other transport streams.

GatesAir will also demonstrate its existing range of medium-to-high power ULXTE (liquid-cooled) and UAXTE (air-cooled) transmitter families. These transmitters, along with the expanded low-power range, including cutting-edge echo cancellation and optimized modulation error ratio (MER) technologies that far outperform competitive solutions. The two technologies deliver a more robust broadcast signal for viewers, providing better reception in regions with challenging terrain.

For more IBC 2019 coverage, click here.