Hitachi Comark Intros New VHF E-Compact High-Power Air-Cooled Transmitters

Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark has introduced the EC600HP-BB3 VHF Band 3 E-Compact series high-efficiency, air-cooled solid-state DTV transmitters.

The EC600HP-BB3 product line is available with up to 4 x PA’s in parallel, producing from 1150W to up to 4.6kW respectively.  These output power levels are measured after the mask filter.  This new VHF band 3 E-Compact delivers the same features as the field proven UHF version including:

• EXACT-V2 digital TV exciter licensed for ATSC 1.0, optional license for ATSC 3.0
• Hot-swappable rectifiers accessible from the front panel of the PA chassis
• Dual commercial off-the-shelf GE AC to DC rectifiers per PA in load share mode
• Single drive exciter & controller or optional dual drive with auto switching
• Newly improved system controller with a simpler Graphical User Interface (GUI)
• Built-in surge protection devices (SPD) to minimize power grid overvoltage
• Optional front panel touch screen for easier user access to the control / monitoring GUI

The EC600HP-BB3 features the latest broadband Doherty LDMOS RF power amplifiers with efficiency of up to 40%.  The air-cooled PA design includes automatic cooling fan speed control that provides lower acoustic noise levels during operation while extending the life span of these fans.  Each 3RU PA features a rear-panel plug-in design for easy installation and maintenance.  Multiple RF amplifiers are combined with an insulated RF combiner enabling Hot Swap of the PAs.

The transmitters use a built-in Embedded WEB Server that provides control and management of the transmitter through a web-GUI (via PC or mobile phone standard browser) without the need for any external software or drivers.  SNMP for transmitter remote control and monitoring is also available.

The E-Compact features the field proven EXACT-V2 IP Optimized DTV exciters with DualCast technology and is easily upgraded from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0. EXACT-V2 delivers an ATSC compliant, on-channel RF output and performs RF correction of both linear and non-linear distortion via Digital Adaptive Precorrection (DAP) technology.  DAP automatically corrects both the linear and non-linear system distortions inherent to all DTV systems. The use of DAP provides the lowest cost of operation with very high system efficiency and RF SNR performance.

The company said: “E-Compact family is compact and rugged, perfectly suited for broadcasters looking to replace their older and less efficient equipment or for future ATSC 3.0 SFN systems.”