TV Band Repack Products Guide

This year, TVNewsCheck is augmenting its coverage of NAB Show Hot Topics tech trends stories with information that can make your visit to NAB easier. This week’s focus is the post incentive auction spectrum repack, including consultants and transmitter and antenna manufacturers (read the main story here). These companion resource guides on the technology covered each week are compilations of information provided by vendors. To download this page as a PDF, click here.

RF CONSULTANTS

Cavell Mertz & Associates | Websites: www.cavellmertz.com and www.FCCInfo.com | 7724 Donegan Dr., Manassas, VA  20109 | 703-392-9090

TV band re-pack assistance including RF system analysis and design; broadcast coverage; interference and improvement analysis.

Product Info: http://www.cavellmertz.com/index.php?action=R

Microwave system design.

Product Info:  http://www.cavellmertz.com/index.php?action=O

FCC licensing, pre-purchase due-diligence, technical workflow evaluation.

Prices:  Email or call for pricing.

Availability: Now

To Set Up An Appointment: [email protected] or 703-392-9090.

TRANSMITTERS

GatesAir | N2512 | Website: http://www.gatesair.com | 5300 Kings Island Dr., Ste. 101, Mason, OH 45040 | 800-622-0022 or 513-459-3400

The Maxiva UAXT-12 and UAXT-16 transmitters — The Maxiva UAXT-12 and UAXT-16 transmitters with advanced PowerSmart Plus or PowerSmart 3D designs provide the convenience of air cooling at higher power levels. This offers a clear operational value proposition for broadcasters unable to support liquid-cooling architectures for high-power TV due to the remote location of, or limited real estate within, the RF plant. With GatesAir’s broadband amplification at the core of the transmitters, broadcasters are assured a smaller footprint for cleaner installation in space-challenged RF plants. The efficiency gains of the high-power UAXT design deliver 10.8 kW (UAXT-12) and 14.4 kW (UAXT-16) of pre-filter ATSC power to the broadcaster.

Product Info: http://www.gatesair.com/products/transmit-tv/uhf-transmitters/maxiva-uaxt-with-powersmart-3d

Datasheet: http://www.gatesair.com/documents/products/maxiva-uaxt-en-tc-0116.pdf
Availability: Available now.

To Set Up An Appointment: [email protected]

Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark | Booth C4309 | Website: www.comarktv.com | 104 Feeding Hills Rd., Southwick, MA 01077 | 413-998-1100 

Hitachi-Comark’s Parallax is the industry’s next generation medium and high power, liquid cooled, UHF DTV solid state transmitter. At NAB 2015, Hitachi-Comark displayed the prototype final RF power amplifier and power supply modules. For NAB 2016, the full transmitter design will be on display at the company’s booth. Parallax is ready for the upcoming broadcast spectrum repack and ATSC 3.0.  Parallax has the unique flexibility to ensure top-notch performance for specific needs. With up to 16 power amplifiers (PA’s) stacked in a single rack cabinet, it delivers an industry best of up to 27.5kW. Power levels can be scaled higher with multiple cabinets (up to 100kW TPO) or scaled back to as few as 3 x 2kW amplifiers for 5.4kW output power. The PA’s utilize the latest BLD-888E Asymmetric broadband Doherty LDMOS FET devices from Ampleon. These devices not only provide broadband high efficient operation, but also have the benefit of providing the same output power in ATSC 1.0 (8VSB) and ATSC 3.0 (OFDM). 

URL for Product: http://www.comarktv.com/products/dtv-transmitters/high-power-solid-state/

URL for Datasheet: http://www.comarktv.com/wp-content/uploads/comark-parallax-brochure-web-3.pdf

Price: For pricing, contact an authorized Hitachi-Comark sales representative.

Availability:  Third quarter 2016

To Set Up An Appointment: [email protected]

Rohde & Schwarz | Booth SL1205| Website: www.rohde-schwarz.com/us | 6821 Benjamin Franklin Dr., Columbia, MD 21046| 410 910-7800

The R&S TLU9 low-power UHF transmitter — The air-cooled R&S TLU9 with output powers from 1 W to 200 W offers premium components and architecture that clearly improve signal quality and stability, ensure availability and long service intervals. The transmitter is equipped with an integrated exciter backup battery. Mains voltage interruptions of up to 10 seconds do not result in a reboot of the transmitter, which keeps off-the-air time to a minimum. The R&S TLU9 offers high availability and smooth operation. Most components can be replaced easily by the customer. Service personnel can perform troubleshooting on site quickly and easily without requiring the transmitter to be returned to the manufacturer, thus substantially reducing costs.

URL For Product: https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/product/tlu9-productstartpage_63493-201385.html

URL For PDF Datasheet: https://cdn.rohde-schwarz.com/pws/dl_downloads/dl_common_library/dl_brochures_and_datasheets/pdf_1/service_support_30/TLU9_bro_en_3607-3800-12_v0101_72dpi.pdf

Price: Contact the sales office in the United States

Availability: Beginning at the 2016 NAB Show.

To Set Up an Appointment: [email protected]

ANTENNAS

Dielectric | Booth C2213 | Website: http://www.dielectric.com | 22 Tower Rd., Raymond, ME 04071 | 800-341-9678

TLSV-BB Series antenna —  Dielectric introduces the TLSV-BB series antenna for the high-band VHF broadcaster, a low-cost, broadband antenna covering chs. 7-13. The lightweight TLSV-BB antenna is an economic alternative to panel antennas, reducing wind load by 75% in comparison. Its Omnioid Azimuth Pattern propagates electromagnetic waves omni-directionally with options for horizontal — right to left — or elliptical — rotating — polarization. The TLSV-BB supports input power up to 22.5kW – 7.5kW per four-bay section (up to 12 bays) —  and features a stripline slot design to simplify channel tuning and occasional frequency adjustments.

Datasheet: http://www.dielectric.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DIE-19297-TLSV-BB-II-Sales-Sheet-02-11.pdf.

Availability: Now

MT6E6-4K VHF filter — Dielectric’s new MT6E6-4K VHF filter for ATSC and DVB-T standards uses a cavity and compensated resonator design techniques to provide broadcasters with efficiency in a compact footprint. The 4kW six-pole filter is tunable through high-band VHF (chs. 7-13) with a simple folded design that requires minimal space in the RF plant. Its convection-cooled design supports flexible installation, including floor, ceiling or cabinet-mounted options.

Datasheet: http://www.dielectric.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/DIE-19244-VHF-6-Pole-Sales-Sheet-12-22.pdf.

Availability: Now

To Set Up An Appointment: [email protected]

ERI-Electronics Research | Booth C2324 | Website: www.eriinc.com | 7777 Gardner Rd., Chandler, IN 47610 | 812-925-6000

ALV Series High Band VHF Television Antenna —  A new lightweight, side-mounted family of high band VHF television antennas available in two-, four- and eight-bay configurations with omnidirectional, peanut, wide cardioid, and Omnioid (Skull) azimuth patterns. Available for any single-band III RF chs. 7-13. Rated for up to 25 kW average input power.

UF Series UHF Television Mask Filter Systems —  The UF Series includes six- and eight-section reflective DTV mask filters for from 100 W to 20 kW power handling capability. The product family also includes hybrids for power combining and constant impedance filter configurations. Low pass harmonic filters and directional couplers are also available.

VF Series VHF Television Mask Filter Systems —  The VF Series includes six and eight section reflective DTV Mask filters for up to 20 kW average power handling capability for both VHF Band I and Band III applications. The product family also includes hybrids for power combining and constant impedance filter configurations. Low-pass harmonic filters and directional couplers are also available.

VF-H8600 Integrated High Band VHF Television Channel Diplexers — ERI’s VF-H8600 is a compact high-band VHF N+2 channel diplexer. This compact filter set combines two high-band VHF TV channels into a single transmission line. It is rated for 8 kW average power, 8VSB, per input.

ETU Series UHF Television Panel Antennas — ERI’s UHF Television Panel Antenna systems offer models for horizontally, circularly and elliptically polarized applications. They can be configured with integrated support spines for top or side mounting in a wide variety of azimuth patterns from one to 16 bays.

Price: Contact ERI at [email protected]

Availability: Now

To Set Up An Appointment: [email protected]

TRANSMITTERS & ANTENNAS

Jampro Antennas | Booth C2617 | Website: www.jampro.com | 6340 Sky Creek Dr., Sacramento, CA 95828 | 916-383-1177

JA/MS BB — The JA/MS BB Prostar series broadband UHF slot antenna is available as an elliptical or circular polarized antenna design. The antenna provides a low weight and wind load broadband antenna solution.

Product Info: http://www.jampro.com/tv.html

Datasheet: http://www.jampro.com/uploads/product_pdf/tv/Slot/JA-MS-BB%20Literature.pdf

Price: Contact factory, as it depends on application.

Availability: Now

To Set Up An Appointment: [email protected]

Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) | Booth No. C1727 | Website: www.rfsworld.com | 200 Pondview Dr. Meriden, CT 06450-7195| 203-630-3311  

RFS PEP Lite Antenna Series — RFS’ PEP Lite array has similar wind load characteristics to traditional pylon arrays but is both frequency-agile, covering the full UHF array, and polarization-agile, allowing two channels to operate in the array with different polarization ratios. These polarization ratios also can be changed in the future with no change required to the antenna system.

Product Info: http://www.rfsworld.com/pep-lite-antenna-series-for-broadcast-applications,306,1,promoted_product,86.html

Datasheet: http://www.rfsamericas.com/Datasheets/PEPL_Antenna.pdf

Price: Contact an RFS representative at [email protected]

Availability: Now

Band IV/V (UHF) PeakPower+ bandpass filter — RFS designed its PeakPower+ bandpass filter for global filtering applications associated with DTV television transmission. The new product is a six-pole filter incorporating two cross couplings to meet all mask filtering requirements. It is compact for easy integration into equipment and features low insertion loss for its size. The filter is tunable over the full UHF band (470-635MHz), and has adjustable bandwidth available for 6 MHz, 7 MHz and 8 MHz channels for global applications.

Datasheet: http://www.rfsamericas.com/Datasheets/6ppxx325e bandpass filter.pdf

Price: Contact an RFS representative at [email protected].

Availability: Now

SBB fully broadband side-mounted pylon antennas — With full-band performance and a range of industry standard radiation patterns, the RFS SBB pylon antenna is well suited for use as a high-performance main antenna, a backup antenna or as a temporary antenna that can be used by one or more stations during the U.S. DTV repack transition on both pre- and post-repack channels.

Datasheet: http://www.rfsamericas.com/Datasheets/SBB Antenna.pdf

Price: Contact an RFS representative at [email protected].

Availability: Available now.

To Set Up An Appointment: [email protected]