WGCL Going Mobile With Thomson Atlanta

Meredith Corp.’s CBS affiliate WGCL Atlanta (DMA 8), has purchased a new Thomson Broadcast mobile DTV transmission system based on the ATSC A/153 standard.

The basic equipment needed to begin broadcasting mobile video services via ATSC mobile DTV includes a program encoder, a multiplexer and an electronic service guide (ESG) server, as well as a compatible DTV transmission exciter. Each of these devices is now available from Thomson in field-tested production models.

WGCL currently operates a two-tube Thomson DCX Millennium transmitter that already incorporates Thomson ADAPT-IV 8-VSB exciters. Thomson Broadcast simply upgraded these exciters with new software for full compatibility with the A/153 standard. The ADAPT-IV exciters provide the post-processing of the mobile DTV signal for maximum reception performance and simultaneous ATSC terrestrial and mobile DTV operation. 

“We needed a reliable way to send video to portable devices in our market and have had a good experience with our existing Thomson DCX Millennium transmitter for DTV, so we felt confident it would do the job,” said Steve Flanagan, WGCL director of engineering. “It was great that we were able to leverage our investment and upgrade our transmitter with ATSC Mobile DTV software because it got us on the air with a mobile signal quickly.”

Thomson said its ATSC Mobile DTV Terrestrial Broadcast Technology is backward-compatible with legacy ATSC transmission systems, allowing stations to use their existing DTV channel and the mandated ATSC 8-VSB modulation scheme. The technology offers several significant advantages over other systems, including the use of M/H block coding to provide maximum capability for signal reception.