SOUTHWICK, MA. — Hitachi-Comark is rushing numerous Comark Parallax and E-Compact UHF transmitters to broadcasters in Puerto Rico so they can accelerate their Spectrum Repack timetable that has been impacted by Hurricane Maria.
The Puerto Rican stations to receive new Comark transmitters include: WNJX, WTIN, WAPA, WVSN, WCCV, WMTJ, WQTO, WJWN, WSJN-CD, and WQSJ-CD. Equipment production is underway, and shipments are expected to reach both repack and non-repack stations in time for their scheduled installations.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, one of the most destructive storms to hit the island, affected DTV broadcasters were facing the prospect of rebuilding their facilities twice over the next year. Earlier this year, the FCC granted their request to accelerate the repack schedule, enabling them to move directly to their new repack channels.
(Since most were originally slated for Phase 3 of the FCC’s repack process, they weren’t even scheduled to begin testing until April of 2019, with completion by June 21, 2019.)
[Read: WGBH/WBGY Taps Hitachi-Comark Transmitters for Repack]
On several occasions, Comark sent field teams to the island to survey the broadcasters’ facilities and draft individualized site construction plans to get them on the air on their post-repack channels. Comark also handled program management, shipping logistics, and on-site labor for installation and proof-of-performance testing.
Designed for high-power, broadband requirements, Comark Parallax solid-state transmitters are high efficiency, repack-ready liquid cooled systems offering Doherty performance and a future proof design. They’re available up to 27.5 kW transmitter power output (TPO) per rack cabinet, or up to 100kW with multiple cabinets.
For low-to-medium power requirements, Comark’s E-Compact high efficiency, air-cooled UHF DTV transmitters provide asymmetric broadband Doherty, solid-state amplifier technology, requiring less energy to deliver more power. With its 950W 3RU amplifier chassis, the compact, rugged E-Compact is available in TPO levels from 850 W to more than 10 kW.
While the transmitters will operate in ATSC 1.0, they can be upgraded to the ATSC 3.0 DTV broadcast standard in the future.
For comprehensive news and information on the repack, visit TV Technology's repack silo.
