Albert Broadcast Services President Stu Albert poses with Nautel’s model NT transmitter.
FLORENCE, S.C.—Norsan Media is an Hispanic-owned media firm, with its core broadcast and print offices located in Charlotte and Triad, N.C. and Jacksonville, Fla. Recently the company launched the first full-time Spanish language television station for Charlotte, where the Hispanic community makes up nearly 20 percent of a total population of more than a million.
Last year, in preparing for this start-up, Norsan tasked my company, Albert Broadcast Services, a regional broadcast engineering and integration firm, to construct an all-digital low-power high-definition transmission facility for WCEE-LP. Our job was to reconstruct a formerly “dark” analog broadcast facility for digital operations by replacing virtually everything from the station’s content ingest system to its transmitting plant with state-of-the-art reliable, affordable and easy-to-manage and maintain equipment.
LEGACY REPUTATION
In evaluating digital transmitters for this project, we gave special attention to Nautel. Our company has had extensive past experience with their AM and FM transmitter lines, dating from the latest NV series all the way back to Nautel’s original AmpFet AM transmitters, and this was a key reason that we focused on Nautel’s latest broadcast entry—television transmitters for lower power applications—for this Norsan project. We’ve always been impressed with Nautel’s service and support structure, which includes an extensive documentation archives and unsurpassed technical and parts support for new and older models alike. Actually Nautel is able to provide parts for its first broadcast transmitter products. You just don’t find that level of support anymore from other transmitter manufacturers.
With this level of service and support, it was a natural decision to select a Nautel NT series transmitter for the WCEE-LP project. The NT models feature Nautel’s ProTelevision modulator, which offers seamless input failover switching for enhanced reliability, and the transmitters are also equipped with IP integration for monitoring and control with Nautel’s Advanced User Interface (AUI) system. Another factor in going with the NT series for this project was the inclusion of both conventional ASI inputs along with builtin TSoIP capability; the NT series was designed and equipped to operate in both environments.
STATION TAKES TO THE AIR WITH AN NT500
We selected a 500 Watt NT500 unit for the initial installation at WCEE-LP and a 1kW NT1 model has now been purchased and will be installed later this summer. Both of the Nautel NT products selected include the company’s Optipower enhanced adaptive pre-correction technology that optimizes linearity after the mask filter to provide enhanced RF transmission spectral purity.
Norsan Media is now relying on these Nautel NT transmitters to deliver its programming within the Charlotte market. In addition to Nautel’s advanced engineering and long-standing reputation for reliability, the decision to go with Nautel products was strengthened with the company’s unsurpassed four-year warranty on its broadcast equipment products. However, Norsan may never have to take advantage of this warranty, as performance of the NT transmitter at WCEE-LP has been rock-solid since it was first switched on and the company is looking forward to a very long and rewarding continuing relationship with Nautel products.
Stu Albert is president of Albert Broadcast Services, Inc. He may be contacted atsalbert@miller.fm.
For additional information, contact Nautel at 877-662-8835 or visitwww.nautel.com
