RENO, Nev.—The National Translator Association is planning on tackling key issues regarding things like ATSC 3.0, the repack, reimbursement and more when it hosts the 2019 NTA Convention in Reno, Nev., from May 9-11.
“It’s our biggest ever hands-on convention covering: Live ATSC 3.0, to reimbursement, to repack, to white space, to antennas, microwaves, towers, interference; this exciting lineup is news you can use,” said John Terrill, NTA president.
Things will kick off on Thursday, May 9, with a hands-on ATSC 3.0 broadcast from Joel Wilhite, senior systems design engineer with Harmonic. Working with representatives from GatesAir, the demonstration will take a closer look at just what ATSC 3.0 is and how it works. The demonstration is set for 1-4 p.m.
On Friday, Hossein Hashemzadeh, deputy chief of the video division, and Jean Kiddo, chair, from the Incentive Auction Task Force will give an overview of the displacement process and government reimbursement program. Hossein will follow that up with a presentation on Saturday that updates attendees on ATSC 3.0 and eligibility in the first and second displacement windows.
Additional speakers set for the convention include Robert Weller, vice president for spectrum policy with the NAB, with an industry update; Rob Gates, FCC Audio Division’s supervisory engineer, talking about the FM window for AM-FM and single frequency networks; AT&T’s Jim Hollister, principal-RAN engineer, and Gordon Beattie, network cloud infrastructure, will demonstrate how to locate low level incoming interference; and Martin Doczkat and Mark Colombo from OET will present TV study updates and input signal database and research tips and tricks. Other topics expected to be covered range from vertical polarization and next-generation antennas to microwave design, IP remote control and tower structure standards.
“We are the folks who bring TV into rural America. And this is a family type, one-on-one convention,” said Terrill. “We are broadcasting of, for and by the people, doesn’t get any more basic than that.”
The 2019 NTA Convention takes place at the Silver Legacy Convention Center in Reno from May 9-11. Registration information is available at nta.tv.
