(March 20, 2019) – Acrodyne Services is pleased to announce the supply of PROGIRA® plan broadcast network planning software, with ATSC 3.0 and 1.0 options, to Kessler and Gehman Associates (KGA) and Meintel, Sgrignoli and Wallace (MSW), adding to the growing list of US users of the software.
Representatives of both companies recently completed a four-day training session with Mats Ek, PROGIRA, and Bill Soreth, Acrodyne Services, in Baltimore. “As more and more US Broadcasters make plans to launch ATSC 3.0, the need for an effective solution to predict true reception probabilities throughout a service area has become paramount,” said Andy Whiteside, General Manager of Acrodyne Services and President of Dielectric.
ATSC 3.0 has much more flexibility than ATSC 1.0 to select signal configurations to suit multiple end use cases with different reception robustness. The software, which includes CRC-Predict, and other propagation models, has proven to be more realistic in predicting field strength. It can also be used to evaluate reception probability for a variety of receive conditions, including fixed, mobile and indoor situations, from a conventional single stick broadcast facility or a Single Frequency Network (SFN).
“We are seeing much more interest in SFN applications using ATSC 3.0, which likely explains the increase in requests we have received about the software,” said Whiteside. “We are delighted to have two such well-respected engineering companies select PROGIRA® plan for their ATSC 3.0 planning needs.”
Dennis Wallace, Managing Partner of MSW, commented: “Meintel, Sgrignoli, & Wallace is pleased to add PROGIRA® plan to our SFN design tool arsenal. Many broadcasters are exploring the addition of SFNs as part of their ATSC 3.0 planning. The PROGIRA® plan software enables us to provide efficient and accurate propagation prediction modeling, including identifying and eliminating SFN self-interference, thus facilitating our design of SFN’s to meet clients’ coverage and service goals.”
Bill Godfrey of Kessler and Gehman Associates (KGA) added: “It was difficult to pull away from the office for four days of training in another state with the repack at full throttle; but there is an extraordinary level of interest in ATSC 3.0 and SFNs, since this is the future of broadcast. The objective is always to provide “real-world” engineering based on actual measurements rather than predictions, and that is why we made the commitment to purchase the PROGIRA® plan software and attend the training. Since the training took place several weeks ago, we have already completed multiple rounds of studies for a five-station, ATSC 3.0 SFN in a major market and we have additional markets in the queue. The level of training provided by the Progira and Acrodyne staff allowed us to ramp-up quickly and our clients are extremely pleased since most of them are ready to get started immediately”.
Ryan Wilhour, also of KGA, commented: “PROGIRA® plan hosts a wide and sophisticated array of intuitive radio frequency engineering tools for the design professional, and integrates very nicely with the ESRI’s ArcMap native functions.”
Visit Acrodyne Services and Progira at NAB 2019 on the Dielectric Booth - C2213
AboutAcrodyneServices:
Acrodyne Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinclair, provides service and support for Broadcast transmitters throughout the world. This includes the large installed base of transmitters sold by Acrodyne Industries (Ai) over its 40-year history, as well as products manufactured by Rohde & Schwarz, Harris, Comark and others. The staff of Acrodyne Services offer a combined total of over 150 years of experience in the design, manufacture, installation and support of all types of TV transmitters. www.acrodyneservices.com.
