ABSTRACT
Digital television (DTV) transmitters began appearing in widespread commercial use in 1998 shortly after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created rules adopting the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s standard for digital transmission [1]. The introduction of DTV has required television transmitters to change to accommodate the new standard. At the same time, technology has advanced at a rapid pace over the past decade. Standardized network protocols are available for communication between devices, even when those devices are geographically remote. RF amplification technology continues to advance as new devices and techniques attempt to provide improved performance in cost and efficiency. Broadcast engineers seek to take advantage of these advances as their day-to-day activities become more complicated and the transmitter becomes a relatively smaller part of the overall complexity of a broadcast station. This chapter covers the basics of digital television transmitters:
• Characteristics of the DTV signal • Types of amplifying devices • Support systems needed in a DTV transmitter • Installation considerations • Signal performance and quality metrics • Recommended maintenance practices for various
transmitter types
This chapter also contains an appendix, available only on the CD version, with a tutorial, “Understanding DTV Transmission,” by John D. Freberg (Freberg
Communications Corp.; Homewood, IL) which describes the 8VSB transmission system in detail.
