As the LBA Antenna Turns

Please join LBA Technology in Miami, Florida for this year’s LABS’09 event at the Hyatt Regency Downtown, July 9th and 10th. LBA will display, in booth# 307, not only our time-tested AM Antenna System products and solutions, but also a full line of RF Test & Measuring instruments from world renowned Kathrein & Schomandl.

Demonstrations will be available on:

MSK-200 Universal TV Signal Analyzer, a top-quality DTV & MPEG-2/4 instrument
FIT-70 In-Line Wattmeter with removable RF heads
3024 RF Power Monitor with remote monitoring over Ethernet connection
SafeOne® Personal RF Safety Monitor, alerts to hazardous RF for 50% less than competition

The LTACT tactical communications trailer by LBA Technology is designed as a versatile budget-friendly mobile platform carrying a telescoping, storm-sturdy communications tower and an enclosed operations cabin. Custom configurable, a typical unit is the LTACT-28 furnished with a 48-foot crank-up tower, self-supporting in winds of 70 mph. A wide variety of antennas, lights, and cameras can be mounted. Outriggers stabilize the vehicle during deployment. A deck-mounted diesel-powered generator produces 10 KW of 120/240-volt AC power for over 24 hours. The 28-foot-long 7,000-pound mobile unit rides on a stable quad-tire undercarriage.

The operations cabin contains 80 square feet of temperature-controlled workspace configured as specified by the customer. LBA Technology can fully integrate and test each customer’s preferred communications system, as well.

This year at NAB2009, LBA’s channel partners and integrators featured working Schomandl – Kathrein Test Equipment in their booths. The hit of the show were the MSK-200 and ADAM-3000 digital TV signal analyzers. We bring you some photos of innovative uses of these analyzers.

ADAM-3000 in Houston CH2 Storm Tracker Hummer by TV Engineering Corp.
Television Engineering Corporation, an industry leader in SNG/ENG vehicles, integrated the Schomandl ADAM-3000 Measurement System into the Houston Channel 2 Storm Tracker H2 Hummer Satellite News Gathering vehicle on display at the show.  The feature rich ADAM-3000 was chosen to monitor and analyze satellite signals (DVB-S and DVB-S/2) to ensure signal quality in harsh conditions and provide in depth modulation analysis (QPSK,2K,8K) to maintain broadcast signal quality while pointing out issues for quick correction in zero infrastructure areas for continuing news coverage. 

ADAM-3000 in Houston CH2 Storm Tracker Hummer by TV Engineering Corp.

 
MSK-200 Performs DVB-S2 Analysis at Evertz.
Evertz Microsystems displayed the Schomandl MSK-200 measurement system as support to its integrated digital systems presentations.  The MSK-200 was used to analyze and measure their DVB-S and S2 signal standards and provided modulation analysis for these standards using the real time constellation analyzer feature in the MSK-200.  The MSK-200 is a useful tool for these applications due to its robust feature set which not only analyzes the spectrum and modulation, but provides transport stream information and decoding to maintain optimal broadcasts and signal quality.

Transparent Video Matches MSK-200 to CATV Headends.
Transparent Video Systems incorporated the MSK-200 into their professional headend CATV systems Challenger and Challenger II.  The MSK-200 is used to analyze all CATV standards (J83A,B,C) and also provided 256 QAM Modulation analysis from the headend.  In the show demo TVS broadcast multi-channel signals from their Encoder and the MSK-200 analyzed the spectrum and provided QAM analysis to maintain, install and repair the headend systems.

All the capacitors on the attached PDF list are in stock and on sale for a limited time! If you see any of interest, communicate with LBA immediately. All are subject to prior sale. The list contains both new and old part numbers. Many are most familiar with the “Old Type” numbers. Those numbers that start with CF and MC are fixed, those with CV are variable. The capacitance is the first number, and the kilovoltage the second.

Contact Javier Castillo jcastillo@lbagroup.com or Paulo Fernandes pfernandes@lbagroup.com.

More about LBA’s vacuum capacitor store at http://www.lbagroup.com/technology/vacuum.php

Comet PDF Sale List Here!

Schomandl manufactures a series of meters it calls “fast installation testers,” or FIT for short. The FIT-70 Inline wattmeter addresses the RF industry’s need to check wattages and forward and reflected power at remote antenna sites and STLs. As advertised, the FIT-70 is a fast, easy-to-use and easy-to-read tester. Its main unit measures 8 inches by 4 inches by less than 2 inches thick. Its cord-linked test head is half that size and handier for connecting to cable in hard-to-reach situations than are other manufacturers’ bulky box units.

The FIT-70’s measurement range is 70 MHz to 1000 MHz and the head now goes up to 100 watts. That covers mobile radio networks, FM radio, and UHF and VHF television signals. It also features a DC voltmeter that stores low and high readings and an ohmmeter to measure resistance. The watt meter’s manufacturer, Schomandl, is a subsidiary of German RF manufacturer Kathrein Group. LBA Technology exclusively distributes Kathrein/Schomandl RF instruments in the western hemisphere. Learn More About the FIT-70 Here!

Let’s see, pondered the technician, scratching his chin, shall I carry this… and this… and this… and this… to the satellite installation job and subsequent check of the video conferencing system? Or shall I just take the MSK-125? Hmmm…

The appeal of the Kathrein/Schomandl MSK 125 signal meter begins with its versatility. It is a multi-standard spectrum analyzer, a MER/BER analyzer, a satellite meter, and a terrestrial, cable and audio measurement device. With all of that, it is portable and durable. For satellite installation, its SatFinder uses acoustic signaling to quickly align a dish with a beamed signal.

For cable work, the MSK-125 analyzes and sorts DVB-C, DVB-S/S2 and T/H signals. Digital metering is not a problem either: It just as easily implements MPEG-4 decoding and measures HDTV and FM-SAT radio transmissions. LBA Technology is partnering with German RF equipment manufacturer Kathrein Group to bring this useful state-of-the-art meter to the western hemisphere. Learn more about the MSK-125 Here!

In 1974, WTAW (now KZNE) in Bryan - College Station, Texas – home of the Texas Aggies – was 50 years old, an original Texas radio station!

For all its years, it had remained a single tower 1000 watt daytime station on 1150 kHz. That was, until owner Rodger (Bill) Watkins resolved to increase coverage and add night operation. There were multiple problems to surmount including a very small site, bad location for city coverage, and seemingly impossible protections to other stations. In fact, his then consulting engineer said it couldn’t be done.

Bill contacted Lawrence Behr Associates, Inc. (LBA). Lawrence Behr and his engineering staff, pioneering users of computer antenna design, concluded that it could be done with careful engineering and careful construction. LBA was retained for the project engineering and construction management, and by 1976, the new facilities were on the air!

Bill is now retired from radio, and he and Lawrence have become close friends over the subsequent years. This past October, the two friends visited in College Station and returned to the WTAW (now KZNE) site where the directional system is still in great shape and working with the original equipment designed and installed by Behr 33 years go! 

The snapshot shows one of the LBA Technology TuniPole™ folded unipoles installed on a very short tower in the three tower directional antenna.  Among the unique features of this antennas system is the use of folded unipoles on all three towers, two of the towers about 45 degrees high and closely spaced, and a site under five acres.

After 45 years, LBA still performs challenging broadcast system designs and fabricates AM antenna systems of all types for installation worldwide. Contact us to help on your project via email or call 252-757-0279.

The FCC has released two free map books showing in detail the impact of the digital conversion on every US TV station. Most stations come out winners, with 89% gaining net coverage, and 11% losing. 

Stations losing coverage area can regain it using several methods, according to the FCC. Options include changing channels or antenna patterns, translators within a single frequency distributed transmission system (DTS), or conventional translators and fill in stations.

The FCC study doesn’t take into account cable TV carriage or existing translators. The Commission has pledged every resource to help stations mitigate coverage loss. It also released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to create a replacement digital translator service for full service stations. STA’s will be available while the rulemaking is pending.

Providing optimum digital TV signals through the transmission chain, including translators and cable systems will be a high priority for broadcasters. The Kathrein MSK-200, available through LBA, is a premier instrument for analyzing the entire digital signal path. Contact Paulo Fernandes to discuss your transport stream and RF monitoring needs.

The map book of all TV station coverage changes is at http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/, and that of stations only loosing coverage is at http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/report2.html.

A member of the Broadcast Pioneers, Bill Roberson was indeed a pioneering figure in North Carolina broadcasting. His roots ran first to AM radio WRRF in Washington, NC in 1942, and WRRZ, Clinton, in 1943. Then he founded the first Eastern North Carolina television station WITN, Channel 7 in 1955, followed by powerhouse WITN-FM!

Bill was more than a broadcaster. He gave freely of himself in public service, serving as a NC state representative and NC Secretary of Transportation. He and his wife were champions of the arts, and he established an endowment at the NC Museum of Art in her memory.

Bill was responsible for a couple of generations of managers, talent, and technical people, many who went on to populate the networks and major broadcast outlets far beyond their Eastern Carolina origins.

Bill touched me as a young man as well, and now my wife and I have been honored to call him our next door neighbor for the past ten years. I shared a drink with Bill on New Years Eve. He proclaimed “to another year!”

Well, Bill made that “another year” – 2009. Regrettably, he will not see it through, as he passed away gently on the morning of January 3rd at 90 years of age.

One of the delights of this great Tar Heel gentleman was the sunset over the Tar River in front of his home. So this sunset is for you, old friend – and if you look carefully, you can see your tower lights just coming on!

Lawrence Behr