BroadcastPro ME brings you an exclusive report from Doha on two major TV and radio transmission projects Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) recently took delivery of two turnkey transmission projects from Rohde and Schwarz. The Jumailiya site, which was primarily an upgrade, included a complete turnkey project that comprised channel combiners, automatic upper lower antenna change […]
BroadcastPro ME
brings you an exclusive report from Doha on two major TV and radio transmission projects
Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) recently took delivery of two turnkey transmission projects from Rohde and Schwarz.
The Jumailiya site, which was primarily an upgrade, included a complete turnkey project that comprised channel combiners, automatic upper lower antenna change over units, programme input equipment, electrical systems as well as a remote control system.
The second site, located in Doha, was a brand new installation, which included 16-panel dual input UHF & 16-panel dual input VHF dual antennas, dual feeders, programme input and monitoring equipment, electrical systems as well as a remote control and monitoring system.
Elaborating on the project, Vikas Eshwarahally, CEO of Rohde and Schwarz MEA states that the TV project was initially for the replacement of transmitters in both Jumailiya as well as Al Dafna sites.
However instead of Al Dafna, QMC decided to deploy the transmitters at a new facility built within its complex in Doha.
“The existing TV transmitters at these sites were very old and not capable of operating in digital. This is why QMC decided to replace its TV transmitters in both these stations,” explains Eshwarahally.
As per QMCs mandate, the analogue TV transmitters that would be supplied for this project had to be digitally compatible.
“The reason for this is because most Gulf countries have agreed to switch from analogue to digital transmission (DVB-T) by 2013. As a result, all new stations are deploying equipment that can be switched from analogue to digital in the near future,” explains Eshwarahally.
Rohde & Schwarz, therefore, supplied transmitters that were capable of operating in analogue as well as digital along with its new generation of SX801 Exciters.
“The big advantage with this system is that QMC can convert the analogue TV transmitters to DVB-T by just changing the Tx system mode to DVB-T from the control unit of the transmitter. This does not take more than a minute, thanks to the combined amplification concept of R&S transmitters wherein no modifications are required at the amplifier stage to carry out such a conversion,” explains Eshwarahally.
The purpose of the Jumailiya site specifically was to provide coverage to the central and northern regions of Qatar. The system supplied was for two TV programmes transmitting in UHF band.
The transmitters deployed were the latest R&S NHNV8606 dual cast UHF TV transmitters that are liquid cooled and capable of dissipating 10kW in analogue and 3.7kW in DVB-T. The system has been designed to have two main transmitters and a common stand-by.
This solution includes channel combiners to combine the two transmitters into a single existing antenna system; automatic upper and lower antenna changeover units to enable to switch both the transmitters to one half of the antenna in case of a half antenna failure; programme input equipment to monitor the input as well as transmitted audio and video signals; electrical systems and a remote control system.
The Doha site, by comparison, is brand new. This station comprises a main 5kW and a standby UHF TV dual cast liquid cooled transmitters as well as a main 5kW and a standby 4kW VHF TV dual cast liquid-cooled transmitters.
These 16 panel dual input UHF & VHF antenna systems are again configured as upper and lower antennas with dual feeders, thus providing the flexibility to transmit on either of the half antennas in the event of a half antenna failure.
Here again, the newly-deployed dual cast TV transmitters may be switched to DVB-T at any time without any additional hardware.
The Doha TV system was commissioned in December 2010.
“The NHHV8600 and the NMNW8500 series transmitters supplied for this project are the most efficient transmitters in terms of power consumption in the market. They have extremely user-friendly control unit menus that allow the operators to check the status of the transmitters and all the parameters of the exciters and amplifiers by a simple selection of menus. Another feature with these transmitters is that they can continue to operate with full power even if the control unit fails,” claims Eshwarahally.
More importantly, the TV transmission systems from Jumailiya, Doha as well as the FM & the DAB transmission systems from Doha can be controlled from the central monitoring station in Doha.
A TV transmission project was recently concluded at two of QMCs sites namely Jumailiya & Doha, while a second FM & Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB+) transmission project was also delivered. Rohde and Schwarz claims that the radio solution is the first DAB+ system to be deployed in the Gulf region.
