Bayou Duo Go With Gates On DTV

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Two TV stations in the Bayou State have upgraded their digital TV transmitters.


The stations’ owner, KTBS LLC, elected to go with GatesAir to handle the job.

KTBS-3 and The CW affiliate KPXJ-21 in Shreveport, La., went with GatesAir Maxiva ULXT liquid-cooled UHF DTV transmitters.

The transmitters are built upon GatesAir’s PowerSmart Plus architecture, a next-generation “green transmission technology” designed to reduce energy consumption and power bills.

Dale Cassidy, Chief Engineer for KTBS and KPXJ, says his stations selected the transmitter “for its ultra-high energy efficiency, reliability and ease of operation, and its low total cost of ownership. In terms of energy consumption, we anticipate long-term cost savings from these new solid-state transmitters.”

Cassidy also singled out GatesAir’s transmitters for being manufactured in the U.S. “It makes accessing service, support and training much easier,” he says.

KTBS began searching for a new DTV transmitter when its 15-year-old legacy tube transmitter from another supplier began to fail, and replacement parts became hard to find.

Cassidy comments, “Since installing the transmitters in June, we’ve been monitoring their signal-to-noise and error vector measurement [EVM] values. These levels have been exceptional.”

He eventually plans to upgrade to newer Maxiva XTE exciters.

“We’re well-positioned for any changes related to the spectrum repack and ATSC 3.0, including the ability to add many new channels,” Cassidy says.