Technical Services Group (TSG), a Baton Rouge-based broadcast engineering and commercial AV product provider, will be installing Rohde & Schwarz solid-state transmitters for two Louisiana-based PBS member stations. The upgrades will help prepare the stations for the transition to ATSC 3.0.
The work involves WLPB-27 in Baton Rouge, part of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, the state network of six PBS stations offering three channels of programming operated by the Louisiana Educational Television Authority.
TSG will also provide transmitter services for WYES-12, the heritage PBS member station serving New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast that is owned by the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation.
Both locations will be upgraded with R&S THU9-24 high-power, liquid-cooled transmitters. TSG will provide decommissioning, inside RF, installation and commissioning, plus electrical and mechanical services. The new units will be sized for new antennas with vertical polarization (VPOL) to improve ATSC 3.0 transmission. WLPB’s new transmitter will be on-air this summer, while WYES is scheduled to be live before autumn.
“It’s always special when we’re asked to work with and support public television,” said TSG CEO Bo Hoover. “These new transmitters will help WYES and WLPB deliver programming and services to Louisiana PBS viewers for years to come, as well as equip them for the move to NextGen TV. Plus, the R&S transmitters use liquid cooling to minimize heat load, so air conditioning requirements are far more cost efficient.”
