In support of Sweden’s DTV switchover, broadcast solutions group, Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), has signed a frame agreement with the country’s leading terrestrial broadcast service company, Teracom AB. The contract will see RFS provide Teracom AB with a range of low-power coaxial combiners over the next three years.
The agreement also sees RFS providing comprehensive training to Teracom AB technicians, as well as ongoing maintenance of the combiners. According to RFS Broadcast Systems Engineering Manager, Hans-Peter Quade, RFS worked closely in conjunction with Teracom AB to establish its short- and long-term system requirements. “After satisfying a range of stringent performance criteria, RFS supplied Teracom AB with more than 25 combiners in the first phase of the rollout. This allowed the company to bring its new digital broadcast systems online by Sweden’s November 2007 digital switch-on date,” he said. “Over the next three years, RFS will support Teracom in bringing the remainder of its DTV broadcast infrastructure online.”
The RFS broadcast system components are key elements of a complete nationwide multichannel DTV solution provided by Teracom AB. Once fully deployed, the combined terrestrial broadcast systems will provide DTV services to nearly all Swedes.
Teracom AB’s digital broadcast network boasts a combination of high- and low-power broadcast systems, equipped with the most advanced RF technologies, including a range of sophisticated low-power coaxial combiners from RFS. A number of RFS CM50E-series manifold combiners, and CA50E-series constant-impedance combiners has allowed Teracom to achieve crucial wide- and adjacent-channel combining.
RFS worked with Teracom AB to provide the 50W and 125W RF combiners, tailored to individual broadcast sites. “Each broadcast site had its own unique RF requirements,” he said. “Some sites required widely-spaced channel combining, while others combined adjacent channels. It was imperative that RFS provide the ‘right fit’ for each application.”
Meeting Teracom AB’s strict delivery schedule in the first phase of the roll-out was crucial. “We were able to have the combiners on-site within six weeks of order placement, allowing Teracom to bring its broadcast sites online sooner,” said Quade.
The RFS RF combiners being provided to Teracom are future-proofed to allow expansion of Sweden’s DTV service. “The RFS combiners can accommodate an increase in total channel-count,” said Quade. “Like much of RFS’s broadcast equipment, our series of combiners have been designed to support network expansion. One of our aims as a wireless technology leader is to provide support to companies, such as Teracom AB, thereby fast-tracking the deployment of DTV networks throughout the world.”
