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March 12, 2018

RFS to Showcase New Initiatives Driving Broadcast Innovation at NAB 2018

Leading Global RF System Supplier Modernizing the Way Broadcast Products Are Being Designed, Built and Used

TAGS : BROADCAST, NAB

Meriden, CT, March 13, 2018 –– Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), a global designer and manufacturer of total-package solutions for wireless and broadcast infrastructure, is proud to announce several new initiatives aimed to advance how RF systems for broadcast are approached. RFS is modernizing the way that broadcast RF products are being designed, built and used - all with the scalability and flexibility expected today and necessary for the future. RFS will be showcasing its latest initiatives in booth C1913 at NAB 2018, April 9-12 in Las Vegas, NV. 

“Improvements to RF systems over the last several decades have generally been in incremental steps without fundamental progress,” said Eddy Vanderkerken, director of U.S. broadcast sales at RFS. “RFS – which has proven itself as the main supplier of the prestigious terrestrial broadcasting solution deployed at One WTC –  is pioneering significant advancements for RF broadcast antennas, filters and combiners. We aim to revolutionize the way broadcasters and manufacturers will be able to meet the demands of the U.S. spectrum repacking program.”  

RFS has advanced RF simulation and modeling to the point where antennas can be fully built using design simulation software so that the manufactured product will not require any additional tuning. This greatly reduces the lead time, increasing the factory’s capacity to produce more antennas in a shorter time. 

RFS has started building RFStar™ slotted line antennas in its 350,000 sq. ft. facility in Meriden, CT, where the company has an anechoic measurement chamber and open area test site. This ensures that RFS will have the ability to fulfill any planned or unexpected antenna requirements if repack planning necessitates an increase in agility and capacity from broadcast manufacturers in the coming years. The RFStar™ offers low wind load and is available for single or dual-channel fixed polarization applications.  

Many TV stations will want to move to elliptical polarization in the future. Therefore, RFS has created patented Variable Polarization Technology which will allow broadcasters to change the degree of polarization for every channel separately at any time, without having to perform any antenna or tower work. The degree of elliptical polarization can now be conveniently changed after the antenna has been installed – a level of flexibility which will prove essential as channels and standards change as a result of the U.S. broadcast television spectrum repack and the introduction of ATSC 3.0.

Broadband slotted line elliptical antennas with constant 30% vertical component are also available, and because of their size, low wind load and consistent radiation patterns throughout the UHF band, these SBB-EP antennas are ideally suited as interim or auxiliary antennas for single or multiple channel operation.

Additionally, RFS is introducing a complete line of tunable UHF mask filters which are cast instead of soldered or bolted. As a result, the heat is dissipated much more evenly and the insertion loss is greatly reduced for power levels up to 60kW with single 6-pole and 8-pole coaxial filters (up to 120 kW for CIF systems). With the help of Computer-Aided Tuning Software, it is now possible to completely tune (or retune) these filters in under one hour locally or in the field. This feature is highly beneficial for stations that want to build a new RF system sooner but move to their assigned new channel later, or change to ATSC 3.0 in the future. These filters are also used in RFS’ coaxial channel combiners, which can be retuned without having to replace any components and can operate at both pre-and post-repack channels, providing greater flexibility and offering more options for interim and repack scenarios.

Lastly, RFS is pioneering high-power coaxial transmitter combiners to up to 120 kW. These are designed for transmitter manufacturers who want to combine several racks of amplifiers into one RF output without having to resort to waveguide combiners. RFS’ coaxial transmitter combiners greatly reduce the volume of such high power systems, which is critical when space is at a premium.

For more information, contact Paula Mennone at paula.mennone@rfsworld.com to schedule a meeting at NAB 2018 or learn more here

 

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Trademarks: RFS® and RFStar™ are trademarks of Radio Frequency Systems. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About RFS
Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) is a global designer and manufacturer of cable, antenna and tower systems, plus active and passive RF conditioning modules, providing total-package solutions for wireless infrastructure. 
RFS serves OEMs, distributors, system integrators, operators and installers in the broadcast, wireless communications, land-mobile and microwave market sectors. As an ISO compliant organization with manufacturing and customer service facilities that span the globe, RFS offers cutting-edge engineering capabilities, superior field support and innovative product design. RFS is a leader in wireless infrastructure. 

For more information, visit www.rfsworld.com, or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RFSworld

RFS Press Contact
Paula Mennone-Preisner                             
Marketing and Communications Specialist   
E-mail: paula.mennone@rfsworld.com           
Phone: + 1 203 630 3311
Cell: + 1 203 715 1595

PR Contact
Jordan Bouclin
SVM Public Relations
Email: jordan.bouclin@svmpr.com 
Phone: + 1 401 490 9700