In Broadcast - July 2017 - 42

42

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 7 - Issue 6

InReply

Dielectric Focused
On The Future
Keith Pelletier Vice President and General Manager
of Dielectric, a company which is celebrating its 75th
year, discusses the company's products and the race
now on to meet the demand for TV station repack
antenna systems...
InBroadcast: Can you give us
a brief overview of what we can
expect in the next 6-12 months
within your sector?
Keith Pelletier: It's going to be
an all-out dash to design antennas
for repack TV stations. Dielectric
has completed over 700 technical
proposals, with many more in the
pipeline. It is further complicated by
the number of stations considering
maximisation and vertical polarisation
for ATSC3.0. Assuming the 39-month
window doesn't change, we've
made changes to our facility and
processes - from design, sourcing, and
manufacturing to improve delivery
times.
In addition, it's expected the FCC will
open the filing window for displaced
LPTV and translator stations. Once
this window is closed, eventually
the freeze will be lifted on new LPTV
and translators. Similar to the high
power stations, there is going to be a
tremendous amount of work coming
for LPTVs.
InB: Any specific product/s taking
centre stage this year?
KP: It's estimated that up to 75%
of repack stations may require an

interim antenna to expedite the
antenna change out to their new
channel. The TFU-WB is a broadband,
low-windload antenna that took
centre stage for Dielectric at NAB as
an interim antenna for stations being
repacked. It's available in eight, 16,
and 24 bays. To date there are over
100 TFU-WB antennas that have been
shipped, are awaiting shipment, or in
the manufacturing process.

at maximum capacity, we needed to
maintain a lower wind loading, which
was achieved using the cylindrical
radome.
Another challenge was speed to
market. With the FCC's announcement
that interim antennas were a
reimbursable item, we needed to
develop a product that could be
manufactured quickly with minimal
tuning time.

InB: What challenges did you face
when designing / launching the
product/service?
KP: Keeping it simple with fewer
parts and connections has historically
been a Dielectric design approach.
That becomes more challenging
with band tuneable products. In
addition, with so many towers being

InB: Which territories do you think
will show particular interest?
KP: There is the obvious area of the
television repack, but additionally we
think there will be an interest in the
LPTV community and internationally.
There are 5726 LPTV and Translator
stations. At 20 kW input for the eightbay version it, along with our Powerlite

series antennas are ideal for an LPTV
station.
In addition, there are countries,
including the Philippines, that
are in the process of converting
from analogue to digital TV. Panel
antennas were commonly used
internationally because of their
broadband capabilities. The TFU-WB
is a great alternative because it's also
broadband, economical, and has a
lower windload as compared to a panel
antenna.
InB: Any future product/service
innovations ahead that you can
discuss?
KP: On the RF side, two products
in R&D are the directional filter and
broadband, tunable eight-pole filter.
The design team at Dielectric is heavily
focused on designing products that
are ATSC 3.0 ready and tuneable. In
part it gives the broadcaster some
flexibility and helps prepare them for
any future ATSC 3.0 plans, and from
a sustainability perspective it helps to
repurpose products. More to come on
both these products.
InB: Thank you for your time.
Dielectric Panel Antenna
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.dielectric.com/ http://www.dielectric.com/ http://www.dielectric.com/
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