Transmisión de TV

6.
2
TELEVISION TRANSMITTERS
GERALD W. COLLINS, ROBERT J. PLONKA
HARRIS CORPORATION, QUINCY, IL
INTRODUCTION
Significant advances continue in TV transmitter technology. New technology and ideas have been introduced to continue to provide high quality TV signal
transmission while improving reliability, reducing
maintenance and lowering overall cost of ownership.
These new technologies include solid-state high power
amplifiers, improvements in UHF tube transmitters and
digital transmission. Further, the FCC continues its
policy of technical deregulation which allows more
flexibility in transmitter design and system operation.
This chapter discusses the relevant technology and
provides the information needed for selection, installation, operation and maintenance of TV transmitters in
todays environment.
TV transmitters may be considered to comprise two
essential components, the exciter and the RF power
amplifier (PA). The exciter provides the signal processing functions required to convert a baseband TV
signal into a modulated RF signal on the assigned
channel. These functions include baseband signal processing, modulation, precorrection and equalization,
upconversion, bandlimiting and amplification to a relatively low power RF signal. While different methods
are used for different signals, all functions must be
performed whether the baseband signal is video, audio
or digital data for digital television (DTV). Because
the output of the exciter is a modulated RF signal,
most commercially available exciters may be considered low power transmitters.
The PA provides the muscle to amplify the modulated RF signal to the desired level for transmission.
Thus the PA technology to perform this function is
key. Both solid-state and tube devices are available in
commercial equipment. For VHF channels, solid-state
devices predominate. For UHF, both solid-state and
tube devices are used. Other key functions in the PA,
common to all amplifier technologies include ac distribution, ac to dc power conversion, cooling and control.
TV transmitters are unique in that no other application requires such high levels of linear RF power generation while operating virtually uninterrupted. This has
led to the development of specialized techniques to
assure highly efficient and reliable operation. The need
for high efficency has led to the near universal use of
partially saturated Class AB final power amplifers.
This, in turn, has resulted in the development of precorrection and equalization techniques required to compensate for nonlinearities inherent in this class of oper-
ation. To achieve the levels of reliablility required,

redundant system architectures that minimize single
point failures are used.
EXCITERS FOR ANALOG TV

Exciter performance is the key to excellence in TV
transmission. The exciter performs baseband video and
audio processing, modulation, precorrection, equalization and upconversion functions. Some of these functions are common with exciters for digital transmission.
Visual Modulator
The visual modulator receives a video baseband
signal, processes and converts it to a fully modulated
vestigial sideband signal. Since intermediate frequency
(IF) modulation is used, most of the signal processing
occurs in the video stages and IF stages. The basic
block diagram of an IF modulated transmitter is shown
in Figure 6.2-1. For this discussion, the modulator is
considered to include all blocks through the IF processor.
Video Processing
For transparent transmission of the incoming signal,

it is important to optimize the incoming signal. It is
often difficult to define where the station processing
ends and the transmitter video processing begins. Typically some video processing is done external to the
transmitter by a processing amplifier.
The main functions of the exciter video processing
circuitry are:
Obtain proper sync to video ratio

Remove common mode signals
Provide overall video level control
DC restoration
Prevent overmodulation
Frequency response correction
Direct current restoration (clamping) is important

because picture brightness information is contained in
the dc component of the video signal. If ac coupling
is used in the video circuitry, the dc level will tend to
vary as the capacitors in the coupling circuits charge
and discharge. Alternating currents coupling is convenient since differences in ac and dc ground can be
allowed without introducing distortion. By clamping
a particular level (such as sync tip or back-porch)
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SECTION 6: TELEVISION TRANSMISSION FACILITIES
Figure 6.2-1. IF modulated transmitter.
during each line to a fixed voltage, the correct dc level

is applied to the modulator.
Common mode signals such as noise or ac hum can
be removed by using a differential input for the video
input stage. It is desirable to use an RF choke at the
video input to prevent rectification of ambient RF and
remodulation of the main signal.
White peak limiting is used to prevent modulation
from reaching 0% or to keep the carrier from being
pinched off as shown in Figure 6.2-2. When an intercarrier TV receiver encounters a carrier that has been
pinched off, it temporarily has no signal to receive and
the automatic gain control (AGC) adjusts to maximum
gain. Since there is nothing but noise, the noise is
greatly amplified, transferred to the aural intercarrier
and becomes audible as a buzz.
High-frequency peaking circuits are often used to
compensate for long video signal transmission line
runs in a transmitter plant.
In UHF exciters, the horizontal and vertical sync
portions of the TV signal may be detected and sent to
klystron pulsers.
Precorrection can be accomplished by changing the
gain of a video amplifier over a portion of the total
video signal. The threshold of the gain change is set

at a certain level of the video signal. Differential phase
can be corrected by splitting the video signal into two
paths which are in quadrature at the color subcarrier.
Phase changes can be obtained by changing the gain
of only one path over a portion of the video waveform.
Figure 6.2-2. RF carrier pinch-off.
Figure 6.2-3. Balanced mixer.
Modulator
In nearly all IF modulated transmitters, the modulator is a broadband, balanced diode mixer. It is configured for maximum rejection of the local oscillator
signal and biased so as to provide excellent linearity,
low noise and capability to achieve carrier cutoff. A
schematic of a typical balanced mixer is shown in
Figure 6.2-3. The video signal is dc offset to provide
the proper modulation level and is used to control the
attenuation of the diodes. Peak of sync corresponds to
maximum IF envelope output and white corresponds
to minimum IF output. The output signal of the modulator is a double sideband AM signal having the proper
depth of modulation (12.5%).
Visual Group Delay Compensation
Group delay distortion appears as color smear and

halo effects on edges. On a waveform monitor the
effects may be seen using the 2T and modulated 12.5T
contained in the composite test signal (see Figure
6.2-4). Pulse responses with unacceptable group delay
may include exaggerated pre- or post-ringing on 2T
and modulated 12.5T base line disturbance. Low-frequency group delay and amplitude errors are referred
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Figure 6.2-4. Composite test signal.
Figure 6.2-6. Predistorted group delay curve.
to as short-time waveform distortions. Figure 6.2-5

shows typical distortions of a 2T pulse.
frequencies the network can be approximated by a low

series inductive reactance due to L1 in which the output
voltage leads in phase. At high frequencies well above
resonance, the circuit can be approximated by a series
capacitive reactance due to C1 in which the output voltage lags in phase. The output is constant across the band.
The phase of the network is plotted in Figure 6.2-8. A
plot of the group delay is shown in Figure 6.2-9.
Intermediate Frequency and Video Delay

Compensators
The techniques used to accomplish group delay

equalization at baseband or IF are similar in concept.
Both active and passive equalizers may be employed.
Intermediate frequency group delay correction is necessary to correct group delay errors below visual carrier
while not affecting the signal above visual carrier.
Above visual carrier, both IF and video correctors are
effective. If the group delay error affects only the highfrequency side of the passband, equalization can be
accomplished at video. This is the case for most visualaural notch diplexers.
The FCC requires the TV transmitter to predistort
group delay according to the curve shown in Figure
6.2-6. The purpose is to compensate for the delay
caused by discrete LC aural notch filters in TV receivers. The notch filter in TV receivers is necessary to
prevent the aural carrier from mixing with the detected
video and chroma subcarrier signals and producing
visible spurious beats.
Active Group Delay Equalizer
As in the passive type, this network has a constant

amplitude versus frequency response and a nonlinear
phase response. The action of an active all-pass network can be best seen using the simplified schematic
of Figure 6.2-10. The phase of voltage (e1) plotted as a
function of frequency traces out a circle with maximum
amplitude and zero phase at resonance. Voltage (e2)
has a constant amplitude and phase.
Passive Group Delay Equalizer
A common form of a passive group delay equalizer

is shown in Figure 6.2-7. It provides a flat frequency
response and a nonlinear group delay which peaks at
resonance. This circuit is referred to as a passive allpass network. It can be understood by examination at
frequencies well below and above resonance. At low
Figure 6.2-5. Typical distortion of a 2T pulse.
Figure 6.2-7. Passive all-pass network.
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Figure 6.2-10. Active all-pass network.

Figure 6.2-8. All-pass network phase response.
When voltage e1 is equal to twice (e2), the output

voltage of the summing amplifier, (e3), has the characteristics of an ideal all-pass network. The output amplitude is constant and the resonator tuning determines
the frequency of maximum group delay. The resonator
Q determines the magnitude of delay. For the case
where voltage e1 is larger than twice e2, the output has
an amplitude peak at resonance. If e1 is smaller, the
output has a dip at resonance.
Vestigial Sideband Filter
The FCC requires that the radiated signal have a

major portion of the lower sideband (vestigial sideband) suppressed. In addition, the upper sideband signal must be contained within 4.75 MHz of the visual
carrier. With IF modulation the filtering is in the lowpower stages. Transmitter manufacturers use solidstate filters using surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology to accomplish the filtering requirements.
The electrodes in a saw filter act like tapped delay
lines and are designed to scale the amplitude and delay
the signal (see Figure 6.2-11). The length, spacing and
number of the electrodes determine the wave shaping
properties of the filter. The output is selectively attenuated depending on the time delay and signal frequency
relationship. This type of filter is called transversal
because the attenuation is controlled by delay lines
rather than resonators. The wavelength of an IF acoustic signal is approximately 0.003 in. The short wavelength allows the filter to be very compact. Because
Figure 6.2-9. All-pass network group delay.
the transducers are on the surface, photographic masks

can be used to accurately control their physical dimensions. The photographic mask lends itself to modern
manufacturing techniques and insures a reproducible
filter with a permanent amplitude versus frequency
response and group delay.
A characteristic of a transversal filter is that group
delay can be set independently of the amplitude. The
independent nature of group delay and amplitude allows
a manufacturer to provide almost any type of group delay curve across the passband, such as a constant delay
or the TV receiver group delay equalization curve.
Although the FCC does not require attenuation of
visual signals in the aural passband, video signal components can cause interference called visual-to-aural
crosstalk. Reduction of visual-to-aural crosstalk is essential to the proper transmission of stereo sound and
other subcarrier broadcast services. High resolution
cameras and character generators can produce spectral
components at 4.5 MHz and beyond. Without sufficient
attenuation these signals can cause distortion, especially in aural subcarriers which are more sensitive to
visual crosstalk than the main aural signal. SAW filters
Figure 6.2-11. Saw filter.
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thus are able to perform many functions simultaneously (bandwidth shaping, group delay equalization
and visual to aural crosstalk reduction).
Distortion products can be created by SAW filters
due to signal reflections (triple transit) and direct feedthrough. These distortions cause time echoes displaced
either before or after the desired responses. In the
frequency domain these echoes show up as ripples in
the passband (see Figure 6.2-12). A given echo will
contribute uniquely to the amplitude, phase and group
delay characteristics by the addition of a ripple component in the passband. The amplitude of the ripple is
proportional to the echo level and its period is proportional to the reciprocal of the SAW time delay.
SAW group delay varies sinusoidally with the same
period as the passband ripple. Magnitude, however, is
a function of echo level and is inversely proportional
to time delay. It is, therefore, not a sure test of signal
distortion. The group delay ripple for long delayed
echoes will give peak-to-peak values which have no
correlation with conventional signal distortion estimates. For that reason, fast peak-to-peak group delay
errors that occur at greater frequency than the reciprocal of the filter time delay can usually be ignored.
Intermediate Frequency Linearity Precorrection
An alternative to video correction is to provide the

correction at IF. There are advantages to correcting
Figure 6.2-12. Response, phase, and delay ripples caused by

time echoes.
Figure 6.2-13. Frequency response of ideal diode detector.
at IF. Since most distortions are caused in the high

power RF amplifiers after vestigial sideband filtering,
a corrector placed after the vestigial sideband filter
can more accurately predistort the modulated signal.
Any precorrection spectra generated at IF after the
VSB filter will produce energy components which can
cancel intermodulation products generated in the final
amplifier stage. This is particularly important in the
cases of pulsed klystron transmitters or common amplification.
Correction of distortion at IF is particularly helpful
for chroma distortions. Chroma spectra at 3.58 MHz
has only single sideband information and thus less
energy than equivalent luminance signals. An ideal
diode detector frequency response of the NTSC modulation signal is plotted in Figure 6.2-13. It is seen that
beginning at 0.75 MHz the video begins to fall to
6 dB. For video signals lower than 0.75 MHz, the RF
spectrum is double sideband and has twice the peak
RF voltage.
Intermodulation products are caused in high-power
amplifiers by a nonlinear transfer function. As the
power output increases towards saturation, amplitude
compression and phase lag occurs. The nonlinear transfer function gives rise to mixing products which occur
at sum and difference frequencies around the visual
carrier. This process creates the frequency spectra of
the lower sideband, commonly referred to as lower
sideband reinsertion.
Intermediate frequency correctors for amplitude distortion are usually similar in concept to video differential gain correctors. Linearity correctors generally use
diodes which are set to conduct at a specific level of
the IF modulated signal. When the diodes conduct, the
gain or attenuation is reduced as needed.
An example of a basic gain expansion circuit is
shown in Figure 6.2-14. The signal is normally attenuated a fixed amount by using a resistive L-pad. The
diodes are normally reverse biased by equal dc voltages. Reducing the dc voltage permits the diodes to
conduct on the signal peaks. This inserts additional
resistance in parallel with the series arm of the L-pad
attenuator thereby decreasing the attenuation. Varying
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Figure 6.2-15. Master oscillator phase modulator block diagram.
Figure 6.2-14. Basic gain expansion circuit.
the resistance in series with the diodes provides for

variable gain expansion.
Incidental Carrier Phase Modulation (ICPM)
Phase distortions in high-power amplifiers produce
ICPM or spectral components in quadrature with the
modulation signal. Fast video amplitude changes such
as a step or pulse will cause larger incidental phase
spectral components than slow changes. Receivers
make this condition worse by attenuating the lower
sidebands below 0.75 MHz. The receiver then responds
to the extra sidebands created by the phase modulation
as if they were amplitude modulated single sidebands,
producing spikes. The faster the rise time of the signal,
the more high-frequency energy is present, resulting
in edge distortions in the displayed picture.
The picture impairment is similar to simultaneous
group delay and differential phase errors in that edges
are less sharp and color hue changes with brightness.
On a waveform monitor, overshoots are visible as
trailing edges and as rounding on leading edges. These
overshoots vary in severity depending on how close
to saturation the power amplifier is driven.
Audio impairment is produced by ICPM in receivers
employing intercarrier conversion. Intercarrier receivers use an AM or synchronous detector to produce a
4.5 MHz aural IF from the composite video IF. Any
phase modulation present on the visual carrier is then
transferred to the aural intercarrier. In monaural baseband audio, the increasing amplitude versus frequency
effect of ICPM is nullified by deemphasis to some
degree. With multichannel sound, however, there is
no deemphasis applied to the baseband stereo signal,
and thus the distortion is more pronounced at the stereo
subchannel and pilot frequencies. To counteract the
effects of ICPM and other noise sources on the stereo

subchannel, audio companding is employed. Although
the audio companding process can reduce some of the
effects of ICPM, correction is essential in delivering
clear, low-noise audio to intercarrier receivers.
There is no defined level of ICPM for a given stereo
performance level since the signal to buzz ratio is
highly dependent on the picture spectral components.
(Refer to the EIA Recommended Practices for current
recommendations on ICPM limits.)
ICPM precorrectors can be grouped into two types:
those using a phase modulator and those operating on
the signal directly. The phase modulator uses video
to modulate the IF or master oscillator with a phase
characteristic opposite that of the nonlinear amplifier.
A phase modulator can also operate on the IF signal
directly using a video signal to set the amount of
modulation. A block diagram of a master oscillator
phase modulator is shown in Figure 6.2-15.
ICPM precorrectors operating directly on the IF signal can be implemented several ways. Direct precorrection at IF is similar in concept to baseband differential phase precorrection (see Figure 6.2-16). In both
cases, the visual signal is split into two paths which
are in phase quadrature. In the IF corrector, the entire
Figure 6.2-16. Direct IF ICPM corrector.
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channel of frequencies is in quadrature, whereas in

the video precorrector only the chroma band is in
quadrature. One method of implementation is to modify the quadrature signal gain function with level dependent diode expansion or compression circuits. This
can be done using the same techniques as in the linearity corrector.
The vector diagram in Figure 6.2-17 illustrates nonlinearities and the operation of the ICPM and linearity
correctors. The desired output signal is represented
by the left vector. Uncorrected the transmitter output
signal is phase shifted and compressed. To compensate, the signal in the exciter is precorrected by an
amplitude expansion and a correction in quadrature.
When the resultant signal is amplified, the output signal
is the desired TV signal.
Aural Modulator
In its most basic form, the aural modulator consists
of some audio processing and an FM modulated IF
oscillator.
Audio Processing Circuits
To ensure that the transmitter is not the limiting

factor in audio (monaural and stereo) reproduction, it
is desired that the transmitter add as little distortion
to the incoming signal as possible.
Baseband audio of the BTSC Multichannel Television Sound (MTS) System (mono, stereo, second
audio program (SAP) and professional channels
(PRO)) include frequency components to 105 kHz.
Emphasis must be placed on phase linearity, low distortion, reduction of any amplitude ripples and rolloff over the stereo passband to achieve good stereo
separation and minimum crosstalk between the main
stereo and the SAP channels.
While unbalanced coaxial inputs are used for the
MTS input to the aural exciter, it is necessary to use
some form of common mode rejection to reduce the
possibility of hum and noise from getting directly into

the audio stages.
All errors in phase linearity and amplitude response
within the audio circuitry contribute to stereo separation degradation. As a general rule, amplitude roll-off
should be less than 0.1 dB and departure from phase
linearity should be less than 1 for good quality
stereo.
IF Modulation
With the MTS system, intermodulation (IMD) and

harmonic distortion products lie in the stereo channel
or the SAP channel and will degrade stereo separation
or crosstalk into the SAP channel. In addition, IMD
products generated in the stereo channel may lie in the
mono or SAP channel. Modulated oscillator linearity
requirements include flat modulation sensitivity versus
frequency up to 47 kHz minimum, and typically, out
to 120 kHz.
As the MTS signal is upconverted to the aural RF
carrier frequency, the residual FM of the local oscillator signal becomes a determining factor. The level of
FM produced by the local oscillator should be 10 dB
lower than the modulated oscillator. Synthesized
sources should be tested for spurious frequencies
which may show as FM noise. To ensure low-power
stages do not contribute any group delay or amplitude
roll-off, wideband amplifiers should be used.
Compensation of Aural Passband for Optimum
Stereo Performance
Group delay equalization for the aural transmitter
IF section of the aural modulator effectively corrects
the adverse group delay in the diplexer. The end result
is improved TV stereo separation. Equalization of the
FM bandpass allows the use of lower cost, singlecavity notch diplexers. Stagger-tuned dual-cavity
notch diplexers have been used to provide the broad
bandwidth desired for good stereo separation and neg-
Figure 6.2-17. Vector representation of precorrection.
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ligible crosstalk between the different MTS components. However, dual-cavity notch diplexers introduce
more group delay in the visual path and are more
expensive than single-cavity diplexers.
The notch diplexer is a passive device and under first
consideration it may seem strange that it can introduce
distortion and stereo separation errors. The basic problem is that the FM stereo signal is sensitive to the
notch diplexer group delay and amplitude response
over the occupied bandwidth of the FM signal.
The group delay and amplitude response of a singlecavity diplexer is shown in Figure 6.2-18. It is a typical
notch diplexer optimized for minimum aural reject
power. The bandpass is somewhat narrow and the
group delay is steep. Fortunately, the response curves
show a high degree of symmetry which makes equalization possible.
The group delay equalization concept as applied
here is essentially a feed-forward scheme. Feed-forward is used to describe the technique of generating
equalization early in the RF lineup for the purpose
of correcting distortions occurring downstream in the
system. Feed-forward is operated open loop (without
feedback) and is manually adjusted for optimum operation.
Aural IF Group Delay Equalization
The equalization technique of adjusting the circuit

to produce an inverse curve of that of the diplexer is
the same as that used on the visual signal. There is,

however, a significant difference between group delay
correction on a FM system versus an AM system.
The aural transmitter must incorporate group delay
correction at RF or IF to compensate for group delay
distortions occurring in the diplexer. Group delay correction before the FM modulation process is not effective for equalizing group delay occurring at RF. The
reason for this is that the occupied bandwidth of an FM
signal increases or decreases as a function of baseband
signal level. Figure 6.2-19 shows the occupied bandwidth when the carrier is deviated 25 kHz compared
to a typical notch diplexer group delay curve. When the
baseband signal level is increased, the FM deviation
increases and a number of additional significant sidebands are generated beyond the acceptable group delay
curvature region. The result is distortion in the demodulated FM signal.
In addition, as the baseband high-frequency content
increases (a stereo signal) significant sidebands extend
even further increasing the demodulated distortion.
Figure 6.2-20 shows the spectral content of a TV stereo
signal with notch diplexer group delay curves overlayed. The equalizer location in the aural transmitter
system is shown in Figure 6.2-21.
The circuit configuration is shown functionally in
Figure 6.2-22. The measured amplitude and group delay is shown in Figure 6.2-23. An ideal precorrection
circuit without any circuit losses would have a flat
Figure 6.2-18. Typical single cavity diplexer amplitude and group delay.
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Figure 6.2-19. Occupied bandwidth with 25 kHz deviation with overlayed notch diplexer bandwidth.
Figure 6.2-20. Occupied bandwidth of TV stereo signal with 55 kHz deviation and overlayed notch diplexer bandwidth.
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Figure 6.2-21. Aural indicator exciter with group delay precorrector.
response without a dip. The response dip is very useful,

however, because it also provides a first-order correction to the notch diplexer amplitude response.
Figure 6.2-24 shows the system equalization when
the delay corrector is switched in and switched out. A
significant amount of equalization is achieved over the
occupied bandwidth of a stereo signal.
The effect on stereo separation is shown in Figure 6.2-25. More than 10 dB stereo separation improvement can be obtained over midband audio
frequencies.
Common Amplification
Traditionally, TV transmitters have used separate

RF amplifier chains for the visual and aural signal
paths. Assuming a single antenna and feed line, this
requires a high level diplexer to combine the visual
Figure 6.2-22. Aural group delay corrector functional block diagram.
and aural signals prior to transmission. With the introduction of inductive output tubes as final amplifiers,
it has become popular to combine the visual and aural
signals in the exciter and amplify them together in the
following stages.
Figure 6.2-23. Aural group delay corrector measured results.
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Figure 6.2-24. Overall transmitter delay with aural delay corrector switched in and out.
Figure 6.2-25. TV stereo separation with and without group delay equalizer.
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Even though very linear amplifiers are used, some

residual nonlinearity remains. This has the effect of
mixing the visual, color and aural signals to produce
in-band as well as the out-of-band IMD and cross
modulation products. The out-of-band products sufficiently removed from the channel of operation are
attenuated by the high level filter. However, in-band
products can be removed only by making the transmitter sufficiently linear to reduce these products to adequate levels. This requires the use of highly effective
correction circuits in the IF and/or RF signal paths.
For example, the IMD at 6920 MHz can be precorrected by low level IF circuitry.
Up Conversion
Transmitters employing IF modulation generate the

following frequencies: visual IF, aural IF, and master
oscillator signal(s) for translating visual and aural IF
to the final carrier frequencies. These oscillators have
been implemented with either digital synthesizer techniques or crystal oscillators. An advantage of the synthesizer is that only one crystal is needed at a single
standard frequency for all TV channels. The crystal
oscillator approach, however, may involve simpler circuitry.
The two commonly used IF frequencies are 37 MHz
and 45.75 MHz. There are many reasons for selecting
one IF frequency or the other. One advantage of 37
MHz is that the temperature drift sensitivity of most
IF components such as the SAW filter, is related directly to carrier frequency. Thus the lower IF has a
12% less drift sensitivity than components at 45.75
MHz. The second harmonic of 37 MHz falls in between
channels 4 and 5 so as not to cause interference. On
the other hand, 45.75 MHz is a common demodulator
IF which can be useful for IF troubleshooting. Temperature drift may be minimized at either IF by maintaining the SAW filter at a stable temperature.
The important performance characteristics of an oscillator are phase noise, frequency stability over time
and temperature extremes and level of microphonics.
In replacing a crystal, it is important to follow the
recommendations of the oscillator manufacturer to ensure proper operation. Synthesizer performance should
be properly maintained to prevent inadvertent phase
noise and spurious frequency generation.
Offset Frequency Control
The limited number of available channels for TV
broadcasting makes it necessary to assign the same
carrier frequencies to many stations. To avoid interference between stations operating on the same frequency
(co-channel interference), geographical separation and
radiated powers are carefully selected.
Co-channel interference between television stations
appears to viewers as a horizontal pattern of alternating
light and dark bars on the viewing screenvery much
like the shadows cast by venetian blinds. It has been
demonstrated that the visibility of these bars varies
cyclically as a function of the difference in frequency
of the interfering carriers (see Figure 6.2-26). The
Figure 6.2-26. Co-channel interference.
interference is least visible when the carriers are offset

by odd multiples of one-half the line frequency (15734
kHz). Fine grain maxima and minima occur when the
frequency offset is an integer multiple of the frame
frequency (29.97 Hz).
Ideally, stations would be offset by odd multiples
of one-half the line frequency to provide minimum
interference visibility. However, a third station in the
same area would be offset from one of the other stations
by an even multiple of the line frequency. Hence,
maximum visibility of the interference would occur.
Therefore, 10 kHz offsets currently are used in the
United States to provide approximately equal reduction
of the interference patterns for any number of stations
in geographical proximity (see Figure 6.2-27).
Precise Frequency Offset
Although it is not practical to utilize the gross minima occurring at odd multiples of one-half the line
frequency, use of the fine grain minima, occurring at
even multiples of the frame frequency, is very advantageous in reducing the visibility of co-channel interference.
The nearest even multiple (334th) of the frame frequency to the 10 kHz offset is 10010 Hz. In a three
station arrangement, one station will have zero offset
and the other two stations will be offset by 610010
Hz. Changes in the frequency differences of 5 Hz have
a negligible effect on the reduction of the interference visibility.
To maintain the precision offset within 5 Hz requires
maintaining each visual carrier frequency within 2 or
3 Hz. Maintaining a television transmitter to such tight
frequency tolerances requires an extremely stable frequency source. (Note that 3 Hz stability is required in
the case of an adjacent DTV signal.)
In exciters using two independent oscillators (one
for IF and one for the local oscillator), the visual carrier
signal may be derived from mixing the oscillators together and comparing that signal to the reference signal
in the comparator. The resultant error signal can be
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Figure 6.2-27. 10 kHz offset pattern.
used to adjust one of the oscillators, preferably the

local oscillator. For exciters using synthesizers, the
synthesizer reference oscillator is compared to the precise frequency standard in the phase detector and the
resultant error voltage is used to adjust the synthesizer oscillator.
By phase locking the visual carrier to a stable reference oscillator, the master oscillator acquires the stability of the reference source. Sources which use an internal WWV receiver/comparator to self-correct or an
atomic frequency standard can easily provide the stable
reference source required. These reference sources
allow a transmitter to be maintained within a few hertz
of a desired frequency indefinitely.
RF Amplifiers
The last active stage in a typical exciter is the RF
amplifier. For visual signals in separate amplification,
combined aural and visual signals in common amplification and for digital signals, it is important that this
amplifer have a linear transfer characteristic in amplitude and phase and flat, symmetric frequency response
and minimum group delay variation across the modulation passband. For visual only signals, the required
bandwidth is at least 4.5 MHz. For common amplification and digital signals at least 6 MHz bandwidth is required.
For optimum stereo performance a nonlinear amplifier with flat response and group delay across the modulation pass band is required. Since frequency modulation and demodulation is a nonlinear process these is
not a one to one correspondance between RF amplitude/phase response and baseband stereo separation
and crosstalk. A 3 dB bandwidth of 1.5 MHz provides
excellent stereo and SAP performance.
EXCITERS FOR DTV

With the introduction of digital transmission technology, the broadcast engineer must be familiar with the
equipment required to broadcast high speed digital
signals as well as the more familiar analog video and
audio signals. There are many aspects of exciter design
that are common to analog and digital transmission.
This is especially true of the upconversion and IF
precorrection and equalization sections. Baseband
processing and modulation are the portions of the exciter most affected by digital transmission.
The modulation used in the ATSC terrestrial broadcasting standard is 8-level vestigial sideband (8 VSB).
Figure 6.2-28 shows the conceptual implementation
of 8 VSB. Data are taken 3 bits at a time and converted
to 8-level pulses which are applied to a baseband filter.
The filter is offset in frequency by one-fourth the symbol rate to produce a baseband version of 8 VSB. There
are many ways to implement the 8 VSB modulator,
but the objective of all approaches is to produce the
signal as in the conceptual representation.
Modulator
Figure 6.2-29 shows the functional block diagram
of a typical 8 VSB modulator. Data formatted and
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Figure 6.2-28. 8 VSB Conceptual block diagram.
encoded in accordance with ATSC specifications

emerges from the transport-to-transmisson layer and
is presented 3 bits at a time at the 10.76 MHz symbol
rate to the baseband digital Nyquist filter. After digital
filtering, the data is in the form of a 10.76 MHz digital
IF. It is then converted to an analog IF signal using
a high speed digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The
analog IF output is filtered by a x/sinx correction filter,
the purpose of which is to compensate for the sinx/x
response inherent in the square pulses emerging from
the DAC. A low-pass filter is also required to attenuate
the image frequency before the first IF is upconverted
to the second IF at 45 MHz. From the second IF
the 6 MHz bandwidth 8 VSB signal is upconverted
to carrier.
Signal Envelope of 8 VSB
Figure 6.2-30 shows the typical signal envelope of
8 VSB modulation. Note the great variability in the
envelope peaks. This time-varying peaking is the
source of the large peak-to-average ratio. The variability in the envelope gives rise to requirement of very
linear power amplification. Figure 6.2-31 shows the
spectrum measured from a typical modulator. The
spike in the spectrum on the left side indicates the
presence of the pilot carrier.
Hardware Design
The 8 VSB modulator consists of three major functions: the transport-to-transmission layer converter or
channel coding, the Nyquist filter and IF conversion
(see Figure 6.2-32).
Transport/Transmission Layer Conversion
The ATSC has defined the data transport layer to

be a 19.389 Mb/s data stream. The data is formatted
into 8 bit bytes, and 188 bytes per frame, each frame
consists of 187 bytes of data plus one byte reserved
as a sync byte. The resulting payload is the 19.389
Mb/s data stream.
Channel coding protects the data from noise and
interference by adding redundancy prior to transmission. This redundancy is decoded by the receiver to
correct for errors introduced by transmission. The
modulator performs the channel coding by implementing frame synchronization, data randomization, ReedSolomon (R-S) encoding, data interleaving, trellis encoding and field and frame sync insertion (see Figure
6.2-33). The purpose of the randomizer is to disperse
the payload data energy in pseudo-random fashion to
assure that the spectral energy is constant over the
channel bandwidth. This is necessary to assure optimum transmission and reception. The next functions
are designed to protect the data from transmission
errors. This is a two stage process. R-S coding is used
in the first stage. This is a forward error correction
code suitable for correcting block errors due to bursts
of noise and interference. The code selected is capable
of correcting up to 10 byte errors per block. This is
accomplished by adding 20 parity bytes to each 187
byte block of the payload. Interleaving of the data
provides additional error protection. This convolutional byte interleaver spreads the data bytes from each
R-S block over time so that a long burst of noise is
required to overrun the R-S error protection. Trellis
or convolutional coding is used as the second stage of
Figure 6.2-29. Typical DTV 8 VSB modulator.
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Figure 6.2-30. DTV RF waveform showing true peak levels with no compression.
Figure 6.2-31. Measured spectrum.
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Figure 6.2-32. DTV exciter.
error correction. This is used to used to improve the

S/N threshold against white noise. A 2/3 rate code
with one unencoded bit is used. The signaling waveform used with the trellis code is an 8 level (3 bit) one
dimensional constellation. Trellis code interleaving is
also used. Following these encoding processes, field/
frame and data segment syncs are inserted by means
of a multiplexer.
Nyquist Filter
The Nyquist Filter is a root-raised cosine filter with

ideal alpha factor of 0.1152. This filter, if perfectly
implemented, limits the spectrum to 6 MHz bandwidth
(5.38 MHz ` 11.52%). A perfect filter, however, is
not possible due to filter tap limitations and finite resolution. The filter is a complex filter to accommodate
the vestigial sideband function. In addition, the low
level VSB pilot is added to the signal at a constant
RF level. The pilot aids carrier recovery and is used
to remove phase ambiguity.
Careful attention must be given to signal peaks that
arise due to the bandlimiting function of the Nyquist
Filter. Some peaks exceed a 6 to 7 dB peak-to-average
signal ratio. These peaks are generally clipped in the
power amplifier stages to maximize PA efficiency. The
effect of the clipping is not considered serious because
of the rarity of large peaks. The key is to provide
sufficient headroom in power amplifiers so that the
spectral mask can be met with appropriate precorrection.
In-band equalization may be programmed into a
DTV modulator using software to generate an equalization function unique to each transmitter at the time
of manufacture. Equalization is applied by modifying
the IF digital filter coefficients in the modulator which
are then held in modulator memory as shown in Figure
6.2-34. This function can also be performed adaptively
by digital signal processing (DSP) to assure optimum
operation of the transmitter as operating conditions

change. A companion demodulator is required to provide a sample of the output from which the DSP updates the coefficients as transmitter characteristics
vary.
Upconversion & Final Amplification
The requirements for upconversion and final amplification for digital transmission are similar to those for
analog signals. The IF frequencies selected will be
different and there may be two stages of upconversion
rather than one; however, the important performance
characteristics of oscillator phase noise, frequency stability, and susceptibility to microphonics remain the
same. As with analog visual and aural signals, it is
important that the final amplifer have a linear transfer
characteristic in amplitude and phase and flat, symmetric frequency response and minimum group delay variation across the modulation passband. For digital signals at least 6 MHz bandwidth is required.
For DTV transmitters operating on channels immediately adjacent to (above) and within 88 km of a
transmitter on a NTSC channel, the pilot frequency
must be maintained 5.082138 MHz above the visual
carrier frequency of the NTSC transmitter within a
tolerance of 63 Hz. This requires that both carriers
be locked to a common, highly stable source.
POWER AMPLIFIER DESIGN

CONSIDERATIONS
Aside from near linear, transparent performance, it is
essential that TV transmitters operate efficiently with
minimum lost air time. Efficient power conversion,
while important at VHF, is unusually important for
UHF transmitters. This factor is expected to impact
more stations as the DTV service comes on-line, pre-
Figure 6.2-33. Transport to transmission conversion.
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Figure 6.2-34. Block diagram of a tetrode DTV transmitter.
dominately in the UHF band. Many stations operate

continuously unattended, making reliability a key requirement.
Reliability
There are many factors which can affect the reliability of a TV transmitter. Overall design philosophy,
device technology, module design, control architecture, power supplies, cooling and cabinet design are
critical areas which must be considered. Consider a
transmitter design which uses circuits in series with
no system redundancy; if one device fails, the entire
transmitter fails. Figure 6.2-35 shows a system of three
series devices with no redundancy. If each device (a,
b, c) has a probability of survival (P) of 0.5 over some
time interval the probability of the system surviving
P(s) is given by the formula:
operation of the system, the probability of the system

surviving is greatly enhanced. The overall system survival probability now becomes:
P(s) 4 P(a) ` P(b) ` P(c)
1 P(a)P(b) 1 P(a)P(c) 1 P(b)P(c)
` P(a)P(b)P(c)
4 1.5 1 0.25 1 0.25 1 0.25 ` 0.124
4 0.875
P(s) 4 P(a) 2 P(b) 2 P(c)

4 0.5 2 0.5 2 0.5
4 0.125
If three identical devices are operated in parallel
(Figure 6.2-36) and only one is required for adequate
Figure 6.2-35. Circuits in series.
Figure 6.2-36. Circuits in parallel.
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On-Air Availability
Related to reliability, but perhaps even more important, is on-air availability. On-air availability is the
percentage of time the transmitter is available for service, defined by the following equation:
On-Air Availability
4
MTBF
2 100%
MTBF ` MTTR ` MPMT
where:
MTBF 4 Mean Time Between Failures (hours)
MTTR 4 Mean Time To Repair (hours)
MPMT 4 Mean Preventative Maintenance Time
(hours)
It is apparent there is little point in designing a
transmitter that has a high MTBF figure if, due to
poor design and mechanical packaging, it takes an
inordinate length of time to make repairs, or the transmitter has to be shut down frequently for routine preventative maintenance.
Many stations have very short sign-off windows or
operate 24 hours a day. This often results in a lessthan-optimum maintenance schedule which can lead
to premature failure or out-of-tolerance operation. One
way to reduce the amount of off-air maintenance time
is by making provisions for on-air maintenance or to
have redundant transmitters. This significantly reduces
the MPMT.
Several design factors should be considered for optimum on-air availability:
High reliability for the fundamental circuits
Provision for fast, easy access to all subassemblies
Maximum use of like parts and subassemblies. Because fewer items are needed, this allows a TV station to maintain a full inventory of spares. If spares
are on hand, it follows that the repair time is
much shorter
Repair of transmitter at subassembly level. A subassembly which has been removed can then be repaired
by station personnel or returned to the manufacturer
for exchange.
Efficiency
When the fundamental concept of efficiency is applied to TV transmitters several factors must be considered. For purposes of determining total power consumed, the ac to RF conversion efficiency is the
parameter of interest. For systems with unity power
factor, determining the ac input power is relatively
straightforward. For power factors less than unity, the
relative phase of the fundemental voltage and current
must be determined. In addition, in systems generating
significant line harmonics, the relative level of these
harmonics must be known. Power factor is expressed
either as displacement power factor or total or true
power factor.
Displacement power factor is is the cosine of the
phase between the voltage and current at the funda-
mental frequency. It is equal to the total power factor

only for an undistorted sine wave.
Total power factor is the ratio of total power to the
apparent power, given by:
PF 4 ac power input (watts)/V (volts) I (amps)
Determination of input power is somewhat simplified by considering only the dc to RF conversion process. In this case it is necessary to determine the voltage
and current provided by the power supply(s) for the
final amplifiying devices. While this is a useful tool
for comparison purposes, it has the disadvantage of
ignoring the power consumed elsewhere in the transmitter such as driver stages, cooling systems, filament
and magnet power and control. If these powers are to
be included in the efficiency calculation, they must be
determined separately.
For NTSC transmitters, determination of output
power is equally complex. Transmitters are commonly
rated in terms of peak sync visual power. Exclusive
use of this number neglects the aural output. In addition
some amplifier technolgies may exhibit efficiencies
greater than 100% using visual peak power. This has
given rise to the use of figure of merit defined as:
Visual peak sync output power
.
dc input power at 50% APL
This definition is valid for transmitters using separate amplification. For common amplification, the aural
output and input powers must be added to the numerator and denominator, respectively. Typical figures of
merit for common tube amplifiers operating in separate
amplification are shown in Table 6.2-1.
Consider a typical klystron amplifier in pulsed operation. Direct current input power is calculated as
follows:
DC input power
4 Beam voltage
2 [(Beam Isync 2 Sync duty cycle)
` (Beam Ivideo 2 Video duty cycle)]
For 60 kW output, dc input power 4 24[(5.5 2 .08) `
(3.7 2 .92) 4 92.2 kW
Figure of merit 4 60/92.2 4 0.65
For digital transmitters, the situation is somewhat
simpler. The output power most readily measured is
the average level which is constant. Since the audio
Table 6.2-1
Typical figures of merit for common tube amplifiers
operating in separate amplification.
AMPLIFIER DEVICE
TETRODE
INTEGRAL CAVITY KLYSTRON
EXTERNAL CAVITY KLYSTRON
KLYSTRODE OR IOT
DEPRESSED COLLECTOR KLYSTRON
FIGURE OF MERIT
.91.0
.65.75
.65.75
1.11.3
1.21.3
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is encoded with the video, there is no separate aural

amplifier. Thus the dc to RF efficency is readily calculated as a ratio of the average RF output to the dc input.
SOLID-STATE TRANSMITTERS
Technological advances in bipolar and field effect transistors (FET) have made the development of solidstate high power, linear amplifier modules for TV
applications both practical and cost effective. By combining RF modules, it is practical to create transmitters
at any power range up to 75 kW. Solid-state transmitters maintain their performance over extended periods
of time due primarily to the fact that they have no
tuning controls nor filament emission degradation with
time. No warm up time is requiredsolid-state transmitters produce full rated power within seconds of activation.
Solid State Devices
Both bipolar and FET technology exist today as
suitable RF amplification devices. Power amps are
operated in class AB for the best trade-off of efficiency
and linearity. Driver stages usually contain Class A
amplifiers.
Although both device types have merit, FETs have
some advantages over bipolar devices. FETs have a
higher amplification factor than bipolar transistors,
helping to reduce the number of driver stages. Higher
supply voltages help to reduce the current capacity of
the power supply. Simpler bias circuitry minimizes
parts count.
RF Amplifiers
Combining several RF power modules to achieve the
desired transmitter output power increases the parallel
redundancy and the on-air availability. Output power
of 12 kW per module has been adopted by nearly all
manufacturers based on overall cost, practical weight,
and size limitations.
Self protection of each PA module against various
fault conditions is good engineering practice. By using
self protecting modules, the cabinet control logic and
overall transmitter control logic can be kept simple,
thus improving overall reliability. Self diagnostics for
the module aid in minimizing time to repair. Protection
from over-voltage, overdrive, VSWR, overtemperature
and ensuring proper load sharing among devices is
essential to maintaining amplifiers for long life. It is
desirable that one subassembly failure not cause another subassembly to fail.
Modular amplifiers which can be removed while
hot improve overall on-air availability. If an amplifier
module fails, the transmitter continues to function indefinitely without disrupting transmitter operation. If
a spare PA amplifier is on hand, it can be used while
the failed unit is repaired.
Temperature compensated regulated supplies for the
amplifiers are important. Otherwise, power output varies as temperature or supply voltage changes.
Combiners and Dividers

There are several methods used for combining RF
power for the solid-state amplifier modules. An effective method is the use of in-phase N-way combiners.
Three common examples are described.
Microstrip Wilkinson Combiner
Figure 6.2-37 shows an example of a Microstrip

Wilkinson Combiner. Microstrip is used to carry the
RF power. When all amplifiers are operating, equal
voltages are presented to each node of the load resistor
so that no power is dissipated. When an amplifier
failure occurs, the power is distributed between the
load and the output. The impedance of the transmission
lines and the length of the lines is selected to achieve
the desired impedance transformation. Balanced reject
loads are used to absorb RF power in case of amplifier
failure and to provide isolation between amplifiers.
The combiner is housed in a shielded casing so that
outside fields cannot alter the balanced configuration.
The reject loads are cooled by conducting heat through
the flange to the heatsink where the heat is exchanged
to the moving air stream. This type of combiner is
used generally for lower numbers of amplifiers (two
to six).
Ring Combiner
Figure 6.2-38 shows an example of a ring combiner.

The higher power handling capability of the coax lines
used in this combiner allows a range of amplifiers to
be combined (two to 20). It also provides isolation
between amplifiers using reject loads which are not in
the direct RF path to the output. The operation of the
multiport combiner is easily understood by considering
a two-way version (see Figure 6.2-39). Each transmission line is a quarter wavelength. When equal voltages
are applied to both input ports (both amplifiers operating), the combined signal arrives at the output. This
is true because the distance from each input port to
the output is electrically equal whether the signal follows the shorter or longer path, the signal from one
amplifier arrives at the load port out of phase with that
Figure 6.2-37. Microstrip Wilkinson combiner (Photo courtesy

of Larcan).
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output combiner junction is 112.5/N. This impedance

is then matched to 50 V.
The reject loads are mounted to a grounded structure. One method of cooling the loads is to use a heat
pipe for the mounting structure. In case of amplifier
removal, the reject load temperature rises, the fluid in
the lower section of the heat pipe heats until it vaporizes. The vapor rises to the finned area where the heat
is exchanged to the moving air stream. The vapor
condenses as it releases its heat and returns to the
bottom of the pipe to repeat the cycle.
Starpoint Combiner
Figure 6.2-38. N-way ring combiner.
from the other amplifiers so no power is dissipated

and the signals from amplifier 1 arriving at input port
2 via the short and long paths are out of phase and vice
versa. Under normal conditions, all power appears at
the output, none is absorbed in the loads, and there
is complete isolation between amplifiers.
Power is absorbed in the load resistors only when an
amplifier is not operating. Assume that only amplifier
number 1 is operating. The signal path is electrically
equal not only for the long and short paths to the
output, but also, for the right and left paths to either
load. The power from the operating amplifier is split
equally between the output and the isolation loads.
Due to the isolation inherent in the network, the input
ports remain matched even when one or more amplifiers are removed.
Since the transmission line that connects the amplifier port to the output port is a quarter wavelength long
and 75 V transmission line is used, the 50 V amplifier
impedance is transformed to: (75/50) 2 75 4 112.5
V. For combining N amplifiers, the impedance at the
Figure 6.2-39. Two way ring combiner.
Starpoint combiners are simple low loss devices and

operate in the following manner. Consider parallel
operation of four sources of equal phase and amplitude,
each with a source impedance of 50 V and no interaction. The resulting source impedance is 12.5 V. All
that is needed to complete the combining process is
to transform this impedance to 50 V. Obviously, this
concept can be extended to any value of N. The
Q of the impedance transformation determines the
combiner bandwidth. For optimum bandwidth it may
be necessary to combine and transform in several corporate steps. In reality, the combined amplifiers have
slightly differing phases and amplitudes. As in any
combiner design, this represents a combining loss that
must be accounted for. A flat air spaced stripline structure may be used to provide a combiner with extremely
low resistive loss.
This simple combining technique works best only
if all inputs are present. If a failure occurs the isolation
may be insufficient to prevent interaction between
modules, especially for small values of N. Using
circulators at the output of each module resolves this,
producing a combiner with excellent isolation and
bandwidth. Circulators not only provide port-to-port
isolation but also protect against high VSWR due to
icing and other causes. The combiner band split should
be consistent with module and circulator bandwidth.
Combining Multiple Amplifier Cabinets
When combining RF power amplifiers, they must
be matched in phase and gain for maximum power to
the antenna and minimum power to the reject load.
Electronic phase shifters and attenuators should have
the capability for remembering their settings in case
of ac power failure.
Cooling System
Proper cooling of the solid-state modules is important
for high MTBF. The MTBF of a transistor essentially
doubles for every 10C drop in the junction temperature.
Distributed cooling systems employing more than one
fan offer good redundancy. Current motor/fan technology has matured to the point where a few larger direct
drive fans are as reliable as many smaller fans. Since
many RF power amplifiers may be employed, a large
volume of air is needed to adequately cool the heatsinks.
Low pressure fans or blowers may be used if heatsink
fin density is not high. This aids in reducing audible
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noise. The heat is distributed over a large volume of air

and the temperature rise is relatively low.
Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
AGC is used to maintain constant power output from
the transmitter. Ambient temperature changes will
cause gain changes in a solid-state amplifier. RF drive
power must be changed to maintain constant power
output. A detected RF sample of the PA output may
be fed to an input of a comparator. The exciter output
sample or a voltage proportional to the exciter output
is applied to the other input of a comparator. The dc
output is then integrated and fed to an attenuator which
varies the RF drive level at a low power level. Alternatively, the RF sample may be taken from an intermediate stage. In this case, other means must be used to
temperature compensate the output stage or some
power reduction with temperature must be tolerated.
Power Supplies
Power supply design is critical to the reliability of
a solid-state transmitter. Since FET and bipolar devices
are low voltage devices, the power supplies which
serve them must provide low voltage and high current.
High reliability connections must be guaranteed in the
dc distribution. Since available power output from a
transistor varies as
Po 4
(V )2
2RL
it is desirable that the supply remain very tightly controlled over incoming ac line variation. Since the amplifier current demand varies with picture level (for
NTSC), the power supply output voltage must remain
stable from low load (white picture) to high load (peak
sync output). Efficiency of the power supply is important since the lost power results in heat as well as
unnecessarily high utility costs. Any voltage or current
transients should be significantly suppressed before
reaching the amplifier transistor device. Transmitters
should successfully pass the applicable portions of the
ANSI/IEEE C62.41 Transient Testing Standard (also
referred to as the IEEE-587 Standard).
Figure 6.2-40. Distributed control and monitoring.
throughout the transmitter. The distributed control system can be designed so that the failure of any individual
controller does not affect the operation of the others.
Both distributed control and centralized control systems are shown in Figures 6.2-40 and 41. After ac
power failure, the controller should have backup memory to restore the transmitter to the same operating
condition as before.
A system of indicators is essential to quick fault
diagnosis. Typical status conditions which may be displayed are: exciter fault, VSWR fault, VSWR foldback, power supply fault, controller fault, air loss,
door open, fail-safe interlock, phase loss, module fault,
visual drive fault, aural drive fault and external interlock(s).
VSWR foldback reduces power during high VSWR
operation, such as antenna icing, and restores RF power
to normal when difficulties are removed. Other options
used to enhance the on-air capability may include dual
exciters, 20% aural power and redundant drive chains.
A block diagram of a solid-state transmitter with
VSWR foldback is shown in Figure 6.2-42.
Alternating Current Distribution
A reliable method of ac distribution provides power

to modular RF amplifier cabinets through a parallel
system. Each cabinet is protected by a separate ac
breaker external to the transmitter. This concept allows
a cabinet to be safely serviced while the remaining
cabinets are operational. Phase monitors guard against
low voltage, loss of phase or reversal of phase.
Control Systems
If individual amplifier modules and power supplies
are self protecting, control and monitoring functions
can be simple and straightforward. One approach for
the control system is to use a single controller to control
and monitor all the functions of the transmitter. Another approach is to distribute the control system
Figure 6.2-41. Centralized control system.
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Figure 6.2-42. VSWR foldback block diagram.
UHF TUBE TRANSMITTERS

Due to higher transmitter power, power consumption
and efficency are of utmost importance for UHF transmitters. A variety of tube technologies are available
to address this requirement. Some are most suited for
lower power transmitter designs, others are more appropriate for the highest power requirements. These
technologies include tetrodes, klystrons, multiple depressed collector klystrons (MSDC) and inductive output tubes (IOT).
Tetrodes are biased for Class AB operation and are,

therefore, more efficient than the Class A klystron.
Tetrodes operating at UHF at higher power are made
possible due to advances in ceramics and ceramic-tometal bonding, pyrolytic grid structures and the
method of anode cooling. They exhibit excellent envelope and RF linearity requiring only the degree of
correction normally seen in VHF transmitters. The
tradeoff for performance in these areas is lower power
gain than most other amplifiers. Gain for a tetrode is
about 15 dB.
Tetrodes and Diacrodes

Tetrode refers to a generic category of four element
tubes suitable for the linear amplification of RF signals
to the power levels for required for broadcasting. This
discussion is limited to water cooled UHF TV tubes
made available in recent years. These tetrodes are of
cylindrical construction. The inner diameter of the
anode of a typical 30 kW peak sync tetrode is barely
2 inches in diameter. The anode is domed at the upper
end to make it watertight. The water jacket is a watertight container around the anode. Element spacing is
quite close, especially the spacing between the control
grid and the cathode which is barely .003 in. Gain is an
inverse function of the control grid to cathode spacing
while a direct function of control grid to anode spacing.
Figure 6.2-43 is a horizontal cross sectional sketch of
a typical power tetrode.
Figure 6.2-43. A horizontal cross section of a typical power tetrode

showing the relative placement of the four elements.
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Figure 6.2-44. A representative cavity for the tetrode is shown.

RF drive connects to the bottom while the output is taken from
the side through the 3-1/8th in. EIA flange.
Modern UHF power tetrodes for linear television

applications are capable of combined visual and aural
amplification. Ten percent aural power is the norm and
tubes are rated according to peak sync power with the
aural carrier. For example, a typical UHF tetrode may
be rated at 30 kW peak sync. Ten percent aural power
is assumed giving a PEP rating of 52 kW. It is capable
of 43 kW peak sync if the aural carrier is amplified separately.
Connections to these tubes are made at the base by
means of concentric ring conductors, staggered in height
and mating to a socket which sits above the tuning sections of the input and output networks. This allows
nearly all the RF current to flow in the lower two thirds
of the tubes vertical structure, the upper end being open
circuited. Since the tube sits above the cavity sections,
tuning is not disturbed when the tube is removed or inserted. Because inner electrode capacitances vary from
tube to tube, some touch-up retuning is required. Tuning
is not done at full power but at milliwatt levels.
Typical tetrodes are operated in grounded grid. Neutralization is required, but it is a one time physical
setting and does not change from tube to tube. The
tetrode is cathode driven with a low Q input tuning
section. Output power is taken from the anode through
a double tuned cavity section with loading control.
The grids are grounded for RF. The tubes are cooled
with distilled water. Cooling water must be non-conductive since it comes in contact with anode voltage.
A representative cavity is shown in Figure 6.2-44.
The tetrode node voltage is much lower than that
of the klystron. No special standoff requirements are
necessary and the negative supply line of the power
supply is grounded. The cathode is at dc ground potential.
Contributing to the service life of modern tetrodes
is the water cooling of anode and screen grid. The
method used is a process in which the water coming
in contact with the anode surface is allowed to vaporize
to the nucleate boiling state within tiny pits on the
anode surface as illustrated in Figure 6.2-45. As soon
as the vapor enters the main water stream a few thousandths of an inch above the surface, it condenses,
releasing its heat content to the main stream. Nucleate
boiling is enhanced by deliberately roughening the
anode surface providing millions of boiling sites uniformly spread over the surface. If the anode surface
were visible and not hidden under a watertight cap,
nucleate boiling would be recognized by the formation
of nearly microscopic bubbles, which quickly condense and disappear. Film boiling is maintained in
between nucleate boiling sites.
The screen grid is also water cooled, but no boiling
takes place.
The important electrical characteristics of a 30 kW
peak sync tetrode are shown in Table 6.6-2. The basic
structure of these tubes is silver-plated copper and
ceramic with pyrolytic graphite grids and a thoriated
tungsten directly heated cathode. Filament currents are
high to minimize cathode current modulation of the
cathode temperature.
Figure 6.2-45. Cooling of the anode surface.
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Table 6.2-2
Typical power tetrode electrical characteristics.
Pout PEP
Pout peak sync
10% Aural?
One dB Bandwidth
Circuit Configuration
Integral to the Cavity?
Power Gain
IMD
Neutralization
Sync Compression
Plate (Anode) Voltage
Anode Current Idle
Anode Current Black
Screen Grid Voltage
Screen Grid Current Black
Control Grid Voltage
Control Grid Current Black
Filament Voltage
Filament Current
52 kW
30 kW
Yes
12.8 MHz
Grounded Grid
No
15 dB
148 dB no correction
Yes
5 IRE no correction
8500 V
2.5 A
5.6 A
650 V
40 mA
1120 V
20 mA
5.1 V ac or dc
180 A
Drive power is in series with the input/output circuits

which are in series. Since the cathode is the driven
element, its current is nearly identical to the anode
current. Thus power gain is realized from the voltage gain.
The Diacrode is also basically a four element
tetrode. The same construction is used even though
the shape is nothing like that of the tetrodes. Figure
6.2-46 shows a three dimensional cutaway drawing.
It is made of the same materials as the tetrodes and
fits into the same socket in the same cavity modified
only slightly to accommodate the extra height for
an external element. The operating voltages are the

same except for the filament, but it delivers twice the
power. (Diacrode is a registered trademark of
Thompson Tubes Electroniques.)
The flat shape allows a geometrical modification
of the anode structure so that the top of the tube
may be fitted with an external circuit element electrically connected between the anode (8500 VDC)
and screen grid (600 VDC). The RF current and voltage distribution is shown in the drawing at the left of
Figure 6.2-47.
The external circuit element is a high Q cylindrical
coaxial transmission line electrically RF connected between the anode and screen grid. It has an insulating
layer of .005 in. kapton between the cylinders used as
a dc block.
Along the length of the cylinder is a circular sliding
RF short circuit between the two cylinders. The purpose of the upper high Q transmission line section,
tuned to be a shorted quarter wavelength is to reflect
an open circuit to the vertical center of the anode. This
causes the vertical open circuit or current minimum
within the tube to be at the vertical halfway point. The
result is a voltage maximum at the same point. Both
vertical halves of the tube are used to make power.
Since there are two current maximums, one at the usual
place at the base and one at the sliding short in the
upper transmission line, anode current is doubled, but
operating voltages remain the same as the tetrode. The
setting of the upper cavity section is quite broad with
only three settings to cover the UHF band from channel
14 to channel 69.
Figure 6.2-46. A three dimensional cutaway of a Diacrode showing all four elements of the tube and anode water path.
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Figure 6.2-47. The upper shorted quarter-wave line section above the Diacrode causes two current maximums instead of the single
one in the tetrode.
The Tetrode Transmitter

A block diagram of a NTSC tetrode transmitter using
a 30 kW tetrode is shown in Figure 6.2-48. It is an IF
modulated combined amplification transmitter requiring almost 1 kW of drive power. Drive is supplied by
two solid-state Class AB amplifier drawers having gain
of about 23 dB. Correction circuits include low frequency linearity, differential gain, differential phase
and sync compression, all performed at video and
ICPM, stereo pilot protection, in-band intermodulation distortion and cross modulation, all performed
at IF.
For good linearity the control grid and screen grid
power supplies must be well regulated. These supplies
are capable of modulating the amplified signal if allowed to shift with modulated drive level. It is not
necessary to regulate the anode supply since the tetrode
is not saturated and is relatively insensitive to anode
voltage variations. Both oil filled and dry supplies may
be used for the anode voltage source. Oil has a cooling
advantage over convection or forced air cooling.
The filament supply must also be well regulated
and should be capable of two different voltages: full
voltage according to the value in Table 6.2-2 and about
20% of full voltage. The latter is known as black heat
voltage and is used when the tube is in off air, standby
mode. No cooling of any kind is needed during
black heat.
Black heat is used to reduce the time to on-air, since
the filament is already warm, and to reduce the thermal
stress of going to full filament power. The filament

voltage should be gradually increased from the black
heat value to full value over a period of 60 seconds.
Likewise, it should be gradually decreased at the end
of the broadcast day for longest life.
It is imperative that the control circuitry be designed
so that faults, over-voltage and over-current situations
quickly disconnect the power supplies from the tube.
It is also imperative that the cooling system be maintained in proper operating condition. Blocked air filters
or reduced water flow due to blockages will shorten
tube life even though the control system judges conditions are adequate to operate. The control system
should be designed so that the transmitter will remain
on air as long as minimum cooling requirements are
met. The transmitter should be designed to have warning indicators posted on the front panel, available by
remote monitoring. When a trip occurs, the high voltage power supply should be removed within 15 msec
and dc output of the screen grid power supply immediately shorted to ground while being disconnected from
the ac mains.
Klystrons
The klystron uses velocity modulation in the amplifying device. The electron beam emitted from the
cathode is accelerated to high velocity by the electric
field between the cathode and anode and is directed
into the RF interaction region, as shown in Figure
6.2-49. An external magnetic field is employed to focus
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Figure 6.2-48. Block diagram of a 30 kW common amplification tetrode transmitter.
Figure 6.2-49. Principal elements of a klystron.
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the beam as it passes through the tube. The electron

beam impinges on the collector, which dissipates
the beam energy and returns the electron current to
the beam power supply.
The RF interaction region, where the amplification
occurs, contains resonant cavities and field-free drift
space. The first resonant cavity (the input cavity) is
excited and a RF voltage is developed across the gap.
Since electrons approach the input cavity gap with
equal velocities and emerge with different velocities,
the electron beam is said to be velocity modulated.
As the electrons travel down the drift tube, bunching
develops and the density of electrons passing a given
point varies with time.
The RF energy produced by this interaction is extracted from the beam and fed into a coaxial or waveguide transmission line by means of a coupling loop
in the output cavity. The dc beam input power not
converted to RF energy is dissipated in the collector.
The cavities can be mounted external to the klystron or
can be included in the vacuum envelope. The resonant
frequency of each of the cavities is adjusted by
changing the volume of the cavity in external cavity
klystrons, or the capacitance of the drift tube gaps is
changed in integral cavity klystrons.
The RF energy is fed through a coaxial line with
its center conductor inserted into the cavity. The end
of the center conductor is formed into a loop. This is
a simple one-turn transformer which couples energy
into the cavity as shown in Figure 6.2-50. Intermediate
cavities may have their loops coupled into RF loads
to vary the Q of the cavities thus to change the
overall bandpass characteristics.
All cathodes have an optimum operating temperature. The operating temperature of the cathode must
be high enough to prevent variations in heater power
from affecting the electron emission current (beam
current). However, the temperature of the emitting
surface must not be higher than necessary, since excessive temperature can reduce cathode life.
There are two electrodes which may control the
beam current: the modulating anode and a lower voltage (0 to 1,400 V) electrode typically used for pulsing
Figure 6.2-50. Loop coupling and equivalent circuit.
the beam current. If the low voltage electrode is connected to the cathode, the modulating anode voltage
controls beam current. Perveance is a function of the
geometry of the cathode-anode structure. This can be
calculated using the following equation:
Ib 4 KV 3/2
b
where:
K 4 Perveance
Ib 4 Beam current in amperes
Vb 4 Beam voltage
Figure 6.2-51 shows the relationship between beam
current and voltage described in the previous equation.
In example A, if a modulating anode of 4,000 V with
respect to the cathode beam voltage produces a beam
current of 0.6 A, the intersection point lies at a perveance expressed as 2.4 2 1016 or 2.4 micropervs.
Operating condition B illustrates a practical television
transmitter situation in which a common beam supply
of 18 kV is used to power both the visual and aural
klystron. The visual tube operates at a beam current
of approximately 5.0 A if the modulating anode is
connected (through an isolating resistance) to the body
of the tube, and the perveance is 2.1 micropervs. Since
the aural output power required is much less, the dc
input power is less than that required to operate the
Figure 6.2-51. Beam current variation with modulating anode

voltage.
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Figure 6.2-52. Adjustment of output coupling control.
visual tube. Points B8 indicate that if the modulating

anode is supplied with only 8 kV (through a voltage
divider), the intersection with the 2.1 microperv line
yields a beam current of only 1.5 A, thus accomplishing
the necessary reduction of input power for aural
service.
Electromagnets are placed around the klystron to
develop a magnetic field along the axis of the electron
beam. This controls the size of the electron beam and
keeps it aligned with the drift tubes. If the magnetic
field is interrupted or insufficiently controlled, the electron beam will land on surfaces other than the collector
and may destroy the tube.
The output cavity is generally tuned to the carrier
frequency. It is essential to operate with the coupling
loop adjusted so the output cavity is slightly over coupled. Figure 6.2-52 shows the relationship of output
power to proper coupling loop adjustment. If the coupling loop is adjusted so that the cavity is under-coupled, arcing and ceramic fracture resulting in klystron
failure may occur.
Figure 6.2-53 shows output power as a function of
drive power. As expected, when drive power level is
low, output power is low. As the level of drive power
increases, output power increases until an optimum
point is reached. Beyond this point, further increases
in drive power result in less output power. In the zone
labeled Underdriven, output power increases when the
input power is increased. The point labeled Optimum
represents the maximum output power obtainable. The
tube is said to be saturated at this point, since any
further increase in drive only decreases the output
power. The zone formed at the right side of saturation is
labeled Overdriven. To obtain maximum output power,
sufficient drive power must be applied to the tube to
reach the point of saturation. Operating at drive level
beyond saturation point only overdrives the tube, decreasing output power, and increasing the amount of
beam interception at the drift tubes (body current).
Klystrons tuned for TV service are operated within
the underdriven zone.
Figure 6.2-53. RF output power as a function of RF drive power.
Figure 6.2-54 shows how output power changes with

various levels of drive power applied under different
tuning conditions. Point A represents saturation for
a synchronously tuned tube. Points B and C show
saturation reached by tuning the penultimate (closest
to the output cavity) cavity to higher frequencies. Increasing the penultimate cavity frequency beyond
Point D no longer increases output power. Instead, it
reduces the output power as shown at Point E.
The input coupling is adjusted for the best tradeoff
of minimum reflected power and best overall bandpass.
Operating a klystron at saturation improves efficiency but requires more linearity and phase compensation. By using a pulser to switch to a higher beam
current during sync and back to a lesser current during
video, the average beam current is significantly reduced. The practical limit of reduction of the video
beam current is the point at which tip of burst and
back porch distortion is not correctable.
With beam current pulsing, the effective Q of the
electron beam and cavity combination is altered. This
results in passband tilt from visual carrier down to the
upper edge of the passband. This requires readjustment
Figure 6.2-54. Output power variation with drive power under

different tuning conditions.
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of the cavities to obtain a flat response. Tilt of as much

as 7 dB has been observed.
In static (nonpulsed) operation, the tube is supplied
with enough beam current to saturate at 100% power
with a small amount of headroom for changes in beam
voltage. In pulsed operation only enough beam current
is supplied to saturate at 100% power during sync. The
amount of beam current reduction during video is dependent upon operating channel, perveance, available
drive power and precorrection capability.
The optimum value of beam current must be experimentally determined. However, figures of merit of 77%
have been achieved. The absolute value of the pulsed
efficiency is directly proportional to, and therefore
limited by, the efficiency obtained for nonpulsed operation. In order to prevent severe burst and back-porch
distortion, a small amount of amplifier headroom is
needed, approximately 2% to 5%.
Pulsed operation for klystrons is accomplished by
connecting the beam control electrode to a voltage
source of 0 to 11,400 V with respect to the cathode.
During sync, the pulser operates at 0 V. During the
video portion of the signal, values of 1400 to 1800 V
are used to achieve reliable high efficiency operation.
In some transmitters, sync is actually reduced or
removed from the input video. As the beam current is
pulsed, the klystron gain change increases the RF
power to produce the proper sync level.
Effect of Pulsing on Transmitter Precorrection
Very little can be done to reduce ICPM by klystron

tuning or selection of magnet current. Also, ICPM
increases rapidly near saturation of the klystron.
The phase shift through a klystron changes due to
the beam current (when the klystron is pulsed during
sync). When the klystron switches back to the video
current level, the previous value of phase returns.
ICPM correctors operating at the exciter IF introduce
a correction signal equal and opposite to the distortion
produced by the klystron. A phase modulation stage
in the exciter may be keyed by sync and adjusted to
precorrect for incidental phase distortions caused in
the klystron during pulsing.
When amplifiers are operating very close to saturation during the color burst, more differential gain and
differential phase correction may be needed. Modern
exciters can fully precorrect these conditions.
Sync pulse oscillations may appear as ringing when
the klystron is operated at saturation. This may exhibit
itself as a tearing of the picture. This ringing is believed
to be caused by secondary electron feedback enhanced
by the reverse gain of the klystron cavities. Rebiasing
the tube slightly out of saturation will eliminate the
ringing.
Multi-stage Depressed Collector (MSDC)
Klystrons
Klystron amplifiers operate by converting energy
from a beam of electrons to RF output power. At
full output power, about half of the beam power is
converted to output power. Correspondingly, half the

dc input power remains on the beam as it exits the
cavity region. In a standard klystron this spent electron
beam energy is dissipated as heat. The MSDC klystron,
however, operates on the spent electron beam, recovering its energy to reduce the dissipation. In the
depressed collector technology, power recovery in the
collector region is accomplished by decelerating the
electrons in the spent beam. This is done by providing
an electric field in the collector such that the electrons are
slowed before they strike the collector wall. A collector
composed of multiple elements is utilized, with each
element operated at a negative potential with respect to
ground. Consequently, the collector potentials are referred to as being depressed below ground.
The interaction process has produced a wide range
of velocities for individual electrons. The collector
geometry is carefully selected to provide an electric
field shape which sorts the impinging electrons according to their velocity, reducing their energy as much
as possible, yet ensuring that all electrons strike one
of the elements and are not reflected into the electron beam.
Figure 6.2-55 shows the resulting collector configuration. The collector is composed of five elements and
is designed to operate with equal voltages between
elements. For a 60 kW klystron, the voltage per collector stage is typically 6.25 kV. This means that element
1 is at ground potential, element 2 is at 16.25 kV,
element 3 is at 112.5 kV, element 4 is at 118.75 kV
and element 5 is at full cathode potential of 125 kV.
To make sure that the electron beam is optimized
before entering the collector region, a refocus coil is
provided just ahead of the collector.
The significant benefit of the depressed collector
klystron is the reduction in power consumption for a
given power output. The individual collector beam
Figure 6.2-55. UHF-TV MSDC design.
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currents vary depending on the picture level. Since

the recovering of the spent beam takes place in the
collector, it has essentially no impact on the tuning and
normal precorrection of the klystron. The depressed
collector technique can be applied to either external
or integral cavity klystrons.
Since the power dissipated in the collector is reduced, only six gallons per minute of high purity water
coolant is needed. The efficiency of the MSDC is
dependent upon the transmitter configuration. Figures
of merit of 1.2 to 1.6 have been obtained in transmitter
installations in the field.
Transmitter Design Using Multiple Depressed
Collector Klystrons
The primary differences in this transmitter from a

standard klystron transmitter are in the beam supply
and the cooling system. Figure 6.2-56 shows the power
connections made to a MSDC klystron. Since the RF
performance of the MSDC klystron is the same as the
standard klystron, there are no differences in the RF
driver chain.
The cooling system of a MSDC klystron transmitter
uses a two-stage heat transfer system as shown in
Figure 6.2-57. A two-stage system is chosen to allow
outside heat exchangers to be used. The cooling system
consists of a high purity water loop and a glycol-water
mixture loop. High purity water (resistivity of 200,000
V cm or more) must be used with the cooling system
to prevent current flow between collectors. To remove
ions, free oxygen and other possible contaminants from

the water, a three-stage purification loop is used. The
filter cartridges sample part of the water flow so the
whole system is continuously cleaned. The filter cartridges can be replaced without taking the transmitter
off the air.
Separate beam supplies for each klystron are frequently used. Since the currents from the beam supplies change dependent on the power level, there are
video frequency currents present on the power supply
leads. Therefore, sufficient bypassing and power supply high voltage wire shielding is required. Monitoring
each section of the beam supply current is required to
obtain the currents for power dissipation calculations.
Protection circuitry should include magnet overcurrent and undercurrent trip points, beam supply overcurrent and overvoltage sensors (for each collector), water
flow sensors, arc detectors within the 3rd and 4th cavities and sufficient interlocks to prevent personnel from
accidentally coming in contact with high voltage.
Inductive Output Tube (IOT)
The IOT combines features of a tetrode and a klystron. Hence, the tradename Klystrode is also used.
The electron beam is constrained similar to that of a
klystronthat is, by electromagnets. The modes of
operation of the IOT are similar to that of a tetrode.
However there are significant differences due to the
different geometries. (Klystrode is a registered trade
mark of CPI.)
Figure 6.2-56. MSDC high voltage connections.
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Figure 6.2-57. TV 60 UM heat exchanger system.
An IOT is shown schematically in Figure 6.2-58. It

is composed of an electron gunvery similar to a
klystrona control grid, an input cavity, accelerating
anode, drift tube, output cavity and collector. The electrodes are arranged linearly, unlike the concentric configuration of a tetrode. It is physically smaller than a
klystron weighing approximately 400 lbs including the
tuning cavities and magnet assembly. The tube itself
weighs about 60 lbs.
The electron beam is formed at the cathode, density
modulated with the input signal applied to a grid and
then accelerated through the anode aperture. In its
bunched form, the beam drifts through a field-free
region and then interacts with the RF field at the drift
tube gap in the output cavity. Power is extracted from
the beam in the output cavity in the same manner
as a klystron. The grid structure may intercept some
electrons causing a small amount of grid current. This
will increase if the tube is overdriven.
Input power is applied to the control grid via a
Figure 6.2-58. Klystrode schematic.
resonant cavity. The grid is biased negatively near

cutoff as a Class B or Class AB amplifier. The first
part of the tube may be thought of as a triode with a
perforated anode through which the electron beam is
guided by electric and magnetic fields. The beam is
bunched at the radio frequency and is accelerated by
the high anode potential. It passes through the anode
extension cylinder, which is an electrostatic shield,
and then interacts with the RF field in the output gap.
The spent beam is dissipated in the collector, which
is separate from the output RF interaction circuit.
The tuned input and output circuits are external to
the vacuum envelope. The input circuit consists of a
stub tuner and resonant coaxial cavity, which match
the drive source to the high impedance grid. Also
included is a circuit which provides a dc block for
high voltage. The output cavity is clamped to the body
of the tube with techniques similar to those used for
external cavity klystrons. The output circuit is doubletuned to achieve the bandwidth required for visual
service. The double-tuned output circuit consists of a
primary cavity clamped to the body and an iris- or loopcoupled secondary cavity. The output transmission line
is probe coupled to the electric field or loop coupled
to the magnetic field in the secondary cavity. (Coupling
methods are different for different manufacturers.)
Variable controls are used to adjust primary and secondary cavities to the same resonant frequency. Additional
controls are used to adjust the intercavity and output
couplings. Because the tube has only two cavities, it is
much shorter than a klystron. The magnetic field requirements of the tube are produced by a solenoid powered by a supply of about 6 to 7 V at 25 to 30 A.
The high voltage circuitry is contained within a
shielded compartment on top of the input circuit. This
circuitry consists of various filters to contain the fields
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and prevent instabilities at video frequencies. High

voltage grid bias and filament power enter this section
via high voltage cables.
The fundamental benefit of the IOT is that it may
operate as a Class B amplifier, resulting in high efficiency. Thus the beam current (Ib) is proportional to
the RF drive signal (Vg), following the modulation
envelope according to the three halves law:
Ia 4 K(Vg ` Va /m)3/2
where m is the amplification factor. The perveance
(K) is proportional to the cathode area and inversely
proportional to the square of the grid to cathode spacing. The drive voltage is not normally high enough to
cause the instantaneous grid voltage to become positive. Although the efficiency of the IOT is dependent
upon the transmitter configuration, figures of merit of
1.2 to 1.4 have been obtained for 60 kW visual service
from transmitter installations in the field. In aural service, the IOT is tuned the same as for visual service.
A single tube covers the entire UHF operating band,
although two slightly different input cavities are required.
Power gain in either visual or aural service is about
21 dB. Thus drive power is about 500 W for the visual
and 50 W for the aural (assuming 10% nominal aural
power). A typical transfer curve is shown in Figure
6.2-59. The amount of nonlinearity is similar to a
tetrode; the transfer function is S shaped. The nonlinearity of the beam current causes distortion of the
fundamental UHF component and generation of signals at multiples of the UHF frequency. Harmonics
do not excite the output cavity and therefore do not
affect the quality of the transmitted signal. The linearity improves as the quiescent current is increased from
zero, becoming optimum when at 8 to 9% of the maximum value. The transfer characteristic eventually saturates at high power levels, as is the case with all power
amplifier devices. However, in an IOT, the grid voltage
may be driven positive with respect to the cathode for
short periods of time. This enables the tube to amplify
the high power, short duration signal peaks present in
digital TV signals, and also to transmit the high peak
envelope power that occurs during common amplifier
operation in an analog transmitter. The nonlinearity
increases as the load impedance is increased to boost

efficiency. Limited bandwidth of the input circuit also
increases nonlinearity.
The IOT may also be used in multiplexed or common amplification mode. For example, a 60 kW tube
may be used at 40 kW visual with a 10% aural signal.
Intermodulation products at 6920 kHz from visual
carrier generated by the tube can be precorrected by
low level IF and/or RF circuitry.
Cooling of the IOT at the 60 kW power level under
maximum ambient temperature conditions requires
about 25 gallons per minute of water for the collector.
The body of the tube is also water cooled. A 50:50
water/glycol solution is typically used in cold climates
without any special water purification. The input and
output cavities are air cooled. The 15 kW and 40 kW
IOTs may be air cooled. The volume of air and air
pressure needed are comparable to a tetrode of similar power.
Transmitter Design Using IOT
Support circuitry for the IOT consists of the necessary drivers, precorrection, power supplies and protection circuitry. An IOT transmitter block diagram using
common amplification is shown in Figure 6.2-60.
The IOT uses a beam voltage of 32 kV to 36 kV.
Since the beam current changes with modulation, video
frequency currents are required from the beam supply.
The beam supply must be designed to provide excellent
regulation from no load to full load and to also provide
a low source impedance for all video frequencies. In
the event of a high voltage failure, the beam supply
should limit the energy dumped into an arc. The supply,
being stiffer, requires a triggered crowbar circuit to
limit the beam supply arc energy. A block diagram of
a crowbar circuit is shown in Figure 6.2-61.
The grid bias supply of 110 to 170 V with respect
to the cathode floats with the beam voltage. A simple
method of developing the grid voltage is to use zener
diodes connected between the power supply and the
tube cathode connection and tap the grid to the appropriate zener to obtain the desired bias current. As with
klystrons, the magnet power supply must have sufficient energy storage that the beam remains focused
until the beam decays. A power supply for the ion
vacuum pump is needed with appropriate sensors for
the protection circuitry. Other protection circuitry provided in the IOT transmitter is similar to that needed
in the klystron transmitter.
TRANSMITTERS FOR DIGITAL

TELEVISION (DTV)
Figure 6.2-59. IOT transfer curve.
Each of the transmitter technologies previously described have been found to be suitable for transmission
of DTV. Early in the development of the DTV transmission system, klystron, MSDC and solid-state amplifiers were used for over the air transmission tests. More
recently, experimental stations have gone on air using
both IOT and solid-state final amplifiers. Just as for
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Figure 6.2-60. IOT transmitter block diagram.
NTSC, the key requirements for the final amplifier

include adequate peak and average power rating, a
linear transfer function and adequate bandwidth. The
average DTV power afforded by a tetrode or IOT is
about 40% of the NTSC peak sync power rating. Anode
voltage is increased slightly from that used for NTSC
for best in-band and out-of-band performance. Solidstate amplifiers will produce DTV power in excess of
30% of their NTSC peak power rating.
Even though station effective radiated power (ERP)
and transmitter power output (TPO) are defined on the
basis of average power, the tradition of transmitter
power rating according to NTSC peak sync power has
been carried forward so that most transmitters and
tubes identified by means of their approximate power
capability. However, average power rating is always
available and should be used when selecting
equipment.
Peak power rating is difficult to measure because
of the random nature of the DTV signal. A peak-toaverage ratio of 6 to 7 dB is usually assumed, although
peaks as high as 11 dB above the average level have
been measured. In practice, knowledge of the peak
power is not as critical as with NTSC. The important
parameters are average DTV power to support the
target ERP and linearity of the transmitter sufficient
to meet the FCC radiation mask specification. If these
parameters are satisfied, the actual peak power need
not be known with precision.
The distortion to DTV is highly dependent on the
characteristics and number of driver stages. For both
tube and solid-state finals, the driver stages are normally solid-state, some of which usually are operated
in Class AB. The ideal transfer curve would be that
of a Class A amplifier. However, this would result in
high levels of dissipation and attendant cooling and
power supply issues. To overcome the out-of-band
products generated in the Class AB stage(s), a RF
linearity correction circuit may be used. Both compres-
sion and crossover correction capability is required to

suppress out-of-band intermodulation products at the
band edge up to 10 dB. Alternatively, a feed forward
amplifier design maybe used to provide the linearity
of a Class A amplifier without the efficiency penalty.
A bandpass filter is required for out-of-band suppression 3 MHz above and below the channel band edge.
The prime power required for digital transmitters is
somewhat simpler to determine, compared to NTSC
transmitters. The ac power required will be very nearly
constant since the RF output is constant. There is no
separate aural amplifier, so there is no need to consider
variations in visual power and the aural power. In
general, the power required will be less than for the
Figure 6.2-61. Triggered crowbar circuit.
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corresponding peak NTSC power using the same type

of amplifier technology in the same band. Likewise
the cooling load is constant and somewhat lower than
for NTSC.
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS
The quality of the broadcast television transmitted signal is the responsibility of the broadcaster. Intermediate
frequency modulation, solid-state SAW vestigial filters
and sophisticated precorrection circuits make transparent performance possible. Precision demodulators with
synchronous detection and SAW filters are capable of
near ideal detection. Test waveforms and digital signal
synthesis provide accurate test signal generation to
complement transmission facilities.
The Electronic Industries Association Standard RS508 takes into account empirical quality factors and
reflects a common denominator for new transmitter
performance. This standard is a valuable reference
document which describes performance parameters,
standards and methods of measurements.
A thorough proof-of-performance at the time of installation is an invaluable record of normal operating
performance. It also serves as verification of proper
signal quality and emission standards. The number of
detailed measurements required after the proof usually
can be limited since several performance characteristics are a measure of the same impairment. Also, some
test waveforms are more useful for transmitter adjustment than others.
Transmitter measurements can be considered in two
primary categories: frequency response and linearity.
In the time domain, 2T modulated sine squared
pulses and multiburst waveforms are used in identifying and correcting linear distortions. In the frequency
domain, swept amplitude and group delay measurements can be used, but are normally reserved for outof-service testing.
Figure 6.2-62. Multipulse test waveform.
The multipulse signal shown in Figure 6.2-62 may

also be used to analyze group delay. The multipulse
signal consists of a gray flag (80 IRE), 2T pulse and
five sine squared pulses (one 25T pulse and four 12.5T
pulses) modulated with five discrete frequencies.
The modulated pulses contain low-frequency and
high-frequency information, as illustrated in Figure
6.2-63. If the low-frequency spectra and the high-frequency spectra are delayed equally, the results will be
a symmetrical modulated pulse with the same shape
as the input. The gain versus frequency distortion will
alter the base line flatness but will not change pulse
symmetry. Delay errors will result in an asymmetrical
pulse baseline. Combinations of group delay and gain
errors are shown in Figure 6.2-64.
A method of quantifying these distortions uses the
waveform graticule shown in Figure 6.2-65. This graticule was arrived at empirically and represents constant
perceptible distortion levels. This shows that overshoots closer to the desired pulse are not as perceptible
as ringing further away. The desired K factor graticule
(2%) is overlayed on a waveform monitor and the
group delay corrector is adjusted until the 2T waveform
lies entirely within the graticule. This technique is
often preferred to swept group delay measurements
because the results are in terms of perceptibility.
To ascertain the carrier frequency of a station operating under precision frequency control, measurement
equipment should meet the following accuracy requirements:
VHF Low Band
VHF High Band
UHF
`2.5 2 1019
`1 2 1019
`3 2 10110
Frequency counters with the above accuracy and

calibration traceable to the National Institute for Stan-
Figure 6.2-63. Energy spectrum for modulated pulses.
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Figure 6.2-64. Modulated sine-squared pulses with gain and phase errors.
dards and Technology (NIST) may be used for making

these measurements.
To test for nonlinear distortions as a function of
average picture level (APL), one line of the video
waveform is alternated with four lines containing a
static luminance level. Figure 6.2-66 contains a modulated staircase with three average picture levels.
Modern transmitters are designed for unattended
operation for extended periods of time. A properly
adjusted transmitter operating with adequate cooling
and regulated power lines may need only be checked
in detail every three or four months or whenever a
major component is replaced or repaired.
The following pretest checklist and sequence of tests
are presented as a general guide for a properly adjusted
transmitter. Many adjustments are interrelated and re-
quire returning to previous tests to verify proper performance. The test sequence is intended to minimize the
number of adjustments.
Figure 6.2-65. 2T sine-squared pulse graticule.
Figure 6.2-66. Modulated staircase waveform.
Pretest Checks:
Test equipment
Input video
Output transmission line, station load, and antenna
Alternating current mains input
Record meter readings, adjustment settings and key
performance parameters
Transmitter Test Sequence
1. Exciter linear and nonlinear performance
2. Intermediate and driver linear amplifier performance
3. Swept frequency response
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4. Modulation depth (includes UHF pulser and sync

ICPM adjustments)
5. Power output meter calibration
6. Nonlinearity response (differential gain, ICPM, differential phase)
7. Linear response checks (group delay, pulse tests,
composite waveform K factors)
8. Record meter readings, adjustment settings and key
performance parameters.
During periodic measurement and adjustment, it is a
good practice to record meter readings and adjustment
settings before and after the test. These recordings will
indicate normal setting range and can aid in getting
the transmitter to near normal in the event of mistuning
errors during adjustments.
In order to make satisfactory measurements of video
signals, adequate test equipment is required. Measuring the output of a television transmitter at baseband
requires a precision television demodulator. For greatest accuracy, this demodulator should provide a zero
carrier reference pulse for determining percentage of
modulation and have both synchronous and envelope
detection modes.
For most baseband measurements, a video waveform monitor is all that is needed. The waveform monitor should include a provision for making measurements on vertical interval test signals (VITS) and
provide filtering to allow separate examination of the
luminance and chrominance components of color
signals.
In addition to the waveform monitor, a vectorscope
must be used for making differential gain and phase
measurements. If a greater level of accuracy is desired
in timing measurements, a conventional oscilloscope
with an associated digital counter/timer is a great asset.
For off-air monitoring, a picture monitor is convenient
for quickly identifying gross video degradation.
Maintenance logs should include date, time, duration of outages, corrective action taken, and if possible,
cause of failures.
Monitoring TV Multichannel Sound
Maintaining a high quality aural signal requires high
quality monitoring facilities. To be able to perform
the proof-of-performance measurements is another important reason to have a monitor that demodulates
the RF signal and separates the components in the
composite MTS signal for analysis.
An ideal modulation monitor should:
Demodulate the composite signal from the aural

carrier
Separate the components in the composite MTS signal for measurements
Provide in service monitoring capability
Be suitable for proof of performance measurements
Contain a precision (BTSC) expander.
Testing for Digital Television
The key measurements required for a DTV transmitter proof-of-performance include output power, pilot
frequency, intermodulation products (IMD), error vector magnitude (EVM) IMD and harmonic levels.
1. The RMS output power may be measured with with
a calorimeter.
2. The pilot frequency may be measured with a frequency counter or spectrum analyzer. The results
should be the frequency of the lower channel edge
plus 309,440.6 Hz, 6200 Hz, unless precise frequency control is required.
3. The FCC rules in 73.622 (h) states the power level
of emissions on frequencies outside the authorized
channel of operation must be attenuated no less
than the following amounts below the average
transmitted power within the authorized channel.
In the first 500 kHz from the channel edge the
emissions must be attenuated no less than 47 dB.
More than 6 MHz from the channel edge, emissions
must be attenuated no less than 110 dB. At any
frequency between 0.5 and 6 MHz from the channel
edge, emissions must be attenuated no less than the
value determined by the following formula:
Attenuation in dB 4 111.5(D f ` 3.6)
where: D f 4 frequency difference in MHz from
the edge of the channel.
This attenuation is based on a measurement bandwidth of 500 kHz. Other measurement bandwidths
may be used as long as appropriate correction factors are applied. Measurements need not be made
any closer to the band edge than one half of the
resolution bandwidth of the measuring instrument.
Emissions include sidebands, spurious emissions
and radio frequency harmonics. Attenuation is to be
measured at the output terminals of the transmitter
(including any filters that may be employed). In the
event of interference caused to any service, greater
attenuation may be required.
In practice, it is recommended that the IMD level
be measured with the resolution bandwidth set for
30 kHz throughout the frequency range of interest.
This results in an adjustment to the FCC formula
to account for the difference in the resolution
bandwidth as stated in the rule. The adjustment is
computed to be 10 log (6/.5) or 10.8 dB. Under
this test condition the measured level should be
136 dB from the mid band levels to the shoulder
levels.
4. Output harmonics may be measured with a spectrum analyzer. They should be at least 1110 dB
below the mid-band power level.
5. Measure the error vector magnitude (EVM). At the
time of this writing, the only known test equipment
available for measuring this parameter is a vector
signal analyzer.
The output power, pilot frequency, in-band frequency response and adjacent channel spectrum should
be measured periodically to assure proper transmitter
operation. These parameters can be measured while
the transmitter is in service with normal programming.
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PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
A good preventative maintenance program includes
periodic inspection and cleaning of the equipment.
A vacuum cleaner is preferred to remove dust instead
of compressed air which will simply blow the dirt
onto something else. A paintbrush can be used to
dislodge dust from delicate circuit boards. Avoid
using a nylon bristled brush with a plastic handle
as the static charge may damage CMOS or other
static sensitive components. A natural bristle brush
with wooden handle and metal binding is recommended.
High voltage wires and insulators must be cleaned
with denatured alcohol, or other cleaner capable of
removing the dirt without leaving any residue. Meter
cases are cleaned with nonstatic cleaner.
Air filters should be replaced or cleaned to maintain
adequate air flow to the equipment. A second set of
washable filters saves time when using a single transmitter in critical service by quickly switching the clean
filters and washing the dirty ones later. Blowers should
be inspected to see if the curved fins are filled with
debris that would reduce air flow. Motor windings may
collect a layer of dirt and interfere with the cooling
of the motor itself. The fins of high-power tubes must
be cleaned of debris which may have passed through
the air filters. Bearings should be lubricated and
checked for excessive noise.
Color change in silver plated cavity parts is a sign
of overheating and may require the disassembly of the
cavity to check for obstructed air passages of loose
connections. Set-screws in gear and chain drive tuning
mechanisms should be checked for tightness. Black
silver-oxide is a good conductor and need not be removed. Small parts should be dipped in Tarnix for
cleaning. Be sure to flush the parts after cleaning to
remove any residue. Scotch-Brite is a good nonmetallic cleaning pad for silver plated parts. Do no
remove the plating when cleaning these parts.
High current wires may move during turn-on surges
and can suffer abrasions which may cause an arc if not
properly dressed from sharp edges. Wiring on terminal
boards may loosen through thermal cycling and vibration. All connections must be checked to be sure they
remain tight. If wires need to be replaced, the correct
gauge, voltage rating and temperature rating must be
considered when selecting the replacement.
Edge connectors on printed circuit boards should
be cleaned with Cramolin or other cleaner. A small
amount is applied to the connector and then removed
with a lint-free cloth. Do not use pencil erasers as this
will remove gold or silver plating from the edge traces,
and could degrade the connection or create an intermittent. The sulfur in the eraser causes chemical reaction
to the edge connector material.
Backup systems or emergency modes of operation
should be checked periodically. Relays should be exercised to keep contacts polished.
Transmitter site cleaning should include a check of
the building for such things as leaks in the roof which
may cause damage to the transmitter, and the presence

of insects or small animals.
Intake blowers with filters capable of creating positive pressure in the room can minimize the need for
cleaning.
Careful records must be maintained in order to establish a good history for future reference. Such a log
will include a description of what was done, when it
was done and the name of the person that performed
the work. Seasonal events such as harvesting in farm
locations, severe weather, construction projects in and
around the transmitter building can require special action, but usually a pattern will emerge that allows the
maintenance to be scheduled on a regular basis.
A complete set of meter readings taken when the
equipment is working properly and updated weekly or
monthly can greatly assist problem diagnosis.
Create a maintenance program with weekly,
monthly quarterly, semi-annual and annual tasks
evenly spread throughout the year. The following list
of items can be used to develop a maintenance routine:
Maintenance Items
Prefilter manometer readings

Inspect prefilters
Replace prefilters
Post-filter manometer readings
Cabinet input air manometer reading
Inspect transmitter air filters
Replace transmitter air filters
Vacuum cabinets
Clear tube fins
Measure blower currents
Clean fan blades and motor windings
Check connections for tightness
Inspect MOVs.
Recommended Data to be Recorded
All parameters on meters or user displays

Direct current input power and calculate dissipation
Transmitter currents in black picture and at idle (no
RF drive).
Visual Performance Checks
Ensure proper video level

Establish proper sync level
Optimize differential gain
Optimize ICPM
Optimize differential phase
Optimize group delay using T pulses
Assure proper power calibration
Secure proper audio processor setup
Optimize swept response.
Aural Performance Checks
Ensure proper modulation levels

Establish proper SCA input levels
Assure proper power calibration
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Secure proper audio processor setup

Optimize audio frequency response
Check and minimize distortion
Optimize stereo separation
Check and minimize crosstalk between MTS
channels.
Control System Checks
Authenticate proper operation of all interlock circuits

Verify proper operation of all overload circuits
Confirm proper operation of all control processes
(VSWR foldback, filament timing, coax switches,
etc.).
AIR SYSTEMS FOR TRANSMITTERS
Air volume through transmitter 4 325 CFM (ft3/min)

Air exhaust area (A) 4 3.4 square ft
Air exhaust velocity (V) 4
Transmitters dissipate large amounts of power. Air

which has already passed through the equipment and
has picked up heat must be removed from the immediate vicinity to prevent the hot air from being recirculated. In addition, provisions must be made for sufficient intake air to replace that which has been
circulated.
To provide adequately for hot air exhaust and fresh
air intake, the maximum and minimum environmental
conditions in which the equipment may operate, and
the following information from the equipment manufacturer should be known:
Altitude:
the transmitter. Any additional cooling load in the

building must be considered separately when selecting
the air system components. The transmitter exhaust
should not be the only exhaust in the room as heat
from the peripheral equipment would be forced to go
out through the transmitter.
The sensible-heat load is the sum of heat loads such
as solar radiation, heat gains from equipment and lights
and personnel in the area that is to be cooled.
The following exhaust duct design illustrates the
key cooling concepts:
(feet)
Max. temp:
(C)
Min. temp:
(C)
Total air volume through the transmitter:

(CFM)
Pressure drop within the critical portion of the air
circuit (across the transmitter tube for example)
(inches of water)
325 CFM
4 94.5 ft/min
3.4 ft2
Air velocity of 94.5 ft/min is relatively low allowing

a transition to a smaller diameter pipe if desired. Assume a transition to a 10 in. diameter pipe.
A4
pD2
p(100)2
4
4 .545 square ft
4 2 144
4 2 144
V4
325 CFM
4 596 ft/min
dia. pipe .545 ft
The air friction in a 10 in. diameter pipe is 0.069

per 100 ft of pipe at a flow of 325 CFM (see Figure
6.2-67). Assuming there is 20 ft of straight pipe to a
roof, with two 90 elbows to turn the pipe down for
weather protection, the total loss of the exhaust is
estimated as follows:
20
2 0.069 4 0.012 inches of water
100
(pressure drop in 20 ft of pipe)
Consider the static pressure drop of two 90 elbows,
to give a 180 bend in the pipe. From Figure 6.2-68
Air temperature rise through the transmitter:

(C)
Air exhaust area (A):
(Sq. Ft)
Equipment layouts usually provide an area for

heated air to exit from the top of the cabinet. The size
and location of this exhaust area is usually shown on
a manufacturer supplied outline drawing.
Most broadcast equipment internal air systems are
designed to be operated into free space (back pressure
of 0.0 in. of water) so exhaust ducts must have minimum loss. Good practice is to design for no more than
`0.1 in. of water pressure in the duct close to the
exhaust area of the transmitter.
Any exhaust installation other than a large crosssection duct (equal to the cross-section of the transmitter exhaust port) with no bends, and with a long radius
turn outside the transmitter building for weather protection, will need an exhaust blower or fan.
The recommended system is sized only for cooling
Figure 6.2-67. Friction loss in pipes.
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Figure 6.2-68. Friction loss in 90 elbow.
a 10 in. elbow at 900 ft/min gives less than 0.01 pressure drop. There is just under 600 ft per minute in the
system. Conservatively, add .01 for each 90 elbow
and .12 for the 20 ft section of 10 in. pipe.
0.0129 ` 0.019 ` 0.019 4 0.032 inch of water
(total pressure drop)
No exhaust fan is necessary since 0.032 in. is less
than the 0.1 in. pressure that requires a fan.
The installer may have a problem exhausting the
transmitter in this simple fashion (for example a roof
exit is not available). It may be required to add two
additional 90 elbows and a straight run of 10 in. pipe
100 ft long. The pressure drop in the exhaust system
is then:
Friction loss in 20 ft of 10 in.
dia. pipe
4 elbows 2 .01 in. of water
(each)
Friction loss/100 ft of 10 in.
dia. pipe
The outline drawing in Figure 6.2-70 shows a typical

exhaust duct and blower system. The recommended
minimum ceiling height to properly handle exhaust air
as shown is 12 ft. The outline drawing also indicates
a typical air intake and prefilter system.
These calculations are for a very simple air system.
Most television transmitters have multiple enclosures
with large volumes of air required. In these cases, the
equipment user is required to combine the heat exhaust
air from several enclosures into a complex duct system.
When these circumstances occur, the safest practice is
for the user to contract for the services of a heating,
ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) consultant.
The cost involved in having the best possible air ex-
0.012
0.04 in.
0.06 in.
0.112 in. of water
The 0.112 in. of pressure now exceeds the level at

which a fan is needed.
The performance curve for the fan, shown in Figure
6.2-69, indicates that it will deliver 325 to 330 CFM
into 0.1 in. of water. This is sufficient to handle all
transmitter air and overcome all estimated duct losses.
Figure 6.2-69. Fan performance curve.
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KEY TERMS
Figure 6.2-70. Suggested intake and exhaust duct installations.
haust and supply system will pay in extended transmitter life and lower service costs.
The intake vent and blower should be sized to provide a slight positive room pressure. Installing a manometer to sense pressure drop across the filters helps
determine replacement interval of prefilters.
If existing space will not permit the construction of
the transmitter manufacturers recommended air system, care must be taken to modify the design to fit the
available space and still properly cool the transmitter.
Additional flushing air is recommended for the removal of heat from any surrounding equipment that
shares space with the transmitter. It is a recommended
input air be no greater than 5C above ambient.
Air Conditioning
It is a common practice to set the transmitter into
a sealed wall forming a plenum chamber. The plenum
is supplied with outside air and separate air conditioning is provided for the front side to cool personnel and
source equipment.
In areas with severely polluted air, it may be necessary to run the transmitter on air conditioned air to
avoid bringing in corrosive salts or gaseous contaminants.
The amount of air conditioning will depend on several factors. It is strongly recommended that the air
conditioning be shared by a number of units rather
than one large central system so that operation can
continue in the event of the failure of one unit. Air
conditioning units are usually specified by ton of cooling capacity with one ton equal to 12,000 btu per hour.
Consult experienced professionals in the area of
HVAC design to achieve the desired result and to
prevent problems.
Baseband. The video, audio or digital signal supplied from program input equipment. For analog TV
in the United States, these signals are defined by the
NTSC standard. For digital TV in the United States, the
input signal is defined by the Advanced TV Standards
Committee Standard A53.
Efficiency. Fundementally, the ratio of RF output
power to input power, expressed as percent. For TV
transmitters, special conditions apply (see section on
TV transmitter efficiency).
Reliability. The degree to which equipment will
operate without failure or off-air time. Quantitatively,
reliability is often expressed as the mean time between
failures (MTBF); alternatively, availablity is a useful measure.
Linearity. Refers to the degree with which the transmitter output voltage is directly proportional to the
input. Common terms used to quantify the degree of
transmitter nonlinearity include low-frequency or luminance nonlinearity, differential gain and AM to AM
conversion. Output phase may also be a function of
input level. The deviation from ideal linear phase is
often quantified as incidental carrier phase modulation (ICPM), differential phase and AM to PM conversion.
Differential Gain. Nonlinear chroma gain as a function of luminance level. A change in the color saturation results.
Differential Phase. Nonlinear chroma phase as a
function of luminance level. A change in hue results.
Low-Frequency or Luminance Nonlinearity. The
change in luminance gain as a function of brightness level.
Linear Distortions. Distortions to the transmitted
signal that are not level dependent. They are introduced
by linear components in the transmission path. These
components include any device with a non-constant
frequency response such as matching networks, cavities, filters, diplexers and other tuned circuits. Variations in amplitude and phase are included.
Group or Envelope Delay. Nonuniform delay of
different frequencies over the signal bandwidth; the
first derivitive of phase with respect to frequency. It
is caused by nonlinear phase as a function of frequency
inherent in RF amplifiers, filters, combiners and other
output devices. In general, the closer the amplitude
roll-off is to the passband, the higher the group delay distortion.
Nonlinear Distortions. Distortions to the transmitted signal introduced by non-linear components in the
transmission path. These components include any device whose output voltage is not directly proportional
to input such as power amplifiers operating near compression.
Precorrection. A technique or circuit introduced to
compensate for nonlinear distortion. The objective is to
provide a complementary transfer function that, when
operating on the nonlinear transfer function, will minimize nonlinear distortion. Precorrection may be intro-
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duced in the baseband, IF or RF sections of the system

and may be manually or adaptively adjusted.
Equalization. A technique introduced to compensate for linear distortions. The objective is to provide a
complementary transfer function that, when multiplied
with the frequency response function, will minimize
linear distortion. Equalization may be introduced in
the baseband, IF or RF sections of the system and may
be manually or adaptively adjusted.
Transport Layer Interface. (The interface between
the DTV baseband signal generation equipment or studio to transmitter link (STL) and the DTV transmitter.)
It is defined by SMPTE standard 310 M.
Luminance Nonlinearity. The change in luminance
gain as a function of brightness level.
Surface Acoustic Wave. The propagation of waves
on the elastic surface of a piezoelectric crystal. The
wave propagation is roughly the speed of sound, and
therefore called acoustic.
Common Amplification. Use of a power amplifier
with sufficient bandwidth and linearity in which the
visual and aural signals are combined at low level and
amplified together.
Microphonics. The susceptibility of a circuit or
system to mechanically induced phase and frequency shifts.
Error Vector Magnitude (EVM). A useful quantitative measure of the quality of a digital transmission
system or subsystem. It is the RMS value of the vector
magnitude difference between the ideal constellation
points and the actual constellation points of the I/Q
diagram, expressed in percent. EVM is usually computed as an average over several samples. A perfect
digital transmission system would exhibit an EVM
of 0%.
Eye Pattern. A convenient method for visually assessing the performance of a digital transmission system. The signal is displayed on a scope set to trigger
at the symbol rate. The persistence of the scope creates
a composite of all possible waveforms. At each level
of the 8 VSB signal, the resulting pattern resembles
the human eye. The degree to which the eyes are open
is a measure of the signal quality. Eyes open 100%
correspond to EVM of 0%.
REFERENCES
ANSI/IEEE C62.41 Standard (Sometimes referred to
as the IEEE-587 Standard).
Electrical Performance Standards for Television

Broadcast Transmitters, Electronics Industries Association, RS-508.
Engineering Design Manual for Air Handling Systems,
United Sheet Metal Bulletin 100-5-178.
Electronic Industries Association, BTSC System Recommended Practices EIA Systems Bulletin No. 5,
July 1985.
Eilers, Carl G., The In-band Characteristics of the
Vestigial Sideband Emitted Signal for ATV Terrestrial Broadcasting, IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, Volume 42, December 1996.
Gysel, Ulrich, A New N-Way Power Divider/Combiner Suitable for High Power Applications, IEEEMTTS-5, International Symposium Digest, 1975.
Marks Mechanical Engineers Handbook, McGrawHill, 6th Edition, Edited by Theodore Bawmeister, 1958.
Plonka, Robert, Group Delay Corrector for Improved
TV Stereo Performance, NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference Proceedings, 1989.
Rhodes, Charles, The 12.5T Modulated Sine-Squared
Pulse for NTSC, IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, Volume 18, March 1971.
Sgrignoli, Gary, Measuring Peak/Average Power Ratio of the HDTV Signal with Vector Signal Analyzer, IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, Volume 39, June 1993.
The original information on tetrodes for UHF transmitters was supplied by Timothy P. Hulick, Ph.D. Acrodyne Industries, Inc., Blue Bell, PA.
Tew, Barry and Collins, Gerald W., DTV Transmitters
Using New Technology, Presented at the Montreaux
International Television Symposium, June 1997.
Weirather, Robert, A Distributed Architecture for a
Reliable Solid State VHF Television Transmitter
Series, NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference
Proceedings, 1989.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

BOOKS
Weiss, Merrill S., Issues in Advanced Television Technology, Focal Press, 1996.
Gonzolez, Guillermo, Microwave Transistor Amplifiers, Prentice Hall, 1984.
Whitaker, Jerry C., Maintaining Electronic Systems,
CRC Press, 1991.
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6.

ation. To achieve the levels of reliablility required,

EXCITERS FOR ANALOG TV

For transparent transmission of the incoming signal,

Obtain proper sync to video ratio

Direct current restoration (clamping) is important

National Assoc. of Broadcasters (NJ)

SECTION 6: TELEVISION TRANSMISSION FACILITIES

Figure 6.2-1. IF modulated transmitter.

during each line to a fixed voltage, the correct dc level

video signal. The threshold of the gain change is set

Figure 6.2-2. RF carrier pinch-off.

Figure 6.2-3. Balanced mixer.

Group delay distortion appears as color smear and

National Assoc. of Broadcasters (NJ)

Figure 6.2-4. Composite test signal.

Figure 6.2-6. Predistorted group delay curve.

to as short-time waveform distortions. Figure 6.2-5

frequencies the network can be approximated by a low

Intermediate Frequency and Video Delay

The techniques used to accomplish group delay

Active Group Delay Equalizer

As in the passive type, this network has a constant

Passive Group Delay Equalizer

A common form of a passive group delay equalizer

Figure 6.2-5. Typical distortion of a 2T pulse.

Figure 6.2-7. Passive all-pass network.

National Assoc. of Broadcasters (NJ)

SECTION 6: TELEVISION TRANSMISSION FACILITIES

Figure 6.2-10. Active all-pass network.

When voltage e1 is equal to twice (e2), the output

The FCC requires that the radiated signal have a

Figure 6.2-9. All-pass network group delay.

the transducers are on the surface, photographic masks

Figure 6.2-11. Saw filter.

National Assoc. of Broadcasters (NJ)

An alternative to video correction is to provide the

Figure 6.2-12. Response, phase, and delay ripples caused by

Figure 6.2-13. Frequency response of ideal diode detector.

at IF. Since most distortions are caused in the high

National Assoc. of Broadcasters (NJ)

SECTION 6: TELEVISION TRANSMISSION FACILITIES

Figure 6.2-15. Master oscillator phase modulator block diagram.

Figure 6.2-14. Basic gain expansion circuit.

the resistance in series with the diodes provides for

effects of ICPM and other noise sources on the stereo

Figure 6.2-16. Direct IF ICPM corrector.

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channel of frequencies is in quadrature, whereas in

To ensure that the transmitter is not the limiting

possibility of hum and noise from getting directly into

With the MTS system, intermodulation (IMD) and

Figure 6.2-17. Vector representation of precorrection.

National Assoc. of Broadcasters (NJ)

SECTION 6: TELEVISION TRANSMISSION FACILITIES

The equalization technique of adjusting the circuit

the same as that used on the visual signal. There is,

National Assoc. of Broadcasters (NJ)

National Assoc. of Broadcasters (NJ)

SECTION 6: TELEVISION TRANSMISSION FACILITIES

Figure 6.2-21. Aural indicator exciter with group delay precorrector.

response without a dip. The response dip is very useful,

Traditionally, TV transmitters have used separate

Figure 6.2-22. Aural group delay corrector functional block diagram.