Even a consumer-grade receiver is sufficient to correct incoming ghosts and errors and prepare a clean signal for retransmission. The reprocessed signal provides a maximum reception margin and coverage for a given power output. The opportunity exists now for planning, not only for translators and coverage extension, but for other uses, for example studio-transmitter links. A low power directional 8-VSB transmitter can be operated in the UHF band for this purpose without affecting broadcast reception in the region. This is also the time to factor in the possibility of retaining existing LPTV allocations, or finding an acceptable substitute, such as bit-stream sharing on a central transmitter.
Translators offer the best solution in terms of performance and ease of implementation.
The Authors Richard Citta obtained his BSEE degree in 1969 from the Illinois Institute of Technology and his MSEE degree in 1971 from the University of Washington. He is currently a manager in the Electronics Systems Research and Development Department of Zenith Electronics corporation. His group's activities are concentrated on development of high definition television and digital transmission systems. He holds 61 US patents with 3 patents pending. In 1988 he was recipient of the Robert Adler award, Zenith's highest award for technical achievement.