DTV Transmitter Specification

This specification covers commerical off-the-shelf television transmitter and related products. The buyer intends to use this document to support design and planning activities necessary to upgrade analog television transmission systems to digital transmission capability. The specifications will be used to define hardware, software, services, and performance in procurement actions and accepting deliverable items as outlined in contracts, service agreements, and purchase orders.

Nothing in this document is intended to commit the buyer to accept technical parameters or levels of performance. The buyer will not pay or commit to pay for any products or services unless and until a valid written contract or purchase order has been executed. Information provided in response to any request is deemed to be representative of products, services, and pricing available from carriers, manufacturers, service providers, software developers, or their authorized representatives.

Unless otherwise noted, items quoted in response to this RFQ are to be products designed and manufactured by the respondent and generally available to a wide range of end-users. The respondent is requested to review the specifications included in this request and propose products that meet or exceed the requirements outlined. It is expected that a respondent will demonstrate competence by providing a list of current users of products being quoted; user configuration and maintenance manuals; design, manufacturing, and test documentation under controlled release; and finally, proving acceptable through the buyers test and acceptance processes. Assertions of ISO Certification are welcome but not considered substitutes.

Manufacturer–Supplier Qualifications

Transmitter useful life expectancy of more than 10 years, perhaps as long as 20 years is anticipated and based on past experience with older generation equipment. Preference will be given manufacturers or suppliers of Transmitter Equipment (as defined in this document) deemed in possession of the following attributes:

• An established Field Engineering and Customer Support organization
• Manufactured and sold the same or similar equipment for at least 10 years
• Will commit to making replacement parts available from a US or North American Free Trade Area depot for at least 10 years after shipment of any equipment ordered in connection with this specification
• Currently offers telephone and Internet parts ordering and knowledge base support 24 7
• Established practice in regularly scheduled training seminars for station personnel

Transmitter General Requirements

Highly parallel architecture is preferred. Examples of such architecture are 1 for 1 backup of major components including exciter-modulator, intermediate power amplifier (IPA), high power amplifier (HPA), and all power supplies. Each of these components must be available to substitute for its counterpart upon failure of the unit in service. Ideally, substitution of the backup on failure would be via a monitoring point detecting a failure such as loss of DC operating voltage, output signal, high VSWR, or other similar mechanism. Such activity would also trigger alarms available for remote sensing through transmitter status and control interface. Designs employing high power combining networks to combine the output of high power amplifiers may be an acceptable alternative in specific cases where it’s deemed to be cost effective.