Harris Corporation Named Exclusive HD Radio Transmission Vendor For Jefferson Public Radio

Cincinnati - Harris Corporation recently announced that Jefferson Public Radio (JPR) will exclusively install Harris HD Radio transmitters for its FM and AM stations. Harris will also provide its FlexStar family of HD Radio products (FlexStar HDI-100 Importer, HDE-100 Exporter and HDX-FM exciter) at all FM stations for future multicasting initiatives, as well as at all AM stations for improved audio quality. Harris NeuStarSW4.0 pre-codec conditioners, powered by Neural Audio, will be installed at all sites for HD Radio audio processing.

Jefferson Public Radio expects to take delivery of Harris equipment for its first conversions in January 2007 (KSYC-AM, Mt. Shasta, California; KSJK-AM and KSMF-FM, Ashland, Oregon). In preparation for these and other conversions, JPR, assisted by the Harris team, will undergo the enormous task of upgrading JPR's network-wide analog microwave system to digital. The microwave system, which currently carries three separate public radio services shared between various stations, will be upgraded to carry up to nine program services — meaning that each FM station will be equipped to broadcast two supplementary channels alongside its main program service in a multicasting setup. Harris will also assist JPR in installing Intraplex STL HD systems to stack multiple audio services over JPR's existing T1 lines. The conversions will be staggered over a 15-month period, with a target completion date of April 2008.

"Harris has always had an excellent reputation in radio transmission, and the level of attention they brought to our initial discussions was a leading factor in our decision to go exclusively with them for our HD Radio conversions," said Ron Kramer, executive director for Jefferson Public Radio. "Harris was also best equipped to meet our needs with our unusual programming infrastructure, long distance STL connections, and wide variety of transmission requirements. They have been exceptional in helping us design solutions for the unique challenges we face."

The JPR order marks the station group's first transmitter purchases since the early 1980s. The group previously had only one Harris analog transmitter installation between the group's network of 21 stations, although Kramer said this is mainly because stations purchased and added to the JPR network simply had transmitters from other vendors. "As we began moving into the digital world, it became clear rather quickly that Harris was going to be our best choice from both a technical and financial point of view," he said. "Harris offered a very fairly priced package considering the amount of gear provided and the microwave re-engineering project, and this was far more cost-effective compared to a station-by-station approach."

Harris will provide a mix of Z-Series high-power and ZX low-power FM transmitters and DAX AM transmitters to the 21 stations. FlexStar importing and exporting equipment at FM stations will multiplex and prepare audio at the studio for distribution to the transmitter, where the FlexStar HDX-FM exciter will prepare the HD Radio and analog signals for transmission. The NeuStar SW4.0 codec pre-conditioner, a software version of the 4.0 standalone product, will monitor and process the multiple HD Radio channel audio prior to reaching the FlexStar platform. NeuStar SW4.0 lives inside the FlexStar HDI-100 Importer to digitally process and remove noisy artifacts from the highly compressed audio typical in an HD Radio multicasting system.

"Jefferson Public Radio is a perfect case-study on how to implement a processing solution for multi-channel purposes that is future-proof," said Dave Casey, product line manager for Neural Audio. "With NeuStar SW4.0's intuitive design interface and advanced processing for multi-channel applications, Jefferson Public Radio will be at the leading edge of digital audio processing."

"Harris is pleased to exclusively service Jefferson Public Radio as they embark on a complex, long-range conversion process faced with many intriguing challenges," said Debra Huttenburg, vice president and general manager of Harris Broadcast Communications Division, Radio Broadcast Systems business unit. "Along with our ability to meet varying requirements to fulfill their HD Radio transmission and multicasting plans, our engineering team will be on hand to guide them through the entire process."

SOURCE: Harris Corporation