NPR affiliate WJCT-FM selects Z Series HD Radio transmitter with Split-Level Combining solution, entire FLEXSTAR range of products and NeuStar pre-codec processors
Building on its HD Radio(TM) conversion momentum, Harris Corporation announced on 22 February that WJCT-FM, Jacksonville, Florida’s NPR affiliate, has purchased a complete HD Radio transmission package. Scheduled to go on-air in the spring, the WJCT solution includes a Z16HDS 3.5 kW solid-state HD Radio transmitter operating in Harris’ patent-pending Split-Level(TM) Combining method with an existing analog transmitter; all three components of Harris’ growing FLEXSTAR(TM) family of HD Radio products; and NeuStar(TM) HD/FM codec processors for the cleanest audio possible. WJCT expects to be the first Jacksonville area station to officially launch an HD Radio service, covering a multi-county region at 100,000 watts ERP (Effective Radiated Power). The package also will fully prepare WJCT to launch a complete Tomorrow Radio service dependent on FCC approval, including supplementary audio and data and an HD Radio simulcast of its current analog Radio Reading Service for the sight impaired.
The station will utilize Harris’ FLEXSTAR HDI-100 importer and HDE-100 exporter, introduced at the October NAB Radio show, at the studio instead of at the transmitter site. This allows WJCT to reduce bandwidth and enable supplemental audio and data at the studio, thereby reducing its STL investment by up to 25 percent. The importer feeds multiplexed supplemental audio and data to the exporter, which multiplexes the main channel audio with secondary services and sends them to the exciter in a single bit-rate efficient stream. With its hybrid analog/HD capabilities, the FLEXSTAR exciter further increases efficiency by allowing the station to pre-correct and condition both signals in a single box within the Z16HDS transmitter. WJCT will employ dual exciters for additional redundancy.
Harris’ turnkey HD Radio transmission package offers further efficiencies through its Split-Level Combining method and the Neural Audio NeuStar codecs. Using the Split-Level Combining method, WJCT will save tens of thousands of dollars by eliminating the need for a new analog transmitter that would be necessary with high-level combining. Furthermore, Split-Level Combining reduces the total power output of the analog transmitter and allows the station to transmit at the same power level, keeping power costs to a minimum. Meanwhile, two NeuStar pre-codec processors – one each for WJCT’s main and supplemental HD Radio signals – will provide the cleanest result to listeners possible by preparing and optimizing audio content prior to encoding, eliminating artifacts that reside within highly bit-rate reduced signals in the process.
Harris is providing further redundancy for WJCT with an in-house engineered switching solution that creates a combiner bypass system. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the combiner can be bypassed so the analog signal can still reach listeners throughout the region. This means that even with the loss of the HD Radio signal and/or secondary services, the primary service will remain on the air. The Z16HD also functions as a 7 kW analog backup transmitter to ensure maximum on-air reliability.