GatesAir has won phase two of Bangladesh's national HD Radio transmission rollout.
The turnkey system comprises two self-contained FM radio stations with high-efficiency GatesAir Flexiva™ FAX air-cooled 10kW FM transmitters, antenna systems and all auxiliary and support equipment.
Bangladesh Betar, the only national government broadcaster serving Bangladesh, awarded the contract as the first phase of the GatesAir-supported rollout moves forward.
The initial phase, which covers the capital city of Dhaka, also includes two GatesAir Flexiva FAX 10kW transmitters and is targeted for completion by the end of 2016.
The second phase will cover the heavily populated cities of Mymensingh and Gopalganj, with an expected on-air date of June 2017. Both projects are especially notable as the first HD Radio deployments in South Asia.
The GatesAir Exgine4 HD Radio platform, which simplifies signal flow and connectivity across the architecture, will play a central role in each system. The complete system includes GatesAir's FlexStar HDI-200 Importer and HDE-200 Exporter at the studio; and the FlexStarHDx exciter at the RF plant. The complete system supports all HD Radio program audio and program-associated data (logos, station ID information, artist/song data) over a single, bandwidth-efficient stream, with plenty of headroom to incorporate additional services in the future.
GatesAir's ability to also provide turnkey services helped to cement the phase-two contract win, according to A.K.A.M. Fazlul Hoque, Project Director at Bangladesh Betar Engineering.
“GatesAir's systems architecture and high-efficiency transmitters will enable us to operate a cost-efficient, low-maintenance hybrid FM and HD Radio service for a large portion of our population for many years,” said Hoque. “GatesAir's bandwidth-rich HD Radio platform will also allow us to add more audio channels and data services in the future without requiring any significant additional investment in resources.”
In addition to theFlexiva FAX transmitter's compact footprint, the latest-generation GatesAir Flexiva design minimizes internal parts, with common power amplifier modules and power supplies. This streamlining of parts and size also reduce weight, making single-engineer maintenance a reality for the Betar team—preserving valuable engineering resources for other needs.