Stations looking for DTV equipment. Boston.....................
WBZ-4, Boston (CBS affiliate)
1170 Old Soldiers Field Road
Boston, MA 02134/ (617) 787-7050
Robert Hess, Director of Operations/Engineering
WBZ hopes to keep to its May 1, 1999 deadline but according to Hess, the unknown variable is the rough New England weather. "We've had numerous delays, particularly with getting permission from the FAA to increase tower height. We've also had some problems with the structured design of the antenna. Our plan is to have several antennas that will accommodate several DTV tenants.
As for construction, Hess says they're moving at "warp speed." "We have one tenant whose deadline is Nov. 1. It's not going to be easy, but we think we're going to make the deadline. We have to construct a whole new building and we're looking to break ground in the fall." Their DTV budget is roughly $1 million for '98, but that's an artificially low figure - the station is asking several antenna tenants to chip in financially.
As for equipment, they're looking at TV master control, ATSC encoders, upconverters, master control switchers, logo inserters, etc. Among the more interesting products at NAB98 Hess found was Harris/Lucent's ATSC encoder. "The encoder is a critical product, and their encoder looks like it's very well-built and would be good in a critical situation," Hess said adding that he was also impressed with upconverters from Technix and Snell & Wilcox. |
