Cumulus Station to Install Interleaved HD Radio Antenna

Dielectric Communications is installing its first interleaved analog/HD Radio FM antenna.
The gear is being installed at Cumulus Radio’s WNNK in Harrisburg, Pa. The mountainous terrain and multipath issues will make a good test of the antenna to see how it performs in “severe multipath locations,” stated Cumulus Corporate DOE Gary Kline.
Dielectric says the design has created a significant improvement in isolation between the antenna elements. As a result of the increased isolation, the company says, the electrical performance of the antenna is stable and effectively eliminates elevation and azimuthal pattern deviation between the analog and digital signals.
Combined with the use of circulator technology in the RF system, it continued, this design is expected to meet or improve on the 36 dB HD Radio specification for isolation. Scale and full-size tests of the interleaving scheme have shown no change in the antenna patterns by adding the HD bays to an existing analog antenna, according to Dielectric.
At the Cumulus facility, just delivered is a two-bay, full-wave-spaced Dielectric DCR-M side-mounted antenna that will radiate the Class B FM’s analog signal. This month, the interleaved two-bay HD antenna and HD transmitter will be installed.
Kline, Cumulus Radio Executive Vice President John Dickey and WNNK(FM) Engineering Manager Dave Supplee are working with Dielectric on the installation.