Dielectric recently announced that it is offering a new line of pylon antennas for use by FM radio stations. Vice President of Engineering John Schadler will give a talk at the NAB Show about it.
He says the FM Pylon is ideal in broadband applications where antenna loading is an issue, such as a panel solution would require significant tower modifications.
“Pylon-style antennas have been used in the vast majority of UHF antenna design for decades and more recently high band VHF,” Schadler said.
“In most applications, the use of slotted coaxial antennas has been limited to single-channel television operation due to the inherently narrow bandwidth. Dielectric has found these limitations can be overcome resulting in a truly innovative game changing antenna design for full band FM operation.”
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The company has big hopes for the FMP line; Schadler’s presentation is titled “Changing the Landscape of FM Broadcast Antenna Technology.”
“FM broadcasters can now take advantage of the many benefits that pylon technology has provided to the UHF and VHF broadcast community,” he said.
“They include much less windload; simplicity, which translates into increased reliability; and azimuth and elevation pattern flexibility. From a commercial aspect, it can provide a more economical solution as well. The new design could only be accomplished through advanced broadbanding techniques developed by Dielectric through years of experience and knowledge of pylon technology.”
The single four-bay module that is the basic building block of the Dielectric product can be used in numerous configurations similar to panel antennas. “This leads to full azimuth and elevation pattern control to optimize coverage,” Schadler said.
“And reliability is key. The FM Pylon has 60% fewer parts and connections than a traditional ring-style FM antenna and 90% less parts than an equivalent panel antenna. This also leads to easier and faster installation.”