Broadcast Electronics said approximately 100 broadcasters participated in a webinar on FM boosters and related single-frequency networks.
The webinar (available for playback here) presented developments in synchronous technology for continuous program coverage into new population corridors, or to fill-in areas underserved by a main FM signal.
Titled “FM Boosters Done Right,“ the webinar drew engineering consultants and directors in response to the limited availability of FM frequencies and the growing population into “dead zones” within a given FM contour, said the supplier.
Vice President of RF Tim Bealor addressed cost, performance and challenges of booster and single-frequency networks, in particular interference in the overlap zones where two same-frequency signals of equal strength overlap. He cited case studies in the Philippines, Greece and elsewhere, and detailed the resulting technology built into BE’s FXi 60/250esp FM exciter.
While synchronizing RF frequencies has been applied with limited success over the years, according to Bealor, misaligned audio from two broadcasts sharing the same frequency has resulted in white noise and subsequent poor reception in signal overlap areas. This has prohibited broadcasters from establishing new booster sites or expanding single-frequency networks in the past.
Separately, FM boosters also will be the topic of a session at the upcoming NAB Radio Show.
