A backstory on the Harris install of WJFK(FM)’s HD4 channel is interesting.
Tim Anderson, manager of strategic radio market/product development for Harris Broadcast, tells me the crew thought they might have to haul the disassembled new HPX30 transmitter up three floors by crane and hoist it through a window, but they were able to take it up the stairs after all. Whew!
The install crew didn’t want to use the small elevator because they were worried the weight might be too much for the elevator in the transmitter building located in Falls Church, Va.
In addition to the transmitter, WJFK purchased the Generation III Flexstar HDx FM/HD exciter, HDE200 Embedded Exporter and HDI100 Importer running the latest version 4.3 software; he estimated the package’s list price at about $120,000.
Anderson says stations that have Generation 3 compatible hardware can achieve the HD4 channel with a free software upgrade to their HD importer. Gen 3 HD Radio gear, which supports the embedded exporter, shipped last year. The company also plans to release a version of the software for the older first-and second-generation hardware for a fee.
CBS Radio SVP Engineering Glynn Walden pushed the button to start the new digital transmitter, I’m told, which seems fitting.
