InBroadcast - March 2022 - 52

52
www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 12 - Issue 3 | March 2022
InNABShow
Dielectric Marks Industry-First
Innovation with New FM Pylon
Antenna Family
Industry's leading antenna manufacturer adapts pylon antenna designs for FM broadcasters with new FMP
family of antennas, removing bandwidth limitations, reducing parts and expanding pattern options...
D
and
ielectric will soon bring the
high-efficiency, low windload,
reliable innovation of
its
broadband pylon TV antennas to FM
broadcasters. Dielectric's new FMP
antennas represent the broadcast
industry's first slot cavity microstrip
FM antenna product family, bringing
novel
benefits
broadcasters. Benefits
to high-power FM
include
multicasting, pattern flexibility,
increased reliability and small tower
footprint.
" Television broadcasters
valued
long
versatility
such as
pylon antennas
their straightforward
and
low wind
structural
have
for
designs,
benefits
load, " said
Keith Pelletier, Vice President and
General Manager, Dielectric. " The
cylindrical design attributes of pylon
antennas historically
translated to
narrow bandwidth characteristics
that
were impractical
signals. Dielectric's
for FM
engineering
breakthroughs introduce techniques
to increase that bandwidth, making
full-band FM operation in pylon
antennas a reality. "
The engineering breakthroughs
include reducing the antenna
Q factor, which improves
the
bandwidth from one to 20 percent;
and stabilizing the H:V ratio across
the band. The 20 percent bandwidth
translates to full FM band operation,
which is the key goal of the FMP
antenna's
design. Dielectric
to the existing
has
also included its patented parasitic
dipole, which adds a vertical
component
horizontal signal. This creates
more pattern options
FM broadcasters, including
elliptical
and
for
circular
polarization, and contributes
to the substantial bandwidth
increase.
While Dielectric's
special
pylon designs
for FM radio
differ from TV systems, the
FMP family carries over many
Keith Pelletier, Vice President & General Manager, Dielectric
traditional pylon antenna benefits
including optimal
downward
radiation, smaller size and lower
weight. For example, FMP antennas
reduce the number of parts used
in equivalent
by
streamlined
more than 60 percent.
componentry
ring-style antennas
The
also
improves reliability over the long
term as there are far fewer parts to
repair or replace.
The pylon design also provides
broadcasters and tower crews with
top-mounting options, in addition
to the traditional
want
a
true
side-mounted
configurations of ring antennas. This
is ideal for high-power FM stations
that
omnidirectional antenna. The FMP
can handle input powers of 100kW
and higher, which also makes the
top-mounted
antenna excellent
for combined
operation of multiple stations.
Dielectric's
This
FMP designs
use
full-wavelength spacing between
antenna elements.
compared
to ring-style
reduces
the number of antenna elements
required
designs, which require halfwavelength
spacing, hence more
elements, to cover the full FM band.
The efficient design is also easy to
scale. Antennas are built in four-layer
building blocks and can be increased
to eight or 12 bays to suit higher
power requirements and elevation
pattern gains.
Dielectric's abilities and drive to
push innovation is showcased further
with the actual FMP antenna design
process, which was completed in
a
virtual
environment
quickly built
take
and
years
then
to validate the
designs. This process would
traditionally
and
numerous iterations of parts to
develop the antenna. Dielectric
recently established a team
of
specialized
efficiently
engineers
create new designs
and
(High Frequency
to
quickly
using HFSS
Simulation
Software), which greatly
accelerated the development
process.
Dielectric, which turns 80 this
year, revolutionized FM broadcasting
in the 1960s with the first dualpolarized
antenna, which introduced
the concept of circular polarization
from a single FM antenna element.
The company again changed the
game in the late 1970s with a
quadrupole design that
bandwidth improvements
Dielectric FMP FM Pylon Antenna
unveiled
that
remain present in modern ringstyle
antennas. Pelletier cites
these examples as the roots of the
innovations behind the FMP family,
while also incorporating Dielectric's
experience in building pylon systems
for TV stations.
" We are always looking at ways
that we can bring antenna design
concepts
from
one market
to
another and advance the technology
for modern and future broadcast
systems, " said Pelletier. " We have
now adapted what was long a
solution for mostly single-channel
TV operations for both broadband
TV and FM broadcasting, which very
much differentiates
our product
portfolio from competitors. "
Dielectric will publicly share full
details of the FMP family for the first
time at the forthcoming 2022 NAB
Show on Booth W7107.
https://www.dielectric.com

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