GatesAir Completes World Trade Center Relocation

GatesAir and The Durst Organisation have worked closely to complete the relocation of a New York City broadcaster to One World Trade Center.

A GatesAir Maxiva™ ULXTE liquid-cooled transmission system has been installed, delivering the industry's lowest total cost of ownership thanks to its optimized efficiency, quality and performance. The complete installation includes two Maxiva ULXTE-80 transmitters (broadcasting at 47.2kW (pre-filter) TPO), each equipped with GatesAir's software-defined Maxiva XTE exciter, that can operate in combined or main/backup configurations.

GatesAir collaborated with The Durst Organization, which operates the new dedicated Broadcast Center on the 90th floor, to manage the installation and commission. The two companies have also enacted a full preventative maintenance strategy that covers post-sales support, spare parts delivery and other technical support needs.
 
The Durst Organization and the Port Authority worked to return New York City broadcasters to the World Trade Center following the events of 9/11. The Broadcast Center has been fully equipped with new RF systems (including signal combiners), antennas, emergency generators and other equipment to support local broadcasters. The Durst Organization also designed the facility for optimal energy efficiency, including LED lighting and a large water plant. The latter was added to encourage a liquid-cooled architecture for new transmitter installations, with the goal of minimizing air-conditioning loads, power consumption, and related utility costs.
 
GatesAir's Maxiva ULXTE design perfectly aligns with The Durst Organization's green initiatives for the Broadcast Center. In addition to its liquid-cooled design, the ULXTE incorporates the latest LDMOS RF devices to reduce footprint and weight, and optimize efficiency and power gains. GatesAir has raised overall ULXTE transmitter efficiency up to 45 percent, and improved transmitter power by 20 percent. The latter offers a significant operational benefit by allowing broadcasters to drive more power from a smaller transmitter, substantially improving cost per watt.
 
"The Durst Organization is a very green organization, and the ULXTE's liquid-cooled design directly removes the heat from the Broadcast Center so that we aren't forced to run heavy, extra air conditioning loads to cool the space," said John Lyons, assistant vice president and director of broadcast communication for The Durst Organization. "Along with our implementation of a liquid-cooled combiner, the ULXTE plays an important role in reducing water flow to the building to support air conditioners, and keeping the Broadcast Center at exactly the same temperature year-round. The compact ULXTE footprint has also been highly valuable for integrating critical equipment into a much smaller space, which opens up more space for expansion as we grow."
 
The ULXTE is equipped with GatesAir's software-defined, ATSC 3.0-ready Maxiva XTE exciter and the company's latest real-time adaptive correction (RTAC) software. The RTAC software is instrumental to over-the-air performance, dynamically and continuously and adjusting modulation error ratio (MER) and shoulder levels to minimize unwanted RF that affects signal integrity.
 
"The Durst Organization has built a world-class broadcast facility at One World Trade Center that will support New York City broadcasters and audiences for generations," said Bruce Swail, CEO, GatesAir. "This installation continues our 95-plus year legacy of supporting the world's largest broadcasters and transmission facilities, and we are proud to support The Durst Organization and their green initiatives to keep operational costs and system maintenance to an absolute minimum."

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