Little Rock ABC affiliate KATV-TV has installed Dielectric’s RFHAWKEYE system for RF monitoring in their station. They immediately recognized how the IP-based system removes the barriers of decades-old legacy monitoring procedures that were both time-consuming and rife with guesswork.

Rusty Mooney, director of television broadcast systems at Sinclair Broadcast Group, explains how engineers previously achieved this.

“We knew that there was potential trouble in the transmission line or the antenna if there was a significant increase in reflected power, but smaller, localized changes were not caught — and often too late to prevent damage,” said Mooney. “Our only option was to use a network analyzer to perform a full sweep of the line to identify and locate the problem. That is a very time-consuming process. Not only does it require a rigging crew to climb the tower but the station engineer, or RF consultant, must open very heavy transmission line components. It means working above your head and turning wrenches from a ladder while pulling apart the line. No one enjoys doing that, but it was the only way.” RFHAWKEYE changes that for broadcasters.

Engineers can now also understand and pinpoint the exact location of the issue – all from a computer or cellphone using RFHAWKEYE’s user interface. If the local engineer is not familiar with the Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) measurements, the system can be monitored remotely by a Regional or Group Manager as well as by Dielectric engineers.

“RFHAWKEYE allows us to monitor line arcing and degradations, as well as reflected and transmitted power, which helps us understand the antenna’s condition,” Mooney says. “If we have high reflected power but no arcing or line degradations, we know something is wrong with the antenna. The ability to demonstrate that there are no problems on the line is a big step forward.”