Colorado’s mountains provide spectacular scenery, but the construction of broadcast antennas on and around them tend to clutter the views. Dielectric Communications worked with a Denver area broadcast organization to provide antennas, transmission lines and a complete RF system for a new tower site that has brought high-power DTV broadcasts to the Denver metropolitan area – without a lot of antennas to obscure the views
The new installation serves an organization that represents Gannett Broadcasting-owned KTVD (a MyNetworkTV affiliate) and KUSA (an NBC affiliate), McGraw Hill-owned ABC affiliate KMGH, and CBS owned-and-operated KCNC. The system is currently broadcasting signals for all four stations.
The custom-designed RF system features three VHF antennas and three UHF antennas, and allows six channels to operate in both main and alternate configurations for VHF channels 7 & 9 and UHF channels 16, 17, 19 and 33. Previously, broadcasts were limited to transmitting low-power digital signals from the tallest building in downtown Denver.
Less Towers, Better Views
By airing signals from the new 730-foot tower located on Lookout Mountain west of Denver, KCNC, KMGH, KTVD and KUSA benefit from both greater transmission performance and streamlined, merged operations that reduce the number of towers visible on the mountain.
Unique in its consolidation of several major network broadcasters on a single tower, the installation is further distinguished by the construction of a 250-ft. underground tunnel that houses the 10 phased transmission line runs. The tunnel was designed to reduce impact on the appearance of the mountain, maintaining as much of an uninterrupted ridgeline as possible.