Rohde & Schwarz THR9 range expands to include first liquid-cooled HD Radio transmitter

The R&S THR9 range of high-power FM transmitters from Rohde & Schwarz now include the company's first liquid-cooled HD Radio transmitter in the HD Radio standard, which represents the fourth generation of digital radio.

This helps operators of HD Radio stations reduce their energy, maintenance and leasing costs over the entire lifecycle of their transmitters. The R&S THR9 delivers output powers between 3.0 kW and 45 kW in hybrid mode and up to 80 kW in analog FM mode. All RF power components, including the power combiner and the RF rigid line, exhibit minimum attenuation. As a result, the transmitter system achieves efficiency of up to 75 per cent in analog FM mode and up to 57 per cent in hybrid mode.

The R&S THR9 achieves up to 24 kW RF power in hybrid mode and 40 kW in analogue FM mode. It is cased in a single 19-inch rack. Possible configurations range from single transmitters with built-in pump unit to multitransmitter systems (MultiTx systems) in a single rack.

R&S claims that by making it possible to integrate high output powers as well as multiple transmitters, the R&S THR9 offers “the highest power density on the market”, making it ideal for transmitter sites requiring high output powers in very tight spaces. The company claims that the R&S THR9 has an easy-to-access transmitter display unit with an ergonomic design. It adds that the graphical user interface provides “quick access to components and parameters for various tasks – both on site and remotely”.