A Broadcast Engineering Tutorial
for Non-Engineers
THIRD EDITION
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A Broadcast Engineering Tutorial
for Non-Engineers
THIRD EDITION
Graham Jones
National Association of Broadcasters
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Digital Radio 6
Satellite Radio 8
Analog Television 9
Digital Television 10
Satellite Television 11
Cable Television 12
Groups and Networks 13
Internet Radio and Television 14
3 Sound and Vision 17
Sound and Audio 17
Light and Video 20
Baseband 22
4 Radio Frequency Waves 23
Electromagnetic Waves 23
Frequencies, Bands, and Channels 25
RF Over Wires and Cables 26
Modulation 27
v
5 Analog Color Television 33
NTSC 33
PAL and SECAM 42
HD Analog Video 43
6 Digital Audio and Video 45
Digital Audio 45
SD and HD Digital Video 52
7 Information Technology 61
Binary 61
Computers 63
Storage 65
Computer Networks 68

Studio System 125
Video Switchers and Effects Units 127
Picture and Waveform Monitoring 130
Television Cameras 132
Film in Television 137
Videotape Recorders 140
Analog VTRs 144
Digital VTRs 145
HD Digital VTRs 149
Optical, Solid-State, and Hard Disk Recorders 151
Video Editing 152
SMPTE Timecode 153
Video Servers 154
Nonlinear Editing 156
Character Generators and Computer Graphics 158
Electronic Newsroom 159
Signal Distribution 159
Video Timing 162
Audio for Television 163
Ancillary Systems 166
Ingest and Conversion 167
Television Master Control 169
Television Automation 174
ATSC Encoding 176
Multicasting Operations 177
Closed Captioning Equipment 177
PSIP Generator 178
Data Broadcasting Equipment 178
Bitstream Distribution and Splicing 178
Internet Streaming 180

Carriers and Channels for Analog TV 223
Video Signal 224
Audio Signal 226
Vertical Blanking Interval Ancillary Information 227
Closed Captioning and Content Advisory Ratings 227
Analog TV Data Broadcasting 228
viii CONTENTS
15 ATSC Digital Television 231
Carriers and Channels for DTV 232
8-VSB Modulation 233
ATSC Compressed Bitstream 235
ATSC Video Formats 236
MPEG-2 Compression 238
AC-3 Audio 245
Multiplexing 249
Quality and Bit Rates 250
Multicasting 252
Closed Captions 253
Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) 254
DTV Data Broadcasting 256
16 Transmitter Site Facilities 261
Incoming Feeds 262
Processing Equipment 263
Exciters 264
Power Amplifiers 266
Transmission Lines and Other Equipment 269
AM Antenna Systems 271
FM and TV Antennas 275
Towers 278
Translators and Repeaters 279

overview of first principles and current standards in the broadcast
industry. We concentrate on over-the-air broadcasting from U.S.
radio and television stations, but also mention some of the other
methods of program delivery to the home and outline some of the
different standards and technologies used in other countries.
Although later chapters build on information in earlier sections,
this book can be consulted for information about a particular topic.
We hope that the information in these pages will help readers
further their understanding of our trade, and thus enhance their
ability to perform the broadcast-related functions of their jobs.
NAB Science and Technology Department
xi
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Acknowledgments
As the principal author and editor of the third edition of this tuto-
rial, I would like to acknowledge the contributions I have received
in preparing the book. The foundation, of course, was the second
edition, which came from NAB Science and Technology, although
very little of that work remains unchanged. I have received advice
and support from my colleagues at NAB: Art Allison, Janet Elliott,
David Layer, John Marino, and Kelly Williams, and from the Senior
Vice President of Science and Technology, Lynn Claudy. James
Snyder provided input on Internet broadcasting and advised on
several other topics, as did Ed Williams. Advice on information
technology came from Andrew Jones and John Roberts. Finally,
thanks to my wife, Linda, for putting up with the long hours spent
in putting this work together and for being the ultimate “non-
engineer” who had to understand everything in the book.
Graham Jones
Washington, D.C.

a special way—we will try to make their meaning clear for the
reader.
Chapters in the first section of the book, Broadcasting Basics,
discuss the main methods used for radio and television broadcast-
ing and explain some of the basic science and the terms used later
in the book. Chapters in the second section, Studios and Produc-
tion Facilities, describe radio and television studios and remote
operations, covering the main items of equipment used and how
they work together. Chapters in the third section, Transmission
Standards and Systems, discuss the standards and technologies
used for U.S. radio and television transmission, and cover trans-
mitter site facilities and equipment. The final chapter discusses
radio wave propagation and the Federal Communications Com-
mission (FCC) Technical Rules.
In each section or chapter, we generally talk about topics related to
audio and radio first, and then deal with video and television.
2 1 INTRODUCTION
BROADCASTING BASICS
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CHAPTER 2
Types of Broadcasting
By definition, broadcasting means “to transmit by radio or tele-
vision,” but, with developments in technology that have taken
place, that simple phrase now includes many different types of
transmission. Let’s start with a summary of the main types in use
today in the United States and overseas. Many of the systems men-
tioned below differ only in the way they are transmitted—studio
systems for radio and television generally have fewer variations.
Don’t worry if you don’t fully understand all of the terms used
in this chapter: they will be explained later in the appropriate

Digital radio broadcasting for local stations in the United States,
introduced for regular use in 2003, uses a proprietary system called
HD Radio, generically known as IBOC. IBOC stands for In-Band
On-Channel and is the particular method of digital radio transmis-
sion. There are two versions: one for AM broadcasting and one for
FM. They offer significant quality improvements over equivalent
analog AM and FM transmission, while broadcasting to the same
destinations of home, car, and portable receivers. FM IBOC can also
carry additional data information services. A key feature of IBOC is
that it can share the same band and channel as an analog radio
transmitter (hence, the name), so no additional radio spectrum
space is needed for a radio station to add an IBOC digital service.
We cover IBOC in more detail in Chapters 13 and 16.
DAB
Digital radio for national and some local services outside the
United States—in Europe, Canada, and elsewhere—primarily uses
6 2 TYPES OF BROADCASTING
a system called DAB. First introduced in the United Kingdom in
1995, DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting, which is also
known as Eureka 147 and, in the United Kingdom, as Digital Radio.
DAB has quality advantages similar to FM IBOC but is funda-
mentally different in that it is intended for multiprogramming
network services. Unlike IBOC, it cannot share a channel with an
analog broadcast. Each DAB transmission requires much more RF
spectrum since it contains multiple program services (typically six
to eight, depending on quality and the amount of data carried).
This makes it impractical for use by a single radio station. DAB can
only be used where suitable frequency bands are available, with
channel capacity not allocated to other services. In Europe, it is cur-
rently being transmitted using frequencies in the VHF band, and

licensed as Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services (SDARS). XM
and Sirius are subscription services, and each broadcasts more
than 100 digital audio channels, intended primarily for reception
by car, portable, and fixed receivers. XM uses two high-power
geostationary satellites (their location in the sky does not change
relative to the earth’s surface) that transmit with frequencies in the
S-Band (see explanation of Frequencies, Bands, and Channels in
Chapter 4). This provides coverage of the complete continental
United States and parts of Canada and Mexico. Sirius is similar
except that it uses three nonstationary satellites, with more cover-
age of Canada and Mexico than XM. Both systems use ground-
based repeaters to fill in many of the gaps where the satellite signals
may be blocked.
WorldSpace
WorldSpace Satellite Radio is an international satellite radio service
that broadcasts more than 100 digital audio channels, some by sub-
scription and some free of charge, to many countries around the
world. There are currently two geostationary satellites covering
Africa, the Middle East, most of Asia, and much of Europe. A third
satellite is planned for South America, with a fourth for further cov-
erage in Europe. Some WorldSpace channels are also carried on
XM Radio in the United States. Transmissions are intended for
8 2 TYPES OF BROADCASTING
reception by portable and fixed receivers, using frequencies in the
L-Band.
Analog Television
NTSC
In North America, Japan, and some other countries, television has
been broadcast for many years using the NTSC system. NTSC
stands for National Television System Committee, which devel-

system but, at the time of writing this book, details have not yet
been finalized.
ATSC
ATSC stands for Advanced Television Systems Committee and is
the DTV standard for the United States, where DTV broadcasting
started in 1996. ATSC has also been adopted by Canada, Mexico,
and Korea, and is being considered by some other countries. The
ATSC system allows transmission of both standard definition (SD)
and high definition (HD or HDTV) program services, with capabil-
ities including widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio pictures, surround sound
audio, electronic program guide, multicasting, and datacasting. ATSC
DTV is transmitted over the air in the same VHF and UHF bands
as NTSC television, using vacant channels in the NTSC channel
allocation plan for the country. Cable television systems also carry
DTV programs produced for ATSC transmission, but do not actu-
ally use the transmission part of the ATSC standard.
We cover ATSC in more detail in Chapters 6, 15, and 16.
DVB-T
Terrestrial DTV in Europe, Australia, and many other countries
uses the DVB-T standard, which stands for Digital Video Broad-
casting–Terrestrial. DVB-T allows transmission of both SD and HD
programs, and most of its capabilities are generally similar to
ATSC. The particular picture formats used, however, are usually
based on the analog television system used in the relevant country.
Currently, most countries using DVB-T, apart from Australia, do
10 2 TYPES OF BROADCASTING
not transmit in high definition, but Europe is now considering the
possibility of adding HD services.
Like ATSC, DVB-T is transmitted over the air in the VHF and UHF
television bands. The main difference from ATSC, apart from the