Microwave Radio Associates (MRC) has recently announced a number of new products. The Strata is a digital COFDM microwave that is comprised of three units: the Transmitter unit (TXU), the Transmitter Control Unit (TCU), and the High Power Unit (HPU). The TCU handles MPEG compression, and COFDM modulation.
 The Strata is a digital COFDM microwave that is comprised of three units. (Pictured: The Strata 3) |
This module approach allows the three units to be installed or distributed as needed or stacked on a single tripod.
The TCU can be separated from the TXU and connected via coax, carrying a 70 MHz IF signal. A control PC can be connected to a stack via RS-232. That single PC can also control additional “stacks,” which may be up to 4000 feet apart, via a RS-485 ports on each stack. A receive stack, composed of a Receiver Unit (RXU), and a Receiver Control Unit (RCU), can be located on one side of a building, with the transmit stack on the other, connected together via IF on coax, and both may be controlled from a single PC.
When cases where a Strata, or other microwave transmitter is to be installed on a helicopter or other moving vehicle, MRC has introduced a selectable antenna array called the GPS Auto Pod.
 The GPS Auto Pod is a selectable antenna array that uses electronic switching gates instead of mechanical rotation. |
The GPS Auto Pod uses electronic switching gates instead of mechanical rotation, to select the antenna elements that provide the optimum path to the receiver. This antenna array automatically determines the direction to the receive site through a built-in 12 channel GPS receiver, an electronic compass, and a built-in microprocessor in a handheld controller. The coordinates of the receive site are entered, and the GPS Auto Pod then continually determines the bearing from moving source to fix receiver.
For more information visit http://www.mrcbroadcast.com/Strata2/strata.htm and http://www.mrcbroadcast.com/products/GPS_POD.htm.