SECTION MEETING REPORT

Meeting Date:

September 14, 1999

Attendance:

35

Location:

Hewlett-Packard

Novi, MI

Subject:

Digital Television Measurements

Speakers:

Barbara Gill and Daun Yeagley

Hewlett-Packard Company

The September meeting for the Detroit Section was a seminar on Digital Television Measurements hosted by Hewlett Packard at their facility in Novi, Michigan. HP also provided a complimentary meal for the members and guests prior to the meeting.

The presenters were Barbara Gill, speaking by telephone from Hewlett Packard's Denver, Colorado office, and Daun Yeagley in person. This seminar presented the basics of digital television signals and measurements, and demonstrated the use of test equipment for evaluating quality of service, troubleshooting impairments and ensuring compliance with standards. The meeting started with an overview by Barbara Gill of the tools necessary for signal management and measurement from the production facility to the transmitter.

Daun Yeagley talked about the various modulation methods for DTV and discussed filtering for spectral efficiency. The 8-VSB modulation was explained in detail with a step-by-step description of the transmitter chain. One of the components of what Hewlett Packard calls the DTV Toolbox, the Hewlett-Packard 89441V Vector Network Signal Analyzer, was shown and demonstrated, using live local DTV signals. Finally, participants were given the opportunity to ask questions and gain hands-on experience by making critical DTV measurements on the demonstration unit.

Submitted by:

Helge Blucher, WTVS
Secretary/Treasurer, SMPTE Detroit Section