Quincy Newspapers TV Group taps Harris

Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has installed new broadcast systems to upgrade to digital two television stations owned by Quincy Newspapers, Inc., of Quincy, Ill. Harris installed a server-based master control and production room comprising a variety of Harris digital broadcast solutions for WXOW-ABC (and its DTV sub-channel, WXOW-CW) in La Crosse, Wis., and WQOW-ABC (and its DTV sub-channel, WQOW-CW) in Eau Claire, Wis.

The control room build-out includes Harris NX4000TXS transmission servers, Integrator Gold wideband digital multirate routers, Panacea™ small routers, and a variety of 6800+ and NEO signal processing modules under the control of the CCS Pilot™ software application and the NUCLEUS user-customizable network control panel. The production room build-out, under construction and featuring products from the Harris conversion and distribution portfolio, is slated for completion in April 2007.

“Quincy has been a long-time Harris customer, having purchased Harris TV transmitters exclusively for our stations, including WXOW and WQOW, for many years,” said Brady Dreasler, director of engineering for Quincy Newspapers. “Rebuilding the complete technical core of this facility was a tremendous challenge. For the studio upgrade component, we chose to install an all-Harris digital solution because of the company’s ability to deliver reliable products backed by superior support.

“Harris also provided complete integration of all the major system components under CCS Pilot control, and addressed all of our current requirements while providing an easy upgrade path to HD. It was the clear choice,” he added.