DCI's microwave (ENG) systems are capable of SD and HD service making use of multiple receive sites in DC, including the clock tower of The Old Post Office Building at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. These systems are available for tripod, truck mount, and wireless camera-back applications and can be configured to function as a point to point or central-receive transmission.

DCI is proud to be the only broadcast transmission provider in Washington to operate our own FCC-licensed microwave network in the 6Ghz and 38 Ghz spectrum!  Microwave provides economical alternatives to satellite transmission by alleviating the need for space segment on local transmissions.

Clocktower Central Receive

The US Capitol and Clocktower from Freedom Plaza as seen from the roof of a SNG truck.

DCI's central receive site in the middle of Washington is the second highest point in the city  and provides uncompressed HD/SD fiber paths  back to our teleport, allowing portable microwave shots to be uplinked to satellite or fed to clients on fiber circuits.  The clocktower allows HD live shots from the National Mall, Freedom Plaza, the World War II memorial and other areas downtown with nothing more than a camera, battery, and our CamPack transmitter (below). Feeds can also be received from a tripod based transmitter or our hybrid ENG/SNG vehicles via a 48’ truck mounted mast.

View from the Clocktower

Camera-back HD microwave

DCI's NuComm CamPack II system is a state of the art 4:2:2 HD/SD microwave link system capable of bitrates over 50mbps.  While it can easily feed into the DCI’s Clocktower receive site, the NuComm's versatility is to link a camera to an uplink truck or fiber drop.  Together with our wireless IFB systems, live shots can be done almost anywhere a camera can go, without worrying about cable.  The NuComm's quad-antenna maximum ratio combining receiver is so sensitive we are constantly surprised at what it can do! 

The CamPack HD can be installed in the SNG/ENG vehicle as a fixed transmitter and take advantage of the mast-top high gain antenna and power amplifier for shots into our central receive site. This system has been used for several high-profile transmissions, including the C-Span National Book Fair and the PBS production "A Capitol Fourth" main fireworks camera.

The quad-diversity portable receiver has a web interface providing real-time spectrum monitoring for all 4 antennas and realtime link margins so we always know the status of the microwave link.

Tripod-mounted Transmitters

A key component to our microwave services is the capability of COFDM microwave systems to literally bounce around buildings. The use of advanced modulation schemes like COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) has allowed DCI to continue pushing the envelope of industry standards and expectations. These systems were designed in-house to be capable of transmitting signals without having clear line-of-sight to the receive antennas. A low-power portable system can be run off a standard camera battery while a high power fixed system can get shots through that are impossible any other way. These transmitters can be set up point-to-point with a portable receiver, or shot directly into DCI's central receive locations.

DCI also supports analog microwave solutions in both the 6 GHz and 40 GHz bands. For shots that don't require the capabilities of digital microwave, this medium-power analog system is simple and has been tried and tested to be very reliable. It transmits in the quiet 6 GHz band where DCI holds an exclusive FCC license for 50 MHz, and can also be set up as point-to-point with a portable receiver, or shot into the Clocktower.

The primary application of the 40 GHz analog system is for short-distance point-to-point links. Its great for shooting video between buildings, or as a relay point for other microwave systems, as well as short distance back-haul to DCI's SNG vehicles.

45 megabit ASI Link

DCI is also licensed in the 38GHz band, and has many 45 megabit two-way links that are designed to transport ASI payloads across short distances up to 2 miles.  These are typically used to link area studios with our teleport, but we also use one to bring back a HD beauty camera of the US Capitol that is used for bump shots and as a chroma-key background in DCI’s insert studio.  We also have several fixed links installed including with the World Bank/IMF and several nearby video production houses.

Special Project:  Temporary high and low receive antennas on our ENG mast for a portable camera that worked over a 4-block radius with no line of sight.