TV Translator
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A TV Translator is a device that receives television signals and retransmits/repeats them on another frequency. It is used to extend the range of the original signals into areas that can not receive them otherwise.
For example, in Canberra, Australia, the main television transmitter is on Black Mountain in the centre of the city. To the south is the Lanyon Valley. TV signals are not able to be received by those there because of the hills. A translator was installed on top of Tuggeranong Hill so that the signal could be received from Black Mountain and then repeated into the valley.
There are several signals, and the translator must be fitted to carry each channel. This is why translators do not always have the same selection of channels as the main transmitter.
The translator must broadcast the channels it receives on a different frequency to avoid interference with the original broadcast. In the United States, main television transmitter stations are marked with a four letter call sign (starting with a K west of the Mississippi River or a W east of it), while translator stations' call signs generally contain a number followed by two letters, an example being K12AB.
[edit] International terminology
Outside of North America the term "translator" is rarely used. Instead such facilities can be referred to variously as "relay stations" (or relays), "transposers", "repeaters", "Active deflectors", "booster stations", "low power transmitters" "fill-in stations" "gap fillers" "secondary (or ancillary) transmitters" "rebeamers" or "beambenders"
