Croatian broadcaster OIV renews its FM radio infrastructure by relying on GatesAir
GatesAir has recently announced that is working with Croatian broadcast network operator OIV to modernize national FM radio infrastructure for public broadcaster HRT (Croatian Radiotelevision). Above the simple renovation, the broadcaster also wanted to reduce costs related with its infrastructure. OIV has upgraded five transmission …
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TM Broadcast International
GatesAir has recently announced that is working with Croatian broadcast network operator OIV to modernize national FM radio infrastructure for public broadcaster HRT (Croatian Radiotelevision). Above the simple renovation, the broadcaster also wanted to reduce costs related with its infrastructure.

OIV has upgraded five transmission facilities with GatesAir Flexiva FAX air-cooled radio transmission systems, including sites near the capital city of Zagreb and the towns of Rijeka, Dubrovnik and Makarska. OIV anticipates additional upgrades in the coming years, with a Flexiva FAX system installation planned near the town of Split in 2023.

OIV favoured a transition to transmitters with solid-state technology. The company selected Smart-AV, partner of GatesAir, which handled all logistics including transport of the Flexiva transmitters. Each location includes four or five Flexiva FAX transmitters in redundant 3+1 or 4+1 configurations, with power levels ranging from 5 to 10 kW.

Bruno Cigrovski, Head of Radio Network Department for OIV, confirms that energy efficiency was an influential driver of the initiative – and that the Flexiva transmitters are already paying dividends through lower power consumption. “We have done the math for the Flexiva performance at Ucka, which is the transmission site serving listeners in and near the town of Rijeka,” he said. “After replacing our old system with GatesAir’s 10kW Flexiva system, our monthly energy consumption dropped by 11,800 kWh. We are now saving 1500 Euros each month.”

Smart-AV will handle all maintenance and service post-commissioning, including the procurement and delivery of spare parts as required.

“One of our main challenges in Croatia has been effectively cooling higher power transmitters, particularly 10kW systems,” Cigrovski said. “Smart-AV has provided excellent service and creative insights into properly ventilating high-power transmitters, and GatesAir has really helped us solve that problem with a new generation of high-efficiency transmitters.”