The
Company
Matthew A.
Sanderford, Jr., P.E. is the President of MARSAND, INC.
(Marsand). He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in
the State of Texas and a Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer (CPBE)
with the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE). He also serves on the
Board of Directors of the Association of Federal Communications Consulting
Engineers (AFCCE). Matthew is a graduate of the University of Texas
at El Paso (UTEP) holding a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering.
David Sanderford
is the Vice President of Marsand. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute
of Technology (Georgia Tech) with a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering.
He is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), and is a member
of the SBE.
MARSAND, INC. is situated in Alvarado, TX, 25 miles south of Fort Worth along
the access road for Interstate 35W. The Marsand building is 14,000 square
feet with 3,200 square feet of office space. The facility is able to
accommodate Digital Studio pre-assembly and is stocked with RF components
and spectrum, network and DTV analyzers. A portable proof package is
available to go on site and perform extensive troubleshooting and alignment
besides the transmitter Proof of Performance for both NTSC and Digital
systems. MARSAND, INC. owns and operates all of the required test equipment.
Broadcast Engineering
Experience
Marsand has
been contracted to provide fully turnkey installations for numerous
television stations. This included designing, budgeting, purchasing
and installation for mainly full power UHF stations and a few VHF stations.
In most cases this was done on a group scale with multiple projects
overlapping each other. The studio and transmitter sites were researched
and located. The engineering portions were generated for the FCC Applications
for Construction Permit. FAA Aeronautical Studies were submitted and
approved. Towers were specified and designed in conjunction with structural
engineers. Tower crews were contracted and supervised to erect mainly
tall towers 1200 ft. to 2000 ft. tall. Building construction was both
specified and contracted for studios and transmitter. Studio and transmitter
equipment was purchased, installed and commissioned. Transmission line,
waveguide and antennas were purchased, installed and matched using a
network analyzer. A full Proof of Performance and License to Cover applications
were completed.
Matthew Sanderford,
P.E., has over 35 years of transmitter and studio troubleshooting experience.
Over the years, he has been involved in several innovations on the RF
side of broadcasting. Having pioneered the conversion of UHF transmitters
from integral cavity to external cavity, wideband klystrons, he has
successfully converted several RCA and Harris installations. He was
one of the first to use the AutoCAD software to accurately place RF
systems in 3-D to reduce installation time in the field. Recently he
has been involved with HCJeffries Tower Co. in erecting a 1000 ft. tower
in 11 days using special structural designs and a helicopter to do the
lifts. Marsand has built two stations to date using only a helicopter
to do the lifts. Marsand also has contracts to consult for twenty-eight
stations – providing phone support and emergency onsite service
for the transmitter plant.
The
Digital Studio Facility
To date,
Marsand. has designed and installed three digital studios in McAllen,
Laredo and Odessa, TX. Equipment layout and wiring schematics were integrated
into the architectural plans using the broadcast industry standard VidCAD
program. Built upon the architectural standard AutoCAD program, the
use of VidCAD files facilitated ease of collaboration with the building
architects and builders. Visualization of the project allowed for problems
to be anticipated and corrected ahead of time and changes to be made
easily by all parties involved.
The
Digital Transmission Facility
Marsand brings
a depth of experience to both the planning as well as the installation
and technical sides of broadcasting. Marsand has thus been able to contribute
to the digital conversion of more than twenty-eight stations and is
currently supervising the digital conversion for three group owners
and one PBS station. The total number of these stations is twenty. Over
the past 8 years, Marsand has led the process of tower inspections and
modifications, building planning and electrical specification in preparation
for the DTV build-out. Budgets have been developed and implemented.
Marsand performed the engineering studies to maximize DTV coverage for
each of the stations. FCC filings were submitted from this office and
approved. And, where applicable, “DTV ready” equipment has
been purchased and installed to replace damaged or outdated equipment.
To date, 25 sites have been
completed.
This document is available in .pdf format.
Marsand and Digital TV.pdf