SUMMER TRAINING

REPORT
ON
DOORDARSHAN KENDRA, LUCKNOW

By
Mayank Shadwani (1374531006)

Submitted to the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering

in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of
Bachelor of Technology
in
Electronics & Communication

SHRI RAM MURTI SMARAK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING &

TECHNOLOGY, LUCKNOW
DR. APJ ABDUL KALAM TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
August, 2016
1

CERTIFICATE

SHRI RAM MURTI SMARAK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND

TECHNOLOGY, LUCKNOW
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A research work owes its success from commencement to completion, to the people in love
with researchers at various stages. Let me in this page express my gratitude to all those who
helped us in various stage of this study. First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude
indebtedness to Mrs. Sahreen Hijab (Head of Department) for allowing me to undergo the
summer training of 30 days at Doordarshan Kendra, Lucknow.
I am grateful to our guide Mr. Sandeep Srivastava for the help provided in completion of
the training. Without his friendly help and guidance it was difficult to complete the training
program.
I am also thankful to Mr. Amod Kumar Pandey & Mr. Ravi Prakash Verma for their true
help, inspiration and for helping me to preparation of the final report and presentation.
Last but not least, I pay my sincere thanks and gratitude to all the Staff Members for their
support and for making our training valuable and fruitful.

Submitted to:

Submitted by:

Mrs. Sahreen Hijab

Mayank Shadwani

(Head of Department)

(1374531006)

PREFACE

Doordarshan is an Indian Public Service Broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of

the largest broadcasting organisations in India in terms of the studio and transmitter
infrastructure. Doordarshan operates 21 channels:

2 All India channels DD National and DD News

11 Regional language Satellite Channels (RLSC)

4 State Networks (SN)

1 International Channel

1Sports Channel DD Sports

2 Channels Rajya Sabha TV & Lok Sabha TV for live broadcast of parliamentary proceedings

On DD National (DD-1), Regional programs and Local Programs are carried on time-sharing
basis. DD News channel, launched on 3 November 2003, which replaced the DD Metro
formally known as (DD-2) Entertainment channel, provides 24-Hour news service.
Doordarshan is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure
of studios and transmitters. Doordarshan Kendra has a setup for the transmission of television
programmes directed from the other Doordarshan Kendra namely DD Delhi. Also DD
Kendra also has a set up for the recording and transmission of programmes like talk shows
etc. The DDK has the necessary and sufficient stages for the television coverage. The Kendra
has the television studio, production control room, transmitters (10kW, 20kW), control room,
antenna (155 metre high). In the beginning, only the development programmes were telecast but
later on to enlighten the viewers as per their needs, expectations, many more informative,
educative and entertaining programmes have been introduced from time to time.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE .....................................................................................................

Page
2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................

PREFACE.............................................................................................................

LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................

CHAPTER 1 (INTRODUCTION & HISTORY)...................................................

1.1. Introduction...............................................................................................

1.2. History of Doordarshan.............................................................................

1.2.1 Early Programs of Doordarshan ...

1.2.2 Channels of Doordarshan..

1.2.3 National Programs on Doordarshan...

10

1.2.4 Active Doordarshan...........

10

1.2.5 International Broadcasting of Doordarshan

11

CHAPTER 2 (BASICS & SETUP).......................................................................

12

2.1 Basics of Doordarshan Kendra .

12

2.1.1 Fundamentals of monochrome and colour TV transmission ..

12

2.1.2 PAL Colour Television System (Colour Television) ..........................

12

2.2 Doordarshan Kendra Setup............................................................................

19

2.2.1 Studio Centre.........................................................................................

19

2.2.2 Production Control Room (PCR) .........................................................

21

2.2.3 Video Storage & Transmission Room (VTR) ......................................

24

2.2.4 Master Switching Room (MSR) ...........................................................

26

2.2.5 Transmitter ............................................................................................

29

2.2.6 Antenna .................................................................................................

36

CHAPTER 3 (SUMMARY) ...................................................................................

40

3.1 Training Summary .......................................................................................

40

CHAPTER 4 (CONCLUSIONS) ..........................................................................

41

REFERENCES... ....................................................................................................

42

LIST OF FIGURE

1.1 Classic Serials of Doordarshan............................................................................

1.2 Channels of Doordarshan..................................................................................... 10

2.1 Additive Colour Mixing...................................................................................... 13
2.2 One line display of TV signal.............................................................................. 15
2.3 Colour Composite Video Signal (CCVS)............................................................ 16
2.4 Separation of H & V pulses from CVS................................................................ 17
2.5 Block Diagram of PAL encoder........................................................................... 18
2.6 TV Transmission.................................................................................................. 19
2.7 TV Studio............................................................................................................. 21
2.8 Camera Control Unit............................................................................................. 23
2.9 Sound Mixer......................................................................................................

24

2.10 Vision Mixer........................................................................................................ 25

2.11 Functional Diagram of MSR................................................................................ 27
2.12 BEL MARK III 10kV Transmitter....................................................................... 30
2.13 Transmitter Classification based on Power.......................................................... 30
2.14 High Power Transmitter....................................................................................... 31
2.15 Low Power Transmitter........................................................................................ 31
2.16 Block diagram of BEL MARK III 10kW Transmitter......................................... 32
2.17 Exciter.................................................................................................................. 33
2.18 Types of Antennas................................................................................................ 38
2.19 Antenna at DDK....................................................................................... 39

CHAPTER 1

1.1INTRODUCTION
Doordarshan is an Indian Public Service Broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one
of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the studio and transmitter
infrastructure. On 15 September 2009, Doordarshan celebrated its 50th anniversary. The DD
provides television, radio, online and mobile services throughout metropolitan and regional
India, as well as overseas through the Indian Network and Radio India. For the London
Olympics, live telecasts of the opening and closing ceremonies of the games were broadcast
on its national channel. DD sports channel has provided round the clock coverage of sport
events. Doordarshan is the public television broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar
Bharati, and nominated by the Government of India. It is one of the largest broadcasting
organizations in the world in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Prasar
Bharati, its parent body has all board members appointed by the Government of India acting
through the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. This control is evident in a budget that
allows expenditure on "propaganda and public relations".
Doordarshan is a network of 1400 terrestrial transmitters covers more than 90.7% of India's
population. There are about 46 Doordarshan studios producing TV programmes today.
Doordarshan Kendra is a milestone in the field of entertainment and education media source.
Doordarshan Kendra, Bareilly is the Program Production Center and transition. The studios
are housed at same campus and the transmitter is located at the Bareilly. AIR and
Doordarshan aims to provide information, education and entertainment for the public. DD
India is broadcast internationally via satellite. It is available in 146 countries worldwide;
however, information on receiving this channel in other countries is not easily available. Due
to the transmitters and infrastructural facilities of Doordarshan, it is considered amongst the
leading broadcasting organisations throughout the world.

1.2HISTORY OF DOORDARSHAN

Doordarshan started with a tentative telecast on September 1959 from Delhi. The
infrastructure at that time was small supported by a temporary studio. Regular transmission
commenced on 1965, and formed a part of All India Radio. By 1972, the telecast was
expanded to Amritsar and Mumbai. Doordarshan was the only channel available at time and
by 1975, it was available in seven cities around the nation. In 1976, it was detached from All
India Radio and was fully managed from New Delhi, by two different Director Generals. In
1982, colour television sets became available in country and the speech given by the Prime
Minister of that time, Indira Gandhi, was telecast live throughout the nation. After this, the
1982 Asian games, Delhi, was also broadcasted by the channel.
1.2.1 Early Programmes of Doordarshan
Doordarshan gained exceeding popularity during the 1980s with its new and groundbreaking
shows that could easily connect with the urban and rural audiences alike. Shows like Hum
Log, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Buniyaad, Nukkad, along with the epics like Ramayana and
Mahabharata were watched by viewers throughout the country. Later programmes like Bharat
Ek Khoj, Chitrahaar, Sword of Tipu Sultan, Rangoli, The Great Maratha, Ek Se Badkar Ek,
Shaktimaan and Superhit Muqabla also were watched widely.
Other popular programmes included thrillers like Byomkesh Bakshi, Karamchand, Barrister
Roy, Tehkikaat, Reporter and Suraag. Family oriented shows like Wagle ki Duniya, Fauji, Mr.
Yogi, Talaash, Kashish, Srimaan Srimati, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Zabaan Sambhal Ke,
Swabhimaan, Shanti, Saagar, Lifeline, Udaan, Circus, Sansaar, Jaspal Bhatti`s Flop Show,
Meri Awaaz Suno, Sangharsh, Gul Gulshan Gulfam, Sea Hawks, Tu tu mein mein and Junoon

were also widely accepted. Mythological programmes like Dastan-E-Hatim Tai,

Chandrakanta, Alif Laila were also very popular among the viewers.
Shows targeted at kids were also much appreciated. Programmes like Captain Vyom, a Desi
version of Star Wars, Potli Baba Ki, Malgudi Days, Stone Boy, Tenali Raman, Sigma, Vikram
Betaal, Kile ka Rahasya and Dada Dadi ki Kahaniyan are worth mentioning. Many popular
international programmes were also aired, after being dubbed in Hindi, such as Johnny Soko
and his flying robot, Street Hawk, Knight Rider, Superhuman Samurai Cyber Squad, and
animated shows like the jungle book, He-Man and the masters of universe, Spiderman,
Disney adventures were also admired by the young audience.

Fig1.1 Classic Serials of Doordarshan

1.2.2 Channels of Doordarshan

Doordarshan currently has 21 channels, 11 regional channels and 2 national channels (DD
National and DD News), 1 sports channel (DD Sports), 1 international channel and a few
more. DD National broadcasts both regional and national programmes. DD-Sports
exclusively telecast various sporting tournaments and events, which are of national and
international significance. It also broadcasts local sports like Kabaddi, Kho-Kho etc. DD
News, which was launched by replacing DD Metro, is a 24 hour news channel.
The array of channels offered by Doordarshan include- DD National, DD Sports, DD News,
Rajya Sabha TV, DD-Lok Sabha, DD Bharti and many regional channels such as, DD
9

Gujarati, DD Bangla, DD Punjabi, DD Kashir, DD Malayalam, DD Odia, DD Podhigai, DD

Saptagiri, DD Sahyadri, DD Urdu and DD NorthEast.

Fig1.2 Channels of Doordarshan

1.2.3 National Programmes on Doordarshan

The objective of a common programme broadcast, which will cater to people in different
states, was achieved by Mr. Sathe, Minister for Information and Broadcast, in the 90 minute
National programme, on August 15, 1982. This was to consist of news in Hindi and English,
and programmes reflecting music, dance and other aspects of life, literature and culture of all
regions. Although few programmes have been appreciated by the viewers, but in general it is
believed that the output has lacked quality and standard.
1.2.4 Active Doordarshan
Recently, along with Tata Sky, Doordarshan has launched an Interactive Service, which is
offered as a special channel on Tata sky. It is an Interactive Service of Tata Sky to show 4 TV
Channels of Doordarshan which are not available on Tata sky as normal channels. DD

10

Podhigai, DD Gujarati and DD Punjabi are offered in this service. Doordarshan also has
launched its own Direct-To-Home service, named DD Direct Plus.

1.2.5 International Broadcasting of Doordarshan

Doordarshan had also started broadcasting internationally via Satellite and has a presence in
almost 146 countries, globally. But there were some technical problems on the availability of
the channel in some countries. The programmes and timie slot are not as similar as the
broadcast in India. In July 2008, transmissions in U.K. and U.S. were stopped.
Now more than 90.7 percent of population of the country can receive Doordarshan
programmes through a network of nearly 1400 terrestrial transmitters. Around 46
Doordarshan Studios are producing TV software. The Doordarshan televises through the
Official and Associate Official languages, and its regional channels televise through the state
dominant languages and dominant minority languages.

11

CHAPTER 2

2.1 BASICS OF TV TRANSMISSION

2.1.1 Fundamentals of monochrome and colour TV transmission
Picture formation:
A picture can be considered to contain a number of small elementary area of light or shade
which are called Picture elements. The elements thus contain visual image of the scene. In the
case of a TV camera the scene is focused on the photosensitive surface of pick up device and
an optical image is formed. The photoelectric properties of the pickup device convert the
optical image to a electric charge image depending on the light and shade of the scene
(picture element). Now it is necessary to pick up this information and transmit it. For this
purpose scanning is employed. Electron beam scans the charge image and produces optical
image. The electron beam scans the image line by line and field by field to provide signal
variations in a successive order. The scanning is both in horizontal and vertical direction
simultaneously. The horizontal scanning frequency is 15,625 Hz and the vertical scanning
frequency is 50 Hz. The frame is divided into two fields. Odd lines are scanned first and then
the even lines. The odd and even lines are interlaced. Since the frame is divided into two
fields the flicker reduces. The frame rate is 25Hz (Field rate is the same as power supply
frequency).
2.1.2 The PAL Colour Television System (Colour Television)

12

It is possible to obtain any desired colour by mixing three primary colours i.e. Red, Blue and
green in a suitable proportion.
Additive Colour Mixing
The figure shows the effect of projecting red, green, blue beams of light so that they overlap
on screen. Input is the primary colour (i.e. red, green, blue) into matrix circuit as Y, R-Y, and
B-Y.
Y=0.30R+0.59G+0.11B
U=0.477(R-Y)
V=0.895(B-Y)

Fig. 2.1 Additive Colour Mixing

It is possible to obtain any desired colour by mixing three primary colours i.e., red, blue
and green in suitable proportion. Thus it is only required to convert optical
information of these three colours to electrical signals and transmit it on different carriers to
be decoded by the receiver. This can then be converted back to the optical image at the
picture tube. The phosphors for all the three colours i.e. R, G and B are easily available to the
manufacturers of the picture tube. So the pick up from the cameras and output for the picture
13

tube should consist of three signals i.e. R, G and B. It is only in between the camera and the
picture tube of the receiver we need a system to transmit this information.
Colour television has the constraint of compatibility and reverse compatibility
with the monochrome television system which makes it slightly complicated.
C o m p a t i b i l i t y m e a n s t h a t w h e n colour TV signal is radiated the monochrome
TV sets should also display Black & White pictures. This is achieved by sending
Y

as

monochrome

information

along

with

the

chroma

signal.

Revere

compatibility means that when black and white TV signal is radiated the colour
TV sets should display the black and white pictures.
If we transmit R, G, B the reverse compatibility cannot be achieved. Let us see how:
If we transmit Y, R, B and derive G then,
Since,
Y = 0.3R + 0.59G + 0.11B
G = 1.7Y - 0.51R - 0.19B
In such a case what happens with colour TV set when we transmit black & white signal, R
and B are zero, but G gun gets 1.7 Y. The net result is black and white pictures on a colour
TV screen appear as Green pictures. So reverse compatibility is not achieved.
Colour Difference Signals:
To achieve reverse compatibility, when we transmit Y, R-Y and B-Y i n s t e a d o f Y , R &
B, we do not take G-Y as this will always be much lower than
R-Y and B-Y and hence will need more amplification and will
c a u s e a n o i s e i n t o t h e s y s t e m . G-Y can be derived electronically in the TV
receiver. Previously we have seen,
G = 1.7Y - 0.51R - 0.19B
G-Y = -0.51 (R-Y) 0.19 (B-Y)

14

Thus, colour difference signals fulfil the compatibility and reverse compatibility, because in
this case the colour difference signals are zero. If the original signal is monochrome (i.e. R =
B = G). So if we take,
R - Y = R - (0.3 R + 0.59 R + 0.11 R) = 0
Similarly,
B-Y= 0
As such colour difference signals are zero for white or any shade of gray whereas;
Y carries the entire Luminance information. I t i s t o b e n o t e d w h i l e R , G , B
s i g n a l s a l w a y s h a v e p o s i t i v e value R-Y, B-Y and G-Y signals can either be
positive or negative or even zero. The R-Y and B-Y chrominance signals may be
recovered at the television receiver by suitable synchronous demodulation. But
sub-carrier is to be generated by the local oscillator. This generated sub-carrier
in the receiver must have same frequency as that of transmitted sub-carrier and
also the same phase. This is achieved by transmitting 10 cycles of sub-carrier
frequency
ont h e b a c k p o r c h o f H s y n c h r o n i z i n g p u l s e . T h i s 1 0 c y c l e s s u b carrier signal is known as BURST or colour BURST.

15

Fig 2.2 One line display of TV signal

Video Signal:
Video is nothing but a sequence of picture .The image we see is maintained in our eye for a
1/16 sec so if we see image at the rate more than 16 picture per sec our eyes cannot recognize
the difference and we see the continuous motion.

In TV cameras image is converted in electrical signal using photo sensitive material. Whole
image is divided into many micro particles known as Pixels. These pixels small enough so
that our eyes cannot recognize pixel and we see continuous image ,thus at any instant there
are almost an infinite no. of pixel that needs to be converted in electrical signal
simultaneously for transmitting picture details. However this is not practicable because it is
no feasible to provide a separate path for each pixel in practice this problem is solved by
scanning method in which information is converted in one by one pixel line by line and frame
by frame.

Fig 2.3 Colour Composite Video Signal (CCVS)

Colour Composite Video Signal is formed with Video, sync and blanking signals. The level is
standardized to 1.0 V peak to peak (0.7 volts of Video and 0.3 volts of sync pulse). The
Colour Composite Video Signal (CCVS) has been shown in figure.
16

Frequency Content of TV Signal:

The TV signals have varying frequency content. The lowest frequency is zero. (when we are
transmitting a white window in the entire active period of 52 micro seconds the frequency is
Zero).In CCIR system B the highest frequency that can be transmitted is 5 MHz even though
the TV signal can contain much higher frequency components. (In film the reproduction of
frequencies is much higher than 5 MHz and hence clarity is superior to TV system) long
shots carry higher frequency components than mid close ups and close ups. Hence in TV
productions long shots are kept to minimum. In fact TV is a medium of close ups and mid
close ups.
DC Component of video signal and DC restoration:
A TV signal is a continuously varying amplitude signal as the picture elements give rise to
varying level which depends on how much of incident light the picture elements can reflect
and transmit the light signal to the TV camera. Hence the video signal has an average value
i.e. a DC component corresponding to the average brightness of the scene to scene.

Fig 2.4 Seperation of H & V pulses from CVS

RF Transmission of Vision and Sound Signals:

TV Transmission takes place in VHF Bands I and III and UHF Bands IV and V. Picture is
amplitude modulated and sound is frequency modulated on different carriers separated by 5.5
MHz Also for video amplitude modulation negative modulation is employed because of the
following main advantages.
Pictures contain more information towards white than black and hence the average power is
lower resulting in energy saving. (Bright picture points correspond to low carrier amplitude
and sync pulse to maximum carrier amplitude). Interference such as car ignition interfering
17

signals appears as black which is less objectionable.

Picture information is in linear portion of modulation characteristic and hence does not suffer
compression. Any compression that may take place is confined to sync pulse only. The design
of AGC circuit for TV Receiver is simpler. AM produces double side bands. The information
is the same in both side bands. It is enough to transmit single side band only. Carrier also
need not be transmitted in full and a pilot carrier can help. However, suppressing the carrier
and one complete side band and transmitting a pilot carrier leads to costly TV sets.

Sound Signal Transmission

In CCIR system B sound carrier is 5.5 MHz above the vision carrier and is frequency
modulated. The maximum frequency deviation is 50 KHz. Also the ratio of vision and sound
carriers is 10:1 (20:1 is also employed in some countries) If we assume maximum audio
signal is 15 KHz the band width is 130 KHz. According to Carsons Rule the bandwidth is 2
x (Maximum frequency deviation + highest modulating frequency). However, calculated
value (using Bessels function) of Bandwidth is 150 KHz i.e. 75 KHz on either side of sound
carrier. In CCIR system picture IF is 38.9 MHz and sound. If is 33.4 MHz At the receiver end
it is necessary to ensure that signal frequencies in the region of the vestigial side band do not
appear with double amplitude after detection. For this purpose the IF curve employs
NYQUISTslope.

Fig 2.5 Block Diagram of PAL encoder.

18

Fig 2.6 TV Transmission

2.2 DOORDARSHAN KENDRA SETUP

Doordarshan Kendra, Bareilly has the following main departments which manage the
production, storage, transmission and maintenance of the two Doordarshan channels i.e. DD
National and DD News channels.

Studio Centre
Production Control Room (PCR)
Video Storage & Transmission Room (VTR)
Main Switching Room (MSR)
Transmitter
Antenna

Each of these departments are discussed in detail with due stress to the relevant engineering
aspects.
2.2.1 Studio Centre
A Studio centre of Doordarshan has the following objectives:
To originate programmes from studios either for live telecast or for recording on a video tape.

19

To knit various other sources of programs available at the production desk i.e., camera
output from studios, feed from other kendras, outdoor, playback from pre recorded

tape, film based programs slides, video graphics and characters generator etc.
This knitting or live editing includes generation of special effects and desired

transitions between various sources.

Processing/distribution of different sources to various destinations in technical areas.
Routing of mixed programme for recording/transmission via master switching room
and Micro Wave to the transmitter or any other desired destinations.

Action area
This place requires large space and ceiling as compared to any other technical area. Action in
this area includes staging, lighting, performance by artists, and arrangement to pick up picture
and sound. Hardware required for these activities in a studio (typical size 20 x20x8.5 cubic
meters) are:

Very efficient air conditioning because of lot of heat dissipation by studio light and
presence of large number of persons including invited audience performing artists and
operational crew.

Uniform and even flooring for smooth operation of camera dollies and boom microphone
etc.

Acoustic treatment keeping in mind that a television studio is a multipurpose studio with
lot of moving person and equipment during a production.

Supporting facilities like properties, wardrobe, and makeup etc.

Effective communication facilities for the floor crew with the production control area.

Studio cameras (three to four) with one of the cameras fitted with teleprompter system
and pressure dolly.

Luminaries and suspension system having grids or battens (hand/motorised operation).

Cyclodrama and curtain tracks for blue and black for chroma keying and limbo lighting
respectively.

Audio and video monitoring facilities.

Digital Clock Display.

20

Fig 2.7 TV Studio

Operational requirement from the technical crew may vary from programme to programme.
These requirements for lighting, audio pick up and special effects etc. depends upon the
programme requirement such as establishing a period, time, formal or informal situation.
2.2.2 Production Control Room (PCR)
Activities in this area are:

Direction to the production crew by the producer of the programme.

Timing a production telecast.

Editing of different sources available at the production desk.

Monitoring of output/off air signal.

This is the nerve centre for a television station. Activities in this area include:

Sync pulse generation and distribution.

Distribution of stabilised power supply to different technical areas with protection

devices.

Distribution of sources to various destinations.

Video processing and routing.

Electronics for camera chain, video switchers, special effect generator, and test signal and
pattern generator.

Monitoring facilities.

21

Patch panel for video and audio lines.

Technical areas associated with Central Apparatus Room (CAR) are:

Sync Pulse-Generator (SPG)
It is essential that all the video sources as input to the switcher are in synchronism i.e., start
and end of each line or all the frames of video sources is concurrent. This requirement is
ensured by the sync pulse generator (SPG). SPG consists of highly stable crystal oscillator.
Various pulses of standard width and frequency are derived from this crystal electronically
which form clock for the generation of video signal. These pulses are fed to all the video
generating equipment to achieve this objective of synchronism. Because of its importance,
SPG is normally duplicated for change over in case of failure.
Genlock (slaving)
Often in a production it is necessary to mix between two sources whose waveforms are not
synchronised. This is not possible until the local SPG has been synchronised with the
external source so that the locally produced signals arrive at the mixer in synchronisation
with the external source. When this occurs mixing is possible, captions, and credits produced
locally can be superimposed on external sources. For non-synchronous sources mixing and
super imposition is not possible and the signal can only be cut to with a resulting
disturbance in outgoing sync pulses which may cause frame rolls on monitors and certainly
disturbance to VTR machine which is recording. To overcome this problem, SPG is fitted
with a GENLOCK facility, which allows the master oscillator to lock to the incoming
waveform from the remote source, which then synchronises both waveforms.
Camera Control Unit (CCU)
The television cameras which include camera head with its optical focusing lens, pan and tilt
head, video signal pre-amplifier view finder and other associated electronic circuitry are
mounted on cameras trolleys and operate inside the studios. The output of cameras is preamplified in the head and then connected to the camera control unit (CCU) through long triax
cable. All the camera control voltages are fed from the CCU to the camera head over the
Triax cable. The view-finder signal is also sent over the camera cable to the camera head
view-finder for helping the cameraman in proper focusing, adjusting and composing the
shots.
22

Fig 2.8 Camera Control Unit

The video signal so obtained is amplified, H.F. corrected, equalized for cable delays, D.C.
clamped, horizontal, and vertical blanking pulses are added to it. The peak white level is also
clipped to avoid overloading of the following stages and avoiding over modulation in the
transmitter.
Light Control
The scene to be televised must be well illuminated to produce a clear and noise free picture.
The lighting should also give the depth, the correct contrast and artistic display of various
shades without multiple shadows. The lighting arrangements in a TV studio have to be very
elaborate. A large number of lights are used to meet the needs of key, fill, and back
lights etc. Lights are classified as spot and soft lights. These are suspended from motorized
hoists and telescopes. The up and down movement is remotely controlled. The switching on
and off the lights at the required time and their dimming is controlled from the light control
panel inside a lighting control room using SCR dimmer controls.
Sound mixing and control
As a rule, in television, sound accompanies the picture. Several microphones are generally
required for production of complex television programs besides other audio sources also
called marred sound from VTR, and audio tape/disc replays. All these audio sources are
connected to the sound control console. The sounds from different sources are controlled and
23

mixed in accordance with the requirement of the program. Split second accuracy is required
for providing the correct audio source in synchronisation with the picture thus requiring lot of
skill from the engineer.

Fig 2.9 Sound Mixer

2.2.3 Video Storage & Transmission Room (VTR)
Vision mixing and switching
Unlike films, television media allows switching between different sources simultaneously at
the video switcher in Production control room operated by the Vision Mixer on the direction
of the program producer. The producer directs the cameramen for proper shots on various
cameras through intercom and the vision mixer (also called VM engineer) switches shots
from the selected camera/cameras with split second accuracy, in close cooperation with the
producer.

The shots can be switched from one video source to another video source,

superimposed, cross faded, faded in or faded out electronically with actual switching being
done during the vertical intervals between the picture frames. For most of the Video Switcher
Mixing between the sources is possible only if the sources are having timing accuracy
between 50 ns to 200 ns and Burst phase for SC with an accuracy of 1.5 to 5 deg.

24

Fig 2.10 Vision Mixer

The vision mixer provides for the following operational facilities for editing of TV
programs:i.)
ii.)

TAKE: Selection of any input source

DISSOLVE: Fading out of one source of video and fading in another source of

iii.)

video.
SUPERPOSITION OF TWO SOURCES: Keypad caption when selected inlay is

iv.)

superimposed on the background picture.

SPECIAL EFFECTS: A choice of a number of wipe patterns for split screen or
wipe effects.

The selected output can be monitored in the corresponding pre-view monitor. All the picture
sources are available on the monitors. The preview monitors can be used for previewing the
VTR; camera, test signals etc. with any desired special effect, prior to its actual switching.
The switcher also provides cue facilities to switch camera tally lights as an indication to the
cameraman whether his camera is on output of the switcher.
Character Generator (CG)
Character Generator provides titles and credit captions during production in Roman script. It
provides high resolution characters, different colours for colorizing characters, background,
edges etc. The selected output can be monitored in the corresponding pre-view monitor. All
the picture sources are available on the monitors. The preview monitors can be used for
previewing the VTR; camera, test signals etc. with any desired special effect, prior to its
actual switching. The switcher also provides cue facilities to switch camera tally lights as an
indication to the cameraman whether his camera is on output of the switcher. Most of the TV
centres have professional quality Betacam SP and DVC Pro recorders. For broadcast quality
playback it has in built correction electronics i.e. a processor which comprises velocity error
25

compensation, drop-out compensation and time base correction. It also comprises a digital
variable motion unit enabling still reproduction, slow motion and visible search operation.
Digital Library System
A digital library system can grab and store pictures electronically from live video or video
tape recorder in the form of stills. Thus it is an electronic store for still TV pictures. A
picture is frozen and recorded in memory. It can be numbered in stacks or individually. Any
picture can be sized, cropped and can be provided with a border of any colour. The memory
can be expanded by using multiple disk drives.
Access to Electronic Still Storage System
Some PCRs have access to the electronic still storage system. One replay remote control of
the digital library system is mounted on the video production control table at the PCR. Still
pictures stored in the library system can be recalled and used in production by selecting them
by their addresses either from the local or from the remote control panel after recomposing if
desired.

2.2.4 Master Switching Room (MSR)

MSR is the Mater Switching Room fuser for transmission of media. It is the engineering coordination centre for a TV station. This room is the centre of activity for selecting & routing
the signal from various sources to transmitter. The Master Switching Room is certainly room
where all different sources from the outside studio come first here & enroots transmission to
different destination like Transmitter. The different incoming sources are TVRO signal (DD1, DD News) from transmitter, any live coverage signal or the signal being transmitted from
any other of the Doordarshan studios which are switched here. The output signals are fed to
the transmitter for transmission purpose and some signals are distributed and given to various
PCR, VTR or any other appropriate places.

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Fig 2.11 Functional Diagram of MSR

This room comprises of Routine switcher, stab amplifier, Video/Audio distribution amplifier,
frame synchroniser, digital/satellite clock monitoring system, logo generator vector scope,
video monitor. The programmes from TVRO & OB program are also taken to MSR switcher
unit to form part of the 16 inputs. On 16 x 8 switcher is used for its activity like on air
transmission, networking monitoring, etc.
The control console panel consisting of controls for routing switcher, stab amplifier, frame
synchronizer etc are stored here & also wave from monitors, vectroscope, video monitors,
logo generators, patch panel for final monitoring. The switcher unit and other video
equipments are in a standard rack.
16 x 8 Audio/Video Switcher
16 x 8 switcher has maximum of 16 inputs and 8 independent outputs any one of the input
signals can be switched to any one or to all the channels at the same time using a common
control panel can use it as an audio follow video switcher.
HUM Suppressor
A HUM Suppressor is used for reducing the spurious signals of different potential at the
sending and receiving ends of the transmission lines.

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Colour Stabilising Amplifier

Colour Stabilising Amplifier is employed in the video chain for regenerating noise free sync
and blanking free components from an incoming video signal. It is also use to provide
controls for adjusting various components in a video signal so that the composite colour
signal can be adjust to a standard value.
Pulse Distributer
It is used to obtain no. of synchronizing and blanking signals from an output of a sync
generator. With any one SPG centrally located a mechanism of pulse distribution is required.
With each and every 75 ohm destination requires a dedicated 75 ohm source. If this is not
done then cables will be incorrectly terminated, signals will have the wrong amplitude and
will suffer from reflection. Use of PDA provides multiple feeds to various destinations.
Frame Synchronizer
It is used to synchronize the different input signals. The synchronizer is one of the many
television units to use digital storage techniques. The signal to be synchronized is written in
to the store as its own rate and timings. It is read from the storage with respect to station sync.
At the timing and rate of studio centre, thus making it synchronous. If there are too many
outstation feeds a synchronizer with each will allow mixing them with the other studio
sources.
Vectrometer
Every colour has a specific amplitude and phase relations. This should be maintained to get
correct output on the screen. This can be checked on vectrometer, which shows the amplitude
& phase of R, G & B colours. It looks like RADAR screen. It gives the idea about amplitude
and phase of different colours.
Sima Router
Every input and every output is given a specific code. The selected input and the
corresponding output code can be checked on the sigma router.

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Change Over Unit

It is used to provide facilities for selecting video signals from one of the two sources. The
changeover of all the inputs can be done from panel or from a remote point.
Waveform Monitor
Waveform Monitor is used to check and monitor video level at exactly 1 V pp & to monitor the
audio level at 0 dB. The audio level should be kept less than 0 Db. This is then amplified in
low power transmitter.
2.2.5 Transmitter
A transmitter can be a separate piece of electronic equipment, or an electrical circuit within
another electronic device. A transmitter and receiver combined in one unit is called a
transceiver. The term transmitter is often abbreviated "XMTR" or "TX" in technical
documents. The information is provided to the transmitter in the form of an electronic signal,
such as an audio (sound) signal from a microphone, a video (TV) signal from a TV camera,
or in wireless networking devices a digital signal from a computer. The transmitter combines
the information signal to be carried with the radio frequency signal which generates the radio
waves, which is often called the carrier. This process is called modulation. The information
can be added to the carrier in several different ways, in different types of transmitter. In an
amplitude modulation (AM) transmitter, the information is added to the radio signal by
varying its amplitude (strength).

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Fig 2.12 BEL MARK III 10kV Transmitter

The antenna may be enclosed inside the case or attached to the outside of the transmitter, as
in portable devices such as cell phones, walkie-talkies, and auto keyless remotes. In more
powerful transmitters, the antenna may be located on top of a building or on a separate tower,
and connected to the transmitter by a feed line (transmission line).
Classification of Transmitters According To Power

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Fig 2.13 Transmitter Classification transmitter based on Power

A/D,D/A
CONVERTER

VISUAL
IF CORRECTORVISUAL MIXER
MODULATOR

DIGITAL VIDEO
COMPENSATOR

SYNTHESIZER

AURAL MODULATOR

AURAL MIXER

Fig 2.14 High Power Transmitter

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EXCITER #A

A MOD
MONITOR
V OUT PUT MON
A OUT
PUT MON

VISUAL OUT

V IF IF
AURAL IN

32 mWA

VISUAL OUT
EXCITER #B

DRIVER #A

Fig 2.15 Low Power Transmitter

Fig 2.16 Block diagram of BEL MARK III 10kW Transmitter

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Various functional stages are described as follows:

Crystal Oscillator and Buffer Stage
The crystal oscillator with buffer stage is generally kept together and is shielded by a metal
cover to isolate from other circuits. This crystal oscillator employs a pentode tube 6 AU 6 or
its equivalent, connected as a triode. The frequency of oscillation is controlled by a quartz
crystal

and

by

variable

trimmer

capacitor.

The frequency of the medium wave transmitter should be highly stable. For medium wave
transmitter operating in the range of 540 kHz to 1602 kHz, the variation of a transmitter
frequency should be within a tolerance of + 10 Hertz. To maintain a high stability of the
transmitter frequency it is necessary that the oscillator should oscillate at a particular
frequency against variations in voltage and ambient temperature. Hence the crystal is kept in
a constant temperature ovens whose temperature is controlled by a thermostat and maintained
at a 75o + 1.5o C. The oscillator frequency changes considerably under initial transient
condition that is when power is switched ON. However, it is essential to keep it always ready
at a stable condition. To facilitate this separate power supply is provided to feed the oven
which can be switched ON and OFF with the help of a snap switch S3 (Oven) located on the
AE panel of the transmitter. Two crystal units X1 and X2 housed separately in different ovens
Z1 and Z2 viz. a normal and a stand by unit are provided. Either one of them can be selected
by means of change over switch S2.
Exciter
This stage is operated as a class - C amplifier, employing air cooled tetrode type BEL 400 and
drives P.A. stage. Screen supply is taken from plate supply. The output is a tuned circuit
consists of a fixed capacitor C 29 (Value of C29 depends on the operating frequency) and coil
L3. L3 is having a flipper, through it, fine tuning can be made. This stage is modulated about
10 to 20%. A small secondary tap from the modulation transformer supplies the necessary
audio and super-imposes on the DC Plate supply. When the triodes are anode modulated, the
grid must be overdriven in the carrier condition in order that the drive level will be adequate
to sustain the peak anode current at 100% modulation. Alternatively the drive must be
modulated. Hence the 10 to 20% modulation. With tetrode the same effect is achieved by
modulating the screen enabling the anode current peaks to be attained with the same level as
that required for the carrier only condition. To some extent this ceases the grid dissipation
limit.
33

Fig 2.17 Exciter

Power Amplifier Stage
This is a class - C power amplifier obtaining the required output by means of three parallel
connected forced air cooled, directly heated triode tubes type BEL 3000. As a triode tube is
used in this stage, neutralization technique is adopted to neutralize, the grid-plate capacitance.
The output circuit is formed by PI () and 'L' section made up of coils and condensers. There
is a variable coil to tune the output. A second harmonic filter is connected at the output which
attenuates the harmonics. This filter is a simple L C circuit tuned to the second harmonic
frequency. The output circuit also matches the plate impedance of about 1100 ohms to the
feeder impedance of 230 ohms, which is carried out at the time of installation of the
transmitter using Impedance Bridge.
Crystal Oscillator
To oscillate at a consistent frequency, the crystal is kept in a oven. The temperature of the
oven is maintained between 68 to 72o C and the corresponding indication is available in the
meter panel. Crystal oven is heated by + 12 V. One crystal oscillator with a standby has been
provided. It gives an output of 5 V square wave which is required to drive the Transistor
Power Amplifier. The crystal oscillator works between 3 MHz and 6 MHz for different carrier
frequencies. Different capacitors are used to select different frequency ranges. In addition,
34

variable capacitor is used for varying the frequency of the crystal within a few cycles. The
oscillator frequency is divided by 2, 4, or 8 which is selected by jumpering the appropriate
terminals. The oscillator Unit gives 3 outputs, one each for RF output, RF Monitoring and RF
output indication.
High Pass Filter
The audio input from the speech rack is fed to active High Pass Filter. It cuts off all
frequencies below 60 Hz. Its main function is to suppress the switching transistors from the
audio input. This also has the audio attenuator and audio muting relay which will not allow
AF to further stage till RF is about 70 kW of power.
AF Pre Amplifier
The output of the High Pass Filter is fed to the AF Pre-amplifier, one for each balanced audio
line. Signal from the negative feedback network from the secondary of the modulation
transformer and the signals from the compensator also are fed to this unit.
AF Pre-Corrector
Pre- amplifier output is fed to the AF Pre-correctors. As the final modulator valve in the AF is
operating as Class B, its gain will not be uniform for various levels of AF signal. That is the
gain of the modulator will be low for low level, input, and high for high level AF input
because of the operating characteristics of the Vacuum tubes. Hence to compensate for the
non linear gain of the modulator. The Pre-corrector amplifies the low level signal highly and
high level signal with low gain. Hum compensator is used to have a better signal to noise
ratio.

AF Driver
Two AF drivers are used to drive the two modulator valves. The driver provides the necessary
DC Bias voltage and also AF signal sufficient to modulate 100%. The output of AF driver
stage is formed by four transistor in series as it works with a high voltage of about -400 V. the
transistors are protected with diodes and Zener diodes against high voltages that may result
due to internal tube flashovers. There is a potentiometer by which any clipping can be
avoided such that the maximum modulation factor will not be exceeded.
35

AF Final Stage
AF final stage is equipped with ceramic tetrodes CQK-25. Filament current of this tube is
about 210 Amperes at 10V. The filament transformers are of special leakage reactance type
and their short circuit current is limited to about 2 to 3 times the normal load current. Hence
the filament surge current at the time of switching on will not exceed the maximum limit. A
varistor at the screen or spark gaps across the grid are to prevent over voltages. As the
modulator valve is condensed vapour cooled tetrodes, deionised water is used for cooling.
The valve required about 11.5 litres/min. of water. Two water flow switches WF1 and WF2 in
the water lines of each of the valves protect against low or no water flow. Thermostats WT1
and WT2 in each water line provide protection against excessive water temp. by tripping the
transmitter up to stand-by if the temperature of the water exceeds 70o C.
Modulation condenser and modulation choke have been dispensed with due to the special
design of the modulation transformer. Special high power varistor is provided across the
secondary winding of the modulation transformer to prevent transformer over voltages.
Corrector / Divider unit
This unit comprises of 2 sections namely linearity corrector unit and 2 way hybrid divider.
The pre-corrected RF signal is fed to the 2 way hybrid divider which gives 2 outputs which
are 90 degree phase difference
Dual Driver Unit
This unit houses 2 independent chain of amplifiers capable of delivering +37dBm output.
2-Way Combiner Unit
It comprises of 2 way 90 degree hybrid combiner, a dummy load, a directional coupler and a
peak power circuit. The combiner unit combines the 80W unit output to give around 130W
visual RF output.
2.2.6 Antenna
To transmit and receive a RF signal an antenna is required to be used. In other words, antenna
convert electromagnetic waves into electrical currents and vice versa. Antenna are used in
systems such as radio and TV broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication, mobile,
36

radar, and space exploration etc. Antenna are most commonly employed air but can also be
operated under water or even through soil and rock at certain frequencies for short distances.
Physically, an antenna is simply an arrangement of one or more conductors usually called
elements in this context. In transmission, an alternating current is created in the elements by
applying a voltage at the antennae terminals, causing the elements to radiate an
electromagnetic field. In reception, the inverse occurs: an electromagnetic field from another
source induces an alternating current in the elements and a corresponding voltage at the
antenna's terminals.
Some receiving antennae (such as parabolic and horn types) incorporate shape reflective
surfaces to collect EM waves from free space and direct or focus them onto the actual
conductive elements. The performance of an array depends on the number of elements in the
array (generally more elements yields better performance), the weighting vector used, and the
geometry of the array. An antenna array (often called a 'phased array') is a set of 2 or more
antenna. The signals from the antenna are combined or processed in order to achieve
improved performance over that of a single antenna. The antenna array can be used to:

Increase the overall gain

Provide diversity reception

Cancel out interference from a particular set of directions

Steer the array so that it is most sensitive in a particular direction

Determine the direction of arrival of the incoming signals

To maximize the Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR)

Various types of antenna used in Doordarshan network are as follows:

Omnidirectional Antenna
An omnidirectional antenna is an antenna system which radiates power uniformly in one
plane with a directive pattern shape in a perpendicular plane. This pattern is often described
as donut shaped.
37

Panel Type Antenna

Panel type antenna used Panel Arrays can be designed to provide customized radiation
patterns with or without beam tilt and null fill for specific coverage requirements. Panel
arrays are used for the band I, II, III, IV and V TV and FM. These types of antennae have
been extensively used in Doordarshan network.
Slot Antenna
Slot antenna are used typically at frequencies between 300 MHz and 24 GHz. These antennas
are popular because they can be cut out of whatever surface they are to be mounted on, and
have radiation patterns that are roughly omnidirectional. The polarization is linear (H or V).
The slot size, shape and what is behind its (the cavity) offer design variables that can be used
to tune performance. Doordarshan generally uses cylindrical slot antennae for transmission.
Whip Antenna
A whip antenna is the most common example of monopole antenna, i.e. antenna with a single
driven element and a ground plane. The whip antenna is a stiff but flexible wire mounted,
usually vertically, with one end adjacent to a ground plane. The whip antennae can also be
called a half-dipole antenna, and as such, has a toroidal radiation pattern where the axis of the
toroid centres about the whip. The length of the whip determines its wavelength, although it
may be shortened with a loading coil anywhere along the antennae. Whips are generally a
fraction of their actual operating wavelength, with half-wave and quarter-wave whips being
very common. These antennae are widely used, especially for mobile applications and handheld radios.
Parabolic Reflector Antennae
The most well-known reflector antenna is the parabolic reflector antennae, commonly known
as a satellite dish antennae. Parabolic reflectors typically have a very high gain (30-40 dB is
common) and low cross polarization. They also have a reasonable bandwidth, with the
fractional bandwidth being at least 5% on commercially available models, and can be very
wideband in the case of huge dishes (which can operate from 150 MHz to 1.5 GHz).The
smaller dish antennae typically operate somewhere between 2 and 28 GHz. The large dishes

38

can operate in the VHF region (30-300 MHz), but typically need to be extremely large at this
operating band.

Fig 2.18 Types of Antennas

Yagi Antenna
A Yagi-Uda Antenna, commonly known simply as a Yagi antenna or Yagi, is a directional
antenna system consisting of an array of a dipole and additional closely coupled parasitic
elements (usually a reflector and one or more directors). The dipole in the array is driven, and
another element, typically 10 percent longer, effectively operates as a reflector. Other
parasitic elements shorter than the dipole may be added in front of the dipole and are referred
to as directors. This arrangement gives the antennae directionality that a single dipole lacks.

39

Fig 2.19 Antenna at DDK

Doordarshan is having TV transmitting antennae of following types: panel type antennae, slot
type antennae, super-turnstile antennae; parabolic dish antennae for uplinking and down
linking of RF signal to satellite in the space; and microwave dish antennae for linking RF
signal between two locations.

CHAPTER 3

4.1 TRAINING SUMMARY

The Vocational Training at Doordarshan Kendra gave useful knowledge which will surely
help in future. This training provided an opportunity to learn the various aspects related to

40

practical implementation of the theoretical concepts of the field, Electronic and

Communication.
Training at DDK taught about the basic existing technology and the procedures utilized for
the television transmission and reception at the Lucknow Kendra. The working of
equipments for the measurement of different parameters like current, voltage, voltage
standing wave ratio, power, waveform etc. was also a part of this four week training. Training
at Doordarshan included the basic knowledge about the different stages starting from
capturing the video in the studio or the outside coverage then addition of special effects or the
enhancement through the devices like audio and video mixers and finally making way to the
transmitter section for the broadcasting of the captured signals. Every stage included in the
Doordarshan Kendra has its own and unique importance and cannot be neglected.

CHAPTER 4
4.1 CONCLUSION
Doordarshan, the national television service of India, is devoted to public service
broadcasting. It is one of the largest terrestrial networks in the world. Doordarshan is the first
41

ISO certified channel in India. The largest proportion of viewers of India, watch
Doordarshan. It has good future scope in communication world because largest network is
covered by the Doordarshan only. As now a days there is a huge competition and everything
is getting digitized there is a wide scope for electronics and communication engineers to
show their skills and keep the technology up to date. Doordarshan, the national television
service of India, is devoted to public service broadcasting. It is one of the largest terrestrial
networks in the world.

REFERENCES

[1]

www.ddindia.gov.in

42

[2]

www.scribd.com

[3]

www.google.com/imghp

[4]

Matter provided at DDK, Lucknow

43