Melbourne- US lower-power TV broadcasters (LPTV) have been urged to put in place plans to convert to digital television to meet the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) February 2009 deadline.

“The authorities have unfortunately left the LPTV market till last, with little time to spare," said Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) Principal Broadcast System Sales and Area Product Manager, Andrés González. He contrasted US’s high-power stations' conversion timeline (1756 stations, which started conversion in the late 1990s), with the 2227 LPTV stations that are only now rushing to meet the February 17 2009 deadline. "There really isn't a great deal of time. Our advice to the LPTV market is put your conversion plans in place now–don't leave it till the last minute," he said.

At April’s NAB convention, RDS will be exhibiting its wideband RD cavity-slot antennas which have power-handling capabilities of up to 220kW and operate over wide frequency ranges, typically 10 to 20 channels.