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Contact: Michael Sherman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tel. 319-754-0604
Cell Phone: 901-351-9861
Email: msher@winegard.com
Winegard Company INTRODUCES
3 NEW HDTV PRODUCTS AT CES 2004
TO SUPPORT ITS DIGITAL ANTENNA LINE,
TO OFFER TOTALLY INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS
FOR DIGITAL/HDTV RECEPTION
Winegard Will Offer The First Quarter Of 2004
An Off-Air/Terrestrial HDTV Set-Top Converter Box The HDTV2 TM DigiMaxTM
A New Antenna Rotor, The HDTV2 TM AccuMaxTM And
3 Ultra Low Noise HDTV2 TM Amplifiers For Use Wtih Off-Air, Digital, Analog and CATV
To Compliment Winegard¡¯s Digital/HDTV Antenna Line
Burlington, Iowa, January 2, 2004. Winegard Company, an innovator and pioneer in product design, performance and assembly, announced today a new marketing initiative to offer totally integrated solutions to their different antenna customers, while continuing to provide products in line with the quality standards of Winegard to meet those consumer demands. In order to offer this totally integrated solution with quality electronic components such as pre-amps and distribution amps to support digital reception needs and deliver the full HDTV package, Winegard looked for and found this targeted support with an Asian manufacturer of quality support products.
Bob Howell, Director of Distribution Systems/Off-Air Antenna Division said ¡°We accomplished this by entering into a Strategic Alliance with Pro Brand International to work together to develop and bring new, innovative, quality products to market. Pro Brand International is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia. While Pro Brand has demonstrated themselves to be a quality manufacturer of consumer products since 1983 with an excellent reputation in the industry, it does not have the established distribution and customer support arm that Winegard has developed over the past 50 years.? This Strategic Alliance serves both companies well and provides the conduit to continue to lead the industry in innovative, creative technologies and exciting new products to the consumer. For example, in support of our Digital/HDTV Off-Air line of antennas, we immediately identified the need to point a Digital/HDTV antenna accurately. In Winegard¡¯s drive to be the leader in HDTV antenna total technology solutions, we worked closely with Pro Brand to bring a new rotor concept and design for digital TV reception to market, Winegard¡¯s AccuMaxTM AMR-100¡±
The AccuMaxTM AMR-100 Off-Air Antenna Rotor was specifically designed for digital TV configuration. While a quality rotor is a good idea for analog signal reception, it is absolutely critical for Digital/HDTV reception. Aiming antennas to pick up digital signals is all about absolute accuracy. Howell continued ¡°New digital antennas have to be able to zero in on the specific multi-path signal you want to demodulate and reject all other multi-path signals reaching the antenna at the same time. The accuracy of a rotor in being able to always return exactly to the same multi-path signal selected and programmed into the head-end set-top box is critical. The only rotor to accomplish this will be the Winegard AccuMaxTM.¡±
In making this announcement, Howell said ¡°This is just the next step in long term Winegard marketing initiatives started this year which will include additional Strategic Alliances, such as the one begun this fall between Winegard and Terk Technologies. Winegard became the antenna manufacturer and supplier to Terk for three high-performance Digital/HDTV Winegard antennas, the TV32, TV36 and TV38 allowing TERK to expand its antenna line to a total of 6 Digital/HDTV antennas in support of Terk¡¯s HDTV Initiative.¡±
Winegard and Pro Brand also worked together to bring to market the first quarter of 2004, an Off-Air/Terrestrial HDTV Set-Top Converter Box ¨C The HDTV2TM ?DigiMaxTM HD-RC10 available through Winegard¡¯s general line distribution base, the Recreational RV OEMs and after market dealers. It includes, on board, an AC-3 decoder chip allowing the customer to receive true 5.1 Dolby Digital audio.
The third group of products to be introduced at CES 2004 by Winegard are another part of this totally integrated solution initiative. They include 3 Ultra Low Noise HDTV2TM Distribution Amplifiers for use with Off-Air, Digital, Analog and CATV signal distribution systems, the HDA-1015 with 1 ¡°RF¡± output and 15dB gain, the HDA-1011 with 2 ¡°RF¡± outputs and 11 dB gain and the HDA-1008 with 4 ¡°RF¡± outputs and 8dB gain. This new line of HDTV2TM ?Distribution Amplifiers can be cascaded for large installations.
Howell continued ¡°With the dawn of HDTV, Winegard faced two challenges. The first was to meet the demand for HDTV antennas. We have accomplished this first challenge by designing, testing and building two antenna lines specifically for the Digital/HDTV market, Winegard¡¯s Platinum HD Series Antenna Line and our newest, our HDTV2 TM antenna product line, which will be kicked off by the introduction of our newest High-Band VHF/UHF Digital/Analog/HDTV Antenna System, the SquareShooterTM SS-1000, selected as an Honoree in the 2004 CES Design and Engineering Showcase in the accessories category.
Howell said ¡°Our marketing objective is to continue to offer total solutions to our different antenna customers and to continue to provide products in line with the quality standards of Winegard to meet our consumer demand. Another example of a totally integrated solutions is our joint venture with PACE Electronics, one of the largest commercial distributors for head-end gear in the U.S. and DIRECTV¡®s largest Master System Operator. PACE introduced three new products at CEDIA Expo 2003 manufactured by Winegard and developed jointly for multi-unit residential and commercial installers. And we were very pleased when we found out that the new PACE Satellite Distribution Box and PACE Satellite Distribution Amplifier were selected by CEDIA Daily editors for inclusion on their Hot 50 List for 2003 because of the integrated solution they offered MDU installers.¡±
Winegard and Pro Brand plan multiple projects moving forward targeted at delivering solutions and opportunity for the industry and the consumer. Delivery will start from Pro Brand to Winegard in the first quarter of 2004
Registered press are invited to attend our press conference on Wednesday from 10:00-11:00 AM, Room S227 following Pioneer from 9:00-10:00 next door and anyone to visit us at our Booth # 17304 in the Lower Hall of the South wing. Come see first hand Winegard¡¯s newest products for 2004, the AccuMaxTM AMR-100, the SquareShooterTM SS-1000, Winegard¡¯s newest High-Band VHF/UHF Digital/Analog/HDTV Antenna System, winner of an Innovations Award in the 2004 Design and Engineering Showcase, the Pace SK-0203 Stacked LNB, the Pace DA-2050 Satellite Distribution Amplifier and the new Pace LDB-16 L-Band Distribution Box, the last two selected by the CEDIA Daily editors for their Hot Fifty List for 2003 and many of the other 1,000 products manufactured by Winegard. Visit also our Automotive Division Booth # 4636 located at LVCC No 1-4.
About Winegard Company
The Winegard Company is widely considered an innovator and pioneer in product design, performance and assembly and has consistently adapted to meet the challenges of the ever-changing electronics market. It remains committed to continuous improvement in the quality, cost and delivery of its products and services to effectively meet all of its customer¡¯s needs and currently designs and manufactures more than 1,000 different products in four product lines distributed in all states and worldwide, including:
- Satellite Antennas and Mounts: Residential antennas ranging in size from 18 cm to 1 meter.
- Mobile Television Reception Products: RV, Trucking, and Marine applications. Satellite systems ranging from manual crank-up models to automatic satellite tracking systems with GPS/DVB. Off-air antennas including bi-directional and omni-directional VHF/UHF/FM antennas. Ground Antenna Mounts and Accessories.
- Off-Air Antennas: From DC to 5.8 gigs AM/FM/VHF/UHF Antenna Systems, Distribution and Pre-Amplifiers, Power Supplies and Accessories
- Telemetry: Medical and Data Antenna Systems, Distribution Amplifiers, Power Supplies and Accessories.
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If you¡¯d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Robert Howell, please call Michael Sherman at 319-754-0604 or send an email to msher@winegard.com
Winegard AccuMaxTM
Antenna Rotor AMR-100
Winegard AccuMaxTM
Antenna Rotor AMR-100
Controller
Winegard HDTV2 DigiMaxTM HD-RC10 Receiver
Contact Michael Sherman at msadvertising@aol.com or call 662-893-8360 anytime |
