TRECE began its broadcasts in 2010 and has since made a name for itself in the Spanish audiovisual landscape as one of the terrestrial digital television (TDT) channels with the highest volume of in-house production and live hours. Since 2020, the channel has been part of ÁBSIDE MEDIA, a leading multimedia group that brings together, in a common structure, both operationally and editorially, media outlets that have emerged from the Church's initiative in Spain, with reference radio brands in the generalist (COPE) and music (CADENA 100, RockFM, and MegaStarFM) fields.

We had the opportunity to tour the facilities of TRECE in Madrid, accompanied by Daniel Cemillán, who showed us the different technical areas of the TV station and the multipurpose studios where their programs are produced. This allowed us to appreciate the technical deployment they are carrying out to transition to HD.

In their technical room, we see last-generation modules installed in the same chassis that Albalá supplied 15 years ago at the start of TRECE's television activity. Backwards compatibility allows the combination and upgrading of modules or cards for the migration from SD to HD without the need to replace a large portion of the existing equipment, avoiding unnecessary investments or technical difficulties in access and operation.

Daniel comments, "The robustness of these card modules, which is a critical point in the production chain, and their reliability have been significant advantages that we value greatly. Additionally, the option to utilize the existing empty spaces to add the new cards we need for this technological transition from SD to HD is extremely flexible and, of course, cost-effective for us, as we benefit from having the necessary new modules within Albalá's extensive product catalog."

An important technological advantage of Albalá's equipment, when planning and carrying out these upgrades or expansions, is that Albalá Ingenieros' products are designed to operate with natural ventilation without the need for fans. The air inside an Albalá chassis is at the same pressure as the rest of the rack room since there are no fans that create pressure differences. For this reason, the rearrangement of modules within a chassis can be done without worrying about leaving any of the slots empty, temporarily or permanently, without a panel to cover the gap.

When compared to modular electronic equipment that uses forced ventilation, removing a card from one of the slots in such a chassis requires immediately covering that slot with another module or card, or with a blank panel. Failure to do so can result in significant airflow distortion caused by the open slot, leading to overheating, malfunctions, or damage to other modules in that chassis.

None of this occurs with Albalá's products thanks to their highly efficient design in the use of electrical power, allowing for fanless natural ventilation, resulting in extremely reliable operation that is completely free of noise.

The engineers at TRECE have used a significant number of Albalá modules for this project, such as the HVD3000C01 video signal distribution, and analog and digital audio embedding and de-embedding modules HAE3000C01, HDE3000C01, and HAD3000C01, as well as the synchronizers HFS3000C01. These modules provide a combination of technology, quality, robustness, and reliability that, along with the price, make us truly proud of the results of our work and efforts, highly appreciated by the client.

"We are delighted with Albalá. In fact, we never consider changing the manufacturer," comments Daniel. He adds, "If any element of the modular equipment needs to be changed, we immediately have it thanks to the proximity for brand support and the flexibility of Albalá, which provides immediate customer service that, thanks to their technology, perfectly meets our needs and requirements."