[1] This is accomplished through the use of terrestrial microwave links or by using fiber optic or other telecommunication connections to the transmitter site.
Depending on the locations that must be connected, a station may choose either a point to point (PTP) link on another special radio frequency, or a newer all-digital wired link via a dedicated data transmission circuit.
Stations that employ an STL usually also have a transmitter/studio link (TSL) to return telemetry information.
The transmitter/studio link (or TSL) of a radio station or television station is a return link which sends telemetry data from the remotely located radio transmitter or television transmitter back to the studio for monitoring purposes.
Analog or digital data such as transmitter power, temperature, VSWR, voltage, modulation level, and other status information are returned so that broadcast engineering staff can correct any problems as soon as possible.