[opendtv] Re: Reception range

John Willkie wrote: 
This is the funniest thing that I've seen on this list in
months!  More funny than the assertion that all HDTV is
square pixels -- which isn't the case.

My responses by way of interlineations


This is not brain surgery, or quantum mechanics. Amateurs can to it quite well with free tools available on the Internet.

Find out the actual ERP in your direction (yes, you do need to call the station to see what power they are running, and check for a directional antenna. If you are over horizon
it is ALMOST ALWAYS a good assumption that they are aimed (by tilt) at the horizon. Then get a Longley-Rice model
program (a very very good one is available free on the Internet, I contributed the actual L-R generated loss maps) and use it.

I suggest telling it to use 99%-50% parameters (50% of the places 99% of the time). If it says you will get reception, you will. Using less than 99% appears to work well too, if you have some way to measure actual received power (which I do, as I have a permanently installed spectrum analyzer at my place. The 50% prediction does appear about the average power, over the year.)

There is another thing to note about receiving a station: you need to check for co and adjacent channel stations. I find that with my receiver (the infamous $99 Accurian) you need a 34dB or more less difference in average power over the 5.5 MHz to get reception of the weaker signal for
adjacent DTV channels.

In the East this could be a big problem.

Doug McDonald








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