I offered an opinion on the topic, but you didn't like it much. And that is, even if you are qualified technically, which I accept, you can't make a snap judgement that "the entire problem could have been avoided if the FCC had proper engineering people who had chosen / demanded higher transmitter power and transmitting antenna type and site choices. "
As I asked before, what tests did you conduct, data did you collect, cost/benefit analysis, transmitter site selection realities in the real world, etc. did you go through before coming to your conclusion? Did you look at what the FCC looked at? If not, then how can you make this judgement?
It would seem that as an engineer with management experience, you would realize that there is a process you have to go through to review all the pertinent data, issues, cost/benefits, etc instead of making a snap judgement. I think the FCC and the broadcasters did go through that process.
So, for example, do you think the near failure of GM, Ford, Chrysler are due to bad leadership and bad decision making in Washington? And if so, how is that foreign competitors, eg Honda, BMW, that build cars in the USA are not in anywhere near as bad shape? And how is it that US companies like Intel, Microsoft, Boeing, are very successful world competitors? You think Washington is responsible for Intel's success and management?
I agree that there's bad decision making in Washington. As long as it's confined to locating a statute of some obscure general from the Phillipine Insurrection, no problem. But when the decision affects our lives, watch out! For example, a new law going into effect February 1st requires commercial products for children under ten to be independently tested for, inter alia, lead is obscene. Guess what will have to be tested? Clothing, including used clothing distributed by charity centers. Linens, shoes, crayons, car seats. Books. Yes, children's books will have to be certified!
Nothing exists in a vacuum - things are different elsewhere. Much of what we do here is dictitated by our size. Transportation? At any instant, we have upwards of 4,000 aircraft aloft in the United States. Anybody close? Likewise, Americans own 125 million cars and all of them are on the road during rush hour here in Houston. Anybody close? You may point to high-speed rail and this works in countries like Japan with a high-density population or France where the rail system is owned (and loses money) by the government.
Manufacturing? The U.S. is the world's leader in manufactured products - of course, again, our size has a lot to do with it.
Health care delivery? Giggle. There are more MRI machines just in Seattle than in any other country in the world. Those who trot out statistics in an attempt to prove country "X" is better at "Y" than the United States almost never provide a critical metric: Wait-time to see a physican or obtain a procedure. I can get an appointment to see my internist within 24 hours and schedule an elective procedure (i.e., knee joint replacement) within three days.
Asses kicked in world competition? Hardly. Just the growth in the U.S. GDP is larger than the entire GDP of China.
So, for example, do you think the near failure of GM, Ford, Chrysler are due to bad leadership and bad decision making in Washington? And if so, how is that foreign competitors, eg Honda, BMW, that build cars in the USA are not in anywhere near as bad shape? And how is it that US companies like Intel, Microsoft, Boeing, are very successful world competitors? You think Washington is responsible for Intel's success and management?
The automobile industry partially illustrates my point. Both German and Japan have formulated specific strategic plans to produce high fuel efficiency vehicles, hybrids in Japan, and low emission diesels in Germany. Both German and Japanese governments subsidized and facilitated these programs, making the R&D investments and strategic focus very concerted and very explicit as national priorities. They put the U.S. automakers at a disadvantage competitively.
The semiconductor, aerospace, and computer industry in the U.S. derived enormous R&D benefits from U.S. government investments in military and industrial research and development starting many years ago. The Space Program and Cold War defense spending had tremendous "spin-off" contributions to making the U.S. a leader in these areas of technology, and virtually all of the propulsion and jet engine development, avionics, flight control systems, as well as integrated circuit / LSI technology owes its origin to government sponsorship.
So yes....I think a lot of today's mature industry is directly or indirectly a beneficiary of these investments. It is the future I am concerned about, since these R&D efforts are no longer substantially done by government support, And moreover, those who are leading the efforts appear to lack the foresight or vision or technical competence to place our long term national growth strategy on a competitive path.
Oh My God! You know that's right. Chuckles and Grins. Got to go. Bye for now.
formatting link
FWIW, now that we have a family texting plan, I'm in contact with my kids more than ever. Often, in the middle of the day, I'll get things like:
- Got an A on the math test. Thanks for your help - Practice cancelled - I'm bored - Hi! - What was that song we heard last night? - I've got a ride home. C U later.
Short quick bursts of conversations, sometimes 5 - 6 times a day. Things that aren't worth a long conversation, but can always be followed up with a phone call if needed.
Ever tried to carry on a cell phone conversation with someone at a Varsity basketball game? A text conversation is a piece of cake - especially when your kid is sitting on the other side of the raucus gym. "How are you getting home?" "With you!" "I'll meet you out front." "K"
Discovered something annoying last night... was watching the playoff game (go stillers) and decided to watch it OTA rather than off cable so I could see it in widescreen (well, letterboxed, but whatever) I am using a Channel Master CM7000 tuner box with aforementioned wabbit ears and bowtie. Every couple minutes the audio would drop out for a second or so then come back in, sometimes with some pixellation sometimes not. I thought it might be a problem with the station's sat feed because I have not noticed this on any other channels that I watch. But the same thing happened with the news this AM as I left it on Channel 9 (WUSA) rather than one of the other channels. Now I never watch Channel 9, so I have not noticed this before, but it doesn't appear to be a problem with my setup as I can leave the "info" menu on the screen and see that the signal strength remains pegged at
100% while it drops out. Also ran a long piece of coax up the stairs just to see if it was antenna position but with the antenna upstairs it still does this. Have not seen this with any other channels... if this is going to be permanent this kinda puts a damper on my TV watching experience, and I may just keep my cable and not install a roof mounted antenna like I'd originally planned. Based on the coverage maps I'm just outside the "red" zone for WUSA so this should not be a problem at all.
Discovered something annoying last night... was watching the playoff game (go stillers) and decided to watch it OTA rather than off cable so I could see it in widescreen (well, letterboxed, but whatever) I am using a Channel Master CM7000 tuner box with aforementioned wabbit ears and bowtie. Every couple minutes the audio would drop out for a second or so then come back in, sometimes with some pixellation sometimes not. I thought it might be a problem with the station's sat feed because I have not noticed this on any other channels that I watch. But the same thing happened with the news this AM as I left it on Channel 9 (WUSA) rather than one of the other channels. Now I never watch Channel 9, so I have not noticed this before, but it doesn't appear to be a problem with my setup as I can leave the "info" menu on the screen and see that the signal strength remains pegged at
100% while it drops out. Also ran a long piece of coax up the stairs just to see if it was antenna position but with the antenna upstairs it still does this. Have not seen this with any other channels... if this is going to be permanent this kinda puts a damper on my TV watching experience, and I may just keep my cable and not install a roof mounted antenna like I'd originally planned. Based on the coverage maps I'm just outside the "red" zone for WUSA so this should not be a problem at all.
nate
Nate,
"Multipath cancellation" can wreak havoc with digital signals, loosely analogous to "ghosts" which can show up on analog signals. The problem arises from the temporary or permanent bounce of the transmitted signal on some reflector between you and the transmitter. This bounced signal arrives slightly later, via a different path from the direct signal. The result at your antenna is a cancellation or smearing of digital data.
Overhead aircraft can cause the problem. Fluttering tree limbs are also often the culprit. One problem I ultimately found was a large nearby traffic sign blowing in the wind which caused my relative to have drop-outs on windy days. Signal strengths can be very high but this effect will still show up.
The modulation system used for over-the-air digital TV has some built-in immunity, using redundant bits, forward error correction, and other methods, but it is far from being perfect.
Cable companies will normally site their receiving antennas at very high locations to ensure line of sight reception with little or no multipath degradation. Highly directional antennas can also help, but introduce their own new issues related to proper pointing.
A brief description of how multipath is measurable with a Sencore test device is at:
gee I saw this last nite in pittsburgh but wasnt watching the game. signal strength bounces a lot over time, apparently on all channels I was watching RTN one of channel 11s feeds
Its the super bowl bottom of the 4 quarter its a long pass, its going going
(blank screen) the fans are going wild here! it was the pass of a century, the final score (blank screen)
my normal signal strength is excellent on the channel blanking out
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.