| Why am I not suprised Not everyone has a clear LOS with OTA Digital TV towers and until this problem is fixed (and it won't) services like the now defunct USDTV and this will fail.
Unlike cellular towers which are everywhere, in most TV markets 1 tower services hundreds of miles and of course with OTA digital you either get a good signal or you don't.
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"Time does not actually exist beyond an artificial measure we create in our minds to separate events we experience into blocks that are easier to reference instead of as a whole single event that just happens and continues happening" - evolvedant |
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 RR ConductorHappy 40th AmtrakPremium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
kudos:1 | I checked, it's not available here in the Ukiah, CA area. This area receives OTA TV signals from a repeater on Spanish Mountain, overlooking Ukiah, it rebroadcasts weaker signals coming out of SF (100 miles south). |
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| reply to BodyBumper
said by BodyBumper:Not everyone has a clear LOS with OTA Digital TV towers and until this problem is fixed (and it won't) services like the now defunct USDTV and this will fail. Moviebeam uses the analog signal from PBS station to carry the embedded digital signal, not the digital ATSC signal. I was checking the website and they make a point of this small "digital" antenna is all that is needed. That may be ok in most places up to 20 or 25 miles, but not at longer ranges. And how would that small antenna work for PBS stations on VHF low? Typical gloss over the technical issues sales pitch. 10 new movies a week? Not much of a catalog.
I assume they had a plan for the post-analog shutdown era, but maybe that is one reason they folded up. Converting the PBS stations to a digital ATSC distribution may have been a significant cost hit. Anyway, there will be a bunch of useless boxes soon. The USDTV boxes could still be used for digital OTA reception. The MovieBeam boxes are only useful for their system. |
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 TzaleProud Libertarian ConservativePremium
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro | reply to BodyBumper
said by BodyBumper:Not everyone has a clear LOS with OTA Digital TV towers and until this problem is fixed (and it won't) services like the now defunct USDTV and this will fail. Unlike cellular towers which are everywhere, in most TV markets 1 tower services hundreds of miles and of course with OTA digital you either get a good signal or you don't. Cell phones and OTA TV service are two different things.... OTA TV service should have no problems going up to 100 or more miles.... It's also broadcasting a couple hundred thousand watts probably, compared to a cell phone broadcasting a quarter of a watt or so. It also uses different parts of the radio spectrum, thus different propagation characteristics.
-Tzale
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 NOCManMacChatterPremium
join:2004-09-30
Colorado Springs, CO | Cell towers output at high power as well. For every 3 feet of air the power is reduced by 1/2. |
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TzaleProud Libertarian ConservativePremium
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro | said by NOCMan:Cell towers output at high power as well. For every 3 feet of air the power is reduced by 1/2. Hmmm, I thought it had to do with the Inverse Square Law.
The energy or intensity decreases by a factor of 1/4 as the distance is doubled
-Tzale
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 EnasYorlThieves World
join:2001-12-02
West | reply to NOCMan
said by NOCMan:Cell towers output at high power as well. For every 3 feet of air the power is reduced by 1/2. Cell towers are low power less then 1k Watt ERP. TV broadcasters are 100K Watts with a 1 million Watt ERP on an attennae array.
And your loss in Air isn't true for power.
It's the inverse square law. You have to square the power output of a tower to get a 3db (x2) increase in power x distance away. |
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RR ConductorHappy 40th AmtrakPremium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
kudos:1
1 edit | reply to Tzale
Maybe 100 miles in flat New Jersey, but in mountainous areas like here in NorCal, signals have to be retransmitted via translators. TV signals, like FM and cellular are line of sight, put high mountains in front of the towers and you lose your signal. |
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TzaleProud Libertarian ConservativePremium
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro | said by RR Conductor:Maybe 100 miles in flat New Jersey, but in mountainous areas like here in NorCal, signals have to be retransmitted via translators. TV signals, like FM and cellular are line of sight, put high mountains in front of the towers and you lose your signal. NJ isn't really flat, it's quite hilly, and we also have mountains believe it or not. 
I know a lot of the transmissions now come from the Empire State Building, which is the tallest structure in this area. It used to be the WTC, so we certainly have a "better" signal than most areas probably.
-Tzale |
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RR ConductorHappy 40th AmtrakPremium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
kudos:1
1 edit | You mean those bumps you call mountains?  I've been there, I know it has hills, but to a westerner like me accustomed to mountains up to 14,500 feet, it's flat  |
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TzaleProud Libertarian ConservativePremium
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro | said by RR Conductor:You mean those bumps you call mountains? I've been there, I know it has hills, but to a westerner like me accustomed to mountains up to 14,500 feet, it's flat It ain't flat to radio signals, LOL... I should know, I'm an Amateur Radio operator and deal with the curse / gift of NJ's "hills." Luckily, I live on top of a hill. LOL
-Tzale |
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