Re: How will the US local area stations commerate the end of

On May 1, 9:26=A0pm, Bruce Tomlin <bruce#fanboy....@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> I'm wondering if this is a coincidence, or if an adjacent analog channel
> (even from the same antenna farm) really does make an ATSC station hard
> to tune in.
>
> If this is true, then the shut-off can't come any too soon for me.

Yup. It's not a coincidence. Analog stations tend to transmit at much
higher ERP than their digital counterparts, and this was especially
true in the early days of the transition. So what happens is that
receivers with less than ideal selectivity, as many of the older
models are, will detect the strong analog adjacent channel and clamp
down their AGC. This will then cause the much weaker digital station
you're tuned to disappear in the noise level.

Matter of fact, FCC tests have shown that it's not just adjacent
channels that are vulnerable, but also N +/- 2, and in some cases,
others as well.

Anyway, I've noticed things improving over time, mostly because
broadcasters have either increased the power of the digital signal, or
improved the digital antenna location on the tower, or both. And since
adjacent digital stations don't seem to cause any problem, even with
my two older receivers, I can't help but believe that shutting off
analog will help matters.

Bert