"HeyBub" wrote in message
news
Smarty wrote:
Many if not most homeowners who are trying to now get over the air
HDTV reception are finding that indoor antennas are not adequate and
often need to use expensive outdoor antennas.



Ironically, 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.



Uh, no. Fewer people would be able to receive TV signals due to the
interference by neighboring, higher-powered, transmitters.


Makes no sense at all to me. Cheap attenuators, no more that 3 resistors
configured in a "Tee" attenuator pad, provide whatever attenuation if any is
necessary for a total cost of less than a buck, if front-end converter
overload is what you are referring to. Another 6 to 9 dB of transmitter ERP
would not create overload....it would extend coverage to those who now need
outdoor yagis and sometimes rotors as well.

Unlike the VHF TV era where only 13 channels were available and legitimate
concern existed for co-channel interference between cities spaced 50 to 100
miles apart, there are many more channels available in the UHF band. A good
and well established method for placing transmitters in the optimum pattern
of "re-use" was developed for placing cell sites, and could have easily been
applied to choosing far more optimal UHF TV assignments than the ones
selected presently.

The bottom line is that the FCC is managed by beaurecrats, not engineers,
and that the public interest is not foremost in their agenda.

I have helped scores of people get over the air reception HD, and the mess
and unnecessary expense created by very poor legislation and planning is
outrageous, in my view.

Smarty