ABSTRACT
Field strength measurements are a useful tool for determining real-world television station coverage areas and possible incoming interference. This chapter reviews a technical and practical approach to making and reviewing measurements. It is important to understand the environment of the measured signals—not only the geographical environment but also the radio frequency (RF) and mechanical environments prior to making any measurements. The broadcast industry will be moving to new technologies with multiple RF paths, which can potentially cause confusion when making field measurements. The activity of multiple measurements will take some time, and it is strongly suggested to confirm the cable and antenna are in good working order periodically throughout the data-collection process. Multiple measurement setups can be used to collect a full range of data. A wideband measurement can be helpful to see relative signal strengths of other emitters.
