Calibration Standards

[P a u l]

In the thread Fox 47 Madison DTV Plans I noted the signal strenght that kjarnold and Scott Sippel have posted. If you look at where they live one in Hartland and the other in Dousman, in an East to west relation on a map they are only about 10 miles apart. Now they both have totally different signal strengths 76 and 30-40's and the one who lives farther from Madison is getting a better signal.
My point here is what are the standards that the companies are using to reference a "good" signal. I bet if you hooked up 2 different receivers to the same antenna you would get 2 different readings. Can we actually base a stations transmitter signal strength based on meters in the various STB's floating around?

[Kevin Arnold]

You really need to factor in the type of antenna and booster that anyone is using in addition to the STB. It's all relative and depends on the unit but it one can lock the signal and get a picture without breakups and pixellation then the actual number is meaningless i.e. yea or nea. I gots a yea! Except their sound isn't working tonight.

[Scott Sippel]

I added a 15db gain amp to my VHF antenna and I now get a reading in the 70's on the DTC-100 and I no longer get any dropouts like I did yesterday with readings in the 30 and 40's.  

What I like to watch for in the signal strength indicator is if the number stays stable.  I can have readings in the 70 and 80s but if the number jumps around by 5 or more counts I may get dropouts. I suspect that to be a reflection or multipath problem.  If I get a stable reading that's above 60 I rarely see dropouts.  A station with solid readings in the 40-50's is susceptible to dropouts from RF noise such as when ceiling fans are switched on or when the furnace kicks in.  These are my experiences with the DTC-100 and my antenna setup.  I would expect others to have different experiences with different setups.

I also have no audio for Fox47 this evening.

[Pat]

With my Samsung 150, if the signal is stable, it will lock up even if it barely registers on the signal strength "meter".  There are no numbers displayed, but the strongest signals I can get only go up about 2/3 scale.

[wxndave]

Based on some test I did with a RF signal meter. I would say that these meters are error levels.  The higher the number the less errors you have.  At my apartment complex I have a problem with 1-1 when 4-1 is on.  The signal level on my STB goes from 60 when 4-1 is off to a 30 or lower when they turn on.  I hooked up a rf signal meter and found out that rf level for 1-1 stays the same in either case.  I believe that the main distribution amp for the apartment complex is getting overloaded when 28 is on the air and causes wide band noise.  1-1 is un watchable now that 4-1 is on 24/7.  Moving at the end the month and don't care after that.