analogqueen:
Thank you for your kind words. Sometimes I can help a poster with a reception problem; sometimes not.
The Megalithia site is not mine, but I like it a lot because making antenna measurements is one of my favorite things to do. The site is in the UK and talks about DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) which is equivalent to our OTA in the US. I put the link in my signature because it describes an inexpensive method of testing reception than might be helpful. It uses an attenuator to find out how much margin to dropout you have.
I too became fascinated with electronics at an early age. When I was 8 years old my father helped me build a crystal set radio using my bedspring as an antenna, and I often fell asleep with my headphones on listening to WOR. I became an amateur radio ham in the early 1950s, which allowed me to do many antenna experiments. I'm now 83 and still fascinated by antennas.
In high school I was the school photographer which helped me to interact with my classmates socially. My glasses also broke at the bridge. I drilled a hole in each half, ran a wire through, twisted the wire tight at the front, and covered it with adhesive tape. A genuine nerd repair that was secure until I could get new frames.
Both hobbies prepared me for the jobs I later held in my life.
I started out to be an EE at Rutgers, but when my father died I had to leave school and got drafted. I served in the Army as a radio operator and then was a civilian AV tech (photography and electronics) for the government for 30 years.
If you don't already know about it, the hdtvprimer.com website created by Ken Nist, MSEE (ret), KQ6QV, might be helpful; an example:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/antennas/siting.html
home page
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/
Here is a FAQ thread on the Canadian forum:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/81-o...edge-base.html
Andy Lee, who created this tvfool website, drew two diagrams that show what happens to a TV signal on its way from the transmitter to the TV. I added a few notes to his excellent diagrams:
Here are my diagrams that show two ways to visualize what happens between -91 dBm and the Thermal Noise Floor at -106 dBm:
Do you have any specific topic in mind?
Very OK; no harm done. I'm glad that I was able to give
acat a few ideas to try, and enjoyed reading your story.
Best regards,
rabbit
W4...
ex-W2...
ex-DL4..