New but odd result when very close to the transmitter

[Tower Guy]

Hi Andy;

For some reason the results of the TVfool lookup has changed when very close to the station. In the past the nearby stations would be on the top of the list with the strongest signal strength. Now the signal strengths are intermixed lower on the table.

Here's an example when I typed in the street address of the common Albany, NY DTV tower: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9c6b9d821737ce

Are you beginning to consider vertical patterns in your calculations? (which is a good thing) If so, does the FCC provide sufficient vertical pattern data for close-in calculations?

[Dave Loudin]

Check out the transmitter profiles for the 0.0 and 1.1 mile paths. He has to be using some basic assumption about vertical pattern, and I think that has been there for a while. Normally, the scale of the profile plots swamps the ability to see the cutback under the tower, so we've never noticed it.

I've had that issue as well. When I type in the exact coordinates of a tower, the signal(s) coming from the tower appear(s) in the grey zone, despite the transmission antenna(s) often having strong vertical lobes. Might be a quirk in the propagation modeling but I'm not sure.