The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has adopted revision A of its CEA-774 TV Receiving Antenna Performance Presentation and Measurement standard. The updated, revised standard gives antenna manufacturers the test and measurement procedures needed to make their antennas compliant with the categories defined on the CEA www.antenna.org web site. The Web site analyzes the signals available at a viewer's street address and recommends appropriate antennas for TV reception.
In the press release announcing the revised standard, the CEA explained, "The most significant improvement in the new version of the standard is the addition of a method for measuring antenna performance in a Gigahertz Transverse Electromagnetic Mode (GTEM) cell. GTEM cells are relatively small, specially designed compartments. They allow testing of antennas to be conducted indoors in appropriately equipped laboratories with no impact from the laboratory environment. The standard previously required that tests be conducted outdoors on an open field test range."
Ray Connover, chair of the Antenna Systems Committee that developed the standard, said, "CEA-774A not only embraces and refines the time tested antenna range test methods, it also adds new alternate test methodologies such as the addition of a GTEM cell. Use of these new test methods allow antennas to be tested quickly without any environment effects. Antennas for digital television service are especially well suited to the new test methods defined in CEA-774A."
CEA-774 Revision A can be downloaded from Global Engineering Documents for US$47.00. Search on document number CEA 774 to get information on the standard and how to order it.
