EDN Writer Tries Off-Air DTV Reception

By Doug Lung
published

I know many RF Report readers enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations of receiving over-the-air DTV. They should enjoy Thin-Air ATSC (and NTSC): Encouraging (Albeit Erratic) Early Results by Electronic Design News (EDN) Senior Technical Editor Brian Dipert. Dipert tried a ClearStream 1 and a ClearStream 2 antenna from AntennasDirect.

As expected from EDN, Dipert’s report has quite a bit of technical information, including a description and picture of his house, predicted reception from Antennaweb and information on the paths to the two major transmitter sites in Reno.

In the blog he reports on what stations he could receive and the quality of the signals. This looks like it will be an ongoing series, with tests of an ATSC set-top box and USB ATSC tuner as well as other enhancements.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.