WHDH-DT Now Simulcasting

[Scott Fybush]

Roger Kirk wrote:
> Garrett Wollman wrote:
> 
>  >> Not that I trust $40 coupon tuners to do the right thing.
> 
> News story today on WBZ (AM) about Worcester residents having major 
> problems receiving Digital TV stations after 6/12.

When the dust settles on the initial phase of the DTV transition, it 
seems to me that Worcester is one of those places just screaming for a 
coordinated installation of DTS (distributed transmission system) 
transmitters by the major Boston stations. There's a dense population 
concentration there that has serious terrain issues with the signals 
from Needham/Newton, and copious available sites for DTS relays.

The same might be true of central New Hampshire.

I suspect that in the long run, such a system might be less expensive 
(and would almost certainly work better) than the brute-force approach 
of increasing DTV power levels that seems likely in the near future.

I suspect there might be some issues with spacing, however, for several 
of the Boston stations - WCVB, for instance, is now short-spaced to 
WTXX-DT 20 in Connecticut. I'm not sure if a directional antenna would 
resolve that to the FCC's satisfaction or not.

s