Globe editorial calls FM radio "outdated technology"

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:08:01 -0400, Larry Weil <kc1ih@mac.com> said:

> At 1:03 PM -0700 8/24/10, Bill Smith wrote:
>> I understand a few TV stations are running multiple digital 
>> transmitters to fill holes, could this be a first step to 
>> broadcasters moving to a cellular model? get rid of those million+ 
>> dollar towers and go on existing low altitude sites?

> I don't know where you heard this, but I really doubt it.

It is true.  The rest-of-the-world digital TV systems all use OFDM and
inherently benefit from "single-frequency networks".  A few years ago,
some smart people figured out how to make it work with ATSC, and so
there are a number of U.S. stations using "distributed transmission
systems" as well.  In the U.S. regulatory regime, the total coverage
area of a DTS must be enclosed by the station's allotment, so in
practice it looks rather more like traditional NTSC boosters than a
European SFN.  (The SFN concept was developed first in Europe; every
European country has at least one national television broadcaster, so
it makes good sense to allocate its spectrum nationwide.  England, for
example, has five national TV services, each of which has multiple
national program services; the situation is more complicated in the
rest of the UK.)

-GAWollman