A brisk pre-dawn remote in South East Texas and at 5:45am we were ready for our closeup. Katie was sucessful in hypnotizing the staff at KBMT into extolling the virtues of Cleastream antennas as the greatest thing since Hot Pockets. We went live 5 times that morning and a Clearstream 2 sat on the anchor desk during most of the news cast.
After June, Ch12 KBMT will revert to their prior analog assignment but only broadcast with 12Kw of power, so it will be interesting to see how their coverage area will be affected. We have noticed a significant number of stations who revert back to a VHF frequency assignment actually decreasing their power significantly. (Yes, we know VHF propagates farther with less power) So before anyone calls to complain that they can no longer get their favorite channel, keep in mind many DTV stations who have VHF channels assignments are broadcasting with the power of a couple of hairdryers. Yes DTV can be more efficient and VHF has less resistance through the atmosphere, but you can’t cut the radiated power 60% – 90% and expect to have the same coverage area.
The Clearstream 5 will mitgate this issue for many people, but it would have been much easier for the DTV viewing public had the FCC kept everyone on a UHF channel assignment with the corresponding level of radiated power.
A well behaved and appreciative crowd was on hand at the “Market Basket” and the Antennas Direct crew was greeted with cheers and a few hugs. My faith has been restored.
A mention of the Clearstream 5! When are those supposed to come out?
In case anyone else is interested – Just got off the phone with A.D. asking about Clearstream 5 availability and was told to check back mid June to see how they are coming along.