Channel characterization and television field strength measurements

The new standard in North America for the advanced television (ATV) transmission system will be selected in 1996. The new ATV system is expected to co-exist with the conventional NTSC television system for many years to come. Simulcasting of the two systems will require a good understanding of the channels used. In this paper, a method to characterize a channel using the ghost canceling reference (GCR) signal is presented as well as the method used to conduct field strength measurements of television channels. The channel characterization gives us the time and frequency response of channels. The field strength measurements show the power variation of the signals that are transmitted through a channel over a period of time. The results obtained from field tests for a number of channels and with different polarization of transmitter's and receiver's antennas are then presented. The results for the channel characterization of a cable network using the GCR signal are also presented