Looking back at the results I think it may be useful to both sites if the actual field strength observations could be published. For example, at the measurement distance what was the field intensity for the Rangemaster set at 100 mW and so on. Comments?
This may be interesting but I don't know what I would do with the information. Maybe someone who is also a member at HobbyBroadcasting.net could pursue it there.
Neil
I'd like to see the different field strength measurements for the AM Transmitters. It could help us get the best bang for the buck especially in areas where there is no room on the FM dial what with all the translators and all.
The results as they were published were certainly open to misinterpretation.
Reporting db loss anywhere between 2.5 to 4 makes it seem like the corresponding transmitters were still close to the reference, when in fact they would be anywhere between 60-75% of the reference's field strength. That's a pretty big difference, particularly when all were purportedly using 100mw and tuned up correctly (the Talking House with its internal wire antenna had the biggest loss), more than likely 1000's uv/m.
I can't speak for why they reported the results in that fashion, but I had advocated from the start that actual numbers (that could have been duplicated in other testing) should have been published.
I can tell you this I have a friend building me an ATU for the talking house AM transmitter. He has tested it with the wire using his ATU instead of the internal ATU and with no linear amplifiers or anything to increase the wattage his range was anywhere from 1 - 1.5 miles. So once I have the ATU made for myself I would be able to get out further than a non compliant FM transmitter. So now I'm very interested in seeing what this could do. AM is not my first choice but if I can get the audio to sound halfway decent I might be able to do some album Rock.
I think uV/m tests should have been done to compare each set up.
They were. However, the actual results were not reported - just comparisons from the best (the Rangemaster), which was then used as a reference.
The Talking House was certified with its own ATU - if you build one, you lose the transmitter certification and you have to hope that an Inspector, if it comes to that, will agree that the Talking House with YOUR ATU is compliant.
The Talking House's field strength, even with its ATU, was only 75% that of the Rangemaster in the HB tests. And since field strength = range, the Rangemaster (if you can afford it) is still the best choice.