V-Soft Communications Newsletter: 05/26/06

In this Newsletter:  

V-Soft wins The Radio World newspaper "Cool Stuff" award.

Conductivity™ Version 1.0 released

Microwave Program Back on Track

FMCommander Canadian Version

IBOC Data Field Now in Database

V-Soft Optional Modules

Call for V-Soft Broadcast Engineering Training Candidates

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Probe 3 takes Cool Stuff" Award

At this year's NAB conference, Radio World's judging panel of broadcast engineers awarded V-Soft Communications the "Cool Stuff" award for excellence in the development of Probe 3.  V-Soft Communications President, Doug Vernier stated "Probe has become en essential tool for the broadcast consultant and engineer in today's complicated R.F. world. We are exceedingly pleased that Radio World has chosen to honor us with this distinction. V-Soft's John Gray, Probe's chief programmer, deserves the credit for the innovation Probe 3 brings to the broadcast community."  Probe was first released in 1999 and has been growing ever since with the input of its many users.  Today, V-Soft Communications remains the "Leader in Broadcast Communications Propagation" programs.

Probe 3 Feature's list

Conductivity™ Version 1.0 Released

V-Soft Communications announced today that it is releasing Version 1.0 of Conductivity™ for AM radio. The new computer program has been extensively tested by ten of the leading AM engineering consultants in the U.S. Doug Vernier , V-Soft’s President, said  “This program represents a milestone in AM software by making it much easier to take AM field readings and match them to ground conductivity curves.”

Often AM stations are limited from increasing power in the daytime by their ground wave contours. If no measurements are available, the M3 ground conductivity chart must be used.  Use of the M3 chart is generally much more restrictive for stations than if actual field strength measurements were taken.

Conductivity™ will automatically identify the correct ground conductivity curves to be used based on the field strength measurements that are provided along a specific radial. Breaks in the conductivity will be plotted on the radial’s graph.  The program can handle up to five data sets per each radial allowing comparatives, for example, for an omni-directional measurement to a directional measurement.  Once given the measurements, Conductivity™ can construct the actual pattern the station is radiating. Conductivity™ is a stand alone program or it can be used in tandem with V-Soft Communications’ AM-Pro™ which will accept direct file input of the ground conductivity break files.

Click below to see what the printouts look like. 

Printout #1 (PDF),   Printout #2 (PDF)

For more information on this program, visit WWW.V-Soft.com/conductivity or call Adam Puls 800 743-3684.

Microwave Analysis:

Work on our Microwave Analysis program was temporarily suspended while beta testers were working with Conductivity. We decided that we did not want to have two beta testing programs running simultaneously.  But now, we can better focus our efforts on the Microwave Analysis program and are ready for beta testing. We're looking for those knowledgeable in C/I microwave calculation methods to be beta testers. If you have such skills and are willing to beta test the new program please contact us. (1-800-743-3684).  If you have already contacted us, it would be good to renew that contact by email to apuls@v-soft.com.

FMCommander™, Canadian Version

As a result of a request from a Canadian Broadcast Consulting firm, V-Soft Communications has developed a version of its premiere FM band allocations program FMCommander for use in Canadian allocations work.  This special version incorporates the Canadian rules  using the spacing tables from C 1.4 of the "Industry Canada Application and Procedures and Rules for FM Broadcasting Undertakings". Contour-to-contour spacings are evaluated to 800 KHz to provide tables and distance to contour allocation maps. All stations are protected to the 54 dBu F(50-50) signal contour except for cross-border relationships when Class C U.S. stations are protected to the 58 dBu contour.

The program offers the easy to use  high quality mapping of the U.S. version of FMCommander.

For more information on FMCommander for Canada call Adam Puls 800 743-3684 or 319 266-8402.

IBOC Data Field Now on Database Screen:

The V-Soft database now contain a digital flag.  H= Hybrid IBOC, D= "Full Digital" 

Download the latest version of FMCommander or FMCont for access to this new data field.

V-Soft Optional Modules

We wanted to be sure that our readers knew about the optional modules available for Probe 3 and other V-Soft programs, so here's the list:

Probe 3™

OET-69 Module for DTV Analysis:
Perform Longley/Rice based DTV studies using the FCC’s OET Bulletin 69 methodology. -- $4,995

General Interference Module:
Design your own interference model by specifying channel relations and associated D/U ratios. -- $1,500

Zip Code Module:
The Zip Code option enables various program options for plotting and reporting signal information as it relates to zip codes. Plot zip code points and report field strength at various zip codes. Plot ZCTA (Zip Code Tabulation Area) polygons on the map and contour population within individual ZCTA boundaries. -- $950

Time Delay (Booster) Module:
Calculate interference area created by a network of co-channel transmitters that are broadcasting the same signal. The time delay module allows for signal time delay to be set independently for each transmitter in the network. This option also includes a tool for determining optimum delay factors to remove interference in a user selected area. -- $1,500

Measured Signal Import Module:
Plot measured ‘test drive’ data on Probe maps. Also contains an algorithm for combining test drive measurements with propagation model calculations to create an ‘adjusted’ prediction map. -- $1,500

Airport Module:
This option allows you to plot airport tokens and runway data on Probe maps. -- $500

TIREM Propagation Model:
Use the TIREM propagation model for field strength predictions. -- $4,950

ITU-R P.1546.1 Propagation Model:
Calculate and plot grid based signal based on the ITU 1546-1 propagation model. ITU 1546-1 contours can also be calculated and drawn on the map. -- $1,500

2000 Enhanced Map Boundary Dataset:
With this dataset, you will be able to plot additional political boundary data from the 2000 US Census. The dataset includes: 2000 Urban Area boundaries, County boundaries, State boundaries, and the 1999 Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) boundaries. -- $950

Enhanced Pattern Editing (Pattern Workshop):
Our Pattern Workshop program integrates with Probe to offer a more feature rich horizontal pattern editor for advanced editing and reporting. -- $1,595

US LULC 1:250,000 Land Cover Data Access:
Use this new 200 meter resolution US land cover database for finer resolution plotting and land cover attenuation. [Note: The global land cover data that comes with older installations of Probe is 1km (30 arc-second) resolution.] -- $350

FMCommander Options:

Railroad Overlay: Plots railroads on all FMCommander maps. -- $250
Airport Overlay: Plots airports on all FMCommander maps. -- $250
Tower Overlay: Plots existing towers on all FMCommander maps. -- $250
Population Scattergram Overlay: Plots census scattergram on all FMCommander maps. -- $250
Watchdog Option: Allows frequency search studies to be run on an automated basis and automatically emailed to a list of people/clients. -- $1,500

TERRAIN DATABASES