V-Soft Communications Newsletter: 01/17/07
In this Newsletter:
V-Soft Engineering Training 2007 has a New Location
FMCommander Gets New Interactive Mapping
2005 U.S. Census Estimate Now Available
Need a Floor Pass to the NAB Conference?
V-Soft Tutorial: AM-Pro 2.0 Night time study
V-Soft Training Moves to the Excalibur!
It is once again time for our software training seminar and engineering discussion forum. In a change from previous years, we will be holding the sessions at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. The training, which will be held immediately in advance of the NAB conference, over a two day period (April 14th and 15th,) will cover broadcast engineering techniques using Probe 3, AM-Pro 2, FMCommander, SearchTV and other programs. It is anticipated that there will be breakout groups for primary interest subjects, such as AM, FM, digital TV & LPTV, and NCE-FM. This is an excellent way to learn first hand how these powerful software tools can be effectively used. The cost for the program is $450 (or $495 for non-tech support subscribers), and includes breakfast and lunch both days. Further information will be mailed soon. Call or email Kate Michler at 319-266-8402 to enroll.
FMCommander™ Internet Map Synchronization Option
Now you can automatically tie in to Topozone™ and Google Earth™. Click on the "globe" icon on the "Find Information Screen" to automatically connect to the Topozone.com web site and to conveniently bring up a topographic map plotting your station's transmitter site from their huge set of maps for the entire U.S. The map comes up within the built in browser of the "Find Information" screen. The cross hair of the topographic map defines the exact location of the transmitter as passed to the web site from FMCommander. The topographic map is interactive; if you click on the map at any location, FMCommander will recalculate the reference location for that site when you close the topographic map. The topographic map can be closed by clicking the 'globe' icon or by pushing the "Esc" key on your keyboard.
Fox example, let us say you are looking at a map of a station in San Francisco:
Simply click the "globe" Icon, shown above, and the program brings up an interactive topographic map of the transmitter area with the
transmitter location accurately plotted. (NAD 27 datum) The map scale is automatically set to 1:24,000 in the "large" format. The maps can
be printed directly from the built-in browser. Topozone.com is a free service for non-commercial use with premium internet maps and aerial
photo maps available from Topozone for $49 per year. (Subject to to Topozone.com licensing .) You can change the Topozone map scale and still
have the ability to click the topographic map at any location where you would like to move the reference coordinates. With the Internet
Mapping Option you have the ability to access the Topozone maps from other screens as well, including the "Reference Screen", where you enter
the reference station's parameters to compile a new job or from the "Separations Mapping Screen." Click to see at full size. The Internet Mapping Option also allows the user to view any transmitter location from the list on the "Find Information Screen" through
Google Earth. From the "Function" menu simply select "Google Earth" and the computer takes care of the rest. The graphic below shows the Google Earth view of the transmitter site of the station under current selection from the "Find Information
Screen." (We moved this transmitter when demonstrating the interactive Topozone map capability above. The actual site is on the third peak;
to the north the location of the plus mark within the circle.) The Google Earth service is also free for non-commercial use. It requires
installing the Google Earth program available from Google. (Google also offers a premium service with different licensing rights.) Click to see at full size. The Google Earth controls can be used to zoom further in on the site or to give the site a different 3-D view. Call V-Soft Communications at 800 743-3684 or email us at info@v-soft.com to learn more about the new Internet Mapping Option available for FMCommander users.
2005 U.S. Census Estimate Now Available
V-Soft has recently released the 2005 U.S. Census Estimate for use with Probe 3, and AM-Pro. For those who currently own the 2004 U.S. Census estimate database, the new 2005 Census estimate will be available at a discounted price. The price of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate will be $1,250. However, for those who currently own the 2004 estimate, the price will be discounted to $950. To acquire the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, please email Adam Puls or call 1-800-743-3684.Top
A little known option of V-Soft Communications' Probe 3 program is the Airport Layer. This layer is accessed through the "Map Features Setting 'Extra Layers' tab as is shown below.
Once you select the layer, click the "Edit" button to choose from the following selections.
The result is the airport runways depicted on your Probe map. It is always appropriate when locating a tower to consider the glide slope to the airports which will be off at a straight line and bearing that matches the azimuth of the runways.
To find out more about the "Airport module" call or email info@v-soft.com Adam Puls, 800 743-3684.
Need a Pass to the NAB Exhibit Floor?
Use ours! V-Soft will once again be exhibiting at the NAB Media Show at booth N6026 held April 14- 19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. Use our VIP Pass Code to gain a FREE entrance to the exhibit floor (a $150 dollar value!) Below are the 4 easy steps to register:
- Go to www.nabshow.com/VIP
- Enter Profile Information
- Select Exhibits Only Information
- Enter VIP PASS CODE: KB1445
It is quite easy to do a night time AM allocation study using AM-Pro. Here's the steps:
1.) Select "New" under the "File" menu to start a new study:
2.) Select the type of study from the screen shown below:
3.) Select the station parameters you wish to use for the reference station:
4.) In the picture above the user has clicked the "Edit" button and searched the database for KRNI and selected the night record for the station. (See below)
5.) Notice that on the "Night Allocation Study" screen above there are several defaults already checked. These are the set for the typical study. You may change the defaults to your own settings.
6.) Click the "OK" button on the "Night Allocation Study" screen to begin the database search to collect the "universe" of stations needed for the study.
The "universe" may be edited through the "Edit", "Add" and "Remove" buttons. If the study includes some pertinent foreign stations make sure that you use the correct record because the FCC's database doesn't always tell you which record is correct, sometimes it is necessary to discuss the issue with the folks at the FCC's international branch. Editing the "universe", at this stage, is optional since stations can be removed or added from the job file once the study has been performed.
7.) Click "OK" and the program will begin the analysis portion of the study showing you the "progress" bar below:
Skywave contours for the class A stations take a bit longer than standard limit calculations however for most computers the study should conclude within a couple of minutes. Once the study has completed you will see the following screen:
8.) In the "Night Allocation" results screen shown above the user has clicked WPPI.C which shows a positive margin of 1.4 mV/M. Once a station is clicked the screen will show the detailed RSS Protection at the Transmitter site, in the box in the right-hand column. The Ratchet Rule has been applied meaning that the KRNI station enters into the 50% RSS of WPPI.C and that to make a change the contribution to the RSS of WPPI.C must be reduced by KRNI by 10%. Since the analysis looks at the protections at the transmitter site of a given station, if you click "Add Clipping Prot" the program will add a full clipping study, looking at the edges of the Nightime Interference Free contour of WPPI.C to determine if full protection has been applied. The screen willl then look like the screen shown below:
If you find your R.F. emission in a given direction is over the maximum the Margin shown above will be red and in the negative. This would not be allowed by the FCC. You then have the choice of reducing the reference station's power or adjusting the station's antenna pattern if it is using a directional array. This process is made much easier with the pattern editor's interactive sliding bar antenna editor.
If you would like to learn more about this process, click here to go to the AM-Pro 2.0 night time allocation web page. Top
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