Save the date: 2/14/09

DATV or bust.

February 14th, 2009 at high noon, I will be transmitting ATSC (or as close as I can get to it) with as much power as I can muster at 918-924 MHz from the summit of Mt. San Bruno. If equipment and time permit, I will also attempt to transmit on 420-426 MHz. This date in particular was chosen because it is the last saturday before Feb 17th, the date of the broadcast TV analog shut-down.

The plan is to generate about 150 watts of ERP at 918 MHz, and if I can obtain an amp in time, perhaps as much as 100 watts of ERP at 420 MHz.

The 73 cm transmissions should be receivable using a stock Silicon Dust HD HomeRun. You may need to direct it with the hdhomerun_config command to receive 8vsb at 423 MHz, since that's not a standard broadcast frequency.

The 33 cm transmissions will likely require use of a downconverter in front of an ATSC tuner. The PC Electronics TVC-9S set for channel 4 should work just fine combined with an ATSC tuner set for channel 3.

Those using computer connected tuners should have no trouble decoding the transport stream, while those using TV sets or consumer grade tuners may be limited to video only, as the audio will be MPEG audio rather than Dolby AC3 (which is required by the ATSC spec).

Please spread the news as far and as wide as possible. I'm setting this date this far in advance in the hopes of it becoming a highly anticipated event in the amateur community.