A Qualitative Study of Signal Strength Coverage of Digital Terrestrial Television in Ibadan South Western Nigeria

Abstract

This work investigated the quality of signal strength coverage of the existing Digital Terrestrial Television (DTTV) operator in Nigeria using Startimes Ibadan as a case study. Signal strength and altitude data at different locations within a 40km radius of the Startimes transmitting station were measured to determine the quality of signal strength reception of Startime's digital television in Ibadan metropolis. A signal analyzer, a 10-meter cable, Yaggi external antenna and Global Positioning System (GPS) were used for the measurements at various locations in Ibadan within 40km radius distance of Startimes based station at Agodi in Ibadan. The city was grouped into six different zones for proper signal testing and efficient data collation. Parameters such as signal strength, distance, altitude, signal to noise ratio, modulation error rate, pre-bit error rate and post-bit-error rate were measured and recorded. The effects of distance and altitude were analyzed. It was observed from the result that there is a direct relationship between power level and altitude. In addition, there is an inverse relationship between power level and distance. Keywords: DTTV, Signal Strength, Altitude, Distance, DVB-T