Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469840
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 77 working at 100 mW on an analog system and you switch to a 5 mW digital system, you can expect to see a significant difference in useable range. But in the shared experience of myself and others, it is fair to say that at a professional level, "most" analog radios at 100 mW will be roughly even to 50 mW in a digital system, all things being equal. Better, same, worse—it will all be different on different days, in different spaces. In relation to transmitter power settings, we have already established long ago that for almost all situations, less is actually more. The high power settings of an analog system only create more RF noise in a given environment and serve to create more interference. In a digital system, the physics of the signal and the device itself require less power to transmit a useable signal. In a practical use application, most digital radios set at 50 mW perform similarly to analog or analog hybrid radios at 100 mW. With lower power settings in an analog or hybrid system, it is possible to stack transmitter frequencies closer together without interference or intermodulation, thus delivering more useable frequencies to the user in a given amount of bandwidth. Digital radios, for all practical purposes, have no discernable intermod. Yes, intermod technically exits with any radio transmission, but with digital, it is negligible to the point of no concern. Combining this with the comparatively longer range for a given power setting and the type of signal transmitted, some manufacturers have developed density modes and transmit protocols that can allow spacing that was previously impossible in the analog world. Transmit levels in single-digit power levels can result in dozens of channels across just a few MHz with perfect dialogue capture. As far as useable range goes, there is a difference between analog, hybrid, and digital systems. Any one is not necessarily more than the other, but the performance is definitely different. With an analog or analog-hybrid radio, as range begins to max out, the signal will become unstable and start to falter between useable and unuseable. Sometime we call it "swirlies," "hash," "static," or something equally descriptive to illustrate the sounds heard on the signal. This noise can happen at any time, can come and go without notice, and ofttimes happens when we really need it the least. A digital signal is different in that it is either there or it isn't. There is no gradual drop of audio and none of the above descriptors. The user has full audio up to the point of drop. And then it's silent. Whether this is good or bad is dependent on the situation. The plus for the PSM is that if you have signal, you have audio. The minus is that there is usually no hard indicator where that line is, so drops can happen at very inopportune times if one is not proactive with antenna placement and monitoring the range of the action to be captured. In terms of tuning protocol, we are all familiar with the term "blocks" when referring to useable segments of the spectrum. Depending on where you are in the world, this spectrum may be very highly regulated with only tiny slivers available for use, or there may be no regulation at all where we can operate totally unfettered and unencumbered, but usually it falls somewhere in between and we have to employ our NEW job title of RF manager, along with everything else we must do. My digital and analog bay Many users are buying digital systems and remoting antennas or receiver racks trying to cope with a crushing RF landscape, and that's not necessarily a bad choice. However, the downside and often missed component of digital radio is the simple fact that digital will absolutely expose any weakness in one's RF game. Antennas, cables, tuning, and overall system health are supremely critical, and where an analog system will tolerate certain deficiencies, a digital system will not. Each manufacturer has its own definition of those blocks and exactly how much space it refers to, but as a general term, we all get it. In analog gear, there are block-specific devices and wideband devices that cover many blocks. It is important to note that all modern digital systems use some form of wideband tuneability such that they can tune to multiple frequencies across multiple blocks. Some use the entire legal band (USA: 470 MHz-608 MHz), some use smaller segments, but either way, all digital systems cover more space than the single block or single TV channel systems of analog radios. In any case, it is my opinion that any PSM that is in a gear-buying pattern should definitely be looking at wide- band gear. Block-specific and analog gear are great if one is in a fixed loca- tion with a stable RF environment, but that's really rare these days and still subject to external oddities that can't be