RF Field Strength Levels with HDMapper™

Q: How do I set colors for field strength levels on coverage maps?

A: Displaying the appropriate field strength levels is essential to producing a meaningful coverage map. With HDMapper, you can enter levels manually, or you can use the TAP Mobile Facility Lookup function.

TAP enables you to compute the required field level for different mobile equipment configurations and environmental conditions, such as body and building losses, as well as land-use characteristics that affect the local environment of each mobile unit location.

The field strength values used in the article are for example purposes only. You should compute the appropriate required field strength levels for your particular application.

After you have setup and run a TAP coverage study the HDMapper form is displayed with default settings, as shown below:

The initial default field strength break-point (used to distinguish the colors plotted on the coverage study layer of the map) is set by the mobile facility you used when you set up the coverage study.

To change or add break points for different field strength levels, or to change colors of the existing settings, double click the legend entry for the field strength layer:

The Layers form is displayed with the current settings:

The default setting for coverage studies created with TAP is to plot the layer with the Value Ranges option, using the DBU_FIELD values from the TAP Task Results Data Base file (Rnnnnnnn.DBF, where nnnnnnn is the Task ID number).

You can add more levels to plot by clicking the Add button:

You can enter new level values to plot by typing in a new value, or you can double-click the description of an item to open the TAP Mobile Facility Lookup function.

(Note that double-clicking the symbol will open the Symbol Settings form to change colors or symbols, as described below.)

When the Mobile Facility Lookup form is displayed, find the mobile facility record that represents the field strength level you want to add to the map and click the Close button.

The Required Field value from the Mobile Facility Database record will be inserted into the HDMapper Layer form value:

You can repeat the process to set other levels:

The order of the entries is automatically sorted, from the lowest value to the highest. The first item in the list is always shown as "Below …" the lowest value you enter.

You can double-click the symbols to the left of each entry to set the symbol style and color for each level. You can also change the Layer Name displayed in the legend.

Note that the symbol options for Tile studies will depend on the "Filled Tile" or "Symbol" selection during the Area Coverage Setup.

When you click the Continue button, the map is displayed with the new settings.

It may be helpful to adjust the order of the layers or change other layer colors to improve the presentation:

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