Path Studies

TAP includes a number of path-oriented functions:

□ Drawing Path Profiles

□ Antenna Elevation Calculations (to achieve line of sight over a path)

□ VHF/UHF Link Budgets

□ Microwave Link Budgets

This Tutorial provides examples of the operation of the basic HDPath functions. More detailed information and other available options are described in the HDPath Introduction article.

All of these functions are performed in the HDPath interface. To launch HDPath, click the Path button on the TAP6 Menu toolbar:

The HDPath form will be displayed:

The form contains Fixed Facility information for the end-points of the path. The Transmit facility is located on the left side of the form, and the Receive facility is on the right.

The Path Settings (at the bottom-center of the form) section is used to set various parameters for the path to be displayed, such as the units to use, topographic data selections, etc. These settings are described in detail in the HDPath Introduction article. For this Tutorial, the default settings will be used, so you don't need to change the settings for now.

Path Profile

The path for this Tutorial will be between two of the Demo sites in the TAP Fixed Facility database. You can later add or import your own records for your own sites and facilities.

This Tutorial uses the sample DEMO sites provided with TAP6 in the Fixed Facility database. For more information on adding your own site and facility information to the database, see the Fixed Facility Interface article.

For the Transmit side of the path, use the pulldown list for the Transmit facility to select the Cheyenne Mountain Test Facility:

When you select that facility, notice that the settings for the Transmit side of the path are updated. The length and azimuth of the path is displayed above the graphic area near the top of the form.

For the Receive side of the path, use the Receive facility to select the Castle Rock Test Facility:

To draw the path profile, click the Draw button (with the pencil icon):

The profile will be drawn in the graphic area of the form:

When the profile is drawn, a form will show information about the mouse location on the path:

If you want to print the information describing the mouse cursor location, be sure the "Click to list" button is selected on the toolbar:

You can print, edit, save, or copy this information to another document.

Note that the "Click to List" function only works when the information is displayed in the "Mouse Location on Path" form. If you close the form, you can display it again by clicking the Draw button on the toolbar (with the pencil icon).

You can view the path with the sites reversed by clicking the Reverse Path button on the toolbar:

Clicking the button redraws the path after swapping the two facilities:

This can be useful when the transmit and receive antenna heights at the two sites are not the same. The line of sight and Fresnel clearance may be different on the reverse path. For example, using these Demo sites, the Transmit antenna height at Cheyenne Mountain is 100ft AGL, but the Receive antenna height at Cheyenne Mountain is only 30ft AGL. You can click the section headings in the Fixed Facility interface for the receive site on the right side of the form to expand or collapse the sections. You can also scroll up or down to see different sections with the scroll bar on the right side of each Fixed Facility interface. The "+" and "-" buttons on the top toolbar of the Fixed Facility interface can be used to expand or collapse all the sections.

Careful inspection of the reversed path shows that the clearance is slightly less because of the lower receiver antenna height at Cheyenne Mountain.

For this Tutorial, reverse the path again so Cheyenne Mountain is the Transmit site of the path:

You can also zoom into the image. To switch to Zoom mode, click the Zoom option on the toolbar:

Now when you click on the profile image, the view will be zoomed in. The point you clicked will become the center of the image.

You can click on the location of interest several times to continue zooming in:

You can adjust the amount of zoom for each click in the Configuration menu:

When you click the "xx% Zoom on Click" menu item, you can enter the percentage you want to zoom:

That value will be used when you click to zoom in or out on the image.

You can also expand the size of the graphic image. If you click the title bar of the Fixed Facility - Transmit section, that section will collapse to make room for the profile image:

You can do the same thing with the Mobile Facility - Receive section and the Path Settings section by clicking the title bar of each section:

Then you can use the Zoom function to zoom in on the larger image:

Remember that the right mouse button can be used to zoom out on the image:

To restore the profile to the full size image, click the Draw button (the pencil icon):

You can restore any of the desired sections by clicking the title bar of the collapsed section (at the bottom of the form):

Click all of the section title bars to restore the original form layout:

Surface Features

The basic profile information shows the topographic elevation profile for the path. You can also add Surface Features to represent buildings, ground clutter, vegetation, etc. For more detailed information about creating and editing this information see the Surface Feature Files article.

To add an existing Surface Feature file to the profile, go to the Path Settings section and click on the "Surface Features" heading to expand that section:

Click the Browse ("…") button to find a Surface Feature file to open:

Browse to the "SURFACE" folder in the folder where TAP is installed, and select the file "Tutorial.DBF", and click the "Open" button:

The file will be added to the list of Surface Feature files:

You can remove a file from the list by clicking the file name to highlight it and clicking the "X" button to remove the file.

Click the "Use Surface Features" checkbox, and click the Draw button (pencil icon) to draw the profile with the Surface Features added:

(If you have set the "Auto Draw Path" option in the Configuration menu, the path will be redrawn as soon as you click the checkbox.)

The program searches the Surface Features file(s) in the list and determines which ones intersect the current path. Only those features are shown on the profile.

You can also add Surface Features on the profile graphically in HDPath. For example, if you know that there is a forested area of 75ft trees on this path between about 35 and 40 miles along the path you can add that feature to a new or existing Surface Feature file.

When you add Surface Features from the profile graphic, the program needs to know what database file to save the information into. If you want to add the feature you add to an existing file, be sure that file is in the list and is highlighted.

For this Tutorial, we will create a new file. If the Tutorial.DBF file is highlighted in the list, right-click the file to remove the highlight selection:

Click the Surface Feature Editor button on the HDPath toolbar:

Since no file is highlighted you will be prompted to confirm that you want to create a new file. Click the Yes button:

This prompt gives you the opportunity to go back and select the file you wanted to use if you do not want to create a new file.

Enter a file name for the new file you want to create.

You will be prompted to confirm the new file:

The Surface Feature Editor will be displayed. Since this is a new file, the form shows not records on the file.

Move the Surface Feature Editor form to a location that will allow you to click on the profile graphic image:

On the Surface Feature Editor form, select the "Profile" menu and click "Add From Profile":

The yellow banner at the top of the profile graphic will prompt you to draw the approximate location of the Surface Feature you want to add. Use the mouse to left-click one point, then hold the left button down and drag to an opposite corner to define a rectangle and release the mouse button.

The horizontal location of the rectangle is more important than the exact height. The horizontal position of the rectangle you draw will determine the location along the path (in this example, between about 35 miles and 40 miles.) The vertical size of the rectangle will set the initial height of the Surface Feature, and can be edited later as shown below.

When you release the mouse button, the Surface Feature you drew on the profile will be added to the database:

Since the actual height we want to add is 75 feet, edit the Height value to 75:

Note the pencil icon at the left end of the record that indicates the record is being edited. If you make a mistake and want to restore a record to its original values, as long as the pencil icon is displayed you can press the "Escape" key on your keyboard to abandon the editing changes. You must move the mouse cursor off the record you are editing (for example, to the blank row at the bottom of the list) to clear the pencil icon and write the changes to the database. (The blank row with the "*" at the left end is used for adding new records manually. If you start typing on that row a new record will be added. This functionality is discussed in the Surface Features Editor article.)

After changing the value, click the Profile menu on the Surface Feature Editor form and click the "Redraw Profile" item:

The profile will be redrawn with the correct (75 feet) height for the new trees you have added:

You can change the color used for the Surface Features (as well as other object on the path profile image). On the HDPath form, click the Configuration menu, then click "Profile Colors":

The Select Color form is displayed:

Click the color image of the item you want to change, such as Surface Features. The Settings form is displayed:

Click the Color box and select a color you want to use from the palette, then click OK on the Color form:

Click Continue on the Settings form:

Click Continue on the Select Color form:

The Surface Features are now displayed in the selected color.

HDPath will use the color settings in the future until you change them again.

Land-Use Files

In addition to the Surface Feature files, if your TAP license includes the Land Use module, you can add that information to a profile on HDPath. Land Use information (also called Land Use-Land Cover, LULC data) is available for the United States from the USGS. The data files contain a classification code defined by the USGS (e.g., Urban, Agricultural, Industrial, Forested, etc.) for 200-meter grids over the entire country. This information can be useful for determining the conditions along a path. As described in the Land Use Data article, the classification values can also be used in field strength studies for determining levels of signal degradation due to man-made noise, vegetation absorption, etc.

The Land Use module in TAP includes an editor for changing the Land Use files to reflect recent developments or land use changes. You can also create your own Land Use files for areas outside the US where the USGS data is not available.

To add Land Use information to the HDPath profile image, go to the Path Settings section and click the Land Use header to expand that item:

The Land Use classifications and associated colors are displayed.

You can change the colors used for the Land Use classifications by clicking the Configuration menu, then clicking Land Use Colors:

The process is the same as described in the section on Surface Feature colors above.

Click the "Include Land Use Data" box to add the checkmark, and click the Draw button (pencil icon) to show the path with the Land Use information.

(If you have set the "Auto Draw Path" option in the Configuration menu, the path will be redrawn as soon as you click the checkbox.)

The USGS Land Use data files do not include height or elevation information, so they cannot be used to draw features above the topography (as with the Surface Features files described above). The colors for the Land Use values are drawn in between the earth curvature reference line at the bottom of the profile image, and the topography surface.

Now when you move the mouse cursor along the profile image, the Land Use classification is also displayed:

The loss value displayed is from one of several tables the correlate operating frequency and USGS Land Use classifications. This process and the process of editing or creating new loss tables are described in the Land Use Data article.

You can use the Zoom function to get a closer look at areas along the path and determine the Land Use classification:

You could use the Land Use data as a guideline to add a Surface Feature (as described in the section on Surface Feature files) to represent the Urban area between 26 and 27 miles along the path.

The result shows that a 50-foot high feature (a multi-story office building, for example) might begin to affect the performance of the path because it begins to obstruct the Fresnel zone clearance.

Antenna Elevation Calculations

If your TAP license includes the Antenna Elevation module, you can compute the required antenna elevations to achieve line of sight and Fresnel clearance on this path. Click the Compute Antenna Elevation button:

The Antenna Elevation form is displayed.

The form initially shows the antenna height required on the receiver end for the current transmitter antenna height. In this example, the Castle Rock antenna would have to be set at about 473 feet above ground level (AGL) to achieve line of sight and Fresnel clearance (including the specified 20 feet of additional clearance).

You can click the Plot button to see the effect of the higher receive antenna:

When you click the Plot button, a new line of sight and Fresnel zone are plotted for the new receive site antenna height:

If you want to zoom in for a better look at the profile you have several options.

To switch to Zoom mode, click the Zoom option on the toolbar:

Now when you click on the profile image, the view will be zoomed in. The point you clicked will become the center of the image.

To re-display the extra line of sight and Fresnel plot for the Antenna Elevation calculation, click the Plot button again on the Antenna Elevation form:

The additional features will be added to the zoomed image:

You can click on the location of interest several times to continue zooming in, then add the Antenna Elevation information:

This image clearly shows the new computed antenna elevation provides the line of sight and Fresnel clearance, with the specified additional clearance.

You can also expand the size of the graphic image. If you click the title bar of the Fixed Facility - Transmit section, that section will collapse to make room for the profile image:

You can do the same thing with the Fixed Facility - Receive section and the Path Settings section by clicking the title bar of each section:

Then you can use the Zoom function and the Antenna Elevation plot function on the larger image:

Remember that the right mouse button can be used to zoom out on the image:

To restore the profile to the full size image, click the Draw button (the pencil icon):

You can restore any of the desired sections by clicking the title bar of the collapsed section (at the bottom of the form):

For this tutorial, click all the section title bars to restore the Transmit, Receive, and Path Settings sections:

Note that if you add Surface Features to the path, the antenna elevation calculation includes the additional height of those features:

You can use the Zoom function to inspect the clearance when the Surface Features are included:

The Antenna Elevation function can also be used to check a range of antenna heights. For example, suppose you want to find antenna heights that will provide a clear path, and the transmit antenna can be between 50ft AGL and 200ft AGL.

Click the Antenna Elevation button.

On the Antenna Elevation form you can enter the elevation values for the starting elevation and ending elevation, as well as the increment you want to use:

Click the Compute button. The program will compute the necessary antenna height at the receive site for each of the incremental heights at the transmit site:

The program will list all of the combinations of transmit and receive antenna heights necessary for the clear path.

You can scroll through the list and click the combination you want to plot. Click the Plot button on the Antenna Elevation form to show the computed line of sight and Fresnel zone with those antenna heights:

The line of sight and Fresnel will be added to the profile image:

You can select and plot multiple results, and use the same zoom functions as before to see the results:

VHF/UHF Link Budgets

If your TAP license includes the UHF/VHF Reliability module you can use HDPath to compute the link budget for your VHF or UHF path.

This Tutorial provides examples of the operation of the basic UHF/VHF Link Budget functions. More detailed information and other available options are described in the HDPath VHF/UHF Link Budget article.

Click the VHF/UHF Link button:

The program will compute the Link Budget and display two forms:

The Path Loss Details form shows the details for the selected propagation model (in the Path Settings section):

The Link Budget form shows the summary of values used to compute the path fade margin:

You can scroll down the form to display the computed fade margin (in dB):

In addition to the loss values contained in the Fixed Facility records for the transmit and receive facilities, and the computed loss based on the selected propagation model, you can add losses in the Alignment and Other boxes on the form. When you change a value and move the mouse cursor out of that box (to indicate you are through editing the value), the fade margin value is updated:

Microwave Link Budgets

If your TAP license includes the Microwave Reliability module you can use HDPath to compute the link budget for your Microwave path.

This Tutorial provides examples of the operation of the basic Microwave Link Budget functions. More detailed information and other available options are described in the HDPath Microwave Link Budgetarticle.

More detailed information about the Microwave reliability and outage calculations, terrain and climate factors, etc., may be found in the Microwave System Equations article.

It is important to note that microwave reliability and outage calculations are based on a clear path. You should ensure that the path you are using for microwave calculations has a clear line of sight and Fresnel zone (more precisely, 0.5 of the first Fresnel zone). Microwave reliability and outage calculations for obstructed paths may not represent the actual performance of the path.

For this Tutorial, select the "DEMO Red Mountain Transmitter Site" for the transmit facility:

Select the "DEMO Blue Mountain Microwave Receiver" record for the receive facility:

Click the Draw button with the pencil icon to draw the profile:

The profile shows the path had clear line of sight and Fresnel clearance, so this path can be used for Microwave calculations:

Click the Microwave Link button:

The Microwave Link Budget form is displayed:

You can scroll down the form to display the computed reliability and outage values:

You can make changes to the Loss or Reliability factors, and the effect on the link budget calculation will be computed and the link budget will be updated:

Area Coverage Studies

TAP includes a number of area-oriented functions:

□ Field Strength Preview

□ Path Preview

□ Radial Coverage Studies

□ Contour Coverage Studies

□ Tile Coverage Studies

To launch HDCoverage from the TAP6 Menu, click the Area button:

The HDCoverage form will be displayed:

The form includes four main sections for setting up area coverage studies:

□ The left side of the form displays information for the Fixed Facility parameters. These values include the location of the base station or repeater under consideration, as well as other pertinent values (power, frequency, antenna pattern, etc.).

□ The right side of the form displays information for the Mobile Facility parameters. These values include the values for the handheld, vehicle, or other mobile unit to be considered for the area coverage study, such as the antenna height and gain, and losses to be considered in the vicinity of the mobile.

□ The center-bottom of the form displays the Coverage Study Settings, such as the propagation model to use, topographic data settings, etc.

□ The top-center of the form displays a map you can use in setting up the coverage area you want to consider for the study.

This Tutorial provides examples of the operation of the basic HDCoverage functions. More detailed information and other available options are described in the HDCoverage Introduction article.

This Tutorial uses the sample DEMO sites provided with TAP6 in the Fixed Facility database, and the sample mobile units in the Mobile Facility database. For more information on adding your own site and facility information to the database, see the Fixed Facility Interface article and the Mobile Facility Interface article.

This Tutorial will first demonstrate the Field Strength Preview function. The Preview function enables you to set the Fixed and Mobile facility parameters, as well as the propagation model and other Coverage Study Settings. You can then compute the field strength at selected locations with just a mouse-click.

The Preview function is especially useful if you are evaluating potential base station or repeater sites and want a quick field strength prediction at key locations. For example, if you are looking for a repeater site that will provide a specified signal level at an important highway intersection, if the Preview function shows a potential repeater site provides a great signal at that location, you will probably want to do more detailed radial or tile studies for that repeater site. On the other hand, if the potential site will not serve the critical location, that may be a "show stopper", and no further study needs to be done on that site.

Field Strength Preview

For this Tutorial, use the pulldown list at the bottom of the Fixed Facility section to select the "DEMO Castle Rock" facility:

When you select a Fixed Facility record, the map section of the form will be updated to include the coordinates of the site you selected.

The map is updated from the SHAPEFILEs folder under the folder where you have TAP installed. If the shapefiles (.SHP) for the area are not available, the map will not be updated. Be sure you have installed the SoftWright Shapefiles CD.

The map will not be updated if the "Update Map with Coordinates" option is not selected in the Configuration menu. You can click this menu item to enable that function if it is not marked with a check in your TAP system.

To mark the location of the current Fixed Faculty on the map, click the Pin button on the map toolbar:

The site location will be marked on the map as shown:

You can use the Zoom function (magnifying glass icon) to draw a rectangle around the site and zoom to that area:

The coordinates of the mouse location on the map and the distance and bearing from the site are displayed at the top of the map.

Zoom on the drawing to the approximate area shown:

Next, select the desired Mobile Facility from the DEMO records. For this Tutorial, select the "SAMPLE Hand held with minimal body losses":

This sample mobile configuration represents the hypothetical mobile unit with the "best case" conditions, with few external losses from buildings, the user's body, or other factors in the immediate environment of the mobile location.

Note that all values shown in this article are for illustration purposes only. It is important that you use good engineering judgment to determine the values that are appropriate for your equipment and specific application.

In the Coverage Study Settings section, click the Propagation Model heading to expand that item:

Select one of the propagation models available for your TAP system:

The list of propagation models will be determined by your TAP software license. If your TAP license does not include the model shown for this example, select a model from the list shown in your software for this form.

In order to compute the field strength as points of interest on the map, click the Field Preview button:

The button will remain depressed until you click one of the other buttons in the group, such as the Zoom button (magnifying glass icon).

As long as the Field Preview button is selected you will be prompted at the top of the map to click at points of interest in order to compute the field strength value at that location.

Using the mouse, left-click the map at the location shown:

When you click the map, the program will compute the field strength at that location. (For longer paths this may take several seconds as the program reads the topographic elevation data along the path from the Fixed Facility location to the target point.)

The Field Preview results, including the target location coordinates and other details about the calculation, will be displayed in the Field Preview form:

When the field strength is computed, the results will also be displayed on the map. The value (in dBu) will be shown on the map, as well as a green square or a red circle. If the computed field strength at the location meets or exceeds the Mobile Facility "Required Field Value", the point is shown as a green square. If the value is less than the Required Field, the point is shown as a red circle. (The Required Field value is the field strength needed at a location to deliver the manufacturer's specified power to the receiver input, including the internal and external losses and gains. For a more detailed discussion of this critically important topic, see the articles on Required Field and Required Field Value.

For example, in this illustration, the computed field strength is about 45dBu. The Mobile Required Field value for this "Minimal Body Losses" record is just under 8dBu.

Therefore, the computed field at the location exceeds the Required Field value, so the point is displayed as a green square. Since the required field value is exceeded, the mobile unit input requirements are met under these circumstances.

Click another point on the map, this time near the intersection of the county lines west of Castle Rock as shown.

The computed field of about 27dBu again is displayed as a green square, since it exceeds the "Minimal Losses" Mobile configuration.

Now use the pulldown list at the bottom of the Mobile Facility to select the "SAMPLE Hand held with severe body losses" record:

This sample record includes additional losses to be considered, such as body loss, building loss, etc. The Required Field value for this record is over 35dBu, the additional field strength being needed to overcome the additional losses and still deliver the manufacturer's specified power to the receiver input. (For more information on loss values to consider, see the Building and Body Losses article.)

When the parameters of HDCoverage are changed in Field Preview mode (such as the Mobile Facilities) the previously computed values are removed from the map, since they no longer represent the current HDCoverage configuration.

Click the map at the same two points again, now with the "Severe Losses" mobile facility selected:

(The computed values may be slightly different, depending on the exact location you click at the two points.)

Now note that the first point (45dBu) is still represented by a green square, since that value still exceeds the 35dBu required field for the selected Mobile Facility.

However, the point to the west (25dBu) is now represented by a red circle, since it is well below the required 35dBu for this Mobile Facility configuration.

This example illustrates the importance of carefully considering the other possible real-world losses (body, buildings, inside vehicles, etc.) in determining where a particular base station or repeater provides adequate signal for a mobile unit. The conclusion from this example would be that for the same base station and the same mobile unit, the target point to the west has an adequate signal level if the mobile unit is used under optimum conditions (minimal body or building losses). But under more severe conditions (inside a building, with significant body losses), the signal level will not be adequate.

Path Preview

Another useful function in HDCoverage is the Path Preview function. For example, suppose you want to know what the topography is like between the Castle Rock Demo site and the sample target point to the west.

Click the Path Preview button on the Map toolbar. Now you will be prompted to click end points for the path preview:

Using the mouse, left-click on the Castle Rock Demo site and hold the left mouse button down to drag the line to the sample target point.

When you release the mouse button over the target point, the program will display the Path Preview for the path between the two points:

The Path Preview gives you a general look at the topography of the path. There is no scaling information, no earth curvature correction, no line of sight or Fresnel zone plotted. But you can see from this example that the terrain along the path makes it clear why the signal level could be expected to decline.

You can move the mouse on the Path Preview graphic, and the distance and elevation of the mouse cursor is displayed at the lower left corner of the form.

Click the Zoom button to end the Path Preview mode. Select the "minimal losses" Mobile Facility to remove the Field Preview information from the map.

Assuming the results from the Field Preview functions indicate your site is likely to provide the coverage you need, you can use HDCoverage to compute the coverage over a larger area.

HDCoverage provides four types of coverage studies:

□ Radial Coverage studies enable you to compute the field strength along specified radials from the base station. The computed field strength at the specified location can be plotted using different symbols and colors to represent different field strength levels.

□ Contour Coverage studies enable you to compute the field strength along radials and to interpolate those values to draw a single, closed contour representing the desired field strength level.

□ Tile Coverage studies enable you to compute the field strength at locations on a uniform grid. The computed field strength at the specified location can be plotted using different symbols and colors to represent different field strength levels.

□ Target Point Coverage studies enable you to compute the field strength at specified locations, such as telemetry points. The computed field strength at the specified location can be plotted using different symbols and colors to represent different field strength levels.

To select the type of coverage area you want to compute, go to the Coverage Study Settings section of the HDCoverage form and click "Coverage Area" to display that item.

Radial Coverage Studies

For a Radial Coverage study, first create a new Task for the study. If the Task information is not visible, click the Task header in the Coverage Study Settings section:

Click the New button on the HDCoverage toolbar:

(If another study was already displayed in HDCoverage you will be prompted to save changes

For this Tutorial, click No.

A new Task ID will be assigned for the study:

The Task ID is used by the program to keep track of various files and parameters used in the study.

The Task Description is your information about the Task. This is the description you will use later to select the Task to plot, etc.

The Task Description should be meaningful to you, and can include things such as project or contract numbers, etc., to help organize the Tasks.

If you want TAP to automatically draw the coverage map with HDMapper after the Radial Study is computed, check the AutoDraw box:

Click the Task section header to collapse the Task section. Click the Coverage Area section to open that section.

To select a Radial study, click the Radial Study button:

The radial specification options will be displayed.

To set up a study of uniformly spaced radials of the same length, click the "Number" button:

You will be prompted for the number of radials to compute. For example, you can compute 36 radials (every 10 degrees).

You will be prompted for the distance you want to compute on the radials.

The radials will be added to the list.

You can also specify a Range of radials and different lengths for radials. You can also enter desired radials manually. More detailed information about these options is available in the HDCoverage Introduction article.

When you are ready to run the study, click the Save button.

To start the study, click the Run button. (If you click the Run button without saving the study you will be prompted to save the study.)

A list of studies that have been created and save in TAP is displayed. The current study is checked to be run. You can select other Tasks to be run as well.

For this Tutorial, just run the Task you just created for a Radial Study. Click the Continue button.

A form will display the progress of the study.

When the study is complete, if the AutoDraw box was checked, the study will be displayed in HDMapper:

(For more detailed information about the options and functions in HDMapper, see the HDMapper Introduction article.)

The HDMapper layer with the Radial Coverage study is shown in the Legend to the left side of the map. Double-click the layer in the legend:

The Layer information will be displayed.

Note that the default setting is the Required Field strength value for the Mobile Facility used in the study ("Minimal Body Losses").

You can plot other field strength levels on the same study for different Mobile Facility configurations, or any other field strength level that is of interest to you.

To add another field strength level you want to show on the map, click the Add button:

Another level will be added (the value is assigned between the last value in the list and the highest value in the file).

You can edit the value manually and enter a description. But you can also get information directly from the Mobile Facility database. Double-click the value you want to change:

The Mobile Facility lookup will be opened. Use the Find button to select the "SAMPLE Hand held with Severe body losses" record:

Click the Close button.

The values from the Mobile Facility database will be inserted into the Layer settings.

Click the Continue button.

The new levels will be plotted. Note in this example that most of the points still have a signal level adequate for the "severe body loss" configuration. However, there are a number of points, particularly to the north of the Castle Rock Demo site (the light green points), where the "minimal body loss" configuration will work, but not the "severe loss". In other words, these are points with a signal level above the approximately 8dBu needed with minimal losses, but below the 35dBu required field for the severe loss scenario. This is an example of how the coverage map can be used to determine service locations for various mobile configurations, using the same computed field information from on TAP study.

Close the HDMapper form to end this Radial study example. It is not necessary to save the changes to this map.

Contour Coverage Studies

For a Contour Coverage study, first create a new Task for the study. If the Task area of the Coverage Study Settings section is not expanded, click the Task:

Click the New button on the HDCoverage toolbar:

A new Task ID will be assigned for the study:

Since the settings are the same as the previous study, the Task Description defaults to "Copy of…" and the previous description.

Enter a new Task Description for this study: "TUTORIAL Contour Study"

Be sure the AutoDraw box is checked if you want to launch HDMapper when the study is completed.

If the Coverage Area section of the Coverage Study Settings is not displayed, click the Coverage Area header to display that information. Click the Contour Study button:

Since Contour studies are based on calculations of Radial studies, you can set up the radials as you did for the Radial study above. In fact, if you have not changed other settings, you can use the same radial settings for the Contour study.

For Contour studies in TAP, you must define the percent of the computed points that must meet the Required Field value (in the Mobile Facility record) to define the contour. For this Tutorial, enter a value of 90.

The calculation of contour location along radials based on the percentage of points value is discussed in greater detail in the Contour Interpolation article.

For this Tutorial, select the Mobile Facility record for the "SAMPLE Hand Held with Severe Body Losses"

When you are ready to run the Contour study, click the Run button:

Since the Task was not saved, you will be prompted to save the changes. Click the Yes button.

The Task will be saved and you will be prompted for the Task(s) you want to run:

Click the Continue button.

A form will display the progress of the study:

When the study is complete, the contour will be displayed in HDMapper

Note the north part of the contour. Recall from the radial study that several radials to the north had areas where the field strength dropped below the level required for the "severe losses" Mobile configuration. The restricted contour coverage reflects those areas of lower field strength.

If you want to further illustrate this (as well as learn how to add another layer to your coverage map), in HDMapper click the Add Coverage Layer button:

You will be prompted for the layer to add. Find the TUTORIAL Radial Study previously run.

Click the Continue button.

The Radial study will be displayed along with the Contour study for the same site and other Facility Settings.

On the Legend, you can drag the Contour layer up the list to just below the Radial layer. This helps illustrate the radials with lower field strength toward the ends that result in the shorter contour distance on those radials.

Click the Save button to save this map.

Use the same file name and overwrite the old file, then close the form to end this Contour coverage example.

Tile Coverage Studies

For a Tile Coverage study, first create a new Task for the study. If the Task information is not visible, click the Task header in the Coverage Study Settings section.

Click the New button on the HDCoverage toolbar:

A new Task ID will be assigned for the study:

Since the settings are the same as the previous study, the Task Description defaults to "Copy of…" and the previous description.

Enter a new Task Description for this study: "TUTORIAL Tile Study"

Be sure the AutoDraw box is checked if you want to launch HDMapper when the study is completed.

If the Coverage Area section of the Coverage Study Settings is not displayed, click the Coverage Area header to display that information. Click the Tile Study button:

There are several ways to define a Tile area. For this Tutorial, click the Map button:

You will be prompted to draw a rectangle to define a Tile area. With the mouse, click one corner northwest of the large urban area shown on the map. Hold the button down and drag a rectangle to the southeast of the urban area.

When you release the mouse button to complete the rectangle, the tile area limits will be determined and displayed:

In addition to drawing on the map, you can define tile areas several ways:

□ Manually enter the north, south, east, and west limits

□ Use a TAP Area Template

□ Define a range from the Fixed Faculty site

More detailed information about these options is available in the HDCoverage Introduction article.

When you are ready to run the Tile study, click the Run button on the HDCoverage toolbar:

Since the Task was not saved, you will be prompted to save the changes. Click the Yes button.

The Task will be saved and you will be prompted for the Task(s) you want to run:

When the study has completed, the coverage map will be displayed (if the AutoDraw box was checked in HDCoverage):

The actual appearance of the map will depend on the default layers drawn in HDMapper. In this example, the "CO_BLOCK_POPULATION" layer (census reference locations) is above the coverage layer and hides much of it. You can un-check a layer (such as the population layer) to hide it on the map:

You can also change the color and symbol settings of layers. For example, if you want to change the color of the "CO_ROADS" layer, double-click the layer in the legend on the left side of the map:

The Layer settings form is displayed:

Double-click the symbol. The Symbol Settings form is displayed:

Click the Color box. The Color palette is displayed:

Click the color you want and click the OK button to return to the Symbol Settings form.

Click the Continue button to return to the Layer form:

Click the Continue button to return to the map:

You can also change the computed field strength values you want to show. On the legend double-click the "TUTORIAL Tile Study" layer:

The Layer settings form is displayed, showing the two field strength levels currently set:

Click the Add button to add a new level entry.

Another level will be added (the value is assigned between the last value in the list and the highest value in the file). You can edit the value manually and enter a description. But you can also get information directly from the Mobile Facility database. Double-click the value you want to change:

The Mobile Facility lookup will be opened. Use the Find button to select the "SAMPLE Hand held with minimal body losses" record:

Click the Close button to return to the Layer settings form.

The values from the Mobile Facility database will be inserted into the Layer settings.

Click the Continue button.

The new levels will be plotted. Note in this example that some of the points still have a signal level adequate for the "severe body loss" configuration. However, there are a number of points where the "minimal body loss" configuration will work, but not the "severe loss". In other words, these are points with a signal level above the approximately 8dBu needed with minimal losses, but below the 35dBu required field for the severe loss scenario. This is an example of how the coverage map can be used to determine service locations for various mobile configurations, using the same computed field information from on TAP study.

One of the functions available in HDMapper enables you to see even more detail about field strength values at specific locations. Click the TUTORIAL Tile Study layer on the legend to make it the active layer. Then click the Mouse Tips button to the right side of the toolbar:

The Mouse Tips function allows you to choose one of the database fields from the active layer to display. For the coverage layer, select the DBU_FIELD item:

Click the Continue button.

Now as you move the mouse pointer around the map, the computed field strength (in dBu) at each location is displayed:

Target Point Coverage Studies

To create a Target Point study, click the New button on the HDCoverage toolbar:

A new Task ID will be assigned. Enter a Task description ("TUTORIAL Target Point Study", and check the AutoDraw box:

To select a Target Point study, click the Target Study button:

The Target Study input grid is displayed:

The easiest way to add points is from the map. Click the Map button in the Target Study section, and you will be prompted to click locations on the map:

When you click a location on the map, the coordinates of the point will be added to the Target Points list. You can add a description of the point in the Description column.

Right click the map to stop clicking points to add to the list.

You can also read point locations from several file formats:

□ .SHP shapefile (ShapeFile button)

□ .DBF dBase file (Data File button)

□ .XLS Excel file (Data File button)

□ .CSV ASCII comma delimited file (Data File button)

You can also type in coordinates for points of interest in the Target Point study.

More detailed information about these options is available in the HDCoverage Introduction article.

Select several points on the map, then right-click on the map to end the point selection process.

Click the Save button to save the current Task:

Click the Run button to run the Task:

Select just the current study from the list and click the Continue button:

A form will be displayed to show the progress of the study:

When the map is displayed, you can double-click the TUTORIAL Target Point layer in the legend on the left side.

The layer settings form is displayed.

To change the size of the symbols, double-click the symbol for the SAMPLE Handheld level. The Symbol Settings form is displayed:

Click the color box to set a different color and use the pulldown list for a different symbol, and increase the size:

Click the Continue button.

Click the continue button on the Layer settings form:

Now the computed Target locations are more visible on the map:

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