This article describes the Mobile Facility functions in TAP5 and earlier.  If you are using TAP6 or later, see the TAP6 Mobile Facility Interface article.

The Mobile Facility database is accessible from various places in TAP. The most direct access is from the Editors menu by selecting "Mobile Facility Data Base"

The Mobile Facility Lookup form is displayed to inspect or edit information, or to add a new record.

• The Description enables you to enter information about this mobile unit and its configuration. The description is used later when you select a particular mobile unit from a list of all units available.
• The ERP (Effective Radiated Power) value for the transmitter is used for talk-back calculations.
• The ERP/Antenna Lookup button can be used to compute the ERP based on the transmitter power output (TPO) and associated gains and losses. (Note that directional antenna pattern information is not included in coverage calculations or plotting.)
• The Center of Radiation for the height of the mobile antenna is used for both the transmitter and receiver for the mobile unit.
• For land mobile applications, you would typically specify a height AGL (Above Ground Level). In this mode, the height of the mobile antenna in an area coverage study will follow the terrain at the specified height.
• For ground to air applications, you may want to specify an elevation MSL (above Mean Sea Level), such as an aircraft flight level. In this mode, the mobile antenna in an area coverage study remains at a constant altitude.
• The Required Field section is used to specify the amount of field strength necessary for this mobile configuration. This is the value that will be used later to plot areas where the computed field strength (in an area coverage study) is sufficient to use this mobile configuration. This value will also be used for contour calculations to specify the contour level necessary for this mobile. You can enter a particular value, or you can use the "Required Field Lookup" button to compute the field level based on the receiver input requirements, associated losses and gains, etc.
• The Required Field Lookup button enables you to include various loss values with the mobile configuration. For example, you might want multiple configurations for the same model of handheld radio, but including different loss conditions. These might include a "best case" where the external losses (building, body loss, etc.) are minimal, and a "worst case" that includes extreme loss values. These two records can then be used when plotting a threshold map or contours of the area to show the mobile receiver's usefulness in different areas under different conditions.