ANTENNA TOWER - SPECIAL REPORT
RF Coverage in Mountain Terrain
Denver broadcasters deceptively claim to “cover” the entire metro population of 2.7 million without disclosing use of Repeaters, Boosters, and/or Translators to fill Shadows from all tower sites, including Lookout Mountain and Mt. Morrison.
Four existing broadcast antenna tower sites provide about the same “coverage.” Media and “Letter-to-the-Editor” propoganda supporting Lookout towers is about money. Denver TV stations own nonconforming sites at the east summit of residential Lookout Mountain and don’t want to rent or acquire rural tower sites.
At right: Mount Morrison towers viewed from Red Rocks Park
The cost of sending signals over-the-air from land-based towers is a fraction of the infrastructure investment for cable and satellite that now offer digital television (DTV). More than 70% of viewers subscribe to cable or satellite television to gain reliable reception in mountainous terrain. Citizens are not willing to sacrifice their community for towers to serve 30% of the population that cannot afford digital TV receivers, cable or satellite service. Consumers won’t gain the promised “High Definition Television” (HDTV). Local commercial stations intend to split and lease their FREE spectrum for increased profit.
Signals sent from Lookout bounce back and forth between the Table Mountains and Lookout & Zion Mountains, causing Golden’s 16,000 population to receive double-triple ghost images. This multipath problem will be more severe for over-the-air DTV. Terrain that reflects signals to cause analog ghosting may be completly unavailable for digital TV receivers.
Left: Jefferson Coounty Administration and Courts Building, referred to as the "Taj Majal" by local residents. Antenna Towers on Lookout Mountain can be seen in the background
Reception for Evergreen’s 25,000 population is blocked by Genesee Mountain or multipathing between hills and gulches. Another 35,000 east and south of Green Mountain do not receive clear signals from existing tower sites. Compare the four broadcast antenna tower sites:
Squaw Mountain | Eldorado Mountain | Mount Morrison | Lookout Mountain