And he also frequently states that RF (Radio Frequency) is black art, that sometimes installations that patently should work don't and vice-versa
Should have said before that I was quoting from a website, but the bloke gives the impression he knows his stuff.
He clearly does know his stuff, but it isn't true to say that RF is a black art - it is
extremely well understood. I studied
waveguides,
antennae and
transmission lines as part of my Electronic Engineering degree and it was made clear to me that some very clever people had worked all this stuff out well over 100 years ago, before they even had the electronic equipment to generate the signals!
Of course, things may not turn out as simple in practice as they are in theory, but there is always a reason for that ...
Things that should work but don't: I saw an example of a TV mysteriously packing up because the UHF signal became poor. It turned out to be due to water ingress in the coaxial cable shorting out the signal.
Things that shouldn't work but do: I know someone living in nearby Mytholmroyd who is not supposed to be able to get a direct signal from the Emley Moor transmitter but he can. He got Freeview way before the local relay station underwent the digital switchover. I checked the OS map of the area and it turns out that there is line of sight from his aerial to the Emley Moor mast, through a small gap between the hills on either side of the Calder Valley. Houses a few doors from him on either side rely on the local relay station instead.
