Comparative Study of Path Loss Using Existing Models for Digital Television Broadcasting for Summer Season in the North of Mauritius

Field strength, carrier-to-noise ratio and bit-error- rate were measured at two antenna heights (4 m and 6 m) in the north of Mauritius Island following the launching of digital broadcasting in October 2005 at UHF Bands (470 to 862 MHz). Results show that the path loss is not constant at various locations for a constant distance around the base station. This shows the irregularity of the terrain. Furthermore, it is observed that for a particular location, the path loss for an antenna height of 6 m is lower than that of 4 m. This justifies the presence of multipath effects and the deviation of the results from the expected values. This means that the probability of signal errors is less at an antenna height of 6 m than that of 4 m. The calculated path loss is compared with other existing propagation models such as free- space, Lee, Hata and extended COST-231. The results show that Hata model is closer to the calculated path loss, that is, better agreement in sub-urban area.