Field Estimation for Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting in Western Part of Fukuoka

Fukuoka tower plays an important role as master stations for several terrestrial digital broadcasting systems in Fukuoka area, which are going to completely replace the conventional analog broadcasting systems in 2011. The input power of the digital broadcasting system is reduced about one tenth of the old analog system, but the new system needs many relay stations to maintain high quality of services. In this paper, focusing on the relay station at Mt. Kaya in the western part of Fukuoka, we estimate the field distributions with respect to both the master and a relay station by using the discrete ray tracing method. We also discuss the necessity of a relay station in conjunction with the blind zones of the master station due to shadowing in a mountainous area.