Guide to buying equipment for LPTV

1          Understand your licence conditions.    Carefully check key conditions of your licence which may be relevant to your equipment and timelines such as:

  •      Band  -e.g. UHF, VHF, etc
  •      Analog or Digital
  •      Maximum Power
  •      Deadline for “going live”


 2          Start your exploration early, in order to allow sufficient time to collect information, consult widely, and test equipment and other activities.  You need at least 4 and perhaps 6 months before “going live” date.   See Project Planning.


3          Consider ALL the alternatives.   Ensure that you obtain comprehensive information on all the alternatives available.   By not considering all alternatives, you may compromise the quality of your decision-making.


4          Consult those with experience,

A frequent dilemma for purchasers is that few salesmen can also act as impartial consultants, due to the conflict of interest.   Try to locate impartial expertise in LPTV from other sources which could include:

  • Hope Channel technical, which in some regions helps to provide details of recommended manufacturers, and Site Evaluations
  • Private or commercial broadcasters in your area, who may have useful experience to share, if they are approached
  • TV technicians associated with public broadcasters
  • Operators of other Hope TV LPTV stations in your region


5          Find out what works in your area

Contact users of LPTV equipment in your region to find out what they use and what their experience has been.   Ask questions such as:

  • What equipment specification (including output power [watts]) are you using?
  • How far away can your broadcast be received:
    • With only an internal antenna (bunny ears)?
    • With an external TV antenna?
  • What changes would you make if you were ordering new equipment?
  • What kind of service have you had from the supplier / manufacturer?

 Drive around the fringes of the broadcast area and check the quality of the broadcast.


6          Try to establish the optimum configuration

If cost is not a factor to establish your station, ignore this section.   However, if cost-effectiveness is important to you, and you wish to reach the optimum number of viewers on a limited budget, read on.  

Simple ratios may be used to measure cost-effectiveness, such as “Viewers reached per Dollar” (or whatever your currency is), or “Cost per viewer”, to deliver a clear signal to viewers.

Such ratios can help you identify where more power (and cost) is being used than is really needed.  

Transmitter salesmen may try to persuade you that you cannot be effective unless you have a 1 Kilowatt transmitter!   If your surveys determine that “everyone is using 1 or more Kilowatts” – this also may not be the guide you want to follow, but it is a factor to bear in mind.   Viewers may not be able to tell the difference between 1000w and 200w, for example, unless they are on the fringes of your broadcast footprint.

An experienced engineer could guide you to reach the optimum power.   It would be useful to conduct some tests, using varying power levels.

7          Use a Site Evaluator

In some regions, trained Hope Channel Site Evaluators are available to undertake site surveys, during which valuable information about the target area and the antenna site is recorded for evaluation by trained engineers. 

8          Review our general guidelines for purchasing any type of equipment.

For further assistance, please write to us at  techinfo(at)hopetv(dot)org