Yesterday afternoon, the FCC released TVStudy version 1.2.9. This release is a minor update, which adds new study options for calculating the protected coverage of DTS stations, customizes windows and shortcut keys for Linux vs. Mac, adds support for computers with large amounts of installed memory (such as the new Mac Pro), adds a “check for updates” function, and changes some of the default study parameters to better match the sample data that have been provided. A complete list of changes is on pages 12 and 13 of the version 1.2.9 Upgrade Guide.

The User Manual is now distributed in the ZIP files along with the source and executable code. The manual is no longer available as a standalone download. The manual is still in PDF but is now placed in the “help” directory.

The TVStudy sample results have been updated, but with minor exceptions, any changes are limited to DTS stations.

The FCC is also releasing a standalone utility (presently considered a “beta” release) to test and verify the various terrain databases used by TVStudy. Since the first release of TVStudy, our experience has been that most users were able to obtain precisely the same results as the FCC. When there were differences, however, they were generally due to issues with the terrain databases. In some cases, a terrain database was not accessible by TVStudy due to permissions problems; in other cases, a terrain database was missing or corrupt. This utility, checkTerrain, is a python script, which must be run from the command line. checkTerrain will determine whether TVStudy has permission to read the files in the various terrain databases and will verify that all of the files in the various terrain databases are installed and pass a verification (hash) test. Instructions for its use are in the README file.

We recommend installing the latest version of TVStudy and using the checkTerrain utility to confirm that all of the terrain databases are properly installed and accessible by the software.

As always, the FCC welcomes your questions and comments on TVStudy.