[TowerTalk] HFTA terrain data - NED vs. DEM

[William Hein]

I am looking for a new QTH in the western U.S. and have been running HFTA plots on the leading property candidates.  "HFTA - Don't Buy A Home Without It!"

I had not used HFTA for a number of years so I had to re-educate myself on how to acquire the 5 degree fans and did a careful re-reading of the HFTA v1.04 document that comes with the software.  I found the USGS seamless NED maps much easier to use this time than the DEM maps I used before.  Amongst other things, one doesn't have to stitch together adjacent topo maps in DEM to get full fan coverage.

A tip on MicroDEM - be sure to download the latest version of this software (it's free) and take your time getting the options dialed in exactly as recommended in the HFTA document.

Thanks again to Dean N6BV for creating this awesome tool!  My previous stations in CA, CO and VT would have been built much differently, and would have been much more effective, had I had HFTA in the '90s and '80s.

73,
Bill AA7XT  ex-AA4XT ex-NT1Y ex-AA6TT