FCC rules and propagation data

The engineering which is incorporated into the FCC Rules is designed to provide a satisfactory administrative tool for station assignment and licensing purposes. With the rapid growth of television, it was found necessary to include in the Rules a national assignment plan based upon avaiable propagation and equipment data and upon estimates of average service areas. The data and procedures used for the development of the mileage spacings employed in the assignment plan; for the development of the propagation curves; and for the estimates of field strengths required for various grades of service are examined and discussed. An appraisal is made of present progress in UHF and of needed technical developments to permit the UHF to provide the necessary service.