Why is ATSC on VHF so damn finicky?

[old_tv_nut]

I would also note that VHF over the horizon is subject to smeared ghosting (energy spread over a range of delays), which analog viewers can look through, but is hard for digital systems to handle. In Europe, digital broadcasting typically repeats national feeds on multiple transmitters and different RF channels, so everyone lives within the horizon of one. This does not fit the American broadcasting model of big stick transmission to large local markets. ATSC 3.0 has specific signal features that facilitate use of single frequency networks (SFNs) where a market can be covered out to its legal limit by use of multiple transmitters spread over the coverage area but on the same RF channel; but in this case, DXing may become more difficult for those outside the designated area, since each transmitter has only enough power to cover its locality.