Re "Digital does not go as far as Analog"
Using the same radio transmitter, same antenna, On voice I have problems going cross country (Analog) with 100 Watts... A better antenna and I would be good but a proper antenna is hard to do when mobile...
ON digital.. Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Cuba, Russia, and I have cards from many countries.. 30-40 watts digital, 100 analog per the meter.
What happend was two things.. A general shift from VHF to UHF which may not travel as far
And a shift from hundreds of thousands of watts to 10's of thousands or less.