This study investigated the received signal strength and the propagation profiles for UHF channel 23, broadcast signal in Ondo State, Nigeria, at various elevation levels. The signal strength was measured quantitatively across the state along several routes with the aid of a digital field strength meter. A global positioning system (GPS) receiver was used to determine the elevation above ground level, the geographic coordinates and the line of sight of the various data points from the base station. Data obtained were used to plot the elevation and propagation profiles of the signal along measurement's routes. Results showed that the signal strength was strongest towards the northern parts with respect to distance compared to other routes with the same distance contrary to inverse square law. The threshold signal level for the station was 20dBµV which was recorded up to 50km line of sight from the transmitter towards the northern parts of the state where higher levels of elevation of data locations were recorded and 42km towards the southern parts with lower values of elevation. The propagation profiles for all the routes follow the elevation pattern of the study areas, with some farther locations recording higher signal strength compared to closer locations to the transmitter contrary to theoretical expectation. The overall results show that elevation above ground level is a key factor to be considered for UHF transmission and reception (location of transmitters, transmitting antenna's height, directivity and gain. Others are, transmitter output power, receiving antenna's height and gain) in the study areas.

Reconfiguration of an electrical power radial distribution network is aimed at finding a radial operating structure that minimizes the system active power loss, enhancing the system voltage profile via reducing the active power losses whilst satisfying operating constraints is one of the most important measures of improving the operational performance of a distribution system. In this paper, an efficient approach to solving the problem of reconfiguration considering active power loss, total voltage deviation for a typical distribution network. The method developed is based on improved genetic algorithm to determine the optimal location of tie and sectionalizing switches, with a view to yield an optimal performance for the network. The reconfiguration model was implemented using MATLAB R2016a simulation environment. The effectiveness and validity of the proposed model was tested on a 16, 33 and 69 IEEE-Bus standard systems for distribution network. The results show that with a reduction of 8.86%, 31.15% and 53.53% in active power loss as compared to the initial configuration, whilst a total voltage deviation of 0.0284p.u., 0.0622p.u and 0.0517p.u for 16, 33 and 69 IEEE Bus respectively.