Hey guys good to find a thread about this...
I'm planing on getting this antenna (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10901&cs_id=1090102&p_id=4730&seq=1&format=2) and putting it on my balcony which is facing due north, will I be able to get most if not all of the available stations in SA?

Hey guys good to find a thread about this...
I'm planing on getting this antenna (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10901&cs_id=1090102&p_id=4730&seq=1&format=2) and putting it on my balcony which is facing due north, will I be able to get most if not all of the available stations in SA?

Where is your home/apartment located? Is this balcony on the ground or 2nd floor?

Where is your home/apartment located? Is this balcony on the ground or 2nd floor?near 410 and 35 south, the apartment balcony is facing straight North and I'm on the 3rd floor.

near 410 and 35 south, the apartment balcony is facing straight North and I'm on the 3rd floor.

From that part of town you would almost want your antenna oriented due east but you should be able to get most of the locals with it facing north. Being on a 3rd floor balcony should give you more than enough height.

From that part of town you would almost want your antenna oriented due east but you should be able to get most of the locals with it facing north. Being on a 3rd floor balcony should give you more than enough height.
So you think the antenna listed above would get me all the channels available?

So you think the antenna listed above would get me all the channels available?

It's certainly worth a try. That antenna appears to have an extremely high rating from customers who have purchased it.

Wierd I cannot pull(scan) KENS 5 on QAM on one of my TV's. But it comes in fine on my sons TV in his room? Any ideas?

"...I cannot pull(scan) KENS 5 on QAM on one of my TV's. But it comes in fine on my sons TV in his room..."If it isn't too much trouble, switch sets. Move your son's TV to the suspect position and move the suspect TV to your son's bedroom and try scanning again. It is possible one position has a better signal quality than the other. This may be due to a problem with a splitter, cable or connector.

Be sure you don't have any more splitters in the line than you actually need. The fewer the better. Let me know what you find.

It is possible one position has a better signal quality than the other. This may be due to a problem with a splitter, cable or connector.

I wont be able to move the TV It's already mounted and would be a pain to undo, but I think this is the issue(in bold). The connection is on the same line that the cable modem is hooked up to and there is a splitter on it. I am going to double check the connections. Thanks Jerry.

so I checked wires and rescanned still nothing. This TV is set up right next to the cable modem so there is a splitter on this line one to the PC and one to the TV. Any ideas to boost signal?

I wont be able to move the TV It's already mounted and would be a pain to undo...

Okay, can the set in your son's room be moved and tried on the line to the TV near the cable modem? Just move the RF connection to the other TV and see what happens. (This step rules out the tuner and maybe modem interference in your main TV.) Also, try the RF line from the splitter; take the line off the splitter and put it directly into the TV and try. (Rules out the splitter.)

If all this fails you may need to request a visit from the folks at Time Warner to check your signal quality at that position. Boosting the signal with additional amplifiers is not always the best idea. The signal may already be too strong for your tuner's front end. You also could also be suffering from interference due to the proximity of your cable modem, or even a faulty cable modem. A well-equipped installer should be able to determine the problem.

His BKT Corp. did the maintenance on many of the broadcast towers in this area
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sanantonio/obituary.aspx?n=craig-kennedy&pid=153974256&fhid=8901
A friend of 40+ years.

Okay, can the set in your son's room be moved and tried on the line to the TV near the cable modem? Just move the RF connection to the other TV and see what happens. (This step rules out the tuner and maybe modem interference in your main TV.) Also, try the RF line from the splitter; take the line off the splitter and put it directly into the TV and try. (Rules out the splitter.)

If all this fails you may need to request a visit from the folks at Time Warner to check your signal quality at that position. Boosting the signal with additional amplifiers is not always the best idea. The signal may already be too strong for your tuner's front end. You also could also be suffering from interference due to the proximity of your cable modem, or even a faulty cable modem. A well-equipped installer should be able to determine the problem.

Thanks again I will try your suggestions.

Now there's a conflict with Direct TV and Kens. Kens wants more money. D* says they are negotiating. So if Kens goes off D*, am I expected to put up a very high antenna and then run wires that would run all over inside the house to connect 3 tv's?

All the sets in the house are next to inside walls where cables were fished when the home was built. In addition, there are too many obstructions here in Leon Valley. Two story houses and too many trees would block the line of site to Elmendorf. Not to mention, my main HD tv does not have an HD tuner. It's an older set.

So, does that mean I would qualify for a signal from New York or L.A.?

run wires that would run all over inside the house to connect 3 tv's? All the sets in the house are next to inside walls where cables were fished when the home was built.my main HD tv does not have an HD tuner. It's an older set.
So, does that mean I would qualify for a signal from New York or L.A.?
You don't have to "run" cables all over your house in fact you can use the ones already there to distribute the signal for you.
For the older TV sets you'll have to get an inexpensive converter box, try radio shack or even amazon.

I don't know what you mean by getting signals from NY or LA..

The cables already there are configred with swm and hooked up to a dish. I wouldn't know how to hook up an antenna to them and I don't know if it can be done without going through any additional expenses. A converter box would not help since I would need a very tall antenna to clear the trees and the two story house that obstruct the southeast path to Elmendorf.

In the Direct TV questions and answers about that, they say that we would not be able to receive programming from any other city due to FCC protecting local broadcasters, unless we are not able to receive local programming over the air, or if I get a waiver from them.

The cables already there are configred with swm and hooked up to a dish. I wouldn't know how to hook up an antenna to them and I don't know if it can be done without going through any additional expenses. A converter box would not help since I would need a very tall antenna to clear the trees and the two story house that obstruct the southeast path to Elmendorf.

In the Direct TV questions and answers about that, they say that we would not be able to receive programming from any other city due to FCC protecting local broadcasters, unless we are not able to receive local programming over the air, or if I get a waiver from them.
If you want to put up an outside antenna, but not run additional cables inside, there are special splitters available that let you "share" a single coaxial cable for satellite and an OTA antenna. Radio Shack probably sells them. You need one outside to combine the signals, and you need another one inside behind the TV, to split them out again. The splitters look like conventional splitters, with two connections on one side, and one on the other, but they need to be marked "ANT" and "SAT".

Even though you are quite some distance from the station's transmitter, it's still possible an indoor antenna would work. KENS' signal is UHF, which is probably easier to pull in than VHF. Maybe you could try an inexpensive indoor UHF antenna first, to see if it would work? If it does, you could just buy a dedicated indoor antenna for each TV set.

It isn't just KENS, but a bunch of Belo-owned stations all over the country that are facing a Nov. 1 deadline with DirecTV. Chances are, an agreement will be reached by then, or a temporary extension granted.

Again, there is a two story house directly on my southeast side of my house. There are a lot of tall tree in their back yard as well. My street runs from southeast to northwest. I do not believe I have a clear path to Kens transmitters. I am in Leon Valley.

But still, I don't think I want to go to all that trouble. At least not yet. I wonder how well Belo would do if they lost all those viewers. After all, advertising dollars depend on viewership.

I do not believe I have a clear path to Kens transmitters,But still, I don't think I want to go to all that trouble. At least not yet. trial and error, right?
Get a cheap rabbit ear antenna from radio shack and if it doesn't work then you can go with an outdoor one and see as well.

Got the exact co-odinates from my house to the Kens and other local transmitters. I have two big trees in my backyard. There is a two story house caddy corner to my back yard which probably would not be a problem because ony a corner of that house is in the way looking at a straight line to all the transmitters in Elmendorph at 26.9 degrees from my house.

Questions. Would the tall trees be a problem? They have a lot of leaves. Also, what would be a good not to expensive stand alone over the air HD receiver for my older CRT HD TV? And could I use the same cables with a D* swm system? My roof would not be in the way so how high would the antenna have to be from the ground?

I'm starting to want to have the option of over the air HD for all our locals.

Got the exact co-odinates from my house to the Kens and other local transmitters. I have two big trees in my backyard. There is a two story house caddy corner to my back yard which probably would not be a problem because ony a corner of that house is in the way looking at a straight line to all the transmitters in Elmendorph at 26.9 degrees from my house.

Questions. Would the tall trees be a problem? They have a lot of leaves. Also, what would be a good not to expensive stand alone over the air HD receiver for my older CRT HD TV? And could I use the same cables with a D* swm system? My roof would not be in the way so how high would the antenna have to be from the ground?

I'm starting to want to have the option of over the air HD for all our locals.
I don't think tall trees pose much of a problem, unless you are trying to use too small of antenna in relation to your distance from the transmitter. Some people report good results from mounting their TV antenna inside their attic, provided there is enough room up there, and they don't have a metal roof.

I'm not sure about the standalone HD TV tuner. I know they are available, but probably not a lot of demand for them. The tuners that were sold under the government's coupon program would receive the HD channels, but would only output in SD resolution.

Some of the newer DirecTV receivers allow free local OTA channel reception from an antenna, which will probably get you some additional channels (subchannels), on top of what is included for local channels as part of your satellite subscription. An additional module may have to be purchased for some of those receivers to allow you to do that, if it is not a built-in feature.

I'm not really familiar with how the SWM system works. The splitters I described in a previous post requires one outside for you to connect your satellite dish and TV antenna to, and one inside behind the TV to split it back out, sharing a single cable that is now just carrying your satellite signal to your TV, instead of running an additional cable through the wall.

I have a rooftop antenna on a single-story house with a low-pitch roof. No 2-story houses immediately around me, but the antenna is pointing directly at a cedar elm tree in my yard, and at a 2-story house about 300' away.

Thanks for your response AV.

After nearly 2.5 years KLRN-9 gets to up (double) its ERP http://www.klrn.org/dtv/
Being c. 17 mi away OTA (with an outdoor antenna) from them was never a problem for me. I guess that the smaller-market KCEN doesn't need as much coverage-area protection as before (the reason that KLRN had been stuck with such a low ERP all this time). They must have had things at-the-ready to implement it so quickly after it was granted.

After nearly 2.5 years KLRN-9 gets to up (double) its ERP http://www.klrn.org/dtv/
Being c. 17 mi away OTA (with an outdoor antenna) from them was never a problem for me. I guess that the smaller-market KCEN doesn't need as much coverage-area protection as before (the reason that KLRN had been stuck with such a low ERP all this time). They must have had things at-the-ready to implement it so quickly after it was granted.

Thats good to hear, Dish just added the HD feed for local PBS # 9 & KCWX #2. Still need the CW in HD # 35, but glad to have the other two as over air signal is very weak and difficult to pick up. I was getting ready to change all my PBS recordings to Dish HD SAT feed which is a little softer, so now, I will leave it as is. No more break ups of ACL will be nice.

TXMAN, You still around,

Any update on progress of audio fixes at WOAI?

I have sound out of 5.1 speakers, but things do not sound quite right.

If I Plix out to 7.1, I get no sound out of the side surrounds? Anyone else notice this.

Superbowl is coming up on NBC

After nearly 2.5 years KLRN-9 gets to up (double) its ERP http://www.klrn.org/dtv/
Being c. 17 mi away OTA (with an outdoor antenna) from them was never a problem for me. I guess that the smaller-market KCEN doesn't need as much coverage-area protection as before (the reason that KLRN had been stuck with such a low ERP all this time).

KCEN has been a thorn in my side up here in Dallas. With the slightest bit of tropo or fog, they routinely interfere with KFWD, a scant 92 miles north, operating directionally with 13 kW. It seems to happen whenever I want to watch the replay of Dale Hansen's sports (from quasi-sister WFAA). :(

My rant about KCEN's allocation is getting old (after nearly three years) but I still don't see how the FCC was able to wedge it in, Longley-Rice studies notwithstanding. And I realize that atmospheric conditions don't weigh into the consideration. But still...

In the NTSC days KLRN's nearest full-power co-channels were Abilene, Lufkin, Reynosa. Due to my antenna headings for them from here they actually got a lot more destructive CCI from the zero-beat WAFB in Baton Rouge (c. 450 mi)! Zone III spacing for tropo somehow got ignored when DTV came along. http://www.qsl.net/wa5iyx/hivusntsc.htm

The application for KCWX's "translator" on Ch 8, 600 w, is apparently going to be on the KLRN tower. Being at 17 mi for me, in the same direction as Corpus's KIII, it may suffer from CCI when tropo is up. Co-siting with KLRN avoids the xltor from being stronger than the PBS outlet on that adjacent channel anywhere in the coverage area.

Awaiting the explanation for the prolonged Thursday evening session of non-decode on KSAT's OTA signal. By 11 pm 12.1 had back just an ident graphic, but 12.2 programming was back to normal. I guess "technical difficulties" graphics were thought to be no longer needed these days :)
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OK, the Friday noon news on KSAT explained that it was due to an hour-long power outage. http://www.ksat.com/news/Power-hit-takes-KSAT-12-off-air/-/478452/7946110/-/15sk8l0/-/index.html
I knew that it had to be studio-related as the transmitter was still on.

Anyone having bad audio on KENS NFL playoff game broadcasts this weekend? All sound is coming from center channel and LFE only, nothing from L-R, or surrounds.It sounds terrible. Last weekend's Steelers-Broncos game was perfect.

Is this KENS or CBS?

I am able to pick up Fox, NBC and CBS as well as Univision and Telemundo on clear HD, but I can not pick up channel 12.1 for ABC...any suggestions

I am able to pick up Fox, NBC and CBS as well as Univision and Telemundo on clear HD, but I can not pick up channel 12.1 for ABC...any suggestions
Need a VHF antenna.

Thanks...I went to antennaweb.org and you were 100% correct...thanks

The NOAA weather radio is off the air in San Antonio until Friday. (http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ewx/) I have muted the input to the KENS 5.3 service to spare your ears the lovely white noise that lives under where the audio used to be.

Checked 162.55 MHz on my FT-847 (with 2m 11-el 16' AGL beamed n.e.) and found WNG692 from Carrizo Springs on there (including the announcement that SA's WXK67 is off!) There are so many NWS stations on the other NOAA freqs in this area that I've lost track of them. When tropo is up it becomes bedlam - a far cry from the early 1970s when Corpus, Galveston, Brownsville, et al could be heard with a whip (before WXK67 debuted c. 1977).
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/stations.php?State=TX

The NOAA radio transmitter was probably restored to service late Friday afternoon, be we didn't get back to our encoder until Saturday. As of 1645 CST Saturday, NOAA radio audio is back on KENS 5.3.

Next time we find out about a NOAA outage I will see about tuning to one of the neighboring transmitters. At the very least we could have enjoyed current conditions for our general area - if not a bedlam of co-channel interference from so many on the same frequency!

If WXK67 is still sited at the Methodist Hospital that's c. 3-mi LOS from me so with their 1kw it doesn't take a lot of antenna to get them here. Even those other NWS channels nearby can sometimes get strong enough that just a whip will pick up a few of them.

Anyone else lost picture on timewarner chi 111, for the 49er game?

Apparently quite a few viewers in Northwest San Antonio were affected by a TW outage this evening, displaying a freeze frame of the last action seen on some channels (FOX) and a black screen on others. Analog cable was briefly affected also, resulting in old-fashioned snow on multiple SD analog tier channels interpersed with a few spurts of full-field color bars. When called TW acknowledged an awareness of the problem and that they were working on it. The analog lower tier was quick to return, the HD tier took a little longer. I personally found Road Runner internet service spotty at times between 7 and 8pm but that was minor compared to the TV outage.

Thanks for the reply seems to be working now

For the past few weeks I have set up my Time Warner cable box to record CBS This Morning from 7 till 9 am. It has been so pixilated that I can't watch it on channel 105 (HD). So I recorded channel 5 (SD) thinking that it was an HD problem. But turns out that both channels are broken up so badly that I can't watch them.

So my question is: Does channel 5 have a signal strength problem right now or could this be my stinky Time Warner cable box doing this?

If WXK67 is still sited at the Methodist Hospital that's c. 3-mi LOS from me so with their 1kw it doesn't take a lot of antenna to get them here. Even those other NWS channels nearby can sometimes get strong enough that just a whip will pick up a few of them.

I believe WXK67 moved from the Methodist 2 or 3 years ago, out 281 & 1604 area...
Chuck

Searching I found a 2006 pdf file saying that they were (had) moved to a "more strategic tower" site, which probably means better HAAT than they had in the Medical Center area (where they started out with 300 watts c. 1977-78). Still potent here near 410 and Bandera Rd.

... Does channel 5 have a signal strength problem right now or could this be my stinky Time Warner cable box doing this?

Sandy, we haven't heard from you for quite a while. The KENS transmitter signal strength has no bearing on Time-Warner's performance. KENS delivers a studio-quality HD and SD signal via optical fiber to Time-Warner. The cable company then aggregates our signals with our brother and sister stations' and makes distribution to San Antonio homes and to neighboring South Texas communities.

I would call TIme-Warner for a service visit. Before that you could check the security of all the cable connections to equipment in your home. A loose connection can mimic all sorts of technical problems.

Sandy, we haven't heard from you for quite a while.

I would call TIme-Warner for a service visit. Before that you could check the security of all the cable connections to equipment in your home. A loose connection can mimic all sorts of technical problems.
Realthogue I was hoping you were still there. Thanks for your info. I checked all the connections and they are tight. The only other thing I can think of is that I have a GoogleTV running thru the setup. Can you just have a bad HDMI cable which could cause this pixilizing?

...The only other thing I can think of is that I have a GoogleTV running thru the setup. Can you just have a bad HDMI cable which could cause this pixilizing?
Sorry about the delay in replying, Sandy. Sure, an HDMI cable can cause all sorts of problems. HDMI as an entity can have numerous problems depending on the manufacturer's implementation (and interpretation) of the standard.

You can try another cable, they're not all that expensive. You might bypass the Google TV appliance for a while to rule it out, although I can't say whether that would cause issues or not.

Happy hunting!

With all the bad weather being shown on the various networks when will the shows like Hawaii 5-0 and Castle be shown??? Later tonight???

Allen

Most of network shows are available online...

Sorry about the delay in replying, Sandy. Sure, an HDMI cable can cause all sorts of problems. HDMI as an entity can have numerous problems depending on the manufacturer's implementation (and interpretation) of the standard.

You can try another cable, they're not all that expensive. You might bypass the Google TV appliance for a while to rule it out, although I can't say whether that would cause issues or not.

Happy hunting!

Realthogue

I checked connections and they were good. Then I replaced HDMI cables with better quality but no help. Then I rewired the Google TV and sent DVR directly to TV without going through the Google TV. And presto the DVR started to work properly without pixilating or skipping recordings. So it was the Google TV and not the DVR. Thanks for you help as always I'm grateful for your input.

Most of network shows are available online...

Hey TXMAN you are still around,

Any update on progress of audio fixes at WOAI?

I have sound out of 5.1 speakers, but things do not sound quite right, and
if I Plix out to 7.1, I get no sound out of the side surrounds? Anyone else notice this.