Originally posted by MartyJ
Jay,

My current setup is a Silver Sensor in the attic with a distribution amp attachecd to it in the attic. The antenna feeds a HTPC with a MyHD card for viewing/recording HD. That goes to a JVC G11 DILA PJ onto a 110 inch 16:9 Stewart Grayhawk screen.

With this setup I can reliably recieve CBS and Fox out of NY. CBS from NY comes in no matter where the antenna points.

I currently have the antenna not quite directly facing Philadelphia. I can get 43 PBS out of Trenton and 34 PBS from Philly. I occassionally get UPN and Fox. I consistantly get ABC and CBS.

I only turn the antenna back towards NY on Tuesdays to watch 24 on Fox.

There's that CBS signal again :D

110 inch screen....sweeeet!!!

That channel 34 from Philly....WYBE....do you get that consistently?? For the last few nights I've noticed the signal WILDY fluctuating from 0 back up to 50 then to 0 then to 100 where it stays for a few seconds. No pattern to it. Just started around the same time that I noticed a SERIOUS loss in signal strength with WPVI. That's why I assumed it was a springtime/tree issue with the signal (or multipath in WYBE's case).

Now I'm not so sure.....why would one fluctuate wildly, at the same time that another loses 1/2 it's signal strength? Hopefully I can get up on the roof this weekend to check all the connection/fittings/mounts up there.

Damn it....:mad:

I get 34 consistantly. There is nothing to watch on that channel. No HD. I beleive it is digital 480i. I just want my affiliates from either NY or Phila and then I am done. Maybe Cablevision will eventually offer more then sports and HBO/SHO. I wish the STB for D* were a lot less expensive. I would like HDNet but not worth the $$$.

Originally posted by MartyJ
Maybe Cablevision will eventually offer more then sports and HBO/SHO. I wish the STB for D* were a lot less expensive. I would like HDNet but not worth the $$$.

Does Cablevision offer ABC and NBC? I know Comcast does. Also have PBS and something call Kids 13. They're in negotiations with ESPN-HD and Discovery-HD as well.

No Cablevision currently is offering Fox Sports Net and MSG. Along with HBO and SHO HD. They are using a Scientific Atlanta 4200HD box. I am noteven looking for the affiliates from them at this point. Just get me ESPN HD and Discovery HD and I would be happy. I figure the networks I will eventually get for free anyway with the ability to record them.

Currently there is no easy way to record HD from cable without spending big bucks. Thats why I went with the MyHD card for some HD time shifting.

Originally posted by Calabs
Does Cablevision offer ABC and NBC? I know Comcast does. Also have PBS and something call Kids 13. They're in negotiations with ESPN-HD and Discovery-HD as well.

Rich,

Is Comcast still the provider up in EB? I had it before I switched to D* in 2000 and I had nothing but problems with signals. Do they actually offer HD in our area? Again, much like the OTA signal gathering, I don't have any friends/relatives in the area who have an HD setup so I'm not even sure if they offer it in Monroe. And, when I placed a call to Comcasts CS center to ask that question I got an, 'Uh, you know, I'm not sure".:p

Originally posted by MartyJ
No Cablevision currently is offering Fox Sports Net and MSG. Along with HBO and SHO HD. They are using a Scientific Atlanta 4200HD box. I am noteven looking for the affiliates from them at this point. Just get me ESPN HD and Discovery HD and I would be happy. I figure the networks I will eventually get for free anyway with the ability to record them.

Currently there is no easy way to record HD from cable without spending big bucks. Thats why I went with the MyHD card for some HD time shifting.

I hear you on the OTA stations. No need to get them from Cable, however, NBC is looking attractive! With Cable, subscribing to HBO or Showtime will cost an arm and a leg. I would love to get ESPN-HD (and Discovery-HD). I'm not sure which way I'm going. Can't decide. Cable has the capability (bandwidth) to offer much more HD stations compared to D* or E*.

Can you say D-VHS?

Originally posted by MartyJ
No Cablevision currently is offering Fox Sports Net and MSG. Along with HBO and SHO HD. They are using a Scientific Atlanta 4200HD box. I am noteven looking for the affiliates from them at this point. Just get me ESPN HD and Discovery HD and I would be happy. I figure the networks I will eventually get for free anyway with the ability to record them.

Currently there is no easy way to record HD from cable without spending big bucks. Thats why I went with the MyHD card for some HD time shifting.

When SOMEONE....ANYONE picks up ESPNHD it'll be interesting to see if "the masses" "get" this "HD THING!". A lot of articles have been written recently about how some folks think that Digital TV is HDTV. I'm curious to see if ESPNHD kick starts the image change. I know some folks who even think that Digital Cable is ALL DIGITAL! Or more to the point thought that the picture they were getting for CBS was HD on their cable system....just because they had a "Digital" box. :(

I believe only a handful of cable providers nationwide have signed agreements....Cox Cable and a little Rural one in Pennsylvania come to mind.

Discovery HD I'll like as well. Just for the purty pictures of animals :p

Originally posted by jaypb
Rich,

Is Comcast still the provider up in EB? I had it before I switched to D* in 2000 and I had nothing but problems with signals. Do they actually offer HD in our area? Again, much like the OTA signal gathering, I don't have any friends/relatives in the area who have an HD setup so I'm not even sure if they offer it in Monroe. And, when I placed a call to Comcasts CS center to ask that question I got an, 'Uh, you know, I'm not sure".:p

It's Ralph! :D

Yes, Comcast is still in EB. HD is offered in EB, but not sure about Monroe. Just spoke to them yesterday about what they offer. Good deals now going on, I think it's just 5.95 or 6.95 /mo above regular cable for the first year. Not enough there (yet) to sway me over however. NBC is not enough, especially in light of free OTA soon in Philly. ESPN-HD and Discovey-HD............I'm there!

Originally posted by Calabs
It's Ralph! :D

Yes, Comcast is still in EB. HD is offered in EB, but not sure about Monroe. Just spoke to them yesterday about what they offer. Good deals now going on, I think it's just 5.95 or 6.95 /mo above regular cable for the first year. Not enough there (yet) to sway me over however. NBC is not enough, especially in light of free OTA soon in Philly. ESPN-HD and Discovey-HD............I'm there!

Yeah, like I said, I've got this attention deficit disorder thing, that makes me FORGET PEOPLE'S NAMES WHEN THEY HAVE JUST BEEN LISTED ON THE PAGE BEFORE THIS THREAD!!!! In my BEST Homer Simpson impression I say , "DOH!"

Sorry about that! :o

Glad to see there are other HD options for Locals in our area than just OTA. I have a buddy in Manhattan who gets his HD programming from TWC and he tells me he gets em all (ABC/NBC/CBS/PBS) but not the WB yet. I never asked him how that "Fox Enhanced Widescreen" stuff comes over though.

I think cable will eventually be the way to go over little dishes. Much greater bandwidth. There are new satellites being launched but the must carry rules are the problem for satellite HD.

The Fox Widescreen looks better then standard 480i stuff. I watch 24 and it is better on my screen then when I was using standard cable and Dscaler to view it 4:3. With that said it is nothing compared to the widescreen 720p from ABC or 1080i from CBS/PBS

A great comparison is watching UPN from NY and Philly. Big difference even on the same program.

Originally posted by MartyJ
The Fox Widescreen looks better then standard 480i stuff. I watch 24 and it is better on my screen then when I was using standard cable and Dscaler to view it 4:3. With that said it is nothing compared to the widescreen 720p from ABC or 1080i from CBS/PBS

A great comparison is watching UPN from NY and Philly. Big difference even on the same program.

Is that WWOR feed on 5-2 still stretched unceremoniously and pixelated all to hell? I haven't turned my rotor around in a few weeks to get NYC locals so I'm not sure.

Pretty disgusting though.

I believe UPN *may* start doing some HD programming towards the end of the year. For me, I wish the Phils games would be in HD on UPN. I know that Comcast Philly has some Phils/Sixers/Flyers games on in HD. Would be nice if WPSG could do the same in the future.

BTW---for those of you who can get WPVI---"Gladiator" is supposed to be on in HD tomorrow night. It's one of the reasons I'm agonizing over loosing the damn signal! I wanted to see that....even if they DO load it up with commercials and edit it to hell!

Originally posted by MartyJ
The Fox Widescreen looks better then standard 480i stuff. I watch 24 and it is better on my screen then when I was using standard cable and Dscaler to view it 4:3. With that said it is nothing compared to the widescreen 720p from ABC or 1080i from CBS/PBS

A great comparison is watching UPN from NY and Philly. Big difference even on the same program.

What is the native resolution on your HTPC setup (720p)?

Native Resolution of my projector is 1365 x 768. I have the GeForce video card pixel for pixel. I use this to watch DVD's. For HD I have the MyHD card set to 1080i. That is fed to another input on the PJ vis RGBHV at 1080i. I can set the MyHD output to various resolutions. So I could in effect set the card to output 720p for ABC and sync that to the PJ. SO far leaving it at 1080i has been fine. Some people have it set to 720p for better sports action. Since I have not watched sports on it yet I don't know. Very easy to change if I want to.

Anyone in the Matawan/Aberdeen area getting WB out of NYC reliably? I have a Radio Shack antenna in my attic and have not been able to get a signal, though I can receive the other three digital stations from the ESB.

Before I try a roof mounted solution, I wanted to know if anyone in my area is having success, or if I should forget about it. Thanks.

Also, Can someone recommend a good outdoor antenna installer in the Monmouth County area?

Originally posted by JAKEJ
Anyone in the Matawan/Aberdeen area getting WB out of NYC reliably? I have a Radio Shack antenna in my attic and have not been able to get a signal, though I can receive the other three digital stations from the ESB.

Before I try a roof mounted solution, I wanted to know if anyone in my area is having success, or if I should forget about it. Thanks.

Jake,

I'm not sure if that signal is reaching as far down to you/us as Central NJ. I think it's at low power on VHF channel 12 until they get powered up and move to Channel 33 in a few months. I was using a Silver Sensor STB antenna in Staten Island and I couldn't pick it up.....I know the SS is a UHF antenna but I figured I'd at least get a slight "blip" with the antenna. Nada.


I think at least one Central NJ member towards the shore was able to receive the signal....but I thought I read on the NYC forum that it was directional at best until they move to their permanent spot.

:(

jaypb,

That is what I thought, but I am still tempted to give it a try. Thanks for the info on WB's plans.

Jake

Originally posted by jaypb
I think at least one Central NJ member towards the shore was able to receive the signal....but I thought I read on the NYC forum that it was directional at best until they move to their permanent spot.
I get it just fine, but it's almost 100% over water between me and the tower, which does help the signal since there's little to interfere with it, and I think there's a certain amount of propogation attributable to passing over water, too.

Originally posted by dswallow
I get it just fine, but it's almost 100% over water between me and the tower, which does help the signal since there's little to interfere with it, and I think there's a certain amount of propogation attributable to passing over water, too.

Yup....had a brain fart there for a 2nd :D

It's channel 12 right now still right?

For my 2nd "DOH" of the day {or brain fart if you will} I came home tonight and decided to re-check all my connections....and I think I found my *issue*. Damn plug wasn't in fully at the wall for the pre-amp :o

Guess I didn't check that last night....but I had checked everything else :)

Stupid.

Anyone getting any tropo benefits?

Even in the rain.

And lightning.

And thunder?

:D

Ok---my 6-1 issue was resolved for all of 2-3 hours last night. As I wasn't able to watch any HD last night on ABC from Philly I didn't SIT there and watch 6-1 all night to make sure my adjusting the plug trick was the final answer. After I adjusted the plug for the pre-amp I VISUALLY SAW the signal strength shoot up from 37 to 65, so I assumed that was my issue. For a whole minute. So I tuned in 6-1 and watched for a few minutes---no dropout, pixelations.

When I went back to 6-1 at around 1am it was pixelated and dropping out. Signal strength was back down to 30.

Went up on the roof this AM...checked all connections. Made sure the mast wasn't loose. Everything is fine.

My dilemma: Is this possibly multipath issues that I didn't see in the winter/non-leaf months coming from the blooming trees, which are visually in my line of sight between my antenna and the Philly locations on the horizon?

RALPH (:D) had mentioned it *may* be a possibility...but not a probability. I decided to "tool" around the horizon with my rotor....and noticed I"m able to pick up almost all the Philly stations anywhere from 230 degrees to 286 degrees or so on the horizon with somewhat of a signal (they are at 255-261 according to antennaweb.org or Doug's link). Anyway, I'm ALSO picking up 6-1 in the 210's and 280's and in OTHER spots as well. Is it possible for only SOME signals from the same compass direction to be adversly affected by Multipath while some aren't (i.e 26, KYW is always solid, as is (43) WNJT and (57) WPSG, yet I get 6-1 at a LOT of spots on the horizon, and even to a degree 29-1 and 17-1?

Also, WYBE 34-1....I noticed while watching my signal meter that it shoots from 0 to 100 on my signal meter almost every 10 seconds. Yet this signal, even while it wasn't broadcasting in Feb, March and most of April was almost ALWAYS 100% on my meter. Again, before the seasons changed and damn trees/leaves even entered my mind as a problem.

I even went so far as to hook up my other E86 to my OTA set up---and had the same *issues* with strength and picture quality/pixelation.

What are my options? Move the antenna to a different spot on the roof? Try a different antenna to see if it's less prone to multpathing? Raise the antenna? Cut down trees that are a few hundred feet away? ;) Stop watching TV? Wait till next year (or Sept 1 if you believe titantv/antennaweb.org) when ABC out of NYC is an option

:(

jaypb....
sorry to hear you are having 6-1 problems.....mine has been rock-solid @69% signal (or higher) for weeks....

one possible suggestion......instead of raising the antenna, do you have room on the mast to *lower* it? I know it may sound counter-intuitive, but remember that uhf signals radiate in horizontal planes that more or less follow the terrain. So, what may be an optimal elevation for most of your other channels, may be sub-optimal for 6-1. If you have the adjustment room, give it a try....its certainly easier than moving to a different place on the roof.....

.....just a thought!

BTW....I *did* see some tropo benefits....and at all times, during the heaviest rain yesterday evening....

It was the only time all day I was able to see even a broken-up picture on 29-1....otherwise....just some flickering of signal....0...20....0...30...0...20...0...36...0.. you get the idea. Never got a picture on 10-1 or 12-1 except briefly on 12-1 during the rainstorm. otherwise, just the signal flickering.

Have not checked today...wife and kids are watching right now....

good luck in trying to solve the 6-1 dilemma.

oh..one last thing....regarding multi-path...which pre-amp are you using? I have both the CM3041dsb and the CM7775 that I keep swapping in/out to experiment with which gives me the best signal and least multipath. Right now, I'm leaning mostly to the 3041.....its got slightly less gain on the uhf side, but not enough to make a difference on what channels i receive. its benefits.....it passes vhf (even with the CM4228 antenna), so I can watch Philly UHF stations in analog mode, switching to digital versions if signal strength/tropo allows.....much less 'wife strain' on that option :rolleyes:
Plus, the 7775 seems to cause more multi-path problems....probably because local FM and/or NJN transmissions are overloading.......

Originally posted by SteveK2
jaypb....
sorry to hear you are having 6-1 problems.....mine has been rock-solid @69% signal (or higher) for weeks....

Steve, thanks for the feedback. I'm stumped....I didn't expect issues like this especially after I hooked up the pre-amp a few months ago....6-1 was coming in pretty much every night at 65 or higher....with problems during some rain/snow. Now....it's a steady 37 or lower.....which means no picture :mad: I just want to pinpoint WHAT is causing the issue and then I'll go from there.

one possible suggestion......instead of raising the antenna, do you have room on the mast to *lower* it? I know it may sound counter-intuitive, but remember that uhf signals radiate in horizontal planes that more or less follow the terrain. So, what may be an optimal elevation for most of your other channels, may be sub-optimal for 6-1. If you have the adjustment room, give it a try....its certainly easier than moving to a different place on the roof.....

.....just a thought!

At this point I'm going to try everything! :eek: Raise it, lower it, whatever! I do have room to do both....that was one of the reasons I had questioned raising my antenna on this thread a few weeks ago....I wasn't sure if getting it even a few feet higher would let me "pull in a stonger signal" than I'm getting now. But, if those damn trees are the issue, I'm not sure WHAT I can do other than finding a different spot on the roof....or waiting for NYC to go live.....and who knows if THAT will be an issue based on their power, etc....

It would be easier for me to diagnose/solve if the wife actually GAVE A SH....well, you know. I've got to wait for a competent friend to drop by and I'll work it all out. Just wish I had a signal for "Gladiator" tonight on WPVI---darn it!


BTW....I *did* see some tropo benefits....and at all times, during the heaviest rain yesterday evening....

It was the only time all day I was able to see even a broken-up picture on 29-1....otherwise....just some flickering of signal....0...20....0...30...0...20...0...36...0.. you get the idea. Never got a picture on 10-1 or 12-1 except briefly on 12-1 during the rainstorm. otherwise, just the signal flickering.

Have not checked today...wife and kids are watching right now....

good luck in trying to solve the 6-1 dilemma.

Ah, yes, the ole' wife and kids problem.....I'm there! Usually, BOTH is what leads me to *not* be able to get much done in this HD world!

I still get the same signal fluctuations on 10-1....anywhere from 12-18 on my E86...and 12-1 doesn't come in at more than a 8 for me at all/any time. 29-1 will come in when the tropo is good....come to think of it it was coming in last night....and 17-1 was almost locking as well.

I didn't check last night for any out of area tropo benefits.....as I'm starting to think that my HD world is impacted by these darn trees in my path, which I just noticed extends from the curbside all the way compass wise towards Philly!!! Amazing! I will try and use the Silver Sensor I have and run it off the pre-amped line I have up on the roof already---just to SEE if I can get a better signal somewhere else on the roof....then I'll go from there.

Funny thing happened to me last night on the way home from work. Does WPVI simulcast their TV programming on the radio? I was able to pick up a channel 87.7 FM that I SWEAR was WPVI's 6 pm newscast....and I was all the way out in Staten Island!!!! Ironic that I can hear the audio signal a good 20 miles from my home....yet I can't pick up their TV programming anymore....I'm starting to feel like.....WPVI is taunting me....thumbing it's nose at me....calling me out.


oh..one last thing....regarding multi-path...which pre-amp are you using? I have both the CM3041dsb and the CM7775 that I keep swapping in/out to experiment with which gives me the best signal and least multipath. Right now, I'm leaning mostly to the 3041.....its got slightly less gain on the uhf side, but not enough to make a difference on what channels i receive. its benefits.....it passes vhf (even with the CM4228 antenna), so I can watch Philly UHF stations in analog mode, switching to digital versions if signal strength/tropo allows.....much less 'wife strain' on that option :rolleyes:
Plus, the 7775 seems to cause more multi-path problems....probably because local FM and/or NJN transmissions are overloading.......

Interesting about the comparison of the 2 pre-amps. I actually have the 3041dsb up in the closet---picked it up on Ebay for 20$ a few weeks after I got the 7775 up and running. Maybe I'll give it a shot....I do have some serious override on 50-1/2/3 that I described earlier in the thread as looking like "hairdryer" type interference. Those towers for WNJN/WNJT are listed as being 17 or so miles from my house....which is actually listed as being closer than WNJB in New Brunswick....which I KNOW is closer as the crow flies than Trenton...but WNJB's transmitter seems to be in Plainfield or so according to one of the sites I went to.

I'll post back later if I get a chance to futz around up on the roof.

Thanks!

All VHF channels broadcast on an FM frequency. However, Channel 6 is the only channel capable of being picked up by standard FM radios.

This is true for any VHF channel 6 around the country.

http://members.cox.net/davemail2002/03bandtv2.htm

Was just going to chime in the same thing....I remember being able to hear TV stations broadcasting on lower-frequency FM many years ago....

....anyway...jaypb....i just got home and turned on Gladiator.....looks like its being broadcast in OAR....looks really great, although setting my receiver in letterbox mode is resulting in a pretty small vertical view.....gray bars top and bottom from the receiver....then black bars from the OAR broadcast.

I will try to get a screenshot and post it later...sorry...best I can do for ya!

Originally posted by SteveK2
Was just going to chime in the same thing....I remember being able to hear TV stations broadcasting on lower-frequency FM many years ago....

....anyway...jaypb....i just got home and turned on Gladiator.....looks like its being broadcast in OAR....looks really great, although setting my receiver in letterbox mode is resulting in a pretty small vertical view.....gray bars top and bottom from the receiver....then black bars from the OAR broadcast.

I will try to get a screenshot and post it later...sorry...best I can do for ya!

I was just venting on the irony of getting the radio portion of the broadcast....I can remember as a kid driving down I-95 through South Jersey and being able to listen to the little league title WS game out of Philly since we always went on vacation that week....odd what the mind remembers :D

AFA 6-1....I've finagled things to the point where I"ve been watching WPVI-DT with minimal dropouts....but my antenna is facing at around 235-240 on the compass (as opposed to 255-261 based on antennaweb.org and a host of other sites)...and I've GOT to believe it's because of this damn tree about 35 feet in front of where my antenna is right now. It's RIGHT in the path of the "line of sight"....and it's canopy is about 40-50 feet off the ground. As I said earlier, I had a solid 65 + signal for most of February through about a week ago on 6-1...with most nights having a 80 or better signal. The other thing is....where I've got the antenna facing now, I've lost a signal on 57-1....lost some strength on 43-1...and lost some strength on 26-1....but 43/26 are viewable with no dropouts....but 10-1 and 29-1 aren't even registering on my signal meter....so, I've "got issues" :mad: to contend with!!! But, as long as I can get 43-1, 6-1 and 26-1 I won't complain. 10-1 is a pipedream until they move....:rolleyes:

I'm still contemplating moving the antenna....oh yeah, I almost forgot...I went on the roof and hooked up a silver sensor on the roof....walked it around...was able to get a solid 75 on 6-1 at 4:30 in the afternoon from a location a little "north" of where I am now wtih the CM4228. So, I'm *assuming* I could hook up an antenna in a different location and have 6-1 without the issues I have now....but....I'll see. I've got a handsaw and a chainsaw, so I'll see if I can thing that darn tree out :D ....without killing it!!!

Originally posted by pabuwal
All VHF channels broadcast on an FM frequency. However, Channel 6 is the only channel capable of being picked up by standard FM radios.

This is true for any VHF channel 6 around the country.

http://members.cox.net/davemail2002/03bandtv2.htm

I honestly didn't know that.

Thanks for the tidbit.

Guess I can take off the tin foil hat now huh??
:p

Folks,

As I stated before, I'm in hunterdon county and never really got WCAU and had some issues with a weak WWHY as well. Went to radio shlock yesterday, piced up the "Bi-Direction Signal Amplifier" 15-1195 (top left of display cardboard), came home, plugged her in the attic just before the antenna (wingard 9095), pluged the amp into a 110 outlet, and BAM!

I now get EVERY philly transmission, including CAU from my attic, obviously crystal clear!!!!

:D :D :D :D

FYI - I'm feeding all this to a DTC-100 receiver.

Anyway, maybe if you're having reception trouble you should try this.

Aceman

Originally posted by jaypb
Is there any way for you to avoid the tower by moving the antenna to a different spot on your deck/roof/property? In my case, IJUST noticed that a big @$$ tree on the sidewalk is pretty much RIGHT in the path of the Philly stations....and this lovely big tree is now starting to sprout it's leaves! It never even dawned on me that it would do that :eek:...you had asked a question earlier {I believe} about leaves affecting your signal as a multipath effect....I now echo the same concerns. I'm anxiously waiting to see if I have issues with my signals as well. I remember reading on another site that trees didn't affect signal reception, but now I'm concerned that those stations that I'm hit and miss on, may be totally miss now.

Anyone?

WE have WCAU.....kind of sort of.....
I took your advice and walked around on my Kitchen roof. The closer I went to the main part of the house ( the 2 story part, there is NO WAY I'm going to scale that thing, the slope is somewhere around 35 degrees) the signal went into into the cycling routine. I took the 18 foot of PVC and slipped it over my stack pipe which is about 18 feet from the main part, and the thing locked on just like that. I then walked the edge of the roof. If I went even 2 feet back away from the signal direction, it dropped out. If I got closer it stayed locked. Since stabilizing a pole in the middle of the roof wouldn't be a lot of fun I walked to the very corner and it worked. AS soon as I dropped the pole down as if it would be attached to the side of the house and rise up...instant loss. So I think what this tells me is I need at LEAST 18 feet above my kitchen and it needs to be at the point between the trees.

I think it's time to go get the CM 4228 and test that before I make a final anchor point. The problem is a power source if I stay on the roof. Correct me if I am wrong: I'm using a diplexer to send the signal down the same RG6 as my dish so that means that the preamp has to be powered at the point before it hits the diplexer. That means I have to have the preamp power supply OUTSIDE the house. The Bar, which is closed ( structure wise, the bar is never CLOSED :-) and weather proofed, has power so that is why I'm trying to keep the pole close to that. Am I wrong here?

Thanks,

Wayne

Originally posted by WMMHOME
I think it's time to go get the CM 4228 and test that before I make a final anchor point. The problem is a power source if I stay on the roof. Correct me if I am wrong: I'm using a diplexer to send the signal down the same RG6 as my dish so that means that the preamp has to be powered at the point before it hits the diplexer. That means I have to have the preamp power supply OUTSIDE the house. The Bar, which is closed ( structure wise, the bar is never CLOSED :-) and weather proofed, has power so that is why I'm trying to keep the pole close to that. Am I wrong here?

Thanks,

Wayne

Wayne,

Hmmmm....I've never done a hookup with the diplexer as you have described.....but I"m sure there are some folks here who have. With my set up (CM4228 antenna and CM7775 pre-amp) the outdoor part of the pre-amp (i.e a CM7775 or Cm777) doesn't require ANY powering/power supply hookup. The power supply part goes inside RIGHT before your TV/receiver hookup. You put the pre-amp on the mast/antenna and wire it up from the Antenna>>>>>pre-amp>>>>main RG-6 off the roof>>>into the pre-amp power supply>>>then out of the pre-amp power supply and into the STB/TV.

If you read my commentary over the last few days you'll see I've lost the ability to lock onto most all of the channels I had pre-leaf days out of Philly....and it's my assumption that the leaf canopies in the area are wreaking havoc with my setup. I too "walked the roof" with my silver sensor yesterday and found a spot where I could get WPVI-DT....but I'd have to put the antenna on a tripod in the middle of the roof!!! I STILL couldn't lock onto WCAU ANYWHERE on the roof....but, again, maybe that would be different with a higher gain antenna like the CM4228, so I'm going to just sit tight for now and see if I can thin the tree out to allow some signal through.

I actually think I'll try and take a few photos from the vantage point of my antenna/roof spot to see if anyone can comment on whether or not the trees/leaf canopy are TRULY my problem....as IMHO, since I hooked up the Silver Sensor using the SAME wiring and SAME pre-amp, In my mind I've ruled out the pre-amp/wiring/STB as the issue....so I'm left with the CM4228 being the problem or the antenna location...which my mind is telling me it is...since the spot I've positioned the CM4228 in as of this AM still has a lock on 6-1 at 65%...but I expect to lose it as the clouds disappear and the sun comes up.

I've also noticed I"m getting Analog 16 from the "DelMarVa" Peninsula this Am....not sure of the station, but it was a local newscast---snowy, but the audio was fine---didn't see a station logo. Also picking up Analog 49 out of Connecticut (a PBS station)....although my antenna is facing towards Philly (mulitpath??). There are a few more analogs I noticed this AM that I didn't see last night....:confused:

Originally posted by Aceman
Folks,

As I stated before, I'm in hunterdon county and never really got WCAU and had some issues with a weak WWHY as well. Went to radio shlock yesterday, piced up the "Bi-Direction Signal Amplifier" 15-1195 (top left of display cardboard), came home, plugged her in the attic just before the antenna (wingard 9095), pluged the amp into a 110 outlet, and BAM!

I now get EVERY philly transmission, including CAU from my attic, obviously crystal clear!!!!

:D :D :D :D

FYI - I'm feeding all this to a DTC-100 receiver.

Anyway, maybe if you're having reception trouble you should try this.

Aceman

NICE!!!! I'm actually heading up to Readington??? off of 202 this afternoon for a party. I'm going to inquire as to whether or not anyone is a HD enthusiast as that's my new topic of conversation lately :D

WEre you able to watch the Kentucky Derby in HD??? Or did you hook up after?

Originally posted by jaypb
Wayne,

Hmmmm....I've never done a hookup with the diplexer as you have described.....but I"m sure there are some folks here who have. With my set up (CM4228 antenna and CM7775 pre-amp) the outdoor part of the pre-amp (i.e a CM7775 or Cm777) doesn't require ANY powering/power supply hookup. The power supply part goes inside RIGHT before your TV/receiver hookup. You put the pre-amp on the mast/antenna and wire it up from the Antenna>>>>>pre-amp>>>>main RG-6 off the roof>>>into the pre-amp power supply>>>then out of the pre-amp power supply and into the STB/TV.
:

That is the way this one is designed ( Wineguard ) but my assumption is that the diplexer will break the dc current path. I guess I could try it but I seem to recall reading somewhere that you can't do that. I also could try to the pull the sealent out of the hole in the side of the house and run another rg6 line down......that's ALWAYS fun. If nothing else it will give me back a couple of dB that I loose by running throught he diplexers.

The trees seem to make a difference, at least from what I am getting here. The two monster pines I have in the next yard over are probably the reason I loose the signal so fast as I get closer to the main part ofthe house. They tower over the house by at least 20 feet and are wide enough to block the entire West side view. The kitchen addition is blocked by two smaller ones but they are spaced out enough I guess because as long as I am pointed between them and slightly off center to that so I avoid the water tower, I got a solid 78-72 lock on WCAU.

Wayne

Jaypb...

FYI - I live in readington! I'm 40 miles out of philly and am now getting every station. On top of that, my antenna isn't exactly mounted in the greatest of spots - in my attic w/ a heating unit in there as well.

Anyway, no I didn't watch the derby in HD, got the amp installed too late (not too mention don't think I would've anyway - not a big horse racing guy).

Can wait to see the NBA finals in HD though!

Aceman

.

Went to radio shlock yesterday, piced up the "Bi-Direction Signal Amplifier" 15-1195 (top left of display cardboard), came home, plugged her in the attic just before the antenna (wingard 9095), pluged the amp into a 110

aceman.....

are you also using a pre-amp or is it just the thing from radio shack?? the radio shack generic 'amplifiers' have a generally bad reputation. so its interesting to hear that you got some good results. curious if you are also using a pre-amp.

and what does 'top left of display cardboard' mean?

let us know.

Originally posted by WMMHOME
The trees seem to make a difference, at least from what I am getting here. The two monster pines I have in the next yard over are probably the reason I loose the signal so fast as I get closer to the main part ofthe house. They tower over the house by at least 20 feet and are wide enough to block the entire West side view. The kitchen addition is blocked by two smaller ones but they are spaced out enough I guess because as long as I am pointed between them and slightly off center to that so I avoid the water tower, I got a solid 78-72 lock on WCAU.

Wayne

I actually have pines RIGHT ACROSS the street (75 or so feet away) that are in my path....and were all winter yet I was able to get most of the digitals/analogs out of Philly (non WCAU-DT of course) at some point reliably....my issue is with the canopy on the tree I'm now faced with that's about 40 or so feet right in front of my line of sight.

Can you post pictures of what you are facing/dealing with? I'm just curious as to to the extent of trees/leaves/foilage interfering with signaling. I mean....Jersey is full of trees right? I just wonder why it affects some folks more that others. Is it more the height of the trees in question? The distance from your own antenna? The type of tree?

For me, it just figures that these damn trees are right at the compass heading towards Philly....and to my right (a little North) I've got nothing but blue sky....but no digitals come from that direction :mad:

But is'nt that the way things ALWAYS work??? :p

steve,

My system is a DTC100 STB to 100ft RG6 to radio shack "Bi-Direction
Signal Amplifier" to antenna via 10ft RG6. Keep in mind this amp need 110v ac power.

Guess my answer is no - I'm not using a "generic" cheapo preamp, although this only cost 29.99. It also lets you adjust the gain up to 15db.

Hope it helps!

Oh yeah -top left of the cardboard is the p/n (I assume) which is printed on the top left of the package (its a package which hangs on the peg boards they have so it has a solid cardboard back).

Aceman

Originally posted by Aceman
Jaypb...

FYI - I live in readington! I'm 40 miles out of philly and am now getting every station. On top of that, my antenna isn't exactly mounted in the greatest of spots - in my attic w/ a heating unit in there as well.

Anyway, no I didn't watch the derby in HD, got the amp installed too late (not too mention don't think I would've anyway - not a big horse racing guy).

Can wait to see the NBA finals in HD though!

Aceman

Small world :p

You've got a lot of "flat land" out there right? Some trees though....guess you must be high enough above the trees to not have to deal with that.

This is one of those times I wish I didn't live in a ranch style house :(

aceman...
well...what I meant by generic *ARE* the radio shack models!. No disrespect intended, since you've obviously gotten some good results.....but the rs amps are notoriously noisy...and the gain is only up to 14 db (according to the owners manual which I just checked).

But, I'd be interested in knowing if you have the 'gain' adjustment set all the way up, all the way down, or somewhere in the middle......some of us are experiencing multi-path issues (overload signal on some channels) when using the 'name brand' pre-amps (i.e., channelmasters). so, attenuating the gain may be helpful to eliminate multi-path, yet still enable enough gain on the philly stations for good reception.....

...just a thought.

Steve,

I've been reading on the forums for quite some time how the amps aren't that great. I had some time to kill yesterday so figured what the heck, worst case I just return it if it doesn't work. Anyway, yes, I have the gain set towards the lower end of the adjustment.

Also, I do have lots of flat land around here so that probably explains my reception. Question on the signal though. Even if both signal and noise are amplified, since its a digital signal, doesnt the STB filter the noise out and lock in on the signal???

Aceman

Originally posted by jaypb

Can you post pictures of what you are facing/dealing with? I'm just curious as to to the extent of trees/leaves/foilage interfering with signaling. I mean....Jersey is full of trees right? I just wonder why it affects some folks more that others. Is it more the height of the trees in question? The distance from your own antenna? The type of tree?


I attempted to attach the pics but the limits are exceeded. I'm putting them on my comcast "mywebpages" It's about the only thing useful from comcast :-)


Overview - http://mywebpages.comcast.net/26247/overview.jpg is a angled shot that shows the two monsters. In it you should be able to see the stack I used as the reference point that works.

Twomore - http://mywebpages.comcast.net/26247/twomore.jpg is a shot that shows where I WANT to put the antenna and the two pines that could casue problems. You can vaguely make out the water tower behind them

Wantit - http://mywebpages.comcast.net/26247/wantit.jpg is a shot of the bar where I want to anchor the pole. The blue horizontal extention holds some wind chimes and the pole would be right behind it

Hope that helps a little.

Wayne

Just wanted to chime in on the Radio Shack pre-amps I use this model Cat # 15-1109. Its a variable high gain amp (30 db) I ahve had pretty good results with it.

I run it maximum gain with the FM trap engaged I have had the best results with those settings.

Just a reminder:

Tonight was supposed to be Tropo heaven based on when I checked Friday, but now it's just a "fair" night. Thursday is supposed to be pretty good....as of now:

http://www.globalserve.net/~hepburnw/tropo.html

Originally posted by jaypb

AFA 6-1....I've finagled things to the point where I"ve been watching WPVI-DT with minimal dropouts....but my antenna is facing at around 235-240 on the compass (as opposed to 255-261 based on antennaweb.org and a host of other sites)...and I've GOT to believe it's because of this damn tree about 35 feet in front of where my antenna is right now. It's RIGHT in the path of the "line of sight"....and it's canopy is about 40-50 feet off the ground. As I said earlier, I had a solid 65 + signal for most of February through about a week ago on 6-1...with most nights having a 80 or better signal. The other thing is....where I've got the antenna facing now, I've lost a signal on 57-1....lost some strength on 43-1...and lost some strength on 26-1....but 43/26 are viewable with no dropouts....but 10-1 and 29-1 aren't even registering on my signal meter....so, I've "got issues" :mad: to contend with!!! But, as long as I can get 43-1, 6-1 and 26-1 I won't complain. 10-1 is a pipedream until they move....:rolleyes:

I'm still contemplating moving the antenna....oh yeah, I almost forgot...I went on the roof and hooked up a silver sensor on the roof....walked it around...was able to get a solid 75 on 6-1 at 4:30 in the afternoon from a location a little "north" of where I am now wtih the CM4228. So, I'm *assuming* I could hook up an antenna in a different location and have 6-1 without the issues I have now....but....I'll see. I've got a handsaw and a chainsaw, so I'll see if I can thing that darn tree out :D ....without killing it!!!

Didn't you say you had a rotator? If so, that would solve your problems if by moving the antenna you picked up WPVI-DT. If your tree is THAT close to your antenna, it very well could be a problem. I thought you were talking about the pine trees further away. :o

Did you position the Silver Sensor in the same position as your CM antenna? If so, what was the reception? Where are you attaching your antenna right now (chimney?). Lots of leaves growing on the Oak tree "forest" in my neighbors back yard. No sign of signal degradation. : ;)

BTW, someone mentioned that Gladiator was in OAR. I've noticed most films that ABC puts on in HD are in their original aspect ratio. Gladiator was most likely in 2.35:1 (or relatively close), so the small(er) black bars on the top and bottom are what you would see on a WS TV. Much better than blowing it up and ruining the picture! :eek

Originally posted by Calabs
Didn't you say you had a rotator? If so, that would solve your problems if by moving the antenna you picked up WPVI-DT. If your tree is THAT close to your antenna, it very well could be a problem. I thought you were talking about the pine trees further away. :o

I'm going to try and get the photos up that I took last night after I saw Wayne's pictures. Maybe that would "shed some light" on my plight (i'm a poet and I didn't even know it :D) The pines are across the street....and then there are some more in the distance. I've GOT to believe since the pines are there in February and March...they aren't the problem. I've been known to be wrong though ;)

Yes, I do have a rotor. But, I STILL can't get a reasonable daytime lock on WPVI like I could over the past few months. At night, it's hit or miss....with lots of fine tuning....and me aiming the antenna more southerly with regards to the antenanweb.org headings to get a watchable picture on WPVI (But I lose 57-1 totally and I lose strength on KYWDT....but am able to pick up a watchable signal on WCBSDT out of NYC....although it's signal is coming from behind me :confused: )


Did you position the Silver Sensor in the same position as your CM antenna? If so, what was the reception? Where are you attaching your antenna right now (chimney?). Lots of leaves growing on the Oak tree "forest" in my neighbors back yard. No sign of signal degradation. : ;)

The tree in question (the fella I believe is the culprit) is between the sidewalk and the grass and I venture it's about 35 or so feet high....and only about 40 or so feet from where the antenna is. Again, Im' in a ranch style house....so the only way for me to get sufficient height would be to raise a tripod or something along those lines to get ABOVE that tree...although I still wonder if a 5 foot extra mast would help---but I'd need to get some guy wires.

When I held the SS up in the exact spot where my 4228 is I got hardly any signal on 6-1....I believe the 4228 has a higher gain than the SS so that may explain that.....or it may have had something to do with me actually HOLDING the SS as opposed to resting it....BUT when I did "walk it around the roof" and lay it on the shingles facing at a 255-261 degree heading, I had a Signal strength of 65 in a few spots....those spots where I wasn't facing RIGHT into the teeth of this tree (Elm or Maple or Oak....I'm not a botanist :p)

Right now the 4228 is mounted onto the side of my house at the peak. I plan on moving it to the other side of the house....which has a clearer shot of the Southern/Southwestern sky. I also called the township to see if we were "still on the list" to have the tree by the curb removed....as it has caused the sidewalk to pitch and heave....damn roots! We're still on the list....but no definite date for a removal.

May I ask if your antenna is mounted "above the leaf canopy"? And is your house a Colonial? If you are familiar with the Devoe area (613) as you head up towards Bakers Nursery(Towards Manalapan) on 613 you have to actually CLIMB up an incline.....i'm starting to think the area I'm in is "a valley" if you will...and coupled with the fact that I'm in a ranch.....it *may* explain why I'm having some issues since the tree cover is coming in?


BTW, someone mentioned that Gladiator was in OAR. I've noticed most films that ABC puts on in HD are in their original aspect ratio. Gladiator was most likely in 2.35:1 (or relatively close), so the small(er) black bars on the top and bottom are what you would see on a WS TV. Much better than blowing it up and ruining the picture! :eek:

I noticed the bars....and assumed it was presented in OAR. Was a pretty decent showing at that. I didn't see it when it was on HBO (think it was HBO) a few months ago.

Like I said---hopefully tonight I can post the pictures I took last night.

Originally posted by jaypb


May I ask if your antenna is mounted "above the leaf canopy"? And is your house a Colonial? If you are familiar with the Devoe area (613) as you head up towards Bakers Nursery(Towards Manalapan) on 613 you have to actually CLIMB up an incline.....i'm starting to think the area I'm in is "a valley" if you will...and coupled with the fact that I'm in a ranch.....it *may* explain why I'm having some issues since the tree cover is coming in?



My antenna is situated just about where the leaf canopy begins at the bottom of the tree. My neighbor has MANY trees and the trunks are pretty big. I live in a bilevel, so somwhere in between a ranch and colonial in height. Yes, I'm familiar with CR613 and Baker's. I understand that one actaully has to CLIMB up an incline. :D :D But what goes up, must come down, with the down part being as you approach Machaponix (sp?).

From what I understand, the CM4228 is very directional. Not sure if it has some sort of reflector elements. My PR-9032 has refector elements in the back of the antenna that are used to deflect unwanted signals but reflect desired signals back to the antenna. However, if it's as simple as moving your antenna to the other side of your house (and getting the town to pull a Paul Bunnion), you're golden!

Originally posted by Calabs
My antenna is situated just about where the leaf canopy begins at the bottom of the tree. My neighbor has MANY trees and the trunks are pretty big. I live in a bilevel, so somwhere in between a ranch and colonial in height. Yes, I'm familiar with CR613 and Baker's. I understand that one actaully has to CLIMB up an incline. :D :D But what goes up, must come down, with the down part being as you approach Machaponix (sp?).

From what I understand, the CM4228 is very directional. Not sure if it has some sort of reflector elements. My PR-9032 has refector elements in the back of the antenna that are used to deflect unwanted signals but reflect desired signals back to the antenna. However, if it's as simple as moving your antenna to the other side of your house (and getting the town to pull a Paul Bunnion), you're golden!

I just wish I had the time to devote to SITTING there and getting it all done....like....today!!!

Damn kids...damn wife....damn!!!:p

Alas, the trials and tribulations of normal, everyday, daily life take over....and the HD quest takes a back seat!:mad:

The odd thing about 613 is, that while you go UP to reach the Bakers area....you really don't come *too far* back down as you approach Matchaponix....but, you are probably correct in as far as I may not be in a gully/valley per se....but I'd be A LOT better off if I wasn't aiming over that *area* to reach Philly :rolleyes:

I'll probably wind up moving the antenna first chance I get over to the other side of the house to see what kind of signal I can get. Of course that's the side of the house with the electrical meter/wiring :mad: For all I know, maybe WCAU (nah) will come in at a higher clip than the low teens that it registers now if I move over there!

I WILL say that with all the time I spent on the roof yesterday and Saturday, a neighbor asked whether I could contact aliens with my CM4228. Ah, what simpletons......:p

Originally posted by jaypb

I WILL say that with all the time I spent on the roof yesterday and Saturday, a neighbor asked whether I could contact aliens with my CM4228. Ah, what simpletons......:p

And you answered..........."Hell, I can't even get ABC out of Philly, so what makes you THINK I could reach Mars??????????

Originally posted by Calabs
And you answered..........."Hell, I can't even get ABC out of Philly, so what makes you THINK I could reach Mars??????????

That would've been the more PC answer. Simply told them that the wife and kids won't bother me if I'm on the roof :D

I get the fleeting suspicion I'll see A LOT more of the husbands on the block hooking up antennas mighty soon.

lol....

Originally posted by jaypb

I get the fleeting suspicion I'll see A LOT more of the husbands on the block hooking up antennas mighty soon.

lol....

Not if they discover what a big pain in the A** it's been for YOU! :eek:

Originally posted by Calabs
Not if they discover what a big pain in the A** it's been for YOU! :eek:

Somewhat true....but, as an "early adopter" these are the growing pains that must be dealt with right? :eek:

Hopefully I'll learn enough that when friends/family are ready to jump into the pool I can help them swim :p

Until then, I'll keep beating my head against the wall until I figure out how to get everything perfect!!!

Originally posted by jaypb
Somewhat true....but, as an "early adopter" these are the growing pains that must be dealt with right? :eek:

Hopefully I'll learn enough that when friends/family are ready to jump into the pool I can help them swim :p

Until then, I'll keep beating my head against the wall until I figure out how to get everything perfect!!!

Surely you know I gest! :) I love being on the cutting edge of technology and such (even though antenna technology has been around for quite some time). I enjoy the DIY end of it all as well. Heck, with all the DIY audio/video projects I've done, I better say that!

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/masterindex_diy_projects.html

Anyway, it sounds like your taking a very analytical approach to the whole thing, so you should have it nailed anytime now. ;)

Tonight was supposed to be Tropo heaven based on when I checked Friday, but now it's just a "fair" night. Thursday is supposed to be pretty good....as of now:

...this morning, was able to pick up 10-1, 12-1, 29-1, 39-1, 69-1 (the last two very intermittently). All have since dropped off the meter. Perhaps tonight....

Originally posted by SteveK2
...this morning, was able to pick up 10-1, 12-1, 29-1, 39-1, 69-1 (the last two very intermittently). All have since dropped off the meter. Perhaps tonight....

Steve--

Have you tried turning towards NYC to see if you can get WPIX-DT on these decent tropo AM'S/PM'S? I think you said you had a CM4228....which really isn't rated for VHF (Channel 12), but you *may* be able to pick it up...

I know with my 4228 I was able to pick up analog 10,12 before I hooked up the 7775 pre-amp.

Just curious....

Originally posted by jaypb
Steve--

Have you tried turning towards NYC to see if you can get WPIX-DT on these decent tropo AM'S/PM'S? I think you said you had a CM4228....which really isn't rated for VHF (Channel 12), but you *may* be able to pick it up...

I know with my 4228 I was able to pick up analog 10,12 before I hooked up the 7775 pre-amp.

Just curious....

hmmm.....have not turned the 4228 towards NYC at all. Can get 17-1 pretty consistently so there's been no incentive. I'm sure it will pick up analog 11......I can get analog 10 and analog 12 out of Philly very well....as long as I'm using the CM3041dsb pre-amp....as you said, the 7775 only passes UHF.

actually, what I'm planning to do tonight or tomorrow is to go back to my 'home-made' antenna....the one i used before buying the CM4228....Found a thread here on AVSforum that described how to make a basic antenna from coax....just strip off the outer jacket, braid, etc to expose about 10" of copper conductor. It took a little wiggling around the room, but I was able to get 2-1 and 5-1/2 very well....so since I have the 7775 lying around (was going to sell it on ebay), i thought I'd give it a try with the coax antenna....or maybe I'll spin the 4228 around and see what I get....will let you know how things turn out.

OK, here are the results.....hooked up my 'coax' antenna *and* a CM7775 pre-amp. Can get 2-1 @77% (63%) and 5-1/2 @93% (30%). Good, solid pictures on those channels (not including 5-2 which is 'yech' even with a good signal). The percents in parenthesis are the signal strengths with NO pre-amp (using only coax antenna). Interesting that 2-1 dropped marginally, but 5-2 dropped significantly.

Got a couple of blips on Allentown PBS (39-1/2/3/4), but all other digital channels are zip. Specifically tried 11-1 with both the pre-amp and without....zeroes for both. If I can get up to the attic tomorrow, maybe I'll swap the 3041dsb and the 7775 up there....then I can try to get 11-1 using the 3041dsb and see if that helps (since it passes VHF).

Is anyone else getting UPN re-routed from 57-1 to 32-1? :confused:

Originally posted by Calabs
Is anyone else getting UPN re-routed from 57-1 to 32-1? :confused:

Yes, I think it started yesterday morning. Threw me for a loop when I could get 57 analog but not 57-1. Then, I re-scanned and found 57-1 shows up as 32-1. Otherwise, no changes (i.e., signal still strong).

Originally posted by Calabs
Is anyone else getting UPN re-routed from 57-1 to 32-1? :confused:

Si! Actually on my E86 it's been on 32-1 since Saturday or so of last week. I thought it was an "antenna" issue, but it was a re-mapping thing. Had the same issues (and still do) with the 43-1/2/3/4 subchannels and 52-1/2/3/4.

Last night---WPVI-DT was pretty much unwatchable....

The horror .... ;)

Originally posted by jaypb

Last night---WPVI-DT was pretty much unwatchable....

The horror .... ;)

So are you going to move the antenna to the other side of the house???? It sounded like it worked pretty well for you. The other alternative is the "copper nail in the tree approach". May take a while though. :D

Originally posted by Calabs
So are you going to move the antenna to the other side of the house???? It sounded like it worked pretty well for you. The other alternative is the "copper nail in the tree approach". May take a while though. :D

Yes siree Bob! As long as Mother nature cooperates this weekend (which she's apt NOT to :mad:) I'll be moving it! Have to pick up some supplies. If it works as well as I hope it does (since that side of the house seems to have a "clearer" shot of the southern/southwestern sky---255'ish compass heading) I'm thinking of picking up 2 10' masting poles and *maybe* sinking one a few feet into the ground for more support and then attaching that to the side of the house. With my luck that side of the house will have a better view for Philly....and kill my NYC (albeit limited right now) reception

:p

Hi, New to to AVS Forum, anyway, has anyone else noticed that PBS changed from 43 to 51 today? now the HD channel is 51-2 and lists it as NJN-DT-HD . BTW can anyone in the area get WB digital 12 from NY? WPIX-DT? Thanks.

All this re-mapping stuff is for the birds. I am glad the MyHD card lets me turn this non-feature on or off. I leave it off. It only generates confusion. Call the station the number it transmits on. Hey channel 5 was not always Fox so who cares if it is now channel 44 not channel 5.

For some reason, I couldn't get my photos "dumbed down" enough to go through the AVS server....so try this link:

http://photos.yahoo.com/qicdata

Hopefully it works. There are 6 photos.

The pines across the street didn't trouble my reception (at least of 3-1/57-1/6-1/43-1) for pretty much Feb/March/April. 29-1 was occasional and 17-1/10-1 were rarities.

The tree you see is about 45-50 feet from my antenna....which is about 20-25 feet or so above the ground. I plan on moving the antenna to the right of this tree, on my roof, so I can get a better shot of the SouthWestern sky (255-261 on the compass)

I guess my question is: Would a tree situation like this be what is causing my decrease in 6-1? I am able to receive 6-1 pretty steady after 10pm....but before the last 2 weeks or so (leaves growing in), 6-1 was steady at a 65-85 or so clip daily. I've also noticed that while I'm facing Philly, I now get 2-1 out of NYC steadily with minimal dropouts and a signal strength of about 65 or so.

I also noticed, oddly, than 6-1 will stay locked with minimal dropouts, at a 37-44 clip...whereas in the recent past, it needed to be above a 50 or so to even lock on.

Odd.....
:confused:

Originally posted by jaypb
The pines across the street didn't trouble my reception (at least of 3-1/57-1/6-1/43-1) for pretty much Feb/March/April. 29-1 was occasional and 17-1/10-1 were rarities.

The tree you see is about 45-50 feet from my antenna....which is about 20-25 feet or so above the ground. I plan on moving the antenna to the right of this tree, on my roof, so I can get a better shot of the SouthWestern sky (255-261 on the compass)

I guess my question is: Would a tree situation like this be what is causing my decrease in 6-1? I am able to receive 6-1 pretty steady after 10pm....but before the last 2 weeks or so (leaves growing in), 6-1 was steady at a 65-85 or so clip daily. I've also noticed that while I'm facing Philly, I now get 2-1 out of NYC steadily with minimal dropouts and a signal strength of about 65 or so.

I also noticed, oddly, than 6-1 will stay locked with minimal dropouts, at a 37-44 clip...whereas in the recent past, it needed to be above a 50 or so to even lock on.

Odd.....
:confused:

If you saw the forest my signal had to make it through, I think you'd be counting your blessing! :D Although there are certainly obstructions there, and not a totally clear line of sight, it shouldn't be causing such a large change in reception. Then again, this antenna reception thing is somewhat lke black magic.

Originally posted by Calabs
If you saw the forest my signal had to make it through, I think you'd be counting your blessing! :D Although there are certainly obstructions there, and not a totally clear line of sight, it shouldn't be causing such a large change in reception. Then again, this antenna reception thing is somewhat lke black magic.

Strange eh....like the black magic reference though....very appropriate:D

It's quite possible that my antenna (CM4228) is having issues with the multipathing from the tree whereas yours may handle the multipath better? Or my CM7775 pre-amp is amplifying the mulitpath? Or, my E86, which I've read isn't the most sensitive of tuners is having issues with the signal now that the trees have come in.

Many different variables.....I'll have a better answer after I move the antenna.

I had mentioned that, for some reason, WPVI-DT was staying locked at a 37-44 clip on the signal meter, where in the past I'd have dropouts if I was under 55 or so....I found that odd as well.

:confused:

jaypb....
it may be that the leaves are not obstructing your signal, but their growth may be affecting your multi-path situation to the extent that the current antenna location is no longer optimal.

last week, i moved my 4228 to a different location in my attic. it is now just inside the southwest-facing wall. my reception on 6-1/2, and 17-1 is now consistently solid @69%. prior to moving, both of these channels would show significant variation in signal strength and would many times be un-watchable.

originally, i thought the increased signal strength was due to tropo effect....but after monitoring signal strength for the last week with large variation in the tropo forecast, i can see that the 69% signal strength is pretty much the floor....when tropo is forecast, the strengths rise even further.

so, yes, digital reception is like black magic....you just gotta find the 'sweet spot'. this encourages me to do some additional shifting of the antenna location to see if i can get dependable reception on 29-1, 12-1, and 10-1. if i could accomplish those 3 without ruining 6-1 and 17-1, then i'll really be a happy camper.

Originally posted by SteveK2
jaypb....
it may be that the leaves are not obstructing your signal, but their growth may be affecting your multi-path situation to the extent that the current antenna location is no longer optimal.

so, yes, digital reception is like black magic....you just gotta find the 'sweet spot'. this encourages me to do some additional shifting of the antenna location to see if i can get dependable reception on 29-1, 12-1, and 10-1. if i could accomplish those 3 without ruining 6-1 and 17-1, then i'll really be a happy camper.

I agree with Steve that the leaves may be attributing to multipath problems (leaves seem to be notorious for this). I've got lots of trees around my property, and I can get 2-1 in NYC even though my antenna is 180 degrees off line form the transmitter. Fluctuation is signal strength goes from 80% to 10%. Typical multipath characteristics (tree leaves are one of those non-stationary objects that can reek havoc). ;)

Keep in mind that line-of-sight to the horizon is something closer to 35-40 miles. Add maybe another 15%-20% for refraction. Then you're on the fringe and dependent upon luck to get enough signal to receive a station. Factor in maybe a 5-10 mile increase due to transmitter height.

Originally posted by SteveK2
jaypb....
it may be that the leaves are not obstructing your signal, but their growth may be affecting your multi-path situation to the extent that the current antenna location is no longer optimal.

last week, i moved my 4228 to a different location in my attic. it is now just inside the southwest-facing wall. my reception on 6-1/2, and 17-1 is now consistently solid @69%. prior to moving, both of these channels would show significant variation in signal strength and would many times be un-watchable.

originally, i thought the increased signal strength was due to tropo effect....but after monitoring signal strength for the last week with large variation in the tropo forecast, i can see that the 69% signal strength is pretty much the floor....when tropo is forecast, the strengths rise even further.

so, yes, digital reception is like black magic....you just gotta find the 'sweet spot'. this encourages me to do some additional shifting of the antenna location to see if i can get dependable reception on 29-1, 12-1, and 10-1. if i could accomplish those 3 without ruining 6-1 and 17-1, then i'll really be a happy camper.

I too, would just like to be able to "get" the stations that transmit either HD or ED (FAUX) OTA. UPN is garbage programming wise. Not that I'll watch anything on WB 17, but....it's still nice to be able to show a guest what HD looks like on the WB :p

I'd LOVE to be able to get WB11 out of NYC but until they move that's a pipedream. I've got the rotor so moving the antenna back and forth isn't really an issue....it's just being able to glean a decent signal (beit from multipath effects, transmitter power, fringe distance, etc...) that seems to be the issue.

Do you notice though that KYW ALWAYS seems to be 100% solid SOMEWHERE on the horizon? I believe they have the highest tower slot (based on that FCC site) coupled with the highest KW powerage (770kw), but WPVI isn't too far behind and neither is WYBE---so I assume there has to be some amount of signal spread issues as well (Directional signal from the towers??)

Originally posted by Calabs
I agree with Steve that the leaves may be attributing to multipath problems (leaves seem to be notorious for this). I've got lots of trees around my property, and I can get 2-1 in NYC even though my antenna is 180 degrees off line form the transmitter. Fluctuation is signal strength goes from 80% to 10%. Typical multipath characteristics (tree leaves are one of those non-stationary objects that can reek havoc). ;)

Yes, I too can get CBS out of NYC and Fox while facing a different direction....and I attributed it to some form of multipath.

I just honestly didn't even THINK of these issues when I hooked up my antenna. I was more concerned about putting the mast/antenna the shortest distance from my STB (rg6 length wise) after I received a solid 100 on CBS and a decent signal on WPVI. And it was winter and I didn't feel like hanging around on the roof to play with location.

Call me lazy......:(

BTW----you mention the fluctuation in signal strength. The first time I realized "something was up" was around 2 week ago....when I observed WYBE's strength on my E86 going from 0 to 100 and back and forth for about an hour....and this was around the same time that the leaves started growing in....and WPVI-DT started dropping out.

Anyone noticing any activity on those channels listed as "under review" at titantv.com? I know I'm still receiving a steady signal on 66-1/2 (Spanish programming) and it's listed as FCC extension on titantv.com. At least that's what I'm remembering....

Originally posted by dswallow
Keep in mind that line-of-sight to the horizon is something closer to 35-40 miles. Add maybe another 15%-20% for refraction. Then you're on the fringe and dependent upon luck to get enough signal to receive a station. Factor in maybe a 5-10 mile increase due to transmitter height.

Speaking of height/towers/transmitters....anyone else fire off an e-mail to WCAU regarding their issues? Someone started another thread here about WCAU's issues or something to that effect, but I hvaen't replied to it.

Also----titantv lists WNBC going online on 8/31 and WABC on 9/1.

Pipedreams eh?
:mad:

Call me lazy......

Not really....just inexperienced...as we all were when starting with this HDTV OTA stuff. Who'da ever thunk it!! It enough to drive one insane.....if you let it! Don't get me wrong....I really enjoy the HD broadcasts......but before getting my plasma, *my* TV watching was mostly sports, news, home improvement/diy stuff, and DVDs. I had not watched/followed an OTA series in quite some time....probably a few years.

So, if I have to wait until the fall to get NYC OTA back on-line, that's fine. Everything that I get now is just gravy.

Originally posted by SteveK2
..........before getting my plasma, *my* TV watching was mostly sports, news, home improvement/diy stuff, and DVDs. I had not watched/followed an OTA series in quite some time....probably a few years.


Not to get TOO far off topic here, but what type of DIY stuff?

diy...watching or doing?

for watching...the usual fare....diy network (woodworking and home improvements mostly)....and the usual pbs stuff...this old house....new yankee workshop, etc...

for doing.....i have a woefully under-utilized woodshop in my basement...but between my computer addiction, plasma/hdtv, and little league baseball, there aren't enough hours in the day.

Anybody else getting 8-1/2? Looks like NJN's SD content on both subchannels. Good signal strength, but I am quite close.

For those of us located close to the transmitting tower, this may be more bad than good.

Originally posted by SteveK2
Anybody else getting 8-1/2? Looks like NJN's SD content on both subchannels. Good signal strength, but I am quite close.

For those of us located close to the transmitting tower, this may be more bad than good.

Cool! I was curious as to when all those "under review" stations were going to go live....but I thought WNJB (Ch 8) was listed as 11/1/03...which, now that I just checked it is.

You have the CM4228 right? Is your pre-amp still hooked up? I hope to get up on the roof tomorrow and move the antenna to the other side of the house....weather willing....and kids willing too :p !

They must be testing....like 66-1/2 is....even though 66/1-2 has an FCC extension. See below:

Network CH Station Live Date
ABC 45 WABC-DT Sep 1 2003
IND 18 WMBC-DT Under Review
IND 27 WGTW-DT Under Review
IND 25 WTVE-DT Under Review
IND 48 WRNN-DT May 15 2003
NBC 28 WNBC-DT Aug 31 2003
PAX 30 WPXN-DT Under Review
PAX 31 WPPX-DT Under Review
PBS 8 WNJB-DT Nov 1 2003
PBS 24 WNYE-DT Nov 1 2003
PBS 22 WNJS-DT Nov 1 2003
TEL 36 WNJU-DT FCC Extension
TFA 53 WFUT-DT Under Review
UNI 40 WXTV-DT Sep 15 2003
UNI 66 WUVP-DT FCC Extension

Yep, must be testing....now, I was tweaking with antenna positioning (only within a range of +/- 20 degrees, though) and thought that may have had something to do with getting 8-1/2, but I'm so close to the transmitter such a slight variation should not wipe the channel completely....and it is gone now.

No big deal....that's one thing we don't need in NJ....yet another PBS station broadcasting the same material.

Within the last 15 minutes (just before 4:00PM), 12-1 WHYY and 10-1 WCAU came on with good signal locks (signal strength ~20-30%).

Tropo or current storms??

Originally posted by SteveK2
Within the last 15 minutes (just before 4:00PM), 12-1 WHYY and 10-1 WCAU came on with good signal locks (signal strength ~20-30%).

Tropo or current storms??

Aliens.

Put yer tin foil hat on.

:p

I'm just hoping it ain't raining tomorrow....I'm itchin' to move my antenna....Me thinks ET is supposed to be on ABC on Sunday in HD and I think tomorrow night is the Green Mile.

:)

Definately the storms (or aliens). Both channels have now disappeared (and so have the storms).

...and you're right about this weekend's ABC movies.

Update on my "moving the antenna to get WPVI at a higher signal strength":

No good. Moved the antenna (CM4228---actually bought a 2nd one from Warren to test with) to the other side of the house and signal strength dropped on WPVI...at 12:30 pm from a 37 to a high of 18. Now, of course the (*^*&^*&^ variables change. I now have a run of cable that is around 100 feet. The antenna is not as high as the other one because I didn't move the rotor with it. I kept the CM7775 over on the original Cm4228 and just ran the new wiring to the pre-amp. Would I see a difference if I moved the 7775 over to the new antenna masting? All other signal strengths are the same on the new antenna....but 64-1 dropped.

Like I said though, the variables changed. Would I see a loss in signal strength on just ONE channel since the line is now 100 feet and not the 50 foot length off the old antenna?

What an annoyance :mad:

My wife wants to shoot me. But, it's only Saturday. Tomorrow she'll want to hang me :D

I would move the pre-amp and see if there is an improvement. Make sure you take her out for Mothers Day or we may find you swinging from the antenna mast!

I went out to RS and picked up their catalog # 15-2160 (VU-75R??) that it *says* has a 75 mile range....but I was interested in seeing if this *style* UHF antenna (Yagi Style) will improve the multipath issues I'm assuming I'm having.

Will use a pre-amp as well (Either my CM7775 or the DSB3041??) that I still have.

Will try it today---if Mother Nature cooperates.

BTW---will the pre-amp "negate" the fact that I'm going to have to go to an RG-6 run of 100 feet? Not sure if negate is the proper wording...but the reason I chose my original antenna placement location was because it was the closest to my STB.

Thoughts?

Nothing negates the loss we just try to find ways to compensate for it. So yes if you have a much longer run of coax without the amp you will have less signal at the reciever. The pre-amp is amplifying the signal to compensate for this. The pre-amp also has a cost of increasing the noise as well. There is a trade-off, whether it is enough to notice with the short coax run, I doubt it. The amp will probably benefit the situation more then hurt it.

So as I say everything comes with a cost and its not always money!

I went out to RS and picked up their catalog # 15-2160 (VU-75R??) that it *says* has a 75 mile range....

...anxiously awaiting your results. I seem to recall reading over the last several months that the 4228 was still best, but that in 'certain situations' the yagi-style might be better.

Hopefully you are one of the 'certain situations' so you can watch ET tonight!

Good Luck.

Originally posted by SteveK2
...anxiously awaiting your results. I seem to recall reading over the last several months that the 4228 was still best, but that in 'certain situations' the yagi-style might be better.

Hopefully you are one of the 'certain situations' so you can watch ET tonight!

Good Luck.

Unfortunately, no luck with either the CM4228 in a new location (with DSB3041???) hooked up or the RS u-75r. But no luck, I mean with WPVI-DT. Even less of a signal in the current location with BOTH antennas. All the other usual suspects from Philly are there digitally AND analog....it's just the 6-1 and 10-1 that can't lock....as usual.

I'm actually noticing that when the sun goes down I can view 6-1...somewhat....but I"m not dropout free until around 10pm or so each night so far this week.

Next step will be to try and "touch up" the tree in front of my original CM4228 antenna location. I had assumed the yagi style antenna would help with the multipath---no such luck. As an example, 34-1/2 (WYBE) digital was STILL fluctuating from 0 to 100 to 50 to 80 to 0 etc.... even WITH the new location on BOTH antennas. I'm wondering if I went even HIGHER than I currently am if I could "avoid" the problem....but it's not practical unless I rig some guy wires. I didn't try to hook the antenna up in the middle of the roof as I wanted to avoid that.

First, I lop the tree. Then I PRAY for ABC to go live on 9/1 as per titantv.com
:rolleyes:

http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/tropo.html

Tropo anyone? Check checked and my STB is showing 6-1, my nemesis at a cool 100%! I'm quite sure this will down to a 27 by 7pm tonight. Also getting pixelated video on 17-1....which is usually a no-no and a SS of 24 on 10-1.

ANyone else?

Originally posted by jaypb
http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/tropo.html

Tropo anyone? Check checked and my STB is showing 6-1, my nemesis at a cool 100%! I'm quite sure this will down to a 27 by 7pm tonight. Also getting pixelated video on 17-1....which is usually a no-no and a SS of 24 on 10-1.

ANyone else?

There must be SOMETHING in the air this morning. I was getting FOX Philly at 70%. An extreme rarity. Still only ~15% on WCAU.

Sorry to hear you're antenna experiment failed. You know, if you're wife gives the approval, you can always install a 'tower' on the side of your house. ;)

...nothing as of 8:30am....but it could have dissipated by then.

....sorry to hear about yesterday's unsuccessful efforts.....

Originally posted by Calabs
There must be SOMETHING in the air this morning. I was getting FOX Philly at 70%. An extreme rarity. Still only ~15% on WCAU.

Sorry to hear you're antenna experiment failed. You know, if you're wife gives the approval, you can always install a 'tower' on the side of your house. ;)

I wonder if it was the thick cloud cover? Like I said, WPVI was at 100% on my meter this AM....while it didn't get higher than a 58 all last night during ET. Maddening I tell ya~~~~!!!

AFA my experimentation, I'm resigned to the fact that, for whatever reason, WPVI's signal has dropped down considerably in signal strength. I'm annoyed only because the NHL/NBA finals are coming up. I don't like Hockey....but I'd love to show off my setup to friends who DO love hockey. And....hell, it is sports right?? :p

My next step will be to attempt to lop off the top of the damn tree to see if it impoves the SS any. Now I've got TWO antenna masting locations and various holes in the side of the house :rolleyes: .....which is why I'm thankful I didn't take the first setup down. I simply bought a 2nd CM4228 (*only* 60 bucks or so delivered from Warren) and picked up a 2nd set of wall mounts a few months ago....had the 3041DSB from an Ebay purchase....and simply bought the RS V-75r to play with. I'll probably keep everything just in case I need it in the future....or if friends/family feel ready to jump in and join the game!

I will say that when I had the 2nd CM4228 hooked up without the pre-amp I was able to get almost crystal clear reception on Philly analog 10/17/29/57 and ok analog out of 6/12/34.

Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of gleaning a digital signal OTA!

Originally posted by MartyJ
Nothing negates the loss we just try to find ways to compensate for it. So yes if you have a much longer run of coax without the amp you will have less signal at the reciever. The pre-amp is amplifying the signal to compensate for this. The pre-amp also has a cost of increasing the noise as well. There is a trade-off, whether it is enough to notice with the short coax run, I doubt it. The amp will probably benefit the situation more then hurt it.

So as I say everything comes with a cost and its not always money!

Most good quality coax cables typically lose signal (0.5-1.5 dB) over the first 100 feet. As you would expect, longer lenghts equate to higher losses. But as you say, the preamp will more than make up for any signal loss from the cable run. I've attached a graph that illustrates signal loss for a given length of cable. I hope this goes through! :D

Originally posted by Calabs
Most good quality coax cables typically lose signal (0.5-1.5 dB) over the first 100 feet. As you would expect, longer lenghts equate to higher losses. But as you say, the preamp will more than make up for any signal loss from the cable run. I've attached a graph that illustrates signal loss for a given length of cable. I hope this goes through! :D

Will fit nicely in the folder labeled "HDTV stuff"

:D

I am going to make a ladder purchase this week for a weekend antenna install. I have a number of questions but the most important relates to antenna choice. FYI, I am in Matawan and despite pointing my setup to PA and CT the only stations I have been able to receive are out of NY. I don't have any aspirations for receiving anything but NY stations at the present time.

I currently have a RS UHF only Yagi type antenna with pre-amp installed in attic that can receive CBS, FOX, and UPN (all out of NY) fairly well. I was planning to move the install outside to roof as is, but now that WB is on channel VHF 12, I was wondering if I should invest in a VHF/UHF antenna? I have read that WB will be going to UHF? If so, any estimates as to when?

I know the major players will eventually go back to VHF but that seems pretty far off. I can wait for WB to go to UHF but if no plans have been made or any dates set then I will make the VHF/UHF investment now.

Thanks.

Originally posted by JAKEJ
I am going to make a ladder purchase this week for a weekend antenna install. I have a number of questions but the most important relates to antenna choice. FYI, I am in Matawan and despite pointing my setup to PA and CT the only stations I have been able to receive are out of NY. I don't have any aspirations for receiving anything but NY stations at the present time.

I currently have a RS UHF only Yagi type antenna with pre-amp installed in attic that can receive CBS, FOX, and UPN (all out of NY) fairly well. I was planning to move the install outside to roof as is, but now that WB is on channel VHF 12, I was wondering if I should invest in a VHF/UHF antenna? I have read that WB will be going to UHF? If so, any estimates as to when?

I know the major players will eventually go back to VHF but that seems pretty far off. I can wait for WB to go to UHF but if no plans have been made or any dates set then I will make the VHF/UHF investment now.

Thanks.

Hi JakeJ,

I guess the question becomes, 'will you ever watch anything on the WB should you be able to receive the signal. Sort of a philosphical question, but with little HD on WB right now, waiting till it moves to UHF may be the way to go right now, since you already have the gear to receive UHF. ABC SHOULD be up and running toward the end of the year, and NBC slightly earlier. And who knows, since ch12 is approaching UHF anyway, maybe when you get the better reception from putting the antenna outside, you may pick it up anyway. I've heard that WB is running a very low power, so there's no guarentee you'll pick it up if you switch to a hybrid antenna.

Hope this doesn't add to the confusion. ;)

calabs,

No, it doesn't add to the confusion. I thought about the possibility of my current setup picking up WB when installed on the roof, but my attic setup doesn't even get a blip. I guess I should try anyway. Thought I could minimize the trips up and down the ladder.

As far as viewing content, I watch very little, if any WB. I just want to maximize my HD viewing options. Thanks.

Jake

Jake, I can get WB on VHF12 without any trouble using my CM4228 antenna, though I also do have the CM3010 "Stealthtenna" too... figured as long as I was putting up antennas I may as well have a VHF one too. It's plenty good enough to get things from 30 miles away. I'm in Long Branch, though on the ocean so there's little in the way of obstruction between me and the transmitter, unless fish fly.

dswallow,

I've seen some fish fly, but not too high :). I am not that familiar with antenna installs, did you just connect both to a single run of coax or something?

Jake

I have a CM7777 preamp which has separate inputs for VHF and UHF (one actually is meant for a combination of both frequencies). So both antennas are connected to the preamp, from there to the multiswitch and from there to the receiver through a diplexer.

Anyone else noticing 0 signal strength on Digital Channel 43 (PBS out of Trenton??)

6:30 am.

IM GETTING A SIGNAL, NO PICTURE THOUGH. WITH THE HIGH WINDS, MAYBE YOUR ANTENNA MOVED, MINE DID BY 15 DEGREES.

Originally posted by nyrmanny
IM GETTING A SIGNAL, NO PICTURE THOUGH. WITH THE HIGH WINDS, MAYBE YOUR ANTENNA MOVED, MINE DID BY 15 DEGREES.

I swung the rotor around 30 degrees in each direction and came up with no signal at all....yet my other Philly stations were pegging at their normal 100 (3-1/32-1) so I'm not sure what happened. I'm only 17 miles as the crow flies from Trenton so I can usually get SOME signal even if I'm facing NYC.

Odd....

Originally posted by jaypb
Anyone else noticing 0 signal strength on Digital Channel 43 (PBS out of Trenton??)

6:30 am.

I'm getting nothing from 43. Are you referring to one of the 4 stations that have been remapping over to 53/1/2/3/4?

Originally posted by Calabs
I'm getting nothing from 43. Are you referring to one of the 4 stations that have been remapping over to 53/1/2/3/4?

Yes. On my E86 I can punch in the ACTUAL UHF/Digital channel to get the signal strength (i.e. for 3-1 I punch in 26, for 57-1 I punch in 32, for 29-1 I punch in 42, etc...) and it tells me what the SS is.

So, this am, I just happened to be tooling around. Checked on 43-1/2. No picture. Checked on 52-1/2. No picture or sound....but guide info. Went to the signal strength screen---0 on the meter...even after whirling the rotor around (which I usually NEVER have to do).

Maybe it was just a "5 minute" testing thing that I happened to witness....or as you, it's still down now.

As long as it's back on tonight when I need "quiet time" with Visions of Greece/Italy it'll all be ok. :D

I think it's been down most of weekend I checked it on Saturday night to see what was on and I could not get anything but a blank screen on 51-1,2 and it been like that all day since.

Originally posted by wward
I think it's been down most of weekend I checked it on Saturday night to see what was on and I could not get anything but a blank screen on 51-1,2 and it been like that all day since.

I know it was on last night as the wife and I watched about a 1/2 hour of the Greece/Italy demo loop. I must've just caught it at a time when it was "down" for whatever reason this AM.

I like the fact that 13-1 and 12-1 seem to have their HD loop on pretty consistently throughout the day, whereas 43-1 doesn't kick in until 8 pm on most nights....and is done by 1 am or so.

Hard to show off the OTA attributes of HD signals to friends/family at 2pm on a Saturday unless some sports are on in HD :(

jaypb

Just curious does your set top box remap to 51-1,2,3,4? mine remaps but also maiintains the physical channel assignment as well. That is the only channel that this happens to.

what channel or where is WPVIDT? i live in jersey city and i put in all my info and when the listing comes up an ABC channel appears.

Originally posted by wward
jaypb

Just curious does your set top box remap to 51-1,2,3,4? mine remaps but also maiintains the physical channel assignment as well. That is the only channel that this happens to.

Yes, but I *think* the virtual channel re-mapping goes to 52-1,2,3,4 and (this seems to vary) I still see 43-2 most of the time. I have JUST started noticing the same things with 5-1 out of NYC (44-1) as well as (obviously for months now) 64-1 (6-1) AND 67-1 (10-1). What I've also been dealing iwth on my E86 is 32-1 is now listed....but not 57-1. Still not guide info for that channel either way.

The beauty of re-mapping!!!

Originally posted by RAVEN56706
what channel or where is WPVIDT? i live in jersey city and i put in all my info and when the listing comes up an ABC channel appears.

It's channel 6-1 (64-1) out of Philly. ABc affiliate.

So does anyone know for what reason it is showing up in my areas tv listing?

Originally posted by RAVEN56706
So does anyone know for what reason it is showing up in my areas tv listing?

Do you mean on your On-screen listing on your E86 or on titantv.com? Or some other site?

THE TRENTON SIGNAL IS PRETTY STRONG AS OF NOW ON 52-1 AND 52-2. MUST OF BEEN A TEMPORARY OUTAGE EVEN THOUGH MY TV HAD A SIGNAL STRENGTH OF 28, WHICH USUALLY MEANS NOTHING ON MY TV.. IT'S AN RCA f38310 BUILT IN TUNER WITH DIRECTV.

Originally posted by nyrmanny
THE TRENTON SIGNAL IS PRETTY STRONG AS OF NOW ON 52-1 AND 52-2. MUST OF BEEN A TEMPORARY OUTAGE EVEN THOUGH MY TV HAD A SIGNAL STRENGTH OF 28, WHICH USUALLY MEANS NOTHING ON MY TV.. IT'S AN RCA f38310 BUILT IN TUNER WITH DIRECTV.

I watched PBS last night. Signal was back. 100 as usual :D

Guess I just happened to venture by with the remote when they weren't "live".

Speaking of live, anyone noticing any "life" out of those stations still listed as "under review" at titantv.com???

Steve mentioned he had a picture on Digital 8 out of New Brunswick last week. But they aren't slated to go "live" for a few weeks. There are 4 or so stations "under review" at titan....nothing BIG as far as networks (mostly independents I believe). I still find it funny that 66 (Spanish) isn't supposed to go live for awhile...yet night in and night out.....I'm seeing a clear picture.

Ah, the oddities of Digital TV :p

Originally posted by jaypb
There are 4 or so stations "under review" at titan....nothing BIG as far as networks (mostly independents I believe). I still find it funny that 66 (Spanish) isn't supposed to go live for awhile...yet night in and night out.....I'm seeing a clear picture.


I'm wiating to see what PAX has to offer. My wife likes some shows on that station. Interested to see if it is CBS quality or just the streched out stuff on the substations.

The dates that TitanTV posts are the dates that the station must go live based on the "contract" the station made with the FCC. There's no reason why the can't go live earlier than that. I believe if they cannot meet the deadline set forth, they would have to file for a FCC extension.

Originally posted by jaypb
Do you mean on your On-screen listing on your E86 or on titantv.com? Or some other site?

on titantv.com...... before it never showed up and i live in northern NJ. 5 miles away from nyc..... so this puzzzles me

Now to comment.....before i wasnt able to pick up 13-1 and 13-2 but now i get it but at 40%......it is weird because i was never able to..... does anyone know if they strengthened their signal?

Originally posted by Calabs
I'm wiating to see what PAX has to offer. My wife likes some shows on that station. Interested to see if it is CBS quality or just the streched out stuff on the substations.

The dates that TitanTV posts are the dates that the station must go live based on the "contract" the station made with the FCC. There's no reason why the can't go live earlier than that. I believe if they cannot meet the deadline set forth, they would have to file for a FCC extension.

Ahhh, so THAT's how all that "go live" stuff works. Semantics.... :p

Originally posted by RAVEN56706
on titantv.com...... before it never showed up and i live in northern NJ. 5 miles away from nyc..... so this puzzzles me

Interesting. I thought that Titan TV was based off of zipcodes when you set up your "account". Wonder how WPVI got in there? Can you get a signal at all on your E86 when you aim towards Philly?

Cause if you can I'm going to be pissed...LOL!!!:p

Originally posted by RAVEN56706
Now to comment.....before i wasnt able to pick up 13-1 and 13-2 but now i get it but at 40%......it is weird because i was never able to..... does anyone know if they strengthened their signal?

On your E86 (I have one too) are you at least able to get a pixelated signal? I know on mine I can SEE visuals at around 30 or so....broken up of course, but can see them none the less.

Weren't they supposed to move to the ESB? And I remember reading that their signal was highly directional....wonder if you got some "wind aided signal benefit" yesterday/today?

Well finally got all my hardware together and put up the CM4228 in the attic. Pointed the antenna towards Philly and had much better signal strength compared to my Silver Sensor. I can now reliably add UPN but no big deal as no HD. Cannot get Fox out of Philly. Unfortunately could not get any signal strength for NBC.

Pointed the Silver Sensor towards NYC and combined the antennas to see what would happen. Had some slight reduction in Philly signal strength but now get CBS and Fox form NY. I guess that will be the way it is until ABC/NBC go live from NY.

Very interested in CBS from Philly as that may be the only way I get any HD football.

Hopefully the Holly Grail is near.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=242086

Originally posted by MartyJ
Hopefully the Holly Grail is near.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=242086

:D

Glad to see this thread get a bump. Also glad to see you get some "life" out of that CM4228 :p

I spent a few hours yesterday "loping" off the left side of that Maple out at the curb. Was able to enjoy "Charlie's Angels" in HD out of Philly on WPVI drop out free for the hour or so I sat and watched. The big test will be how the signal strength is during the day. Either way, once the NYC stations are up and running the only thing good about HD out of Philly will be if UPN57 does anY Phillies/Sixers games in HD. Which is probably a pipedream....but if WPIX can do it, I wonder why UPN couldn't especially since Comcast already does HD out of the Vet.....and I wanna say Spectrum....but that old gal ain't there anymore :confused:

Anyone else see a reduction in signal strength on ALL stations last night? Even CBS was at ~50%, where I normally get it at ~85-90%. ABC and WB were unwatchable. This morning, all is back to normal. Was there a "reverse" tropo affect goin' on??? ;)

Originally posted by Calabs
Anyone else see a reduction in signal strength on ALL stations last night? Even CBS was at ~50%, where I normally get it at ~85-90%. ABC and WB were unwatchable. This morning, all is back to normal. Was there a "reverse" tropo affect goin' on??? ;)

To my esteemed (and now I'm NOT steamed :D) colleague,

Glad you beat me to this thought---as last night, I TRIED watching Hitler, I TRIED watching The Waterboy, I TRIED watching Malcolm on Fox....and I couldn't WITHOUT dropping out *maybe* every 3 minutes or so! I have a remote control for my rotor....and I fiddled and faddled with the damn thing and STILL couldn't obtain perfection for a length of time on KYW!!! KYW, for me, could *probably* come in at 100% on my strength meter in a damn hurricane!!!

As I mentioned yesterday in another post, I loped off the left side of the offending tree in my line of sight...and I can now watch WPVI-DT at the same rotor heading that KYW and most of the other Philly DT's are at...whereas before I had to have the rotor facing a wee bit more southerly to get WPVI at a watchable clip---while sacrificing SS on KYW and WPSG. I STILL can't get WHYY or WPHL at a watchable level. And WCAU is still only a tropo dream. And WTXF is still hit and miss. But, as long as I can get ABC/CBS from Philly----UNTIL NYC goes live....I'll live with it.

And, hopefully, once WPIX is full power and WNBC/WABC get on the ESB antenna....all will be well once again ;)

Thanks for confirming my suspicions last night....or, *maybe* You and I are in for some sorry types this spring/summer in our "neck of the woods" :eek:

Not sure about a reverse tropo effect I noticed the signal reduction problem only on the CBS stations WCBS-DT and KYW-DT. It looked almost like their digital feeds from the network were up and down from about 7:20 to 8:30 and them for 10 mins the signal for both went out completely.


By 9:00 pm it looked like everything was back to normal (at least for me). Talk about tropo ot must have been a good night for it I picked up WPVI-DT with decent siganl strength (42-46) with one strong drop out and that was it. I dont watch much on ABC these days so I just kept checking back once in a while I had the signal from the time i started watching at about 7:30 till I went to bed around midnight.

I didnt have time to check this morning.

Strange thing this OTA concept :D

WPVI-DT is at 100% for me and WTXF-DT is at around 93.....two stations that since the onset of Spring have hovered from 60ish to unwatchable.

Amazing.

What's in the air tonight----I'm *almost* getting a watchable signal on WPHL as well. WCAU is still too weak to watch----as is WHYY. For some reason, WYBE (34-1) has SEVERE multipathing....100 one second and 30 the next...up and down in strength. This is the station that during the winter, before they even went live----I had a SS of 100! For days on end! Then, spring came and it's unwatchable. Doesn't really matter, as I don't think they have the demo loop going yet.

Anyone else "Feeling the Joy" tonight?? :p

Ok. Last night/this AM, for me at least, has been nothing short of stunning. Not sure why either---tropo forecast wasn't too good according to the Hepburn site.

Last nite, after 11pm I started picking up 10-1....and watched Leno in HD DROP FREE.....until I feel asleep at around midnight---and woke up at 2am to nice 4:3 black bars on my screen :mad:

This am---WCAU-DT was still hot, as was 17-1, 29-1, 34-1, 32-1, 6-1, 3-1 and I *actually* saw a pixelated big bird head on 12-1---a first for me :D

Go figure---was I the only one to enjoy this explosive signalage???

Folks,

I'm getting all the philly stations (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, WWHY etc.).

Wondering about NYC. what's available OTA and or/ the schedule for soon to be available???

thx.

Aceman

Originally posted by Aceman
Folks,

I'm getting all the philly stations (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, WWHY etc.).

Wondering about NYC. what's available OTA and or/ the schedule for soon to be available???

thx.

Aceman

CBS, FOX, PBS, UPN (on FOX subchannel; lousy quality), WB for a very LIMITED amount of folks with low power.

By the fall, hopefully NBC and ABC will be back live via either the ESB, or the new Times Square tower.

Down in Freehold I am having great luck pulling in WPVI-DT WTXF-DT KYW-DT and WPHL-DT (with some multipath on 17-1).

Not sure what's up but last night and this morning was good for the Phily stations.

Originally posted by wward
Down in Freehold I am having great luck pulling in WPVI-DT WTXF-DT KYW-DT and WPHL-DT (with some multipath on 17-1).

Not sure what's up but last night and this morning was good for the Phily stations.

Any luck pulling in WCAU? I had it LOCKED for hours last night----at least a 1/2 hour while I watched Leno and then when I woke up at 2:00ish it was STILL locked. Damn strange I tell ya! And this AM I had a semi-lock on it---with most everything else coming in.

Are you able to get 34-1 (WYBE-DT)??? That's a station, for whatever reason, I get SEVERE multipath on. My Signal meter jumps from 0 to 50 to 20 to 100 and back and forth.

They don't have an HD loop going yet.

How bout 12-1 as well? I actually saw Big Bird's head this AM :cool:

that was a first for me
:p

BuMp---noticed that for some reason the time on this thread never updated after I posted yesterday afternoon.

Hopefully it updates now.

You guys having fun with all this playing with your antennas? I don't think I've used mine for quite a few weeks... ExpressVu makes it all so simple. I just wish there was something local worth using it for, after all the effort I put in getting it up there. It's kinda neat seeing local news in HD, even if it is from Seattle.

Originally posted by dswallow
You guys having fun with all this playing with your antennas? I don't think I've used mine for quite a few weeks... ExpressVu makes it all so simple. I just wish there was something local worth using it for, after all the effort I put in getting it up there. It's kinda neat seeing local news in HD, even if it is from Seattle.

I wouldn't say fun....as last night WPVI-DT was unwatchable from the moment I got home until the moment I went to sleep---maddening, maybe. Fun....not yet :eek: WPVI-DT was still unwatchable this am. I really only wanted PVI for the Movies they air in 720p....don't really watch their serieses (great english eh?? :rolleyes:)

I will say that I wish the HD demo loop on 43-2 (52-2) would expand. If that's possible. :mad: I swear I watch that channel EVERY NIGHT! If only to remind myself just WHY I play the HD OTA game.

Maybe when the ESB goes live it'll be fun :p

How much is the ExpressVu monthly? The neighbors already think I'm a "off" for having two CM4228's on the roof....and 2 D* dishes.

:D

ExpressVu's gonna cost you at least about US$16 a month (there's a minimum cost of programming you have to subscribe to). In reality, I end up paying about US$40 a month because I went with one of the package plans which got me a bunch of stuff I couldn't get in the US, and it seemed a better value overall to have access to a lot of channels not available here instead of just trying to stick to locals and the couple I'd wanted.

You'd have 24-hours of PBS HD with it, though. :)

jaypb

No luck at all with WCAU-DT or WHYY-DT. I will once in a while pick up WYBE's analog feed but not the digital.

Originally posted by dswallow
ExpressVu's gonna cost you at least about US$16 a month (there's a minimum cost of programming you have to subscribe to). In reality, I end up paying about US$40 a month because I went with one of the package plans which got me a bunch of stuff I couldn't get in the US, and it seemed a better value overall to have access to a lot of channels not available here instead of just trying to stick to locals and the couple I'd wanted.

You'd have 24-hours of PBS HD with it, though. :)


It took me years of berating my wife to go along with the D* route...and only a month or so of berating to get her to go down the HD Highway. Using that logic, should only take me but 2-3 hours of berating to pick up any more Hi-Tech stuff :p

Are you able to pick up 13-1 (WNY???) and it's multicasting where you are down at the shore? Their PBS subchannel seems to be on 24/7 on the HD loop....and WHYY (12-1) also seems to have their subchannel on a 24/7 loop.....I cannot pick up either of these stations.

Anyone else having *issues* either posting or browsing avsforum.com today???

:confused:

Originally posted by jaypb

Anyone else having *issues* either posting or browsing avsforum.com today???

:confused:

Earlier this morning it was taking forever to load. Seems fine now. This usually happens when there are a bazillion people logged on. :eek:

Originally posted by Calabs
Earlier this morning it was taking forever to load. Seems fine now. This usually happens when there are a bazillion people logged on. :eek: Yes. But I won't limit it to just today. Ever since about a week before TiVoCommunity Forum went down this place has been noticably unreliable. I don't know if I'm just noticing it more and it always acted like this, or if there's just something slowly eating away at the server(s) providing the forum database. In any event, I've never seen more than about 1,700 users reported as active/online here, which in the scheme of web servers and databases really isn't that much (I'll be presumptuous and expect the forum isn't running on a Pentium 133 with 128MB of RAM). I'd place most of the blame on forum software that's not even close to efficient (vBulletin) that runs uncompiled script and mySQL which isn't exactly enterprise-class in performance or reliability. Just look at the bottom of a page and see how many queries it took to create it, and how long it took to generate. It is not in any way, shape or form efficient.

As it is, we're limited to searches no more often than 30 or 60 seconds, often limited to posting no more than once every 60 seconds and regularly can't get pages to load properly or in a timely fashion.

I suppose we should be happy it works at all with this load.

Originally posted by jaypb
Strange thing this OTA concept :D

WPVI-DT is at 100% for me and WTXF-DT is at around 93.....two stations that since the onset of Spring have hovered from 60ish to unwatchable.


Anyone else "Feeling the Joy" tonight?? :p

For the 1st time EVER.. I was able to watch:
1) WPVI without dropouts
2) WXTF at all - and with no dropouts to boot.
3) WCAU a picture - very pixelated though.

I dont know what in the air - but lets hope it stays for a while.

Now if they could only black out ESPN - stupid $%## Devils !!!!
(and I got a pi%%ed off wife too. now I hope for a game 7 win on the road)

Originally posted by gjohnsen2002
For the 1st time EVER.. I was able to watch:
1) WPVI without dropouts
2) WXTF at all - and with no dropouts to boot.
3) WCAU a picture - very pixelated though.

I dont know what in the air - but lets hope it stays for a while.

Now if they could only black out ESPN - stupid $%## Devils !!!!
(and I got a pi%%ed off wife too. now I hope for a game 7 win on the road)

You received WPVI-DT and WCAU-DT in last night? I couldn't get either to lock last night---and for me, WPVI-DT is the kicker---especially since I *Believe* tonight is supposed to be the first HD game of the NBA playoffs on ABC at 8pm. I'm not sure if the signal (for me) was messed up because of the rain or what--but for some reason WPVI is "fringe" since spring began for me, while KYW-DT/WPSG-DT are booming. WTXF-DT has been coming in a bit better----but it is still touch and go. WPHL-DT is a pipedream, same as WCAU-DT as far as viewability. WHYY has shown me big bird's head (just the other day) but that's about it

And for the record, I can receive analog 29/17/57/34 just fine---it's just the Digitals that give me headaches.

Damn it.:mad:

Originally posted by dswallow
Yes. But I won't limit it to just today. Ever since about a week before TiVoCommunity Forum went down this place has been noticably unreliable. I don't know if I'm just noticing it more and it always acted like this, or if there's just something slowly eating away at the server(s) providing the forum database. In any event, I've never seen more than about 1,700 users reported as active/online here, which in the scheme of web servers and databases really isn't that much (I'll be presumptuous and expect the forum isn't running on a Pentium 133 with 128MB of RAM). I'd place most of the blame on forum software that's not even close to efficient (vBulletin) that runs uncompiled script and mySQL which isn't exactly enterprise-class in performance or reliability. Just look at the bottom of a page and see how many queries it took to create it, and how long it took to generate. It is not in any way, shape or form efficient.

As it is, we're limited to searches no more often than 30 or 60 seconds, often limited to posting no more than once every 60 seconds and regularly can't get pages to load properly or in a timely fashion.

I suppose we should be happy it works at all with this load.

Your last statement sums up my opinion as well---a few other forums have folded recently (S&V mag's comes to mind) so....at this point anything is better than nothing. I will say that I've taken to Copying any replies I send out BEFORE I hit the reply button...as recently I get the dreaded "Unable to Display Page" message or "Page Timed Out" message if the server is too busy to accept my reply.

:eek:

Don't forget NJ Nets and Detroit tonight at 8:30PM in HD on ABC. Point those antennas toward Philly!

Originally posted by MartyJ
Don't forget NJ Nets and Detroit tonight at 8:30PM in HD on ABC. Point those antennas toward Philly!

I've got my fingers crossed for tonight. I haven't been able to get WPVI-DT reliably the last 2 nights. All night---even after midnight.:(

It better come in tonight. I want to see what HD NBA looks like on ABC. I saw CBS'S NCAA coverage. I've seen HD on HDNET for NHL games and NBA games......

Hopefully "the air" obliges me tonight....:p

Well its official.

When a lame Jim Belushi sitcom is on - WPVI clear as a bell !
When theres SOMETHING on ABC that is good and that I want to watch. NADA, ZIP, ZILCH, BUPTKUS

Too bad about your reception. I had to play a bit with my antenna but have a solid signal. Audio says 5.1 but its not. Very poor transitions between SD and HD. One HD camera does not always want to focus. Overall the quality of the broadcast for the 1st Quarter is a C-

Highest SS I had tonight on 6-1 was a 30---got to ACTUALLY see 3 frames of HD at 10:10 pm! G*D* amazing! Mother Frickin Nature....not only is she going to ruin the weekend, but she can' t allow me to see ONE HD Sporting Event OTA on ABC.

:mad:

Well, this AM signal strength on WPVI-DT was back up to a 72. Not sure if it was the poor weather conditions last night or the fact that I am STILL getting SEVERE multipath---which I'm STILL attributing to this damn tree!

I can pick up WPVI-DT at TWO different locations with my rotor that are about 30 degrees apart---and in between the two spots where I'm able to get a "30 or so" on my signal meter---is the damn canopy of that tree! So, I guess when it's raining....and those leaves are SOAKED and in the way my viewing capabilities will continue to be severely limited. On good days, the SS is good enough to get above the threshold to lock on a signal without pixelation. Tropo days are 100% days.

How was the PQ on the PVI feed of the Nets game? I read on the Pgramming forum that the PQ wasn't so hot---and the audio feed was a little off.

why is it that now i cant get 5-1 or 5-2 but before i always got it?

why is it that now i cant get 5-1 or 5-2 but before i always got it?

You may have better luck asking this on one the NYC OTA HD threads. Most of the folks on this thread are in Central NJ and receive their HD (or try) from Philly. Being that you are a very short distance from ESB, my guess is that something's up with 5-1/2's transmission or your line of sight has become blocked recently.

jay,

You didn't miss anything on the Nets game in HD. Very poor quality HD, stereo audio not 5.1. Glad I didn't ask anyone to come over and watch in HD. ABC should be embarassed! Hopefully they can do better in the future with hockey.

Originally posted by MartyJ
jay,

You didn't miss anything on the Nets game in HD. Very poor quality HD, stereo audio not 5.1. Glad I didn't ask anyone to come over and watch in HD. ABC should be embarassed! Hopefully they can do better in the future with hockey.

Guess ABC has some tinkering to do eh??

Was it "artifacting" on the screen with fast motion or just plain-jane vanilla pictures (washed out, not vibrant etc...)?

I echo your comments about having folks come over to watch things in HD. Usually when I have people over, it's on a weekend---and, unless ABC has a MOTW on Saturday/Sunday night, there isn't really ANYTHING OTA to show them about HD. It's HDNET or the PBS loop if it's on. And, in my case, even IF something IS on ABC, the way my reception has been lately, it makes you look silly if you can't even SHOW them a picture because the damn thing won't lock!!!

:mad:

HD was not very sharp. The camera had trouble focusing at times. Too much use of SD cameras. Poor Audio. As my mother used to say if you can't say something nice don't say it at all.

Just curious if anyone else with "fringe" Digital channels (those that are hit or miss IMHO) are having issues with them the last few days (i.e---the fog, wet weather). I've pretty much lost a viewable signal on 6-1 and 29-1/17-1 no matter WHICH way I point my rotor. Was curious if anyone else was having similar issues. 3-1/32-1/43-1,2 are still 100% and 66-1/2 has ceased to exist when I've checked it. 34-1 STILL bounces from 100 to 30 to 0 to 70 etc... THis wasn't the case in February/March/April.

And I figured the thread deserved a bump :D

I believe Toy STory is on ABC tonight in HD. Enjoy it if you can see it!

jaypb....

all is 'normal'...6/1 is rock-solid @69%, nothing on 29-1, 12-1, or 10-1.

just switched on toy story.....it is amazing..... (sorry about that). 5.1 sound is working perfectly tonight (right rear on ET couple weeks ago was totally dead).

...and i was getting ready to do some antenna tweaking today or tomorrow..

JayPB- No problems getting WPVI from up here in Warren County. I picked up Game 3 of the Nets series without a problem- Too bad the clinching game was on ESPN!

Thanks for the replies ladies ;)

I'm still teetering/bouncing up and down with WPVI. I'm getting THISCLOSE to just going out there and scaling the tree in the rain and taking off the WHOLE top of the tree to see if it does indeed improve my LOS towards the transmitters and cuts down on this multipath effect I KNOW I'm experiencing. Just so damn odd that it occurs on WPVI's signal but not KYW's or WPSG's....I'm assuming it's a combo of the KW's and the Transmitter height as well as my antenna's handling of WPVI-DT's frequency at channel 64...in addition to my E86's OTA capability/sensitivity.

Damn that's a lot of variables eh? I'm tempted to try and "go up a few feet" with the masting---but I've got to get some guy wires and rings.

Man, I can't WAIT for NYC to go back on line in a big/bad way....:(

Enjoy the rest of your (RAINY) day off fellas!

jaypb....

just got through tweaking my attic antenna (CM4228). can actually watch 29-1 during the day!!. had a marginal signal on 10-1, but nothing to watch.

only made 2 adjustments....first, removed the 'mast' from the rafter it was screwed onto...and just moved the whole antenna (with 'mast') about 2 feet so that it is leaning against my outside/southwest-facing wall. fortunately, my outside wall is facing @244 degrees which is what all of the antenna-aiming sites say i need for philly transmitters.

second change was to swap out the twinlead from the 4228 to the 3041 pre-amp. i had used a very short piece of twinlead that i scavenged from a very old nintendo gameswitch. replaced it with a 2' twinlead with end connectors.

so, my son is watching cops on 29-1. all other digitals that are 'normal' for me are still there, rock-solid. KYW 3-1's signal strength nice and strong @93%....all others (except for 29-1) are no lower than 63%.

now for some mild topo effect and I might be able to watch NBC during prime time (fingers crossed).

Originally posted by SteveK2
jaypb....

just got through tweaking my attic antenna (CM4228). can actually watch 29-1 during the day!!. had a marginal signal on 10-1, but nothing to watch.

only made 2 adjustments....first, removed the 'mast' from the rafter it was screwed onto...and just moved the whole antenna (with 'mast') about 2 feet so that it is leaning against my outside/southwest-facing wall. fortunately, my outside wall is facing @244 degrees which is what all of the antenna-aiming sites say i need for philly transmitters.

second change was to swap out the twinlead from the 4228 to the 3041 pre-amp. i had used a very short piece of twinlead that i scavenged from a very old nintendo gameswitch. replaced it with a 2' twinlead with end connectors.

so, my son is watching cops on 29-1. all other digitals that are 'normal' for me are still there, rock-solid. KYW 3-1's signal strength nice and strong @93%....all others (except for 29-1) are no lower than 63%.

now for some mild topo effect and I might be able to watch NBC during prime time (fingers crossed).

Ahhh, you lucky dog. Glad to see your adjustment paid off. Mine aren't improving much. PVI was totally drop in and out all night last night---yet this AM I went down and tinkered and was able to pick it up dropout free with a SS of 51....although I had to face the antenna (via rotor) to 200 degrees or so---although KYW and PSG and the rest of the Philly stations are at 255-261! Talk about issues!!! I also took down another long, lanky, leaf filled branch off that offending tree out at the curb. Wish I though about this in February---would've lopped off the top with NO leaves on it then! :mad:

I was really hoping to be able to have the signal tweaked and the issue solved by this weekend when ABC is supposed to rev-up it's HD carriage of the NHL/NBA finals----:(

Well, no MY WPVI signal is fluctuating. REALLY bad yesterday during the rain. This morning, it was pretty good at 65%. Definitly the trees! They got much bigger since last year. Wind (trees ruffling) makes the signal jump more than no wind (steady signal). Please do tell me I have to venture up to the roof so I could watch the Stanley Cup/NBA playoffs. :( jaypb - I'm beginning to feel your pain, pal. No fun. All other stations are fine, including WHYY last night and this morning at ~50%. Hey, if I help you chop your trees, will you come over and help chop mine! :)

Originally posted by Calabs
Well, no MY WPVI signal is fluctuating. REALLY bad yesterday during the rain. This morning, it was pretty good at 65%. Definitly the trees! They got much bigger since last year. Wind (trees ruffling) makes the signal jump more than no wind (steady signal). Please do tell me I have to venture up to the roof so I could watch the Stanley Cup/NBA playoffs. :( jaypb - I'm beginning to feel your pain, pal. No fun. All other stations are fine, including WHYY last night and this morning at ~50%. Hey, if I help you chop your trees, will you come over and help chop mine! :)

Amazing huh? I'm telling you that the fact that I've lost WPVI-DT has annoyed me to no end!!! My wife wants to kill me....because everytime we're downstairs watching TV I revert to "checking" the signal meter...and my E86 beeps audibly as you view each transponder/channel :rolleyes:

She wants no more part of it. Like I said, it's KILLING me that it's occuring on pretty much JUST PVI_DT...and to a greater (multipath) extent on WYBE (34-1)----I mean I'll have a 9 then a 65 then a 93 then 100 then back to 0 in a span of 4 seconds. But, with PVI, the signal has been beaten down to *almost* watchable (21-27) since pretty much the beginning of the month. And, I really didn't think that the damn tree would be an issue! So, I learned a valuable lesson right there....seems every week I'm STILL learning something with regards to HD/Digital TV!

AFA cutting down trees----My neighbors laugh when they see me propping the ladder up against the tree! Worst part is now that all the leaves are blooming, I'm dying just having to twine this stuff up! And, the thought of any (^(^*&%#@@ ticks in there is eating (no pun intended) at me as well:p

Do you have a rotor on your setup (I can't remember that far back ;) ) What bearing does Antennaweb.org give you for your "spot" in EB?? I've got a reading of 255-261 for the Philly stations---yet I'm able to pick up WPVI anywhere (lately) from 200 to around 275 compass wise. And, when I get WPVI in solidly----KYW and PSG and WNJN suffers.

Go figure.....:mad:

Originally posted by jaypb

Do you have a rotor on your setup (I can't remember that far back ;) ) What bearing does Antennaweb.org give you for your "spot" in EB?? I've got a reading of 255-261 for the Philly stations---yet I'm able to pick up WPVI anywhere (lately) from 200 to around 275 compass wise. And, when I get WPVI in solidly----KYW and PSG and WNJN suffers.

Go figure.....:mad:

No, Just the standard mast on my chimney. All stations via Philly/DE are at 252 degrees, with the exception of WTXF-DT, which is 253 degrees. I recall when I installed the antenna that I didn't actually point it using a compass, but just did trial and error until I got the best mix in signals to get the best reception for most channels, with focus on CBS and ABC. There is a clearing in the tree line that is a good 30 degrees off from where my antenna is pointing. I used this setpoint to see if it helped, but only made things worse. I suppose I COULD get better reception if I go side mount, as there is also a big as* pine tree on the other side of my house that could be affecting things. That would require extending the coax and grounding wires though, which I'm not prepared to do at this point. The saga continues! ;)

Originally posted by Calabs
No, Just the standard mast on my chimney. All stations via Philly/DE are at 252 degrees, with the exception of WTXF-DT, which is 253 degrees. I recall when I installed the antenna that I didn't actually point it using a compass, but just did trial and error until I got the best mix in signals to get the best reception for most channels, with focus on CBS and ABC. There is a clearing in the tree line that is a good 30 degrees off from where my antenna is pointing. I used this setpoint to see if it helped, but only made things worse. I suppose I COULD get better reception if I go side mount, as there is also a big as* pine tree on the other side of my house that could be affecting things. That would require extending the coax and grounding wires though, which I'm not prepared to do at this point. The saga continues! ;)

Your last line above is what has led me to STILL not ground my setup, since I'm not quite sure where exactly the optimal spot is for me. But, I know where I currently am is closest to my TV setup....and it's solidly affixed to the side of the house, and when I'm ready to ground it it's in a good spot. But, I STILL have the other CM4228 affixed via side mount to the OTHER side of my house! My wife DOES want to kill me as my house literally looks like it's "beam me up Scotty"-ville ;) Each side of my house has a 4228 side mounted. Two D* dishes on the back roof. The 4228 that I affixed to the other side of the house STILL had the same reception issues as I did with my original setup (No WCAU viewing, Low strength on PVI, intermittent viewing of WTXF, etc...). But, again, the 2nd site was STILL aiming into that damn Maple curbside in addition to the 2 tall pines across the street. So, that's where I'm at. I can't see the forest for the trees....or some analogy like that. :eek:

I don't seem to have as many issues rotating back towards NYC...but that may be due to the proximity to the ESB vs Philly, as well as the power that the 2 NYC stations (FOX/CBS) are broadcasting at. Those are the only two NYC stations I can pick up. No PBS's are available where we are (at least where I am) out of NYC and the WB is still a pipedream.

Jaypb:

Verizon will coming by soon to ask to put a cell phone tower on your roof !

Originally posted by gjohnsen2002
Jaypb:

Verizon will coming by soon to ask to put a cell phone tower on your roof !

Ironically, Verizon's Cell service is horrendous in my area. If they let me put a UHF antenna on the damn thing they've got a deal :p

Does any one else have no audio on any hd channel? all OTA and Directv HD channels great picture no audio????

I had audio last night OTA from Philly and Trenton

Originally posted by webboy10169
Does any one else have no audio on any hd channel? all OTA and Directv HD channels great picture no audio????

You have the E86 right? Have you tried a re-boot? Think you hold down the action and power on the remote. I haven't had an video/no audio issue with D* signals/OTA signals yet. Could just be that damn box. do you have your audio running right to the TV or do you have it running through your AV receiver?

Originally posted by MartyJ
I had audio last night OTA from Philly and Trenton

Marty,

Are you still using the 4228 in your attic? I believe you said you are able to get ABC from Philly---correct? Have you noticed a drop in signal strength recently? I'm DYING (if you're still following the thread) over the practical loss of WPVI_DT recently. Last night my SS dropped to around 18. This AM--still at 18--no matter how much I moved the rotor.

A thread on here caught my eye---about attenuation of higher frequency UHF channels. I know that the DT channels I have problems receiving are in the upper UHF regions (54/55/64/67). Now I was able to get 64 no problem till the leaves came in. The other three have been hit and mostly miss. Coupled with the spread of their signal and the fact that they *may* not be at optimum power (as that thread seems to have arguments all over the place), I'm just trying to rationalize WHY I'm unable to solidly lock onto the higher UHF DT channels out of Philly. I'm contemplating going higher with the antenna (though some of said to try lower) to see if I can "get it in the clear" and lock onto AT LEAST WPVI-DT. ABC NYC won't be live (cross every appendage on your body) until 9/1 and MNF starts 9/4 I believe. Too close to cut it. NBC NYC won't be live until 8/31 (appendages STILL crossed). I sent that e-mail to the WCAU enginner on 4/30 I believe---still no increase in transmitter power as I can tell as he mentioned they were heading towards.

Calabs----has your WPVI situation changed? And did you EVER get a reply from the WCAU fella you sent the e-mail to last month?

Originally posted by jaypb
You have the E86 right? Have you tried a re-boot? Think you hold down the action and power on the remote. I haven't had an video/no audio issue with D* signals/OTA signals yet. Could just be that damn box. do you have your audio running right to the TV or do you have it running through your AV receiver?

Yes E86 running threw a denon 3803, woke up this morning still no audio. Just rebooted the box now still no audio???

Just took a look at the Denon and it was in PCM mode Must remember to keep remotes from the hands of a 16 month old.

PS as for thoses with denon and video issues my upconversion on the svideo side is flawless. In fact Tivo never looked so good.

Originally posted by jaypb

Calabs----has your WPVI situation changed? And did you EVER get a reply from the WCAU fella you sent the e-mail to last month?

I've been checking WPVI in the morning and evening, and the signal strength has been pretty good above 50%, with an occasional 60-65%. Weather has a greater affect on this channel now (heavy rain/heavy wind). Still no word from WCAU. I think it's time to send another e-mail!

Guys,

I'm kind of grasping at straws as well.
I used to get ALL the philly stations as of appx 10 days ago and
suddenly I get very few, if any.

Not sure if its the lousy weather (mist/fog, etc) but since I'm 45
miles away I'm trying again tonite.

Aceman

Originally posted by Aceman
Guys,

I'm kind of grasping at straws as well.
I used to get ALL the philly stations as of appx 10 days ago and
suddenly I get very few, if any.

Not sure if its the lousy weather (mist/fog, etc) but since I'm 45
miles away I'm trying again tonite.

Aceman

Aceman - Where are you located? I'm ~ 52 miles from the tower and started seeing some sporatic signal strength with ABC. I'm sure the weather has SOMETHING to do with it (we got HAIL in E. Brunswick yesterday!). :eek:

Originally posted by webboy10169
Yes E86 running threw a denon 3803, woke up this morning still no audio. Just rebooted the box now still no audio???

Just took a look at the Denon and it was in PCM mode Must remember to keep remotes from the hands of a 16 month old.

PS as for thoses with denon and video issues my upconversion on the svideo side is flawless. In fact Tivo never looked so good.

Ahh, yes children :rolleyes:

Had an issue similar to this on my old RCA tube TV---for some reason I had a large black box at the bottom of the TV screen---wouldn't go away. Turned out one of my kids must've hit the TV remote---which I hadn't seen in years---and turned on the closed caption mode for the TV---but for some reason there was no closed captioning in the box---talk about driving me crazy. Took me about 2 hours to figure out just WTF had happened. :p

Kids.....

I'm in whitehouse station and really PO'd.

All I know is I need to get this fixed before the devils game 3!!!

Aceman

Originally posted by Aceman
Guys,

I'm kind of grasping at straws as well.
I used to get ALL the philly stations as of appx 10 days ago and
suddenly I get very few, if any.

Not sure if its the lousy weather (mist/fog, etc) but since I'm 45
miles away I'm trying again tonite.

Aceman

Welcome to my nightmare :mad:

By chance, do you have any tall trees that have recently filled in with leaves? It's hard to discuss "line of sight" for most of us when we're 40+ miles or so away from the towers.....but I'm convinced that my issues with ABC is a result of the change in seasons/increase in foiliage (Tim Foli was a SS who played for the Mets and Pirates----just throught I'd throw that fact in . :D )

Not sure WHY it affects JUST WPVI-DT----because WPSG and KYW are STILL at 100% with NO dropouts when I tune the rotor to where it was back in March. But WPVI has dropped considerably---and there's fluctuation when I try and move the rotor around. It's, in my case, probably a combination of things---the fact that PVI is on channel 67--maybe my CM4228 isn't handling that "area" of the UHF spectrum adequately based on how far I am from the tower? Or, maybe my STB isn't handling the heavy multipath that has crept in recently very efficiently.

Either way---I'm pissed!

Tonight I think Alien Ressurection is supposed to be on PVI in HD. And Saturday night is a NHL Finals game.:(

Originally posted by Aceman
I'm in whitehouse station and really PO'd.

All I know is I need to get this fixed before the devils game 3!!!

Aceman

Whitehouse Station? Anywhere near Merck? I work for them (in Rahway facility). Yes, I'm also sweating out the fluctuating reception on PVI for Saturday's game. As I am a big hockey fan, I've been looking forward to seeing the finals in HD (where the He** is ESPN-HD when you need it?). Now that the Devils are in the cup, it just makes it that much more enjoyable. And an away game, in there vibrant red jerseys!!!

Are you using a preamp? If not, it may boost your reception enough.

yes - same town as merck.

Actually, I used to get all the major channels except NBC and the PBS feed was intermittant. I then went out and bought a 30.00 amp from radio shlock, installed it, cranked it up to 15DB+, and wala, for week-10 days, I had everything!

My setup is a Wingard 9095 fringe antenna thru the amp to an RCA DTC-100 feeding a Studio Experience HD13 projector.

Anyway, now that I've seen HD, man it sucks to not have it for a while!

Aceman

Originally posted by Aceman
yes - same town as merck.

Actually, I used to get all the major channels except NBC and the PBS feed was intermittant. I then went out and bought a 30.00 amp from radio shlock, installed it, cranked it up to 15DB+, and wala, for week-10 days, I had everything!

My setup is a Wingard 9095 fringe antenna thru the amp to an RCA DTC-100 feeding a Studio Experience HD13 projector.

Anyway, now that I've seen HD, man it sucks to not have it for a while!

Aceman

If it's EVERY OTA HD channel, I'd check all connections. But, as you said, you still get some----which ones? Would they happen to be KYW and WPSG? For me, these 2 are ALWAYS 100% at some point on the horizon with my rotor. Same goes for WNJT (43-1:2). AFA WTXF-DT, I'm able to get that a bit better since the leaves came in then in the past. WPVI-DT is maddening for me now. Honestly. WCAU is still a black screen as is WHYY and WPHL. How about 34-1...WYBE? I used to get that station at 100% signal strength back in Feb/March/April before they went live....and didn't send anything out on their channel. I was able to watch the channel for most of April then it started severe strength fluctuations. Now that the seasons have changed it's multipath hell!

It's hard for me to compare Philly viewing to NYC viewing---as their are only two watchable or even detectable signals for me (WCBS and WNYC_DT). That's it! And both come in at 100%.

I can't wait until NYC starts coming back on line. Reception problems should be a thing of the past. With ABC and NBC coming on in the early Fall (fingers crossed) on the Time's Square tower, all we'd need is WB to go full power and we're set for a while. Monday Night Football anyone?

What's on HDTV (http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=2&article_id=446&page_number=1) according to Sound and Vision Magazine----cool read with nice PDF breakdowns/graphics....makes you LONG for the ability to get ALL your locals in HD :mad:

And it, makes me even angrier that the HDTV gods have played a cruel trick on me by enabling me to receive 57-1 loud and clear....with no &#%*@ HD content on it....while I have to stand on my left foot with a ball of tin in my right hand and a cup on my nose to get WPVI-DT in at a decent level :p

The horror......

Jay,

Got the CM and Silver Sensor combined in the attic. The CM points towards Philly and the SS towards Trenton. I can play with the CM and get both but signal strength drops on the Philly channels. I am able to lock ABC, CBS and UPN out of Philly. Occassionally Fox but not any time recently. I have once or twice gotten a brief picture from NBC. If I was more adventerous I would mount the antenna up on the roof and probably pull in NBC but not worth the hassle. I will just wait for NYC to come back on line since its not that far away and content on NBC will be repeats for the most part.

I have not seen an appreciable drop in signal strength. Hopefully ABC's coverage of the Stanley Cup game will be much better then the dreadful coverage of the last Net's game.

Just saw a post on the board that WLIW-DT in Long Island is transmitting digitally on 21-1/22-1. Was curious if anyone can pick it up. I'll check when I get home.

I also just went to antennaweb.org for a look-see. Well, for some reason, they moved WPVI-DT into the "light green" antenna classification....from the blue classification---which means it should be EASIER for me to pick up the damn channel than it was a month ago (last time I checked that site).

Light Green states: "You need a Large Multidirectional Antenna or a Small Directional Antenna with pre-amp"

Blue states:"You need a Medium Directional Antenna with pre-amp."

I always had a problem pulling in the digital stations AW listed as BLUE...with no problem getting the "light green" stations. Now....go figure. I really DO feel like I'm being taunted here :p

Originally posted by jaypb

I also just went to antennaweb.org for a look-see. Well, for some reason, they moved WPVI-DT into the "light green" antenna classification....from the blue classification---which means it should be EASIER for me to pick up the damn channel than it was a month ago (last time I checked that site).



You've got to take AW as a general guide. The calculations they use certainly do NOT take into account that big A** pine tree you got in your line of sight as well as the bazillion leaves that grew in since the winter. ;) TitanTV is another example of "relativitiy:. According to them, I should be getting a GOOD signal for WCAU with my setup. This couldn't be farther from the truth! So don't get too sensitive when things don't go the way those websites "tell" you it should be. What you got is what you got (I think it was Shakespear who said that first!). :D

I think it's time to send another e-mail to WCAU. I'm in a whining mood!

Originally posted by Calabs
You've got to take AW as a general guide. The calculations they use certainly do NOT take into account that big A** pine tree you got in your line of sight as well as the bazillion leaves that grew in since the winter. ;) TitanTV is another example of "relativitiy:. According to them, I should be getting a GOOD signal for WCAU with my setup. This couldn't be farther from the truth! So don't get too sensitive when things don't go the way those websites "tell" you it should be. What you got is what you got (I think it was Shakespear who said that first!). :D

I think it's time to send another e-mail to WCAU. I'm in a whining mood!

Nah, I'm starting to feel like this is all a conspiracy......where's Mulder and Scully when you need them :p

I know what you are saying....loud and clear....but when I pulled up AW.org and saw that they'd *moved* WPVI into the "light green" category, meaning I should pick it up CLEAR as a bell...well, I nearly put my fist through my monitor!!! But, that's just me....:D Coupled with the fact that I was able to pick up WPVI on my car radio a few weeks ago all the way out in Staten Island....I feel THEIR taunts.....and I don't like it ;)

I was able to pull in WPVI last night *somewhat*, and watched parts of Alien Resurrection....wasn't too enthused...and then I read Steve's comments over on the Programming forum and was glad to see it wasn't my Tv/Setup....but most likely PVI's transmission of the film.

Also noticed for some odd reason my E86 listed "26-1" for CBS last night...first time I've seen that. Also turned my antenna towards Long Island and got a faint signal on the WLIW-DT station ...but no lock/picture.

This AM I had a solid lock on WPHL-DT and WPVI-DT but I'm sure that'll be gone by this AM....and when I looked at my antenna outside I was facing a few dozen degrees southward from where I've BEEN facing all year so far to pick up the same stations! And, the compass headings on my CM9021A rotor are WAY off now (a known issue---discussed in several threads on the hardware board right after I installed the thing!)

I'm hoping to lop off a few more branches on that tree over the weekend...but pretty soon all that's going to be left is a trunk out front...and I may have some questions to answer when the Public Works Dept. folks FINALLY come to take the tree down....and it's gone :eek:

I RECEIVED WLIW-DT THIS MORNING WITH A STRONG SIGNAL UNTIL 8 AM . IM LOCATED BY ASBURY PARK NJ. IT WAS A STRONGER SIGNAL THAN I GET FROM PBS 43 OUT OF TRENTON.

Originally posted by nyrmanny
I RECEIVED WLIW-DT THIS MORNING WITH A STRONG SIGNAL UNTIL 8 AM . IM LOCATED BY ASBURY PARK NJ. IT WAS A STRONGER SIGNAL THAN I GET FROM PBS 43 OUT OF TRENTON.

I'm guessing you benefitted from the open waters allowing that signal to reach you huh? Are you able to pick up WPIX-DT where you are?

Originally posted by nyrmanny
I RECEIVED WLIW-DT THIS MORNING WITH A STRONG SIGNAL UNTIL 8 AM . IM LOCATED BY ASBURY PARK NJ. IT WAS A STRONGER SIGNAL THAN I GET FROM PBS 43 OUT OF TRENTON.

Quite nice...now let's see if you can hold a signal and get a usable signal during evening prime-time hours.

BTW....were you really excited about getting the WLIW signal or is your caps key stuck?:D

As of 6:30pm this evening.....very nice atmospheric conditions bringing in good signals for WPHL(29-1) @36%, WCAU (10-1) @20% w/breakups, WLVT (39-1/2/3/4) @36%.

The last station is Lehigh Valley PBS. 4 different broadcasts on the separate sub-channels.

May be due to thunderstorms in area.

Originally posted by SteveK2
As of 6:30pm this evening.....very nice atmospheric conditions bringing in good signals for WPHL(29-1) @36%, WCAU (10-1) @20% w/breakups, WLVT (39-1/2/3/4) @36%.

The last station is Lehigh Valley PBS. 4 different broadcasts on the separate sub-channels.

May be due to thunderstorms in area.

Thanks for the heads up:29-1/17-1 are both coming in rock solid (44-57 Strength and 64-1 is at 60 strength. 55-1/10-1 aren't alive though.

I'm interested in seeing how REba looks in HD on WPHL. Hopefully it lasts till 9:30 tonight.

Signal strength had really spiked up on my 'fringe' channels (10-1, 12-1, 29-1, 39-1/2/34). Maximum (short-term) was @7:00pm.....39-1/2/3/4 registering an unbelievable 69%. Dropped now to 36%, so this may be short-lived.

everything from Philly is coming in tonight except NBC. Even getting a lock on Fox. No luck on WLIW though.

Still getting NBC (10-1) at a signal strength of 69%.

Marty, why the concern with WLIW? It just PBS...can you get 12-1 (WHYY) and 52-1/2 (NJN)? They are all showing the same network feed.

Caps key was stuck before, sorry. anyway, I am getting WLIW-DT very strong tonight as well as some Philly Stations, CBS, FOX and UPN. I still can't get WPIX-DT at all. I can't wait until they use Channel 33 again. Looks like very good tropo tonight, I'm also getting NBC 30 out of Hartford, CT on analog only.

Jackson NJ Checking in!

Im getting everything possible from philly tonight
Law and order on NBC didnt look too bad at all. This is the first time ive ever locked down a signal from NBC and FOX!! (4 months of HD programming) Christ ive even got CBS out of NY!

17 HD Channels in all Thank You Canada ****** weather!!

PS if any one cares phase one of the home stereo system is done finally. I find myself still tweaking the system and pronto interface programming is a bitch...

Steve,

No real concern about getting WLIW. Just figured with good conditions I would give it a try. I didn't spend much time trying. Just moved the silver sensor around. Left the CM 4228 where it is. I don't want to screwup getting the hockey game tonight. I am gambling by inviting a few guys over. Crossing my fingers ABC does a better job.

Webboy,
Whats the problem with the Pronto? Lots of pre-programed stuff on Remotecentral. I just redid my Pronto. If you want I can send you my ccf if you want to take a look at it, for some ideas.

Got the same effect last night as everyone else. NBC was nice. Got to see L&A and a little Leno (God that background looks good!). ABC back up to 75%, along with FOX at 70%!! Highest every. All I can say is it better hang on until after the Devils game tonight. I've been waiting for months (since they announced that ABC will be carrying games 3-7 in HD).

GO DEVILS!!! It's almost like I don't want them to sweep so more games will be played in HD. Now how SICK is that? ;)

It's almost like I don't want them to sweep so more games will be played in HD. Now how SICK is that?

...very sick :( ...but very understandable:D ...and I feel the same way:eek: ...as long as they win it all!

Originally posted by MartyJ
Steve,

No real concern about getting WLIW. Just figured with good conditions I would give it a try. I didn't spend much time trying. Just moved the silver sensor around. Left the CM 4228 where it is. I don't want to screwup getting the hockey game tonight. I am gambling by inviting a few guys over. Crossing my fingers ABC does a better job.

Webboy,
Whats the problem with the Pronto? Lots of pre-programed stuff on Remotecentral. I just redid my Pronto. If you want I can send you my ccf if you want to take a look at it, for some ideas.

Lost fox this morning (no biggie seeing as no NASCAR in HD anyway) NBC is still strong though.

As for pronto programming its the tiny interface that you have to work with when creating graphics (240x218). All of the equipment is in the pronto (Denon 3803, E86, Panny Plasma, Audiotron, Tivo, JVC DVD Changer) I am having some trouble getting Zone 2 functionality into the pronto for the Denon and i cant seem to get the Fan (casablanca) to respond even though the Pronto Pro has learned it???

Freehold checking in last night and this morning have been pretty good so far. Last night I picked up WPVI-DT around 54%, KYW-DT 75%, WPSG-DT 60% (looks like they are still having PSIP problems), Telefutura/Univision 62%, WTXF-DT 55%, and all of the NY digitals except WPIX-dt & WLIW-DT.

This morning I was able to pick up all of the above except of couse WPVI-DT the signal strength is hovering around 28% with frequent dropouts.

Originally posted by wward
Freehold checking in last night and this morning have been pretty good so far. Last night I picked up WPVI-DT around 54%, KYW-DT 75%, WPSG-DT 60% (looks like they are still having PSIP problems), Telefutura/Univision 62%, WTXF-DT 55%, and all of the NY digitals except WPIX-dt & WLIW-DT.

This morning I was able to pick up all of the above except of couse WPVI-DT the signal strength is hovering around 28% with frequent dropouts.

I too have lost WPVI....hopefully for now ,as the Stanley Cup's on tonight----and I want to see if ABC has done anything noteworthy to make HD look good live ;)

I had WPHL this AM---but it's gone. But WTXF-DT is at a 78 clip for me...usually unheard of except for a few times on winter tropo and last week. No WCAU either. WPSG always seems to be 100% for me.

Yeah.
:D

Originally posted by Calabs
Got the same effect last night as everyone else. NBC was nice. Got to see L&A and a little Leno (God that background looks good!). ABC back up to 75%, along with FOX at 70%!! Highest every. All I can say is it better hang on until after the Devils game tonight. I've been waiting for months (since they announced that ABC will be carrying games 3-7 in HD).

GO DEVILS!!! It's almost like I don't want them to sweep so more games will be played in HD. Now how SICK is that? ;)

Ahh, you East Brunswick people---always gloating :p

I had WPHL this AM--but it's weakened now. WCAU never popped up. WTXF is still strong. Unfortunately WPVI has decreased to dropout heaven.

And, this damn rain....today was garage sale day on my block. And mother nature pi$$ed all over it.

Talk about not being able to catch a break....:eek:

jaypb

I got WPVI-DT back I had to do a little adjustment on the antenna and I got a good lock. The signal strength is around 42-48% it bounces back and forth from time to time but otherwise great signal.

I dont have anything on WTXF-DT, WOHL-DT and WCAU-DT no lock no nothing.

Originally posted by wward
jaypb

I got WPVI-DT back I had to do a little adjustment on the antenna and I got a good lock. The signal strength is around 42-48% it bounces back and forth from time to time but otherwise great signal.

I dont have anything on WTXF-DT, WOHL-DT and WCAU-DT no lock no nothing.

It is LITERALLY eating at me that I can't pick up WPVI-DT effectively/consistently any more. And it's even MORE difficult to attempt any problem solving outside with this damn weather!

Once I cut down the top portion of the monstrosity of the Maple out front my antenna I'll have a better idea of what I need to do....until then, I rely on the whims of the wind/tropo/signal propagation to watch ABC from Philly.

Oh, what a feeling.....:mad:

jaypb

Yeah that's got to suck I guess that is the one good thing about having an indoor antenna I dont have to worry about experimenting in the rain. Just take a chain saw to that tree and will solve your problems. :)

Well back I go to see what else I can pick up there really isnt to much on that I want to watch so I am going to swing the antennas toword New York and see whats brewing that way. Hope WPVI comes in for you later tonight.

While experimenting around I locked onto channels 54-2 and 61-1 looks like it is just PSIP info no picture or sound I have no idea where these stations are located.

Originally posted by wward
While experimenting around I locked onto channels 54-2 and 61-1 looks like it is just PSIP info no picture or sound I have no idea where these stations are located.

For some reason my E86 started re-mapping 17-1 to 54-1....and I believe 61-1 is WNET (PBS 13) out of Newark/NYC.

I was able to see some pixelized shots of the Devils game last night on WPVI. My signal strength wouldn't go above 30...and kept bouncing down to 27. So no friggin game 3 for me.

Rain sucks. This weather sucks. If I hear ONE WORD about the possibility of a drought this season I'm going to ask for a vote to impeach McGreevey :p

And I can't WAIT to see how many frickin' mosquitoes are around when the sun finally starts coming out.....and the outdoors are more of an option on the weekends :mad:

jaypb,
sorry to hear that you could not enjoy the hockey game last night in HD. there were some flaws in the broadcast, but overall it was enjoyable (except for the final score).

i was checking my signal strength throughout the broadcast....mostly steady @69%...the only time it slipped down to 63% was at the exact moment of a lightening flash. otherwise, never a blip up or down.

its gotta just be luck (or lack thereof) of one's location to determine whether reception of these fringe stations are good or not. my current antenna location in the attic is about 30' from my original location and it has made all the difference to getting a strong, consistent lock on 6-1, 32-1 and 17-1.

of course, i will be happier (as most of us in this area will be) once more of the nyc digitals come back on-line.

jaypb

Thanks for the info I forgot about WNET-DT I have never been able to pick it up anyway. It looks like all of my difigtals have decreased sharply in signal strength since all of this rain has started it has been coming down in sheets since last night even WCBS-DT which is one of my strongets is down around 40% but steady.

As for that ABC station in phily whose name escapes me :) it is dead for me.

All of my HD OTA stations came in VERY pixelated last night.

Very frustrating, almost as much as the final score !

Originally posted by gjohnsen2002
All of my HD OTA stations came in VERY pixelated last night.

Very frustrating, almost as much as the final score !

I haven't watched SportsCenter yet today, haven't noticed the score and was TOO pissed off last night to stick around to see if WPVI-DT stayed locked. Only thing locked with regards to WPVI-DT last night was my furrowed brow as I glared angrily at my Toshiba :p

Today---4:45 pm---no WPVI---I wanted to see EverAfter tonight on WPVI in HD.

Only if the good lord interviews will that happen :D

Why is FOX and NBC out of Philly so bad compared to CBS/ABC? Are there significant "power" differences in the broadcast signal when it leaves the antenna?
Novice OTA HD Signal Grabber,
Warren

The reason is antenna placement and power output. I know this thread is long but everything you might want to know is in it.

Ok. Another NHL game on WPVI tonight. Of course, last night, I was able to watch PVI-DT dropout free from 9:30 or so on. I'm sure that it will be down tonight.

Isn't that how things ALWAYS work with this crap? :D

jaypb

Just checked the tropo forecast it looks fairly decent for today/tonight maybe WPVI-DT will come in time for the game tonight fingers are crossed.

WPVI came in strong this morning before I left for work. Jaypb, we may luck out tonight !

Originally posted by gjohnsen2002
WPVI came in strong this morning before I left for work. Jaypb, we may luck out tonight !

Yes, as per the normal course of business, WPVI-DT was up around 76 or so for me this AM. WTXF-DT came in as well. I'm banking on them both being gone by the time I/We get home tonight. I think you were the one who made the comment a few weeks ago that when "Jim Belushi is on WPVI-DT comes in"....but when something you REALLY want to watch is on...it doesn't come in :D

I felt that way last night as I watched (briefly) THE PRACTICE and ALIAS. Go figure!

The CBS showing of "A Time To Kill" looked GREAT. CBS "gets it" when it comes to HD don't they?

Was it me, or were some of the shots blurry. It seems that the camera men didn't have a clue and were trying to focus in and out. The shot from atop the stadium (nose-bleed seats) were just plain lousy. Mostly OK though. I seem to remember the last Nets game had similar problems. What gives!?! :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Calabs
Was it me, or were some of the shots blurry. It seems that the camera men didn't have a clue and were trying to focus in and out. The shot from atop the stadium (nose-bleed seats) were just plain lousy. Mostly OK though. I seem to remember the last Nets game had similar problems. What gives!?! :rolleyes:

Have you checked out the HD programming threads on this forum? I know there were 2 or 3 threads over there concerning the coverage of the games....and even a letter from ABC Sports somewhere near the top commenting on "giving them a chance" as they tweak their telecasts.

Maybe (if you haven't already) check over there and see if it was a national problem vs a Philly problem? :confused:

Originally posted by jaypb
Have you checked out the HD programming threads on this forum? I know there were 2 or 3 threads over there concerning the coverage of the games....and even a letter from ABC Sports somewhere near the top commenting on "giving them a chance" as they tweak their telecasts.

Maybe (if you haven't already) check over there and see if it was a national problem vs a Philly problem? :confused:

After I sent this question out, I did check and found the comments that ABC made regarding the last NBA Nets game. Sounds like more of an ESPN issue than ABC. Last night's game had the same issues, but I'm not surprised by this. Let's see what MNF looks like, as it will be produced by ABC.

BTW, did anyone's feed disappear during the 2nd period intermission and not come back on until about 8 minutes into the 3rd period? It was very strange. 6-2 was OK, but nothing on 6-1, even though signal strength was up at ~65% constant. very puzzling! :confused:

Not sure how many of you are D* subs, but I believe there are more than a few on this thread....read this.... (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=266030) and it seems we'll be watching ESPN-HD SOMETIME in the future :D

BTW---was able to lock onto a (MOSTLY) watchable signal from WPVI-DT from about 9:30 pm on last night. Pretty nice visuals. Sorry for you Devils fans that they didn't win. I enjoyed the HD camera coverage---but *think* there MUST have been some SD cams employed?

Also, it's funny how when you are watching a Hockey game in HD you can SEE any/all finger prints (I've got 2 kids) and marks on your Screen! I must've noticed about 20 smudges from my sons tiny hands on my damn screen. I'll be cleaning those off before the next game :p

BTW, did anyone's feed disappear during the 2nd period intermission and not come back on until about 8 minutes into the 3rd period? It was very strange. 6-2 was OK, but nothing on 6-1, even though signal strength was up at ~65% constant. very puzzling!

Calabs,
Yes....I was out of town most of the day and evening, but did get back around 10:20. My son was watching the game on 6-2....so I asked why he was watching in SD instead of HD. He said that 6-1 was 'blank'. Checked back at that point and 6-1 was operating normally again.

...but what a lousy ending!

At least we'll be treated to some more HD hockey!

Originally posted by SteveK2

Yes....I was out of town most of the day and evening, but did get back around 10:20. My son was watching the game on 6-2....so I asked why he was watching in SD instead of HD. He said that 6-1 was 'blank'. Checked back at that point and 6-1 was operating normally again.

...but what a lousy ending!



Yes, the ending was very lousy - my wife who is also a big Devils fan was very disappointed as well (at least we didn't have to wait very long in the OT - she was also mad at me because I still own a Steve Thomas 32 Devils jersey - like its MY FAULT !

Overall, i only had to switch to the SD broadcast 2x last night. Once due to dropouts and the other when PVI stopped broadcasting (like SteveK2 statment).

I did find it blurry for about 2-3 seconds, after showing Instant Replay, but snapped back into focus. My only bugaboo was the ABC score ticket was more at the middle of my screen than the normal left hand corner. Other than that, it was really nice watching HD hockey.

BTW - i will pay cash money to anyone at the Meadowlands to tell Sam Ryan to SHUT UP. I'm watching hockey, dont care about people getting married on a Duck's bet, or interviewing Adam Oates barber who in the stands, or the 25 shot at Michael Eisner who owns Disney AND the Ducks AND ABC who broadcasts the game AND ESPN - Im really bitter:mad: :D

Originally posted by gjohnsen2002
Overall, i only had to switch to the SD broadcast 2x last night. Once due to dropouts and the other when PVI stopped broadcasting (like SteveK2 statment).

Did you notice less dropouts as the game wore on? I noticed at about 9:30 pm ish or so I had very few dropouts....but I guess I wasn't in front of the set when WPVI-DT's HD signal went black. EVERYTIME I flipped to the game I had either a pixelated picture or a solid lock.

Tomorrow night starts the NBA HD Telecasts on ABC. I'm hoping for a solid lock again.
:(

Originally posted by SteveK2
Calabs,
Yes....I was out of town most of the day and evening, but did get back around 10:20. My son was watching the game on 6-2....so I asked why he was watching in SD instead of HD. He said that 6-1 was 'blank'. Checked back at that point and 6-1 was operating normally again.

...but what a lousy ending!

At least we'll be treated to some more HD hockey!

SteveK2,
Another intersting thing about the loss of signal was when I was watching 6-2, the picture would pixelate every few minutes or so, where the HD feed on 6-1 was perfect the entire night. When I said in a previous e-mail that I didn't want the series to be Devils in 4 because I wanted to watch more HD hockey, I was only half serious. OK guys, that's enough. Let's win the next 2 and go home with the cup. Just put my deposit down for partial season for next year. GO DEVILS!

The problem with the graphics is that they are cropping the HD signal for the 4:3 SD one. So they need to put it towards the middle. I don't like it but will take HD anyway I can get it.

Im really bitter

...I'm not bitter.....just REALLY ANNOYED at this awful trend of putting know-nothing bimbos on these sports telecasts with b*llsh*t interviews/stories......come on....who gives a crap.

Watching some of these OTA broadcasts (FOX is NOTORIOUS for their line of bimbos) reminds me of watching pro wrestling (which I don't). Are they trying to cater to the T&A cravings of the guy viewers or to the females in the audience who don't care about the game, but want to see a 'human interest' story while watching the games with their guys??

Sorry about the OT rant!

Originally posted by SteveK2
...I'm not bitter.....just REALLY ANNOYED at this awful trend of putting know-nothing bimbos on these sports telecasts with b*llsh*t interviews/stories......come on....who gives a crap.

Watching some of these OTA broadcasts (FOX is NOTORIOUS for their line of bimbos) reminds me of watching pro wrestling (which I don't). Are they trying to cater to the T&A cravings of the guy viewers or to the females in the audience who don't care about the game, but want to see a 'human interest' story while watching the games with their guys??

Sorry about the OT rant!

You really outta' just say what's on your mind! :D ;)

I agree - It's bad enough we have to listen to the commentators with their flashy 20 yr. old pinstripe suits and loud ties.............See, it's contageous............now you've got ME going!

Figured I'd bump the thread. Interesting "phenomenon" last night---was able to watch Smallville in HD on WB out of PHilly last night. Pretty good picture. First time for me. In the frickin rain no less.

Damn amazing. WPVI came in clear and strong last night....in the rain as well....go figure. I'm sure it won't work tonight....with the Nets on :D

Also had WTXF_DT on as well...but there was nothing on ....is there ever REALLY anything on Fox -DT?? :p

Reminder...noticed on a PBS site I came across that tonight at 8 pm in HD on PBS is supposed to be some sort of "Dance" special...not sure WHY I'd want to watch it---but it is supposed to be in HD :cool:

Think it's on at 8pm.

And, by now I'm sure you've heard about ESPN HD and Discovery HD....sports and nature....in HD. What more can you ask for? :rolleyes:

Other than a stronger transmitter from 3 or 4 Philly stations and a GIANT HUMUNGOID tower in NYC right? ;)

I tried to follow the links to D* that had the news but couldn't find it. Can someone point me to the link again, or just summarize what's going on. I'm on the fence for making a decision to get either D* or digital cable, and the "push" is most likely going to be HD content (and the fact that it's cheaper). Ammunition.............I ask for ammunition! ;)

Ask and ye shall receive.... (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=266030)

Not sure exactly WHICH birds the new channels will be on, but I'm assuming it'll be the 110 one (that utilizes the Sat C kit---or just upgrade to a TRIPLE LNB DISH). I'm glad I took care of it back in February when I "jumped into the HD pool"....but I HONESTLY didn't think I'd be so DAMN fixated on getting OTA HD signals!!! :p

My wife turned to me last night and told me that she couldn't believe that I've become so damn addicted to gleaning a stupid signal out of the sky! :(

I think she's "hit the wall" with regards to my enamoration with HD. But, I'm sure when I hook up the LCD HD TV I plan on putting in the kitchen, she'll wise up !!:D

Originally posted by jaypb
Ask and ye shall receive.... (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=266030)

Not sure exactly WHICH birds the new channels will be on, but I'm assuming it'll be the 110 one (that utilizes the Sat C kit---or just upgrade to a TRIPLE LNB DISH). I'm glad I took care of it back in February when I "jumped into the HD pool"....but I HONESTLY didn't think I'd be so DAMN fixated on getting OTA HD signals!!! :p


Thanks jaybp - I've already seen this thread, but for the life of me can't get to the article that actually states they're coming soon. Hoped to get more info from the article. Do you have the D* page link?

Originally posted by Calabs
Thanks jaybp - I've already seen this thread, but for the life of me can't get to the article that actually states they're coming soon. Hoped to get more info from the article. Do you have the D* page link?

Sorry--try this link (http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030603/35747_1.html)

Here is another link:
http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CpTWDqbKbytu3ndC&FQ=c%25GMH%20&Nav=qr-re-redigest&StoryTitle=Company+Digest

Originally posted by jaypb
Sorry--try this link (http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030603/35747_1.html)

Thanks guys! Sounds good. I think I may have just fallen off the fence! Just curious - For you D* subsribers, I thought HDNet was offered to D* customers at no additional charge. With this package, do you now have to PAY for HDNet as part of the package, or, if you chose NOT to do the package, you cal still get just HDNet at no additional charge? :confused:

Originally posted by Calabs
Thanks guys! Sounds good. I think I may have just fallen off the fence! Just curious - For you D* subsribers, I thought HDNet was offered to D* customers at no additional charge. With this package, do you now have to PAY for HDNet as part of the package, or, if you chose NOT to do the package, you cal still get just HDNet at no additional charge? :confused:

HDNet was free I believe if you had a Total Choice....37.99 a month sub and you had a HD STB. Not sure if it was TC Select or whatever they call it. And yes, I believe with this package, the HDNet will now "not be free" and will move up to the 10.99 /mth package....in addition to this HDNet movies channel...which judging by what I read on the HD.Net site isn't too hot content wise right now....but I believe I read an thred in the recent past where they signed an agreement with either Sony or Paramount to air "better" movies in HD on that channel in the near future.

Either way it would be hypocritical of me to say I wouldnt' pay for this HD content/programming/signal. All along the ONLY reason I went with D* over Comcast (back in 2000) was because I was sick and tired of NOT being able to watch what I was willing to pay for (sports mainly)....and now with D* I'm able to do that. I'll have to "work out the budget" with the misses to figure out if we'll cut anything (either an additional outlet @4.99 a month) or a level of programming (Showtime probably). But....in the end I'm basically willing to PAY for what I WANT to watch! And, I didn't spend 2800 on a shiny new HDTV to watch SD content stretched out!!!

But, that's just me :p

Originally posted by jaypb

Also, it's funny how when you are watching a Hockey game in HD you can SEE any/all finger prints (I've got 2 kids) and marks on your Screen! I must've noticed about 20 smudges from my sons tiny hands on my damn screen. I'll be cleaning those off before the next game :p

LOL, I got a 3 yr old at home and EVERYTIME i get home there are little prints 1/2 way up the screen . He has to point out all the Thomas engines when his DVD is playing.

Originally posted by gjohnsen2002
LOL, I got a 3 yr old at home and EVERYTIME i get home there are little prints 1/2 way up the screen . He has to point out all the Thomas engines when his DVD is playing.

My 2 1/2 year old is the same way. Except he's not watching any DVD's on Daddy's TV!!! :D

My 2 kids are more enamored with the PBS HD loops with the oceans/countrysides and the HDNET landscape/train shows.

Makes them.....quiet down for a little while and stare at the TV and drool....which, as you know...IS A GOOD THING!!!:p

Originally posted by jaypb
My 2 1/2 year old is the same way. Except he's not watching any DVD's on Daddy's TV!!! :D

My 2 kids are more enamored with the PBS HD loops with the oceans/countrysides and the HDNET landscape/train shows.

Makes them.....quiet down for a little while and stare at the TV and drool....which, as you know...IS A GOOD THING!!!:p

Mounted mine on the wall to combat my 16 month old...

Originally posted by webboy10169
Mounted mine on the wall to combat my 16 month old...

Ahhh....Children and HD....what could be more perfect together?

:(

Thank goodness my kids are older so I don't have to worry about it anymore. Either way my screen rolls up when not in use :D

Got a new station tonight Channel 66 Univision. Won't be watching much as I don't speak Spanish.

Basketball game tonight is just slightly better then the last basketball debacle. Signal strength is very good tonight.

Originally posted by MartyJ
Got a new station tonight Channel 66 Univision. Won't be watching much as I don't speak Spanish.

Basketball game tonight is just slightly better then the last basketball debacle. Signal strength is very good tonight.

I was in pixelation purgatory last night on WPVI-DT. Only got to watch about 10 seconds of game action at a time before pixelation popped in with audio dropouts and plain jane black screens. PQ looked pretty good...but I did notice "shmears" during fast action scenes on the main camera angle (fighting for rebounds, driving down the lane). Never noticed that during the CBS coverage of the NCAA's.

AFA that spanish channel, there's a 66-1 and a 66-2.....and on my E86 I get a 65-1 and a 65-2....and it reverses what's on the 66's!!! :confused:

Damned rain! Hopefully tonight I can enjoy the beauty of some of the Devils game.

Did anyone watch the PBS presentation of that dance show in HD last night?

I did watch part of the Fosse show on WNET-HD (via Comcast) last night....but the audio was Dolby 2.0 and they forgot to add in the center channel so you got none of the vocals. (Analog Channel 13 was fine).

Did anyone else notice this? Was it a WNET-HD problem or a Comcast problem?

Alan

Did anyone watch the PBS presentation of that dance show in HD last night?

Yes....when it was evident that the Nets were going to lose, I switched on this program. PQ was excellent!



but the audio was Dolby 2.0 and they forgot to add in the center channel so you got none of the vocals. Did anyone else notice this? Was it a WNET-HD problem or a Comcast problem?

Yes, exactly the same problem....but I was watching on WNJN Channel 52-2 out of Trenton. So the problem must have been in the PBS feed.

Was curious if anyone else suffered dearly last night from the wind/trees/multipath like I did? :eek:

Got home at about 8 and put on the Devils game last night. Couldn't watch more than 10 seconds of action without dropouts. Looked at the meter on my E86 and observed as the Strength (for those of you who are familiar with the E86/Mitsu/Toshiba HD STB) went anywhere from a high of 72 to 27 to 40 and up and down and in between!!! No matter WHERE I positioned the rotor. When I went outside I noticed it was VERY windy and the trees were whoosing in the wind.

Calabs----did you have issues last night? I know you mentioned a few weeks ago that you were having dropouts...wasn't sure if they "disappeared":confused:

And, to boot.....KYW/WPSG/NJN all pegged at 100 while this was going on with WPVI. So I'm pretty sure it's not my pre-amp/antenna/masting/general set up---but more to the point it's the signal itself....or me picking up the signal that's ruining everything. I'm to the point where I'm ready to just go buy 50 feet of masting, pop a bag of cement in the ground and mix and dig and go higher to see if I can avoid the treelines that I'm dealing with.:mad:

it's the signal itself

...I think you are just unlucky in that your antenna/rotor is not in a 'sweet spot' for WPVI. The reason I say this is that with my original attic antenna placement, WPVI was very shaky, hit-or-miss....just like what you describe. But when I moved the antenna to just inside the southwest wall of my attic, WPVI and 17-1 stabilized. Both get a strong signal/lock @69%....rarely do I see any change in the strength to anything other than 63%.....except on strong tropo days when the SS will increase somewhat.

UHF signal propogation is very finicky once you get out of direct line of sight....and I think that is the real issue. It may be that your specific location presented no problem while leaves were missing from trees, but since leaves arrived, the problems have become noticeable.

I wish I could offer you some solution.

I had a good lock on WPVI all night. A few pixil moments but never lost signal. Again the game was good, the picture was soft and some focus problems. The SD on subchannel 2 was hoorendous, worse then my Cablevision picture. Maybe they turned the bytes up on the HD. Just no reason to have an SD broadcast on a HD channle.