The FCC contour maps are very much not coverage maps. They are theoretical assuming mostly flat terrain and antennas at 30 feet.

- Trip

It seems like those maps aren't taking into the account the directional patterns as much as they should be.

The maps show that I should be well within range of WLNE and WSBE, yet I've never once decoded them here. WJAR was the same until they installed their new antenna on the top of the tower, now it's fine.
WJAr, WLNE, and WSBE are all on the same Rehoboth tower. I would try raising the antenna and carefully rotating it, and using an amplifier could help, too. I've also decoded several stations by tuning to their digital frequency first (for WLNE, its RF 49, and for WSBE its RF 21), rotating the antenna, and then their actual channel numbers of 6 and 36 respectively lock in permanently. Remember that WSBE operates at a much lower power than WLNE.

WJAr, WLNE, and WSBE are all on the same Rehoboth tower. I would try raising the antenna and carefully rotating it, and using an amplifier could help, too. I've also decoded several stations by tuning to their digital frequency first (for WLNE, its RF 49, and for WSBE its RF 21), rotating the antenna, and then their actual channel numbers of 6 and 36 respectively lock in permanently. Remember that WSBE operates at a much lower power than WLNE.

ALG, I've seen his setup and he knows RF reception as well as the frequencies used. The point he is making is the TVFool maps don't take in to account the patterns used. They also don't take into account another factor. While you are correct WJAR, WLNE, and WSBE are on the same tower, WLNE and WSBE are both side mounted versus WJAR's top mounted antenna. The tower is doing a very effective job of shadowing the WLNE and WSBE signals to the north-east. He's not the only one I've spoken to up in that area who can not receive WLNE or WSBE, yet receive WJAR (as well as my stations WPRI, and WNAC which are using a combined top mount non directional antenna on a nearby tower). From his location, which is north-east of Rehoboth, is a dead spot for WLNE and even more so for WSBE., without an extreme amount of antenna height. (I believe the Comcast receive site in Brockton has a 180 foot tower they use to receive the stations on. I don't know the exact height, but it's much higher than your standard Ham tower. Not something that can be put up in someone's backyard.)

WJAr, WLNE, and WSBE are all on the same Rehoboth tower. I would try raising the antenna and carefully rotating it, and using an amplifier could help, too. I've also decoded several stations by tuning to their digital frequency first (for WLNE, its RF 49, and for WSBE its RF 21), rotating the antenna, and then their actual channel numbers of 6 and 36 respectively lock in permanently. Remember that WSBE operates at a much lower power than WLNE.

It's no big deal, but it's just not possible to receive them where I am. I'm using a channel master 4228 with a rotor, and it's up about 35-40 feet. I'm probably just in a dead spot. Even during tropo enhancement, I'm able to pick up other stations in that direction, like WPXQ and WHPX, yet WLNE and WSBE will never go over 25% or so on the Zenith/Insignia signal meter.

Out at a relative's place along the coast in Marshfield, with a 4228HD on the roof, I'm able to pick them up just fine. WSBE is no more difficult to pick up than WLNE, it may actually be stronger.

ALG, I've seen his setup and he knows RF reception as well as the frequencies used. The point he is making is the TVFool maps don't take in to account the patterns used. They also don't take into account another factor. While you are correct WJAR, WLNE, and WSBE are on the same tower, WLNE and WSBE are both side mounted versus WJAR's top mounted antenna. The tower is doing a very effective job of shadowing the WLNE and WSBE signals to the north-east. He's not the only one I've spoken to up in that area who can not receive WLNE or WSBE, yet receive WJAR (as well as my stations WPRI, and WNAC which are using a combined top mount non directional antenna on a nearby tower). From his location, which is north-east of Rehoboth, is a dead spot for WLNE and even more so for WSBE., without an extreme amount of antenna height. (I believe the Comcast receive site in Brockton has a 180 foot tower they use to receive the stations on. I don't know the exact height, but it's much higher than your standard Ham tower. Not something that can be put up in someone's backyard.)
I never realized that his area is a dead spot for those signals. Excellent point, W1KNE, and I'm wondering if and what TV stations across our area and the country can do (or already do) to resolve this issue with dead spot areas in their coverage areas. You are the expert.

I never realized that his area is a dead spot for those signals. Excellent point, W1KNE, and I'm wondering if and what TV stations across our area and the country can do (or already do) to resolve this issue with dead spot areas in their coverage areas. You are the expert.

In the past, that was the purpose of translators. It's been over 4 years since I retired from WVEC channel 13 in Norfolk and help set up their DT system. I'm sure things are a lot different now. Mike (W1KNE) you might be able to answer if there are any DTV translators in this area.

Bill is correct, the BEST way to do that is through the use of translators.
The nearest translators that I can think of off the top of my head are out in Albany, NY, where two of the four VHF stations are putting in UHF translators in parts of the market that are really difficult to receive DTV. This would be akin to Boston putting translators out on Cape Cod or us putting them over on Block Island.

The problem is, if you want to call it a problem, I don't consider it much, is that where Jeff is located is in either Plymouth or Norfolk county. That isn't any of our DMA. So it would not make any sense for any of Providence stations to put a translator there to cover land that isn't part of our viewing area.

Unforuntaltey with 108MHz taken back by the FCC in February, the ability to have nice widely spaced non directional transmitters no longer exists so a lot of stations are all forced to use directional antennas and funky powers just to penetrate "the majority" of the market.

Another question about an HD Antenna....

What is the difference between "Line of Sight" and "Edge" when it comes to transmitter signals? The Boston channels come up as code green for my area (favoring indoor setup) and 95% of them have Line of Sight for a path.

1edge and 2edge is when you have hills, mountains or buildings blocking the signal from reaching your antenna. You need to put your antenna above the terrain so nothing is in the way.

Alright, thanks. That clears that up a LOT.

No, I got ahold of my friend's indoor antenna, which has a UHF antenna and a VHF antenna on it. I could not get the thing to work at all on the SDTV in my room after plugging it into the coaxial cable. It could not even haul in the Providence stations (and their transmitters are almost 3 miles down the road!) How long should it take for an antenna to scan for channels and all that crap?

sdm, seems like you should be getting at least one channel but with an indoor antenna you are sonicdoomed if there is metallic insulation in walls , or anything resembling that.
the time it takes for a channel scan varies widely for old vs new DTVs - for
some older/original ones it takes absurdly long - like an hour or 40 minutes, to scan both analog & digital. possibly you can watch the progress via some menu/GUI indicator.
try in different weather conditions. my antenna works/skips best on frigid nights, and it seems like we have some 10F nights upcoming... for example: WJAR-> manchvegas NH sea-level/valley attic antenna....

This antenna does not have a GUI, it seems. Just plug and let it scan.

Of course, I am plugging it straight into an SDTV which probably doesn't have an ASTC Tuner, could that be a problem?

I have yet to test it on our HDTV.....I'm gonna need my dad to let me get behind the mounted TV...

Also, when scanning, do I go by virtual channels or real channels? For example, if I picked up WCVB, would I go by 5.1 or 20?

This antenna does not have a GUI, it seems. Just plug and let it scan.

Of course, I am plugging it straight into an SDTV which probably doesn't have an ASTC Tuner, could that be a problem?

I have yet to test it on our HDTV.....I'm gonna need my dad to let me get behind the mounted TV...

Also, when scanning, do I go by virtual channels or real channels? For example, if I picked up WCVB, would I go by 5.1 or 20?

An antenna is an antenna is an antenna. It is a configured piece of metal for transmitting broadcast waves. Buying an "Digital / HDTV antenna" will not result in a signal if it is plugged into an analog tuner.
You need a digital tuner (internal or external) / converter box to pick up stations.

For channel numbers, a scan should automatically set the virtual channels via PSIP mapping. If you want want WCVB you punch 5.1 on the remote. Real channel numbers can be used on some tuners that have manual channel search (e.g. the Insignia / Zenith converter boxes). That's something that I do not like about our Sony HDTV --- no manual search function for the tuner to see signal levels on disparate channels... you only get what the scan reels in.

An antenna is an antenna is an antenna.


I'm thinking SDM is confusing his antenna with one of those converter boxes people use to get standard definition digital broadcasts to work with an older technology TV.
In that case, yes, you hook the antenna up to that box and let it scan for available channels.

What about the DTA box you get from Comcast? The two coaxial connectors say "To TV" and "Cable in"....

Well my friend is using an indoor antenna and he has spotty success with the Boston stations.....he's only picked up WBZ and WFXT and he lives in Fall River.....which makes me more confident about having success up in Attleboro....

sdm, the DTA box from Comcast is not for receiving DTV signals via antenna.

Please consider to provide the brand/model-# of your ATSC tuner, or the TV you are using which has built-in ATSC tuner? Seems like maybe you are lacking an ATSC tuner - that which is necessary for tuning DTV signals via antenna. (?)

SDM is trying to get his antenna to work with an older TV that only has an analog tuner.
He is doomed to utter failure with this approach.
Only way to make this work is to buy a digital to analog converter box from Radio Shack for $60 or so, now that the coupon program has expired...

And what is a DTA box anyhow?

Here is the model of the TV I intend on using it on. This was discussed with bicker1 on page 322. I don't know the size of our TV downstairs, so it is any of these three models:

KDLV26XBR1
KDLV32XBR1
KDLV40XBR1

The DTA box is the digital box thingy, it just seems to be the acronym here on these message boards.

DTA probably means Digital To Analog.

In the broadcasting world, we call it a DAC, or Digital to Analog Converter.

sdm, the DTA box from Comcast is not for receiving DTV signals via antenna.

DTA probably means Digital To Analog. In the broadcasting world, we call it a DAC, or Digital to Analog Converter.I think, based on sdm's earlier messages, that tveli's instinct was correct... that the box that sdm is referring to is the DTA -- digital terminal adapter -- provided by his cable service provider, and therefore won't be of any use receiving DTV signals via antenna.

a DTA is the new kind of converter-device needed for customers with analog TVs on cable systems which have moved all their NTSC extended-basic channels onto QAM.

sdm, looks like those sony TVs you listed all have ATSC tuner built-in , so you can plug a UHF antenna directly to any of them, and scan ought to yield at least one channel for you. Also make sure that any "antenna / cable" DTV menu item is set to ANTENNA.
You mention that your friends antenna has separate UHF & VHF.
If there are separate leads for each, then plug in the UHF ones and ignore VHF -
most/all the boston area DTV channels are on UHF not VHF.
also WJAR has to be on UHF since I can sometimes tune it from 70 miles away (my antenna is UHF-only).

The antenna is both VHF and UHF - it has a set of dipoles for the VHS and a ring for the UHF.

Does it say if the interface is graphical or anything when scanning, so it shows me which channels I'm picking up?

Sounds good re the antenna. Presumably/hopefully there is only one way to hook it up to the TV's antenna input.
I have an older sony DTV (34xbr2) and during a scan it does not show the channels #s as they are picked up - it only shows the incrementing count.
Then after scan is done you can look at the full list of what it found.

Here is the model of the TV I intend on using it on. This was discussed with bicker1 on page 322. I don't know the size of our TV downstairs, so it is any of these three models:

KDLV26XBR1
KDLV32XBR1
KDLV40XBR1


I checked the specs for the KDL-V32XBR1 and it does indeed have a digital tuner.
It says it has two RF inputs on the back; these should be screw-on terminals for coax cable. One might be labelled "antenna in" and the other "cable in".
So just connect your over-the-air antenna directly to the most likely RF input and go into the TV's menu and do a channel scan.
This is not a difficult task...

That TVFool chart screams of referring to WFXT-DT's construction permit 78kW (hanging antenna) versus their actual 780kW top mount antenna.
Got an email from Andy - TVfool database was change to use WFXT full service transmitter.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d772155d761f872

Estimated receive power did not go quite up as much as I expected, -92.3 dBm vs -97.2, based on empirical results relative to other Boston stations. But now it is not nearly as much of an outlier as before.

Thanks for pointing that out. Now if only I could find a few more dBm for WGBX :) May try to cut down some trees but for aesthetic reasons cannot cut down the two nearest the house (75 feet away). I’ve noticed loss of leaves did not seem to improved reception as much as last year.

May try to cut down some trees but for atheistic reasons cannot cut down the two nearest the house (75 feet away). I’ve noticed loss of leaves did not seem to improved reception as much as last year.

Atheistic reasons?
Wow, that's a new one; it's taking me a few minutes here to come to grips with that concept...

Now aesthetic reasons I kin comprehend immediately...

Now aesthetic reasons I kin comprehend immediately...
Be kind to the spelling challenged, actually I should say the grammatically challenged. I did after all spell it correctly :)

Alright, thanks. That clears that up a LOT.

No, I got ahold of my friend's indoor antenna, which has a UHF antenna and a VHF antenna on it. I could not get the thing to work at all on the SDTV in my room after plugging it into the coaxial cable. It could not even haul in the Providence stations (and their transmitters are almost 3 miles down the road!) How long should it take for an antenna to scan for channels and all that crap?

If you are only 3 miles from the rehoboth towers I suspect you are getting signal overload. Have you tried a small piece of wire or a paper clip?

I think we cleared up the problem that I was plugging the antenna into a TV with no digital tuner. And I brought the antenna at a bad time, because our living room is being redone and no one in the house can access the HDTV at the moment.

Over the last couple weeks, I've been watching the local newscasts on WBZ, WCVB and WHDH. Audio levels on WCVB and WHDH seem to be quite constant. The big problem is with WBZ....their audio levels are way too loud on many of the commercials.

While making my morning coffee and breakfast, I usually have the TV on and listen to the newscasts while eating. It frustrates me to no end to have a comfortable volume and then some commercial comes on that is 2 to 3 times louder that the rest of the programming. It is so bad, I've given up watching WBZ because of it!

I know the old FCC rulings dealt with sound deviation levels to regulate sound, but now with digital, it is a whole new animal.

Over the last couple weeks, I've been watching the local newscasts on WBZ, WCVB and WHDH. Audio levels on WCVB and WHDH seem to be quite constant. The big problem is with WBZ....their audio levels are way too loud on many of the commercials.

While making my morning coffee and breakfast, I usually have the TV on and listen to the newscasts while eating. It frustrates me to no end to have a comfortable volume and then some commercial comes on that is 2 to 3 times louder that the rest of the programming. It is so bad, I've given up watching WBZ because of it!

I know the old FCC rulings dealt with sound deviation levels to regulate sound, but now with digital, it is a whole new animal.

They actually acknowledged the commercial audio level this morning on 'BZ. They said that it was due to advertisers turning up the volume on their commercials, and that a law was in the works to ban commercials louder then the program that is on.

Last time I checked, the broadcaster is responsible for what goes out over their airwaves, not the advertisers. Simply saying, "don't blame us, the commercials are louder now" is not going to cut it.

Well, the reality is that most of the time the reality is that the commercials aren't actually louder -- they just seem that way to human ears. In a television program there are periods of quiet and periods of loudness, used to create drama and excitement. Television commercials are designed to just have the drama and excitement, because getting the viewers' attention is only way for advertisers get their money's worth for paying for the television program, so they are produced such that they resemble those periods of a television program in terms of their sound profile.

^^^
Good one!

Over the last couple weeks, I've been watching the local newscasts on WBZ, WCVB and WHDH. Audio levels on WCVB and WHDH seem to be quite constant. The big problem is with WBZ....their audio levels are way too loud on many of the commercials.

While making my morning coffee and breakfast, I usually have the TV on and listen to the newscasts while eating. It frustrates me to no end to have a comfortable volume and then some commercial comes on that is 2 to 3 times louder that the rest of the programming. It is so bad, I've given up watching WBZ because of it!

I know the old FCC rulings dealt with sound deviation levels to regulate sound, but now with digital, it is a whole new animal.
I'm a bit surprised by this, as we take care of the audio levels (SD and HD) to try to keep them even. We monitor it pretty closely, and after reading your post, I spent a bit of time listening to and watching our processing and monitoring equipment. I didn't hear or see a significant difference between the program and commercial levels.

As other people have pointed out, even when the average sound energy content is similar between the program and the commercial, the commercial can sound louder to the ear because of the way it was mixed, and in comparison with the audio it immediately follows (that hard-driving commercial right after the fading-out soap opera scene).

Indulge me a bit and let me know exactly what and how you are watching us. News (which you've mentioned), prime-time, daytime? SD or HD? OTA, cable, satellite (which provider)? There are many combinations and I want to make sure we've got them all covered.

For the record:
We are very interested in keeping the viewer happy, audio level-wise.
We do not intentionally boost the level of commercials to get the viewer's attention.
While the advertisers may mix their audio for maximum punch, they do not provide them to us with boosted levels, as we would just bring them down anyway.

I'm a bit surprised by this, as we take care of the audio levels (SD and HD) to try to keep them even. We monitor it pretty closely, and after reading your post, I spent a bit of time listening to and watching our processing and monitoring equipment. I didn't hear or see a significant difference between the program and commercial levels.

As other people have pointed out, even when the average sound energy content is similar between the program and the commercial, the commercial can sound louder to the ear because of the way it was mixed, and in comparison with the audio it immediately follows (that hard-driving commercial right after the fading-out soap opera scene).

Indulge me a bit and let me know exactly what and how you are watching us. News (which you've mentioned), prime-time, daytime? SD or HD? OTA, cable, satellite (which provider)? There are many combinations and I want to make sure we've got them all covered.

For the record:
We are very interested in keeping the viewer happy, audio level-wise.
We do not intentionally boost the level of commercials to get the viewer's attention.
While the advertisers may mix their audio for maximum punch, they do not provide them to us with boosted levels, as we would just bring them down anyway.

Hi Bob.....well I usually notice it in the mornings during the 5 to 7 AM news program. There might be 2 or 3 commercials at a normal level, then all of a sudden, one pops in way above the level of the other spots as well as the audio level of the newscast itself. When it finishes, everything returns to normal till another loud spot comes in.

I rarely notice it during the noon news or evening. The last day or two, I haven't noticed anything in the way or loud commercials. Oh...and yes, I heard that reference this morning about the volume changes.

Hi Bob.....well I usually notice it in the mornings during the 5 to 7 AM news program. There might be 2 or 3 commercials at a normal level, then all of a sudden, one pops in way above the level of the other spots as well as the audio level of the newscast itself. When it finishes, everything returns to normal till another loud spot comes in.

I rarely notice it during the noon news or evening. The last day or two, I haven't noticed anything in the way or loud commercials. Oh...and yes, I heard that reference this morning about the volume changes.
Maybe I can impose on you (and anyone else reading this) just a bit more. If you notice an especially loud spot, let me know what it is (or just the time you hear it).

We maintain a 24/7 recording of everything we broadcast, and with just the time (+/- 5 minutes is fine) I can track down any rogue spots.

Thanks...

I don't remember the stations or the times, but a few times I've come across commercials that use surround sound, so you hear the commercial at full volume from all your speakers. I don't think a level meter would show anything unusual, but with a surround sound setup the commercial would be much louder. One more thing to look out for.

great point, pdicamillo.
with surround sound, the viewer can crank up center channel or left/right channels individuallly...

I know I asked this question a few pages ago, but I don't think I got the response I was looking for: For those of you who have been pulling in Boston stations OTA for the past several years, was it true that WCVB had its own weather radar broadcast live on virtual channel 5.2? Could you really tune to that channel and have the radar live on your TV sweeping around?

I have a Windows Media Player file of their radar stream on my PC, but I've read on Wikipedia that WCVB no longer broadcasts their radar live on 5.2.

yes, sonicdoommario , i used to enjoy watching channel 5.2 weather-radar...

Maybe I can impose on you (and anyone else reading this) just a bit more. If you notice an especially loud spot, let me know what it is (or just the time you hear it).

We maintain a 24/7 recording of everything we broadcast, and with just the time (+/- 5 minutes is fine) I can track down any rogue spots.

Thanks...

Hi Bob,

I kinda suspected that you folks might be recording the news programs as the last station I worked at before retiring did the same and archived the newscasts. I must admit, this morning things were pretty good level-wise. I was in my kitchen which is adjacent to the living room where my TV is located. There were only 2 instances where the higher levels occurred. The first was at 5:37am during a Comcast spot and the second was at 6:44am during an L.L. Bean spot.

I was able to rush into the living room and I think I know what might be going on on my end. I have a Dolby 5.1 setup and I noticed that most of the programing comes through the center speaker. The L.L. Bean spot was apparently in Dolby 5.1 and I noticed the sound all around me. That might be why I'm noticing the increase in volume as I was hearing from 5 channels as opposed to 1 channel.

I'll keep a close ear to it again tomorrow and let you know how things go.

5.2? Could you really tune to that channel and have the radar live on your TV sweeping around?
We have only been digital since middle of last year so cannot speak prior to that. It was nice having a local weather channel.

Surprised they terminated it, seems like pretty cheap programming.

http://www.titantv.com/ still lists 5.2 as weather.

Alright, thanks for the info.

I have another question regarding this stuff. My friend from Fall River is pulling in Boston HD channels OTA, but he said Judge Judy does not appear in HD for him. Are all of the syndicated TV shows grabbed OTA only in SD or something? So if I get WFXT OTA, does that mean I could not watch Seinfeld/The Simpsons HD?

Are all of the syndicated TV shows grabbed OTA only in SD or something?

I'm no expert but the bottom line is it all depends:

1) Was program created in HD
2) Does station want to broadcast that particular program in HD
3) Station may upconvert to HD even if program was created in SD. In that case even though program is transmitted in HD image/audio quality cannot be better then original content.

/tom

to answer your 2 questions:

1. No. But many shows are upconverted from 4:3/NTSC to 16:9/HD,
resulting in the gray/whatever bars on the side and, "hey that doesn't
LOOK like HD but my TV is telling me it is demodulating/decoding an HD datastream."

2. No.

Alright, thanks for the info.

I have another question regarding this stuff. My friend from Fall River is pulling in Boston HD channels OTA, but he said Judge Judy does not appear in HD for him. Are all of the syndicated TV shows grabbed OTA only in SD or something? So if I get WFXT OTA, does that mean I could not watch Seinfeld/The Simpsons HD?

I'm no expert but the bottom line is it all depends:

1) Was program created in HD
2) Does station want to [pay for the rights to] broadcast that particular program in HD
3) Station may upconvert to HD even if program was created in SD. In that case even though program is transmitted in HD image/audio quality cannot be better then original content.

/tomPretty much... I just made one might change to what you wrote ... see adjustment, in red, above.

Alright, thanks for the info.

I have another question regarding this stuff. My friend from Fall River is pulling in Boston HD channels OTA, but he said Judge Judy does not appear in HD for him. Are all of the syndicated TV shows grabbed OTA only in SD or something? So if I get WFXT OTA, does that mean I could not watch Seinfeld/The Simpsons HD?

Channels being recieved on my Antenna (WBZ,WFXT,WHDH,WSBK,WGBH + Subchannels, Ion + Subchannels)

And ya the Pats fox game came out mega sharp, Hopefully the same for WBZ on Sunday.

Here's What my antenna looks like http://registration.hauppauge.com/webstore/images/antenna_big.jpg

Originally Posted by Tschmidt

2) Does station want to [pay for the rights to] broadcast that particular program in HD

/tom

Pretty much... I just made one might change to what you wrote ... see adjustment, in red, above.
That is incorrect. The program providers do not charge any additional fee for HD programming. They simply notify us of the satellite coordinates needed to record the shows.

Short of any technical limitations we may have that would prevent it, we have no motivation not to broadcast a program in HD.

That is remarkable to read. You are a much more reliable source for information than the sources where I've read the opposite. Thanks for the correction.

Alright, thanks for the info.

I have another question regarding this stuff. My friend from Fall River is pulling in Boston HD channels OTA, but he said Judge Judy does not appear in HD for him. Are all of the syndicated TV shows grabbed OTA only in SD or something? So if I get WFXT OTA, does that mean I could not watch Seinfeld/The Simpsons HD?Not all syndicated programs are available in HD. None of the 'Judge' or courtroom programs are in HD. Here's the latest list that I have:

-Jeopardy
-Two And A Half Men
-Wheel of Fortune
-Everybody Loves Raymond
-Seinfeld
-Ellen DeGeneres Show
-Oprah
-Dr. Phil
-Entertainment Tonight
-The Insider
-CSI: NY
-CSI: Miami
-Lost
-Tyler Perry's House of Payne
-Desperate Housewives
-Stargate Atlantis
-Legend of the Seeker
-Boston Legal
-Live With Regis and Kelly
-Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed
-The King Of Queens
-Storm Stories
- Dr. Oz
- Frasier

At that point, a local station must have the ability to acquire and playback the program in HD, which not all local stations have at this time.

Here's What my antenna looks like

I would think a metal COAT HANGER would be better than that simple aerial...

Not all syndicated programs are available in HD. None of the 'Judge' or courtroom programs are in HD. Here's the latest list that I have:

-Jeopardy
-Two And A Half Men
-Wheel of Fortune
-Everybody Loves Raymond
-Seinfeld
-Ellen DeGeneres Show
-Oprah
-Dr. Phil
-Entertainment Tonight
-The Insider
-CSI: NY
-CSI: Miami
-Lost
-Tyler Perry's House of Payne
-Desperate Housewives
-Stargate Atlantis
-Legend of the Seeker
-Boston Legal
-Live With Regis and Kelly
-Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed
-The King Of Queens
-Storm Stories
- Dr. Oz
- Frasier

At that point, a local station must have the ability to acquire and playback the program in HD, which not all local stations have at this time.

Aw, no Simpsons?

I would think a metal COAT HANGER would be better than that simple aerial...

Your right with that answer,

For my TV it's a pain (which i might buy a Indoor Antenna in the near future) but on my laptop so far no problems with the stick antenna.

I had that antenna with my laptop, but then I upgraded to the Terk HDTVa ($35 on Amazon), and my number of channels more than tripled. I couldn't even get WPRI or WNAC (which are 12 miles from here) on that one. My stations were basically WBZ, WJAR, WLNE, WSBE, WLWC, and WCVB (spotty).

Aw, no Simpsons?

He said SYNDICATED.
Simpsons are network broadcast on Fox and come in HD just fine.
Cartoons are very easy to broadcast in HD, I'd guess...

He said SYNDICATED.
Simpsons are network broadcast on Fox and come in HD just fine.
Cartoons are very easy to broadcast in HD, I'd guess...

The Simpsons are in Syndication as well.

Watch WFXT some night at 7:30.
That isn't FOX airing them.

Yeah, that's the Simpsons timeslot I was talking about. WNAC over here doesn't air any syndication of the Simpsons at all and WFXT does. The network Simpsons is what, 8:30 on Sundays?

I think it might be too soon for the HD Simpsons episodes to have made it to syndication. The first HD Simspons episode was broadcast in first-run only this past February.

The WCVB weather channel has been dead for a while. We also had Weather PLUS on WHDH 7.2 but they replaced it with a simulcast of 7.1 for a while and then they put THIS BOSTON on it.

Alright, so I finally got the antenna plugged into the TV.

Should the TV/antenna automatically scan for the channels or do I manually have to do it?

And my TV remote has an ANT and a TV/Video button. Would it matter between which one I'd hit to get the channels from the antenna?

Should the TV/antenna automatically scan for the channels or do I manually have to do it?It depends on the television, but generally you need to initiate the channel scan manually.

And my TV remote has an ANT and a TV/Video button. Would it matter between which one I'd hit to get the channels from the antenna?ANT.

Alrighty, well our TV/cable is being a bit stubborn since our cable currently isn't giving us any picture (but we are getting audio at the moment).

How would I initiate a channel scan? I could easily do it on my other TV but I have no experience on dealing with this one.

Alrighty, well our TV/cable is being a bit stubborn since our cable currently isn't giving us any picture (but we are getting audio at the moment).

How would I initiate a channel scan? I could easily do it on my other TV but I have no experience on dealing with this one.
Not knowing the brand or model makes it a bit difficult to give you anything other than the following options:

1) Using the remote go through the menus and look for something that says "scan channels" or similar.

2) Read the manual - something like this ought to be explained there.

3) Find a support thread for your brand and model of TV.

My remote model is RM-YD002, but there is no menu button on it. I see WEGA GATE and maybe visual search, but that's about it...

EDIT: I never knew the bottom of this stupid remote could slide out, revealing, hey, the menu button!

Now who hides a menu button like that...

And let the scanning begin.

Right now, I've gotten WLNE, WJAR, WPRI, and WNAC outta Providence, which I don't really care about.

I've had two sweet spots where I've picked up WBZ and WFXT, but both of the signals crapped out on me, and now it's a trial and error.

On top of the TV only picked up Providence, next to the window picked up WFXT and WBZ, and now I need to find a spot where the signals don't die.

EDIT: Update.....WFXT works for me in like one exact spot, and I can't find any consistency with WBZ...

Alrighty, well our TV/cable is being a bit stubborn since our cable currently isn't giving us any picture (but we are getting audio at the moment).

How would I initiate a channel scan? I could easily do it on my other TV but I have no experience on dealing with this one.

Let me guess...you don't actually have a degree in engineering, am I right?

Nah, this is just my first time going through this, and I just wanted to make sure I was doing it right, so yeah, I am coming off dumbfounded.

Anyhow, it does end up finding a few Boston channels, but the signals are dead on arrival, if that even makes sense.

put your address in here and post it back

www.tvfool.com

And let the scanning begin.

Right now, I've gotten WLNE, WJAR, WPRI, and WNAC outta Providence, which I don't really care about.


This has Peaked my interest. You live in Attleboro, well entrenched in the Providence DMA, closer to Providence than Boston and the Providence stations carry more Attleboro news than Boston. Why the non interest in our stations and the interest in Boston's?

It's just a curiosity.

--Mike

I'm more interested in broader in-state news, rather than having to listen about Rhode Island constantly. I mean, what the MA government does affects me, no matter how much closer I may live to RI's state house. RI could hide their sales tax to 20% and it wouldn't sucker one penny out of MA residents. And I can't stand the quality of the Providence newscasts compared to Boston's. All of the Boston stations pretty much went HD while everything is still boxed on each Providence channel. Even though we're outside of Boston's DMA, they still consider Bristol County a part of theirs. I mean, they're not going to get every story in Bristol County because of their larger coverage area, but they do a sufficient job in news/weather/sports coverage around here. I wonder who's idea it was in the FCC office to place us in their DMA way back then.

I just have pet peeves with each network station in Providence. WPRI has the most annoying news promos you could imagine, with Tony Petraca telling us how Live Pinpoint Doppler 12 can cure cancer and find the exact coordinates of the puppies in the burning house. WJAR's staff just irritates the living crap out of me. Frank Coletta seems more interested in gloating his coffee mug than he does doing his job, and Kelly Bates' style of forecasting just doesn't bear well with me. When John Gihorse was around, I just couldn't put up with his monotone voice. WLNE, when you even try to compare them to their ABC counterpart in Boston, WCVB, is just laughable. They just seem very dry for a newscast.

And then you have WNAC, the most stubborn news station around. They need to black out WFXT to draw ratings. If MA viewers want to watch the MA-based WFXT, let them do so. If and when I get a clear OTA signal of WFXT I am not giving my TV rating to these clowns again in my house, unless they broadcast a different NFL game than WFXT does, which happens from time to time. They are also the reason FIOS isn't carrying WFXT, whether in SD or HD. It should be up to the viewer if they want to watch WNAC, and it shouldn't be WNAC forcing us to watch their channel, which constantly freezes up during primetime programming anyway.

And it's not like Boston is a few hundred miles away from us. It's just a simple (ok, maybe the traffic on 93/128 isn't so simple) highway ride up 95.

Also, I just hate Rhode Island in general.

put your address in here and post it back

www.tvfool.com

I've done this quite a few times. I am 30 miles away from the transmitters in Needham and are in a line of sight for just about everything. All of the Boston stations show up as code green (which is indoor-setup sufficient), so maybe it's the quality of my antenna.

I'm more interested in broader in-state news, rather than having to listen about Rhode Island constantly.

Also, I just hate Rhode Island in general.



This SDM guy is no dummy, this is becoming abundantly clear...

SDM, if youpoint a outdoor or attic yagi at needham then the ATSC stylings of boston stations will be wall-to-wall, maybe without any need for preamplifer.
it's possible to do setup & point a YAGI on a couple of chairs next to the TV if the room is large enough. just for test purposes of course. :|

After successful test with chair-propped yagi, if any station is weak when you use a longer-run RG6, adding a UHF preamp should cure it.

RG6 cables mandatory everywhere.
Defenestrate all RG58/59 cables immediately.

SDM you can admit to us now that you are actually the tech-savvy better-looking brother to that red-sox fan-guy "fitzy" with the youtube/etc/website & NESN-tvshow?

Sorry, I'm just TV-technology illiterate. I mean, I'm not like this at all with computers or anything, but I just wanna get my Boston HD channels back in the simplest way possible. And I do seem close enough for an indoor setup according to tvfool.com, so I want to hopefully make that the preferred way, rather than making an antenna project on the roof....

So, an amplified and not a passive antenna is the way to go?

So, an amplified and not a passive antenna is the way to go?

He didn't say that. But I'm puzzled about tveli's yagi recommendation. Yagis are mainly for VHF reception and everything coming out of Needham is UHF.
So you want a UHF antenna; try a DB4 perhaps, that's what I use. Put it up on top of yer roof, the higher the better...

Has anyone noticed a degraded signal strength for WBZ channel 4? The signal has gone from about 70 on average to 15 to 20 and often not received during tha last 10 days or so. I am in Worcester and have received a steady 33 stations including 2, 5 7 10 12 56 etc. None of the others have shown a noticeable decline so it does not appear to be related to my antenna setup.
Thanks

I'm in Worcester also. WBZ is coming in at 9-10 out of 10 on my set. Checked the other channels and 2, 5, and 7 are all 7-8 out of 10. So for me, WBZ is the strongest of the stations I checked. (Sunday at 5:30 PM)

I have a old, all-channel Radio Shack antenna up in my attic, no rotor, no preamp, with 75 feet of RG-59 coax to the set. Not exactly the best conditions, but it works just fine for me.

Has anyone noticed a degraded signal strength for WBZ channel 4? The signal has gone from about 70 on average to 15 to 20 and often not received during tha last 10 days or so. I am in Worcester and have received a steady 33 stations including 2, 5 7 10 12 56 etc. None of the others have shown a noticeable decline so it does not appear to be related to my antenna setup.
Thanks
We have had no change in our transmitter's operation recently. Our output power has remained at 100% for quite a while.

Sometimes local conditions can influence reception, for example, by a bounce off an object, which can cause destructive interference. This can affect just one or a few stations, as the effects are frequency-dependent. How's your reception of WFXT, which transmits on channel 31, adjacent to our digital transmissions on channel 30?

Has anyone noticed a degraded signal strength for WBZ channel 4?
Have not been paying attention to Channel 4 but our experience has been the opposite, here in Southern NH. Stations that had been marginal: 38, 44, 56, 68 have been very strong the last few days.

No issues here to the south with 4.

Has anyone noticed a degraded signal strength for WBZ channel 4? The signal has gone from about 70 on average to 15 to 20 and often not received during tha last 10 days or so. I am in Worcester and have received a steady 33 stations including 2, 5 7 10 12 56 etc. None of the others have shown a noticeable decline so it does not appear to be related to my antenna setup.
Thanks

What has not been mentioned is electrical interference, specially oil furnace igniters. When the cold weather set in one of my stations dropped out and only repositioning the antenna brought it back. I could see the noise on anaolg setting and used that to minimize the problem.

Regarding the yagi recommendation. I use a UHF-only YAGI... Channelmaster 4248.
And adding a UHF preamp increased the # of reliable-channels substantially. At least 50 miles from the xmitters.

also now with the cold weather and most leaves down, WHDH/42 is receivable as expected...

I've not noticed any degradation of the signals from Boston; in fact, we were able to get them all during the storm. I was able to lock on to WMEA briefly last night but trees swaying in the wind caused periodic drop out. I have and XG-91 and YA-1713 that I'm waiting to put up, but I'm getting Boston stations ok with an old CM-357X.

It's interesting you mention electrical interference from your oil furnace. When mine shuts off I get a momentary drop out in the audio but no perceptible video effects. I don't notice anything when it turns on.

It's interesting you mention electrical interference from your oil furnace. When mine shuts off I get a momentary drop out in the audio but no perceptible video effects. I don't notice anything when it turns on.

That is what happened to my 7.1 when they went completely UHF. Being VHF 12.1 and 64.1 completely blacked out during ignition but I didn't care because the UHF versions were ok.

Moving my UHF yagi to the other end of the house and repointing brought 7.1 back. It was my neighbors furnace.

What has not been mentioned is electrical interference, specially oil furnace igniters. When the cold weather set in one of my stations dropped out and only repositioning the antenna brought it back. I could see the noise on analog setting and used that to minimize the problem.

Yup, and you may need your electrodes serviced. Typically interference is worst when they are adjusted improperly or possibly worn causing the arc to find another path to ground other than the paired electrode. I speak from experience! I had some "preventative" service done before the winter season several years ago and the twit service guy (who incidentally told me I needed my entire oil line replaced because he couldn't even prime it properly!) installed new electrodes totally wrong. It was easy to figure out it was the furnace, every time it went on I lost all my HD channels! This must be somewhat common since when I called them back to have them send someone out (and not the same guy either!) they knew right away what the problem was and the new guy had it fixed in about 10 minutes.

Yup, and you may need your electrodes serviced. Typically interference is worst when they are adjusted improperly or possibly worn causing the arc to find another path to ground other than the paired electrode. I speak from experience! I had some "preventative" service done before the winter season several years ago and the twit service guy (who incidentally told me I needed my entire oil line replaced because he couldn't even prime it properly!) installed new electrodes totally wrong. It was easy to figure out it was the furnace, every time it went on I lost all my HD channels! This must be somewhat common since when I called them back to have them send someone out (and not the same guy either!) they knew right away what the problem was and the new guy had it fixed in about 10 minutes.

We're on to something here. Last night, as I was dozing off to sleep, I could hear the forced hot water circulator pump running but there was no noise from the pipes as they warmed up and expanded, which is a usual occurrence when the heat comes on. It took me a few minutes to realize this and when I went to the basement to investigate and looked at the boiler temperature, I realized that the unit wasn't firing. I quick push of the reset button got it resolved, but I've got to call the service guy who did the tune-up back and get it fixed.

Hey folks,

Does anyone know why WGBH is not broadcasting in 5.1 audio? I believe I caught one program from them in 5.1 shortly after the analog sunset, but never since.

If the issue is bandwidth, they certainly could gain some by canceling WGBH-SD.

Thanks,
Winslow

I did a little more screwing around with my antenna today and my WBZ signal is a little more consistent....it still craps out occasionally but it's better than what I was getting before.

The funny thing is, my antenna is sitting on top of a nutcracker on my fireplace....LOL

If I get an HDTV for Christmas for my room upstairs maybe it'll come in better but who knows....if not I'll look for an upgrade....

Right now, I am getting these channels consistently:

WNAC
WLNE
WJAR
For some reason I cannot get WPRI even though I am 3 miles from their Rehoboth tower....

The only Boston picture I'm getting is WBZ but who knows how long I'll have that signal for....

My antenna detected WCVB, WFXT, and WLVI but haven't gotten a picture out of any of them....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1037779

He didn't say that. But I'm puzzled about tveli's yagi recommendation. Yagis are mainly for VHF reception and everything coming out of Needham is UHF.
So you want a UHF antenna; try a DB4 perhaps, that's what I use. Put it up on top of yer roof, the higher the better...

Yagis are used for ALL bands, you associate them with the large/VHF(with uhfcorner) roof antennas of yesteryear, but I can assure you that they are used PLENTY outside of the VHF band.
I have installed them for UHF on communication towers (commercial use).
They are a good gain antenna, Hams have been using stacked Yagis of all sizes for many years.

WSBK-DT's audio feed is staticy almost all the time now. This needs to be fixed ASAP. Bob? You out there?

Oil burner technician came yesterday and it turns out that the electrodes were slightly mis-adjusted. He corrected the adjustment, and the delayed ignition I sometimes experienced is now gone. In addition, I don't see the drop out in audio when the burners comes on or shuts off. He did indicate that the transformer will need to be changed as the spark is weaker than he would like, but that can wait.

http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/AP/story/1401463.html

hmmm

I know the numbers might not be there but this would really be some bad pr. The digital conversion was delayed and went ok but if they tried it again....

I'm sorry but people won't pay money to see local tv. More importantly if they did it would have to be a la cart. Why would someone need to honestly pay for everything? Yes there's the major network ones like 4,5,7 but how would this work? The networks haven't said how people without cable would be hooked up so who would pay the cable companies then?

And then there's the fact that cable wouldn't work with a OTA ATSC tuner as comcast has said that it will end analog cable in 2012...so that would mean everyone would have to have at least a QAM tuner...

what does everyone think?

I know the numbers might not be there but this would really be some bad pr. The digital conversion was delayed and went ok but if they tried it again....Well, I think you're mixing circumstance and response. The article is outlining some impending financial realities... The FCC cannot be held responsible for the fact that the value of viewers watching commercials is about to plummet: We're doing that (to) ourselves. As we viewers change the nature of the television business through our behaviors, the issue becomes what will industry and the government do in response?

I'm sorry but people won't pay money to see local tv.Well, I think we're at a pivot point: Either folks pay money for local television channels, or there is no viable business model for local television channels to continue offering the kind of (more expensive) programming that they're currently offering. Indeed, we've already seen a distinct reduction in what many people call "quality" television on over-the-air channels. Once advertisers all realize that they've been raped for years, paying more to cover the costs of our entertainment than our attention was worth, the incentive to provide what over-the-air channels have been providing will evaporate. Which would you prefer? (a) Local television channels filled (only) with news, information, local sports, reality and game shows, online shopping, and perhaps rebroadcasts of shows previously shown on cable networks; or (b) Local television channels containing a significant amount of scripted comedies and drama (but perhaps lower amount as compared to today).

More importantly if they did it would have to be a la cart.Actually, current laws explicitly prohibit a la carte as it pertains to local channels. However, I think you're missing an important aspect of hos the money to be charged for local channels (the retransmission fees) would be assessed. Figure that the law already requires that local channels, if they're provided at all, must be provided on the lowest tier (that's what I mean by prohibiting a la carte, above). The law also requires that that lowest tier be regulated to be offered at a "reasonable" rate. So effectively, the retransmission fees that we're talking about would not be (completely) reflected in the price of the tier containing (just) those local channels for which the fees are assessed. Rather, the most likely scenario is that those fees would be reflected in all package prices, and more specifically, the higher tiers could effectively subsidize the retransmission fees as it pertains to that lowest tier of service.

Even if the laws are changed, you can be sure that it won't be in the manner you suggest, but more likely in the completely-opposite manner, (again) effectively subsidizing the provision of local channels, because they provide essential news and information.

Why would someone need to honestly pay for everything? Yes there's the major network ones like 4,5,7 but how would this work? The networks haven't said how people without cable would be hooked up so who would pay the cable companies then?If you're receiving these channels over-the-air, then you'd be getting a freebie. That's the law. Indeed, I would expect that the value of offering local channels for broadcast via cable would vary based on how readily folks in a certain local area can set up their own antennas to receive those channels, themselves. That's natural.

I understand what you are saying to a degree but just considering a few things

1) I'd say anything that is public broadcasting (pbs mostly) should be given some reprieve as it's publically funded by the viewers and listeners. It's not like they put encryption on who gets their signal (although that would be funny)

2) If comcast gets the OK to buy out NBC that means that the a cable company owns a major network that is over the air and that means they own a larger number of cable channels overnight

Advertising in everything is going to be questioned in the near future. Even internet based advertising as resulted in clickfraud
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_fraud

Magazines and newspapers have seen declining circulation and this has resulted in less ads. Anything that is recorded can have the commercials skipped over.

I haven't to wonder if maybe some of this might simply just take a page from the old usdtv thing. Obviously if the cable companies and satellite ask for more from broadcast maybe the remaining networks might pool to recreate some of this (CBS, ABC..maybe fox..nbc can't if comcast buys them out)

Or another method might be if local munipalities created their own cable systems. Individually there's little chance with todays budget that it could happen but if on a regional level...or if you combine this with the above.

The other thing within the back of my mind is if the EBS systems become too contingent on the cable system. Maybe someone that knows more could chime in. I know that cable cannot block a EBS..however what if all of the cable is down? If there's no OTA up even for emergencies (digital or analog) then that's a bad thing.

I thought Comcast was buying out some NBC media branch.....not NBC as a whole....

I understand what you are saying to a degree but just considering a few things

1) I'd say anything that is public broadcasting (pbs mostly) should be given some reprieve as it's publically funded by the viewers and listeners. It's not like they put encryption on who gets their signal (although that would be funny)I think you meant the opposite of what you wrote, i.e., that PBS shouldn't be able to demand retransmission fees. I can see some logic in that, but I also see the other side of the coin: By allowing PBS to demand retransmission fees, that reduces the burden on public sources of funding (which would be considered a Good Thing), moving that portion of the burden onto folks who can afford higher tier cable and satellite services. It is therefore a low risk and high reward way of establishing a subsidy "of the poor by the rich" (conceptually). [Remember: The lowest tier is regulated to be a "reasonable" rate -- it will not fully reflect the added costs associated with retransmission fees. Most of that will be borne by "rich" folks paying for higher tiers of service.]

Now: If you meant that the way you wrote it, i.e., that PBS should be able to demand retransmission fees, I don't understand the point you're making at all.

2) If comcast gets the OK to buy out NBC that means that the a cable company owns a major network that is over the air and that means they own a larger number of cable channels overnightIt seemed to me that you cut yourself off without finishing your thought... what were you suggesting here?

It should be noted that this would not be the first time that a major cable company has been owned by the same company that has an over-the-air broadcast network, over-the-air broadcast stations, and cable channels. It should also be noted that Comcast already owns some cable channels.

Obviously if the cable companies and satellite ask for more from broadcast maybe the remaining networks might pool to recreate some of this (CBS, ABC..maybe fox..nbc can't if comcast buys them out)I'm sorry: Again, I don't know what you're trying to say here.

Or another method might be if local munipalities created their own cable systems. Individually there's little chance with todays budget that it could happen but if on a regional level...or if you combine this with the above.If I recall correctly, municipal cable companies are exempt from retransmission fees, so that is a viable approach, however, as you said, the money isn't there to build it. And it never would be. While we here on this forum might value television that much, given how the rates for the local over-the-air broadcast tier is already regulated to be "reasonable", there is no thing else, from a public interest standpoint, that needs to be accomplished. What you're aiming for is how to make higher tiers less expensive, and that's simply not of importance in the grand scheme of things. It's just entertainment. You can get entertainment from reading a book, visiting with friends, renting DVDs. Having cheap access to ESPN and Syfy is never going to be a major public priority.

The other thing within the back of my mind is if the EBS systems become too contingent on the cable system. Maybe someone that knows more could chime in. I know that cable cannot block a EBS..however what if all of the cable is down? If there's no OTA up even for emergencies (digital or analog) then that's a bad thing.Don't worry about there being "no OTA". That's a euphemism you see people bandying about, but that is in no way what is happening, or what could happen. Rather, when people say that what they mean is that much of what we associate with OTA (Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, etc.) may no longer be available via OTA. However, the things you're talking about here... EBS, as well as general news and information... there is no thought whatsoever of those things vanishing entirely from the public airwaves. They might be a bit more limited... perhaps down to two or three providers per area, just due to the fact that there isn't enough money to support more... and perhaps they'll all be subchannels on a single ATSC channel... all of that is possible, but there almost surely will be "free" OTA channels, providing EBS and other news and information. Don't worry about that.

I thought Comcast was buying out some NBC media branch.....not NBC as a whole....Comcast is buying a subsidiary company of General Electric, specifically, the NBC Universal company.

The acquisition includes NBC Television Network (the broadcast network), NBC Local Media Division (which includes ten local owned and operations television stations), Telemundo Network & Stations, KWHY, NBC Entertainment (the production entity), NBC News, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, Universal Pictures (film production), Focus Features ("independent" films), Universal Studios Home Entertainment (DVDs, etc.), Hulu.com (partial), iVillage (online community), NBC.com, CNBC.com, and Universal Parks and Resorts.

You mean to say that NBC isn't part of RCA anymore?

Don't worry about there being "no OTA". That's a euphemism you see people bandying about, but that is in no way what is happening, or what could happen.
If major networks pull out of OTA I think total loss of OTA is a very real possibility. If major networks withdraw all but diehards OTA customers will switch to Cable or Sat further diminishing already small (10-15%) percentage of households interested in OTA. That will make it financianlly impractical to remain a broadcaster even if RF bandwidth is available.

"I think you meant the opposite of what you wrote, i.e., that PBS shouldn't be able to demand retransmission fees."

Yes

"I can see some logic in that, but I also see the other side of the coin: By allowing PBS to demand retransmission fees, that reduces the burden on public sources of funding (which would be considered a Good Thing), moving that portion of the burden onto folks who can afford higher tier cable and satellite services. It is therefore a low risk and high reward way of establishing a subsidy "of the poor by the rich" (conceptually). [Remember: The lowest tier is regulated to be a "reasonable" rate -- it will not fully reflect the added costs associated with retransmission fees. Most of that will be borne by "rich" folks paying for higher tiers of service.]"

I understand what you mean. PBS actually has a fair amount of channels and content it is interesting as what used to be one or two is nearly half a dozen. It would be nice if competition of it drove some prices down. like the pbs kids vs say nickelodeon, world I find to be pretty good but like you said it's impossible to do a la cart with locals.

"I'm sorry: Again, I don't know what you're trying to say here."

What I meant is that the consolidation between over the air, cable and content producer becomes the same it can dictate more.

"It's just entertainment. You can get entertainment from reading a book, visiting with friends, renting DVDs. Having cheap access to ESPN and Syfy is never going to be a major public priority."

I know that but unfortunately I know some that seem that they can't go without tv. I'm not sure if this is legal but I know someone in an elderly complex and they have been told no satellite can be used...since its a complex that means less range for OTA so they have less of a choice when it comes to tv for the most part. In addition if they have little mobility then they might not be able to get dvd's and books might create eyestrain.

"Rather, when people say that what they mean is that much of what we associate with OTA (Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, etc.) may no longer be available via OTA. However, the things you're talking about here... EBS, as well as general news and information... there is no thought whatsoever of those things vanishing entirely from the public airwaves. They might be a bit more limited... perhaps down to two or three providers per area, just due to the fact that there isn't enough money to support more... and perhaps they'll all be subchannels on a single ATSC channel... all of that is possible, but there almost surely will be "free" OTA channels, providing EBS and other news and information. Don't worry about that."

I suppose if a company is large enough they could support taking a loss on locals. the odd thing about networks threatening things would be as to how far they'd go with it. If they blocked signal to cable companies there's still OTA. If they tried to open up their own cable company the startup costs probably wouldn't be worth it. Besides who would negotiate with towns as to just a few channels?

If major networks pull out of OTA I think total loss of OTA is a very real possibility. If major networks withdraw all but diehards OTA customers will switch to Cable or Sat further diminishing already small (10-15%) percentage of households interested in OTA. That will make it financianlly impractical to remain a broadcaster even if RF bandwidth is available.We'll have to agree to disagree about that. I believe that OTA can change its programming mix, staying within the parameters of what is required (news and information, educational programming) that are already in place, resulting in a (lower) cost structure that would be justified by the (lower) revenues, coming from (lower) viewership. They would be much more likely to rely on Must Carry to ensure carriage on cable and satellite -- so if Must Carry is discontinued, then I would agree with you that the whole system could collapse.

I'm not sure if this is legal but I know someone in an elderly complex and they have been told no satellite can be used...No, not legal. OTARD regulations specify very limited and specific contexts within which communities can limit satellite dishes. Generally, there is often a way.

since its a complex that means less range for OTAThe fact that it is a complex should have no impact on the ability to receive OTA, unless you're talking about high-rise towers.

I got WZMY to come in again without stuttering for once! :)

The only problem I see with must carry is some areas can receive two cities affiliates. I'm in mass any RI's come in as well.

So considering the size of the analog channels why should a cable company give two affiliates of abc, nbc, cbs, fox, pbs ?

I'm not knocking RI stations but programming on network stations is largely the same (outside of the news). I think the only real unique ones would be Chronicle on wcvb and Phantom Gourmet on 38.

The only RI one I knew of was Caught in Providence. Anyone know if it still is on the air?

The only problem I see with must carry is some areas can receive two cities affiliates.Each locality is firmly and definitively within one DMA, for the purposes of the Must Carry regulation.

I'm in mass any RI's come in as well.Bristol County MA is in the Providence DMA, while all other eastern counties in MA are in the Boston DMA.

So considering the size of the analog channels why should a cable company give two affiliates of abc, nbc, cbs, fox, pbs ?They are not required to, as indicated above. That's a never-ending source of consternation for some folks in Bristol County.

There is a provision that allows cable companies to carry neighboring DMA stations, if they wish to (and the neighboring DMA station is willing to be carried, of course), if the neighboring DMA station is in the same state as the cable system. However, again, that's not required, and given the bandwidth limitation, not a very efficient use of limited bandwidth when bandwidth is indeed comparatively limited.

However, again, that's not required, and given the bandwidth limitation, not a very efficient use of limited bandwidth when bandwidth is indeed comparatively limited.
Well yes and no. I agree about inefficiencies duplicating network feed but it also means possible loss of local content if Cableco deems the two stations are too similar. This is a problem in southern NH with overlap of ABC and PBS to Boston stations.

Those aren't mutually exclusive.

They are not required to, as indicated above. That's a never-ending source of consternation for some folks in Bristol County

All of the Boston stations (with the exception of WFXT) are on Bristol County's significantly viewed list, which I believe that means cable companies here are required (or allowed to carry them without any intervention) to carry those stations. It is also why the Providence affiliates do not have "exclusitivity rights" and cannot black out the Boston affiliates, with the exception of WFXT, as stated above. This is taken after a chat with somebody from a cable committee.

I point that out because, aside from WFXT and WGBH, all of the Boston channels must be on the cable system in some fashion.

I'm in plymouth county and we get both. We also get univision out of Worcester I think. I was also curious as to why RTI (portugese channel) also is given...

Getting back to OTA here's a question. Are low powered stations also included in the "must carry"?

All of the Boston stations (with the exception of WFXT) are on Bristol County's significantly viewed list, which I believe that means cable companies here are required (or allowed to carry them without any intervention) to carry those stations.Specifically, service providers are not required to carry those remote channels, but they are allowed to carry them, unless the channel demands Retransmission Consent, and the service provider refuses to pay.

It is also why the Providence affiliates do not have "exclusitivity rights" and cannot black out the Boston affiliates, with the exception of WFXT, as stated above. This is taken after a chat with somebody from a cable committee.Precisely right. That's the provision in a nutshell: The "true" local channels cannot insist on exclusive carriage by service providers -- they have to live with the fact that in those areas the service providers may, if both they wish to and the channel wishes them to, carry remote channels which are affiliates of the same network.

Are low powered stations also included in the "must carry"?The short answer is 'no'. It's a bit more complicated than that: First, if a service provider uses "enough" ("enough" defined by the regulation) of its available bandwidth for full-power OTA stations, then they don't have to carry any low-power stations. If they don't fill "enough" of its available bandwidth, then they are required to carry either one or two low-power stations (depending on how much bandwidth they have), but no more.

The FCC was considering expanding Must Carry to include low-power stations in 2007 and 2008, but decided against it.

Channel Name Digital Channel
WGBH-HD 2.1
WGBH-SD 2.2
WBZ-TV 4.1
WCVB-TV 5.1
WLNE-DT 6.1
WHDH-HD 7.1
This-TV 7.2
WJAR-DT 10.1
RTV 10.2
WPRI-HD 12.1
WFXT-DT 25.1
WUNI 27.1
WUNI-TV 27.2
WLWC-HD 28.1
WSBE-HD 36.1
WSBE-D2 36.2
WSBK-TV 38.1
WGBX-TV 44.1
World 44.2
Create 44.3
Kids 44.4
WLVI-DT 56.1
WNAC-HD 64.1
MyRI-TV 64.2
ION 68.1
qubo 68.2
IONLife 68.3
Worship 68.4

On this Antenna while positioned on my living room windowsill

http://registration.hauppauge.com/webstore/images/antenna_big.jpg

WSBK-DT's audio feed is staticy almost all the time now. This needs to be fixed ASAP. Bob? You out there?

This is still going on and it's quite annoying!

This is still going on and it's quite annoying!

I haven't noticed any static, and I am watching it now.

i occasionally watch wsbk-dt and have not noticed any audio-issues/static. i will look again and will report if i see any issues - maybe during a commercial for the pats game today...

Still no issues here....

my channels have been coming in stronger then usual the last few days

WGBH hasn't been mapping correctly for me as 2-1 and 2-2 since yesterday. It's mapping as 19-3 and 19-4. Anyone else experiencing similar problems?

WGBH hasn't been mapping correctly for me as 2-1 and 2-2 since yesterday. It's mapping as 19-3 and 19-4. Anyone else experiencing similar problems?
Hi Andrew,

Yes, I'm finding the exact same thing. I'm using a Samsung LN46A650. Are you also using a Samsung?

I was going to ask WGBH about it, but hesitated because three other (non-Samsung) DTV receivers in the house were mapping just fine, so I therefore suspected the TV set.

Best,
Winslow

Hey folks,

Does anyone know why WGBH is not broadcasting in 5.1 audio? I believe I caught one program from them in 5.1 shortly after the analog sunset, but never since.

If the issue is bandwidth, they certainly could gain some by canceling WGBH-SD.

Thanks,
Winslow
Hey folks,

If anyone is interested, I found an answer to this question from the horse's mouth:

"In response to your inquiry, we're told that WGBH plans to switch to 5.1 channel audio sometime in spring 2010. In the meantime, we thank you for your forbearance."

w.

Sorry, I forgot to mention in the above post:

1. I first noticed this mapping problem on Thursday evening 1/14.
2. I deleted all channels and rescanned at least twice, but no luck.
3. All other channels are fine.

WGBH hasn't been mapping correctly for me as 2-1 and 2-2 since yesterday. It's mapping as 19-3 and 19-4. Anyone else experiencing similar problems?

The PSIP data is missing so the channel mapping data is not there.
I know one of their engineers does occasionaly browse this board.

Edit:
I just did a scan and it came up fine for me. Ill check another TV set later.

Yes, it's happening on both of my Samsungs. It also picks up blank screens on 19-6 and 19-7, and I think there was some technical note on those somewhere earlier in this thread.

I just checked it on the following boxes

Digitalstrean converter box, Phillips, Hiense, Sansui dtv.

All are mapping correctly.

I just checked it on the following boxes

Digitalstrean converter box, Phillips, Hiense, Sansui dtv.

All are mapping correctly.

I have an HDTV tuner card in my PC, and I just checked the data for channel 2 and channel 44:Channel 2:
dtvstream -c 19 -q
Stream contains 4 program(s).
Program 3:
0x31 Video (MPEG-2) [PCR]
0x34 Audio (Dolby AC-3)
0x35 Audio (Dolby AC-3)
Program 4:
0x41 Video (MPEG-2) [PCR]
0x44 Audio (Dolby AC-3)
0x45 Audio (Dolby AC-3)
Program 6:
0x6a Unknown (0x0b) (no PES packets) [PCR]
Program 7:
0x7a Unknown (0x0b) (no PES packets) [PCR]

Channel 44:
dtvstream -c 43 -q
Stream contains 4 program(s).
Program 3: 44-2 World:
0x31 Video (MPEG-2) [PCR]
0x34 Audio (Dolby AC-3), language = eng
0x35 Audio (Dolby AC-3), language = eng
Program 4: 44-3 Create:
0x41 Video (MPEG-2) [PCR]
0x44 Audio (Dolby AC-3), language = eng
0x45 Audio (Dolby AC-3), language = eng
Program 5: 44-4 Kids:
0x51 Video (MPEG-2) [PCR]
0x54 Audio (Dolby AC-3), language = eng
0x55 Audio (Dolby AC-3), language = eng
Program 6: 44-1 WGBX-SD:
0x61 Video (MPEG-2) [PCR]
0x64 Audio (Dolby AC-3), language = eng
0x65 Audio (Dolby AC-3), language = eng

Channel 44 is how it is supposed to look, with each program having a channel number and name. However those are still missing for channel 2. Tvs and receivers may remember the mapping from the last scan, but it looks like a new scan right now wouldn't get channel 2 for WGBH's broadcast.

WGBH hasn't been mapping correctly for me as 2-1 and 2-2 since yesterday. It's mapping as 19-3 and 19-4.
WGBH is working fine for us. I've seen that happen to other stations if signal gets too low the TV/CECB maps to the real channel number offset by however many virtual channels there are.

WGBH is working fine for us. I've seen that happen to other stations if signal gets too low the TV/CECB maps to the real channel number offset by however many virtual channels there are.

A weak signal might cause that, but my previous posting shows the channel mapping is missing for WGBH. I live near the transmitter and have a very strong signal.

Hello

I am one of the engineering people working to try to get to the bottom of the reported channel mapping issue. We are checking encoding and mux equipment for proper operation and have been probing the WGBH stream and see the required ATSC PSIP PIDS and tables. Our professional DTV receivers as well as several brands of consumer set tops have been able to tune based on the PSIP virtual channel tables, 2-1 and 2-2. Any more info you can provide is appreciated.
For those whose receivers map to 19-3 or 4, do you have program guide info for WGBH or is that gone also.
What brand of receiver are you using?
When did you first see the problem?
We had some reports that the mapping issue was first noted last Thursday 1/14 around 18:30. (6:30 PM)

Thank you

Hello

I am one of the engineering people working to try to get to the bottom of the reported channel mapping issue. We are checking encoding and mux equipment for proper operation and have been probing the WGBH stream and see the required ATSC PSIP PIDS and tables. Our professional DTV receivers as well as several brands of consumer set tops have been able to tune based on the PSIP virtual channel tables, 2-1 and 2-2. Any more info you can provide is appreciated.
For those whose receivers map to 19-3 or 4, do you have program guide info for WGBH or is that gone also.
What brand of receiver are you using?
When did you first see the problem?
We had some reports that the mapping issue was first noted last Thursday 1/14 around 18:30. (6:30 PM)

Thank you
Yes, the program guide info is missing as well for channels 2-1 and 2-2 (which appear as channel 19).

As noted earlier, andrewschwartz22 is having this problem on two Samsung sets, and I have the problem on a Samsung as well. However, everyting is fine with a Dish DVR, a Dish converter box, and a Zenith converter box.

WGBH HD is showing up on my TV as 19-3, and WGBH SD is showing up as 19-4. I also see two blank channels at 19-6 and 19-7.

Model is a Samsung HL-R4667W, and I can't say exactly when it changed as I hardly ever use the off-air tuner in it. I know for a fact that in the past those channels always showed up as 2-1 and 2-2.

Program info on both channels says "No Title" and "No Detailed Information". Ratings info appears to be showing correctly, the program on right now shows TV-Y.

Location is about 32 miles west of the transmitter, with maximum signal strength showing on the bar graph indication in the menu.

IBBP, I sent you a private message.

All is now well with WGBH mapping. The PSIP guide info is not yet there, though, as of 19:15.

Came home today to a new TivoHD message indicating that 7-1 and 7-2 were deleted from my lineup or that Tivo removed them. Obviously Tivo got some bad info and luckily I was able to add the stations back to my channel lineup before wifey missed any of her WHDH shows. :)

Has something similar happened to anyone else today? I'll have to keep an eye on this in case it gets deleted again.

The WGBH PSIP info is now correct.

Came home today to a new TivoHD message indicating that 7-1 and 7-2 were deleted from my lineup or that Tivo removed them. Obviously Tivo got some bad info and luckily I was able to add the stations back to my channel lineup before wifey missed any of her WHDH shows. :)

Has something similar happened to anyone else today? I'll have to keep an eye on this in case it gets deleted again.
That's interesting - I had the exact same thing happen on my BeyondTV server yesterday.

I just went and checked my Tivo HD and had the same message. When I went to check the channel list, I now have 2 each for 7-1 and 7-2. If I try to select only one pair, I get odd results when I go back to the list (either both 7-1's or both 7-2's are selected and the other 2 are not).

Must be some odd guide data working it's way through the system.

I think it's been over a month since WHDH stopped simulcasting.

They'd moved digital from channel 42 to 7 as of June '09, but the FCC was wrong and 7 was very bad for them...a lot of people couldn't get WHDH any more. FCC let them simulcast, using 42 again. Where I live both versions came in, and at least one converter box nearly had a nervous breakdown doing a scan. (Kept showing WHDH as channel 70.) Finally they got permission to use 42 permanently, and discontinued using 7.

This may be a delayed result of all that?

I think it's been over a month since WHDH stopped simulcasting.

They'd moved digital from channel 42 to 7 as of June '09, but the FCC was wrong and 7 was very bad for them...a lot of people couldn't get WHDH any more. FCC let them simulcast, using 42 again. Where I live both versions came in, and at least one converter box nearly had a nervous breakdown doing a scan. (Kept showing WHDH as channel 70.) Finally they got permission to use 42 permanently, and discontinued using 7.

This may be a delayed result of all that?
Possibly, but the Tivo is indicating that both sets of 7-1/7-2 are on RF channel 42.

Where I live both versions came in, and at least one converter box nearly had a nervous breakdown doing a scan. (Kept showing WHDH as channel 70.)

The DTV Pal didn't have a breakdown, it just didn't want to confuse people with multiple signals mapped to the same channel. So instead it confused people by putting the duplicates on fictitious channels instead. :D

- Trip

WSBK HD syndicated show's audio like Earl and The Office- "THUMP!!! THUMP!!! THUMP!!! THUMP!!!":mad:

WGBH HD and SD have gone dark here on 2-1 and 2-2 in southern NH. I tune via my Tivo S3 and both channels are showing signal strength of about 90 or so but are all black.

Should I contact Tivo to tell them to update their system now that WGBH is on 19-3 and 19-4?

I've also found 2-1 and 2-2 w/o picture the last few days here in northeastern MA and also get signal strength in the 90s. I had my TiVo rescan for channels and didn't find any other channels. I also get WGBH through comcast and see that 802 does have WGBH content, to I'm guessing that they're broadcasting.

WGBH 2.1 went black here in Brookline MA on my tivos also, but my Sony TVs can still display it fine through their tuners.
I have tried rescan, restart, and have been forcing the tivos to connect to tivo service every few hours all without success.
My wife is extremely pissed as she was looking to capture the "Emma" marathon today.
Truth be told, imho, WGBH has consistently gone down hill during my 20+yrs in Boston until today when the average weekend is nothing but rerun crap of the worst degree.

Just ran another rescan and Tivo found 19.3 and 19.4 and will display 2.1 and 2.2 on those channels, but without program info or channel ID. I will force an update to see if the ID and guide info return.

Why can't they just leave well enough alone? :mad: What is the reason WGBH had to leave 2-1 and 2-2? I have 19-3 and 19-4 but no banner data or guide. Will need to force a connection to try and get it updated.

Rescanned here in southern nh and wgbh HD is back on 2-1 on my TiVo. Guide data in TiVo is correct. Woohoo!

Rescanned here in Brookline MA and forced another update and still receiving guide info w/o picture on 2.1 and picture w/o guide info on 19.3. Am I doing something wrong?

What I don't understand is why WGBH even has two picture streams for channel 2 (19). What in the world does the second picture stream provide? Both are digital, so anyone who gets 2-1 is able to get 2-2 and vice versa. The only thing the second stream does is steal bandwidth from the first stream reducing picture quality.

SMK

Re WGBH's reception issue:
I hope this info is helpful and not just more noise on the subject -
I apparently lost WGBH sometime around the 1/21 on my main tuner. This tuner is a Pinnacle TV card using MS's Vista/MCE software. I can see 2-1 and 2-2 at 100% with the MCE signal strength meter (Everett MA), but I can not get a picture.
Oddly enough, I can use the crappy Pinnacle software on the same tuner and I get full functionality on 2-1 and 2-1.
My two outboard SD tuners are working fine, and the MyHD tuner in another computer is working fine.
Because of the loss of WGBH on my primary machine, I have purposely not rescanned on the other devices noted above.
Hope this helps, and I hope to have WGBH back at some point.
Mike Cocoorochio

What I don't understand is why WGBH even has two picture streams for channel 2 (19). What in the world does the second picture stream provide? Both are digital, so anyone who gets 2-1 is able to get 2-2 and vice versa. The only thing the second stream does is steal bandwidth from the first stream reducing picture quality.

SMK

WENH has a similar situation. WENH-Hd on 11.2 and an SD version on 11.2.
WENH is a must carry and for systems that choose not to carry WENH-HD the carriage of WENH-SD (the 11.2 signal) satisfies the must carry rule.

OTOH I think WGBH has retransmission consent with carriage of the WGBX sub channels a condition on carriage of Ch 2.

This WGBH problem seems likely to be either a mistake in their transmission encoding, making it non-compliant with the ATSC standard. On the other hand, it could also be a bug TiVo's decoding of the virtual channel header.

WGBH is continuing to transmit on channel 19, but the PSIP (or whatever the header is that IDs the virtual channels) information is confusing to a TiVo but not to other more recent decoder designs. I get WGBH decoded and identified fine as virtual channels 2-1 and 2-2 on both a new Samsung TV and a ChannelMaster CM-7000. Neither of those tuners sees the 19-X virtual channels. My TiVo HD, on the other hand, sees 2-1 and 2-2 as present but blank, with 19-3 and 19-4 having the live feed and 19-5 and 19-6 also present but blank.

I hope that either WGBH can fix their encoding to make it more backward compatible with TiVo HD, or that TiVo can issue a firmware update to fix their decoding.
What I don't understand is why WGBH even has two picture streams for channel 2 (19). What in the world does the second picture stream provide? Both are digital, so anyone who gets 2-1 is able to get 2-2 and vice versa. The only thing the second stream does is steal bandwidth from the first stream reducing picture quality.

SMK

WGBH 2.1 went black here in Brookline MA on my tivos also, but my Sony TVs can still display it fine through their tuners.
I have tried rescan, restart, and have been forcing the tivos to connect to tivo service every few hours all without success.
My wife is extremely pissed as she was looking to capture the "Emma" marathon today.
Truth be told, imho, WGBH has consistently gone down hill during my 20+yrs in Boston until today when the average weekend is nothing but rerun crap of the worst degree.

"Emma" marathon? I thought there was just the new installment at 9 p.m. (repeat at 10).

They didn't replay the first part on Saturday at 6 p.m. like they usually do for Masterpiece. That was disappointing. And yes, the lack of a defined schedule for PBS stations is a little aggravating, on top of the constant repeating of Celtic Woman, Andre Rieu, et al.

It's a shame, b/c the PBS vault has a lot of good programming.

What I don't understand is why WGBH even has two picture streams for channel 2 (19). What in the world does the second picture stream provide? Both are digital, so anyone who gets 2-1 is able to get 2-2 and vice versa. The only thing the second stream does is steal bandwidth from the first stream reducing picture quality.

SMK

As chitchat wrote, there would seem to be contractual reasons for it.

But also, it's for the very practical reasons of picture quality on different sets. SD can often look ghastly on an HD set, and HD can sometimes perform poorly for some SD sets.

WGBH decided to cover all the bases, at least for now. I would expect they will drop the same-content SD sub in due course (probably a few years).

As chitchat wrote, there would seem to be contractual reasons for it.

But also, it's for the very practical reasons of picture quality on different sets. SD can often look ghastly on an HD set, and HD can sometimes perform poorly for some SD sets.

WGBH decided to cover all the bases, at least for now. I would expect they will drop the same-content SD sub in due course (probably a few years).

This might make sense of all the major channels with must carry rules, NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox, were doing the same thing. They're not. What is the difference?

SMK

WGBH hasn't been mapping correctly for me as 2-1 and 2-2 since yesterday.
Have not had any problems with WGBH on either our Sony or Toshiba TV or Insignia (Zenith) converter boxes.

This might make sense of all the major channels with must carry rules, NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox, were doing the same thing. They're not. What is the difference?

SMK

The only thing I can think of is isn't WGBH technically one of the major flagships of PBS? So with that in mind maybe they just want to maximize the viewership and it just didn't pan out.

whdh used to have a sd on 7.2 but that was a long time ago...

considering all of the other channels on 44 (1,2,3,4) maybe they simply have more bandwith than needed and figured to put channel 2 on again until more revenues are made to produce more content.

The only thing I can think of is isn't WGBH technically one of the major flagships of PBS? So with that in mind maybe they just want to maximize the viewership and it just didn't pan out.

whdh used to have a sd on 7.2 but that was a long time ago...

considering all of the other channels on 44 (1,2,3,4) maybe they simply have more bandwith than needed and figured to put channel 2 on again until more revenues are made to produce more content.

Channel 44 broadcasts on RF channel 43, and the four channels are all SD channels. It's completely separate from channel 2 broadcasting on RF channel 19. I don't think the extra SD version of channel 2 has much of an effect on the quality of the HD signal, but they probably are using the full bandwidth with those two channels.

Channel 44 broadcasts on RF channel 43, and the four channels are all SD channels. It's completely separate from channel 2 broadcasting on RF channel 19. I don't think the extra SD version of channel 2 has much of an effect on the quality of the HD signal, but they probably are using the full bandwidth with those two channels.

Per my understanding, one 1080 HD and one 480 SD fill a channel's allotment w/o quality degradation on either (there's a little extra space left over as well, but not enough to do anything else). One channel can also fit two 720 broadcasts, or four 480s. Go putting more than those combos, then there's issues. The poster who claims that 2.2 being there downgrades 2.1 doesn't have a basis in fact.

Channels 2 & 44 aren't "completely separate" in the same way that WBZ and WCVB are, don't you know. Other than having different broadcasting antennas (obviously, since they're using two different channels), WGBH and WGBX are like conjoined twins.

A forced connection to Tivo service corrected the WGBH problem today at 4:00. Thanks to all for their input. I don't post often but I know where to go when I have a question about my home theater gear.

Steve

The poster who claims that 2.2 being there downgrades 2.1 doesn't have a basis in fact.

That poster is absolutely based in fact. Any bits allocated the 2-2 service are not available for the 2-1 service.

- Trip

That poster is absolutely based in fact. Any bits allocated the 2-2 service are not available for the 2-1 service.

- Trip

That's not a problem though, because the 2-1 service don't require all the available bandwidth of the channel. There's enough left over for the 2-2 service to not impact it.

Hello

We believe we have identified what caused the issue with certain TIVO boxes not "seeing" streams on 2-1 and 2-2. Any Tivo users who have had issues with tuning 2-1 and 2-1 (WGBH DT) since Friday should try tuning again. As of 4:15 we have made a change that drops some addtional data in the WGBH DT stream being used for mobile handheld testing. One of the viewers who was having a problem with with a TIVO getting 2-1 or 2-2 reports the channels are back. We have contacted TIVO about this issue.
If I get more info I will pass it along.

IBBP

That's not a problem though, because the 2-1 service don't require all the available bandwidth of the channel.

I think there are plenty of people on this forum who would strongly disagree with that assertion.

- Trip

I think there are plenty of people on this forum who would strongly disagree with that assertion.

- Trip

I'll try to find a good technical reference for this. But it's not a matter of opinion. Just as there is the NTSC standard for analog broadcasts, there is an ATSC standard for digital broadcasts, which specifies transmission rates and bandwidth limits (among many other things.)

I've seen side-by-side of what HD looks like with and without an SD subchannel. It's a shocking difference.

- Trip

Just to clarify things. The only reason WGBH keeps an SD simulacast on 2-2 is for area cable systems and satellite providers. Why? due to center crop issues when cable systems take the WGBH HD service, down convert it for SD and center crop to 4:3. Most PBS programming uses the whole canvas and is not 4:3 center crop or cut safe. We ask the cable operators to take our SD channel, which we control aspect ratio conversion on, for their SD service. The commercial guys have always shot center cut safe so 4:3 crop of a 16:9 frame is not an issue. We want to get rid of the SD channel but if we did at this point you would see action and titles cropped off. We do plan to eliminate this SD simul as soon as we are confident the cable operators and satellite providers have the proper gear in place to act on AFD (Active Format Description) data in the video signal to control aspect ratio conversion.

Hello

We believe we have identified what caused the issue with certain TIVO boxes not "seeing" streams on 2-1 and 2-2...... We have contacted TIVO about this issue.
If I get more info I will pass it along.

Apparently my MS MCE software doesn't just look like TIVO. I got my 2-1 back last nite.

IBBP[/QUOTE]

Just to clarify things. The only reason WGBH keeps an SD simulacast on 2-2 is for area cable systems and satellite providers. Why? due to center crop issues when cable systems take the WGBH HD service, down convert it for SD and center crop to 4:3. Most PBS programming uses the whole canvas and is not 4:3 center crop or cut safe. We ask the cable operators to take our SD channel, which we control aspect ratio conversion on, for their SD service. The commercial guys have always shot center cut safe so 4:3 crop of a 16:9 frame is not an issue. We want to get rid of the SD channel but if we did at this point you would see action and titles cropped off. We do plan to eliminate this SD simul as soon as we are confident the cable operators and satellite providers have the proper gear in place to act on AFD (Active Format Description) data in the video signal to control aspect ratio conversion.

Best explanation that I have seen, I appreciate the extra effort for the intended format. Maybe 'This TV' should change their name to 'Half a Face TV". Don't hold your breath on the cable operators. Whenever I walk into a public area with a Kiosk TV I get dizzy from the variations of auto zoom, auto stretch, panaorama etc. Most of these are user issues and the cable folks will never keep up.

Thanks for the service restoration,
Mike Cocorochio

2-1 is out again here in Southern NH.. again 90% signal strength but all black on my Tivo S3.. grrrr.. and I thought we had it licked..

2-1 is out again here in Southern NH.
WGBH is fine here in Milford NH, Even WGBX is coming in strong.

IBBP any chance WGBX will increase power or build a translator? Another 3 DB would be great for those of us in the NH fringe. At my address TVfool models WGBX about 4 DB lower then WGBX. Have to think difference is even greater. Pretty much lose WGBX all summer and even in winter only able to receive it about 75% of the time. WGBH on the other hand is strong all the time.

The only reason WGBH keeps an SD simulacast on 2-2 is for area cable systems and satellite providers.
Thanks for the clarification. I helped out WENH during the transition and they mentioned they were simulcasting in HD and SD to control SD quality for Cable and Sat providers. Never understood why this was being done only by PBS (WENH and WGBH) until your post.

Just to clarify things. The only reason WGBH keeps an SD simulacast on 2-2 is for area cable systems and satellite providers. Why? due to center crop issues when cable systems take the WGBH HD service, down convert it for SD and center crop to 4:3. Most PBS programming uses the whole canvas and is not 4:3 center crop or cut safe. We ask the cable operators to take our SD channel, which we control aspect ratio conversion on, for their SD service. The commercial guys have always shot center cut safe so 4:3 crop of a 16:9 frame is not an issue. We want to get rid of the SD channel but if we did at this point you would see action and titles cropped off. We do plan to eliminate this SD simul as soon as we are confident the cable operators and satellite providers have the proper gear in place to act on AFD (Active Format Description) data in the video signal to control aspect ratio conversion.

Thanks IBBP. I'll have to check the TivoHD tonight for 2-1 and 2-2 to see if it's restored. I never lost my 2-1 or 2-2 on my LG or Insignia LCD's or my Digital Stream tuner. Just the tivo.

2-1 is out again here in Southern NH.. again 90% signal strength but all black on my Tivo S3.. grrrr.. and I thought we had it licked..

Oh ohhh. Not good. :eek:

Just to clarify things. The only reason WGBH keeps an SD simulacast on 2-2 is for area cable systems and satellite providers. Why? due to center crop issues when cable systems take the WGBH HD service, down convert it for SD and center crop to 4:3. Most PBS programming uses the whole canvas and is not 4:3 center crop or cut safe. We ask the cable operators to take our SD channel, which we control aspect ratio conversion on, for their SD service. The commercial guys have always shot center cut safe so 4:3 crop of a 16:9 frame is not an issue. We want to get rid of the SD channel but if we did at this point you would see action and titles cropped off. We do plan to eliminate this SD simul as soon as we are confident the cable operators and satellite providers have the proper gear in place to act on AFD (Active Format Description) data in the video signal to control aspect ratio conversion.

IBBP, thanks for the good explanation. At least now that I know there's a reason for it, I certainly won't complaint if I believe there is a slight quality hit to the HD signal on 2-1. It is very helpful having your input on the forum. Thanks for joining in.

SMK

Channels are back in Milford NH as of yesterday.. 2-1 and 2-2 are there; although 2-1 seems to have more macroblocking than previous... the monsters on sesame street this AM looked particularly ugly! ;)

This is on a HD capable Tivo S3

Thanks IBBP. I'll have to check the TivoHD tonight for 2-1 and 2-2 to see if it's restored. I never lost my 2-1 or 2-2 on my LG or Insignia LCD's or my Digital Stream tuner. Just the tivo.



Channels are back in Milford NH as of yesterday.. 2-1 and 2-2 are there; although 2-1 seems to have more macroblocking than previous... the monsters on sesame street this AM looked particularly ugly! ;)

This is on a HD capable Tivo S3

So I had them back on yesterday but 2-1 and 2-2 are black again tonight on my TivoHD. Must still be issues. ;)

Yea they did it again! WGBH black on 2.1 in Brookline MA. Thank god my wife got RoadShow last nite.

Yea they did it again! WGBH black on 2.1 in Brookline MA. Thank god my wife got RoadShow last nite.

Ditto that here in milford nh again on a TiVo. 2-1 and 2-2 are dark once again

Yea they did it again! WGBH black on 2.1 in Brookline MA. Thank god my wife got RoadShow last nite.

You can put my Microsoft MCE in the loss column for 2-1.

I would like to note that even when it was working, I was getting a very slow lock-on when changing stations. The signal is 100% on the meter.

2-1 and 2-2 is lit again. :) Locks on fast as well. :D

I've had this annoying black line across the top of my screen about 2-3 pixels down. It only occurs on WBZ(CBS). It's been there for a while but I just didn't have a chance to post on avsforum. This is not seen on any other channels so it's not my LCD. I've also recorded the TS stream with MyHD recorder and the line is still there on the recorded source. Now that I'm pretty sure that the source is the culprit is anybody else seeing this problem?

Thanks

Hello Tivo users,

WGBH will have it's mobile handheld (M/H) stream on the air beginning at noon tomorrow Friday Feb 12 to test what should be a fix for the WGBH 2-1 2-2 tuning problem reported on Tivo boxes in the presense of mobile handheld data. PLease let us know how your Tivo behaves.

The WGBH mobile handheld test has been slid to Tuesday Feb 16 at the same time.

Until recently (last week or so?) WFXT was one of the stations I could reliably expect to get good reception for. Recently it went down the tubes. Nothing had changed in my setup. Watching the signal strength meter on my DTV converter box is like watching a yo-yo...near-constant up and down the full range from 0-100% with the expected picture breakup as a result. Formerly, other stations (WHDH, for example) exhibited this behavior but now it's a solid 100%. (WHDH's bad behavior was post their move back to whatever UHF they on again now, IIRC.)

(I see the same behaviors on my other tuners: one an HD STB and one built-in to a TV, so it's not just a problem with the DTV converter.)

I'm <8 miles from the Needham towers with what I think is an unproblematic path from them to my (in-attic) antenna. Until this summer I lived much further away and when I had problems I figured it was just distance. Now I'm so close I can't imagine why I have these problems.

Any thoughts?

Until recently (last week or so?) WFXT was one of the stations I could reliably expect to get good reception for. Recently it went down the tubes. Nothing had changed in my setup. Watching the signal strength meter on my DTV converter box is like watching a yo-yo...near-constant up and down the full range from 0-100% with the expected picture breakup as a result. Formerly, other stations (WHDH, for example) exhibited this behavior but now it's a solid 100%. (WHDH's bad behavior was post their move back to whatever UHF they on again now, IIRC.)

(I see the same behaviors on my other tuners: one an HD STB and one built-in to a TV, so it's not just a problem with the DTV converter.)

I'm <8 miles from the Needham towers with what I think is an unproblematic path from them to my (in-attic) antenna. Until this summer I lived much further away and when I had problems I figured it was just distance. Now I'm so close I can't imagine why I have these problems.

Any thoughts?

Multi-path interference.

Common remedies:

Variable attenuator (reduces signal strength so that the reflected signal is weakened enough to be insignificant)
Antenna relocation (re-aim to put reflected signal in a null)
More directional antenna (reduces strength of reflected signal)

If you have an amplifier in the system, it could be IMD from a strong local signal.

Family noticed channel 56 disappeared about a week and a half ago.

I did not do much for a few days.

Wife rescanned channels and it did not correct the problem.

Could not manually find the channel either.

Only a problem on my Audiovox KLV39120CE (10" under counter LCD) - not on my Panasonic Plasma.

I checked the forum and no one appeared to have this issue.

I could not add the channel this morning. Even tried to enter the 'real' channel 41 that is listed as the equivalent of the 'virtual' channel 56.

Did a rescan this morning and the channel popped up.

Can only assume that this was some repercussion of a Mobile TV test.

Any thoughts?

Family noticed channel 56 disappeared about a week and a half ago.
Here in Southern NH it is one of the weaker Boston stations. Reception is very dependent on weather conditions.

/tom

Has anyone on this board living in southern New Hampshire ever picked up any of the Providence area stations?

Has anyone on this board living in southern New Hampshire ever picked up any of the Providence area stations?

I'm at elevation 500ft here in S NH... and while I can pull in stations 90 miles away in Maine, I can't get a lock on anything in providence.. :(

yes, alg2468, I can watch WJAR/10.1 from Providence a few times per year, attic yagi with preamp, elevation is approximately zero.
Also I rarely get channel 7/42.1 .

I'm dumping my OTA HD-DVR, it's going crazy again, and this time I think it's not the disk drive...
Just bought a MOXI to use with the clear-qam cable channels.

Has anyone on this board living in southern New Hampshire ever picked up any of the Providence area stations?
Does WLWC count? Picked it up during the summer. Haven't seen it for a while. It is a few degrees off heading we use for Boston stations. I use separate VHF and UHF antennas, VHF antenna is pointing towards ME. We have a rotor so I'll have to give WNAC and WPRI a try. There are down to -113 dBm so it is a long shot.

Has anyone on this board living in southern New Hampshire ever picked up any of the Providence area stations?

I've moved away now, but I recall picking up some Providence stations, at least partly, from my house in Nashua using a roof antenna. I remember being surprised until I looked at a map and saw that you can draw an almost straight line connecting Nashua, the Needham transmission towers (where my antenna was pointed), and Providence. (An example of how different naive mental geography can be from the real thing :-)

Has anyone on this board living in southern New Hampshire ever picked up any of the Providence area stations?

I'm in Manchester w/a roof mount and 6 and 10 are the strongest and appear almost daily spring thru late fall early morning and at night. They are very sporadic during the winter. 12 is almost non-existent without Tropo conditions and 64 which was the strongest until moving to vhf 12 is now similar to wpri (non-existent). 28 and 36 are also only available under ideal tropospheric conditions.

Nothing had changed in my setup.

Are you sure? You haven't put in any new CFLs lately or replaced any electrical devices in your house, correct? Also, how close is your next neighbor? Its a decent chance you're getting interference from a neighbor.

Also are you using a pre-amp? I've seen several pre-amps which generate noise in the 30-31 area.

Down here in RI (much farther from the Needham transmitter site than you're located at.) I still have WFXT with strong signal strength here.

I'm in Manchester w/a roof mount and 6 and 10 are the strongest and appear almost daily spring thru late fall early morning and at night. They are very sporadic during the winter. 12 is almost non-existent without Tropo conditions and 64 which was the strongest until moving to vhf 12 is now similar to wpri (non-existent). 28 and 36 are also only available under ideal tropospheric conditions.

I work at 12/64, and spoke with a gentleman last year not too long after the transition who gets a solid signal from both of our stations using a rooftop antenna (I forget where he was in New Hampshire but I believe he's in Hudson). The only other signal he could receive from our area is WLWC-DT.
No sign of WJAR & WLNE.

Believe me Mike, when I watch regional news I'd rather see WPRI in the morning or WNAC at 10pm. Wish I could. I'm about 15-20 miles north Hudson. Have the 2 stations increased to 30 kW yet? Maybe tht will help?

Back when analog was still on air I remember picking up some of the providence stations from northeastern mass/souther NH....WLWC was one of them

I have had some pretty good skips and received Providence stations in Seacoast NH.

It looks like WFXZ-CA has cut over to digital on RF-25. Looks like the main Azteca America programming on 24.1, with infomercials on 24.2, 24.3, and 24.4. Does anybody have details on the non-infomercial programming or affiliations for the subchannels?

wfxz is non-existent in southern NH

wfxz is non-existent in southern NH
We used to get very snowy analog WFXZ , digital is too weak to lock .

Edited based on input from Trip in VA

We get very snowy analog WFXZ , digital is too weak to lock .

I should hope it's very snowy; it's gone.

- Trip

Greetings everyone.
Long time lurker.
First time poster :)

I'm wondering if anyone else is having trouble with WZMY-TV. I apologize in advance if this has already been covered elsewhere - but I can't find it mentioned anywhere.

Recently, I found that WZMY-TV stopped coming in. There is signal there -- at least TiVo can "see" the channel and claims "93% signal." It's always been a strong station and reception has never been an issue before. But around a month ago, the screen went dark and there is no audio.

Other ATSC tuners around the house seem to receive it fine. The problem appears to be specific to my TiVo. I've called them and opened a ticket - along with all the rebooting, re-scanning, etc... that goes along with that :)

But I'm wondering if anyone else is seeing an issue with OTA WZMY-TV. The only thing I can think of is maybe they've changed their encoding and TiVo doesn't like it. Either that or it's a faulty tuner (but every other channel comes in fine).

Quite curious.

Thanks in advance,
CC

WFXZ went digital a couple weeks ago on 25 with 4 SD channels. My apologies to all for the viewing issues. ERP went to 5000 watts, should be going up to 15,000 watts shortly but frankly I don't expect coverage to improve much if at all from what it is currently. Viewers who are dissapointed with the coverage include myself, I'm in Boston and I can no longer view my own station OTA (durn hill). I did drive from Cambridge to Dorchester and coverage depends strictly on line of sight. In Harvard Square it came in great, next to the Pru not at all. From my drive around town WGBH had the best coverage, WCVB wasn't much better than WFXZ! I didn't drive over to Arlington but what with the hills it's got to be pretty hit or miss. I'll try to answer any questions if there are any about the station to the best of my ability. DTV ain't analog but it does look better if you can receive it. Thanks, Randy.

WFXZ went digital a couple weeks ago on 25 with 4 SD channels. My apologies to all for the viewing issues. ERP went to 5000 watts, should be going up to 15,000 watts shortly but frankly I don't expect coverage to improve much if at all from what it is currently. Viewers who are dissapointed with the coverage include myself, I'm in Boston and I can no longer view my own station OTA (durn hill). I did drive from Cambridge to Dorchester and coverage depends strictly on line of sight. In Harvard Square it came in great, next to the Pru not at all. From my drive around town WGBH had the best coverage, WCVB wasn't much better than WFXZ! I didn't drive over to Arlington but what with the hills it's got to be pretty hit or miss. I'll try to answer any questions if there are any about the station to the best of my ability. DTV ain't analog but it does look better if you can receive it. Thanks, Randy.


Well, I have to tell you Randy, WFXZ has a nice signal here in the most northern part of Haverhill. I live about 200' from the state line using an old Radio Shack U/V corner reflector/yagi and a Channel Master preamp all in my attic fixed in the southwest direction. I get everything!

WZMY comes in very strong here in Haverhill with my RCA antenna. I'm in a wooded area with oak trees and woods all around. It's about 12 miles to the west/northwest. They are running VERY low power though, because of so-called interference issues with other stations that are on 35 up north in this area. Northeast is crowded. I'm close to the Plaistow, NH line.

7.3kW on UHF 35 (yikes), transmitter is located in Hudson, NH.

WZMY comes in very strong here in Haverhill with my RCA antenna. I'm in a wooded area with oak trees and woods all around. It's about 12 miles to the west/northwest. They are running VERY low power though, because of so-called interference issues with other stations that are on 35 up north in this area. Northeast is crowded. I'm close to the Plaistow, NH line.

7.3kW on UHF 35 (yikes), transmitter is located in Hudson, NH.
Hello, nicoge21. Thanks for the reply.

It's a strange situation for me on WZMY. I'm around 4 miles from the transmitter, myself. Traditionally, it's been one of my strongest channels. I have a UHF Yagi outdoors -- pointed at Needham and I was getting WZMY off the back of that (through the corner reflector, even! :) )

It must be a TiVo thing and I'll have to pester them some more.

Hi, I am a rambler. I live in Milford, approx. 21 miles from the Needham towers, but I can also pick up Providence stations, two of which are high VHF (Fox64 is Channel 12 and CBS12 is Channel 13). I'm about 29 miles from the Providence towers, which I think are in Rehoboth, MA. I can get pretty much all of them with my Terk HDTVa, but I do get signal loss in bad weather (my Boston channels seem okay). I believe the signal directions from the two cities are probably like 90 to 100 degrees off from each other. I kind of have it pointed more towards Needham simply because of ION (Virtual channel 68) is the weakest Boston channel and want to maximize that channel (does anyone else notice that?) I'm thinking of investing in a bigger antenna and mounting it in the attic. The question is, can I get a UHF only antenna or do I need VHF for 12 & 13? I know 12 and 13 are technically VHF, but they're very high on VHF.

Hi, I am a rambler. I live in Milford, approx. 21 miles from the Needham towers, but I can also pick up Providence stations, two of which are high VHF (Fox64 is Channel 12 and CBS12 is Channel 13). I'm about 29 miles from the Providence towers, which I think are in Rehoboth, MA. I can get pretty much all of them with my Terk HDTVa, but I do get signal loss in bad weather (my Boston channels seem okay). I believe the signal directions from the two cities are probably like 90 to 100 degrees off from each other. I kind of have it pointed more towards Needham simply because of ION (Virtual channel 68) is the weakest Boston channel and want to maximize that channel (does anyone else notice that?) I'm thinking of investing in a bigger antenna and mounting it in the attic. The question is, can I get a UHF only antenna or do I need VHF for 12 & 13? I know 12 and 13 are technically VHF, but they're very high on VHF.
Hello ancatdubh2,

Channel 12 (VHF) is 205.25 MHz
Channel 13 (VHF) is 211.25 MHz
Channel 14 (UHF) is 471.25 MHz

So even though they're high on the VHF scale, they're less than half the frequency of the lowest UHF channel. However, if your antenna happens to resonate on the VHF stations you want you could still get good signal.

But it really depends on your particular antenna.

Another question--can you "overdo it" with an antenna? in other words, is it bad to get an antenna with a super-high range (meaning distance from the towers) even if you can get a strong signal with something smaller? i ask only because if i'm gonna get one, i might as well get a super-high range one, then maybe it will work better in cloudy/wet weather than the one I currently use.

Another question--can you "overdo it" with an antenna? in other words, is it bad to get an antenna with a super-high range (meaning distance from the towers) even if you can get a strong signal with something smaller? i ask only because if i'm gonna get one, i might as well get a super-high range one, then maybe it will work better in cloudy/wet weather than the one I currently use.

You can overdo it. At best, buying more antenna than you need is a waste of money.

If your current antenna gets everything you want, you might try mounting it in the attic. More elevation traditionally yields better gain and it might help alleviate your weather issues. Plus, you won't have to buy anything new.

Check TV Fool (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29) to see what you can expect to receive at your location.

Thanks, CC. =)

Anyone have any experience with the EZ-HD antenna from dennysantennaservice.com ?

What exactly does WFXZ have to offer for our viewing pleasure?
Should we be upset if we cannot receive this channel OTA?

What exactly does WFXZ have to offer for our viewing pleasure?
My understanding is it is a Spanish language station. So if Spanish programming is of interest may well be a valuable addition.

The Wikipedia entry has not been updated to reflect the change to digital.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFXZ-CD

My understanding is it is a Spanish language station. So if Spanish programming is of interest may well be a valuable addition.
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Every time I do a SCAN for channels on my OTA plasma, it takes me a good ten minutes to go through and DELETE all the spanish stations from my lineup.

I do the same thing... maybe we should learn Spanish. :)

My understanding is it is a Spanish language station. So if Spanish programming is of interest may well be a valuable addition.

The Wikipedia entry has not been updated to reflect the change to digital.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFXZ-CD

Well, if you look closer, WFXZ is Spanish on virtual channel 24.1 only. If you check out 24.2, 24.3 and 24.4 there are usually English speaking infomercials. I have occasionally seen a super old TV program in English. I just don't remember which virtual channel it was on.

Well, if you look closer, WFXZ is Spanish on virtual channel 24.1 only.
Interesting, but a moot point for us as we are unable to receive the digital programs. I'll have to be more careful in the future with other Spanish channels.

Hello, nicoge21. Thanks for the reply.

It's a strange situation for me on WZMY. I'm around 4 miles from the transmitter, myself. Traditionally, it's been one of my strongest channels. I have a UHF Yagi outdoors -- pointed at Needham and I was getting WZMY off the back of that (through the corner reflector, even! :) )

It must be a TiVo thing and I'll have to pester them some more.

I wouldn't be suprised at that. 4 miles? Yeah it's true. Even people who live near the studio can't get it. They got slammed with complaints last year when they went digital. An engineer told me it's because of some other channel up in Maine somewhere. Some other users on here have reported it being non-existant down near boston.

If they were running at the same power as the boston stations we'd all lock onto it with no problems, I'm sure, as those of us here are in the northern part of the state on the NH borders.

I'd like to see them go on a sub-channel of WFXT or something.

As for the spanish channels, I get all of them in the 90's, even the one from Worcestor LOL! I don't watch them.

I wouldn't be suprised at that. 4 miles? Yeah it's true. Even people who live near the studio can't get it. They got slammed with complaints last year when they went digital. An engineer told me it's because of some other channel up in Maine somewhere. Some other users on here have reported it being non-existant down near boston.

If they were running at the same power as the boston stations we'd all lock onto it with no problems, I'm sure, as those of us here are in the northern part of the state on the NH borders.

I'd like to see them go on a sub-channel of WFXT or something.

As for the spanish channels, I get all of them in the 90's, even the one from Worcestor LOL! I don't watch them.
I've tried another ATSC tuner -- one I had forgotten -- in my Panasonic DVD recorder. It, like the TiVo was black with no sound on 50-1. I cobbled together an improvised UHF beam antenna and I was able to get channel 50 on the DVD recorder when I pointed it directly at the WZMY transmitter in Hudson. The signal was choppy -- but it was there.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that I have some weird multipath issue. But I'm not sure what could have changed to cause it. Nothing has changed in my setup since last year. No new antennae, feedlines, baluns, CFLs, computer equipment, wall warts, etc...

Weirdsville. Population: me

I was visiting Boston yesterday and was able to test OTA reception from downtown.

[...]

WZMY - (MyN) was around 3dB, which is far below a lock. At 7.3kW and at 31 miles, this isn't a surprise, but I don't see any plans for a future increase. With analog at almost 5000kW, this seems to be a gross disparity. To replicate, I would expect to see at least 250kW. Is there a reason this station is at such low power?


Permit me to revive this old (almost 2 year old posting) to ask a few questions:

1). What was the motivation for WZMY to operate with such low power? Trip had mentioned that they had a CP for 96.1 kW but opted out.

2). Is cable penetration so high in the Boston area that OTA is really a non-starter? If so, that might also explain why WZMY never built the larger plant.

3). Will WZMY be allowed to operate in perpetuity with only 7.3 kW? That's well under the limit for an LD.

And how 'bout an elaboration on what it means to ``...pull a WZMY'' as noted many, many, many postings ago upthread. :-)

Well, I have to tell you Randy, WFXZ has a nice signal here in the most northern part of Haverhill. I live about 200' from the state line using an old Radio Shack U/V corner reflector/yagi and a Channel Master preamp all in my attic fixed in the southwest direction. I get everything!

Wow Bill Haverhill! Didn't think WFXZ got out that far especially using the same 24 bay channel 24 analog antenna. Excellent. Thanks very much for the info.

Randy

WPME in Lewiston/Portland Maine uses channel 35 (same as WZMY).

Today's evening news block from 4-7pm on WHDH was in zoom mode part of the time. About half way through I noticed the picture was missing most of the edges. I checked my TV and it was in aspect mode. I checked other channels supplied by ExpressVu, like WHDH is provided to me, and they seemed just fine. NBC Nightly news was really difficult to follow being zoomed in and missing so much of the picture.

Anyone else experiencing short (1-2 seconds) audio drop-outs over the last month or so? Video remains stable, but audio drops out completely...I am hearing this both OTA and via FIos....seems to have started with March Madness, but has happened on other shows such as "The Good Wife' (2x within the first 10 minutes of latest episode, April 6(viewed via DVR); got it a half dozen times over the course of basketball coverage viewing OTA and through the FIOS box.....Walpole, MA

Anyone else experiencing short (1-2 seconds) audio drop-outs over the last month or so? Video remains stable, but audio drops out completely...I am hearing this both OTA and via FIos....seems to have started with March Madness, but has happened on other shows such as "The Good Wife' (2x within the first 10 minutes of latest episode, April 6(viewed via DVR); got it a half dozen times over the course of basketball coverage viewing OTA and through the FIOS box.....Walpole, MA
Yes, I've heard this as well on WBZ, both OTA & fios, for quite some time now, seems to happen every 10 minutes or so, audio drops significantly and gradually builds back up over the course of a few seconds. I think I'm getting use to it when watching WBZ.

Strange.

I thought I might have some weird multipath issue with WZMY since I lost it around a month ago. But the other night it just re-appeared out of the blue. Strong signal. Good, solid lock. Once again acting like I'm under 4 miles from the transmitter. I have no idea what happened. I didn't change anything on my end.

Well... That's not completely true...

This is around a week after I made a new balun tuned for VHF 11 to use on my VHF 11-tuned Yagi stack. But this had no effect on WZMY right after I did it (and VHF 11 is far from UHF 35) so I assume it's not a real factor in the reappearance of WZMY at my location.

Curiouser and curiouser. Wish I knew what happened, though :D

Down tilt?

It pops up every once in a while out of the blue for me as well. I don't know what it is.

It pops up every once in a while out of the blue for me as well. I don't know what it is.

same for me most of the time WZMY is dead but this am its rock solid on a cloudy day to boot:D 85 on the meter.I'm in Salem NH 11+ miles from transmitter

WZMYDT has been available to me always on Channel 50-1. It is not a station I watch and currently has infomercails on it. I have a roof top antenna and am over 50 miles from Salem, NH

WZMYDT has been available to me always on Channel 50-1. It is not a station I watch and currently has infomercails on it. I have a roof top antenna and am over 50 miles from Salem, NH

Maybe that's how far it is when driving, but nowhere near that point to point. Lunenburg (where your profile says you are) is about 30 miles from Salem. WZMY's transmitter is located in Hudson, which is only about 20 miles from you.

Did someone forget to push the HD button for Marathon coverage today?

Did someone forget to push the HD button for Marathon coverage today?
Not a matter of forgetting. The pool coverage is being produced in SD, 4x3 mode.

Did someone forget to push the HD button for Marathon coverage today?

At times during the race, the video quality was pretty disappointing. White lines and/or cut to black.

Was this perhaps due to electrical interference from crossing under stoplights?

And yeah, it'll be a sweet day when it's finally shown in widescreen HD. That looks to be quite a ways off, though.

Probably been mentioned but for some reason WSBK is showing The Office in 4:3 letterbox. Is there some reason why they can't show it in HD? Earl is syndicated and being shown in HD right before it. Also, what's with that stuttering noise WSBK makes inbetween their daytime programming? Very annoying. Only channel that does this.

WHDH seems to be off the air right now.

I was watching SNL, and the signal suddenly cut from 100% to 0%.

All of the other stations are fine, including the ones on the same tower.

WHDH seems to be off the air right now.

I was watching SNL, and the signal suddenly cut from 100% to 0%.

All of the other stations are fine, including the ones on the same tower.

Same here... good to here I wasn't the only one.
I wonder what happened.

WHDH seems to be off the air right now.

....
All of the other stations are fine, including the ones on the same tower.

WHDH is the only station on their tower.
It's possible there is a power outage or overnight transmitter work.

I read on another board that it was off air for maintenance work.

Leaf drop-outs have begun.

Noticed that WSBK is no longer getting a lock.... Last year, we lost WLVI (which we typically only watch for "Two and a Half Men" in HD, as opposed to the usual SD on WLWC) as well. They re-appeared once the leaves started falling.

Leaf drop-outs have begun.

Here in Southern NH our weakest stations are: WBPX, WLVI, WGBX, and WSBK. Almost never get WSBK. Winter did not seem to have as much effect as last year. WGBX is the most important to us and this winter only came in sporadically. Last year it was pretty good all winter. In summer it was pretty much a no show.

WHDH is fine today, not sure about Sunday.

A couple weeks ago, out of the blue, I started getting WMTW 8-1 and 8-2 out of Portland, ME (about 87 miles away) on my North facing Yagi stack.

I don't have any amps so at first I thought I was getting this via some sort of weird atmospheric serendipity. But it's been coming in consistently for the last couple weeks since I replaced my balun with the one I tuned for VHF 11. The lock is often quite poor. But it's there and generally watchable with some dropouts.

Now, if I could just get Providence on my South facing Yagi...

Could it be that new translator they lit up on channel 26? http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1329863&site=1

It seems really unlikely, but the timing would make sense.

- Trip

There is no way he is getting that channel 26 translator in Massachusetts.

A couple weeks ago, out of the blue, I started getting WMTW 8-1 and 8-2 out of Portland, ME (about 87 miles away) on my North facing Yagi stack.
We get WMTW on occasion here in Milford. Have seperate VHF and UHF antennas. The VHF (YA- 1713) antenna we use for WMUR and WENH is a few degrees off for WMTW.

Yay! The Office is finally back in HD. That only took like 3mos to fix. Hopefully that won't happen again.

Is it really necessary for WHDH to be scrolling continuously information about the water main break? It is the exact same message that seems to have been going since yesterday. They list this as "breaking news" but it is hardly breaking since happening 24 hours ago. I understand it is a serious situation, but it has to be on all the time????

Was it really necessary to have it on continuously for the entire hockey game? Had I known, I'd have recorded the game on Providence's WJAR.

SMK

Maybe that's how far it is when driving, but nowhere near that point to point. Lunenburg (where your profile says you are) is about 30 miles from Salem. WZMY's transmitter is located in Hudson, which is only about 20 miles from you.

It's only 12 miles from me according to TVfool. All these distances doesn't really matter. It's their fault for broadcasting at such a weak ERP. 7.3kW on a UHF channel.

Here in Southern NH our weakest stations are: WBPX, WLVI, WGBX, and WSBK. Almost never get WSBK. Winter did not seem to have as much effect as last year. WGBX is the most important to us and this winter only came in sporadically. Last year it was pretty good all winter. In summer it was pretty much a no show.

WHDH is fine today, not sure about Sunday.

Yup. WLVI and WSBK are the worst. There is an ION affiliate from concord NH on channel 33 though. That's the one I watch. Instead of WBPX. The signal blankets all of northern-eastern mass.

Is it really necessary for WHDH to be scrolling continuously information about the water main break? It is the exact same message that seems to have been going since yesterday. They list this as "breaking news" but it is hardly breaking since happening 24 hours ago. I understand it is a serious situation, but it has to be on all the time????

Was it really necessary to have it on continuously for the entire hockey game? Had I known, I'd have recorded the game on Providence's WJAR.

SMK

Yes, it is necessary. There is a state of emergency, so the stations with news departments are REQUIRED to keep that scroll up at all times. Blame the government, not the station.

I understand it is a serious situation, but it has to be on all the time???? I didn't hear about the situation until Sunday morning, at church. (Luckily, my town has its own wells.)

Regardless, continual warnings ensures word gets to folks as soon as they tune in, and that they keep up their vigilance until the emergency is over (or the emergency become the new "normal").

Yes, it is necessary. There is a state of emergency, so the stations with news departments are REQUIRED to keep that scroll up at all times. Blame the government, not the station.No, blame me and all the folks like me who vote for the kind of government we want: If it was my town affected, I'd expect my local station to keep the warning up until I was supposed to stop boiling water.

I had not realized that the state/city was requiring the stations to run the continuing crawl. Thanks for the update.

SMK