I can pull in WFSB from 32.7 miles away (I live in the North East Direction) using a Silver Sensor located inside the second floor of my house. But I am not located in a valley or have large objects that block my path.

Considering where you live, my advice is to either get rid of the preamp or turn the adjustable power to a very low setting. Also, RG-59 coax cable is crap and so are the cheap splice connectors that are commonplace. Buy some RG-6 cable if you need an extended run because the built in Silver Sensor cable is quite short.

The Silver Sensor is a very directional antenna. It is great at eliminating multipath interference and it can also USE a multipath signal if an object is blocking your main path to the transmitter.

Because it is very directional, even the slightest adjustment (rotate the tip of the base by 1/4") can make your signal drop from 70% down to 0%.

Adjusting one of these puppies for a weak station can be similar to adjusting a D* satellite dish. Nothing... Nothing... Perfect Signal... OOPS too far, nothing again.

Try adjusting the Silver Sensor in rotation (UP/Down, Left/Right, Tilted or straight). Also move the antenna around a bit, you may find a "sweet spot" at some point inside your condo.

Good Luck.

I can pull in WFSB from 32.7 miles away (I live in the North East Direction) using a Silver Sensor located inside the second floor of my house. But I am not located in a valley or have large objects that block my path.

Considering where you live, my advice is to either get rid of the preamp or turn the adjustable power to a very low setting. Also, RG-59 coax cable is crap and so are the cheap splice connectors that are commonplace. Buy some RG-6 cable if you need an extended run because the built in Silver Sensor cable is quite short.

The Silver Sensor is a very directional antenna. It is great at eliminating multipath interference and it can also USE a multipath signal if an object is blocking your main path to the transmitter.

Because it is very directional, even the slightest adjustment (rotate the tip of the base by 1/4") can make your signal drop from 70% down to 0%.

Adjusting one of these puppies for a weak station can be similar to adjusting a D* satellite dish. Nothing... Nothing... Perfect Signal... OOPS too far, nothing again.

Try adjusting the Silver Sensor in rotation (UP/Down, Left/Right, Tilted or straight). Also move the antenna around a bit, you may find a "sweet spot" at some point inside your condo.

Good Luck.


cbagger01 and everybody

Thanks for the insightful tips. I will not be able to get RG-6 till tomorrow, but I will try the no amp tonight. Got home too late last night.

I will let you know.

Thanks
Mark

cbagger01 has a very good point. I had lots of trouble with VHF reception on the cheaper coax line. I went outside with my 2 antennas but wired everything in RG6 and the difference is huge.

*sigh* The waiver process is truly testing the limits of my patience. I sent the programming director at WFSB (whom I was told makes the waiver decisions) a detailed email with every step I'd taken to get their signal and why it was not possible. In return I got.. a form letter telling me how wonderful their new tower was and how I was certainly able to receive it in Manchester. I resent the email, and asked that she actually read the contents this time as opposed to simply looking at the address.

Fox on the other hand keeps not returning any of my calls. I think they too are hoping I will give up and go away. It really is shame how hard they want to make this stupid game. You'd think a little common sense and a sries of photos documenting my large obstructions would help. Nope.

*sigh* The waiver process is truly testing the limits of my patience. I was certainly able to receive it in Manchester.

I'm surprised that you can't get WFSB-DT in Manchester. Are you really frustrated trying to get channel 33 or just hoping that they'll grant a waiver? In any event, the lack of DTV reception is not currently a legal grounds for a waiver.

I truly cannot get it. I live against the side of a hill that sits about 40' above my house. And for more fun, it's entirely wooded. I have a Wineguard 7084 on a 10' mast on top of my 2 story house, with a CM 777 preamp. I've also got the remote control rotor. And I have 5 different tuners ranging all the way up to a latest generation LG5 device. I have spent hours going degree by degree trying to get the signal. I cannot top more than 12% signal strength.

As for the the waivers process, my understanding may be flawed but I've read the FCC regualtions several times. I have to be able to receive a Class B signal strength or I should be granted waivers. I understand this refers to analog signal strength, but given that I can't get the analog station with any real clarity either I think I would qualify. I'm hoping someone at WFSB pays attention to my letter this time, or I'll have to start the petition process to force a signal strength test. I sincerely wish I COULD get their signal (and Fox). I don't particularly want the national HD feed, since my primary interest is football in HD. But I'm not going to sit back and take it without complaint if they aren't going to at least listen to me.

I truly cannot get it. I live against the side of a hill that sits about 40' above my house. And for more fun, it's entirely wooded. I have a Wineguard 7084 on a 10' mast on top of my 2 story house, with a CM 777 preamp.

You've got a good antenna mounted in a nice spot. A 40' hill with trees on it should not block WFSB-DT. It's likely there's something else causing your problem. Have you tried disconnecting the preamp? The Channel Master 7777 was clearly needed in your old location, but should not be needed so close to WFSB-DT.

Yes, I've tried it with and without the preamp. Much weaker without the preamp, so it is not signal overload.

Yes, I've tried it with and without the preamp. Much weaker without the preamp, so it is not signal overload.

Did you actually remove the preamp from the circuit or just unplug the power supply?

Madpoet, I live in Marlborough a few miles from you. Let me know if you are interested in seeing my setup. I get a great signal from WFSB. I've been through the same pains as you and maybe I can help.

Thanks brewer, I may take you up on that. Can you get Fox61?

TowerGuy, I unplugged the power supply and looped the line back together. I didn't go up on the roof and remove that piece from the circuit however.

Hi,
Does anybody in a apartment in Willimantic Connecticut have a indoor or outdoor Antenna that can pick up all the HD Channels in Connecticut,Boston and Providence? If so what kind of indoor or outdoor Antenna do you use? I live in a apartment and can't put up a outdoor Antenna. This is what antennaweb said the map is below.

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
violet - uhf WVIT 30 NBC NEW BRITAIN CT 284° 31.8 30
violet - uhf WWLP 22 NBC SPRINGFIELD MA 331° 36.2 22
violet - vhf WPRI 12 CBS PROVIDENCE RI 90° 49.5 12
violet - uhf WPXQ 69 PAX PROVIDENCE RI 137° 26.7 69
violet - vhf WLNE 6 ABC NEW BEDFORD MA 112° 53.6 6
violet - uhf WTIC 61 FOX HARTFORD CT 284° 31.8 61
violet - uhf WHPX 26 PAX NEW LONDON CT 192° 19.9 26
violet - uhf WGGB 40 ABC SPRINGFIELD MA 344° 43.2 40
violet - uhf WUVN 18 UNI HARTFORD CT 294° 30.5 18
violet - uhf WEDH 24 PBS HARTFORD CT 293° 30.7 24
violet - uhf WEDN 53 PBS NORWICH CT 183° 13.0 53
violet - vhf WJAR 10 NBC PROVIDENCE RI 91° 49.1 10
violet - vhf WFSB 3 CBS HARTFORD CT 294° 30.8

Hey Madpoet,
You have to remove the preamp on th roof to get any signal to pass when it does not have power applied to it, without power it is a huge signal attenuator.
Over here in the suotheastern end of the state there is no way to get Ch3 digi unless you are 300 feet above sea level and you will still need to be on a tower..... :=(

I have a double Yagi setup with a preamp that gets all the Hartford stations plus a few in Boston, Rhode Island and New York on good weather days. I am surrounded by thousands of 50 foot oak trees as Marlborough is pretty wooded. So it is possible to get all Connecticut stations with the right setup.

Elevation does help but there are other factors especially the type of antenna. I had a huge combo UHF/VHF antenna that was terrible. The double Yagi system is incredible. I have a separate small VHF antenna point southwest for WTNH on VHF 10. Thats the only one I really need. I can rotate it to get WTXX but I dont watch much on the WB if at all.

I'll pm you Brewer. I'd like to see your setup. I honestly do want to get them all :)

Thanks brewer, I may take you up on that. Can you get Fox61?

TowerGuy, I unplugged the power supply and looped the line back together. I didn't go up on the roof and remove that piece from the circuit however.

That does not really indicate anything. It's the preamp on the roof that needs to be eliminated from the circuit, not the power supply.

I follow this thread as it shows the difficulty for viewers and their antennas when there are three distinct locations for transmitters. If you include Sprngfield stations that's five possible directions to aim your antenna. (New London makes six.) Rotors are slow and clumsy and multiple antennas are a pain. The only other option is an antenna steering using control back from the DTV tuner. Right now it's just a concept with a new protocol, not a product.

I have tried hard to get DTV signals from Hartford, but have not been successful.

I can pull in WFSB from 32.7 miles away (I live in the North East Direction) using a Silver Sensor located inside the second floor of my house. But I am not located in a valley or have large objects that block my path.

Considering where you live, my advice is to either get rid of the preamp or turn the adjustable power to a very low setting. Also, RG-59 coax cable is crap and so are the cheap splice connectors that are commonplace. Buy some RG-6 cable if you need an extended run because the built in Silver Sensor cable is quite short.

The Silver Sensor is a very directional antenna. It is great at eliminating multipath interference and it can also USE a multipath signal if an object is blocking your main path to the transmitter.

Because it is very directional, even the slightest adjustment (rotate the tip of the base by 1/4") can make your signal drop from 70% down to 0%.

Adjusting one of these puppies for a weak station can be similar to adjusting a D* satellite dish. Nothing... Nothing... Perfect Signal... OOPS too far, nothing again.

Try adjusting the Silver Sensor in rotation (UP/Down, Left/Right, Tilted or straight). Also move the antenna around a bit, you may find a "sweet spot" at some point inside your condo.

Good Luck.

cbagger01

You mentioned here "Considering where you live, my advice is to either get rid of the preamp or turn the adjustable power to a very low setting."

How do I adjust the setting?

It depends on whether or not your model of preamp supports adjustment.

For the indoor units, it is usually a nice big "volume-knob" like adjustment. My guess is that for outdoor units, there would be a small adjustment screw that would work with a flathead screwdrive or a small knob that was covered with some kind of rubber gasket to prevent water from entering the unit.

To find out if your preamp has this function, read the user manual in detail.

The general idea here is to try and prevent your preamp from oversaturating the output.

Think of your preamp as similar to a low end home or portable stereo system. Even if you have really nice speakers with a high power rating, it is possible to get muddy sounding distortion if you turn the volume up too high.

If the preamp is picking up the signal or a nearby frequency and is over amplifying either one, you will start to clip the signal and your reception quality will start to go DOWN even though your amplification setting is going UP.

If you don't have a copy of your user manual, you may be able to find an online manual if you visit the manufacturer's web site.

Thanks brewer, I may take you up on that. Can you get Fox61?

TowerGuy, I unplugged the power supply and looped the line back together. I didn't go up on the roof and remove that piece from the circuit however.

Unpluging the power supply turns the roof mounted preamp into an attenuator so reception will be much worse with power disconnected than with no preamp. Most antenna mounted preamps do not have adjustable gain. John

Recieved the Comcast mailing for the new channel line up on Saturday - changes effective 8/24. I live in West Hartford.

For anyone who hasn't received a new channel lineup card yet, you can click on the following link and choose your townto see what's changing.

http://comcast-ne.com/newchannels/channels.php

(Maybe mine will be in spanish since I received a direct-mail ad last week from them where the alternate language was english.)

Recieved the Comcast mailing for the new channel line up on Saturday - changes effective 8/24. I live in West Hartford.


Ditto. In East Hartford.

Got the new channel card in Windsor, too. Guess, I'm gonna have to re-memorize the channel assignments.....

Newbie Question Alert !!!

Thanks to all for the info on this board - it's been quite informative (and a bit overwhelming). Here's my situation. I just purchased a HD DTV HR10-250 and plan on hooking it up this weekend. in order to get locals in HD, I need to get an OTA antenna. I've looked at antennaweb and found that I'm less than 15 miles from the Hartford and New Haven markets. Antennaweb recommended a "red" antenna - however, the New Haven markets are at one compass orientation (19) while the Hartford channels are at another (242). Purchasing a "red" antenna, which is a fixed-directional antenna doesn't make too much sense to me since the locals are in opposite directions. Here's my 2 questions :

1. Living in Wallingford (half-way beween New Haven & Hartford), which antenna have people had the best luck with ? One poster on this site from Cheshire stated that he was able to use a fixed-directional antenna and pick up all the HD locals.
2. I currently have a 4x8 multiswitch. Would I be best served purchasing a 5X8 multiswitch and running the OTA coax directly into a new multiswitch OR would I receive the best performance by running the coax directly into my new HR10-250.

Thanks in advance for any help with this. The whole antenna issue has me thrown for a loop....

Mark,
Indoor reception of digital TV is difficult even with strong signals due to multipath. Your best bet is to try to get the cleanest picture (without ghosts and snow) as you can looking at analog channel 30 or 61 and then switch to the Hartford digital channel you want to watch- CBS NBC or FOX. ABC and UPN are near New Haven so a different antenna location may be necessary. John

ctdish
I'm not exactly sure what you mean looking at analog and then switching-Are you talking about putting on D* 30 then turning to D*31, if so, I already know channel 31 will bring up the message looking for signal 95% of the time.

Or do you mean something else?

having no attic is indeed unfortunate, short of cutting up sheetrock inside a closet and making your way up inside the roof, I have no better suggestion.

people have reported that having an amplifier, while being too close to the tower can actually worsen the signal. It tends to overload the tuner. Give it a try and you will see. When I tried the distribution amp at my house, it made no difference.

when you are trying to lock CBS, put you tuner into acquisition mode, then pick up the Silver Sensor and try different directions holding it in your hand, try sideways and upside down.

good luck,
Max
Max

How do I put tuner in acquisition mode? I have the HD D* HR10-250.

Thanks

Max

How do I put tuner in acquisition mode? I have the HD D* HR10-250.

Thanks

I am not familiar with DTivo, and each receiver's procedure is different, basically, on my receiver there is an Add local digital channel mode, in there I type the digital channel number and it displays the signal strength bar. You just gotta understand the concept, while the channel is on your TV try to play with antenna to get the best signal.


ctdish
I'm not exactly sure what you mean looking at analog and then switching-Are you talking about putting on D* 30 then turning to D*31, if so, I already know channel 31 will bring up the message looking for signal 95% of the time.

Or do you mean something else?


what he means is, there are still analog channels out there, so if you have good old NTSC tuner built into your DTIVO, point your antenna until you get good reception quality for the analog channel, then without moving your antenna, switch your DTIVO to the same channel broadcast in digital.
For example, CBS is channel 3 analog, so orient your antenna for the best picture, then flip the channel to CBS digital channel 33 (3.1).

I spoke to a CSR at the CT Comcast phone number. I was told that the Motorola areas are having these channel changes to align with the digital channel content of the SA (Classic regions). I was not told much about the inHD2 and DiscoveryHD being added in other than what we know. Veron area got it as part of that digital channel shake-up. I got no information as to a time-line or the like for those two HD to be added into "classic comcast / SA" regions.

The conversion of all the regions to one system (SA or Motorola, likely Mot) was again confirmed but spoke of as a more distant thing. Last time I called (3 months or so ago) they sounded like it was more immenant.

I also asked if the SA8300HD box was available for my region (or any SA region) and was told it is not available anywhere.

Seems like those of us luck enough to be stuck in the "classic / SA" areas should just hunker down again for a long wait for anything new.

I take that back. I got confirmation that the Groton region ("classic / SA") was just recently upgraded to have the capabilities to receive Voice of IP VOIP telephone sevices. Personally I am not interested in this service at all.

I'd prefer they do improvements to help out the cable channels and add HD, not mess with other utilities. *Shrug*

I did get info that my account does have a "Tag / comment" that I keep asking for the SA8300HD. I guess I asked in May and was noted. Today it will be noted again for the new box plus to be called about inHD2 and DiscoveryHD being added.

Beaker,

The explaination I got (not from a CSR) was that because of the channel switch around on the analog side there is a lot more work involved than just updating the digital channel listing for this update. That is why different areas are seeing the update sooner than others. They did the Vernon area first to see how everything went and were applying anything they learned from that to the next regions and so on. Our new lineup (to come August 24) no longer has TMC or HBO an analog options. I would imagine that is how they'll free up bandwidth for INHD2 and DHDT for areas that might be lacking bandwidth. I'd be surprised if your area didn't have the 2 new HD channels by the end of September.

After doing a bunch of research and getting some great feedback from some of the members on this board and others, I'm going to try install an OTA antenna this weekend. However, just for interest, today I also contacted a local installer to get an idea on pricing. The guy I spoke to was really friendly, seemed extremely knowledgeable but also said that I needed a bunch of equipment to get OTA HD. Specifically, they'd install a Channel Master Antenna, rotor & amplifier. Being that antennaweb states I only need a 'red' antenna as I'm only 15 miles from the transmitting towers, installing a rotor, amp, etc seemed a little much. Don't know if any of you agree or disagree on the equipment the installer recommended. As an FYI, he also quoted a price of @ $600 for the antenna install, rotor install, amp, grounding, running one cable directly to my HR10-250. Any feedback on the equipment recommendations or pricing ? Thanks in advance.

After doing a bunch of research and getting some great feedback from some of the members on this board and others, I'm going to try install an OTA antenna this weekend. However, just for interest, today I also contacted a local installer to get an idea on pricing. The guy I spoke to was really friendly, seemed extremely knowledgeable but also said that I needed a bunch of equipment to get OTA HD. Specifically, they'd install a Channel Master Antenna, rotor & amplifier. Being that antennaweb states I only need a 'red' antenna as I'm only 15 miles from the transmitting towers, installing a rotor, amp, etc seemed a little much. Don't know if any of you agree or disagree on the equipment the installer recommended. As an FYI, he also quoted a price of @ $600 for the antenna install, rotor install, amp, grounding, running one cable directly to my HR10-250. Any feedback on the equipment recommendations or pricing ? Thanks in advance.

If I recall correctly, you're between New Haven and Hartford - if you want to receive stations in both locations, the most straightforward answer is a good VHF/UHF antenna and a rotor. It's unlikely you are going to be able to point the antenna towards Hartford and pick up New Haven stations or vice versa. You could point separate antennas in both directions and skip the rotor, but that's unnecessarily complicated, raises potential interference issues between the antennas, and reduces the flexibility the rotor gives you. The preamp may or may not be necessary - keep in mind a preamp can make your reception worse if it amplifies an already strong signal. You may wish to try your reception without the preamp first. So the installer appears to be making a generally good recommendation. The cost of the materials you quoted is probably about $300, so you'll have to decide if an additional $300 in labor is reasonable for your particular installation.

Before I go down this road, can anybody around here in the New Haven area recommend any antenna installers ? The one company I spoke to was based in New Haven and they were the only ones in the yellow pages. Any other recommendations from this group ?

If I recall correctly, you're between New Haven and Hartford - if you want to receive stations in both locations, the most straightforward answer is a good VHF/UHF antenna and a rotor. It's unlikely you are going to be able to point the antenna towards Hartford and pick up New Haven stations or vice versa. You could point separate antennas in both directions and skip the rotor, but that's unnecessarily complicated, raises potential interference issues between the antennas, and reduces the flexibility the rotor gives you. The preamp may or may not be necessary - keep in mind a preamp can make your reception worse if it amplifies an already strong signal. You may wish to try your reception without the preamp first. So the installer appears to be making a generally good recommendation. The cost of the materials you quoted is probably about $300, so you'll have to decide if an additional $300 in labor is reasonable for your particular installation.

RTracey is dead on. Best bet is a properly sized rotating antenna. If however, you only want WTNH which is VHF out of New Haven, I recommend a separate UHF antenna from the VHF antenna. You can then keep the VHF pointed toward New Haven to get channel 8 ABC and point the rotating UHF antenna toward Hartford. If you get the rotator, you can always move it around since most of the channels are UHF.

I got lucky and my very small UHF on the opposite side of the house is getting WTNH, WTXX and the NBC station in Springfield. Stick with Channel Master all the way and make location of the antenna an important step.

Tower work is being performed on Tower at Rattlesnake Mountain for the next approximately 30 days. This will require powering WTIC DT31/ WTXX DT12 on and off daily. We will try to minimize outages on weekends to avoid interrupting sporting events.
Also at some point NTSC 61 will be running at half height/half power while tower lights are replaced on antenna.

I disagree on the use of a VHF antenna just for WTNH. Especially if we're talking ChannelMaster's, the 4228 has been shown to get good gain on channel 10 (WTNH-DT's frequency). I say go for one antenna first.

Stumacdo,

Everyone here is giving you good advice with the antenna, but you have one major problem. Since your HDTivo needs to change channels by itself to record things, a rotor setup won't work for you because it can't turn your rotor by itself.

This means that you will have to go with two separate antennas pointed in different directions. This can cause issues as RTracey pointed out. The good thing however is that being in Wallingford, WTNH should be very easy to get for you with an inexpensive antenna. I can get it reliably from Cromwell with rabbit ears placed out on my lawn.

So, I would lean towards a small cheap antenna pointed at WTNH, and a moderately priced antenna pointed towards Avon/Farmington. The tricky part of this is getting them to behave together. If you want to discuss the situation with someone, many people recommend Signal Electronics in West Hartford. They carry a large selection of antennas and could help. Make sure to mention that you have an HD Tivo and that a rotor won't work for you.

So the next question is, how much hassle and trial and error are you willing to deal with? If you are willing to experiment, then you could try it yourself, and you may wind up saving a lot of money. You may also wind up spending the same amount because of the fact that you buy antennas that don't work for your situation. Most places don't allow returns. Radio Shack does, but it's my belief that their stuff is not as good as the Channel Masters and other brands that you will get from other places. If you are willing to investigate, try stuff, and tinker around, and deal with the frustration, then do it yourself. If not, call a proffessional, pay the money and be done with it (hopefully).

You talk about how far you are from the towers, but I think the more important issue is your line of sight to them. Are there hills or mountains that block them? If you are up on a hill, that makes things MUCH easier.

If I were you, I would go to Signal Electronics and talk to them. Talking to them doesn't cost you anything. By the way, I also have DirecTV and am jealous of your HDTivo! Good luck, and report back.

I'd like to thank everyone on the board for their great advice for attempting to pick up HD OTA here in Wallingford. I'm going to attempt 2 methods this weekend and see what's up. First, I'll try one of the generic RS amped antenna's on top of the TV and see if any luck (which I doubt). Secondly, I'm going to try mount a Channel Master 3010 on my roof (which I purchased at Lowe's) and see what I get. Worse comes to worse, I can always return them. However, I am considering taking a trip or calling Signal Electronics in Hartford to get some feedback. Thanks again to all for the help - will report on success/failure.

If you are going to connect two UHF antennas together at the same time, my advice would be to purchase two UHF antennas that are VERY directional in nature, like a large outdoor version of the Silver Sensor.

Why?

Because these types of antennas will be less likely to interfere with each other. You don't want to have dual signals that are slightly out of phase for the same TV station.

For VHF antennas like could be used for WTNH, it is less of an issue.

You might be able to get away with a large outdoor VHF/UHF antenna for Hartford/Springfield and then a small directional indoor UHF (Silver Sensor) or VHF (amplified rabbit ears) just for WTNH. Because WTNH is upper band VHF (Channel 10), it should be possible to pull it in with a high-gain UHF antenna like a Silver Sensor.

stumacdo

Perhaps by now you are finally getting to enjoy the HD. If still working on the antenna issues I offer my experience. Im just about on the North Haven/Wallingford line and have a Televes UHF on a rotor and a fixed VHF, very small one -Wingard - fixed on WTNH. Without a rotor you likely will miss a great HD source, PBS out of New London. As far as quality of reception everything is just about perfect, EXCEPT WFSB, of course. I dont have a preamp but may try that for WFSB.

Check this thread under my posts and you will see, from about 7 months ago, the name and address of a very good installer - very experienced, and things will be done right. A friend in Hamden had the same type of work as you and I think it was just a little above your target.

I disagree on the use of a VHF antenna just for WTNH. Especially if we're talking ChannelMaster's, the 4228 has been shown to get good gain on channel 10 (WTNH-DT's frequency). I say go for one antenna first.

The problem is not the antenna. THe issue is where is your house in relation to the towers. I am smack in the middle and WTNH is in the opposite direction. So separate pointing works great.

After digesting all the help offered on this board, I tackled OTA this weekend for my brand-new DTV HR10-250. First, tried an indoor amped antenna. OK with Channel 8, no-go with anything else. Then, attached a ChannelMaster 3010 to a 5-foot mast and walked around my roof having my wife read signal strength from the HR10-250. ABC came in at 90+ signal, Fox @ 70, NBC @ 70, WB/UPN @ 70. Only ones I couldn't get more than 10-20 was CBS and PBS. However, if I can get everything but CBS/PBS - I'm pretty happy.

Total Cost - $50 Antenna, $10 Mast, $20 100-foot Coax , $20 Chimney Mount = $100. Quite a savings from the $600 I was quoted.

Is picking up CBS even worth the effort, or has anyone had any luck tuning in a consistent signal ? Thanks again for all the help.

Lucky SOB :).

Somewhat OT, does anyone know if a Mass station broadcasts the Sox in HD? I know that Comcast sponsors the NESN HD channel, and some cable operators carry it. I was hoping for an OTA solution if I ever get my OTA sorted out.

Before I bracket my new OTA antenna to my chimney, was wondering if anyone has had any luck in using a 10-foot mast rather than a 5-foot one ? I'm curious whether or not that will make a difference in my OTA channels that are received in the 70's range - maybe bump them up to 80 ?

Madpoet,

The only time an HD Sox game is available on something other than NESN is on a Friday night when the games are exclusively in HD on Boston's UPN affiliate (WSBK 38?). So if you can pull in that channel I guess you could get Friday night games in HD.

Lucky SOB :).

Somewhat OT, does anyone know if a Mass station broadcasts the Sox in HD? I know that Comcast sponsors the NESN HD channel, and some cable operators carry it. I was hoping for an OTA solution if I ever get my OTA sorted out.

Ah, thanks.

Before I bracket my new OTA antenna to my chimney, was wondering if anyone has had any luck in using a 10-foot mast rather than a 5-foot one ? I'm curious whether or not that will make a difference in my OTA channels that are received in the 70's range - maybe bump them up to 80 ?

Whether an additional 5 feet is going to buy you anything will depend on your particular location and surroundings - only way to be sure is to try it. Keep in mind the "signal strength" numbers you are reading off your receiver are more likely to be signal "quality" or signal to noise values vs. strength - a number in the 70s is pretty good. I don't know, but I suspect a five foot increase in height will be of marginal benefit, if any.

You'll have to figure out how much you might watch on CBS and decide whether it's worth fiddling around with the antenna to improve your reception. It looks like you decided to try without the preamp, so you might want to try with a preamp (CM 7777). Remember the preamp might make things worse on your other stations, but as with the antenna mast, the only way to find out is to try it.

Picked up a Channel Master amp from Lowe's at lunch, Model #3042. Does this compare to the CM7777 ?

Picked up a Channel Master amp from Lowe's at lunch, Model #3042. Does this compare to the CM7777 ?

The 3042 is a distribution amp, which is for overcoming signal losses from splitting your cable and distributing the signal to multiple rooms in the house - you need a preamplifier such as the 7777, which boosts the effective gain of your antenna. The preamp mounts next to the antenna on the mast, and the power supply mounts in the house as close to your receiver as you can get it.

One small point to keep in mind if you decide to do some with and without experimentation with the preamp - make sure you completely remove it from your system when you try without. Just unplugging the power supply and leaving the preamp connected up at the antenna will significantly degrade your signal.

I guess that amp won't help me then :(

I guess that leaves getting either the ChannelMaster 7777 or 7775. From what I've read here on the forum, with these amps isn't there a risk of possibly overloading the signal if it's already coming in strongly ? I'm questioning whether to purchase the 7777 (UHF/VHF) or the 7775 (UHF only). ABC is the only one on VHF and it already comes in really strong - could I possibly overload this signal with the CM7777 ?. Would I be better off getting the 7775 to only amplify the UHF signals, or will it do no harm to get the 7777 ? I'm having someone come over this Thursday to help install, so any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !

For anyone who hasn't received a new channel lineup card yet, you can click on the following link and choose your townto see what's changing.

http://comcast-ne.com/newchannels/channels.php


Old Saybrook is listed as "Coming Soon!". Comcast in CT continues to disappoint.

We can't all be as fortunate as those who live in Eastern MA. :D

Old Saybrook is listed as "Coming Soon!". Comcast in CT continues to disappoint.

From what I've read here on the forum, with these amps isn't there a risk of possibly overloading the signal if it's already coming in strongly ?

Yup, that's why I mentioned in previous posts that a preamp might make things worse.

I'm questioning whether to purchase the 7777 (UHF/VHF) or the 7775 (UHF only).

You should probably go with the 7777. The problem is you have a combined VHF/UHF antenna. I'm pretty sure that if you put the output from that antenna into the 7775, it either won't pass the VHF signal, or will significantly degrade it. The 7777 is designed to handle a combined VHF/UHF input. Yes, it will also amplify WTNH's signal, but you'll have to try it to see if that 's actually going to be a problem. Remember to put the preamp as close to the antenna as possible, and the power supply as close to the receiver as possible.

I ended up getting a Winegard amp that boosts UHF and passes through VHF with no amplification. Figure that should handle the needed boost for UHF and leave ABC alone.

Bought it at Signal Electronic in Hartford - good prices and knowledgeable staff who didn't try to "up-sell" me any un-needed equipment.

[QUOTE=stumacdo]I ended up getting a Winegard amp that boosts UHF and passes through VHF with no amplification. Figure that should handle the needed boost for UHF and leave ABC alone.

QUOTE]

Wineguard is a good chioce and my personal favorite.

Glad to hear that about the Winegard amp. The sales rep at the electronic store was very honest when he said that the Winegard was the same as the ChannelMaster 7775, but at a much cheaper price. Nice dealing with honest sales people.

[QUOTE= the Winegard was the same as the ChannelMaster 7775[/QUOTE]

Stumacdo, nice meeting you at Lowes the other day. From everything I've read on these boards over the past several years, ChannelMaster and Winegard appear to be the cream of the crop for OTA antenna equipment.

As mentioned, I'm waiting for my Winegard Square Shooter to be delivered tomorrow, according to UPS schedule. Also ordered the CM 7777 and will try reception with and without it to see if makes a difference. I believe I will need the gain for the hartford area UHF stations. I'm in Killingworth and get WTNH with rabbit ears now. However the SS is not good at receiving VHF (only 2.5 db gain on channel 10). So, I'm thinking that the VHF gain of the 7777 won't result in overpowering the WTNH signal. Will report back after I complete installation, hopefully this weekend.

Chris

Chris - good meeting you too - small world !!

I'll post my final success using the Winegard amp. It boosts the UHF signal and bypasses the VHF signal, which I'm thinking will work good due to the strength of Channel 8. I was really worried about buying the CM7777 due to its VHF boost and possibly overloading Channel 8. I know they also have the CM7775 which amps UHF and bypasses VHF. I'll let you know.

Today was the day when I finally hooked up my ChannelMaster antenna, Winegard amp and optimized my signal. Good news first :

Using the Winegard UHF amp (with VHF passthru), NBC & Fox in Hartford come in great. The amp boosted the signal from the 30's to the 70's.

Bad news. My VHF channels in New Haven all plummeted from the 90's down to the 60's. The Winegard amp is supposed to pass through the VHF signal unamplified, but it seems to severely degrade the signal. I think I've got 2 options, but I wanted the forums advice :

1. Replace the Winegard UHF amp with either a ChannelMaster 7777 or comparable Winegard that boosts the VHF signal as well (maybe risking overloading the New Haven signals ??)
2. Leaving the UHF set up as is and maybe hooking up a small, indoor VHF receiver to boost my New Haven signals only.

If I go with Option #2, I presume it involves some sort of diplexing ?? If so, would I diplex the signal from my VHF antenna with the signal after the UHF power supply, but before it goes into my TV, or does it work some other way ?

I'm sure the easiest may be to just replace the Winegard with the CM7777, but you know how it can be returning equipment sometimes.....

Any advice would help. Thanks.

Question if I'm using a 7777... if I split the signal coming out of that, should I use a distribution amp or will that overload the signal?

Additional failure to report :(

Installed my OTA UHF/VHF antenna w/ Winegard pre-amp and receive all UHF channells 20 miles away in Hartford great. However, my VHF channels, which are less than 5 miles away and are extremely strong, are all over the board signal wise. Goes from 70 down to 10, back up to 90, down to 20, etc, etc. The pre-amp I'm using is a Winegard UHF amp w/VHF pass-through. I purchased that one as I knew the VHF signal was really strong in Wallingford and only needed the UHF boost. I tried this afternoon to switch out the amp with a Winegard combined UHF/VHF amp. Same problem. I suspect I've got a problem in that the VHF transmitter is only a few miles away and is overloading me. I want to keep the UHF boost as the Hartford channel are unobtainable without, but I'm really frustrated as I could pick up Channel 8 with some tin foil and a coat hanger.

I think on this forum at some point I've heard about an attenuator which (I believe) helps regulate signal strengths. Could this be something that might assist. I'm so frustrated because I'm close to getting this all worked out. Thanks in advance.

stumacdo,

I live in Durham near the Wallingford boarder near Rte. 68. When the leaves fall from the trees the WTNH signal will be overloaded with a preamp installed. It happened to me with a crappy VHF/UHF antenna which wasn't even pointed directly at the WTNH tower.

I installed the Channel Master 4228 antenna and 7777 preamp and couldn't be more pleased. WTNH has the strongest signal and only drops out during severe thunderstorms. I can easily get CT stations: WFSB, WVIT, WTXX, WTIC, WTNH, WCTX, CPTV-49 (New Haven) and MA stations: WGGB, WGBY(PBS) and WWLP (which is also a VHF station-11). I purchased everything from Signal Electronics. I don't have any dropouts (unless the stations are having problems). Now if I could only teach my wife to use the universal remote:)

I believe that the Winegard preamp model 4800 will pass VHF through without amplification.

The Winegard 4800 was my first attempt at amplification. I knew that the VHF signals from Channel 8 were so strong that I could be in trouble. I was hoping the 4800 would leave the VHF signal alone and boost the UHF. UHF did good, but VHF is all over the place.

Did you have to install a rotor with the ChannelMaster 4228, or were you able to get all those channels with just careful positioning ? My problem is that with the Directv HR10-250, having a rotor makes the whole Tivo software pretty useless.

I'm also thinking that I made a mistake putting up a VHF/UHF antenna. I wonder if I just put the CM 4228 to handle the UHF that Channel 8 comes in so good that no antenna is needed....

With the antenna pointing north, I can get all of the stations except CPTV out of Bridgeport and WCTX which is on WTNH's tower. If I rotate it 90 degrees to the West I can pick up those two stations strongly. I can get WTNH with just a short RG6 cable hanging off my STB, that's why it is so easy to overload the signal.

Primus,

It sounds like your solution may be something I can copy. When you say you hang your RG6 cable off your 'STB', what exactly are you referring to when you say 'STB' ? I'm thinking that this may work for me due to the overloading of Channel 8's signal. Also - did you do the install yourself or did you hire a contractor in our local area ?

Primus,

It sounds like your solution may be something I can copy. When you say you hang your RG6 cable off your 'STB', what exactly are you referring to when you say 'STB' ? I'm thinking that this may work for me due to the overloading of Channel 8's signal. Also - did you do the install yourself or did you hire a contractor in our local area ?

stb = set top box, or receiver

The Winegard 4800 was my first attempt at amplification. I knew that the VHF signals from Channel 8 were so strong that I could be in trouble. I was hoping the 4800 would leave the VHF signal alone and boost the UHF. UHF did good, but VHF is all over the place.

Did you have to install a rotor with the ChannelMaster 4228, or were you able to get all those channels with just careful positioning ? My problem is that with the Directv HR10-250, having a rotor makes the whole Tivo software pretty useless.

I'm also thinking that I made a mistake putting up a VHF/UHF antenna. I wonder if I just put the CM 4228 to handle the UHF that Channel 8 comes in so good that no antenna is needed....

Here's my setup.

I use two antennas one for UHF and one for VHF. Both separately amplified and both separate runs to amplify them. The VHF is a small Channel Master (cant remember the number) pointed to the southwest to get WTNH. I use a Winegard VHF only amplified pre-amp.

I have a rotating Double Yagi UHF setup primarily pointed to the Northwest to get the Hartford stations. I use a Channel Master 7777 Pre-Amp.

Here's where things might help. Each line is separately amplified and fed into a common point. I then use an affordable Radio Shack UHF/VHF combiner. That combiner then brings in one signal into the house.

Contact me directly if you need more help.

The Winegard 4800 was my first attempt at amplification. I knew that the VHF signals from Channel 8 were so strong that I could be in trouble. I was hoping the 4800 would leave the VHF signal alone and boost the UHF. UHF did good, but VHF is all over the place.

I'm also thinking that I made a mistake putting up a VHF/UHF antenna. I wonder if I just put the CM 4228 to handle the UHF that Channel 8 comes in so good that no antenna is needed....

Stark Electronics has several Winegard preamps on their web site that were returned because they amplified VHF when they are supposed to bypass it. Perhaps your preamp is also faulty.

The Channel Master 7777 preamp and its lower gain brother 7778 has seperate UHF and VHF inputs. A Channel Master 4228 or 4224 UHF only antenna aimed at WFSB connected to the UHF input plus a VHF antenna with a 10 db attenuator aimed at WTNH connected to the VHF input may be worth trying. Note that lower gain means less chance to overload, so the 7778 is a better choice for you than the 7777. The 7777 is better for fringe reception when there are no nearby transmitters to overload the preamp.

Here's my setup.

I use two antennas one for UHF and one for VHF. Both separately amplified and both separate runs to amplify them. The VHF is a small Channel Master (cant remember the number) pointed to the southwest to get WTNH. I use a Winegard VHF only amplified pre-amp.

I have a rotating Double Yagi UHF setup primarily pointed to the Northwest to get the Hartford stations. I use a Channel Master 7777 Pre-Amp.

Here's where things might help. Each line is separately amplified and fed into a common point. I then use an affordable Radio Shack UHF/VHF combiner. That combiner then brings in one signal into the house.

Contact me directly if you need more help.

Brewer4
Could you clarify how you "separately amplify" then combine outside? I have the same antenna setup, UHF and rotor on a tower and small VHF very low on the tower, but no pre-amps, and use a combiner at the base of a tower. I live near WTNH and don't want any preamp for VHF. However I want to try a pre-amp on the tower mounted UHF. I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that I cannot send the power for a preamp such as the 7775 up the combined line? How did you do this?

Brewer4
Could you clarify how you "separately amplify" then combine outside? I have the same antenna setup, UHF and rotor on a tower and small VHF very low on the tower, but no pre-amps, and use a combiner at the base of a tower. I live near WTNH and don't want any preamp for VHF. However I want to try a pre-amp on the tower mounted UHF. I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that I cannot send the power for a preamp such as the 7775 up the combined line? How did you do this?

They make a two way splitter with a power pass on only one output. It is often used for splitting L-band feeds for satellite signals. Use it backwards and connect the power pass to the UHF preamp coax, the isolated tap to the VHF antenna coax. One such splitter is the model DED772A available from dawnsat.com. ($19)

With many, many thanks to all the posters on this forum, I'm able to report success with 3 of the 4 major channels OTA here in Wallingford. Was able to implement a rather inelegant solution - but it's working now, so I can't complain ;)

For future viewers reference, here's what I did.

Using a UHF/VHF ChannelMaster Stealth Antenna purchased at Lowe's along with a Winegard UHF pre-amp with VHF pass-through. Installed antenna pretty much pointing directly North for Hartford stations. Ran coax down to a UHF/VHF splitter (due to wild fluctuations with my VHF station in New Haven). Installed VHF rabbit-ears nearby and ran a coax into a UHF/VHF joiner - and then plugged the UHF split signal into this joiner. Coax then runs from the joiner directly into my HD Tivo box. Voila, UHF and VHF coming in great. Channel 30 in 90+, Channel 8 in 90 +, Channel 61 in @ 80. I have to tell you that the best way for me to get the Channel 8 signal here in Wallingford was literally to point my rabbit-ears directly at the wall. I'm pretty convinced that the Channel 8 signal was so strong that it was causing havoc.

All in all, not too pretty, but workable. No real loss with not receiving WB/UPN. I wish I could get Channel 3, but that signal seems to be consistently @ 20 no matter which way I tweak the antenna location. That's pretty surprising as the 2 other Hartford stations are coming in great !

Anyhow, thanks again to all for your considerable attention and assistance.

With many, many thanks to all the posters on this forum, I'm able to report success with 3 of the 4 major channels OTA here in Wallingford. Was able to implement a rather inelegant solution - but it's working now, so I can't complain ;)

For future viewers reference, here's what I did.

Using a UHF/VHF ChannelMaster Stealth Antenna purchased at Lowe's along with a Winegard UHF pre-amp with VHF pass-through. Installed antenna pretty much pointing directly North for Hartford stations. Ran coax down to a UHF/VHF splitter (due to wild fluctuations with my VHF station in New Haven). Installed VHF rabbit-ears nearby and ran a coax into a UHF/VHF joiner - and then plugged the UHF split signal into this joiner. Coax then runs from the joiner directly into my HD Tivo box. Voila, UHF and VHF coming in great. Channel 30 in 90+, Channel 8 in 90 +, Channel 61 in @ 80. I have to tell you that the best way for me to get the Channel 8 signal here in Wallingford was literally to point my rabbit-ears directly at the wall. I'm pretty convinced that the Channel 8 signal was so strong that it was causing havoc.

All in all, not too pretty, but workable. No real loss with not receiving WB/UPN. I wish I could get Channel 3, but that signal seems to be consistently @ 20 no matter which way I tweak the antenna location. That's pretty surprising as the 2 other Hartford stations are coming in great !

Anyhow, thanks again to all for your considerable attention and assistance.

If I may ask, is the rabbit ears mounted outside? I'd like to use a similar setup to get WTNH, which won't come in on my UHF antenna (Winegard Square Shooter). I was thinking of mounting a rabbit-ears like antenna on the same mast and running it into my CM 7777 pre amp, which has a separate input for VHF. You can set the pre-amp to boost the UHF input or the UHF and VHF input. What I don't know is if I leave the setting to UHF only, will it pass an unamplified VHF signal on the VHF lead? In any case, I'm looking for a cheap, small VHF only antenna to get WTNH since the signal is so strong where I am (Killingworth). Simple rabbit ears will do, but all I can find is interior types.

Chris

A couple of quickies.....

Do you folks think that if I were to raise my antenna (CM4228 w/amp & rotator) from a single story garage, to the top of my 2 story house, it would make a big difference? I am usually OK with WTNH, WVIT and WFSB for now, but no go on WTIC (other than occasional pixelation) I am in Milford and waiting on D* waivers but not holding my breath.

If you think it would be of great benefit to raise it, anybody have any good names of people in the biz in this area?? Thanks!!

scottte

If I may ask, is the rabbit ears mounted outside? I'd like to use a similar setup to get WTNH, which won't come in on my UHF antenna (Winegard Square Shooter). I was thinking of mounting a rabbit-ears like antenna on the same mast and running it into my CM 7777 pre amp, which has a separate input for VHF. You can set the pre-amp to boost the UHF input or the UHF and VHF input. What I don't know is if I leave the setting to UHF only, will it pass an unamplified VHF signal on the VHF lead? In any case, I'm looking for a cheap, small VHF only antenna to get WTNH since the signal is so strong where I am (Killingworth). Simple rabbit ears will do, but all I can find is interior types.

Chris

Chris,

My rabbit ears are mounted inside in the laundry room next to my family room (where my TV is). I literally had to point them towards a wall to get the best, most consistent signal. You can order outdoor VHF antennas via sites such as solidsignal.com, but you might run into the same problem I had with Channel 8 in that the signal is SO strong, it may cause some issues. However, based on the information I've gotten here from other members, many of them are doing the same that you're discussing, i.e. separate UHF and VHF antenna pointing different directions and then joining them thru the CM7777 pre-amp. I don't know if simple rabbit-ear antennas are weather-proof enough to just attach to your mast or if they're purely made for interior use.

Still need advice on splitting my OTA coming out of my 7777 amp. If I use a simple splitter (a decent quality 5-1000mhz one) I lose about 10 points of signal strength according to my HD Tivo, which is enough to lose me a station. Anyone have suggestions?

I've read a ton of posts here going back a ways about the weakness of the Channel 3 signal from WFSB. I haven't seen any recent posts, so I'm curious if they're still having problems there. I was just at an electronics store in West Hartford at lunch-time and mentioned my issues with getting Channel 3 OTA. The guy there told me that the engineering staff from channel 3 is in there all the time and they're still having problems with the signal.

Anybody else heard that ? I'm thinking about calling the engineering dept at WFSB directly and asking them what's up.

stumacdo - good luck with WFSB - they've made it abundantly clear they could care less about their OTA "customers", and rarely, if ever, respond to any requests with meaningful information. I suspect the reason you're not getting WFSB, given your location, is the stealthtenna is a pretty low gain UHF antenna - if you were to try something like the CM4228, I would be surprised if you didn't get WFSB.

madpoet - don't have a lot of info to go on regarding your setup, but it sounds like you may need a distribution amp.

Ross

I actually just got off the phone with one of the members of the engineering department at WFSB. He was really nice and was quite surprised to hear I was having problems picking up their channel while getting all the Hartford channels. He suggested moving the antenna a few degrees to see if it gets any better. When i use antennaweb, it does show that Fox & NBC are at 19 degrees while CBS is at 22. I wonder if I just move the antenna a few degrees if it'll make any difference. Even though the StealthAntenna is pretty low-gain, it is doing a good job with the other Hartford stations, so I would assume getting Channel 3 shouldn't be a problem with that antenna (all things considered). I'm trying to avoid replacing the Stealth with the CM4228 strictly due to the much larger size of the CM4228. Like its namesake, the Stealth is small enough that it doesn't look out-of-place on my roof....

The engineer I spoke to also did warn me that they usually don't grant waivers no matter what.

The engineer I spoke to also did warn me that they usually don't grant waivers no matter what.

How nice of them. They have the worst track record of the major networks in meeting their stated due dates and estimates for providing a watchable digital signal, but that won't stop them from denying waivers.

From reports on this thread it seems that unless you're about 10 miles or less from the towers, your chances of picking it up reliable are spotty and get worse the farther out you are.

What I would like to know is what is their schedule for getting to full/higher power. Does anyone know where that information is posted? Maybe some FCC cite? WTIC too - aren't they constructing their permanent antenna now?

Chris

How nice of them. They have the worst track record of the major networks in meeting their stated due dates and estimates for providing a watchable digital signal, but that won't stop them from denying waivers.

From reports on this thread it seems that unless you're about 10 miles or less from the towers, your chances of picking it up reliable are spotty and get worse the farther out you are.

What I would like to know is what is their schedule for getting to full/higher power. Does anyone know where that information is posted? Maybe some FCC cite? WTIC too - aren't they constructing their permanent antenna now?

Chris

WFSB is bad, but at least they have a digital signal. CPTV in Hartford has none!

What I would like to know is what is their schedule for getting to full/higher power. Does anyone know where that information is posted? Maybe some FCC cite? WTIC too - aren't they constructing their permanent antenna now?

Chris

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=53115 WFSB is at full licensed power at the same height of the analog antenna.

Since installing the full power system they have had failures of the transmitter as well as burned up the new antenna. Suppossedly it's all been fixed.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=53115 WFSB is at full licensed power at the same height of the analog antenna.

Since installing the full power system they have had failures of the transmitter as well as burned up the new antenna. Suppossedly it's all been fixed.

Thanks for the link. I'm a little confused since it lists two digital signals for WFSB. A DS (Special Temporary Authority) with 20 kw of power, and DT (Digital Tele. Station) with 1,000 kw of power. Do you know which is actually on the air? I could not get a blip from WFSB last weekend when I installed my antenna. I would think with 1,000 kw, you should be able to get it just about anywhere in the state.

Chris

I am in S. NH and get wtic, 61.1, but nothing w/wfsb. The power of 61.1 is supposedly less than 1/2 of max power on 3.1. I do not believe the wfsb engineers when they say they are at full power.

I am in S. NH and get wtic, 61.1, but nothing w/wfsb. The power of 61.1 is supposedly less than 1/2 of max power on 3.1. I do not believe the wfsb engineers when they say they are at full power.

join the crowd!

I get everything at my house in southeastern CT except WFSB and WTXX but WTXX is only at 9.6 kw so I don't see that getting much past the Colchester area maby.
At the tower for the company that I work for that is in the same town, the difference between the two is a couple of degree's in direction from the transmitters, about 100 feet in elevation and the antenna is 150 feet up the tower.
WFSB the lowest in level on a spectrum analizer by half with the eception of WTXX that is in the dirt.
My digital d-mod locks on to it ok with about a 24db signal to niose where WVIT and WTIC usually hang around 30db signal to niose.
WFSB do claim full power, maby I am missing something.
Lucky for me I can turn my roter and get Ch12 out of Providence just fine !

I get everything at my house in southeastern CT except WFSB and WTXX but WTXX is only at 9.6 kw so I don't see that getting much past the Colchester area maby.

I assume you're in Uncasville based on your profile. And I assume everything except WFSB means you get WTIC (Fox). The reason I ask is that I just put up an antenna last weekend (since D* won't have CT locals in time for football) and I can't get a lock on WTIC (nor WFSB - but that's their issue I think). I'm in Killingworth. Have been reading up on antennas over on the hardware forum and there's a guy from Old Lyme that has the same set up as me and gets everything except WFSB.

I know that WTIC has an unusual signal pattern that does not extend as far towards southwest CT. Could it be that I'm just far enough west and south from you and others to not pick it up solidly? Very frustrated since WFSB and WTIC carry most of the football games and as of now, I can't get either digital station!

Chris

Chris - I don't know what your complete set up is, and I'm farther from the transmitter than you, but I have a SqS also with a CM7777 preamp, and WTIC has been going in and out on me for the past week. I see this occasionally, and I attribute it to a combination of leaves on the trees and summer atmospherics, since it rarely happens at other times of the year. Another option is to try a better UHF antenna, like a CM4228. Only reason I'm using the SqS is I can get the stations I want without the need for a rotor, but the 4228 is a much higher gain antenna (about 12 dB vs. 4.5 dB). Or you could try calling WTIC and ask if they've been having any problems lately - they're more responsive than WFSB!

Ross

Thanks for the link. I'm a little confused since it lists two digital signals for WFSB. A DS (Special Temporary Authority) with 20 kw of power, and DT (Digital Tele. Station) with 1,000 kw of power. Do you know which is actually on the air? I would think with 1,000 kw, you should be able to get it just about anywhere in the state.

Chris

WFSB ran 20 KW ERP with a low antenna until last summer when they installed the new antenna and transmitter. Both have had some problems, but I believe that some of the differences between WFSB and WTIC/WVIT are due to tower height differences and antenna pattern variation plus the distance between the two tower locations. WVIT and WTIC are on Rattlesnake Mountain, WFSB is on Talcott Mountain. An omnidirectional antenna is not 100 % omnidirectional. You could be in the peak of one stations pattern and in the bottom of another pattern.

WFSB 375.8 meters above sea level 1000 KW ERP
WTIC 386.0 meters above sea level 470 KW ERP
WVIT 532.0 meters above sea level 250 KW ERP

WTIC will be at 605 meters when the tower modifications are complete. Height is more important than power.

WTIC will be at 605 meters when the tower modifications are complete. Height is more important than power.

Do you know when the tower modifications will be complete? Thanks.

Ross

Chris - I don't know what your complete set up is, and I'm farther from the transmitter than you, but I have a SqS also with a CM7777 preamp, and WTIC has been going in and out on me for the past week. I see this occasionally, and I attribute it to a combination of leaves on the trees and summer atmospherics, since it rarely happens at other times of the year. Another option is to try a better UHF antenna, like a CM4228. Only reason I'm using the SqS is I can get the stations I want without the need for a rotor, but the 4228 is a much higher gain antenna (about 12 dB vs. 4.5 dB). Or you could try calling WTIC and ask if they've been having any problems lately - they're more responsive than WFSB!

Ross

Ross,

I basically have the one antenna - SqS - run to the UHF/VHF combined input on the CM 7777 pre amp, then a home run to my Samsung TS-160 box, of course with the amp just before the box. Do you receive WTNH using your SqS? I think if I rotated my SqS west to about 300 degrees, I could get it, but not when I'm pointing at the Hartford stations.

My other antenna choice was the CM4228, but with favorable reports on the SqS from people in my general area and the added attraction of it being less noticeable, I went that direction. I still have hope for getting WTIC, and might try a separate VHF antenna for WTNH to avoid needing a rotator.

Chris

Do you know when the tower modifications will be complete? Thanks.

Ross

Sorry, I don't know. Perhaps this link will provide insight.

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6518002242

stumacdo - good luck with WFSB - they've made it abundantly clear they could care less about their OTA "customers", and rarely, if ever, respond to any requests with meaningful information.

I hate to break this to you, but we are not WFSB's customers. We are not WTIC's or WVIT's customers either. We are their merchandise. The advertisers who buy the commercials are their customers and, for the most part, those advertisers are located in and around Hartford. The advertisers' customers are also located in and around Hartford. If some of the advertisers get their messages to a few extra people in Haddam or Killingly or Plainfield or Sharon, that's just a bonus; it's not what they are primarily paying for. Thus it is not terribly important for any of the stations to maximize viewership in fringe areas. It's not as if they are going out of their way to prevent people from receiving their signal. They just don't see much economic value in expending any extra effort to see to it that they do.

OK, replies to several posts here....

docbone - I understand your point, which is why I put the term "customers" in quotes. I don't pay attention to who advertises on WFSB, primarily because I don't watch them that much in SD (on D*), but I fail to understand why they are determined to be such jerks compared to any other station in this state; if they're not interested in SE CT, they should grant waivers - oops, now I'm starting to sound like bfogelstrom :D

tower guy - thanks for the link.

Chris - I have the SqS (1000) and a channel 12 yagi for picking up WTNH (it's smaller than a ch. 10 and works as well) going into a CM7777. I have not had any luck picking up WTNH with the SqS alone, but it's a lousy VHF antenna. I started out with a CM4228 for UHF, but with the directional spread between New Haven and Avon/Rattlesnake mountains, it was a little too directional to use without a rotor. That directional issue is probably going to be worse for you based on your location, but if you're getting signal blips from WFSB with the SqS, I would think it would be worth trying a CM4228 (but with the likely need for a rotor if it works). Getting back to WTNH, from your location you might find a VHF yagi and the CM7777 will overdrive your receiver, but like most of this OTA stuff, you don't know until you try it. If that happens, you could try a signal attenuator in the VHF line, combine the unamplified VHF signal with the amplified UHF signal, or I've even heard some suggest pointing the antenna off axis from the transmitter (although that might cause multipath problems).

Ross

Does anyone here have any recommendations/references for antenna installers in the Wallingford/Durham/North Haven area ? I'm giving thought to switching my antenna, and was curious if anybody had any recommendations for an installer who's local. Thanks.

Stumacdo,

I don't have any references for you but about a year ago I did get some names of installers from signal electronics where you purchased some of your set up. If you call them and ask, I'm sure they will give you a few names, probably installers that buy from them.

Ross,

After additional tweaking of my setup this weekend, I'm now able to pull in WFSB, but with excessive breakups that make the picture unwatchable. WTIC (Fox) is even worse. I've temporarily set up my old rabbit ears off an A-B switch to pick up WTNH. At this point, I think I'm getting everything I can from the SqS with the CM 7777. I'm very close to ordering a CM 4228 UHF antenna to get the Hartford stations. I would hope the additional gain will get me to a point of signal lock on WFSB, WVIT, WTIC and maybe PBS too (though I get nada for PBS-Hartford now). As for the New Haven stations, I could redeploy the SqS to pick those up.

That all said, is it normal for the signal strength to pick up in the fall as the leaves fall off the trees? If that's the case, I might sit tight 'till then and see what happens.

Chris

Hi All,

I've been receiving 10-1 at about 65% for about a year now, but in the last several weeks the signal has been very flakey. The signal bounces around in the 40's and occationally drops out completely.

Has anyone else seen this happening? Have they lowered they're output wattage or moved the antenna? :(

Thanks,

Frank

Chris - glad to hear you're making some progress. If you decide to try the CM4228, you might want to see if Signal Electronics will let you return it if it doesn't work for you. East Lyme isn't exactly close to you, but if you wanted to make the drive, you're welcome to borrow mine since I'm not using it right now - then again, the gas would probably cost more than buying an antenna :D

Leaves will definitely make a difference in UHF reception if you have trees between your antenna and the transmitter. I go through intermittent periods of lousy reception (WTIC being a good example) in the summer, but it all clears up when the leaves drop - I don't really care since most stuff in the summer are repeats anyways.

garberfc - no problems with WTNH in East Lyme.

Ross

Can someone tell me whether an HDMI connection to my tv is possible with Comcast cable (Hartford)? Thanks very much.


BGM

I was having trouble with drop-outs on channel 61.1 tonight. I have only had my new Sony KDF-E50A10 HDTV for a week so I don't know if this is because of reception problems, the station, or what. The TV reports no signal on the sreen during the drop out but on the diagnostics screen it indicates that it has signal lock, good signal strength, good SNR and a zero error count. When any other station drops out lock is lost, SNR drops to zero and errors are momentarily counted. It almost looks like the station might be dropping the network feed. Is anyone else having a problem with WTIC?

garberfc - no problems with WTNH in East Lyme.

Ross
Thanks! :(

Antenna Install Update: Well it figures. I ordered a new CM 4228 from Starke Electronic in Ma on Monday to replace the Winegard SqS. Last night, I sit down to watch TV and try all the Hartford OTA stations. I get a virtual lock on Channel 3 all night, and about the same with WTIC. WVIT always came in fine. Still no signal from PBS. (In fact I re-scanned local stations on my Samsung T-160 and channel 45 doesn't even show - isn't that the Hartford PBS digital channel?).

Maybe all my problems over the weekend were due to the high humidity. And maybe the issue deconvolver describes above for FOX is why that didn't come in over the weekend, though I had no problems last night as he describes. I think I will evaluate the situation this week and decide on Saturday whether to switch out the Winegard SqS for the CM 4228, or send it back unopenned.

Chris

Hi All,

I've been receiving 10-1 at about 65% for about a year now, but in the last several weeks the signal has been very flakey. The signal bounces around in the 40's and occationally drops out completely.

Has anyone else seen this happening? Have they lowered they're output wattage or moved the antenna? :(

Thanks,

Frank


This may be atmospheric. The humid days of summer can really make OTA signals go wacky.

CHDinCT,
Channel 45 is PBS but it is located in Norwich, CT. Depending on where you are located it likely would be in a different direction than the Hartford stations. PBS does not have the Hartford station on the air yet. They may still be waiting for approval from the FCC to use channel 45 there. John

CHDinCT,
If you are in "South Central, CT" try getting PBS from Bridgeport on channel 52(49). Can you get WGBY in Springfield on channel 58(57)? I use the CM 4228 with the CM 7777 pre amp and both come in strong. Joel

FYI

Stark Electronics has a special this week on the CM 4228.
:)

FYI

Stark Electronics has a special this week on the CM 4228.
:)

Primus,

That's why I bought it from them, plus it arrived in one day. I haven't opened it yet - will see how my reception is this week.

On PBS, antennaweb.org shows 45 as a Hartford station on the compass settings for my house. I guess it doesn't exist yet. I'm going to see if I can pull in Channel 6 (PBS) from New Haven since I still need a VHF antenna pointed at WTNH (Ch 10). Of course I'm assuming this station is on the air???. Doubt I can get anything from Springfield, at least with my current antenna. Maybe with the 4228 if I install it. I wasn't counting on getting PBS, so if I can't get it now, I'm fine waiting until 45-Hartford is up and pumping.

Chris

I still need a VHF antenna pointed at WTNH (Ch 10). Chris
CHDinCT,
With the CM 4228 you should be able to pick up WTNH (Ch 10). It does a good job with the high VHF channels 7-13.

PBS in New Haven (Ch 6) doesn't exist. PBS from Bridgeport (Ch 52) comes in strong in Durham.

You should check out the 2150 website for stations and their orientation and distance in relation to your location.

Joel

CHDinCT,
With the CM 4228 you should be able to pick up WTNH (Ch 10). It does a good job with the high VHF channels 7-13.

Are you sure about that? The 4228 is a UHF only antenna???

Frank

Are you sure about that? The 4228 is a UHF only antenna???

Frank
Positive!

With the CH 4228 I get the following VHF stations WTNH (10-DT) & (8-analog), WWLP (11-DT), WTXX (12-DT).

Joel

It's great that you can pick up those stations, but a word of caution - the CM4228 is not a VHF antenna and won't work as such in fringe areas. Depending on proximity to the transmitter, signal strength, etc., it's obviously possible to pick up other stations even with the CM 4228, just like you could probably pick up WTNH with a coat hanger in some parts of the state. On the other extreme, in SE CT you won't pick up WTNH, WWLP or WTXX with the CM4228.

Ross,

No I wouldn't think you could pick up WTNH, WWLP, and WTXX with the CM4228 from SE CT. My original suggestion was for Chris from "South Central CT" trying to get WTNH. I believe that Durham is in that area and therefore he is close to me.

My original installation plan was to use the CM4228 for UHF and a Wade Dehli or Winegard for VHF along with a rotor and pre amp (I needed a pre amp to get WGBY-58). I set up the CM4228 and the CM7777 pre amp in my family room to test my tuner and the antenna set up. I scanned for stations and to my surprise all of the current VHF digital stations came in strong.

I haven't tried a coat hanger but a 6ft pc of RG6 cable works fine for WTNH.

Joel

Joel, Ross,

I've heard you can pull in high VHF channels with the 4228. However, I understand it is very directional and I would need a rotator to be able to get both Hartford and New Haven. I really don't want to get a rotator since I like to do a lot of channel hopping and the delay and/or extra remote action I'd have to deal with isn't attractive, not to mention the price of a rotator. That's why I'm thinking about a 2 antenna set-up. UHF pointed at Hartford and VHF at New Haven to get digital 6 and 10 (if 6 is on the air). I'd think about a combination UHF/VHF pointed at NH, but I'm afraid combining the two UHF antenna signals would screw up the Hartford stations. This is based on my reading as I'm no antenna expert.

Chris

Chris,

Sounds like your plan to use separate UHF and VHF antennas is a good plan.

Check out this updated link of station channel selections in New England. http://www.necrat.com/dtv.html. It looks like PBS in Norwich is switching to (9).

Joel

Chris,

I agree with Joel that you should be in good shape. It's exactly the same sort of thinking I went with, although I'm having to go through some extremes to split the signal appropriately. I've decided to upgrade to a CM4228 for UHF and try mount a separate Yagi VHF antenna for ABC/WB. Due to the fact that ABC is so strong up here in Wallingford, I'm going to try pointing the antenna to optimize for WB in Hartford and I believe I'll pick up ABC by default. I'll post back next week and let you know the end-result.

As an aside, due to a reference from Signal Electronics in West Hartford, I've found an antenna installer w/20 years experience based in Northford. I spoke to him on the phone and he seems like a knowledgeable guy with quite reasonable pricing. If anybody needs a contact for installation in this area, let me know. -Stu-

Joel - we're on the same page - I was just trying to clarify for Frank and anyone else reading the thread that one needs to take several factors into consideration before expecting a CM4228 to pick up VHF stations.

I see you're a new member - welcome to AVS :)

Chris, Stu - sounds like you're both on the right track with your antenna arrangement. Look forward to hearing how it works out.

Ross

Somewhat off topic, sorry... does anyone else get DirecTV and Fox61 through it? Not the OTA broadcast (which I still can't get) but the "digital" feed that DirecTV provides? Is it me, or is it absolutely terrible? I get severe ghosting on the channel, with litterally 2-3 ghosts of everything on the screen. I can't understand what the heck it's doing.

Somewhat off topic, sorry... does anyone else get DirecTV and Fox61 through it?

madpoet - I not sure I understand what you mean by "it", but if you're asking about the quality of D* 's local channel FOX broadcast, it looks fine on my set (as SD broadcasts go). I'm not aware of anyone getting a HD waiver for FOX.

Ross

Somewhat off topic, sorry... does anyone else get DirecTV and Fox61 through it? Not the OTA broadcast (which I still can't get) but the "digital" feed that DirecTV provides? Is it me, or is it absolutely terrible? I get severe ghosting on the channel, with litterally 2-3 ghosts of everything on the screen. I can't understand what the heck it's doing.

Madpoet,

I get the regular digital locals via Direct TV and have seen the same thing - washed out and ghosted signal at times. Very strange as it appears to be a bad analog signal that has been digitized by/for D*. I recall last winter during American Idol it got so bad at one point I switched to my rabbit ears to try to pull in the OTA analog signal, which was bad but better than the D* version.

Can't believe they haven't permanently fixed this as yet, especially since it's a FOX affiliate station.

Right, the digital rebraodcast of the SD station. It was TERRIBLE last night. I mean really unwatchable.

Het Madpoet,
It sounds like an analog multipath or a co-channel interference on the recieve side for D*, I don't know how D* or E* get the signals from the local stations to uplink to the cutomers. Maby they have an antenna recieve sight and they stream them to the uplink station?
My locals are very overcompressed looking to the piont I am going to drop them, ofcourse the only thing that doen't look like that to me is the HD's that I get from them.
I do see interference every once and a while on my locals from them, they seem to go hand and hand with locals on my cable when co-channel is a problem but not quite as severe maby because they are recieving them from a closer location

Yeah, I know. I honestly thought for a bit I'd somehow tuned in to an analog OTA broadcast, but the HDTivo doesn't DO analog :).

Madpoet,

I thought it was just me, but you're right - the standard Fox 61 signal off D* has been absolute crap for a while. In fact, I seem to recall watching it a month or two ago (Hell's Kitchen) and it was terrible. I don't know if it's consistently terrible as I use my OTA most of the time, but the few times I've checked it's been terrible. I wonder if you call D* if they'll actually have any feedback for you ?

I did call D* they blamed it on the local station. I'm waiting for after 2:30 pm when Leo, the engineer who is supposedly the expert, will be in at Fox. I'll let you know the results. Glad (sort of) that it's not just me.

Chris,

I agree with Joel that you should be in good shape. It's exactly the same sort of thinking I went with, although I'm having to go through some extremes to split the signal appropriately. I've decided to upgrade to a CM4228 for UHF and try mount a separate Yagi VHF antenna for ABC/WB. Due to the fact that ABC is so strong up here in Wallingford, I'm going to try pointing the antenna to optimize for WB in Hartford and I believe I'll pick up ABC by default. I'll post back next week and let you know the end-result.

As an aside, due to a reference from Signal Electronics in West Hartford, I've found an antenna installer w/20 years experience based in Northford. I spoke to him on the phone and he seems like a knowledgeable guy with quite reasonable pricing. If anybody needs a contact for installation in this area, let me know. -Stu-


Sounds like you're moving along nicely. I'd be interested in a back pickup of WTNH as well (although the idea being I could point the ties to NY, in my case). Let me know your findings (with and without 7777 if possible)

Ok, anyone having this problem... call D* and tell them. They opened a case so they can track complaints about it, and had some vague answers about trying to do something to fix it. The more of us that complain, the better.

Hey all,

I'm having a hard time all of a sudden with WTNH. I have a couple of questions.


What are the odds of me getting a waiver from WTNH?
If I get the waiver, will D*TV allow me to view the HD NY feed?


Thanks,

Frank

1) Pretty low :(.
2) Yes, if you get #1.

Hey all,

I'm having a hard time all of a sudden with WTNH. I have a couple of questions.


What are the odds of me getting a waiver from WTNH?
If I get the waiver, will D*TV allow me to view the HD NY feed?


Thanks,

Frank

Frank - good luck, but I can tell you that I just went through the process this month and was summarily shot down by CBS, Fox & ABC. Haven't heard yet from NBC, but based on some info on this thread, it seems to be the only channel you've got a chance with.

I actually sent off a very nice, detailed email to the person at WFSB responsible for denying waivers. Do you think I got a response ??? Anyone ???? Nope. Not too much of a big deal as OTA should take care of it, but its more the point than anything else.

I got a response. It was a form letter. And when I bitched about the form letter, they sent me ANOTHER form letter.

Stu,

You should be getting NBC East HD channel (82) now. WVIT is owned and operated by NBC so you don't need a waiver. You do have to subscribe to locals via DirecTV, however. If you aren't getting it, you should call them.

Chris

Stu,

You should be getting NBC East HD channel (82) now. WVIT is owned and operated by NBC so you don't need a waiver. You do have to subscribe to locals via DirecTV, however. If you aren't getting it, you should call them.

Chris

Chris,

I just got off the phone with them, and they stated that you absolutely do need to get a waiver from WVIT in order to get the national feed. I argued the whole owned & operated point, but no-go. I'm wondering if something's changed in recent months that may be different from when you activated it.

FYI,

I tried to watch the FOX61 digital feed from digital cable in Western MA last night.

I saw pixelation and missing blocks of visual information.

Maybe this was a FOX61 problem and not a D* problem.

Can anyone else confirm this?

I get 82 NBC East from Directv and do not subscribe to the locals

Chris,

I just got off the phone with them, and they stated that you absolutely do need to get a waiver from WVIT in order to get the national feed. I argued the whole owned & operated point, but no-go. I'm wondering if something's changed in recent months that may be different from when you activated it.

Well that's interesting. I didn't have to do anything. When they added it some months back it just showed up. I never called or requested a waiver. It may have something to do with the new SHVERA law. To be honest, I haven't bothered following that whole issue since I don't get distant network stations(DNS), except for NBC now that I think about it. Maybe we'll all be losing it soon. All the more reason to have put up an antenna.


Chris

It's changed since then Chris, you do have to still request it but they seem to always grant the waiver.

I got a response. It was a form letter. And when I bitched about the form letter, they sent me ANOTHER form letter.
Boy, that's sad :(. I can't stand the impersonal form letters... Hopefully the affiliates will increase their power to the point where reception won't be an issue...

Frank

Here are my first attempts at creating broadcast coverage maps using the free radiomobile program. I assumed omni antenna patterns which is not really correct but the real patterns are not overly directional so the results shouldn't be too bad. I set an additional forest loss of 90 percent. I also increased the time confidence to 95 percent and the situation confidence to 65 percent. The coverage predictions didn't differ by as much as I expected them to; but WVIT does show up with better coverage in SE CT which agrees with my own experience where WVIT is reliable but I only got one tiny blip of WFSB for one second when I tried to get it.

Oops, when I cropped the images to fit the forum size limit I accidentally cropped off this legend.

Oops, when I cropped the images to fit the forum size limit I accidentally cropped off this legend.
I intended the colors to span the range from very difficult to receive for dark blue to easy to receive for solid red. The receive antenna height was a constant 4 meters (13 ft) above the ground.

no chance you could add us pirates in Fairfield County, is there? :)

Here are my first attempts at creating broadcast coverage maps using the free radiomobile program. I assumed omni antenna patterns which is not really correct but the real patterns are not overly directional so the results shouldn't be too bad. I set an additional forest loss of 90 percent. I also increased the time confidence to 95 percent and the situation confidence to 65 percent. The coverage predictions didn't differ by as much as I expected them to; but WVIT does show up with better coverage in SE CT which agrees with my own experience where WVIT is reliable but I only got one tiny blip of WFSB for one second when I tried to get it.

Thanks for these maps. Looks like you put a lot of effort into them. From my experience, they look pretty accurate, though I can only speak for Killingworth. I get WVIT steady - sometimes 100% on my signal meter. WFSB, on the other hand, is very spotty; anywhere from 0-69%. I just upgraded to a CM 4228 antenna from the Winegard square shooter with no improvement in pulling in WFSB. Very disappointing! The only advantage I saw with the 4228 is that I can pick up WTNH on it even while pointed at Hartford. SqS would not pull in the VHF channel, so I would need another VHF antenna.

WTIC is also spotty, but I know that they will eventually raise their antenna height significantly, which should solve reception issues. That should give me locks on WVIT, WTNH and WTIC. I'm worried I'll never get WFSB steady. Does anyone know if they will raise their power level at some future (unknown) date?

.
I'm worried I'll never get WFSB steady. Does anyone know if they will raise their power level at some future (unknown) date?

WFSB is already at full FCC power, 1000 KW. The tower changes that they completed last year would suggest that a taller tower would be unlikely.

WFSB is already at full FCC power, 1000 KW. The tower changes that they completed last year would suggest that a taller tower would be unlikely.


TG: I respect your knowledge on the subject but still have questions re wfsb power. My understanding was dtv signals were to be comparable to analog in reach yet as this board continues to show people who receive ch 3 analog cannot receive 3 digital. Is my assumption on signal reach wrong (analog vs digital)? At full power analog, ch. 3 was 100kw at 276 tower ht. Their dtv signal at full power is 1000kw at 288'. Have they changed their directional pattern? I just don't understand why so many of us have a problem.

WFSB is already at full FCC power, 1000 KW. The tower changes that they completed last year would suggest that a taller tower would be unlikely.

Tower Guy,

I did see from one of your previous replies to me that WFSB is at their maximum authorized power. What I was hoping, especially given the poor reception in so many areas of CT, is that there might be an opportunity for them to increase power in the future. I have no idea if 1,000kw is about as strong as any digital signal could be, or if WFSB would have an interest in satisfying all their OTA viewers, but it sure would be nice. I guess hoping for this is like hoping for pigs to fly!

The 1MW is as much power as any digital station is allowed to run in the US and more than any other station in Hartford. AT UHF frequencies antenna height has a more significant effect that power. To get better coverage WFSB-DT needs to raise the antenna. John

TG: I respect your knowledge on the subject but still have questions re wfsb power. My understanding was dtv signals were to be comparable to analog in reach yet as this board continues to show people who receive ch 3 analog cannot receive 3 digital. Is my assumption on signal reach wrong (analog vs digital)? At full power analog, ch. 3 was 100kw at 276 tower ht. Their dtv signal at full power is 1000kw at 288'. Have they changed their directional pattern? I just don't understand why so many of us have a problem.


Those are fair questions. Due to cost issues I would not expect WFSB to raise their tower. They could rent space on the WTIC tower after the new candleabra is installed, but that would be expensive too. That would also help with some antenna orientation problems. As for DTV coverage similar to analog, that's a streach for low band stations such as channel 3. Yet, your point is well taken. I don't know if WFSB has measured their digital antenna to insure that it is working properly. Antennas can be tricky things. They can be poorly designed, poorly spec'ed, poorly installed, or poorly repaired after a failure, I've seen all four. I don't know if any of that is true for WFSB.

I tried hard to receive WFSB when they were at 20 KW, before CBS in Albany was on the air, but with WRGB on now it doesn't matter. I'm still working on Syracuse and Watertown to get the Bills every week. (WRGB usually carries the Jets.) My antenna is a ChannelMaster 4228 on a 120' tower with 3/4" feedline. I live on a hill. I can't use a preamp cause the Albany stations are 8 miles away and overload the preamp very easily.

The information that I discover on this Connecticut Forum is very telling. The stations in Hartford should have worked together to solve the antenna orientation problem for the residences of CT. In today's world of TIVOs and VCRs, who wants the hassle of an antenna rotator? The hilly terrain makes things even worse. I couldn't even try to design a reasonable combiner for all the TV channels that you guys have to deal with.

As always TG thanks for your insight. Good luck to your Bills, except when playing the Pats. :)

I envy your ability to receive the Jets :( Stupid Patriots.

Due to cost issues I would not expect WFSB to raise their tower. They could rent space on the WTIC tower after the new candleabra is installed, but that would be expensive too.

I don't thinnk it's a cost issue as much as it's a zoning issue. If they were permitted to build a taller tower at their present site I'm pretty sure they would jump at the chance but there's no way the town will allow it. And, yes, they could rent space on WTIC's tower but I also don't think they want their transmitter site to be under the control of an outside agency, particularly a competetor.

BTW, is anybody not surprised that today, August 24th, the day Comcast said their new channel lineup was to take effect (including Discovery HD & INHD2) in Hartford, has arrived and nothing has changed?

BTW, is anybody not surprised that today, August 24th, the day Comcast said their new channel lineup was to take effect (including Discovery HD & INHD2) in Hartford, has arrived and nothing has changed?

No I'm not surprised at all. Although I'm in a SA region (New London County) of Comcast which is one of the "old" system regions.... We didn't even have any channel changes posted....

Nope not bitter...

Not to go too off-topic here, but noting the problems that many members have had trying to get HD OTA to supplement their DirecTv minimal HD package, has anybody tried telling Directv that they have "moved". I've read in other sites where you can tell D* that you've "moved" to somewhere closer to NYC and in doing so, become eligible for East Coast Network HD over the satellite rather than OTA. Know it's off-topic (and properly not appropriate for discussion), but I'm more curious than anything if anyone's actually tried this tactic.

I have heard the same, but have not found any info on how to accomplish it :). If you find anything out let me know... privately perhaps!

I don't thinnk it's a cost issue as much as it's a zoning issue. If they were permitted to build a taller tower at their present site I'm pretty sure they would jump at the chance but there's no way the town will allow it. And, yes, they could rent space on WTIC's tower but I also don't think they want their transmitter site to be under the control of an outside agency, particularly a competetor.



I'm don't know zoning in Avon, but the current tower would have to be totally replaced. Due to structural design limitations and updates in standards the tower could not be extended enough to be useful. The cost of that would be in the 2-3 million dollar range. It would make sense only if there were additional tennants interested in colocation. Next is FAA issues because of the proximity to the airport.

The tower in Avon made sense because it had been the CBS for Springfield as well as Hartford. WFSB is now running a low power station in Springfield with seperate commercials, so moving south would be very helpful to residences near the coast and reduce some antenna orientation problems. The nice maps posted here don't show much of a coverage difference between WFSB and WVIT, but the WTIC tower is taller than WVIT's.

I believe that the WTIC tower is not actually owned by Tribune but Arnie Chase. (He posts here occasionally.) A typical tall tower rent can be in the $ 10K per month range. As more and more homes opt for CATV or DBS, a tower becomes more a claim to territory than a delivery system, so the extra expense has limited and diminishing returns. Meanwhile Forums such as this is very helpful to learn about the real world reception of DTV.

Sorry to bust up the OTA discussion...

Just curious if anyone on the Avon, Hartford or other CT Comcast systems could verify if they've seen the new channel line-up promised for today (including Discovery HD and INHD2)? It wasn't up when I left for work at 8:30AM so I'm wondering if I'll see it when I get home.

September 20, 2005 is the new date from Comcast for the update in CT, in case anyone still gives a rats a$$.

no chance you could add us pirates in Fairfield County, is there? :)
I am not sure if you were asking me for more maps but here they are in case you were.

Thanks for these maps. Looks like you put a lot of effort into them. From my experience, they look pretty accurate, though I can only speak for Killingworth. I get WVIT steady - sometimes 100% on my signal meter. WFSB, on the other hand, is very spotty; anywhere from 0-69%. I just upgraded to a CM 4228 antenna from the Winegard square shooter with no improvement in pulling in WFSB. Very disappointing! The only advantage I saw with the 4228 is that I can pick up WTNH on it even while pointed at Hartford. SqS would not pull in the VHF channel, so I would need another VHF antenna.

WTIC is also spotty, but I know that they will eventually raise their antenna height significantly, which should solve reception issues. That should give me locks on WVIT, WTNH and WTIC. I'm worried I'll never get WFSB steady. Does anyone know if they will raise their power level at some future (unknown) date?

I put some work in adding nearly all the CT and RI stations to the radiomobile net definition- the maps were easy to create. I think looking at the link information in radiomobile for my receive location is more accurate and informative then looking at these maps. I could then also play with the receive antenna height to check how sensitive the predicted level was to that height. If anyone else would like to try radiomobile I could send them my files (PM me your E-Mail address); they could then just change the receive location and reduce the transmitter power according to the transmit antenna pattern in their direction. I have enclosed the predicted coverage for WTNH. This map is even less accurate then the previous ones. I used the same color to receive level key even though the fcc uses 5 dB lower levels for VHF so a given color may be easier to receive then for the previous maps. I lowered the forest loss to 30% for VHF but I'm not sure if this is close to right or not. WTNH's pattern is reduced some in the New York direction so for that direction a given color may not be any easier to receive. I also didn't calculate interference from WJAR-TV so for eastern CT the coverage is probably somewhat worse than shown.

Thanks for the update, Addicted. I was just wondering what the rats were up to.

No good. They apparently hit a technical snag. They had how many months to test this and they hiut a snag at the last minute. Way to go Comcast!

And in typical Comcast fashion there was no message distributed via the cable boxes to keep the customers informed of the change. Do they have some sort of rule that the messaging system can only be used to hawk pay-per-view programming?

docbone - I keep getting told that you will only get notifications of channel changes (moving the line-up or additions) through your bill and it'll be a small flier that you are likely not to notice and toss.

Addicted2HD4Now - Thanks for the information. Unfortunately this just means those areas slated for the already gone by upgrades (new HD, analog to digital moving of channels) are still gettings this done. It's probally not likely that they'll do more areas on this Sept. date, right?

All - Is there any more information on Comcast's plan to unify the headends and thus home receivers to Moto rather than still have some SA areas? Do you think it would be a good thing to hand in lose a SA8000HD box for the Moto 6412?

First, pplchamp gets credit for finding out the new date, first. I only verified it with a different contact.

I would assume that the new date only reflects the areas that were supposed to get it on August 24. I honestly didn't ask this question though.

I thought they had already unified the digital headend, but maybe that's part of this realignment as well. I don't know anything for sure.

I did ask about ADS, and when it's going to be completed. The answer I got was "I was told a few months by engineering, so I would think by the end of the year." Didn't think it'd take that long, I guess Comcast CT engineering is understaffed and underworked since they can't seem to get things done on time.

Sorry to bust up the OTA discussion...

Just curious if anyone on the Avon, Hartford or other CT Comcast systems could verify if they've seen the new channel line-up promised for today (including Discovery HD and INHD2)? It wasn't up when I left for work at 8:30AM so I'm wondering if I'll see it when I get home.

We're on Comcast Vernon here in Marlborough. We got the new lineup in mid-July...

What's been going on with WTNH? Their HD has been out for a while. I emailed them when I noticed there was no HD for Lost this past week, they said something about a router problem and it'd be fixed by 8/26 (yesterday).

What's been going on with WTNH? Their HD has been out for a while. I emailed them when I noticed there was no HD for Lost this past week, they said something about a router problem and it'd be fixed by 8/26 (yesterday).

See this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=570007

We're on Comcast Vernon here in Marlborough. We got the new lineup in mid-July...

Yup, we know about that and that makes it worse. They figured out how to get it to you over a month ago, but couldn't get it done for other parts of CT. Complete BS. I'm sure we pay as much as you do in the Vernon area, too.

Guys

I am getting ready for my HD Tivo to be installed and figured I would go to the Shack and get an antenna. I picked up the 12-2160 UHF antenna and put it up in the attic. My plasma has a HD receiver built in so I used this to see what I could get.The only two digital channels I could get were WTNH and WCTX. Is this as good as it gets? Surely I should be able to get a PBS and an NBC station. At this rate I will have to cancel the HD Tivo and wait for the MPEG 4 locals

BTW I am on the Killingworth/Clinton line

Am I doing something wrong?

PBS probably won't be possible for you. They aren't up yet in our area I don't believe. If you can't get NBC, no worries. We're granted a waiver for it almost automatically every time because it's an O&O station. So make your locals waiver request.

Guys

I am getting ready for my HD Tivo to be installed and figured I would go to the Shack and get an antenna. I picked up the 12-2160 UHF antenna and put it up in the attic. My plasma has a HD receiver built in so I used this to see what I could get.The only two digital channels I could get were WTNH and WCTX. Is this as good as it gets? Surely I should be able to get a PBS and an NBC station. At this rate I will have to cancel the HD Tivo and wait for the MPEG 4 locals

BTW I am on the Killingworth/Clinton line

Am I doing something wrong?

3lions,

You might want to read my last 10 posts a page or 3 back as I am in Killingworth and just went through the same experiment. I started with a Winegard Square Shooter with a Channel Master 7777 pre amp and then tried a Channel Master 4228 8-bay bow-tie antenna, also with the pre-amp. I got about the same reception with both. With the Winegard pointed at Hartford stations, I got WVIT steady, WFSB in an out and WTIC in and out. I also picked up WCTX pretty steady. Because the Winegard is not good at VHF and since I was pointed at Hartford, I could not get WTNH without setting up a pair of rabbit ears and an A-B switch to change between antennas.

With the CM 4228, I get about the same reception on the Hartford stations plus I'm able to get WTHN at 93%. So, I'm sticking with this right now since I can get the big 4 with one antenna. WFSB and WTIC are strange in that some nights I can watch their programming with very few breakups - watched the Saturday Colts-Broncos game in HD with nary a breakup. Other nights, or days, I can't get a steady signal. WVIT and WTNH are never a problem. WTIC will be raising it's tower height sometime in the future (date unknown) and that should solve reception for WTIC. WFSB is at full power, so it's as good as it gets, except maybe when the leaves fall.

Long story short, you will need a pre-amplifier without question, and you will need a good UHF antenna mounted outside to get Hartford stations. The CM 4228 is one of the most popular long-range UHF antennas for AVS forum posters. It's available via the web at several retailers, or you can pick one up at Signal Electronics in West Hartford. Or, I might have a Winegard Sq Shooter for sale if you want to try that. :D

3lions - and your reception is going to be significantly degraded with an antenna in the attic. You really need to get it outdoors and on the roof.

Ross

I am not sure if you were asking me for more maps but here they are in case you were.


BTW - thanks a ton! I'm assuming from Fairfield, this might fall into the "you'd better think about a 50' tower" category! :)

Wanted to report back to the group my success (somewhat) here in Wallingford. This morning, I swapped out my CM StealthAntenna with the CM4228. Like several other posters, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only did I get the usual UHF suspects, but also was able to pick up the 2 VHF stations (ABC & WB) off the CM4228 UHF antenna. I had purchased a VHF Yagi just in case, but ended up not needing it. This is just an FYI to those of you who are debating installing separate UHF and VHF antennas - depending on your location, the CM4228 may just handle VHF for you as well as UHF.

Now for the bad news. No matter which way I orientate the antenna, I have absolutely no luck dialing in Channel 3 (I know, what a surprise !!). To top it off, I received the form letter from them yesterday telling me I've been denied a waiver. The text of the letter stated that "..... in Wallingford, you will be able to receive excellent High-Definition from our transmitter....". Yeah, right....... I would challenge anyone from that engineering department to come to my house and get Channel 3. Even the antenna installer was absolutely flabbergasted that I couldn't get Channel 3 with the set-up I had.

Interesting to read about all of the problems people are having getting WFSB-DT. I know there are alot of people new to the HD antenna game here and did not have to live throught the hell we went through to get WFSB-DT at all. They just started broadcasting in full power in October. I know back then many people reported good success. It does seem however that more people are having problems now. Did something change? I have DirecTV and am so used to Tivo that I have not really watched OTA HD. This will change now that football is back.

stumacdo ,

just cruious who did your install as I have CM Satelite coming later next week to move my CM 4228 to a higher roof with a tripod.

scottte

stumacdo ,

just cruious who did your install as I have CM Satelite coming later next week to move my CM 4228 to a higher roof with a tripod.

scottte

Scott,

I actually used the same installer (C&M). I have to say, they were prompt, speedy, pleasant and honest. I'd say it took them @ 45 minutes to take off the old antenna, put togetger the new CM4228, install it on a 10-foot mast on my roof and then optimize the signal. I was quite happy with the work and would gladly bring them back again.

3lions - and your reception is going to be significantly degraded with an antenna in the attic. You really need to get it outdoors and on the roof.

Ross
RTracy

Yes I realize that the signal might be degraded. Trouble is that to mount this thing on the chimney will require a 30 foot ladder on sloping grade and I don't particularly fancy doing it myself. I am sure I could hire a company to do it but frankly we watch very little network TV. I was using the ability to watch HD locals to sell the wife on the idea of the HD Tivo. I bought the Tivo lifetime a few years ago and want to get the most out of it.

Last night there was no Red Sox on InHD for me in Tolland (Comcast), just a blank screen. Anyone else have this problem, or was it just me?

Red Sox came in fine in HD on Cox in Manchester. And they won, making it a good game.

Red Sox came in fine in HD on Cox in Manchester. And they won, making it a good game.

Last night there was no Red Sox on InHD for me in Tolland (Comcast), just a blank screen. Anyone else have this problem, or was it just me?

No HD in Canton either. I checked periodically throughout the game. Seemed like someone flipped the switch into limbo. I never checked later to see if INHD programming came back on or at what point. Have to check the Boston, MA thread to see if they had trouble also. Maybe it was just a Comcast problem.

I always have a blank screen with Red Sox, Yankees, and Mets on InHD because they are blacked out by MLB. I still do not see how I can be in two different markets at the same time but according to MLB I am. One of the great things about living in Connecticut I guess.

That's what you get for living in the "rich" part of CT.

Please excuse if this is somewhat OT, but I've been trying to get correct info for a while now and just found this forum. My son is about to relocate to an area near Simsbury. We have HD at home and he wants it in his apartment. Can he get any nets in HD via DirecTV or Dish? Or is it simply through an outdoor antenna (which I don't know if his landlord will allow)? I understand that Hartford locals are available, but I think those are all SD. If anyone can help I would appreciate it. He's moving at the end of the month and I have a Sony HD 200 for HD he can have if it will be truly useful.

Thanks :confused:

I always have a blank screen with Red Sox, Yankees, and Mets on InHD because they are blacked out by MLB. I still do not see how I can be in two different markets at the same time but according to MLB I am. One of the great things about living in Connecticut I guess.

Sounds like somebody at your cable company is BS-ing you. The only explanation I can think of other than that is that Sox, Yankees and Mets (SD versions) are part of a premium package that you don't subscribe to (i.e. NESN and YES cost extra and you have chosen not to pay for them). And if you don't get them in SD you would not get them in HD either.

No HD in Canton either. I checked periodically throughout the game. Seemed like someone flipped the switch into limbo. I never checked later to see if INHD programming came back on or at what point. Have to check the Boston, MA thread to see if they had trouble also. Maybe it was just a Comcast problem.

Same deal in West Hartford. No Sox in HD. Since people did get it on Cox I have to assume it was a Comcast problem/screw-up.
I did check later on and after the game InHD normal programming was running as usual. And BTW, is it me or has InHD gone from being a mix of about 50% decent programming (albeit repeated constantly) and 50% crap to it's current state of being almost non-stop garbage? It seems like whenever the channel isn't overridden with a Sox or Yankees game that all they show is stupid stuff like Flugtag and an assortment of other "junk" sports like ESPN used to run in the early days before they carried any real sports.
About the only decent thing they run now is "Cathedrals of the Game" and that's mostly preempted by the Sox. It wasn't long ago that they ran movies like A Clockwork Orange. They ran it 10-12 times a week for months on end but at least it was something.

I suspect that someone in Simsbury should be able to pick up all the Hartford locals (not necessarily WTNH from New haven) and possibly the Springfield ones using rabbit ears or even a wire coat hanger for an antenna.

Second night in a row without Sox in HD. I called Comcast and they're saying it's a deal between NESN and my town to black out certain games. I pushed the guy for a while saying that I thought Comcast had the deal with my town and Comcast had the deal with my town. The guy I talked to was adament that it was NESN and not Comcast's fault that we didn't have it in HD. I couldn't get him to explain why blacking out the HD and not the SD accomplished anything.

Anyone ever heard of such a thing?

Same deal in West Hartford. No Sox in HD. Since people did get it on Cox I have to assume it was a Comcast problem/screw-up.

The Thursday night game finally showed up in HD in West Hartford some time in the 3rd or 4th inning. Clearly it was a Comcast screw-up, not any sort of restriction imposed by NESN. It's too bad the the people who answer the phones don't say "We'll look into it" instead of making up some BS story to create the appearance that Comcast couldn't possibly have made a mistake.

I am no longer calling the 1-888-COMCAST number when I have a problem. I'm only calling local CT numbers which basically ensures getting a CT CSR instead of someone out of state. They've usually been much more helpful and last night the woman that answered my second call went to check on the situation and send a message to the headend to let them know there was a problem. I explained to her calmly my frustration about being BS'd by another CSR and that I would rather be told someone made a mistake than be given a line of bull. I tried to get the moron's name that I had talked to earlier from her but he didn't put a note on my account so there wasn't a name to get. Too bad, I'd be calling someone this morning if I had a name to give.

Now I'm just waiting to see what SBC's U-Verse/Project Lightspeed is going to have to offer as far as HD channels. At least there'll possibly be a decent alternative to Comcast within the next 12 months.

I callled Comcast last night (thursday) about the sox situation and was adament that it wasn't nesn but them screwing up. Tried to explain if it was a local blackout I would be seeing INHD, since the channel was black the problem was on their end. After insisting on talking to a supervisor and twenty minutes of hold hell the game finally appeared. Lets see all of Wednesdays game and half of Thursdays game for the jerks to get it right, thank god its not brain surgery.

I turned on soundstage tonight with John Mayor and it said that it was in HD where available. The picture had a black frame all around it and looked awful but my Sony KDF-E50A10 HDTV reported that it was receiving 1080i like it always does for 53.1. So, does WEDN ever broadcast real HD? Does anyone know why they don't broadcast in HD normally?

John,
It looks a little better than an NTSC upconvert. It is not the same program as the HD network feed which is a Chris Izack (spelling?) concert. The have in the past had real HD but I am not sure what they are doing now. Analog 53 has been off the air for several weeks so maybe they are only carrying their regular shows on the digital channel. John

John,
It looks a little better than an NTSC upconvert. It is not the same program as the HD network feed which is a Chris Izack (spelling?) concert. The have in the past had real HD but I am not sure what they are doing now. Analog 53 has been off the air for several weeks so maybe they are only carrying their regular shows on the digital channel. John
Thanks, John. I hope this is only because of the loss of 53 analog. The web site says they need a new analog xmitter with an eta of 9/30 for the NTSC signal to be back on the air.

For those that watched the second episode last night, I'd like to know what you thought of the HD picture quality. I received it OTA via antenna and I was not at all impressed by the FOX HD PQ. In fact, I was left wondering if it was actually in HD. Can someone who watched it via cable tell me how the HD PQ was? I'm now thinking FOX didn't flip the proverbial switch for their OTA telecast last night.

On the other hand, if this is as good as FOX HD gets, I'm very disappointed. There is no comparison to ABC, NBC or CBS as far as I can tell. Still waiting to see HD football or baseball on FOX OTA, which I hope is much better.

I tuned in about half way through, and it clearly was not HD on Comcast.

Please excuse if this is somewhat OT, but I've been trying to get correct info for a while now and just found this forum. My son is about to relocate to an area near Simsbury. We have HD at home and he wants it in his apartment. Can he get any nets in HD via DirecTV or Dish? Or is it simply through an outdoor antenna (which I don't know if his landlord will allow)? I understand that Hartford locals are available, but I think those are all SD. If anyone can help I would appreciate it. He's moving at the end of the month and I have a Sony HD 200 for HD he can have if it will be truly useful.

Thanks :confused:

tivotony,

At present, you can only get the SD versions of the CT locals via Direct TV or Dish. Direct is planning to offer the HD versions sometime in 2006 - I'm guessing by mid year. They are starting with the top 12 DMAs in November and will add additional markets thereafter. CT is DMA #27. As for Dish, they haven't announced any plans to provide CT locals in HD, though I would think they are studying the issue.

That would leave cable or an antenna for now. In Simsbury, he might be able to pick up WFSB, WVIT and WTIC via an indoor amplified antenna. Might be worth a shot as these antennas are fairly cheap. Otherwise, go with cable or wait until mid 2006 for Direct TV to launch them.

PS - Forgot, SBC Uverse IPTV is suppose to roll out sometime in 2006 also. No specifics yet on areas or content, but I'd have to guess HD locals would be a must

The new channel lineup has come to the Branford system this morning. No new channels yet, and no HBO-HD, either, so it's obviously still a work in progress.

For those that watched the second episode last night, I'd like to know what you thought of the HD picture quality. I received it OTA via antenna and I was not at all impressed by the FOX HD PQ. In fact, I was left wondering if it was actually in HD. Can someone who watched it via cable tell me how the HD PQ was? I'm now thinking FOX didn't flip the proverbial switch for their OTA telecast last night.

On the other hand, if this is as good as FOX HD gets, I'm very disappointed. There is no comparison to ABC, NBC or CBS as far as I can tell. Still waiting to see HD football or baseball on FOX OTA, which I hope is much better.

It was absolutely not in HD on Monday night. They ran a repeat of the same episode last night, and this time, the episode was indeed in HD.

The new channel lineup has come to the Branford system this morning. No new channels yet, and no HBO-HD, either, so it's obviously still a work in progress.


The new channels wont be on till the 11th. looking foward to getting back inhd2 and for the first time discovery hd. also it looks like they are adding 3 hbo's and around 6 new cinemax'

The new channels wont be on till the 11th. looking foward to getting back inhd2 and for the first time discovery hd. also it looks like they are adding 3 hbo's and around 6 new cinemax'

They have added WVIT Digital Weather on ch 248. And HBO-HD now seems to be on ch 300. Seems odd that HBO-HD is grouped with all the HBOs, Cinemax-HD is grouped with all the other Cinemaxes, but ShowtimeHD and StarzHD are left separated from their SD versions. I wonder why they did it that way.

The new channels wont be on till the 11th. looking foward to getting back inhd2 and for the first time discovery hd. also it looks like they are adding 3 hbo's and around 6 new cinemax'

Good for you guys!

But that's BS that we were supposed to have it 2 weeks ago and someone else in CT again gets it before. I guess that just goes to show the engineers in our part of the state totally suck compared to other parts of CT.

Whats really funny is they removed TMC from analog (15) before providing the new channel line-up. Now if they were going to do that, why not just get rid of TMC and HBO (14) from analog to be able to give us INHD2 and DiscoveryHD before the full new line-up. Doesn't make sense.

Bring on SBC Project Lightspeed (gotta be better than being yanked around by Comcast) . . .
http://www.sbc.com/gen/press-room?pid=5838

It was absolutely not in HD on Monday night. They ran a repeat of the same episode last night, and this time, the episode was indeed in HD.

Yeah, I tried to take a look at it last night just to see if the PQ was improved. Unfortunately, after watching 50+ min of House with no reception problems, I couldn't get 61-1 for more than an occasional few seconds. The few peaks I got a Prison Break did seem much improved from Monday. A local WTIC screw-up?

Yeah, I tried to take a look at it last night just to see if the PQ was improved. Unfortunately, after watching 50+ min of House with no reception problems, I couldn't get 61-1 for more than an occasional few seconds. The few peaks I got a Prison Break did seem much improved from Monday. A local WTIC screw-up?

Hard to say. I only watched a few minutes and it seemed o.k. I've actually been running into a problem with WTIC's OTA signal the last few days in that it's hovering around the point where the signal breaks up (for my system, strenth of @ 65-70). I'm actually heading up on the roof later today to see if I can optimize. Might as well do it now in the nice weather as (depressingly enough) Fall will be here soon.

For those that watched the second episode last night, I'd like to know what you thought of the HD picture quality. I received it OTA via antenna and I was not at all impressed by the FOX HD PQ. In fact, I was left wondering if it was actually in HD. Can someone who watched it via cable tell me how the HD PQ was? I'm now thinking FOX didn't flip the proverbial switch for their OTA telecast last night.

On the other hand, if this is as good as FOX HD gets, I'm very disappointed. There is no comparison to ABC, NBC or CBS as far as I can tell. Still waiting to see HD football or baseball on FOX OTA, which I hope is much better.

I think someone at FOX messed up! I watched the first episode in HD OTA and it was crystal clear. The second looked like it was SD upressed to HD.

The FOX HD shows are generally excellent PQ and audio.

Frank

tivotony,

At present, you can only get the SD versions of the CT locals via Direct TV or Dish. Direct is planning to offer the HD versions sometime in 2006 - I'm guessing by mid year. They are starting with the top 12 DMAs in November and will add additional markets thereafter. CT is DMA #27. As for Dish, they haven't announced any plans to provide CT locals in HD, though I would think they are studying the issue.

That would leave cable or an antenna for now. In Simsbury, he might be able to pick up WFSB, WVIT and WTIC via an indoor amplified antenna. Might be worth a shot as these antennas are fairly cheap. Otherwise, go with cable or wait until mid 2006 for Direct TV to launch them.

PS - Forgot, SBC Uverse IPTV is suppose to roll out sometime in 2006 also. No specifics yet on areas or content, but I'd have to guess HD locals would be a must

tivotony,

I live about 20 miles South of Simsbury and pick up all 4 local networks via OTA antennas. CBS, NBC & Fox will be real easy, ABC is out of New Haven, CT or Springfield, MA and will require a large directional antenna.

Have you checked Antenna Web (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx)? They're pretty reliable.

Good luck,

Frank

I'm getting pretty frustrated with WTIC. I'm in New Haven with a very high mounted Yagi antenna, and I've got no problems with any other channel *except* WTIC. Right now (12:50 EDT local), they seem to be off the air entirely (signal strength 0). Can anyone else confirm this? I was getting okay reception two days ago, bad reception last night, and now nothing. NO changes to my system here.

I'm almost ready to give up and point my antenna south: I've been able to pick up NY area stations easier than WTIC.

Yes they were off,
They were off 2 times during working hours last week, I did call then and confirm that last week, didn't bother today, they must be ding some kind of maintenence!
The co-channel interference was very bad last night and even worse erly this morning so that was probly your other issue.

I'm getting pretty frustrated with WTIC. I'm in New Haven with a very high mounted Yagi antenna, and I've got no problems with any other channel *except* WTIC. Right now (12:50 EDT local), they seem to be off the air entirely (signal strength 0). Can anyone else confirm this? I was getting okay reception two days ago, bad reception last night, and now nothing. NO changes to my system here.

I'm almost ready to give up and point my antenna south: I've been able to pick up NY area stations easier than WTIC.

You're right about WTIC. I was just on my roof an hour ago and had the same exact problem. I also was going to fine tune WB-59 and that's off the air too......

Yes they were off,
They were off 2 times during working hours last week, I did call then and confirm that last week, didn't bother today, they must be ding some kind of maintenence!
The co-channel interference was very bad last night and even worse erly this morning so that was probly your other issue.

Co-channel interference! - what the heck is that? I only see one digital channel for WTIC. Please enlighten me!

tivotony - just one clarification on a previous post - I believe most, if not all, D* customers in CT are able to get NBC in HD since a blanket waiver was granted. However, you have to subscribe to D*'s HD package.

Ross

I think someone at FOX messed up! I watched the first episode in HD OTA and it was crystal clear. The second looked like it was SD upressed to HD.

The FOX HD shows are generally excellent PQ and audio.

Frank

It was a local problem. I switched to the ny Fox channel and prison break was in hd and dolby digital. WTIC was there usual stretched picture that they use for local shows. Also they weren't in dolby. They have had this problem before. It is nice that I can get NYC channels with my antenna so I have choices.

It was a local problem. I switched to the ny Fox channel and prison break was in hd and dolby digital. WTIC was there usual stretched picture that they use for local shows. Also they weren't in dolby. They have had this problem before. It is nice that I can get NYC channels with my antenna so I have choices.
Unfortunately I TiVo'd the show and don't have access to the NYC signal. The good news :) is that Fox is rebroadcasting the episode next Monday as well...

Frank

tivotony - just one clarification on a previous post - I believe most, if not all, D* customers in CT are able to get NBC in HD since a blanket waiver was granted. However, you have to subscribe to D*'s HD package.

Ross
Is this so?!? I hadn't heard it. I get the D* HD package and didn't know this! I'll have to check.

But, if I can get the local OTA signal, isn't it more pure, uncut and uncompressed? Wouldn't the OTA signal / PQ be better?

Frank

Co-channel interference! - what the heck is that? I only see one digital channel for WTIC. Please enlighten me!

Co-channel means another station on the same channel. It usually occurs when air and humidity layers bends signals beyond the curvature of the earth. Here's a map that shows the conditions on Wednesday morning. The enhancement extends from New Brunswick to Virginia.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~vem3ont22/tr_map/archive/4eam.jpg

RE: Comcast Channel updates - few new HD channels.

I don't know if someone already posted this but I finally got the color postcard channel lineup with all the channel numbers rearranged completely. It also did say they are adding BACK inHD2 and adding DiscoveryHD. They say that this should occur no Sept 27th. We'll see if it does. Hopefully after this change they can add more HD quicker. (Seems like over a year since we got anything (FoxHD, last summer))

This info is for the New London County Comcast area.

Does anyone know how bad the SA8000HD will get messed up (scheduled recording list) with all the channel number being switched. I'm assuming the worst.

Co-channel means another station on the same channel. It usually occurs when air and humidity layers bends signals beyond the curvature of the earth. Here's a map that shows the conditions on Wednesday morning. The enhancement extends from New Brunswick to Virginia.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~vem3ont22/tr_map/archive/4eam.jpg


Thanks Tower Guy, nice explaination, I just have to add that analog does affect
digitals and vise-versa.
The sooner the FED's shut off the analogs the better, half the channels in the air!

Is this so?!? I hadn't heard it. I get the D* HD package and didn't know this! I'll have to check.

But, if I can get the local OTA signal, isn't it more pure, uncut and uncompressed? Wouldn't the OTA signal / PQ be better?

Frank

Yep, just put in a waivers request. Takes about 30 days to get it. Honestly, get both if you can. You will automatically get the waiver granted and thus get the NY feed, plus you can get the Hartford OTA. That way you have insurance against one failing. And yes, the OTA SHOULD be better quality. D* compresses and downrezzes their HD hideously.

Yep, just put in a waivers request. Takes about 30 days to get it. Honestly, get both if you can. You will automatically get the waiver granted and thus get the NY feed, plus you can get the Hartford OTA. That way you have insurance against one failing. And yes, the OTA SHOULD be better quality. D* compresses and downrezzes their HD hideously.

I would also add that every once in a great while, NY and CT NBC will have different programming. For example, NBC-NY has carried all the NY Giants pre-season games in HD, while WVIT showed something else. As a Giants fan, this was very nice choice to have, and the NBC-NY HD feed was superb to boot!

Yep, I agree. I was loving that ;)

First-time poster, looking for help.

Lovely Cox Cable doesn't give me WTHN in HD. I would love to watch MNF & Lost in HD this year. Unfortunately, I live in an old, brick mill on the bottom floor with no view to the north. There are a lot of trees fairly close to my "back yard", but I am able to pick up XM with no problem.

My question is this. Will I be able to pick up WTNH DT with a set of "rabbit ears"? Or is there another antenna that will solve the problem? I'm quite the novice with regards to antennas.

Thanks!

First-time poster, looking for help.

Lovely Cox Cable doesn't give me WTHN in HD. I would love to watch MNF & Lost in HD this year. Unfortunately, I live in an old, brick mill on the bottom floor with no view to the north. There are a lot of trees fairly close to my "back yard", but I am able to pick up XM with no problem.

My question is this. Will I be able to pick up WTNH DT with a set of "rabbit ears"? Or is there another antenna that will solve the problem? I'm quite the novice with regards to antennas.

Thanks!


In Manchester, it is doubtful, but I would try a set of rabbit ears from Rat Shack or Lowes or even Circuit City/Best Buy since you can take them back if they don't work. Might have to spring for an amplified pair. Also, you will need either an HDTV or HD set top box that can process ATSC signals (OTA HD). I assume you have that? I don't think most cable companies provided boxes with those tuners.

Thanks!

I'm going to head to RS in a minute & see what I can find. I figured the worst that can happen is that I'll have to return it.

And yes, the TV is all set with the inputs, etc.

Thanks again!!

Evening-

I'm moving down to east windsor and I'm thinking of setting up an OTA setup due to the fact most of the HD TV my wife and I watch is on the WB, which of course, COX doesn't carry ... yet. In any case, How is the reception from East Windor? Antennaweb is indicating things should be quite easy for everything except perhaps ABC out of Springfield. Anyone with some experience? I guess I'll know for sure in a couple of days, but I figured I'd get a preview. :)

Thanks,
Chris

Here in West Hartford the audio level on the MNF game on WTNH-DT was unusually low. Did anybody else experience this? I'm trying to ascertain if the cause was something to do with the signal originating from WTNH, something introduced by Comcast, or something in my own STB or TV.
On the plus side, this is the first time I can ever recall the WTNH-DT video and audio being in sync.

I got the same OTA, so it's WTNH.

First-time poster, looking for help.

Lovely Cox Cable doesn't give me WTHN in HD. I would love to watch MNF & Lost in HD this year. Unfortunately, I live in an old, brick mill on the bottom floor with no view to the north. There are a lot of trees fairly close to my "back yard", but I am able to pick up XM with no problem.

My question is this. Will I be able to pick up WTNH DT with a set of "rabbit ears"? Or is there another antenna that will solve the problem? I'm quite the novice with regards to antennas.

Thanks!

I had a bear of a time getting WTNH HD in downtown Manchester, not to far from where I assume you are talking about, Pine St/ Elm St area? I had to get a decent OTA antenna, rabbit ears just would not work, and had to spend some time fine tuning its placement in my attic. Moving it 6' north away from the gable end provided me the best signal and I was able to watch last nights game no problem. I actually get better signal quality without amps than I do with amps. I think the amps magnify any multipath distortions. The problem is there is a lot of terrain between Manchester and the WTNH tower, and lots of sources of multipath. The best way to see if you can get the HD signal is to see if you can get your antenna to get the analog channel 8 clearly and also if you can get WCTX analog ch59 clearly. Once I was able to accomplish this, no problem on WTNH-HD, and limited problems on WCTX-HD. Hope this helps,

Oh and by the way, I get WFSB no matter what way I turn my antenna. I can't not get it. I guess thats the beneffit of living in the heart of the gheto.

Schmitter

I was ready to kill WTNH last night. It's the kickoff of MNF and they screw the audio AGAIN? It had no center channel! I wish there was a way to call the engineering department that time of night and yell at them.

I think it was just a very low audio level on 5.1. If you went to plain old tv audio, the level was normal.

Looking for some advice. I installed and fine tuned a CM4228 and amazingly am now receiving all the Hartford stations (including WFSB - go figure). However, I'm trying to run a separate Yagi VHF antenna to handle ABC/WB. When I try mounting the Yagi on the same pole that the CM is on, I can't seem to get a reliable signal (which is amazing since ABC is so close to Wallingford). However, when I move the antenna to the other side of the house, I can reliable pick up ABC/WB. Has anyone else had the same experience ? Not sure if the UHF is somehow interfering with the Yagi when they're really close to each other. Also, for those of you who've done the same, do you merge the VHF & UHF signals post-amplification or pre ? I'm thinking the best thing is to have a separate run from the Yagi and then merge the signal post amplification just prior to going into the set-top box. Any advice from those of you with the same set-up ? Thanks.

I think it was just a very low audio level on 5.1. If you went to plain old tv audio, the level was normal.


I really think the center channel was missing... all the audio I was getting was from L/R speakers.

I was ready to kill WTNH last night. It's the kickoff of MNF and they screw the audio AGAIN? It had no center channel! I wish there was a way to call the engineering department that time of night and yell at them.

You can call engineering during the evening - just call the newsroom number and ask for engineering.

Looking for some advice. I installed and fine tuned a CM4228 and amazingly am now receiving all the Hartford stations (including WFSB - go figure). However, I'm trying to run a separate Yagi VHF antenna to handle ABC/WB. When I try mounting the Yagi on the same pole that the CM is on, I can't seem to get a reliable signal (which is amazing since ABC is so close to Wallingford). However, when I move the antenna to the other side of the house, I can reliable pick up ABC/WB. Has anyone else had the same experience ? Not sure if the UHF is somehow interfering with the Yagi when they're really close to each other. Also, for those of you who've done the same, do you merge the VHF & UHF signals post-amplification or pre ? I'm thinking the best thing is to have a separate run from the Yagi and then merge the signal post amplification just prior to going into the set-top box. Any advice from those of you with th same set-up ? Thanks.

Stu - I had a similar setup (since replaced the 4228 with a SqS). You can have problems when you mount antennas too close together, but I can't tell you what the minimum distance is in this case. On my mast, the VHF yagi is mounted about 2 feet below the UHF antenna. I use a CM7777 preamp to combine the two signals, but I suspect this might be a problem for you given your proximity to WTNH - only way to find out is to try it. If it is a problem, you could combine the signals after the the preamp (just make sure you use a combiner that passes the DC current to the preamp). You could also combine the signals just before your receiver, but that doesn't buy you anything and means running two separate cables.

Ross

Same thing here last night OTA, only sound out of L/R, no center or rears. It seems like WTNH-DT sent a stereo signal instead of 5.1.

Looking for some advice. I installed and fine tuned a CM4228 and amazingly am now receiving all the Hartford stations (including WFSB - go figure). However, I'm trying to run a separate Yagi VHF antenna to handle ABC/WB. When I try mounting the Yagi on the same pole that the CM is on, I can't seem to get a reliable signal (which is amazing since ABC is so close to Wallingford). However, when I move the antenna to the other side of the house, I can reliable pick up ABC/WB. Has anyone else had the same experience ? Not sure if the UHF is somehow interfering with the Yagi when they're really close to each other. Also, for those of you who've done the same, do you merge the VHF & UHF signals post-amplification or pre ? I'm thinking the best thing is to have a separate run from the Yagi and then merge the signal post amplification just prior to going into the set-top box. Any advice from those of you with the same set-up ? Thanks.


stumacdo - you may also be getting *too strong* a signal from the new haven stations from Wallingford, as you're talking something like 10 miles (maybe not even). I'd try an attenuator for $10. Might solve it.

stumacdo - you may also be getting *too strong* a signal from the new haven stations from Wallingford, as you're talking something like 10 miles (maybe not even). I'd try an attenuator for $10. Might solve it.

You're right about the proximity to New Haven's transmitter (@ 8 miles). I have tried an attenuator, but it seems to mess with the entire signal and being that my UHF stations from Hartford's signal strengths are just barely acceptable (60-70), I'm loathe to introduce the attenuator. I actually hooked up a RS Combiner last night prior to the Set-box input (post-amp) and walked out into my front yard with the Yagi. Turned out that I can get WB at @ 60 and ABC seems to be @80. I think the trick will be to point the Yagi directly at WB (directly the opposite direction from ABC) and hope that the ABC signal doesn't overload. In the past, I hooked up a RS powered amp in my laundry room, pointed it at the wall and then joined the signal post-amp. That worked great for ABC, but doesn't give me WB. I'm trying to find that "perfect" solution that gives me the best of both worlds.

As a side note, I'm still amazed that finally yesterday I was able to get WFSB....

Had the same audio problems with the football game in Bristol.

1) Can you get any of the HD channels from Cox (aka the locals) with a standard QAM tuner? I didn't see any last night, but my fusion III isn't so reliable.

2) Any idea when WTXX is going full power?

Thanks,
Chris

"Standard QAM tuner" is an imprecise term.

Early generation HDTV tuner cards for PCs suported the QAM-64 format. Many cable systems are moving towards the QAM-256 format.

For example, Charter Western MA used to broadcast a PPV preview channel via QAM-64 that could be received with an old AccessDTV card, but nowadays everything here is QAM-256

To answer the question though, yes. And if you get a MyHD 130 you can tune both QAM64 and QAM256 stations at the same time. Very,very handy! With my FusionIII I pick up the 4 locals Cox gives us (CBS, NBC, Fox, and PBS) plus occasionally some other stuff like PPV channels when someone orders, music channels, etc;

I assume the HD channels are QAM256 right? I found a lot of the PPV stuff on my first scan - at least that's what I assume it is. What channels do you have the locals on with your Fusion III madpoet?

Thanks,
Chris

107-1 (CBS) and 107-2 (PBS), 111-1 (Fox) and 111-2 (NBC). Yes they are QAM256.

anyone on the branford system have discovery-hd or inhd2 back this morning?

anyone on the branford system have discovery-hd or inhd2 back this morning?

Yes. DiscoveryHD is on ch 205, and INHD2 is on 207.

Does anyone know the answer to this: If I set up a Sharp Aquos Set with HD Cable Tuner (intergrated), no cable card installed and plug in my Comcast expanded basic service (no cable box, no digital subscription) , split the signal for the sseparate analog and digital antenna inputs this set has, am I likely to get: A. Comcast's digital channels, B. Comcasts HD channels, C. Both, D. Neither E, one but not the other. What is your experience?

Can the sharp tuner tune QAM256? If so, the likely answer is C. I split my signal in much the same way to my Hitachi.

Yes, it is a QAM256 tuner.

I noticed that Comcast added Starz Family as an HD channel - at number 363 in Hartford. I don't subscribe to Starz, so I couldn't tell for sure whether it was HD. I was suprised, because it was never announced and never mentioned on this thread.

Is 9/30 still the date that the Hartford area will switch to the new lineup?

Starz-HD is on channel 375 and has been for quite some time. There was nothing on channel 363 when I checked but I did find a Starz Kids channel on 373 which I had never noticed there before. That's what is slated to be in the new channel line-up at that spot so perhaps they added it a little early. It did not appear to be HD.

Starz-HD is on channel 375 and has been for quite some time. There was nothing on channel 363 when I checked but I did find a Starz Kids channel on 373 which I had never noticed there before. That's what is slated to be in the new channel line-up at that spot so perhaps they added it a little early. It did not appear to be HD.

Thanks, I think 373 was what it was, and, I got my bill yesterday which has a 9/20 date for the new lineup.

Thanks, I think 373 was what it was, and, I got my bill yesterday which has a 9/20 date for the new lineup.

Which was posted a month ago as the date the new lineup was coming after being pushed back from 8/24.

On another note . . . With the new lineup arriving while I'm on vacation and shows starting back up that same week, will I have any trouble with any recordings I set since channels will move? I assume that I won't since I don't think the recordings are locked into channel guide numbers, but figured I'd ask before returning home and finding out that isn't the case and my wife decides she wants to kill me :D

Thanks.

Has anyone noticed any problems with the OTA signal coming from WFSB in the last few days. After some ridiculous calibration, I was able to reliably get a signal @ 70. Noticed that starting @ Wednesday, the signal was back down to @ 40. Nothing's changed in my setup, so I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed the same thing ? THey've got a new show starting tonight, Threshold, that I'd really like to watch in HD, but I'm leery about Tivo'ing the show if the signal is going to be crap. Anybody else noticed this - could it be due to the nasty weather the last few days ?

Has anyone noticed any problems with the OTA signal coming from WFSB in the last few days. After some ridiculous calibration, I was able to reliably get a signal @ 70. Noticed that starting @ Wednesday, the signal was back down to @ 40. Nothing's changed in my setup, so I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed the same thing ? THey've got a new show starting tonight, Threshold, that I'd really like to watch in HD, but I'm leery about Tivo'ing the show if the signal is going to be crap. Anybody else noticed this - could it be due to the nasty weather the last few days ?
My reception in Burlington has been rock steady. But, then again, I have line of sight to the tower just 6 miles away :p.

Once in a while WFSB would not transmit the audio so what I would do was TiVo both the HD and SD channels. You might try the same.

I'll be recording the HD show myself... I'll record both (cheap insurance).

Good luck,

Frank

First-time poster, looking for help.

Lovely Cox Cable doesn't give me WTHN in HD. I would love to watch MNF & Lost in HD this year. Unfortunately, I live in an old, brick mill on the bottom floor with no view to the north. There are a lot of trees fairly close to my "back yard", but I am able to pick up XM with no problem.

My question is this. Will I be able to pick up WTNH DT with a set of "rabbit ears"? Or is there another antenna that will solve the problem? I'm quite the novice with regards to antennas.

Thanks!

Did you have any luck here? I'm in the Velvet Mill on the second floor facing north. About a year ago I tried a number of different antennas with no luck. I even went so far as to approach the management company about putting an antenna on the roof....they practically laughed at me.

I REALLY hope Cox gets us ABC soon...I'm pretty sure they have the Super Bowl this year.