Maybe you already read about this elsewhere; I just saw a link to it on TVNewsCheck.com this evening.

On Courant.com: "Man Reportedly Parachutes Off Hartford TV Tower". (It was the Chase tower in Farmington, home of WEDH, WTXX, and WTIC-TV.)

Link: http://www.courant.com/community/farmington/hc-web-farmington-parachute-1105nov05,0,1347707.story

As far as I know, they're both on the same tower.
WCTX (38, Virtual 59) is 170 kW at 301 Meters
WTNH (10, Virtual 8) is 20.5 kW at 364 Meters

Does the 60M height difference make it unviewable in Suffield?

I find it interesting that WCTX used to have 5,000 KW when it was analog 59, WTNH used to have 174 KW when it was analog 8, so they both have much less power now that they're digital. Is that the FCC's method of phasing out broadcast TV in favor of pay distribution systems, or is there some other reason the digital transmitters have so much less power?

I don't know about that, but WCTX-DT (MY) is UHF channel 39, not 38. :O

Oops. Typo in my message. I was on 39.
My tvfool profile for WCTX does show a hill in the way, but it also does for WTNH. I guess the 60M transmitter height difference does matter.
It probably makes a difference for someone wanting to parachute off of a tower too.

I have similar issues in Naugatuck too. 39 will break up especially when the weather is bad and 8 will be rock solid. I figured it also had something to do with the frequency that each was transmitted on VHF vs UHF.

Exactly UHF has more propagation loss than VHF and suffers more loss from blocking. That is why UHF stations almost always run much more power than VHF. A lot of people in the fringe area, where they use good outside antennas, find that High VHF stations are more reliable than UHF ones even with the xmit power difference.
John

IIRC, WCTX is at a lower power level than WTNH.

As far as I know, they're both on the same tower.
WCTX (38, Virtual 59) is 170 kW at 301 Meters
WTNH (10, Virtual 8) is 20.5 kW at 364 Meters


These levels agree with information provided on the FCC's web site. So I would say that WCTX has quite a bit more power than WTNH.
John

I never had any lasting luck getting WCTX either. If I were to do a rescan, it would usually come in. But when I would channel surf within a couple days after doing the rescan, the tuner would put up the "Weak Or No Signal" box and a black screen on Channel 59-1. I deleted the channel from my line-up so that I wouldn't have to keep seeing black whenever I surfed past it.

I've noticed a recent problem on WTXX, both on Channels 20-1 and 20-2 (ThisTV). This past Sunday morning at 6:30AM I was trying to watch the home improvement how-to program, "Ron Hazleton's Housecalls". The same scenario repeated itself throughout the half hour: the reception would be fine for a few minutes, then the audio would drop out, the picture would start breaking up, the receiver would put up the black screen and "Weak Or No Signal" for varying seconds, and then picture and audio would reappear without problems for a few minutes until this sequence of events repeated itself.

I pressed the signal strength button and saw that WTXX was registering no higher than 6 bars (out of 10), and would then drop to 1 bar and then zero bars before jumping back up to 6. I then checked the signal strength of the other channels coming from that same tower. Both CPTV and WTIC were registering a solid and consistent 10 bars and had no reception problems.

This evening (Friday) at 6 I checked all these channels and the same thing is happening. 24-1, 24-2, and 61-1 are measuring 10 bars, and 20-1 and 20-2 are both breaking up with signal having erratic swings between 6, 1, and 0 bars. I could understand if all these channels or sister stations 20 and 61 were having simultaneous transmission problems, or if weather was somehow affecting all of them. But why just a problem with WTXX, especially since just after the digital transition back in June it was registering 10 bars?

WHNB: sometimes these consumer devices that show bars or arbitrary numbers for what appears to be signal strength in fact is not signal strength but a combination of a number of parameters. It is possible to have a strong signal but poor signal to noise ratio (SNR) which may result in bad reception. The (bit) error rate can also degrade a signal as well. So - it may be something a bit more complicated than just a degraded (RF) signal.

A couple of times a week I'll give a watch to WTXX up in Massachusetts ... and I have not noticed anything different. (I'm using a simple indoor antenna and an old DirecTV box that also does ATSC.)

These levels agree with information provided on the FCC's web site. So I would say that WCTX has quite a bit more power than WTNH.Although the amount of power is surely a factor of how much area a station can cover - it is not fair to make comparisons between power levels of VHF and UHF stations. Additionally - many TV stations do not transmit with an omni-directional antenna ... so you really need to see where the power is going.

On the FCC web site there are predicted coverage areas based on antenna pattern and power levels - that's what you should be looking at for comparisons.

For a more personal evaluation at your exact address use TVFOOL.com. Although either the FCC's coverage area or TVFool levels are inexact predictions, TVFool uses much more detailed data to get its numbers so will be closer to what you actually get.
John

Thanks, RPM. Prior to last Sunday, TXX was problem-free, and had been since June. When I saw those reception problems on Sunday, I figured it was just a temporary fluke.

But seeing problems again tonight on 20 made me wonder if anyone else was experiencing the same thing, and if this was more than just a short-lived issue. Thanks again for your reply.

Thanks, RPM. Prior to last Sunday, TXX was problem-free, and had been since June. When I saw those reception problems on Sunday, I figured it was just a temporary fluke.

But seeing problems again tonight on 20 made me wonder if anyone else was experiencing the same thing, and if this was more than just a short-lived issue. Thanks again for your reply.

Could it possibly be co-channel interference from WCVB? I've noticed on my internal tuner and on a set-top box that signals in a co-channel situation do just like what you described. Especially the case with a weak Boston signal, it could trip the signal intermittently every several minutes, like you write. With the leaves now almost all down, there may be signal coming in now that had been blocked since June, or perhaps the interference is tropo-dependent.

It bears repeating that the FCC's handling with co-channeling in the northeast sucks.

jimdish255, hope the new antenna works better for you at pulling in the CT DTV stations. Let us know what you can get.

I grew up in Bethel (although I've lived in Virginia for almost 10 years now) and OTA reception of either NYC or Hartford was tough even back in the analog days because of the terrain. TVFool for my old address shows 2edge propagation for every station.

All I could ever receive with an indoor antenna in analog when I lived in Bethel in the '90s were WCBS and WNBC (both very weak) WTNH, WTXX (different tower site back then, I think), WVIT, and WTBY. WEDW from 12 miles away was never detectable over the hills. Every station was full of ghosting due to the severe multipath. Never tried an outdoor antenna but the results might be better for digital if you can lock a signal. A directional antenna is going to be the way to go because of all the multipath.

No wonder just about everyone in Bethel has always had cable, for as long as I can remember. Even Comcast was not totally free of reception problems, though...back in the day, they used to receive the NYC stations in analog OTA from wherever their master antenna was, so any time there was E-skip or tropo, I'd see a station from hundreds of miles away interfering with the local channel. Presumably Comcast gets the DTV stations by some other means now.

It bears repeating that the FCC's handling with co-channeling in the northeast sucks.

UNDERSTATEMENT!!!!!!!

I doubt it will ever be fixed too..

Could it possibly be co-channel interference from WCVB? ... With the leaves now almost all down, there may be signal coming in now that had been blocked since June, or perhaps the interference is tropo-dependent.

Sounds plausible to me, especially considering that this is the first fall that TXX is actually on UHF 20. The intermittent reception that I had on that Sunday morning (Nov. 1st) and Friday evening (Nov. 6th) was similar to what I used to see when TXX was on VHF 12 and broadcasting from the lower, side-mounted antenna that was aimed toward Waterbury.

Channels 20-1 and -2 have been coming in steady when I checked them this past Sunday morning at 6:30 and in the evenings during the past week. The measurement bars have been holding on 6 or 7, and not jumping erratically down to one and zero. (6 bars is what my tuner also registers for Springfield's WGBY.) Whatever parameters these bars represent, it doesn't bode well for reception when they swing widely all over the scale every few minutes.

My non-technical explanation: chalk it up to the Murphy's Law of DTV. Bad reception only happens on the channel that you want to watch. Meanwhile, on another channel that recites the weather forecast over and over every few minutes, the picture is problem-free. :)

Would that be WVIT-DT 30-2? ;)

Would that be WVIT-DT 30-2? ;)

Actually, I was thinking of the venerable Channel 3. At 6:30 on a Sunday morning, I'd rather watch "House Calls" on WTXX than see the weather presented with unbelievable frequency on WFSB.

Now that you mention it, 30-2 also falls into that category. But I long ago deleted that channel so that I don't even have to surf by it. Free TV ... you get what you pay for!

jimdish255, hope the new antenna works better for you at pulling in the CT DTV stations. Let us know what you can get.

I grew up in Bethel (although I've lived in Virginia for almost 10 years now) and OTA reception of either NYC or Hartford was tough even back in the analog days because of the terrain. TVFool for my old address shows 2edge propagation for every station.

All I could ever receive with an indoor antenna in analog when I lived in Bethel in the '90s were WCBS and WNBC (both very weak) WTNH, WTXX (different tower site back then, I think), WVIT, and WTBY. WEDW from 12 miles away was never detectable over the hills. Every station was full of ghosting due to the severe multipath. Never tried an outdoor antenna but the results might be better for digital if you can lock a signal. A directional antenna is going to be the way to go because of all the multipath.

No wonder just about everyone in Bethel has always had cable, for as long as I can remember. Even Comcast was not totally free of reception problems, though...back in the day, they used to receive the NYC stations in analog OTA from wherever their master antenna was, so any time there was E-skip or tropo, I'd see a station from hundreds of miles away interfering with the local channel. Presumably Comcast gets the DTV stations by some other means now.

...back in the day, they used to receive the NYC stations in analog OTA from wherever their master antenna was...

Channels 5, 9 and 11 were originally picked up from the Valley CableTV Headend tower in Seymour, CT. From there they were microwaved to the LVO (later United) CableTV South Mountain remote tower in Bristol, CT.

At South Mountain, a VHF quad periodic antenna was used as a backup for the microwaves, each individually switched by a video loss detector. Several OTA FM stations were combined, all were returned by the reverse coax trunk, with channels 5, 9 and 11 in the 5-50 MHz T channels and the FMs 88-108 MHz. WWV was also picked up there and returned on an FM channel.

The reverse coax trunk made its way to the LVO (United) CableTV first main headend (built late 1973) on Cook St, Plainville, CT were it all started. 5, 9 and 11 were heterodyne processed back to on channel 5, 9 and 11. Other channels, 3, 8, 18, 20, 22, 24, 30, 40 and 57 were picked up there along with other FMs, and later WWV substituted via a local home made dipole.

30 channels overall, 2-31, 12 broadcast, 18 non broadcast included color bars, character generators information, one of which a TV guide channel with inserted time, weather (temp, baro, wind speed, rain fall via a roof top weather station - usually temp displayed the black tar roof top temp of 100+ deg during the summer-an inside joke), several FMs, including four 24/7 reel to reel tape with auto reverse playbacks, two per channel, of Rock, Country, MOR & Jazz music...All this before HBO, MTV and pay per view.

New Britain was the first and only service area, January 1974 introduction through 1976. About 10+/-k customers.

HBO, MTV, pay per view and other towns came later.

Now, many of the DTVs are direct fiber fed from the stations, or via a recipacating CableTV franchasie (CableVision, COX for examples) with OTA as backup only.

Sorry if this has been already asked but this thread is just to long to read everythig, even with searches.

I have been noticing for quite some time that the WTNH ATSC OTA (Chan 10 - 8.1) is not transmitting Dolby Digital. When ever I watch live or recorded shows, they all come into my Onkyo 906 receiver as Pro Logic II, not DD. All the other local channnels come in as DD. It's even that way when I watch/record the uplinked ABC , Channel 8 locals off my Dish Network system. I was under the impression that the HD standard was at least 720p and Dolby Digital. Am I the only one seeing this. Since all the audio from my Satellite system goes to the same input of my receiver (using spdif) theres no settings I can set for just Channel 8.

I noticed this when watching college football on ABC this weekend. It's def a WTNH problem, as this doesn't happen when I switch to WABC.

I receive WTNH ota in NJ and have also noticed no dolby digital while WABC will have the same programs in DD.

I receive WTNH ota in NJ and have also noticed no dolby digital while WABC will have the same programs in DD.

Wow, you get WTNH in W Orange, NJ? That's pretty impressive. What type of antenna are you using?

Are you sure it's WTNH in New Jersey? They're on digital channel 10, which is impressive from that distance! Hamden, CT to West Orange, NJ? Hmmm!

TV Fool shows that WTNH would have acceptable signal on the eastern slopes of the mountains in West Orange.

- Trip

I'm just on the Western slope of the mountain in West Orange two blocks from the top of the ridge. When there was analog I could receive 8, 20,43, 49 and 59 on a little handheld tv while walking along the eastern ridge.
I'm using the winegard 1713 to pick up WTNH digital and I'm looking into a neighbor's tree.

I would like to know what antenna you are using and what channels you are pulling in. I'm thinking of dropping DTV, since I find that we mostly watch OTA channels.

I would like to know what antenna you are using and what channels you are pulling in. I'm thinking of dropping DTV, since I find that we mostly watch OTA channels.

I'm in Wethersfield but with rabbit ears. I can barely get the Springfield and New Haven stations anymore sadly. Let us know your results!

I'm in South Wethersfield and use a double bowtie mounted about 3' above gutter height on a ranch house. Manual rotate via open window. No problem with Springfield but CH 22 a little shaky. New Haven 8, 59 not good but they were bad in analog days too. Locals are fine.

Hi 100/40. I'm on Brimfield but at the bottom of the hill. I'm looking at maybe installin something like a DB8 on the chimney. I want to get an idea of the volume of stations I'll get before I make the decision to spend the $200 or so.

Hi 100/40. I'm on Brimfield but at the bottom of the hill. I'm looking at maybe installin something like a DB8 on the chimney. I want to get an idea of the volume of stations I'll get before I make the decision to spend the $200 or so.

I'm near Town Line Rd. I know you are in a low spot and I can't give you much help since things do get weird when receiving DTV. With a double bowtie I get 3,20,22 sometimes, it's VHF, 24 26, 30, 40, 57, 61. I don,t work too hard to get 8 and 59 which are not good. My main reason for the antenna was to get 57, another PBS choice. Their schedule is closer to what I want and they do have some different choices than CPTV, which I also like.

I will add that if you go to COX expanded basic you will get the local DTV stations, 3-1, 30-1, etc. They are provided and I use them. The antenna, as I said is for CH 57. So I can get 8 and 59 in HD when I'm on cable.

Sorry if this has been already asked but this thread is just to long to read everythig, even with searches.

I have been noticing for quite some time that the WTNH ATSC OTA (Chan 10 - 8.1) is not transmitting Dolby Digital. When ever I watch live or recorded shows, they all come into my Onkyo 906 receiver as Pro Logic II, not DD. All the other local channnels come in as DD. It's even that way when I watch/record the uplinked ABC , Channel 8 locals off my Dish Network system. I was under the impression that the HD standard was at least 720p and Dolby Digital. Am I the only one seeing this. Since all the audio from my Satellite system goes to the same input of my receiver (using spdif) theres no settings I can set for just Channel 8.

I have the exact same issue via DirecTV with WTNH. I even emailed the engineering dept. at WTNH and they said they checked their transmission on their end and everything is going out correctly. After reading this, that appears not to be the case. If the engineers feel that everything is OK, I'm not sure how this gets resolved. Although I have heard of others having the same issue with their local ABC stations in other parts of the country. So maybe it's not WTNH's issue but something national?

I have the exact same issue via DirecTV with WTNH. I even emailed the engineering dept. at WTNH and they said they checked their transmission on their end and everything is going out correctly. After reading this, that appears not to be the case. If the engineers feel that everything is OK, I'm not sure how this gets resolved. Although I have heard of others having the same issue with their local ABC stations in other parts of the country. So maybe it's not WTNH's issue but something national?

I can receive WABC in NYC and with the same receiver switch between WABC and WTNH. The same program will be in DD on WABC and just Stereo on WTHN .

According to posters at radio-info.com and The Hartford Courant newspaper, WTIC-DT (FOX) of Hartford and WTXX-DT (CW) of Waterbury/Hartford, move into the third floor of The Hartford Courant on Broad Street this Saturday. Also, WTIC's first 10 PM newscast in HD will be this Saturday the 12th at 10 pm.

WTIC-DT (FOX) of Hartford and WTXX-DT (CW) of Waterbury/Hartford, move into the third floor of The Hartford Courant on Broad Street this Saturday. Also, WTIC's first 10 PM newscast in HD will be this Saturday the 12th at 10 pm.

Thank you for the heads-up about this. Over the past week, there have been things happening with my tuner's over-the-air program guide for these stations that made me think that the move to the new studio might be in progress.

Instead of program titles in each timeslot of the program guide, for several days WTXX had the words "Regularly Scheduled Program" in each and every timeslot for Channel 20-1. It now has the program titles back, but for over a week, Channel 20-2 (ThisTV) has had the words "No Information" on each line of the programming grid.

Last Friday evening, WTIC's programming grid was showing a start time of 10AM, even though it was 6PM. The grid times were in three-hour intervals and, instead of show titles, had this:

10AM: WTIC Connecticut's Fox Digital Event 1
1PM: WTIC Connecticut's Fox Digital Event 2
4PM: WTIC Connecticut's Fox Digital Event 3

This made me think that the engineers had their hands full changing over to new equipment that needed information keyed in. Also, the Fox network program that they were showing at the time was both letter-boxed and had side pillars, which usually means that the network was sending an HD program to WTIC, but WTIC was broadcasting it in SD. There was no network bug in the lower corner.

Yesterday evening around 7 while surfing the channels in ascending order, Channel 61-1 was completely missing from my line-up. I entered 6, 1, -, 1 on the remote to bring it back. This evening the same thing happened: no 61 in the line-up. The channel went from 57 to 3, where normally 61 would be between them.

I also noticed over the weekend that their lower right corner channel ID bug is much bigger, and now reads "FOX CT" instead of "FOX 61". This is similar to the rebranding that Channel 30 did when it introduced its news in high definition. That station now entirely de-emphasizes its channel number and its call letters, and instead identifies itself as "NBC Connecticut", probably because most viewers watch it via cable TV, where it might be on a channel other than 30.

Over the past year I've read on the broadcasting trade websites that Tribune was pleased with the success it had when it introduced a Monday through Friday early morning newscast on WTIC. The response encouraged them to expand their operations in Connecticut, even though they've had to pare down operations at some of their other television and newspaper properties in the country. It will be interesting to see what kind of quality WTIC's/WTXX's HD equipment will be, given that the parent company has been in bankruptcy re-organization for about a year.

If it's all new equipment (and the press releases back in May said that it would be state-of-the-art), I think that viewers might also see an improvement in the picture quality of the animated off-network syndicated reruns and other programs that 20 and 61 broadcast. Forum members in the past have commented here how grainy those shows look. Recently I stopped long enough on 61 to observe how bad the video quality was on a Jack LaLane Juicer infomercial. There were horizontal lines rolling upward, diluted color, graininess, and no sharpness to the picture. It was far from what I'd call "broadcast quality". Maybe after December 12th, that poor video quality will be a thing of the past (though I still won't watch infomercials!).

Here's a link to 23 photos of WTIC's new set, the TV cameras, master control, racks of equipment, and the 13 satellite dishes that were installed on the roof of The Hartford Courant:

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-mktg-ct1-pictures,0,7363209.photogallery

As far as I know, the changeover at Fox 61 is taking place on Saturday 12/19, not 12/12. I believe master control has already moved to the Courant but the studios are still operating from the Stilts Building.
They are bringing in lots of new equipment, including new HD cameras, but they are not replacing everything. Some of the equipment is being moved from the old location to the new. This has caused them to have to temporarily rely on some older or backup equipment as various pieces are removed from the old location and relocated to the new.

I can receive WABC in NYC and with the same receiver switch between WABC and WTNH. The same program will be in DD on WABC and just Stereo on WTHN .

Just an fyi. I received another email from a manager at WTNH/WCTX correcting what they had told me before. She said that the correct answer is they are currently transmitting their audio only in stereo. She went on to say that the problem has been in existence for a while and they are working on a resolution. Unfortunately no expected fix date yet. But at least they know the issue and are working to resolve. Hopefully they will be transmitting Dolby Digital again soon.

I'm on UConn campus and have a small indoor antenna.

I get:

20-1 WTXX
20-2 This-TV
24-1 WEDH CPTV kids
24-2 WEDH CPTV Create
24-3 No video/audio
24-4 No video/audio
30-1 WVIT NBC
30-2 NBC plus (weather station)
30-3 US
61-1 WTIC

Is anyone in the UConn area able to get CBS or ABC?

So you only have line of site to Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington? Do you get either WEDN-DT (PBS) from Norwich or WHPX-DT (ION) from New London?

For ABC, you might want to try WGGB out of Springfield, they're on RF channel 40. What type of indoor antenna are you using? You should have a pretty decent shot at WFSB if you're getting most of the other Hartford stations.

Here's a link to 23 photos of WTIC's new set, the TV cameras, master control, racks of equipment, and the 13 satellite dishes that were installed on the roof of The Hartford Courant:

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-mktg-ct1-pictures,0,7363209.photogallery

Hey, I had some J-school classes with Amanda. Good for her.

I'm on UConn campus and have a small indoor antenna.

I get:

20-1 WTXX
20-2 This-TV
24-1 WEDH CPTV kids
24-2 WEDH CPTV Create
24-3 No video/audio
24-4 No video/audio
30-1 WVIT NBC
30-2 NBC plus (weather station)
30-3 US
61-1 WTIC

Is anyone in the UConn area able to get CBS or ABC?

I'm up by 84 just this side of the Union line ~13 miles from campus. Even with an outdoor 28' XG-91 yagi-type, I have a darn difficult time getting WFSB with any consistency. OTOH, I get 24 and 30 off of the back of the antenna fairly well. And as if the terrain up here weren't enough... WTIC and WTXX are knocked out for me due to the FCC co-channeling in Hartford-Boston.

Getting WTNH this far upstate is low odds in a hit-or-miss situation. IIRC, getting consistent signal from them peaks out in the Vernon environs. I've done a handful of installs (one with a VHF/UHF combo) in the Quiet Corner and have had no luck.

I'm on UConn campus and have a small indoor antenna.

I get:

24-3 No video/audio
24-4 No video/audio


These two channels are deliberately black screens; there's nothing wrong. They are there in case CPTV decides to add programming to them at some point in the future.

Your TV or receiver probably has a feature in the channel set-up menu where, if you'd like, you can uncheck or deselect these two blank channels. If they become active at some later date, you could then add them back into your channel line-up. By deselecting them, you wouldn't have to keep seeing these two inactive sub-channels as you surf the channels up or down. In ascending order, the channels on your TV would then go from 24-2 to 30-1.

Anyone having issues in the last few days receiving NBC Connecticut HD WVIT? I'm at a high point in Middlefield, near Middletown/Meriden. I was consistently getting a signal in the 70's then since last weeks snow it got lower, and now to zero. I don't think its my antenna (Antennas Direct/Terrestrial Digital C4) since everything else I was getting in (8 ABC, 3 CBS, 20, 61 FOX, 24 PBS, 26 still come in perfect) Still greatly enjoying not having a cable/dish bill since this past spring! :-)

Can you guys help me? I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, or even in the right forum.

I live in Chicago now, but I used to live in CT. My father lives in Wethersfield. He is almost 90 and owns a big screen Hitachi I gave to him a couple years ago. It has a digital tuner inside and he could easily get HDTV for free if he was only able to reconnect his rooftop antenna.

Unfortunately, I don't know the model number of the rooftop antenna, and I don't believe its operational (read: turning) any longer. It's still probably fully functional, but I'm sure the turning motor is long since gone (we used to use this antenna back in the 70's when I was a kid. Are there installers in the area I can check out to get his antenna working again (or purchase a new one) so he can get most of the major sporting events in HD without having to buy a directv or cable package to get them?

Thanks so much.

WVIT seems to be screaming in here in the south end of Middletown. And I'm in a terrible location for receiving just about everything off the air.

Unfortunately, I don't know the model number of the rooftop antenna, and I don't believe its operational (read: turning) any longer. It's still probably fully functional, but I'm sure the turning motor is long since gone (we used to use this antenna back in the 70's when I was a kid. Are there installers in the area I can check out to get his antenna working again (or purchase a new one) so he can get most of the major sporting events in HD without having to buy a directv or cable package to get them?

Thanks so much.

My relatives had a large, boom-style roof-top antenna that had been on the house since the 1960s/70s. When I looked at it in the early '90s, I found that the ravages of time and weather had caused the 300 ohm flat antenna wire (round coax cable wasn't used for antenna installations in those days) to become separated from its connection point with the antenna, so it couldn't provide good reception. But I also found that the elements - those metal "spokes" that stick out like a fish skeleton from the boom - easily broke off, again due to years of being exposed to the sun, wind, rain, snow, etc. So maybe your father's antenna might be restored to good use with new coax cable connected to it and run down into the house, or maybe a replacement will be needed.

Here are some links from an internet search; I haven't had any personal experience with any of these companies:

This Ithaca, MN man is not an installer, but gives free advice on choosing antennas for specific locations. Here's his webpage for Connecticut, where he answers people's questions about the right antenna for zip code 06111 (Hartford), and 06279 (Willington). You can email or call him with questions about Wethersfield:
http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/1555519.html

Back in 2007, two forum members on the Springfield, MA HDTV AVS thread had good experiences with an antenna installer who has had 15 years past experience working at TV and radio stations, and has performed "hundreds" of antenna installations. He can also advise people on the correct antenna to buy for their location. He's based in the Springfield area, but maybe ventures into north central Connecticut. Website:
http://www.larrysleisurelectronics.com/2.html

This national company with local installers advertises a site assessment, antenna matched to specific area, positioning, and 1 year warranty, and gives a package price on their website. They feature Winegard antennas:
http://www.zipinstallation.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SKIPWCCO&CartID=1

I would say that the best bet of all of these would be the Springfield company, Larry's Leisure Lectronics, as the forum members who dealt with him posted that he was very thorough. Ask for an estimate beforehand, as they wrote that his labor rate in 2007 was $65 an hour.

WTIC's High Definition Newscasts
The station mentioned on-air yesterday that it will be one of only a handful of TV stations in the country whose camera shots from out in the field will be in true HD, in addition to the in-studio shots. Most stations doing HD news, including Channel 30, don't do their live or recorded camera shots outside the studio in high definition.

Awesome advice. Thanks so much.

OK...the FOX 61/FOX-CT newscast is indeed in HD tonight (December 12, 2009). It looks slightly crisper on WTIC-DT compared to the simulcast on WTXX-DT, which is about a second behind WTIC-DT. the bug in the corner still rotates between "FOX 61" and "FOX-CT". The Connecticut Lottery drawings were still produced in SD. They bragged that all of their local field shoots are produced in HD, which would be a stab at WVIT-DT and their HD newcasts. The end result? Outside of the lottery drawings, I still won't be watching their newscasts.

The CT Lottery drawings are still being done at the old studios. They don't move to the Courant until next Saturday (12/19). Even then, I'm not sure if they will be in HD.

OK...the FOX 61/FOX-CT newscast is indeed in HD tonight (December 12, 2009). They bragged that all of their local field shoots are produced in HD, which would be a stab at WVIT-DT and their HD newcasts. The end result? Outside of the lottery drawings, I still won't be watching their newscasts.
HD or no HD, Fox 61's newscasts are pretty much a joke. There's a serious lack of professionalism there. It's like they're letting the interns run things at times.

CT Lottery drawings will be in HD starting on 12/19.

OT, but did anyone notice that WTIC's move to the new set seems to have cleaned up their audio? I was getting the usual D* brrrrrrrrrping a ton on FOX national shows, especially House.

I'll leave it to the football weekend to decide, but I think something got fixed :)

Has anyone lost Channel 61 DTV signal ? Thou I'm in Branford, the signal has been fairly consistant since the changeover. However, there has been no signal at all for over 2 weeks. This also seems to coincide with a loss of the Channel 20 signal, although now 20-3 and 20-4 show, but not 20-1 or 20-2 as before.
Channel 3 has always been difficult to receiver here, but again, not so with 61.

Has anyone lost Channel 61 DTV signal ? Thou I'm in Branford, the signal has been fairly consistant since the changeover. However, there has been no signal at all for over 2 weeks. This also seems to coincide with a loss of the Channel 20 signal, although now 20-3 and 20-4 show, but not 20-1 or 20-2 as before.
Channel 3 has always been difficult to receiver here, but again, not so with 61.

Have you tried a rescan?

Has anyone lost Channel 61 DTV signal ? Thou I'm in Branford, the signal has been fairly consistant since the changeover. However, there has been no signal at all for over 2 weeks. This also seems to coincide with a loss of the Channel 20 signal, although now 20-3 and 20-4 show, but not 20-1 or 20-2 as before.
Channel 3 has always been difficult to receiver here, but again, not so with 61.

I think it's weather related. I have been having trouble here in Middletown with 61 in particular. Ever since it got cold out, 61 has been very difficult to receive. I think it might have to do with the Boston stations (rf 31 and 20) coming in stronger and causing you receiver not to lock due to interference.

I'm on UConn campus and have a small indoor antenna.

I get:

20-1 WTXX
20-2 This-TV
24-1 WEDH CPTV kids
24-2 WEDH CPTV Create
24-3 No video/audio
24-4 No video/audio
30-1 WVIT NBC
30-2 NBC plus (weather station)
30-3 US
61-1 WTIC

Is anyone in the UConn area able to get CBS or ABC?

Where at UConn are you? I have an amplified indoor antenna, and I can barely get WTIC-DT and WVIT-DT. My room is on the west side of Ellsworth, literally looking at Rattlesnake and Avon, above the tree line. I'm hoping UITS gets their act together and do clear QAM, so antenna reception will be a non-issue, but I'm not holding my breath. That being said, I actually watched TV maybe twice all last semester. :)

...I'm hoping UITS gets their act together and do clear QAM, so antenna reception will be a non-issue, but I'm not holding my breath. That being said, I actually watched TV maybe twice all last semester. :)

1) I'm still waiting, and I graduated 11 years ago (gah!)

2) Only twice? You either go to a lot of sporting events live, or you're a troubled UConn student :)

1) I'm still waiting, and I graduated 11 years ago (gah!)

2) Only twice? You either go to a lot of sporting events live, or you're a troubled UConn student :)

Haha, yeah. I'm supposedly part of an advisory group for technology on campus that came out of a public forum meeting to hate on HuskyMail. We'll see if they do anything. At least they are building out the wifi a little bit, but believe it or not, the dorms (except Buckley/Shippee) don't have wifi yet!!

Alright, twice might be an exaggeration, but I very rarely watch TV, sports included. I go to a few basketball games here and there, both teams are just amazing.

I just wish that they would offer at least a digital signal, because by the time the signal goes through old dorm wiring a 50 feet of cable, it looks pretty soft. Charter apparently doesn't want to go into the dorms, but UITS should step it up a few notches. Many of the channels are available in HD, and clear QAM mirrored with analog would be completely non-disruptive, and still not require support (like boxes).

EDIT: The advantage UITS has over a real cable provider is that their cable system doesn't have to carry DOCSIS or VOIP signals, so all of the bandwidth can be hogged up by TV.

Your bandwidth really depends on more than not having DOCSIS. If you are only built to 500MHz, you can only use CH2 - CH69.

Your bandwidth really depends on more than not having DOCSIS. If you are only built to 500MHz, you can only use CH2 - CH69.

Yeah, quite true, I should also mention VOD and PPV since UConn's system is purely broadcast. It is built out above 500mhz, as we have up to either 99 or the low 100's. It's sort of irrelevant too, since RG-59 will carry the whole range of QAM/NTSC, and the existing cable plant here is past it's end-of-life, yet they haven't replaced it yet.

Yeah, quite true, I should also mention VOD and PPV since UConn's system is purely broadcast. It is built out above 500mhz, as we have up to either 99 or the low 100's. It's sort of irrelevant too, since RG-59 will carry the whole range of QAM/NTSC, and the existing cable plant here is past it's end-of-life, yet they haven't replaced it yet.

Remember that CH95 - CH99 start at 90MHz and end at 120MHz, so unless you do actually have something on CH 100 it is possible that you are built to 500MHz. RG59 will also work fine as long as it is still good. You just lose a lot more signal per 100' the higher the frequency.

Remember that CH95 - CH99 start at 90MHz and end at 120MHz, so unless you do actually have something on CH 100 it is possible that you are built to 500MHz. RG59 will also work fine as long as it is still good. You just lose a lot more signal per 100' the higher the frequency.

Maybe so but it's still irrelevant because the cable plant has to be replaced either way.

Channel 8 has added a new sub-channel, 8-3, identified as WTNH2. It was in my tuner's customized channel line-up of its own accord this evening, without my selecting it to be there. It is a black screen, just like 8-2, which has "NO INFO" where the call letter designation normally appears. I believe that prior to today, 8-2 was labeled 8-4. I had de-selected that sub-channel a long time ago, but it was also back in my receiver's line-up on its own this evening. 8-1 is designated as WTNH-DT.

It was noted awhile back on this forum that some viewers saw a weather radar screen on 8-4 (now probably on 8-2) depending on the brand of their TV or digital receiver, and how recently it was manufactured. On my Samsung H260F external tuner, the only active WTNH channel is 8-1. The tuner puts up the "Weak Or No Signal" advisory on channels 8-2 and 8-3.

Last week their weather channel was on 8-2 with no sound. It had Cox advertisements in it. I think it was the version they advertise is available online. Right now 8-3 says the program has a MPAA PG rating, but then the no signal message pops up for me.

To avoid adding a 2nd message, What's the deal with This (20-2)? Every couple of seconds the image goes out of focus for about 1/4 second. It's not macroblocking. It makes it real annoying to watch. I'd rather watch 3-4 content then that. Er, I mean then this.

I have been getting an 4x3 SD version of the 8-1 show on 8-3 for the last few days. This is what TSreader gets from it.
John

Last week their weather channel was on 8-2 with no sound. It had Cox advertisements in it. I think it was the version they advertise is available online. Right now 8-3 says the program has a MPAA PG rating, but then the no signal message pops up for me.

To avoid adding a 2nd message, What's the deal with This (20-2)? Every couple of seconds the image goes out of focus for about 1/4 second. It's not macroblocking. It makes it real annoying to watch. I'd rather watch 3-4 content then that. Er, I mean then this.

I noticed today that my tuner's program grid now has the same show titles on 8-3 as on 8-1. But when I highlight a program title on 8-3 and click Enter, I just get a black screen with the "Weak Or No Signal" box superimposed over it. 8-2 has "NO INFO" in every timeslot of the grid. I read a couple weeks ago on TVNewsCheck.com that the owner of Channels 8, 22, and 59 (LIN Broadcasting) plans to spend $150,000 at each of its stations to launch mobile over-the-air DTV. I don't know if 8-3 has anything to do with this, or if its appearance is just coincidental as far as timing.

Thank you for confirming what I've been seeing on ThisTV since about the middle of last week. I'm guessing that the problem is at the uplink center, but it may be a WTXX problem.

Today I'm noticing that local television's ability to inform the public during an emergency has been somewhat hampered by the change from analog to digital broadcasting
That explosion in Middletown today is tragic. I realize the place is under construction, but the aerial photos look like a smaller Chernobyl. I sure hope they'll be able to find more people alive.

As far as the on screen messages, it's too bad the DTV standard didn't include an auxiliary information display. Watching the same early release notice in Canton schools last week for two lousy hours is absurd. 99.9% of the people watching don't care. At least we have 3-2 that usually doesn't have them. I'll bet people would buy a DTV receiver that has a crop function.

I'm guessing that the problem is at the uplink center, but it may be a WTXX problem.

Today I'm noticing that local television's ability to inform the public during an emergency has been somewhat hampered by the change from analog to digital broadcasting, at least at my location. While surfing the channels I saw that WTIC was scrolling a "Breaking News" alert, but I couldn't read it because the channel constantly kept going back and forth on my TV to a black screen with the "Weak Or No Signal" box coming on. Channel 8 was doing an on-the-scene report of this emergency - the leveling of a clean energy power plant in Middletown due to an explosion - but then their channel (on my TV) went to black with just choppy, unintelligible audio. Eventually even the in-and-out audio was completely gone and the "Weak Or No Signal" box came on. Their signal inexplicably returned problem-free at 1:57PM. I realize that these reception problems aren't everywhere, but analog was a little more reliable, if not as clear.

WRT the "ThisTV" problem, the broadcast feed from Boston's WHDH subchannel is fine.

Viewers in Boston have reported problems with experimentation in mobile-DTV. Many with Tivo receivers lost WGBH (the flagship PBS station). Their meters read 90-100% for 2-1 HD and the 2-2 SD sub, but it appeared as a blank screen. It was apparently fixed, and then happened again. It may be isolated due to Tivo scheduling phone/broadband connections. OTA and other cable/sat service for GBH seem to be all right.

So, as the Mobile-DTV and "White space device" testing starts, we'll see what happens and cross fingers that it doesn't affect OTA reception.

Thoughts go out for those affected by the blast and the rescue personnel.

It looks like This is back to normal. The out of focus problem seems to have been fixed. Johnny be Good is on now with a much better looking 1963 Ford Falcon than what I had passed down to me from Grandpa. He didn't have the convertible. That would have been sweet.

After I read JamesCT's comment that ThisTV is problem-free in Boston, I found on Monday evening that there is a way to contact the chief engineer of Channels 20 and 61 through the fox61.com website. I described the out-of-focus problem to him in an email, and later received a response.

He wrote that he took a look at "This" around 10PM Monday and saw the problem with the picture quality.

"We have been making changes to our air chain/Signal feeding transmitter. I'll look into This tomorrow [Tuesday, 2/9]." - Director of Broadcast Engineering, WTIC/WTXX-TV

Anyone here on the Hartford area board ever receive Providence and Boston area channels?

Anyone here on the Hartford area board ever receive Providence and Boston area channels?

Now, no. Before the digital transmission, quite frequently. Fox 25 was the easiest from Boston, and channel 28 I think from Providence was very easy as well. But I've received all the others too. Now, I don't even check anymore.

Anyone here on the Hartford area board ever receive Providence and Boston area channels?

I get the Providence channels about as well as Hartford. WLNE and WSBE are the weakest and have good and bad days to a single x91 antenna. The rest are stronger with WPRI and WNAC being the strongest on a VHF antenna 15 feet lower than the UHF. Both Hartford and Providence towers are 50 miles from here. WLWC is usually solid even though it is 60 miles from here.
Nothing from Boston without strong tropo. I used to get watchable but snowy pictures from Boston analog VHF channels.
John

Anyone here on the Hartford area board ever receive Providence and Boston area channels?

I'm in the Hartford DMA, but have a tough time getting more than WEDH(?) 24.1 from there. Serious terrain issues in our spot in the Quiet Corner.

Our signals are primarily Boston and Providence, both of which are usually in the mid-70s or low-80s for signal strength. I run two XG-91s separately for each (yet the Providence stations are almost always receivable on the antenna pointed toward Boston --- about 35 degrees off-axis). On the tvfool maps, right over my house is the final signal dot for most of the strong Boston stations. WSBE, the Providence PBS, has a weak signal (they run at 50W on real-21); used to get it strong all the time on analog, and now it's pretty rare or with lots of drop-out.

I'm in the Hartford DMA, but have a tough time getting more than WEDH(?) 24.1 from there. Serious terrain issues in our spot in the Quiet Corner.

Our signals are primarily Boston and Providence, both of which are usually in the mid-70s or low-80s for signal strength. I run two XG-91s separately for each (yet the Providence stations are almost always receivable on the antenna pointed toward Boston --- about 35 degrees off-axis). On the tvfool maps, right over my house is the final signal dot for most of the strong Boston stations. WSBE, the Providence PBS, has a weak signal (they run at 50W on real-21); used to get it strong all the time on analog, and now it's pretty rare or with lots of drop-out.

If you're in a radio shadow, then you're sort of SOL, but WVIT-DT, WTIC-DT, and WEDH-DT are all pretty strong... in Storrs I get them on a cheap little antenna (although I have DLOS to the towers). Bizarrely, the notoriously strong VHF WTNH-DT from New Haven only gets the subchannel info, but no picture.

I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to get WEDH-DT in Madison with a bigger antenna, as that's the only thing not carried on E*. I think D* and all the incumbents have all 5 in HD, not sure what they look like though compared to the OTA signal.

If you're in a radio shadow, then you're sort of SOL, but WVIT-DT, WTIC-DT, and WEDH-DT are all pretty strong... in Storrs I get them on a cheap little antenna (although I have DLOS to the towers). Bizarrely, the notoriously strong VHF WTNH-DT from New Haven only gets the subchannel info, but no picture.

I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to get WEDH-DT in Madison with a bigger antenna, as that's the only thing not carried on E*. I think D* and all the incumbents have all 5 in HD, not sure what they look like though compared to the OTA signal.

Yes, Directv has all of the locals in hd except WCTX, but then neither does Dish. Funny because it's owned by LIN, the same company that owns WTNH.

Yes, Directv has all of the locals in hd except WCTX, but then neither does Dish. Funny because it's owned by LIN, the same company that owns WTNH.

I don't they carry locals if people don't even know what they are. I guess that's MyTV9, which is sort of a weird/ offload channel for WTNH. Comcast doesn't even carry it in HD, although it looks like they will soon, as it has an HD-area channel remap.

It's unbelievable to me that Comcast hasn't upgraded the Branford cable plant to support their national lineup of HD, but yet they have managed to squish 30 HD channels on the existing gear, and yet almost all of it is garbage. If they had used that bandwidth in a smart way, they would have a great HD lineup. They don't have Discovery or History, but they have two junk Golf channels, Palladia, WTXX, and a bunch of other crap (plus WNET which is an excellent channel, but significantly viewed out-of-market locals in HD makes no sense). [/rant]

Comcast in New Britain DOES carry WCTX-DT in high definition. I can get them in New Britain that way without a converter box.

Comcast in New Britain DOES carry WCTX-DT in high definition. I can get them in New Britain that way without a converter box.

What a waste of bandwidth. At least D* puts more PPV on to up the HD channel count, which might be useful to two people...

Anyone know how hard it is to get the big 5 (WTNH-DT, WFSB-DT, WVIT-DT, WTIC-DT, and WEDH-DT) in Madison? WTNH shouldn't be an issue, although it is surprisingly weak for how it was described earlier and being on VHF, the others are a little more troublesome...

I receive WTNH ota in NJ and have also noticed no dolby digital while WABC will have the same programs in DD.

This is still an issue. Good to see WTNH is working hard on the problem :rolleyes:

Anyone know what is going on at CPTV OTA? I've got a great picture but most of the time there is no audio on 24-1 (WEDH). 24-2 and -3 have audio.
Rfcoop

Anyone know what is going on at CPTV OTA? I've got a great picture but most of the time there is no audio on 24-1 (WEDH). 24-2 and -3 have audio.
Rfcoop

I have audio on 24-1 through my Directv dvr HR20-700, but I don't get 24-3 through it so I can't tell you anything about it. 24-2 is fine.

This morning 24-1 and 24-2 audio is fine off air. I don't think 24-3 is active, unless things have changed.

I notice that Channel 8's in-studio camera shots on this evening's newscast now fill a 16:9 screen with no pillar bars. If one of the definitions of HD is you know it when you see it, I don't see it. The picture is not high definition, only widescreen. The set has some new changes, and there are new graphics. A new logo, 'News 8' in red, replaces 'NewsChannel 8' in blue. When 4:3 video is shown, 'News 8' appears in gray in each sidebar.

Back in February in an article in The New Haven Register, WTNH's general manager was quoted as saying that a shuffling of anchors to different newscasts was the "opening volley" of a makeover that would include a new set, new graphics, and HD. But in an article on TVNewsCheck.com in January where the head of technology for LIN Television was asked where capital expenditures for 2010 would be made, the director said that no one LIN station would necessarily fully convert to high definition this year. He said that any equipment that had to be replaced would definitely be swapped out for equipment that is HD-ready.

In that same article, the director of technology for Meredith stations said about the same thing, noting that most of their capital expenditures this year would go to completing their centralcasting projects. Last November it was announced that Channel 3's master control operations would be done out of a Meredith centralcasting hub in Atlanta by mid-summer.

This morning 24-1 and 24-2 audio is fine off air. I don't think 24-3 is active, unless things have changed.

Currently, CPTV has programing only on the -1 (CPTV HD) an -2 (CREATE SD).

-3 and -4 are empty place holders. A new SD service, "CPTV4U", may be launching in a few months...TBD.

No noted issues with audio OTA and or with CABLE TV.

This is strange because I'm getting audio on all my OTA channels except 24-1 intermittently (only certain programs). I live in Lyme and get all channels with audio for ABC, CBS, NBC, 18, 26, 59 (my tv9) and 61 all with perfect audio on Panasonic and LG 42" Plasmas with a stationary Channel master 4228 (old style) antenna. Maybe I'll call WEDH and see if there's something with their audio I'm not picking up. Maybe the audio for CATV and Dish is transmitted separately.
RFCoop

This is strange because I'm getting audio on all my OTA channels except 24-1 intermittently (only certain programs). I live in Lyme and get all channels with audio for ABC, CBS, NBC, 18, 26, 59 (my tv9) and 61 all with perfect audio on Panasonic and LG 42" Plasmas with a stationary Channel master 4228 (old style) antenna. Maybe I'll call WEDH and see if there's something with their audio I'm not picking up. Maybe the audio for CATV and Dish is transmitted separately.
RFCoop

Possibly, it sounds like you may be detecting the -1 second audio channel service, which carries the Descriptive Video Service (DVS) when available, or silent when not. When viewing 24-1, verify that your receiver audio is in "English" (ENG) and not in "SPAN". Some receivers get confused and may have two "ENG" settings rather than "ENG" and "SPAN". Toggle through.

The -2 service has no second audio channel, so your receiver would default to the normal "ENG" audio in that instance. Not so with the -1 service.

Else, delete the 24-1 service and rescan / reset to reacquire (relearn) the 24 configuration settings.

The -1 and -2 services have been undergoing on-line test configuration changes during the pass four months and will continue to do so in preparation for adding new services, some receivers do not automatically relearn correctly and a rescan after deleting usually helps.

BTW, have you tried getting:
WEDN 9 (53-1 & 53-2) Bozrah

WEDW 49 (49-1 & 49-2) Trumbull - An ERP power boost from 91 KW to 170 KW will be coming soon.

WEDY 6 (65-1 & 65-2) New Haven

Some observations.

Channel 26.1 (Ion) has gone widescreen and lost the worship channel 26.4

For those who can get the NYC stations, 5.2, which was carrying channel 9 content, was re-labelled as 9.2 and 9.2 which was carrying channel 5 content, was re-labelled as 5.2. So now 5.1 and 5.2 carry the same content (one is HD, one is SD) but are on different UHF frequencies. Same thing with 9.1 & 9.2. A bit strange, but it kind of makes sense.

Channel 7 (WABC) comes in like gangbusters here south of Waterbury through the old VHF antenna in the attic. Channel 8 analog used to swamp out channel 7 analog here. Now that 8 digital is on 10, they both come in.

Also, Channel 57 (PBS Springfield) comes in surprisingly well here in Prospect with 4 nice choices; PBS, PBS Kids, PBS World, and Create.

Channel 40 (ABC/FOX Springfield) comes in surprisingly well too. In fact for FOX, 40.2 beats 61.1 in signal strength consistently here. Odd.

Someone mentioned already that Channel 8.1 news went widescreen this week. Did anyone notice this morning when Channel 8 news went to a live feed of Robin Roberts to tell what is coming up on GMA, she was very fat (SD stretched to widescreen). But GMA is already widescreen! I guess the bugs aren't fully worked out.

Also mentioned previously, 8.2 & 8.3 seem to occasionally pop in with a Comcast weather channel and an SD version of 8.1 only to go to black after a day or two. Does anyone know why? Is something planned for these other channel 8 sub-channels?

Some observations.

Channel 26.1 (Ion) has gone widescreen and lost the worship channel 26.4

For those who can get the NYC stations, 5.2, which was carrying channel 9 content, was re-labelled as 9.2 and 9.2 which was carrying channel 5 content, was re-labelled as 5.2. So now 5.1 and 5.2 carry the same content (one is HD, one is SD) but are on different UHF frequencies. Same thing with 9.1 & 9.2. A bit strange, but it kind of makes sense.

Channel 7 (WABC) comes in like gangbusters here south of Waterbury through the old VHF antenna in the attic. Channel 8 analog used to swamp out channel 7 analog here. Now that 8 digital is on 10, they both come in.

Also, Channel 57 (PBS Springfield) comes in surprisingly well here in Prospect with 4 nice choices; PBS, PBS Kids, PBS World, and Create.

Channel 40 (ABC/FOX Springfield) comes in surprisingly well too. In fact for FOX, 40.2 beats 61.1 in signal strength consistently here. Odd.

Someone mentioned already that Channel 8.1 news went widescreen this week. Did anyone notice this morning when Channel 8 news went to a live feed of Robin Roberts to tell what is coming up on GMA, she was very fat (SD stretched to widescreen). But GMA is already widescreen! I guess the bugs aren't fully worked out.

Also mentioned previously, 8.2 & 8.3 seem to occasionally pop in with a Comcast weather channel and an SD version of 8.1 only to go to black after a day or two. Does anyone know why? Is something planned for these other channel 8 sub-channels?

Actually Ion channel 26.1 went HD. It is 720p.

Hi all,

Is anyone else experiencing issues with the audio stream from WTNH ? I just caught up on several eps of LOST and noted that I was not receiving the DD stream. Checked to make sure I hadn't done something silly with my AVR, but the rest of my channels are sending Dolby Digital. Any ideas ?

Does anyone know a good antenna installer in the Bridgeport area? The antenna and rotor I installed worked fine (got all the NYC and Hartford stations) but was wobbly and came down in a windstorm, and I'm getting too old to be up on the roof :). The antenna needs to be up high to get the NYC stations. I made an appointment with one installer (who shall remain nameless) but he never showed up.

Has anyone used V&R Services out of Norwalk?

Thanks

Hi all,

Is anyone else experiencing issues with the audio stream from WTNH ? I just caught up on several eps of LOST and noted that I was not receiving the DD stream. Checked to make sure I hadn't done something silly with my AVR, but the rest of my channels are sending Dolby Digital. Any ideas ?

Maybe a new Channel Master 4228 would help? :D JUST KIDDING!!!
It's WTNH, they aren't sending the DD signal.

... 8.2 & 8.3 seem to occasionally pop in with a Comcast weather channel and an SD version of 8.1 only to go to black after a day or two. Does anyone know why? Is something planned for these other channel 8 sub-channels?

There's been a few different opinions about this that have been posted here in the past. WFSB engineer and forum member 'joehorn' mentioned that newer digital receivers/TVs and certain brands of receivers and TVs can decode that WTNH weather channel with no problem. He suggested that my receiver, the 2005-manufactured Samsung H260F, was a little too old to be up to the task. Forum member 'Glados' posted that WTNH's weather radar screen on 8-2 has always come in all along, and has never gone to black. I don't know the brand or year of manufacture for Glados' TV.

Forum member 'ctdish' has a TS Reader which analyzes channels, and he posted that WTNH is deliberately scrambling that weather subchannel. He thought that it may have been a mistake on Channel 8's part on at least one occasion when my tuner was able to receive 8-2 for a few days. He has also received 8-2 sporadically.

As for the future plans for these channels, the owner of WTNH, LIN Television, is gearing up for mobile DTV. My guess is that eventually their secondary channel might be for that purpose - broadcasting their local content from their tower to handheld devices like cellphones. LIN's executive vice president did say in a March 30th TVNewsCheck.com article that they are working on their D2 channels and will program them differently in each market. He seemed to suggest that the programming would be more lifestyle and health oriented rather than classic TV, Hispanic, or movie channels. He said that deals with programming providers would be announced shortly.

WTNH may have to decide if it wants to have a standard definition subchannel or a channel dedicated for mobile. There is a school of thought that a station can't have both (in addition to its main HD channel). On BroadcastEngineering.com, the vice president of station group Gray Television advised other stations that they don't have enough bandwidth to do both multicasting and mobile successfully. He said that a station should take the subchannel "that's not getting much revenue and swap it out for mobile." He also said that while mobile can be done with VHF stations, it's better to be broadcasting on UHF because a shorter antenna can be used on the receiving device. Both of LIN's stations in this area, WTNH and WWLP, are on VHF.

the receiving device. Both of LIN's stations in this area, WTNH and WWLP, are on VHF.

LIN's WCTX (which is on the WTNH tower) is on UHF however.

LIN's WCTX (which is on the WTNH tower) is on UHF however.

Oops! I forgot all about that channel. (It doesn't come in at my location, neither does Ion.) Thanks. :)

Hi,
I am new to this forum and needs help. I live in Madison of CT. I can put in most local channels except ABC (high VHF 10) with an old rabbit ear, but the signals are not strong and I have to move the small antenna around for individual signal. I am wondering if a roof top CM4228HD would help. The signals come from two different directions (North-Hartford/West-New Haven). I am also wondering if I can pull in signals from further away, like NY, with this antenna.
Thank you very much in advance!

[QUOTE=WHNB;18566549]WTNH may have to decide if it wants to have a standard definition subchannel or a channel dedicated for mobile. There is a school of thought that a station can't have both (in addition to its main HD channel).

Thanks, very interesting.

But help me to understand.... I don't see any sense in carrying both high definition on the primary channel and standard definition of the same content on a sub channel. I understand it in the case of WFSB, where 3.2 carries some Springfield content and 3.4 carries Fairfield county commercials. But the only reason I can see for carrying the exact same thing in SD on a sub-channel is to use it for testing in anticipation of putting some other content there later. Am I correct on this?

Since I can also get channel 7 (WABC) it sounds like channel 8 is considering duplicating what is done there. 7.1 is ABC, of course, 7.2 is a Life & Health channel and 7.3 is a weather channel (a pretty good one). But really, that life and health channel has so little non-infomercial content on it, I generally dismiss it and blow right past it... and there's enough of that kind of stuff across the spectrum now anyway. We don't need another one. Too bad no one wants to pick up that Retro TV (or something like it) that channel 43 tried. At least that was different.

... I don't see any sense in carrying both high definition on the primary channel and standard definition of the same content on a sub channel. ... But the only reason I can see for carrying the exact same thing in SD on a sub-channel is to use it for testing in anticipation of putting some other content there later. Am I correct on this?

Yes, I think that you are correct that 8.3 could be testing for future uses of that subchannel, like a low-resolution version of Channel 8 for mobile devices, or a standard definition subchannel that will eventually air a programming service that is different from what's on 8.1. Channel 8.3 only appeared fairly recently, and it could be what TV engineers call a "placeholder", a subchannel just existing at the current time so that they don't have to create that channel from scratch when they are finally ready to put content on it that is not a simulcast of 8-1. Only WTNH knows for sure, I'm just guessing.

Since I can also get channel 7 (WABC) it sounds like channel 8 is considering duplicating what is done there. 7.1 is ABC, of course, 7.2 is a Life & Health channel and 7.3 is a weather channel (a pretty good one). But really, that life and health channel has so little non-infomercial content on it, I generally dismiss it and blow right past it... and there's enough of that kind of stuff across the spectrum now anyway. We don't need another one. Too bad no one wants to pick up that Retro TV (or something like it) that channel 43 tried. At least that was different.

I've never seen 7.2, but just from the description of it, I also would have no interest in watching it or anything similar that might show up on a subchannel of WTNH. From what I've read on the broadcast websites about several station groups, they want to maximize profit by cutting costs. To do this, they don't want to pay license fees that they consider too high for programming. They probably don't want to put something on a secondary channel that is so good that it erodes the audience for their main channel. So they often end up putting mediocre programming like the health and lifestyle shows, or continuous weather graphics, on their multicast channels. Then they wonder why they are losing viewers. Since nothing is definite yet about what, if anything, WTNH will do with its D2 channels, we can still hope that they may make another choice.

Stations in other parts of the country seem to be more interested in picking up the Retro TV network. There is an affiliate in Hartford, but it's on a low power, very snowy analog channel (48) that barely covers north central Connecticut. Another programming service is the .2Network. It has a library of 300 movies, but its intended launch date has been delayed. Here's a link to its website: http://dot2network.com/national/press/multicast

I think that most of our local stations will continue to use their multicast channels to air content that they alone own, or that their parent company owns, so that they don't have to share any possible revenue with another company. The content that they own is an unimaginative endless repetition of local news and weather, because that's all that a station really creates on its own.

Hi,
I am new to this forum and needs help. I live in Madison of CT. I can put in most local channels except ABC (high VHF 10) with an old rabbit ear, but the signals are not strong and I have to move the small antenna around for individual signal. I am wondering if a roof top CM4228HD would help. The signals come from two different directions (North-Hartford/West-New Haven). I am also wondering if I can pull in signals from further away, like NY, with this antenna.
Thank you very much in advance!

We are in a similar situation. I am in the hills south of Waterbury. I have the advantage of height and can get NYC stations sometimes. You have the advantage of no obstructions as you aim across Long Island Sound. But you are awfully far from NYC. Without a roof mounted high gain antenna, I think NYC would be tough for you. Even then, you may find your NYC reception to be very weather dependent. Now that the weather is warming up, I can get the NY stations more frequently, but over the winter it was rare.

I'm suprised that you get anything at all with rabbit ears considering how far you are from any broadcast antenna. Right off the bat, the higher you can get your antenna, the better off you will be.

I use an attic mounted 4228 with the 7777 amp. Additionally, I use a rotor to spin the antenna toward NYC or Hartford as needed. There isn't any one good postion where I get all of the channels, so I usually opt for Hartford and pick up New Haven off the backside of the antenna. Someone on the board here might be able to describe some creative multi-antenna solutions where one antenna could aim toward NYC and the other toward Hartford so you wouldn't need a rotor, but I have never tried this arrangement.

I found that www.tvfool.com was a useful source of information to determine what channels you could hope to get at your address. Best of luck.

Hi,
I am new to this forum and needs help. I live in Madison of CT. I can put in most local channels except ABC (high VHF 10) with an old rabbit ear, but the signals are not strong and I have to move the small antenna around for individual signal. I am wondering if a roof top CM4228HD would help. The signals come from two different directions (North-Hartford/West-New Haven). I am also wondering if I can pull in signals from further away, like NY, with this antenna.
Thank you very much in advance!

Wow, you're pretty lucky. I had no luck getting anything my rabbit ear contraption. The only place in town that would have a shot at getting NYC channels would be right by Hammonasset, or a ways out on Neck Road, as it would be mostly over water or low coastal areas to NYC, but even then, probably not, and if you were able to pick something up, you'd need one heck of an antenna.

You *might* be able to get something from Providence if you have a really good antenna, but again, probably not.

There are 1 or 2 stations out on Long Island that are within fairly close range.

It's surprising that WTNH is the one you can't get, they have a strong VHF signal that really travels. Back before the cutoff, I could get the analog channel 8 with a coat hanger... totally pointless but kinda fun!

Oh yeah, and they should stop wasting bandwidth with this subchannel junk! It would be nice to have the entire 6mhz for HD! WVIT is down to about 12mbps, from the full-channel 19, not sure about the others. The additional compression makes OTA sort of pointless, since you're going to get just as good of a picture on cable/satellite.

Maybe a new Channel Master 4228 would help? :D JUST KIDDING!!!
It's WTNH, they aren't sending the DD signal.

Hi Chip. Yep, I still miss that antenna. Hopefully you're getting some good usage from it.......

We are in a similar situation. I am in the hills south of Waterbury. I have the advantage of height and can get NYC stations sometimes. You have the advantage of no obstructions as you aim across Long Island Sound. But you are awfully far from NYC. Without a roof mounted high gain antenna, I think NYC would be tough for you. Even then, you may find your NYC reception to be very weather dependent. Now that the weather is warming up, I can get the NY stations more frequently, but over the winter it was rare.

I'm suprised that you get anything at all with rabbit ears considering how far you are from any broadcast antenna. Right off the bat, the higher you can get your antenna, the better off you will be.

I use an attic mounted 4228 with the 7777 amp. Additionally, I use a rotor to spin the antenna toward NYC or Hartford as needed. There isn't any one good postion where I get all of the channels, so I usually opt for Hartford and pick up New Haven off the backside of the antenna. Someone on the board here might be able to describe some creative multi-antenna solutions where one antenna could aim toward NYC and the other toward Hartford so you wouldn't need a rotor, but I have never tried this arrangement.

I found that www.tvfool.com was a useful source of information to determine what channels you could hope to get at your address. Best of luck.

A couple of years ago, I had a roof mounted 4228 with the 7777 in Westerly, RI. That's another story for another day. Here in Grand Rapids, MI our transmitters are in 3 diff directions. I use a roof mounted with rotor. Point is they make a Grand Rapids antenna. Three antennas mounted on 1 pole in the 3 diff directions. I am sure it can be done for Hartford and NYC. There should be someone on the list here who would know how far apart to keep the antennas and how to wire properly.

FYI,

By yesturday afternoon, Tuesday May 11, 2010, WEDW 49 Bridgeport (Trumbull) digital had increased ERP from 91 kW to 170 kW.

Maybe a new Channel Master 4228 would help? :D JUST KIDDING!!!
It's WTNH, they aren't sending the DD signal.
How long has this been the case? Just recently got a surround system and noticed it - also while watching Lost. Seems inconceivable that a network affiliate would be broadcasting stereo audio with an HD feed. Anybody know why, or if they plan to, you know, get with it?

How long has this been the case? Just recently got a surround system and noticed it - also while watching Lost. Seems inconceivable that a network affiliate would be broadcasting stereo audio with an HD feed. Anybody know why, or if they plan to, you know, get with it?

WTNH is owned by LIN, a notoriously cheap company. I wouldn't expect anything to change anytime soon. Why not email them and ask what their plans are?

WTNH is owned by LIN, a notoriously cheap company. I wouldn't expect anything to change anytime soon. Why not email them and ask what their plans are?
Well, I did ask. The reply:

"Yes, that is correct. We only transmit our audio in stereo. We are in
the process of upgrading equipment and I believe the audio issue will be
addressed in this upgrade."

So... it's anybody's guess. Meh.

I am having a hard time getting WABC 7 in Seymour. I get my VHF off of a combo antenna (cm3018).
I have made the decision to try an antenncraft Y10-7-13.
I want to try buying this locally.
Does anyone remember the name of the TV equipment supplier in the Hartford area?
I know there was someone selling antennas in West or East Hartford.
Right now, my option is to drive to Stark in Worcester, but that is a haul from Southern CT.

I am having a hard time getting WABC 7 in Seymour. I get my VHF off of a combo antenna (cm3018).
I have made the decision to try an antenncraft Y10-7-13.
I want to try buying this locally.
Does anyone remember the name of the TV equipment supplier in the Hartford area?
I know there was someone selling antennas in West or East Hartford.
Right now, my option is to drive to Stark in Worcester, but that is a haul from Southern CT.

I think you are thinking of Signal Electronics in West Hartford. They used to be on New Park Ave. I don't know where they are now.

You might be thinking of Hatry Electronics. They were located on Ledyard St. in Hartford. Unfortunately, Signal Electronics is also closed now. There's Cumberland Electronics in West Hartford, but they seem to be more into parts.
There's Cables and Connectors on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington, but it doesn't look like they have much for outdoor antennas (antennae?).

Al Bundy used to just have his kids hang on to the antenna and get in to their Fox viewing position.

Al Bundy used to just have his kids hang on to the antenna and get in to their Fox viewing position.

:)

LOL. Unfortunately Al's kids can help me. FOX is coming in great. :-)
I was thinking of Signal Electronics. I knew it was like Solid Signal.
Too bad they are gone. I guess Stark Electronics in Worcester is our local shop. Two hours away from my house. I'll get a shipping quote from them too. Thank you all who replied for jogging my memory.

I'm at an elevation of 500 feet in northern NJ and can receive off air ABC from New Haven, Philadelphia and NYC. The picture quality on WTNH for the NBA Finals was awful. It looked like a bad upconversion. You could also easily see the softness in the graphics. Philadelphia and NYC have 2 subchannels that take away much of their bandwidth yet pictures were much sharper than New Haven. I kept switching back and forth and was amazed at the difference.

I don't know what the problem with WTNH is but if I lived in Conn. with New Haven as my only source for ABC I would be very upset. It was NBA finals in SD not HD. I would also think the network should be concerned that a important event was so poorly broadcasted in a major market.

new to this forum.

Finally got sick of my $130 per month comcast and canceled.

I bought a $22 outdoor antenna at monoprice that had excellent reviews.

A long time ago i tested ota reception with some rabbit ears on my new samsung hdtv. i was frustrated I couldnt get ABC from new haven. When i installed this monoprice antenna i was curious to see what i got. I'm in W. htfd

I've been able to tune in 3.1 to 3.4, 18.1-18.4, 20.1, 20.2, 24.1, 24.2, 30.1, 30.2, 38, 48, 50, 61.1.

I was upset i didn't get abc. I decided to put antenna on back of house and point it southeast. I was hoping to get new haven abc. instead i got:

40.1(ABC), 40.2 (FOX) from springfield

One thing that was cool was getting ch. 48. It's still analog, but it's called RTV (retro television). I almost fell out of my chair when the Rockford Files came on. I love that show.

Are you getting WCTX-DT (MY) channel 39 ("59-1") at all?

I don't get channel 39 or 59-1 at all

WTNH really needs a repeater in Hartford. Their signal has become terrible in this area since the transition. WCTX too.

Either that or work on the picture quality of their HD, which looks like crap.

I contacted ch. 8 like 2 years ago about this. Their answer was for me to buy a better antenna. They are not going to spend money so the antenna crowd can get them. It is too small a crowd to justify it. Their answer is to buy comcast basic service, but i'm not even interested in that.

Apple is supposedly going to come out with a new version of their appletv. I would rather spend money on that and watch internet content

It can't be their Madmere Mountain location in Hamden, because I nearly always got WCTX-DT (MY) channel 39 ("59-1") just fine, back when I had my converter box hooked to my TV.

I contacted ch. 8 like 2 years ago about this. Their answer was for me to buy a better antenna. They are not going to spend money so the antenna crowd can get them. It is too small a crowd to justify it.

That's would be a good conspiracy theory if it was true, but it's not.
WTNH is on a VHF-Hi Band channel, and they are transmitting at the maximum allowed for their allocation.
(20kW @ ~ 350 meters, if my memory serves me.).
(And thanks to being wedged in between New York, and Boston, they don't have any room to move to, without losing coverage area).

There is a two fold problem with VHF DTV signals (outside of the obvious flaws of 8VSB). One, they are much more prone to multi-path problems., and two many of the set top antenna manufacturers made antennas with great UHF sections but really lousy VHF ones. As an engineer for another station, who has a high band assignment (actually two), I can tell you, 75% of the calls we got were from people with poor receiving equipment. (Bad antennas, poorly designed antennas, poor nosiy pre-amps, etc.). It's amazing what happens when people call after they get a better antenna system, how much better the reception is. There aren't any issues with WTNH's transmitting antenna system. I could pick them up in Springfield with a simple, and small, VHF Yagi (without amplification) when I lived there. Without knowing any details of your setup and or location (antenna type, set model), its tough to tell if youre just in a bad spot for the reception of WTNH or if in fact you do have antenna issues.

here is a youtube video of the antenna i bought

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNjFv6OpWSQ&feature=player_embedded

The antenna is probably too small to work well on channel 10 and most of the better UHF antennas look like antennas. The frequency coverage mentioned in the video was probably developed by the marketing department, since it included the lower VHF channels as well as high. Something like this http://www.buy.com/prod/winegard-hd7694p-high-definition-vhf-uhf-antenna/q/listingid/49492620/loc/111/208503805.html or this http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3739595&CAWELAID=378670231 is more likely to work well on channel 10 and UHF channels as well. If you post TVFool results we can get a better idea of what you need.
John

After connecting my antenna, i discovered an analog channel 48 called retro tv. Someone had told me i was lucky to get it at all, since it is low powered. How does a station likes this make money? What is the point of it, if it is so low powered, analog, and only available to OTA viewers? It would seem to me the amount of people actually watching are few and far between.

It really is amazing how poor the WTNH product is, currently. Their laughable widescreen response to both WVIT and WTIC going HD for news is a joke. No DD on anything for months. Sad. Thank goodness I can flip to bit-starved WABC, it actually looks better!

Well, I did ask. The reply:

"Yes, that is correct. We only transmit our audio in stereo. We are in
the process of upgrading equipment and I believe the audio issue will be
addressed in this upgrade."

So... it's anybody's guess. Meh.

How does a station like [Channel 48/Retro TV] make money? What is the point of it, if it is so low powered, analog, and only available to OTA viewers? It would seem to me the amount of people actually watching are few and far between.

I've wondered about this too, especially considering the monthly electric bill to transmit the signal. Some people operate low power stations as a hobby, out of a genuine interest in broadcasting. In a barter arrangement between a network and a station, no money changes hands. The station airs all the network's commercials and infomercials in exchange for the network providing the entertainment programming. Maybe something like this exists between RTV and WRNT/48.

Originally most of Connecticut's low power stations were geared to the Greek, Italian, and Portuguese communities, showing soccer matches and cultural programming that was a connection to the native homeland. Maybe to gain a broader reach, WRNT picked up the Retro TV Network. In other markets, Retro TV is on a subchannel of a full power station, and/or on cable.

Article about Retro TV here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_TV_Network

It is broadcasting from the WCCC Radio tower on Albany Avenue in West Hartford.

The Retro program schedule for Hartford:
http://www.myretrotv.com/prog_schedules/RTV-National.pdf

All the shows on the network:
http://www.myretrotv.com/shows.html

Retro TV homepage:
http://www.myretrotv.com/

WRNT has a deadline of April 18th of next year to turn off analog channel 48 and immediately turn on digital channel 48. This is called a "flash cut". But it may not happen then. Their sister station in Springfield had a deadline of this past May 14th to flash cut, but the FCC is now giving them until May 27, 2013. Both of these stations are owned by a husband and wife, with headquarters in Wethersfield, CT.

WTNH really needs a repeater in Hartford. Their signal has become terrible in this area since the transition. WCTX too.

That's would be a good conspiracy theory if it was true, but it's not.
WTNH is on a VHF-Hi Band channel, and they are transmitting at the maximum allowed for their allocation.
(20kW @ ~ 350 meters, if my memory serves me.).
(And thanks to being wedged in between New York, and Boston, they don't have any room to move to, without losing coverage area).

There is a two fold problem with VHF DTV signals (outside of the obvious flaws of 8VSB). One, they are much more prone to multi-path problems., and two many of the set top antenna manufacturers made antennas with great UHF sections but really lousy VHF ones. As an engineer for another station, who has a high band assignment (actually two), I can tell you, 75% of the calls we got were from people with poor receiving equipment. (Bad antennas, poorly designed antennas, poor nosiy pre-amps, etc.). It's amazing what happens when people call after they get a better antenna system, how much better the reception is. There aren't any issues with WTNH's transmitting antenna system. I could pick them up in Springfield with a simple, and small, VHF Yagi (without amplification) when I lived there. Without knowing any details of your setup and or location (antenna type, set model), its tough to tell if youre just in a bad spot for the reception of WTNH or if in fact you do have antenna issues.

I contacted ch. 8 like 2 years ago about this. Their answer was for me to buy a better antenna. They are not going to spend money so the antenna crowd can get them. It is too small a crowd to justify it. Their answer is to buy comcast basic service, but i'm not even interested in that.

Apple is supposedly going to come out with a new version of their appletv. I would rather spend money on that and watch internet content

From reading in this thread and by word of mouth, WTNH's signal strength exhibits problems starting in West Hartford and its cut-off is about in Manchester/Vernon. Up here in the northeast corner, Ch. 8 was always one of the stronger signals at a campground where I did a few installs. It's in a nice, high spot and has a clear LOS... BUT now there's nothing for WTNH. This is using the gamut for equipment, from re-using older antenna setups, to a new DB-8 with a CM7777.

Adding a repeater in the Hartford environs would help dramatically. But, bear in mind that last I read, repeater towers can only broadcast in 480, so it wouldn't be HD. Repeater towers cost quite a bit, so I wouldn't be surprised with that kind of response. East of the River is probably a satisfactory red-line for them. Heaven knows it's an acceptable red-line for CT state gov't (well, besides the U).

But, bear in mind that last I read, repeater towers can only broadcast in 480, so it wouldn't be HD.
Repeaters - or more accurately, translators and low power stations, broadcast in the same ATSC digital format as regular high power DTV stations do. The only thing different is they are lower power. There are a number of low power stations still on the air transmitting in the old NTSC analog format - which would be the equiv of 480i resolution. Maybe that is what you are referencing?


Repeater towers cost quite a bit
The cost in any transmission facility is quite expensive - both the initial capital as well as on-going expenses, including the power bill, site lease, etc. Further - there are a limited number of frequencies available for additional stations, translators - they are assigned based on not causing any interference to other existing users of a channel or nearby channels.

I'm at an elevation of 500 feet in northern NJ and can receive off air ABC from New Haven, Philadelphia and NYC. The picture quality on WTNH for the NBA Finals was awful. It looked like a bad upconversion. You could also easily see the softness in the graphics. Philadelphia and NYC have 2 subchannels that take away much of their bandwidth yet pictures were much sharper than New Haven. I kept switching back and forth and was amazed at the difference.

I don't know what the problem with WTNH is but if I lived in Conn. with New Haven as my only source for ABC I would be very upset. It was NBA finals in SD not HD. I would also think the network should be concerned that a important event was so poorly broadcasted in a major market.

WTNH is pretty mushy on cable, too, so it's not just their OTA signal. Easily the worst PQ of the networks available on Charter's system. For the record, Charter's picture is generally pretty good, and living in VA for a few years I know that the mushymushy HD isn't ABC's fault, as WJLA in Arlington looked terrific. Between the picture quality and the lack of DD audio (really, people?) WTNH is doing fairly lousy work.

Hi I am new to this forum, but have been reading thru 1000's of interesting posts over the last 3 days try to play catch up.

One question I have that relates to something that really annoys me is New Haven CT. WCTX's station identification of MYTV-9.

For one, WCTX formally on UHF Channel 59 has never been located on the VHF-Hi channel 9 frequency.

Only WWOR Secaucus N.J. and WMUR Manchester N.H. and recently WEDN UHF channel 53 Norwich have occupied channel 9.

WCTX is NOW located on DTV RF CH. 39. So where are they getting this MYTV-9 Station Ident. from?

I think it is the most misleading information I have ever heard. :eek:

Cable 9.

- Trip

Sounds like Comcast should add WABC in HD... they already have carriage rights at least to Madison, as they have it in SD... Maybe WTNH would change their tune when that happened...

Cable 9.

- Trip

Thanks for the reply Trip.

I am not sure what cable system has them on Cable channel 9.
However, xfinity/comcast in Norwich CT. has them on channel 7 next to its sister station WTNH ch 10 New Haven on Cable channel 8.
I do find it intresting that they would base their OTA Ident on a cable allocated channel number. :rolleyes:

I do find it intresting that they would base their OTA Ident on a cable allocated channel number. :rolleyes:

There are a few markets where cable penetration is really high that they do this. Fort Myers, FL and San Diego are two of them.

- Trip

Only in New Haven's case it's stupid that about 70 miles down the road, you have THE MY-9 station (WWOR).

Only in New Haven's case it's stupid that about 70 miles down the road, you have THE MY-9 station (WWOR).

In San Diego you used to have KSWB-69 "CW 5" down the road from KTLA CW5 in LA, XHDTV-49 "My 13" down the road from KCOP My 13 in LA. In Fort Myers, WZVN-26 is "ABC 7" which is right next to WWSB-40, also called "ABC 7." When KNTV in San Jose first flipped to NBC, they called it "NBC 3" and finally gave it up for "NBC 11" when their ratings were being credited to KCRA "NBC 3" in Sacramento.

Nothing unique to Hartford.

- Trip

Channel 20 in Ft. Myers is called NBC-2. I believe they have the same owners as the ABC station.

Maybe so, but even in this age of digital, I refuse to call an over-the-air station by its service name. Another example I left out was Springfield, MA: WGGB-DT 40-2 calls itself "FOX 6" for cable positioning. It makes no sense if they're not on channel 6 on a given cable system.

One question I have that relates to something that really annoys me is New Haven CT. WCTX's station identification of MYTV-9. ... I think it is the most misleading information I have ever heard. :eek:As others have pointed out - it is just branding. In this case the 9 refers to the cable position on some cable systems.

In the markets here in the northeast typically you find that less than 10% of the viewers are watching a station off-air, e.g., most of the viewership is via cable or satellite. (Anyone in CT have DirecTV or Dish? What does WCTX-DT show up as on those systems?) In the Springfield MA market the FOX station is known as FOX6, again because of its widely used cable position. There is no separate FOX transmitter but instead it is the second digital sub channel of WGGB-DT (40.2) WGGB-DT 40.1 is known as ABC40. They could have called it FOX40 or FOX Springfield or Pioneer Valley's FOX station, etc.

There's no legal requirement on branding - the station only has to ID with its callsign/community of license. Some stations may use the callsign as their brand ... others have moved to things like ABC40 (as noted above) or even the absense of any channel number (as in The Boston Channel).

When the FCC adopted ATSC (digital television standard) they mandated that stations transmit their "channel" number embedded in the digital stream that was their previous analog number. This was (I suppose) to help viewers find and identify the digital versions of the locally known analog stations. As you've noted - many stations today transmit on a different digital channel than their old analog assignments. Hence WCTX-DT is on frequencies of RF channel 39 but in the digital stream is sending 59, their old channel number 59.

Welcome to the AVS Forums!

Thanks to all those who have replied.

RPM I agree with you about the digital recievers working both the original channel number plus the digital one, hence my OTA digital converter would display WCTX on both channel 59 and 39. (Just a note: due to terrain, WCTX is unviewable at my location OTA)
But they (WCTX) appear to be the only station viewable in this Connecticut television market which does this.

Most others are noted for their network affiliation, or their old analog channel assignment, for example: WEDN channel 53 Norwich idents its self as 53/9 on screen, since the station runs off a network feed 24/7.


It does disturb me greatly, how the cable television industry has taken over the television markets as compared to the pre-cable days.
You have to pay for what was once free to view, they make your choices for you on what you watch and when.

Years ago, you didnt have someone telling you you could not watch a show or a television station coming from another television market.

Most reception available on cable systems is for porfit only, nothing there is free and now with the reception limits on digital OTA broadcasting signals, which have made it so you have no free TV to speak of anymore.
You need a signal that is better than 60 % now for stable reception without pixelation or drop-outs ocurring.

My biggest question to America is what are you going to do if a hurricane was to strike your area and your whole cable system was destroyed requiring weeks or maybe months to repair?

What will you watch then for news and information if you have no roof-top antenna?

I am sure people have experienced this already, but it still shocks me how we are so dependent on cable television and have given up on our right to free OTA television. :(

I would not be surprised at all if by the year 2020 there will be no OTA televison available, Television stations will microwave their scrambled signals directly to the cable companys eliminating the direct point to point home viewer completely, just as is the case now with all the satillite stations.

MrBruce / others:

One of the issues I have with OTA tuners is that no two boxes (or set integrated tuners) work in the same way. Many will allow you to enter a number - and if there is a previously scanned (learned) station there it will be tuned in. And if that channel is the RF channel of a digital signal it will be tuned. Hence for WCTX if you put in 39 a box may tune to the DTV signal and show you 59.1. Other boxes will do nothing.

Around the world in most countries the RF channel (whether analog or digital) is not used in any branding. You get basically the network (like BBC1, CTV, RTV, ZDF, etc.) or in the case of smaller stations - some kind of branding. Likewise - in most places around the world the government issued callsign (every transmitter has one) is not often disclosed to the public. Nice we do it here - so if you catch an ID and you're DXing - you know what your watching or listening to ...

As for cable coverage - that is a very large, complex and involved thing. A combination between rules and regulations ... and carriage agreements. Here in the northeast where there is a lot of overlap in the markets it can present an issue. But elsewhere in the country where centers of markets can be far in excess of what a typical TV signal will cover - there's almost no issue at all. To wit: in the Springfield market viewers can receive off-air stations from two or three adjacent markets. The cable coverage use to reflect this as well - though changes in rules and regs plus carriage agreements have had an impact on that over the last couple of decades.

The point made about a calamity where you loose the cable plant is a good one. And it would also apply to landline based phone services. Between cable and telco - that's the majority of Internet access. As for what are people going to do? Go through Internet and entertainment withdrawal! For the serious part of the question - there's also the main FM stations that are part of the emergency alert network - that's probably where I would tune to.

Many stations feed cable and satellite providers over fibre connections (versus scrambled microwave signals). Even if fed with microwave - probably no real need to scramble. And for those "head ends" that are not fed directly via fibre ... they are picking up signals off-air from the TV station's transmitter (just like any other viewer - but with a better tuner device).

As for 2020 - if someone had a good crystal ball for that far out ... they could make a lot of money! Personally I wouldn't be surprised if you find TV stations using their RF facilities to provide other (data) services. Content on handheld devices may be in broadcasters' future - and the delivery of that content can't be tethered to cable or telco based connected services.

Ah, what will the future bring? As a consumer, I want everything for free. Alas that is not a business model that would work for anyone. The actors want to be paid. A lot. The stations pay for the content, and they want to be paid. Advertisers used to do this for us, but since the average American has the attention span of a gnat, the advertising just doesn't cut it anymore. Add that to the Tivo/DVR commercial skipper and now you have a mess.

The local off air networks are squeezing the money out of the delivery systems in place. They charge retransmission fees to the cable and phone and satellite companies, then everyone expects that there won't be any price increases. Really?

Is there perfection in this world? No. Is there a perfect system? No. Ultimately, rather than bash my provider, I evaluate my entertainment expenses and keep it in perspective. I can watch every Red Sox in game in HD on TV for the whole season for the cost of going to one once a month. Football pays off sooner. If I get HBO or Cinemax or any other premium, I get a ton of movies each month for less than the cost of going to one.

Is it perfect? No, however I get what I need for what seems like a fair price for what I get, keeping in mind that in each step of the process there are people that need to get paid, including the actors, athletes, commentators, wardrobe people, cameramen, sound guys, sales people, HR, studio technicians, head end technicians, supervisors, managers, marketing people, construction technicians, supervisors, managers, directors, field technicians, fleet managers, and other necessary employees of my provider. I won't work for free and I just can't expect anyone else to either.

Ah, what will the future bring? As a consumer, I want everything for free. Alas that is not a business model that would work for anyone. The actors want to be paid. A lot. The stations pay for the content, and they want to be paid. Advertisers used to do this for us, but since the average American has the attention span of a gnat, the advertising just doesn't cut it anymore. Add that to the Tivo/DVR commercial skipper and now you have a mess.

The local off air networks are squeezing the money out of the delivery systems in place. They charge retransmission fees to the cable and phone and satellite companies, then everyone expects that there won't be any price increases. Really?

Is there perfection in this world? No. Is there a perfect system? No. Ultimately, rather than bash my provider, I evaluate my entertainment expenses and keep it in perspective. I can watch every Red Sox in game in HD on TV for the whole season for the cost of going to one once a month. Football pays off sooner. If I get HBO or Cinemax or any other premium, I get a ton of movies each month for less than the cost of going to one.

Is it perfect? No, however I get what I need for what seems like a fair price for what I get, keeping in mind that in each step of the process there are people that need to get paid, including the actors, athletes, commentators, wardrobe people, cameramen, sound guys, sales people, HR, studio technicians, head end technicians, supervisors, managers, marketing people, construction technicians, supervisors, managers, directors, field technicians, fleet managers, and other necessary employees of my provider. I won't work for free and I just can't expect anyone else to either.

Well, jeez schmitter, if you are going to be all reasonable about it, what is there to argue about? ;)

Well i decided to reposition my monoprice antenna to the rear attic window facing east. I then did a an auto scan of all channels including cable. I still have not gotten ABC ch. 8. Ch 40.1 & 40.2 come in much better. I also now get 4 channels of PBS from wgby ch. 57. Ch 48 analog RTV comes in clearer. The tv also said i picked up 4 cable channels. 2 of them had nothing on them. one was spanish and the other was RTV again on ch. 104

Cable? Is your TV set to "AIR" or "ANTENNA"? As for the Spanish stations, would they be low-power analog channel 47 (Telefutura) or analog channel 50 (Telemundo)?

when I search for channels on my new samsung tv, it searches for 4 different channel types:
DTV Air
Air
DTV Cable
& Cable

In the "cable" category it finds 5 channels. Ch 89 which is showing ch 38 spanish, ch 104 showing ch 48 RTV, ch 106 Telemundo HD and last 2 dont come in with any picture Ch 105 & 123

You should search Air and not Cable. You'll find 38 correctly on 38, 48 correctly on 48, and 50 (which is not HD) correctly on 50.

- Trip

yes, i get all those too

I haven't had the antenna on my 4-year-old Sanyo 26" LCD HDTV in ages. All I do know is that analog channel 47 was really weak and I didn't get anything on channel 38 or 50. I only have an indoor antenna and I'm in the south end of New Britain, with Walnut Hill and the hospital rising up behind my house.

when I search for channels on my new samsung tv, it searches for 4 different channel types:
DTV Air
Air
DTV Cable
& Cable

In the "cable" category it finds 5 channels. Ch 89 which is showing ch 38 spanish, ch 104 showing ch 48 RTV, ch 106 Telemundo HD and last 2 dont come in with any picture Ch 105 & 123

Cable Ch 89 is in the same frequency range as OTA 38.
Cable Ch 104 is in the same channel range as OTA 48.
Cable Ch 106 is in the same channel range as OTA 50.

It sounds like there is a software problem with your set. The cable channels are offset from the OTA channels by 2 MHz and it is scanning the cable frequencies, which it should find as QAM carriers, as ASTC carriers. You should be able to tell the set to do an OTA scan only, that way you will not get duplicates and it will find the channels at the correct frequencies.

Normally my set scans channels in STD, but what are HRC & IRC?

Normally my set scans channels in STD, but what are HRC & IRC?
HRC = harmonically related carriers
IRC = incrementally related carries
different ways that the frequencies for cable channels are determined - see:
http://www.jneuhaus.com/fccindex/cablech.html

As others have pointed out - it is just branding. In this case the 9 refers to the cable position on some cable systems.

In the markets here in the northeast typically you find that less than 10% of the viewers are watching a station off-air, e.g., most of the viewership is via cable or satellite. (Anyone in CT have DirecTV or Dish? What does WCTX-DT show up as on those systems?) In the Springfield MA market the FOX station is known as FOX6, again because of its widely used cable position. There is no separate FOX transmitter but instead it is the second digital sub channel of WGGB-DT (40.2) WGGB-DT 40.1 is known as ABC40. They could have called it FOX40 or FOX Springfield or Pioneer Valley's FOX station, etc.

There's no legal requirement on branding - the station only has to ID with its callsign/community of license. Some stations may use the callsign as their brand ... others have moved to things like ABC40 (as noted above) or even the absense of any channel number (as in The Boston Channel).

When the FCC adopted ATSC (digital television standard) they mandated that stations transmit their "channel" number embedded in the digital stream that was their previous analog number. This was (I suppose) to help viewers find and identify the digital versions of the locally known analog stations. As you've noted - many stations today transmit on a different digital channel than their old analog assignments. Hence WCTX-DT is on frequencies of RF channel 39 but in the digital stream is sending 59, their old channel number 59.

Welcome to the AVS Forums!

These policies drive me nuts, since the physical RF channel number determines the reception, and whether it is VHF or UHF. I wish they had mandated that they use their physical RF channel number in labeling and in all branding that involves numbers. Cable companies should also be required to re-map them as their physical numbers, and not have any other channels between 2 and 69 or whatever the top of the broadcast spectrum is now, like satellite does. It's not hard to do, its just a bunch of software in the box.

What would be a really big thing would be for people to be able to make up their own channel lineup, with their own channel numbers. They could go online, do it, and then it would be pushed out to the boxes remotely. That would be really sweet. I'm surprised the satellite and cable providers haven't done that yet, considering that everything these days is in software anyways.

If you have a hurricane and the cable plant is down, maybe some neighbor will have DISH or DirecTV, or you could go on your Android/ WebOS/ Crackberry/ Jesus Phone/S60 and get information that way, assuming that a cell network is up an running, if need be through a sat-linked COW.

I have been having a problem with WTIC OTA. Any national programming is fine, I get no local programming. During a national broadcast for instance if the commercial is local, I get the no signal message. Same for their local news, etc... When I check, the signal strength itself is fine. I have rescanned, with no success. Any ideas?
I am not using anything between the antenna and the TV. (No Digital box, etc...) This is new over the last few weeks or so.
The correct info shows all the time - national or local programming.
Thanks.

EDIT - I received a reply by an engineer from Tribune broadcasting. Though I am the only one to have written with this problem, they did change to a new Encoder about two or three weeks ago or so. He will contact the manufacturer and see if it is known bug.

These policies drive me nuts, since the physical RF channel number determines the reception, and whether it is VHF or UHF.
The public in general doesn't understand channels and relation to VHF/UHF. Even people who had over the air reception prior to the digital conversion were confused when a station moved from VHF to UHF or vice versa. (The issue was not really with the channel number but the need for different types of antennas based on the frequency of the channel.) Once you scan and find your channels - the need to know what RF channel a station is on is moot.

Here's another example of how the current system provides some flexibility: WNYW-DT transmits on RF channel 44. Their sub channels are 5.1 (WNYW) and 9.2 (WWOR). WWOR-DT transmits on RF channel 38. Their sub channels are 9.1 (WWOR) and 5.2 (WNYW). There are networks of PBS stations that also do creative things with the PSIP (embedded channel info) in their digital transmissions.

I wish they had mandated that they use their physical RF channel number in labeling and in all branding that involves numbers.
They did - at least on a technical basis. Broadcasters have to embed a major and minor channel number in their ATSC (DTV) streams. The major channel number has to be whatever analog channel they were previously assigned. This is why WTIC-DT is 61.1. Even though the station may have some kind of branding (like FOX CT or FOX61) most people will remember this station as channel 61 - and the FCC requirements took care of that.

There is no regulation anywhere for what a station wants to call itself. (see previous postings)

Cable companies should also be required to re-map them as their physical numbers, and not have any other channels between 2 and 69 or whatever the top of the broadcast spectrum is now, like satellite does. It's not hard to do, its just a bunch of software in the box.
A book could probably be written about this one - there's a lot of history behind it. In a totally digital cable plant this would be easy - but we are not there today. That's why some higher numbered stations (WTIC channel 61 for example) may have opted for a channel like 6 ... especially since even the most basic cable package would provide a dozen or so analog channels. Plus: off-air channel number frequencies don't map one-to-one with cable RF channel frequencies. BTW: today's off-air stations can operate on VHF channels 2 to 13 and UHF channels 14 to 51. Channel 37 is not available anywhere and in some urban areas the lower UHF channels have also been reassigned (to non-broadcast use). Not many ATSC (digital television) stations use the low VHF channels (2 through 6) dues to impulse and other interference issues.

What would be a really big thing would be for people to be able to make up their own channel lineup, with their own channel numbers. They could go online, do it, and then it would be pushed out to the boxes remotely. That would be really sweet. I'm surprised the satellite and cable providers haven't done that yet, considering that everything these days is in software anyways.
Yea - that would be a cool idea ... but I bet to build the infrastructure to do that wouldn't be cheap. Would you be willing to pay for that feature? I'll take it one step further: I'd love to only pay for what I want to watch. For example, I don't watch any sports channels - noting that for the first time in six or more years I did with a couple of World Cup games. Things would be a whole lot different if an à la carte scheme were made available.

The public in general doesn't understand channels and relation to VHF/UHF. Even people who had over the air reception prior to the digital conversion were confused when a station moved from VHF to UHF or vice versa. (The issue was not really with the channel number but the need for different types of antennas based on the frequency of the channel.) Once you scan and find your channels - the need to know what RF channel a station is on is moot.

Here's another example of how the current system provides some flexibility: WNYW-DT transmits on RF channel 44. Their sub channels are 5.1 (WNYW) and 9.2 (WWOR). WWOR-DT transmits on RF channel 38. Their sub channels are 9.1 (WWOR) and 5.2 (WNYW). There are networks of PBS stations that also do creative things with the PSIP (embedded channel info) in their digital transmissions.


They did - at least on a technical basis. Broadcasters have to embed a major and minor channel number in their ATSC (DTV) streams. The major channel number has to be whatever analog channel they were previously assigned. This is why WTIC-DT is 61.1. Even though the station may have some kind of branding (like FOX CT or FOX61) most people will remember this station as channel 61 - and the FCC requirements took care of that.

There is no regulation anywhere for what a station wants to call itself. (see previous postings)


A book could probably be written about this one - there's a lot of history behind it. In a totally digital cable plant this would be easy - but we are not there today. That's why some higher numbered stations (WTIC channel 61 for example) may have opted for a channel like 6 ... especially since even the most basic cable package would provide a dozen or so analog channels. Plus: off-air channel number frequencies don't map one-to-one with cable RF channel frequencies. BTW: today's off-air stations can operate on VHF channels 2 to 13 and UHF channels 14 to 51. Channel 37 is not available anywhere and in some urban areas the lower UHF channels have also been reassigned (to non-broadcast use). Not many ATSC (digital television) stations use the low VHF channels (2 through 6) dues to impulse and other interference issues.


Yea - that would be a cool idea ... but I bet to build the infrastructure to do that wouldn't be cheap. Would you be willing to pay for that feature? I'll take it one step further: I'd love to only pay for what I want to watch. For example, I don't watch any sports channels - noting that for the first time in six or more years I did with a couple of World Cup games. Things would be a whole lot different if an à la carte scheme were made available.

The virtual channels make it more confusing, since 2-13 are VHF and the rest are UHF, that's pretty simple. Soon as you get virtual channels you have to go and look them up.

I don't know what WNYW is smoking, but that is a mess. Talk about confusing.

They are not embedding their physical channel, but rather their former physical channel, which now has no meaning.

I know that physical channels have no meaning on a modern HFC plant. Granted, there are still a LOT of plants out there with analog, but in the very near future, many will have zero analog. QAM channels are all remapped anyways, and in fact, get different mapping data depending on if they are received through a box (three digit) or clear QAM (OTA+ subchannels). Adding a new map to an individual box should be a pretty simple matter, and it would just download the map, which would be a small database file generated by a server that knows the physical mapping of that system (or in the future, generated to map to another database that is updated on the fly from SDV), which would be loaded into the box's RAM every time it's turned on.

Considering that we are moving towards SDV, where the physical channel can vary wildly for the same stream from day to day, mapping the other side of it, the GUI, to custom channels shouldn't be too hard. I think the thing stopping it for cable right now is that many digital subscribers still have old TV's or clear QAM tv's that don't have MSO-provided boxes, and DTA's probably can't handle the mapping operations. If they would just put all the TV's (except for CC) on the system on full boxes, all sorts of cool stuff would be possible.

I don't know what WNYW is smoking, but that is a mess. Talk about confusing. They are not embedding their physical channel, but rather their former physical channel, which now has no meaning.Both stations are owned by the same company. Both transmitters carry both program streams (albeit the dot 2 channel is in SD). If a viewer was unable to receive off-air reception of one transmitter but did receive the other - they'd now have access to programming (by virtual of the second stream) that they otherwise wouldn't have / get. Actually not a bad idea and reasonable use of the bandwidth.

...

Here's another example of how the current system provides some flexibility: WNYW-DT transmits on RF channel 44. Their sub channels are 5.1 (WNYW) and 9.2 (WWOR). WWOR-DT transmits on RF channel 38. Their sub channels are 9.1 (WWOR) and 5.2 (WNYW). There are networks of PBS stations that also do creative things with the PSIP (embedded channel info) in their digital transmissions.

Both stations are owned by the same company. Both transmitters carry both program streams (albeit the dot 2 channel is in SD). If a viewer was unable to receive off-air reception of one transmitter but did receive the other - they'd now have access to programming (by virtual of the second stream) that they otherwise wouldn't have / get. Actually not a bad idea and reasonable use of the bandwidth.

Unless you made a typo, shouldn't WNYW & WWOR be using their previous individual analog channel as their individual major number?

WNYW 5.1 (WNYW)
WNYW 5.2 (WWOR) and not 9.2?

WWOR 9.1 (WWOR)
WWOR 9.2 (WNYW) and not 5.2?

No, RPMcCormick is correct.

WNYW-44
5-1 720p Fox
9-2 480i MyN

WWOR-38
9-1 720p MyN
5-2 480i Fox

- Trip

No, RPMcCormick is correct.

WNYW-44
5-1 720p Fox
9-2 480i MyN

WWOR-38
9-1 720p MyN
5-2 480i Fox

- Trip

Curious, as the WNYW / WWOR VP of Engineering and Operations explained on their web site:
What are the DTV channel names?

Digital TV Conversion: Answers to Your Questions
Fox 5's VP for Engineering Explains It All for You
MYFOXNY.COM - Have you gone digital with your television yet? If not, you might want to because on June 12, 2009, federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast only in digital. This means that after that date all TV sets not equipped with digital tuners or an adapter will no longer be able to receive programming through rooftop or rabbit-ear antennas.

OK, sounds cool -- but what does that really mean for you? Well, you have a few options. First, check out our DTV Conversion Guide if you haven't already. If you still have questions, you can submit them there.

And the great thing is, Al Shjarback, the vice president for engineering and operations for Fox 5 and My 9, is answering all of your questions. Check out his answers right here:

...The FCC-mandated channel-numbering scheme will require all stations to use their current main channel number as the primary number (FOX is #5) and then assign a secondary channel number based on the sub-channel numbering scheme. For example, WNYW/FOX 5 will show the primary channel as 5-1. WWOR/MY 9 will be 9-1. Any additional channels that the broadcasters add to their program stream will be sequentially numbered in sequence in the same pattern: 5-2, 5-3, etc. Our call letters will remain the same (WNYW) with DT in place of TV (WNYW-DT) as now used on our analog program stream...

Curious...AS I don't recall the FCC wavering from that requirement?

No, RPMcCormick is correct.

WNYW-44
5-1 720p Fox
9-2 480i MyN

WWOR-38
9-1 720p MyN
5-2 480i Fox

- Trip

When I received WNYW-DT (RF 44) in August of 2009, WWOR was mapped to 5.2 not 9.2.
Note, I was not receiving WWOR-DT (RF 38) that night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7EJGNubHCA
This is the video clip of said reception, unless they've changed their VCT since then and they now map as stated above.

W1KNE:

I don't remember exactly when they changed it, but I have TSReader data from my last trip up to New Jersey that shows it. I've yet to upload this updated data because my grandfather died while I was up there and I had shipped off my laptop, then I had to come straight back to school and be buried under school work (laptop came back during my second week back). Hopefully I can get caught up soon, but I have a rather lengthy list of things to do.

jzareski:

The FCC adopted the PSIP specification in full. Here's the PDF:

http://www.atsc.org/cms/standards/a_65-2009.pdf

If you examine Annex B, subsection 5 or 7 (depending on your interpretation), you'll see that WNYW and WWOR are in compliance. The standard allows for stations to mix and match subchannels as Fox has done in New York/Los Angeles/Phoenix/Minneapolis.

- Trip

W1KNE:

I don't remember exactly when they changed it, but I have TSReader data from my last trip up to New Jersey that shows it. I've yet to upload this updated data because my grandfather died while I was up there and I had shipped off my laptop, then I had to come straight back to school and be buried under school work (laptop came back during my second week back). Hopefully I can get caught up soon, but I have a rather lengthy list of things to do.

jzareski:

The FCC adopted the PSIP specification in full. Here's the PDF:

http://www.atsc.org/cms/standards/a_65-2009.pdf

If you examine Annex B, subsection 5 or 7 (depending on your interpretation), you'll see that WNYW and WWOR are in compliance. The standard allows for stations to mix and match subchannels as Fox has done in New York/Los Angeles/Phoenix/Minneapolis.

- Trip

Hi Trip,

I interpret Annex B, subsection 5 as inappropriate as it would imply all major channel 5 or all major channel 9, not both.

I interpret Annex B, subsection 7 as appropriate for overlapping services "as long as the major/minor channel number combinations are coordinated in the local Service Area to avoid conflicts in the channel numbers."

They apparently done this with their new scheme. Cool...

anyone knows if wttx ch20 is at 450kw or 52kw cos i can pick it their signal fairly good from nyc 85 miles away. i checked the fcc website, also rabbitears.org its vague at best, it says cp construction permit, but i think its on higher erp if anyone knows post it here.
thxs

WCCT is at 52 kW. The 470 kW is still an application, meaning it's not been approved and they cannot be operating it.

- Trip

WCCT is at 52 kW. The 470 kW is still an application, meaning it's not been approved and they cannot be operating it.

- Trip
__________________
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"Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand..." - Rush "Witch Hunt"

Im surprise i can get this station i get ct tv pbs 49 wsah 43 bridgeport almost at full power, it must be long island sound helping out :)

I am in the East Rock area of New Haven- have been experiencing difficulty as of late picking up Fox 61 and NBC 30. I have received both of these stations in the past with my current set up. Any thoughts?

How well do you receive WFSB-DT? (33).

There has been some decent tropo lately, its very possible you were seeing a 2nd channel 31 (WTIC 61) and 35 (WVIT 30).

Is WFSB Hartford CBS? I get CBS most of the time- 2 or 3 channels out of Hartford and 1 out of Springfield.

NBC 30 was trying to come in last night (the weather subchannel came in the clearest) and a very heavily pixelated US Sports.

Is WFSB Hartford CBS? I get CBS most of the time- 2 or 3 channels out of Hartford and 1 out of Springfield.
What do you get out of Springfield? The Springfield CBS station is fed on WFSB-DT 3.2 out of Connecticut to a low power analog transmitter just north of Springfield. Other Springfield digital stations include WWLP 22.1 (RF channel 11), WGGB 40.1 and 40.2 (RF channel 40) and WGBY 57.1 .2 .3 etc (RF channel 22) and WFXQ-CD 28.1 (RF channel 28 low power).

It is the DTV 3.2. WVIT and WTIC appear to be coming in now but I feel like I was without for a significant chunk of time. Additionally, my WFSB reception was intermittent at best during Oprah (not so much a problem for me but of course I have to hear about it).

It is the DTV 3.2. WVIT and WTIC appear to be coming in now but I feel like I was without for a significant chunk of time. Additionally, my WFSB reception was intermittent at best during Oprah (not so much a problem for me but of course I have to hear about it).
Try visiting the TV Fool web site and generate a TV signal analysis report: http://www.tvfool.com/
click: TV Signal Locator
Enter your physical location - and after you get a report maybe click the current database - only digital button. That will give you a detailed listing of DTV stations you may be able to receive. There's a lot of info there - drop a question if you need help in understanding any of it. For signal strength - you will see it measured in dBm which is typically showing negative numbers. A signal level of -30 dBm is better than -50 dBm and -50 dBm is better than -80 dBm, etc.

Is WFSB Hartford CBS? I get CBS most of the time- 2 or 3 channels out of Hartford and 1 out of Springfield.

NBC 30 was trying to come in last night (the weather subchannel came in the clearest) and a very heavily pixelated US Sports.

Actually all three of those channels are WFSB (3.1, 3.2, 3.3 "3.2" is the Springfield CBS, believe it or not. 3.1 is the Hartford one.), all on RF 33.

It sounds like you're seeing either bad multipath or terrain shielding to Rattlesnake Mountain (where WTIC FOX 61 and WVIT NBC 30) both are transmitting from. I was asking about your reception of WFSB, because it's channel (33) is between WTIC (31) and WVIT (35), in case you were seeing localized interference. I've seen pre-amps generate noise speficially in the lower "30's". Which is why i asked if you've seen a change in WFSB as well.

I repositioned my antenna and lost & gained some channels. i lost 57.1-57.4(pbs), but gained 26.1-26.3 (ION). I like the ION channels. They seem to have good movies

Hi I am new to this forum, but have been reading thru 1000's of interesting posts over the last 3 days try to play catch up.

One question I have that relates to something that really annoys me is New Haven CT. WCTX's station identification of MYTV-9.

For one, WCTX formally on UHF Channel 59 has never been located on the VHF-Hi channel 9 frequency.

Only WWOR Secaucus N.J. and WMUR Manchester N.H. and recently WEDN UHF channel 53 Norwich have occupied channel 9.

WCTX is NOW located on DTV RF CH. 39. So where are they getting this MYTV-9 Station Ident. from?

I think it is the most misleading information I have ever heard. :eek:

Meant to comment on this. I am in 100% agreement, this is stupid!

How is the OTA DTV reception around the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun areas (kedyard and Uncasville)? What channels can be received in the area, such as those from the Hartford/New haven and Providence areas and how well are they received?

Just noticed that there is content on 49.3 (CPTV WEDW). Right now it contains the same content as 49.2 (Create). This does not appear to be happening on WEDY. Typically the .3 and .4 subchannels have been blank.

Are we getting new (sub) channel content? I wonder what it will be?

Just noticed that there is content on 49.3 (CPTV WEDW). Right now it contains the same content as 49.2 (Create). This does not appear to be happening on WEDY. Typically the .3 and .4 subchannels have been blank.

Are we getting new (sub) channel content? I wonder what it will be?

makes me wonder how bad the pq is going to be on those subs, create looks so bad

makes me wonder how bad the pq is going to be on those subs, create looks so bad

I've been told Create looks terrible anywhere you go. It's like that off the satellite.

- Trip

I've been told Create looks terrible anywhere you go. It's like that off the satellite.

- Trip

OK Z, get on this.

I've been told Create looks terrible anywhere you go. It's like that off the satellite.

- Trip
We have it here in Grand Rapids MI. It is HORRIBLE. Our local PBS (WGVU, 35.1 which is in HD) has 2 sub channels, Create (35.2) which is always an awful picture and news broadcasts from around the world (35.3) which look pretty darn good for SD.

Dominic

"Create" also appeared yesterday on Channel 24-3, in addition to being on 24-2. Both 24-3 and 24-4 appeared in the line-up on their own on Sunday. I had deselected both of these channels a long time ago because they were black screens.

Back in April, the CPTV engineer posted what may be coming on 24-3:

A new SD service, "CPTV4U", may be launching in a few months...TBD.

***

There's news that broke late this afternoon that might be welcomed by viewers who have wanted more classic TV on subchannels. The Tribune Company announced that it is starting up "Antenna TV" on Monday, January 3, 2011 on a subchannel of its stations. In Connecticut, this would possibly be on the not-yet-created Channel 61-2 (WTIC).

"Antenna TV" will show movies and TV series mostly from the Sony/Columbia Pictures archives. The movies would be shown in the morning and afternoon. TV series would start at 5PM, and would include Sanford and Son, All In The Family, Maude, Three's Company, The Nanny, and Married With Children.

Overnights, The Three Stooges short subjects, The Donna Reed Show, and 1959's Dennis The Menace would be shown.

***

The call letters that Tribune no longer wanted for Channel 20, WTXX, are now the calls for Channel 34, the low-power analog station in Springfield. This station was formerly WESA.

OK Z, get on this.

FYI,

At the moment, one CPTV encoding / mux system feeds both OTA and Cable TV systems.

In order to facilitate Cable TV operators in moving CPTV Create from the -2 service to the -3 service, CPTV Create was placed in the new -3 service while simultaneously occupying the -2 service. Cable TV systems were notified, but many have yet to complete the move. Those Cable TV systems that fail to complete the move by this weekend risk losing CPTV Create as CPTV4U will automatically appear as the -2 service.

A "soft" launch of CPTV4U as SD on the -2 service will be occurring, picture quality will be held at a minimum during the discussions with Cable TV systems to carry the new service.

The long term plan for CPTV4U is to air HD to Cable TV systems (while always SD to OTA) when available and upconvert to 14:9 HD when HD is not available. Just like the CPTV HD -1 service. At the moment there is only one encoding / mux system, so CPTV4U will be downconverted to SD for both Cable TV systems and OTA. Again, just like CPTV HD -1 for the "non HD digital" Cable TV subscribers.

After Labor Day 2010 when the dust of change can be collected and analyzed, CPTV4U programing will continue to mature. I don't anticipate CPTV4U in HD on Cable TV systems occurring this year, unless enough Cable TV operators request HD and / or CPTV gets the grant for the replacement encoding and muxing equipment that it has applied for.

Thanks to all for the helpful replies on CPTV .3 activation.... but now you got me curious. Why move Create from .2 to .3 in preparation for a new subchannel? Why not just put the new subchannel on .3?

Thanks to all for the helpful replies on CPTV .3 activation.... but now you got me curious. Why move Create from .2 to .3 in preparation for a new subchannel? Why not just put the new subchannel on .3?

That was not an Engineering decision...enough said...

Today shows another example about what's great about OTA. I don't have to watch the school closings on 3.1 over and over because of the rain expected later today. I can watch 3.2 while cable viewers are stuck with only viewing 2/3 of their screen.

As far as the change on 24.2 & 3 , I thought that was related to the change in that Russian station UVB-76 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76) that recently changed it's secret buzzing.

...
As far as the change on 24.2 & 3 , I thought that was related to the change in that Russian station UVB-76 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76) that recently changed it's secret buzzing.

FYI,

On Friday September 3, 2010 at 10:56 AM EDT, CPTV4U was "soft" launched on the -2 service while CPTV Create continues now on the -3 service.

Today shows another example about what's great about OTA. I don't have to watch the school closings on 3.1 over and over because of the rain expected later today. I can watch 3.2 while cable viewers are stuck with only viewing 2/3 of their screen.
Or you get stuck with Springfield area school closings@

Just noticed that there is content on 49.3 (CPTV WEDW). Right now it contains the same content as 49.2 (Create). This does not appear to be happening on WEDY. Typically the .3 and .4 subchannels have been blank.

Are we getting new (sub) channel content? I wonder what it will be?

As of Tuesday morning September 7, 2010, CPTV Create was activated on the WEDY-3 service. As previously noted, CPTV4U was activated on the WEDY-2 service as of 10:56 AM EDT Friday September 3, 2010.

All CPTV DTV's now have:
-1 CPTV HD
-2 CPTV4U
-3 CPTV Create

Thank you

WTNH is pretty mushy on cable, too, so it's not just their OTA signal. Easily the worst PQ of the networks available on Charter's system. For the record, Charter's picture is generally pretty good, and living in VA for a few years I know that the mushymushy HD isn't ABC's fault, as WJLA in Arlington looked terrific. Between the picture quality and the lack of DD audio (really, people?) WTNH is doing fairly lousy work.

WTNH continues to be awful. Watching the replay of the UConn/Michigan game, just hideous.

Even worse watching the Boise/VPI game afterwards, which looked SPECTACULAR, in comparison.

Get on the ball, WTNH! Only been a year or so!

It looks like WFSB changed the format of their Eyewitness News Now channel 3-3. The automated stuff is gone, so the full screen is available for program content. However, it seems to be a few news stories and weather respoken from the standard broadcast changed with the channel identifier, and then a whole lot of commercials.

Did they change it permanently, or was it just pulled for today's tennis?

- Trip

As of Tuesday morning September 7, 2010, CPTV Create was activated on the WEDY-3 service. As previously noted, CPTV4U was activated on the WEDY-2 service as of 10:56 AM EDT Friday September 3, 2010.

All CPTV DTV's now have:
-1 CPTV HD
-2 CPTV4U
-3 CPTV Create

Thank you

The program schedules for all three services can now be viewed at:
http://www.cpbn.org/cptv-programming-schedule

It looks 3-3 like it's staying. Too bad it's not something that can be kept on in the background since they only run the same 2 or 3 news stories, plus weather over and over again.

They may have wanted to use up any remaining bandwidth they're allocated in their 6 Mhz channel space before the FCC wants it back.

Edit: Looks like someone rebooted the computer. Video is back to 1/2 screen with graphics. Never mind...

LIN Media has made a decision about subchannel content for its stations in Connecticut and Springfield, Mass. TheCoolTV Network will show music videos, live concerts, and a Rock-N-Roll Movie Of The Week. Music will be tailored in each market to reflect the local audience, and local artists will also be featured. The music will be 24/7, except for a three-hour weekly obligation to air children's educational programs.

One TV executive said that this music subchannel would be a good fit for mobile TV. No exact starting date was given. In Connecticut, it would either be on a subchannel of Channel 8 or 59. In Massachusetts, it will be on a subchannel of Channel 22, which up until now has had no subchannels.

http://thecooltv.com

BTW - asked WTNH about their HD PQ / lack of DD 5.1, and:

We hope to be transmitting 5.1 audio by November.

BTW - asked WTNH about their HD PQ / lack of DD 5.1, and:



That's great news! No comment on mushy picture, though, huh? Well, I'll take the digital audio.

Something is happening on Channel 59 today. There is a new blank subchannel at 59.2 and the WTNH weather radar has been moved to 59.3. (Could that be the spot for the previously mentioned 'TheCoolTV' channel?)

Turning on my TV this evening, I see that a new subchannel, 22-2, has appeared in the line-up. Labeled WWLP-D1, it is carrying The CoolTV Network, and was showing a music video by Prince around 7:30PM. There is no audio, and the picture quality lacks sharpness. (WWLP is a Springfield, Mass. station, and Channel 22-1 is western Massachusetts' NBC affiliate.)

I can't receive New Haven's Channel 59, but it makes sense that CoolTV would be put on a subchannel of WCTX rather than WTNH. Channel 59, also known as "MyTV9" and CoolTV both skew toward an audience under the age of about 35. WTNH/8's more serious and news-oriented "brand" wouldn't be diluted by sharing its channel number with lighter-weight programming.

Something is happening on Channel 59 today. There is a new blank subchannel at 59.2 and the WTNH weather radar has been moved to 59.3. (Could that be the spot for the previously mentioned 'TheCoolTV' channel?)

Yup its The COOLTV

Nice to see Music Videos and not Reality TV Shows

Cool TV going to subchannels of WCTX and WWLP...is this being done at all of the LIN stations? What about WPRI and WNAC in Providence?

What about WPRI and WNAC in Providence?

On most LIN stations. It is all ready on, on WPRI 12.2.

Strange that both 22.2 and 59.2 have TheCoolTv but the feeds are not in sync. Two different videos playing...

theCoolTV is on WWLP-DT 22.2 - audio issues some people were having should be fixed - the playlist for each market may be different at times - more info on the sub channel can be found at theCoolTV web site: http://www.thecooltv.com/

Strange that both 22.2 and 59.2 have TheCoolTv but the feeds are not in sync. Two different videos playing...

Channel 12 and 59 have different videos whenever I have checked. I read elsewhere that the distribution of Cool TV is internet based so perhaps the stations can select the programing kind of like radio stations select songs.
John

Was anything happening on 24 over the weekend? I usually pull it in without any problems - 95% typically. But this Saturday it was in the low 70% range with lots of drop outs - basically unwatchable. The other stations coming from the same tower were rock solid (61 & 20). It actually reminded me of when 24 was transmitting from lower on the side of the tower a few years ago. :(

We're looking at getting rid of our cable because we don't watch much TV and our bill has skyrocketed now after the promos have ended. I'm considering getting an antenna to get the local stations.

We're really just looking to get the major networks (abc, nbc, cbs, fox, maybe pbs) after that anything else we get is bonus.

Can anyone recommend an antenna that I should get? We live in a condo so I am really just looking at indoor antennas right now.

We live in Waterbury. Here is the report I got on tvfool, thanks for any help you can provide!:

If I were you I would start with the equivalent of a Zenith silver sensor plus rabbit ears like this (though with your plot almost any functioning antenna would probably work):
http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Technology-HDTVi-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B0001FV36E
You need to give the arrow shaped part a clear view to the northeast for UHF channels NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS: so putting it high up in a north or east window is best. Adjust the rabbit ears for best reception to the south for WTNH ABC (VHF channel 10). Here is a page with a little info on adjusting rabbit ears:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/RabbitEars.html#Getting
Using enough good quality coax to place the antenna in the best location is important. You can purchase reasonably priced cable here:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10216&cs_id=1021603
Don't get too carried away with the cable length and end up with a big coil of unneeded length though because there is some UHF signal loss for each 100 feet of cable.

Thanks for the reply, deconvolver.

I was actually able to test out an antenna my brother had tonight, which was the RC 1450 (this model here: http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT1450B-Multi-Directional-Digital-Amplified/dp/B001GE6T9A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1289882020&sr=8-4). I was a little disappointed, however. After playing around for a while I was able to get some stations in great, like ABC, NBC, ION, Cool TV. But I did not get FOX, PBS, or CBS at all no matter how I tried.

My questions would be: A) was I doing something wrong, and/or B) Is that antenna just not very good?

I'm still looking at the antenna you linked, would it likely fair better? Also, I did see on amazon this http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT1650-Digital-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B0027FGW3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1289882314&sr=1-1, which looks like a step up from the my brother's that I tried tonight. My wife likes the look of the RCA ones better, but I am more of the type who just wants what works best first, looks second.

I appreciate the help!

The flat antennas generally are not as good ones that look like traditional antennas. Your TVFool results do show very strong signals though. My first recommendation is to stay away from any antenna with an amplifier. A strong station that overdrives the amp will cause most of the weaker stations to be unreceivable. Deconvolver's antenna suggestion is still a good one.
John

Any info on this New channel RTV is putting out Called pb&j will we be getting it OTA in the hartford Market ?

If you in the Hartford area check out channel 48 (Its an ANALOG station) they are a RTV station and carry PB&J. :)

Thanks for the info 48 RTV .I like that channel

Scott? Are there still any other low-power analog stations on the air here? I thought they were all gone! :P

is this WRNT-LP ? is it full time RTV ?

is this WRNT-LP ? is it full time RTV ?

Yes It Is I Think It gets Its feed from the rtv station in pittsburgh

Are there still any other low-power analog stations on the air here? I thought they were all gone!

Six low-power stations come in at my location, but none very clearly:

Channel 34 - WTXX - Affiliated with the AMGTV network, which shows boxing matches and hunting and fishing programs. This station used to have the call letters WESA, but it became the "new" WTXX in the area this past summer after Channel 20 in Waterbury got rid of those letters and became WCCT. I think that it's been about a year and a half since it was announced on the broadcast industry websites that Channel 34 would become the Retro TV affiliate for Springfield. This still hasn't happened, even though it's been listed on the Retro website (still with the call letters WESA). This past May it got an extension from the FCC to convert to digital. It now has until 2013 to do so. Although it broadcasts from a tower in Wilbraham, Mass., its digital signal will reach down into northcentral Connecticut as far west as Simsbury and as far south as Bloomfield, according to its service contour map on the FCC website.

Channel 38 - WHCT - Affiliated with Azteca America, a Mexican TV network. Spanish language.

Channel 48 - WRNT - Retro TV Network, it will still be on channel 48 whenever, or if ever, it converts to digital.

Channel 50 - WRDM - Telemundo affiliate for the Hartford area. Spanish language.

Channel 51 - WDMR - Telemundo affiliate for Springfield, Mass. This channel is a simulcast of Channel 50.

Channel 67 - WSHM - CBS 3 Springfield, sister station of WFSB 3.

The clearest reception of all these is on Channels 38 and 50. The worst reception is WSHM. When I switch from the analog to the digital tuner, the difference in picture quality is like night and day, and it makes me realize how much better digital is, at least when it doesn't pixelate.

The federal government is considering establishing a hard date for low-power stations to convert to digital, like maybe the year 2012 or 2013 if they don't already have a construction permit. But the government also wants to repack the TV channels to free up and auction off over-the-air spectrum for wireless broadband. If this happens, there might not be enough room on the airwaves for some low-power stations to transmit.

BTW - asked WTNH about their HD PQ / lack of DD 5.1, and:



Anything new on this front? 2/3 through November and WTNH is still in glorious stereo.

Saw an ad in today's Courant for a second channel on FOX 61. It will be on 61-2 and called Antenna TV. Looks like reruns since they picture the Bundys. Could not get on the listed web site (server down message). Anyone ever hear of it?

Saw an ad in today's Courant for a second channel on FOX 61. It will be on 61-2 and called Antenna TV. Looks like reruns since they picture the Bundys. Could not get on the listed web site (server down message). Anyone ever hear of it?
Sure - it is a new network being launched by Tribune. It will be carried on a Tribune station in all their markets and may also show up on other stations in other markets. Don't have a quick link to the Tribune press release - here's the Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_TV

RPMcCormick, thanks for the info. Reruns it is. "Father Knows Best"? Now we're going way back. Sadly, I'm old enough to remember all those shows listed.

At 7:58PM today, I was surfing the channels in ascending order. Normally the next channel after 61-1 is 3-1. But tonight 61-1 was followed by 61-2. The screen was filled with the logo for Antenna TV: a picture of a broadcast tower with bolts of "lightning" shooting off the top to signify signal being transmitted. At the bottom of the screen were the words "Coming Soon".

61-2 only lasted about ten seconds before it changed into 61-1. Maybe the station ended the test just before 8PM so that it could devote full bandwidth to Fox network primetime programming.

Here's the homepage for Antenna TV: http://www.wgnamerica.com/shows/antenna/

It starts on New Year's Day with a Three Stooges marathon.

It starts on New Year's Day with a Three Stooges marathon.[/QUOTE]

Sign me up.

At 7:58PM today, I was surfing the channels in ascending order. Normally the next channel after 61-1 is 3-1. But tonight 61-1 was followed by 61-2. The screen was filled with the logo for Antenna TV: a picture of a broadcast tower with bolts of "lightning" shooting off the top to signify signal being transmitted. At the bottom of the screen were the words "Coming Soon".

61-2 only lasted about ten seconds before it changed into 61-1. Maybe the station ended the test just before 8PM so that it could devote full bandwidth to Fox network primetime programming.

Here's the homepage for Antenna TV: http://www.wgnamerica.com/shows/antenna/

It starts on New Year's Day with a Three Stooges marathon.

The Slate is back.. 745pm ET on TUE 12/14/10

The Slate is back.. 745pm ET on TUE 12/14/10

The slate has been up for a while now, at least every time I have checked for the past few days.

I've noticed articles recently in both USA Today and The New York Times that mentioned people are discovering antenna TV as a real alternative to high cable and satellite fees. Particularly when combined with streaming internet from Netflix or Hulu. I knew if I waited long enough I would look fashionable again. Glad I saved all of those narrow ties.

By the way, I rotated my antenna and watched the Giants play Monday night on WNYW. Several friends were wondering how I saw the game when we were blacked out in CT.

I've noticed articles recently in both USA Today and The New York Times that mentioned people are discovering antenna TV as a real alternative to high cable and satellite fees. Particularly when combined with streaming internet from Netflix or Hulu. I knew if I waited long enough I would look fashionable again. Glad I saved all of those narrow ties.

By the way, I rotated my antenna and watched the Giants play Monday night on WNYW. Several friends were wondering how I saw the game when we were blacked out in CT.

...and you saw it for FREE. They couldn't even pay to see it on cable or Sat. Although I'm not sure how D* handled it through the NFLST package.

...and you saw it for FREE. They couldn't even pay to see it on cable or Sat. Although I'm not sure how D* handled it through the NFLST package.

It was available to Directv subs. Also, I was able to watch it in CT on Directv, but only in sd. I get channels 2,4 and 5 from NYC through what is called significantly viewed channels. All of New Haven and Litchfield county get them.

Got to love NBC Weather Plus on 30-2...

For the entire storm is showed the Air Travel Delays as GREEN even when airports (including Bradley Airport) were CLOSED.

What a waste of spectrum, remove 30-2 and give the bandwidth back to your HD feed.

Looks like 61-2 is gone today...

Also noticed that THECOOL TV on WWLP and WCTX are now playing the same videos at the same time (On Christmas night WWLP's was playing Christmas Music Videos while the WCTX version was playing regular music.)

The audio and picture quality on WCTX are much better then the WWLP version... although I wish they showed seperate different videos again.

Looks like 61-2 is gone today...

Also noticed that THECOOL TV on WWLP and WCTX are now playing the same videos at the same time (On Christmas night WWLP's was playing Christmas Music Videos while the WCTX version was playing regular music.)

The audio and picture quality on WCTX are much better then the WWLP version... although I wish they showed seperate different videos again.

Yesterday WTIC had the NFL game on 61-2 for some reason.

61-2 is back on tonight with the Antenna TV Coming Soon logo on the screen.

I hope they do not take down antenna tv every time they show something in HD. WIth a 720p signal they should have room for the main channel in HD and a secondary subchannel.

I've tried to search this long thread, but I didn't have any luck. I have a friend traveling through the area wanting to take an antenna back to Canada. Does anyone know whether a local dealer, near Hartford, carries the Channel Master 4228HD?

I've tried to search this long thread, but I didn't have any luck. I have a friend traveling through the area wanting to take an antenna back to Canada. Does anyone know whether a local dealer, near Hartford, carries the Channel Master 4228HD?

There used to be one on New Park Ave in West Hartford, but they went out of business. You could try Stark Electronics in Worcester MA. Here is their website:http://starkelectronic.com/

Why you chowder-heads! Three Stooges are on Antenna TV. Picture quality is very good, especially for a subchannel. Nyuk nyuk!

Television antennae for purchase seem to be pretty scarce in Connecticut. Cables and Connectors (http://cablesandconnectors.com/07100-07.HTM) on the Berlin Tpke in Newington has some, but the don't carry Channel Master. If you have the time, it may be best to have one shipped to you while they're still in the US of A if that works out best financially.

Home Depot and Lowes carried some decent ones last time I was in there.

I like that Antenna TV has no channel ID bug left on the screen during the program. There's just the picture with no added graphics clutter to spoil the viewing experience. I hope that this is permanent. Other stations should follow this example, but the trend lately on other channels is to make the station bugs even bigger and more obnoxious in the lower left/right corner.

If WTIC decides at some point to air insertion ads on Antenna TV, I hope that they don't do what their sister station is doing on This-TV. Since about late last March on "This", Channel 20-2 "covers over" some of the national commercial breaks with locally-originated promos and commercials. These insertion ads aren't timed right; there's an abrupt cut to commercial black before the last word is spoken or the last music note of the program's scene is played out. Whenever I see that premature cut to a break, I know to hit the mute button on the remote because the insertion ads' volume level is too loud.

The inserted promos are all for the syndicated and CW network shows on 20-1. I think that 20-1 and 20-2 have two different audiences, so promoting 20-1 on This-TV doesn't make a lot of sense. When the insertion ad ends and 20-2 rejoins the "This" network feed, a few seconds of the end of the national commercial that was covered over can be seen before the program returns. The timing is off.

Thank you, Tribune Company, for Antenna TV. Your company gets it; if there must be multi-casting, professional entertainment programming is preferable to the five-day forecast ad infinitum or a health/lifestyle channel. Now if some station will pick up Me-TV for the Hartford/New Haven market, most of the major Hollywood studios' classic content will be available over-the-air. http://www.metvnetwork.com/

There used to be one on New Park Ave in West Hartford, but they went out of business. You could try Stark Electronics in Worcester MA. Here is their website:http://starkelectronic.com/

Does your friend from Canada lives near Windsor, Ontario? Solid Signal is in Suburban Detroit (Novi, MI) across the river.

I have a question about reception for WWLP in northern CT (Granby). I've been receiving OTA signals for many of the Hartford/Springfield stations including (virtual) 3, 20, 24, 40, 57 and 61. Until two days ago, WWLP (22) was also fairly reliably available. However, since the 1st of the year, there appears to be essentially no signal at all.

This is a little surprising, since the antenna is less than 10 miles (direct) from my location. Can others report on how well they are receiving this station?

Thanks!

I have a question about reception for WWLP in northern CT (Granby). I've been receiving OTA signals for many of the Hartford/Springfield stations including (virtual) 3, 20, 24, 40, 57 and 61. Until two days ago, WWLP (22) was also fairly reliably available. However, since the 1st of the year, there appears to be essentially no signal at all.

This is a little surprising, since the antenna is less than 10 miles (direct) from my location. Can others report on how well they are receiving this station?
No changes on the WWLP side that I'm aware of - by chance did you try to do a scan again or tune in the RF channel (channel 11)? The other issue may be something local in your area that is causing interference to the RF channel 11 signal causing disruption to WWLP reception.

I like that Antenna TV has no channel ID bug left on the screen during the program. There's just the picture with no added graphics clutter to spoil the viewing experience. I hope that this is permanent. Other stations should follow this example, but the trend lately on other channels is to make the station bugs even bigger and more obnoxious in the lower left/right corner.

If WTIC decides at some point to air insertion ads on Antenna TV, I hope that they don't do what their sister station is doing on This-TV. Since about late last March on "This", Channel 20-2 "covers over" some of the national commercial breaks with locally-originated promos and commercials. These insertion ads aren't timed right; there's an abrupt cut to commercial black before the last word is spoken or the last music note of the program's scene is played out. Whenever I see that premature cut to a break, I know to hit the mute button on the remote because the insertion ads' volume level is too loud.

The inserted promos are all for the syndicated and CW network shows on 20-1. I think that 20-1 and 20-2 have two different audiences, so promoting 20-1 on This-TV doesn't make a lot of sense. When the insertion ad ends and 20-2 rejoins the "This" network feed, a few seconds of the end of the national commercial that was covered over can be seen before the program returns. The timing is off.

Thank you, Tribune Company, for Antenna TV. Your company gets it; if there must be multi-casting, professional entertainment programming is preferable to the five-day forecast ad infinitum or a health/lifestyle channel. Now if some station will pick up Me-TV for the Hartford/New Haven market, most of the major Hollywood studios' classic content will be available over-the-air. http://www.metvnetwork.com/

Hi, I hail from the Dallas area and I like reading about different markets. I haven't seen Antenna TV yet (my area has it), but that comment is so nice! I am also crossing my fingers for MeTV, and no offense, but my other wish channels are "Create" (I like PBS's lifestyle shows; plus I miss New Yankee Workshop) and "AccuWeather" (it's like the original Weather Channel; Mark Mancuso works there)!

As for the locally-inserted commercials, let me give my word on this. Interesting thing, this situation occurs with WFAA in my hometown. They used to have "This TV" on 8-3 (until it moved to KDAF, also an Antenna TV affiliate), and they never spliced local ads nor local programming onto the subchannel. However, when WFAA replaced "This" with "Live Well" (sorry again, but I like some of the shows from that channel), the local splicing began! And I agree, there are technical blunders from blaring loud ads to STRETCHED 4x3 ads on what is typically a 16x9 channel, and the dreaded 5-second black pause after breaks (thus shaving off time from nationally-broadcast footage)!

Apologies if I am straying from Connecticut here, but I just want to say I hear ya! ;)

Got to love NBC Weather Plus on 30-2...

For the entire storm is showed the Air Travel Delays as GREEN even when airports (including Bradley Airport) were CLOSED.

What a waste of spectrum, remove 30-2 and give the bandwidth back to your HD feed.

Yup, that's pretty much the case with all subchannels.

Anyone know when WEDH is going to join the 21st century and broadcast Women's Basketball in HD? It's really painful to watch in their bizarre semi-widescreen semi-cropped uprezzed SD feed that still manages to beg for money in HD.

Yup, that's pretty much the case with all subchannels.

Anyone know when WEDH is going to join the 21st century and broadcast Women's Basketball in HD? It's really painful to watch in their bizarre semi-widescreen semi-cropped uprezzed SD feed that still manages to beg for money in HD.

Probably not anytime soon. I emailed Jerry Franklin about it before this season started. He said it wouldn't be this year or next.

Probably not anytime soon. I emailed Jerry Franklin about it before this season started. He said it wouldn't be this year or next.

Unbelievable. If they're not going to do it right, they should give up the broadcast rights. Even if most of the games only make ESPN3, that would still be a lot better than fuzz-o-vision on CPTV. Heck, that would probably be the ultimate, wouldn't even require a TV.

EDIT: I'm not sure ESPN3 is actually HD, but it's definitely shot in HD, and looks like highly compressed HD to me, whereas CPTV looks like some sort of Frankensteinish thing with their weird aspect ratio and SD production.

Unbelievable. If they're not going to do it right, they should give up the broadcast rights. Even if most of the games only make ESPN3, that would still be a lot better than fuzz-o-vision on CPTV. Heck, that would probably be the ultimate, wouldn't even require a TV.

EDIT: I'm not sure ESPN3 is actually HD, but it's definitely shot in HD, and looks like highly compressed HD to me, whereas CPTV looks like some sort of Frankensteinish thing with their weird aspect ratio and SD production.

CPTV's Uconn women's broadcasts are sd, but they zoom it to 14:9, which crops the top and bottom a bit.

CPTV's broadcasts are sd, but they zoom it to 14:9, which crops the top and bottom a bit.

Ok, I see. Yeah, I figured they had to be cropping the top and bottom, as they'd produce the whole thing if they were shooting 16:9 (DVD resolution). They need to get their butts in gear and shoot at 1080i (PBS is 1080i not 720p, right?).

Ok, I see. Yeah, I figured they had to be cropping the top and bottom, as they'd produce the whole thing if they were shooting 16:9 (DVD resolution). They need to get their butts in gear and shoot at 1080i (PBS is 1080i not 720p, right?).

It is 1080i. They did one broadcast last year, IIRC, in hd, but they said it was too expensive to do any more.