Does anyone know just how "huge" these "amounts of cash" are? What do you think Mediacom would lower your monthly rate to if the locals stopped charging for retransmission? I would guess it's a significant amount of money paid to them, but per subscriber, and when you figure out how much goes to ESPN, HBO, Comedy Central, etc., then the difference will be negligible per subscriber.

Again, for me it's still free. Mediacom and Dish Network get $0 from me, along with the local affiliates.:D

Not to stray too far off topic, but the thought process is that the local channels are often the most watched on a cable system and therefore they feel entitled to the largest 'cut of the pie' so to speak. The fallacy I find in that thought process is quite large:

a) We the people granted them a license to serve us and in return sell advertising to cover their expenses. Nowhere did we guarantee profit to them.
b) When selling to advertisers, they use the numbers gained from carriage on cable to negotiate higher rates. So, in theory, they're being paid more by being carried on cable already.
c) Although cable subscribers often times do watch local channels, if you asked cable subscribers what channels they were paying for with cable the local channels never get listed.

In a free market, the cable networks could negotiate with nearby affiliates, the networks themselves, and other sources for the network programming. However, we've created a monopoly where only one station in a market can carry the programming and therefore the cable companies are forced to pay whatever those stations demand.

Quite frankly, I'd much rather that Dish network provide me the direct network feeds of NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX. I guarantee you there would be less issues watching those than there are the local affiliates. I have no desire to see that Waukon has a snow emergency while I'm trying to watch Heros. And I'd rather get my news semi recently, not wait until 10pm to hear what stories that local channel managed to get covered by then.

This whole conversation got started after 2 occurrences of the NASCAR race not be in HD until mid way through the race, and an apparent easy fix after someone called into the newsroom making some wonder if anyone ws paying attention to what ws going out.

Obviously most of us don't know what goes on in the control room, but if it was just a matter of MC not paying attention, then shame shame. If indeed they were aware and it just took a while to remedy, then I can llive with that as I know there are still many bumps in the road ahead and technical difficulties are going to occur.

Most in the area are fully digital now, and IF the HD switcher is indeed down, why not put a crawl up saying HD techinal difficulties like we often see with network difficulties, or audio difficulties, etc... Then we at least know that they are aware of the problem and would not get the sense that they are not paying attention.

Most stations in the area still have mostly analog master controls. I feel fortunate that I have a digital one, although it is SDI not HD-SDI. We do not see the incoming HD signal at all in our MC. The problem we had was with a piece of Fox equipment. Although to some that explanation will never be good enough, we try our best. If you don't want to accept that then fill out an application and see if you can do a better job.

Can you imagine the outcry if we were to crawl something over a NASCAR race? Many here would state on this board that we should be working on the problem and not doing a crawl.

Many here forget, 'Did I actually miss any of the race?'

No you did not.

KFXA has no signal here over the air. Looks like a
transmitter problem maybe.

Ice & snow?

We had a power outage at the tower last night. I do not believe that it was weather related though.

The Digital is not on the generator yet but will be soon hopefully. Our transmitter is only large enough to power one transmitter at a time and with the analog TX gone, we will be able to move it over to the generator soon.

Mediacom, and DirectTV are fed with a signal from the studio. IMON gets its signal OTA.

The Transmitter was back up an running 6.5 minutes after it got power back.

Most stations in the area still have mostly analog master controls. I feel fortunate that I have a digital one, although it is SDI not HD-SDI. We do not see the incoming HD signal at all in our MC. The problem we had was with a piece of Fox equipment. Although to some that explanation will never be good enough, we try our best. If you don't want to accept that then fill out an application and see if you can do a better job.

Can you imagine the outcry if we were to crawl something over a NASCAR race? Many here would state on this board that we should be working on the problem and not doing a crawl.

Many here forget, 'Did I actually miss any of the race?'

No you did not.

I realize we don't know what is really taking place in your master control, but from my vantage point during the last Nascar race that wasn't in HD it sure looked like someone was asleep because it went HD a commercial or 2 after I called into the newsroom. We can usually see you working on it and trying to switch back to HD, but in this case we didn't until the actual switch.

We do not see the incoming HD signal at all in our MC. The problem we had was with a piece of Fox equipment. Although to some that explanation will never be good enough, we try our best. If you don't want to accept that then fill out an application and see if you can do a better job.

Can you imagine the outcry if we were to crawl something over a NASCAR race? Many here would state on this board that we should be working on the problem and not doing a crawl.
I didn't mean to touch a nerve Eric. As I said, most of us here do not know the inner workings of what it takes to get the product out. That is why I am glad you are here to explain it to us.

From a lame viewers point of view, I would think that somewhere in studio there would be some monitor dedicated to monitoring the end product as us users would see it from the end users source, be it OTA, Direct, or Dish, and that would be high on my list for monitoring the final output and would allow someone to catch the issues rather quickly. I'm not trying to slam your operations, just trying to understand. Is it not possible to have a simple setup with antenna as us users would see it???

Continuous crawl, yes that would stink. An occasional brief crawl every 10 minutes or so would not be any worse than all the weather crawls.

From a lame viewers point of view, I would think that somewhere in studio there would be some monitor dedicated to monitoring the end product as us users would see it from the end users source, be it OTA, Direct, or Dish, and that would be high on my list for monitoring the final output and would allow someone to catch the issues rather quickly. I'm not trying to slam your operations, just trying to understand. Is it not possible to have a simple setup with antenna as us users would see it???

Especially since most stations have the feeds of their competitors up in a monitoring area...

I'm still a little bit taken aback by the "see if you can do a better job" comment. I realise this isn't a board room, and it was probably written during a stressful time, but this is still a public forum, and some modicum of respect and patience would be nice.

I'm still a little bit taken aback by the "see if you can do a better job" comment. I realise this isn't a board room, and it was probably written during a stressful time, but this is still a public forum, and some modicum of respect and patience would be nice.

I know that I try to be patient and explain what is going on the best that I can, but I can understand Eric's frustrations, especially to the armchair quarterbacks out there (the overwhelming majority of this board not included ;) ). I get calls and emails everyday, from viewers who "know more than I do" about the situation, some not even wanting my help... just calling in to pick a fight. Sometimes it is a little hard not to snap back at people!

The latest craze for KWWL, of course, is the DTV viewer that insists that we are not on the air and have big issues, since "everyone" they've talked to can't get us either. Not once has it dawned on them that perhaps there is an issue with their setup (and their friends too!). I'm hoping our power increase in a month will help some of those calls go away, but there will always be some.

I know that our Master Controls are all busy and setup differently, but we all do monitor what is going out. At KWWL, we actually keep an eye on our main control room output, our off-air (for all three channels), a mediacom return feed, and a dish network return. We only listen to the control room output actively though. Plus with the tasks we ask our ops to handle, they may not have their eyes on things every minute. Mistakes can and will happen, but we try to keep them to a minimum of course.
-Jarrett

I know that I try to be patient and explain what is going on the best that I can, but I can understand Eric's frustrations, especially to the armchair quarterbacks out there (the overwhelming majority of this board not included ;) ). I get calls and emails everyday, from viewers who "know more than I do" about the situation, some not even wanting my help... just calling in to pick a fight. Sometimes it is a little hard not to snap back at people!

I understand all of our local CEs' frustrations, and that is why I did not "snap" back at Erics remarks even though I too felt they were a bit uncalled for.

I really do not mean to offend any of you as I know you are all doing the best you can with what you are dealt. But I sometimes get the feeling that these transition growth problems are used as a cover.

Eric stated twice that the problem was with a "piece of Fox equipment". Again, with all this new technology I can understand these issues. But he never stated that the problem was discovered at it's onset and it took that long to correct it. If it indeed took over 2 hours (and a phone call from a viewer coincidentally shortly before the problem was corrected) to fix it, then I understand fully. That type of explanation was all I was looking for and why I asked if there was not some sort of "return feed" monitoring.

I know that our Master Controls are all busy and setup differently, but we all do monitor what is going out. At KWWL, we actually keep an eye on our main control room output, our off-air (for all three channels), a mediacom return feed, and a dish network return. We only listen to the control room output actively though. Plus with the tasks we ask our ops to handle, they may not have their eyes on things every minute. Mistakes can and will happen, but we try to keep them to a minimum of course.
-JarrettThe hard part for everyone in that area, though, is that off-air monitoring.

As mentioned before, an analog signal pretty much goes from the station to the transmitter and back to your receive antenna in real time. The digital signal is delayed by two or more seconds, with all the encoding and re-encoding going on, between the time the signal goes out of master control and the time you see it on your DT set. So it wouldn't be real practical for the master control operator to use the DT signal incoming from the transmitter to time out when to insert local commercials -- the MCO is going to have to work off either the analog signal (if any) or the switcher output, while keeping an eye on the signal coming back from the transmitter.

And as KFXAChief pointed out, the switcher output isn't always HD yet. It's often SD, with another switch -- either automatic or manual -- to select whether to send that SD output or the network HD output to the DT transmitter. (Hopefully, the operators will be trained to look up at their DT and see that the correct output is airing whenever they switch to or from break.)

Is it a perfect setup? Of course not, but it more or less does the job and gives the viewers network HD until the stations can afford a more thorough upgrade.

Just one more challenge of the digital transition.

I saw that also here at the station. It was a problem with CBS. We were scratching our heads over that, then it fixed itself.
Are KGAN and KFXA run out of the same master control? Just curious.

...

The latest craze for KWWL, of course, is the DTV viewer that insists that we are not on the air and have big issues, since "everyone" they've talked to can't get us either. Not once has it dawned on them that perhaps there is an issue with their setup (and their friends too!). I'm hoping our power increase in a month will help some of those calls go away, but there will always be some.



With all due respect to the KWWL folks, their signal is, for all intents and purposes, off the air.

Back in the analog days I could get a decent picture on my TV with a simple pair of rabbit ears inside my house. That same pair of rabbit ears today gets a signal strength on my digital boxes of about 10%. And I live well within their Grade A contour.

If their signal was even a decent fraction of what it was before I could easily get a lock on the signal.

Blaming their problems on the setup of the viewers is a cop-out.

Mike

With all due respect to the KWWL folks, their signal is, for all intents and purposes, off the air.


Agreed. I have a 40 foot tower and good RG6 cabling up to the antenna. I have a UHF only antenna, but since it gets analog 7 and 9 quite well I figured after the DT transition it would be OK, probably not as good as when 7 was on UHF, but tolerable. Instead I get absolutely no signal on 7 VHF. My solution? Flip the channel... I was "The Office" on Hulu as well as Heros, works out perfectly with Boxee...

With all due respect to the KWWL folks, their signal is, for all intents and purposes, off the air.

Back in the analog days I could get a decent picture on my TV with a simple pair of rabbit ears inside my house. That same pair of rabbit ears today gets a signal strength on my digital boxes of about 10%. And I live well within their Grade A contour.

If their signal was even a decent fraction of what it was before I could easily get a lock on the signal.

Blaming their problems on the setup of the viewers is a cop-out.


We are well aware that maximizing our power is in our best interests. But there is nothing more we can do now to help those who are struggling with indoor rabbit ear or UHF only antennas. Perhaps when we go to 30 KW in about a month, these problems will go away. But they may also get worse for those indoor rabbit ears too!

That 10% signal may be more of a quality indicator than a strength reading. 30 miles away here at the studio, I get only about 20% in the middle of our shop with unpowered rabbit ears. As soon as I put it against the window, it jumps to 80% with no issues in any weather. Multipath is a big issue right now, and I'm not sure what is going to happen with we boost. I'm hoping for better results, but nothing will surprise me with this stuff.

I also get calls frequently from Wisconsin viewers about or digital signal being unstable during bad weather. If the power was "for all intents and purposes" off the air, how are they getting a signal at all at 70 miles away? I understand that many are having issues thanks to a variety of reasons, but there are two sides to this. It isn't a "cop out" to suggest that your setup may not be the best to pick us up right now. Sure, people can compare it to the old analog service, but obviously, that is gone now and we are dealing with a different animal with digital broadcasting.

Keep in mind that we were originally only allocated 3.2 KW by the FCC. We applied for more power as soon as we could last year, but only after the current rig was installed. That rig is running wide open right now to hit 5.2 KW while we wait for the big one to show. I think it will help a lot, but it is still a month away. All I can tell people is to be patient or work with their setup. Oldsyd was proactive and built a $3 VHF antenna and now sees us. Kudos to him!
-Jarrett

Well I'm going to say it since nobody else will (or I'm the only one) but KWWL has been better for me since the switch, still a bit more flaky that I'd like, or other stations. Hopefully your boost in a month will clear that up.

I also get calls frequently from Wisconsin viewers about or digital signal being unstable during bad weather. If the power was "for all intents and purposes" off the air, how are they getting a signal at all at 70 miles away? I understand that many are having issues thanks to a variety of reasons, but there are two sides to this. It isn't a "cop out" to suggest that your setup may not be the best to pick us up right now. Sure, people can compare it to the old analog service, but obviously, that is gone now and we are dealing with a different animal with digital broadcasting.


I think part of the problem is, we keep hearing this. "People 70 miles away get it just fine, so you should be able to also." But, yet, a sampling of people I know proves that to be just the opposite. I have yet to find a single person in Iowa City, and only a handful in Cedar Rapids that can get your DT signal without an extreme amount of work (like putting up an entirely new antenna on their roof when one on their deck worked for everything before).

I know that KWWL can't acknowledge these coverage issues because that would open them up to a literal flood of DMA waivers for getting the national channel on sat, but it'd be nice if someone would admit that yes, we're having difficulties with people in metro areas in the south. The fact that some farmer can pick up KWWL where the tallest nearby thing is a cow a mile away doesn't really impress me much. When we're talking about a city, your signal just isn't there.

Please understand, I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just trying to explain 'the rest of the story' and why people are getting so worked up about this.

Well I'm going to say it since nobody else will (or I'm the only one) but KWWL has been better for me since the switch, still a bit more flaky that I'd like, or other stations. Hopefully your boost in a month will clear that up.

I will echo that too. I have to Winegard VHF/UHF roof mounted antenna. On UHF 55 my signal was all over the place. Best I would see is mid 80's but it was touchy and droped to low 70's where it would break up.

Since the switch to VHF with no changes to my setup I've been rock solid at 100% since late on the day of the switch. My signal was jumping around on the first day for awhile but I assumed Jarret was working with things.

I'm in west Waterloo.

I think part of the problem is, we keep hearing this. "People 70 miles away get it just fine, so you should be able to also." But, yet, a sampling of people I know proves that to be just the opposite. I have yet to find a single person in Iowa City, and only a handful in Cedar Rapids that can get your DT signal without an extreme amount of work (like putting up an entirely new antenna on their roof when one on their deck worked for everything before).

I know that KWWL can't acknowledge these coverage issues because that would open them up to a literal flood of DMA waivers for getting the national channel on sat, but it'd be nice if someone would admit that yes, we're having difficulties with people in metro areas in the south. The fact that some farmer can pick up KWWL where the tallest nearby thing is a cow a mile away doesn't really impress me much. When we're talking about a city, your signal just isn't there.

Please understand, I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just trying to explain 'the rest of the story' and why people are getting so worked up about this.I think part of the thing is, there are a lot of folks in that fringe area who've been without alternatives to big antennas for years -- the cable doesn't go their way and they want channels that are somewhat more local than DNS can provide. So they keep their equipment up, probably more so than viewers who are closer to the towers and have had fewer problems up to now. I've driven through southwest Wisconsin a few times and have been awe-struck not just by the scenery, but by the number of homes on the high roads with antennas which appear to be facing the Walker-Rowley towers. I also need to get a life.

Iowa City is also hurt by the fact that it's in a hole (that's not an opinion; that's topographically speaking) and is about 50 miles from the main stations' tower sites.

I have a UHF only antenna

So, you're using the wrong tool for the job. You don't specify which UHF antenna you're using, but the graphs I've seen show some of them have huge drop-offs somewhere in the middle of the upper-VHF band. I think the 4228 drops off sharply in the middle of channel 8. I know someone in the New Orleans area with the 4228 got a digital on 11 fine but not the digital on 8 because of the antenna's sharp drop-off there.

The bigger problem is that with these UHF antennas the gain across a given VHF channel is often not level since the antenna wasn't designed for that band, and in ATSC, the signal has to be level across the channel to decode cleanly. If your antenna is giving 5 dB of gain at the top of the channel and -5 dB of gain at the bottom of the channel, it's not going to decode because the signal won't be level. That isn't a problem with analog, since there's a separate audio signal at the top of the channel versus the video at the bottom of the channel, but this is not the case in digital.

And if that turns out to be your problem, then that's the antenna's fault. I'm not sure an extra 7.6 dB of signal from their power boost can overcome that.

And dline, no need to give up looking at antennas as you go places; I do the same thing. I'm only marginally insane. :D

- Trip

With all due respect to the KWWL folks, their signal is, for all intents and purposes, off the air.


Blaming their problems on the setup of the viewers is a cop-out.



I beg to differ..............................My KWWL signal is pretty darn good.

Always being in a "fringe area" I have had to keep my hardware up to date and in good condition. I didn't have the availablity of cable until 5 yrs ago and I don't want satelite. I still don't have cable and am only considering it for the high speed internet access that it offers.

I sit 36 miles from the KWWL tower (304 degrees from my house) and similar from KGAN/KCRG.....................and 55 to 69 (137 degrees from my house) miles from the Davenport stations. My antenna is turned toward Davenport. 10 yr old UHF/VHF antenna with 5 yr old RG6 about 25 ft above ground on top of my house.

On my 1 yr old Vizio I never even noticed the change over. After the spilter going to the DVR's I noticed the drop in strength.......on KWWL(off the back of the antenna).................a pre amp took care of that.

The difference is--------------I am not in a hole.

The truizm of RF reception is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. If your antenna doesn't have it, you won't get good reception.
For years I had problems with KGAN.........................2 different antenna's and a new run of RG6 (when the first run came down I found the break) finally worked, but it WAS my set up problem.


I too looke for antenna's while driving...................mostly looking for HF rigs

That 10% signal may be more of a quality indicator than a strength reading.

Is adaptive correction enabled? And has the RF system been swept recently to make sure there are no reflections that might be screwing things up?

If I had an EFA I'd take a look at the ghost pattern and see if it's a multi-path or signal strength issue where I'm at, but it almost has to be multi-path, I'm only a few miles away!

And dline, no need to give up looking at antennas as you go places; I do the same thing. I'm only marginally insane. :D

- Trip

Oh ya, it is like a club! Kevin (adler187) and I are always looking out for towers and antenna setups, whether tv or ham....

I think part of the problem is, we keep hearing this. "People 70 miles away get it just fine, so you should be able to also." But, yet, a sampling of people I know proves that to be just the opposite. I have yet to find a single person in Iowa City, and only a handful in Cedar Rapids that can get your DT signal without an extreme amount of work (like putting up an entirely new antenna on their roof when one on their deck worked for everything before).

I know that KWWL can't acknowledge these coverage issues because that would open them up to a literal flood of DMA waivers for getting the national channel on sat, but it'd be nice if someone would admit that yes, we're having difficulties with people in metro areas in the south. The fact that some farmer can pick up KWWL where the tallest nearby thing is a cow a mile away doesn't really impress me much. When we're talking about a city, your signal just isn't there.

Please understand, I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just trying to explain 'the rest of the story' and why people are getting so worked up about this.

Sgarringer,

I'm not directly saying this just at you, and not saying this to anyone to be rude (though it might sound that way), but to all those having trouble.

The FCC, when it draws up signal strength maps and approves the broadcaster's power and height, assumes several things about you:

1. There's flat terrain between you and the tower
2. You have an outdoor antenna, 30' above ground level (assumed to be on the roof of a standard house plus several feet above it to attain 30')
3. You have an antenna that is "proper" for the location you are at (properly sized and designed for the distance between you and the tower)

No exceptions.

If I looked at all of the people's antenna setups, from those who were having trouble, I would say almost all would fail #2 and #3. Many of those people don't want to hear that, and/or say:

It worked for me (then), and (now) I can't get any signal!

Being blunt, UHF's high power on digital blasted through buildings, and really helped out get that signal through the wood, vinyl siding, etc. VHF can reflect very easily with multipath, and can be harder to get indoors. Read: less forgiveness/tolerance for less than optimal antennas and receivers.

As an amateur antenna installer, I hear this from people all the time: "That antenna is too big! Wifey won't like that on my roof!"). That's when I say: You're 40-60 miles from the towers. If you don't have this kind of antenna on your roof, reception will be inconsistent or not available, and you should get cable/sat. Some capitulate. Some got cable or satellite. One of them has had enough of cable after he didn't want to do a large antenna, and now he's going back to an antenna. Rule of thumb: to handle bad weather, tropo, etc...get an antenna that is designed to pick up the frequencies that local broadcasters are on, AND two sizes larger than recommended by Antennaweb, etc., outside, on the roof or on a tower 30' up.

Some people will say wahhh! I just want to plug it in, not go through all these hoops and ugly antennas, and...

Here's the deal, folks. Those "antennas" on your patios that look like pizza pans aren't cutting it. Now, that's not to say that you can't get very solid reception from them. What I am saying is this: with analog, you could get away with a lot of stuff and still get a watchable signal, even when you weren't supposed to. With digital, the margin of error on VHF is somewhat lower. You coudl also say: Broadcasters on channels 7-13 for digital aren't given enough power, and I would agree. But that's a different story. As it is, KWWL, given line of sight to the tower, should go out at least 60 miles.
If the transmitter is performing optimally, and topography isn't killing the signal on the way to your TV, then the problem is *you*.

Yeah, I'm not making friends with this post. But I've done this for 30 years, and the rules still haven't changed on how to get a great picture.

Not to stray too far off topic, but the thought process is that the local channels are often the most watched on a cable system and therefore they feel entitled to the largest 'cut of the pie' so to speak. The fallacy I find in that thought process is quite large:

a) We the people granted them a license to serve us and in return sell advertising to cover their expenses. Nowhere did we guarantee profit to them.

What does commercial, ie, for-profit license to use said airwaves mean to you? Yes, it does mean to serve the community. It also means they are fully entitled to make a profit from it. The FCC has explicitly stated this.
Commercial means a business, and businesses make money and profits (except now since the economy has tanked!). If you just want to break even (hopefully), get a non-commercial license, aka PBS. And since when do cable companies feel "entitled" to the largest cut of the pie? Since ESPN charges almost $5 per customer, and CBS and other networks are desiring $.50
for carrier retransmissions, how is this the " 'largest cut of the pie' "? Finally, the ratings don't lie: most of the time, still true today...the "Big 4" networks generate the largest audience.


b) When selling to advertisers, they use the numbers gained from carriage on cable to negotiate higher rates. So, in theory, they're being paid more by being carried on cable already.


They use the Neilsen ratings numbers, which is a sum of people getting it off the air and also from pay TV services. They do break it down by demographics, and of course, cable/sat coverage is very important! But if you have a channel that can be viewed in millions of homes, and nobody is watching it...it doesn't matter. They'll go out of business quickly. They want the 18-34 aged crowd...making decent money...however that signal gets to them! If it gets to 'em via rabbit ears or a coax, they don't care.


c) Although cable subscribers often times do watch local channels, if you asked cable subscribers what channels they were paying for with cable the local channels never get listed.

And then they would be wrong. And you know what: if it concerned them that much, then they'd switch to over-the-air, Netflix(tm), DVD's, the Internet, or something else. I only see that happening now because of the bad economy and a desire for different choices in entertainment, not because their bill paid for this or that channel (minus the "premium" channels like HBO, etc).


In a free market, the cable networks could negotiate with nearby affiliates, the networks themselves, and other sources for the network programming. However, we've created a monopoly where only one station in a market can carry the programming and therefore the cable companies are forced to pay whatever those stations demand.

We have a free market. And you know what? The government says that satellite providers can ONLY use their customer's home DMA markets for network TV service. Cable can use up to two, if they wish. And they have likely talked with nearby affiliates, the networks themselves, and other sources. Don't like it? Yell at the FCC. Anyway, the network then says to the cableco: you MUST only carry our local station, or you will not carry it at all. Think of it like this: A network local affiliate "X" stinks because they don't have HD or more technical problems than affiliate "Y" in another market. So the cable company goes and gets station "Y". But this hurts "X" and instead of improving the situation, hey go bankrupt, and you lose out on a local source of news, information, and local programming and service. Station "Y" doesn't care two licks about you, since they get no ad revenue from your distant area, and when the next tornado or local emergency hits, well...best to you. You're on your own.

Exceptions: a few mountainous areas where cities are borderline on several DMA's in the middle of nowhere. One community in western Virginia had 4 ABC affiliates on their system; they're down to 3, IIRC. Again, exceptions to the rule.

Finally, if anyone wants station "Y" that bad, they can frequently get a big enough tower and antenna to pick it up!


Quite frankly, I'd much rather that Dish network provide me the direct network feeds of NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX. I guarantee you there would be less issues watching those than there are the local affiliates. I have no desire to see that Waukon has a snow emergency while I'm trying to watch Heros. And I'd rather get my news semi recently, not wait until 10pm to hear what stories that local channel managed to get covered by then.

So the heck with the people who know your communities the best, letting others know about urgent weather information that could cause injuries or fatalities, I'm trying to watch my show? Absolutely NO offense to the engineers and stations on this board reading this, but in a case like that or worse (think blizzard warning/snow emergency or worse, Parkersburg tornado), are TV dramas, sitcoms, etc *that* important? Really? And how else are you going to get your news if you are shunning the station doing just that? Local stations don't "manage" to get stories covered. Been there, done that...no matter how green or veteran a reporter is, I've yet to meet one who doesn't bust their rear ends to cover stories. Are there enough reporters to get all the stories, or enough time? No...but that doesn't mean the stations aren't giving their all.

I'm sorry if this comes out harsh, but as a meteorologist and formerly on the front side of the camera, who got people mad at me for running crawls about a tornado warning two counties away from them: their lives are in danger.
This is what public service is all about. And from one who had been in broadcasting and still does freelance, I can tell you: lose your local affiliate, and the community loses a voice. Support them, while you still have the chance.

Is adaptive correction enabled? And has the RF system been swept recently to make sure there are no reflections that might be screwing things up?


We have a cleaner signal now than before on 55. Our EVM (Error Vector Magnitude) is hovering around 2.4% (was 5%). That means that we should be easier to lock onto now. When it gets above 10%, things start getting dicey as it begins to look more like noise than a 8-VSB digital signal.

Of course, the is RTAC circuitry in action to accomplish this (adaptative correction). We have virtually no reflections off the antenna (like a watt or so). Heck, we don't have much power going up the line to reflect anyhow!
I just hoping with more power, the tuners will find something to latch onto that they like!

Since ESPN charges almost $5 per customer, and CBS and other networks are desiring $.50
for carrier retransmissions, how is this the " 'largest cut of the pie' "? Finally, the ratings don't lie: most of the time, still true today...the "Big 4" networks generate the largest audience.

Gee, I didn't know you were privy to the secret contracts signed between Echostar, DirecTV, Mediacom and the content providers. Either you just violated a NDA, or you're talking out your rear end... either way you're not instilling a lot of confidence in the rest of your post. But, I shall trudge on.


They use the Neilsen ratings numbers, which is a sum of people getting it off the air and also from pay TV services. They do break it down by demographics, and of course, cable/sat coverage is very important! But if you have a channel that can be viewed in millions of homes, and nobody is watching it...it doesn't matter. They'll go out of business quickly.

Thanks for proving my point. Where do most of the people 18-34 get their TV? From Cable and Sat. So, it's in the channels best interest to be carried on those. But, wait. They have a government imposed monopoly. So, they can extort money from the cable operators and sat operators at will, and still be carried!


And then they would be wrong. And you know what: if it concerned them that much, then they'd switch to over-the-air, Netflix(tm), DVD's, the Internet, or something else. I only see that happening now because of the bad economy and a desire for different choices in entertainment, not because their bill paid for this or that channel (minus the "premium" channels like HBO, etc).

Really? I see that happening because of the greedy local channels charging the content providers more and more. How much is BROADCAST BASIC cable up to? When I used to subscribe it was $4.95. Now its $15. Remember, this is BROADCAST BASIC, just the broadcast channels.


We have a free market. And you know what? The government says that satellite providers can ONLY use their customer's home DMA markets for network TV service.
Do you know what a free market is?

Cable can use up to two, if they wish.

Closer, but still not 'free' as in freedom to pick any carrier you want.

And they have likely talked with nearby affiliates, the networks themselves, and other sources. Don't like it? Yell at the FCC. Anyway, the network then says to the cableco: you MUST only carry our local station, or you will not carry it at all. Think of it like this: A network local affiliate "X" stinks because they don't have HD or more technical problems than affiliate "Y" in another market. So the cable company goes and gets station "Y". But this hurts "X" and instead of improving the situation, hey go bankrupt, and you lose out on a local source of news, information, and local programming and service. Station "Y" doesn't care two licks about you, since they get no ad revenue from your distant area, and when the next tornado or local emergency hits, well...best to you. You're on your own.

Incorrect blather, I'll skip this. The networks don't own any of the stations in this market, so they have no say in the matter.


Finally, if anyone wants station "Y" that bad, they can frequently get a big enough tower and antenna to pick it up!

Gee, like a 40 foot tower in the middle of Cedar Rapids? Who do I know who did that?
http://gallery.planetcr.com/gallery2/v/shawn/things/radiotower/Image243.jpg.html


So the heck with the people who know your communities the best, letting others know about urgent weather information that could cause injuries or fatalities, I'm trying to watch my show?

Yeah, I don't see the local stations covering this. Sure, when CR was flooding they 'covered' that. KCRG even told you how to flush your toilet without running water. Was any of that necessary? I seriously doubt they needed to be on the air 72 hours straight reminding people how to flush with a bucket of water.

And how else are you going to get your news if you are shunning the station doing just that? Local stations don't "manage" to get stories covered. Been there, done that...no matter how green or veteran a reporter is, I've yet to meet one who doesn't bust their rear ends to cover stories. Are there enough reporters to get all the stories, or enough time? No...but that doesn't mean the stations aren't giving their all.

Ha! If I want the 'local news' provided by the stations in Cedar Rapids, I'll just subscribe to the press releases. Investigative reporting is a thing of the past, none of the stations bother asking questions. They just report whatever is fed to them.

I'm sorry if this comes out harsh, but as a meteorologist and formerly on the front side of the camera, who got people mad at me for running crawls about a tornado warning two counties away from them: their lives are in danger.

Well thanks for pointing out you have a horse in this race. There's a reason why people refer to weather breaks as the meteorologists having 'weather w00dies'. Sure, it's your life. The rest of us, quite frankly, don't care. We want to sit down and watch "The Office". The NWS cries wolf so much, that watching TV in the summer is gamble at best.


This is what public service is all about. And from one who had been in broadcasting and still does freelance, I can tell you: lose your local affiliate, and the community loses a voice. Support them, while you still have the chance.
The community doesn't get a voice. KCRG is 'locally owned' sure, but that doesn't mean much. KFXA and KGAN are owned by Sinclair, which might as well be the RNC for trustworthiness, and quite frankly I don't know who owns KWWL, but since I don't get their signal anymore I guess it doesn't matter.

Local! HA!

As someone who has watched the television and radio market go directly down the crapper, "local" is a huge joke. Sure, the computer playing the voice track might be in town somewhere, but that's the ONLY part that is.

I'm sorry if this came across as a personal attack, it's the furthest from possible, but I just had to speak up after hearing you go off about 'local' coverage. I wasn't going to even reply at first, but there is nothing local about TV left. There is a token glance at the community, especially when FCC renewal time comes around, but that's it. For national news I go to wikileaks and for local news I try to listen to public radio (Des Moines is the new local even there) and the paper... For now... Until the next layoff. Heck, the Iowa City Press Citizen isn't even headquartered in Iowa City anymore. They're out of Des Moines!

So, you're using the wrong tool for the job. You don't specify which UHF antenna you're using, but the graphs I've seen show some of them have huge drop-offs somewhere in the middle of the upper-VHF band.

Sure, I'll admit that a UHF antenna isn't exactly the best tool. But how was I supposed to know, ahead of time, if it would work or not? I'd say it's more like someone telling you "grab a Phillips screwdriver". I brought one size to the table, turns out it's the wrong size. But, from the original description, how would you know. It's a "Phillips screwdriver".

I spent weeks getting everything aimed, and 7 VHF analog and 9 VHF analog came in perfect. No ghosting, no issues. Unlike other markets, where the VHF stations actually tested ahead of time, we didn't do anything like that here. So it was a total shot in the dark. Would you like to climb my tower in the cold -- let alone spend the extra cash to buy a VHF antenna, VHF/UHF combiner, wasted tower space, etc.

We have a cleaner signal now than before on 55. Our EVM (Error Vector Magnitude) is hovering around 2.4% (was 5%).

I just hoping with more power, the tuners will find something to latch onto that they like!

2.4% isn't bad. It must just be the power level. That thing isn't running a CD1A exciter is it? Just wondering, I'm not a huge fan of them, though they do seem to get the job done just fine.

I've mentioned before that my antenna at home sucks, but I can't get a lock on an antenna at several hundred feet AGL about 5 miles south of Rowley either. I'll keep my fingers crossed that things get better with the new transmitter!

I wasn't going to even reply at first, but there is nothing local about TV left. There is a token glance at the community, especially when FCC renewal time comes around, but that's it. For national news I go to wikileaks and for local news I try to listen to public radio (Des Moines is the new local even there) and the paper... For now... Until the next layoff. Heck, the Iowa City Press Citizen isn't even headquartered in Iowa City anymore. They're out of Des Moines!

Ummm... what?!?! :confused: Just because you are desiring nothing local doesn't mean that we aren't doing this. I get that you want the national networks and that is all, but to say there is nothing local about TV is assinine! You contradict yourself the entire time by going off on your local Iowa stations for covering the small towns you don't care about and the weather events interrupting The Office. Considering all that went on in our viewing area last year, I think it is crazy to suggest that there is nothing local.

Jeepers, do you watch the news or the local stations at all? Before you reply with a snide comment about how you can't get KWWL, please understand that I don't have much empathy for those who know they have the wrong gear and then continue to trash my station. I know things can be better... and will be. Hopefully, with our power increase in a month, we'll break through on your UHF antenna... and if not then, perhaps the FCC will grant our additional request for more power on June 12th and we'll get there then. If that still doesn't work, you'll probably lose KCRG too, although they are 12 MHz closer to your antenna's desired tuning.

Being local is about the only thing we have to hold on to as you can watch network programming now online if you choose. We aim for as much local content as we can and only hope to increase it as time goes on.

The local affiliates also do retain the rights for the networks in this area. These are negociated with the network and then the FCC aids in enforcing this as providers try to work around it. The Satellite Home Viewer Act was all about this, although it has become more of a moot point as locals become available on the providers. In effect, we are the authorized NBC dealers in this area... not really a monopoly.

Also, since you didn't know, we are owned by Quincy Newspapers Inc. (QNI) out of Quincy, IL. They own 13 TV stations around the midwest that are very focused on being bonded to their communities.
-Jarrett

That thing isn't running a CD1A exciter is it?

I've mentioned before that my antenna at home sucks, but I can't get a lock on an antenna at several hundred feet AGL about 5 miles south of Rowley either. I'll keep my fingers crossed that things get better with the new transmitter!

APEX exciter... it kicks the CD1A's butt. If you are that close, I would think there has to be something fishy going on with multipath.

Jeepers, do you watch the news or the local stations at all? Before you reply with a snide comment about how you can't get KWWL, please understand that I don't have much empathy for those who know they have the wrong gear and then continue to trash my station. I know things can be better... and will be. Hopefully, with our power increase in a month, we'll break through on your UHF antenna... and if not then, perhaps the FCC will grant our additional request for more power on June 12th and we'll get there then. If that still doesn't work, you'll probably lose KCRG too, although they are 12 MHz closer to your antenna's desired tuning.
-Jarrett
I think that sgarringer has a CM-4221 (the older one, from the tower pictures) that antenna is decent, but without LOS to the tower, I would not count on VHF-HI reception of full power VHF-HIs more then 20-25miles out from the tower. A simple 7-13 VHF-HI yagi (that can be gotten online for less then $40) would be a simple and quick solution...
I have a client that my best friend (adler187) and I setup antennas for. The TVfool results for KTTC-DT-10 at her place where around -110dBm, and she gets pretty decent coverage at 50miles with the YA-1713 and AP-8275 amp that we installed 25-30ft AGL. KTTC-DT-10 is currently supposed to be (and I assume) at 20kW, so that is only roughly 6dB stronger then KWWL-DT-7..... And to boot, KTTC is not on nearly as high of tower as KWWL....

On a different topic, Jarrett, what happens to your old pre-transition DT antenna and feedline, now that it is offline. Will it be removed, or left until a project involves tower work in the future?

Sure, I'll admit that a UHF antenna isn't exactly the best tool. But how was I supposed to know, ahead of time, if it would work or not? I'd say it's more like someone telling you "grab a Phillips screwdriver". I brought one size to the table, turns out it's the wrong size. But, from the original description, how would you know. It's a "Phillips screwdriver".

Actually, it's more like you were asked for a No. 2 Phillips screwdriver (VHF antenna), but got a No. 3 (UHF antenna) because it was the same shape (not a bad assumption to make). Then you blame the screw because your screwdriver doesn't fit.

(If it turns out I actually don't know anything about tools and my sizes are wrong, just pretend I actually do know what I'm talking about. :p)

I spent weeks getting everything aimed, and 7 VHF analog and 9 VHF analog came in perfect. No ghosting, no issues. Unlike other markets, where the VHF stations actually tested ahead of time, we didn't do anything like that here. So it was a total shot in the dark. Would you like to climb my tower in the cold -- let alone spend the extra cash to buy a VHF antenna, VHF/UHF combiner, wasted tower space, etc.

Yes, it was a shot in the dark, and your shot in the dark missed, as shots in the dark tend to do. It happens. If I were in your position, I'd be upset that my antenna didn't work out too, and I'd fully expect someone else to say to me the same thing I'm saying now to you.

The difference between you and me, I think, is that I don't see how this is KWWL's fault. While an overnight test would have been nice, you'd have no guarantee that atmospherics weren't helping you out. And if the test came late last year or early this year, what good would it have done you? You would find out it didn't work and still wouldn't want to climb on your tower in winter to make the necessary modifications.

The good news is that KWWL has filed to further boost power to 49 kW. Not sure the FCC will grant it, but it has been applied for. Can't fault them for not trying, since the FCC limit for their height is roughly 30 kW and KWWL clearly wants more than that.

(For gjvrieze, KTTC has also asked to boost power, as has WAOW.)

- Trip

I know things can be better... and will be. Hopefully, with our power increase in a month, we'll break through on your UHF antenna... and if not then, perhaps the FCC will grant our additional request for more power on June 12th and we'll get there then.Well, thanks a lot, you made me look again :rolleyes: ... Here's the application for that boost to 49 kW:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1299667&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=593

Ummm... what?!?! :confused: Just because you are desiring nothing local doesn't mean that we aren't doing this. I get that you want the national networks and that is all, but to say there is nothing local about TV is assinine! You contradict yourself the entire time by going off on your local Iowa stations for covering the small towns you don't care about and the weather events interrupting The Office. Considering all that went on in our viewing area last year, I think it is crazy to suggest that there is nothing local.

Jeepers, do you watch the news or the local stations at all? Before you reply with a snide comment about how you can't get KWWL, please understand that I don't have much empathy for those who know they have the wrong gear and then continue to trash my station. I know things can be better... and will be. Hopefully, with our power increase in a month, we'll break through on your UHF antenna... and if not then, perhaps the FCC will grant our additional request for more power on June 12th and we'll get there then. If that still doesn't work, you'll probably lose KCRG too, although they are 12 MHz closer to your antenna's desired tuning.

Being local is about the only thing we have to hold on to as you can watch network programming now online if you choose. We aim for as much local content as we can and only hope to increase it as time goes on.

The local affiliates also do retain the rights for the networks in this area. These are negociated with the network and then the FCC aids in enforcing this as providers try to work around it. The Satellite Home Viewer Act was all about this, although it has become more of a moot point as locals become available on the providers. In effect, we are the authorized NBC dealers in this area... not really a monopoly.

Also, since you didn't know, we are owned by Quincy Newspapers Inc. (QNI) out of Quincy, IL. They own 13 TV stations around the midwest that are very focused on being bonded to their communities.
-Jarrett

I will say that I never have watched a lot of KWWL news, it's focus being more on Waterloo, and it's possible that your news department may be more locally based than other outlets. My concern is over the Cedar Rapids local channels. We have one station making a career out of catching the mayor nodding off in a city council meeting. Is that news? Probably. But did it deserve the fanfare it was given? Doubtful when there was plenty of other stories to go around. The other Cedar Rapids station we have seems to want to avoid asking questions in an effort to avoid upsetting anyone in the city. A great example is the skewed reporting they gave on the "CR Tea Party" a few months ago. Although I wasn't involved in the group and disagreed with them, I was active on their board and found that the truth was a LONG ways from where KCRG reported it. They had their minds made up that a local option tax was the way to go.

Local news is expensive, and I understand that stations see it as a place to save money, with consolidation. But, when you tune in to the 'local' news and over half of it is stuff piped in nationally, and highschool sports (depending on the season) that leaves roughly 15 minutes for true local news. To top that off, if you watch at 5, 6 and 10 you're basically seeing the same thing. Wheres the investigation? I don't see it.

Once KCRG goes VHF will probably lose their signal too -- but, it will be summer and I'll have installed a VHF antenna by then. I don't blame you for the date -- that was picked by congress -- and truthfully I know that you guys (engineers at local stations) are working your butts off to bring us this programming. I just think it's important that both side be represented here. There is a (fairly) large amount of people who did prepare, only to find that their preparations were insufficient, and being that it was the middle of the winter were unable to rectify the situation right away. What's the solution? Well, I know enough to say I don't have one. Maybe a DT translator in Iowa City or something...

Anyone else notice how loud Kgan's commercials have gotten lately.I have to turn the sound down.

The difference between you and me, I think, is that I don't see how this is KWWL's fault. While an overnight test would have been nice, you'd have no guarantee that atmospherics weren't helping you out. And if the test came late last year or early this year, what good would it have done you? You would find out it didn't work and still wouldn't want to climb on your tower in winter to make the necessary modifications.


I'm sorry if I came across as blaming KWWL -- that couldn't be further from how I feel. I know that my signal issues are no ones fault but my own. Obviously, they're transmitting, and it's my equipment, which is not perfectly suited for the job, that's not getting the signal. In my other post, I mention my mentality though. There are two sides to the issue, there's the stations which are doing the best they can, and there is the viewers who felt that they were (probably) prepared.

On a different topic, Jarrett, what happens to your old pre-transition DT antenna and feedline, now that it is offline. Will it be removed, or left until a project involves tower work in the future?

It is staying up there for now, as there is a possibly we work something out with Qualcomm Mediaflow with our setup here. We'll see!

For those out there with IMON HDTV did your formatting just change?????

For those out there with IMON HDTV did your formatting just change?????

All of the HD channels between 801-891 look okay and the same as always off of my Scientific Atlanta 8300 HDC as of right now (9:45 PM). I haven't checked unencrypted QAM. What did you see different?

APEX exciter... it kicks the CD1A's butt.

The APEX is awesome. The CD1A is doing almost as well, purely by luck, but what a pain to to make all the adjustments on those things.

im on imon with HD. Lost and dollhouse last week had a line through them and the screen was off right there. No one i talked to had that issue on mediacom.


should a db2 antenna get kwwl now? I have lost it also.

For what it's worth, Equity Media Holdings -- parent of KWWF, and former owner of RTN -- is putting its stations up for auction next week, according to Broadcasting & Cable (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/195976-Equity_Media_Sets_Auction_For_Stations.php). (NorthPine.com (http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html) posted the information today.)

Back in December, when the transition date was still Feb. 17, the company warned the FCC (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1285345&Service=TV&Form_id=387&Facility_id=81595) that KWWF had yet to obtain financing for its digital flash-cut and may need to go silent after the ban on analog TV went into effect. Now it appears June 12 may be questionable.

''''


should a db2 antenna get kwwl now? I have lost it also.

Perhaps if you're within 5 miles or so of their tower. If you're more that 10 or 15 miles, probably not.

Between that antenna not being effective at channel 7 and the KWWL's transmitter being powered by about two hair-dryer's worth of power, you prospects are not great.

You can always run a re-scan and see if you pick it up. if you haven't rescanned since they converted, your receiver doesn't have a clue where its new broadcast frequency is.

Some have found missing stations using these steps:

Disconnect the antenna feed.
Rescan. (This is to clear ALL channels)

Reconnect the antenna feed.
Rescan again.


FWIW: This might help.

the KWWL's transmitter being powered by about two hair-dryer's worth of power, you prospects are not great.


You dare question the mighty output power of KWWL? How dare you! You should not feel out of place needing a 250" long directional VHF antenna to pick up their signal. There is nothing wrong with their hamster-wheel-powered transmitter!

Some have found missing stations using these steps:

Disconnect the antenna feed.
Rescan. (This is to clear ALL channels)

Reconnect the antenna feed.
Rescan again.


FWIW: This might help.



Or do a factory reset of the converter. Instructions should be in the package.

For what it's worth, Equity Media Holdings -- parent of KWWF, and former owner of RTN -- is putting its stations up for auction next week, according to Broadcasting & Cable (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/195976-Equity_Media_Sets_Auction_For_Stations.php). (NorthPine.com (http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html) posted the information today.)

.


I'd say KWWF has at least 50/50 odds of morphing into a KWKB clone, rather, satellite. CW 20 & 22...or CW 22 & 25 if we want to stay RF correct.

Next best bet: religion.

As far as how much KWWF fetches, I couln't even begin to make an educated guess, but I'll say $500k, $750k tops.

Just wanted to say that I live in NE Cedar Rapids, by Noelridge, and I lost the KWWL signal after the turnover. I used just an indoor Radio Shack 20 dollar antenna to get the signal. Anyway, every once in a while I tried to do anything to get any hint of a signal. Out of the blue about a week ago I tried and got around 58-60 thru my Dish Network system. After a little tweaking, I've got it to peak around 66-70, where it stays constantly now. A little freezing for a nanonsecond every now and then, but it beats nothing, or buying a more expensive antenna. I mainly wanted it for the subchannels anyway.

The APEX is awesome. The CD1A is doing almost as well, purely by luck, but what a pain to to make all the adjustments on those things.

The APEX saved me a lot of time, especially when installing a transmitter with a sharp-tuned filter. I once spent 2 days tuning 2 CD1A exciters on a system.

The APEX saved me a lot of time, especially when installing a transmitter with a sharp-tuned filter. I once spent 2 days tuning 2 CD1A exciters on a system.

I believe it. The last time Foster was around here he diddled with my CD1A, just to see if I remembered how to tune them. I thought I was going to have to beat him :D

Hi guys,

It's been interesting to sit on the sidelines here, reading the daily banter between sgarringer, 4lids, Trip in VA and others on the ongoing debate about "poor or no reception" of KWWL's VHF digital signal.
Forgive me if I am speaking out of turn, but it seems that an amateur radio operator as sgarringer would be the first one to know that an antenna which performed OK at 716-722 MHz (UHF Channel 55) would perform very poorly, if at all at 174-180 MHz (VHF Channel 7). In a prior analog world, lower gain, poorer front-to-back ratio, poorer sidelobe rejection which would result from trying to watch a high-VHF channel on a UHF antenna might produce a viewer 'acceptable' picture. With digital, with it's 'cliff-effect', the 15-db threshold makes this setup fail, for the most part. Those who do get reception should consider themselves extremely fortunate. The 542-MHz difference in the "wrong" direction (VHF 7 requires longer antenna elements than UHF 55) also means the capture area of the antenns is also insufficient to perform as required now in a digital world.
Remember, also...RF power is logarithimic...Jarrett, correct me if I am wrong here: doubling transmit power will result in only a 1/4 receive signal level increase. This may help some people who experience pixilization now, but many receivers/set-top boxes will still not be able to display a picture (cliff-effect of digital).
Again, not being argumentative here - just echoing what others smarter than I have been saying.

Ian

Remember, also...RF power is logarithimic...Jarrett, correct me if I am wrong here: doubling transmit power will result in only a 1/4 receive signal level increase. This may help some people who experience pixilization now, but many receivers/set-top boxes will still not be able to display a picture (cliff-effect of digital).
Ian

You are right in the sense that when KWWL goes from 5 to 30 KW, it isn't going to result in 6 times the coverage area. It will boost our coverage area buy about 10-15 miles. If we get to go to 49 KW on June 12th, you may be able to add a bit more on there.

This will certainly help get those that are hovering around the cliff to lock us in... and it might also bludgeon through some of the inferior setups to at least lock us in now (they'll still be around that cliff though). I'm just hoping it makes things easier for the average Joe. It will make things much easier if someone can at least get a lock so that they can take advantage of their signal meters.

...

.

You're right, and I apologize. I've had people come to my house to offer to 'settle' disputes in person before, so I get a little touchy when people start bringing my personal information into a discussion.

Either way, my response was uncalled for, and I apologize.

Best of luck.

Directv HD is way off tonight.

I'm gone for a few days, and it looks like the trolls came out! ;)

Anyway, everyone grumbling about KWWL's signal should know that I've
found a cheap and easy indoor antenna which works great for reception.

Actually, all I did was Google it. Go here and plug in your info:

http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=15313

I made mine out of a scrap piece of wood, and some 16 gauge
copper wire from Home Depot, and some electrical/masking tape.

This is my test antenna, I've been mulling over a new version which
would be "wife worthy" :D

Even this sloppy, ugly one pulls in KWWL fine on an interior wall (plaster/lathe) hooked to my APEX CECB, located in a valley in
Cedar Rapids.

My next version will ensure more equal spacing of the wire, and
a 75 ohm feedline instead of my silly attempt at ladder line.

I would assume this would be a cake project for any RF nerd.

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/180/0000241.jpg

I sure hope that antenna is "HD" like the walmart ones! :rolleyes:

That is great though, Oldsyd. Things should be even easier in a couple weeks with our new rig for KWWL-DT. It is scheduled for delivery the last week of April. If all goes well, we'll be on the air at 30KW by May 1st.

It's HD and NTSC and color and Windows certified :p

With KCRG still running analog, it also picks that up nicely as well.

I cut it specifically for channel 7, but I'm guessing it will continue
to work for KCRG when they move back to VHF in June.

I also have my primary antenna up in the attic which I just ran a
new RG-6 feedline for, this is the guest room and I didn't want
to go to the trouble of snaking more cable through 100 year old
walls.

I saw last night the red blotches that was posted a month ago.

It WAS more than normal skin imperfections on the actors.

No artifacts or low signal at the time.

Anyone else? Around 7PM to 8PM

OLDSYD:

How would you make your folded dipole wife approved?

One could cut a trough in the drywall and cover it up. Use quick drying paint.

Jarrett,

I've been noticing on 7.2 this afternoon, about every 2-3 minutes the video will go to black, but the audio continues during the black. It is short bursts about 2 seconds each.

Is this because 7.1 has priority bandwidth over 7.2 and 7.3, and if the data rate for 7.1 gobbles up the bandwidth, the subchannels are forced to dump data?

I can understand giving priority to 7.1 since it carries HD network feeds, but during syndicated 4:3 shows, I would think the rate would be much lower.

That might not be the technical description, does that make sense, or am I totally wrong?

~jay

Jarrett,

I've been noticing on 7.2 this afternoon, about every 2-3 minutes the video will go to black, but the audio continues during the black. It is short bursts about 2 seconds each.
~jay

This actually has nothing to do with the bandwidth. It is coming right out of our satellite receiver for ThisTV that way. Unfortunately, it is the only receive I have at the moment that can do the job (left over from the Tube... remember that thing? :D ). I will be getting us a new receiver and some gear to help us actually insert some local spots at some point, but we are still waiting on the go ahead for this purchase. In short, it is a little quirk that I'm aware of... but it was the only way I could get it on the air when WeatherPlus disappeared.
-Jarrett

OLDSYD:

How would you make your folded dipole wife approved?

One could cut a trough in the drywall and cover it up. Use quick drying paint.

Unfortunately, lathe and plaster walls don't take too kindly to that sort of treatment.

Only recommendation for making it "wife friendly" would be to put pictures of the in-laws, the kids, or the wife on the antenna, or write some sort of "home blessing" saying on it.

Then again, I have no wife, so I'm just guessing based on my friends' wives...

I have quite a bit of leftover paint from that room.

I'm using a new piece of precut wood painted the same as the wall,
and I'll be using a balun to adapt it to coax for the feedline.

I'm thinking I'll put two finish nails in drilled holes at the
top of the wall, then drill two matching holes in the wood, so
the antenna "hangs" on the two nails.

I could also paint the coax feed line so it also blends in better.

Of course the downside, is if we move it to a different room
it will need a fresh coat of paint :)

I'll post pics when I'm done.

sgarringer:

I was discussing VHF issues with someone and the issue of FM traps came up and I thought about your situation. Do you have any FMs on 88-92 MHz very near you? If so, do you have an FM trap in the line?

I wonder if second harmonic FM interference could be contributing to your problem.

- Trip

sgarringer:

I was discussing VHF issues with someone and the issue of FM traps came up and I thought about your situation. Do you have any FMs on 88-92 MHz very near you? If so, do you have an FM trap in the line?

I wonder if second harmonic FM interference could be contributing to your problem.

- Trip

I have a 25db FM trap on the line directly before the amplifier, and also a UHF 20 - 26 channel trap to open up a few channels for local insertion of various video feeds in my house.

I just fired up my RCA consumer DTV tuner and was able to lock on to KWWL for a few minutes, so perhaps something has changed. I haven't checked since the day they switched to VHF.

Is the FM trap you have good down to 88 MHz? I know a lot of the consumer ones fall off around 93 MHz or so...

- Trip

I haven't checked since the day they switched to VHF.

It took me a few tries at a friend's house to get KWWL to lock in, and, ironically enough, it was during our last big snow storm in C.R., but it locked in long enough to let me work with massaging the signal strength.

For all of the complaining that you've been doing about KWWL, it's quite telling that you haven't even TRIED to get KWWL since the day they switched to VHF, even though you've allegedly tried a laundry-list of different things to pull it in... :rolleyes:

Is the FM trap you have good down to 88 MHz? I know a lot of the consumer ones fall off around 93 MHz or so...

- Trip

Yes, I specifically got one for the low end of the band since I live a few miles from KCCK-FM.

Yes, I specifically got one for the low end of the band since I live a few miles from KCCK-FM.

Okay, well, it was worth a shot. Just figured I'd ask and be sure. :)

I'm wondering if some of the problems with upper-VHF closer in are related to the second harmonics of nearby FM stations. I know one person stuck an FM trap in his line and it cleaned up an upper-VHF for him.

Even people who do have FM traps might not have ones that filter down to 88-92 where harmonics harming KWWL would be coming from. It would be interesting to find out.

- Trip

I know Jarrett isn't posting this himself, probably because it hasn't been approved yet, but he's going for broke in the power increase department. Last week I saw that KWWL applied for 49 kilowatts. THAT will do the trick!
:eek: Come on, FCC, approve this now!

Question (to all the real and self-proclaimed experts - I don't care ;)) - its been way too long since I got my 2nd class radio license, and what little I knew or crammed for, I've long since forgotten.

When KWWL-DT pumps their power, will that help the multipath problem, or just make it worse? Right now, at work, I'm still getting by with my rabbit-ears by the window. (disclaimer - so, I know, my problem, and not complaining to anyone.) - tons of signal strength on my Apex's meter, but signal quality is all over the map. I KNOW its multipath, since my signal goes haywire every time a large semi-trailer leaves the truck terminal across the street. :D - really, things are that touchy!!

But mentally modeling this - I can't decide if the stronger signal will "burn-through," or just be bouncing off everything, possibly making things worse.

Any guesses?

(and aside to UHF - could you be getting too much signal, seeing how you are so close to the towers? Have you tried an attenuater? Or, otoh, could you be so close as to just have the bad luck of being in a null node?)

When KWWL-DT pumps their power, will that help the multipath problem, or just make it worse? Any guesses?


To be honest, I won't know for certain here until we boost late next week (if all goes to plan). I suspect there will be some overdriving and ghosts out there that will complicate things, but I'm hoping the extra signal will at least make it easier to initially lock to things and then maybe position the antenna better. It will also help to get it a bit stronger than all of the noise that can be near those indoor antennsas, such as computers, flourescent lights (some newer TV's have both!). Right now, I'm trying to be an optomist and figure things can't get worse than they are now for some. I'll let you all know next week when we go to 30 KW.

As far as 49 KW is concerned, we have applied for it for 6/12, and I think KCRG will as well, but there are FCC maximums as far as how much power you can transmit from a 2000 foot tower, which that number exceeds. Hopefully they will listen to our case and grant it to both of us without any issues. The new rig will be capable of that power, so it will be an easy jump that day. I'll keep you all posted!
-Jarrett

For those who are wondering, the hard power limit for KWWL and their height of 1971' is 31.2 kW. I hope the FCC gives you the extra power despite that, it can't hurt.

It's a shame KGAN-DT is only at 500 kW versus 1000 kW. At the latter power, you could use 73.622(f)(5) to get your 49 kW and the FCC wouldn't be able to say no based on that 31.2 kW power limit.

- Trip

to UHF - could you be getting too much signal, seeing how you are so close to the towers? Have you tried an attenuater?

Possibly. After adjusting the antenna to get KWWL (most of the time) at home, I now lose KRIN when the wind is blowing, and sometimes KCRG will drop out. At the Walker site I'm pretty sure it's mostly an overdrive problem, plus the antenna is pointed the wrong way, but I used to get CBS-58 analog from Milwaukee off the backside of that antenna!

I'll look around and see if I have any attenuators handy and see what that does.

Okay, well, it was worth a shot. Just figured I'd ask and be sure. :)

I'm wondering if some of the problems with upper-VHF closer in are related to the second harmonics of nearby FM stations. I know one person stuck an FM trap in his line and it cleaned up an upper-VHF for him.

Even people who do have FM traps might not have ones that filter down to 88-92 where harmonics harming KWWL would be coming from. It would be interesting to find out.

- Trip

I didn't have time to get into this earlier, but technically, an FM trap doesn't do anything with harmonics (unless perhaps you have a poor amplifier downstream which would generate harmonics based on the already strong FM signal.

Instead, an FM trap does is dropping the strength of the original signal to prevent over modulation (and in turn desensitization of the frontend). The harmonics would be at 88*2 and possibility mixing of nearby signals would all be out of the range of an FM trap. Those could be removed with a notch filter, either way.

If an FM trap is helping then probably what you're seeing is either frontend desensitization or overload, because an FM filter drops the entire spectrum by 3-5dB.

This forum and my experience as a consumer has sparked my interest to want to learn more about DTV and the challenges associated with it. This week in Vegas the National Association of Broadcasters is holding a conference that would be fun to go to. Anybody that thinks no one is trying to come up with solutions to the problems we've been complaining about on here should go to these sessions!

Loudness, Lipsync and AFD for DTV
http://www.nabshow.com/2009/education/sessiondetail.asp?id=148088

Television Automation for Maximum Efficiency
http://www.nabshow.com/2009/education/sessiondetail.asp?id=148101

Quality Control for Television
http://www.nabshow.com/2009/education/sessiondetail.asp?id=148096

In a few years much of the stuff we're fighting with today will be a distant memory ... hopefully!

Folks,

Today Dish network and DirecTV, working together released a statement regarding customer choice in television. You can read the statement here: http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/172356-joint-statement-directv-dish-network.html

Finally, someone is putting the needs of the consumers first by offering you the choice of local channels. No longer can the local channels wield the monopoly formed by them through the constant lobbying and millions of dollars spent by the N.A.B. with the FCC.

I urge you to contact your congresspeople to support this. I have. The democrats are a shoe in, I don't know about republicans, I can see how they'd be against something this good for the consumers. Either way, make your voice heard. This could directly impact your cable and satellite bills by making them much MUCH lower!

I know that we have techs/engineers on here from KWWL, KCRG, and KFXA, but do we have a KGAN tech/engineer on here? Anyone else know how to get a hold of KGAN techs to find out what the deal is with the audio? 5.1 isn't coming through as 5.1. It sometimes comes through as 2.0, it sometimes comes through with only the left and right channels of the 5.1, and a lot of times, it's all 5.1 channels mixed and pumped out as 5-channel mono.

It worked, at one point, but has been pretty bush-league for the last few months, and for as long as KGAN has been in HD, it's inexcusable, IMHO.

Folks,

Today Dish network and DirecTV, working together released a statement regarding customer choice in television. You can read the statement here: http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/172356-joint-statement-directv-dish-network.html

Finally, someone is putting the needs of the consumers first by offering you the choice of local channels. No longer can the local channels wield the monopoly formed by them through the constant lobbying and millions of dollars spent by the N.A.B. with the FCC.

I urge you to contact your congresspeople to support this. I have. The democrats are a shoe in, I don't know about republicans, I can see how they'd be against something this good for the consumers. Either way, make your voice heard. This could directly impact your cable and satellite bills by making them much MUCH lower!

I don't mean to come across as insulting, sgarringer, but if you believe anything you wrote, you're wrong on all accounts. Like one of the posters on that forum said, they tell you they want change, but not exactly what they want changed. And, they don't tell the reader what the reader should do to make the change happen. Finally, if you think they're doing this on behalf of consumers...and will make your bill much lower (where do you even infer that from the statement?)...bzzt. You're sadly mistaken if you think any of that will happen. In some cities, cable has two CBS, NBC and ABC affiliates, like mine, and here, 50 expanded anlog basic channels costs $70+ a month. Just getting the broadcast locals alone costs $20 a month. Cheaper? Ha! And since the satellite companies pay anywhere from a quarter to 50 cents per station per subscriber, how in the world would your bill be cheaper? Those costs WILL get passed on to you. As for cable companies, they'd have to get fiber for reliable reception, many of them...which for HD, will cost many thousands of dollars a month. Even for standard definition, 4 or 5 megabits/second, will cost a pretty penny. That won't make your bill cheaper, either.

While I do agree that if you are within broadcast range of a TV station, you should be able to get it via cable or satellite...let's get to the real issue here. You want an alternative to what you perceive as bad service from the local affiliates. And you certainly have that right to voice that and be unhappy that you aren't getting other markets for choices. But I'll say it again: Sure, I'd love to have other affiliates from other markets. But that it is not the purpose of the broadcast stations: they are to be LOCAL. The stations AND the FCC have a vested interest to keep local stations on the air for local service...by serving you. That's the purpose of local broadcast stations.

Where I live, I am 30 miles away from Rockford, yet I get Chicago stations 60 miles away via cable. With DirecTV/Dish, I cannot get Rockford locals, even though I can't get any Chicago stations with "rabbit ears", but I do get Rockford's with them! In my case, I think I should get both affiliates (on cable you can, which puts DBS at a direct disadvantage here, and I wholeheartedly agree we should get both). We are in Chicago's DMA because much of the population out here are college students watching Chicago TV stations. The full-time residents watch Rockford because their stations carry news for us.

But, if you are within 40 miles of Chicago, there's no way I would want cable or satellite bringing in other affiliates. There's great choice, but not choice between affiliates. And besides, all network programming is generally the same. And if you think the grass is greener on the other side of the pond, think again. Our Chicago ABC affiliate, the infamous WLS-TV, carries HD on its primary channel, as well as on one subchannel...with a second sub to boot! Yep, we're complaining about picture quality. But that still does not mean we should get another ABC affiliate piped in from somewhere else. Talk with the local staff, as we are, instead of ripping them every time they do something you don't like.

I think you will be very disappointed if you see this get played out. Head to the other local over-the-air forums and hear "gee, I wish I could get this out-of-market station, it's much better than our local." And in the market they're talking about, you'll hear, "gee, I wish I could get the out of market station..." that the other guy is complaining about!

Food for thought.

While I do agree that if you are within broadcast range of a TV station, you should be able to get it via cable or satellite...

I agree. Where my folks live they can get stations from Sioux Falls, SD; Sioux City, IA; Mankato, MN; and Des Moines, IA on cable. If they go with satellite they only get Sioux City. The only station they can get with an antenna is the one Mankato station. They live "100 miles from anywhere". Satellite is at a huge disadvantage in that area.

I agree. Where my folks live they can get stations from Sioux Falls, SD; Sioux City, IA; Mankato, MN; and Des Moines, IA on cable. If they go with satellite they only get Sioux City. The only station they can get with an antenna is the one Mankato station. They live "100 miles from anywhere". Satellite is at a huge disadvantage in that area.

Yessir. In determining "locals", if they are within the FCC contour or can pick it up with a decent antenna, they should be included. Rockford, IL is 58 miles from Madison, and anyone with a good antenna can pick up Madison from Rockford, as long as they aren't in the hills between the two cities.

I also agree that there are parts of the SHVERA that can be improved, specifically in the way you were just mentioning. The satellite providers go by Zipcode to determine who they get for locals, and I'm not sure why sides can't agree to just add markets to certain zipcodes in those situations (where you are between markets). A perfect example of this is across the river by Dubuque. Viewers just on the other side in Illinios and Wisconsin have no option for the Cedar-Rapids-Waterloo-Dubuque market... they are stuck with Madison, Rockford or the Quads who never cover anything in their area. Unfortunately, if someone asks for a waiver, it isn't us that they get... it is New York or Denver typically, which helps neither local market. Why they can't provide both or at least a choice is a bit of a mystery. It may simply come down to network duplication rules (can only have one on at a time... and Dish and DirecTV can't handle nor want to deal with blackouts.

However, don't think this "memo" is about the concerns of consumers. This is all about money... always is. If they get want they want, it won't cost them as much... and I don't really see how everyone being about to watch the distant signals really helps the locals out financially at all.
-Jarrett

Tonight I've noticed a few times in the past hour where severe thunderstorm warnings are being injected over programming on KWWL with a red crawl line at the bottom of the screen and the NWS/NOAA weather radio for audio. I've only seen this on type of warning (with the red crawl line) on KWWL tonight, and at least one time it was at the same time Jeff Kennedy was on the air as well and pretty much drown out Kennedy's voice.

Was this red crawl/NOAA audio being injected automatically by KWWL or by ImOn cable? Normally when I've seen these red crawls in the past, I've seen them on all of the cable channels at the same time and always assumed they were automatically generated by the local cable company and should only trigger for the county the cable customers are in.

Got it thru DirectTv also. It's better than breaking in all the time......

Got it thru DirectTv also. It's better than breaking in all the time......
I agree that it works good. I just hadn't seen this used before except where I thought it originated from the cable company.

I agree that it works good. I just hadn't seen this used before except where I thought it originated from the cable company.It usually isn't used, at least not by TV stations with a weather staff and plenty of more effective ways to use the medium to show viewers what's going on. A lot of radio stations and a few TV stations will use that audio because they don't have the staff or expertise to do the presentation themselves, and you'll hear that audio on WMT quite a bit because they're the primary EAS (Emergency Alert System) station in C.R.

Perhaps KWWL just had its EAS receiver set wrong. It would seem kind of odd that they'd let the NWS audio drown out their own weatherman while he was still talking.

It would seem kind of odd that they'd let the NWS audio drown out their own weatherman while he was still talking.

They did not do it while Jeff Kennedy was on air, only during regular programming and even commercials.

The regular network audio was still there and understandable, just lowered a bit with the NWS audio more audible. These were for TSTM warnings that had been just issued shortly after they had a weather update, so it was nice that they were not breaking in every 5 minutes for a new warning.

I've mentioned this before, I'm fairly certain that KWWL has an actual NOAA weather radio physically connected to their equipment, perhaps as a means of automatically triggering weather alerts.

I say this because randomly, maybe once or twice a day, I'll hear a single beep come across KWWL's audio. The beep sounds EXACTLY the same as a beep my NOAA weather radio makes, specifically whenever I push a button on it.

In addition, about a month or so ago, KWWL's audio was randomly interrupted by a NOAA weather radio test cycle (Not a standard EAS test, but a live-spoken "This is a test of the NOAA Weather Radio" announcement).

So, it seems they've installed some sort of automated alert system that uses an off-the-shelf weather radio as the trigger. I've been hearing the beeping for months, so they've had it for quite a while. Last night was probably just the first opportunity for it to actually be triggered, first severe weather of the season and whatnot.

I have 90% signal strength on 7-1. The last couple of days my picture is breaking up from time to time. On 2-1 and 9-1 I only have 65 % signal stength with no problems. I would welcome any advice. Thanks

I've mentioned this before, I'm fairly certain that KWWL has an actual NOAA weather radio physically connected to their equipment, perhaps as a means of automatically triggering weather alerts.

I say this because randomly, maybe once or twice a day, I'll hear a single beep come across KWWL's audio. The beep sounds EXACTLY the same as a beep my NOAA weather radio makes, specifically whenever I push a button on it.

In addition, about a month or so ago, KWWL's audio was randomly interrupted by a NOAA weather radio test cycle (Not a standard EAS test, but a live-spoken "This is a test of the NOAA Weather Radio" announcement).

So, it seems they've installed some sort of automated alert system that uses an off-the-shelf weather radio as the trigger. I've been hearing the beeping for months, so they've had it for quite a while. Last night was probably just the first opportunity for it to actually be triggered, first severe weather of the season and whatnot.

I'm pretty sure I heard this tonight at 11 PM while watching SNL.

KFXA NASCAR pre race is SD. Looks like another SD race! :(

Whos got that newsroom number???

KFXA NASCAR pre race is SD. Looks like another SD race! :(

Whos got that newsroom number???

Phone Numbers:
1-319-395-9060
1-800-642-6140

Trying now myself.

Hope you had better luck than I did......

Guess I'll just watch it on Hot Pass..

Weather answered. Said they would go talk to engineering.

Ehat a crappy day. No OTA HD on Fox 28 and Directv still doesn't have WGN (Go Cubs!) in HD either.

Weather answered. Said they would go talk to engineering.

guess engineering guy was out for a smoke - still SD here. Not to mention lockups and pixelizations from the rain. Which brings me back to last year's whine - wtf are we to do, now that we are blessed with purely digital signals that break up whenever it rains?

(I'm viewing on cfu cable today. Imagine if I go to antenna connected set it will be about the same)

Which brings me back to last year's whine - wtf are we to do, now that we are blessed with purely digital signals that break up whenever it rains?
The KFXA signal was frozen on lap 57 until around lap 100 of the race today on ImOn cable. And now during the Linn County tornado warning just before 5 PM I switched to KWWL to see that signal frozen on screen showing just a golden retriever dog. It's been that way for at least 15 minutes now. I'm suspecting ImOn is having problems getting signals off the air. DTV definitely is going to be an issue it appears during severe weather and rain. I'm glad we have weather radios and other means of getting notification.

KFXA never went to HD; however, they were able to cut into the race to give a Tstorm warning. Then they cut back long enough to give us a Flomax commercial, a couple interviews, and then back to Iowa's usual door to door tornado warning coverage.

KWWL is dead - who knows? CFU gets a fiber feed, so the control room must be gone.

KWWL is dead - who knows? CFU gets a fiber feed, so the control room must be gone.
That's not good at all! I thought it was probably just ImOn.

KFXA never went to HD; however, they were able to cut into the race to give a Tstorm warning. Then they cut back long enough to give us a Flomax commercial, a couple interviews, and then back to Iowa's usual door to door tornado warning coverage.

I am really want to vent, but I will wait to hear from Eric so I don't place blame where it doesn't belong.

Now programming wise.... What a bunch of morons! I sometimes think they are trying to piss us off. KFXA cuts into the last 2 minutes of "Prison Break" Friday night right as a major show plot is about to be shown to tell us a bout a tstm warning on the far Western edge of the viewing area. :mad: Couldn't have waited 2 darn minutes...

Guess we get what we pay for....

KWWL is dead - who knows? CFU gets a fiber feed, so the control room must be gone.

Power outage. One would think that a "big three" TV station would have a generator at their studio, but obviously KWWL does not.

It's odd that when Raycom media owned the station they had very few technical problems, and I'm at least 90% certain that there was a generator at the transmitter site, and likely the studio as well, now they are off the air a lot due to power problems. It seems that Raycom must have robbed the place blind when they sold it. Cute.

well, power came back on. Thank the lord - since the CR stations are giving coverage to the Dubuque storm, OR, ALBURNETT DAMAGE, while there is an ongoing warning for Blackhawk County.

Thanks, KW, for getting back on the air - all it took was one look at the radar to know that I was unaffected, even tho sirens are going off. (which is why, for me, TV is infinitely better than weather radio)

(and as I'm typing, KWWL was off air for a bit, but now is back, again.)

Seems to happen every spring......All the tv weather people have to play with their new toys :mad:.....and see who's going to switch back to regular programming first.
Then just when FOX is going to show the FIRST REPLAY of the last 20 seconds of the finish......yup they cut it off.

TV audio for 9 was nice during the storm on our battery powered radio but haven't found
a DTV audio tuner for when no power.

Humm.....

Power outage. One would think that a "big three" TV station would have a generator at their studio, but obviously KWWL does not.

It's odd that when Raycom media owned the station they had very few technical problems, and I'm at least 90% certain that there was a generator at the transmitter site, and likely the studio as well, now they are off the air a lot due to power problems. It seems that Raycom must have robbed the place blind when they sold it. Cute.

There hasn't been a generator at the studio since there was radio running out of the building decades ago. Power at the studio, up until the past year, seldom had issues. This past year we've had around 6 prolonged outages at the studio thanks to Mid-American. I'm sure we will begin to talk more and more about a genset for the KWWL Studio.

The Rowley site is another matter... that place has a history of power fun, and does have a generator backup, on the analog side of the building. The digital side never had one installed by Raycom, but we are hoping to do one yet this year or the next. We were waiting to sort out our transmitter demand requirements before we went through that fun.

There hasn't been a generator at the studio since there was radio running out of the building decades ago. Power at the studio, up until the past year, seldom had issues. This past year we've had around 6 prolonged outages at the studio thanks to Mid-American. I'm sure we will begin to talk more and more about a genset for the KWWL Studio.

The Rowley site is another matter... that place has a history of power fun, and does have a generator backup, on the analog side of the building. The digital side never had one installed by Raycom, but we are hoping to do one yet this year or the next. We were waiting to sort out our transmitter demand requirements before we went through that fun.

Why isn't the backup that was on analog now running on the digital at the tower?

This year I saw that all 3(4?) major "news and weather" channels encourage viewers to get a weather radio. First of all, nice job. :) We need weather radio for alerts since our TV are not on all the time.

But I think you guys can do one more thing: tell your viewers that since 2/17 (or by 6/12 for KCRG), ALL TV stations (not just your station) are NOT a good source of information when server weather hits. There will not be a marginal, snowy picture for viewers to see the weather maps, or listen to the weatherman.

People who subscribe to satellite already know this fact, but those who use over the air signals, and those who subscribe to cable (YES, cable, those who grab the signal over the air also) might still think that they can get good weather coverage, especially when you guys keep "lying" to your viewers that you guys are reliable, and should tune to you guys for up to date, live coverage.

I quoted the word "lying" because you guys are actually there, just that the digital signals can't deliver.

KFXA NASCAR pre race is SD. Looks like another SD race! :(

Whos got that newsroom number???

Phone Numbers:
1-319-395-9060
1-800-642-6140

Trying now myself.

Weather answered. Said they would go talk to engineering.

Ehat a crappy day. No OTA HD on Fox 28 and Directv still doesn't have WGN (Go Cubs!) in HD either.

guess engineering guy was out for a smoke - still SD here. Not to mention lockups and pixelizations from the rain. Which brings me back to last year's whine - wtf are we to do, now that we are blessed with purely digital signals that break up whenever it rains?

(I'm viewing on cfu cable today. Imagine if I go to antenna connected set it will be about the same)

The KFXA signal was frozen on lap 57 until around lap 100 of the race today on ImOn cable. And now during the Linn County tornado warning just before 5 PM I switched to KWWL to see that signal frozen on screen showing just a golden retriever dog. It's been that way for at least 15 minutes now. I'm suspecting ImOn is having problems getting signals off the air. DTV definitely is going to be an issue it appears during severe weather and rain. I'm glad we have weather radios and other means of getting notification.

KFXA never went to HD; however, they were able to cut into the race to give a Tstorm warning. Then they cut back long enough to give us a Flomax commercial, a couple interviews, and then back to Iowa's usual door to door tornado warning coverage.

KWWL is dead - who knows? CFU gets a fiber feed, so the control room must be gone.

I am really want to vent, but I will wait to hear from Eric so I don't place blame where it doesn't belong.

Now programming wise.... What a bunch of morons! I sometimes think they are trying to piss us off. KFXA cuts into the last 2 minutes of "Prison Break" Friday night right as a major show plot is about to be shown to tell us a bout a tstm warning on the far Western edge of the viewing area. :mad: Couldn't have waited 2 darn minutes...

Guess we get what we pay for....


We had many problems yesterday.

I had UPS problems at the tower. This UPS that failed is used on our network ethernet switch for transmitter remote control.

For those who know what a thyratron is, it is a protection for the main IOT, failed yesterday as well. Fortunately I had a spare, KCRG has my other spare. It was a 30 minute fix that took about 2 hours to diagnose. Also had to replace the Thyratron high voltage board, when the tube lets go, it tends to destroy the board supplying it.

For the lack of HD, this was an issue that involved Fox Network equipment. When informed of the problem, it took them several hours to fix. I never did hear what the problem finally was, just that the satellite receivers were not communicating with the Splicer for HD.

For the NASCAR fans, I lobbied and pushed for the weather coverage to happen after the race was over. They wanted to cut in with 3 laps to go.

The Rowley site is another matter... that place has a history of power fun, and does have a generator backup, on the analog side of the building. The digital side never had one installed by Raycom.

Ahh, ok. I thought I'd seen 7 analog off a few times for power as well, that's why I thought maybe Raycom robbed the genset :p

And yes, the power in the Rowley and Walker areas SUCKS. It was horrible 10 years ago, and after a few years it got reliable. Then the big ice storm hit a few years ago and things went downhill again. Having 2000' lightning rods at the sites doesn't help either. I've been hearing rumors for several years now that a generator is on it's way for me, but I'll believe it when I see it.

This year I saw that all 3(4?) major "news and weather" channels encourage viewers to get a weather radio. First of all, nice job. :) We need weather radio for alerts since our TV are not on all the time.

But I think you guys can do one more thing: tell your viewers that since 2/17 (or by 6/12 for KCRG), ALL TV stations (not just your station) are NOT a good source of information when server weather hits. There will not be a marginal, snowy picture for viewers to see the weather maps, or listen to the weatherman.

My picture on OTA stayed on, with occasional dropouts corresponding to lightning flashes (I was watching KCRG). My Dish Network was off quite a bit due to rain fade.

DTV sure doesn't like the impulse noise that lightning generates. HD sure is pretty, but I'm already starting to miss NTSC!

Why isn't the backup that was on analog now running on the digital at the tower?

Because it is really old, utilizes an underground diesel tank that we are desperate to get rid of, not really sized right for the digital side of the building, and it water cooled, which isn't ideal since it needs power to run the well pump to cool the genset. If the power does not transfer (we've had big issues with the transfer switch), it doesn't power the pump and basically just cooks itself. It will be cheaper and better just to go new, since we need a new tank, transfer switch and cabling anyhow.
-Jarrett

Because it is really old, utilizes an underground diesel tank that we are desperate to get rid of, not really sized right for the digital side of the building, and it water cooled, which isn't ideal since it needs power to run the well pump to cool the genset. If the power does not transfer (we've had big issues with the transfer switch), it doesn't power the pump and basically just cooks itself. It will be cheaper and better just to go new, since we need a new tank, transfer switch and cabling anyhow.
-Jarrett

You VHF-HI guys, must love the fact that you went back from UHF, in terms of power demand on both power bills and the generator spec-out. I would think it is a decent amount less generator needed, and less fuel to keep it on the air, a longer period of time:)

We had many problems yesterday.

For the NASCAR fans, I lobbied and pushed for the weather coverage to happen after the race was over. They wanted to cut in with 3 laps to go.




This is just about the silliest thing I have ever seen.
What is with these ridiculous constant warnings on TV for Thunderstorms?

Okay - I can understand breaking in for Tornado warnings as obviously they are very dangerous.
However our local stations are just going gadget silly with these non-stop weather crawls about Thunderstorms, Flash flood warnings and just about anything else they can think of. People can look out the window for thunderstorms we do not need warnings for them.

One thing that really ticks me off is these crawls that are all so important but get taken off as soon as a commercial comes on - Come on now if they are really important put them on over the commercial - and if not - then don't put them on at all.

And someone needs to tell KWWL that the postponment of a sunday night church service in some little town does not mean we need a crawl all night long on our screens. Postponments are for your web site - quit cluttering up the screen with cancelations and postponements that are irrelevant to your viewers. At this rate you will have a crawl for cancelled birthdday parties - it's just ridiculous.

Hello. I live in Cedar Rapids and just bought an HDTV. I am trying to work my way through this thread but at 113 pages it will take me awhile.

I just wondered how signal was in general around Cedar Rapids. We are near Brucemore on the NE side. Our house has a very old antenna (don't know if it is VHF, or VHF/UHF combo) heck I don't even know if there is still wire coming off it! But it is there so I figure I should be able to get some signal.

I am a real HDTV new comer but I am slowly learning. Is there anything about the area's signal?

Thanks,

From the National Weather Service website:

"Severe Thunderstorm:
A thunderstorm that produces a tornado, winds of at least 58 mph (50 knots), and/or hail at least ¾" in diameter. Structural wind damage may imply the occurrence of a severe thunderstorm ..."

So they, too, can be dangerous. They can blow debris around and smash windows and damage stuff, plus they can -- and often do -- produce tornadoes with little or no warning. They don't issue these things for just any storm. Occasionally a storm blows through and some people wonder why there's no warning issued. That's the reason.

BTW, the hail threshold is changing to 1" by this July, according to Joe Winters' blog on kcrg.com.

I tuned in to KFXA during the storm. I was actually trying to watch King of the Hill. Didn't have any reception issues, with the exception of the fact that I didn't get to see King of the Hill. Switched over to Chicago locals (through Sling) to catch all the King/Simpsons/Family Guy. I don't know how long KFXA was getting their weather woodie out, but I checked back during Family Guy and they were back showing national coverage.

I have 2 police scanners, a ham radio, and a NOAA weather radio. I _hear_ the spotters before they even report the stuff to NOAA, I don't need to watch some guy flailing his arms around and running some 'point' and click interface on the TV when I can just turn up the radio and hear "Albernett" and then turn it back down and watch TV. I guess I'll never get why these local stations are so obsessed with severe weather.

And what is with these new radar software packages. I've seen the guys on 9 and 2 and 28 now both pulling up menus while their on the screen. Sorry, but I really don't want to watch you configure the radar...

I'm just glad I have my BUD's ( never loss the picture in the heavies rain )so I don't have to miss any network programs that gets taken out by the weather information or with KWWL loss of power. Sure keeps the wife happy.

4lids & KXFAChief-
(and others that pop in now and then)
The follow-up posts that you guys do are always much appreciated. I worked in radio engineering (way back in the 80's) for a time and troubleshooting even then was very time consuming. I can't imagine the complexity of what you're dealing with now.

When you throw "mother nature" into the mix anything is possible.

Okay - I can understand breaking in for Tornado warnings as obviously they are very dangerous.
However our local stations are just going gadget silly with these non-stop weather crawls about Thunderstorms, Flash flood warnings and just about anything else they can think of. People can look out the window for thunderstorms we do not need warnings for them.

One thing that really ticks me off is these crawls that are all so important but get taken off as soon as a commercial comes on - Come on now if they are really important put them on over the commercial - and if not - then don't put them on at all.

I agree.
Once all the locals switch to digital, they should never have to break into programming. All they need to do is run a crawl telling you to flip over to their subchannel for all the "weather" info. It's amazing how carried away they get in this market area.

I agree.
Once all the locals switch to digital, they should never have to break into programming. All they need to do is run a crawl telling you to flip over to their subchannel for all the "weather" info. It's amazing how carried away they get in this market area.Problem is, cable and satellite carry the subchannels on a higher tier than expanded basic analog, if at all.

And if you don't know why this market is so big into weather, check recent history. Iowa City in April of 2006 wouldn't be a bad place to start.

I tuned in to KFXA during the storm. I was actually trying to watch King of the Hill. Didn't have any reception issues, with the exception of the fact that I didn't get to see King of the Hill. Switched over to Chicago locals (through Sling) to catch all the King/Simpsons/Family Guy. I don't know how long KFXA was getting their weather woodie out, but I checked back during Family Guy and they were back showing national coverage.

I have 2 police scanners, a ham radio, and a NOAA weather radio. I _hear_ the spotters before they even report the stuff to NOAA, I don't need to watch some guy flailing his arms around and running some 'point' and click interface on the TV when I can just turn up the radio and hear "Albernett" and then turn it back down and watch TV. I guess I'll never get why these local stations are so obsessed with severe weather.

And what is with these new radar software packages. I've seen the guys on 9 and 2 and 28 now both pulling up menus while their on the screen. Sorry, but I really don't want to watch you configure the radar...

KFXA Weather coverage is determined by the Weather/News staff at KGAN. I believe that there is no reason to have both stations here broadcast the weather, unless there is an imminent danger in the view area like a tornado.

And if you don't know why this market is so big into weather, check recent history. Iowa City in April of 2006 wouldn't be a bad place to start.

Yes there are times that intense coverage is needed. But you shouldn't take a few of those instances to justify our local medias infatuation with their weather gadgets. Each wants to outdo the other so they buy more toys and see how much they can show them off. I would almost betcha that we will be seeing plugs about how great their coverage was.

I am a weather buff and have some background in it. As an occasional spotter, I can't tell you how frustrated I get when it seems every little tstm in Linn county has someone see an ugly cloud and call it a tornado. This county has to have more tornado warnings per capita than any other county in the USA! Add to that the often ridiculous over coverage by the media and most people in the area usually has the perception that they are just crying wolf again. If you want to increase public safety, save the intense coverage for when it's really needed.

Tornado warning coverage is one thing, but tstm warnings do not need minute by minute coverage. The little peons at KGAN justify their coverage by saying something like "that's why we're on the air, tstms can produce tornadoes at any moment". Well golly then, rain showers can turn into tstms, and a sunny day can turn into rain showers, so lets have 24 hour coverage of weather! Now that is ridiculous, but again as a weather buff, I know there are times when volitile conditions exists and others that are not so volitile. I hate to use the term lucky when there were properties damaged, but that is exactly what KGAN/KFXA got Sunday was lucky. Lucky that a pop up tstm produced a tornado (with no tornado watch in effect at the time, and no severe weather really expected until later) to let them off the hook this time for having no regards to the the viewers and programming when it comes time to play with their toys.

I can live with breaking into coverage instantly for tornado warnings, but lengthy break ins for tstm warnings during the last couple of laps of a NASCAR race or during the last crucial minute of a prime time program convinces me that they do not use their heads and just want to show off their toys.

I agree.
Once all the locals switch to digital, they should never have to break into programming. All they need to do is run a crawl telling you to flip over to their subchannel for all the "weather" info. It's amazing how carried away they get in this market area.

Of course that will depend on when the station is able to air a different subchannel. Right now we are NOT capable of doing that.

Of course that will depend on when the station is able to air a different subchannel. Right now we are NOT capable of doing that.

I find that hard to believe as the following stations in this market do:

KWWL
KCRG
KIIN
KPXR

You're telling me that PAX can manage 4 different subchannels but the $inclair channels can't? Can't you guys just gouge Mediacom and Dish for more cash to get that 2nd subchannel going? That seems to be the way things work around there.

Agreed 100%. Tornado warnings have turned into "wow that's a strong storm" warning. They're so watered down it's not even funny. I'm a trained spotter, and even I don't get excited for tornado warnings anymore. Just means there is probably a lowering somewhere.

You're telling me that PAX can manage 4 different subchannels but the $inclair channels can't? Can't you guys just gouge Mediacom and Dish for more cash to get that 2nd subchannel going? That seems to be the way things work around there.

The ION feeds come almost straight off a satellite dish. Not very hard to do that.

IPTV is centralized in Des Moines or something I imagine, so again, that's managed elsewhere.

4lids can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think RTN comes prepared over the satellite. The feed comes pre-stocked from Chattanooga with local spots and whatnot. Can't speak for This TV.

- Trip

IPTV is centralized in Des Moines or something I imagine, so again, that's managed elsewhere.

- Trip

Yes it is, run with fiber to each tower site, IIRC, seems to never be down, at least in the case of KYIN-DT....

I would almost betcha that we will be seeing plugs about how great their coverage was.kcrg already has tonight, as there going to jam those pics down our throats.

KFXA Weather coverage is determined by the Weather/News staff at KGAN. I believe that there is no reason to have both stations here broadcast the weather, unless there is an imminent danger in the view area like a tornado.

First - thanks for even poking your head up here, so folks can play whack-a-mole with you. Really. Thanks.

And that said, I, for one, did notice that you didn't cut into the actual race. I'll admit, I did have a fit that I couldn't see the replay of the huge, injury causing crash in the last corner; but, it seems thanks to you!, I did get to see it in real time, before they cut.

Fwiw, I had the same thought as you stated above - since you and KGAN share weather, I went back and forth, hoping one of you went back to programming. (after, of course, I was able to determine that the tornado warning wasn't going to affect me or mine.)

You could have done far worse - the fact that you were working for us only raises my opinion. (and that, with a buck, will get you a cup of coffee at mickydees.;))

Keep up the good work, maybe someone will listen to you eventually.

From the National Weather Service website:

"Severe Thunderstorm:
A thunderstorm that produces a tornado, winds of at least 58 mph (50 knots), and/or hail at least ¾" in diameter. Structural wind damage may imply the occurrence of a severe thunderstorm ..."

So they, too, can be dangerous. They can blow debris around and smash windows and damage stuff, plus they can -- and often do -- produce tornadoes with little or no warning. They don't issue these things for just any storm. Occasionally a storm blows through and some people wonder why there's no warning issued. That's the reason.

BTW, the hail threshold is changing to 1" by this July, according to Joe Winters' blog on kcrg.com.

Amen. But, as of April 1st, it got changed. People ignored severe thunderstorm warnings because of the small-sized hail criteria. Now, it takes hail the size of quarters (1") to make the NWS issue a severe thunderstorm warning (or 58 MPH winds or higher). Statistically, that should cut the severe thunderstorm warnings down by ~50%. Since April 1, I have noticed that the warnings are fewer here in northern Illinois, even though wind gusts have been 50 MPH plus with some of the storms.

actually, I popped in here to ask a question, since the weather debacle is already a couple days old; I was ready to move on.

Q is - is anyone currently broadcasting/encoding TVGOS data in their signals? Digital or analog? - I've lost tvgos data and listings with my Sony DVR-500, had it for one day a week ago, but its gone now. Had been getting it off IPTV's analog. Now I still pickup the analog signal, but I'm not getting data.

Asking, cuz if its out there, I need to do things with my Sony. If no one is broadcasting, then I need to start hassling someone to start carrying it again.

thanks

Q is - is anyone currently broadcasting/encoding TVGOS data in their signals? Digital or analog? - I've lost tvgos data and listings

No. The TVGOS encoder at KRIN died sometime around April 5th (that's the last time TV Guide was able to talk to it). TV Guide is aware of the failure, but since analog TV is on deathwatch they are not going to send out a replacement encoder :( Data should still be available on all the other IPTV stations (analog only).

The subject of TVGOS Digital was brought up when I talked to TV Guide yesterday. They indicated that this market is not planned to be covered anytime soon. As soon as I know anything else that I can share, I will.

The problem with the TV Guide encoder turned out to be a fried surge protection device on the phone line. That has been bypassed and the unit is downloading data from TV Guide now. Data should be going out over the air within the hour.

I find that hard to believe as the following stations in this market do:

KWWL
KCRG
KIIN
KPXR

You're telling me that PAX can manage 4 different subchannels but the $inclair channels can't? Can't you guys just gouge Mediacom and Dish for more cash to get that 2nd subchannel going? That seems to be the way things work around there.As far as I know, it only works if you're in the right stage of a negotiating cycle, as retrans agreements are multi-year deals. I've heard that at least one station comes up at the end of this year.

But even then you run into the other problem: satellite does NOT carry these channels, and cable does NOT downconvert them to analog like they do with the -1 channels, leaving out anyone who is using sat or analog cable to get through the transition.

I find that hard to believe as the following stations in this market do:

KWWL
KCRG
KIIN
KPXR

You're telling me that PAX can manage 4 different subchannels but the $inclair channels can't? Can't you guys just gouge Mediacom and Dish for more cash to get that 2nd subchannel going? That seems to be the way things work around there.

For some reason, management has been reluctant to offer different programming on our dot 2 channel. It was brought up a while back to do a weather channel like KWWL and KCRG. We were convinced that 2 station in the market were enough to not go with this plan. Hopefully in the near future the programming will be split some way. Until we are able to invest the money needed, nothing is going to happen though.

These are my opinions.

This is what really ticks me off about KWWL.

Pasted across the bottom of the screen all night long is a blue bar announcing the - wait for it - "cancellation of Waterloo Catholic Education classes tonight".

But - I have worked out why it is on. KWWL also has advertising on that bar - a non stop commercial for a certain company.
And to top it off - the ad is pulsating bigger and smaller so you can realy read it easily.

I am writing to the FCC about this - it is gettng ridiculous that KWWL is now looking for any reason whatsoever to show commercials non stop.

So much for caring about their viewers - it's just another grubby money making scheme.

This is what really ticks me off about KWWL.

Pasted across the bottom of the screen all night long is a blue bar announcing the - wait for it - "cancellation of Waterloo Catholic Education classes tonight".

But - I have worked out why it is on. KWWL also has advertising on that bar - a non stop commercial for a certain company.
And to top it off - the ad is pulsating bigger and smaller so you can realy read it easily.

I am writing to the FCC about this - it is gettng ridiculous that KWWL is now looking for any reason whatsoever to show commercials non stop.

So much for caring about their viewers - it's just another grubby money making scheme.

uh, in this case, on this nite, that notice might be as important, if not more so, than tornado warnings. chill. (or not - s'up to you) Waterloo doesn't think its a good idea for children/kids/students to be out tonite. seems like a danged good idea for me. Do I have to write the FCC and thank KWWL? :rolleyes:

The problem with the TV Guide encoder turned out to be a fried surge protection device on the phone line. That has been bypassed and the unit is downloading data from TV Guide now. Data should be going out over the air within the hour.

THANKS!!!! you da man! :D:cool:

greatly appreciated - good work, especially for possibly only one guy who cares. (me)

thanks - owe ya one.

greatly appreciated - good work, especially for possibly only one guy who cares. (me)


There were actually quite a few calls about it. One of the local cable companies said they had three or four calls themselves.

4lids can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think RTN comes prepared over the satellite. The feed comes pre-stocked from Chattanooga with local spots and whatnot. Can't speak for This TV.

- Trip

True! RTN comes prepared from their new headend, although it is still not up to what it was in Little Rock. We still have no spots running, but we at least have a stream and ids. I have no idea when they'll finally get this figured out.

ThisTV is more like the old WXplus or Tube. It is a satellite feed that we can run spots over. The problem we have right now is that all I have is the old receiver that was used with the tube, and that receiver has an annoying issue where the video drops out for a second (to black) at random times. We still need to get their official receiver and some norpak gear to allow for commercial insertion, and we are just awaiting the approval for that purchase. I know it isn't perfect right now, but it is better than nothing!

One more update, things are going well with the new Platinum transmitter and should be ready to roll tomorrow. I'll post here when it gets on the air to see if people have more success. Thanks for your patience!
-Jarrett

One more update, things are going well with the new Platinum transmitter and should be ready to roll tomorrow. I'll post here when it gets on the air to see if people have more success. Thanks for your patience!
-Jarrett
Anyone I know up there installing it? I assume it's a Harris install, so maybe Jeff is there. I may stick my head in there later today if you don't mind.

One more update, things are going well with the new Platinum transmitter and should be ready to roll tomorrow. I'll post here when it gets on the air to see if people have more success. Thanks for your patience!
-Jarrett

Will KWWL be down for awhile when you go online?

So I'll take a guess that KWWL & 4lids are installing something like this?
http://download.harris.com/app/public_download.asp?fid=1357
Hard to figure how big it is until I saw the weight in the spec sheet ......9000+ pounds and
159”W x 61.3” D x 72”H, if it's that big one on the bottom of the list.

Anyone I know up there installing it? I assume it's a Harris install, so maybe Jeff is there. I may stick my head in there later today if you don't mind.

Ditto on this, give me a call. I would also like to see them as well. Probably Dave is there as well.

So I'll take a guess that KWWL & 4lids are installing something like this?
http://download.harris.com/app/public_download.asp?fid=1357
Hard to figure how big it is until I saw the weight in the spec sheet ......9000+ pounds and
159”W x 61.3” D x 72”H, if it's that big one on the bottom of the list.

Those are a joy to install compared to a Sigma or Atlas from Harris. It is amazing how much more quickly when you do not have to raise a system of waveguide or install water plumbing.

Ditto on this, give me a call. I would also like to see them as well. Probably Dave is there as well.
If you are ever at Walker pop in and say hi if I'm around. Been a long time. Hard to believe the Diamond is going into semi-retirement in about six more weeks.

As of about 2:35PM, we are at 30 KW at KWWL-DT. Everything is looking good! Big kudos to Dave Campbell from Harris who helped us install it!
-Jarrett

I live about 12 miles south of Iowa City and the signal strength meter on my TV went from about 74 to 85. I don't know how this will affect my viewing yet but before when it was raining I would get pixelation and freezes. I will have to see the next time it rains if it made much difference.


Edit::

In checking the signal later on the signal is now reading 95-98. It may have not been up to full power when I first checked (around 2:40 PM). Everything seems to be good to go.

Wow!!! I checked mine all morning and it was around 84 most of the time. (and that was good) I just checked at 5:50PM and it's 100! We live on the NW side of Cedar Rapids.

My signal strength is incredibly improved, practically jacked through the roof. 82 on my Sony, which has always had trouble with OTA signals, and 8 bars on my Samsung, which used to hover around 3-4.

Lookin' good, Jarret!

Looks good. I can pick up channel 7 again without having to move my rabbit ears around (SE Cedar Rapids). Thanks!

Been at 100% signal strength since the switch and still 100%.:)

Looking good here in Dubuque 4lids. Have a channel master uhf 4228 8bay and before the switch was able to map 7-1,7-2 and 7-3 with a signal of 10-20% but no viewable picture. With the increased power now getting a signal of 60% with solid picture so far.

With an amplified indoor antenna, my TiVo S3 had an OTA signal level for KWWL-DT that was up around 93% back in the UHF days. The signal strength plummeted down to 60-63% (with intermittent drop-outs) after their switch to VHF, but now after the 5/1/09 signal boost it is back up to 88-90%. Thanks!

a bit off but is anyone else having trouble w/ mediacon and their sports package? channels 171-178? in iowa city using a dc757x receiver.

a bit off but is anyone else having trouble w/ mediacon and their sports package? channels 171-178? in iowa city using a dc757x receiver.

You might also ask in the Mediacom forum at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/mediacom

My report is similar to others. I have a rooftop antenna and live on the west side of Waterloo. After the switch in Feb, my signal strengths were from the high 60's to the low 90's with a picture hiccup 2-3x/hr. Now, it's 100 solid. Thanks.

I live 10 miles north of Waterloo and went from low to mid 60's to mid 70's. Did improve the signal strength enough to keep it from braking up, but was hoping for more.

Well, I just started getting KWWL again from my indoor antenna in my apartment, and I'm hoping it sticks this time. I''m crossing my fingers ...

If you are ever at Walker pop in and say hi if I'm around. Been a long time. Hard to believe the Diamond is going into semi-retirement in about six more weeks.

That Diamond was the first transmitter I did a Proof on!

I know - I'm late to the party. But Jarrett - great news - your power bump has more than blown thru my multipath problems.

Now getting a quality of 100% :eek: on my Apex, with signal strength bumped from around 70 to a touch over 80.

Thanks.

and thanks again to UHF - my Sony DVR had a full complement of listings saved the next day. I'm gonna be really sad when TVGOS disappears for good.:(

I think someone will pick up TVGOS eventually, it's just a matter of who and when.

My Sammy was getting KWWL with 3-6 bars, now 10 solid bars. Way to go KWWL. I live in Independence. Hope the remaining stations to switch take note!!

Anyone else noticed that the PQ on 24 hasn't been very good? Especially on darker scenes.

This is the only show I notice it with so it's not my Sony.

I think someone will pick up TVGOS eventually, it's just a matter of who and when.

UHF, if you do not mind answering.
How bad is the TVGOS system to setup and license for a station? What is the story with PBS stations dropping it (for the most part) and most CBS affiliates grabbing into the program?

I'm not involved in any contract negotiations, so I can't answer that. All I know is that originally Macrovision contracted with CBS for "Nationwide" distribution of TVGOS Digital. The trouble with that is that CBS does not own TV stations throughout the nation, it is only for the CBS Owned and Operated stations, not the affiliates.

More TVGOS info here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1122914

I have been told that KGAN will someday be carrying it, no definitive date.


In other news, what happened to the PSIP stream?

KGAN's guide only shows "DTV Program" for all shows
KCRG's guide has "No Program Information"
and as always, KWKB has NPI as well.

KWWL is working fine on all 3 of their channels. :D

Another reason digital TVGOS would be a welcome addition
in this market.

More TVGOS info here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1122914

I have been told that KGAN will someday be carrying it, no definitive date.


In other news, what happened to the PSIP stream?

KGAN's guide only shows "DTV Program" for all shows
KCRG's guide has "No Program Information"
and as always, KWKB has NPI as well.

KWWL is working fine on all 3 of their channels. :D

Another reason digital TVGOS would be a welcome addition
in this market.

The problem with KGAN's guide is the service that is to update it had problems and hopefully should be fixed soon.

Anyone else noticed that the PQ on 24 hasn't been very good? Especially on darker scenes.

This is the only show I notice it with so it's not my Sony.

Anyone?

Anyone else noticed that the PQ on 24 hasn't been very good? Especially on darker scenes.

This is the only show I notice it with so it's not my Sony.

You might try providing some detail on how you are getting your programming.

We are not psychic....

You might try providing some detail on how you are getting your programming.

We are not psychic....

Both OTA and Directv look the same. Haven't check Mediacom. All HD.

You still could have commented on how 24 looks however you get it....if you watch it.

KGAN is up and running now, KCRG is still down.

Do KCRG and KGAN use the same PSIP provider?

The problem with KGAN's guide is the service that is to update it had problems and hopefully should be fixed soon.

Anyone else noticed that the PQ on 24 hasn't been very good? Especially on darker scenes.

This is the only show I notice it with so it's not my Sony.

I have not heard any other comments about the Picture Quality of 24. I do not watch it.

I sent an email to FOX about this. If I hear anything about more comments I will let you know. The HD signal for FOX Network is not touched by any of our equipment. It is received and sent directly to the transmitter.

I have not heard any other comments about the Picture Quality of 24. I do not watch it.

I sent an email to FOX about this. If I hear anything about more comments I will let you know. The HD signal for FOX Network is not touched by any of our equipment. It is received and sent directly to the transmitter.

Thanks! The commercials look better than the show. Much better.

Anyone?Watched my mediacom dvr'd last night (24). Wasn't really looking for anything wrong, but didn't see anything really obvious.

The Federal Communications Commission wants broadcasters to interrupt their regular programming on May 21 to see how ready Americans are for the transition to digital programming, the Wall Street Journal says. The test would involve five-minute broadcasts at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., the paper says.

There's also an article about it here:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/231465-FCC_Proposing_Multiple_National_Soft_Tests_May_21.php

The interruption would be only on stations' analog signals, according to the article. Stations like KWWL and KGAN which have already shut off analog would obviously not have to participate.

Hello. I live in Cedar Rapids and just bought an HDTV. I am trying to work my way through this thread but at 113 pages it will take me awhile.

I just wondered how signal was in general around Cedar Rapids. We are near Brucemore on the NE side. Our house has a very old antenna (don't know if it is VHF, or VHF/UHF combo) heck I don't even know if there is still wire coming off it! But it is there so I figure I should be able to get some signal.

I am a real HDTV new comer but I am slowly learning. Is there anything about the area's signal?

Thanks,

Hello. I live in Cedar Rapids and just bought an HDTV. I am trying to work my way through this thread but at 113 pages it will take me awhile.

I just wondered how signal was in general around Cedar Rapids. We are near Brucemore on the NE side. Our house has a very old antenna (don't know if it is VHF, or VHF/UHF combo) heck I don't even know if there is still wire coming off it! But it is there so I figure I should be able to get some signal.

I am a real HDTV new comer but I am slowly learning. Is there anything about the area's signal?

Thanks,

Have you hooked up your HDTV to the antenna. ...............if you find the wire coming down from the antenna go ahead and hook it up and follow the directions on your TV to scan for channels.

I see in another thread you mentioned that you think the wire coming down is twin lead (2 wire) you can get an adapter hook it up to your TV if you are not willing (or able) to change the lead to RG6 coax. Radio Shack has the stuff you need.

If you can't find a wire---------------Go to Radio Shack and get an amplified "rabbit ears" set and hook it up THEN scan for channels. Their $50.00 one works pretty good.

Depending on EXACTLY where you are ( I know ---near Brucemore) you might or might not be in a hole. The only thing to do is try and see what you get.

If you can't find a wire---------------Go to Radio Shack and get an amplified "rabbit ears" set and hook it up THEN scan for channels. Their $50.00 one works pretty good.

Although some may have good luck with amplified rabbit ears, if you already have a mount for an actual outside antenna, I'd also recommend that route. Indoor antennas are always trickier than an outdoor or attic antenna, especially with a lot of the junk that is being sold now marketed as "HD or Digital" antennas, which is just marketing hype. People building antennas out of coax or just wire (see Oldsyd's for example) typically have better response than their more expensive retail counterparts.

You want a combination UHF and VHF antenna and I'd typically go the route of someone who actually is in the antenna business like Winegard or Channelmaster, especially if the antenna was my sole source for TV signals (no dish or cable in another room). That will ensure the best results even when the weather gets terrible. If you don't like the idea of a big antenna, the Winegard GS-1100 is not that obtrusive (GS-2200 is the amplified one) and runs about $35 through Winegard Direct. Otherwise I've had great luck with their HD-1080, but they do run about $70.

That's just my two cents :)
-Jarrett

Thanks for the replies.

I traced the wire coming off the antenna and it seems to go into the basement somewhere! I haven't been able to follow it after that. The antenna itself looks to be in bad shape. Damage of years of being up there I guess but I will test it out before looking into a new one.

I am excited to see if anything shows up once I get it hooked up.

Although some may have good luck with amplified rabbit ears, if you already have a mount for an actual outside antenna, I'd also recommend that route. Indoor antennas are always trickier than an outdoor or attic antenna, especially with a lot of the junk that is being sold now marketed as "HD or Digital" antennas, which is just marketing hype. People building antennas out of coax or just wire (see Oldsyd's for example) typically have better response than their more expensive retail counterparts.

You want a combination UHF and VHF antenna and I'd typically go the route of someone who actually is in the antenna business like Winegard or Channelmaster, especially if the antenna was my sole source for TV signals (no dish or cable in another room). That will ensure the best results even when the weather gets terrible. If you don't like the idea of a big antenna, the Winegard GS-1100 is not that obtrusive (GS-2200 is the amplified one) and runs about $35 through Winegard Direct. Otherwise I've had great luck with their HD-1080, but they do run about $70.

That's just my two cents :)
-Jarrett

Now why would you want a combo antenna? UHF is where it is at! LOL;)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I am just kidding about this. You do need a combination UHF/VHF antenna.

Now why would you want a combo antenna? UHF is where it is at! LOL;)

:)
Not all of us can have the nicer lower UHF channel numbers like KFXA, which seem to be the sweet spot at the moment for DTV signals. KWWL's VHF booms out there but it is tougher to get inside, that is for certain. There is a guy 99 miles away from us in Mount Pleasant that is getting us with a CM4228! He is just getting us and KFXA from this market. But I'm still getting those rabbit ear calls. I'm still amazed at the amount of calls I get from people with indoor antennas from 50 plus miles away. I can't believe those produced consistantly good quality images back in the analog days!

I can't believe those produced consistantly good quality images back in the analog days!

Don't believe it. There are plenty of people who were content to watch a weak, noisy signal as long as they could hear it.

Forum member Falcon_77 decided to signal test and he compared several analogs to several digitals while adding attenuators. (He's in Los Angeles and had very strong signals to test with.) At 30 dB of attenuation, all the digitals were gone but there were still noisy analog stations. He declared the analogs to be "unwatchable." When I saw the pictures, I told him how that's what UPN always looked like for me, and I watched Star Trek on it every week. In fact, sometimes it looked worse. Many people I know did the same with other channels on indoor antennas.

They never received a good analog signal with rabbit ears, they just didn't care enough to fix it. Now that they have to have a good signal for it to decode, they are running into problems.

- Trip

Don't believe it. There are plenty of people who were content to watch a weak, noisy signal as long as they could hear it.

Forum member Falcon_77 decided to signal test and he compared several analogs to several digitals while adding attenuators. (He's in Los Angeles and had very strong signals to test with.) At 30 dB of attenuation, all the digitals were gone but there were still noisy analog stations. He declared the analogs to be "unwatchable." When I saw the pictures, I told him how that's what UPN always looked like for me, and I watched Star Trek on it every week. In fact, sometimes it looked worse. Many people I know did the same with other channels on indoor antennas.

They never received a good analog signal with rabbit ears, they just didn't care enough to fix it. Now that they have to have a good signal for it to decode, they are running into problems.

- Trip

Exactly my experience. Just had a client, who could not figure out, why her "great" picture on a VHF-HI analog station, would not get her a digital when they flash cut.
While, Kevin and I showed up, and ya it was a BAD analog color picture. About as low in signal as one can get, with still able to decode the color as well...

Here's the post: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15514926#post15514926

- Trip

Although some may have good luck with amplified rabbit ears, if you already have a mount for an actual outside antenna, I'd also recommend that route. Indoor antennas are always trickier than an outdoor or attic antenna, especially with a lot of the junk that is being sold now marketed as "HD or Digital" antennas, which is just marketing hype. People building antennas out of coax or just wire (see Oldsyd's for example) typically have better response than their more expensive retail counterparts.

That's just my two cents :)
-Jarrett

I agree 120%. However some people are either unwilling or unable to install the correct equipment.

I was just giving an alternative that MIGHT work and get them on the air--------without climbing!

Knowing the general area he is talking about----------rabbit ears would be marginal due to a hilll or two between him and the transmitters.

As of about 2:35PM, we are at 30 KW at KWWL-DT. Everything is looking good! Big kudos to Dave Campbell from Harris who helped us install it!
-Jarrett

On the south-west side of Iowa City, 1mi south of Hwy 6, we're now able to pick up all the market channels, including 7.1-7.3. This we could not even get a lock on previous to the power bump, and only could get an occasional lock when at 55UHF.

Antenna is a Philips MANT950 Indoor/Outdoor Amplified UHF/VHF/HDTV Antenna mounted in the attic facing north.

Glad to be able to get Conan when he comes back on! :D

Television Stations for Sale
Equity Media Holdings Corporation
Feb 2, 2009 - Jun 1, 2009

Television Stations for Sale

Equity Media Holdings Corporation, one of the largest holders of broadcast spectrum in the United States, is offering all of its stations for sale including its Univision affiliates. Equity Media is the 2nd largest Univision affiliate group with 19 stations, 13 of which operate in the top 65 Hispanic markets. In total, Equity Media owns 104 full power, Class A and low power stations in approximately 41 markets covering an estimated 25% of the population providing a unique opportunity to buy broadly across multiple markets.

Equity Media is reorganizing under Chapter 11 proceedings and has determined to exit station ownership and emerge operating its Skyport Media Services business.

KWWF was sold to Valley Bank, along with independent stations in the Denver and Cheyenne markets (the Denver station is low power and the Cheyenne station targets Denver as a rimshot; they simulcast). The whole deal totalled $7.05 million but I haven't seen an FCC filing yet to see who "Valley Bank" is.

I read somewhere that Equity owed Valley Bank around 6 million dollars. My theory is that Valley Bank decided there was a serious risk of not getting all that money back, so they opted to buy a few stations at auction. As a result they could settle the Equity debt (7 million - auction fees = 6 million, give or take) and they'll turn around and sell those stations to somebody else.

That's just what I'm guessing is going on.

Just curious if anyone had heard any updates on Dish Networks carriage agreements for HD with KCRG and KWWL. I haven't been on here for a few months and don't feel like reading back two months worth of pages...sorry, im lazy today.

Thanks.

Just curious if anyone had heard any updates on Dish Networks carriage agreements for HD with KCRG and KWWL. I haven't been on here for a few months and don't feel like reading back two months worth of pages...sorry, im lazy today.

Thanks.

There hasn't been any. I've called and chatted with Dish a few times and they said that the local stations are not interested. That's not what the people from the local stations have said on here, but then again, there has to be a reason that they're not being carried. If I had to guess, it comes down to money. Local stations probably want an outrageous amount of cash. I'm guessing the $inclair owned stations were able to throw in the CR market with another deal, but considering KWWL and KCRG are owned by small companies that don't have a lot of media assets that Dish network probably cares about, I'm guessing Dish is a lot more willing to pass on those stations and let them come down to a more reasonable price...

Local stations probably want an outrageous amount of cash. I'm guessing the $inclair owned stations were able to throw in the CR market with another deal, but considering KWWL and KCRG are owned by small companies that don't have a lot of media assets that Dish network probably cares about, I'm guessing Dish is a lot more willing to pass on those stations and let them come down to a more reasonable price...

It probably does come down to money... but it probably has more to do with when the current agreement ends rather then on the "outrageous amount of cash" we are demanding ;) . They end later this year and then there will be more urgency to sign off on the new deal. Why would Dish want to redo any deal, even if it just cost a nickel, before they had to? They can continue to just blame the locals, which they are so good at whenever they have a problem... that is standard operating procedure for their customer service typically.

There hasn't been any. I've called and chatted with Dish a few times and they said that the local stations are not interested. That's not what the people from the local stations have said on here, but then again, there has to be a reason that they're not being carried. If I had to guess, it comes down to money. Local stations probably want an outrageous amount of cash. I'm guessing the $inclair owned stations were able to throw in the CR market with another deal, but considering KWWL and KCRG are owned by small companies that don't have a lot of media assets that Dish network probably cares about, I'm guessing Dish is a lot more willing to pass on those stations and let them come down to a more reasonable price...If I recall, during a previous go-around, negotiations between Sinclair and Dish went down to the wire as well, to the point where KGAN was running warning crawls over its programming. Dish has also had past problems with the Citadel/Capital/Coronet group, which owns CBS4 in Rock Island and the ABC stations in Des Moines, Sioux City and Lincoln.

Also, with five ABCs in Wisconsin and NBC in much of Iowa, it's hard for me to call KWWL's parent company "small," though it is more regional than 7's former owners and is pretty much a family-owned company.

It probably does come down to money... but it probably has more to do with when the current agreement ends rather then on the "outrageous amount of cash" we are demanding ;) . They end later this year and then there will be more urgency to sign off on the new deal. Why would Dish want to redo any deal, even if it just cost a nickel, before they had to? They can continue to just blame the locals, which they are so good at whenever they have a problem... that is standard operating procedure for their customer service typically.

Hey, in my eyes any amount of cash is outrageous. You're putting your signal out over the air so (hopefully) people can see it. You don't charge those people, so why should you charge people who get it over cable or DBS. Which is what you're doing when you charge the cable and DBS providers. They don't eat those costs, they pass them on to the subscribers along with a "collection" fee of several percent I'm sure. If I was Mediacom I'd tell local channels to shove rocks when they tried to charge me to carry your signal and let KWWL, KCRG, KGAN, or whoever go back to their advertisers and explain why suddenly they've got 40% lower viewership.

Hey, in my eyes any amount of cash is outrageous. You're putting your signal out over the air so (hopefully) people can see it. You don't charge those people, so why should you charge people who get it over cable or DBS. Which is what you're doing when you charge the cable and DBS providers. They don't eat those costs, they pass them on to the subscribers along with a "collection" fee of several percent I'm sure. If I was Mediacom I'd tell local channels to shove rocks when they tried to charge me to carry your signal and let KWWL, KCRG, KGAN, or whoever go back to their advertisers and explain why suddenly they've got 40% lower viewership.
And I'll also add that Mediacom can deliver a clean HD signal to many viewers that even KWWL, KCRG, KGAN, & KFXA can't reach OTA, so the tv stations should actually be paying the cable company for the stations increased viewership, which equals more advertising dollars.

And I'll also add that Mediacom can deliver a clean HD signal to many viewers that even KWWL, KCRG, KGAN, & KFXA can't reach OTA, so the tv stations should actually be paying the cable company for the stations increased viewership, which equals more advertising dollars.And perhaps by the same token, cable networks should pay the cable/sat companies for carriage, since without that delivery, they wouldn't exist at all in any household without a steerable big ugly dish and a clear view of the southern sky.

Now, could we please not have a gazillion back-and-forth posts about this like we did last time?

And perhaps by the same token, cable networks should pay the cable/sat companies for carriage, since without that delivery, they wouldn't exist at all in any household without a steerable big ugly dish and a clear view of the southern sky.

Now, could we please not have a gazillion back-and-forth posts about this like we did last time?

See, cable networks have things people want to watch. I enjoy watching the Daily Show, or Modern Marvels. The cable networks that DON'T have things people want to watch DO pay to be carried (or work it in to the requirements to carry another channel people do want). That's why they can charge money, because people want it.

As for network television, although the local channels add _some_ value, most people would be satisfied with just direct feeds from the networks. I doubt that anyone is really that interested in watching the Foax News at 9 or the local commercials that they're injecting. I know I'd be just as happy with the quad cities FOX or NBC; or Chicago... I just want the shows.

See, cable networks have things people want to watch. I enjoy watching the Daily Show, or Modern Marvels. The cable networks that DON'T have things people want to watch DO pay to be carried (or work it in to the requirements to carry another channel people do want). That's why they can charge money, because people want it.

As for network television, although the local channels add _some_ value, most people would be satisfied with just direct feeds from the networks. I doubt that anyone is really that interested in watching the Foax News at 9 or the local commercials that they're injecting. I know I'd be just as happy with the quad cities FOX or NBC; or Chicago... I just want the shows.

Where do you get that idea? Weather feeds from New York would be great when we have a storm here in Iowa.:rolleyes:

Now, could we please not have a gazillion back-and-forth posts about this like we did last time?

He started it! :p

he started it! :p

lol:)

Where do you get that idea? Weather feeds from New York would be great when we have a storm here in Iowa.:rolleyes:

Weather "reports" are what I find most objectionable of local stations. I highly doubt that with the DTV transition many people are going to be getting their weather updates from television anymore. Between weather radios, AM radio, FM radio, the internet and such, there are plenty of FREE sources for weather information.

To top it off, we've only had commercial television for what, 60 years? Something tells me people survived for thousands of years prior to that without up to the minute weather reports of a snowflake falling in West Branch and the 2 hour interruption to regular programing that generates. Do we really need 'live' video of some dude driving around in the bad weather? Do we really need to be watching as people send in pictures of wall clouds and lowerings and the TV weather guys try to play it up as the end days?

Sorry, when the weather gets bad enough for me, the TV goes off and I fire up the scanner or weather radio. Yes, I'm one of "those people" who calls in to the news room to complain about the "wall to wall" weather coverage. And, I'm pretty sure that I am far from being alone doing that judging from the responses I get when calling in...

lol:)

Since we went about 2 weeks with only a few posts, clearly there isn't much going on locally here. I'm pretty sure the moderators here would prefer active discussion and the page views + ad impressions that generates, over staying strictly on topic without any posts...

I wonder if I can talk my neighbor into cutting down his tree that is blocking my signal from the 129 sat? Until that's gone, I can only get whatever HD is mirrored over on 61.5, which does not include the CR locals.

I wonder if I can talk my neighbor into cutting down his tree that is blocking my signal from the 129 sat? Until that's gone, I can only get whatever HD is mirrored over on 61.5, which does not include the CR locals.

Is there anywhere that you could move your Dish, that does not gain 129, but block 110 and 119? It does not hurt to ask, if you have been polite to them over the years, people remember that stuff... There have been some AVS members who end up with 300+ ft runs of coax with the Dish dish at the end of the woodline...

I doubt that anyone is really that interested in watching the Foax News at 9 or the local commercials that they're injecting.
Actually I'd be interested in what viewership KFXA/Sinclair is getting, running their newscast at 9pm, and jumping the other 3 by an hour. I know there would be conflicts with viewers in the 9pm slot, but I'll bet the viewership is good for that newscast at 9pm. And it's really not costing anything to do, since it's an early preview to the KGAN news at 10pm.

Actually I'd be interested in what viewership KFXA/Sinclair is getting, running their newscast at 9pm, and jumping the other 3 by an hour. I know there would be conflicts with viewers in the 9pm slot, but I'll bet the viewership is good for that newscast at 9pm. And it's really not costing anything to do, since it's an early preview to the KGAN news at 10pm.

I'll admit, I'm someone who DOES like the Fox News at 9PM. Always have liked it being on an hour earlier. My work schedule is rather random, and sometimes I need to go to bed fairly early. I can easily catch the first half of the 9PM news, then head to bed if needed.

I'll also admit that I was bummed to see the morning news disappear on KFXA a couple years ago. I really liked watching it while getting ready for work in the morning. I mostly watched the morning news for the weather, but I did like the news reports too.

Yes, I realize I now sound like an old geezer (I'm actually only 25!), but I do still get a lot of my weather forecasts and information from the TV, especially during severe weather. It's rather hard to see a radar or storm watch/warning map on the radio, my cell phone is just a cell phone (Believe it or not, there are cell phones that actually can't browse the web!), and when there's bad weather in the area all of our computers get shut down and unplugged, so bye-bye weather.com (An explosive past experience taught me well that computers and lightning don't mix). Yes, I do have a weather radio, but again how can you see a radar on a weather radio to know what's coming? Thus, for me anyway, TV is the preferred method of getting weather info.

Is there anywhere that you could move your Dish, that does not gain 129, but block 110 and 119? It does not hurt to ask, if you have been polite to them over the years, people remember that stuff... There have been some AVS members who end up with 300+ ft runs of coax with the Dish dish at the end of the woodline...

Probably not. Lots of established trees in my neighborhood. Finding a spot to get 110/119 was a bit of a challenge. Eventually I plan to go UP to see over the trees. I just gotta get my wife on board with building a tower in the backyard. She's picky about stuff like that. Especially after she saw the ham radio antenna I intend to put at the top of the tower, LOL.

sgarringer, you and I do not reflect the average person. I can assure you that most people do not have weather radios, do not have scanners, and do not get local weather information from AM or FM radio.

And especially in rural areas, Internet is not a reliable weather information method either. I get rain fade on my Internet connection and I'm one of the few with a high speed connection; all others in my area are on dialup and thus by the time a page loads, it's already outdated.

TV is still the main way people get weather information. Until this changes, I continue to expect that we'll see such interruptions.

I actually would like to see a slow scan radar image on a ham frequency or something along those lines. Seems like it would be useful.

- Trip

sgarringer, you and I do not reflect the average person. I can assure you that most people do not have weather radios, do not have scanners, and do not get local weather information from AM or FM radio.

And especially in rural areas, Internet is not a reliable weather information method either. I get rain fade on my Internet connection and I'm one of the few with a high speed connection; all others in my area are on dialup and thus by the time a page loads, it's already outdated.

TV is still the main way people get weather information. Until this changes, I continue to expect that we'll see such interruptions.

I actually would like to see a slow scan radar image on a ham frequency or something along those lines. Seems like it would be useful.

- Trip
I agree.. I often, just go outside and watch the weather, that is really LIVE coverage! Anyone that knows how to spot, will probably be bored to death (pun intended) by live tv weather coverage.:)
Problem with tv coverage is that I wonder how well DTV will work during t-storms, more of a concern is the VHF-HI. I know people now who ONLY get VHF-HI stations, so if it drops, they have got nothing. I will have to play around this summer during some storms with average consumer gear to find out... I do realize that most people have cable, so tv does not normally drop out at all...

Also, I agree, a slow scan ham band weather radar image would be great. Perhaps in the 70cm band..!!??

sgarringer, you and I do not reflect the average person. I can assure you that most people do not have weather radios, do not have scanners, and do not get local weather information from AM or FM radio.

And especially in rural areas, Internet is not a reliable weather information method either. I get rain fade on my Internet connection and I'm one of the few with a high speed connection; all others in my area are on dialup and thus by the time a page loads, it's already outdated.

TV is still the main way people get weather information. Until this changes, I continue to expect that we'll see such interruptions.

I actually would like to see a slow scan radar image on a ham frequency or something along those lines. Seems like it would be useful.

- Trip

That's all true, right up until the TV stations started their DTV transitions. People like my parents who didn't plan ahead were surprised to find out that their battery operated TVs and TV radios no longer work with the DTV signals. I planned ahead and purchased a 15" LCD and ATSC tuner and run them on battery backup for long outages where I need TV, but how many people do you think did that.

And to top that off, one lightning bolt, and its about 3 to 5 seconds before the digital signal settles back down. Lovely 8VSB versus the established DVB-T which can handle that much better.

Not to mention that most the stations aren't able to send out a reliable signal in the storm, anyway, as their transmitters aren't on generator power yet. So, I think you'll find LOTS of people are tuning away from the TV stations and tuning into radio.

Do you think KCRG is having this big push to get weather radios out there for charity? Heck no. They don't want to get sued to the stoneage the first time a tornado is coming and people can't tune in to TV broadcasts to get updates. Anyone who isn't smart enough to buy a weather radio (they're $20 at Wal-Mart) should have 0 ground to complain. Heck, local stations are just another 'hoop' before you get the info, as they're just repeating the NWS anyway. We know how the game of telephone worked when we were kids...

But TV remains the only way to get a picture of the situation. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I find that to be true. The NWS broadcasts, while nice to have, really don't work well in spread out rural areas. When they say a storm is approaching Phenix, that could be 7 miles north of me or it could be right on top of me, as Phenix is three miles to my north and is the nearest landmark for several miles around. That's why I suggested slow-scan radar, because that would help get the picture out. Even a fast-scan radar loop that would activate when warnings are issued would make sense.

I don't have problems with lightning and DTV. Then again, I have a proper outdoor setup, but even at 79 miles, the UHF digitals don't give me a problem unless the lightning is within a mile or two, and at that point, I'm pretty sure there's a storm and if I haven't prepared, I'm screwed. VHF is another story, but you have KGAN in your area.

- Trip

Not to mention that most the stations aren't able to send out a reliable signal in the storm, anyway, as their transmitters aren't on generator power yet.
KCRG's VHF DT transmitter IS on generator power. When their old beast of a generator will start. But they've spent a bit of time and money refurbishing the old genny to get it reliable again. It's a neat old thing, diesel turbine, sounds like a jet engine when it's running.

Do you think KCRG is having this big push to get weather radios out there for charity? Heck no. They don't want to get sued to the stoneage the first time a tornado is coming and people can't tune in to TV broadcasts to get updates.

KGAN has been advertizing weather radios like crazy, but I'm sure they are doing it for the money. I lived in Wisconsin a few years ago, and our county had a program where they were selling the Reecom 1630 (MSRP $60) at wholesale cost -- $23. KGAN is selling the Reecom 1650 (MSRP $70) for $70. You figure they are probably making $40 per radio. Then again, you do get that awesome CBS 2 sticker on it...

http://www.kgan.com/sections/community/weather_radio/index.shtml

http://www.co.dane.wi.us/press/details.aspx?id=1126

KCRG's VHF DT transmitter IS on generator power. When their old beast of a generator will start. But they've spent a bit of time and money refurbishing the old genny to get it reliable again. It's a neat old thing, diesel turbine, sounds like a jet engine when it's running.

Any idea how many kilowatt generator it is? (just curious as always!)

Any idea how many kilowatt generator it is? (just curious as always!)

I believe it is 325 kW

Mediacom Cedar Rapids has shifted PBS HD and KGAN HD as noted below. Our local Mediacom outlet does not retransmit IPTV Create/World but that public TV service is available over the air if you have digital antenna reception.

PBS HD 89.4
KCRG HD 115.2
FOX HD 115.4
KGAN HD 114.6
KWWL HD 114.1

KCRG News & Weather 115.6
KWWL News & Weather 114.2

CSPAN 111.256

CW 99.8
FOX28 99.4
KCRG 99.6
ION 99.2
KGAN 99.10
KWWL 99.12
IPTV 99.18

Does anyone know if this is the most current list of QAM channels
for Mediacom?

Does anyone know if this is the most current list of QAM channels
for Mediacom?

looks pretty accurate to me. I am not at home to check and make sure though. last time I was on my Mediacom feed those were the mappings if my memory serves me correctly.

I have my antenna in my attic. I normally have good signal strength. However on windy days my signal breaks up. Anybody have any ideas why this would happen?

I have my antenna in my attic. I normally have good signal strength. However on windy days my signal breaks up. Anybody have any ideas why this would happen?

Maybe tree movement creating variable multipath that is hard for the tuner to correct. (was it raining in this last wind storm?) Wet trees tend to cause issues with TV signals when the wind gets the now wet tree moving in the wind moving.

Hi, I have decided to put an antenna in my attic. I live in North Liberty and was thinking of getting a Winegard HD-1800. Will this probably be good enough or should I get something better? What are others in North Liberty using? Thanks

Hi, I have decided to put an antenna in my attic. I live in North Liberty and was thinking of getting a Winegard HD-1800. Will this probably be good enough or should I get something better? What are others in North Liberty using? Thanks

No first hand experience with the Winegard HD-1800, but from the specs it should be more than sufficient to pull in the local digital signals and maybe a few of adjacent market signals if you install a rotor... even mounted in an attic (assuming you have enough attic space).

I've had good luck with Radio Shack's medium sized antenna (VU-90 XR) for less than half the cost. I've done 2-3 attic installations in North Liberty and Coralville (including my own) with very good results. That's what I've been using from North Liberty since 2004 with solid reception of all the local digital signals. I'm also pulling in the WB affiliate out of the quad cities even though my antenna points North-North West toward Walker. Just make sure you place it as high as you can in the attic, avoid touching any thing (roof trusses, metal etc) with the antenna elements and use good RG-6 cable. You can use a wooden dowel to attach the antenna to a roof truss or build a cradle out of rope (or something similar for the antenna to sit up high off the insulation.

Just do it! You won't regret having free access to beautiful digital/HD signals with a lot less compression than satellite/cable. Hope that helps.

DLPda

Thanks, I'll look into the antenna from Radio Shack. I'd rather buy it local so I do not have to wait for something to get shipped to me.

Has anyone tried these?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/design.htm

and

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=81982

I don't know what KGAN is broadcasting for sound but it sure isn't Dolby Digital. The George Strait Special sounds terrible. There is no center channel and all I can hear are the rear surrounds. Sounds like an echo chamber. I didn't look thru all the threads or do a search so I'm sorry if this has been brought up before. Are they having a problem or are they waiting for a new piece of equipment? The sound has been this way for quite a while. Hopefully they will get this repaired soon....


Edit: Doing a search I just found this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CR_Client
I, for one, wish that KGAN would do something to fix their 5.1 converter. The damn thing is set to send the entire 5.1 signal to all 5 channels. Which, I suppose, is better than when they leave it on "Stereo only" and send out audio without the dialogue from the center channel.

It's still pretty annoying to be listening to the dialogue, ambient, and other sounds coming out of all 5 channels at the same time. And it sounds even worse trying to listen to it on a stereo TV, as it ends up very tinny and over-processed sounding.


So does anyone know what is going on?

I don't know what KGAN is broadcasting for sound but it sure isn't Dolby Digital. The George Strait Special sounds terrible. There is no center channel and all I can hear are the rear surrounds. Sounds like an echo chamber. I didn't look thru all the threads or do a search so I'm sorry if this has been brought up before. Are they having a problem or are they waiting for a new piece of equipment? The sound has been this way for quite a while. Hopefully they will get this repaired soon....


Edit: Doing a search I just found this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CR_Client
I, for one, wish that KGAN would do something to fix their 5.1 converter. The damn thing is set to send the entire 5.1 signal to all 5 channels. Which, I suppose, is better than when they leave it on "Stereo only" and send out audio without the dialogue from the center channel.

It's still pretty annoying to be listening to the dialogue, ambient, and other sounds coming out of all 5 channels at the same time. And it sounds even worse trying to listen to it on a stereo TV, as it ends up very tinny and over-processed sounding.


So does anyone know what is going on?Have you contacted them?
http://kgan.com/sections/station/index.shtml

So here I am, 60 miles west of Chicago, in a one-story townhome, with a ChannelMaster 4228 antenna on a rotor in my attic. I get WLS-DT, "ABC 7 Chicago", on RF 52.
Tonight, I spun the antenna west, and got KCRG-DT right over WLS-DT! My first "hit"
on this market in 6 years of DXing digital. And maybe the last: My CM4228 is the classic model, is UHF only...and my honkin' 14' VHF antenna can't rotate in the attic...wayyy too big. I know it's heading back to 9 in ten days. Oh, well.

Waving hello from western Chicagoland...not bad, KCRG, not bad at all. Nice tropo. :)

I'm also in North Liberty, and only use OTA. And with just an huge old VHF/UHF antenna hanging from my garage ceilling (and 50 feet of RG-59, then a powered coax splitter, then another 12 feet of coax), I get:

Three channel 7s (NBC, THIS, RTN)
One channel 9 (ABC)
A few channel 12s (SD and HD PBS)
One channel 15 (Fox)
One channel 20 (CW, I think in HD)
(A couple of?) channel 28s (one in HD)

No KGAN channel 2 CBS at all. I figured maybe they were having digital transition troubles, and weren't broadcasting, until I found this forum. I've searched for KGAN in this thread, and it seems there aren't folks who just have a problem getting KGAN. My 'attic' space is too small to move the antenna to.

Could it possibly be as simple (but time-consuming) as slowly turning my antenna, then re-scanning, then turning, then re-scanning, to find the best set-up? Or is it more likely a matter of getting or making a new antenna?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

KGAN-DT is operating on channel 51, so depending on the receiver you are using, you might be able to tune it manually as 51-1 or 51-3.

Failing that, you might consider replacing your 50 feet of RG-59 with RG-6. That would reduce line loss.

- Trip

Trip in VA has a couple of good points about channel assignment and trying RG6. I'd start with the orientation of your antenna first though (also make sure you aren't missing any elements (you said it was old)... I've never had a problem pulling in all the signals including 2 from my location on the West side of NL. I have my antenna pointed north and slightly North West as I recall. I don't get Fox 15 out of Ottumwa, but I do get the WB affiliate out of the Quad Cities on one of my TVs off the back side of my medium/large attic mounted UHF/VHF Combo.

Another thought - You didn't mention what type of reciever(s) your using, but some handle signals better than others.... One of my DirecTV HD-DVRs handles minor "hicups" in signal quailty better than the other on some OTA channels. The small Insignia HDTV I bought as a monitor for my equipment area pulls in the Quad Cities WB, while both DirecTV DVRs do not (as I recall... don't regularly watch that channel and it's been a while since I added the Quad Cities zipcode to the DVRS and tried to pull it in).

I bet making sure your antenna is pointed N-NW and dialing it in will solve your issue (we get plenty of signal from all the locals in North Liberty).

DLPda

I'm also in North Liberty, and only use OTA. And with just an huge old VHF/UHF antenna hanging from my garage ceilling (and 50 feet of RG-59, then a powered coax splitter, then another 12 feet of coax), I get:

Three channel 7s (NBC, THIS, RTN)
One channel 9 (ABC)
A few channel 12s (SD and HD PBS)
One channel 15 (Fox)
One channel 20 (CW, I think in HD)
(A couple of?) channel 28s (one in HD)

No KGAN channel 2 CBS at all. I figured maybe they were having digital transition troubles, and weren't broadcasting, until I found this forum. I've searched for KGAN in this thread, and it seems there aren't folks who just have a problem getting KGAN. My 'attic' space is too small to move the antenna to.

Could it possibly be as simple (but time-consuming) as slowly turning my antenna, then re-scanning, then turning, then re-scanning, to find the best set-up? Or is it more likely a matter of getting or making a new antenna?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

If you get channel 9 you should get channel 2 since they are on then same antenna and are adjacent channels. Try unplugging your antenna, scanning for channels, reattach your antenna, then scan again.

Channel 2 is on UHF 51 and right now channel 9 is on UHF channel 52 until June 12th.

Are you getting the digital channel 9 or the analog?

Does Dish have the locals in HD in this area? Thanks.

Does Dish have the locals in HD in this area? Thanks.

Yes, but I think only the Sinclair stations if I recall correctly. KGAN and KFXA.

Check out my post on page 78 for construction details.

I am working on a cut antenna for channel 20 since that station
is coming in from south instead of northwest.

Here are some additional pictures.

Still no KGAN, but now I have a little time to work with my TV again, and I've found the following:

Trip - I don't seem to be able to receive anything on 51-1 or 51-3 (manually). I thought about replacing the RG-59 with RG-6 ... that would be a ton of work, and I'd hope to get a sketchy KGAN before I tried to improve it, but it might be what I end up having to do.


DLPda - I've put my antenna in several orientations, now. I've found that I can get another set of IPTV channels (32-1HD, 31-2, and 32-3), but still can't receive an auto-detected or manually programmed channel 2- or 51-.

I am also on the west side of town (south of Fareway). I'm pretty sure I have all of my elements on my antenna ( http://www.leepfrog.com/~kwelsch/CIMG0752.JPG )

My main ATSC tuner is in my Panasonic 42" plasma, but I get the same results with my 20" Insignia. I'll be getting a DTVPal in the near future, and see if that receives any better.


KFXAChief - I get channel 9.0, which I guess is analog? I tried your advice a couple of times (different antenna orientations) of unplugging my antenna, scanning for channels, reattaching my antenna, then scanning again, but so far with no joy.

Still no KGAN, but now I have a little time to work with my TV again, and I've found the following:

Trip - I don't seem to be able to receive anything on 51-1 or 51-3 (manually). I thought about replacing the RG-59 with RG-6 ... that would be a ton of work, and I'd hope to get a sketchy KGAN before I tried to improve it, but it might be what I end up having to do.


DLPda - I've put my antenna in several orientations, now. I've found that I can get another set of IPTV channels (32-1HD, 31-2, and 32-3), but still can't receive an auto-detected or manually programmed channel 2- or 51-.

I am also on the west side of town (south of Fareway). I'm pretty sure I have all of my elements on my antenna ( http://www.leepfrog.com/~kwelsch/CIMG0752.JPG )

My main ATSC tuner is in my Panasonic 42" plasma, but I get the same results with my 20" Insignia. I'll be getting a DTVPal in the near future, and see if that receives any better.


KFXAChief - I get channel 9.0, which I guess is analog? I tried your advice a couple of times (different antenna orientations) of unplugging my antenna, scanning for channels, reattaching my antenna, then scanning again, but so far with no joy.

Just for giggles, which end of antenna is pointed north?

Just for giggles, which end of antenna is pointed north?

Heh. The end with the shorter elements. Though out of desperation, I did turn it 180 and try it that way.

Just checking. You wouldn't believe the number of antennas I see pointed backwards. I would try a different antenna because there is no way you can't get 2 but get 9 ok.

Just checking. You wouldn't believe the number of antennas I see pointed backwards. I would try a different antenna because there is no way you can't get 2 but get 9 ok.

It actually sounds like ouini is getting only analog 9, if he in fact only seeing 9-0, which makes the problem sound more like a cabling issue, since it means there are weak or no digital signals present from channels 51 (2-1), or 52 (9-1).

RG-59 does degrade more at higher channel numbers. What you might try, ouini, is finding a way to use your tuner right next to the antenna on a shorter cable run, if at all possible. See if that improves matters. If it does, then it's the RG-59 that's killing your signal.

- Trip

It actually sounds like ouini is getting only analog 9, if he in fact only seeing 9-0, which makes the problem sound more like a cabling issue, since it means there are weak or no digital signals present from channels 51 (2-1), or 52 (9-1).

RG-59 does degrade more at higher channel numbers. What you might try, ouini, is finding a way to use your tuner right next to the antenna on a shorter cable run, if at all possible. See if that improves matters. If it does, then it's the RG-59 that's killing your signal.

- Trip


I agreee that he is only getting 9 analog...................I wonder if the height of the antenna is a problem............in the garage usually means not very high....................................

Have you tried the antenna outside? With it inside is should be much easier to change the cable out.

Are you feeding just one tuner?

KGAN-DT is operating on channel 51, so depending on the receiver you are using, you might be able to tune it manually as 51-1 or 51-3.

Failing that, you might consider replacing your 50 feet of RG-59 with RG-6. That would reduce line loss.

- Trip

There is no 51.3. There is a 51.1 and 51.2.

Wouldn't it be nice if all TV's and converter boxes had a built in spectrum analyzer to aid in the antenna aiming?

There is no 51.3. There is a 51.1 and 51.2.

What Trip meant, was that because KGAN's first DT sub is actually on 51.3 and getting remapped to 2.1, that for direct entry, the tester should manually enter the correct sub... (Sometimes the tv will read the PSIP and figure it out on its' own, others will not IMO) Trip has data for KGAN-DT on RabbitEars...

What Trip meant, was that because KGAN's first DT sub is actually on 51.3 and getting remapped to 2.1, that for direct entry, the tester should manually enter the correct sub... (Sometimes the tv will read the PSIP and figure it out on its' own, others will not IMO) Trip has data for KGAN-DT on RabbitEars...
I guess I never really looked at the PSIP info for them. I am lucky to never have had to.

I guess I never really looked at the PSIP info for them. I am lucky to never have had to.

Ah, I figured that! (I checked Trip's site before posting to make sure I was correct, but I thought I remember then being on .3/4....) It is weird, a lot of stations when they have upgraded their PSIP generation gear, have ended up starting at the .3 sub...

Ah, I figured that! (I checked Trip's site before posting to make sure I was correct, but I thought I remember then being on .3/4....) It is weird, a lot of stations when they have upgraded their PSIP generation gear, have ended up starting at the .3 sub...

I think that moving the antenna out of the garage and moving it to an attic or up on the roof will help immensely.

Wouldn't it be nice if all TV's and converter boxes had a built in spectrum analyzer to aid in the antenna aiming?

I would certainly help! However, most have no idea there are actually limited signal meters on their converter boxes and sets. If I had a dime for everytime I heard the "I can get the others perfectly... perfect picture! So I must be getting great signal strength!" speech, I'd be a wealthy engineer! The fun of the digital cliff!