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San Francisco, CA - OTA

2M views 20K replies 1K participants last post by  jamesm113 
#1 ·
I'm thinking of upgrading to an HDTV and have some questions for those getting OTA HD in the Bay Area.


I live in Berkeley and it looks like while I get most of my networks from SF, I need to also point toward San Jose, 57 miles away, to get NBC. I've been looking at the Channel Master antennaes, but I can't tell if you have one station in the blue range and the rest in the green or yellow ranges, whether you can just point your directional antennae at the blue and pick everything else up off the rest of the antennae, or whether you'd need two directionals or one that can point in two directions.


Also, on antennaeweb, it has a column that's supposed to read "live now" for digital channels that are being broadcast, yet none of the bay area channels say "live now." Most are blank. I take it for granted that the digital broadcasts are available right? You can't get HDTV from an analog broadcast, can you, and I know that's available OTA. Also, I assume that all the digital channels are UHF, so I need to buy the antennae that can reach 60 miles on UHF to get NBC, don't I?


If I go the HD route, I'll be using Directv plus OTA, so I will need to get all the networks in HD to really make the investment worthwhile (as directv will give me either none, or only CBS HD). I'd appreciate if anyone in Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, etc. can sound off on their OTA experiences.


Thanks for the input.

UPDATE: I was asked to add the info below to my post. I now live in a hilly area in Oakland and can't get OTA reception any more. Too bad for me.


Viewers in the San Francisco Bay Area will find the following sites very useful for finding local digital stations:


Bay Area DTV - HDTV Channel List - http://www.choisser.com/sfonair.html


FCC DTV Reception Maps - http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/


Locate TV stations available at your address and compute expected signal strength and directions -
http://www.tvfool.com/
 
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#13,561 ·
A lot of people have been having problems with KPIX lately. I don't know if this is a new situation or if people are just now trying to tune in the channel for the Super Bowl game. Anyway, I've received several emails asking for help. If you get KGO, KNTV, KTVU, KQED, KRON, etc. you should get KPIX. KPIX is being transmitted form the same antenna as KTVU and KRON... the three signals are combined into the one antenna. Since you're not receiving it, you have multipath problems for KPIX's frequency. You'll need to find a place where the reflections are reduced so that the main signal is not ruined by them.

Some of the antennas you see for sale are really not that good, no matter what the stores and ads say. You're 45 miles from the transmitter, so you should use an antenna that's outside. Several of us on here would be happy to recommend a good antenna if you want to replace the one you got. Also, indoor antennas in general don't work well, and they're not made for distant reception. Remember... up on the roof as high as possible is what will bring in the best signal.

Larry
Thanks but unfortunately living in an apartment complex makes it hard to have your own roof and an outdoor solution becomes problematic.

Actually I've never gotten KPIX for the past 3 months I've moved here. It's just odd. KGO, KTVU all look great though and I've never had signal issues even when the weather sours or when I put the antenna behind the TV and not next to the window. I know indoor is certainly not great, but at the same time my setup should be well within reach for an indoor antenna to pick up KPIX. Maybe I'll try dangling the antenna off the patio or something ;)
 
#13,562 ·
Thanks but unfortunately living in an apartment complex makes it hard to have your own roof and an outdoor solution becomes problematic.

Actually I've never gotten KPIX for the past 3 months I've moved here. It's just odd. KGO, KTVU all look great though and I've never had signal issues even when the weather sours or when I put the antenna behind the TV and not next to the window. I know indoor is certainly not great, but at the same time my setup should be well within reach for an indoor antenna to pick up KPIX. Maybe I'll try dangling the antenna off the patio or something ;)
Crazy as it sounds, In my apartment, at that time, I put a outdoor model "Under the bed" and it worked. Such as models like RCA-751
It all depends on location. (In my case it was Redwood City)

Over the past 10 years or so, I've seen a huge decline in quality ... of consumer electronic items such as antennas, etc.
Bad soldered electronics, shoddy coax cable, blown capacitors, extreme small base footprint, (That tips over and crashes to the floor) > (Think Terk antennas)
I cant imagine these items lasting any duration with kids & pets.
With that said, the possibility of failing equipment can't be ruled out. Even "moving" to a new address can damage items in transit.

I'd purchase a new antenna ... from a retailer that has a good return policy in case things don't work out.
 
#13,563 ·
New HD Farallones Cam in testing mode perhaps.

Hi,

I was able to find the Golden Gate Bridge but not Sutro. Visibility was too poor towards San Francisco.

And alas NO BIRDS!

I suspect that it will come and go as the message that it was going to be replaced is still displayed. Just dismiss it. The URL may also be changing. What is being showed is not live, the water is not moving.

http://legacy.calacademy.org/webcams/farallones/

SHF
 
#13,564 ·
That's amazing that you have such consistent reception at 110 miles distance!

As for the improved reception, the fire must have thinned out the trees and foliage enough to make the difference.

Except for the exceptional conditions seen a couple of weeks ago, conditions have been normal to poor for the Walnut Grove stations here.

Larry
I don't remember any trees, in the old panoramic picture, from his property.The rain or wet earth , has dramatically improved my VHF reception from walnut grove.
 
#13,565 ·
I don't remember any trees, in the old panoramic picture, from his property.The rain or wet earth , has dramatically improved my VHF reception from walnut grove.

There were plenty of trees and other vegetation in both the Walnut Grove and SF directions. I'm thinking about doing a post fire 360 degree panorama with the camera mounted up on the tower. It's a bunch of work and I'll have to get a friend over to help.

Chuck
 
#13,566 ·
In an information update from rabbitears.info, there are two new callsigns here in the Bay Area:
Channel 45 (RF 2) in San Jose is now KQRO-LD
Channel 49 (RF 49) in Santa Rosa is now KQTA-LD

and a new one in Sacramento Channel 45 is KAHC-LP

Larry
 
#13,567 ·
and a new one in Sacramento Channel 45 is KAHC-LP

KAHC used to be K45HC analog. They've been off the air for a few years and have never had a digital station on the air. Their last FCC filing was an STA continuance for silent operation in July 2015 when they stated they were building their digital station. More LP station games. Who would put an LP station on channel 45 at this time?

Chuck
 
#13,568 ·
There were plenty of trees and other vegetation in both the Walnut Grove and SF directions. I'm thinking about doing a post fire 360 degree panorama with the camera mounted up on the tower. It's a bunch of work and I'll have to get a friend over to help.

Chuck
Sounds like a big job.I want to snap a picture of what im aiming into also.I believe I have a dead amp on one antenna ,so I need to fix it and bring the camera.
 
#13,569 ·
antenna view

Sounds like a job for a drone, maybe? Depends on the resolution that you need in the pictures of course. You'd want to match what you have from pre-fire photos, but cameras generally get better all the time.... What you want is basically a horizon comparison, right?

Just a thought - at work we always look for ways to make things easier and safer.
Paul

There were plenty of trees and other vegetation in both the Walnut Grove and SF directions. I'm thinking about doing a post fire 360 degree panorama with the camera mounted up on the tower. It's a bunch of work and I'll have to get a friend over to help.

Chuck
 
#13,570 ·
Sounds like a job for a drone, maybe? Depends on the resolution that you need in the pictures of course. You'd want to match what you have from pre-fire photos, but cameras generally get better all the time.... What you want is basically a horizon comparison, right?

Just a thought - at work we always look for ways to make things easier and safer.
Paul

We're doing it today. Since I already have the pre-fire panorama I will do it exactly the same. The camera will be about 65' off the ground. I set the camera lens to 50mm which gives a horizontal view of 25 degrees. I move the rotor in 15 degree steps for plenty of overlap.

I don't have a drone so that's out.

Chuck
 
#13,576 ·
FYI... I noticed that KTVJ was not sending out any PSIP information, so I emailed Keith to inform him.

He wrote back that something has gone wrong atop Mt. St. Helena at KFTY where the signals for the other stations originate. He's going to make a trip up there to make a fix on Saturday.

He also stated that the new transmitter for KQRO 45 (RF 2) in San Jose had come in, and he hopes to get up to Mt. Chual on Sunday to install it. The station will have three times the power that it has at present with the new transmitter.

Larry
 
#13,577 ·
He also stated that the new transmitter for KQRO 45 (RF 2) in San Jose had come in, and he hopes to get up to Mt. Chual on Sunday to install it. The station will have three times the power that it has at present with the new transmitter.

I wonder if Keith chose KQRO because QRO is a ham radio Q Signal for "high power" and Keith is a ham.

I looked at KFTY on the analyzer and it's all messed up. It doesn't look like an ATSC signal at all.

Chuck
 
#13,578 ·
You're right, it's the wrong group, you should find the right group. Not that I think that the groups here are arranged the best, but off topic is off topic.
FWIW that model number doesn't come up, but under the 62643 unit that does come up at HFT under a search of the original model number, the manual says:
• 16:9 Wide Screen aspect ratio
• WD1 Resolution (960 x 480)
• 11 Frames per Second (FPS)
• 768 Bitrate
It's not clear whether it will auto-adjust or can adjust at all to whatever type of video you want to feed it through its (BNC) inputs. But 11 FPS is not a good rate for home video! This all assumes that you have a digital tuner that is feeding the DVR. My best guess is that it's a non-starter for OTA and not a worthwhile hack.
PT1
I am going to get a home surveillance system, such as this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-chan...and-mobile-monitoring-capabilities-61229.html

Can the DVR be used for OTA television recording as well? Or another brand perhaps? Sorry it's a bit off topic.
 
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