Wilkes Barre, PA - HDTV

i can't wait!!

Its too bad the other stations in the scranton \\ wilkes-barre location have filed for CP extensions for "financial" reasons! (wyou and wbre)

Great!
Can you tell me if the signal will reach Sussex, NJ? I'm situated on the west side of a hill with open air to the west. Also, what would be the best antenna to pull in a good signal from this distance?

Cool!!
Have any of you had luck receiving WCAU-DT (NBC affiliate in Philadelphia) ?
Vas

WNEP-DT Status Report...

April 18 - Weather and other problems have slightly delayed the installation of our digital antenna. Most of the work is being done at night. The antenna itself is up. We expect it to take a few more days to install the transmission line going up the tower to the antenna (assuming no weather delays). Then we will run some tests for a few days. We hope to begin our digital transmissions on or about April 29th.

Our first digital broadcasts will be in standard definition. Basically we will digitize our current signal and broadcast that. We won't be able to broadcast ABC Prime-Time Programming in high definition until our satellite receivers are retrofit to pick up those signals from ABC. The engineers from ABC are scheduled to be here to do this in late May. It will take several days to install this upgrade and a few more to test it. We hope to begin HDTV transmissions sometime in June.

WCAU-DT seems to have boosted their signal. My Dish 6000 is suddenly detecting it, along with WHYY-DT. has anyone noticed a difference?

April 23 - Weather continues to delay the installation of our digital antenna. Most of the work is being done at night. The antenna itself is up. Now we have to install the transmission line running up the tower to the antenna. For this we need winds of less than 10 mph. That is difficult to get on the top of a mountain. Once the line is installed, we will run some tests for a few days. We hope to begin our digital transmissions within the next few weeks, but with the weather like it is, its hard to estimate exactly when that will happen.

Our first digital broadcasts will be in standard definition. Basically we will digitize our current signal and broadcast that. We won't be able to broadcast ABC Prime-Time Programming in high definition until our satellite receivers are retrofit to pick up those signals from ABC. The engineers from ABC are scheduled to be here to do this in late May. It will take several days to install this upgrade and a few more to test it. We hope to begin HDTV transmissions sometime in June

PaulM9999,
Must me atmospheric conditions, I lost the WCAU-DT signal again last night.
vas

WNEP filed for an extension today according to the FCC website

note from WNEP's website
April 30 - The weather over the past two weeks has been just horrible for tower-work! We keep hoping for light winds so we can continue the installation, but the weather just isn't cooperating. Unfortunately this week's weather doesn't look much better.

The antenna itself is up (see photo from Skycam 16 ). Now we have to install the transmission line running up the tower to the antenna. For this we need winds of less than 10 mph at night (our crew can only work at night). We need only 2 more calm nights to install the line. Once the line is installed, we will run some tests for a few days and then start transmitting. We hope to begin our digital transmissions within the next few weeks, but with the weather like it is, its hard to estimate exactly when that will happen.

Our first digital broadcasts will be in standard definition. Basically we will digitize our current signal and broadcast that. We won't be able to broadcast ABC Prime-Time Programming in high definition until our satellite receivers are retrofit to pick up those signals from ABC. The engineers from ABC are scheduled to be here to do this in late May. It will take several days to install this upgrade and a few more to test it. We hope to begin HDTV transmissions sometime in June.

from WNEP's website - DTV status

May 2 - OK! The transmission line is up and secured. The antenna itself is also up. Now we just have to do some wrap-up work, making sure all the connections are right. And we have to climb the tower one more time to set a beacon light and to remove the crane (see photo from Skycam 16). This will take one more night of light winds. Then we will be able to begin testing. Hopefully this will happen in the next few days (weather permitting).

While we are testing you may from time to time be able to get our digital signal. We will be testing at rather low power so if you live more than say 10 or 20 miles from the transmitter, you may not see anything. If you already have a digital TV receiver, you can help by e-mailing us and telling us exactly where you are located, what time you saw our broadcast, what type of equipment you were using, and how it looked. Just e-mail webmaster@wnep.com . Our digital signal will be on channel 49.

Our first digital broadcasts will be in standard definition. Basically we will digitize our current signal and broadcast that. We won't be able to broadcast ABC Prime-Time Programming in high definition until our satellite receivers are retrofit to pick up those signals from ABC. The engineers from ABC are scheduled to be here to do this in late May. It will take several days to install this upgrade and a few more to test it. We hope to begin HDTV transmissions sometime in June.

copy of email from WNEP today (5/6/02) regarding DTV

"We're hoping to throw the switch Tuesday afternoon."



From the WNEP website

May 6 - OK! The transmission line is up and secured. The antenna itself is also up. The crane is down (see photo from Skycam 16). On Wednesday we are scheduled to do a final check on all the systems. If everything checks out well, we will be ready to do power up the transmitter for some test broadcasts.

We will likely do several days of test broadcasts before we begin regular programming. While we are testing you may from time to time be able to get our digital signal. We will be testing at rather low power so if you live more than say 10 or 20 miles from the transmitter, you may not see anything. If you already have a digital TV receiver, you can help by e-mailing us and telling us exactly where you are located, what time you saw our broadcast, what type of equipment you were using, and how it looked. Just e-mail webmaster@wnep.com . Our digital signal will be on channel 49.

Our first digital broadcasts will be in standard definition. Basically we will digitize our current signal and broadcast that. We won't be able to broadcast ABC Prime-Time Programming in high definition until our satellite receivers are retrofit to pick up those signals from ABC. The engineers from ABC are scheduled to be here to do this in late May. It will take several days to install this upgrade and a few more to test it. We hope to begin HDTV transmissions sometime in June.

i emailed the webmaster after not finding their signal last night

received this info:

Try again tonight. We weren't on last night. :-)

Mark Sowers
Webmaster
WNEP-TV


ok another webpage update.... were getting closer!!

May 8 - Today we will do a final check on all the systems. If everything checks out well, we will be ready to do power up the transmitter for some digital broadcasts. Those broadcasts could start as early as this evening . Over the next several days those broadcasts will be considered "test" broadcasts even though they will be very similar to what we will do after the "test" is over. You may notice some glitches. If you do, please let us know. Just e-mail webmaster@wnep.com .

For the next several months our digital transmitter will operate only during Prime-Time and other big events. And it will operate at low power (city-grade). It is simply too expensive to operate all day long and at high power with so few people actually able to get the signal. We don't know for sure just how far from our transmitter this low-power signal will be available. We're guessing if you live more than say 10 or 20 miles from the transmitter, you may not see anything.

If you already have a digital TV receiver, you can help by e-mailing us and telling us exactly where you are located, what time you saw our broadcast, what type of equipment you were using, and how it looked. We will use this information to publish a "coverage map". Just e-mail webmaster@wnep.com . Our digital signal will be on channel 49.

Our first digital broadcasts will be in standard definition. Basically we will digitize our current signal and broadcast that. We won't be able to broadcast ABC Prime-Time Programming in high definition until our satellite receivers are retrofit to pick up those signals from ABC. The engineers from ABC are scheduled to be here to do this in late May. It will take several days to install this upgrade and a few more to test it. We hope to begin HDTV transmissions sometime in June.

As with the rest of this digital transition, each phase requires additional equipment and expense, so we are slowly phasing in the whole HDTV experience. We thank you for your feedback and your patience.

nothing yet.... but still closer i say!!!
from the wnep website

May 9 - Well, we finally completed the installation of WNEP-DT yesterday. Everything appeared to be ready. We threw the switch and started broadcasting... "black"... nothing more. That's when we discovered that we were having a problem getting our video signal into the transmitter. We are currently working on the problem and hope to have it corrected soon.

Once we get this problem fixed, we will begin test broadcasting. You may notice some glitches. If you do, please let us know. Just e-mail webmaster@wnep.com .

For the next several months our digital transmitter will operate only during Prime-Time and other big events. And it will operate at low power (city-grade). It is simply too expensive to operate all day long and at high power with so few people actually able to get the signal. We don't know for sure just how far from our transmitter this low-power signal will be available. We're guessing if you live more than say 10 or 20 miles from the transmitter, you may not see anything.

If you already have a digital TV receiver, you can help by e-mailing us and telling us exactly where you are located, what time you saw our broadcast, what type of equipment you were using, and how it looked. We will use this information to publish a "coverage map". Just e-mail webmaster@wnep.com . Our digital signal will be on channel 49

Paul

i'm about 20km from the tower, which is what about 12.4 miles away.
i didn't look for the signal last night. But at least its a step in the
right direction. Lets see by June if WNEP is broadcasting ABC in HD or 720p during primetime.

on another note i've been harassing the other local stations WYOU and WBRE in particular and received this email responce yesterday.....



Thanks for inquiring.
Right now we are looking at July for both WBRE and WYOU.
--- Barry

Barry Erick CSTE , CE
Nexstar Broadcasting
WBRE-TV (NBC) providing services for WYOU-TV (CBS)
62 S. Franklin St.
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701
570-823.2828
570-823.4523 (fax)
berick@nbga.net
berick@wbretv.com
berick@wyou.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Sue Kalinowski
To: John Dittmeier
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 11:28 AM
Subject: Fw: DTV


Hi John....
Can you supply this viewer with an answer.....and copy me on it? That way I can get it into the Public File----and know your reply for future references.
Thanks!
Susan

----- Original Message -----
From: David W. Moss
To: suekali@wyou.com
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 11:33 AM
Subject: DTV


Dear Sue,

I was just wondering what WYOU's status is as far as DTV (digital television broadcasting)
I know you filed a CP Extension with the FCC prior to the May 1st deadline. I was just wondering
when i might be able to receive digital broadcasts from WYOU. Right now only WVIA is broadcasting
but WNEP is just about to go online.

All the Best,

David W. Moss

I haven't check it out yet... but heres the wnep website update


May 14 - We finally completed the installation of WNEP-DT on Wednesday May 8th. Now we enter the "testing" phase. Last night we got our first pictures on the air with two channels of video, 49-1 and 49-2. There were a few pixelization and sound problems that we are currently working on.

As we continue our testing, you may notice some glitches. If you do, please let us know. Just e-mail webmaster@wnep.com .

For the next several months our digital transmitter will operate only during Prime-Time and other big events. And it will operate at low power (city-grade). It is simply too expensive to operate all day long and at high power with so few people actually able to get the signal. We don't know for sure just how far from our transmitter this low-power signal will be available. We're guessing if you live more than say 10 or 20 miles from the transmitter, you may not see anything. So far we have had people in Hanover Twp., Trucksville, and Avoca get our signal.

If you already have a digital TV receiver, you can help by e-mailing us and telling us exactly where you are located, what time you saw our broadcast, what type of equipment you were using, and how it looked. We will use this information to publish a "coverage map". Just e-mail webmaster@wnep.com . Our digital signal will be on channel 49.

Our first digital broadcasts will be in standard definition. Basically we will digitize our current signal and broadcast that. We won't be able to broadcast ABC Prime-Time Programming in high definition until our satellite receivers are retrofit to pick up those signals from ABC. The engineers from ABC are scheduled to be here to do this in late May. It will take several days to install this upgrade and a few more to test it. We hope to begin HDTV transmissions sometime in June.

As with the rest of this digital transition, each phase requires additional equipment and expense, so we are slowly phasing in the whole HDTV experience. We thank you for your feedback and your patience.

You're gonna think I'm crazy, but...

Last night, in Reading, PA (about 75 air miles SSW from the tower), I received WNEP-DT with a solid 80-90% signal strength. There was no apparent multipath problems but a great deal of digital breakup and audio dropout. Since the signal is so solid, I'm assuming that the breakup is due to processing at the station while they undergo testing and alignment.

Equipment:

Dish Network Model 6000 receiver
Channel Master CM4248 Yagi, mounted ~ 30' above ground
Winegard AP4800 28db UHF amplifier.

Interestingly, I also receive WVIA-DT with an even stronger signal. It's almost like I have a pipe to NE PA. I've received WVIA consistently for almost a year, so I'm pretty certain that it's not some odd atmospheric condition that's helping the reception.

Did anyone else receive WNEP last night, and did you experience any breakup? I'd like to be sure that the problem was their processing and not reception difficulty. Does anyone know if they're running at reduced or full power during the testing? Their website doesn't specify this.

I reported the reception to WNEP; I'll report if I get a reply.

drbaldinger,
I'm in Rahway, NJ and I have the same setup as you,
minus the amplifier.
I am wondering if I would be able to receive this station.
Where abouts are you?

Thanks,
R

wnep is broadcasting at low power levels during primetime only

i looked last night and i was only receiving a very low signal with lots of breakup, while WVIA-DT was coming in great...

Paul,

My antenna is pointing in the same direction as WVIA. I can actually improve the signal by about 5% if I move the antenna about three degrees north of WVIA's setting, but with the strong signal that I have now it just wasn't worth the effort of moving the antenna each time I switch channels. I am also getting excellent reception of their analog signal.

Yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, 1711 hrs., I had a rock-solid 88% signal with color bars and tone and the 16 DTV logo on subchannel 1. There was only slight, occasional pixellization...nice and clean compared to Tuesday, when there was a lot of breakup. They must have done some adjustments to their encoder.

The folks at WNEP are pretty intrigued by my reception, too. I got an e-mail from their webmaster asking for details about my setup because they found my reception "unbelievable". They thought that I must have a huge antenna on a tall tower to be able to receive them but, as the equipment list in my previous post demonstrates, my setup is pretty ordinary.

Good luck with your attempt to receive WNEP; I hope that you're able to get it working. I know how you feel since this is the first time that I'm able to get an ABC affiliate - I can't get anything but KYW out of Philadelphia.

Please feel free to PM me if you want further information.

Dave

i'll have to take another look at WNEP-DT's signal tonight.

I'm surprised your getting it down in reading. I'm alot closer then that to the tower but not receiving a decent signal. maybe some of the adjustments they made will help me.... i'm only about 12 miles away... but i'm up on the mountain, probably the same elevation as the tower so maybe that part of my problems.... but i doubt it because WVIA-DT comes in strong....


question: my hughes E86 is mapping WVIA-DT as channel 80-3 what about everyone else who is able to receive WVIA-DT... whats your channel mapping too??

Yep, 80-3 on Dish 6000.

Paul,

Check channel 49 on your ANALOG receiver and see if you can see NJN. They have a repeater in Hackettstown, but it's not always on. This could hose some people in NW NJ.

email received from WNEP today (5/18/02)

FYI, Our digital signal is on right now (1:45pm) and will remain on for the
rest of the day.

Mark Sowers
Webmaster
WNEP-TV


also here's a link to the picture of their tower right NEXT to WVIA's
http://208.199.73.40/fungames/wallpa...obscott&size=4

DrB thanks for the confirmation on the mapping at 80-3 for WVIA