Pittsburgh, PA - OTA - Page 143

This coming Saturday morning, Mar.6th, might be good time for Tropo's in Western Pa.

No info for you yet. I'll let you all know as I learn more.

Dave

Research said that our viewers wanted that warm, fuzzy feeling - and to have their microwave popcorn pop on the counter .

Dave

PSIP says "CMG-TV" but the program guide only shows "DTV Program" like 16-1 used to show in theirs.

For Dave Kasparek http://tvdxexpo.com/dunne5.html is a DX log I happened to accidentally come across.

FYI - The channel guide info for 11.2 RTV has been wrong for the past few days (evenings?)

I'm using a basic RCA set top antenna to try and access WJAC 6 out of Johnstown, I manual tune the receiver and get a weak signal not enough to lock it in. I think the problem is that the house I'm in has aluminum siding(had issues with wifi too) any ideas on getting a better signal? Also I'm getting a weak signal from WTAE as well so I know the antenna is good, seeing as to how I'm in the Coral area of Indiana county. I'm using a 30db amp and have attempted a parabolic reflector with no luck, the reflector actually seems to decrease signal from both channels.

If the skin of the house is metal, you have to get the antenna outside of the envelope. RF signals cannot penetrate metal.

You might get lucky and get some signal trough a glass window, but you still have to avoid metal window screens and low-E glass with metallic films.

The biggest amplifier in the world cannot make up for a signal that doesn't arrive at the antenna.

Ok so I put the antenna outside, I now have a world of new channels opened up, however I still get weak signals too weak to capture any streams. I have the 30db amp hooked up, what if anything can I do to get these signals to where I can capture the streams to get a lock?

The next thing to do is to get a proper antenna. First, go to tvfool.com, select the "start maps" option, put in your address, then click the map this button. Zoom in on the map and drag the receive location over your location if it's not there already. Adjust the antenna height to what you will use, then click on the "make radar plot" button. Share your results by posting the URL as instructed and we'll take a crack at suggesting something that will work.

Ok so I plotted out my address which can be found here, http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...b7c809e0cd1a55 from what I can see an attic mounted antenna is sufficient, however a roof mount may be better. If this is the case could the roof mount be mounted on a tripod and still achieve good results? Reason I ask is I have an omnidirectional dish that can be adapted to a tripod, I've never hooked it up due to not having the time to do so

Anyone seeing WEMW-LD 19 on the air in the Greensburg area? Should be repeating WBGN-CD. Not sure how it's mapping.

- Trip

What do you see when you take the amp out of the line? Any improvement? Degradation? Sometimes these amps cause more harm than good to a digital signal.

Dave Morrison
WPXI Engineering

Actually I never tried putting the antenna directly into line with the converter, I'll have to look at it to see what we get

Does anyone know what happened to the sub-channels on WBGN [59-x, UHF 16]?

Last night as I was tuning past 59-1 I couldn't go to 59-2, etc. as it kept throwing me back to 59-1. Then as I switched to the number pad to select the channel I noticed that hitting "5" didn't present me with a listing of any channels except for 53-1 and 59-1.

And as of this evening they (59-2, 59-3, 59-4) haven't comeback.

So did something happen that the station is unaware of; or was this a planned removal of the subs?

By the way losing their subs has improved my reception of the main WBGN signal.

Try re-scanning. I still get 59-2 and 59-3 but 59-4 (STUFF) disappeared.

Trip, nothing showing here..................

No, I have been checking RF 19 daily to see if it's on the air. I'm not far from Greensburg, so their digital signal should reach me.

Ok so I took the amp out of the equation, and had no improvement, so I added a length of cable and got the antenna up another 3 ft or so and boom instant reception, however I have some minor tearing but am getting good signal on 2, 4, 6, and 53. I suppose if I get it up a few more feet we'll be in great shape. Why didn't I think of that sooner? I guess it's one of those so simple we forget to try things

The short answer is - the higher the better

My question is for both Daves:

What hardware encoders did you guys go with when you made the move to HD?

I'm guessing WPXI upgraded to something more recent with the new studio and all.

Did you guys at WTAE keep your old MPEG-2 hardware encoder or did you have to upgrade (if it was standard definition only)?

Did you guys do shoot outs between brands to determine the best ones or do you go by reputation or whatever consultants tell you?

I'm curious to know because there seems to be a good deal of competition and innovation in the broadcast encoder market. Developers can sell more of these than offline software encoders and see a better ROI.

Higher was always better when receiving analog. In digital land, higher is not necessarily better. You simply have to find the "sweet spot".

Dave

With Cox (WPXI), Hearst (WTAE), and Sinclair (WPGH, WPMY) all members of the Open Mobile Video Coalition when are we going to hear something about ATSC M/H in Pittsburgh? With the FCC taking a use it or lose it attitude toward OTA UHF spectrum it's not like the stations have any time to waste.

It would be more accurate to say that "Higher is almost always better". Digital is no different than analog in this regard. UHF signals still layer more than VHF (since many old analog stations were on VHF but are now on UHF) and you're still looking for the strongest RF field with the least amount of reflected or distorted signal.

Because of the greater preponderance of digital on UHF relative to VHF, you really have to pay more attention to the idiosyncrasies of UHF propagation and reception than you used to.

Hey Dave Morrison,

Any updates on when the WPXI repeater in New Castle on RF 33 will be put up? I'm going to guess you'll have that get that up first due to WDLI future interference with RF 48. Just curious.

While we're talking WPXI repeaters, any news about when the Uniontown repeater will be up? Thanks.

Yup! Yesterday (4/22) at 7:30pm. You'll find it on channel 23 and it is mapped to 11.1 and 11.2. Happy viewing!

Thank you Dave! Nice to have channel 11 back in eastern Greene County. Again, THANKS and WELL DONE!!!
""

Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, I have a rock solid signal on 11 from McClellandtown! Now I can really enjoy the RTV channel.

Now, if Only QED would do the same, I'd be really happy.