Rockford, IL - HDTV - Page 34

Dave, that Phillips looks like it could swallow my whole house. Interesting how post-DTV combo antennas seem to focus more on UHF, and you can see on your old timer that UHF was mostly an afterthought.
That thing must've rocked on WBBM-DT when they were on 3.

I had no problems getting WBBM-DT on 3. When I hooked up my converter box for the first time, that was the first channel it picked up. For digital UHF, that antenna isn't as good for UHF. It does great for digital VHF, as I got WBBM-DT & on both 3 & 12, as well as WLS-TV on 7. The only reason I now get WOCK-CD with this antenna is because I have a pre-amp hooked to the antenna. If my original Radio Shack VU-190 antenna hadn't crashed down, I'd probably would still have that instead of the Philips antenna. I like how you said that my antenna would swallow your house. I know it looks weird. I still want to replace that antenna, as the UHF portion of the antenna is showing signs that it's bending downward. So I know it won't last much longer. You're right that antennas now focus more on the UHF, as there aren't as many stations on the VHF. Most combo antennas are now Hi-VHF/UHF.

I'm really glad that I found this house while i was looking for places before my dad and I moved out here (originally from Elgin, ugh). That antenna has been a Godsend. A friend (who says it's a Winegard, so I'm taking his word cos he knows all that stuff) bought us the Acess HD 1080 converter box and helped get the antenna cable into the house. The drop cable had TWO splitters after it before the indoor cable disappeared into the house somewhere. I can't believe how the previous owner could get ANY signal! Thankfully, we bypassed all that, drilled a hole into the living room window, connected the drop cable to an new cable, fed it thru the box, and BINGO! I'm really pleased with the results, even with a 12 year old 27" Panasonic TV.

Also glad to kick-start the RFD thread back into where it should be!

I did a rescan last night just for the heck of it. Telemundo added a channel (no idea why, looked like infomercials to me) and got the religious channels on 35. Anticipating the soon return of Madison's Fox 47. The battle between Me-TV and WIFR continues, as well.

Figured out what to do about wanting FM and TV at the same time without a splitter. I fed the drop line into my reciever which has cable in and out (This was back in the day when you could get FM from your cable company for free). Fed the output into the converter box and I still have all my channels. Some lost a bit of signal, some actually GAINED signal (WBBM & WFLD!!!). So I have found the happy medium in which I can go back to listening to FM radio and watch TV at the same time.

I still want to get a booster, but just for the TV. So chances are I might not get the CM7777, since I don't need a second output now. Any reccomendations?

Yep.

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/7778.htm

Hmm, is there a booster I can get without having to get up on the roof to install? There's a beehive near the antenna and I'm afraid of heights. I know, I know, don't look down, but that doesn't help the bee situation. I really should get my landlord to take care of that before it gets too cold.

I still have the old Archer booster my dad's friend gave us. (Gilbert, you might know him. He works at NIU.) I didn't even think of seeing if that would work. I'll post back tomorrow about that.

If the cable heads into the house up at the attic, you can put the head-end of the preamp in there (no roof-climbing, and the preamp stays dry as a bonus).
But if the cable comes down the mast, along the eave, around the corner, along the wall, etc., it won't help. Ideally, you want that preamp head as close to the antenna as possible (before the signal degrades any further).

What he said. Exactly. That's the only way to go in a situation like this...as close to the antenna as possible.

Good to know. That's pretty much how we have it, LOL!

I did try the splitter going after the reciever going into the converter box, but it didn't help (as usual). I'm gonna keep it how I have it now (sans splitter). It's been working pretty well in this configuration and much better than going thru the splitter. Some channels take a little longer to load but Im ok with that as long as it comes in well.

How many Madisons can you get at night?

I used to get 27, 47 and 57. Now it's just 27, which isn't that bad. Hey, it's free, I can't complain!

I get 27 on a 24/7 basis- it actually has a higher noise margin than any of the Milwaukees. 57 and 21 come at night, and lately 47 has also (they are currently using a temporary antenna).
After 47 moves to RF49, I hope I will be able to get it during the day like 27.

I was wondering if 3 or 15 was ever available to you. I can only get them is there is strong tropo to overcome WGN & WXFT.

Nope. I did get WGN for about 5 seconds though. My downstairs neighbor doesnt get it either, with their little Radio Shack antenna hooked onto their mailbox. I'm surprised I get anything from Chicago cos I got tall trees all the way to the eastern city limits.

i live over by Ruger ave and Wright Rd in Janesville i get in 17 and 23 regually and 13 with my outdoor one by 39 is a pain i know its the most powerful but for whatever reason it comes in the worst this way!!!!

I have never seen a Winegard look like those. The look like Jerrold antennas insted.

That would be it. At 600', and when they were 2,300 watts I got it 35 miles away, antenna pointed 120 degrees off-axis, but I was up high enough to get it.

Could be, could be. All I know is that it works, LOL! There's quite a few of these same models around the neighborhood too. I'm too afraid of heights to get on the roof and actually find out what kind of antenna it is.

I have charter for cable and subscribe to the expanded basic. I have one tv with a QAM tuner that I could get the locals in HD threw the cable. I noticed the other day that now all those channels have no signal. I thought that if you had a QAM tuner and cable that the locals of HD would be free or unscrambled?

Try re-scanning - they might have moved them around.

That worked........... Thanks so much!!

WREX started broadcasting the local news in HD, if anyone's interested. Just need to get WQRF/WTVO to get onboard.

Interesting tropo this AM, got Madison til about noon today! Just waiting for the snow to come screw it up tomorrow!

Greetings all. Anyone know if Comcast in Rockford, IL area requires a Tuning Adapter (TA) for their cableCARD subscribers yet? (ie, they've switched to SDV - switched digital video)

Thanks in advance!

You should go to the Chicago Comcast thread. theyre talking about this over there.

WIFR screwed up big time last night. They cut to local commercials DURING The Late Late Show. (<---They did it 3x) If that wasn't bad enough, there wasn't ANY sound during Dr Oz, except for the commercials. Do they even realize that people actually watch these shows???

So they just went to commercials during the show? Not during a break?

Yeah, local commercials DURING the show. The network breaks were normal, and showed those dumb "CBS Cares" commercials where WIFR usually puts their local ads. I couldn't believe it. To top it off, Larry King and Dr Sanjay Gupta were guests that night. Local ads cut in for about 3 minutes, cut back to Larry King saying "These past 3 minutes have been the most serious 3 minutes in 6 years (of Craig hosting the show.)"

Well, it is a tiny market, easily the smallest in the midwest. 4 stations with 7 channels to cover 5 counties. Stuff happens?

I live in Loves Park and have fairly good rooftop antennas that produce consistent reception of the 7 locals.

If I were to swing these antennas (7-13 channel Yagi and 4 bow-tie with screen for UHF) and point them at Madison what might I get out of Madison besides the 4 networks I already receive?

People talk about getting additional channels but do they produce additional program material over what Rockford offers?

Thanks for your help.

Dick

Dick,

Yes, they do. Madison has Retro TV Network, although it will be going to "MeTV" soon, if it hasn't already. They also have ThisTv (movies), Wisconsin PBS (WHA-DT) that gives you 3 PBS channels, including sports from the U-W Badgers. They also have The Cool TV (music videos), and Country Network (country videos).

So yes, they do have more stuff.