New York, NY - OTA - Page 530

Any new channels coming?

Just to keep you informed of my ongoing LED issue. The "fixed" LED patio/walkway lights were shipped and received by my neighbor. As soon as they are installed I will let you folks know if the RF interference and my reception issues have been resolved.

As a reminder these lights are not normal production out of the box but were first shipped to an engineer somewhere who modified them then sent them to my customer service rep who then shipped them to us. We shall see.

What this also means is that they have not fixed the issue with their normal production run of these lights.

Thanks to Berk32 for this info from TWC forum, looks like Azteca will be from WMBC:


May 16, 2012

For customers with cable ready TV's and TV's directly connected to cable ("direct hookups") we ceased carriage of TV Guide.

The previously scheduled rebrand of Planet Green will now occur on May 24, 2012.

On or about May 30, 2012 we will cease carriage of Media Korea TV.

Azteca America, previously announced to launch on June 6, 2012 will be a basic service available only in digital format and viewable with digital cable-compatible equipment such as a digital converter or a digital television (or other device) that includes a QAM tuner.

The following services, previously scheduled to launch on May 23, 2012 will now launch on June 27, 2012: Israeli Network on ch. 529, RTR Planeta on ch. 530, Rossiya on ch. 516, Vremya on ch. 520, Musika Pervogo on ch. 517, Dom Kino on ch. 518, UTV Movies on ch. 565 and MYX on ch. 537. As a reminder these services will be part of our International Premium offering.

Also on that date we will launch Sports Extra 3 on ch. 418 and Sports Extra 4 on ch. 419. These services will be part of our Sports Pass offering.

You probably should have stuck with "silly."

Why bother trying to be diplomatic, especially when you take the time to point out how your first instinct was to be "less diplomatic."

Sounds kinda like when people say "I hope you don't take this the wrong way..."

Or how about "It's not about the money."

But I digress.

As to my problem, I figure it's due to only 3 possible causes:

1) The new LED lighting (but that would be silly)
2) Some problem or change in MY9's situation
3) The tree that's directly in line with my NYC LOS.

My equipment hasn't changed at all, so I doubt it's any kind of problem in that regard. The tree in my LOS has now grown to the point where its upper two shoots have more or less completely blocked my LOS when they are fully "leafed out." Back on 4-10 and 4-23 I don't think the leaves were anywhere near as thick as they are now. Up to this year I was able to set the antenna in the gap between the two shoots. But they've now filled out to the point where that gap is really no longer there.

The tree is perhaps 50-75 feet from the antenna. It's a "swamp maple" which is kinda fast-growing with fairly large leaves that pretty thickly populate the tree and thus form a pretty good LOS blockage.

And, of course, the leaves were nice and wet last night. I suppose that didn't help.

The only other point I'd note in regard to that tree is that I think I used to know that it would pose more of a problem with VHF than UHF. But maybe I've got that backwards?

As I said before, my VHF reception seems unaffected by the tree. So if I have it right, and not backwards, it doesn't seem like the tree would be the source of my recent poor MY9 reception (RF 38).

It was really VERY poor reception last night. And it seems the same today as well. Last month I had a very solid 84 with virtually no drops below 84 and the occasional pop up to 85. Now it's really mostly zero with jumps up to 81 for 3-5 seconds, then back down to zero. I doubt I'd even be able to lock it on a rescan.

Frankly, it's now about the same as 5.1 reception (RF 44), which has been this way forever. Since 9.1 and 5.1 are "related" (on the same antenna?) I'm thinking either something has changed with MY9 since my last foray on 4-23, or it's that freaking tree.


Thanks for the feedback. I'm right on the edge of MY9 reception out here so I wouldn't expect those much closer in to see any significant change unless MY9 was having some sort of major problem. It wouldn't take much of a change to drastically affect my reception.

Concerning transmitting antennas - 5.1 uses its own. While 9.1 is part of the UHF Combiner facility on ESB along with WCBS and WNBC.

Wet leaves will cause unpredictable reception, especially pronounced on UHF frequencies. When they blow in the wind, the effect is aggravated.

I found an interesting article from a UK installer that was published in 1990 regarding UHF and trees. It's an interesting read! http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/referen...-reception.pdf

Well, I guess I had the VHF/UHF thing backwards.

I'd say the problem is the tree except that my reception of 4.1 (RF 28) and 2.1(RF 33) seems just fine. RF 28 is coming in @ a very solid 84-85 while Rf 33 is coming in at a very solid 87-88.

Meanwhile, RF 38 continues to bounce between zero and 81, never staying on 81 for more than one or two seconds.

So I'm thinking it's something to do with MY9 rather than with my tree.

I'll monitor it for the next couple of days. If need be I can top the tree and eliminate that as a potential problem.

BTW, there was NO wind last evening. There is a nice breeze today but that doesn't seem to affect my reception of 4.1 or 2.1 at all.

I'm pretty sure these SD channels do look a little cleaner now on my 59" plasma. Lovin' OTA from NYC.

How do you find out where the actual broadcasting antenna is? I assumed that all the major channels (2, 4, 5, 7, 11 and 13) where all on the ESB. Is this wrong?

All those channels plus 9 and more are located on the Empire State Building.

Go to this Web site and click on the New York City listing. You will find information including the location of each station's transmission facilities. As for those on the Empire State Building specifically, you will find at what height on the building each one is located.

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php

Comparing two stations I get at my location:

9-1 (38) WWOR-TV SECAUCUS, NJ 1007048 1434' DT‑CP MOD 1440' 355 kW ND

39-1 (39) WLVT-TV ALLENTOWN, PA 1031215 531' DT‑LIC 968' 52 kW DA

These two stations are broadcasting at RF's 38 and 39. respectively. MY9 is at a higher elevation and significantly more power (1440' / 355 kW) than WLVT (968' / 52 kW ), yet I get ch 39 very strong even when I'm not pointed directly at it, and now can't get MY9 at all.

I really don't get it. I know that there's a ridge that impairs my NYC reception, but should my MY9 reception really be this lousy?

Especially when I'm getting 4.1 and 2.1 just fine, as is also true with 7.1, 11.1 and 13.1?

I really just can't figure out what the deal is with MY9.

I tried emailing my engineer contact at FOX 5.1 but his email address appears to no longer be good.

I'm about 7 miles closer to the ESB than I am to WLVT's antenna at Bauer Rock, PA.

Have you considered it might be a multipath issue? When they were building the twin towers in the 60's, 70's, there was a study done that concluded the towers would cause ghosting/multipath for signals from the ESB. So they moved the antennas to towers. It's possible it may be a multpath issue with the signals transmitting from the ESB.

I dunno what it could be but I find it odd that the only two NYC stations I have problems with are 5.1 and 9.1, both owned by FOX (or whatever their connection / ownersip is). I've never been able to get 5.1 and now I can't get 9.1 (which I used to get on a rathar "iffy" basis) either.

They are at RF 44 and RF 38. As I say, I receive other stations (out of Philly or Allentown) at those approximate RF's with no issues.

Would multipath be more likely to affect RF 38 than RF 28 or RF 33? Also, wouldn't multipath tend to come and go? As it stands now, I seem to have a problem which remains consistent, or has for several days now. Reception was fine just 3-4 weeks ago but now it's virtually zero.

If you've seen my prior post, I do have a tree in my NYC LOS, but I really doubt that would be affecting only these "FOX stations." It seems to me that if it was the problem, it would likely be affecting my RF 33 station as well (2.1) and perhaps also my RF 28 station (4.1).

But those are fine.

7, 11 and 13 are VHF stations, so they presumably would be less affected (or unaffected?) by the tree. And they do come in just fine.

As it stands now, it looks like I'll have to try cutting those treetops. But I bet I'm just gonna end up being pissed off that I did

Because I bet it's not going to do a thing to improve my reception.

Did you recent loss of 9.1 happen to coincide with the announcement that 1 World Trade Center is now taller than the ESB? If yes, that may be where your multipath signal is coming from. Not all TV stations are affected equally. It depends on the relative phase of the direct signal and the multipath signal. The worse case is when they are 180 deg. out of phase This is probably the situation with WPIX9.

Today's HDTV receivers can tolerate strong multipath signals but that is only true if your direct signal is stronger. Are you using a preamplifier with your antenna? The stronger the direct signal is, the better the receiver can compensate for the distortion caused by the multipath signal. If you are using a preamplifier, then the only thing left to do is to try your antenna at different spots.

Interesting thought. If it's not that then it either has to be my tree or something that's changed with 9.1 (which is WWOR a/k/a MY9)

According to Wikipedia, 1 WTC "has been the tallest building in New York since April 30, 2012."

So the time does match. Prior to this past Monday, the last time I tried MY9 reception was April 27 and it was very good then. I didn't tune to it again until last Monday, when it was no good (as it remains)

I guess maybe they set the spire on 1 WTC on 4/30? What else could they have done on that particular day that would have changed the height so dramatically?

So it does seem like maybe your thinking has nailed the cause. I really don't think my tree is the problem but I can't say for sure until I "elimate it from our inquiries" (as they say on all the British police shows).

If I do that, then it will be down to some change attributable to the station itself, or your theory.

You may indeed have nailed it. Thanks for the input in any event.

As of this writing, there is no spire and will be no spire atop of 1WTC.

The current plan calls for an unsheathed antenna mast to be erected.

The steel girders for the top floors are now in place - the exterior of the building's
top floors still need to be installed.

It's as "close" as every other NY station ..

WNET's main studios and offices are located in Midtown Manhattan...
The station's transmitter is on the Empire State Building.

Do you think it's possible that the building could have changed enough in the period from the end of the ballgame on April 27 to last Monday evening @ 7 pm (May 14) so that it could affect my reception as much as it's been affected?

That's really only 16 days total.

I still think it's not my tree and I have to wonder if it could be 1 WTC.

Which leaves only something attributable to MY9 itself.

Or maybe a tropo effect? I suppose it could be that (altho' it's been goin' on for 5 days now)

Although I suppose tropo would also affect other stations, and I am getting everything else just fine.

Before going thru the trouble and dangers of cutting down treetops, have you tried a preamp as many here have suggested?

If you don't use a preamplifier when you have weak signals, you will lose some stations. See pictures I found on HDTVexpert's website.

Looks like Tonight I can pick up TV Stations from Philly !!

When will someone with authority at WCBS finally wake up, take notice and care about the abomination that is 2.2?

The picture's aspect ratio has been distorted since day 1!

Until a moment ago, there was no audio this morning!

Doesn't anyone have any pride left at the Deuce?

If you're going to do something, do it right!

When the content makes it not worth watching? It simply repeats the same old stale news, weather and sports hour after hour! If you want to know yesterdays events today then I guess you would care about PQ. The problem with 2.2 goes far beyong PQ.

I, and other discerning people do care about Picture Quality!

What 2.2 is doing is not really a question of quality - it has to do with the wrong buttons
being pushed causing the picture in full screen, 16:9 to be vertically squashed - and no one, including the head of CBS Owned Stations (also the head of Channel 2) can't take the time/or care to have this fixed.

No one at CBS is watching it either. That's why it isn't getting fixed. No one working for CBS is watching it. Few on this forum are watching it as you are the only one worked up over the PQ.

That should be a clue that it isn't worth being an issue for you and the few others who like to watch the same news, weather and sports over and over.

I think there are much bigger issues with OTA to worry about.

LEDs?

1. Stations discontinuing Broadcasting Subchannels
2. Stations reducing broadcast power
3. Stations going out of business
4. Stations moving transmitters
5. LED and other Interference
6. Broadcast content
7. PQ Quality

I'm sure others can add to the list

FWIW, here are my thoughts on this thread:

I think the first four items are very good topics for this thread.

I also think that Number 7 is inherent in any discussion we have here. If anything on the transmitting end, the receiving end or in between either improves or degrades PQ then it is of paramount importance to all of us here.

I will comment on Number 6 as my final item.

The first four topics all deal with the transmission of the signal. I would include any topic that deals with the reception of the signal. This would include posts on antennas, tuners, preamps, distribution amps, cables and anything that either improves or degrades reception. When I say tuners I would like to see more information about which TV's and DVR's have tuners that work best with OTA where signal levels can be lower than they are with cable.

Finally I would like to suggest that we completely avoid any discussion of broadcast content in the thread. My reason for this is that discussion of broadcast content can often be controversial and the impact of broadcast content is not limited to OTA viewers but impacts cable and satellite viewers as well. I am not saying people should not discuss broadcast content, I just do not think it should be in this thread.

#1 and 7 conflict
Sub channels DESTROY picture quality

Local content is fair game for this and all local topics.