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Boston, MA - OTA - Page 349

post #10441 of 10530
10/8/12 at 3:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillBibeau View Post

You are forgetting the public money that Uncle Sam gives them too, even though it is much less in recent years than it has been in the past.

Gone, if the Mittster has anything to do with it.

_____
Who name's their kid " MITT " anyway?
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post #10442 of 10530
10/8/12 at 5:17pm
Quote:
You are forgetting the public money that Uncle Sam gives them too, even though it is much less in recent years than it has been in the past.
_______

Gone, if the Mittster has anything to do with it.


WGBH and the big PBS stations can to without federal money - they have plenty of other sources, including the sales of programs to commercial cable - and the ever increasing ads, even if they are not called that. The government money would be better spent helping the small PBS stations stay independent and providing grants to small independent producers.

If WGBH was in need, they would not be so quick to antagonize their viewers.
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post #10443 of 10530
10/10/12 at 3:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tschmidt View Post

The NHPTV web site is pretty vague about the impact changes will have on OTA viewers.

Finally got a response to my question, interestingly it came from WGBH rather then WENH.
Quote:
Thank you for your interest in WGBH and for your generous support. As a member-supported station, we strive to provide the most accurate information to our members.

The over-the-air NHPTV channel lineup is Prime (HD only, channel 11.1), Explore (standard-definition only, 11.2), World (11.3, as of Oct. 15th), and Kids (11.4, also as of Oct. 15th).

I hope that this information is helpful. It’s a highly competitive world out there for philanthropic support; our goal is to earn your trust and support every day. Thank you again for your support. For additional WGBH information, log in to WGBH.org to access schedules, share comments, or manage your membership preferences. Please contact WGBH Audience & Member Services with any questions, concerns, or feedback.

Sincerely,

Matt Cadarette
WGBH Audience & Member Services
617-300-3300 (M-F, 9-5)
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post #10444 of 10530
10/15/12 at 3:12am
Weather seems nice this morning but the Fox25 signal keeps dropping out in Metrowest.

Maybe a low signal or some work going on?

(Mis posted elsewhere but can't delete the new thread I created... Need more coffee)
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post #10445 of 10530
10/15/12 at 2:54pm
Hello.

Any OTA antenna installers in the Worcester area? We have had an antenna installed on the roof for about two years with no problems. Now most channels cut out every few seconds, which makes watcing TV very frustrating. The signal is 100% on most channels though so not sure what is up. Looking for a professional to come out and diagnose the issue.

Thanks!
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post #10446 of 10530
10/16/12 at 7:10am
Several years ago I used http://www.newenglandantenna.com/ They did great work.
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post #10447 of 10530
10/16/12 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocSmith View Post

Several years ago I used http://www.newenglandantenna.com/ They did great work.

Thanks for the referral. Gary from New England Antenna came out today and fixed the issue. TV is back to full signal!
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post #10448 of 10530
10/19/12 at 1:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by marcavila View Post

Thanks for the referral. Gary from New England Antenna came out today and fixed the issue. TV is back to full signal!
what was wwong and how was it fixed?
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post #10449 of 10530
10/19/12 at 7:57am
The amp that was installed on the satellite was not functioning properly and was replaced. Also the antenna itself needed to be re-pointed.
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post #10450 of 10530
10/21/12 at 12:42pm
thank you
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post #10451 of 10530
11/4/12 at 7:22am
PBS 44.1 HD and 2.1 HD OTA

Both HD channels continue to zoom 4:3 OAR programs to fill the 16:9 frame.
Tops of heads cut, heads cut off of standing foreground figures, sides missing.

Don't they at least monitor their transmission?

I have complained in the past to them directly and received a response which
really meant " please go away".

Quanity takes place over quality.
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post #10452 of 10530
11/4/12 at 11:35am
It was great to have TV during the last outage. News and entertainment are key to surviving an outage.

Did anyone notice that Comcast was running a commercial during the outage that featured a Dish subscriber bemoaning lost of service due to rain? It's still running and I wonder how many Comcast customers are thinking Dish or OTA would have worked during the outage.

My OTA adventure started during an earlier outage. I hooked an inexpensive antenna to the tv in my bedroom. To my surprise, the image quality was very good and there were a lot of channels.

We lose power a lot in New Hampshire. Outages last days not hours. A generator replaces the electric company, a smart phone provides internet and telecommunications, and an antenna in my attic keeps me entertained and informed.
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post #10453 of 10530
12/10/12 at 10:04pm
WBPX (ION) has at some point added another subchannel - 68-4, which shows PSIP ID as ISHOP, but the on-screen bug displays ION Life. It appears to be, as suggested elsewhere, the west coast feed of ION Life. Given the name ISHOP, the current programming is likely temporary.
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post #10454 of 10530
12/11/12 at 3:27pm
We have the same thing with WHPX-TV (ION) channel 26 of New London, CT (Hartford/New Haven DMA).
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post #10455 of 10530
12/30/12 at 12:52pm
Anyone else seeing poor signal quality on WBZ 4.1 OTA today? I'm receiving all other Boston channels (2,5,7,25, etc) without any problems, but WBZ is cutting in and out all day 12/30/12 - post storm.
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post #10456 of 10530
12/31/12 at 5:53am
I noticed some signal level issues on 4.1 during the Colts/Texans game yesterday afternoon but it coincided with some odd behavior on my HTPC. After a reboot things worked fine so I figured it was just an issue with the HTPC. No issues during the later half of the that game or during the Pats game.
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post #10457 of 10530
12/31/12 at 7:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobloblaw View Post

I noticed some signal level issues on 4.1 during the Colts/Texans game yesterday afternoon but it coincided with some odd behavior on my HTPC. After a reboot things worked fine so I figured it was just an issue with the HTPC. No issues during the later half of the that game or during the Pats game.

We had a power failure at the transmitter site in the afternoon, and we were running on generator power for a short time.  Our transmitter came up at reduced power when one of the two amplifiers did not come back up on its own.  That forced us to bring it back to life manually, which took 10 minutes or so.

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post #10458 of 10530
12/31/12 at 7:52am
Ah, thanks much for the update. Just glad I'm not the only one seeing things smile.gif
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post #10459 of 10530
1/6/13 at 11:47am
Hi ob,

Was the transmitter the older IOT type or newer Solid State modules?
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post #10460 of 10530
1/6/13 at 11:48am
Sorry, one of the B's didn't register Bob!
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post #10461 of 10530
1/7/13 at 8:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillBibeau View Post

Hi ob,
Was the transmitter the older IOT type or newer Solid State modules?

Bill,

 

It was our IOT transmitter.  For the benefit of other readers, an IOT (Inductive Output Tube) transmitter uses vacuum tubes.  It is a bit misleading to refer to it as an older type compared with solid state (transistors), as both are actively sold and in-use.  IOT's are used for high power applications.  They are more efficient and can have better linearity than solid state, and watt-for-watt are considerably less expensive.  Their main drawback is the additional complexity of their liquid cooling systems and the need for high voltage (35 kilovolt) power supplies.  A solid-state transmitter has, in place of one or two tubes, a good number of modules (16 per 7 KW cabinet), so the loss of a single module does not take the transmitter off air or reduce its output power by much, compared with 50% in the case of the loss of an IOT in a dual tube transmitter, or 100%(!) in a single tube transmitter.

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post #10462 of 10530
1/14/13 at 5:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RYankowitz View Post

Bill,

It was our IOT transmitter.  

Thank for the info. At my last station, our digital signal was on UHF during the transition. We used 2 IOT in parallel. Yes, the cooling was complex and working on the high voltage system was touchy. It reminded me of when I started back in the late 60's at my first AM station. The high voltage supply for those 3CX5000's was fun to work on too.

On VHF, my station was on channel 13 and it was all solid state. I got more calls in the middle of the night for UHF problems than VHF. Most of the time, the fix was often a computer re-boot. Once the final drop dead date came, the digital output transitioned back to channel 13.
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post #10463 of 10530
1/20/13 at 8:20am
I've tried, so far unsuccessrully, to move to OTA. ny help you folks could give me to help me get a watchable picture would be greatly appreciated .

I just got 2 antennas professionally installed by a firm that has been recommended by this forum,,One antenna is turned towards NH to pick up WBIN and NHPrine and the other is turned towards the Boston antennas. The installer swore that all that was needed was to connect the signals from the two antennae into a splicer (turned backwards) and then amplify. I'm finding that many channels are completely unwatchable; I think we're going to have to somehow return to cable in order to watch the game tonight. Channel 5, WCVB, with it's high power, is the only channel that is reliable. This morning, I was unable to watch meet the press on ch 7 and fox news sunday on 25.1. I've had problems, really, with all of the other channels, but perhaps a couple of the PBS stations are a bit better than some of the others From FCC information, I believe this has something to do with the power of the station, but I am not entirely sure about this diagnosis yet. My symptoms are:
* (least often) I can get pixellation with sound that is ok,
* I can see a talking head but have no sound,
* I get freezes.
* I get freezes with an annoying buzzing-flutter sound.
One of the above interruptions happen once per sentence and it is totally unbearable.

I live close to the Boston transmitter, TV Fool and the other online tools say that I should be able to get all of the channels (contact me and I'll give you a link) but TVFool may not be appreciating that I live in a bit of a valley and there are buildings, trees, and hills in the way.

My question is :
* How can I tell if the problem is interference between the two antennae? Or is that even a potential problem?
* How can I tell how much power that I have on each channel and whether it will ever come in? Is the only way to do this with the installer? Shouldn't the original installer have somehow ensured this?
* Is there anything I can do to improve my signal? Filtering? Amplification?


* If the problem is one of adequate reception, is there anything thatt
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post #10464 of 10530
1/20/13 at 8:36am
Just a quick note: I'm trying to connect each antenna individually, without the splitter (so can expect some improvement) to see if that gives me improvement. It will be a while before I draw some conclusion, though.
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post #10465 of 10530
1/20/13 at 8:42am
Interference between two spliced antennas? Ditch the coupler/splicer, try a simple A-B switch to test each antenna, separately.
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post #10466 of 10530
1/20/13 at 9:08am
Look at the "Signal Strength" indicator (which is really a "Signal Quality" indicator, showing how-much/how-little the multi-path correction equalizer is having to work), while switching between the two antennas, and with the two combined.
There will probably be very little difference in the actual strength, but the multi-path will be higher on some channels, due to addition and subtraction of the signals from the two antennas being combined.

If you (or the installer) had an ATSC Antenna Analyzer, you'd see very bad distortion on some channels, where the signals are combined poorly.
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post #10467 of 10530
1/20/13 at 9:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrea Circle View Post

I've tried, so far unsuccessrully, to move to OTA. ny help you folks could give me to help me get a watchable picture would be greatly appreciated .

I just got 2 antennas professionally installed by a firm that has been recommended by this forum,,One antenna is turned towards NH to pick up WBIN and NHPrine and the other is turned towards the Boston antennas. The installer swore that all that was needed was to connect the signals from the two antennae into a splicer (turned backwards) and then amplify. I'm finding that many channels are completely unwatchable; I think we're going to have to somehow return to cable in order to watch the game tonight. Channel 5, WCVB, with it's high power, is the only channel that is reliable. This morning, I was unable to watch meet the press on ch 7 and fox news sunday on 25.1. I've had problems, really, with all of the other channels, but perhaps a couple of the PBS stations are a bit better than some of the others From FCC information, I believe this has something to do with the power of the station, but I am not entirely sure about this diagnosis yet. My symptoms are:
* (least often) I can get pixellation with sound that is ok,
* I can see a talking head but have no sound,
* I get freezes.
* I get freezes with an annoying buzzing-flutter sound.
One of the above interruptions happen once per sentence and it is totally unbearable.

I live close to the Boston transmitter, TV Fool and the other online tools say that I should be able to get all of the channels (contact me and I'll give you a link) but TVFool may not be appreciating that I live in a bit of a valley and there are buildings, trees, and hills in the way.

My question is :
* How can I tell if the problem is interference between the two antennae? Or is that even a potential problem?
* How can I tell how much power that I have on each channel and whether it will ever come in? Is the only way to do this with the installer? Shouldn't the original installer have somehow ensured this?
* Is there anything I can do to improve my signal? Filtering? Amplification?


* If the problem is one of adequate reception, is there anything thatt
Merging two antennas, aimed in different directions, together into one downlead will result in reception blackouts when signals from the wrong direction interfere with signals from the desired direction.

Professional antenna installers should be aware of this known problem, common to areas between major cities.

There was an antenna installer who made a lot of money for himself combining antennas aimed at Chicago and South Bend that suffered the predictable result. He also made a lot of money for the cable company as viewers abandoned their new, expensive, professionaly installed outdoor antenas blaming "digital television stations" for their reception problems.

As proof, you will discover that disconnecting the "wrong" antenna will definitely improve reception from "deisred" direction.

As suggested, two downleads from two different antennas to an A/B switch at the back of your TV receiver allows selecting the desired city without blackouts from the wrong direction. You may have to use two parallel distribution systems to several switches if you have multiple TV receivers.

A more extreme solution would be purchasing multiple single-channel DTV processors for each station from one direction and injecting them into the antenna system from the other direction for switchless single cable distribution.
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post #10468 of 10530
1/20/13 at 3:15pm
@Circle. You say you have an amplifier up at the antenna and you live close to transmitter antennas in Newton. From your symptoms, it might be your amplifier is overloaded (too strong an input signal.) This could explain some of your symptoms. If you still see the same symptoms when you test the individual antennas, then I would suspect an amplifier related problem. You could try to bypass it to see if your reception improves.
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post #10469 of 10530
1/21/13 at 6:17am
Did anyone notice signal reception issues during the Pats game last night? I was getting dropouts every 5-10 minutes the entire evening. I tried rebooting my HTPC and HDhomeruns just to make sure I wasn't seeing a glitch with my setup.
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post #10470 of 10530
1/21/13 at 7:58am
No problems with Pats game reception here last night. Signal (sadly) came in without any dropouts for us.
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