Traverse City, MI - HDTV - Page 46

I am now up and running in Leelanau County and much to my amazement I am getting some stations, maybe all of them. Antennaweb told me I'd get zilch.

All in all I am getting 11 stations but many are duplicated. For instance I am getting both ABC and CBS on 7 and 29. Also I am getting CBS and Fox on both 9 and 45. I occasionally get Fox on 33. I am getting CREATE on 27.3, PBS on 27.2 but nothing on 27.1

My question is this: Are there any more sub channels I am missing? Last year NBC had a weather sub and I think someone had a movie sub. Are there any weather subs?

What's the relationship between CBS/Fox and NBC/ABC? I'm curious how they're on the channels. I don't see that happening in the big city.

I am getting all of this without a rotor.

For us folks in the boonies DTV is a good thing. We've never had so many crystal clear stations.

I don't know where WFUP comes from but eventually WFUP-FX will be FOX and WFUP-CB will be CBS.

I am guessing FX and CB is Fox and CBS shortened.

Vanderbilt

PBS-HD will be on 27.1 when/if they get it going. I've asked, but no response, yet. No weather subchannels right now, but 7.3 may be NBC weather. Locally, CBS and FOX are operated by the same folks, but licensed to Heritage Broadcasting and Cadillac Telecasting. Maybe it's really the same company? ABC and NBC are operated by Barrington. FOX 33 recently moved from rf 47 in Kalkaska to rf 32 in Cadillac. WPBN has requested to replace the ch. 7 transmitter in Harrietta with its ch. 50 transmitter currently in TC. They also want to use FOX's vacated ch. 47 transmitter in Kalkaska.

Since this is the only part of your post not yet answered, I will handle it.

Last year, NBC had RTN and Weather Plus, and ABC had CW+. When the two stations came under common control, they dropped those subchannels in favor of simulcasting to expand the coverage of the network stations.

- Trip

This is why I like to get WZZM when I can. They have a weather subchannel.

To answer this part of your question...
ABC 29 and 8 is owned by Tucker Broadcasting and NBC 7 and 4 is owned by Barrington Broadcasting, however 29 and 8 is operated via a shared services agreement by Barrington Broadcasting. Therefore they are both run by Barrington. To save costs, they now share a studio together west of TC.

CBS 9 and 10 is owned by Heritage Broadcasting while Fox 33/32/45 is owned by Cadillac Telecasting. They also have a shared services agreement which allows Heritage to operate the Fox stations.

To ensure adequate coverage both sets of channels broadcast each others stations on there respective subchannels.

Where is WZZM from?

Where do ch 9 and 45 broadcast from? How 'bout ch 29?

I'm not familiar with areas broadcasting both DT and HD signals such as is done here. I take it this is done for bandwidth issues. For instance Fox 45 doesn't have enough bandwidth to broadcast CBS-HD as a sub so they do CBS DT as a sub in order to maximize coverage areas for CBS. Is that correct?

Channel 9 & 32 are in Tustin, MI. Channel 29 is in Kalkaska. Channel 45 is in Vanderbilt. You are correct about the bandwith issues.

I tend to get channel 9 better than 7 even though Harrietta is a little closer. Is ch 9 higher powered than 7? Is one UHF and the other VHF?

It is a Grand Rapids station. Their tower is near Grant MI

From Leelanau county, I doubt you'd get 7 from Harrietta as it's only at ERP .5kW, yes 500 watts. More likely, you're getting WPBN on channel 50 from their tower on M-72. 9 is at 30 kW, but just got FCC's approval to go to 45 kW. If you're getting them, they may have already boosted their signal as there were reports from folks to the north not able to get 9 after June 12.

On the morning I wrote this, they were indeed on actual channel 47 with PSIP to virtual 32.

Sometime before 10 PM (the next time I could check the band), they had left 47 and were on channel 32 (only with their PSIP as virtual channel 33!).

Sometime later, they fixed it (actual and virtual channel 32).

If reception by tropospheric refraction in Manistique is any indication, their new facility is working quite well.

45 is also oddly configured, with "WFUP FX" carrying CBS, and "WFUP CB" carrying Fox!

I was unable to update this in a timely manner, since I was away from internet access for several days.

My reception of channel 7 is sketchy at best. I am getting WPBN on 7.1 and WGTU on 7.2 on a very good night. I get these stations much better on 29.1 and 29.2. How can I tell if I'm getting WPBN from channel 50? I assumed that ch 29 was coming from M-72. I haven't seen anything from actual ch 50 on my box.

Any plans for WPBN to up their signal from a lousy 500 watts? That sounds like something we can broadcast from our basements...

Depending on your converter/TV, some show the actual channel number being broadcasted. Try entering 50 or 50.1 on the box. Many will allow you to enter the broadcast channel and then display the virtual ch. WPBN's plan is to move the ch. 50 transmitter to Harrietta and use ch. 47 out of Kalkaska. Like now, there will be two 7.1's and 7.2's.

Is WWTV now broadcasting at 45 kW? I ask as I am receiving WWTV here in Holly (20 miles south of Flint) with an 80-83% signal strength. First time I've had it pop in after the analog shutdown - I used to receive them regularly at night via the analog signal. Tonight, I saw some digital noise on top of CBET, so I figured I'd swing the antenna NW and give it a shot. TVfool.com shows I'm 126 miles away. The weather may have an impact on it. Also locked on WCMU (the ch 26 signal NW of Mt. Pleasant.)

Yes, trop is in tonight, I got them in Temperance (just across the state line from Toledo, OH).

Saw them in Manistique with a strong signal, too.

I have confirmation from WWTV Ch 9 that they are now operating at 45kW.

The whole thing of allowing the transmitters SOUTH of Cadillac with such a high ERP amazes me. I thought there was a designated market area and you had to try to stay in it. WWTV and WFQX obviously violate that infringing on the Grand Rapids and Bay City-Saginaw-Midland markets.

You are correct...they are trying to pickup audience in the more populated southern area of the state instead of concentrating on the northern part where their coverage is suppose to be. There are to many parts of Northern Michigan which does not get an off-air signal from them....that is what they should be worrying about. But, unchecked, greed always wins the day

Actually, WPBN and WWTV moved their transmitters south of M-115 decades ago.
I suspect the plan was to reduce overlap that would have resulted when their satellite stations to the North (WTOM and WWUP) signed on.
WPBN used to transmit from just West of T.C., on a tower that still stands (it is where their channel 50 STA has been transmitting from).
Their move to Harrieta in 1959 was about the same time WTOM came to air.
WWTV moved to its site only after WWUP came on in 1962 (though I believe it was sometime after WWUP came on, it is also worth noting that they had been on channel 13, and moved to 9 to pave the way for WZZM).
There were some communities that benefited from the "new" WPBN/WWTV sites that were South of Cadillac, but still too far North to get satisfactory VHF OTA reception of CBS and NBC from Gun Lake (then WKZO 3 and WOOD 8).

The one bit of TV history I would like to know is why WWTV, WGTQ and WTOM have their transmitters so far East (Goetzville, Goetzville and ESE of Cheboygan, respectively), sending a lot of RF over Lake Huron and unpopulated locals in the East (but nowhere near East enough to serve Sudbury, the only population to the east, since Elliot Lake did not yet exist in the 1950's!). A site a little NE of St. Ignace would have been much better, slightly stronger in SSM, and far better in places like Charlevoix and Petoskey.

I heard (and haven't verified or confirmed) that where the 9&10 transmitter is--south of Cadillac--is the highest point in lower Michigan. Given the hills of Emmet County I find it hard to believe, but that's the "rumor".

I like this thread.

I've heard the same before, have not verified it, though it sounds credible.

The hills of Emmet County may look higher because one has Lake Michigan as the bottom reference.
The transmitter site of WWTV is a hill over land that is already quite high (by Michigan standards).

I've heard from several places that the hill WWTV is on is the highest in lower MI.

Found this on the interwebs, so it must be true, right?

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/...ower-Peninsula
The mildly rolling terrain and generally low elevations that characterize much of Michigan’s countryside appealed to the early agricultural settlers. The highest point in the Lower Peninsula, near Cadillac, rises only to about 1,700 feet (520 metres). Flat, nearly featureless plains also occur in many parts of the state; these are vestiges of the floors of large glacial lakes that existed some...

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/h...scp/s7-2-1.htm
LANDFORMS: Steep end-moraine ridges. The highest point in Lower Michigan (1,725 feet) is here, near Cadillac. The large sand ridges, 200 to 500 feet high, generally have well-drained soils. Most depressions between the moraine ridges do not contain wetlands because of the extreme thickness of the coarse, sandy till deposits. The ridges are moderate to steeply sloped; slopes of more than 12 percent are common, and the steepest slope class is 18 to 40 percent (Buchanan 1985).

Has WPBN in Harrietta changed anything of late? I've been getting them just fine for the last month+ (?) and now in the last week it's been cutting out and is unwatchable.

Anybody know if they'll have channel 50 in Harrietta up and running before fall? I'm getting the "I can't miss my shows" threats.

I more than suspect the recent warmer weather has allowed for tropospheric enhancement, allowing other, more powerful stations (principally WOOD) to interfere with the far weaker WPBN.

Trip,
FYI, Super 12, WLLZ, in Traverse City, carries both RTV and My Network TV. They are on cable channel 72.