Grand Rapids, MI - HDTV - Page 258

WXSP is in HD on WXSP CD channel 15.1 in Grand Rapids, WOLP LD channel 15.3 (RF 41.1) Grand Rapids (transmitter in Middleville), WOMS channel 29.1 in Muskegon, and on most Comcast systems on channel 235.

By the end of the year it will also be in HD on WOHO CD channel 33.1 Holland, WOKZ CD channel 50.1 Kalamazoo and WOBC CD channel 14.1 BAttle Creek.

I live in Charlotte and get a very good signal on the assorted stations whose towers are near Gun Lake. I would like to get WXSP in HD instead of the SD signal currently available to me on 8.2. Would I be within range of WOLP from Middleville? It doesn't show up in antennaweb.org for my address, but I have a good antenna and rotor approximately 15 feet high and Middleville is closer than Gun Lake, although, obviously. WOLP's signal strength is not as high as 8.2. I would like to get informed opinions before going through the hassle of scanning.

Thanks in advance for all replies.

JT01

Antennaweb is crap. If you want to see if you have a chance of getting WXSP (or any station in the Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo market), you really need to go to TV Fool. That site gives you signal strengths for the stations in your market, & if you have a chance of getting them. It primarily focuses on outside, but might be possible to pickup indoors too. I did however run an estimated TV Fool for Middleville, & you have a better chance of getting WOLP-CD than WXSP-CD, because WOLP-CD is transmitting around the area most Grand Rapids stations transmit from, while WXSP-CD transmits much closer to Grand Rapids. So you have a chance of getting the HD signal of the My Network affiliate from WOLP-CD, & not rely on WOOD-TV's SD simulcast on 8.2, & WOLP-CD is on RF 41 (WOTV's former analog channel) if you add the channel in manually.

I ran a TV Fool analysis for my address in Charlotte and WOLP-LD is listed as very weak with a NM (noise margin) of -5.3. The weakest station I am currently receiving has a noise margin of +15, so I am not optimistic about receiving WOLP. Thanks for the reply.

JT01

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...IDS%26state=MI

The above link will show you the coverage contour for WOLP-CD.

As I suspected, Charlotte is outside the coverage area, although only by about 5 miles - thanks for the info.

JT01

I am just N.W. of Kalamazoo and show to be inside the circle and I rarely pick it up, so don't feel too bad...

Hello,

I have been unable to receive 8.1 (WOODTV), 13.1 (WZZMTV), and their substations OTA near the center of GR. They were coming in perfectly a week ago then suddenly Windows Media Center says their service is unavailable. I can receive all of my usual other channels okay. Any hints or suggestions?

Sounds like you don't have high band VHF elements on your antenna. I'll bet your using an indoor antenna or an outdoor UHF antenna.

Yep WWMT (and WLAJ in Lansing) which is owned by Freedom Communications, has been sold to Sinclair.

Now, is that a plus???? It is a coin flip when it comes to which company is worse when it comes to upgrading their equipment.

Wonder if that means WWMT will get Ring of Honor wrestling now..

I have a roof-top antenna. These stations were coming in fine for over a year. I tried to troubleshoot the problem by reconnecting the amplifier (? The indoor plug) and checking the wire connections. I also visually inspected the actual antenna to see if anything was bent or broken. To my untrained eye, I couldn't find any damage.

On a bright note, on Sunday night, I got 8.1 back. But then Monday, nothing again. Any suggestions?

Maybe the amp has gone bad.

Bypass the amplifier with a "F" barrel. Then disconnect the coax from the power supply and connect directly to your TV. Do a re-scan and see what happens. Make sure your antenna is pointed to the Gunn Lake area just South of Middleville.

Just flipping channels about 8:55PM after watching a movie. No signal on channel 17. Anybody having the same problem? I am on the NE side with a LOS to the Gun Lake transmitters.

Yup was down on OTA and Directv. Was out about 5 minutes and was back.

Just my luck to catch a 5 min window. At least I know it wasn't my TV. Thanks.

Kamakzie,

Seeing that you are in Cedar, I'll ask you. I have a co-worker in Sand Lake. What are her best options for OTA being the whole county (in distance) from Gun Lake?

Hmmmm I have a Winegard antenna. I get all the locals except 13 because its in the opposite direction.

What's up with the picture on WWMT-HD? Watching the game last night and the picture was horrible, jagged edges on everything. Both OTA and Charter Cable, looked worse than SD, still that way this morning.

I am having the same problem with WWMT HD on DirecTV.

It's WWMT. What more do we need to say.

Sad part is, in my opinion, CBS has the best HD quality for sports.

Also noticed the terrible picture on WWMT HD. I guess I'm glad to see that it's not just my TV, but this is pretty bad!

Looks like they fixed what ever it was, picture looked much better yesterday.

They must have fixed it later in the day. I noticed it was still bad at around 10:30 Sunday AM.

It went south sometime during the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving day - and was bad for at least 3 days. I hope it wasn't someone "asleep at the wheel" over there and that the delay was due to equipment lead time!

Seem to be a slew of technical problems during their newscasts, no audio, wrong headline for the video and anchors staring blankly into the camera when it should be on someone else. I am used to this on WWMT, I hope this is not a trend that is going to last!

Ok, I have a question for anyone in the GR area with Comcast. I am moving and am going to downgrade my Comcast TV service to just basic cable. I have a Vizio HDTV with a built-in tuner. During the ordering process, it asks me how many TV's I want for
and

The guy I talked to online said I should choose the "Digital Adapter Service". Do I need to select this if I just want to use the tuner in my TV? Do I need to select any of these? There is a $20 one time fee associated with each so if they aren't necessary, I would rather not do them.

If you are just getting the limited basic package, then you shouldn't need the digital adapters. Everything in the limited basic package is available in ClearQAM, and the locals will be included in HD. The digital adapter will not provide any HD channels.

SiliconDust maintains a list of channels available in ClearQAM here:
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun...lineup_8284323

Make sure your local Comcast does allow the HD channels. Comcast in NW Indiana & Chicagoland does not include HD channels in the limited basic package. They have that in the digital tier, along with digital subchannels. IN my area, it's only the local channels in SD & only includes the main channel. If that is the case there too, then you would have to use the analog cable tuner for that, & not the QAM tuner, which is digital.

Here in Middlebury, Comcast has the HD locals in the clear and all the subchannels are included, along with several other cable channels.