Chattanooga, TN - HDTV - Page 5

Can you tell me what type antenna you had to get to receive these OTA signals. What size antenna, amp, etc. all equiptment necessary that you had to have to get these signals here in Cleveland. Most other posters are closer to Chatt. and would probably not need as powerful antenna I'm guessing.

My understanding for Direct TV is 2007 for HD local stations. Don't know on Dish.

If you don't mind a big flat mesh of an antenna outside your house, I've heard the Channel Master Model 4221A or 4228 would be a good choice - paired with the 7777 pre-amp. I'm using the Wineguard Squareshooter with good results, but it's more of a "close-range" solution. In Cleveland you may even be able to pull in Knoxville if you are high enough and can get a clear shot at their towers.

Put it as high as you can, but avoid the attic. Use RG-6 low loss cable and properly ground the rig.

These are (Ultra-High Frequency) UHF signals you're trying to pull-in...very directional, line-of-sight, and easily affected by objects blocking the "view" of the tower.

If you can find a local installer who understands HD - it would be worth the extra money to have them do this for you. DO NOT expect anyone at larger chain stores to have a clue how to get HD - especially off-air signals.

We're in somewhat of a "golden-age" of HD. The picture you see from your antenna is the best you'll ever see. As time goes on each channel will want to maximize their returns and start degrading the HD signal by adding SD sub-channels. No matter how many satellites they have, Direct and Dish will down-rezz the HD signals. It's always quantity over quality....

Hey guys, I saw someone in here was wondering about reception in Ringgold/Fort O. Im in ringgold and I can get everything except Fox (obviously). However... just a little info.. I have spent lotsa time on the roof and quite a bit of money to get good results. Here are pics of the setup.....

http://www.fenster-us.com/Antenna/1_IMG_0542

http://www.fenster-us.com/Antenna/1_IMG_0549

Using the Channel master 3020 antenna with Channel master spartan 3 preamp.

I get great results until recently, I have developed some sort of hardware problems causing complete dropouts. But.... if you are lookin for reception out in Ringgold/Fort O area.... it is definately possible, and I dont think my setup is too out of the ordinary. Good luck.. and wish me luck debugging this damn setup. Things were goin so well.... UGH!

Hey guys, good news... it was the preamp.. now I'm back in business solid as ever. Also, I dont know if aynone has seen it, but on RF channel 51 I pick up PAX-DT. I believe it is out of rome but I'm not quite sure where the tower is located. I get about 70% signal and Im pointed at Chattanooga.. So perhaps they have a tower mounted out this way. I tuned in last night and saw 4 subchannels. 2 showing different episodes of Americas Home Videos and 2 showing different religious content. So I guess if you constantly crave more humor at church.... perhaps PAX-DT is right up your alley.

Any idea as to when ABC, FOX, and WB will be available in HD in the Chattanooga area on Comcast?

I recently upgraded to DirectTV HD with the off-air antenna for local HD broadcasts. I am receiving ABC extremely well, CBS not so good....but I understand their signal is a little weak. My real problem is that I get a terrific picture on NBC but no audio. It is my understanding that the video and audio signals are intergrated and that if I am receving one I should be getting both. Any ideas as to what the problem could be. DirectTV has not been able to figure it out. Thanks

I live in Cleveland and had a guy from Chattanooga come to my home about 2 weeks ago about getting OTA signals from Chattanooga. I live in a neighborhood where I want to be very discreet about what type antenna I use and where it will be placed. We experimented with a large Yagi and a Winegard PR8800 8 bay bowtie antenna. We were unable to receive anything outside without going real high which I was not willing to do. I live in a two story house plus an attic. I asked about the height the attic would provide and the guy said we could try but he felt the added height would be offset by the fact of shooting through the roof. We tested the 8800 in the attic and was able to receive only NBC with a borderline signal. No other signal was found. The guy left and I kind of gave up on the idea of OTA and decided to wait until maybe HD locals would be available over Satellite. Later got to thinking and reading more about what people were using and kept reading about the Channel Master 4228 and the 7777 pre amp. Many people swear by this set-up. I decided to give it a try so I ordered the above mentioned set-up. I decided that at worst could probably get NBC as we had got it without pre-amp. Was only expecting to get this one channel. Did the hookup and got NBC as expected but also got ABC, but no CBS. Was very pleased with results as was not expecting this. After some moving of antenna in attic and raising to hang from rafters am now able to receive NBC, ABC, and CBS all out of my attic in some very hilly terrain with lots of trees around. I was not expecting anything like these results and am so happy I tried this set-up. The HD signal is beautiful and the digital is somewhat superior to what I get off satellite. For those of you who are trying this you may want to try this combination.

Hi ChattanoogaTyger,
The problem is not NBC. The problem is the software in your DirecTV receiver. I have had 3 receivers from DirecTV and all have this problem. All you have to do is remove your zip code from the receiver and reset it. The problem now is you have to rescan for stations and you will get no program information in your guide but you will have audio on channel 3. DirecTV wont upgrade the software to fixit because only a small number of people have this problem (a digital ota station on channel 3) and they are getting ready to change all the receivers to mpeg4 by the end of the year. Hope that helps.

The thing is it worked fine for a long time. I'm getting a new plasma on Friday that has a built in tuner. I'll see how it does with NBC.

Do you think DirectTV will upgrade all the receivers in the field or will we have to ask for an upgrade?

ChattanoogaTyger

The trade out of HD receivers from DirecTV will work in this order.
1. The top 12 TV markets. (Chattanooga 86 we will not qualify)
2. NFL Sunday Ticket costumers with HD. (That will be me.)
3. All HD costumers.
I hope this will help. They have to change all the HD customers over to new receivers because it is imposable to upgrade the old receivers to mpeg 4.

The cable company is saying that HD will be available from Chattanooga's FOX station this summer. Does that mean we will be able to pick it up OTA as well?

Bill

meester77 reported that Fox would switch towers in early August. When I talked to them about a year ago, they only seemed to care that they were legal, I'm suprised that it will happen that soon. I'm not sure what the deadline is.

I saw WB is supposed to go digital Feb 2006.

The "big 4" stations (WRCB, WTVC, WDEF, WDSI) are required to all be at full power by July. I think WRCB and WTVC are already at full power, and WDEF has a new transmitter and antenna being delivered soon which will be online by June. Hopefully FOX61 will follow suit!

I emailed the engineer at Fox 61 about a month ago and they just received the construction permit. From what he emailed they will meet the July died line but from what I know about Pegasus Communications they will be digital but not HD.

So I guess that means I'll get a better quality picture over comcast but that is about it... Figures.

I got a new Pio 4350 plasma yestarday. NBC's sound is fine on it. As a matter of fact NBC gives programing info which I don't get from the other channels. Now that I have a working signal strength indicater it seems CBS is my lowest signal strength at 66-70. It is less than PBS which suprises me.

Well, as of tonight I've lost sound on WTVCD1 9-1. Right now I'm using a Voom receiver. Anyone else lose their sound?

I'm about to visit a friend of mine that lives in Etowah. He recently bought an HDTV, I'm anxious to see his setup and I doubt he even has HD set up. I plan on bringing my Samsung T-351 and my radio shack amplified indoor antenna. Does anyone have any idea if I have any chance of picking up Chattanooga or Knoxville locals with this kind of setup, or will I definitely have to get a better antenna. Can anyone tell me which city I will have a better chance of getting? Thanks in advance.

Chris

Nothing here either on a HDTivo.

I notified the engineer about the loss of audio on 9-1. He said he would check it. If I'm the first to complain, there must not be many watching HD in Chattanooga.

They fixed it. The audio is back on 9-1.

I am using a HTPC setup (Home Theater PC) with an ATI HDTV Wonder receiver/tuner card, and running Windows Media Center 2005. I am able to get NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, but no Fox. I am using a Radioshack outdoor antenna 50" Boom Length, 18 Element Antenna; Model: VU-75 XR on a 12-foot mast on a single-story home.

My biggest problem was figuring out which orientation to point the antenna. I always assumed that you would point the antenna in the direction of the towers with the antenna forming a sort of arrow shape towards the towers. When I was living in East Brainerd, I kept getting Dalton stations and faint Atlanta stations. Then it dawned on me. The UHF portion of the antenna should point towards the towers. Doh! Boy was I relieved. I had been struggling with antennas and various positions around the roof for at least two years, and just chalking it up to low-power from the transmitters.

Also, for the record, I've also used a DVico Fusion (Model I) in my HTPC, but the tuner is pretty weak, and it constantly "stutters". Which I am sure is due to the tuner not being able to cope with Multipath. The new DVico Fusion 5 features a 5th generation LG tuner which is supposed to bring an incredible level of digital tuning, all but eliminating multipath, and the ablity to pull in weak stations. At only $99 it sounds almost worth it to try it out if there are any other HTPC users in the Chattanooga area. Plus, this card decodes unencryped QAM so if the local Comcast is broadcasting the HD chanells in unencrypted QAM, this card can tune them in. Brilliant if you are a HTPC/PVR junkie like me.

Don't worry you're in the majority, for not getting Fox. As you can see from this link, they are broadcasting at 6 kw 3 meters high from downtown Chattanooga (totally different area from where everyone else is broadcasting). Until they go full power don't expect to be able to get them.
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WDSI-TV

Ok, so the map that is on antennaweb.org that shows them broadcasting from a location a little north of the other towers is their future location, and not their current broadcast location?

Has there been any change in the July 1st-August timeframe for them to bring up their new location/power level? Also, do they have plans to go hi-def, or are they just going to rebroadcast their SD signal? It would be nice to watch some NFL games in HD this year from Fox.

Yes, the map shows their permanent (future) location atop signal mountain.

The FCC is "requiring" them to be at full power by July 1st. Whether they make that date or not we don't know, but we can only assume they are pushing ahead to try to meet it. Surely to goodness they will upgrade to HD since they are already spending big $$$ to go to full power, but this is WDSI we are talking about here.

Also for anyone who's interested, Channel 12's new high power transmitter is now installed and they are waiting for the tower crew to show up to install the new antenna and transmission line. They should be at full power by July 1 if all goes well. I have also heard rumors that WFLI is testing their digital transmitter, but no word on when it goes live or if it will be HD or not.

Has anyone in Chattanooga had any luck with the Terk TV44 that attaches to the satellite dish? I picked up a Terk HDTVi this past weekend just to see what kind of reception I'd get right off the bat. I live right downtown, so I'm fairly close to the towers (between 7 and 12 miles). I got nearly perfect reception without having to use the amplifier or really adjust the antenna. My girlfriend freaked out over the size of the HDTVi antenna though, so I was looking at the TV44 but Radioshack told me that they haven't gotten good reports with it and they didn't have any in stock for me to try out.

As always, any help is appreciated.. and also amazed that Chattanooga is on here..

I really doubt the TV44 is going to get better reception than the HDTVi (assuming it works as well as the Silver Sensor). I bought a version of the HDTVi when it was produced by someone else and called the Silver Sensor.

I put my in the attic because it gets great reception there, but also no one will ever see it...

does anybody know if fox 61 will go HD any time soon I am one of the few lucky ones that can pick up the digital station with my attic antenna. The ota channel is much better than the one from dtv.