Miami / Ft. Lauderdale, FL - HDTV - Page 214

Wow, I just checked WSVN Ch 7 at 10:45pm and their signal just shot up from 70 to 85. No other station's signal went up except for WSVN. Keep it going guys.

Can anybody confirm that channel 7 actually increased their transmitter power? (I saw that their EMERGENCY request was granted by the FCC, but then Radio Shack doesn't carry that kind of hardware...) I was able to receive channel 7 and channel 10 this morning for about half an hour, the latter for the first time ever. It must have been weather-related since they're both gone now.

Yeah.. Ch 7 is back down to 70%. I don't think it was weather-related cause it lasted for 3 days. It was good while it lasted.

Can anyone confirm that the guide is present and working (with listings) in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area (over-the-air or via Comcast Cable)?

WSVN now wants to boost power to 158 kW with a new antenna.

- Trip

Does anyone know the frequency for Wplg and wsvn? My tlevision pulls them in fine, but I have to add a frequency range to my SV8000 for pvr recording. I had WPLG at 18900khz, not sure what that means but it scans in mid-vhf, low-vhf and uhf.

After the switch I can't seem to find them.

If it had 189000 kHz before, then I would guess:

WSVN: 177000 kHz
WPLG: 195000 kHz

See if those work.

- Trip

WPLG has now joined WSVN in asking to boost power. WPLG wants to go up to 60 kW on the current antenna.

- Trip

Everyone,

I want to try to clear a few things up here, because there is some misinformation going on.

First thing, WPLG is on our new tower@ 30 KW erp on Channel 10. We went to that when we converted at 9AM on the 12th. WSVN will be joining us there when their transmitter building is complete. For now, they are using their old omni and I believe their erp is roughly 63KW. Neither of us was ever side mounted or on the same tower before.

WPLG is now using a patterned antenna, one that puts more power to the north and south, and less to the Everglades and Atlantic Ocean. Hopefully, this helps.

We do have a construction permit for 156 kw that we intended to complete by early to mid 2010. Seeing the continuing reception issues, we are quickly moving to increase power to 60kw erp. Trip is correct, we have filed for an STA to get there as soon as possible (hopefully in the next two weeks). We expect that will significantly improve reception until we can overcome some construction and technical hurdles to get us to fulfill our CP.

Please understand, we may need to lower power during daylight hours, and sometime go to our standby antenna at the 700 foot level to protect tower workers who are still on the job. If you ride by "the farm" you will still see a crane on top of our new tower. That should be down in the next few weeks.

There may be some other tempoarry power reductions as we begin the process of taking down the old Channel 10 tower (right beside the new one).

Sorry I haven't checked in for a while; we've been busy building our new studio, tower and transmitter building. Also got a little fatigued with patiently explaining misconceptions and getting attacked for it on this site. You can only explain so many times the difference in propagation between VHF and UHF and basically get taken to task for explaining reality! At times, the hostility level was more than I ever felt like dealing with.

As you all may know, reception of Digital VHF at assigned power levels turned out to be a huge problem not only here but all over the US. Google VHF HD and you will see many hits with serious issues in Philly, New York, Chicago, Washington, etc. We are working hard to rectify, but it may take time.

Steve Ellis
Assistant CE
WPLG

Thanks Steve!

Can anyone confirm that WTVJ 6 has ceased its nitelite operation as scheduled ? On the morning of Jun 22 it was received here in San Antonio over the raster of our local KFLZ-CA-6.

WTVJ ch. 6 is gone from low band as of 6/26. WPBT ch. 2 is still on with a nightlight service.

WTVJ analog 58 is still broadcasting the main content from digital 6-1.

Hi 97Strat,
Over the past few weeks and months WTVJ has gone through a major change in the way we carry our stream in the studio and in monitoring. Without getting too much into details, much of our signal processing that used to be done in house in Miramar is now outsourced to a company located in Atlanta. This is a new system to NBC, and as in most new NBC technologies WTVJ is the first to implement it. So as you might imagine we have had to deal with and clear problems that are not only just associated to us, but are not even associated to other owned and operated NBC stations yet. We are working hard to clean up the 'beta" version, and expect to have all the problems resolved within the next few weeks. Sorry about all the audio problems, but trust me, it pains me just as much as it pains you!

Hi Guys,
I thought you might enjoy this video of the final WTVJ broadcast to the analog transmitter and the transmitter turn off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llkCCPxQfzs

And for all of you transmitter junkies here is a video tour of the transmitter site not long before shut down:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=947Ty...eature=channel

Neat WTVJ video with an all-too-familiar "soundtrack". Thru the decades here
http://www.qsl.net/wa5iyx/WFOR-4.txt
http://www.qsl.net/wa5iyx/images/wtvj-63a.jpg
http://www.qsl.net/wa5iyx/WTVJ-6.txt
Got the Orlando Ch 6 nightlight here this morning.

Earnest, I can't thank you enough for responding!! It's been driving me crazy and I haven't read a thing about this until your response.

All of the above having been said, I've noticed that now the only audio issues seem to be when there's live content being broadcast from the studio, e.g., live local news. Sound that should be in the center still comes from all around. Network programming and all commercials (at least that I've seen/heard) are all fine now, so it appears that you guys are indeed working through the bugs!

Again, thanks so much for the reply and explanation.

Hey DredTek, those are very cool videos, thanks for sharing!

Here's another video I've run across of channel 10's shutdown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p5S73yfVCg

NBC has filed a "displacement application" to move this analog translator to ch. 51. Don't throw away your portable analog hurricane TV if you live in South Broward or North Dade:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws....&fac_num=63151

WPLG Upgraded it's power level to 60 KW erp on Saturday 7/4 at 5 AM. Hopefully this eases some reception issues.

Steve Ellis
WPLG

My reception of channel 10 has actually gotten worse according to my tuner this weekend. I was thinking channel 10 had decreased power to work on the tower.

I used to get both channel 7 and 10 with about 63-67% but now channel 10 is at about 25% while 7 is still the same.

It's possible that I am receiving too much signal or some kind of multipath now.

Unfortunately still "NO SIGNAL" on ch. 10 here in central Palm Beach. I don't get 7 either, but both 7 and 10 come in sometimes when there is enhanced propagation toward Miami. Miami's full-power UHF's, except Ion, are always solid.

Telemundo is solid for me tonight, too. Maybe they've increased power. I'm getting a soap opera in HD, this is the first time I've seen HD on Telemundo other than studio shots in their local news.

Multipath is very likely the culprit. We have not powered down for tower work since the 4th. This is not the first report we have received and its getting to be more common nationwide as the V's start to power up. Sorry, but for many folks with indoor antennas that were receiving us in the past, the situation now has changed and depending on the ghost-cancelling abilities of the receiver, antenna position, etc., they may encounter some reception issues.

With our new antenna, we are focusing a lot of power North and South, while WSVN is still on their Omni. This may explain the difference in multipath interference.

Steve Ellis
WPLG

Yesterday afternoon I was talking to a Comcast supervisor about something else but before hanging up I asked when they would be adding more HD in South Florida since they were really behind their competition.

In summary, this is his answer (and as I said, FWIW):

Starting next month there is a 13 month project to convert all of South Florida to digital only. It would be done area by area starting in Broward (no idea on the sequence). As an area is converted the following would happen:

· The very basic service, channels 1 to 24, would remain analog for out the wall viewing.
· Channels 25 to 100 would become digital and would require a DTA box (quite small) to view them. (I have always thought of DTA as standing for Digital To Analog but it is actually something else).
· Two free DTAs will be provided to every household that requests them. (I have read that in other areas this is a go pick them up and do a self install deal). Any additional units will cost $1.99 a month.
· Internet speeds will automatically increase with no additional charge.
· New HD channels will be added. No idea what channels or how many but there would be capacity for up to 100 total (two and an a half times that currently provided).

So far as the additional HD channels go, in other areas this has typically included Planet Green, Travel, MGM, Style, Weather, amongst others and includes multiple premium channels of HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Starz. No saying what happens here, of course.

As I said, grist for the mill and FWIW!!!!

Do you think that you guys might consider getting a UHF frequency? That would solve all your problems.

That apparently is what Sunbeam is doing in Boston, where they've received FCC approval for WHDH ch. 7 to light up its pre-transition ch. 42 transmitter. No word on whether they plan to get a companion UHF frequency for WSVN ch. 7.

Similar to what I was told except your time frame is probably more accurate. God knows when they'd start Dade.

Yes, I'm also inclined to believe it overall. It follows a very similar pattern to that in other areas of the country. Timing is the real question mark!

If the 13 months is accurate, it really does start next month and things remain on schedule, I would guess Dade would start about five to six months (possibly seven) into the project. (This is just a guess based on the relative sizes of Broward and Dade and assuming they complete Broward first).

I also have a hard time believing they will add additional HD channels area by area. Personally, I'd expect no more HD channels until Broward is fully converted. Bur who knows?

I have a Comcast acct. both in Aventura and iin Okld., Ca. I just got a notice from Okld. Comcast that I'll need to pick up a "box", to get channels 35-82. They didn't say exactly when the change over would take place - but I can get 2 boxes for free.
It appears they will mail these out, if you ask. Since there is a Comcast office a few blocks fm. my Okld. office, I'll just pick them up next week when I'm there.
They use the term "Digital Adapters".

While both systems carry most of the same channels, there are many more local channels in the Bay Area., thus (I guess) accounting for more channel numbers not requiring a "box".

...mike

Best news I've heard in quite awhile. I'd love to know the expected time frame for the transition in Martin County. Please keep us updated! I believe DTA is Digital Transporter Adapter.