Fort Smith, AR - HDTV - Page 103

Direct picks 40 up ota. Dish gets their SD locals from direct in this market, so that explains it.
Both of them put up that message when the signal is lost. The stupid thing is we have to call each one to have them take it off.
They continued to have problems even after the transmitter was back on. Yesterday, dish had enough of direct's problems with providing them with 29 OTA and began center cutting the HD fiber feed we give them. Wouldn't do that for 40 though. Said they didn't have enough HD down converters.

Hey did anybody see those commercials of channel 5 during the Super Bowl where they in HD. If so are they going to do their news in HD?

i saw them too, and was impressed. not sure if they are going HD though.

I wish somebody around here did that would be nice. During the summer I was able to get the news out of Tulsa and St. Louis and it was very nice.

Well darn it. My wife is addicted to Smallville and watching sd stretched on the projector is really, really horrible. I could stomach it in hd with Lois and the special effects making it watchable but I have lost all desire to watch it now. Ahh well it probably for the best! We moved from OKC last summer and I didn't think much of it at the time.

Thank you everyone who replied to my question

@4029,
Question about aspect ratio:
On more and more news clips and some commercials on 29-1, I'm seeing an incorrect aspect ratio. It looks like anamorphic 4:3 that should be stretched to letterbox 16:9, but is not. The people look squished tall & skinny, and circles look like tall ovals. Example:


Does 40/29 not have equipment to correct this or is it operator error?

Commercials air the way we get them. News clips from outside sources do too. We have AFD correctors online, but I haven't seen a single piece of video carrying AFD code yet.
Operators are not allowed to mess with aspect ratios for several reasons. One operator, four streams to watch, Changing involves drilling down through several layers of menus and thus takes a long time, changing usually causes a glitch on air, and last but not least I am sure it would get messed up and be worse than it is..

I suspect aspect ratio roulette will only get worse, unless AFD use becomes more widespread.

Speaking of wrong aspect ratios, is KAFT off the air? Getting no signal here.

No problem in Van Buren. Did you loose your VHF antenna in the heavy wind? It blew allot of coax runs loose on our tower.

[quote=arxaw;18152036]I suspect aspect ratio roulette will only get worse, unless AFD use becomes more widespread.
QUOTE]

I'm not sure AFD is the answer either. That puts what you see at the whim of who knows what producer located who knows where.

Didn't lose the antennas on my tower. Nothing loose, either.

KAFT's back on. They've probably been working on the project to double their transmitter power, scheduled to be finished by end of winter. I hope if helps distant viewers that have VHF dropout problems.

KAFT has filed a license app for the 37.9 kW permit. Anyone see an increase in strength/reliability?

- Trip

Trip, does filing a license app. mean they've completed their transmitter upgrade? There's nothing on their web site to indicate that (although that's not surprising). [edit:]Additionally, I have not detected any increase in signal strength, still around 76%.

I'm hoping they haven't finished the upgrade, because just yesterday, I tried to help someone pick up KAFT, but no luck. They live near the red dot on this map:

Yes, the license app means it should be complete.

- Trip

Well, that's disappointing news.

It's not any better or worse for me.

Per AETN, the power increase is complete for KAFT. I am also detecting absolutely no improvement in signal strength here in Carroll County.

Sorry you guy's reception didn't improve!!! A UHF Transmitter would definately improve it at a reasonable power level!

According to AETN's Website on March 1, 2010 they completed their work at KAFT and its operating at full power. 37.9 kW

On 3-9-10 they send in there application for License To Cover like Trip said!

When this is approved the FCC will change them from CP to LIC! On the FCC Database!

KEMV 13 / Mountain View, AR
AETN is in the process of adding transmission equipment and a new, larger broadcast antenna. This should be complete by early summer.

I bet when they do this I won't see a change either!!! The power is changing from 4.05 kW to 12.1 kW.

This station is dead at my house of a daytime but works after dark. I'm 64 miles away from the tranmitter.

I can also get AETN's only UHF station KTEJ 20 from Jonesboro AR, I'll be glad when the up the power from 50 kW to 419 kW in 2011!!!! Because at 50 kW it pixilates sometimes of a daytime! At 60 miles away from transmitter!
____________________________________________________________ _____
Local TV Reception and Dxing from Thayer, MO and The OZARKS
Everybody can view my blog that wants to!!! Check out my polls and please VOTE if you like!

When did KNWA fix the audio on their local news? I noticed the talking heads voices are now coming out of the center channel speaker. It used to be all over the room.

Now, if KFSM would do the same...

Really wish y'all would get whatever hardware is necessary to be able to have graphics and HD at the same time. Today ABC has basketball which I actually want to watch, but in 4:3 SD due to the weather graphic. NBC has hockey which I don't want to watch in HD, no graphic. CBS has golf, also don't want to watch, in HD with a weather graphic.

EDIT: Nevermind, somebody fixed it before the first quarter ended.

Okay, so that I don't have to read through all 103 pages, do you guys and gals know where I might find information for a good antenna for OTA HD in for Springdale? Thanks in advance

Well if I install an indoor antenna it will be about 7ft off the ground I guess and if in the attic about 15 feet off the ground. I'm really trying to avoid installing an antenna on the outside of my house as I don't like the looks of them.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9fbef215227636

Btw, thanks in advance

TVFool shows multiple hills between you and every station of interest except KHOG-ABC, which has one hill between you and there. An indoor antenna may work, but it may be hit or miss, and you'd likely be futzing with it when you change channels. I know of no indoor antenna I would try with that TVFool and suggest you use an outdoor antenna if you want reliable reception. If your roof isn't metal or you don't have radiant barrier roof decking, an attic install might work fine.

If in your situation, I would purchase the antenna linked below and aim it almost due South. If the coax run is over 50' or if you're connecting multiple TVs, add a low noise preamp in the attic, before the coax splits.
Antenna: http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master...dp/B000FVVKQM/
Preamp: http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master.../dp/B000GGKOG8

I was afraid you were going to say no indoor . Any other models you recommend for an attic install as that antenna seems to be made in China now (kind of mixed reviews on it).

I haven't had the slightest hint of a signal from them since the storms a week or so ago. Still getting KNWA from that same area, so it doesn't appear to be a problem here.

I figured as much. They're are quite the blowtorch for me at my location, so not even getting a hint of signal told me something wasn't right. However, mere hours after I posted that, they were back at their usual rock-solid 85-90%.

An early initial test report of the redesigned ChannelMaster 4228 antenna was disappointing. However, more than one person I've talked to who recently tested latest production runs of the same model antenna suspect that the early tester may have received a defective antenna, as their latest tests do not agree with the initial reviewer.

Also, several people in Carroll County have recently installed the new 4228 and have had excellent results in locations that were predicted to get very little OTA TV. I have no equipment to measure test results, except signal meters on TVs, but the two 4228 antennas I installed recently work much better than I expected for both VHF & UHF. This is purely anecdotal evidence, of course, and YMMV.

The 4228 is also available now at walmart.com with free ship-to-store. If it doesn't work for you, just return it for a refund.

Re: 4228HD Antenna Update

A belated thanks for the updated info, arxaw.

Anyone else been having problems with KNWA reception? They used to be the second-strongest station for me, after KHOG. However for awhile now I can rarely get KNWA to come in at all, and it's a weak signal when it does. Haven't changed any of my equipment or anything.

I can't receive KPBI 34 or KNWA 50 this morning. I guess the thunderstorms at Garfield knocked 'em off the air.

update: According to KNWA, they suffered a direct lightning hit during the t-storms.