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Charlotte, NC - OTA - Page 115

post #3421 of 5936
5/27/11 at 6:36pm
thanks for the update. i figured it was lighting. we were hit heavy too. have a great weekend!
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post #3422 of 5936
5/28/11 at 9:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by A J View Post

It has been two months since channels 46.2 and 55.2 both displayed a message about exciting new programming coming "soon". And, that raised hopes for geting AntennaTV. Anything happening on this?

Just my "outsider" overnight observation", but FWIW:

When I was staying in Mocksville Wednesday night, I saw a slide saying that programming was on 46.1 and 55.1 respectively, no mention on new programming on 46.2. I could not pick up 55 from there. The next morning I was in and out of Charlotte so quick I had no chance to rescan to see what's what for curiosity's sake.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tylerSC View Post

I'm sure the holdup is due to economics and contract negotiations, and perhaps technical issues as well. I too was hoping for Antenna TV, but we shall see what happens. RTV was originally planned for 55.2 but as you know those plans fell through. And MeTV has yet to appear on WSPA 7.2 as well, in spite of being announced 2 months ago. Getting impatient here.

The same night I saw MeTV on WCCB's 18.3.... does that station cover the Spartanburg area? If so, that may explain why not WSPA. A quick look at WSPA says they carry RTV on 7.2 but almost a year ago the station was knocked off the air by a serious lightning strike .... since you live in the area I'm sure you know more than I do. I did see RTV on WHKY's 14.2; I'm sure you're out of range of that station.
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post #3423 of 5936
5/28/11 at 3:08pm
Spartanburg isn't there intended coverage, but i receive it reliability at night. WHNS is my local Fox but it's low power.

I'm also ready for 46&55 to start whatever they have planned, just not expecting much from either channel content wise.
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post #3424 of 5936
5/28/11 at 5:49pm
Spartanburg is the digital drop off for WCCB-18, and is just beyond their primary market area. But it can be received depending upon location with a good outside UHF antenna. WSOC comes in a bit better on both 9.1 and 9.5 translator. Again with a good UHF antenna. And WBTV-3, WCNC-36, WJZY-46, and WMYT-55 come in stronger like locals in Spartanburg. However, WSPA-7.2 will be the official Greenville-Spartanburg affiliate for MeTV when it materializes, which I hope will be soon. Then we'll see if anything ever shows up on 46.2 and 55.2.
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post #3425 of 5936
5/31/11 at 2:15pm
Are 9.5 & 64.5 on the same tower (crowder mtn)?
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post #3426 of 5936
5/31/11 at 2:52pm
Not only same tower, exact same signal on channel 30.

http://www.rabbitears.info/screencap.../74070-0_1.htm

- Trip
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post #3427 of 5936
5/31/11 at 3:08pm
Same carrier frequency/different stream? 9.1 & 9.2 same carrier?

My Tv rf tech game is a bit rusty.
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post #3428 of 5936
5/31/11 at 3:15pm
Yes. 9-5 and 64-5 are the same signal just like 9-1 and 9-2 are on the same signal.

- Trip
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post #3429 of 5936
6/1/11 at 5:22am
The transmitter controller board for the Smith Mtn translator is acting flaky, Harris is sending us a new one today. The translator may be off and on during the day (Wednesday, maybe Thursday)...WSOC is well aware of the problem and is working on it.
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post #3430 of 5936
6/1/11 at 11:53am
Any ideas as to why I am losing WSOC more and more. Signal is now down to 70%, yet all other stations from both directions are all a solid 100.
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post #3431 of 5936
6/6/11 at 2:35pm
Is there something going on in Hickory?

For the last couple of nights, I have been unable to pick up 14.2, 14.3 and any of the WTVI channels.

14.4 comes in fine.

I haven't had my TV on today so I don't know if it is still a problem or not.
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post #3432 of 5936
6/6/11 at 4:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Country_Boy View Post

Is there something going on in Hickory?

For the last couple of nights, I have been unable to pick up 14.2, 14.3 and any of the WTVI channels.

14.4 comes in fine.

I haven't had my TV on today so I don't know if it is still a problem or not.

The WTVI problem is the ch 11 feed from Johnson City, TN. It has been covering up the signal from the Charlotte ch 11 feed part of the time.

The 14.2, 14.3 problem is something getting into the AMC 3 sat feed to us. Started seeing it several weeks ago.
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post #3433 of 5936
6/6/11 at 5:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tesla_engineer View Post

The WTVI problem is the ch 11 feed from Johnson City, TN. It has been covering up the signal from the Charlotte ch 11 feed part of the time.

The 14.2, 14.3 problem is something getting into the AMC 3 sat feed to us. Started seeing it several weeks ago.

Thanks for clearing this up. I was beginning to think that my trusty super-duper homemade antenna was failing to preform because of all the leaves, summer, etc.
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post #3434 of 5936
6/6/11 at 10:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tesla_engineer View Post

The WTVI problem is the ch 11 feed from Johnson City, TN. It has been covering up the signal from the Charlotte ch 11 feed part of the time.

The 14.2, 14.3 problem is something getting into the AMC 3 sat feed to us. Started seeing it several weeks ago.

Everything was coming in pretty good tonight (06-06-11).

It's good to know what the problem is though.

Thanks.

ZedPlane: Don't doubt your antenna.
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post #3435 of 5936
6/7/11 at 5:16am
I was down at a friend's house in Chesterfield SC the other day and noticed he was using an antenna for his TV needs. He's about 65 miles SE of Charlotte, tucked behind a hill from CLT and under several huge oak trees. He has an 8 bay Wineguard screen type antenna with amp, about 20 feet above ground level, orented to CLT which was installed by the local telephone coop for $200. I've noticed a good number of this same antenna installed around Chesterfield. Of course I had to try it out--it was the middle of the afternnoon with an outside temp of about 95. Charlotte stations 9, 18, and 58 were in rock solid perfect HD, along with all their sub-channels. Also, 13, 15, 21, and 43 from Florence/Myrtle Beach came in rock-solid off the back of the antenna--33 came in with break-ups. My friend reports this is typical daytime reception with 3 and 36 usually coming in solid at night. I was pretty surprised at two channels--58, which my friend says his young son watches all day, and 43 which is a good deal further away than the other Florence stations, most of which are about 50 miles away. Note that 13, a VHF channel, comes in strong off the back of a UHF antenna. Just goes to show that excellent digital reception is quite doable in rural areas with the right equipment.
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post #3436 of 5936
6/7/11 at 8:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by moedog View Post

installed by the local telephone coop for $200.

He should have built himself one.

Mine cost me - well, it didn't cost me anything other than about an hour of tinkering, a two by four, several screws, several wire clothes hangers, a balen, and a cable. I happened to have all this stuff lying around my house.

Free antenna! Boo-Yah!

My "Unique" Channel Lineup (No Duplicates) Is Now:

CBS - 3.1 - WBTV
IND - 3.2 - thisTV
ABC - 6.1 - WSOC
IND - 6.2 - WAXN
ABC - 9.2 - Weather and the occasional ball game
IND - 14.1 - WHKY
IND - 14.2 - RTV
IND - 14.3 - Tuff TV
IND - 14.4 - Family TV
PBS - 17.1 - UNC-TV
PBS - 17.2 - UNC-EX
PBS - 17.3 - UNC-KD
FOX - 18.1 - WCCB
FOX - 18.3 - MeTV
NBC - 36.1 - WCNC
NBC - 36.2 - LW
PBS - 42.1 - WTVI-HD
PBS - 42.2 - WTVI-MH
PBS - 42.3 - WTVI-ED
CW - 46.1 - WJZY

And for some reason, WMYT has been coming in the past couple of weeks. I figure it is some sort of atmospheric thing going on as I do not believe the stations has raised its output signal lately.

Not bad for a free antenna.
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post #3437 of 5936
6/7/11 at 10:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by moedog View Post

I was down at a friend's house in Chesterfield SC the other day and noticed he was using an antenna for his TV needs. He's about 65 miles SE of Charlotte, tucked behind a hill from CLT and under several huge oak trees. He has an 8 bay Wineguard screen type antenna with amp, about 20 feet above ground level, orented to CLT which was installed by the local telephone coop for $200. I've noticed a good number of this same antenna installed around Chesterfield. Of course I had to try it out--it was the middle of the afternnoon with an outside temp of about 95. Charlotte stations 9, 18, and 58 were in rock solid perfect HD, along with all their sub-channels. Also, 13, 15, 21, and 43 from Florence/Myrtle Beach came in rock-solid off the back of the antenna--33 came in with break-ups. My friend reports this is typical daytime reception with 3 and 36 usually coming in solid at night. I was pretty surprised at two channels--58, which my friend says his young son watches all day, and 43 which is a good deal further away than the other Florence stations, most of which are about 50 miles away. Note that 13, a VHF channel, comes in strong off the back of a UHF antenna. Just goes to show that excellent digital reception is quite doable in rural areas with the right equipment.

Behind a hill and under several trees may interfere with daytime reception of 3 and 36 which are probably 75-85 miles from that location. But sounds like he is pulling in CBS and NBC from Florence/MB. Also should be able to pull in 25, 10 and 19 from Columbia but may need to adjust antenna or add VHF. And a 91XG or 9095 may do better job with 3 and 36. But sounds like he may be satisfied with his current set up. But if it were me, I would want reliable reception of WBTV and WCNC. Perhaps those stations should consider translators to better serve areas such as Chester and Rockingham.
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post #3438 of 5936
6/7/11 at 3:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Country_Boy View Post

He should have built himself one.

Mine cost me - well, it didn't cost me anything other than about an hour of tinkering, a two by four, several screws, several wire clothes hangers, a balen, and a cable. I happened to have all this stuff lying around my house.

Free antenna! Boo-Yah!

My "Unique" Channel Lineup (No Duplicates) Is Now:

CBS - 3.1 - WBTV
IND - 3.2 - thisTV
ABC - 6.1 - WSOC
IND - 6.2 - WAXN
ABC - 9.2 - Weather and the occasional ball game
IND - 14.1 - WHKY
IND - 14.2 - RTV
IND - 14.3 - Tuff TV
IND - 14.4 - Family TV
PBS - 17.1 - UNC-TV
PBS - 17.2 - UNC-EX
PBS - 17.3 - UNC-KD
FOX - 18.1 - WCCB
FOX - 18.3 - MeTV
NBC - 36.1 - WCNC
NBC - 36.2 - LW
PBS - 42.1 - WTVI-HD
PBS - 42.2 - WTVI-MH
PBS - 42.3 - WTVI-ED
CW - 46.1 - WJZY

And for some reason, WMYT has been coming in the past couple of weeks. I figure it is some sort of atmospheric thing going on as I do not believe the stations has raised its output signal lately.

Not bad for a free antenna.

I've think I've basically got the same homemade 4-bay 10" bow tie antenna as you & in addition to all of the above I get
ABC-13.1-WLOS
MyTv-13.2-WMYA
both out of Asheville by just turning the antenna.

Strangely I was getting WMYT perfectly fine until about a month ago & now it's hit or miss. It doesn't seem to matter what time of day or night though.

FWIW the antenna is sitting on a small table next to the TV. Who knows what I'd get if I mounted it in the attic, but as I can't afford a rotor I'll never know. I would like to get SCETV-30-PBS out of Rock Hill though.
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post #3439 of 5936
6/7/11 at 4:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by moedog View Post

I was down at a friend's house in Chesterfield SC the other day and noticed he was using an antenna for his TV needs. He's about 65 miles SE of Charlotte, tucked behind a hill from CLT and under several huge oak trees. He has an 8 bay Wineguard screen type antenna with amp, about 20 feet above ground level, orented to CLT which was installed by the local telephone coop for $200. I've noticed a good number of this same antenna installed around Chesterfield. Of course I had to try it out--it was the middle of the afternnoon with an outside temp of about 95. Charlotte stations 9, 18, and 58 were in rock solid perfect HD, along with all their sub-channels. Also, 13, 15, 21, and 43 from Florence/Myrtle Beach came in rock-solid off the back of the antenna--33 came in with break-ups. My friend reports this is typical daytime reception with 3 and 36 usually coming in solid at night. I was pretty surprised at two channels--58, which my friend says his young son watches all day, and 43 which is a good deal further away than the other Florence stations, most of which are about 50 miles away. Note that 13, a VHF channel, comes in strong off the back of a UHF antenna. Just goes to show that excellent digital reception is quite doable in rural areas with the right equipment.

I can get WFXB Fox 43 strong at night in Ft. Mill even though 13, 15, and 21 are closer at the Dillon tower farm. May get 13 more often when they move back to UHF and increase power. May one day see WPDE 15 when LP 16 shuts down in CLt.
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post #3440 of 5936
6/7/11 at 5:18pm
Amazing you can get WFXB in Ft. Mill. TV fool says the transmitter on the east side of Mullins. I'm guessing it's about 120 miles as the crow flies.
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post #3441 of 5936
6/7/11 at 5:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackcat6 View Post

Amazing you can get WFXB in Ft. Mill. TV fool says the transmitter on the east side of Mullins. I'm guessing it's about 120 miles as the crow flies.

Yep..it's at the end of Grices Ferry Rd..with an excellent RF systems design.
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post #3442 of 5936
6/7/11 at 5:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Country_Boy View Post

He should have built himself one.

Mine cost me - well, it didn't cost me anything other than about an hour of tinkering, a two by four, several screws, several wire clothes hangers, a balen, and a cable. I happened to have all this stuff lying around my house.

....

Yeah, but you are not living 50 - 60 miles from the transmitters either. All the stations you list are right there in Hickory or not that far away. I've built many antennas myself and when you are talking about something proper, mounted outside and with amplification for fringe reception, it's often cheaper to go with a pre-made solution.

The components for this sort of thing start to add up quickly if you try to build a decent antenna like this that is also durable enough to take being mounted outside 20 ft up. $200 sounds like a pretty good deal to me and especially if it included the mount and cable. You are not going to do it with a few coat hangers.
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post #3443 of 5936
6/7/11 at 6:20pm
Just coming in to say hello.

We live in the Waxhaw area and have had Directv for many years. We are finally going to ditch Satellite and go with OTA in July.

We are doing some homework and figuring out (probably) a rooftop set up. We have a basement, which is where our media room is located and it gets ZERO OTA channels with an indoor antenna.

The main floor of the house and 2nd floor both get good signal with a Terk HDTVa model with an amplifier (turned the amplifier off to see what we could get and it didn't work all that well.) I picked it up at a yard sale last year. So, we do know we can get channels and probably don't need anything for too far of a distance.

Any recommendations would be helpful. We are looking maybe at a Channel Master model? DO you think it will matter how strong of a signal it has as the least powerful one seems to meet our needs.....am I reading that accurately? We do want to add an amplifier.

We do live on a hill and have very tall trees all around our house.

Thanks,

Dawn
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post #3444 of 5936
6/7/11 at 6:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZedPlane View Post

I've think I've basically got the same homemade 4-bay 10" bow tie antenna as you & in addition to all of the above I get
ABC-13.1-WLOS
MyTv-13.2-WMYA
both out of Asheville by just turning the antenna.

Strangely I was getting WMYT perfectly fine until about a month ago & now it's hit or miss. It doesn't seem to matter what time of day or night though.

FWIW the antenna is sitting on a small table next to the TV. Who knows what I'd get if I mounted it in the attic, but as I can't afford a rotor I'll never know. I would like to get SCETV-30-PBS out of Rock Hill though.

If you're getting WLOS you may be able to get WYFF4 and WSPA7 as well. And possibly SCETV on 49 (RF43) out of Spartanburg.
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post #3445 of 5936
6/7/11 at 6:51pm
I figured that it was about time to post a pic and description of my setup in Ft. Mill.
This is a CM3020 Deep Fringe antenna with a CM7777 pre-amp mounted 32 feet above the ground. I then have an inline lightning arrester and pole lightning arrester that grounds my antenna. I then have RG6 coax down to a 4 way splitter in the basement that splits to my TV's.

I also have a rotor that allows me to turn the antenna. I rented a lift to install the antenna.

Here is the pic of the antenna: (Pointed south towards Columbia in this pic.) It is actually 4 feet above the top of the chimney.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7492954/antenna.JPG

With this setup in Ft Mill I get the following stations: (I have a hard time getting stations to the west due to a hill)

Full Time:
WSOC - 34
WCCB - 27
WCNC - 22
WOLO - 8
WIS -10
WBTV - 23
WJZY - 47
WAXN - 50
WNSC - 15
WUNG -44
WTVI - 11
WACH - 48
WRLK - 32

More than 50% of the time:
WSPA - 7
WFXB - 18
WFMY -51
WGHP -35
WBTW - 13
WCWG - 19

Have seen:
WXLV - 29
WHMC - 9
WRAL -48
WRAZ - 49
WTAT - 24
WRDW - 31
WJBF - 6
WWAY - 46
WUVC - 38
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post #3446 of 5936
6/8/11 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackcat6 View Post

You are not going to do it with a few coat hangers.

Aww yes grasshopper, it can be done.

One must just have the will to do it and and to save money and one will find a way.
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post #3447 of 5936
6/8/11 at 4:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Country_Boy View Post

.....
One must just have the will to do it and and to save money and one will find a way.

OK you were the one who threw down the gauntlet. Lets see what you have got.
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post #3448 of 5936
6/8/11 at 4:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevohdftmill View Post

I figured that it was about time to post a pic and description of my setup in Ft. Mill.
This is a CM3020 Deep Fringe antenna with a CM7777 pre-amp mounted 32 feet above the ground. I then have an inline lightning arrester and pole lightning arrester that grounds my antenna. I then have RG6 coax down to a 4 way splitter in the basement that splits to my TV's......

Amazed by WWAY. Nice setup.
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post #3449 of 5936
6/8/11 at 5:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackcat6 View Post

Yeah, but you are not living 50 - 60 miles from the transmitters either. All the stations you list are right there in Hickory or not that far away. I've built many antennas myself and when you are talking about something proper, mounted outside and with amplification for fringe reception, it's often cheaper to go with a pre-made solution.

The components for this sort of thing start to add up quickly if you try to build a decent antenna like this that is also durable enough to take being mounted outside 20 ft up. $200 sounds like a pretty good deal to me and especially if it included the mount and cable. You are not going to do it with a few coat hangers.

True, the antenna installed by Sandhill Telephone Co-Op for $200 is a very professional job--no dangling wires, grounded, and looks quite durable. All of the antennas I saw were mounted on the roofs with a tri-pod type mount, which probably also adds to the cost, and Wineguard antennas ain't cheap. They fill a real need in Chesterfield County where many people are not familiar with antenna technology. Most people there have cable or sat, but there are still many people who can't afford $50 or more a month. Previously they used "rabbit ears" which yielded a pretty good number of very ghosty, snowy channels, but that wasn't going to work for digital. It seems that Sandhill provided a real service to the community. In a side note, I might add that Sandhill offers high speed DSL internet to 100% of their subscribers---I have been amazed at the number of people that are online with this service!
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post #3450 of 5936
6/8/11 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevohdftmill View Post

I figured that it was about time to post a pic and description of my setup in Ft. Mill.
This is a CM3020 Deep Fringe antenna with a CM7777 pre-amp mounted 32 feet above the ground. I then have an inline lightning arrester and pole lightning arrester that grounds my antenna. I then have RG6 coax down to a 4 way splitter in the basement that splits to my TV's.

I also have a rotor that allows me to turn the antenna. I rented a lift to install the antenna.

Here is the pic of the antenna: (Pointed south towards Columbia in this pic.) It is actually 4 feet above the top of the chimney.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7492954/antenna.JPG

With this setup in Ft Mill I get the following stations: (I have a hard time getting stations to the west due to a hill)

Full Time:
WSOC - 34
WCCB - 27
WCNC - 22
WOLO - 8
WIS -10
WBTV - 23
WJZY - 47
WAXN - 50
WNSC - 15
WUNG -44
WTVI - 11
WACH - 48
WRLK - 32

More than 50% of the time:
WSPA - 7
WFXB - 18
WFMY -51
WGHP -35
WBTW - 13
WCWG - 19

Have seen:
WXLV - 29
WHMC - 9
WRAL -48
WRAZ - 49
WTAT - 24
WRDW - 31
WJBF - 6
WWAY - 46
WUVC - 38

Sounds like that set up works very well for you. But is the large low VHF design of that 3020 antenna truly necessary? Have you considered a CM2020 HiVHF/UHF model, or Antennacraft HBU33 or 55, or Winegard 7696? But you do seem to be satisfied with your current set up which does appear to be working very well.
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