Dallas, TX - HDTV - Page 170

Sometime early this morning (12 JUL 2009), 61 years of full-power analog telecasting ended in the D/FW market when KDFW's nightlight was shut off, probably without any fanfare.

The only remaining NTSC transmissions are from these low power facilities, several of which ultimately plan to switch to ATSC:

6/KZFW
22/KNAV
25/K25FW
28/KHPK
44/KLEG
57/KSEX

KHPK is running both digital on channel 3 as well as analog on channel 28. In what might only be a coincidence, with the shutdown of KDFW's analog 4, for the first time, I'm able to receive KHPK's 300 watt signal on RF-3 in Frisco. That's on a DigitalStream DTX-9950 STB with a Terk HDTVa.

Dare I ask what they show on channel 57?

I am a little further South near Euless Main and Pipeline. No probs with Ch13. I recently greatly inproved my signal by using Google Earth to repoint my antenna. I drew a line on the map from my house to Cedar Hill then visually measured the angle from my roof ridgeline. I only moved my old Radio Shack antenna (in the attic) about 20deg but it made all the diff. I am near a creek so I'm in a hole but have a 2 story house.

The call letters notwithstanding, KSEX's programming is infomercials. For a steady diet of ``Girls Gone Wild'', it's 29/KMPX which suspends Spanish-language programming for the overnight sex romp en Ingles.

This is true. I never knew how much I missed watching the Astros until I switched from DirecTV to FiOS. Unfortunately, MLB won't let us buy access to games to which we're supposedly "local," or I'd just watch them on MLB.tv. Plus, KDFI-27 is giving up the Rangers after this season, and KTXA-21 is picking up just a "Friday Game of the Week," so the Rangers will overlap almost entirely with the Astros. Maybe we get lucky and Verizon picks up FSHouston after the baseball season, like was rumored last year on DSLReports.

Has anyone noticed that WFAA has replaced the radar on both 8.3 and 8.2 with automated traffic reports?

Opinions? Mine is that I don't like it. Why not put traffic on 8.2 and leave the continuous radar up on 8.3? At least when there is rain in the area. Come on, WFAA!

I noticed that last night first time to my disappointment when I wanted to see if there was any rain in the area. Too bad. Not sure how many people would be driving around with DTVs on board watching Ch 8.3 for traffic updates. At least WFAA could alternate between radar and traffic. There's Ch 5.2 with their radar and maps whiich is what I resorted to. Ch 4 used to run radar on 4.2 but that went away long ago.

I need current psip info as would display on a Zenith/Insignia box in the upper right hand corner.It come close to decoding today for me,and my buddy in Indy had full video,but no psip info for a positive ID.

Thanks,
Greg B

Man that's some pretty good DX in Indiana from a low power low VHF DTV channel in Dallas!

Eskip can get out pretty well even on the LP's. I decoded KCWX on 5 from Fredericksburg and this one on 3 hit mid green three times but no luck decoding.

Can anyone verify the remap at 3.2?

KHPK is both physical and virtual 3.x. The name as identified by PSIP would be "KHPK-LD 3.1", etc. And that is a pretty spectacular DX given that hardly anyone in Dallas can get it .

Last time I saw it (which was admittedly a while ago), KHPK didn't even have PSIP. Hopefully that's been fixed by now.

- Trip

Some big news...CBS has filed to return KTVT's digital broadcast to pre-transition channel 19 and KTXA's to pre-transition channel 18. Apparently they're sick of answering calls from people who can't get VHF reception. Last I heard, Belo had no plans to try to move WFAA and KFWD to UHF, but perhaps they will reconsider if they end up all alone. A quick glance shows that 24, 27, 29, 47, and 49 might be available if WFAA/KWFD wanted to relocate.

KTVT cited a significant ratings drop as evidence of OTA viewership loss. IMHO, they *had* to get something done before the start of Cowboys pre-season. Credit is due to CBS for recognizing the problem and taking decisive action.

How the final table of allotments ended up so that KTVT's RF-11 was so close to co-channel KSWO (Lawton) is ``interesting''. That likely is what prevented CBS from pursuing an increase beyond KTVT's 23 kw.

KTVT's 152 mile spacing to KSWO is still better than KFWD's 92 to KCEN (Temple) and 149 to KTRE (Lufkin). I can't follow the thinking behind that one, even with theoretical cost saving on VHF and being able to reuse some of WFAA's equipment.

Can anyone in the area confirm whether KHPK is or is not providing PSIP? Thanks.

Steve

Glad to see Ch 11/CBS is trying to resolve the issue. I just put a 7694P in the attic this weekend (in Grapevine) and we get everything except Ch 11. The work this weekend just consisted of cutting and connectorizing the existing coax feeds, installing a mounting board and CM distribution amplifier, and unboxing and temporarily connecting the antenna. I still need to mast-mount the antenna so I may gain another 6-8 feet of elevation which might bring up the signal strength on Ch 11 but I'm glad they're working on a fix.

I'm really surprised I get KTVT as well as I do in Hico. I rarely have dropouts, but I am happy about this change.

I didn't see any PSIP on either KHPK/3-1 or 3-2 when I was getting it over the past weekend. 3-1 was infomercials (apparently the same content as analog low-power KNAV/22) and 3-2 was GEMS-TV when I last checked on Saturday 18 JUL 2009.

Thanks very much for the feedback. I think I received this station last Friday afternoon at 1:01 p.m. CDT via E-skip in Indianapolis. But when it briefly decoded, without any PSIP, I didn't have any way to ID it other than "3-1."

Steve

Since Sunday 19 JUL 2009, KFWD/52 (RF-9) has barely been captured on my tuner in Frisco. Since the transition, KFWD typically measures 75 on the 0-100 scale. Since yesterday, the signal struggles to reach 35.

I know that KFWD made an arrangement with co-channel KCEN to operate with 18.6 kw. Has that agreement (originally set to expire on 3 JUL 2009) not been renewed and KFWD reverted to 800 watts per the BDSTA-20081216AIC application?

I also would like to know what happened to their signal strength. I thought it was just something on my end that had gone south but apparently it's not just me.

Mike

Since before June 12, anytime any storms or moisture has been in the area Channel 8-1 usually started breaking up. Now since the changeover I can add channel 11-1 and 52-1 to the list. I am using an outdoor antenna at about 30' height, originally rated at 120 miles VHF and 90 Miles UHF, which has been working for years on the analog channels. I live on the extreme south side of Greenville. I wasn't sweating the changeover since i had very good reception on my two digital tuner HD TV's and also on one converter box - except for WFAA, if there was any inclement weather in the area. Now, I guess I will have to relegate 8-1, 11-1, and 52-1 to my least watched channels unless 11-1 goes back to UHF 19. Unless it's a question of money, I don't understand why all the stations didn't go to UHF anyway. I also took 8-3 out of my channel list when it started doing traffic instead of weather. Channel 5-2 is barely acceptable for weather, but not by much.

Have you checked the wiring for the VHF portion of the antenna? I can understand lightning causing problems on VHF, but a bit of rain shouldn't impact VHF reception.

Sunday 19 JUL 2009 was the first occasion I had to watch DTV since the transition with storms in the area. It's been dry for so long as those of us in North Texas know.

Anyway, in spite of receiving quite strong signals on WFAA/8 and KTVT/11 (both in the 90's on a 0-100 scale), I was astounded at just how fragile VHF was with even distant lightning. Pixelation and audio dropouts were frequent on these two stations whereas even the weakest of UHFs (K31GL/31 and KJJM/34) didn't break up at all. (As noted elsethread, the other V, KFWD/52 was evidently on low power and not captured at all -- lightning or not).

I'm sure that all of the FCC's theoretical models showed that VHF was going to work for DTV but I think reality is proving otherwise, with KTVT's plans as evidence.

I should have said there is a slight rise in elevation between me and Cedar Hill just to the Southwest of my location - with many trees. I think it may be the wet leaves that cause the problem. In all the years I never had a problem with Analog. I've lived at this location since 1976.

The final paperwork is in, KTVT wants to return to channel 19 at 1000 kW, as expected. KTXA wants to operate channel 18 at reduced power (due to spacing problems with KYTX in Tyler) but ultimately wants to move to channel 29.

- Trip

I agree. I usually peg the meter on the VHF-HIs up here in MN during rain storms, not completely sure if it is the dampness keeping down the VHF noise or the rain clouds helping form small ducts and/or both.

KFWD Ch52-1 is back on with their new ch9 antenna at the Cowboy tower. See if this put them back on your TV. I believe it was around 11pm Monday night.
JStigler

Yes, it's there after being gone most of Sunday and Monday. On a 0-100 scale, it now reads around 87. Last week it was typically in the upper 70's.

Is KFWD using the 55 kw rig yet or is it still 18.6 kw on the new antenna with the directional pattern favoring the north?