Philadelphia, PA - OTA - Page 122

Poor engineering management decision

http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0110/tv-and-the-mystique-of-channel-/201146

Channel 6's signal is very strong and relatively easy to receive with a VHF antenna. It's just annoying (especially for people with indoor antennas) that we have to use big unsightly rabbit ears to receive channel 6 (and 12 for that matter). Being in a UHF-only market would make life a bit easier.

I thought I read somewhere a while back that 6 stayed on its VHF frequency due to the crowded dial between NYC, Phila, and Balt/Wash. But don't quote me on that, I could just be making it up.

Do you have an old FM dipole? The kind that was shipped with FM stereo receivers. Use an HLSJ to add it to your existing UHF antenna.

Thanks for the link. That was a good read.

A common misconception.



Of all the stations in the country that ended up on low VHF, WPVI is probably one of the only ones that got stuck there rather than choosing to do so. Their story is probably somewhere in the 120 pages of this thread.

ABC/Disney management underestimated the crapiness of DTV on VHF especially on Lo-Band (2-6). They chose to stay on VHF in major markets like NYC,LA,Chicago,Philly when they could've probably stayed on their temp UHF assignments during the transition.

Given KABC Los Angeles was 53, WLS Chicago was 52, and WPVI Philly was 64, I'd guess not.

- Trip

Nope, WPVI was on RF channel 64 back then. UHF channels are limited to 14-51 after the transition. Channel 64 is no longer in the broadcast TV spectrum.

ok but in NYC, ABC was better on 45 than their current assignment of 7

I will be moving at the end of the month from Haddon Hts to Haddonfield. I will be in one of the higher locations at 120' above sea level. I am currently using my RCA ANT751 but was thinking of trying my CM4228 (original model). Has anyone had any luck receving the 2 VHF channels in our area with this antenna? (RF6 and RF12). I will be 15.7 miles away with Line of Sight to Roxborough. I am virtually the same distance now using the RCA ANT751 and RF6 is rock solid.

Hello,
I can say I receive WPVI and WHYY from just west of Allentown on a UHF only antenna mounted in my attic with a preamp.

JoeWS:

I have an original 4228, and it works quite well on VHF-high. At 15.7 miles, it should receive channel 12 and all Philly UHFs with no problem (as the RCA ANT751 probably should as well), even from an attic. I have no experience with VHF-low reception using the 4228, but the rear reflector screen (which is the part that is wide enough to receive channel 12 decently) will not likely be wide enough to receive channel 6 well. If your 4228 doesn't receive channel 6 when you try it, you could add a simple pair of fully-extended horizontal rabbit ears (or a homemade folded dipole sized for channel 6) near your 4228, and join the two antennas with either an HLSJ (in which case your 4228 will receive UHF and VHF-high, while your rabbit ears will receive channel 6) or a UVSJ (in which case your 4228 will receive UHF and your rabbit ears will receive channels 6 and 12).

So I just moved into the Philadelphia area (Warminster) a few months ago from Pittsburgh. I was about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh and received all the local channels just fine. Now, with the same setup and closer to the source I'm having problems any time it rains. Is it common to get rain fade with OTA?

It is if you're behind trees, otherwise, no.

I lived in Warminster for about a year, and it was about the worst place for over-the-air reception. We ended up having to get some horrible cable from a local outfit called RCN. It was semi-reliable, but even THEIR receipt of the Philly channels was problematic - ghosting, interference, fuzzy pictures in those analog days.

Harry

Is there some serious tropo tonight or is it just that ION (ch 61, RF 31) is having problems? I'm seeing reception jumping around from ~55% to 90+%.

It's normally a nice strong station for me. I don't recall ever having a problem with it before. But I noticed that ch 29 (RF 42) is also spotty tonight

Strong tropo last night and this morning. Receiving stations from Boston to Norfolk here in Chester Co. this morning.

Greeting from Haddonfield,

Long time no post. Cord cutting has been a little strained due poor reception on CBS 3-1. My wife only watches two shows over the air, Survivor and Sunday Morning on CBS. The picture breakups and audio dropouts make both shows almost unwatchable.

Any suggestions?

Another thing is I am interested in adding a PlayON channel to my Roku. FYI the Roku smokes the TiVo Premiere in speed and convenience when streaming. I was hoping to use the PlayOn access to CBS as an emergency backup to botched OTA recordings. Has anyone on the forum bought PlayOn? If so how does it look on your display? How is the sound quality?

Cheers, Michael

Trouble with CBS3- Has your antenna's orientation changed? Perhaps the antenna's direction needs to tweaked. I also live in Haddonfield and CBS3 is solid.

Fox 29 now broadcasting 2 sub channels: 29.2 is labeled Movies! but simulcasting 29.1 in 480i for now. 29.3 is Mundo Fox in 480i.

Haddonfield update, antenna rotation success. A few degrees gave me a perfect 3.1 CBS. Survivor and Sunday Morning are perfect. Still lousy on 23.1 PBS.

Cheers, Michael

I just cancelled cable a few weeks ago and we have been mostly just using netflix, but I want to set up all the tv/s with ota channels. Right now I have 1 of those flat hd antenna's that goes on the window, but I wasn't sure if that could be split to support 5 tv's. Also it doesn't tune in channel 6 for some reason maybe where I have it located. Maybe recommend me a nice antenna that I can use for the whole house or should I just buy more of these and put them in each room or just hook them up to the cable runs.
Thanks.

You need to indicate where you live and perhaps a TVFool report.

Thanks for the help here is a link to my tvfool report.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1ddaa660d82ea3

Those flat panel antennas are ok for UHF but bad for VHF. So you will need rabbit ears to have a chance with RF6. So I would look at a Terk HDTVi or HDTVa for an indoor antenna. The HDTVa is sold at HHG if you want to give it a try.

Hanly2: Your TVFool Report is very helpful. I am in Haddonfield and the Philly stations are the same distance from me (15 miles). I am using the RCA ANT751 with excellent results. It is mounted outside just above the roof line on a J-mount. on the side of my house (1-story). I get solid results on the following virtual channels: 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 17, 23, 29, 33, 35, 44, 48, 51, 57, 60, 61, and 69. It has proved to be a very good antenna for it's size.

If you plan to serve 5 TVs you will definitely need a distribution amp.