Chicago, IL - OTA - Page 360

TiVo does. They currently have a deal promoting antenna users http://www.antennasdirect.com/tivo.html

Anyone else having problems with WLS-TV on RF 44? The station keeps dropping out. I haven't tried to see if it's happening on RF 7 (which they have reactivated recently from their original antenna from 1973), since it's my mom's TV. I actually wish they had remained at the John Hancock, because I had the best signal of RF 44 from the John Hancock than from the Sears Tower. I'm actually wondering if RF 44 will overall be more of a pain for WLS-TV than RF 7 ever was. I still believe the translator would have been a better choice for the city, & sought a power increase for RF 7 for suburbanites.

I wasn't having any trouble this am while watching the 11am news on rf44. Some days i do, but that might be tropo. Usually I just wait to watch the news at noon on other stations if that happens.

The only RF 44 I know of anywhere in the midwest would be in Michigan. For myself, anytime WLS-TV has broadcasted on RF 44 from the Sears Tower, I always had problems with their signal. When they were using the original RF 52 antenna, the station pixelated. On another antenna I used, it stayed steady, but was weak. It improved dramatically when they were using the John Hancock facilities. Since returning to the Sears Tower, their signal has dropped out quite often. They obviously haven't got it all worked out, because they had to reactivate RF 7, since their RF 44 signal from the Sears Tower is not being picked up by those closest to the Sears Tower (according to the CP that allows them to operate RF 7 while they work out RF 44 some more). I wonder if anyone closest to the John Hancock got WLS-TV on RF 44. For me, watching WLS-TV on RF 44 is a nightmarre all over again.

I am receiving WLS on RF44 in South Bend. RF7 is also receivable but impacted by local two-way traffic immediately below 174 MHz which raises the noise level in my VHF preamp (while WBBM RF12 is steady and reliable). From this distance, a receiving antenna favors neither Hancock nor Sears/Willis. Sometimes due to atmospheric conditions I pick up RF8 from Grand Rapids and lose WLS RF7 probably because same conditions allow RF7 from Grand Rapids to interfere.

Grand Rapids has both RF 7 & RF 8, & if you're thinking you're getting WOOD-TV on RF 8, they're actually on RF 7. WWMT is on RF 8, & can't possibly be interfering that easily with RF 7, like WOOD-TV would with WLS-TV on RF 7. I don't know how well some people got WLS-TV on RF 44 from the John Hancock, but for me, I never had a problem (always been on the Sears Tower). I also wonder if there's a chance they're getting interference from either, or both WCPX on RF 43 & WSNS on RF 45, who are both located on the Sears Tower. I don't know what it could be. I know I need a new antenna, but I wasn't having a problem when they were on the John Hancock, & never had a problem when they were broadcasting their original VHF signal on the Sears Tower. Unlike you, I'm closer to Chicago over in Gary, & I'm probably 4-5 miles from Lake Michigan.

Thank you Dave 73. What I wrote was that when I get RF8 from Grand Rapids due to atmospheric conditions, that I'm also getting RF7 from Grand Rapids, which blacks out getting RF7 from Chicago. I knew that WOOD-TV ch.8 is on RF 7 and that WWMT ch.2 is on RF8.

Chicago Nonstop's been having a bit of trouble with their aspect ratio for a day or two. Every time I tune in, I have to adjust my ratio twice on my converter box to get it back to 16:9. Even then, I can't read the scroll at the bottom (the top half is barely visible), not that the scroll is newsworthy anyhow.

It looks like they went from letterboxed 4:3 to 16:9. They do need to adjust the graphics to handle safe-area overscan.

Unfortunately, it looks like some devices don't handle SD 16:9 very well. My Samsung TV does not autoswitch, but the DTT901 does OK. The Comcast pass-thru depends on the device. A DTA corrects the ratio, but then chops it to 4:3. The HD box outputs it as HD @ 16:9.

With RF 8, have you picked up WMVS Milwaukee? In Gary, I have picked up WMVS 3 times (once since they moved World, V-Me, & their weather radar channel to WMVS from WMVT). Normally, you'd get all your South Bend stations, but you do have to worry about Milwaukee stations interfering with your South Bend stations. For example, you have to worry about WVCY interfering with WSBT on RF 22, WTMJ-TV interfering with WSJV on RF 28, WMVT with WNIT on RF 35, & if you care about WHME-TV, WDJT interfering with WHME-TV on RF 46 (if WHME moved back to 46), otherwise WBME with WHME-TV on RF 48. I usually get WSBT in Gary on most nights. As soon as I can afford to get new antennas, I'll probably get them during the daytime, along with WNDU, WSJV, & WNIT (a 4th PBS choice for me if I can get them, since I already have WTTW & WYCC from Chicago, & WYIN from Merrillville, their studio location).

Looks like this may be the future if the spectrum is cut further and widescreen stations end up being stacked on as sub-channels.

The least expense and easiest/uncomplicated way of doing this is buying or using your existing Xbox 360. It has a built in Windows Media Center extender which finds your HTPC with Windows Media Center and lets you watch recorded and live HDTV over your home network.

It extends the Windows Media Center experience/interface into your living room or other rooms in the house without the need to hook a PC up to a TV.

wsns has added 44.3
SOi - tv
currently it is just promos for ....
an interactive public opinion channel

kd9fz
comments, criticisms and questions of sanity are always welcome

We are given fair warning in SOI's crawl that says (I think) "signal testing period" and the screens saying (again, don't remember exactly, no TV in this room, don't speak Spanish, no TV in this room from where I could reread the text and type it into a translator site) "how to build a TV channel."

Best I can tell it is this:
http://www.soi.tv/

a you tube-like spanish TV station.

http://houstondtv.wordpress.com/2011...tarts-on-47-3/
"The website further explains that Canal SOI will be appearing on 15 Telemundo stations nationwide, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Francisco, Fresno, Denver, Las Vegas, Boston, Tucson and Puerto Rico."

That same article also says, "A new channel has started broadcasting on KTMD 47.3, taking the place of the former Manuel Solis infomercial channel."  In Chicago WSNS is airing both Solis's INMI-TV on 44.2 and SOI on 44.3; lucky us.

Why is WBBM at only 8kw when most of the other Chicago stations are in the 100s of kilo watts range?

Until someone else gives a more detailed response, I'll chime in: lower channel numbers are at lower carrier frequencies and need less power.

I can expand a bit on that. VHF-Lo and VHF-Hi stations can theoretically transmit further than UHF stations with similar power levels and antennas, particularly under some unusual circumstances (mostly just E-Skip, a common occurrence during summer, occasionally some more exotic means). (Also, if I'm not mistaken, tropo enhancement affects VHF just as much as it does UHF.) DTV (ATSC) is also more susceptible to interference (particularly on VHF) than analog (NTSC) was. So the FCC, in order to prevent interference problems, set really low power limits for digital VHF.

(It's debatable whether the limits are, in fact, too low, or if the FCC goofed on their digital propagation models. If the FCC does trim the TV spectrum again, they might just have to increase VHF power limits to maintain viewership models, distant interference be damned. After all, an interference-free signal is meaningless unless it actually gets out.)

I was one of the few who got WBBM-TV on RF 3 at only 2.8 kw. Now whenever WLFM-LP goes digital on RF 6 (they'll have to be a real TV station in digital), I'll get them at 3kw digital. I just wonder if WOCK-CD will seek another power increase to the maximum of 3kw. They're supposedly at 810 watts, & I get them, as long as I have a pre-amp hooked to my antenna.

Also, switch to UHF (which would help me receive them easier), then turn 41 analog off for good (which interferes with WIFR-DT from Rockford for me - then I could rely on that for CBS, rather than that danged WBBM).

Even though I wouldn't watch WOCK-CD much, I'd still rather have that than be able to get WBBM, and just have WIFR instead. I don't watch anything strictly local on WBBM, like the news. I believe they show all the Bears games on CBS on WIFR that they do here, and that's all I'd really care about.

I believe you're mistaking that for sister station WOCH-CA, which is on analog RF 41. WOCH-CA has a CP for Class A status on RF 49, & that might make it difficult to get WMSN Madison, WI, if you get it now. As for WOCK-CD, they had an app. to go to RF 30, but that was dismissed. For now, they have to make RF 4 work somehow. All I would watch WOCK-CD for is 13.4 for America One. Otherwise, I wouldn't even worry about trying to get that station.

Sort of. Many stations went to UHF because the noise floor is lower, the signals penetrated buildings downtown better, and in this part of the country it is relatively flat making UHF ideal. VHF doesn't necessarily allow lower power. The noise floor is significantly higher at 50 MHz (VHF LO) than 600 MHz (UHF) and the VHF Hi (200 MHz) is somewhere in between. You need a good signal to noise ratio to decode ATSC. The only good thing about VHF is that it refracts (bends around hills, trees, etc) better than UHF. VHF happens to be vonerable to static crashes from thunderstorms and man made noise like power lines, florescent bulbs, furnaces, etc.

So... there are less noise problems on UHF and the urban canyon dwellers can receive the signals easier so that's why UHF is better for Chicago. Montpelier Vermont or Marquette MI might want to consider more VHF due to terrain, no urban canyon, and the lower noise floor.

But the point made about the FCC's maximum allowable VHF ERP is very valid. Their models probably only considered the S part of the S/N (signal to noise) equation. So, a 3 dB increase (double the Watts) from their original limits is pretty fair. they definitely underestimated the amount of noise in their models. Some stations have already started that, i.e. WWTV in Cadillac, MI

Time for another round of MNF on WCIU!

The HD pic looks a little soft via Comcast.

Da Bears!

I was comparing the OTA on 26.1 to the ESPN feed on Comcast.
I'd say that the ESPN feed is just slightly sharper, and I see less of the swimming grass artifacts vs. the WCIU OTA feed. Both are pretty good.

Good Job, I got that one in the spring. Also got WCMU 14.1 (rf 26) Mt. Pleasant, MI., at the same time.

thanks for the recommendation. i went with the terk hdtvi. it works well enough that i am able to hide in a corner relatively out of view.

Hopefully just after Thanksgiving, I'll have my new antennas put up, & let you know what I get with them. I would have preferred to get 2 Antennas Direct 91XG antennas, but I can't afford them, & opted for the Winegard HD9032 instead for UHF, & ordered from Black River Distributing from Grand Rapids, MI (directly from them & not from them on Amazon.com). I still have to decide on a VHF antenna, but hope to have that decision made soon. The second UHF antenna for me will be used to get South Bend stations, & hope I can get them clear enough during the daytime (currently get WSBT nearly every night with my current antenna pointed at Chicago). I'll keep you all posted.