[Innova]

Since the Daytona 500 is going to be in HD and my local NBC affiliate (W27AU) isn't broadcasting HD yet (no plans at all yet), I was wondering what it would take to pick up WEAU-DT.


According to Antennaweb.org they are 63.8 miles due west of me. I currently have a 90" Radio Shack UHF/VHF antenna. Right now the antenna is aimed north at my local channels. Does it pay for me to climb up on a snowy roof and swing my antenna to the west? Or is it to far? Will an amplifier help?


I also have Voom's Stealth antenna, can I re-use the amplifier that comes with that?


Any information would be appreciated.

 

[Dave Schofield]

Curiously, WEAU-DT used to show up on Antennaweb.org searches for me, but it doesn't anymore (and I haven't actually upgraded to HDTV yet, so I can't check). I live about 20 miles west of their antenna, so there is no good reason why I shouldn't have it. I was going to post a question about it before I saw your post. There seems to be a few Western Wisconsin users on here, perhaps they can shed more light on the subject...

 

[Innova]

Good news. The radio shack antenna was able to pick up WEAU-DT with a signal strength of 79. I watched the Busch race today in HD (until it got rained out). HD NASCAR is beautiful.

 

[sregener]

I've had some luck recently with WEAU-DT at night from 86.8 miles or so away. Daytime reception range tends to drop some.


With UHF, broadcast power (within reason) seems to be less of a factor than terrain and elevation of both the transmitting and receiving antennas. Glad it worked for you. Maybe you should buy a rotor so you don't have to climb up on the roof and deal with frozen bolts.

 

[Innova]

Already have the rotor

 

[Dave Schofield]

Pardon the stupid question, but Antennaweb lists WEAU (regular, not DTV) as a VHF station. What is WEAU-DT (again, it still isn't showing up on AW searches for me, for some unknown reason...)? UHF or VHF?


Also, where is their tower? I'm 21 miles from WQOW's Eau Claire tower, but 46+ miles from WEAU's "Eau Claire" tower. I always assumed it was just off HWY 53, at their studios but that isn't 46+ miles from here.

 

[Innova]

WEAU-DT is 13.1, or channel 39 UHF.


I'm not sure where their tower is, I do know that their analog and digital towers are in the same place.

 

[sregener]

You can check out any DTV station at:

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html


(Enter call sign, and select 'detailed output' from the box near the bottom.)


Or for WEAU specifically:

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state...&mlon2=&slon2=


Note that if a "Special Temporary Authority" or STA is listed, that is most likely what they're broadcasting at. "Construction Permit" or CP tells you what the FCC would let them do. "Full Service" or "Licensed" indicates they are running at maximum output.


WEAU's tower is decidedly east of WKBT and WHWC's.


Antennaweb redid their calculator recently, much to the consternation of people here. In the past, I thought their digital predictions were overly optimistic and now they're overly pessimistic.