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New LPTV/translator filings

Sammi Brie

Sammi Brie

Taking a look at the filings out of the recent window for new LPTV facilities in and near the Valley:

Channel 2

794164 (Sacaton) — Lowcountry 34
Usery Mountain with practically Valleywide contour coverage.

794637 (Phoenix) — One Ministries
South Mountain, with a bottle-like directional pattern on an NNE axis. This would be a difficult catch in the Southeast Valley (especially beyond Loop 202) and the Loop 303 western corridor.

794160 (Phoenix) — Oasis Television Ministries, Nonprofit LLC
Shaw Butte. Omnidirectional pattern with practically Valleywide contour coverage.

Channel 3

794168 (Sacaton) — Lowcountry 34
Usery Mountain with practically Valleywide contour coverage.

795519 (Phoenix) — VPlay Inc.
South Mountain with practically Valleywide contour coverage.

794639 (Phoenix) — One Ministries
See: 794637

Channel 4

795371 (Phoenix) — Silicondust USA
Similar "bottle" pattern to the One Ministries channels, but more like a mushroom. Live east or south of downtown Chandler, or beyond Avondale to the west? Forget about it.

Major modification of K04SE-D Buckeye to South Mountain

Channel 5

794170 (Sacaton) — Lowcountry 34
Usery Mountain with practically Valleywide contour coverage.

794628 (Phoenix) — Silicondust USA
The pattern is a bit better than 5 to the southeast and just a little worse to the west.

Channel 6

795221 (Phoenix) — VPlay Inc.
South Mountain
Don't know contour.

Channel 7

794171 (Sacaton) — Lowcountry 34
Usery Mountain

794078 (Phoenix) — Fair Play 4U
South Mountain

Channel 28

794127 (Goodyear) — NBC Telemundo License
A fill-in translator for KTAZ to provide service to Estrella Mountain Ranch and Buckeye
 
Who in the Phoenix metro has an antenna that covers Channels 2-6, unless they still have old analog-era antennas still on the roof? TV antennas sold since 2009 are either UHF-only or VHF-Hi + UHF.

I live about 3 miles from Usery Mountain. I could probably pick up the four stations (RF 2, 3, 5, and 7) proposed there with little problem. So could most of Mesa and AJ, along with parts of Gilbert and Queen Creek. But "practically Valleywide coverage" from a location about 30 miles NE of downtown Phoenix with transmitters running a few kilowatts at best? Highly doubtful. No current station has had a fill-in translator on Usery since then-KUSK had one on Channel 17 in the 1990s. It had to shut down to make room for KPHO-DT and was never rebuilt, digital or analog.

And all of them are to be licensed to Sacaton? I understand that wouldn't matter for FM translators, but I thought TV stations had to cover their city of license, regardless of license class. No way would viewers in Sacaton be able receive anything from Usery Mountain that's transmitting at those low power levels.

At least RF 3, 5, and 7 would require different PSIP channels, since all three are currently in use. Channel 2 depends on how far stations with the same PSIP have to be spaced, especially to Nogales but Flagstaff possibly as well.
 
powergate92 said:
You missed a few for Channel 7:

Silicondust USA has an App from Shaw Butte.

Digital Networks (Luken Communications) has a Major Modification to move K23PL-D to South Mountain.

One Ministries has an App from South Mountain.

Also, K04SE-D Major Modification is to move to Channel 11 in addition to South Mountain.

RabbitEars also has a list of all the new LPTV apps. https://www.rabbitears.info/oddsandends.php?request=freeze_lift_apps
Click to expand...

Thanks, I did not see some of these in the search I did or RE's search functionality.

Mohave County Board of Supervisors has filed for Needles, CA, likely to restore the lost channel there.
 
KeithE4 said:
Who in the Phoenix metro has an antenna that covers Channels 2-6, unless they still have old analog-era antennas still on the roof? TV antennas sold since 2009 are either UHF-only or VHF-Hi + UHF.

I live about 3 miles from Usery Mountain. I could probably pick up the four stations (RF 2, 3, 5, and 7) proposed there with little problem. So could most of Mesa and AJ, along with parts of Gilbert and Queen Creek. But "practically Valleywide coverage" from a location about 30 miles NE of downtown Phoenix with transmitters running a few kilowatts at best? Highly doubtful. No current station has had a fill-in translator on Usery since then-KUSK had one on Channel 17 in the 1990s. It had to shut down to make room for KPHO-DT and was never rebuilt, digital or analog.

And all of them are to be licensed to Sacaton? I understand that wouldn't matter for FM translators, but I thought TV stations had to cover their city of license, regardless of license class. No way would viewers in Sacaton be able receive anything from Usery Mountain that's transmitting at those low power levels.

At least RF 3, 5, and 7 would require different PSIP channels, since all three are currently in use. Channel 2 depends on how far stations with the same PSIP have to be spaced, especially to Nogales but Flagstaff possibly as well.
Click to expand...
I bought a "mudflap"* antenna in 2014 from Walmart. I get GPTV's channel 4 (TV shows 18). Their Channel 8 (really Channel 7) can be flaky. But the tower is on Stone Mountain which DOES NOT work as well in real life as on paper

BTW 11 Alive Atlanta (really channel 10) is just as reliable as the other Atlanta TV stations.


*Forgot the brand. The box it came in missing.
 
This gold rush to snap up low-VHF channels for LPTVs isn't just in Phoenix, it's happening all over. There are applications for channels 2 through 5 here in Columbia SC, RF 6 being omitted presumably only because of full-power WCES in Wrens (Augusta) GA. Some of the projected contours are pretty impressive, basically on a par with full-power TV. Low-VHF needs less power to cover the same area, indeed, some low-VHF stations in the analog area had relatively low power due to the elevation of their transmitters, such as WSVA/WHSV, WCYB, and WSAZ, yet WCYB was able to reach a vast coverage area all the way from southeastern Kentucky (Pikeville) to the NC-SC border. I once watched WCYB with a rooftop antenna in Shelby NC with no problems.
 
What was WSAZ's analog (channel 3) power? I know they had an excellent tower location but occasionally (when I was young) there was some interference which Channel 8 never had. Of course there were places you just couldn't get 8 but 3 came in.
 
secondchoice said:
What was WSAZ's analog (channel 3) power? I know they had an excellent tower location but occasionally (when I was young) there was some interference which Channel 8 never had. Of course there were places you just couldn't get 8 but 3 came in.
Click to expand...
They ran 42.7 kw visual and 4.27 kw aural, "from an altitude of 1253 feet at Barkers Ridge, West Virginia", as they solemnly assured viewers at sign-on and sign-off every day. WCHS was at Coal Mountain west of Charleston.

At one time, in the 1950s, they could be received up into northern Ohio, but they had to cut their power considerably. Before the re-allocations, they overpowered WLWC in Columbus which was on channel 3 as well until 1952. Obviously something had to be done, it took the FCC a while to figure out the kind of spacing you needed between stations.

I visited the WSAZ transmitter site in 1980 and it was pretty impressive. All of the Huntington stations have their sticks on Barkers Ridge.
 
secondchoice said:
I bought a "mudflap"* antenna in 2014 from Walmart. I get GPTV's channel 4 (TV shows 18). Their Channel 8 (really Channel 7) can be flaky. But the tower is on Stone Mountain which DOES NOT work as well in real life as on paper

BTW 11 Alive Atlanta (really channel 10) is just as reliable as the other Atlanta TV stations.


*Forgot the brand. The box it came in missing.
Click to expand...

You may be interested in hearing that GPB has filed for a bunch of UHF transmitters though none in metro Atlanta. (I know this thing is drifting right away from Phoenix discussion, but you brought them up.)
 
secondchoice said:
Yet they claim they need funds to continue programming. I really question the ones in Chattanooga and Alabama.
Click to expand...
Why are they filing for LPTVs in the same places where they have full-power stations? Perhaps to accommodate a second tier of GPB subchannels?

I would assume the Chattanooga and Opelika placements are for the benefit of nearby Georgia viewers, and being near the border, just on the other side, is just a practical consideration. Both of Louisville's KET stations (as well as several other Louisville stations) have their transmitters at Floyds Knob, Indiana, just across the river.
 
secondchoice said:
Yet they claim they need funds to continue programming. I really question the ones in Chattanooga and Alabama.
Click to expand...

They are really interesting. The only other filings like it is that KSPS wants a translator in Pasco, area that is served by KTNW. Idaho Public Television filed for Jackpot, Nevada, but Jackpot is on the Idaho line and even on Mountain Time.

IM42A said:
Why are they filing for LPTVs in the same places where they have full-power stations? Perhaps to accommodate a second tier of GPB subchannels?

I would assume the Chattanooga and Opelika placements are for the benefit of nearby Georgia viewers, and being near the border, just on the other side, is just a practical consideration. Both of Louisville's KET stations (as well as several other Louisville stations) have their transmitters at Floyds Knob, Indiana, just across the river.
Click to expand...

GPB is pretty much all VHF. They made some money off it, but reception troubles have probably dogged them. And if you look at the transmitter parameters, Opelika and Chattanooga serve more people in AL/TN than they do in Georgia.
 
Sammi Brie said:
TGPB is pretty much all VHF. They made some money off it, but reception troubles have probably dogged them. And if you look at the transmitter parameters, Opelika and Chattanooga serve more people in AL/TN than they do in Georgia.
Click to expand...

I didn't think of that. The UHF LPTVs could act as a backup for those who have a difficult time getting the VHF signal.
 
powergate92 said:
You missed a few for Channel 7:

Silicondust USA has an App from Shaw Butte.

Digital Networks (Luken Communications) has a Major Modification to move K23PL-D to South Mountain.

One Ministries has an App from South Mountain.

Also, K04SE-D Major Modification is to move to Channel 11 in addition to South Mountain.

RabbitEars also has a list of all the new LPTV apps. https://www.rabbitears.info/oddsandends.php?request=freeze_lift_apps
Click to expand...
A couple of those makes sence, but all the low VHF do not make sence to me. Looks like there a couple in Bolder and one in Denver and West Menster Colorado for me. Thanks for sharing the link.
 


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