4th Anniversary of the DTV Transition

[Joey1986]

Four years ago today, full-power OTA analog TV became a relic of the past. Hard to believe it's already been that long, isn't it? Anyone know if things have gotten better in terms of reception even since last year on this day (e.g. fill-in translators for coverage gaps, power increases, channel number changes, etc.)? How are things going in your market? Discuss.

 

[ercjncpr]

much better in Los Angeles, better reception more stations

 

[cd637299]

It's also the 4th anniversary of the debut of "nightlights"----some TV stations, although they went digital, got the go-ahead to transmit information on their analog channel of how to use a converter box, and other aspects of this newfangled way of transmission.

In Miami, channels 2 and 6 put out such info for 2 weeks. I had to hold off on DXing those channels for those 2 weeks (well actually I saw UNC TV in North Carolina's nightlight info underneath WPBT ch 2 during that time!)

I do enjoy some of the subchannels, especially those of classic TV.

cd

 

[Joe_Capitano]

In my part of the world KIRO-TV installed a branded low-power translator in Burlington (WA). Comes in OK in Anacortes, though weather and other garbage can sometimes get in the way. None of the other Seattle stations care to see them on this.

 

[crainbebo]

It's unfortunate (I think) that it happened. Forget watching TV in the RV now or on the boat in Puget Sound - digital combined with hills kills the reception.

-crainbebo

 

[1069_KIFR]

Remember the media reporting that many elderly will not know about the change. They will turn on their TV's and there'd be nothing but snow!

I haven't heard of any people not having reception.

 

[Markxxx]

I live in Chicago, 3 miles NW of Willis Tower and lost ALL channels. Chicago has a lot of spots that are void of TV. I used to get low power stations great. In fact Me-TV, Channel 23 a low power would come in better than WCIU the full power parent station.

Chicago has lots of blank spots, but to be fair it effects AM, FM and cell phone reception too.

 

[RadioMan203]

I went from several station to one-half a station (no kidding, sometimes it comes in and sometimes it doesn't).

As far as I'm concerned the FCC screwed the pooch on this one.

 

[landtuna]

As far as I'm concerned the FCC screwed the pooch on this one.

I agree. I have listed the deficiencies many times on this board but basically the addition of subs do not offset reception issues or lack of coverage - particularly on high-VHF.

 

[mjlarochelle]

On the Canadian side of the border, I can't get WWNY/7 (DT 7) from Watertown whatsoever, and WWTI/50 (DT 21) is intermittent, and usually weak. WPBS/16 (DT 41) is the only station from the U.S. side I can consistently get now. CKWS/11 is still in analog!

 

[Mr Tony]

well lets see...Minneapolis burbs

pre digital....9 full power stations + 1 full power "distant" (Pax/i/Ion) + 5 or so low powered stations
now...around 45 stations total... great subchannels like MeTV, AntennaTV, Country Network, The MN Channel (PBS subchannel) + getting KEYC Mankato (CBS/Fox subchannel) pretty much all the time which works great for extra NFL games

I'm happy

 

[e-dawg]

I live in Chicago, 3 miles NW of Willis Tower and lost ALL channels. Chicago has a lot of spots that are void of TV. I used to get low power stations great. In fact Me-TV, Channel 23 a low power would come in better than WCIU the full power parent station.

Chicago has lots of blank spots, but to be fair it effects AM, FM and cell phone reception too.

Which part of Chicago?

I stayed around Wicker Park last week, and use my TV antenna card on my PC, I was able to picked up all of Chicago TV stations (2,5,7,9,11,20,26,32,38,44,50,60,62, and 66) I don't remember the LP stations, but I was able to picked up Azteca America, Mundofox, MeToo, etc., except for WYIN-DT 17/56 Gary Indiana.

 

[mjlarochelle]

I didn't notice this until now, but it was just under a month ago that XETV/6 in San Diego finally shut off its analog transmitter. Of course, it didn't have to shut it off yet, since it is licensed in Mexico.

That leaves XHRIO Matamoros/McAllen as one of the last analog full-power stations left that serves an American audience.

 

[wrsg915fm]

My pastor, who lives two doors down from me, gets his TV OTA. However, our family gets nothing that way, after several atempts, so we now get locals via Dish. We've lost several stations that aren't in our DMA. Overall, the DTV conversion was not a good thing for my family. If they would only reorder/consolidate DMA's, perhaps those lost stations could be returned, but that will probably never happen.

 

[blizzard59]

I didn't notice this until now, but it was just under a month ago that XETV/6 in San Diego finally shut off its analog transmitter. Of course, it didn't have to shut it off yet, since it is licensed in Mexico.

Actually, they did, as all the stations licensed to Tijuana had to convert to digital this spring. Originally the analog shut-off date was April 16, but that was pushed back to May 28 due to the fear that not everybody who needed a converter box would have one by the time the signals were to go digital.

Unlike the US and, for the most part, Canada, Mexico is gradually transitioning to digital OTA television on a city-by-city, region-by-region basis, with Tijuana the first place to switch. The entire country of Mexico is expected to be converted to digital by the end of 2015.

 

[dave73]

It was a pain during the post-transition period, until stations got their power increases, & switched antennas. For now, DTV has been great for me. I've listed what I get before, but I'm gonna do it again, & there have been some changes too in what I get.

02.1 WBBM-TV (CBS) 1080i RF 12 (formerly RF 3 for DTV)

05.1 WMAQ-TV (NBC) 1080i RF 29
05.2 Cozi TV (SD Widescreen)

07.1 WLS-TV (ABC) 720p RF 44 (RF 7 for post transitional DTV & RF 52 for pre-transitional DTV)
07.2 Livewell Network 720p
07.3 Livewell Network SD

09.1 WGN-TV (CW) 1080i RF 19
09.2 Antenna TV

11.1 WTTW HD (PBS) 1080i RF 47
11.2 WTTW Prime (PBS) SD Widescreen (formerly SD only)
11.3 Create
11.4 V-Me

13.1 WOCK-CD (Mundo Fox) 720p RF 4
13.2 WOCH-CA simulcast (either Arirang or KBS)
13.3 Veria Living (not sure what this is)
13.4 Weather Nation
13.5 Soul of the South

18.1 WHNW-LD (World Harvest TV) RF 18 Gary, IN

20.1 WYCC (PBS) 1080i RF 21
20.2 WYCC SD simulcast
20.3 Mhz Worldview (sometimes WYCC shows this in widescreen, & other times doesn't).

22.1 - 22.6 WRJK-LP RF 24 (not sure what is carried on all the channels, but it's a new LPTV digital station from Chicago)

23.1 WWME-LD (MeTV) RF 39
23.2 Bounce
23.3 MeTV simulcast

24.1 WPVN-CD (Retro TV) RF 20
24.2 Tuff TV
24.3 The Nashville Network
24.4 Polvision (Chicago's only local Polish language station)
24.5 KUBS TV (Korean language)
24.6 MC-TV (Korean religious programming)

25.1 W25DW-D (HSN) RF 25 Arbury Hills, IL (no such community in Illinois, it's named after the high school in Tinley Park, IL)
25.2 TVC+ Latino
25.3 Sonlife
25.4 QVC
25.5 LATV
25.6 Almavision
25.7 Wizebuyz (infomercials)

26.1 WCIU (Independent) 720p RF 27
26.2 U Too (Independent)
26.3 WWME-LD simulcast of MeTV
26.4 WMEU-CD simulcast of MeToo (Chicago's MeTV)
26.5 This TV

32.1 WFLD (Fox) 720p RF 31

38.1 WCPX (Ion) 720p RF 43
38.2 Qubo
38.3 Ion Life
38.4 Shop TV

40.1 WESV-LD (Estrella TV) 720p RF 40
40.2 Inmigrante TV

44.1 WSNS (Telemundo) 1080i RF 45
44.2 Exitos TV

48.1 WMEU-CD (MeToo) RF 32

50.1 WPWR-TV (MyNT) 720p RF 51 Gary, IN
50.2 Movies SD Widescreen
50.3 WOCK-CD simulcast of 13.1 Mundo Fox SD Widescreen

56.1 WYIN (PBS) 1080i (formerly 720p) RF 17 Gary, IN
56.3 Lakeshore Kids (locally programmed children's channel)

57.1 WDCI-LD (Daystar) RF 30

60.1 WXFT (Unimás) 1080i RF 50 Aurora, IL
60.2 WXFT SD simulcast

I get this one sometimes:

61.1 WCHU-LD (Azteca America)
61.2 CCTV News
61.3 CCTV Documentary

62.1 WJYS (Independent) RF 36 Hammond, IN
62.2 WEDE-CA simulcast (on analog RF 34)
62.4 Independent

66.1 WGBO-DT (Univision) 1080i RF 38 Joliet, IL


If I get all these channels on a good day, I get 73 channels total. 25.1 - 25.7 varies from day to day, due to the sharp null toward Indiana. Same with 22.1 - 22.6. 61.1 - 61.3 usually get some kind of interference from analog channel 34, WEDE-CA, & usually don't these channels. Occasionally, 23.1 - 23.3 don't come in, due to a null toward Indiana, since they're protecting an RF 39 in South Bend, IN that is non-directional.

 

[Markxxx]

I live in Chicago, 3 miles NW of Willis Tower and lost ALL channels. Chicago has a lot of spots that are void of TV. I used to get low power stations great. In fact Me-TV, Channel 23 a low power would come in better than WCIU the full power parent station.

Chicago has lots of blank spots, but to be fair it effects AM, FM and cell phone reception too.

Which part of Chicago?

I stayed around Wicker Park last week, and use my TV antenna card on my PC, I was able to picked up all of Chicago TV stations (2,5,7,9,11,20,26,32,38,44,50,60,62, and 66) I don't remember the LP stations, but I was able to picked up Azteca America, Mundofox, MeToo, etc., except for WYIN-DT 17/56 Gary Indiana.

Logan Square...Right in the center of it. I can aim a Silver Sensor as I visually see the Willis Tower and get nothing. But you can move a mile or so and get everything except WBBM which is VHF.

Chicago's I believe have a lot to do with it. I work in the Gold Coast and can't get WBBM-AM 780. But I can listen to it online or via the FM repeater they have.

 

[FredLeonard]

The FCC did mess things up. In my area, ABC and public television remain on VHF and almost all so-called "HD antennas" are designed for UHF. Those two channels are on VHF because the UHF band is cluttered with all-infomercial and all-preacher stations. Channels on UHF have had to move and reduce power, again to avoid interference with channels nobody watches.

All this thanks to the FCC which gave away channels 70-83 and now can't re-appropriate VHF.

They also missed the chance to turn channels five and six over to radio broadcasters in an expanded FM band. They've screwed the pooch even worse on HD radio.

 

[dave73]

The FCC did mess things up. In my area, ABC and public television remain on VHF and almost all so-called "HD antennas" are designed for UHF. Those two channels are on VHF because the UHF band is cluttered with all-infomercial and all-preacher stations. Channels on UHF have had to move and reduce power, again to avoid interference with channels nobody watches.

All this thanks to the FCC which gave away channels 70-83 and now can't re-appropriate VHF.

They also missed the chance to turn channels five and six over to radio broadcasters in an expanded FM band. They've screwed the pooch even worse on HD radio.

The FCC gave away 70 - 83 back in the 1980's. So that isn't the issue They gave away 52 - 69 about 5 or 6 years ago, & forced stations off those channels 4 years ago. So it's now cluttered. RF channel 23 might be the only opening for a full power station in Chicago, if Weigel Broadcasting would make up their mind about keeping RF channel 23, or RF channel 39. RF Channel 23 is a Class A station that's still in analog, while RF 39 (maps on TV's as 23.1 - 23.3) is the companion channel. If RF 23 were in fact open for full power, it might give WBBM-TV the option to move to 23 instead of staying on RF 12, & trying to build out a translator on RF 26. Even after 3 1/2 years, WLS-TV still doesn't have all the bugs worked out with RF 44, because I got better reception from them on RF 7 than on RF 44, or their pre-transitional channel, RF 52. The only reason I have no problems getting VHF, is because I live in an area where it's easy to have an outdoor antenna, & I'm using the ugly, old-fashion element antennas that are optimized for VHF (specifically, 2-13, because I was watching WOCK-CD 13.4 when it was America One). I'm using separate VHF & UHF antennas (Antennacraft CS600 for VHF only & it's for 2-13, & Antennas Direct DB8 for UHF). I also use a pre-amp on my antennas, because WOCK-CD needs a pre-amp to pick it up in Gary, IN, but not needed for WBBM-TV, since WBBM-TV is 8kw while WOCK-CD is only 300 watts. For UHF, that same pre-amp is also used on the UHF antenna for LPTV stations WWME-LD on RF 39 (must get this station for Bounce on 23.2, or I would just rely on WCIU 26.3 for MeTV) & the only LPTV station I care for that needs the pre-amp. I also get on most days: W25DW-D (my mom likes this one for HSN on 25.1 & QVC on 25.4, but maps all the way to 25.7), WRJK-LP on RF 24(it's digital, but for some reason not using -LD at the end of their call letters, & it's for now infomercials on most channels, & maps to 22.1 - 22.6), WPVN-CD on RF 20 (various channels, including Retro TV, TNN, Polvision, & Korean programming, mapping to 24.1 - 24.6), & WESV-LD on RF 40 (Estrella TV & maps to 40.1 & 40.2). WESV aims a lot of their signal toward my direction, but doesn't come in easy. Same with the other LPTV digital stations listed. WDCI-LD on RF 30 (Daystar & maps to 57.1) & WMEU-CD on RF 32 (MeToo) have no nulls in my direction, & as a result, the signals are powerful enough for me to pick up without a pre-amp.

With Weigel Broadcasting, they need to decide whether to stay on RF 39, & make it Class A, or flash-cut 23 to digital, & turn in the RF 39 license. It makes no sense to continue airing an analog signal that few people are watching. They're duplicating the U Too from WCIU 26.2 on the analog station. Should Weigel Broadcasting decide to flash-cut RF 23 to digital, it would keep 23 from being used for a potential full power allocation. Weigel already shut off their analog LPTV stations in South Bend (2 of them, they had to because they were on RF 57 & RF 69, while RF 25 was flash-cut to digital). If I'm not mistaken, I believe Weigel already shut off their analog LPTV stations in Milwaukee, because 63 is out of core, & I believe RF 41 was also turned off as well.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The FCC did mess things up. In my area, ABC and public television remain on VHF and almost all so-called "HD antennas" are designed for UHF. Those two channels are on VHF because the UHF band is cluttered with all-infomercial and all-preacher stations. Channels on UHF have had to move and reduce power, again to avoid interference with channels nobody watches.

All this thanks to the FCC which gave away channels 70-83 and now can't re-appropriate VHF.

They also missed the chance to turn channels five and six over to radio broadcasters in an expanded FM band. They've screwed the pooch even worse on HD radio.

Actually it was 52-69.

My situation seems worse. I haven't tried an outdoor antenna. But with the indoor antennas I have, I was at least prepared when the cable went out. It had not happened for this long in four years! No NBC, so I had to watch the shows online. Jimmy Kimmel's pregame (postgame in the west) special wasn't doing as well as I expected (the station is usually perfect but I don't generally watch OTA any more) so I had to change TVs. CBS used to do really well but has gone done in quality.

And the one reason I had left to use the antenna is gone. Anyone know how to get a VHS tape out of a VCR? I'm in real trouble if I have to watch or record four shows at once.