What city/area in New England gets the most DTV stations? Checking TV fool,it is probably somewhere along the Route 95 corridor between Boston and Providence, and several areas in Fairfield county. And areas in the towns of Sturbridge and Ware have great reception because of high elevation. Anyone else have any other opinions?
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AREA IN NEW ENGLAND RECIEVING MOST DTV STATIONS
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My guess would, as yours, be the I-95 corridor - roughly between S. Attleboro and Foxborough. In that area, most DT signals from the Boston and Providence markets should be fairly easy to pick up.
Yes, with a decent antenna, some of the high terrain in central MA and northeastern CT may win the prize - but not as easily as they did in analog. It's more difficult to get the more distant signals to decode.
Not so sure about much of Fairfield County having as many DT signals in the air as you would have a heck of a time picking up the Hartford area stations, but may get the couple from New Haven and - of course - most New York ones. But even that will depend on where you are. It's likely that if you're somewhere that has great New York reception, you won't get much DT from the Hartford market and vice versa.
Yes, with a decent antenna, some of the high terrain in central MA and northeastern CT may win the prize - but not as easily as they did in analog. It's more difficult to get the more distant signals to decode.
Not so sure about much of Fairfield County having as many DT signals in the air as you would have a heck of a time picking up the Hartford area stations, but may get the couple from New Haven and - of course - most New York ones. But even that will depend on where you are. It's likely that if you're somewhere that has great New York reception, you won't get much DT from the Hartford market and vice versa.
My guess would be extreme Northeastern Connecticut. Towns such as Putnam and Woodstock. It looks like they are about 35 to 40 air miles from Hartford, Providence and Boston! So I would think that living in that area with a semi-decent antenna you would probably hit the DTV jackpot! When you combine the regular channels in addition to all the sub channels, People in that area should be able to pull in betwen 40 to 45 DTV stations.
I live up on a hilltop just west of Newark, NJ. My house faces to the East. I can pick up WCTX-59 in analog just fine using a basic UHF antenna. But since WCTX's digital signal is on channel 39 I have no chance of picking that up due channel 39 (Azteca America) in NYC. And since that is a low-power station it won't be going away anytime soon. I haven't tried to pick up WTNH since I don't have a VHF antenna to connect.
Maybe so, but in these cases, it's the straight line air mileage between Putnam and the these cities. I'm well aware of the TV towers being generally west of Boston. In the case of Hartford, you can tack on a few more miles for the sites in Avon (WFSB/WUVN) and Farmington (WTXX/WEDH/WVIT/WTIC). If you really want to be technical, Putnam to New Haven is 67 air miles, but the Hamden site of WTNH and WCTX drops that down a few.
Skynet74 said:
I did a quick 40-mile radius around each approximate transmitter site. Interestingly enough, there's nowhere that is common to all three radii. The closest, however, is right about in the Eastford-Putnam-Woodstock. I would agree, with the right topography and antenna, you should be able to pick up something from all three markets.
Agreed, IF you have a really good amplified antenna system and are located atop favorable topography - then NE CT and southern Worcester County is a prime spot. However, not just anyone will enjoy the cornucopia of stations - you really need to have a great setup. It's harder than analog to pick up distant DT stations - even from 40 miles out.
Putnam was named as an example. Well, it's not a great one because Putnam is in the Quinebog Valley and is somewhat sheltered. Looks good on a map, unless that map happens to show topography. Then, not as good. You'd probably get Providence, the ion station from New London and perhaps Univision's WUNI from that area, and not much else. And my guess is that those would require a rooftop antenna to pull in - though they didn't with analog. Neighboring Pomfret would be a better location because it's at a higher elevation overlooking that valley.
That's why I persist in my nomination of the area between Providence and Boston. Because in that zone, anyone who makes the slightest effort can pick up a heck of a lot of DT signals. Those father out hilly zones will require significantly more effort. And, truly, you'd need to be in a very favorable spot. Probably 90 or more percent of that area would be less than ideal. I think I said something like that in my initial post, but may not have worded it as well as I would have liked.
Putnam was named as an example. Well, it's not a great one because Putnam is in the Quinebog Valley and is somewhat sheltered. Looks good on a map, unless that map happens to show topography. Then, not as good. You'd probably get Providence, the ion station from New London and perhaps Univision's WUNI from that area, and not much else. And my guess is that those would require a rooftop antenna to pull in - though they didn't with analog. Neighboring Pomfret would be a better location because it's at a higher elevation overlooking that valley.
That's why I persist in my nomination of the area between Providence and Boston. Because in that zone, anyone who makes the slightest effort can pick up a heck of a lot of DT signals. Those father out hilly zones will require significantly more effort. And, truly, you'd need to be in a very favorable spot. Probably 90 or more percent of that area would be less than ideal. I think I said something like that in my initial post, but may not have worded it as well as I would have liked.
Living in the Providence area I pick up 29 DTV stations. I rescan every day hoping that I can hit 30. But no such luck yet. But in the right conditions I've picked up The 4 Ion stations from New London and I think 4 from cape Cod one day too. Once in a while I get channel 62. Not often though. I can never get that home shopping channel 46 in Mass. Only once in a great while can I get WUNI channel 27. So on a record day when all conditions are perfect I've been able to get 37 stations at most. However most of the time this isn't the case. For me it's the standard 29 which are reliable and always there for me. I'm not complaining. When I was a kid I could only get 4 stations without cable. Now I can get 29. That seems like a definite improvement to me. Good enough where I canceled my cable three months ago.
I live about 20 miles west of Worcester in the famous Worcester Hills area. I enjoy fantastic DTV reception with a standard rooftop antenna and preamp. My reception is as follows:
From Boston: WGBH, WBZ, WCVB, WHDH, WSBK, WGBX, WLVI, WMFP
From Providence: WLNE, WJAR, WPRI, WSBE, WNAC, WPXQ
From Worcester/Marlborough: WUNI, WUTF
From Springfield: WWLP, WGGB, WGBY, Fox 6 (via WGGB's DTV signal), WSHM (via WFSB's DTV signal)
From Hartford/New Haven: WFSB,WTNH, WUVN, WEDH, WVIT, WTIC
From New London, CT: WHPX
From Adams, Mass: WCDC
My digital reception is almost as good as my analog reception was. After the transition, I am hoping to receive WFXT from Boston and WTXX from Waterbury, Connecticut, both of which I was able to receive via analog. Also, I am currently unable to receive any of the New Hampshire digitals, although I can receive WMUR fairly well on analog, and WENH used to come in well before WWLP started transmitting digitally on channel 11 several years back. Hopefully these may come in post transition as well.
All in all, if you add in possible subchannels, I can receive over 50 digital channels, which is up from the 38 I used to receive regularly. Most digital channels come in all the time as long as I aim my antenna in the proper direction. Some channels may fade in and out at times, especially the weaker Boston UHFs. However, Providence, Hartford and Springfield all come in perfect. My elevation of 920 feet, plus the fact that I am basically on a plateau with clear coverage to the south and west aids in my reception. I am slightly blocked to the north and I have a small slope to the east that occasionally causes the weaker Boston stations to fade out. But I am very happy with digital reception overall.
From Boston: WGBH, WBZ, WCVB, WHDH, WSBK, WGBX, WLVI, WMFP
From Providence: WLNE, WJAR, WPRI, WSBE, WNAC, WPXQ
From Worcester/Marlborough: WUNI, WUTF
From Springfield: WWLP, WGGB, WGBY, Fox 6 (via WGGB's DTV signal), WSHM (via WFSB's DTV signal)
From Hartford/New Haven: WFSB,WTNH, WUVN, WEDH, WVIT, WTIC
From New London, CT: WHPX
From Adams, Mass: WCDC
My digital reception is almost as good as my analog reception was. After the transition, I am hoping to receive WFXT from Boston and WTXX from Waterbury, Connecticut, both of which I was able to receive via analog. Also, I am currently unable to receive any of the New Hampshire digitals, although I can receive WMUR fairly well on analog, and WENH used to come in well before WWLP started transmitting digitally on channel 11 several years back. Hopefully these may come in post transition as well.
All in all, if you add in possible subchannels, I can receive over 50 digital channels, which is up from the 38 I used to receive regularly. Most digital channels come in all the time as long as I aim my antenna in the proper direction. Some channels may fade in and out at times, especially the weaker Boston UHFs. However, Providence, Hartford and Springfield all come in perfect. My elevation of 920 feet, plus the fact that I am basically on a plateau with clear coverage to the south and west aids in my reception. I am slightly blocked to the north and I have a small slope to the east that occasionally causes the weaker Boston stations to fade out. But I am very happy with digital reception overall.
You shouldn't have any problems with WTXX-DT (CW) once they move to digital channel 20. However, WCVB-DT (ABC) is on channel 20 already. Good luck!
NOTE: WTXX-DT, presently on channel 12, will move to digital channel 20 on June 12th. They will be atop the WTIC tower in a candelabra, alongside of WTIC-DT (FOX) and WEDH-DT (PBS). WVIT-DT (NBC) transmits from the same site (Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington, CT, but on their own separate tower).
NOTE: WTXX-DT, presently on channel 12, will move to digital channel 20 on June 12th. They will be atop the WTIC tower in a candelabra, alongside of WTIC-DT (FOX) and WEDH-DT (PBS). WVIT-DT (NBC) transmits from the same site (Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington, CT, but on their own separate tower).
According to the FCC and AntennaWeb sites, the hilly terrain lining the Naugatuck Valley (in western CT roughly around the municipalities of Seymour, Oxford, Middle/Woodbury, and Bethlehem) should be able to get most of the New York City, Hartford-New Haven, Springfield, and Albany digital stations. The websites list their signals as anywhere from strong to moderate and weak.
How accurate are these websites? I won't discount them just yet because elevations in this area are between 750' and 1000' asl, so it's very plausible with a direct line-of-sight to most of the transmitters in those 4 markets. I don't have a rooftop antenna yet, but I'm working on it. Any ideas?
How accurate are these websites? I won't discount them just yet because elevations in this area are between 750' and 1000' asl, so it's very plausible with a direct line-of-sight to most of the transmitters in those 4 markets. I don't have a rooftop antenna yet, but I'm working on it. Any ideas?
The post about Putnam Ct (most of the city proper) being in a low lying location hit the nail on the head. When i lived in Rutland, MA we were able to get a load of stations (over 30 and mainly clear) but people on the other end of town in a valley could only get 3-4 clear stations and 9-10 stations overall.
On a slightly different note we took a drive on RI route 102, near the intersection of Rt 102 and Rt 6, one could get a srtong FM station on nearly every frequency from a large number of markets including the Cape and New hampshire. It was a hilltop location with a clear view in all 4 directions.
So it's about elevation but also about proximity as evidenced by those lucky stiffs in the I-95 corridor between Beantown and Providence.
I do remember visiting my aunt and uncle in Naugatuck Ct a long time ago and they got stations from NYC, Albany-Schened, Springfield, Hartford, and Providence. This was before the stations coming on air in SE Ct.
But whether one could pull in the digitals from that location is another matter.
On a slightly different note we took a drive on RI route 102, near the intersection of Rt 102 and Rt 6, one could get a srtong FM station on nearly every frequency from a large number of markets including the Cape and New hampshire. It was a hilltop location with a clear view in all 4 directions.
So it's about elevation but also about proximity as evidenced by those lucky stiffs in the I-95 corridor between Beantown and Providence.
I do remember visiting my aunt and uncle in Naugatuck Ct a long time ago and they got stations from NYC, Albany-Schened, Springfield, Hartford, and Providence. This was before the stations coming on air in SE Ct.
But whether one could pull in the digitals from that location is another matter.
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