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DTV in the RGV

S

silverthree

The local newspaper ran an interesting article regarding the dtv reception problems people in Starr County (Rio Grande City) are expected to have. Most of the region's signals aren't expected to reach points west of Rio Grande City since most of the transmitters are located midway between McAllen and Brownsville. Only KTLM 40- the Telemundo affiliate licensed to Rio Grande City- is expected to cover the whole county.

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/digital_24785___article.html/county_starr.html
 
I feel their pain, it took me eight antennas (indoor mind you) but still... to get this DTV thing to work out. I finally settled with the DB2 on the second floor but I'm in the city mind you, not on the fringe. They aren't kidding about the all or nothing.
 
The ''cliff effect'' is hard to swallow for viewers who were content to watch TV through the snow and electrical interference. It's time to raise those antennas higher to enjoy all the stations within range. Or-- like the stations say-- get satellite to pick up these stations in the fringe areas.
 
That Starr County is off the cliff is no surprise whatsoever. Even in the analog days, both Channels 4 and 5 were weak even in north McAllen, with outside antennas necessary for any decent kind of reception whatsoever. It's just physics, when you're that far away from the transmitters (about 25-30 miles in the case of McAllen) you can expect problems.

The folks in Starr County will just have to get serious antennas. Yes, I know it's one of the poorest places in Texas. But it's just physics.
 
On the upside, if they invest in a good, high outdoor antenna with a rotator they may also pick up the Monterrey TV stations. Back in the 70s, the Valley's cable system used to give us 3 (now 2,) 6 and 12 from Monterrey. I know it's 100 miles from the border but Monterrey has some great mountaintop transmitter sites.
 
Ummmmm....Fred......invest?

This is one of the tragedies of the transition. The people here in the colonias east of Rio Grande City can barely afford milk, much less a 50' tower with a $300 array with a rotator!

The last time I was east of RGC last year, it had barely changed since I worked there in the early 80s. Those folks don't have access to cable, all they've done is put up a 10' fencepost with a $20 Radio Shack special on top, with twinlead coming down through a window. That gets them a somewhat-watchable analog picture...until the coming shutoff, that is.

And given the lack of ... documentation ... that many of the residents have, I can assure you that they won't be applying for $40 government coupons.

Effectively, we're shutting off TV for the poorest of the poor, those who have precious little other entertainment.

I'm not ragging on you, Fred, far from it. I'm just concerned that a lot of folks on this board don't understand the economics of Starr County, a place that's about to lose most of its over the air TV, something it's had for better than 50 years. Granted, there is a Telemundo affiliate in Rio Grande City, one that actually does news. But that's all...all three US networks as well as Univision and PBS are down the tubes.
 
Okay. Maybe we can skip the rotator. But I have an off-the-shelf radio shack antenna that barely clears the peak of my one story house in South Austin and I can pickup the San Antonio DTVs more than 60 miles away. And I'm not using an amp either. Rio Grande City is roughly 65 miles from the La Feria antenna farm. Obviously rural viewers need more than rabbit ears... but not much more.
 
I can barely pick up KMBH(PBS) in Edinburg using a good pair of rabbit ears. The other stations are a little better, but KRGV(ABC) sometimes is hard to catch. I have no obstructions blocking my reception.
 
I used to have trouble picking up KMBH, but I've noticed that since they shut off their analog, their digital signal is stronger. The ones I have most trouble with are KLUJ (TBN) and XERV (ch9). The slightest movement of the antenna can really mess up the picture. That used to happen with KMBH but now not as much. I don't even bother with XHAB (ch7). I'm in Mission and use a pair of $5 rabbit ears from the dollar store.
 
Right, once everyone gets to full power, you probably won't need much an antenna in Hidalgo County. But my (somewhat emotional) point up above is that Starr County not only has problems with distance, but also terrain. Our local comparison is picking up Austin DTV from the Stonewall to Fredericksburg area, that's 60-75 miles away from Austin, with similar hills.
 
Perhaps the station will build out fill-in translators in that area. It seems like a simple solution if you ask me.

- Trip
 
That would work....somewhat...but there are some issues.

There are two towns (Rio Grande City and Roma) but a large percentage of the population lives well away from them, in small settlements called colonias scattered throughout the 1229 square miles that make up Starr county. These settlements are unincorporated, many are without water or sewer and few have cable.

There are not one, but five stations affected, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision and PBS. The PBS station is a shoestring operation operated by the Diocese of Brownsville that can barely kept its small staff paid. The Fox affiliate is Mexican, I don't know how/if it would be affected.

It's more than a hundred mile hop from the NBC studio in Brownsville to Roma in the western part of Starr County over rough terrain. Not exactly convenient for microwave.

It's the Rio Grande Valley....it's another world. But I wouldn't be surprised if there are Appalachian or Rocky Mountain counties with similar issues.

OTOH, no one expects those locals to be in analog past the deadline. So I really don't have a solution.
 
There's an opportunity here for an entrepreneur to build a small master antenna tv system in the colonias to distribute the locals. If the locals are kind (no retrans fees) it could be done inexpensively daisy-chaining the signal from house to house.
 
While I think the locals would agree (I wonder if they might be at risk of losing Starr County as part of the DMA), the economics of such a micro-cable system would seem to me to be...problematical. What we might see is 3-4 families going in on the purchase of one antenna, which would be hooked up to one or more sets/houses.

(later) I just saw a map of the CBS station's coverage area:

http://www.valleycentral.com/upload...ories/DTVMap.jpg?w=226&h=170&aspect=nostretch

For all intents and purposes, it's gone at the Starr County line, and I'd be surprised if any of the others were any different. If these people want anything besides Telemundo, something will have to be done.
 
tripinva said:
Perhaps the station will build out fill-in translators in that area. It seems like a simple solution if you ask me.

- Trip
Click to expand...

Would Mexico have to approve any fill-in translators? If they do, I'm not sure it'd be so simple.

Would it possible to set up a low power digital station (independent of the other stations) that could carry each of the main networks on its subchannels? Each subchannel could then map to match the main channel- CBS on 4.1, ABC on 5.1, NBC on 23.1 etc. Just a thought. I would hate to have just one viewing option.
 
I think there's a rule about stations with powers lower than 10 kW not needing Mexican approval. I'm not 100% sure on that, and fill-in translators use less power than 10 kW in most cases. Perhaps someone else knows.

What you suggest is also an option and I can point you to at least one translator that does just that. http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=61125#station

- Trip
 
silverthree said:
Would it possible to set up a low power digital station (independent of the other stations) that could carry each of the main networks on its subchannels? Each subchannel could then map to match the main channel- CBS on 4.1, ABC on 5.1, NBC on 23.1 etc. Just a thought. I would hate to have just one viewing option.
Click to expand...

Yep, the FCC anticipated just that, and I know of one such translator operating in Colorado. (ironically, rather than carrying four network affiliates, it carries four unrelated independents...)

In decent economic times I would think that would be the first thing that would happen. Starr County would build a digital translator. Or, some kind of non-profit organization would be formed to build the translator. Or each of the TV stations would build their own.

Today a translator would be a lot harder to finance. Then again, with DTV they'd only need one. (albeit with four or five receivers)
 
I really do like that solution up in Cottage Grove Oregon. Does anyone know what kind of coverage that station has? I'd really like to know who handles the financing, licensing, etc.

I assume there's no HD but hey, this would be strictly for folks who can't afford that 46" set. If you can afford the set, you can afford satellite.
 
w9wi said:
In decent economic times I would think that would be the first thing that would happen. Starr County would build a digital translator. Or, some kind of non-profit organization would be formed to build the translator. Or each of the TV stations would build their own.
Click to expand...

Well, given the current economic situation, Starr County won't be building anything. Until a few years ago, the county seat (Rio Grande City) wasn't even an incorporated town due to financial problems. Yes, if you needed a cop on main street, you called the county sheriff....there were no city police, a volunteer-only fire department, that's the kind of place we're talking about. This, despite the fact that 20,000 people lived in and around Rio Grande City, and a much larger, undetermined, population, out in the far reaches of Starr County.

I went ahead and forwarded the info about the Oregon translator to the Chief Engineer of one of the stations down there that I still keep in touch with. It would be nice if something came of it.
 
This would be a switch but maybe the English language stations (at least channels 4 and 5) would LMA an SD subchannel on the Telemundo signal to extend their reach up the Valley. Or maybe they can trade subchannels. Now that's what I call thinking out of the box.
 
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