Here's my update on DTV reception in Rural New England since the June 12th switchover. My summer cottage is on the New Hampshire-Maine border, 100 miles north of Boston, 35 miles west of Portland and 45 miles northeast of Manchester. The cottage is just a few feet above lake level, surrounded by hills, so we need several tools for decent reception. There's a large, early 90s Radio Shack antenna on the roof mounted on a rotor, a Channel Master antenna booster and a Magnavox digital converter. If it weren't for the rotor, I'd have a hard time getting watchable TV signals.
Much has been discussed on these sites that digital stations switching to VHF channels have not fared as well as when they were on UHF signals. I've had mixed experiences with several stations that use VHF signals. Now that WMUR Manchester, an ABC outlet, switched its DTV signal to its original dial position at VHF 9 (and I assume a more powerful transmitter than its previous DTV output) the station comes in quite well, although I do have to tune the rotor fairly precisely to get it. If I'm off by a few degrees, my converter says "No Signal." Previously, my converter did not pull in WMUR at DTV 59, although the analog signal used to come in no matter where the antenna was pointed. I also get very well New Hampshire PBS WENH, now on original dial position at VHF 11. It's my strongest channel, according to the meter on my converter.
But WMTW Poland Spring ABC 8 (the only station to return to its VHF channel in the Portland market) is not coming in as well as it had with its previous DTV signal on 46. It's still good, but the rotor on my rooftop antenna must pointed more precisely to pick up DTV 8.
So my channel line up in East Wakefield NH (near the junction of Rts. 110 and 153) is:
Ch. 6 WCSH NBC Portland DTV 44 (weather/news channel on .2)
Ch. 8 WMTW ABC Poland Spring DTV 8 (weather/news channel on .2)
Ch. 9 WMUR ABC Manchester DTV 9
Ch. 11 WENH PBS Durham DTV 11 (on .1 and .2, PBS Explore on .3)
Ch. 13 WGME CBS Portland DTV 38 (on .1 and .2)
If I position it in exactly the right spot, I can get all five channels without having to adjust the rotor everytime I change the channel. But if it's only a few degrees off, I can lose WCSH, WMTW and/or WMUR. I also notice on a bright sunny day between noon and 4pm, I sometimes lose these three stations for a few seconds, no matter how well I position the rotor.
On the other hand, WGME Portland CBS was just barely watchable as an analog channel, with ghosts and snow. Now its DTV signal, from its tower in Raymond ME, is one of the strongest at the cottage. (No more having to put up with double or triple David Lettermans, doing their monologue in a snow storm.) WMTW also had ghosts, whether it was on Mount Washington NH or its more recent location near Sebago ME. Now the DTV signal is perfect, provided I adjust the rotor correctly.
I did lose WPXG Concord NH, an Ion station originally on analog 21, now on DTV 33. That station gave me only a so-so analog signal at my cottage. Now it doesn't come in at all. But I have little interest in Ion's line up so that isn't much of a loss.
When conditions are right, on some nights and mornings (sunset to around 9 or 10am), these Boston stations can be received in the following order:
Ch. 7 WHDH NBC DTV 42 (and 70s movies on .2)
Ch. 4 WBZ CBS DTV 30
Ch. 25 WFXT Fox DTV 31
Ch. 2 WGBH PBS DTV 19 (on .1 and .2)
Ch. 5 WCVB ABC DTV 20
I'm guessing WHDH has been experimenting with its VHF 7 transmitter while it also uses its UHF 42 transmitter because a few times I hit "scan" and two 7.1 and 7.2 channels registered on my converter. While the UHF signal was the better of the two, I did get good reception on VHF 7 when conditions were right. 42 is the easiest Boston channel to bring in, but 7 comes in better than other Boston signals after WBZ and WFXT. According to other posts, WHDH wants the FCC to let them stay on 42 and forget 7.
The website www.tvfool.com predicts that Maine PBS WMEA Biddeford DTV 45 should be among the easiest stations to receive at my cottage. Instead, I don't even get a blip when I look for it, not even when I rotate the antenna in all directions. One poster on this board said the station is broadcasting from a mountain in Sanford ME, which is only about 25 miles from my cottage.
I wonder why they chose Sanford for their transmitter? I believe WMEA-FM uses the WCSH TV tower in Sebago for its powerful Class C signal, one of only four Class C stations in the Portland market. Why not put WMEA-TV there too? WMEA-TV's transmitter in Sanford puts the station very close to the New Hampshire PBS outlet in Durham, WENH. I guess that's one of the quirks about digital television. Two PBS stations, only a dozen miles apart. One gives me excellent reception, while the other doesn't even register with my converter. And against conventional DTV wisdom, it's the VHF station that comes in great and the UHF station that I can't get.
In New York, several co-owned stations piggyback on each other's signals. For instance, Fox 5 WNYW has co-owned WWOR as its .2 programming. And My 9 WWOR has WNYW as its .2 programming. Same with Univision WXTV and Telefutura WFUT. So why doesn't WGBH make WGBX its .2 programming? Or why doesn't WBZ make WSBK its .2 programming? WGBX and WSBK have weaker signals than their sister stations. WMUR has (or had) a low-power Fox affiliate in Manchester. I wonder why they don't put that on a 9.2?
Gregg
[email protected]
Much has been discussed on these sites that digital stations switching to VHF channels have not fared as well as when they were on UHF signals. I've had mixed experiences with several stations that use VHF signals. Now that WMUR Manchester, an ABC outlet, switched its DTV signal to its original dial position at VHF 9 (and I assume a more powerful transmitter than its previous DTV output) the station comes in quite well, although I do have to tune the rotor fairly precisely to get it. If I'm off by a few degrees, my converter says "No Signal." Previously, my converter did not pull in WMUR at DTV 59, although the analog signal used to come in no matter where the antenna was pointed. I also get very well New Hampshire PBS WENH, now on original dial position at VHF 11. It's my strongest channel, according to the meter on my converter.
But WMTW Poland Spring ABC 8 (the only station to return to its VHF channel in the Portland market) is not coming in as well as it had with its previous DTV signal on 46. It's still good, but the rotor on my rooftop antenna must pointed more precisely to pick up DTV 8.
So my channel line up in East Wakefield NH (near the junction of Rts. 110 and 153) is:
Ch. 6 WCSH NBC Portland DTV 44 (weather/news channel on .2)
Ch. 8 WMTW ABC Poland Spring DTV 8 (weather/news channel on .2)
Ch. 9 WMUR ABC Manchester DTV 9
Ch. 11 WENH PBS Durham DTV 11 (on .1 and .2, PBS Explore on .3)
Ch. 13 WGME CBS Portland DTV 38 (on .1 and .2)
If I position it in exactly the right spot, I can get all five channels without having to adjust the rotor everytime I change the channel. But if it's only a few degrees off, I can lose WCSH, WMTW and/or WMUR. I also notice on a bright sunny day between noon and 4pm, I sometimes lose these three stations for a few seconds, no matter how well I position the rotor.
On the other hand, WGME Portland CBS was just barely watchable as an analog channel, with ghosts and snow. Now its DTV signal, from its tower in Raymond ME, is one of the strongest at the cottage. (No more having to put up with double or triple David Lettermans, doing their monologue in a snow storm.) WMTW also had ghosts, whether it was on Mount Washington NH or its more recent location near Sebago ME. Now the DTV signal is perfect, provided I adjust the rotor correctly.
I did lose WPXG Concord NH, an Ion station originally on analog 21, now on DTV 33. That station gave me only a so-so analog signal at my cottage. Now it doesn't come in at all. But I have little interest in Ion's line up so that isn't much of a loss.
When conditions are right, on some nights and mornings (sunset to around 9 or 10am), these Boston stations can be received in the following order:
Ch. 7 WHDH NBC DTV 42 (and 70s movies on .2)
Ch. 4 WBZ CBS DTV 30
Ch. 25 WFXT Fox DTV 31
Ch. 2 WGBH PBS DTV 19 (on .1 and .2)
Ch. 5 WCVB ABC DTV 20
I'm guessing WHDH has been experimenting with its VHF 7 transmitter while it also uses its UHF 42 transmitter because a few times I hit "scan" and two 7.1 and 7.2 channels registered on my converter. While the UHF signal was the better of the two, I did get good reception on VHF 7 when conditions were right. 42 is the easiest Boston channel to bring in, but 7 comes in better than other Boston signals after WBZ and WFXT. According to other posts, WHDH wants the FCC to let them stay on 42 and forget 7.
The website www.tvfool.com predicts that Maine PBS WMEA Biddeford DTV 45 should be among the easiest stations to receive at my cottage. Instead, I don't even get a blip when I look for it, not even when I rotate the antenna in all directions. One poster on this board said the station is broadcasting from a mountain in Sanford ME, which is only about 25 miles from my cottage.
I wonder why they chose Sanford for their transmitter? I believe WMEA-FM uses the WCSH TV tower in Sebago for its powerful Class C signal, one of only four Class C stations in the Portland market. Why not put WMEA-TV there too? WMEA-TV's transmitter in Sanford puts the station very close to the New Hampshire PBS outlet in Durham, WENH. I guess that's one of the quirks about digital television. Two PBS stations, only a dozen miles apart. One gives me excellent reception, while the other doesn't even register with my converter. And against conventional DTV wisdom, it's the VHF station that comes in great and the UHF station that I can't get.
In New York, several co-owned stations piggyback on each other's signals. For instance, Fox 5 WNYW has co-owned WWOR as its .2 programming. And My 9 WWOR has WNYW as its .2 programming. Same with Univision WXTV and Telefutura WFUT. So why doesn't WGBH make WGBX its .2 programming? Or why doesn't WBZ make WSBK its .2 programming? WGBX and WSBK have weaker signals than their sister stations. WMUR has (or had) a low-power Fox affiliate in Manchester. I wonder why they don't put that on a 9.2?
Gregg
[email protected]
