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DTV Transition in Memphis

D

DeadElvis

Some may find this eye-glazing stuff. But…

Full-power analog TV may not fully go away on February 17th, after all. As the year was winding down, the FCC, following Congressional instructions, completed rules that would allow some stations a little extra time.

Old analog transmitters that will not interfere with other stations via the new scheme may stay on the air an extra 30 days, provided they solely program public safety and DTV transition information. The Commission also provided a short list of some stations automatically authorized for this scheme. They included WREG-3 and WPXX-50 here in Murder Central.

Other stations may apply, if they wish. By my reckoning, WPTY-24 and WLMT-30 should also meet the requirements, but were not on the automatic list. WMC-5, WHBQ-13 and (probably) WKNO-10 would not qualify.

-DE
 
I heard a rumor that what their not telling us about it. There is no snowy pic. If you don't good reception you will get no picture at all..Some of us down here in the boonies can barely make out the picture some days. Thank goodness I have Direct TV.. I know people who don't though.. Any truth to that rumor?
 
Robrt32 said:
There is no snowy pic. If you don't good reception you will get no picture at all
Click to expand...

that's the way digital works: perfect signal or nothing.
an outside antenna aimed at MPS should work out to 60+ miles...especially after 2/17 when the
DTV signals are full strength.

here's how it works:

101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001101011101011011001010000101011010000101010101010111111010101100101011010100100101001 ;D
 
The DTV signals, for the most part, are now at full strength.

There will be some musical chairs being played on February 17th. For me, the biggest open question is how well WMC will do with DTV back on channel 5. Low-band VHF is perceived as less desirable for digital TV.

DE
 
Yep, I had to explain "all or nothing" to the family. Since Christmas, we're all digitial at the 'saur house...but the TV's not on satellite cut out depending on where you walk. The analog signals just had a moment of snow and static, but the DTV signal blanks completely, and it seems like it takes a second or two to sync back up. Guess I'll be putting in an attic antenna.

Is anyone else noticing the video and audio aren't always in sync as well?
 
radiosaur said:
Yep, I had to explain "all or nothing" to the family. Since Christmas, we're all digitial at the 'saur house...but the TV's not on satellite cut out depending on where you walk. The analog signals just had a moment of snow and static, but the DTV signal blanks completely, and it seems like it takes a second or two to sync back up. Guess I'll be putting in an attic antenna.

Is anyone else noticing the video and audio aren't always in sync as well?
Click to expand...

5 seems to have the biggest issue with that out of all the channels. Sometimes it that way for days at at time. 5 has been my favorite news channel since my grandparents told me it was the channel everyone watches but I can't re-sync Kim Clark's lips in my head.
 
RadeoEngineer said:
5 has had sync problems forever.
Click to expand...

I wish to gently disagree with the term “forever”. ;D One of my last projects at WMC-TV circa 1996 was to cure all the lip-flap problems in the TV-5 analog plant. I did it, too…until a technically challenged individual replaced Mike Schwartz as Director of Engineering and screwed it all up again….Now, given that I have no idea the actual process behind DTV I couldn’t tell you if it’s easier or harder to get everything synced up in a digital plant, but my gut feeling tells me it should be easier. But like you say, it is quite noticeable on 5.
 
So, it's not just my (lips moving "so it's not just my) imagination, then (imagination then")?
 
I recently set up my best digital tuner and indoor antenna on a TV in an upstairs bedroom. I live at Alamo and among the Memphis stations I've been able to get 24 sporadically and 5 and 30 on a more regular basis. I haven't been able to get 3, 10, 13, or 50 yet. From what I could see looking at antennaweb.org, 5, 24, and 30 are about 50 miles away, while the others are between 55 and 60 miles away, which might explain why they aren't coming in. I also have a few questions:

Will any station's digital power increase any more after the changeover?

How long has 30 been running RTN? I definitely like being able to get it.

Why is 5 still wasting a subchannel with a message that The Tube is no longer available? They should either get another network to replace it or take the subchannel off.
 
I don't think there are going to be any appreciable power increases per se. Stations were required to get DTVs full-power by the end of 2006.

There are going to be a couple of stations playing music chairs. WMC will turn off its DTV on OTA 52, and move DTV to channel 5. WHBQ will shut off DTV on 53, and return to channel 13. You may notice WHBQ's signal a bit better. I am not sure what to expect from WMC; there aren't that many low-band VHF DTVs around. Conventional wisdom is that low-band VHF is not as desirable as other bands.

So, we'll see.

A new DTV will be coming on the air on DTV 10. I am not sure if they will make the deadline.
 
I'm glad I have Direct..... I got friend who only gets channel 18 with the box... We are a little over 60 miles from Memfrica...Dish and Directs sales should pick up in this area next month.
 
I didn't jump into DTV until I left the metro Birmingham area and moved to the sticks of Mississippi, but I've actually watched more DTV from Memphis than analog on the DX down here.

The only "regulars" in analog are 24, 40 and 50, but I've snagged 3, 5, 10, 13, 24, 40 and 50 in digital at one time or another, with just rabbit ears in the attic!
 
I upgraded my attic TV antenna recently, and it seems to make a difference.

I bought a Channel Master 8-bay hi-band VHF/UHF antenna that I have running a small preamp. Sadly, there really hasn't been much of an opening since I installed it. The best I have seen is Nashville, Jackson (MS), Florence, etc., DTVs. Nothing spectacular. But the closer-in stuff is much more reliable.

I hope the analogs shut down on the current schedule. This talk of delaying is just crazy.

DE
 
radiosaur said:
Now, given that I have no idea the actual process behind DTV I couldn’t tell you if it’s easier or harder to get everything synced up in a digital plant, but my gut feeling tells me it should be easier. But like you say, it is quite noticeable on 5.
Click to expand...

I'd say it's easier *depending* on how you wire it. We (in Nashville) use embedded audio -- the audio is transmitted in spare space in the video stream. It's all guaranteed to make a simultaneous trip. Not all stations do it that way though. (for one thing, you can't do a "split route" where you record one audio source and a different video source. Then again, that also prevents people from doing a split route by mistake!)

I think most lip sync problems come up when you have to split the audio and video paths for transmission. You have to Dolby-encode the audio for OTA transmission, and you usually have to split the audio/video to go through a satellite link as well.
 
The on again-off again DTV drop-dead date is back on.

Today, House Republicans managed to defeat a bill to move the analog shutdown date to June. That means, as it stands, all full power analogs will shut off by 11:59:59pm on February 17th. This could all change, of course. If this sounds confusing, it is. But, this is Washington.

This will cause some celebration among some TV operators. One Memphis TV CE I know noted his station really, really wants to turn the analog off. It's sucking the power bill.

DE
 
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