Fire Up The Rotor

[RadioRob]

I was thinking about TV markets and transmitter locations. Specifically which markets need the most antennas or a rotor.

Lexington, KY is an example. The stations are in four directions.

Channel 18 (NBC)-North part of the city just inside of New Circle Road
Channel 27 (CBS)and 36(ABC)-Located east of the city across the road from each other
Channel 46(PBS)-South of Lexington at Clays Ferry on the Fayette-Madison county border
Channel 56(FOX)-Garrad county line along the Kentucky River twenty miles south-southwest of Lexington.

Indianapolis is another market where the station's transmitters are located in several directions. What are some others?<P ID="signature">______________
The radio business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.</P>

 

[KML0224]

Hartford/New Haven (CT)? In New Britain, which is just southwest of Hartford, to aim for the in-market majors:

3 Hartford = north-northwest (Avon Mountain in Avon)
8 New Haven = south-southwest (Madmere Mountain in Hamden)
18 Hartford = north-northwest (same as 3)
20 Waterbury = southwest (in the Naugatuck area)
24 Hartford = north-northwest (same as 3)
26 New London = southeast (Montville)
30 New Britain = northwest (Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington)
53 Norwich = southeast (Bozrah)
59 New Haven = south-southwest (same as 8)
61 Hartford = northwest (same as 30)<P ID="signature">______________
The 2006 New York Yankees...on to title #27!</P>

 

[FreddyE1977]

Pittsburgh, PA

2 (CBS)
11 (NBC)
53 (FOX)

all due North in the North Hills/Perry Hilltop area

4(ABC) South by SE, Elizabeth Township, far southeastern edge of the County

13 (PBS)
16 ex- PBS, currently leased to HSN
22 (WB for the moment)
40 (Christian and Religious programming)
19 (UPN/CW?)

all due East - 13 and 16 in the Oakland neighborhood,
22 in Monroeville (far eastern Allegheny County)
40 in Wall Boro, close to Monroeville

19 is the odd one, station was originally licensed to
Johnstown, PA 70 miles away. Station of license was changed in
the 90's but transmitter is still on a mountaintop over 60 miles
away. Is a fringe signal at best to anyone without cable.

others available due West:

9 (NBC), Steubenville, Ohio (only 35 miles away, is stronger
than some of the locals)

7 (CBS) Wheeling, WV

and Northwest:

21 (NBC)
27 (CBS)
33 (ABC)

all from Youngstown, OH

and East:

8 (FOX) Johnstown, PA
6 (NBC) Johnstown, PA

and South:

24 (PBS) Morgantown, WV (can't really get anymore since
the HD channel for local CBS is now 25)

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by FreddyE1977 on 03/29/06 11:07 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[KeithE]

> Indianapolis is another market where the station's
> transmitters are located in several directions. What are
> some others?

Most of the Indy stations transmit from the NW side of the city: WRTV/6, WISH/8, WTHR/13, WFYI/20, WHMB/40, and WXIN/59. Channel 8 once transmitted from somewhere in SE Indianapolis - not sure when they moved.

I believe WDTI/69 still transmits from the Butler University campus in north-central Indy even though the school sold the station a couple of years ago.

The stations licensed to Bloomington transmit from Trafalgar, about 25 miles due south of downtown Indy and 25 miles NE of Bloomington. They have to put a city-grade signal into Bloomington and cover Indy as well: WTTV/4, WCLJ/42, and WIPX/63. Only WTIU/30 actually transmits from Bloomington, on the south side of the city.

The stations licensed to Marion and Kokomo transmit from areas about 30 miles north of downtown Indy: WNDY/23 and WTTK/29. Sometime in the future, WTTK-DT will share the co-owned WXIN tower on Indy's NW side.

But if you live in Bloomington, this is how you point your antenna (using downtown as my example, with a good VHF/UHF antenna):

NNE: Chs. 6, 8, 13 in Indy. Not sure if 20, 40, and 59 are viewable in Bloomington (20 & 40 weren't when I lived there in the '70s, 59 wasn't on the air).
NE: Chs. 4, 42, and 63 in Indy (licensed to Bloomington).
SE: Chs. 3, 11, 32, and 41 from Louisville (those were viewable in Bloomington years ago. Not sure of the other UHFs such as 58 that weren't on the air when I lived there.
S: Ch. 30 in Bloomington.
WNW: Chs. 2, 10, and 38 from Terre Haute.

 

[VCarter]

> > Indianapolis is another market where the station's
> > transmitters are located in several directions. What are
> > some others?
>
> Most of the Indy stations transmit from the NW side of the
> city: WRTV/6, WISH/8, WTHR/13, WFYI/20, WHMB/40, and
> WXIN/59. Channel 8 once transmitted from somewhere in SE
> Indianapolis - not sure when they moved.
>
> I believe WDTI/69 still transmits from the Butler University
> campus in north-central Indy even though the school sold the
> station a couple of years ago.
>
> The stations licensed to Bloomington transmit from
> Trafalgar, about 25 miles due south of downtown Indy and 25
> miles NE of Bloomington. They have to put a city-grade
> signal into Bloomington and cover Indy as well: WTTV/4,
> WCLJ/42, and WIPX/63. Only WTIU/30 actually transmits from
> Bloomington, on the south side of the city.
>
> The stations licensed to Marion and Kokomo transmit from
> areas about 30 miles north of downtown Indy: WNDY/23 and
> WTTK/29. Sometime in the future, WTTK-DT will share the
> co-owned WXIN tower on Indy's NW side.
>
> But if you live in Bloomington, this is how you point your
> antenna (using downtown as my example, with a good VHF/UHF
> antenna):
>
> NNE: Chs. 6, 8, 13 in Indy. Not sure if 20, 40, and 59 are
> viewable in Bloomington (20 & 40 weren't when I lived there
> in the '70s, 59 wasn't on the air).
> NE: Chs. 4, 42, and 63 in Indy (licensed to Bloomington).
> SE: Chs. 3, 11, 32, and 41 from Louisville (those were
> viewable in Bloomington years ago. Not sure of the other
> UHFs such as 58 that weren't on the air when I lived there.
> S: Ch. 30 in Bloomington.
> WNW: Chs. 2, 10, and 38 from Terre Haute.
>
when I still lived in the Louisville area back in 1976, I had an outdoor
antenna on a medium stick. I could receive all the Louisville channels
(3,11,15,32,41 and 68) but also 8 out of Indy and at times of UHF tropo
conditions, 40 out of Indy as well. late at night I could pick up 4 out
of Bloomington after 3 signed off for the night, and one summer I was
able to receive 30 from Bloomington, 38 from Terre Haute, and Chicago
stations 9 and 44 (I recall seeing color bars on 44). the other Louisville
channels (58, 21, 45, 24 and 9-some of these are class A stations) were
not yet on the air at the time, but most can be received with a good
outdoor antenna pointed towards Floyds Knobs, which is located in southern
Indiana just north of New Albany.