• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

OTA radio and TV coverage around Asheville,NC following hurricane.

A

alok

Decided to post this here, OTA radio and TV are all doing an excellent job, overall. I-Heart Media and Asheviile Radio Group great job with each group tieing the stations they own with - in their group together and helping people since Friday. Cell phone service has not been good since Friday but is slowly coming back. TV also doing great , more as things get better. Power and Internet down in many places.
Note - engineers got big Thank You's from on air station staff.
 
here is part of a post (with added info for this group), I just posted in the North Carolina group, maybe some of you people out of that area would be interested, so I'll post it here too,

I think people (the average person) are seeing the light that their Cell Phone, the Internet, steaming, etc. most likely will not be there following a serious event.
But Over The Air (OTA) Radio & TV will be there.
I-Heart and Asheville Radio Group did a great job and still are doing it.
OTA TV too.
They all proved it over the last 7 days or so.
Yes, some stations are or were off the air, but most were on the air AM, FM & TV, on generators from the beginning of this extreme weather event.

I heard people (call into radio during this event) as I may have said, admitting they don't listen to radio anymore but were so thankful that radio was there for them, immediately following the storm . . . many stations on generators and as I said the on-air staff were praising the engineering staffs at the stations.

On TV 4 (NBC) and 13 (ABC) were on the air the whole time (13 has an over 6,000 foot transmitter site, at first they thought they could not keep generator going because they could not get up to site to refuel it, I guess because many trees were down but they had a plan to switch over programming to Channel 40 they also own, Ch 40's xmtr site is not on Mt. Mitchell).
It seems like they never had to do that, so they must have got up to the mountain top.

Power, cell service, the Internet are gradually coming back, but for the first 3-4 days or so it was out in many places (and still is on the 7th day), Radio & TV was there for the people the whole time.

OTA Radio & TV works . . . I have said before your Smartphone will tell you "the craps going to hit the fan" but most likely after it does, it is the OTA broadcasters Radio & TV that will help you get back on your feet. This incident proved that.
 
Last edited:
alok said:
13 (ABC) were on the air the whole time (13 has an over 6,000 foot transmitter site,
Click to expand...
Technically, 5700 feet but that's close.
alok said:
at first they thought they could not keep generator going because they could not get up to site to refuel it, I guess because many trees were down but they had a plan to switch over programming to Channel 40 they also own, Ch 40's xmtr site is not on Mt. Mitchell
Click to expand...
No one's is, except WMIT, Billy Graham's station. Did that station have any special programming? Normally it is CCM with the occasional sermon.
 
Sorry I could not get back sooner, but we lost cell & Internet, again, on Friday (10/4), came back late Friday afternoon.

Utility workers have been GREAT getting power back, saw telco crews too in places!

OK to you that responded, I-Heart stations are still at it one week after the weather event, helping people with info via OTA broadcast radio.
I-Heart is still giving vital information for the so many people in Asheville and west of Asheville which were hit very hard.
Asheville Radio Group has backed off on coverage.

I forgot to mention even local NPR (National Public Radio) was giving vital info on their local OTA FM stations.

on the TV side, I think Channel 7 WSPA (CBS) was never off the air, my mistake - but Channel 21 WHNS (FOX) was, they got back on I think Thursday?
But Channel 4 WYFF (NBC) and Channel 13 WLOS (ABC) were OTA the whole time as far as I can tell, 13 on generator at the beginning . . . as well as Channel 40 which piggy backs it ATSC 1.0 programming on WLOS Channel 13 and Channel 62 which piggy backs on WSPA Channel 7.
Channel 40 real xmtr (in SC) is doing ATSC 3.0 now (lighthouse station). 40 is owned by 13.
As I said earlier Channel 16 WGGS is still off the air, as mentioned too I don't think they have a generator at xmtr site.

I thought of a thing that happened about a year ago when I was talking about the importance of OTA broadcasting in emergencies in the group here and said that in 1989 my wife & I lived in the SF Bay Area and we were in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
I had mentioned that phone service went out for 2 - 6 hours in the area.
Somebody here in this group, quickly fired back and said THAT WAS OVER 30 YEARS AGO, THE PHONE SYSTEM IS MUCH MORE ROBUST NOW!!! . . . well tell that to the people in Western Norh Carolina today because the phone system, cell phones, Internet (no streaming) were out and is still out in many places one week after this event . . . again this happened 1 week ago . . . not 30 years ago.

OTA radio & TV was there from the beginning, I believe many people hooked on their cell phones are seeing that now, even young people. People without a battery operated radio were in their cars listening to OTA radio. Will people change their ways, at least some, on OTA radio & TV, who knows?

Cell phones are great, when they work.

So is OTA radio & TV, it is great, because it was there when all other communications for the public failed in this recent event.
 
alok said:
Channel 40 real xmtr (in SC) is doing ATSC 3.0 now (lighthouse station). 40 is owned by 13.
Click to expand...
What does this mean exactly?

I remember the term being used during the digital transition because one station kept its analog channel in each market to provide information about how to switch to digital.
 
vchimpanzee said:
What does this mean exactly?

I remember the term being used during the digital transition because one station kept its analog channel in each market to provide information about how to switch to digital.
Click to expand...
TV stations are making another digital transition, very slowly, from the ATSC 1 standard we've been using for over 20 years to a more robust standard called ATSC 3.

This time around, the FCC isn't giving stations a second RF channel during the transition, the way they did for analog and ATSC 1 digital.

Instead, they're leaving it up to the marketplace, depending on station groups to cooperate to introduce ATSC 3 service in each market.

So in Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, Sinclair offered up the WMYA transmitter, "channel 40" but now on RF 35, as the ATSC3 "lighthouse" to kick off service. WYFF, WSPA, WLOS, WHNS and WMYA itself all send their .1 streams to the WMYA transmitter to be broadcast in ATSC3. If you had a newer TV in that market with ATSC3 reception, you'd get all of those stations that way (and probably with a much better signal on the SC side for WLOS!)

In return, WYFF, WSPA and WHNS use part of their ATSC1 signals to carry the various WMYA subchannels for viewers with older receivers. If you're watching 40.1 in the market, you're actually seeing a signal coming from the WYFF transmitter. 40.2 rides on WSPA, and so on.

The ATSC3 standard can carry higher definition pictures and more interactive content, as well as data casting. And it works better with on-channel boosters and mobile reception, so in a market like this one, you could eventually have a bunch of smaller shared transmitter sites everywhere from Asheville down to Anderson instead of trying to serve everyone with one big site that still doesn't work.

The idea is that someday when there are enough ATSC3 tuners out there, the shared channels will flip - one signal in the market will carry "lighthouse" ATSC1 channels for anyone who hasn't converted, and everything else will be ATSC3. But that's going very slowly right now. There have been some missteps with getting receivers into the marketplace, and best guess right now is that there are maybe 5 percent of viewers seeing ATSC3, if even that.
 
fybush said:
TV stations are making another digital transition, very slowly, from the ATSC 1 standard we've been using for over 20 years to a more robust standard called ATSC 3.

This time around, the FCC isn't giving stations a second RF channel during the transition, the way they did for analog and ATSC 1 digital.

Instead, they're leaving it up to the marketplace, depending on station groups to cooperate to introduce ATSC 3 service in each market.

So in Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, Sinclair offered up the WMYA transmitter, "channel 40" but now on RF 35, as the ATSC3 "lighthouse" to kick off service. WYFF, WSPA, WLOS, WHNS and WMYA itself all send their .1 streams to the WMYA transmitter to be broadcast in ATSC3. If you had a newer TV in that market with ATSC3 reception, you'd get all of those stations that way (and probably with a much better signal on the NC side for WLOS!)

In return, WYFF, WSPA and WHNS use part of their ATSC1 signals to carry the various WMYA subchannels for viewers with older receivers. If you're watching 40.1 in the market, you're actually seeing a signal coming from the WYFF transmitter. 40.2 rides on WSPA, and so on.

The ATSC3 standard can carry higher definition pictures and more interactive content, as well as data casting. And it works better with on-channel boosters and mobile reception, so in a market like this one, you could eventually have a bunch of smaller shared transmitter sites everywhere from Asheville down to Anderson instead of trying to serve everyone with one big site that still doesn't work.

The idea is that someday when there are enough ATSC3 tuners out there, the shared channels will flip - one signal in the market will carry "lighthouse" ATSC1 channels for anyone who hasn't converted, and everything else will be ATSC3. But that's going very slowly right now. There have been some missteps with getting receivers into the marketplace, and best guess right now is that there are maybe 5 percent of viewers seeing ATSC3, if even that.
Click to expand...
The biggest problem some people have with ATSC3 is the Digital Rights Management/encryption.
 
Thank You fybush for Lighthouse info . . . I should have explained it . . . sorry.

vchimp - did not note Billy Graham's station .

the hardest hit AM's were ones up near Black Mountain, but most are back on as of Sunday 10/6.

Also, religious broadcaster TV WGGS, Greenville, SC on Channel 16 (actually RF 2) is back on the air. I am sure as I said they have no generator, and they just got power back Saturday or Sunday sometime.

TV has slacked off alittle with crawl info on bottom of screen, except Channel 13 (licensed for Asheville) but they are all doing a great job on their newscast.

With Radio . . . I-Heart Media is still at it (today Monday 10/7 - a week and 3 days after storm hit) with full coverage on their Radio stations, both AM's & FM's . . . they are going above & beyond . . . nice job.
The neat thing about them is their 99.9 FM KISS COUNTRY (WKSF) . . . it has a great signal being up on Mount Pisgah along with WLOS-TV Channel 13.

Power, cell service, Internet gradually coming back in areas. Big issue is water in Asheville.

KISS COUNTY coverage map . . . in my area even with mountains they have a great signal . . . I just don't like country music!

WKSF-FM Radio Station Coverage Map
 
If I had 13 and 40 on Mt.Mitchell that was incorrect. 13 xmtr site is on Mount Pisgah and 40 is on a tall tower near Anderson, SC.
 
fybush said:
TV stations are making another digital transition, very slowly, from the ATSC 1 standard we've been using for over 20 years to a more robust standard called ATSC 3.

This time around, the FCC isn't giving stations a second RF channel during the transition, the way they did for analog and ATSC 1 digital.

Instead, they're leaving it up to the marketplace, depending on station groups to cooperate to introduce ATSC 3 service in each market.

So in Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, Sinclair offered up the WMYA transmitter, "channel 40" but now on RF 35, as the ATSC3 "lighthouse" to kick off service. WYFF, WSPA, WLOS, WHNS and WMYA itself all send their .1 streams to the WMYA transmitter to be broadcast in ATSC3. If you had a newer TV in that market with ATSC3 reception, you'd get all of those stations that way (and probably with a much better signal on the SC side for WLOS!)

In return, WYFF, WSPA and WHNS use part of their ATSC1 signals to carry the various WMYA subchannels for viewers with older receivers. If you're watching 40.1 in the market, you're actually seeing a signal coming from the WYFF transmitter. 40.2 rides on WSPA, and so on.

The ATSC3 standard can carry higher definition pictures and more interactive content, as well as data casting. And it works better with on-channel boosters and mobile reception, so in a market like this one, you could eventually have a bunch of smaller shared transmitter sites everywhere from Asheville down to Anderson instead of trying to serve everyone with one big site that still doesn't work.

The idea is that someday when there are enough ATSC3 tuners out there, the shared channels will flip - one signal in the market will carry "lighthouse" ATSC1 channels for anyone who hasn't converted, and everything else will be ATSC3. But that's going very slowly right now. There have been some missteps with getting receivers into the marketplace, and best guess right now is that there are maybe 5 percent of viewers seeing ATSC3, if even that.
Click to expand...
How does this relate to the current situation?
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom