WABC-TV power increase

[8638]

Last night, while working, I saw a report on WABC-TV that they had doubled their power, as a result of viewer complaints of poor/no reception. They are on cable at work (Manahawkin, NJ). I live a few miles north, in the NYC DMA, and cannot receive the station OTA, even with the power increase.

Anyone else at a distance from NYC having problems? The other NYC stations, even 11 and 13, come in fine.

 

[badjef]

Last night, while working, I saw a report on WABC-TV that they had doubled their power, as a result of viewer complaints of poor/no reception. They are on cable at work (Manahawkin, NJ). I live a few miles north, in the NYC DMA, and cannot receive the station OTA, even with the power increase.

Anyone else at a distance from NYC having problems? The other NYC stations, even 11 and 13, come in fine.

Your problem is most likely multipath from Channel 7.
With analogue, we could adjust our antenna out of it. Ghosting doesn't exist because it can't been seen by the receiver. It just doesn't lock on it. Empire is the location for the stations but they are at different levels of power and height on the mast, and frequencies that are reacting different along the terrain between mid-town and your location.

I experienced the same problems and knew right away where the problems were because I was using a Prizm TV from Walgreens in Pt. Pleasant.

If you have a rotator, and there is no reason in NJ for me to think you don't have one, move it slightly and try scanning again. The chances are you will be missing WPIX, for example, this time.

WABC, WPIX, and WNET went back to their analogue freqs. During during transition it (7) was on channel 45.
At work, the cable system is probably picking off of satellite. Comcast-Brick does not use OTA.

What I find interesting is, you have the reverse of what I found when I was up there. 2,4,5, and 9, stayed on their UHF transition channels. Since the "NY7"(2,4,5,7,9,11,13), as I call it, were all on VHF. Post transition, there are still a lot of people who can't pick them up because they have VHF only antennas.

Welcome to the world of 21st Century technology.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[8638]

Last night, while working, I saw a report on WABC-TV that they had doubled their power, as a result of viewer complaints of poor/no reception. They are on cable at work (Manahawkin, NJ). I live a few miles north, in the NYC DMA, and cannot receive the station OTA, even with the power increase.

Anyone else at a distance from NYC having problems? The other NYC stations, even 11 and 13, come in fine.

Your problem is most likely multipath from Channel 7.
With analogue, we could adjust our antenna out of it. Ghosting doesn't exist because it can't been seen by the receiver. It just doesn't lock on it. Empire is the location for the stations but they are at different levels of power and height on the mast, and frequencies that are reacting different along the terrain between mid-town and your location.

I experienced the same problems and knew right away where the problems were because I was using a Prizm TV from Walgreens in Pt. Pleasant.

If you have a rotator, and there is no reason in NJ for me to think you don't have one, move it slightly and try scanning again. The chances are you will be missing WPIX, for example, this time.

WABC, WPIX, and WNET went back to their analogue freqs. During during transition it (7) was on channel 45.
At work, the cable system is probably picking off of satellite. Comcast-Brick does not use OTA.

What I find interesting is, you have the reverse of what I found when I was up there. 2,4,5, and 9, stayed on their UHF transition channels. Since the "NY7"(2,4,5,7,9,11,13), as I call it, were all on VHF. Post transition, there are still a lot of people who can't pick them up because they have VHF only antennas.

Welcome to the world of 21st Century technology.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

Jeff:

I have a rotator, and a Channel Master preamp. No matter how I orient the antenna, no WABC. This wouldn't trouble me much, except that my only other ABC TV source, WPVI in Philly, also chose to remain on VHF low (6) and is subject to spotty reception here as well. BTW, 'here' is Bayville, NJ, equidistant to Roxborough and Empire (58 miles) When WABC ran on UHF pre transition, no problems with receiving them.

I have no problem with the stations that stayed on their pre-transition UHF channels because I am using an all-band (V/U) antenna. I lost the largest elements to the snow on Wednesday, but they aren't needed any more, as my lowest V is 6! I have found that the stations on UHF have better signal propagation than those who chose to remain on VHF, for energy saving reasons. UHF is much more 8-VSB friendly, a far cry from analog, where the U's suffered for years.

21st century technology, when it works, is great. Problem is, it doesn't consistently work.

 

[badjef]

Last night, while working, I saw a report on WABC-TV that they had doubled their power, as a result of viewer complaints of poor/no reception. They are on cable at work (Manahawkin, NJ). I live a few miles north, in the NYC DMA, and cannot receive the station OTA, even with the power increase.

Anyone else at a distance from NYC having problems? The other NYC stations, even 11 and 13, come in fine.

Your problem is most likely multipath from Channel 7.
With analogue, we could adjust our antenna out of it. Ghosting doesn't exist because it can't been seen by the receiver. It just doesn't lock on it. Empire is the location for the stations but they are at different levels of power and height on the mast, and frequencies that are reacting different along the terrain between mid-town and your location.

I experienced the same problems and knew right away where the problems were because I was using a Prizm TV from Walgreens in Pt. Pleasant.

If you have a rotator, and there is no reason in NJ for me to think you don't have one, move it slightly and try scanning again. The chances are you will be missing WPIX, for example, this time.

WABC, WPIX, and WNET went back to their analogue freqs. During during transition it (7) was on channel 45.
At work, the cable system is probably picking off of satellite. Comcast-Brick does not use OTA.

What I find interesting is, you have the reverse of what I found when I was up there. 2,4,5, and 9, stayed on their UHF transition channels. Since the "NY7"(2,4,5,7,9,11,13), as I call it, were all on VHF. Post transition, there are still a lot of people who can't pick them up because they have VHF only antennas.

Welcome to the world of 21st Century technology.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

Jeff:

I have a rotator, and a Channel Master preamp. No matter how I orient the antenna, no WABC. This wouldn't trouble me much, except that my only other ABC TV source, WPVI in Philly, also chose to remain on VHF low (6) and is subject to spotty reception here as well. BTW, 'here' is Bayville, NJ, equidistant to Roxborough and Empire (58 miles) When WABC ran on UHF pre transition, no problems with receiving them.

I have no problem with the stations that stayed on their pre-transition UHF channels because I am using an all-band (V/U) antenna. I lost the largest elements to the snow on Wednesday, but they aren't needed any more, as my lowest V is 6! I have found that the stations on UHF have better signal propagation than those who chose to remain on VHF, for energy saving reasons. UHF is much more 8-VSB friendly, a far cry from analog, where the U's suffered for years.

21st century technology, when it works, is great. Problem is, it doesn't consistently work.

Since you are in Bayville, I wonder if it is a combination of amplifier and proximity to WOBM's studios. The broadband amplification characteristics of that pre-amp, generally attenuate FM due to interference to Channel 6,by design. So it would seem WPVI would be a problem. But it is not.

Since 2nd harmonic of 92.7 minus 10.7 (the I.F.) is 174.7, that is running through ch7. I see that as the most likely culprit. How far are you from my former "studio in the sticks"?

If it doesn't work consistently, it doesn't work. Would you buy a car if it may or may not take you home?

Analogue worked - digital doesn't, yet.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[8638]

Last night, while working, I saw a report on WABC-TV that they had doubled their power, as a result of viewer complaints of poor/no reception. They are on cable at work (Manahawkin, NJ). I live a few miles north, in the NYC DMA, and cannot receive the station OTA, even with the power increase.

Anyone else at a distance from NYC having problems? The other NYC stations, even 11 and 13, come in fine.

Your problem is most likely multipath from Channel 7.
With analogue, we could adjust our antenna out of it. Ghosting doesn't exist because it can't been seen by the receiver. It just doesn't lock on it. Empire is the location for the stations but they are at different levels of power and height on the mast, and frequencies that are reacting different along the terrain between mid-town and your location.

I experienced the same problems and knew right away where the problems were because I was using a Prizm TV from Walgreens in Pt. Pleasant.

If you have a rotator, and there is no reason in NJ for me to think you don't have one, move it slightly and try scanning again. The chances are you will be missing WPIX, for example, this time.

WABC, WPIX, and WNET went back to their analogue freqs. During during transition it (7) was on channel 45.
At work, the cable system is probably picking off of satellite. Comcast-Brick does not use OTA.

What I find interesting is, you have the reverse of what I found when I was up there. 2,4,5, and 9, stayed on their UHF transition channels. Since the "NY7"(2,4,5,7,9,11,13), as I call it, were all on VHF. Post transition, there are still a lot of people who can't pick them up because they have VHF only antennas.

Welcome to the world of 21st Century technology.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

Jeff:

I have a rotator, and a Channel Master preamp. No matter how I orient the antenna, no WABC. This wouldn't trouble me much, except that my only other ABC TV source, WPVI in Philly, also chose to remain on VHF low (6) and is subject to spotty reception here as well. BTW, 'here' is Bayville, NJ, equidistant to Roxborough and Empire (58 miles) When WABC ran on UHF pre transition, no problems with receiving them.

I have no problem with the stations that stayed on their pre-transition UHF channels because I am using an all-band (V/U) antenna. I lost the largest elements to the snow on Wednesday, but they aren't needed any more, as my lowest V is 6! I have found that the stations on UHF have better signal propagation than those who chose to remain on VHF, for energy saving reasons. UHF is much more 8-VSB friendly, a far cry from analog, where the U's suffered for years.

21st century technology, when it works, is great. Problem is, it doesn't consistently work.

Since you are in Bayville, I wonder if it is a combination of amplifier and proximity to WOBM's studios. The broadband amplification characteristics of that pre-amp, generally attenuate FM due to interference to Channel 6,by design. So it would seem WPVI would be a problem. But it is not.

Since 2nd harmonic of 92.7 minus 10.7 (the I.F.) is 174.7, that is running through ch7. I see that as the most likely culprit. How far are you from my former "studio in the sticks"?

If it doesn't work consistently, it doesn't work. Would you buy a car if it may or may not take you home?

Analogue worked - digital doesn't, yet.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

Jeff:

I hadn't thought about WOBM-FM. That is probably it! I'm about 2 miles north of them, right off US 9 by the 'dinosaur.' I guess I'll have to live w/o WABC-TV.

And you are right, digital needs some fine tuning. Analog certainly had its issues here, especially on the low band V's in summer, when tropo would hit. But there was something viewable on the screen, 99.9% of the time, if through snow. Now, if you don't lock it, you have nothing.

Let's hope they never wreak this havoc on radio totally. IBOC is bad enough.

So you are an 'OBM alum! That station is a shell of what it once was. I refer to it as "Soft Schlock 92.7."

 

[dx1ng]

I saw a report on WABC-TV that they had doubled their power, as a result of viewer complaints of poor/no reception. I live a few miles north, in the NYC DMA, and cannot receive the station OTA, even with the power increase.

Anyone else at a distance from NYC having problems? The other NYC stations, even 11 and 13, come in fine.

Did WABC just this month increase their power? No difference here, just North of Poughkeepsie, NY (also NYC DMA). I can not get WABC-7, even with the advantage of a bit of elevation here. It's probably due to Fox-23 from Albany also on channel 7... they knock each other out, although sometimes I get Fox-23.

Other NYC VHF: WPIX-11 is best. Very good. Channel 13 is weaker, and more subject interference at times, but is usually receivable. And NJN on channel 8 (at 86 miles) is in most of the time, and is better than 13.

On UHF, all the New York signals are solid EXCEPT WNBC-4 (on channel 28). They are knocked out by our local WTBY on channel 27. Foretunately, I get NBC WNYT-13 (on channel 12) from Albany extremely well, and ABC WTEN-10 Albany (channel 26) also has a great signal, and ABC WTNH-8 New Haven (ch 10) is also quite good.

 

[badjef]

Jeff:

I hadn't thought about WOBM-FM. That is probably it! I'm about 2 miles north of them, right off US 9 by the 'dinosaur.' I guess I'll have to live w/o WABC-TV.

And you are right, digital needs some fine tuning.

You are more diplomatic than I am when describing The Great Digital Disgrace.

Analog certainly had its issues here, especially on the low band V's in summer, when tropo would hit.

I rather enjoyed the tropo, I was able to receive a French channel one time.

But there was something viewable on the screen, 99.9% of the time, if through snow. Now, if you don't lock it, you have nothing.

Let's hope they never wreak this havoc on radio totally. IBOC is bad enough.

So you are an 'OBM alum! That station is a shell of what it once was. I refer to it as "Soft Schlock 92.7."

"Class" of '87-'88.
Left there and moved to Florida.

It was my "hometown" station and was privileged to have done so before I moved away for good.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[8638]

I saw a report on WABC-TV that they had doubled their power, as a result of viewer complaints of poor/no reception. I live a few miles north, in the NYC DMA, and cannot receive the station OTA, even with the power increase.

Anyone else at a distance from NYC having problems? The other NYC stations, even 11 and 13, come in fine.

Did WABC just this month increase their power? No difference here, just North of Poughkeepsie, NY (also NYC DMA). I can not get WABC-7, even with the advantage of a bit of elevation here. It's probably due to Fox-23 from Albany also on channel 7... they knock each other out, although sometimes I get Fox-23.

That's what the reporter said on "Eyewitness News" last Monday night. They did a little story, complete with a video from someplace in Queens, I think, of a rabbit ears viewer who can now see Ch. 7! You'd think someone would give that thought...someone IN the city, using a typical city dweller indoor antenna, has problems receiving their signal.

You get pretty good reception up there in P'keepsie!

 

[8638]

Jeff:


So you are an 'OBM alum! That station is a shell of what it once was. I refer to it as "Soft Schlock 92.7."

"Class" of '87-'88.
Left there and moved to Florida.

It was my "hometown" station and was privileged to have done so before I moved away for good.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

WOBM was a great operation back then. No longer. Used to be the place to turn for news. And the music format they have now is akin to Chinese Water Torture!