WELL, the FCC surprises me and denies KTBU!!

[CW]

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-3526A1.txt

About time the FCC did something right! This STA request was a joke of an app...merely trying to get 55 down on Sr Road area to cover metro Houston better and deny Conroe, its COL, of ANY coverage...besides, a lot of Montgomery, Walker, N Liberty and San Jacinto Co is rural with NO cable TV...thus moving 55 to the Mo City towers would deny current viewers of service..I am shocked and disappointed Cavell/Mertz was the group who filed this for 55!! (who is still owned by Osteen. The new owners evidently have had problems getting financing settled from what I read...unless I missed something in the docs). With a 2000ft tower, they surely could put a temp antenna/feedline on the current tower, repair the main and return to full service without going through a site they claim it would be temporary but likely would have stayed for some reason or another until analog sunset. (Hasnt Olsteen learned that you cannot lie to the Federal Government? Ask his wife....)

I had more respect for Cavell/Mertz before this but not anymore..It was a CHEAP insult to anyone's intelligence and plain common sense. BTW if they are operating at 36%, did 55 notify the commission as required after 30 days? And WHY can they be viewed 75 miles away if they are running 36% power??? Beaumont is at the edge of their service contour from the Splendora tower. Yet they can be seen off the SIDE of UHF antennas there on most days.....hmmm guess their "damaged" antenna is not hurting that bad!

I AM SURPRISED but happy to see the FCC use some damn COMMON sense in denying this...maybe there is hope for humanity yet.

 

[ShaneofTexas]

I have Dish Network and Channel 55's quality is awlful. Im not sure how DISH Network receives the signal from CH 55 but I know the quality use to be alot better in the past.

 

[stevenNOLA]

I have Dish Network and Channel 55's quality is awlful. Im not sure how DISH Network receives the signal from CH 55 but I know the quality use to be alot better in the past.

I watch it OTA with my VIP722. Looks much better. 1000kw from Missouri City. Very easy to receive in the city.

 

[CW]

I have Dish Network and Channel 55's quality is awlful. Im not sure how DISH Network receives the signal from CH 55 but I know the quality use to be alot better in the past.

I watch it OTA with my VIP722. Looks much better. 1000kw from Missouri City. Very easy to receive in the city.

Thats just it....55 is not IN MO City..they are still in Splendora...the digital is in MoCity...and barely has COL coverage over Conroe from there....I see a problem later on.

 

[stevenNOLA]

I have Dish Network and Channel 55's quality is awlful. Im not sure how DISH Network receives the signal from CH 55 but I know the quality use to be alot better in the past.

I watch it OTA with my VIP722. Looks much better. 1000kw from Missouri City. Very easy to receive in the city.

Thats just it....55 is not IN MO City..they are still in Splendora...the digital is in MoCity...and barely has COL coverage over Conroe from there....I see a problem later on.

I was referring to OTA on Dish receivers. They do not have an analog OTA tuner, only digital. It looks like night and day from the SD 55 provided by Dish to the SD OTA digital picture.

 

[stevenNOLA]

CW, what's even worse is KPXB. The digitial is also in Missouri City and is at 9.5kw @ 555m. I live south of Katy, can see the Missouri City sticks over my back fence, and have yet to receive KPXB-DT. Also, I have yet to even hear of anyone who can receive it. If I can see the transmitter and can't receive it, imagine how it covers it's COL.

It's really no big deal to me since they don't have any shows I would watch but is still a matter of principle.

 

[CW]

I have Dish Network and Channel 55's quality is awlful. Im not sure how DISH Network receives the signal from CH 55 but I know the quality use to be alot better in the past.

I watch it OTA with my VIP722. Looks much better. 1000kw from Missouri City. Very easy to receive in the city.

Thats just it....55 is not IN MO City..they are still in Splendora...the digital is in MoCity...and barely has COL coverage over Conroe from there....I see a problem later on.

I was referring to OTA on Dish receivers. They do not have an analog OTA tuner, only digital. It looks like night and day from the SD 55 provided by Dish to the SD OTA digital picture.

Well I have a Dish receiver...and it has an analog tuner in it (for the last 7 years; its an older 5000 series with the Dolby option..paid $500 bucks for it new..now, I could buy a HD PVR model like yours for cheaper but I thought the 622/722 also had analog tuners in them...and I know about their analog...WHEW, it sucks off the air AND on Dish 8xxx.

 

[CW]

CW, what's even worse is KPXB. The digitial is also in Missouri City and is at 9.5kw @ 555m. I live south of Katy, can see the Missouri City sticks over my back fence, and have yet to receive KPXB-DT. Also, I have yet to even hear of anyone who can receive it. If I can see the transmitter and can't receive it, imagine how it covers it's COL.

It's really no big deal to me since they don't have any shows I would watch but is still a matter of principle.

KBTV in Port Arthur is even worse....1.2KW ERP last I looked on DTV40...but still under STA...their chief engineer until his death, Charlie Ravell, passed away after a massive stroke several months ago and nothing has been done to improve the signal (last I heard Nexstar was considering a new tower anyway)...and they arent even HD (just 480i!)..you can see the tower in Vidor and not get 4-1 (same thing for KPXB but they are at full power HAAT..you must be in one heck of a NULL of the antenna OR they are lying to the FCC about their coverage).

 

[stevenNOLA]

CW, what's even worse is KPXB. The digitial is also in Missouri City and is at 9.5kw @ 555m. I live south of Katy, can see the Missouri City sticks over my back fence, and have yet to receive KPXB-DT. Also, I have yet to even hear of anyone who can receive it. If I can see the transmitter and can't receive it, imagine how it covers it's COL.

It's really no big deal to me since they don't have any shows I would watch but is still a matter of principle.
[/quote

KBTV in Port Arthur is even worse....1.2KW ERP last I looked on DTV40...but still under STA...their chief engineer until his death, Charlie Ravell, passed away after a massive stroke several months ago and nothing has been done to improve the signal (last I heard Nexstar was considering a new tower anyway)...and they arent even HD (just 480i!)..you can see the tower in Vidor and not get 4-1 (same thing for KPXB but they are at full power HAAT..you must be in one heck of a NULL of the antenna OR they are lying to the FCC about their coverage).

According to an "as the crow flies" estimate online, I'm less than 20 miles away. They MUST be lying. I brought my 19" LCD tv with a digital tuner and a pair of fancy rabbit ears to watch football while grilling. It is normally connected to cable so I auto-scanned OUTSIDE and it would not find RF 5. Watchable picture on analog 49 & 55. KBTV's ouput power is a disgrace. Not having HD on a major network is almost as bad. It amazes me how KBTV & KVHP can be so far behind the times. KBTV moreso since Nexstar is fairly large sized company. If there were competition, they would be DONE. Luckily for most satellite people in the Golden Triangle, they can "move" to Houston for HD. Lake Charles people are now lucky with all of Lafayette's stations pumping a fair amount of RF well into the LCH coverage area and BPT covering the other side. How is KPLC-DT's signal in the triangle?

With regard to the 622/722, they are FINE receivers. I've never had a better satellite receiver or cable DVR.

 

[CW]

CW, what's even worse is KPXB. The digitial is also in Missouri City and is at 9.5kw @ 555m. I live south of Katy, can see the Missouri City sticks over my back fence, and have yet to receive KPXB-DT. Also, I have yet to even hear of anyone who can receive it. If I can see the transmitter and can't receive it, imagine how it covers it's COL.

It's really no big deal to me since they don't have any shows I would watch but is still a matter of principle.
[/quote

KBTV in Port Arthur is even worse....1.2KW ERP last I looked on DTV40...but still under STA...their chief engineer until his death, Charlie Ravell, passed away after a massive stroke several months ago and nothing has been done to improve the signal (last I heard Nexstar was considering a new tower anyway)...and they arent even HD (just 480i!)..you can see the tower in Vidor and not get 4-1 (same thing for KPXB but they are at full power HAAT..you must be in one heck of a NULL of the antenna OR they are lying to the FCC about their coverage).

According to an "as the crow flies" estimate online, I'm less than 20 miles away. They MUST be lying. I brought my 19" LCD tv with a digital tuner and a pair of fancy rabbit ears to watch football while grilling. It is normally connected to cable so I auto-scanned OUTSIDE and it would not find RF 5. Watchable picture on analog 49 & 55. KBTV's ouput power is a disgrace. Not having HD on a major network is almost as bad. It amazes me how KBTV & KVHP can be so far behind the times. KBTV moreso since Nexstar is fairly large sized company. If there were competition, they would be DONE. Luckily for most satellite people in the Golden Triangle, they can "move" to Houston for HD. Lake Charles people are now lucky with all of Lafayette's stations pumping a fair amount of RF well into the LCH coverage area and BPT covering the other side. How is KPLC-DT's signal in the triangle?

With regard to the 622/722, they are FINE receivers. I've never had a better satellite receiver or cable DVR.

I'll have to check the FCC data base and see what the pattern is on DTV5. Of course the FCC wants to ENCOURAGE all Lowband DTVs to vacate 2-6 because of the interfernce issue with lowband and digital (worse than analog..shades of TV Channel 1's history..whats old is new again

Some folks who live less than 5 miles from KBTV's tower (I still call it KJAC..the KBTV call is a slap in the face to its COL) still cannot pick it up...Now thats bad!!

KVHP's 30 is supposed to be moving to their Edgerly tower soon...BlueBonnet surprised a lot of folks with their DTV36 LP in Orange (originally slated to be on 52 analog)...I have seen that 29 is now showing 29/30 in the logo and they changed their STL to a new 2way digital for the 36 LP (they repeat from KVHP's tower to 36's) 36 is off and on for now (probably still testing but they are getting good signal reports..better than analog LP64!). AFAIK, they havent made any annoucements about the 36 HD yet to the public.

As to Houston HD on the satellite for BPT folks, sorry but no, they can't. That cannot happen due to FCC rules. BPT is outside the Houston MSA and cannot receive Houston stations via sat. BPT stations are up on DISH (not sure about DirecTV) but only the analogs (and I think one is still missing). Dish is using Spotbeams on their "local" feeds and it reduces the signal quite a bit at the edges vs the full coverage transponders I lost the DFW stations while living in Bear Creek area because the FCC and spotbeams

I dont know anyone in the Triangle who has seen or can get KPLC's DTV 8 signal...They are slated to go back to 7 after analog sunset according to the final allocation table. I know some of the LFT DTVs have been seen in BPT..yet KPLC's has yet to be heard from.....terrible.

But as friend of mine who lives in Nederland says, its getting better...slowly but better. I agree with you on Nexstar and KBTV but then BPT has NOT been a cash cow to them (Rita didnt help any....everyone expected all the TV towers to be down after it)..so its low on budget pole Im sure...(EVEN McKinnon's KBMT has its DTV at full power AND is 720p! NOW thats sad!)

 

[stevenNOLA]

Agreed on "KJAC" and KBMT.

I lived in Lafayette a short time between Katrina & Rita (I'm originally from Lafayette) and could NEVER receive KPLC-DT there either, even though they are "the" affiliate for LFT. WVLA-DT had a dynamite signal in LFT.

With respect to Houston HDs on satellite and "moving" I was referring to using a Houston address to receive their locals on satellite. It's a common practice in the Beaumont market and the Houston spotbeam covers all the way to the Sabine River. Lots of folks on the AVS forum from the BPT area talk about having done so. I read AVS forum regularly so I'm up on the 36.1 status and other goings on in the area.

If you look at the KPXB-DT pattern, the xmitter would have to be powered off not to be received at my location.

 

[CW]

Agreed on "KJAC" and KBMT.

I lived in Lafayette a short time between Katrina & Rita (I'm originally from Lafayette) and could NEVER receive KPLC-DT there either, even though they are "the" affiliate for LFT. WVLA-DT had a dynamite signal in LFT.

With respect to Houston HDs on satellite and "moving" I was referring to using a Houston address to receive their locals on satellite. It's a common practice in the Beaumont market and the Houston spotbeam covers all the way to the Sabine River. Lots of folks on the AVS forum from the BPT area talk about having done so. I read AVS forum regularly so I'm up on the 36.1 status and other goings on in the area.

If you look at the KPXB-DT pattern, the xmitter would have to be powered off not to be received at my location.

Spotbeams?? Who said anything about spotbeams?? NAW, they wouldn't allow people to do that, would they?? I mean, most people anyway wouldnt know how to do that...and I still live in Bear Creek (as far as Dish knows anyway, aint paperless billing wonderful? = NOW if I can just figure out a way to get that new 722 delivered....since all the Ds are on one of the DISH 500 birds.

Havent been on AVS in a while....too many email lists, etc I am on already..and too many projects in the fire (ouch!)
BTW I saw something that IMPRESSED me recently...a Best Buy with several HD modulators feeding their DTV up front...REAL 1080p! That was impressive (a waste considering noone except the birds have 1080p now anyway) but NICE!

 

[Gridlock Joe]

I think KPXB-DT may be transmitting from their Conroe stick. I have no evidence for this, other than the only time I've ever seen it was at the Fry's on the North Freeway.

 

[CW]

I think KPXB-DT may be transmitting from their Conroe stick. I have no evidence for this, other than the only time I've ever seen it was at the Fry's on the North Freeway.

They arent licensed there, that's the problem!! And after looking at the FCC database, it doesnt even show their 28dbu(HUH?? why is it so low?? usually thats 41 or higher) contour...looking at pattern plot, it looks like the lobe would go EAST of Conroe.....toward Cleveland. There is something rotten in Denmark...

 

[dhett]

And after looking at the FCC database, it doesnt even show their 28dbu(HUH?? why is it so low?? usually thats 41 or higher) contour...

28 dBu is the threshold on a low-VHF DTV station (KPXB is on ch. 5). The 41 dBu threshold you were expecting is for UHF stations. High-VHF stations (such as KUHT-DT ch. 9) have a 36 dBu threshold.

 

[CW]

And after looking at the FCC database, it doesnt even show their 28dbu(HUH?? why is it so low?? usually thats 41 or higher) contour...

28 dBu is the threshold on a low-VHF DTV station (KPXB is on ch. 5). The 41 dBu threshold you were expecting is for UHF stations. High-VHF stations (such as KUHT-DT ch. 9) have a 36 dBu threshold.

Ok...that explains it..1st LB DTV I have really looked at....but you would think since signal level (xxdbu) is the same on any freq, why not show the same on any band...(due to sensitivity of the rcvr? I would think a VHF Low and High band DTV would have the same signal requirements...more so with LB since noise on LB could factor in)...A 28dbu signal level puts it WAY out there...compared to a 41dbu level....still, the fact remains KPXB-DT is not doing what they are licensed for! If its actually on the MO City antenna farm, then Houston we have a problem!