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WEPR Greenville, off air more than on

AMRocks

AMRocks

Lately, WEPR at 90.1 has been off the air lately more than on. Both Monday and Tuesday, I was able to listen in morning drive, but in the afternoon, they were off. Yesterday, in PM Drive, they were also off the air.

In fact, this morning at around 8:20am, they seemed to seriously drop power as I lost the signal on my drive to work but could hear it a little bit fading in and out -- unless it was another station also carrying Morning Edition on 90.1. (I'm happy that WNCW was on the air. At least I could listen to Morning Edition.)

Anyone know what's going on with WEPR?
 
DudeFan said:
There is tower work going on at the site. IIRC it is related WNTV-DT and the TV repack.
Click to expand...

WNTV signal tower is on Paris Mountain and transmits SCETV on RF channel 9, which is virtual channel 29. They will be moving to RF channel 8 after the FCC repack, and will now be the primary PBS affiliate for most of the Upstate, as WRET-49 Spartanburg will be going off the air, vacating RF channel 43. There should be no major loss of service for SCETV, as there is currently major overlap for 29 and 49. Although some UHF antennas may have to be replaced with rabbit ears for best reception, but that remains to be seen. But since the WEPR radio station apparently shares the same tower with WNTV, they may be moving or adjusting their radio antenna to make room for the new channel 8 TV antenna. But that changeover is expected to occur in September 2019, although I think WRET may go dark after the first of the year, leaving only WNTV for SCETV in the Upstate.
 
DudeFan said:
There is tower work going on at the site. IIRC it is related WNTV-DT and the TV repack.
Click to expand...

Apparently WNTV has applied to the FCC to increase power when they move to channel 8. If allowed about 208kw they would be the highest powered VHF TV station in the United States. But the FCC may not grant that full request although they may be allowed to increase somewhat. Remains to be seen. They are trying to fill the gaps in the fringes after WRET signs of 43 in Spartanburg, although their current power level is decent with a good outside VHF antenna. But I suppose they are trying to benefit indoor antennas and rabbit ears, as VHF is more subject to interference with digital TV. Already 13-WLOS from Asheville is problematic in the Upstate.
 
tylerSC said:
There should be no major loss of service for SCETV, as there is currently major overlap for 29 and 49. Although some UHF antennas may have to be replaced with rabbit ears for best reception, but that remains to be seen.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that'll happen.

I thought rabbit ears only worked near the transmitter site. If you're trying to get VHF, don't you need an antenna that looks like antennas did in the golden age of TV?
 
tylerSC said:
That would be nice if they add more subchannels.
Click to expand...

I'd love to here the "news" feed of SCETV Radio stations here in Greenville. I'm not actually a fan of Classical music. And HD2 would be perfect. (Or, better yet, move the classical to the HD2 channel.)
 
vchimpanzee said:
Yeah, that'll happen.

I thought rabbit ears only worked near the transmitter site. If you're trying to get VHF, don't you need an antenna that looks like antennas did in the golden age of TV?
Click to expand...

The traditional large antennas with the long elements for VHF are best for digital VHF TV reception, which is more subject to noise and interference. That is probably why they are requesting such large power increase for WNTV, to reach the fringe areas since WRET is going off the air. But despite such interference issues, I can receive 13-WLOS reliably from Asheville at 50 miles, with rabbit ears and a distro amp in the attic. However I did have to add an FM filter to prevent dropouts and pixelation. Otherwise it was problematic and can be a bit of a challenge in the Upstate.
 
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