WFAA-DT OTA Question

[texas_prwriter]

OK, I'm a pretty smart person, but for some reason, I can't get WFAA-DT OTA on either of the HDTVs in my house.

• I've got a clear view of Cedar Hill from my home in South Arlington/Kennedale, about 13 miles away.
• I have an antenna capable of picking up VHF and UHF.
• I have very little problem picking up the other OTA stations in DFW.

I know WFAA is broadcasting VHF while others are broadcasting UHF, but is there a reason our antenna wouldn't work with WFAA's signal? Any suggestions? Right now, I can switch to WFAA's analog signal, but obviously, that won't be a solution in February (and was an annoying solution during Texas-OU and Texas-Mizzou ).

We recently dumped our satellite service to save some money since the wife scaled back her hours at work to spend more time with our kiddos, so OTA is what we're going to be watching HDTV with for the time being, so going to cable/satellite/U-verse isn't an option right now.

 

[w9wi]

OK, I'm a pretty smart person, but for some reason, I can't get WFAA-DT OTA on either of the HDTVs in my house.
...

This is probably a dumb question, but have you tried reorienting the antenna? Sometimes just a very small shift in the antenna's position will clear up one (or more) channels without affecting the rest.

Does your antenna have an amplifier? (it shouldn't be necessary at 13 miles, and it could be overloading from FM radio stations, especially if there are any towers near your home - "near" = within 5 miles or so. )

 

[arnoldevns]

Let me add one other thing: if you're trying to get WFAA-DT, you pretty much have to have an OUTDOOR antenna.
I have an outdoor antenna mounted on the side of the chimney. I get WFAA-DT just fine. Indoors I have a couple of different types of "rabbit ear" antennas that I'm playing with. I can get pretty much everything but WFAA-DT. No matter what I do, I cannot get that signal.

 

[texas_prwriter]

OK, I'm a pretty smart person, but for some reason, I can't get WFAA-DT OTA on either of the HDTVs in my house.
...

This is probably a dumb question, but have you tried reorienting the antenna? Sometimes just a very small shift in the antenna's position will clear up one (or more) channels without affecting the rest.

Does your antenna have an amplifier? (it shouldn't be necessary at 13 miles, and it could be overloading from FM radio stations, especially if there are any towers near your home - "near" = within 5 miles or so. )

Not a dumb question at all: Yes, I have tried moving it around, with varying degrees of luck. I haven't tried an amplifier, but I may look into that. I'll also look into nearby towers that may interfere. Thanks.

Let me add one other thing: if you're trying to get WFAA-DT, you pretty much have to have an OUTDOOR antenna.
I have an outdoor antenna mounted on the side of the chimney. I get WFAA-DT just fine. Indoors I have a couple of different types of "rabbit ear" antennas that I'm playing with. I can get pretty much everything but WFAA-DT. No matter what I do, I cannot get that signal.

That was my father-in-law's suggestion, too, when I told him about our issue. I was trying to avoid that, but I hear it's pretty simple.

Thanks to both of you for the thoughts and suggestions!

 

[w9wi]

OK, I'm a pretty smart person, but for some reason, I can't get WFAA-DT OTA on either of the HDTVs in my house.
...

This is probably a dumb question, but have you tried reorienting the antenna? Sometimes just a very small shift in the antenna's position will clear up one (or more) channels without affecting the rest.

Does your antenna have an amplifier? (it shouldn't be necessary at 13 miles, and it could be overloading from FM radio stations, especially if there are any towers near your home - "near" = within 5 miles or so. )

Not a dumb question at all: Yes, I have tried moving it around, with varying degrees of luck. I haven't tried an amplifier, but I may look into that. I'll also look into nearby towers that may interfere. Thanks.

Let me add one other thing: if you're trying to get WFAA-DT, you pretty much have to have an OUTDOOR antenna.
I have an outdoor antenna mounted on the side of the chimney. I get WFAA-DT just fine. Indoors I have a couple of different types of "rabbit ear" antennas that I'm playing with. I can get pretty much everything but WFAA-DT. No matter what I do, I cannot get that signal.

That was my father-in-law's suggestion, too, when I told him about our issue. I was trying to avoid that, but I hear it's pretty simple.

Thanks to both of you for the thoughts and suggestions!

I was suggesting that an amplifier is probably a bad idea at 13 miles. Then again, if it's cheap it may be worth a shot; worst thing that happens is it makes things worse & you have to take it out...

An outdoor antenna is always a good idea if possible. That said, I'm 25 miles from the station I work for, we're on digital channel 10, and i have no problem receiving us on indoor rabbit ears. (wish I could say the same for the PBS station which is the only one I actually watch!)

WFAA does have a permit to increase digital power from 18.6 to 30 kilowatts next February. They've applied to increase that 30kw figure to 45. Then again, the difference between 18.6 kilowatts and 45 is a lot less than you might think.

 

[texas_prwriter]

Thanks for the clarification on the amplifier. Looks like my father-in-law is taking it on himself to install an outdoor antenna for us. Guess I'll be in the attic or on the roof soon.

 

[OnTexasTime]

Watching this thread with interest.

I am in Navarro County (northside of Corsicana). A couple of years ago I mounted an HD antenna with amplifier in my attic. It has worked well over the years. Recently I added a third Digital TV (HD) to the house and hooked it up to this antenna as well. When I ran the automatic programming I found even more HD channel than I had on my other sets.

So I ran it on my other HD TV and it added the extra channels as well as keeping all that were there before. When I ran auto programming on my SD TV it picked up the new channels, but it dropped all three of the WFAA digital channels from my line up. I have not been able to add those back any way I have tried.

I still trying to figure out what is causing my problem with WFAA. I find it interesting someone else is having trouble picking up their signal.

 

[DoogieDown1]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue. I'm in Garland, and WFAA's digital signal is the toughest to get. My roof antenna is pointed directly at Cedar Hill, and usually gets WFAA fine, but sometimes there are hiccups in the signal. It's very irritating when it happens.

I have another TV with rabbit ears and a digital converter box. I bought an amplified antenna for it, but no luck with WFAA. Otherwise, channels 2 through 13 come in fine for me...

 

[roba]

In Frisco, get all the OTA digital stations fine, including WFAA. Have an older antenna (c.1997) + amp in the attic. Works great, for both Analog and Digital signals, with a DigitalStream box.

However, remember that only WFAA-DT is VHF, everyone else is UHF, I believe, as the actual digital channels are quite high.

 

[fredcantu]

FYI-- I recall reading somewhere that some TVs have trouble locking onto a digital signal if it is immediately adjacent to an analog signal. Anyone recall this?