WHAS TV

[BobOnTheJob]

Not radio, but worth noting that WHAS TV will begin reduced power operations in October 2008 & when the analog shuts down, their permanent DTV will specify a whopping 5.2KW on channel 11. Guess I'll never see them again...too bad a legend like them couldn't land 1,000,000 watts non-d on UHF.

 

[kyscott]

A digital broadcast does not need as much power as an analog signal. For example, stations in the High V side such as WHAS regularly run 315kW visual power (WHAS is derated to 135kW visual). To cover the same area they only will need 5200 watts. Another example is a station I used to work for in Georgia WALB on channel 10. They run 316kW visual on channel 10. However to cover the same area on channel 10 digitaly, they will only need 17kW visual.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

A digital broadcast does not need as much power as an analog signal. For example, stations in the High V side such as WHAS regularly run 315kW visual power (WHAS is derated to 135kW visual). To cover the same area they only will need 5200 watts. Another example is a station I used to work for in Georgia WALB on channel 10. They run 316kW visual on channel 10. However to cover the same area on channel 10 digitaly, they will only need 17kW visual.

I understand the theory (especially after seeing a digital STL operate perfectly with 7uv!) and agree that in a laboratory setting, it will work that way. But HD is a fragile mode of operation...lightning static, remaining LPTV analog signals & other forms of interference may make WHAS DT a lesser product than it's analog counterpart. The mystery to me is that on UHF where interference is much less of an issue, FCC allows HD power to be 20% of analog. But in the case of WHAS 11 where it's really needed, they allow less than 4% of analog--how generous. I hope & pray that someone smarter than I knows what they are doing.

 

[ctkatz]

and not whas tv related, but are there any plans to get wbki's signal improved in louisville so that most of the east end can get a signal? i can't get much of anything with standard rabbit ears on any of wbki's duel signals, digital or analogue.

 

[intheair]

Good Grief... it's 2008! Get Cable or a Dish...

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I'm not sure how the signal coverage of WHAS-Channel 11 is now. I know in the early-to-mid-1960's, it rarely got out well into south-central Kentucky. Viewers in that area had a better chance to get CBS Network programming (WHAS was then, and for a long time, a CBS affiliate) over-the-air out of Nashville. Even then, a number of viewers in that area had community cable which enabled them to get Louisville and Nashville stations.

 

[kyscott]

and not whas tv related, but are there any plans to get wbki's signal improved in louisville so that most of the east end can get a signal? i can't get much of anything with standard rabbit ears on any of wbki's duel signals, digital or analogue.

What you see is pretty much what you are gonna get. The 34 transmitter is down near Raywick since it's licensed to Campbellsville. Raywick is the closest it can get to Louisville. The 28 transmitter is a class A station with only 21 kW on the Knobs. They have a CP for a translator on channel 34 with only 15 kW on the Knobs, but it's not going to perform much better than 28 with 21 kW.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

and not whas tv related, but are there any plans to get wbki's signal improved in louisville so that most of the east end can get a signal? i can't get much of anything with standard rabbit ears on any of wbki's duel signals, digital or analogue.

What you see is pretty much what you are gonna get. The 34 transmitter is down near Raywick since it's licensed to Campbellsville. Raywick is the closest it can get to Louisville. The 28 transmitter is a class A station with only 21 kW on the Knobs. They have a CP for a translator on channel 34 with only 15 kW on the Knobs, but it's not going to perform much better than 28 with 21 kW.

WBKI LP 28 gets out better than any LPTV I've seen...I am 70 miles north of it & while it's not perfect, it's watchable. The former record was WHAN LP Salem on 17 at 53 miles. But when channel 15 put HD on 17, that was the end of WHAN here. Of course, WHAN probably has about a 3 mile radius now. No clue why FCC allows them to operate on the same channel as KET does at less than 20 miles. More DC brilliance I suppose.

 

[KYradioJake]

Hasn't WBKI filed an application to move their city of license to Bardstown? 'cause if they put their digital transmitter there with about the same coverage that ch. 34 has now, then that would help us out a lot here in Lexington.

 

[kyscott]

I do not see anything on the FCC's page about a chance of COL for WBKI.

 

[w9wi]

The mystery to me is that on UHF where interference is much less of an issue, FCC allows HD power to be 20% of analog. But in the case of WHAS 11 where it's really needed, they allow less than 4% of analog--how generous.

Power is measured differently at digital stations, vs. how it's measured at analog stations. Comparing the two is comparing apples & oranges.

In both cases, amplitude modulation is used. The transmitter power is continually changing. We say WHAS-analog is running 135,000 watts effective radiated power, but that's only during the synchronizing pulses - a tiny fraction of the time. The rest of the time WHAS' power is a lot less than 135,000 watts. If they were to sit in black they would be running 100,000 watts most of the time - for any real programming it would be a lot lower - a white screen would take about 17,000 watts. You can predict when the next sync pulse - the next 135,000-watt peak - will happen: it happens 15,734 times a second.

In the case of WHAS-DT, the transmitter power is still continually changing. But you can't tell when; there are no predictably repeating synchronizing pulses. So since you don't know when the next power peak is going to happen, for DTV you measure the power as averaged over a period of time. WHAS-DT may be quoted as 5,200 watts but much of the time, its power is actually considerably higher.

(that said, that 5,200-watt figure *is* rather low. The station I work for is already on DTV channel 10. We're running about 42,000 watts average power - about nine times that of WHAS' permit - and our antenna is higher. )

Why their power is limited I don't know. Best I can tell the nearest other DTV facilities on channel 11 will be Johnson City, Tenn. and Lafayette, Ind.. There's already an analog station on channel 11 in Johnson City, so it's obviously adequately spaced from Louisville. I'd *think* Lafayette is also adequately spaced for a full-power 11 in Louisville but maybe not?

I do have a vague recollection of WBKI filing to change their C-O-L to Bardstown. Don't see how it could have been approved, as there is no other TV station in Campbellsville, and FCC policy doesn't allow removal of a city's only channel.