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WHDH - Home of the non-existant signal

S

Skynet74

Every other Boston station still comes in after the transition. But not WHDH. As upset as many around here are, just think how WHDH must feel. It's sure going to cut into ad revenue when nobody can view the channel anymore. The over the air signal is pretty much gone if you live more than 20 miles from the tower. I sure hope they do something to fix things.
 
I have a friend in Salem MA with same problem: has conv box but this morning, no Ch 7. Rescanned a couple
times, still no Ch 7 (or associated channels like "This"). Just got off phone w/ him
 
I think they should have stayed on Channel 42. That 42 signal was quite adequate. I noticed the significant loss of signal strength between Channel 7 and 42. Unfortunately, this is the way things are. Channel 7 will need a bit more power to equal that of 42 or analog 7. Who knows?
 
Is this an indication that VHF-Hi isn't as ideal a frequency range for ATSC transmission as it has been made out to be? I've encountered less-than-ideal reception of VHF-Hi ATSC signals after shifting from pre-transition UHF allocations. Of course, being stuck with an inferior transmission standard vs. the rest of the world (as Sinclair warned in the 1990s!) hasn't helped, either.
 
Same thing is going on in Philadelphia with WPVI-DT. They chose channel 6 as their station and people are having problems getting it over the air. They just had a story on their 11pm news that the FCC is going to look into granting a power increase. Maybe they'll have to do that for channel 7 as well. More power for the VHF -DT stations than they originally thought.
 
The same thing happened to me. I live right in Brookline, MA. Not far from the WHDH tower at all. Actually, WHDH used to be my strongest signal. I've had a DTV box for months now and have been watching 7.1 and 7.2 (this TV) for some time now. This really stinks. They must be losing a LOT of customers if I can't even pick it up and I live right in the city...

I pick up about 20 other channels, with a strong signal for each one.

Not good.

(I also rescanned FYI)
 
I wonder how long it will take to install the other half of the transmitter. Hopefully not long. I tried every antenna position I could. I spent about 4 hours last night experimenting. I rescanned over and over and over again. At my place you would assume that WHDH was bulldozed and the station no longer exists. I can't get a signal no matter how hard I try.
 
raccoonradio said:
Ch 7's Larry Weil explains

http://lists.bostonradio.org/pipermail/boston-radio-interest/2009-June/021140.html

>>only half of the transmitter has been
installed. Only after the old Larcan analog transmitter is removed
can the other half of the Harris DTV transmitter be installed.
Click to expand...

I expected that there would be some little "kinks" in the early days of the DTV conversion. Channel 7, like anyone else with a new facility, would be expected to have a few "issues" until they're all ironed out. I've seen WHDH's Larcon transmitter recently on Scott Fybush's website. It's big and was on-line until last Friday at midnight. WHDH is also using the original analog antenna for the DTV-7 , the same one they've used for years. I'm sure it was never originally designed for DTV use. No doubt, that may be part of the issue. I'm sure they will be able (or have already done) to make some adjustments to make it broadbanded to make it totally DTV compliant, similar to what WGGB-40 in Springfield did to use the original Channel 40 analog antenna for DTV. All indications seem to say that Channel 40 was successful.

Let's see what develops with 7. I'm sure Larry Weil and the crew at WHDH will get things up to snuff, soon.
 
I am on cable but it doesnt affect me ,but for those it does I hope WHDH is paying OT to get the old analog transmitter moved out.
 
mgpt6 said:
I am on cable but it doesnt affect me ,but for those it does I hope WHDH is paying OT to get the old analog transmitter moved out.
Click to expand...


Well as it stands for me, WHDH is on vacation in my house. It's to bad too. They are my favorite Boston News station. I will miss receiving them. It's one of those situations where we just have to wait it out.
 
raccoonradio said:
Ch 7's Larry Weil explains

http://lists.bostonradio.org/pipermail/boston-radio-interest/2009-June/021140.html

>>only half of the transmitter has been
installed.  Only after the old Larcan analog transmitter is removed
can the other half of the Harris DTV transmitter be installed.
Click to expand...

Oh please. You mean to tell me that their business doesn't mean enough to them to figure out how to install a new transmitter? They're running 1/10th the power. How much can 'the other half' be?

It's part propagation, part power issue.
 
I have Edmund Ansin's home address in Miami Beach. I should drop him a note telling him that WHDH's signal is now crap and a good portion of viewers can no longer get it. I'll also enclose the links to websites where everyone else is saying the same thing. I just might do that this week.
 
I've been receiving terrestrial DTV signals since 2002 on 3 sets and 3 computers. I have a 91XG Uni-Directional Antenna (really overkill) digital antenna on a rotor up in the attic. I'm 14 miles as the crow flies from the antenna nest in Needham. Upon the transition I too lost WHDH, and only WHDH. Everything else is "excellent" "5 bars" or whatever is the highest score.

Silly me, after trying rescanning, moving the antenna through a 90 degree arc, I went to the WHDH website to see if they were aware of any problem and had posted anything about it and a projected resolution. I couldn't find anything. I'm sure it's me, because they must have posted something, right?

Thank you for this site and the information. I'm glad to learn I wasn't imagining this. It would have been nice for WHDH to have worked this out a few months before the transition. What genius was in charge of this I wonder? I can get WHDH, on cable, but it's kind of unfair to the people who are limited to OTA.
 
jdschatz said:
I've been receiving terrestrial DTV signals since 2002 on 3 sets and 3 computers. I have a 91XG Uni-Directional Antenna (really overkill) digital antenna on a rotor up in the attic. I'm 14 miles as the crow flies from the antenna nest in Needham. Upon the transition I too lost WHDH, and only WHDH. Everything else is "excellent" "5 bars" or whatever is the highest score.

Silly me, after trying rescanning, moving the antenna through a 90 degree arc, I went to the WHDH website to see if they were aware of any problem and had posted anything about it and a projected resolution. I couldn't find anything. I'm sure it's me, because they must have posted something, right?

Thank you for this site and the information. I'm glad to learn I wasn't imagining this. It would have been nice for WHDH to have worked this out a few months before the transition. What genius was in charge of this I wonder? I can get WHDH, on cable, but it's kind of unfair to the people who are limited to OTA.
Click to expand...

I regret to inform you that the 91XG is a UHF only antenna. It will be useless on VHF HI. http://www.antennasdirect.com/91XG_HDTV_Antenna.html, but lets not let the facts get in the way of a good rant. I'm too lazy to model the antenna, but I would be willing to bet it's actually acting as an attenuator at 170 MHz.

Oh please. You mean to tell me that their business doesn't mean enough to them to figure out how to install a new transmitter? They're running 1/10th the power. How much can 'the other half' be?
Click to expand...

Where do you get the figure "1/10"th? Please refer to the FCC power vs frequency curves and the rules regarding maximum TPO for the various bands.

In this case to "figure out how to install a new transmitter" is a simple matter of space. You cannot place two objects in the same physical space, simple law of physics. Also there is probably not enough capacity in the electrical feeders. "But they wont run at the same time" you may say... no electrician who wants to keep his license will connect 800 amps worth of equipment to a 500 amp feeder. No matter how much you swear up and down and promise they wont run at the same time.

If you dont like this, please speak to the neighborhood association in Needham and the Needham town council. They have severely restricted what can be done up there.

I have Edmund Ansin's home address in Miami Beach. I should drop him a note telling him that WHDH's signal is now crap and a good portion of viewers can no longer get it. I'll also enclose the links to websites where everyone else is saying the same thing. I just might do that this week.
Click to expand...

By all means go for it... I am certain he is well aware, these sorts of things do not go unnoticed. Trust me, there were many meetings and memos on the best and most cost effective way of doing this.

Remember folks, this is free TV. You get what you pay for.
 
I regret to inform you that the 91XG is a UHF only antenna. It will be useless on VHF HI. http://www.antennasdirect.com/91XG_HDTV_Antenna.html, but lets not let the facts get in the way of a good rant. I'm too lazy to model the antenna, but I would be willing to bet it's actually acting as an attenuator at 170 MHz.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was aware the 91XG is a UHF only antenna. That's why I bought it. What I didn't know when I bought it in 2006 is that there would be a VHF option available in 2009 and that some stations would opt for it. Why would 7 be the only only local station to do that? I thought UHF was better. 56-1 (and eveything else) comes in fine on UHF.
 
I sent Ansin a letter yesterday. I just want to be sure that he knows about this nonsense. I didn't want to take a chance that all the engineers and management told him that the transition went smooth, when obviously it didn't! If nothing else at least I feel that I did my part.

They've lost a good chunk of viewers. Especially in places where WHDH isn't carried on cable. Like where I live for example. So if their over the air signal isn't there, than there is just no way I am going to get the channal anymore.

I do have a VHF antenna and It's not getting anything. They should have just stayed on UHF. Moving their signal to VHF is what screwed everything up for them.
 
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