An E-mail from an OMW reader far from Parma sent us sprinting to our nearest digital TV, and yes, it's true...
After a wait of many years, the full-power WVIZ-DT facility has made its first appearance.
At the OMW World Headquarters, about 20 air miles from the Parma antenna farm, WVIZ-DT is providing a strong signal into our 2nd floor HDTV being fed by an indoor amplified antenna. It's also an easy catch on our Zenith converter box feeding a downstairs TV.
And the reader who tipped us off to WVIZ-DT's full power debut says he is in Salem.
A note: Don't be at all surprised if the signal goes off at some point later. There could well be more adjustments and testing.
But we'd guess that the folks at ideastream want to keep this on the air with as few interruptions as possible, even at its debut...
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
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15 comments:
W00T!
Did WBNX-DT make any changes today? I was able to pick it briefly for the first time then lost it.
Please don't tell me this is full power! Guess I'm losing another on my 2nd floor setup. :(
No WBNX on my second floor either, WBNX analog used to be my second strongest analog behind 19.
I am not holding my breath on 55.1 and have completely lost hope on 19.1
What is this CRRS?
Bismarck, and others who have problems...
Can you tell us where you are? Do you have problems with other existing Cleveland market stations? Do you have any significant obstructions to Parma, either naturally or man-made?
Technically, we can't tell if this is the full, licensed post-transition power level WVIZ-DT won approval for in late May. One would expect that there will be some ajustments possible between now and late Friday morning.
But on our Zenith digital converter box, the WVIZ-DT siganl is pretty much the equal of all the other Parma antenna farm signals tonight. (And we generally don't have problems with WBNX-DT, either.)
Re: 25.9 "CRRS"...it is the audio feed of the Cleveland Sight Center's radio reading service for the blind (CSCN, it should be, for "Cleveland Sight Center Network")). WVIZ has long carried that on the SAP of analog 25.
Not all tuners pick up the audio feed. The Zenith does, as does our main HDTV set here.
CRSS, don't remember the akrinym, but it's audio only, likely for the blind.
6/12 will be a sad day up by me as I'm going to wind up with much less channels, & NO secondary market, unsuere of what moves Eroe will make, but I suspect business as usual.
I'm wondering if WKYC will actually be any better since WVIZ is now a dissappointment with the Attic setup.
Oops, our apologies for the typos... the text input box was super slow. As it turns out, we had what appears to have been a few dozen (!) open Firefox tabs, and Firefox was as a result taking some 220K of memory all by itself. All better, now!
Bismarck, I see your location from another comment: "up in Lake/Ashtabula counties (below the ridge) that are border to Canada protection, & have no secondary market."
Ouch. Good luck up there! We'll probably find a lot of folks like you outside of Cuyahoga and Summit Counties...particularly far out from Parma.
We said it in the previous item.
If you can hang in with a snowy, but watchable picture on analog, the equivalent signal level on digital gives you nothing. That's probably the situation you're in, even with that antenna, and due to the terrain shadowing ridge you describe.
The TV stations will eventually have to figure out if they want to spend any money to serve you with OTA signals (more power, but more likely stuff like digital DTS fill signals or digital translators), or if they'll just take their chances on cable/satellite penetration that far out from the market core.
And no, we have no information about WBNX today. The station has been as a whole very uncooperative with this blog over the years, dating back to the wait for their signal in the first place.
From their April transition report to the FCC:
ON JUNE 19, 2008, WBNX FILED AN APPLICATION TO 'MAXIMIZE' ITS DTV FACILITY. SEE FCC FILE NO. BPCDT-20080619AFL. THAT REQUEST REMAINS PENDING. BECAUSE THE WBNX POST-TRANSITION DTV FACILITY IS ALREADY COMPLETE AND IS OPERATIONAL, WINSTON BROADCASTING NETWORK HAS NOTHING FURTHER TO REPORT. EVEN IF THE MAXIMIZATION APPLICATION IS GRANTED PRIOR TO THE TRANSITION DATE, WBNX WILL NOT CONSTRUCT THE MAXIMIZED FACILITY PRIOR TO JUNE 12, 2009.
--The Management
OMW, I'm in Central Eastern Mentor, my outdoor setup works a bit better, yet I still have trouble with 19, 3 & 55 at times on that too (digital), the analog is (or was) great for the mostpart... even 23 is watchable here, sometimes actually very clear.
I'm getting WVIZ on my outdoor, though the signal is just barely making it to te good range.
I really feel bad for those East of me... I can imagine they will be in a worse spot than I am, as Erie's signal barely makes it to Ashtabula.
That Zenith 901 is indeed a great converter, easy to set up & surpasses most tuners... I tested it side by side with the Magnavox, & was a bit better.
I am getting WVIZ-DT clear as day from Akron (one mile from the Rolling Acres tower farm).
BTW I have an update for you. According to my DirecTV HD-20 DVR with OTA tunner electronic program guide, WVPX-DT is schdueled to begin programming Friday morning at 6AM. Prior to that, the guide says "SIGN OFF." So add this one to your list.
I got a signal strength of 40 in Lucas, Ohio (near Mansfield). The picture looks great.
I am hoping Friday brings more good news. I get an analog WOIO, but no digital. WKYC gets no signal at all.
WEWS, WJW, WVPX (analog), WUAB, WEAO, WBNX and WMFD all come in strong.
South of Medina (city) here and cannot receive WKYC (3.1 & 3.2) on my RCA converter box w/amplified indoor flat antenna, but am receiving the WVIZ signals, no audio on 25.9, 20 channels altogether so far. (All downstairs)
Upstairs, I have a Zenith converter box with rabbit ears and get 22 channels, WKYC on clear days, all of the WVIZ signals + audio for 25.9)
Big question is: Will the stations turn up their power after they eliminate the analog signals? I plan on installing an outdoor antenna soon too, so perhaps I'll get signals from further away, but more concerned with getting the local signals to come in clear.
~~
This all reminds me of when WVIZ and WUAB appeared on the dial in the 60s! (Let alone seeing shows "in living color"!!)
, Big question is: Will the stations turn up their power after they eliminate the analog signals? I plan on installing an outdoor antenna soon too, so perhaps I'll get signals from further away, but more concerned with getting the local signals to come in clear.
My thoughts too, one would think the savings on shutting the analog transmitters down now. Strange the Cleveland farm booms out to places 60-70 miles away, yet very unreliable signals @ 28-29 miles where I am, (WVIZ 40-50% on my outdoor pixelizing & 10-20% on my attic unable to lock) .. my only present reliable signals are 5 & 61, imagine 3 & 8 might clean up, doubtfull for 19, & likely lost 55 & 25 upstairs.
Since WVIZ is using a repeater on 63 in Thompson, will that also be going bye bye soon?.. most of the stations really need a repeater up in these parts. Utah had repeaters in every small metro around the state to cover the SLC affiliates, that worked quite well.
I'm dissappointed how this is playing out... & I'm not becoming a slave to cable, perhaps the next step is a FTA satellite setup.... & of course NO Cleveland stations are on that.
Sadly sipping coffee from my WVIZ Coffee mug... sigh.
Bismarck440, there is a good reason that I am able to reliably receive Cleveland stations 55 miles from the Parma antenna farm here in Salem.
I am on high ground at 1250' above sea level and have a deep fringe antenna setup mounted on a 55' tower. I even receive WOIO with occasional dropouts. Most people in my area will not be able to receive Cleveland stations without a good deep fringe setup. If it's in your budget, you might want to consider upgrading your antenna system.
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