Can I find out when my locals are going Digital?

[jgags6]

Right now i have ABC NBC and CBS in HD and I'm waiting for Fox. Does anyone know where I can find a list or something that tells me when my local channel will be converting. I called the station a couple weeks ago and asked, they said March sometime, but i recently emailed and he said within 2 year. I love the consistancy.

 

[Mike0616]

Right now i have ABC NBC and CBS in HD and I'm waiting for Fox. Does anyone know where I can find a list or something that tells me when my local channel will be converting. I called the station a couple weeks ago and asked, they said March sometime, but i recently emailed and he said within 2 year. I love the consistancy.

Your FOX station may never go HD, but they will either be digital by the end of 2008 or off-the-air as the current FCC mandate requires all stations to be converted to digital by then.

You can check out the FCC website (www.fcc.gov) and see where the FOX station is on the process, i.e. awaiting permission to go to full power, testing, etc. The info is available by call-letter there and will contain both the analog and digital channel numbers for your reference.

 

[charper1]

You can pull up the FCC database for each of your station's call letters and read their licencing or you could call each station's engineer number; they we happily tell you. http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html

EXAMPLE:

KPNX AZ MESA USA (Digital)

Licensee: MULTIMEDIA HOLDINGS CORPORATION
Service Designation: DT Digital television station

Channel: 36 602 - 608 MHz Licensed
File No.: BLCDT-20000628AEW Facility ID number: 35486
CDBS Application ID No.: 509254

33° 20' 0.00 " N Latitude Site in Mexican Border Zone
112° 03' 48.00" W Longitude (NAD 27)

Polarization: Horizontal (H)
Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 819. kW ERP
Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 534. meters HAAT
Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 891. meters AMSL
Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 83. meters AGL

TV Zone: 2

Non-Directional Antenna ID No.: 32902 Pattern Rotation: 0.00
Antenna Make: DIE Antenna Model: TFU-26GBH 06

Additional Individual Tower Information from the Antenna Structure Registration database.
(Use the Registration Number link for detailed information.)

ASRN
Site
Elevation
(meters) Overall Height
Above Ground
(meters) Overall Height
Above Mean Sea
Level (meters) NAD 83 Tower Coordinates
----------------------------------------------- Convert to
NAD 27
Latitude Longitude
1002073 808.6 117.4 926.0 N 33° 20' 0.0" W 112° 3' 51.0" To NAD27


CDBS: Station Info Application Info Mailing Address Assignments and Transfers
Application List CDBS Search Page Ownership Info EEO Call Sign Changes
Site: Region Map Area Map Local Map
Area: Service Contour Map (41 dBu) Alternate Map Link

 

[jgags6]

So I looked and I found my station, WQRF, and it has been granted permission to go digital, I scanned for it and i found the station but there is no programming in HD yet. Is there anyway i can find out when they will start broadcasting?

 

[charper1]

Best you can do is call the WQRF-TV engineer. How far away are you from the WMSN-DT (FOX) in Madison, WI?

Antenna Type Call Sign DigChnl Network City/State Compassss Miles ChnlAssn
red - uhf WREX-DT 13.1 NBC ROCKFORD IL 244° 6.0 54
red - uhf WTVO-DT 17.1 ABC ROCKFORD IL 209° 3.8 16
red - uhf WQRF-DT 39.1 FOX ROCKFORD IL 209° 3.8 42
red - uhf WIFR-DT 23.1 CBS ROCKFORD IL 215° 3.2 41

 

[jgags6]

Well I live in Rockton, which is on the WI IL boarder so I'm right in the middle of the two cities. The antenna I have would get WMSN but I'd have to turn it the opposite direction.

 

[charper1]

You can buy an omni-directional or 2 top quality directionals for each heading, but Madison could be a great option being only 50 miles away.

 

[jgags6]

So my zip is 61072, what antenna would you recomend I get so I can get both Rockford and Madsion channels?

 

[Jim5506]

Putting your zip into antennaweb.org looks like you have ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC digitals all less than 15 miles in the same general direction from Rockford (all are at 200 deg, but NBC at 216 deg). A CM 4221 should do , since they are all UHF.

* red - uhf WREX-DT 13.1 NBC ROCKFORD IL 216° 13.0 54
* red - uhf WTVO-DT 17.1 ABC ROCKFORD IL 200° 12.1 16
* red - uhf WQRF-DT 39.1 FOX ROCKFORD IL 200° 12.1 42
* blue - uhf WIFR-DT 23.1 CBS ROCKFORD IL 201° 11.4 41

 

[Tower Guy]

So my zip is 61072, what antenna would you recomend I get so I can get both Rockford and Madsion channels?

These suggestions ignore analog, they should work for DTV only.

If you want the only FOX from Madison, it's easy, FOX is on channel 11, your local DTV's are all UHF; one VHF only antenna with a preamp aimed at Madison, one UHF antenna aimed at Rockford.

For FOX in Madison: VHF 10 Element Yagi Ch.7-13 Model Y10-7-13 available at:
http://www.warrenelectronics.com/Antennas/ac_main.htm

For your local UHF DTV stations a Channel Master 4221: http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/4221.htm
Aim it half way between the NBC and CBS transmitters.

Add them together with a simple UHF/VHF splitter; Channel Master 0549
http://www.warrenelectronics.com/Antennas/joiners.htm

If you want all the stations from Madison you have a couple of choices;

1. An all channel antenna with a preamp and rotator. Simple to understand and install, but no good for a DVR unless you remember to aim the antenna beforehand.
2. An all channel antenna with a preamp aimed at Madison and a second UHF only aimed at the local stations. The way to add them together is a bit convoluted, but you'll need Jointennas tuned to channels 16, 41, and 54 plus a three way splitter. It may be necessary to use a preamp such as the HDP-269 on the locals to overcome the losses of the splitter and Jointennas.

These options should work fine unless your house is down by the river.

Once you decide what to do, the guys at Warren Electronics can talk you through how to connect everything.

 

[mssturgeon]

Right now i have ABC NBC and CBS in HD and I'm waiting for Fox. Does anyone know where I can find a list or something that tells me when my local channel will be converting. I called the station a couple weeks ago and asked, they said March sometime, but i recently emailed and he said within 2 year. I love the consistancy.

(warning, website plug below)

I would like to add that we have a notification system on our site that will email you when your station comes online. This is triggered simply by the digital station beginning to publish their programming schedule.

To take advantage of this, simple create a free account and make sure you have selected your appropriate market and are subscribed to the "New Station Notifications" in your profile.

(end of plug)

Hope that helps,

- Shane