Hi all! I pretty much gave up on my OTA system after investing about $500 a couple of years ago. It could reliably give me only 1 HD OTA channel (PBS on 15.1) and sometimes I could get ABC (24.1) and CBS (32.1), but never when there was something on I really wanted to watch! NBC and FOX both originated at 60+ miles from me and were completely hopeless. Dish will probably never in my lifetime light-up our local HDs so the OTA antenna is my only option and it's poor at best, or at least was...!
For the Rose Bowl I decided to try things again and lo-and-behold, I had an EXCELLENT signal on 24.1 that lasted through the entire game. It looked and sounded fantastic! Glad I had someone over to share the experience as well. (Too bad the game outcome wasn't as favorable for us PA folks, but in my case the overall OTA experience almost completely offset the game result!) Jan. 1 was particularly clear and cold in these parts with low humidity. I've learned that has 2 positive effects on my system - the signal propagation is at it's best, and the noise factor of my CM7777 preamp (probably not the best choice in retrospect) is at its lowest. Both of these contribute to a much more stable signal that will lock reliably. For the past several days 24.1 has faded away again, but it will be back I'm certain when conditions favor it.
I also took advantage of the good conditions to scan/re-scan both TV tuners, and the OTA tuners in both my 622 and 211. Surprise! I found a new repeater channel of the NBC station (WJAC, Johnstown, normally ch 34) on Ch 42 that seems to be very solid. I could never receive anything DTV from that station prior to this. It's originating from somewhere near State College, but neither antennaweb.org nor 2150.com (my previous combined resources for bearing/distance/power/antenna height/dispersion pattern information) had this channel listed. So I'm interested in finding out more about that channel and any others that have recently or will soon launch in my immediate area.
I am also curious about the CBS DTV channel. WTAJ has been broadcasting on ch 32 and that is still showing as the final assignment in the a/m resources. But for the past week or so every attempt I have made to lock 32.1 has been completely unsuccessful. Previously I could get it at least occasionally, but it has been probably a year since I last checked it. Their antenna is located in the exact same spot as the ABC antenna ~25 miles from me, so you would think if I can get one I should be able to get the other (!?!) Has this channel (32) been suspended or changed? (IIRC, it was slightly lower power before, 1,000kW for ABC and 883kW for CBS.)
Any other OTA information you could provide (or links to same) for "my" DMA would be appreciated. At least I have 2 reliable OTA channels now, with perhaps more to come if other repeaters are added in this area. I'm only 9 miles as the signals propagate from the repeater location I know about, and perhaps that's where ch 42 originates as well. (That would be great news as it's almost 180 deg. off-axis from where the CM4228 is currently pointed and still being received at 80+ on the meter!)
TIA and BRgds...!
UPDATE: TVFool confirmed that ch42 (WJAC Johnstown, NBC) is co-located with 2 other ABC channel translaters about 9.5 miles from my location, hence the strong signal. The ABC channels 36/39 (WNEP, Scranton) are currently still analog. I'm wondering if those will convert to digital soon !?! But I still am (literally!) in the dark regarding ch 32.1 (WTAJ Altoona, CBS)...
For the Rose Bowl I decided to try things again and lo-and-behold, I had an EXCELLENT signal on 24.1 that lasted through the entire game. It looked and sounded fantastic! Glad I had someone over to share the experience as well. (Too bad the game outcome wasn't as favorable for us PA folks, but in my case the overall OTA experience almost completely offset the game result!) Jan. 1 was particularly clear and cold in these parts with low humidity. I've learned that has 2 positive effects on my system - the signal propagation is at it's best, and the noise factor of my CM7777 preamp (probably not the best choice in retrospect) is at its lowest. Both of these contribute to a much more stable signal that will lock reliably. For the past several days 24.1 has faded away again, but it will be back I'm certain when conditions favor it.
I also took advantage of the good conditions to scan/re-scan both TV tuners, and the OTA tuners in both my 622 and 211. Surprise! I found a new repeater channel of the NBC station (WJAC, Johnstown, normally ch 34) on Ch 42 that seems to be very solid. I could never receive anything DTV from that station prior to this. It's originating from somewhere near State College, but neither antennaweb.org nor 2150.com (my previous combined resources for bearing/distance/power/antenna height/dispersion pattern information) had this channel listed. So I'm interested in finding out more about that channel and any others that have recently or will soon launch in my immediate area.
I am also curious about the CBS DTV channel. WTAJ has been broadcasting on ch 32 and that is still showing as the final assignment in the a/m resources. But for the past week or so every attempt I have made to lock 32.1 has been completely unsuccessful. Previously I could get it at least occasionally, but it has been probably a year since I last checked it. Their antenna is located in the exact same spot as the ABC antenna ~25 miles from me, so you would think if I can get one I should be able to get the other (!?!) Has this channel (32) been suspended or changed? (IIRC, it was slightly lower power before, 1,000kW for ABC and 883kW for CBS.)
Any other OTA information you could provide (or links to same) for "my" DMA would be appreciated. At least I have 2 reliable OTA channels now, with perhaps more to come if other repeaters are added in this area. I'm only 9 miles as the signals propagate from the repeater location I know about, and perhaps that's where ch 42 originates as well. (That would be great news as it's almost 180 deg. off-axis from where the CM4228 is currently pointed and still being received at 80+ on the meter!)
TIA and BRgds...!
UPDATE: TVFool confirmed that ch42 (WJAC Johnstown, NBC) is co-located with 2 other ABC channel translaters about 9.5 miles from my location, hence the strong signal. The ABC channels 36/39 (WNEP, Scranton) are currently still analog. I'm wondering if those will convert to digital soon !?! But I still am (literally!) in the dark regarding ch 32.1 (WTAJ Altoona, CBS)...
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