VOOM and OTA reception in Cleveland, OH

[fayrich]

Not me. Lucky to be getting all the Clevelands. By the way, have been receiving Ch 25 lately. Wonder if they did something, or if it is just a weather related thing. They are broadcasting 3 channels now in case you haven't seen. But one of them seems to be an audio service only.

 

[David D.]

New to VOOM (installed March 11,2005).

Great VOOM reception in Willoughby, but local stations are difficult to receive, a new OTA antenna upgrade coming March 25.

Anyone know which OTA antennas VOOM supplies for upgrade?

Good educational web site for net/raw gain ratings for HDTV OTA antennas can be found here; hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

 

[Ilya]

Welcome aboart, David D.!
Not sure what the will offer you. I would call the installer in advance and find out. This way you will also confirm that they have it.
Thanks for the link. I am thinking about an upgraded antenna too...

 

[grumpy1]

Welcome Dave D. I am in nearby Kirtland and have had my OTA antenna upgraded to a Winegard PR5646. All the important locals except for WVIZ come in fine. Instantlations out of Akron was a very professional installer and they worked hard to get my setup working well.

Am curious is anyone receiving WVIZ on a consistent basis at this point?

 

[David D.]

Grumpy1, & Ilya,

The installer (of Streetsburo) came today and brought a **Radio Shack VU-90XR antenna rated for 70 miles. I still do not receive Channels 19 (CBS) or 25. Channel 3.3 does not come in but 3.1 and 3.2 do. I believe I may be in a dead zone for channel 19, am unsure about 25.

The RS antenna had yellow and green zones on the box, channel 19 was in the purple zone, so I need a stronger antenna!!! (See antennaweb.org for additional information about the color codes).

I will call VOOM and tell them I need an antenna that works in the purple zone, or offer to supply my own.

**Check out this web site for raw and net gain ratings of antennas;
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

VOOM ROCKS!

 

[grumpy1]

David D,

I had a problem with channel 19 for a long while and eventually bought an amplifier at Radioshack that did the trick. If you search this thread you will find the model number. I skipped the part of the amp that required installation at the antenna as my roof is ridiculously steep. Channel 19 is program-wise probably the best local HD channel and the NCAA tournament games look great in HD. I "hide" 3.2 and 3.3 anyway. 3.3 is only the weathermap.

 

[Ilya]

FYI: 3.3 is now gone (which is a good thing - it was useless)
3.2 is no longer SD version of 3.1. It is a new NBC Weather PLUS channel showing Ohio weather forecasts. An excellent new channel! grumpy1, make sure to unhide it!

 

[David D.]

Grumpy1, Ilya,

VOOM is coming Tuesday to add an amplifier. If that does not work, I am considering an eightbay bowtie or YAGI by CM, both have a very high DB gain rating. VOOM CSR said they would not compensate me, OK by me.

Interesting, I do get enough signal in the bedroom to show the subject topic on the bottom of the screen for channels 17, 19, 25, and 49 but no picture, this does not occur to the HDTV TV in the family room, I may need a more direct route to in. Currently I am using the existing wiring (house was pre-wired when we built it in '93) through the basement to the all rooms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE: April 2.
The AMP was installed last Tuesday, we now are able to receive Ch. 19, but not Ch. 25. I will not upgrade the antenna supplied by VOOM at this time, it is not worth $125+ for a Winegard UHF/VHF upgrade for Ch. 25.
I will consider upgrading in a few years when all stations are HDTV/digital. If I do so, I will add a rotor.

Happy VOOMING!

 

[APorter]

I'm a new voomer down in Cincinnati. Are you currently being charged sales tax or franchise fees? I received an paper statement that has sales tax. I checked online and it's labeled franchise fees.

 

[grumpy1]

APorter,

Bob Taft is getting his cut. My bill itemizes my monthly sales tax as $6.05

 

[Ilya]

Are all boxes in Cleveland behind by one hour this morning? Or is it just mine?

 

[Ilya]

Never mind. It's working now!

 

[fayrich]

Is anyone receiving ch 19 lately? Watched some of the Masters on Saturday, and haven't seen even a hint of a signal since. Called station engineering yesterday, and left a recorded inquiry, but no reply yet.

 

[Ilya]

I am getting channel 19. No problems here.

 

[jolt]

Speaking of WOIO-DT, is anyone getting wierd "color bursts"? Every other channel comes in fine, WUAB-DT sometimes breaks up, but 3,5,8, & 19 rarely break-up for me. 3, 5, & 8 comes in absolutly perfect.

Anyway, the color bursts are quick blue/purple flashes on the screen, it happens about once every 5 seconds, sometimes sooner. Since I don't see this on any other channel, am I correct in assuming that it's not my Voom/TV?

Since I live near the lake, I can frequently pull in Detriot and Buffalo off of the Voom box. I'm not aware of another digital channel on WOIO-DT, unless I'm mistaken...

 

[fayrich]

Ch 19 comes in on VHF Ch 10. London Ontario also has a VHF Ch 10. Could be interference from up there since you are close to the lake. You may have to re-position your antenna some.