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Message |
    
LeRoy Dorman
New member
Username: Ldorman
Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 09, 2009 - 02:11 pm: | 
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I am in Borrego Springs, 90+ miles distant, and have been using a Winegard HD9095P on the roof (with a preamp) to get the UHF channels. After the latest deadline, KYMA moved to a VHF channel (9?) and the 9605 does not work well there.
So I added Winegard YA-1713, plugged into the VHF port of the preamp (which I think is UHF only) and
KYMA was restored, and I was able to get KSWT
(13?), which I did not have before.
Then I lost KSWT (and Katie Couric) a few weeks
ago.
I had expected that, with the cessation of analog
broadcasting, the digital signals would improve,
since often the digital and analog signals came
through the same wattage-limited Power Amplifier.
But when frequency-changes occur, does this require a change in the antenna configuration?
Would one expect the digital signal to come from
a transmitting antenna lower on the tower?
I do not recall the relative signal strength of KSWT when it was working, but it is now at 16%,
purely relative, low compared to the 60-70? for working channels. My tuner is a pcHDTV card interfaced to MythTV.
Do any of you folks have any insight into whether some of this degradation happened on the transmitting end or do I need to crawl up on the
roof again?
Regards,
LeRoy Dorman
(formerly FCC First Class Radiotelephone Certificate holder-about 1957) |
Gary Stigall, XETV
Moderator
Username: Garys
Post Number: 508
Registered: 12-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 09, 2009 - 09:40 pm: |
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Hello LeRoy,
Did you perform a rescan with your DTVs after June 12? Some people are having to do double rescans; i.e., first a complete rescan without antenna attached, then another with your antennas.
FCC records indicate that KSWT moved from channel 16 to channel 13 on June 12. That, and it's only 20kW with a weird transmit antenna that favors the southeast (Yuma).
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS1293814.html
The bad news is that you are currently outside the predicted coverage area. But your local noise must not be too bad if you've been picking up the Yuma-El Centro stations so far.
The good news is that KSWT just filed for a 150% increase in power and the FCC has been very sympathetic in granting these to VHF DTV stations.
I like your antenna choices. I don't usually recommend VHF preamps, but out there in the desert, if you don't have a lot of electrical power line or machinery noise, it might help (it might not). At your distance, it wouldn't hurt. When shopping, forget high gain and go for lowest noise figure. According to TVFool.com, you are 5dB or less short of receiving this station.
So you could try a UHF/VHF preamplifier or just wait for the station to turn up the juice in a few months.
If you want to be notified of the FCC grant of an increase in power, consider subscribing to the FCC Daily Digest:
http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Digest/2009/welcome.html
Good luck!
Gary Stigall
Dir. of Engineering
Bay City TV - XETV
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LeRoy Dorman
New member
Username: Ldorman
Post Number: 3
Registered: 02-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 16, 2009 - 03:46 am: |
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Thanks Gary,
for the suggestion about a rescan. My receiver program indicates partial lock, so the Chan 13 has
made it into the channel database.
Thanks also for the news re KSWT's request for increased transmit power. I will watch the FCC announcements for their decision.
In the interim, I may improve my antenna configuration, which is suboptimal. The YA-1713 is just lying on the asphalt shingles of our
Santa Fe style dwelling. It is several feet below the top of the aluminum-capped parapet.
The HD9095P is about even with the top of the parapet, mounted on a nonpenetrating mast from Willy's electronics. The base of the mast is supported by 8-foot-long 2x4 and 2x6 boards, weighted by cinder blocks for stability aganst the
wind. Most of the TV antennas in town with low-band
VHF coverage have lost some or all of their longer reflectors to the desert winds. If I raise the
YA-1713 I should get a few more dB of signal,
as well as improving the stability of the installation.
Regards,
LeRoy Dorman |
Gary Stigall, XETV
Moderator
Username: Garys
Post Number: 513
Registered: 12-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - 09:00 am: |
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Yes, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that actually mounting your antennas on a mast with a few feet of spacing between them will make a world of improvement in your signal.
You do run the leads from your antennas to a UHF/VHF combiner, then the combined coax to your TV's, right?
Gary Stigall
Dir. of Engineering
Bay City TV - XETV
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LeRoy Dorman
New member
Username: Ldorman
Post Number: 4
Registered: 02-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 09:02 pm: |
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>Yes, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that actually mounting your antennas on a mast with a few feet of spacing between them will make a world of improvement in your signal.
Okeh, The peak daily temperature has dropped below 100F so I put up a separate mast so that both antennas are about 3 feet off the roof and I now get "all" eleven or so channels
from the Yuma/ElCentro area. So I am getting KSWT at its current power.
I am using separate low-profile towers since this is a boutique trailer park (with Santa Fe architecture).
I have emailed Winegard requesting wind load data for these antennas.
>You do run the leads from your antennas to a UHF/VHF combiner, then the combined coax to your TV's, right?Gary Stigall
Right. |
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