Digital Signal Off & On

[800trunkerman]

For about a month, we've had a very good indoor antenna rigged up to get the digital signals locally. It has been getting great reception from all stations.

Sunday afternoon, however, the signals on both KTAB and KRBC started taking dips, and going off and on. It was so aggravating trying to watch the Dallas game last night between dips. The signal is around 95 when it's on.
Was there a problem at the transmitter site? I've not checked those channels yet today.

Later...

Okay, I checked, and KTAB is fine, but KRBC is still chopping out pretty badly. Glen? What's hop-nin'?:D

Thanks-

[800trunkerman]

Going by lack of posting, I think this forum has chopped out too.:rolleyes:

[sparky-4]

pretty dead..huh?

[howdy ya'll]

Ya, sparky and trunk, we need a very diverse subject to talk about, something that will get the old brain a churning.lol

Let's start thinking. I have a thought, but I have to get it together before I post it.

[tbone]

I too use rabbit ears to get our digital stations so I can watch HD programing. I have a problem with 32.1 being unwatchable at times. I can't wait for our faux (FOX) station to go digital and then HD to watch the cowgirls.

[800trunkerman]

I too use rabbit ears to get our digital stations so I can watch HD programing. I have a problem with 32.1 being unwatchable at times. I can't wait for our faux (FOX) station to go digital and then HD to watch the cowgirls.:D

Ten four on them Cowgals! :D Sometimes, the cheerleaders would play better football. When Romo's having an off day, I'll tell my wife "Well, he left his glasses in the locker room again.":cool:

[tvodak]

Thanks for the notes, sorry this is so long in getting this response posted.

In checking with our engineers they have no easy answers with the digital signal, there are so many variables as opposed to the analog signals. The good old days of at least having some sort of picture if your reception isn't 100% go away with analog. At least with analog you could at least pick up a fuzzy picture with good audio. With the new digital signals it's all or nothing. Either you have a good picture or you don't have a picture at all. And if something is getting between your antenna and the transmission tower you could have intermittent signal interruption.

Both the KTAB and KRBC broadcast from digital transmitters and an antenna located southeast of Abilene on a mountaintop along Highway 36 east of Potosi. So it's best to locate an indoor antenna near a window that faces in that direction.

An outside antenna is still the best way to pick up analog signals. The digital signal reception varies with outside sources, such as people moving about, outside vehicles, trees, rain, adjacent buildings or hills, etc.

An outside antenna usually doesn't see the interference. Our chief engineer, Glen McCandless lives in Stamford, Texas and picks up our digital signal just fine without problems on his outdoor antenna which is 30 feet up.


Here are a few links with more information:

Our DTV Answers page:
http://bigcountryhomepage.com/dtvanswers/

Antenna Web:
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

The HDTV Expert:
http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages/reception_sanyo.htm

[800trunkerman]

Thanks for that info, Tom. Sadly, we live in an apartment complex, so no outdoor antennas for us. I can easily just get it through Suddenlink, but the quality off an antenna is so much better minus those miles of wires and amps. If it gets really bad, I'll just get it via Suddenlink.

Thanks again-

[tvodak]

No problem, understand the frustration. At our house I pick up the local signals off air (call me frugal) and I have problems at times as well, although it varies from set to set.

I have a plasma that has a real good tuner in it and it's the most stable of the bunch.

I have two other analog sets each with a different brand of converter box setup.

On one I've got a new amplified set-top antenna (has AC power to boost to 50db) and I then have that hooked into an AC powered antenna booster and it works great.

On another I have just the converter box and it will work just fine for a while, then occasionally will sputter as well so I need to add the antenna booster to it as well and hope that clears it up for good.

I've through about installing an outdoor antenna in the attic, but really don't want to mess with running wires, etc.

[800trunkerman]

That's quite a setup, Tom! Thanks for filling me in. I've been wondering, and you may know the answer to this, but wondering what will fill in the old analog channels on Suddenlink when the old transmitters are shut down Feb. 17th? That should prove to be interesting!

We used to enjoy watching the Trinity Channel outlet on Ch. 51 here, but that signal is as weak as water. I've never gotten a good signal on that one no matter what I did with the antenna. Anyway, we're enjoying the HD stuff and especially the football games. When I bought this 40" Sony Bravia from Jon Thorne, I had those football games in mind!

[tvodak]

Sorry, I have no idea what Suddenlink is going to do after the changeover. My guess is that they will continue to offer the locals on their current channel allocations on cable, then will continue to offer the local HD signals on their HD tier.

[800trunkerman]

I see, Tom. Anyway, I'm glad we're rigged and ready for the big switch come Feb. 17th.;)

Thanks-

[alanhufstutler]

I got my digital converter box plugged in between my rabbit ears and TV and working about a month ago so I'd be ready for the "digital conversion". Everything was great (except for having to have two remotes) until yesterday. As of yesterday the only channel I could get was KTXS, everything else said "no signal". Before I plugged in the digital converter box I had no problems and I could also get a couple of Christian channels as well. It seems that I must resign myself to only one channel since the digital conversion, so, what's up with that ? Please don't give me a bunch of technical "horse hockey" because I just want to watch TV, I don't want to learn to put a lunar module on Mars.

Thanks.


Thanks for the notes, sorry this is so long in getting this response posted.

In checking with our engineers they have no easy answers with the digital signal, there are so many variables as opposed to the analog signals. The good old days of at least having some sort of picture if your reception isn't 100% go away with analog. At least with analog you could at least pick up a fuzzy picture with good audio. With the new digital signals it's all or nothing. Either you have a good picture or you don't have a picture at all. And if something is getting between your antenna and the transmission tower you could have intermittent signal interruption.

Both the KTAB and KRBC broadcast from digital transmitters and an antenna located southeast of Abilene on a mountaintop along Highway 36 east of Potosi. So it's best to locate an indoor antenna near a window that faces in that direction.

An outside antenna is still the best way to pick up analog signals. The digital signal reception varies with outside sources, such as people moving about, outside vehicles, trees, rain, adjacent buildings or hills, etc.

An outside antenna usually doesn't see the interference. Our chief engineer, Glen McCandless lives in Stamford, Texas and picks up our digital signal just fine without problems on his outdoor antenna which is 30 feet up.


Here are a few links with more information:

Our DTV Answers page:
http://bigcountryhomepage.com/dtvanswers/

Antenna Web:
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

The HDTV Expert:
http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages/reception_sanyo.htm

[tvodak]

Everyone-

Last week's ice storm caused damage to the digital antenna for KTAB and KRBC, taking both digital signals off the air.

Our engineers along with corporate engineers, an outside engineering firm and a tower crew company made temporary repairs in time to get KRBC digital back on the air in time for the Super Bowl.

Our engineers continue to work on this issue and repairs are still being made today to get KTAB digital back on the air as soon as possible.

It appears that a large chunk of ice fell off of our Analog antenna (which is located just above the digital antenna on our transmission tower) and it smashed onto the transmission line to the digital antenna. That damaged the transmission line and a coupling device on the antenna.

Equipment has been sent back to the manufacturer for repairs, which is expected to take several weeks.

In the meantime, this only affects off air viewers and does not affect customers on cable systems, or Dish Network.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

[vamtres]

I did see the info about the ice damaging the transmitter so I patiently waited for the transmitter to be repaired or replaced and watched the same stations in analog while waiting. Before the damage, I had bought two new tvs (didn't want to deal with the converter box) and had no trouble receiving the digital signals, had to play with the antenna a bit with krbc but I could still get it. Had no trouble receiving Ktab or krbc before the transmitter trouble. Now that the transmitter is back online, I was excited about getting to see digital --nice clean picture. Well, no, that didn't happen. I cannot get krbc or ktab digital at all. It doesn't matter where my antenna is pointed, no amount of playing with it will get either station to come in. I don't have a bit of trouble with ktxs or cw. Both come in beautifully. I even get a nondigital- channel 42 and an extremely snowy nondigital 15. I have always used an indoor antenna on both tvs at the house. I live on the west side of Abilene not far off Texas Avenue. The tvs are at different ends of the house and neither can get krbc or ktab. I even moved the tv in the living room to the another location in the living room and still can't get them! I cannot afford cable/satellite so I guess I'll just have ktxs and cw from now on.

[tvodak]

KTAB KRBC Engineers have been busy working to get the over the air digital signals back to normal after the February incident. The digital broadcast issue does not affect our viewers who watch our stations over Suddenlink Cable or Dish Network.

A tower crew came in to remove a device from the Digital antenna which was damaged. That device has been sent back to the manufacturer for repair.

It's expected to take several weeks for the repairs to be completetd and the part returned.

A tower crew and other engineers will then be called back in to re-install the device and complete repairs. Of course the tower crews depend on good weather, they can't climb the tower in windy or rainy weather.

In the meantime, The KTAB and KRBC Digital transmissions are operating at less than full power, which may account for some viewers receiving spotty reception. The best antenna to receive the digital signal is an outdoor antenna.

We also have these antennas for sale on the website, along with antenna specifications, also some downloadable documents on digital transmissions over the air vs satellite or cable provider, also terrain effects on the digital signal.

As a side note, Antennas Direct, an antenna distributor/manufacturer, will have their DTV Antenna tour bus at the KTAB KRBC Studios at 4510 South 14th on Monday, March 23rd from Noon until 3pm to help answer DTV questions and also offer their products for sale.

At the time of this posting, both KTAB and KRBC TV analog signals will remain on the air after the original Februaury 17th conversion deadline after Congress moved the deadline until June 12th.

We certainly appreciate our viewers patience and understanding with our situation and appologize for any inconvenience in being able to watch our over the air programming.

[TheTechGuru]

Everyone-

Last week's ice storm caused damage to the digital antenna for KTAB and KRBC, taking both digital signals off the air.

Our engineers along with corporate engineers, an outside engineering firm and a tower crew company made temporary repairs in time to get KRBC digital back on the air in time for the Super Bowl.

Our engineers continue to work on this issue and repairs are still being made today to get KTAB digital back on the air as soon as possible.

It appears that a large chunk of ice fell off of our Analog antenna (which is located just above the digital antenna on our transmission tower) and it smashed onto the transmission line to the digital antenna. That damaged the transmission line and a coupling device on the antenna.

Equipment has been sent back to the manufacturer for repairs, which is expected to take several weeks.

In the meantime, this only affects off air viewers and does not affect customers on cable systems, or Dish Network.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

There are many places in the US that get worse ice than here and theirs don't quit, did someone cheap out?

[tvodak]

WEll, after spending over $3-million dollars on this conversion for both stations (KTAB and KRBC), I don't know how anyone could think that we didn't spend enough money on our new digital operations facility at the tower site.
The ice and an antenna device defect apparently caused the problem, more so the device defect, than the ice issue. The device is under warranty so was shipped back to the manufacturer for repair. As soon as it gets shipped back to us we'll have repairs completed. The device involved allows us to broadcast both digital signals from the same antenna.

[sidetrack61]

There's always that one in the crowd, Tom. Wrecks happen all the time to many stations across the U.S. Not unusual.

We're getting a good signal on you guys with an indoor antenna on the set. 89-90db. It was around 98 at full power, so that's not bad at all. Ya'll are doing your best and doing it right. If they were "cheap", Guru, we wouldn't be getting that kind of signal on low power. Think on that.

sidetrack60

[TheTechGuru]

There's always that one in the crowd, Tom. Wrecks happen all the time to many stations across the U.S. Not unusual.

We're getting a good signal on you guys with an indoor antenna on the set. 89-90db. It was around 98 at full power, so that's not bad at all. Ya'll are doing your best and doing it right. If they were "cheap", Guru, we wouldn't be getting that kind of signal on low power. Think on that.

sidetrack60

I bet the people up in Breckenridge are getting nothing right now.

[sidetrack61]

Well, true, if their cable goes off.

[vamtres]

As I noted in a previous message here (see below), still no krbc or ktab. Here it is March 12th and I cannot get these as digital stations. Get a fuzzy ktab analog whereas I used to get a fairly decent picture. I knew what was happening in a show but detail, no way. I can't get krbc analog at all now even when I play with my antenna. I'm ready to give up and resort to DVD viewing and ktxs/cw viewing only.

vamtres

I did see the info about the ice damaging the transmitter so I patiently waited for the transmitter to be repaired or replaced and watched the same stations in analog while waiting. Before the damage, I had bought two new tvs (didn't want to deal with the converter box) and had no trouble receiving the digital signals, had to play with the antenna a bit with krbc but I could still get it. Had no trouble receiving Ktab or krbc before the transmitter trouble. Now that the transmitter is back online, I was excited about getting to see digital --nice clean picture. Well, no, that didn't happen. I cannot get krbc or ktab digital at all. It doesn't matter where my antenna is pointed, no amount of playing with it will get either station to come in. I don't have a bit of trouble with ktxs or cw. Both come in beautifully. I even get a nondigital- channel 42 and an extremely snowy nondigital 15. I have always used an indoor antenna on both tvs at the house. I live on the west side of Abilene not far off Texas Avenue. The tvs are at different ends of the house and neither can get krbc or ktab. I even moved the tv in the living room to the another location in the living room and still can't get them! I cannot afford cable/satellite so I guess I'll just have ktxs and cw from now on.

[bigbrother]

I'll check with Tom about this. I don't think they are back up to full power yet. Tom or I will post to this thread to let everyone know.

[tvodak]

Everyone-

First off just want to thank all of our viewers for their patience over the last few weeks.

We want to assure everyone that we are doing all we can to get both the stations digital signals back to normal operation.

To reiterate, both the KTAB and KRBC digital signals were affected by a problem with our digital antenna precipitated by an ice storm back in February.

Both stations broadcast transmitters use the same digital antenna on top of the KTAB TV analog broadcast tower near Potosi, TX, which is southeast of Abilene.

We heard yesterday that the part/piece of equipment we sent back to the manufacturer for repair will be coming back to us at the end of April. This is a custom part from the manufacturer which connects between the signal transmission cable and the antenna.

This isn't a small widget, it's a rather large device which weighs over 100 pounds.

Temporary repairs have allowed us to return KTAB and KRBC DTV to the air, but not at full power, which is affecting reception in portions of the viewing area who are receiving the over the air signal. It does not affect Suddenlink cable customers or customers of Dish Satellite reception of the stations.

Once we confirm shipping we will schedule a tower crew and an engineer to come in, climb the tower, hoist the part up and put it back onto the antenna. Weather may be a factor as the tower crew can only work when the winds are light and there is no threat of thunderstorms.

Our chief engineer, Glen McCandless, is hopeful that the repairs will be completed by Mid-May.

There have been no changes to the KTAB or KRBC analog signals over the last year which would cause viewers to not receive our analog signal.

[oldvolks]

Sorry, I have no idea what Suddenlink is going to do after the changeover. My guess is that they will continue to offer the locals on their current channel allocations on cable, then will continue to offer the local HD signals on their HD tier.

Suddenlink installed Fiber Optics at the Ktab/Krbc station on S14th.The signal go's through fiber right to Suddenlink and then out to customers...I am not exactly sure of tech on it but its like in Milli Watts...-1.5 to +2 or something.
So if your signal is wacky, mine is sometimes, TV go's green and on/off its the
Stations equipment.It seems more noticeable after they go local to network.Guess when they flip the switch it cuts out or something.
When will the Krbc/ktab broadcast the local news in HD?:)