New Box

[jmgjan1]

Just got back from buying the new box that was needed for the digital tv. Hubby is about to throw it out the window. We are getting nothing! :mad:

[jmgjan1]

Well we got the box going. Now the next day, Ktab is breaking up and hesitating alot. Anyone else having this problem?

[tvodak]

Thanks for posting. The move to DTV has not been without a lot of frustration for a lot of people. There is a lot of trial and error involved.

We did have someone from a small town near Abilene email us to complain that her converter box didn't work, she wasn't getting any stations.

Come to find out she did not have an antenna attached to the converter box.

So, first just need to make sure you have an antenna attached. The best antenna to use, we are finding out, is an outdoor antenna. Indoor antennas do work, but you have to do a lot of troubleshooting.

If you are in Abilene a rabbit ear antenna may work, but may not depending on what is between your antenna and our tower, which is located near Potosi and broadcasts both KTAB and KRBC. Some people have found they needed to buy a new amplified indoor antenna. We suggest you check with Radio Shack, Best Buy, WalMart, Sears, KMart, Target, as they all are carrying a variety of indoor and in most cases, outdoor antennas.

You don't mention your location, but right now KTAB and KRBC are operating at reduced power due to a problem with our antenna. The strongest signals are being put out into the Abilene area and points north-northwest. Equipment has been sent back in for repair and it will still be many weeks before it is repaired and re-installed.

KTXS continues to broadcast their full power digital signal.

Also remember, the KTAB-CBS and KRBC-NBC tower along with the KXVA-Fox towers are located southeast of Abilene near Potosi. They are the flashing white lights during the day you see southeast of town. The third tower on that mountain top is the KEAN FM tower.

The KTXS tower is located between Abilene and Sweetwater pretty much south of Trent on a mountain top there.

Here are a couple of links that may help as well:

AntennaWeb
http://www.antennaweb.org/

DTV Transition
http://www.dtvtransition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=74

[jmgjan1]

You mention that other stations are running full power, we enjoy watching KTAB. All the wires are hooked up the right way. If things were not ready for the switch, what was the hurry to make the switch?
We live in north Abilene.

[bigbrother]

They had some damage done by a storm shortly after the switch. Under FCC rules, once the switch is made from analog to digital, they cannot go back to analog.

Read tvodak's post below for more information.

[tvodak]

Again, thanks for all the questions and comments.

We know the current situation has had a huge impact on our viewers for both KTAB and KRBC and we do apologize for the interruption of service.

Just want to make sure we're all clear on this, it was not a situation where we were not ready for the switch to digital.

The digital transmitters for both KTAB and KRBC have been up and broadcasting for over a year now, all we did was shut of the analog transmitters on the day that we were designated by the FCC.

We have just had terrible luck with an incident on the tower the day after we shut down the analog transmitters.

A series of unfortunate circumstances on May 13th somehow led to the failure of a device on our tower which splits the KTAB and KRBC digital signals and feeds them to the digital antenna plus another antenna component.

For reason still unknown, the splitter device along with that other component were damaged and nearly all of the 8 inch in diameter broadcast transmission line which runs from the new transmitter building and up the broadcast tower and to the antenna was destroyed.

Those two components are custom made. They have been sent back to the manufacturer for repair or replacement.

We have engineers from: our Nexstar corporate office, the antenna manufacturer, the component manufacturer, the transmitter manufacturer, the transmission line manufacturer, and the company that sold us the equipment looking at what could have caused this catastrophic failure.

Of course the goal is to make sure this doesn't happen again when repairs are made to the current equipment. They are also looking at any other possible solutions.

With our KTAB analog transmitter already being shutdown, the tower crew was able to remove the 6 inch transmission line from the old KTAB analog transmitter, get it out of the old transmitter building and run it over to the adjacent new digital transmitter building and get it connected to the two transmitters.

Then they were able to rig a temporary connection of that 6 inch line to one panel of the three panel digital transmission antenna which serves both stations. That is one of the nice things about digital. We can use a single transmission line and one antenna to serve both stations.

As a result of using a smaller transmission cable and using only one panel of the three panel antenna, our signals for both KTAB DTV and KRBC DTV are not at full power, but are not at low power either. They are also not covering our entire coverage area with a full power signal.

At the time of this writing we still do not have a firm date on when repairs will be completed. We do know that it will take many weeks to get things back to normal.

The components must be repaired, a tower crew (which is also at the mercy of the weather) has to come in and remove the remains of the burned up transmission line and put up the new transmission line and then will have to reinstall the tower components.

We thank all of our viewers for your patience, understand your concerns, and you have our commitment that we will have both stations back to normal as soon as possible.

[TheTechGuru]

Is there a reason other than "it's cheaper" for both CBS and NBC to be on the same tower?

I think it would be better to separate them so they don't always go down together.

I'll never forget the 1st time I ever came to Abilene and drove down S 14th ST, I almost had a wreck I was in such shock to see a CBS and NBC station in the same building.

If a tornado hits 14th st and your building we loose 2 stations for several months instead of just one.