D* tells me they are now picking up my local PBS digital. Problem!

[paule123]

Here in Cleveland, as of today, our previously 4:3 analog feed channel CL25 is showing the WVIZ digital 25.1 subchannel. What we see is a 4:3 SD center cut of the 16:9 25.1 HD channel. This would normally be fine, except that WVIZ shows the PBS national HD feed on 25.1 and does NOT mirror their analog transmission on any digital subchannel.

I called D* CSR and she told me that this is true, D* is picking up more PBS stations digitally. WVIZ went to a higher power digital transmitter a couple weeks ago, so it can now be picked up OTA. I assume this is why D* switched over to the digital channel.

[DCSholtis]

I just switched on 25 now and its showing 480i/SD signals here. Also I did not know that VIZ had moved their antenna, last I heard it was still on Brookpark Road due to a dispute. Do they only do HD during the day?!! I'm watching a program that according to WVIZ's website is on 25-1 but its in SD here and an ugly SD at that, stretch o vision at its worst.

[bobnielsen]

Directv and Dish are switching all of their SD pickups (not just PBS) to digital per this schedule: http://mstv.org/docs/satschedalpha.pdf. It would probably be too risky to move everything simultaneously on Feb 17.

[dtrell]

WVIZ went to a higher power digital transmitter a couple weeks ago, so it can now be picked up OTA.

they did? since when? i just did a rescan of my pioner plasma tuner here in akron using my outside antenna and still dont get any of the wviz digital channels yet have no problem getting any other cleveland area digitals with 50+ signals.

[dtrell]

I just switched on 25 now and its showing 480i/SD signals here. Also I did not know that VIZ had moved their antenna, last I heard it was still on Brookpark Road due to a dispute. Do they only do HD during the day?!! I'm watching a program that according to WVIZ's website is on 25-1 but its in SD here and an ugly SD at that, stretch o vision at its worst.

dan, wviz has 4 subchannels. the one that D is providing is the SD subchannel described by the OP. their HD subchannel is a different one. it mirrors the channel 45/49 HD subchannel, as we have both on time warner cable and they always show the same thing. do you have any OTA antenna or tuner?

[say-what]

Here in Cleveland, as of today, our previously 4:3 analog feed channel CL25 is showing the WVIZ digital 25.1 subchannel. What we see is a 4:3 SD center cut of the 16:9 25.1 HD channel. This would normally be fine, except that WVIZ shows the PBS national HD feed on 25.1 and does NOT mirror their analog transmission on any digital subchannel.

I called D* CSR and she told me that this is true, D* is picking up more PBS stations digitally. WVIZ went to a higher power digital transmitter a couple weeks ago, so it can now be picked up OTA. I assume this is why D* switched over to the digital channel.They did the same thing in New Orleans with our local PBS - centercut 12.1 that shows the national PBS feed and not local programming. It took about 7 - 10 days for them to switch to 12.2 that is a digital mirror of the local programming.

Contact the station engineer for your local PBS station and let them know what's happening.

[Stuart Sweet]

I wouldn't be surprised to see this trend continuing until February, and after that I suspect it will be less of an issue.

[paule123]

they did? since when? i just did a rescan of my pioner plasma tuner here in akron using my outside antenna and still dont get any of the wviz digital channels yet have no problem getting any other cleveland area digitals with 50+ signals.

WVIZ is at some intermediate power level, not full power. I doubt you can pick it up in Akron. I barely pick it up in Shaker Heights.

[jfuchtm]

Around here the PBS towers are all switching early. They are taking towers down one by one and lighting up the digital. They are usually down for a week or so and come back up at full strength.

Patience young grasshopper.....

[dtrell]

WVIZ is at some intermediate power level, not full power. I doubt you can pick it up in Akron. I barely pick it up in Shaker Heights.

i know that, but the poster above said they upped their power a few weeks ago...and i was just saying i dont see it where i am yet.

[kocuba]

I noticed this I think for the first time on Monday. I'm 2 miles from the Brookpark Rd tower and was never able to receive thier OTA signal. I knew that they had been in a dispute with CBS Radio about using their tower and knew that it was gonna be awhile till that was resolved.

After seeing this thread I did some searching and found that they gave up on CBS Radio and went in with WKYC on a new tower. Here is the info I found...
http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2008/05/wvizwkyc-dtv-update.html

That is as up to date as I could find right now. But it sounds like they are broadcasting off that new tower in Parma.

I'll continue my search and update if I find anything.

[kocuba]

WVIZ is at some intermediate power level, not full power. I doubt you can pick it up in Akron. I barely pick it up in Shaker Heights.

Looks like they moved up from their 1kW antenna to a 10kW one on their way up to the 170kW one they are looing at for Spring/Summer '09.

[DCSholtis]

dan, wviz has 4 subchannels. the one that D is providing is the SD subchannel described by the OP. their HD subchannel is a different one. it mirrors the channel 45/49 HD subchannel, as we have both on time warner cable and they always show the same thing. do you have any OTA antenna or tuner?

But if you go to WVIZ's website the schedule they are showing now on VIZ on D* is the HD schedule found on 25-1. On WVIZ's site its listed as WVIZ/PBS HD 25-1. The programs match so it SHOULD be in HD. Our EPGs are wrong. If D* is not going that schedule to us in HD then please back off the zoom mode that the channel is currently in.

http://www.wviz.org/schedule/index.php

[kocuba]

Looks like they moved up from their 1kW antenna to a 10kW one on their way up to the 170kW one they are looing at for Spring/Summer '09.

OK My final notes on this before I let people with more knowledge answer it better...

From http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

WVIZ has been running a puny temporary digital signal (1KW) from a tower behind its former studio facility on Brookpark Road in Parma. As we reported earlier, WVIZ-DT will light up its post-transition full-power facility on a new tower being built with WKYC at WKYC's current site.

This is a good a time as any to note some new information: that WVIZ has received FCC approval for a more powerful (10KW) temporary digital facility (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101261636&formid=911&fac_num=18753)on an existing tower at that same WKYC site.

It would appear that the move is necessitated by the sale of the former WVIZ studios! This temporary facility will be replaced by the permanent post-transition installation described above.

Since it doesn't have to wait for a station to vacate an analog channel, like future tower mate WKYC, WVIZ should be able to light up from the new permanent tower at WKYC whenever that's done...the station says in the STA application (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=670810)that it hopes to do so by November.

[DCSholtis]

I emailed WVIZ and they were/are unaware that D* is airing programs from 25.1 on the analog channel. Go figure.

You are correct. They started yesterday airing channel 25.1, but down-converting to a standard definition signal. We have no idea why they are down-converting the signal since it is an HD signal. Apparently their on-screen guide still shows the content of WVIZ analog.



We were unaware that they made the switch yesterday, and our engineers are getting in contact with them today.



Audience Services

[oldcrooner]

The person at WVIZ that I talked with today stated that their people have been on the phone to D* all day today trying to get the problem resolved ASAP.

[DCSholtis]

I almost never watch WVIZ but if the HD feed is the national feed and it bypasses the constant requests for membership money I might watch it more.

[DCSholtis]

Looks like they switched back to the SD feed. EPG is correct again.

[ohpuckhead]

SD here in Elyria

[DCSholtis]

Here is the final scoop from WVIZ:

Dan,



No, they weren’t testing…they just screwed up.



They were not supposed to switch to our HD feed until we had finished converting all of our analog programming to the HD channel so that the analog and HD channels would carry identical programming.



When they made the switch prematurely (we weren’t aware of the switch until you e-mailed us), we got in contact with them to explain the error. As of 8:30 last night, they had switched back to our analog signal.



They will not be going to our HD signal until we have completed our conversion of analog programming. This will probably not happen until after the 1st of the year.



Thanks for your diligence in keeping us informed!



Jerry Kest

Audience Services

[ohpuckhead]

Here is the final scoop from WVIZ:

Thanks!!

[kocuba]

Here is the final scoop from WVIZ:


Thanks for the Update DC. I'm just glad to be receiving OTA from them now. Even went up an adjusted my antenna to make sure I got some of the other channels I was missing.

[kocuba]

Here is the latest I've got from Ohio Media Watch. Intersperced with WKYC info.



WKYC TOWER: While we're electronically visiting 13th and Lakeside, we finally have an answer to this question - "when will WKYC's new tower go up?"

The answer is, basically, "soon".

Courtesy of WKYC "Director's Cut" blogger Frank Macek and a recent update:

WKYC will likely start assembly of our new broadcast tower in Parma (this) week as we get set to make our digital switch to Digital Channel 17 on February 17, (2009). The brand new tower will support antennas for both WKYC and WVIZ right next to our current tower location.

Of course, all of it, like all such construction at this time of year, is "weather permitting".

OMW believes that WVIZ will be able to light up its full-power digital signal shortly after the new tower is completed, and the WVIZ-DT antenna is put into place, because the station does not have to wait like WKYC does.

WKYC's new channel 17 digital signal, of course, can't hit the airwaves until Trinity Broadcasting's WDLI in Canton turns off that channel 17 analog transmitter for good...which won't happen until the night of February 17. WVIZ will maintain its current channel 26 digital allotment.

The move for both stations will drastically improve their digital coverage areas.

WKYC will be able to abandon its troublesome digital channel 2, which is the absolute worst channel to use for digital TV. Electrical noise both near and far plagues channel 2, and that noise "spikes" a digital signal, rendering it nearly useless for those who can even pick it up in the first place.

Without the noise, the "low-VHF" channels are propagation wonders. But the nature of digital TV means that instead of "seeing sparklies" on top of an otherwise watchable analog picture, digital viewers can "see nothing". WKYC will not have that problem on digital channel 17.

WVIZ's move to the WKYC tower will provide it with a full-power digital signal for the first time in its history.

The station had a long legal and technical dispute with CBS Radio, trying to put a full-power digital antenna on the tower that currently holds WVIZ's analog channel 25 antenna. CBS Radio owns that tower in North Royalton, home of its own WNCX/98.5.

Just when it looked like that dispute was ending, WKYC came by with a better deal for the Cleveland PBS affiliate...which, until the new signal is brought on the air, is broadcasting digitally at just 10KW of power from a small, lower-mounted side antenna on another WKYC tower.

Of course, that's MUCH better than the 1KW temporary signal that used to eminate from a tower behind WVIZ's now-former Brookpark Road studios in Parma...

[HDRoberts]

Here is the latest I've got from Ohio Media Watch. Intersperced with WKYC info.

Thanks for the update. Can;t wait to get WKYC OTA, and and the crap shoot that is receiving WVIZ for me.

[EricG]

Good news. Any idea when D* will be picking up the HD signal? I've got an HR21 with no OTA, so no PBS HD for me. :(

[kocuba]

Good news. Any idea when D* will be picking up the HD signal? I've got an HR21 with no OTA, so no PBS HD for me. :(

I'd imagine/hope shortly after that! Probably by the end of January.

[kocuba]

Just a little update on the WVIZ/WKYC antenna situation. Even includes pictures

http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2009/01/digital-tv-update.html

[HDRoberts]

Just a little update on the WVIZ/WKYC antenna situation. Even includes pictures

http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2009/01/digital-tv-update.html

Thanks for the update. They are way behind, it seems. In this FCC Filing, they indicated the would start construction in Nov. It seems they may seek to continue operating at Ch 2 until the new tower is constructed.

As planned, the new WKYC transmitter was delivered in August 2008. All state and local permits have been obtained. The tower foundations are in and erection of the tower is expected to proceed on or about November 1. The antenna is to be delivered in October. The station plans to mount the antenna in mid-November.
...
WKYC does not anticipate any delays in construction. However, in northern Ohio, tower work after November is very problematic and weather-dependent. Therefore, if construction is delayed beyond November, installation of the antenna on the tower may not be possible until the spring of 2009. In that event, WKYC will be forced to proceed under the phased transition provisions adopted by the Commission in the Order. Specifically, WKYC will seek authority to continue operating temporarily after the transition date on its interim digital channel 2, until it can complete the antenna installation and final construction of digital channel 17.