Posted on 06/17/2009 5:58:24 AM PDT by La Lydia
Five days after the transition to all-digital television, WUSA, the area's CBS affiliate (Channel 9), and WJLA, the ABC affiliate (Channel 7), have disappeared from screens around the region. The stations were the only two in the Washington area to move their digital signals from UHF to the VHF frequencies they once used for their analog broadcasts...
LaRochelle received the stations perfectly before the digital transition on Friday, when all full-power stations permanently turned off their analog signals. But now, "they don't even register after a rescan," he said, although he is able to receive Baltimore's ABC channel...
The sudden loss may be due to viewers trying to capture VHF signals with a UHF antenna..."Nor did I realize WJLA and WUSA were going to be switching back to a VHF signal," he said.
To receive all the available digital stations, consumers should install an antenna that can receive both UHF and VHF ..."We've told people that they have to rescan their converter boxes two or three times to lock in the station."
The Federal Communications Commission is looking into reports of lost stations in several markets...WJLA was broadcasting its analog signal on Channel 7 and its digital station on Channel 39 before the transition. (Viewers should not have noticed the change.) When it turned off its analog signal, it moved its digital signal to the Channel 7 slot in the VHF band of frequencies.
...some digital tuners and converter boxes are still trying to pick up programs on the old digital station. Wigfield suggests trying a "double rescan," which involves unplugging the antenna from the converter box or TV, rescanning, turning off the box or TV, then turning it back on, plugging the antenna back in and rescanning once more...But it may not clear up all reception issues for consumers..
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Did they really expect the government HDTV to work?
Same thing with CBS-6 in Albany, NY, who insisted on keeping their VHF-6 frequency.
Bad idea.
Of course it was.And also DirectTV.
When I lived in downtown Silver Spring back in 2006 I had a similar problem. I was able to tune in the Baltimore HD channels perfectly but the DC HD stations did not come in at all.
This is great! Now if we can only make the same thing hapen to the NBC stations!
Ever since ours went to the supposed new and improved system it’s been nothing but a headache. Pictures are all pixilated or there’s no signal or it jumps or pauses or some other annoyance. And the cable company has been out twice and finally got us back onto the Military channel but we still can’t get the NHL channel which we used to get. Not to mention our bill went up. Thanks so very much!
Unfortunately, both of those stations are coming in clearly at my house.
Yes it was. because broadcast TV is free, and now everyone has to pay a ‘service provider’.
By running out all the tv broadcasters off the bands promised to them by the FCC, they have opened up a host of new bands for the cellular industry and of course the politicians will benefit greatly from the corporate lobby for doing it.
Broadcasting tv doesn’t pay politicians, citizens are not represented by Congress. More corruption , all the time.
The TV sets involved here were both old (my parent's was probably nicer), both digital boxes were wired the same way, and my parent's antenna is nicer.
Will "tuning" the antenna make that much of a difference? Did five miles make that much of a difference? (Illinois where the Earth is flat).
The ones who couldn't figure this out can't afford those points - it's all that's keeping them alive.
So, shutting off their TVs is actually doing them a world of good.
when I worked contract in jacksonville, illinois, I hooked up my digital box and was only able to get 2 stations consistently..IF I adjusted the antenna, I lost those stations but picked up, albeit briefly, 3 other stations that would go, then come back, then go..etc..
Over Christmas, I was able to get about 20 stations (including sub-channels), but those went away if there was a cloud somewhere..
All in all, 5 miles can make a big difference when talking about digital tv unless the antenna is perfectly tweaked and even then it may have to be re-tweaked to pick up other stations (meaning you may lose those you currently have)..
In the Shenandoah Valley.
Using the mast mounted aerial I've been using for 10 years.
Actually, the most interested parties were the wireless carriers. They wanted/needed the spectrum freed up from analog broadcasts.
Also, the quality of the RF amplifier in the tuner makes a huge difference.
People in Washington DC should call the WH for an ABC connection since they have taken up residence there.
By tuner, you mean the digital box itself? I was thinking of swapping-out the box first.
Yes, the digital box. The TV will have nothing to do with how good the reception is if you have an external digital tuner and are just running either composite, S-video or component video signals from it to the TV.
One site to try out is www.tvfool.com which allows you to enter your address (and your friend's) to see which direction the TV stations are.
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