Meriweather
Being a Nana is my superpower
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2002
Your station must not be owned by CBS.
It is CBS, is CBS not owned by CBS?
Your station must not be owned by CBS.
I can't speak to Altanta, but generally all the transmission towers are in the same place in a city. In what the FAA called antenna farms. They do that so that you don't have 2,000 foot antennas all over that aircraft have to watchout for.
No. Just like the McDonalds you go to is owned by someone else, most affiliates are NOT owned by the network. The local station pays the network for the rights to carry their programming.It is CBS, is CBS not owned by CBS?
It's only channels that are OWNED by CBS. In addition to some local CBS affiliates, Pop, Smithsonian, and CBS Sports Network are also off of Dish.
It is CBS, is CBS not owned by CBS?
Yes, and it may get worse. I don't understand all technical mumbo jumbo in this article http://www.tvtechnology.com/resources/0006/unanticipated-interference-after-repack/281737 but it seems that without installation of an extra filter there's going to be more noise and more interference making getting a good over the air signal more difficult for those living outside the center city area.What's your definition of "the sticks"? It all depends how far out from the transmission towers you are, and what direction. If the towers are on the east part of town and your home is on the west if you put an antenna in a west facing window, you're not going to pick much up.
I'm telling you, it IS true. Sure, if you're in the city of license, within about a 10-15 mile radius of the transmitter, a $9 antenna will work. But that's not everyone's situation. Saying the $9 antenna will work for someone without knowing ANYTHING about their situation is irresponsible.
As far as the waivers back in the day, I remember those too. I also remember people within 5 miles of the transmitter asking for waivers. For them, the cheapy antenna will work fine. Was the antenna your engineer took out directional (probably)? Did he have an amplifier he could put in line? Possibly. Did he have a small mast so he could raise the antenna more than 6' off the ground? Also possible.
The best thing to do before spending ANY money is to go to the websites I specified earlier. Now, if you happen to have an antenna sitting around, sure, plug it in and see what you get.
Exactly and that's why I too send folks to those sites. I can pull in two stations with rabbit ears, but to get the ones I actually watch I needed a UHF/VHF behemoth mounted outside.
To TRY to simplify...Yes, and it may get worse. I don't understand all technical mumbo jumbo in this article http://www.tvtechnology.com/resources/0006/unanticipated-interference-after-repack/281737 but it seems that without installation of an extra filter there's going to be more noise and more interference making getting a good over the air signal more difficult for those living outside the center city area.
From Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CBS_television_affiliates_(table)
City of license/Market Station Channel
TV (DT) Year of affiliation Owned since
Los Angeles KCBS-TV 2 (43) 1951 1951
San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose KPIX[n1 1] 5 (29) 1948 1995
Stockton - Sacramento - Modesto KOVR 13 (25) 1995 2005
Denver KCNC-TV 4 (35) 1995 1995
Miami - Fort Lauderdale WFOR-TV 4 (22) 1989 1989
Chicago WBBM-TV 2 (12) 1953 1953
Baltimore WJZ-TV[n1 1] 13 (13) 1995 1995
Boston WBZ-TV [n1 1] 4 (30) 1995 1995
Detroit WWJ-TV 62 (44) 1994 1995
Alexandria, Minnesota KCCO-TV
(satellite of WCCO-TV) 7 (7) 1982 1992
Minneapolis - St. Paul WCCO-TV 4 (32) 1949 1992
Walker, Minnesota KCCW-TV
(satellite of WCCO-TV) 12 (12) 1982 1992
New York City WCBS-TV [n1 2] 2 (33) 1939 1941
Philadelphia KYW-TV[n1 1] 3 (26) 1995 1995
Pittsburgh KDKA-TV[n1 1] 2 (25) 1957 1995
Fort Worth - Dallas KTVT 11 (19) 1995 1999
After rereading, I wanted to follow up some more...
What's "not true"? That a $9 antenna may not work? Um, yes, that's true. It may work or it may not.
Actually not true. RF is RF is RF. The main difference between digital and analog (from a reception standpoint) is while an analog signal will degrade "linearly" (you'll get some static, then some more static, then more, then more, until you have no picture), on a digital signal, it will look perfect until it doesn't. You'll get freezing, "macroblocking", or no picture. But if you have a signal that's good enough, you get all the quality. You can compare it to driving a car into a ravine. With analog, you go down a slope. With digital, you drive off a cliff.
What's your definition of "the sticks"? It all depends how far out from the transmission towers you are, and what direction. If the towers are on the east part of town and your home is on the west if you put an antenna in a west facing window, you're not going to pick much up.
No amp. It directional (since all the TV towers here are in the same place ) andwas on a 6 foot mast.I'm telling you, it IS true. Sure, if you're in the city of license, within about a 10-15 mile radius of the transmitter, a $9 antenna will work. But that's not everyone's situation. Saying the $9 antenna will work for someone without knowing ANYTHING about their situation is irresponsible.
As far as the waivers back in the day, I remember those too. I also remember people within 5 miles of the transmitter asking for waivers. For them, the cheapy antenna will work fine. Was the antenna your engineer took out directional (probably)? Did he have an amplifier he could put in line? Possibly. Did he have a small mast so he could raise the antenna more than 6' off the ground? Also possible.
The best thing to do before spending ANY money is to go to the websites I specified earlier. Now, if you happen to have an antenna sitting around, sure, plug it in and see what you get.
Yes, some markets have transmission towers in the same place. That's usually done to take advantage of topography (like a mountain top), NOT because of the dangers to aircraft.
Also, not every tower is 2000 feet.
Personally, even if it's only $8, I'd like to spend money on something that I think will work. Now granted, I've wasted much more than that on items that didn't pan out like I thought they would, but if a quick internet search shows I need a $50 (or $150) antenna, why would I go buy an $8 one?And I don't think people are risking a lot of money buying rabbit ears for $8 to find out if that is an option. I have one, and I live 42 miles from the transmission towers in Walnut Grove, and it works fine.
Since it's flat there, that explains why you get good reception 42 miles from the transmitters. I never doubted it worked for you. The problem (and you've done this in many threads over the years) is you use YOUR situation and make statements that it must be like that in ALL situations. Prime example...It's flat here, and the towers here are all near sea level. Aircraft issues were the reason here I am told for the towers being restricted to the Antenna Farm area, however, with Travis, Beale, McClellan, Mather and Sacramento Airport in in this area, this was (when all AFBs were open) a congested air traffic area.
It's definitely the case in some markets, possibly even the larger ones. But I doubt it's the case in most. If you can find some listing that shows antenna locations for all transmitters in all 210(?) markets, I'd love to see it.I can't speak to Altanta, but generally all the transmission towers are in the same place in a city.
The problem (and you've done this in many threads over the years) is you use YOUR situation and make statements that it must be like that in ALL situations. .
Actually not true. RF is RF is RF. The main difference between digital and analog (from a reception standpoint) is while an analog signal will degrade "linearly" (you'll get some static, then some more static, then more, then more, until you have no picture), on a digital signal, it will look perfect until it doesn't. You'll get freezing, "macroblocking", or no picture. But if you have a signal that's good enough, you get all the quality. You can compare it to driving a car into a ravine. With analog, you go down a slope. With digital, you drive off a cliff.
I agree that if that's all people are risking it isn't a big deal. Something tells me though that for some people there's more at stake than just $8. How many cable company DVRs will allow you to connect an antenna and record some programming from cable and other programming from the antenna? So switching to antenna means, for many people, losing the advantage of DVRs.And I don't think people are risking a lot of money buying rabbit ears for $8 to find out if that is an option.
I did ask about that when Dish pitched me on buying an antenna instead of paying for locals and they said it will work with the DVR. However, I have not seen that with my own eyes to know for sure.I agree that if that's all people are risking it isn't a big deal. Something tells me though that for some people there's more at stake than just $8. How many cable company DVRs will allow you to connect an antenna and record some programming from cable and other programming from the antenna? So switching to antenna means, for many people, losing the advantage of DVRs.