Got this so far...will see if the engineer writes back

I have forwarded your email on to our chief engineer, who should be able
to answer your question better than I. Thank you for watching!

Hey,

Just did a querry for WNGS and it turns out they filed an application a few monthes back to change their -DT signal from UHF 46 to VHF 7. This was done in the third round of elections, not sure why they would want such a low station, but it does state that there is a potential problem with Canadian stations.

I know WKBW owns WNGS so I guess they want to give them their old analog channel number. But yeah, I don't know why any HDTV broadcaster would actually want to use a VHF channel.

Definitely would screw up everything by making one VHF channel in the area.

On another note, although it seems no one gets it, has WNYO come in better lately? I've been getting 70% signal with my indoor antenna and even higher outdoors. I think I'll stick to the indoor only now because I get all of the Buffalo channels with it.

Hi I think WNYO must be starting to do some work as come Sept 5th, they will be called Wnyo My Tv. If it was not already posted they will be broadcasting as My Tv using Fox old 35Kw transmitter from grand island.

Just more HD channels to watch, as WB49 and Upn formed a new network Cw23.

If Iam not mistaken the lauch date is also Sept 23rd. ;)

Yes, we knew the network stuff.

But I did not know about using Fox's old transmitter. Daniel or alebowgm or others, can you confirm this? Are they currently using it (like today)? It would make sense as how I can get it indoors, but then again who knows...I used to get it indoors until about December when I had to use the outdoor one.

just to let you know, I already emailed the Head Engineer at WUTV about a week ago, asking him to consider upping to power towards Ontario. his responce:

No I can't
I am at full power with a different antenna, same channel, same
transmitter. But I can only do what my government, (the FCC) and your
government (Industrie Canada) will mutually agree upon having US and
Canada stations operate.
--
Donald J. Stewart
Director of Engineering & Operations
WUTV-TV/DT WNYO-TV/DT



OT: Yamon, what happened? we are gonna miss u at DHC. this whole thing makes no sense to me.

I learned what had happened yesterday and they've discussed it to Hugh's satisfaction, so he's back on.

Daniel, great forum and I'll keep coming back to have a look! :)

Wnyo ready by 9/5? -Doubtful, see below:
This was the response I received from WUTV/WNYO when I asked if the transmitter move would be done by MyTV Buffalo launch:

First, thank you for your email. The answer is no. I cannot complete
this until later in the month of September due to regulations that exist
between the US and Canada regarding television signals.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Don



--
Donald J. Stewart
Director of Engineering & Operations
WUTV-TV/DT WNYO-TV/DT
699 Hertel Ave, Suite 100
Buffalo, NY 14207

Ah, Yaamon, another Markhamite like me. :-)

Re WUTV, the problem is WUTV's new antenna is highly directional, and seems to send WAY less signal towards the north than the old omnidirectional one, even with a lot more power going into it. Now, I seem to get WUTV about the same as before (watched Bones and Justice without issue and a rather wide sweep on my rotor) but if someone is using what was "acceptable" before it seems likely that it's "less than acceptable" now.

And that's a shame since WUTV was always one of the best HD stations for a lot of folks to receive.

Hi Daniel where in Markham are you. I live and work in Markham. :) Great site keep up the excellent work.

Hope you dont mind will be posting and trying to help in the ota threads.

Even though Fox went to a more directional antenna, I found that its no harder to get Fox than before maybe with the increase in power and the directional antenna its the same or slightly better signal.

A tip what I have found is that with the increase in Fox power if you are using a preamp you have to add attenuators if you noticed signal loss or pixelation.

A few atsc tuners are being overloaded by the increase in power. I have found the samsung 451 and a few atsc pci cards.

I did a install last week in Burlington and with a 4228 got all the stations although the signal was not great between 56-65% average and a few higher like Pbs, Abs in high 70-low 80's.

The customer wanted me to repoint the antenna for max signal from Buffalo after I did that all Buffalo went up to mid 80's to low 90's including Fox. :)

I added a preamp as the customer is using two hd atsc tuner and more in the future.

All signal stayed the same but Fox dropped off. :(

No problem I had attenuators in handy and ended up adding two 6db attenuators totaling 12 db plus a two way splitter thats a 3.5-4 db loss totaling 15-16db and guess what Fox came in if I remember between 88-91%. :)

So those with a preamp if you are having problems with Fox try and adding a few attenuators using a channel master you might need to add even more.

Good luck

Hey, this is like old home week! Yes if you're into universal remotes or OTA this is good stuff. If you hadn't noticed, one of the best references is the Toronto/Buffalo HDTV page under features.
Oh, by the way, although some of these station signals are moving around, I for one haven't had any reception problems. Then again, I have no preamp on my CM4228/rotor/30ft tower. I think Yaamon is spot on with his diagnosis.

Yaamon: I'm in the Unionville area. If you drive north on Kennedy you might see my rather bright antennas from the road. :-)

Interesting thought re Fox - I know too much signal is as bad as too little. It's coming in OK for me, but my equipment doesn't seem to mind overload (I'm bringing in WAY too much CN Tower and yet stuff continues to tune...)

Also, about the HDTV page: if you guys have ANY updates please let me know. All of what I report is based on my personal experience and research on the FCC/CRTC websites. I have NO engineering contacts at any of the stations (can never find any email addresses), while I know that some of you do... so if there's news, let me know and I'll add it!

Anyone have any experience with the radioshack antenna rotor ? They're on sale right now, (sourcecc) Im thinking about adding one to my set up, maybe even pick up the rochester signals with one of those ?

From what stampeder posted from another board, its not bad but its not a clone of the channel master.

If it comes with the wireless remote control that should be a good deal.

Having a rotor is better than none, so you should be ok.