FCC Engineers To Take Closer Look At DTV Problem Areas
Those dispatched will do more extensive testing in markets that reported reception issues
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/24/2009 12:39:35 PM
The FCC is likely to send out engineers to do "a more thorough examination" of continuing DTV reception issues in some top markets, including the top two.
According to a source, it will likely dispatch those FCC engineers to do more extensive testing in those markets-including New York and Chicago-where there were reception issues, particularly with VHF stations. "The idea is to figure out what the basic issues are. It is different in each market," said a source with knowledge of the deployments.
The FCC continues to work with problems at between two- and three-dozen stations, but the source says that in three-fourths of the cases, the issues were resolved on the consumer end by re-scanning TV sets or converter boxes, resetting antennas or getting new ones.
In a number of big city markets, stations moving from temporary UHF DTV channel assignments to permanent VHF channels were having trouble reaching some downtown viewers.
One thing the engineers may be looking for in the balance of cases in which the problem wasn't clear is whether there has been an increased "noise" floor that could account for some of the disruption. For example, in big cities like Chicago and New York, is the noise floor higher due to the number of computers or wireless phones, the source said.
There are certainly exponentially more devices operating in the RF environment than when the FCC began planning for the DTV switch almost two decades ago. But engineers note that the overall noise environment should actually be lower than before the switch since high-powered stations are no longer broadcasting two signals.
Some engineers suggested that it was that lowered noise floor as stations turned off their analog signals on June 12 that led to freakish reception phenomena throughout that day, such as a New Orleans TV station still broadcasting in analog, Belo's WWL, being picked up in Canada.
According to the source, the number of calls to the FCC's DTV call center has dropped to about 7,000 per day. The FCC has an in-house contract for extra operators-it has about 400 standing by at the moment-to man and woman its general consumer help line through September.
Glen Dickson contributed reporting for this article.
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why are all stations in my area of southern wv having problems staying on the air the supposed strongest station broadcast about five minutes a day i am wearing out the scanner on my tv and at times can not pick up one station
martin e howell - 7/30/2009 8:49:39 AM EDT -
hvm66
Yes I will have to agree some of the VHF problems may be coming for the 50k to 100k watts stations some vhf channels get it worse then others. Remember when Citizen Band CB did a number on Channels 2 and 5. Possibly a filter can be installed in line with out any DB loss. OR just rais the power on the VHF stations with receptions problems. Myself I get WJW Channel 8 well from Cleveland with an output of 30k watts. However I do not get WOIO DT Channel 10 with only 10.3K watts. WOIO needs some help.
Anthony Belle - 7/27/2009 11:49:13 AM EDT -
It's a E-skip layer in the VHF-low band more than anything else....
Tropo ducting is more active on VHF-hi channels 7-13 and UHF channel 14 to 51.
73'3 from,
Tim, N5XZS
Timothy Johnson - 7/25/2009 8:59:11 PM EDT -
By the way, the "channel 4 received in Canada" was due to some enhanced Tropospheric Ducting. That occurs every summer, but we have had some pretty heavy days of hot, humid weather over the central plains states this year.
The atmospheric and electrical noise on low-band VHF is probably stronger than anything that ever is generated by TV stations (except "on-channel"). I've been picking up audio from Canadian stations on a hand-held scanner, indoors, for weeks (1600 miles).
Google-search for "Hepburn" and "Tropo" for maps.
Ken English - 7/25/2009 10:42:38 AM EDT -
I think it's a safe bet to say that there are lots more high-powered FM Broadcast stations in the spectrum than there were two decades ago.
88x2=176 MHz, 108x2=216 MHz, TV channel 7 starts at 174 MHz, TV channel 13 ends at 216 MHz.
Ken English - 7/25/2009 10:32:34 AM EDT
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