[mythtv-users] OT: OTA CBS in Chicago?

[Mw]

Craig Huff wrote:
> Nobody yet has mentioned the elephant in the room, as far as WBBM is concerned.
> 
> The OP is close enough to downtown that pointing his antenna at the
> Sears & Hancock Towers leaves the suburb where WBBM's transmission
> currently originates in a dead spot of the antenna pattern (IIRC,
> Itasca).

Errrrm, WBBM-AM780 originates from Itasca. WBBM-CBS2 originates from the 
Hancock and will be switching to WTTW's current analog antennae on the 
Sears in June.
> 
> <Testy_Mode_About_WBBM On>
> It may not be a huge deadspot for the OP, but even though both
> transmission sites are more or less in line for my antenna, I can't
> get anything but a hint of signal strength for WBBM on my ATSC
> converter box even with my antenna mounted 10+ feet above the roof
> peak of my two story house with a mast-mounted preamp hooked up for
> good measure.  As anyone in the Chicago suburbs knows, WBBM has
> ___ALWAYS___ had a sh**ty signal.  Let us hope this will _really_ be
> fixed when they move to transmitting on ATSC Ch. 12 from the Sears
> Tower (or is it the Hancock Tower?).  The response I got to
> complaining to them about the miserable ATSC reception took two months
> after I contacted them and they basically said to wait until they
> transition and get back to them at that time.  At least written
> between the lines was the implication that they would not transition
> until they were forced to go kicking and screaming at the last second
> by the FCC, so if the transition date is now 6/17, don't expect to see
> them in a re-scan until 6/18 minus 0.00001 milliseconds.
> <Testy_Mode_About_WBBM Off>

<sigh>

Whenever I revisit the various fora about Chicagoland TV, I find a 
certain contingent of posters with a great deal of animosity towards WBBM.

The bottom line comes down to the physics of wave propagation on their 
frequency for the Chicago DMA. WGN has had similar multipath issues up 
at channel 9, but not nearly as severe as 2. The VHF/UHF spectrum in the 
midwestern US is known to be the most problematic in the country, 
arguably the western hemisphere, due to the vast number of broadcasters. 
Chicago is especially hard hit due to it's proximity to Lake Michigan. 
To make things worse, meteor scatter in the troposphere introduces a 
constantly shifting variable into the equation.

In all these years, if the engies could have done something to improve 
the situation, they would have. With regards to "reading between the 
lines" of their response to your previous complaint, well, I couldn't 
take a stab at it without reading both your and their correspondence. As 
for not wanting to switch over to the very last moment, they can't. WISN 
analog in Milwaukee is on 12 and will be until June 12.

There was talk at AVSForums of a recent digital chain upgrade to all CBS 
  affiliates which hasn't yet had all the niggles worked out. Probably 
another reason they're not in a hurry.

For valuable insight, read the entire forum thread at the second to last 
link of my previous mail. The details of the temporary channel 
assignment on 3 are discussed with comments by the former chief engi who 
was around during those negotiations with the FCC. For your convenience:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/hd-over-air-ota/103303-ota-digital-tv-where-cbs.html

-- 
meatwad

"Standards and practices are a way of keeping good and funny ideas away 
from you, the television viewer!"