I improvised a portable DTV system using a portable NTSC TV, my Radio Shack set top ATSC converter, a little inverter to run it on, and my home rabbit ears/halo antenna. After testing the lot in my parking lot at home I hit the road and ground my way up Cypress this afternoon.

The results? From the ski hill parking lot, elevation 970 meters, nothing. Not even the local channels. Zero on all known channels. Too much mountain in the way, I guess. KCTS and KCPQ used to come in well from there.

From the picnic area, 700 meters elevation but a clear shot south, I scanned and got the same stations as at home (CBC, CTV, Global, KVOS, KBCB). Manually tuning to channel 9 said there was a faint signal there, but not enough to do anything with. Manually tuning to channel 13 and peaking the signal got me a screenful of psychedelic blotches from KCPQ-DT, 13.1. In HD, no less. :)

The picnic area, BTW, has optical line of sight to Chuckanut Mountain. On a clear day you can see Bellingham Airport in binoculars.

...laura

Manually tuning to channel 9 said there was a faint signal there, but not enough to do anything with. Manually tuning to channel 13 and peaking the signal got me a screenful of psychedelic blotches from KCPQ-DT, 13.1. In HD, no less. :)

Did you tune the rabbit ears for VHF-HI (channels 7-13)? A mistake most people make is they keep the antenna extend to the full length. For VHF-HI you need to shorten them to about 1/2 length.

Also the rabbit ears (for VHF) would need to be spread horizontally and the elements, as well as the halo ring (for UHF), must be perpendicular to the direction of the station. Odd that you didn't get any of the SeaTac UHF stations either, but an M4 bowtie antenna or an SBGH would have, I'd bet.

What an effort you went to! :)

I was genuinely surprised at the results. I don't plan too much more portable DTV; my main interest is in evaluating these locations for microwave ham radio, from 1296 MHz to lasers. None of this DC nonsense.

Hence the optical LOS observations, from Mount Baker to Chuckanut Mountain around to the Gulf Islands. I have a clear shot from my apartment balcony to both the picnic area and the lower lookout area, which may prove useful.

In Ye Olden Analogue Tymes I could never pick up any of the SeaTac UHF stations from the parking lot or the picnic area. The VHF stations were strong - then, as now, the strongest were KCTS and KCPQ. Never a peep on UHF from any further afield than Victoria.

I bought my van (an L300 Delica) with an eye to carrying radios, cameras and telescopes and things up mountains. It does this very well... :cool:

...laura

I see on my samsung tv it now remaps to 8.1 from 22.1 thats is a new change today sometime.:)

I don't get a chance to say this very often, but we have some excellent tropo coming up on the west coast, especially on August 3! :)

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_wam.html

I see on my samsung tv from this mornings scan it now remaps to 22.1 from 22.1 thats is a return to the normal for my tv again. Also the detailed info which was much more than ever before is blank again, again back to normal

Do the 3 local stations broadcast in 5.1 audio if the original programming has it, or in stereo only?

But I have it on good account that CHEK-TV will be switching off their analog transmitter for good by the end of the month... sadly, a digital one won't be turned on, and the studio lights will be turned off, then sold for parts to a liquidator.

:(

Ya it is sad to see it go even after all the work Chan did in the new HD production area for News and other HD stuff they built which was meant to to used by Chek also in some kind of arrangement, but sounds like that cost saving idea will go the way of the studio lamps too:confused:

I wonder what their fade-to-black programming will be... I hope Canwest doesn't just hit the transmitter's kill switch.

I would think a 1 hour special consisting of CHEK highlights over the years would be an appropriate way to thank the people of Victoria. Nobody there wants CHEK to go dark.

The way Canwest management ruined that station it wouldn't surprise me if they just kill it.

I guess we will see Pamela Martin her early years in a tribute of that nature.

She was on CHEK? I thought she started on BCTV and stayed there until the crazy VTV-Global-CTV switcheroo when she went to CTV.

I believe she started at CHEK and then move to CHAN the to CTV
I will look into it?
Pamela Martin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

yup joined Victoria's CHEK-TV as a co-host and producer in 1975

Anybody else having problems with CBC (2.1) ? It dropped to 30% yesterday and it hasn't come back, yet Global & CTV are coming in strong.
It's real odd since CBC is usually the strongest...Is it getting re-mapped ?

I'm currently showing 73-76 signal on 2.1...12:20 pmPT.

Have you rescanned today, mieko?

I just did. Same thing. It's sitting at like 30% and not even coming up with a channel id. I guess i'll just have to wait till it decides to behave.
CTV & Global are fine.

It is fine for me and here in new west.

Time to speculate...broken wire? loose connection? house shifted off the foundation? ....