most people have moved once or twice during their lives, and have had to get used to new channel numbers for their favourite programs. The change in physical channels should be done once in a cold-turkey manner.

Just because people can learn a new channel lineup, hardly makes it a justification of forcing them to do so.

Channel re-numbering adds an unnecessary layer of indirection. Of all the things that I have to explain about DTV to people outside this forum, channel re-numbering is the most difficult concept for them to grasp..

Then stop mentioning it to them. You're complicating things for them unnecessarily. If you just tell them they can get OTA with an antenna, digital tuner & a channel scan, they'll be good to go.

And do we really want IC and the FCC wasting their time co-ordinating PSIP virtual channel assignments along the border?

Virtual channels don't need to be coordinated. If the TV has trouble with multiple channels with the same virtual channel but different physical frequency, then the TV has a poorly implemented firmware that the manufacturer should issue an update for.

I'm curious if tomorrow's analog shutdown will have any impact on reception of troublesome stations in the GTA?

Fox and NBC seem to be the weakest, and I'm wondering if having less analog cluttering the spectrum might clean up those signals. Any distant analog stations on those frequencies that might be shutting down tomorrow?

Just curious... it's a theoretical question with a likely uninteresting answer. ;-)

Pete

I'd rather not have this thread go into any speculation at this point since tomorrow I'll be opening up several new Station Status threads in the Reception Results forum so that people can note their observations of the "new" OTA situation in their areas.

I had WGRZ news on tonight at 5, & they had a spot regarding the conversion. They had the station engineer on, who said that people in Buffalo having difficulty receiving WGRZ-DT up till now, would likely see improvment post transition. He cited changes of other stations as the reason.

Saw the same feed and noted analog will continue until the 26th. Initial cutover is @ 1 PM tomorrow. Also, 2-3 is up now showing an advert for Retro TV coming soon. 2-3 is 480I SD.

To continue on the discussion from the previous thread, WGRZ 33.3 (2.3) is now broadcasting.

It is currently an SD duplicate of 33.1 (2.1), WGRZDT, broadcasting as WGRZ-SD.

Does anyone know when it will be switched over to RTN?

WoW! :eek:

NBC (WGRZ) 95% signal!

I used to get 40 to 45%. Overcast weather would kill the remaining signal.

(I'm in Toronto in the Trinity Bellwoods Park neighborhood, on the 13th floor, facing the lake)

FOX 29 was also quite weak and susceptible to weather interference. It's now hovering in the high 80s.

This is curious since Fox switched on February 17 and at the time, my reception got worse.

Same here about NBC - I had 93% signal last night, the strongest I've ever seen in my location (west gta) - not sure if it was the weather, hopefully they are increasing power with the analog going offline.

This is promising news guys - thanks for reporting.

It would be VERY helpful though if you all could add your locations to your signatures like most of us do (see mine to the left) - so we can see where you are when discussing reception.

Thanks!!

Ok.

At 9 am they shutdown. I'm now seeing some signal on 23 digital but its too weak to give me anything. This is using my mini-state antenna which is on the wrong side of the house and is blocked by the roof. My sbgh in the attic was seeing it to but again no decode. Also on both the the signal was erratic. It seems to have disappeared now, so I'm wondering if it was just some spurious signal from somewhere else. For all I know maybe they haven't even turned the transmitter on yet for Ion.

RTN now called RTV running on 2.3.

will update as I get more news.

To my knowledge none of them are increasing power except possibly WKBW 358Kw to 723Kw and WNYO 175Kw to 198Kw but this has yet to be verified.

Bob

WoW! :eek:

NBC (WGRZ) 95% signal!

I used to get 40 to 45%. Overcast weather would kill the remaining signal.
That's great news, I was hoping to see a signal increase after the analogue cut off. What area are you located in? I won't have a chance to test my reception until this evening...

Watched the cutover of ch-51 to 23 on my analyzer. It took 30 seconds for WPXJ to come online on 23 after WNLO Shutdown. I'm getting a terrific signal from WPXJ-DT on 23. Had to re-scan but I'm getting all 3 sub-channels and my tv signal strength meter is peaked to full strength on WPXJ. I'm surprised how strong it is. By the way WBNF-CA is ready to go Digital but they have yet to get FCC approval to Flash-Cut. Maybe they will get permission today. Also, WPXJ's signal pattern is more towards the East and away from Toronto which is my location. Toronto area may be out of luck recieving it.

I haven't seen any signal on 23 for the last 15 minutes or so. From my last post i'm guessing it was a some tropo from somewhere else. At least I hope so. Also, RTV 2.3 is airing Ironside.

So, its up? Damn, i'm not getting any signal. Just what I was afraid of.

Uh - here at my place I am seeing WNLO HD mapped to 23-1 and WNYO mapped to 49-1, 49-2...

Where exactly are we seeing ION folks?

Its on rf23.

Let us know what you find.

Looks like RTV has started up their feed on 2-3. Ironside is one right now!

On the WPXJ side, I'm also having no luck receiving their signal in North York.

This is promising news guys - thanks for reporting.

It would be VERY helpful though if you all could add your locations to your signatures like most of us do (see mine to the left) - so we can see where you are when discussing reception.

Thanks!!
Indeed. Signal strength comments without locations are not of much use.