where did PBS go?

[Touch0Gray]

I am between Milwaukee and Madison and until 2 weeks ago I could pick up all of the Milwaukee PBS stations (10 and 36). Then they disappeared...I re-scanned to no avail. Does anyone know if they did something re. power or something? Any recommendations of ideas?

Madison is just fine...I get 4 and 24 as well....baffled...

[bubbaridesfast]

No problems here in Greenfield OTA. We watched some of the Roadshow last night.

[Touch0Gray]

thanks, still nothing here......stone cold nothing......and 10 is SOOOOO much better than 21 out of Madison.

[brewtownska]

I don't know if this is related, but sometime in the last 10 days or so I started picking up PBS HD (and channel 10 with all its subchannels) on my
Samsung H260F box.  I am using this as a QAM tuner, so I get my HD from TWC.  The thing is, I've always been able to get these channels on my Samsung T451 QAM tuner, just not on the H260F.  So there must have been something in the data stream that confused the H260F all that time that recently got changed/fixed.  Not sure if that change was in the OTA signal, the TWC signal, or both.  Maybe what changed to fix my problem actually broke your system.  I've read many places about the PSIP data that is included in OTA broadcasts and how different tuners are better about ignoring errors in it.

Could you tell us what TV or box your are using to pick up the signal?  At least that way if someone else around here uses the same thing, you'll be able to compare notes about whether it's working for them.

[Touch0Gray]

I am using a Vizio L32 HDTV, not high end by any stretch but good enough for me.

I have a roof mounted Radio Shack Antenna (the biggest they sell), a rotor and Phillips 28 DB mast mount amp/pre-amp setup.

I had a 20 DB gain amp on it when the stations went away but swithed in case that was my problem...

Apparently it was not.

I am about 30 miles NE of Madison, and say 60 miles from Milwaukee....interestingly enough, the time you started picking it up I lost it so you may well be on to something.

I was going to get a DVD/VHS burner combo with a tuner in it...if i did that.....is there one that might grab the signal as modified maybe?....I could always use the tuner in that.

[Touch0Gray]

I want to add...I know almost nothing about HDTV except that it gives me more options to watch......

[techboy]

I am using a Panasonic DMR-EZ27  digital tuner DVD recorder as a front end to an older analog TV.   It is still working fine on al HDTV / SD PBS channels in Milw.  The DVD recorder part is only SD ( from the HD material), but the tuner outputs all ASTC modes and the DVD upconverts and looks remarkably good.

[Nels Harvey]

I am between Milwaukee and Madison and until 2 weeks ago I could pick up all of the Milwaukee PBS stations (10 and 36). Then they disappeared...I re-scanned to no avail. Does anyone know if they did something re. power or something? Any recommendations of ideas?

Madison is just fine...I get 4 and 24 as well....baffled...

It is possible that you have experienced temperature inversion.  Milwaukee is in a hole relative to your location.  The heat from the city can get trapped beneath colder air, and signals get deflected as a result.

Can you manually enter those channels in your receiver?    The Ch. 10 digital is on Ch. 8, and 36's digital is on Ch. 35.  Like the others said, it's working just fine here!

I wish you well!

Nels....

[Touch0Gray]

It is possible that you have experienced temperature inversion.  Milwaukee is in a hole relative to your location.  The heat from the city can get trapped beneath colder air, and signals get deflected as a result.

Can you manually enter those channels in your receiver?    The Ch. 10 digital is on Ch. 8, and 36's digital is on Ch. 35.  Like the others said, it's working just fine here!

I wish you well!

Nels....

The tuner is built in to the TV, and it will not allow me to manually enter the channel as far as I can tell, and Channels 10-1 through 10-7 appear as such. Well they don't appear at all now...but they did.

Like I said, a couple other Milwaukee channels are fine yet.

The time frame of Brewtowska's experiences coincide with my problems. That's not to say that's what's happening either... If its a temperature issue then all I can say is this whole analogue "going away" is going to create some  massive problems.

There are a LOT of us out here that have no option but OTA signals....any sugggestons?

[ArgMeMatey]

I would get that exact date of the change and try to contact MPTV by e-mail or phone.  See if you can get to someone in engineering who deals with the ATSC signal encoding.

[brewtownska]

Darn...sometime during the last week I lost PBS-HD from my QAM channels on TWC using the Samsung H260F.  Seems like as changes get made, there's no way to keep everyone up and running at the same time.

[Touch0Gray]

right now my biggest concern is moving the fricken snow out of my way...a 1/4 mile driveway has kept me RATHER busy!

I got the kids a digi tuner.dvd burner/combo for x-mas...and the wife a digi (sdtv) set for the kitchen, no 10 on them either.

Thinking back, 10 disappeared last winter too.....oh well......stuff happens....hoping they get it all figured out BEFORE analogue goes bye-bye......

[Nels Harvey]

I would get that exact date of the change and try to contact MPTV by e-mail or phone.  See if you can get to someone in engineering who deals with the ATSC signal encoding.

I know for a fact that the MPTV Engineer you want to get in touch with is active on this board.  If there really is a problem, I'm sure he will post it.

Remember, you are talking about two very different transmitters.  The Ch. 10-1 through-8  signal is actually transmitting on Ch. 8 in ATSC format.  The Ch. 36-1 signal is on Ch. 35 in ATSC format.  It is unusual that two transmitters so widely separated in frequency are the only ones with the problem.  How about Ch. 18-1?  That is from the same tower, on Ch. 61 ATSC format.

Nels....

[nick3092]

Darn...sometime during the last week I lost PBS-HD from my QAM channels on TWC using the Samsung H260F.  Seems like as changes get made, there's no way to keep everyone up and running at the same time.

I think how a channel appears to a QAM tuner all depends on if TWC is broadcasting the PSIP for the channel or not.  PBS-HD has always been on channel 116.x for me (they seem to keep flipping it between 116.1 and 116.3 over the past few months).  But I did notice for a few weeks my QAM tuner began seeing the PBS channels as 10.1, 10.2, 36.1, etc...  But now they seem to be back to where they were.  Currently PBS-HD is 116.1 for me.  I don't really watch the other PBS digital channels, so I don't know what physical channel they are on right now.

There seems to big a big variation in QAM tuners.  My Sony sees the channels as 0.504, 0.506, 0.512, etc... almost like the cable box has them mapped.  But my Westinghouse sees them as the physical channels, 85.1, 85.3, 103.1, etc...  My Sony will tell me what physical channel they are on on the diagnostic screen.  But it only gives me the channel number, not the specific sub channel.

I got into a big argument with TW last year about QAM.  They denied left and right that the channels were available without a cable box.  Then finally I pushed enough they escalated the issue to someone more knowledgeable, and they then admited the channels are there, but they are not obligated to support them or tell customers they are there.  That way they can squeeze an extra $9/mo out of you for a cable box to get their "free" HDTV.  Here is the response they gave me:

"When I referred to we do not broadcast I was referring to and comparing it to broadcasting or displaying a channel listing for the channels. We do not advertise a channel listing for channels that a customer may be able to receive with HDTV with a QAM tuner.

We do not advertise the frequency in which you are able to view channels with your HDTV QAM tuner. Your Sony TV is able to pick up the frequency through the cable line and broadcast a channel 106.2(for example). Your other TV set is not. Also, not all of our channels are in a digital signal.

We do not offer technical support for customers who their QAM tuner to access channels we do not display information for, i.e. channels that are received on a different frequency that we advertise to the public. Nor are we obligated to release information about what frequency our channels are on."

[AngusXman]

I am having the same problem.  I get all the other stations, except for 10 (PBS)  Any help would be appreciated.  I've tried channel 8 & 10 and I get weak or no signla message.  I have repositioned my antenna many times to get best quailty from other stations, but still no channel 10.  HELP!