FOX INC and WITI, I've had it.

[Gregg Lengling]

The following was e-mailed to Fox Inc at 3:39 PM today, I've had it and won't take anymore.


Quote

foxinc.com and fox6milwaukee.com

Digital Disappointment

I've held my anger for over 2 years now about your O&O station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, WITI.  I've waited for upgrades to the transmitting tower for 2 years and finally your people have actually put an antenna and transmitter on the air.  Now this may be fine to meet part of the letter of the law, as you are operating under a STA (special Temporary Authority) from the FCC to run low power, but no real engineering was thought about.

   The antenna is marginal at best, very low gain in addition to running probably the lowest power Digital Transmitter on the market.  Very few Digital Viewers in the Milwaukee Metro Area can receive your signal as proofed by the information posted on our local HD website (http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org).  However if your people had done real engineering they would have realized the following items:

1.   Your frequency allocation, Channel 33, is adjacent to WISN-DT on Channel 34.  Channel 34 is running over 500kW ERP which when tuning to your weak channel 33 signal results in the viewers receiver gain stages to shut down (ALC control), thereby reducing the sensitivity of the receiver and making it impossible to receive your low power signal.

2.   The majority of early adoptees of DTV (and HDTV) are primarily in the suburbs of Milwaukee.  With the majority of affluent suburbs being North or South of your transmitting site, and apparently the major power lobes of your transmitting antenna is beaming West.

3.   The most loyal fans in the history of the NFL are Green Bay Packer Fans, and seeing as Fox is broadcasting the majority of Packer games, many fans will be very irate again this year as we won't be able to receive the game in High Definition without the added expense of either Paying Time Warner Cable, or subscribing to Directv's NFL Ticket package.

   The FCC mandate of DTV along with the allocation of FREE licenses to the existing stations is in fact a mandate to provide for FREE OVER THE AIR broadcasts of your programming.  You have failed to do this in the Milwaukee Metro Area and thus have failed to meet the FCC rules regarding your license for WITI-DT 33.

   I anticipate a timely answer to this problem.  If such an answer is not forthcoming I will began a Grass Roots Rebellion with complaints to the following:

   The Federal Communications Commission

   The Advertisers of Fox Inc., and WITI-TV

   The National Football League and the Green Bay Packers.

Respectfully Submitted,


Gregg R. Lengling, W9DHI, Retired RF Engineer

Member:  ARRL, RSGB, RCA, WERA and ORC
 


End Quote

End of Rant

The above opinions are mine personally and have nothing to do with Milwaukeehdtv.org and should not be construed as a commentary by the operators and users of this site.  These are the personal rantings of a person that has over 40 years of RF experience in all facets of Radio/TV/Communications.

[Matt Heebner]

I am with you Gregg !!!!
I can get the very low power 22-1, but can't get WITI from 9 miles away ?
yet someone with a rooftop antenna  is getting them  from Holy Hill area ??
the frustration is mounting.

:bang: :mad:

I have just about had it. I feel "forced" to have to go with TWC in order to get  the Packers this season..

I'm sorry but WITI is a bunch of idiots !!!


Matt

(edited to remove raging rant, that probably would've been removed by a mod----matt)

[Matt Heebner]

Oh man, they aren't 9 miles away anymore...more like 6 or less.

Makes me even angrier.........


Matt

[Tom Snyder]

Let me play devil's advocate... what kind of OTA analog signal do you get from Fox where you are?

Shadow free?  As clear as an analog signal can be?

OTA has its problems... when I see the analog signal signal I get in Germantown, I know that  I would have no choice be cable or Satellite.  That's why so few people use OTA as their means of reception.

[dlhoppe]

Gregg,

Why do you think they wouldn't offer some information regarding their plans for transmit power and direction? A simple explanation would go a long way right about now. If I'm not mistaken, they were sending Tom updates during the transmitter move. Seems to me if this was just a temporary setback while they test and verify the new equipment, they could help prevent a lot of frustration with just a little communication and a "heads-up" as to when they'll up the power.  Of course if this is a long term arrangement for their transmit capacity, then I can see why they're keeping their mouths shut. I hope you'll get some kind of response to your email soon.

By the way, thanks for sending that to FOX for us.  Much appreciated.

[StarvingForHDTV]

If it makes it to grass roots rebellion mode, count me in.

Starving

[Matt Heebner]

Let me play devil's advocate... what kind of OTA analog signal do you get from Fox where you are?

I am not sure if you mean Gregg or me on this.

Actually FOX OTA NTSC channel comes in better than any other OTA station. I actually can use my PIP/POP mode with the antenna, on my TV and have it look almost as good as Directv's channel 6.

Matt

[mcq]

Couldn't they get Gus Gnorski to help. He pretty much can fix anything.

Gregg I am sorry to see you so upset. You know me as a loud and obnoxios critic, especially when it comes to sheer stupidity. My casual absence from this board is not because I have lost interest... I just am sick and tired of talking about how "sick and tired" I am.

It'll come...no use getting our collective blood pressure up over the inevitable!?

For the record... No signal Milwaukee (city of record) South Side 25' foot cheap Radio Shack excuse of an antenna (Too chicken to change it )

P.S. I will boldly post here that I bet Faux 6 will be the first local station to broadcast the news in HDTV. Just a hunch.....

[rnelson]

There are a lot of us who are very frustrated right now.

If only Fox would recognize that they could be the hero of every Packer Fan in Southeast Wisconsin simply by kicking up the power.  Perhaps their engineers needed to get the engine running at a low RPM just to measure where they were at.

All of us have supplied data so that should no longer be in question.  They need to boost their power.  We will all continue to supply data to help them boost their signal to a level where they can achieve a comfortable ballance.

They have a great wealth of information by using this forum to communicate with their viewers.  This would not have been possible in the past.

If you ware watching Fox, let's work together to get your signal out to your faithful viewers.

[AndrewP]

Gregg,

Count me in.
The most frustrating thing is that ch. 22 deliveres strong signal and money fat WITI trying to save on their electric bill.
What a shame!

Andrew, Muskego,
40%-0%-50%-0%-45%-0%... -UNWATCHABLE.

[borghe]

I feel for you guys.. really.. I was hoping that once they moved the tower that would be the cure-all for all OTA viewers.. apparently for many here it was not.. well, I certainly won't rub anything in and I hope WITI listens (though you may want to tone it down a bit) and can get a signal going for everyone in the metro milwaukee area.

[jkane]

As long as I can get PAX from MUCH farther away than FOX, there is a serious problem with the engineering!  Cost can't really be a factor!  Is FOX saying that PAX has greater viewership and therefore is making a lot more money from a much better DT signal?

I'm with you Gregg.  :guns:

I get a snowy channel 6 analog signal sometimes also since that question was asked.  But then again 4 is also snowy from time to time.  However, 4-1 is one of the best DT signals I get.

[Gregg Lengling]

I'm much happier now as I got a response and not just an email but a 15 minute phone call from WITI's General Manager.  He let me know that what is on the air right now is just a temporary solution now that the tower has been finished.  He was optimistic about the coming upgrades but it will be a while.  I'm not going to set any timeline but let me say I was suprised at the timeline.  But always remember that when it comes to high power antennas on towers it is a wx dependant function, plus dependant on delivery times of equipment.  All I'll say right now is that it won't happen this summer, but stay tuned.

Find other comments under the thread where those capable of receiving WITI-DT are reporting how good the picture looked for some more real information.

[AndrewP]

How one can be optimistic if will not happen this summer.
It means another Packers season without FOX HD!
Let them rent ch. 22 for Packers games.

Andrew

[davezen2]

Packers pretty much play in the fall...