CICO on 19.1

[jimh]

I need a signal report for CICO-32 on 19.1.

I moved recently and just got up a new antenna. I don’t see a trace of CICO on 19.1 now. Are they on the air?

[MWmetalhead]

The station's tower is roughly 15 miles SSE of downtown Detroit. Compared to the major TV stations in Detroit, CICO broadcasts at very low power - only 14.2 kW (per the FCC database) or 19 kW (per the CRTC database).

Predicted coverage map:

https://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php ... te=1&map=Y

Anyone in the yellow zone should be able to pick up the station with a properly aimed outdoor antenna. If you are in the red shaded zone, it is an iffy proposition unfortunately.

From what I can gather, they are on the air. I was unable to find any reports to the contrary.

[km1125]

I was picking them up fine from western Wayne county but lost them when I did some config changes.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

I miss getting Canadian stations from rabbit ears. Can't pickup any from here in Warren now.

[szmigiel]

I am up and Shelby Twp and pick them up with an outdoor antenna, but only if it pointed directly south.

[tvbobn]

The Ann Arbor Live Bandscan shows them on the air with a signal strength of 78 from a distance of about 33 miles at 9:45AM today.

[jimh]

Thanks for the replies, but I don't think any of them contained a first-person signal report of reception in the last day or two.

I am familiar with the transmitter location for CIC0-32 19.1. The RABBITEARS.INFO website it shows CICO and CBET-9 are at the same location.

In my former location (which was roughly 4-miles due East of the present location) I was receiving CICO-32 rock solid with a very small outdoor UHF-only antenna, and also getting CBET-9 but with a much less stable and weaker signal, even though I was using an 8-foot long Hi-VHF Monoband yagi mounted about 6-feet higher than the UHF antenna. Both were on a 8-foot mast on a small tripod on a roof of a single story garage.

At the new location I am using a 12-element log-periodic yagi that covers Hi-VHF and UHF. The antenna is compact, so I don't expect too much gain from it, maybe 3-dB on Hi-VHF, and more on UHF, perhaps 5 dB.

Now the really odd part: I was completely surprised that the small LP yagi is producing a very good signal on CBET-9, about 32/100 on the relative signal strength indicator (RSI) and 16 to 17 dB SNR. I have aimed the yagi to optimize CBET. It picks up all the other local Detroit stations to the south of me--I am close to 13-Mile Road. CBET's signal seem quite stable, with only 16 to 17 dB SNR, I suspect there might be some drop out if there is a lot of precipitation, or when foliage returns to the trees, or other weather that could affect path loss.

The predicted coverage map for CICO-32 (linked above by Metalhead, thank you) on RABBITEARS.INFO shows that at my location CICO-32 should have more signal than CBET-9 by about 5 dB, and both are in the light green, 71 to 80 dBu, or "medium indoor" category. My antenna is indoors, but it is on the second story of the home which is on a small hilltop or rise, and the antenna is aiming right out a SSE facing window that does not have a metal screen. (About 100-feet behind me the signal level dips 20 dB to the red category, because the little rise and buildings shadows lower elevation terrain.)

I see no trace of CICO. I have not permanently installed the antenna, so today I moved it around a few feet horizontally, and moved the antenna up and down a foot or so, hoping that perhaps I had just set it originally in a signal null for CICO-32. I was not able to get any sort of signal-lock on CICO-32 19.1.

I have two TV receivers: one is a Channel Master DVR. On the Channel Master DVR there is a manual tuning function where I can tune to a particular channel to see what signal level is there without having to have had the tuner detect a station in a scan. On RF 19 I see an RSI of 5/100. That just might be adjacent channel noise from 18 and 20.

If CICO-32 is really on the air, I must be in a deep hole in the signal due to some reflections and cancellation.

ASIDE: I have worked in TV broadcasting for 40 years in engineering, so I am very familiar with all aspects of VHF and UHF propagation, antennas, feedline loss, multipath, etc.

ASIDE: I have no idea what "Ann Arbor Live Bandscan" might be. Perhaps someone can give the URL to where I can see that website.

[szmigiel]

I love the old Channel Master DVR+ for the ability to manually scan channels, I hope my ATSC 3.0 replacement will have the same feature.

I haven't had issues getting TVO over the last month, the signal is only around 50 in strength, but it is enough to pull quality in the 70s on the DVR+. I am using a 8 bay antenna 35 feet up pointed directly south, which is Detroit/WIndsor, I pick up CBC and TVO, I also get WADL which is SouthEast, and all the Southfield towers to the SouthWest except for WUDL, which I don't really mind since the DVR+ doesn't play nice with two stations using the same channel numbers.

[jimh]

...no [difficulty] getting TVO over the last month...I am using a 8 bay antenna 35 feet up...

Thanks for the signal report. You have a much better antenna and much higher mounting. I may need a bigger UHF antenna to get CICO-32 19.1.

...the DVR+ doesn't play nice with two stations using the same channel numbers.

I have seen that behavior, too. At one time the Channel Master "found" CICO-32 19.1 as "100.1".

I actually don't watch CICO-32 very much, but they do have some interesting documentaries on occasion. I am really quite happy to get CBET-9. Now I can watch Hockey Night in Canada--if the NHL ever resumes play.

[SixPlusOne]

I can watch Hockey Night in Canada--if the NHL ever resumes play.

Courtesy: MLive

Red Wings Closer To Return As NHL Eyes Jan. 13 Start, 56-Game Season

https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2020/12/ ... eason.html

[szmigiel]

I actually don't watch CICO-32 very much, but they do have some interesting documentaries on occasion. I am really quite happy to get CBET-9. Now I can watch Hockey Night in Canada--if the NHL ever resumes play.

Same here with TVO, it is like PBS don't watch it regularly but have caught some interesting programming from time to time, so I like having it locked in.

[YpsiGuy]

I agree on CBET. I have a separate high-VHF antenna fixed on it. I like having it for Canadian news and the occasional hockey game.

CICO doesn’t really have what warrants a fixed antenna for me.

[innate-in-you]

I agree on CBET. I have a separate high-VHF antenna fixed on it. I like having it for Canadian news and the occasional hockey game.

CICO doesn’t really have what warrants a fixed antenna for me.

An antenna fixed on CBET is also an antenna fixed on CICO32. They are both on a tower near McGregor, ON.