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WHNE

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
szmigiel
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WHNE

Post by szmigiel » Sat May 08, 2021 7:13 pm

So a little while ago I made a homemade antenna just to pick up RF 3 since my main antenna had no lo-VHF capabilities. It has been working fairly well with a strong signal from RF 3 and into lo and hi signal combiner so it doesn't interfere with the main antenna. It has been work pretty good, but often the quality of the signal from WHNE will drop and I will get nothing for awhile. It was happening mostly around dusk or sunset. But today all the channels on WHNE went out around 10:30 and I have had no picture quality all day. My CM DVR+ reports a strong signal at 97% but 0% quality so no picture at all.

Anyone still getting WHNE steadily?
Get anything this afternoon? I wanted to check out the horror hosts on the 3-6 but it still all blank for me.



km1125
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Re: WHNE

Post by km1125 » Sun May 09, 2021 12:16 pm

I did not see this post yesterday but didn't notice any issues with WHNE either last night or this morning.

What kind of antenna did you make?



szmigiel
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Re: WHNE

Post by szmigiel » Sun May 09, 2021 1:12 pm

I made a simple dipole antenna with copperwire and PVC frame 88" total for getting in lo-vhf channel 3. Modeled after a few do it yourself antennas I found online. My signal strength for RF 3 is always high now, and at first I thought I found a solution to my issues getting WHNE in reliably. But I am often losing the quality and having the channels of WHNE just be blank. Sometimes it will be for 30 seconds or more, or like today and yesterday, everything looks good in the morning, then it completely drops before 11AM and is out for me.

I am in Shelby Twp which is NE of the tower 14 miles away, when I am getting the station in the quality is usually pretty high according to my meter in the CM DVR+, so it is not like I am barley pulling the station in like say 19 TVO, when that one goes off, I know it is probably atmospheric conditions.



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HD74
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Re: WHNE

Post by HD74 » Mon May 10, 2021 1:49 pm

Do you have an amp on your homebrew antenna? If yes, try turning it off when you lose the signal.
You can also try putting a variable attenuator in the line coming from that antenna, and try padding down the signal.
It sounds like overload, and your receiver can't get a good lock.


You're never too old to learn something stupid.

szmigiel
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Re: WHNE

Post by szmigiel » Mon May 10, 2021 2:06 pm

No Amp at all, and I have even tried moving the location, with no impact while the signal is flat. I will try a attenuator, I have a few I bought when trying to fight what basically turned out the be multipath issues with the main antenna years back.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: WHNE

Post by MWmetalhead » Mon Jan 24, 2022 6:59 pm

Cracked out the ol' rabbit ears over the last few days to scan the local TV dial, something I haven't done in months. I used my ultra cheap GE VHF / UHF combo, purchased for $10 over a decade ago. The VHF dipoles extend maybe 15 inches max.

Lo and behold, WHNE was coming in effortlessly, even after I repositioned the unit. Then, I decided to try a little experiment: with the dipoles fully collapsed, I received a solid signal. In fact, I'm watching the channel that way as I'm typing this. This has *never* happened before! Usually, the signal is finicky, requires full dipole extension, and very precise antenna placement.

I am pleasantly surprised by my recent results.

Are they cranking out more power these days?



statmanmi
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Re: WHNE

Post by statmanmi » Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:00 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 6:59 pm
Cracked out the ol' rabbit ears over the last few days to scan the local TV dial, something I haven't done in months.
...
Lo and behold, WHNE was coming in effortlessly, even after I repositioned the unit.
...
Are they cranking out more power these days?
Hi MW,

I'm guessing your great WHNE reception is because of the favorable (cold) weather conditions of late.

If your curiosity is piqued, try again on Tuesday, since that's when we're finally supposed to get above freezing again.

WHNE's Minor Modification filing from June 2019 remains pending with the FCC, in which they requested to increase power to 6.5 kW. You may recall that they did run for a few months via STA (special temporary authority) at the higher power level--but they should have returned to their authorized 3 kW when that expired without the extension request being granted.

In December 2020 they asked the FCC if they could change to RF30. The FCC denied that in April 2021, both because there's a freeze on Major Modification requests from LPTVs, and also noted that RF30 would cause too much interference to other stations.

Cheers! ~~ Statmanmi



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MWmetalhead
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Re: WHNE

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:45 pm

Thanks for the info.

I do see there is a station currently licensed to Lima, OH who is proposing a move to Lenawee County and use RF channel 30? Bizarre stuff.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: WHNE

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:25 am

Some random signal strength readings using cheap rabbit ears with a UHF loop:

WHNE = 17 dB (average; highly sensitive to placement. Peak is 22 dB).
WDIV and WMYD 20.2= 34 dB.
WXYZ and WMYD 20.1 = 31 dB.
WDWO = 16 dB.
WJBK and WMYD 20.3 = 22 dB with dipoles collapsed. Improves to 34 dB with dipoles extended.
WPXD = 31 dB in one spot; 23 dB in the other. Flip flop of the WKBD scores.
WADL = 20 dB.
WKBD = 26 dB in one spot; 31 dB in the other.
WTVS = 37 dB. (Wow.)
WWJ = 33 dB.



innate-in-you
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Re: WHNE

Post by innate-in-you » Sat Jan 29, 2022 11:58 am

MWmetalhead wrote:
Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:25 am
Some random signal strength readings using cheap rabbit ears with a UHF loop:

WHNE = 17 dB (average; highly sensitive to placement. Peak is 22 dB).
WDIV and WMYD 20.2= 34 dB.
WXYZ and WMYD 20.1 = 31 dB.
WDWO = 16 dB.
WJBK and WMYD 20.3 = 22 dB with dipoles collapsed. Improves to 34 dB with dipoles extended.
WPXD = 31 dB in one spot; 23 dB in the other. Flip flop of the WKBD scores.
WADL = 20 dB.
WKBD = 26 dB in one spot; 31 dB in the other.
WTVS = 37 dB. (Wow.)
WWJ = 33 dB.
Interesting as WWJ-TV and WTVS are not merely transmitting from the same mast, but, furthermore, diplexing the same antenna through duplex.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: WHNE

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:33 pm

The other weird thing is WPXD was significantly stronger than WKBD with my contraption in one spot, and then the near reverse occurred upon relocating my tabletop antenna to the other side of the table.

I believe both stations still utilize the candelabra type tower at 11 Mile and Inkster. Obviously one of the antennas has more of a direct aim to my house than the other. WPXD's signal strength had more variance than that of WKBD, too, as I moved the antenna around.



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