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NBC IN ALPENA

Covers all of Northern Lower Michigan (from Ludington to Tawas northward), as well as the Straits Area and Soo Region.
ramboy
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NBC IN ALPENA

Post by ramboy » Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:22 pm

Is there anyway NBC can be picked up ota in the area of Curran, Mi. about 30 miles South West of Alpena. have a cabin in the area, thanks



CK-722
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by CK-722 » Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:02 am

You may remember that in the old days before digital, people in those areas got fringe area service from NBC on WNEM-TV 5 or WTOM-TV 4. When NBC moved to WEYI-TV 25, that became a problem, and when WTOM went digital on UHF, almost impossible. It's been very innovative with WBKB 11 using the sub channels for ABC and Fox. TVFool shows no NBC fringe available in Curran proper.


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ramboy
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by ramboy » Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:39 am

yeah I remember WNEM tv 5 was NBC, and they switched with WEYI So with traverse city not as far (I don't think) I still couldn't pull in NBC from there with a roof antenna?



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audiophile
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by audiophile » Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:53 am

Are by the post office or near the Curran lookout?


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organman95
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by organman95 » Tue Feb 11, 2020 7:35 am

ramboy wrote:
Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:39 am
yeah I remember WNEM tv 5 was NBC, and they switched with WEYI So with traverse city not as far (I don't think) I still couldn't pull in NBC from there with a roof antenna?
Why would you attempt WPBN Traverse City? Significantly too far. WTOM Cheboygan was your best bet back in the day (really still is, although HIGHLY unlikely you'll receive it)



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audiophile
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by audiophile » Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:00 am

The terrain is more favorable to the south IF you set on the ridge just south/east/west of town.

location. location?


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ramboy
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by ramboy » Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:44 pm

location is on Beaver Lake, Northern/Eastern side, M65 and Beaver Lake Rd



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audiophile
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by audiophile » Tue Feb 11, 2020 7:31 pm

I've been to the Beaver Creek Church.

The best shot is WTOM, just east of Cheybogan.


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ramboy
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by ramboy » Tue Feb 11, 2020 11:42 pm

Thanks, I will try it in the spring



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MWmetalhead
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by MWmetalhead » Wed Feb 12, 2020 6:24 pm

Is your rooftop antenna on a rotor? How high off the ground is it? Does your antenna have good UHF reception capabilities?

You're about 70 miles due east of the WPBN-TV tower, which is just east of Kalkaska.

If & when WPBN powers up to its post-repack technical specs, I think you might have a shot picking them up, although I've got to say - terrain in your general region does not look very accommodating!

https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&appid=2507 ... acid=21253

Call me nuts - but I think you might even have a crack at picking up WGTQ (ABC / NBC) from Sault Ste. Marie once they start broadcasting at 60 kW of juice later this year.

https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&appid=2507 ... acid=59279



CK-722
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by CK-722 » Wed Feb 12, 2020 11:20 pm

I'll believe this when I see it. With UHF, the signals reach two "brick walls", terrain and earth curvature obstructions and the digital cliff. Higher power on VHF may help 8, 9, and 10. I don't know if 11 is upgrading. I'd have to look if there's any possibility that WTOM-TV could move to 7. If there is no Canadian allotment, and maybe near collocate near Goetzville.

Looks like 7 is assigned to CIII-TV in SSM, ON.

Here's an example. An engineer for WTOM-TV lived 17 miles from their transmitter. He had a Hoverman type antenna mounted on a 30 foot tower. He could not receive the digital signal. TVFool said you would have had to have a 100 foot antenna order to receive it. When you did a search on TVFool, the signal wasn't even listed.


Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?

Same (x, y, z), different (t)

Your bullet missed my trial balloon.

RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.

Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.

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MWmetalhead
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:25 am

Yup. That WTOM tower is in a a really crappy location, and it's not very tall, either. If I remember correctly, the station for years was only broadcasting with a puny 78 kW to boot! (I wonder if the transmitter that had been used on the west side of TC prior to 2009 was relocated to Cheboygan?)

There is considerable overlap between the usable signals of WTOM and WGTQ.

It would make a lot more sense for WTOM to broadcast from one of the big towers near Petoskey, or potentially, to co-located with WCML (not as sure on that one).

Then again, the crack WPBN/WTOM/WGTU/WGTQ decision makers are the same dunces who have TWO separately licensed full power stations largely airing the same programming broadcasting from the SAME tower east of Kalkaska. If those dumbasses had a brain, they would've moved one of those full power licenses to the big tower near Harrietta, so that communities along the US-10 and M-20 corridors could receive much more reliable reception than what a dinky 15 kW signal offers! Wouldn't be as big of a deal if the station had digital relay transmitters in the Big Rapids and Ludington areas.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:39 am

I did some more checking, and WGTU channel 29 (which transmits from the same Kalkaska tower as WPBN) has filed an application to increase power to 1,000 kW omnidirectional. It is unclear when or if WGTU will be broadcasting at that power level. Perhaps someone with a better understanding of the FCC databases can answer that question.

WGTU carries ABC programming on 29.1 and rebroadcasts WPBN on one of its subchannels.

In contrast, WPBN sends only about 265 kW of juice in the direction of Curran.

Ability to receive any of the stations discussed here is contingent upon having a high quality outdoor antenna installed at a good height (at least 20 feet off the ground) with no terrain obstructions in immediate proximity.



CK-722
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by CK-722 » Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:11 am

It seems like WTOM-TV couldn't go to full facilities because of the overlap of the WPBN-TV contour. The non overlapping satellite signals guaranteed areas in between that weren't covered well. And WPBN-TV started out from West of Traverse City with 53.7 kW and a much shorter tower. I'll try to find a copy of the old coverage maps. But as Channel 4 analog, the signal got out well over hills.

Scroll down to Michigan.

https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Ar ... -IA-OH.pdf

It looks like they couldn't have even had the satellite operation before the WPBN-TV 7 tower moved to Harrietta.


Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?

Same (x, y, z), different (t)

Your bullet missed my trial balloon.

RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.

Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.

TC Shuts Up
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Re: NBC IN ALPENA

Post by TC Shuts Up » Thu Feb 13, 2020 6:12 pm

Analog facilities of WJBK-TV 2 and WWJ-TV/WDIV 4 could be viewed for a significant portion of the time near Big Rapids and Cadillac.


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