Why would you have 5 bars of reception on the tv then there is no picture and a message says no signal.....a second ago there was a beautiful photo....What causes that??

The way that I understand Digital TV is this. With the old analog if you had a weak signal, you would get a "snowy", but you got something. With digital if you do not have a strong enough signal, you will get nothing. I have also noticed that weather conditions will effect a digital signal, and where I live sometimes the wind will cause me not to get a signal. Or like you said, you can have a great picture and then it is completely gone.

Dr Quick wrote:The way that I understand Digital TV is this. With the old analog if you had a weak signal, you would get a "snowy", but you got something. With digital if you do not have a strong enough signal, you will get nothing. I have also noticed that weather conditions will effect a digital signal, and where I live sometimes the wind will cause me not to get a signal. Or like you said, you can have a great picture and then it is completely gone.+1

Dr Quick wrote:The way that I understand Digital TV is this. With the old analog if you had a weak signal, you would get a "snowy", but you got something. With digital if you do not have a strong enough signal, you will get nothing. I have also noticed that weather conditions will effect a digital signal, and where I live sometimes the wind will cause me not to get a signal. Or like you said, you can have a great picture and then it is completely gone.well, it's not the wind per se...the wind may be blowing branches on a tree, a flag flapping in the wind...just about anything solid that will temporarily block the signal. we've had issues with passing trains, airplanes taking off and landing and so forth. dr. quick is right about weak signals. with analog the picture would continue to fade into snow until it was gone. with digital it's either there or it's not. heavy snow or rain will interfere with the picture; blowing dust or sand will interfere as well. keep in mind that our antennas are only 12-to-15 feet off the ground whereas a typical single story home might be 20-25' off the ground. in a TV environment height is your friend...the more you have the better off you are.

Although I don't watch much TV, I have experienced the same issues with digital. The picture will disappear, or freeze and pixelize. I notice this most often when there are clouds, or higher than normal winds.

Its the wonders of new, modern advanced technology. Used to pick up a solid signal from stations 100 miles or better. Now doing good to get over 10 miles. But you can PAY to get satellite just about anywhere. Its all in how much you want to pay for TV reception.

Over the air digital tv signals | Good Sam Community

Sam_Spade
Explorer
Feb 15, 2017
Johno02 wrote:
and that nearly all the stations now are digital??

Not "nearly".....ALL, in the continental US anyway.
All commercial broadcast stations anyway.
SCVJeff
Explorer
Feb 14, 2017
Here's the License
Its a typical 100KW Continental feeding a 12db phased Rhombic. Not figuring line and phazing losses, the ERP of this rig is roughly around 1.5 MW ERP. There's not enough real estate on the N. American Continent to generate the kind of ERP out of that 100KW rig you were talking about. Someone slipped a serious decimal.

I wont see Bob until this summer but I'll rib him about it..
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Feb 14, 2017
pconroy328 wrote:

You have a well deserved excellent reputation on here but...........
I'm sorry, I just don't buy that.

Got any documentation on this station and it's output ???

Coming up the station is WTWW and they are a multi-transmitter Short Wave Broadcaster (We Transmit World Wide they say) which can be heard in places all over the earth, and beyond.

https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/267?autostart=false

https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/266?autostart=false

The two videos talk about the station.. I thought one of the episodes was titled 1.4 Gigawats but .. I failed to find one such and I do not have the archival space so I had to stream them, But you will get a tour of the station on one of the videos.

The station url is wtww.us

In one of the Ham Nation episodes they mention the Total combined output of the transmitters is 1.4 Gigawatts.. however I'm not sure which episode, thought it was part of the ep-title but did nto find it. The two I linked to both contain WTWW in the epislde title..

But that is the source of the information.

I do not give up that easy.. Seems I was mistaken1.4, it is 1.21 (Close enough)

Found the precise Ham Nation Episode # 273

https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/273
SCVJeff
Explorer
Feb 14, 2017
06Fargo wrote:
Maybe they are metric watts?
Somehow I doubt he will be back to defend it. Is it April?
beachcomber_1
Explorer
Feb 14, 2017
I can sit in my RV at storage and pick up over 30 stations as far away as 50-60 miles. Good clean connections and premium coax.
noteven
Explorer III
Feb 14, 2017
Maybe they are metric watts?
SCVJeff
Explorer
Feb 14, 2017
It simply ain't true unless it's either over the horizon radar or a deep space uplink, and both are pulsed
pconroy328
Explorer
Feb 14, 2017
Sam Spade wrote:
wa8yxm wrote:

(I know and plan to visit a Radio staiton in Tennessee... 1.4 GIGAWATTS.. that's right folks 1million 400 thousand MILLION watts. )

You have a well deserved excellent reputation on here but...........
I'm sorry, I just don't buy that.

Got any documentation on this station and it's output ??

I'm pretty sure that kind of transmitter power would need to be shared with more than 100 licenses to be legal.

That raised my eyebrows too.
I mean it's been 40 years since I had my Class C, but 1.4 billion watts?

The cap was 50kW back then.
I thought the cap was 100kW now.

1.4 Billion?
Johno02
Explorer
Feb 14, 2017
About the dumbest I ever felt was trying to help a friend with his after he installed a new antenna. Try as we might, could not pick up a single thing, although my rig next door was getting several very well. Anyone else ever realize that many older TVs (without converters) won't even show any digital stations, and that nearly all the stations now are digital?? Connected a digital receiver to his new antenna system, and had all kinds of stations available.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Feb 13, 2017
westend wrote:
I have an antenna on a mast for UHF digital TV reception. I was watching one day and all channels had good reception. As the wind increased, the antenna and mast started moving, causing occasional drop outs of the channels. The solution was to lower the mast until it was just above the roof line.

Those with conventional folding RV antennas should look at how their antenna reacts to the wind and make sure there is minimum movement when deployed.

Yup, I was the one that complained about walking into the camper and the signal would drop out. Same way with the slightest breeze. My old antennae will not stay tight at full extension and rocks around easily. By lowering it I can keep it steady but, it will not rotate then.

I don't watch that much TV when camping so I have decided to leave it alone. Too much cost and hassle to fix.