Email Tom at Thomas.H.Young@abc.com
Q: Tom, we live in American Fork Utah. We do not subscribe to cable TV. We got a converter box for our TV. Can I still record my soaps through it? I've tried and have been unsuccessful. I would appreciate any tips you could give me.
Thanks, Susan Fautin
A: Susan, Since the converter box outputs NTSC (the old analog system) it should still work with your VCR. Be sure the converter is set to the channel you want to record, the converter is correctly routed to the VCR and the VCR is set to channel 3 or the component (the yellow, red and white wires) input. You can't select the channel number you want with the VCR. It must be done with the converter.
Regards, Tom Young
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Q: I have heard that digital broadcasts are only being broadcast at 25% of possible power and when the transition takes place the digital transmitters will be using 100% of their power. Is this true? I can find nothing online saying that is at a lower output.
Regards, Derek Pyper
A: Derek, This is a more complicated question than it appears to be, but I'll try to answer it as best I can.
During the transition each station is broadcasting on two channels, the old analog channel and a different digital channel. In our case we broadcast our analog signal on channel 13 as we always have with an effective radiated power just a bit below 300 Kilowatts. Our digital station is presently on channel 19 with an effective radiated power of 795 Kilowatts.
In fact a digital signal doesn't have to be as powerful as an analog signal, and most stations will be broadcasting at a lower power level than they are today.
In our case we will return to channel 13 with our digital signal with an effective radiated power of just over 11 Kilowatts. The FCC determined that VHF stations require less power than UHF stations to cover the same area, but we have done some tests of our own, and we suspect that a higher power level will be necessary to duplicate our coverage area. It remains to be seen what the FCC will do about this. My guess is that it will take some time to get everything straightened out partly because there will be a new administration in Washington, and different people are likely at the FCC, as well as other factors. By the way, channel 11 is returning their digital signal to channel 11 at about the same power level and channel 40 is going to be broadcasting on channel 5. The rest of the Toledo stations will be in the UHF band at different power levels. There are some stations (not in Toledo) that will be broadcasting in the UHF band with up to 1 million effective watts!
The bottom line is that I suspect it will be a while before the channel assignments and power levels are carved in stone. It will be an interesting and challenging time for broadcasters. Feel free to call me at the station at 419-531-1313 if you care to discuss this in more detail.
Tom Young
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Q: Where is your broadcast tower? A map or latitude/lonitude would be helpful. I am trying to aim my antenna for better reception. Thanks. Dave
A: Dave, Our tower is located in Oregon Ohio at 1701 N. Stadium Road. All the Toledo stations are in the same area, give or take a mile or two, and I would think from Arcadia it would be just about due north. Perhaps this web site will help you aim your antenna: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx .
Regards, Tom Young
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Q: ABC, I am a person who receives your channel but I know you broadcast HD over the air. However, I have Dish Network, and we do not receive the HD channels through it. Is it possible that you guys could start broadcasting in HD on Dish Network, also?
Thanks for listening, Jacob Books
A: Jacob, Sorry, but we can't require Dish network to carry our HD programming. They are adding markets in the order of the market size and according to their dish's capacity, and they haven't made it to Toledo yet.
Tom Young
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Q: I am not for sure where this should go, but I hope you can direct it or help. I got the "digital box" for the TV and I don't have enough signal to receive your station. Looking at antennas there is one that is "for digital" as it is made to receive UHF stations. I looked at one chart and see your station is UHF but on another chart it is VHF.
When the digital transition is complete, which frequency will you be transmitting on VHF or UHF? Thanks for any help you can provide.
A: Paul, After the transition we will move our digital signal from channel 19 where it is right now to channel 13. If I knew where you are I might be able to help with a recommendation for an antenna. There will be digital stations on cannels 5 thru 51. All other channels go away. Here in Toledo channel 11 will return their digital transmitter, which is on channel 17 back to 11. The ideal antenna for Toledo would have to receive both VHF and UHF.
Tom Young
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Q: Hi, We can not pick up your channel on digital but received it fine in analog. I always enjoyed watching your channel for news and weather the best. Does this mean I can't anymore after Feb.? Several of the digital channels we receive don't always stay tuned in. They freeze and tile or go black off and on. I would think if they came in clear in analog that they should in digital too. Is anyone else having this problem? I'm thinking that switching to digital is going to be a big joke on us viewers.
Jo
A: Jo, There are several reasons why you might have a problem receiving digital transmissions when you are happy with the analog reception. Each station is broadcasting both right now, so the number of channels on the air has doubled. Digital transmissions don't work well when there is any kind of interference or when the signal path is less than perfect. I would guess that you either live in an area away from Toledo where another station is interfering, or your antenna is not adequate for a multitude of reasons. The most common cause of such problems seem to happen when a viewer tries to receive the stations inside a house with aluminum siding. The metal tends to reflect some of the signal and there is a canceling effect with the main and the reflected signals. If neither of these things is true in your case, feel free to call me at the station at 419-531-1313 and we'll try to solve your problem.
You are right in a way; the digital transition is causing a lot of us problems, but remember, this was a mandate of our government, not a decision by the industry.
Tom Young
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Q: Could you please tell me what digital channel you broadcast on? I have my converter box hooked up here at home in Defiance, county and can't get your channel 13. . now when we're in the Port Clinton area it came in as channel 13. there was nothing different. I would like to watch shows on your channel but can't find it. I have to watch them on a Fort Wayne, IN station instead.
Thank you for your time.
Terry Rosebrock
A: Terry, We have had a lot of people mention trouble receiving our signal from the Defiance area. Our digital signal is actually on channel 19 right now, but after February 17 we will move it to channel 13 when we shut down the analog transmitter.
The reason you are having trouble, is because there is station in Fort Wayne also transmitting on channel 19, and the two are canceling each other. After the February changeover there should be no interference issue there, but you will need an antenna capable of receiving VHF as well as UHF. In the interim a good directional antenna might help.
Regards, Tom Young
Q: I am having trouble with your digital TV signal. I can receive your analog signal O.K. from my current antenna but when I try to swith over to the digital signal, it will not tune it in. Has the strength of your digital signal been reduced??? Any suggestions??
Thank You, D Brown
A: Dennis, You didn't say where you are, but I would guess you are having an interference issue. This is common in the area between Toledo and Cleveland, and between Toledo and Fort Wayne. Our power level is actually the highest in town right now, and shouldn't be an issue. After the February 17 shutdown of analog transmissions we will move our digital signal from channel 19, where it is now to channel 13, and the above mentioned interference issues should not be a factor.
Regards, Tom Young
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Q: Hello, I have a question regarding the WTVG HD signal strength. I currently get my Toledo HD signal via a very large antenna with a rotor and amplifier (at least until Dish Network starts showing Toledo in HD). Of the big 3 in Toledo, 11, 13, and 24, I have the hardest time getting a strong signal from WTVG. 11 and 24 can be showing a signal strength in the high 90% range and WTVG will be bouncing around in the mid 70 - 85% range, sometimes causing a lost signal. Moving the antenna doesn't seem to help much. My question is, when we have the DTV move in February will the WTVG signal be boosted? Any change coming that will help this?
Thank you.
David Reddick
A: David, After finding Jenera on a map (sorry, I was unaware of your town's location) I can say with confidence that your real problem isn't that our signal isn't strong enough, but rather, you are receiving interference from a station in Fort Wayne broadcasting their digital signal on channel 19 as we do. The two stations are canceling each other out. The signal meter your set displays is really indicating the quality of the received signal, which is why it moves around.
After the February 17th transition 13abc will return our (digital) signal to channel 13 after we shut the analog transmitter off for good and hopefully you will receive us just fine. Plan to rescan your tuner on that date. The only problem I see that you might have is a channel 13 (digital) in Columbus. Depending on the antenna you are using this station might cause the same problem. The Federal Communications Commission removed all the channels below 5 and above 51, so the remaining stations are squeezed into fewer channels, and there is less separation between stations on the same channel.
Best of luck, and let me know how all this comes out after February 17th.
Regards, Tom Young
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Q: I don't hear very much regarding the recording devices that so many of us use with our analog TV's. I've had some discussions with some techies and it sounds like the old vcr's that some of us have been using on our analog TV's will not record on a new digital TV. I understand that they will play just fine, but will not record. If we have a converter box on our analog TV, will that be sufficient to continue to record on the old vcr from the TV? Will it be necessary to purchase a digital vcr or a digital dvd recorder? What kind of cost are we looking at if it is necessary to purchase new recording equipment?
Thanks!
Janice Wasserman
A: Janice, It should be possible to record with a vcr if a converter box is used for the tuner. You will not be able to use the vcr's tuner, you would have to manually tune the converter box to the channel you want and feed the vcr with the output cable from the converter box. The recording would remain a standard definition recording. In order to record in high definition you would require an HDTV DVR. There are no consumer HD VCR's and we don't even own one here. We record our HD programs on broadcast quality DVD's and servers.
Regards, Tom Young
