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VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
szmigiel
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VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by szmigiel » Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:57 pm

Since Sunday I have been getting signal quality issues with Fox 2, real channel 7, which I have not encountered in a long time. So for months Fox 2 has been rock solid signal for me, no interference at all, I haven't made any changes to my set up since the fall, and everything had been working fine.

Starting Sunday I left the morning news on and every so often the signal would drop for a second and comeback. Also happened and few times during the NFL game. Sometimes everything is normal, and other times it will keep dropping and coming back over a 10 minute or longer period. Watched "The Passage" on Monday night with no issues, but last night during "The Gifted" at the end it got real bad. It has been happening on all three TVs, but they all do use the same outdoor antenna. The rest of my channels are okay.

I am out in Shelby Twp, near Mound and M-59, anyone else notice anything strange about Fox 2 since Sunday?



Deleted User 14888

Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by Deleted User 14888 » Wed Jan 16, 2019 2:41 pm

I’m in Utica as well downtown actually, and I live in a two story home, I thought I would have to go on the roof to fix the antenna apparently, I’m not the only one experiencing technical difficulties, Thanks for the info, that saved an old man from going up on the roof in the middle of winter.



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mtburb
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by mtburb » Wed Jan 16, 2019 6:05 pm

I haven't yet noticed any problems, though I last watched this channel on Friday.

What I have noticed however is that WDIV's signal has once again started having quality issues starting yesterday. During New Amsterdam it dropped and came back about every 10 minutes or so.

Two-story home in Wyandotte near Fort and Eureka.


My furthest DTV tropo: KDKA Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 202 miles for three days in January 2017 and a night in September 2017 with only an Antennas Direct C2V!

Current setup: Antennas Direct C2Max (2018-present)

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Mickey Lolich
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by Mickey Lolich » Wed Jan 16, 2019 8:50 pm

Being in West Michigan, I catch OTA Grand Rapids and Kzoo stations with an antenna up about 35 feet, pointed to Kzoo. In the past couple of weeks, I noticed the VHF signals would all drop out together, while the UHF signals remained the same. That includes WOOD (8), which is one of the strongest signals for me. Puzzling. But it doesn't last long.

I don't watch a lot of TV, so I can't say how often this has been happening, but it is something new.

Forever I have sometimes lost WWMT (3) and sometimes WZZM (13). But never WOOD. And never all three at the same time.

Some weird VHF thing going on?


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Deleted User 14896

Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by Deleted User 14896 » Wed Jan 16, 2019 9:31 pm

mtburb wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 6:05 pm
What I have noticed however is that WDIV's signal has once again started having quality issues starting yesterday. During New Amsterdam it dropped and came back about every 10 minutes or so.
WDIV's been doing this for about 2 weeks for me.
Fox2 has been good the last few months, which is a little suprising, because for the longest time they were bad on my OTA antenna.



szmigiel
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by szmigiel » Thu Jan 17, 2019 10:56 am

I have an outdoor antenna set up about 35' in the air. I normally get most of the channels in very reliably. I do have issues with the higher channels when there is high winds, since 4, 7, and 62 are actually in the 40s I think I get interference from the branches moving in the wind. If I adjust my antenna slightly I can often get one to be more steady, but usually not all of them at the same time. I am eagerly awaiting the repack of those three channels, but that won't be till 2020.

Fox 2 has been so rock solid for me for so long, I was actually surprised at the continuing issue. However last night the wife watched "the Masked Singer" and said she had no issues. I have also been putting on Fox 2 in the morning before work just to see if there was anything strange, and it has been okay. Hopefully there is no issues Sunday during the playoff game on Fox.

Side note, some of the LD stations can give me issues, but I have most of them on skip anyways so I don't worry about it. About the only one I keep is 14 WHNE, but I do wonder if I will be able to get them in Lo-VHF when they repack to Channel 3.



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Mickey Lolich
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by Mickey Lolich » Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:14 pm

Update: Discovered this morning that when I run the microwave oven in the next room (kitchen), it wipes out the VHF channels. Not the UHF channels.

As soon as the microwave goes off, the VHF channels return!

This did not happen on the TV downstairs.

So, the microwave is interferring with the VHF freqs. Anyone care to explain?


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szmigiel
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by szmigiel » Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:28 pm

Maybe the microwave is between the antenna and the tower?



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mtburb
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by mtburb » Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:42 pm

An update of my own: as of tonight, with the snow rushing in, WDIV no longer frequently wipes out. I watched WJBK for a little bit last night and it didn't drop out at all.


My furthest DTV tropo: KDKA Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 202 miles for three days in January 2017 and a night in September 2017 with only an Antennas Direct C2V!

Current setup: Antennas Direct C2Max (2018-present)

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MWmetalhead
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:51 pm

I think the VHF issues encountered in Metro Detroit and also Grand Rapids over the past several weeks might've been a function of the atmospheric conditions.

I know we've had a very stagnant air mass with a light southwesterly flow since early December. A lot of chemical particles were getting suspended above the surface, making air quality unhealthy on many days. In Detroit, there were numerous days with smog. This was highly noticeable near the Detroit riverfront in particular.

I have no ability to prove that these circumstances led to degradation of VHF reception, but that's my theory and I'm sticking to it! :)



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Mickey Lolich
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by Mickey Lolich » Fri Jan 18, 2019 5:24 pm

szmigiel wrote:
Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:28 pm
Maybe the microwave is between the antenna and the tower?
Thanks for the theory. But no, it isn't. The mic is west of the TV and the tower/antenna are south.


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szmigiel
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by szmigiel » Sun Jan 20, 2019 4:50 pm

Getting intermitted issues during the game again, I guess it is atmospheric in nature, sucks when it happens in the middle of a big play.



innate-in-you
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by innate-in-you » Sun Jan 20, 2019 5:59 pm

Mickey Lolich wrote:
Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:14 pm
Update: Discovered this morning that when I run the microwave oven in the next room (kitchen), it wipes out the VHF channels. Not the UHF channels.

As soon as the microwave goes off, the VHF channels return!

This did not happen on the TV downstairs.

So, the microwave is interferring with the VHF freqs. Anyone care to explain?
It's not the RF from the magetron (2450 MHz) causing the interference, it's the electronics that produce the very high voltages to run the magnetron.

In general, the amount of RFI generated by a power supply circuit is high at HF and tapers off with frequency. VHF suffers more than UHF, and VHF stations usually have less ERP than UHF.

Many modern appliances have switching power supplies. These use transistors to convert house current to RF, so that the voltage can be multiplied using a smaller, less expensive transformer, then rectified to high voltage AC.

I don't know if this is done with microwave ovens, but they sure can raise havoc on the HF and VHF bands. I've passed hybrid semi trucks that wipe the AM broadcast band for 100 feet.



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windsor
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Re: VHF signal quality issues on Fox 2

Post by windsor » Sun Jan 20, 2019 6:19 pm

Im posting on this thread not about Fox2 which comes in to me solid 89% signal but about WDIV Local4 which is also giving me dropouts the last couple of days.Could be the cold conditions???


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