Stumbled across this while searching for recommendations for a CECB:

Don Bouldrey: Since I’m still dumb as a stick about this dtv, I've assumed [component over-] heating has been causing signal dropouts but now it appears as though it’s the wind causing that on the weaker stations. I use folded dipoles of different wavelengths hung in a cedar tree to pull from transmitters that are in three different directions and spread by 50°. Hey, it works fine for analog, even in a hurricane, but I’m learning digital is a different animal.

bdfox18doe (Charlotte, NC): You’re encountering dynamic multipath that the receiver isn’t fast enough to correct for. Nearby trees, especially when wet, will really affect ATSC reception, especially at UHF frequencies. And some receivers handle it much better than others.

Don Bouldrey: I can see that I’ll be rethinking my old antenna system. Even though my dipoles are tuned to frequency and aimed at the towers, this wind issue will be a pain. Otherwise, everything is about as good as it can get. Funny thing with the ATSC is the propaganda is really exploiting the safety and reliability of DTV and discussing the value of it for keeping people safe in emergency.... while showing footage of a hurricane in action. Like you, I'm thinking ATSC will be useless in a hurricane whereas the analog TV works just fine no matter what the conditions. When ’cane Ivan hit us @ 135, every time I saw the red doppler bands heading for our house, all hell broke loose. Our reception remained perfect all night long. I should say it was perfect for the one station that managed to stay on the air throughout the night.

I wonder if there's any contingency plan for reverting to analog when hurricanes are heading in. An inoperative television system just won’t fly in hurricane country.

Scooper (Youngsville, NC): I'd like to hear from some members in hurricane country right after a ’cane goes through to get the straight scoop on this. I've noticed that my reception is rather spotty with blowing, wet trees, but that is exactly what I attributed it to - blowing, wet trees. It doesn't do DBS any good either.

satpro (central FL): ATSC works fine in a hurricane, tested during trifecta hurricane season a few years ago during Charley, Francis and Jeanne in Orlando. What doesn’t work is when the stations don’t bother to have a generator with gas in it hooked up to the DTV transmitter or the cheap %^&&*(# choose to shut the DTV off to conserve fuel, shutting down distant cable companies who take the DTV feed.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:30:31 GMT | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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