Monday, June 7, 2010

Transition Update - WNYF-LP Still Awaiting FCC Approval for St Lawrence County Operations... Local Delivery on DISH Network

It has been sometime since I have commented on the DTV transition and any updates regarding WWNY & WNYF. That, in part, is because the DTV transition has more or less come and gone. It's true LPTV stations still have not been mandated to transition or convert to all DTV operations, but as my last post notes,WNYF-CA in Watertown has. We are still awaiting FCC approval for WNYF-LP in St Lawrence County.

The application to convert WNYF-LP to DTV operations was made last July. We have been told our proposal has passed Canadian review and the regulatory comment period has ended...so approval, barring any objections, should be days away. United Communication Corporation has already ordered a new DTV transmitter for our St Lawrence County operations and is preparing the site for installation. As a reminder, when this project is complete WNYF-LP will digitally be operating with channel 28.1 providing digital broadcasts of WNYF FOX-28 programming and 28.2 the HDTV programming of WWNY. This operation will not only digitize the FOX operation in St Lawrence County, but will help back-fill WWNY coverage to areas no longer served by our Watertown signal as a result of the transition to DTV.

One final update, DISH Network added local stations to their system last Thursday. Subscribers of DISH Network can now receive satellite broadcasts of our signals. This too will help back-fill areas lost from the DTV transition.

13 comments:

W said...

Looks like approval was granted today:

BDISDTL 20090630AIC 346 E WNYF-LP 16744 LD GRANTED 06/08/2010 Info | Application

Congratulations!

Do you have any estimates for when you expect to be operating?
(I'll probably need a much better antenna, as TVFool.com predicts signals in the -101 dBm range at my location. I'll need at least 13-18 dBi gain at the antenna)

Jim Corbin said...

Work has started on the site and we now need to arrange delivery of the transmitter. With any luck I'd say no more than 4-6 weeks.

Did you find a listing in TV Fool already for WNYF-LD??

W said...

Many FCC records in "App" state are visible in the Online TV Maps (at http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90).

Fill in your address, and on the first result screen, click on the "Current and Pending" Display option. WNYF-LP ch 18 then shows up in the digital column. (Note that the pending stations won't show up in the Radar Plot [If you are quick, you'll see WNYF show up briefly and then disappear.])

Of course, given that the propagation characteristics for channels 18 and 23 from the location would be similar, then simply subtracting 10 dB from the values for WNPI also gives a good approximation.

W said...

And one more thing -- if you want to see TVFool's coverage plot for WNYF-LP, click on the WNYF entry mentioned above, and the Google Map view will change to one centred on the transmitter (instead of the receiver location you specified in Online TV Maps), with a colour-coded display of Longley-Rice coverage predictions.

Marty H said...

Jim thanks for the info

Since I already get ch. 35 (28.1) WNYF-LP Watertown sometimes. Some days I get it others I don't. Will I get the new station in St.Lawrence co. on 28.1 also? In other words will I get two 28.1's

Marty
Ogdensburg

Jim Corbin said...

You might...The antenna orientation would be different, but it may be possible to get one 28.1 in one direction and the other from another. The St Lawrence transmitter is physically on channel 18, just as the Watertown one is on 35... so only the channel labeling and EPG info would be the same...The one signal will not interfere with the other.

Anonymous said...

Isnt LP understating the potential range for the Norwood signal? I mean..if the signal will reach ottawa and the whole region? LP seems a bit odd..

Jim Corbin said...

Legally WNYF's transmitters are all considered low-powered. WNYF-CD and the proposed WNYF-LD have the highest power allocations we could apply for when factoring adjacent stations, interference etc. Because we maximized to the extent we were permitted the range is better for their DTV coverage over their old analog coverage. As was the case with analog...the signal can and will travel beyond the "coverage map"...that is more a picture of where certain receivable levels are anticipated.

Anonymous said...

any update on progress with the South Colton digital transmitter installation?

Jim Corbin said...

Work has started...we hope to be operational within 30-60 days...more likely something in-between.

Anonymous said...

Congrats for the approval! It's almost been a month since the update. Another 30 days to wait? Can we expect to see test signals soon? Or will it be straight to broadcasting?

W said...

The 30-60 days almost up. Is there a new estimate for when WNYF-LD will be on the air from the South Colton Tower?

Jim Corbin said...

Engineers are still working on the installation...we are very close. Unfortunately it is difficult to put an exact date on its operation when you are dealing with vendors, their schedules, tech support and complicated equipment installations.