Is anyone running HD OTA in Delaware

[Slowmotion]

I’m thinking about installing a 48' antenna tower in Milford, Delaware with a HD OTA antenna. I’m also thinking about using a TiVo Romeo or the new Channel Master DVR that is planned to come out around 2014. I was wondering if anyone was using this type of system in Delaware and with what level of success. With any luck I hope to say good bye to Comcast once and for all.

 

[KEVIN_224]

Interesting spot for an antenna! I see that Milford, DE straddles the Kent and Sussex county line, with the north side considered to be in the Dover MSA and the extreme southern edge of the Philadelphia/Wilmington DMA. However, I think Salisbury, MD and WBOC-TV (CBS) channel 16 would be closer (and that Sussex County, DE is part of that market).

 

[Trip]

Are you going for Philadelphia or Salisbury TV stations? With a 48 foot tower, you might very well have a shot at some of the Philadelphia stations, even if you didn't get all of them. WPPX (ION), in particular, would likely be unusable to you, due to WRDE-LD in Rehoboth Beach. WTXF (FOX) could also be a problem due to WMPT in Annapolis. You would need a large low-VHF antenna for WPVI, and everything else would need a good UHF antenna. (WHYY 12-1 is available from what should be a very strong Seaford signal, WDPB on 64-1, thus you do not need upper-VHF.)

Or, maybe you're going for Baltimore, which may also be possible for you. If so, you would need high-VHF and UHF.

Salisbury would be a lot easier, but wouldn't get you NBC unless you pulled it from WMGM in Wildwood, NJ, which also looks feasible from Milford. Also, FOX is not available in HD from Salisbury, though it is in widescreen SD on WBOC 21-2.

Would you mind plugging your exact location into TVFool.com and posting the result here, as well as letting us know which stations you're going for? (Or maybe you're going to install a rotor and go for all of them?)

- Trip

 

[Mr Tony]

I ran a tvfool report for your city using the 48 foot you mention...you can rerun using your exact location to get a better set of results

Basically its Salisbury stations locally. There is a NBC in Wildwood, NJ (WMGM) that you should be able to get too. If all you want is local stations a UHF antenna will do just fine (the channel 7 that shows on tvfool doesnt really exist right now)
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=46aef8a4ae23d4

as for stations
http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=180

WBOC 16
CBS HD
FOX SD Widescreen
AntennaTV (coming soon)

WMDT
ABC HD
CW HD

WDPB
PBS HD
PBS Encore
World Channel

WRDE-LD (drawback is on the tvfool I provided its SE of that loc versus SW for the others)
Retro/My (My from 8-10...RTV for the rest)

WMGM
NBC HD

WCPB
Different PBS than WDPB
V-Me (Spanish)

 

[Mr Tony]

oh and welcome to Satelliteguys

 

[Slowmotion]

Thanks for all of the information – I am trying to pick up as many stations as possible. The other problem I am running into is how to record programs to the DVR when they are in different locations and I am not home. Is anyone aware of a time programmable rotor that could be preset to automatically change direction at 8:00 pm on Monday and then reposition at 10:00 pm for a different station.

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks for all of the information – I am trying to pick up as many stations as possible. The other problem I am running into is how to record programs to the DVR when they are in different locations and I am not home.

other than the Salisbury stations, the others are really a hit and miss thing unless you have a huge antenna.

Is anyone aware of a time programmable rotor that could be preset to automatically change direction at 8:00 pm on Monday and then reposition at 10:00 pm for a different station.

I've never seen one

 

[Trip]

Slowmotion,

It would really help to have a TVFool report with your exact location. Location is everything, and if you're in a favorable location, that 48 foot tower could make all the difference.

That said, I'm not aware of a rotor with a timer either (though there are computer-controlled ones that you might be able to program for that purpose...) and you would probably want to choose a particular set of stations to use. Plus, the Salisbury stations might be close enough that you would be able to see them off the back of your antenna anyway, so for CBS, ABC, CW, and PBS, aim may not be as big of a problem.

- Trip

 

[primestar31]

You know, it's really a shame we can't get tv's or dvr's with DiSEqC code ability that could talk to a DiSEqC antenna rotor, and move it like a satellite dish mover when it switches to another sat automatically.

Yes, I know that there is (was, they are now discontinued) available a DiSEqC antenna rotor, but it doesn't have the ability to re-aim when the tv or device switches to a particular channel. That would be fantastic, and one of the final pieces needed for true OTA people.