problem tuning subchannels on WSTR-TV

[skleene]

For a little over a year, I've had trouble tuning in the subchannels of WSTR-TV (Channel 64 in Cincinnati) over the air. This involves two devices, each with its own tuner: an LG OLED55B7A-U TV from 2018, and a Magnavox H2160MW9 DVDR from 2009.

On the TV, if we enter 64-1, we get nothing. If we advance the channel, it goes to a second copy of 64-1 with a signal. If we request 64-4, it tunes in 64-2, which works. The only way to get to 64-4 is to request 64-5 and then go down a channel.

With the DVD recorder, we've found no way to get to 64-4. I tried rescanning all the channels to no avail. All other channels work correctly with either tuner.

I have almost no knowledge about broadcasting and receiving, but this problem happened about the time WSTR switched from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0. I don't know if that's relevant, but there's more toward the end of this page:

What Happened to Channel 64 in Cincinnati

MyNetworkTV affiliate in Cincinnati Television station in Ohio, United States WSTR-TV ...

barberawneyed.blogspot.com

Finally, my question: Is there any way to fix this? In particular, there's a show we'd like to capture from 64.4 on the DVDR. Currently we just record a blank signal.

 

[Jim5506]

It sounds like the tuners do not have the correct channel info in their memory.

Have you tried deleting all channels and rescanning or forcing the tuner to do something similar (some tuners delete and rescan as teh default others have more options)?

Stations are constanly fiddleing with their virtual channels. I often have multiple versions of the same channel in the ATSC tuner but on my TiVo's I can check or uncheck which one to use (trial and error) similarly to the way the Hopper 3 allows you to show or hide channels in its database from Dish.

 

[Mister B]

The channels you have known as "64" are now the guest on 4 other local transmitters (channels that you know as 5, 9, 12 and 19). But in reality all of these except channel 12 actually transmit on other channels and just continue to call themselves by the same number they were traditionally known as.
Some but not most tuners allow users to punch in the channel number that is actually being transmitted on. In your case the channel you know as 64-1 transmits on 20-7. 64-2 is on 12-4, 64-3 is on 12-5, and your 64-4 transmits on 15-9.
I know this is treeeibly confusing. I have tried to explain it to friends who are both a lawyer and priest. You may see some clarification by going to our very helpful resource known as RabbitEars.info which is where I found this information. If none of this works for you at least you will understand what is going on. Good luck!

 

[skleene]

The channels you have known as "64" are now the guest on 4 other local transmitters (channels that you know as 5, 9, 12 and 19). But in reality all of these except channel 12 actually transmit on other channels and just continue to call themselves by the same number they were traditionally known as.
Some but not most tuners allow users to punch in the channel number that is actually being transmitted on. In your case the channel you know as 64-1 transmits on 20-7. 64-2 is on 12-4, 64-3 is on 12-5, and your 64-4 transmits on 15-9.
I know this is treeeibly confusing. I have tried to explain it to friends who are both a lawyer and priest. You may see some clarification by going to our very helpful resource known as RabbitEars.info which is where I found this information. If none of this works for you at least you will understand what is going on. Good luck!

 

[skleene]

Thanks to both of you for your replies.

Jim5506, yes, I did try rerunning the auto channel scan on the DVDR. That didn't fix the problem. I didn't try manually deleting any channels first.

Mister B, I tried manually selecting 20.7, 12.4, 12.5, and 15.9. These paused and then redirected to 5.1, 12.1, 12.1, and 19.1, respectively. You mentioned that this wouldn't work with most tuners.

In March, I sent an inquiry to the station (webmaster@local12.com) asking to be put in touch with a broadcast engineer there, but I got no response. I may just be out of luck. Thanks again.

 

[primestar31]

skleene Disconnect the antenna coax from the tuner. Run a channel scan to clear the matrix. It'll likely find no channels, which is what you want. Then, re-connect the coax, and run another channel scan. Perhaps that'll fix it.

 

[skleene]

With the coax off, the channel scan found no channels. Then I redid the scan with the coax back on. Unfortunately, the tuning problem persisted. Thanks for a good suggestion, primestar31.

 

[Jim5506]

Have you contacted the station and let them know that on two different ATSC tuners you have these problems?

It soundl like their encoder may not be configured correctly.

My suspicion is that with problems on tuners by different manufacturers means the signal itself is the problem.

 

[primestar31]

Have you contacted the station and let them know that on two different ATSC tuners you have these problems?

It soundl like their encoder may not be configured correctly.

My suspicion is that with problems on tuners by different manufacturers means the signal itself is the problem.

I agree with this. It's very likely a PSIP transport stream ID misconfiguration. I've had this happen at several of my local stations. I looked up their engineers, emailed them what's going on, and they've fixed it in minutes.

 

[Jim5506]

It amazes me that some stations have no idea what they are putting out over the airwaves.

 

[skleene]

I mentioned that in March, I sent an inquiry to the station (webmaster@local12.com) asking to be put in touch with a broadcast engineer there, but I got no response.

With a little online searching, I just found the phone number and email address of the Director of Engineering at WKRC (which runs WSTR). I'll try contacting him and report the result (if any). Thanks.

 

[primestar31]

It amazes me that some stations have no idea what they are putting out over the airwaves.

They don't care about OTA viewers, so as far as I can tell, they don't monitor their signal, even with a turned on tv set. They only care about getting paid by cable and streaming, so they can double-dip.