WJFB went to full power just after 8pm this past Monday. Then they went off the air just past noon the next day, and they have been off the air ever since. I didn't know what happened until today. They have now applied for temporary status at a lower power of 31.7kw vs. 950kw. They had listed a reason for all this, and it is as follows: "The newly installed antenna has shown carbon soot found on the top of the elbow complex near the antenna. The antenna is emitting a burnt smell and marks of soot is visible on the bullet of the antenna input. The vendor has been contacted and has provided a temporary antenna with specs outlined in this application."
Also, WTVF has given an update to their progress. The update can be found at NewsChannel5.com. In part of the update, they say, "Right now, the crews working on the tower tell us their work will be finished in 7-14 days. We realize this is longer than our initial timeline we gave when the rescan took place, and we apologize for that. There are several factors we're not in control of: this past weekend's rain out, for instance, prevented our crews from performing much of their work for several days." Also, in the update, they answer a few common questions about their signal and their progress, and they have given a phone number and e-mail address where you can sign-up to be called on the phone when their new antenna is in place and powered up to full power. Well, until more news breaks, that's all I have for now.
Updated 5:20pm - WJFB just within the past couple of hours has come on the air but like I said above at only 31.7kw.
Repack Update - WJFB and WTVF - Updated
- Posted November 1st, 2019 at 2:44pm
9 Comments
gregsfc
- Posted on November 2nd, 2019 at 5:52am
Thanks for finding and providing this very useful information. I'm sitting here just north of Cookeville with several lost stations (WTVF, WZTV, and WJFB) but have gained CW-20 in Crossville; wondering if I need to try and upgrade, because I can find no information save here, and I lose this website every time I come to it and try to go back to it on the same device or browser. I'm running out of devices and browsers to get to this site for information. When I try to go back to this site, I get a page that states "user not found" and no variations of the web address helps. As for WTVF-5, I had looked all over the NewsChannel5 website yesterday, including the site map, and did a couple of searches on their site, and couldn't find any info about their OTA broadcast. However, lately we've been getting WTVF solid. During periods of cloud cover, we get the signal without drop outs, but near dawn and dusk with clear skies, our signal drops or stays out, and those are the times when we tune in the most. Does anyone know anything specfic about WZTV-17? I read on one of the early repack posts that they are at a lower, temporary power, but have found nothing specific? We used to get it weak but pretty solid. Now, hardly ever. Thanks again.
gregsfc
- Posted on November 2nd, 2019 at 7:51am
It looks as though I've figured out my issues accessing this website. Firstly, I must not check the box that will keep me logged in for future sessions, and secondly, I need to remember to log out before leaving the site. Thanks for what you all do. I rescanned this morning while it was still dark and got a bunch of extra channels that I don't usually receive; some even low power. I got the retransmitted channel 40 in Whitehouse for MeTV, but I'll still have to do a rescan before it's all said and done, because I still didn't get WJFB-44, aka MeTV in Lebanon, and the only way my tuner will ever pick that channel back up is for me to do a rescan. I'll be checking back here frequently and will rely on someone else to tell me when 44 is back up at full power.
NashDigie
- Posted on November 2nd, 2019 at 5:13pm - Edited
Thank you so much for pointing that out about the "Remember Me" option. I have finally looked at it, and I believe I have now fixed it. Now, it should work. I am sorry to everybody for not finding that sooner. I don't know how long that has been like that, but now it should work. Thank you, again, gregsfc. Also, WZTV is indeed on lower power. It is only running at 68.43kw vs. 1000kw before the repack, and yes, I will definitely post when WJFB will finally start broadcasting at full power again.
leavenfish
- Posted on November 3rd, 2019 at 10:36am
Does 'low power' affect the HD feed? Mainly I am wondering if WJFB is ever going to have an HD equilivant to channel 66 (SD) on AttUverse. The SD is poor...MeTV looked so nice on the old AttUverse 1136.
NashDigie
- Posted on November 3rd, 2019 at 1:35pm
No, it shouldn't affect it, and I have no idea about Uverse or any other TV carrier at this time.
gregsfc
- Posted on November 4th, 2019 at 5:37am
All else being equal, an OTA signal will always provide a superior picture on an equivalent t.v. screen as compared to a compressed cable or satellite signal as long as the signal on the former is strong enough for your t.v. tuner to decode it to the point where it's not de-pixelating or dropping out entirely. The power level affects whether you can receive it or how big an antenna you need to receive it, but not the quality once it's received. Sometimes the difference in picture quality may not be noticeable, but it is superior. As for HD, it all has to do with whether or not the station is broadcasting in HD and if the programming is in HD. So while you can have a station like WKRN 2.1 that broadcasts news and sports in HD (that means it's an HD channel) there may sometimes be programs on that channel that will not be in HD. That means no one gets that program in HD; not OTA, not cable and not satellite. However, an OTA viewer, viewing an HD program in HD over the air, will always have a superior HD picture than a satellite or cable viewer watching an HD program. The same will be true in SD, because the OTA signal is not compressed. Your t.v. tuner should show you what quality level that you're receiving on any particular show when you tune to it. For instance, Right now, I'm watching Dick Van Dyke Show on retransmitted channel 40.1 out of White House. When I first tune to the program, it shows it as HD in 720. So that's not the best HD, but it is still considered HD. No cable or Satellite or anyone else is going to offer a better picture of that show on any MeTV outlet than what I'm getting OTA. As long as OTA exists, it's probably going to always be this way.
aludra
- Posted on November 7th, 2019 at 10:08am
Dabl is on the air now--58.4...looks better than the food network!
stilgar
- Posted on November 12th, 2019 at 2:29pm
I don't suppose anyone has heard any news on WJFB getting back to full power?
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