sebenste
EF1
Hey gang,
There is something you should know...many TV stations in the Plains
will be broadcasting high-resolution radar data for free! 24/7/365.
You see them late at night when you crash at hotels and see local doppler,
satellite, etc. Well, you can get it for free while on the road!
Some people have TV's in their cars to monitor local stations coverage.
Some have TV tuners via a TV tuner card in their laptop. Here's the deal...
If all goes well, in February 2009, your tuner card and analog TV will show nothing but snow. The FCC has mandated that all TV stations transition from analog to digital. That's been under way for several years, but by July 1 of this year, ALL digital TV stations have to be at full power unless they show hardship (serious tower, construction or land permit issues).
If you have an analog TV hooked up to an antenna, you will only see snow on a channel showing a digital broadcast. But if you have a digital tuner card on a PC, or a set-top box, or a TV that has a built-in digital tuner, you will see crystal-clear broadcasts of what they are showing on their analog station (IE, what you see on satellite or cable, or a regular TV hooked up to an antenna).
BUT, the beauty of digital TV is that you can do something known as "multicast". Each digital TV station has 19.3 megabits/sec of data they can use to show a TV program. But the latest technology lets you break that digital stream into multiple channels! In Oklahoma City, 3 stations have a main channel. But the NBC affiliate has a "subchannel", as they are called, showing NBC Weather Plus 24 hours a day. And, the FOX TV station has a channel showing nothing but radar, satellite and current conditions 24 hours a day! You don't need to have an HDTV to view these....just a digital tuner:
http://ruel.net/pc/tv.tuner.links.htm#hdtvcards
A lineup of Oklahoma stations is here:
http://www.hdtvok.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&page_id=3
and at http://www.hdtvok.org for the rest of the state.
Notice on the above Web site that KOCO-DT has weather on channel "5.2". When your tuner
locks on to a station, the station "remaps" the channel number.
Even though they broadcast physically on channel 7, data in the digital stream changes the output on-screen to show channels 5-1 or 5-2 (read aloud as "five dot two" or "five dash two"). KOKH-DT has it on 25-2, and KFOR-DT has it on 27-2.
In Chicago, WMAQ-DT 5.2 and WLS-DT 7.3 broadcast all weather and live radar almost continuously. In Rockford, IL, radar is found on WREX-DT 13.2. Milwaukee, 10-4 through 10-6 has it, and soon, 4-2.
Digital TV reception is a bit problematic. The signals do go out further, due to the digital and signal steam design. I am exactly 60 miles west of Chicago's broadcast towers, low in a river valley, and have my antennas in a one-story townhome. I can easily get all but one channel; the latter is
at low power. But, when driving, the picture can break up, especially if you are farther away from the tower. If you have a good tuner with a signal amplifier from the car roof antenna, you can get full-power stations 60 miles or more out in the Plains.
All you need to buy is:
An antenna for your car roof (or keep it inside, but get poorer reception)
Cable to go down to your tuner
A digital tuner card in your PC or a separate set-top box for your existing TV
Maybe a signal amplifier (good idea)
And then scan for channels until you find one with weather!
The primary channel used for the major networks broadcasts in HD during largely primetime hours and major sports events, but even if you don't have an HDTV, you can watch the show in "letterboxed" format, with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen as the image is shrunk so you can see everything. Regardless, once you get the tuner card, antenna and lead-in cable to your tuner, you are done. When you scan for stations, look for "-2" and "-3" channels, and at least one or two will show all weather. No subscription fees, period. A cheap and good
option if you are on the road this year.
There is something you should know...many TV stations in the Plains
will be broadcasting high-resolution radar data for free! 24/7/365.
You see them late at night when you crash at hotels and see local doppler,
satellite, etc. Well, you can get it for free while on the road!
Some people have TV's in their cars to monitor local stations coverage.
Some have TV tuners via a TV tuner card in their laptop. Here's the deal...
If all goes well, in February 2009, your tuner card and analog TV will show nothing but snow. The FCC has mandated that all TV stations transition from analog to digital. That's been under way for several years, but by July 1 of this year, ALL digital TV stations have to be at full power unless they show hardship (serious tower, construction or land permit issues).
If you have an analog TV hooked up to an antenna, you will only see snow on a channel showing a digital broadcast. But if you have a digital tuner card on a PC, or a set-top box, or a TV that has a built-in digital tuner, you will see crystal-clear broadcasts of what they are showing on their analog station (IE, what you see on satellite or cable, or a regular TV hooked up to an antenna).
BUT, the beauty of digital TV is that you can do something known as "multicast". Each digital TV station has 19.3 megabits/sec of data they can use to show a TV program. But the latest technology lets you break that digital stream into multiple channels! In Oklahoma City, 3 stations have a main channel. But the NBC affiliate has a "subchannel", as they are called, showing NBC Weather Plus 24 hours a day. And, the FOX TV station has a channel showing nothing but radar, satellite and current conditions 24 hours a day! You don't need to have an HDTV to view these....just a digital tuner:
http://ruel.net/pc/tv.tuner.links.htm#hdtvcards
A lineup of Oklahoma stations is here:
http://www.hdtvok.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&page_id=3
and at http://www.hdtvok.org for the rest of the state.
Notice on the above Web site that KOCO-DT has weather on channel "5.2". When your tuner
locks on to a station, the station "remaps" the channel number.
Even though they broadcast physically on channel 7, data in the digital stream changes the output on-screen to show channels 5-1 or 5-2 (read aloud as "five dot two" or "five dash two"). KOKH-DT has it on 25-2, and KFOR-DT has it on 27-2.
In Chicago, WMAQ-DT 5.2 and WLS-DT 7.3 broadcast all weather and live radar almost continuously. In Rockford, IL, radar is found on WREX-DT 13.2. Milwaukee, 10-4 through 10-6 has it, and soon, 4-2.
Digital TV reception is a bit problematic. The signals do go out further, due to the digital and signal steam design. I am exactly 60 miles west of Chicago's broadcast towers, low in a river valley, and have my antennas in a one-story townhome. I can easily get all but one channel; the latter is
at low power. But, when driving, the picture can break up, especially if you are farther away from the tower. If you have a good tuner with a signal amplifier from the car roof antenna, you can get full-power stations 60 miles or more out in the Plains.
All you need to buy is:
An antenna for your car roof (or keep it inside, but get poorer reception)
Cable to go down to your tuner
A digital tuner card in your PC or a separate set-top box for your existing TV
Maybe a signal amplifier (good idea)
And then scan for channels until you find one with weather!
The primary channel used for the major networks broadcasts in HD during largely primetime hours and major sports events, but even if you don't have an HDTV, you can watch the show in "letterboxed" format, with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen as the image is shrunk so you can see everything. Regardless, once you get the tuner card, antenna and lead-in cable to your tuner, you are done. When you scan for stations, look for "-2" and "-3" channels, and at least one or two will show all weather. No subscription fees, period. A cheap and good
option if you are on the road this year.
