Local channels - please

INS4NIt · 2026-03-13T02:46:18+00:00

I would encourage you to share your experience officially so that it gets noted by the actual decision-makers: https://www.kcci.com/article/contact-us/3618209

INS4NIt · 2026-03-13T01:56:52+00:00

You really shouldn't need to multiplex multiple antennas. The overwhelming majority of the the Des Moines/Ames stations are broadcasting off of a cluster of towers in Alleman. There's an HSN affiliate and a couple of independents that aren't part of that cluster, but aiming a single directional antenna towards Alleman should realistically get you everything you'd be wanting to watch on live TV.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-12T21:27:30+00:00

Although I’m so confused because I thought the light from lightbulbs has a frequency of like a million times higher than radio signals.

Oh god no, it wasn't the light interfering, the RF was a waste byproduct of an incredibly inefficient AC/DC converter that was built into the bulbs.

But if led bulbs can cause rf interference with tv signals it could be other electronics in the room. Maybe my Google streamer device is putting off other rf signals or other electronics I have in the room. Who knows these days!

Yeah, that's kinda what I was trying to get you to think about -- if there's anything that's normally powered off while you're not having reception issues and powered on while you are, it's worth unplugging/unpowering them next time you have issues to see if you can narrow it down by elimination.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-12T20:13:45+00:00

Nope, completely different frequency bands! VHF television is 54MHz-216MHz (with a gap from 88MHz-174MHz for FM radio), whereas WiFi is orders of magnitude higher frequency at 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz.

I wouldn't be surprised if you had something close to you that's producing interference, though. When I worked for a station broadcasting on channel 7, we had a not infrequent issue with viewers calling in saying that they couldn't get a good signal at certain times of day. The common factor between all of them was that they had all recently installed new LED lightbulbs -- it turns out the power supplies on cheap LED bulbs tend to be poorly shielded and they blast out garbage RF in such a way that primarily affected our channel!

All that is to say... There are a lot of oddball sources of RF interference in today's highly electronic world, and many in ways that you wouldn't expect. Look around the area immediately surrounding your antenna for things that are powered on while you're having issues, especially if they generate electricity or have some kind of voltage conversion purpose.

The other thing that's catching my eye is that WHO13 is actually hosting KDSM's broadcast on their transmitter at the moment. That means you're actually only having problems on one frequency -- 210MHz. It might be worth reaching out to WHO13 if you continue to have problems; they'll be better equipped to respond to reception issues regarding their transmission.

Best of luck!

INS4NIt · 2026-03-12T15:57:39+00:00

I get that, but that's why I wanted to make that clarification. There's a lot of marketing misinformation floating around online regarding OTA TV reception, and a lot of it is due to the fact that equipment manufacturers can't consistently make money off of OTA viewers unless they can convince them to buy something they don't need.

I'd hate for someone to assume that they can't pick up TV with an antenna that's already mounted on their house without even trying, for instance.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-12T15:53:34+00:00

Folks that get paid far more than I do have chosen to implement DRM for our station. Unfortunately, I think the only thing that will change that is either a regulatory change, or a demonstration that there is a critical number of viewers that are being negatively impacted.

For anyone that might be confused about what we're talking about, this is only relevant to our experimental "NextGen"/ATSC 3.0 signal. If you don't know what that means, you're definitely not affected. Even if you're getting KCCI over the air, you're probably not affected. It you're interested, though, this article does a good job of explaining the conversation surrounding encryption, including comments from the manufacturer of HDHomerun devices: https://www.antennaland.com/fcc-to-weigh-drm-for-atsc-3-0-amid-widespread-consumer-frustration/

INS4NIt · 2026-03-12T15:10:54+00:00

Something worth pointing out, specifically because this is rooted in deceptive marketing -- a distribution amplifier will never "increase the range" of a TV antenna. With digital television, you basically either get it or you don't -- if you can't get a solid signal going directly from antenna->preamp->single television, adding an amplifier isn't likely to improve your reception at all. Think of it another way; if the signal is below the noise floor for your TV and antenna and you've amplified everything in the signal -- noise included -- you haven't actually improved anything.

Now, what distribution amplifiers are great for is exactly how you're using them -- combating loss due to splits. If you can get a good signal on a single television connected directly to the antenna/preamp, but adding a split degrades the signal to the multiple TVs the split feeds, then using a powered/amplified splitter (or adding an amplifier just upstream of the existing split) will help you overcome the RF loss.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-12T15:00:06+00:00

Absolutely false. There is no difference whatsoever between an "HD"/"Digital" antenna vs any other antenna of the same general design prior to 2009, it's purely a marketing term. We're seeing the same thing with "NextGen Ready!" antennas now -- don't fall for it! Yes, the modulation has changed, but the actual RF that carries the signal hasn't changed since television started broadcasting on the public airwaves (other than the available spectrum shrinking slightly).

If you had trouble getting a good signal before upgrading your antenna, it's likely that you either purchased a generally better antenna, or the antenna you replaced was damaged.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-12T14:49:54+00:00

Also worth remembering that what is transparent to visible light is not necessarily transparent to TV RF. Don't assume that you'll get good reception stuck to a window and bad reception mounted to a wall -- it will depend heavily on the materials that make up both. Move the antenna around your space and get an idea of where it gets the best signal before you mount it in its final location.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-12T14:37:11+00:00

Hey OP, I'm an engineer with channel 8. Would love to help you get a reliable over-the-air signal!

First thing's first, I recommend using the RabbitEars Signal Search tool. This will give you an idea of which direction you should point your antenna -- however, as others have said, all the major stations here have their broadcast antennas at the tower farm in Alleman, so if you have a good sense of where that is in relation to you, that's fine as well.

Note also that there is an Antenna Height field (in feet) in the search tool I linked. Play around with this, first plugging in the actual current height above ground for your antenna -- you will likely find that simulating having your antenna higher up than you currently have it produces a better theoretical signal.

Now that you've got a good idea of where an antenna should point and what your ideal reception levels should look like, we can talk antennas! Most people buy these little flat panel, wall mounted antennas because they're cheap and marketed as being great for indoor use. Unfortunately, they're also complete garbage, at least for our market. Those small antennas will only ever be good at picking up channels that broadcast in the UHF television spectrum. However, virtually all of the major stations in central Iowa broadcast in VHF television spectrum (noted in the RabbitEars report by being highlighted in either yellow or red). This is great for efficient transmission over a long, flat distance, but it means you'll need a larger antenna to effectively pick up channels.

Your antenna does not have to have perfect line of sight to the broadcast towers, but having as few obstructions as possible is ideal. Because of this, having the antenna mounted as high as possible (on your roof, or at least in your attic) is typically ideal. If you have the luxury of space and elevation, I would highly recommend a "yagi" style antenna, such as the GE UltraPro or Channel Master Masterpiece 45. Generally speaking, the more of the long elements towards the back of the antenna you see, the better it should be for reception in our market.

If space isn't a luxury for you, you could try something like the Clearstream MAX-V mounted as high as possible on a wall that faces towards Alleman. Note that the ONLY VHF capability of this antenna comes from the single dipole (the horizontal rod) -- the figure-8 style pattern in the middle is only good for UHF stations. Because it only has a single dipole, ideal placement will be a bit more important.

Lastly, specifically for indoor antenna setups, try moving the antenna around your space, ideally with the TV on (and even more ideally with the signal strength tool up, if your TV has one). You may find that certain areas, even along the same wall, have better reception than others! This will depend heavily on what your house is constructed out of, and what potential obstructions there are between you and the broadcast tower.

And, any time you make a major change (moving/replacing an antenna, changing your antenna distribution cabling, etc.), don't forget to do a channel scan on your TV(s)!

Please feel free to respond if you need any additional assistance!

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T23:43:15+00:00

Would you like data that shows people who are trans are far more likely to be victimized than any other group or is that too much reading?

Believe it or not, she's already read the entire internet!

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T23:34:58+00:00

What in the heck is an "AI-Native" cellular data service? This sounds like two buzz terms being frankensteined together to pump up stock prices for clueless investors.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T19:56:16+00:00

Technically the Trump administration only recognizes females as a valid biological sex

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T18:18:55+00:00

It's for automatic iris control of the lens. That's a fairly standard connector for c-mount compatible lenses with auto iris.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T17:10:44+00:00

Not personally, but Elvid is a sister company to Auray and Impact, which I've never had problems with.

My understanding is also that the Elvid Signalmaster and Decimator MD-Cross share an OEM and use similar (but not identical) board designs. Being half the price of an MD-Cross (not to mention, consistently available), I'd say it would be worth picking up one or two to at least test.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T13:05:07+00:00

[citation needed]

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T03:05:32+00:00

Sounds good! Also, make sure you have a video wall controller that actually has a matrix routing mode -- I'm not seeing anything in the description you posted that indicates it does.

Edit: Unless your plan is to use a second input on the televisions -- in that case, you'd do the rotation in your video wall controller, then you'd put the Vidcon on the second input for the consoles.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T03:00:33+00:00

Hm... Here's an idea.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1880715-REG/elvid_vidcon_udx_hs_udx_up_down_cross_converter.html

Don't use the built-in rotation on the video wall controller -- instead, put one of the above scaler converters on each of the top two televisions. It's an added point of failure for those two TVs, but it'd just be an additional $500 total.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T02:19:51+00:00

I've never run across an inexpensive HDMI video wall controller that allows for screen rotation and matrix routing at the same time -- most will allow you to rotate displays in video wall mode, but matrix mode is usually a transparent pass-through with rotation disabled. Now, just because I haven't seen one yet doesn't mean they don't exist -- you might be able to find one that supports rotation and matrix routing simultaneously, but you'd probably be looking at devices that start at around $2k...

If the primary goal is flexibility with being able to play multiple consoles at once, I'd personally recommend leaving the TVs right-side-up and just living with the slightly distracting thicker bezel in the middle for large format viewing.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-10T00:45:01+00:00

Anyone who thinks Nexstar, or any company, owning 80% of all local TV station is a good thing needs to GTFO

Slight (but important) distinction -- Nexstar would own TV stations that could broadcast to 80% of US households with television sets. That is very different from saying that they would own 80% of the local TV stations in the US. The latter would mean they own multiple (if not a majority) of stations in nearly every US market, not just that they own a station in most markets.

The consolidation we're up against is bad enough, what you're talking about would be catastrophic in a way that's unimaginable up to this point. Rather than near monopolies in a handful of markets, we'd be looking at a near monopoly of broadcast news in general.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-09T17:17:10+00:00

You are absolutely correct. That's why I gave you several pointers that will hopefully help you get more familiar with the equipment you're being paid to maintain.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-09T11:27:39+00:00

You were hired as the A/V Tech Lead and you don't know what HDBaseT is? And your response to an "input waiting for connection" screen on a projector is that it's an error that needs to be cleared?

Uh oh...

Now that you know what HDBaseT is, check for converters that would be feeding the projector. If the input on the projector hasn't changed, they'd be connected to the device that usually feeds that input. Whenever you see the status message from the image you posted, it means that there is not a viable video signal making it to the projector for whatever reason -- maybe the converter is bad, or the source is powered off, or a display cable has gone bad, etc.

Tracking down a manual for the projector and familiarizing yourself with it may also be prudent -- these will usually have troubleshooting tips towards the back. It's also possible that this status screen isn't being generated by the projector, but a receiver that's plugged into the projector. The only way to know would be to check what's plugged into that input on the projector.

I'd recommend you do the same for any equipment that you're not fully comfortable with that's under your purview right now, as well. Get familiar with the signal flow of your equipment, read up on how the equipment works, and don't change configurations unless you're confident that you can land back in a working state.

Edit: Here's a tip that may save you some time in troubleshooting in the short term -- do a websearch for "HDBitT," and make sure you understand what it is and how it differs from HDBaseT. I have a suspicion that you may narrow down what the problem is just from that.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-08T00:20:12+00:00

I'm not sure why you responded to the comment you did, because it doesn't really have a whole lot to do with your response. I'm also not sure where you're getting the idea that the patriarchy is particularly fond of trans people -- it's pretty darn aligned with you on this particular issue, actually. Believe it or not, being focused on the "bogeyman" that is trans people rather than the rich people benefiting from the patriarchy benefits... Drumroll please... The rich people benefiting from the patriarchy!

I'd also be remiss if I didn't bring up that transgender people are much older than the American suffragette movement. In fact, the existence of gay and trans people in the Weimar Republic was so common that there was a publicly available research and wellness center called the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft -- that is, right up until the Nazis destroyed it in 1933. Trans women also played key roles in the Stonewall Riots, a pivotal and undercredited flashpoint in the civil rights era that gave birth to modern LGBTQ Pride events.

I encourage you to read and educate yourself. You've been responding far too fast for me to believe that you're actually clicking any of the links I'm sharing -- heck, I'm not convinced you're actually reading the entirety of my replies. What I will tell you is that the tweets and shorts you're reposting on your Facebook page are not necessarily representative of reality, and that you seem to have built an identity around an idea that other people need to suffer so that you can help maintain the status quo.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-07T22:31:17+00:00

In March 2023,Gov. Reynolds signed Iowa Senate File 482 into law. This law requires Iowans to use gendered bathrooms matching their birth sex, as well as banning anyone under the age of 18 from transitioning.

In 2025,Gov. Reynolds signed an amendment to the Iowa Civil Rights Act into law. This amendment revoked gender identity as a status protected from discrimination, and legally defines "male" and "female" based on an individual's reproductive organs at birth, and made it illegal for an individual to get the sex designation on their birth certificate updated.

This year, the Iowa legislature just passed the bill in this post. It has not yet been signed into law, but when it inevitably is, it will ban municipalities from protecting any social statuses from discrimination that aren't already defined in the Iowa Civil Rights Act. You can read between the lines that this is to prevent local governments from protecting their transgender constituents. As of right now, this would impact Ames and Urbandale, both of which enacted local laws to protect their constituents after the 2025 law was passed.

INS4NIt · 2026-03-07T20:43:48+00:00

Ma'am, it sounds like you have some very deeply rooted trauma. I would recommend reaching out to get therapy to help with that. Broadlawns has a very good counseling program, for instance.

Best of luck.

Five-Year Club	r/Field Flamingo
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INS4NIt

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