For viewers who are having problems receiving PBS Affiliate, KCTS 9 after the digital transition, Seattle Times columnist Brier Dudley has listed a few things you can do to improve reception in his blog yesterday.
This antenna advice “cheat sheet” was provided to an Eastside customers who lost Channel 9 after the DTV switch on June 12. This sort of tweaking could help if you’re having trouble with other channels such as KCPQ and KSTW that are also broadcasting VHF signals:
Here’s what viewers should know in order to make changes to receive our signal at KCTS 9 on VHF channel 9.
– Indoor VHF?UHF antenna (within 5 miles of Capitol Hill viewers should NOT use an amplified antenna first)
– Indoor amplified VHF/UHF antenna (further than 5 miles or, if non-amplified antenna didn’t work)
– Outdoor VHF/UHF antenna (over 15 miles from Capitol Hill viewers will likely need an outdoor antenna)
– Outdoor VHF/UHF antenna with antenna amplifier (over 40 miles from Capitol Hill you may need an antenna pre-amp.)
When using indoor antennas it sometimes helps to set the rabbit ears to approximately 20″ long. (Not fully extended). Try adjusting the antenna or moving its location while watching the signal strength meter on the DTV converter box or Digital TV.
If viewers have an existing outdoor VHF/UHF antenna and cannot receive KCTS 9, try adjusting the antenna while watching the signal strength meter. If needed viewers can try installing an antenna pre-amplifier or buy a bigger, farther range, outdoor VHF/UHF antenna.
There is no guarantee and these are only general guidelines.
KCTS station engineer, Jabran Soubeih, also posted some good information about “HDTV Antennas” and choosing a good anntena in his blog post from last week.
There are some antennas being sold as “HDTV” antennas that have VHF/UHF amplifiers but the antenna is designed for UHF. These have been marketed by different companies and sometimes mislead consumers that it is a VHF antenna.
A true VHF/UHF indoor antenna will have two extendable elements often referred to as “rabbit ears”. These antennas are similar to your old “rabbit ears” but they have a UHF antenna as well that is usually round in shape. The knob that some antennas have usually only adjusts the UHF antenna.
I live in central mason county, and channel 9 [kcts dtv] doesn’t come in, period. I just get a series of distorted still images punctuated by “no signal.” this despite the fact that I have an amplified deep-fringe “fly swatter” antenna 85′ up in a tree! what gives?