Where is KOIN?
June 1, 2018 5:53 PM Subscribe
Until today, Portland, Oregon TV station KOIN (Channel 40, DT Channel 6), came in crystal clear. But today, on the day they told viewers using antennas to rescan their TV to find it at its new frequency, it has disappeared from the channel list. A neighbor can get it through their antenna.
And KOIN says its spot on the DT Channel list hasn't (the neighbor's TV still shows it at 6). All I can guess is that maybe it changed the direction in which it's broadcasting slightly? Any ideas on the signal loss or how we can get KOIN again? Here is there website explaining the change - http://www.koin.com/more/about-us/koin-6-is-moving-to-a-new-frequency/1132884012
And KOIN says its spot on the DT Channel list hasn't (the neighbor's TV still shows it at 6). All I can guess is that maybe it changed the direction in which it's broadcasting slightly? Any ideas on the signal loss or how we can get KOIN again? Here is there website explaining the change - http://www.koin.com/more/about-us/koin-6-is-moving-to-a-new-frequency/1132884012
First, here is the KOIN explainer on the change.
Not clear from your post: did you have your TV rescan? If not, go do that please, like they said! That may very well fix it.
In short, KOIN is moving the physical RF channel they transmit on, from ch 40 to ch 25, but it will still appear as "6" on your TV (e.g. while channel surfing) because that is the virtual channel number. "6" is the number they have branded around for decades.
Now, just moving from 40 to 25 should have no impact on you, AS LONG AS YOU TELL YOUR TV TO RESCAN. But in this case they are dropping the power a little, temporarily.
The important KOIN info starts here in that AVSforum Portland thread that togdon linked to. The poster writes:
Screwing with your antenna might help, but might also hurt your reception of other stations. Before you go messing with it, I'd wait and find out how long they are going to be on the temporary lower power signal. If it was just a couple weeks, I'd just wait it out. Messing with your antenna can be an action you come to regret.
It's disappointing that KOIN does not mention this temporary power drop.
posted by intermod at 9:29 PM on June 1, 2018
Not clear from your post: did you have your TV rescan? If not, go do that please, like they said! That may very well fix it.
In short, KOIN is moving the physical RF channel they transmit on, from ch 40 to ch 25, but it will still appear as "6" on your TV (e.g. while channel surfing) because that is the virtual channel number. "6" is the number they have branded around for decades.
Now, just moving from 40 to 25 should have no impact on you, AS LONG AS YOU TELL YOUR TV TO RESCAN. But in this case they are dropping the power a little, temporarily.
The important KOIN info starts here in that AVSforum Portland thread that togdon linked to. The poster writes:
The plan they filed with the FCC is to operate from this tower at lower power during the period that the new antenna, one suitable for the post-repack channel, is mounted on it's [sic] main tower.So, starting on Friday, they flipped the switch from 40 to 25, but that 25 signal is lower power temporarily. If you were on the edge of reception with 40, you might be below reception with 25.
Screwing with your antenna might help, but might also hurt your reception of other stations. Before you go messing with it, I'd wait and find out how long they are going to be on the temporary lower power signal. If it was just a couple weeks, I'd just wait it out. Messing with your antenna can be an action you come to regret.
It's disappointing that KOIN does not mention this temporary power drop.
posted by intermod at 9:29 PM on June 1, 2018
Response by poster: I did rescan, several times. I was tempted to mess with the antenna. But the signal came in fine so you're right, intermod, I didn't want to mess up something I knew worked before. So, a couple weeks at a lower power. Is that to say a lower frequency coupled with a lower power (how much lower?) makes the signal more difficult to get? I get DT channels 7 and 4, so the frequency change shouldn't be that big of a deal. But together ...?
posted by CollectiveMind at 4:32 PM on June 2, 2018
posted by CollectiveMind at 4:32 PM on June 2, 2018
FYI - the DT channel is just arbitrary. It's assigned to match the old analog broadcast channel, but it doesn't tell you anything about the actual frequency of the broadcast.
posted by wotsac at 8:57 AM on June 3, 2018
posted by wotsac at 8:57 AM on June 3, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by togdon at 8:43 PM on June 1, 2018