[Dagwood]

Originally Posted by rabbit73

Thanks for checking the voltage to the preamp. If you have a problem again, check to see if the LED on the power inserter is still ON. as it should be, or OFF.

Will do.

Thanks for the tvfool signal report.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e6a4c5db6f4ec6
That description exactly matches your signal report. NBC, ABC, and PBS are your strongest signals, and CBS is listed just a little weaker than PBS. Fox is a lot weaker than CBS.

CBS sends 992 kW out of 1000 kW ERP in your direction. If you click on the CBS callsign in your report, this is what you will see:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...dALLTV%26n%3d4

Fox is much weaker because it has a very directional transmitting antenna that sends only 11 kW out of 320 kW ERP.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...dALLTV%26n%3d5
What you assume is correct; the seasonal change does make a difference. In the warmer weather, the Fox signal is not able to bend down to your location by refraction because the density of the air changes in warm weather.

I hadn't seen those pages, interesting -- I assume my house is way over on the right behind that big hill, heh.

I had no idea what all those numbers meant.

Forum member tripelo says it much better than I can:

Also interesting. When I hung around with my high school buddy in the mid-late '60s (he was a CB radio bug) he was always talking about "when the skip comes down" at night, and the signal would travel much farther. Sounds similar. And I know AM radio signals can travel tremendous distances at night, all related to what Tripelo is describing -- I'm assuming.

Originally Posted by rabbit73

Are there any trees in the signal path from Rochester?

Does the problem get worse when it rains?

My house is surrounded by thousands of acres of mature hardwoods, and there are tens of thousands of trees between me and the transmitters, although I'm guessing the hill between us, which is probably 500' higher in elevation than my house is, and 3-ish miles to the north, is more of a factor.

Yes, rain tends to make an edgy signal go out. But, and I bet there's a scientific reason for this, when I was on analog the signal came in better when it was raining.

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EDIT: I see you added that image after I started this post. Yes, it all makes sense. This is the first time I've ever seen any hard science for all this. Before, all I ever heard was opinions and guesses from people who didn't necessarily know any more about it than I did.

Thanks! Gotta love the internet!