***Alert*** New database has serious issue ***

ADTech · 26-Oct-2017, 1:44 PM

A new database with the timestamp of 201710251434 was installed overnight(?) Unfortunately, it has major issues that render it problematic, at best.

Specific issues noted so far (I've only checked a few cities so far) appear to be those stations with new construction permits (CP) for their post-repack reassignments. Those either are completely missing from reports or they are listed under their post re-pack channel assignment, some of with are still as far out as almost 2 1/2 years.

That means that almost a thousand full power and Class A stations in the country might have incorrect (premature) or missing data in the reports generated from this new database.

Hopefully, the proprietor will be able to address this.

JoeAZ · 26-Oct-2017, 1:50 PM

Really appreciate the "heads up" on this....
It will confuse a whole lot of people.... if left
as is.

ADTech · 26-Oct-2017, 3:29 PM

Update:

I'm not sure how pervasive the issue might be. The first two cities I checked (Richmond, VA and St Louis) had the serious errors noted so I posted the notice. I've stepped through the top ten major markets just now and looked briefly at them.

Based on a quick check, here's what I've observed:

So far, Boston is the only top 10 market that I didn't quickly spot an error on.

NYC, LA, Philly, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington DC all have errors with at least one re-packed station that is missing.

Jake V · 27-Oct-2017, 6:41 PM

Confirmed.

Just to test I looked at my brother's plot in Scranton / Wilkes-Barre, PA. The primary ABC & NBC stations are there, but everything else is gone (Fox, CBS, PBS, etc.). Plus all the repeaters are gone, too.

My own market (Washington, DC / Baltimore) is also missing stations (CBS, NBC, etc.).

rabbit73 · 30-Oct-2017, 2:10 PM

Will TVFool Survive Repack?
By rabbit73

TVFool has helped us a lot;
It showed us what we should have got.
The repack plan has caused it pain;
Will TVFool go down the drain?

jrgagne99 · 30-Oct-2017, 7:40 PM

I've only been frequenting TVFool for a year or so, but it does seem that traffic has been especially light the last month or two...

tvlurker · 30-Oct-2017, 8:28 PM

In Vermont / Upstate new York area, both WWNY and WCAX appear with their post-re-pack channels, whether one clicks on current or pending.

rabbit73 · 30-Oct-2017, 11:29 PM

The FCC map site compared with TVFool:

The FCC list shows 7 strong channels, but the TVFool list only shows one: WIS.

JoeAZ · 31-Oct-2017, 12:27 AM

And....... the stations call letters don't match up as well,
except for WIS TV.

ADTech · 31-Oct-2017, 3:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrgagne99

I've only been frequenting TVFool for a year or so, but it does seem that traffic has been especially light the last month or two...

It's not just this forum, most of them appear to have quieted down. Even the call/email volume here into our help center has lightened up a bit over the last few weeks. It's a seasonal thing more than anything else, I've observed it numerous times.

Quote:

Will TVFool Survive Repack?
Will TVFool Survive Repack?
By rabbit73

TVFool has helped us a lot;
It showed us what we should have got.
The repack plan has caused it pain;
Will TVFool go down the drain?

Funny, but I don't think that the repack, although its data changes are underlying this huge SNAFU, are the root cause of the issue. It seems more like it is a matter of either a lack of time, focus, or interest on the part of the site's owner/operator to actively maintain both the site's data and the forum. For example, I've reported errors in the database going way back and none of them were ever corrected. It's almost like the whole thing has been mostly on auto-pilot for a long time with no one checking to see if the course was still true.

... or maybe it's just me...

:shrug:

rabbit73 · 31-Oct-2017, 4:26 PM

Quote:

It seems more like it is a matter of either a lack of time, focus, or interest on the part of the site's owner/operator to actively maintain both the site's data and the forum......It's almost like the whole thing has been mostly on auto-pilot for a long time.....

Yes, I agree.

Does Andy Lee know about this?

Does he care?

Is he alive?

ADTech · 31-Oct-2017, 7:51 PM

I was indeed referring to Andy...

I have no idea as to the rest of the questions.

OTAFAN · 1-Nov-2017, 12:50 AM

Remember when the website was loading V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y not too long ago??? That issue took awhile to resolve, if I remember correctly.

I imagine this issue probably will take longer. I hope whoever is in charge, Andy is his name you say, will be actively working to bring it up to date.

TV Fool is too important for many of us out here in OTA Land to see it go down hill! Please correct this issue ASAP, Andy!!

Thanks very much!!!

Jake V · 4-Nov-2017, 11:20 PM

Has anyone contacted Andy Lee to inform him of the issue with the database?

I run several websites but don't actively provide content for them. There have been times when there were technical problems that I could not fix until someone told me about them.

JoeAZ · 5-Nov-2017, 8:04 PM

The "repack" is already turning into a bit of a mess. Here in Northern
Arizona, we depend mostly on translators for television. As I understood
it, translators weren't suppose to be affected until 2019 at the earliest.
We already have 8 translators moving by a December 1st deadline,
with more to come early in 2018. It's no wonder why there are so many
issues on this forum and elsewhere.....

ADTech · 6-Nov-2017, 7:10 PM

Quote:

Has anyone contacted Andy Lee to inform him of the issue with the database?

He has not acknowledged any of the messages that have been sent.

Translators (and LPTV stations) do not have (never did) any protection from getting bumped off their operating channels by a new licensee of spectrum. T-Mo is already rolling out 600 MHz service in areas where they purchased spectrum in those blocks which means the current users of that spectrum (non-full power, non Class A), have been given their eviction notices. Article from this summer: http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/1...-be-in-trouble

rickbb · 8-Nov-2017, 2:45 PM

The repack is doing crazy things here in central NC.

For awhile I had about 9 virtual channel 22's, only 4 had actual content. Then a few weeks ago they went to the normal 4 and now I have about 10 virtual channel 20's, and only 3 of those show any content.

Weird when doing a channel surf. Channels suddenly show up with no content, then disappear a few weeks later.

ADTech · 8-Nov-2017, 4:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickbb

The repack is doing crazy things here in central NC.

For awhile I had about 9 virtual channel 22's, only 4 had actual content. Then a few weeks ago they went to the normal 4 and now I have about 10 virtual channel 20's, and only 3 of those show any content.

Weird when doing a channel surf. Channels suddenly show up with no content, then disappear a few weeks later.

That is unlikely to have anything to do with the repack since the repack hasn't started yet except for a few sign-offs, it's probably something else.

You'd have to explicitly identify the stations by call letters, virtual, and real channel numbers in order to dig into it.

ADTech · 9-Nov-2017, 5:25 PM

I noticed that the database date code is now 201711011344.

I don't know what the changes were, but I haven't come across any observed changes from my original report two weeks ago. The originally reported issue still remains making the tool only semi-usable.

rabbit73 · 9-Nov-2017, 8:12 PM

The database with that date code is still defective.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...60ed583289b52c

and the more accurate, as far as listed channels goes, RabbitEars looks like this:

and the FCC DTV Reception Maps for comparison:

TVFool uses true and magnetic north, RabbitEars uses true north; and FCC DTV uses magnetic (compass) north for azimuth. Although the FCC channel list gives the direction based on magnetic (compass) north, the map they show is based on true north.