WBZ-TV4 Signal Problems: No Game Over The Air Or Satellite?

[wizwor]

Same, had Channel 4 the whole time and watched the game, went to go to channel 38 and it is not there. This is on RCN

My guess is that the following receive their signal via antenna...

• PS Vue
  
• Dish
  
• DirecTV
  
• Charter Cable
  
• RCN Cable
  
• Metrocast Cable

and that WBZ et al scrambled to get the highest priority programming to the highest priority rebroadcasters as quickly as possible. WSBK and Heroes and Icons are probably not at the top of anyone's list.

 

[Bill Lee]

Transmission Issue Causes Outage For Some WBZ-TV Viewers has an update but it still provides no idea about when the OTA signal will be restored:

10/23 8:45pm: In a statement released by President and General Manager, Mark Lund:

Tonight, we would like to extend our sincere apologies to our loyal viewers.

There was a disruption of service over the past 24 hours, due to a transmission issue, that mainly affected our over-the-air viewers. We understand this is both frustrating and inconvenient.

Please know that WBZ-TV is continuing to work around the clock to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

We will continue to provide updates on air and on our website at cbsboston.com as more information becomes available.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

What's frustrating is getting zero feedback on when the problem will be fixed other than the extremely obvious answer, "as quickly as possible". I understand if you can't provide a date for a fix, but two days into this, I would hope they could provide a date when they'll know the date for the fix. It sucks that we have no idea if this outage will be for hours, days, weeks or months.

 

[wizwor]

The crisis has passed. All stations are back on the air. On to Buffalo!

 

[Bill Lee]

For those who find this stuff interesting, it is true most of the stations are back but it was done by shifting the signals to different antennas to bypass the fault. Here's what is written on the NECRAT page on Facebook:

Needham Tower Update. Just like the last time, the antenna shift is on. The upper combiner is feeding the lower master antenna, and WGBH-TV is on WCVB's aux antenna farther down the tower. The failure is between the 7" line and the elbow complex.

Perhaps those of you who are afraid of heights should look away, but here's a shot of the 'poor bastards' working on top of the tower yesterday, which was a pretty windy day.

[ If image doesn't show up, try Over The Air Broadcast Transmission Of WBZ-TV, WSBK Has Been Restored ]

It really gives you an idea of the size of the tower, no? I'm very thankful to them for taking on that difficult job! I can now receive CH4 and CH5 again. CH38 always has been a problem for me, unfortunately, and it still is. Strange, given that it's coming from the same tower (something I didn't know till this problem arose).

 

[bbobbo]

For those who find this stuff interesting, it is true most of the stations are back but it was done by shifting the signals to different antennas to bypass the fault. Here's what is written on the NECRAT page on Facebook: Perhaps those of you who are afraid of heights should look away, but here's a shot of the 'poor bastards' working on top of the tower yesterday, which was a pretty windy day.

[ If image doesn't show up, try Over The Air Broadcast Transmission Of WBZ-TV, WSBK Has Been Restored ]

It really gives you an idea of the size of the tower, no? I'm very thankful to them for taking on that difficult job! I can now receive CH4 and CH5 again. CH38 always has been a problem for me, unfortunately, and it still is. Strange, given that it's coming from the same tower (something I didn't know till this problem arose).

 

[bbobbo]

It really gives you an idea of the size of the tower, no? I'm very thankful to them for taking on that difficult job! I can now receive CH4 and CH5 again. CH38 always has been a problem for me, unfortunately, and it still is. Strange, given that it's coming from the same tower (something I didn't know till this problem arose).

that job is one of the most dangerous in the US. frontline and propublica did a piece on tower deaths a few years ago, and it was pretty shocking how lax some of the safety standards were:

Feds to Look Harder at Cell Carriers When Tower Climbers Die

a worker was killed at another 1300-foot tower in newton a few years ago:

Worker Killed In 1,000-Foot Fall From Newton Tower

 

[jeffro]

that job is one of the most dangerous in the US. frontline and propublica did a piece on tower deaths a few years ago, and it was pretty shocking how lax some of the safety standards were:

Feds to Look Harder at Cell Carriers When Tower Climbers Die

a worker was killed at another 1300-foot tower in newton a few years ago:

Worker Killed In 1,000-Foot Fall From Newton Tower

 

[jeffro]

Are they having problems again? I'm not getting the OTA signal. Don't see news about it though.

 

[bbobbo]

Are they having problems again? I'm not getting the OTA signal. Don't see news about it though.

signal working fine for me.

 

[doesntmatter1]

ota is down for me as well. It's usually strong, but I haven't had wbz or wcvb since Friday. The Man is trying to force me back to cable lol.

 

[Reckedtrek]

Come on Krafty! Get these two guys some 50 yard line tickets for the Jets game, fercryinoutloud!

 

[wizwor]

Tower and Transmission Signal Updates

Sunday, November 6, 2016, 4:15pm

WGBX and the network stations were not able to be moved back to the upper master antenna late yesterday afternoon. The crew hopes to make another attempt during the overnight hours tonight at approximately 1:00am. That work will require a 10-15 minute shutdown, followed by an hour or so of low power operation. If successful, all stations could be back to full power by early Monday morning.





Saturday, November 5, 2016, 3:55pm

Earlier today WGBH was moved back to the lower master antenna at full power. Viewers should now have normal reception on channels 2 and World Channel.

WGBX (Ch. 44, Create, and Kids) and the other network stations will be transitioned back to the upper master antenna at approximately 4:00pm. This will require a complete shutdown of those stations for approximately 10 minutes. Afterwards they will return to the air at reduced power for about an hour while engineers make the necessary adjustments to return to full power.

Over the next 4-5 days, the work on the tower moves to normalizing the systems and removing the temporary antennas. There may be periods where power must be reduced to protect the tower crews from exposure to the high RF energy of the lower and upper master antennas.

We hope to have reception normalized on all channels very soon.