What The HELL ?

[lastone]

WOWK-DT 13 of the air (again) all day. Web site said they were on "secondary power". Secondary WHAT ? Either they have a back up generator or they don't!

Now, the web site says they are turning off the analog "in prep for Feb 17th" Hun?

Is the bottom line the generator won't run both transmitters? Why this stupid game? If I were an advertiser, I'd say "cancell all spots TFN".

No one else here has a problem. WTF?
Secondary power indeed!

[Big Media]

Indeed. I was just poking at Cameron for the same reason. They are just making excuses. For 100K or so, you can have a 500 KW generator that will run 10 transmitters with some left over power to charge your cell phone. Enough excuses.

[Hoosier Daddy]

For 100K or so ...

Hey! That's a third of Cameron's yearly salary.

[Big Media]

For 100K or so ...

Hey! That's a third of Cameron's yearly salary.

And he may STILL be underpaid! Engineers are freakin' hard to come by in TV and radio. Most of the current engineers are nearing (or past) retirement age.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Cameron is a very talented engineer, from what I am told.

[Big Media]

Cameron is a very talented engineer, from what I am told.

I have heard the same thing. There are precious few engineers who can 1) Fix a transmitter. 2) Fix a computer. AND 3) Recite specific FCC rules as they relate to the day-to-day operations of the station. Most can do 2 of the three. Some I have dealt with in the past can do only one of the three.

[oldtvman2]

WOWK has a backup generator it is a 408KVA but is not big enough to power the digi. they should have made provisiones for running the 1KW exciter to the antenna. but that would take a few bucks and the know how. the two transmitters are in BAD shape. one is not working and the other is down to about 40% output. they are not putting anything into either to just scrap them. I can fix transmitters and know the laws and a little about computers. as i understand they have only one transmitter engineer (Greg Payton) and he is good if not great but the rest are computer geeks. i was an engineer both radio and tv for 45 years. WOWK still identifies as CHARLESTON -HUNTINGTON at the top of the hour instead of HUNTINGTON-CHARLESTON as they should

[Cameron]

Indeed. I was just poking at Cameron for the same reason. They are just making excuses. For 100K or so, you can have a 500 KW generator that will run 10 transmitters with some left over power to charge your cell phone. Enough excuses.

...or $30K to run everything we need.
Wanna' see the quotes?

I'm with Hoosier. I'll burden myself to take only $200K this year in salary if they'll go ahead and use the rest for generators and tower-work.

[Big Media]

I'm with Hoosier. I'll burden myself to take only $200K this year in salary if they'll go ahead and use the rest for generators and tower-work.

Well played, Cameron. Well played.

[Big Media]

WOWK has a backup generator it is a 408KVA but is not big enough to power the digi.

Damn. How much power does that rascal need?

[philo]

408kVA at 208V 3 phase is 125kW.
A modern digital single IOT UHF running 30kW out with pumps and cooling has 110kW load
For each extra IOT needed to make power add 90kW, some people have it bad.
An old analog RCA G-Line VHF running 30kW has a 70 kW load
A modern digital solid state VHF needed to make power, has a load of 15kW
Who can add?

[CoolBreeze]

I live on top of a hill and have a TV in the garage with Rabbit Ears that I watch a lot. (don't ask). WOWK has not come-in now for a couple of days. So... are they permanently off analog now?

One more thing: I've noticed that on WSAZ channel 16 (on my old analog set) that the audio doesn't sync-up with the video quite often. It's like watching an overdubbed Japanese movie sometimes. (like this mornings Today Show). Is that going to be a new issue in the future?

[oldtvman2]

WSAZ on channel 16 not channel 3? When purchased the generator at WOWK would handle both transmitters one on the air and one into the dummy load at the same time. one was a GE TT32b and the other was a Gates bt25H1. The generator would just handle both RCA transmitters at the same time. I wonder if the powers that be at WOWK realise that the precise frequency oscilator is in transmitter B??

the problem with the lip sync is because the video is delayed through all the processing these days and the audio is not. if you go through different equipment the sync changes. there are audio processors where the audio can be delayed to match up with the video. if you read lips and can still hear audio it drives you crazy and then you switch to a different channel

[Big Media]

the problem with the lip sync is because the video is delayed through all the processing these days and the audio is not. if you go through different equipment the sync changes. there are audio processors where the audio can be delayed to match up with the video. if you read lips and can still hear audio it drives you crazy and then you switch to a different channel

This is a big problem. For some reason, not much time has been spent on trying to correct it. It is almost like the industry has decided a slight delay in the video is normal and needs no fixing.

[lastone]

WOWK-DT is back on, but unless you went to the web site, you wouldn't know you have to re-scan (and reset/edit channels) your converter box....again.