Anyone live in West Des Moines and know how to get ABC through OTA? I cannot seem to get signal. All the other channels come in fine. Any suggestions? Thanks.
ABC in West Des Moines
- Thread starter UngluedHorizon
- Start date
What are you using for an antenna? If you are using rabbit ears, spread them as widely as possible. Channel 5 broadcasts on a very low frequency and lots of the cheap antennas sold will not allow you to view ABC in WDSM.
I've tried a few things. I built my own by wiring up my ceiling. No luck. I then ordered a Winegard powered one. That didn't work so I sent to back, and tried the Mohu Leaf 50 which is also powered. Still no luck. All the other channels come in crystal clear, but I missed Saturday night football games because ABC does not work.
You pretty well explained your problem without knowing it. The antennas you are attempting to use are not designed for low VHF stations. You need an antenna like this one: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...=google_base&gclid=CPKow4P5gsUCFQaPaQodMQIAsA
You do not need a powered antenna or a booster. I have one like this mounted in my attic on free standing toilet paper holder. Channel 5 comes in beautifully here in Ames.
You do not need a powered antenna or a booster. I have one like this mounted in my attic on free standing toilet paper holder. Channel 5 comes in beautifully here in Ames.
You nice! Thanks man. Do you have an suggestions for ones that are designed for low VHF stations, but are not gigantic? I do live in an apartment, and that thing would look rather large in my living room.
the channel 5 tower is not at the same location as 8 and 13 (alleman?). when living in des moines, i had to have the antenna pointed more towards altoona to get 5 in decent.
When they were broadcasting both analog and digital I think the digital might have been coming from somewhere else (their office on Westown Parkway?) but I"m pretty sure they now broadcast from up by Alleman.
The low VHF channels just need big antennas to work well and I don't know if there is much you can do about it. It would have been a lot easier if channel 5 moved to a higher frequency after the digital switch but I'm guessing they didn't want to spring for a new transmitter.
I have one like in my attic and can get some Omaha stations as well, sometimes. I do have a booster on it and it does make a difference for the better. You also need good coax. The cheap poorly installed stuff will give reduce your picture quality.
kingcy, your booster probably does help you quite a bit. You are a lot further from the broadcast towers than I am.
UngluedHorizon , has a problem being an apartment dweller. I gigantic set of rabbit ears spread as wide as they will go might be his best choice. I had the same exact problem with Channel 5 until putting that big antenna in the attic.
UngluedHorizon , has a problem being an apartment dweller. I gigantic set of rabbit ears spread as wide as they will go might be his best choice. I had the same exact problem with Channel 5 until putting that big antenna in the attic.
The owners of Channel 5 made a major mistake when all the stations went to broadcasting in HD. They should have petitioned the FCC to permanently change to being a UHF station. Their signal would have been much easier to receive with an antenna. It is not like the Channel 5 label was a hallmark in local broadcasting. Without being affiliated with ABC, the station would have one of the smallest viewer bases in central Iowa. Their news and sports departments have lagged behind the other local stations for many, many years.
They could have moved and still kept the Channel 5 name and used virtual channel 5. KDSM transmits on channel 16 now yet they are still Fox-17 and you tune to 17.1, 17.2, etc. The only reason I can come up with why WOI didn't move (assuming they didn't try and the FCC denied them) is cost. Their budget was probably stretched pretty thin just with the digital conversion and I'm guessing a new transmitter is not cheap.
Ordered some rabbit ears today. They are pretty cheap so I'm not hopeful they'll work. If it wasn't for sports I wouldn't really care. Hopefully Watch ABC comes soon to the Des Moines area so I don't have to worry about it.
I am pretty sure that WHO and the WOI ABC both broadcast on that tower in Alleman as someone noted. WHO is higher up on the tower and broadcasts at a higher power, not too mention the added difficulty for the lower frequency.
Having said that I have a large but basic Menards antenna on my roof almost 90 miles from that tower. I don't have any boosters on it. I did run around 50-100 feet of cable straight to the TV with no splitters. I get WHO with no problem and it hardly ever drops. I can even get WOI at times early in the day or late when the temps are cooler. I do get a local ABC channel so I haven't worried too much about trying harder but I'm sure it could be done.
Having said that I have a large but basic Menards antenna on my roof almost 90 miles from that tower. I don't have any boosters on it. I did run around 50-100 feet of cable straight to the TV with no splitters. I get WHO with no problem and it hardly ever drops. I can even get WOI at times early in the day or late when the temps are cooler. I do get a local ABC channel so I haven't worried too much about trying harder but I'm sure it could be done.
