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WDPX-TV Now Channel Sharing with WBPX-TV

M

MikeyBos

WDPX-TV is now channel sharing with WBPX-TV. They have done exactly what WPXQ-TV did with WLWC in the Providence market. Ion Life has moved to WDPX-TV, channel 58.1; and Ion Shop has moved from channel 68.4 to channel 68.3. QVC and HSN remain on channels 68.5 and 68.6, respectively.

In the Greater Boston area, there are now two channels mapping to 58.1: WCEA-LD (MAS TV) and WDPX-TV. I thought Ion would change the virtual channel for WDPX-TV once it commenced channel sharing with WBPX-TV and moved to Woburn.
 
MikeyBos said:
WDPX-TV is now channel sharing with WBPX-TV. They have done exactly what WPXQ-TV did with WLWC in the Providence market. Ion Life has moved to WDPX-TV, channel 58.1; and Ion Shop has moved from channel 68.4 to channel 68.3. QVC and HSN remain on channels 68.5 and 68.6, respectively.

In the Greater Boston area, there are now two channels mapping to 58.1: WCEA-LD (MAS TV) and WDPX-TV. I thought Ion would change the virtual channel for WDPX-TV once it commenced channel sharing with WBPX-TV and moved to Woburn.
Click to expand...

This doesn't affect the reception or signal quality, it just gets them cable and satellite must-carry. They kept the virtual channel number that WDPX had when broadcasting from Cape Cod. Unfortunately WCEA-LD, the low power station broadcasting from the John Hancock building, also uses 58.1 (and 58.2 thru 58.6). Some TV's cannot receive 2 stations with the same number, so WCEA-LD, as a low power, will have to change.
 
I have to wonder that it is that because of the elimination of WDPX broadcasting from Barnstable that is a reason why WPXZ-TV 69 has applied for a move of its city of license to Newport and possibly a transmitter move. If the stations starts transmitting from Tiverton, for example, its signal could cover parts of Cape Cod.
 
alg2468 said:
I have to wonder that it is that because of the elimination of WDPX broadcasting from Barnstable that is a reason why WPXZ-TV 69 has applied for a move of its city of license to Newport and possibly a transmitter move. If the stations starts transmitting from Tiverton, for example, its signal could cover parts of Cape Cod.
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Even though they went to extremes in their FCC application to state they are doing this only to benefit Newport, it seems obvious they want to move the transmitter, as a next step after getting the city of license change approved. Block Island would probably be out of the coverage area if they request a transmitter move to the Rehoboth, MA tower used by most of the other RI stations.

https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff3604b4f5801604b8d86a2010d
 
channel99 said:
Even though they went to extremes in their FCC application to state they are doing this only to benefit Newport, it seems obvious they want to move the transmitter, as a next step after getting the city of license change approved. Block Island would probably be out of the coverage area if they request a transmitter move to the Rehoboth, MA tower used by most of the other RI stations.
Click to expand...

I wonder if they can move at all. They already have an expensive sharp-tuned filter at the current location, and will likely need an even sharper one to move any closer to Boston due to land mobile on channel 16.

- Trip
 
tripinva said:
I wonder if they can move at all. They already have an expensive sharp-tuned filter at the current location, and will likely need an even sharper one to move any closer to Boston due to land mobile on channel 16.

- Trip
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Could they work around that by using a directional pattern reducing the signal to the north? The signal heading north is just a duplication of WBPX anyway.
 
As a practical matter, WPXQ / WLWC cannot adequately cover the licensed service area of WLWC from the current WPXQ transmitter site near the Connecticut border.

Assuming the Newport COL change for WPXQ is approved.....that would conveniently leave Tiverton roughly halfway between Newport and New Bedford....a nice cozy fit for both stations to co-exist using the Citadel Communications tower there.

As an alternative.....I imagine the former WLWC site in Freetown, MA is still around.

WPXQ / WLWC already uses a directional pattern. It would probably just be a matter of tweaking the pattern to fit a new transmitter location.
 
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tripinva said:
I wonder if they can move at all. They already have an expensive sharp-tuned filter at the current location, and will likely need an even sharper one to move any closer to Boston due to land mobile on channel 16.
- Trip
Click to expand...
I wonder if....as a result of the fallout from the re-pack....if RF-18 would become available for WPXQ / WLWC to move to once WMFP vacates it?
 
channel99 said:
Could they work around that by using a directional pattern reducing the signal to the north? The signal heading north is just a duplication of WBPX anyway.
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I don't know that it would. If you check the documentation from the original channel 17 permit, it says that the nearest land-mobile operation is 39.7 km away from the current WPXQ transmitter site, which would put it in or near downtown Providence.

Channel 83 said:
I wonder if....as a result of the fallout from the re-pack....if RF-18 would become available for WPXQ / WLWC to move to once WMFP vacates it?
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Between WEKW on 18 and WUTF on 19, I sincerely doubt it.

- Trip
 
channel99 said:
This doesn't affect the reception or signal quality, it just gets them cable and satellite must-carry. They kept the virtual channel number that WDPX had when broadcasting from Cape Cod. Unfortunately WCEA-LD, the low power station broadcasting from the John Hancock building, also uses 58.1 (and 58.2 thru 58.6). Some TV's cannot receive 2 stations with the same number, so WCEA-LD, as a low power, will have to change.
Click to expand...

My set, a Westinghouse HDTV from 2009 that I bought at the time of the national switch to digital, will only receive one channel with the same virtual channel number in a given area. When scanning, the channel with the highest actual RF channel, the one it arrives at last in a scan, will override and cut out any channel with the same virtual number but a lower RF channel that it arrived at earlier in the scan.

Where I live in Somerville I'm practically line of sight of the Hancock just a few miles away and get a strong signal on WCEA-LD, and because it's on a higher RF channel and arrives at it later in the scan than WDPX, WCEA-LD overrides WDPX on virtual 58 and I can't get it.

I see that WBPX on virtual 68 is now missing their 68.4 channel, but I can't see it on 58 because it's overridden in the scan by WCEA-LD.

I noticed this happen on the very occasional nights when a little local skip (ducting) brought WDPX's signal up from the Cape once in a while. It would scan WDPX on 58, then WDPX got knocked out moments later in the scan when it scanned WCEA-LD with a higher RF channel.
 
tripinva said:
I don't know that it would. If you check the documentation from the original channel 17 permit, it says that the nearest land-mobile operation is 39.7 km away from the current WPXQ transmitter site, which would put it in or near downtown Providence.

- Trip
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ION must have something in mind - whether they would get what they want is something else. If not moving north...east? WPXQ's coverage area is heavily overlapped to the west by ION's WHPX. WBPX could move east as mentioned by Channel 83, and better cover Cape Cod, where they lost viewers by shutting down WDPX, and not lose any to the west.
 
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channel99 said:
ION must have something in mind - whether they would get what they want is something else. If not moving north...east? WPXQ's coverage area is heavily overlapped to the west by ION's WHPX. WBPX could move east as mentioned by Channel 83, and better cover Cape Cod, where they lost viewers by shutting down WDPX, and not lose any to the west.
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They may very well be planning to move it to the tower farm. I'm just wondering if they've thought it through.

- Trip
 
Hi, new here. First post.
Any idea what happened to WDPX? A couple months ago, one of my TVs stopped accepting the signal. Too weak I suppose. The other three had no issues.
Starting a day or two ago, I can get the signal on any of them. I'm in Northern RI and only about 30 miles away.
Is the station still broadcasting?
Did they move to a different more distant tower from me?
Thanks in advance....
Jason
 
WDPX shares on the WBPX signal. WBPX (and therefore WDPX) moved their transmitter a few days ago from the FM-128 tower in Needham a few miles west to Hudson, apparently to save money on tower rent. It probably won't affect the signal greatly in most areas but if the signal is already marginal it may.
 
BigJayR said:
Hi, new here. First post.
Any idea what happened to WDPX? A couple months ago, one of my TVs stopped accepting the signal. Too weak I suppose. The other three had no issues.
Starting a day or two ago, I can get the signal on any of them. I'm in Northern RI and only about 30 miles away.
Is the station still broadcasting?
Did they move to a different more distant tower from me?
Thanks in advance....
Jason
Click to expand...
For whatever it's worth...

At my RI location roughly 40 mi. from the former WBPX transmitter site at the FM-128 tower, I was never able to get any of my TV's to pick up WBPX. There just wasn't enough signal for the tuners in the TV's to work with. The same was true for WMFP-62 which used the same site.

Now that WBPX is transmitting from Hudson, a location even more distant from my location...Yet my TV's now pick up the WBPX signal almost as well as the other Boston-area signals.

Just goes to show you how finicky and touchy digital reception can be. I still miss the old analog days of "graceful degradation" of broadcast signals.
 
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