We heard a lot about frustrating reception difficulties during this past week in our WHA-TV viewing area and we’ve talked to our engineers to find out what happened. Despite the 39 degree temperatures on the ground, it was actually much colder at the top of our WHA-TV tower at 1,400 feet where the falling rain covered the transmitter with thick ice. This ice cover forced us to significantly reduce the transmitter power. Eventually we had to revert back to our standby antenna just to stay on the air. This emergency backup unfortunately limits our Madison-area signal — especially to the west. Our chief engineer even said he has never seen it this bad — workers had to take hard hats to the site to protect themselves from falling ice!
We apologize for the inconvenience this situation has caused for our viewers and we thank you for your patience as we worked to fix the situation. If you are still having trouble receiving Wisconsin Public Television over the air, please try rescanning your local channels via the setup menus in your television, digital converter box or cable or satellite receivers. If you have further questions about any reception difficulties you might be experiencing, please contact WPT’s Audience Services department at [email protected].
Thank you for watching!
