Just curious if anyone with Adelphia HD out west like me has tried the Firewire streaming on one of the SA83000HD DVR boxes?

Kinda curious about the 5C status on DiscoveryHD ESPNHD, etc... It seems to b ehit or miss in most of the country.

Help!!

After tonights thunderstorm, both cable boxes stopped working.

The symptoms are:
Standard cable box: No clock, no digital channels, no guide information
DVR: No clock, no digital channels, no picture but I do have sound
Standard cable and cable modem both work.

Is anyone else having a similar problem?

I called Adelphia and was told the earliest they could service me is next Thursday. If someone else is having a problem, please respond on this board and call Adelphia...

Hey folks does anyone know if WPEC has been showing Letterman in HD this week?
I've been in Orlando but came back to WPB for the weekend and It's not HD here tonight.

I noticed on Titantv WPEC-DT data says off-air from 5AM-5AM today.

I didn't check tonight if other CBS programming was HD, so dunno if there is work being done or not.

David McRoy?

Sometimes during a really bad thunderstorm I'll lose all digital services (digital channels, DVR, cable modem). I'll still have analog cable service. It seems that something in the cable infrastructure loses power.

It is strange that you still have cable modem service though.

Hey folks does anyone know if WPEC has been showing Letterman in HD this week?
I've been in Orlando but came back to WPB for the weekend and It's not HD here tonight.

I noticed on Titantv WPEC-DT data says off-air from 5AM-5AM today.

I didn't check tonight if other CBS programming was HD, so dunno if there is work being done or not.

David McRoy?


Yes they are showing Letterman in HD during the regularly scheduled time. I watched either Matt Damon or Jeremy Piven the other night. I was switching back and forth between Letterman and Leno to compare HD quality. As expected CBS looked better.

Yes they are showing Letterman in HD during the regularly scheduled time. I watched either Matt Damon or Jeremy Piven the other night. I was switching back and forth between Letterman and Leno to compare HD quality. As expected CBS looked better.

I live in Fort Lauderdale, and I just happened to tune into WPEC 12-1 last night as the David Letterman show began, and it was not in HD. I checked WFOR 4-1 and they had the HD broadcast, so it may have been a problem with the Palm Beach affiliate.

yeah no hd for letterman on WPEC last night :(

I live in Fort Lauderdale, and I just happened to tune into WPEC 12-1 last night as the David Letterman show began, and it was not in HD. I checked WFOR 4-1 and they had the HD broadcast, so it may have been a problem with the Palm Beach affiliate.


I can't speak for last night but I know earlier in the week WPEC was broadcasting Letterman in HD. It was late and was tired but I am sure I was watching WPEC.

Is anyone else getting a dead 12-1?

Just got my new antenna and I was wondering why I had a non working 12-1 and 12-2. Sent an e-mail to the station but still have not gotten a response.

Just got my new antenna and I was wondering why I had a non working 12-1 and 12-2. Sent an e-mail to the station but still have not gotten a response.I watched the US Open for several hours via 12.1 on Saturday afternoon. They didn't seem to be having any problems.

Adelphia Cable problem?

I can't figure this out. I have a E* HD system that we watch all the time. Our Homeowners Assoc provides Adelphia cable so I have it routed to the same TV on a different input to watch when the E* goes out. Works fine.

I set up the office TV yesterday and attached the cable BUT I get cable channels but NOT the same cable channels as on the other TV. Channels stop at channel 28 and there is NO guide channel. Channel 28 is Country Music TV.
WHY and how am I getting 2 totally different sets of cable?

Thanks - Terry

Your tv input is set for Antenna instead of Cable Tv. What you are seeing is that VHF/UHF and cable use different frequencies for their channels.

The option will either be a switch on the back of the tv or in the on screen menu. Check your manual.

Sorry but I don't see this as the problem. I'm getting QVC, Country Music and lots of other cjhannels that I'm sure I'm NOT picking up from off air. I don't even have a regular antenna hooked to the TV. AND if I disconnect the cable TV cable, I loose all the channels. So obviously my channels are coming in through the cable TV cable. UNLESS I'm missing something else here.

Thanks for the idea - Terry

Terry he's not saying your picking up the channels over the air. He's saying since the other TV is set to antenna it's scanning in the cable TVs UHF and VHF frequencies as AIR channels

Cable channels do have UHF and VHF frequencies just like OTA does, but OTA and cable does not have the same number.

For example cable channel 79 (which is CMT on adelphia) has roughly the same UHF frequency as AIR 28

For low channels like 12 (QVC) the Air and Cable channels do have the same frequency assignment

OK, got it figured out.

Somehow the TV got screwed up and was only getting certain cable signals. I had to remap all the receivable channels and that fixed it. Thanks to everyone for suggestions.

Terry

OK, got it figured out.

Somehow the TV got screwed up and was only getting certain cable signals. I had to remap all the receivable channels and that fixed it. Thanks to everyone for suggestions.

Terry

WPBF-DT HD signal is out they switched to SD. Is WPLG-DT HD up?

WPBF-DT HD signal is out they switched to SD. Is WPLG-DT HD up?


It is back.

Everything has been working so nice I haven't been on this thread in a while... I do have two adelphia questions though:

1) I will be getting a MyHD-130 in a couple days and was wondering if anyone knows what to expect for QAM on Adelphia in Boynton Beach. I'm happy with just using it for OTA, but if I could pick up ESPN or TNT or Discovery then I would give it some effort to get it working.

2) My father had Adelphia basic previously in downtown WPB and couldn't get HGTV (came in real fuzzy). He has Directv but is thinking of going back to Adelphia and getting HD through them when he moves. Problem is that he still will have two tvs hooked up to basic cable and needs to keep HGTV (Records perfectly with the DTivo).
Anyone with Adelphia in downtown (he's moving to Flamingo Park), with Adelphia analog that watches HGTV??

Thanks.

Hi all, first post!

I just spent about 20-30 minutes running some searches looking into Vero Beach and reception, but I didn't come away with much other than some basic questions, so I hope it's ok if I just shoot.

I'm located in Vero Beach, FL 32960 (27.632985 N, 80.403075 W) and am interested in setting up an OTA rig (antenna, rcvr, amp, etc). Specifically, I would like to get our main affiliates out of West Palm Beach, FL.

* NBC (WPTV 5) - not found on 2150
* ABC (WPBF 25) - found on 2150
* CBS (WPEC 12) - found on 2150
* FOX (WFLX 29) - not found on 2150

I was able to locate some of these on my 2150 report, which I can't post a link to yet because I don't have five posts. Can anyone in the SoFL area shed some light on these affiliates?

Also, I'm guessing that I'm going to need a pretty serious rig for picking these signals up, because some are 70+ mi away, maybe more for the FOX and NBC affiliates. Should I post an additional question in the HDTV Hardware forum for that, or can you guys answer here?

Thanks!

What kind of info do you want?

I think we got another member in here who's in Vero Beach, hopefully he can tell you what he's using...

If you want ERP and contour maps I can give you that.

Here's a site I made that has links to contour maps and ERP
http://www.bellsouthpwp.net/b/f/bfgall/hd/wpbdt.htm

Obivously the milage and compass heading is for me at my house but most of that other info should be helpful

What kind of info do you want?
I couldn't find WPTV and WFLX on the 2150 report (even when extended to 400 miles), but I found information in a google search the indicates that WFLX, for example, has had a DTV tower since 2002. I was wondering if anyone else located in Vero had any info on the channels they're able to get.

Also, I'm going to set up an antenna and receiver. What is a realistic range for receiving signals? I guess this may not be the correct forum for that.

EDIT: I just looked at your contour maps. Vero lies outside the boundary for a number of those transmitters. With the appropriate gear, could I still pick them up?

Well to get the other channels on the 2150 report you need to select "Include Expired Records" because for whatever reason it doesn't have their new record in the db

Well to get the other channels on the 2150 report you need to select "Include Expired Records" because for whatever reason it doesn't have their new record in the db
Thanks for the tip. I'll re-run my report.

Do you have any input on my location relative to the boundary lines on the maps you provided? Do you think I could still get those channels?

A long time D* subscriber, but am finally going to check adelphia out, what with their 3 month everything for the price of classic cable deal (including high speed Internet access), only going to cost just over $70 + tax for 2 HD DVR's, all programming tiers, and HSI. Take away the $20-$30 for D* hbo/sho and HDpack....only about $40/mnth for the promotional period. Sunday ticket junkie, so need to keep D* for that (which means a lot of duplicate SD stations that I won't be watching). Tonight and last night were really bad muxed nights for D* HD, the HBO fight, was the worst (reminded me of their AOTC premier... the boxing matches were worse than that mess if you can believe it), the Pitt/Ohio game was a close second, and even the ESPN (LSU/AZ) and HDNET (Navy/Stanford) looked off....not as bad as the fight or game on Saturday, but neither were examples of stunning HD. Finally my question, how do the WPB adelphia subscribers feel about the picture quality of the HD channels offered? I don't expect much difference in the OTA (other than finally getting WPB ABC...my antenna's never can get this or 34 very well), but am hoping the other channels will remind me of D* back when HDNET and HBO were the only HD channels...e.g. no bandwidth sharing. Don't suppose WPEC's weather sub is left out so we can get a good NFL game from them without most red uniforms/helmets macroblocking....naah that would be asking too much right? Sorry for the sarcasm...just a little weary of the many bad HD events.....I really do enjoy my HD equipment....really I do.....especially when it gets a full res/bitrate signal.

Hi all, first post!
SNIP

I'm located in Vero Beach, FL 32960 (27.632985 N, 80.403075 W) and am interested in setting up an OTA rig (antenna, rcvr, amp, etc). Specifically, I would like to get our main affiliates out of West Palm Beach, FL.

* NBC (WPTV 5) - not found on 2150
* ABC (WPBF 25) - found on 2150
* CBS (WPEC 12) - found on 2150
* FOX (WFLX 29) - not found on 2150
SNIP

Thanks!

You'll need a high gain antenna fairly high up, but at least all of your channels are in the same direction. Here is the info ( Call sign, Digiital channel, ERP, Antenna hgt, Antenna location)


WPEC-DT 13 29.5 kW 291 m 26° 35' 18.00" N 80° 12' 30.00" W

WXEL-DT 27 400 kW 440 m 26° 34' 37.00" N 80° 14' 32.00" W

WFLX-DT 28 630 kW 458 m 26° 34' 37.00" N 80° 14' 32.00" W

WPXP-DT 36 1000 kW 385 m 26° 35' 20.00" N 80° 12' 44.00" W

WPTV-DT 55 900 kW 386.5 m 26° 35' 20.00" N 80° 12' 43.00" W

WPBF-DT 16 1000 kW 454 m 27° 07' 17.00" N 80° 23' 42.00" W

WTVX -DT 50 704 kW 437.3m 27° 07' 19.00" N 80° 23' 20.00" W


An all-band Yagi should work for you. If you want to reduce antenna size, you can do what I do with my attic setup and couple two antennas, a UHF Yagi and a channel 13 Yagi.

Good luck and let us know your results.

The sound on WPEC 12-1 switches to the Left side loud as heck when they go to local commercials and news. They are also louder than the other broadcast stations by a lot. Makes channel surfing no fun! Can you folks get them to fix it?

How about those dolphins though?

Heck of a game! The Broncos just melted in the heat.

An all-band Yagi should work for you. If you want to reduce antenna size, you can do what I do with my attic setup and couple two antennas, a UHF Yagi and a channel 13 Yagi.
I'm not opposed to an external antenna and a 25' mast if needed. I'm looking at the 91XG from Antennas Direct. Based on the information you provided, some towers I'd like to pick up are 75-110 miles away. Could I realistically pick these up with the 91XG?

I'm not opposed to an external antenna and a 25' mast if needed. I'm looking at the 91XG from Antennas Direct. Based on the information you provided, some towers I'd like to pick up are 75-110 miles away. Could I realistically pick these up with the 91XG?
According to my calculations, the airport at Vero Beach is 78 miles from the Palm Beach County antenna complex ( true bearing 167 degrees to the stations ). At the outer limits of reliable reception but worth a try. You'll have no problem with the Martin County stations.

The antenna you refer to should work for the UHF channels. I would try it if I could return it if isn't satisfactory. My guess would be you would get satisfactory reception most of the time. If it works, you can add a channel 13 antenna later.

According to my calculations, the airport at Vero Beach is 78 miles from the Palm Beach County antenna complex ( true bearing 167 degrees to the stations ). At the outer limits of reliable reception but worth a try. You'll have no problem with the Martin County stations.

The antenna you refer to should work for the UHF channels. I would try it if I could return it if isn't satisfactory. My guess would be you would get satisfactory reception most of the time. If it works, you can add a channel 13 antenna later.
Awesome. Thanks a lot for the reply. That clears my mind a bit.

Is anyone familiar with distribution amplifiers?

Here is the problem I am trying to solve. No Adelphia VOD. It has been proven that my DVR and a cable box VOD can work, that is they can establish 2-way communications and can get an IP address. However, my current wiring configuration appearently has to much loss.

The cable comes in from the street to a 2-way splitter. One leg is wired to my cable modem and the other goes to a 2-way 14 db amp(supplied by Adelphia). The amp then feeds a 4-way splitter. Three legs go to 2-TV , and a cable box and the forth leg feeds an upsteam 4-way splitter. That splitter feeds a dvr, vcr, tv and one leg is not being used (and it is not terminated either.)

I am considering replacing the 2-way splitter, the amp and the 1st 4-way splitter with a 1x8, 2-way distribution amp like the one Electroline sells.

Does anyone think this will solve my VOD not working issue?
Or is there a better idea?

Does anyone else hear the static on the audio channels of WPTV-DT 5-1 OTA?

Is anyone familiar with distribution amplifiers?
...
The cable comes in from the street to a 2-way splitter. One leg is wired to my cable modem and the other goes to a 2-way 14 db amp(supplied by Adelphia). The amp then feeds a 4-way splitter.

I am considering replacing the 2-way splitter, the amp and the 1st 4-way splitter with a 1x8, 2-way distribution amp like the one Electroline sells.

Does anyone think this will solve my VOD not working issue?
Or is there a better idea?Most cable techs will first use a 2-way when a cable modem is involved in order to minimize signal loss to the modem. One leg goes to the modem and the other to an additional splitter to feed the TVs. The cable modem might work fine with a 3-way splitter. Cable techs will sometimes use a 3-way when two cable modems are in use. So I would consider replacing the 2-way with a 3-way. Use that 3-way to feed the modem, VOD, and the existing amp and 4-way. You might consider this option before trying a distribution amplifier.

Nice FAQ on splitters:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/cabletech/4.%20Splitters

If you get a distribution amplifier make sure it says:

"Cable modem compatible"
or
"5-42MHz passive return"

According to the Electroline web site their models have "5-42MHz passive return" so their models should work.

Bradeyland, I'd suggest trying for Orlando networks too- especially if you are going to go high tower, and long-distance-minded equipment. I'm way down in Hobe Sound and I can sometimes lock and watch Orlando stations using a highly directional UHF antenna (Blake JBX-21) on a rotor.

Eyeballing a map, it looks to me that you would have just as good of a shot at Orlando stations as you would at those in Palm Beach, so you might want to try for them once you have the equipment. If so, you might want to mix in a rotor and enjoy both.

Based on my own experience, I would bet you'll do at least as good aiming toward Orlando from your location. Plus, Orlando has a lot more DTV locals than Palm Beach. Good luck!

I'm getting my OTA antenna moved from inside my attic to outside my house today. My only reason for this is that inside my attic the ABC station I'm trying to get that is 31.5 miles away gets frequent drop outs. All the other stations I want to get (NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS) are all fine and <8 miles away. The problem is those 4 stations are at about 160 degrees while the ABC is at 354 degrees heading. The antenna can really only go on the side of the house that faces the 160 and it would sit just below my roof line (2 story house). Will this be a problem in getting the ABC that is basically coming from the other side of my house? Or should I be ok since the antenna will be outside now and not enclosed within my cement/clay tile roof.

mrRobinson, there's really only one way to get an answer to your question- you'll have to just try it and see what happens. I've read many posts that having an antenna inside the roof vs. outside costs you about 50% of signal reception, but there is also plenty of posts about how every situation is unique.

With a 2 story house, I would encourage you to get it above the roof line so that it won't matter what happens in the first test. You might also consider a rotor so that you can rotate it to the optimal "strength" for every channel. Good luck!

I recently installed an OTA. I receive great strength on all channels but the local ABC affiliate (WPBF). Anyone else having a problem with it recently? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I recently installed an OTA. I receive great strength on all channels but the local ABC affiliate (WPBF). Anyone else having a problem with it recently? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Welcome Jchane. OTA reception is more art than science. If you could provide a few details regarding your installation the forum member can help you perfect the art. the following details will go a long way:
1) Your location
2) Brand and Model# of Antenna
3) Brand and Model# of OTA receiver
4) Brand and Model# of antenna amplifier if present
5) Direction antenna is currently pointing and pitch

What is up with Channel 12-1? They have the Bills-Bucs game in SD and if that is not bad enough they are feeding it through like a local broadcast which puts ALL the sound in the left channel. Are these guys boneheads or what. They have been broadcasting all local stuff this way for almost 2 weeks. Isn't David working there?

The Bills-Bucs game was only available in SD.

My apologies! i thought every NFL game was HD this year.

Can anyone else confirm? I'm only getting center and left channel sound on WPEC today, started yesterday I think, perhaps earlier than that...Are they having sound issues again?

Been that way for a couple weeks. Only on local commercials and broadcasts. The network stuff is fine. I was wondering if anyone else would ever notice it.

Anyone catch WPEC's sub channel on Adelphia channel 199 yesterday/early this morning? The guide said New Orleans news and it was WWL's broadcast they have been letting affiliates pick up as well as WPEC's radar.

Now it is gone. Not sure if it was up for a while and I missed it or Adelphia was just testing something this morning along with their weekly take every/some channels down for maintenance.

Thanks for replying. The antennae that DTV installed is a Winegard. I could not find a model number on it. It is located just above my roof line and pointing southwest. The receiver I am using is the HR10-250 HD DirecTivo. There is no amplifier present. I live near close to downtown West Palm and all most of the Stations come in great. ABC has a very weak signal as does Channel 34. I called WPBF yesterday and spoke with an engineer there who was very helpful. He suggested I try rotating the antennae to face north to see if I can pick up the ABC signal any better. Unfortunately, that did not work. I am eager to see if anyone has any better suggestions. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Thanks for replying. The antennae that DTV installed is a Winegard. I could not find a model number on it. It is located just above my roof line and pointing southwest. The receiver I am using is the HR10-250 HD DirecTivo. There is no amplifier present. I live near close to downtown West Palm and all most of the Stations come in great. ABC has a very weak signal as does Channel 34. SNIP In the WPalm Beach area you'll need a high gain antenna for the Martin County stations ( 25 & 34). An inexpensive and convenient choice is the Radio Shack UHF yagi. This is a very directional antenna, but should work for you if pointed in the right direction. I use it for the WPalm Beach UHF channels, installed in my attic.

Thank you for the information. Couple of questions. (1) what is a yagi? (2) will using two antennaes affect my signal in any way? Thanks again for your help.

Thank you for the information. Couple of questions. (1) what is a yagi? (2) will using two antennaes affect my signal in any way? Thanks again for your help.Yagi is a generic antenna design named after the engineer who developed it. It is essentially a group of parallel rods/tubes some of which are active and some reflective. There are many modified designs for specific applications.

The first thing you should try is to replace your existing antenna with the Yagi and optimize the direction to receive 25 & 34. You have fair chance of getting good reception from the WPalm stations as they are nearby.

If that doesn't work, it gets more complicated, but try this first.

Here's some amplifing info in case you are interested.

As I recall, the original TV Yagis were all cut for one channel. They were referring to by the channel the antenna was optimized for, and the number of elements (parallel tubes). For example, if you wanted an antenna optimized for channel 5 you could buy a 5, 8 or 10 element channel 5 yagi. The gain for the antenna would be sharply reduced for channels other than 5. The more elements, the higher the directivity and gain.

Further modifications were developed:

Low band yagi - channels 2-6
Hi band yagi - channels 7-13
UHF yagi -channels 14-82 ( channels above 69 no longer allocated to TV)
All channel yagi - channel 2-82 (can be a very large beast )

One last item, the width of the yagi is determined by the half wave length of the frequency it is tuned for. That is why lower frequency antennas are comparitively large. For example my 5 element channel 13 yagi is approx 2' by 3'. A channel 5 yagi would be about 3 times as large.

Thank you very much. That really helps. One other question, are all of the local channels UHF signals or will I need a vhf antenna for some of them? It appears that the antenna at radio shack is for channels 14-69.

Thank you very much. That really helps. One other question, are all of the local channels UHF signals or will I need a vhf antenna for some of them? It appears that the antenna at radio shack is for channels 14-69.
WPECDT 12.1 and 12.2 transmit on VHF channel 13; however, the antenna I mentioned should be OK.

If you are only 10 miles or so from a full powered station, almost any antenna (inlcluding a coat hangar) has sufficient gain to provide enough signal for your receiver. The problem is multi-path interference (receiving reflected signals that arrive later than primary signal). You'll just have to try it to find if it works for you.

A hard lesson - I bought a new OTA only HD tuner (Samsung T451 or some such), a new LCD HD TV, and excitedly got it all hooked up Tuesday. Bam, I immediately get slapped in the face - channel 5 doing its now you see it now you don' t black screen flashing, Miami 7 and 10 were gone altogether. Rats, I was pissed. First I blamed channel 5's legenday problems, and I knew Miami FOX has had issues recently. But 10 ? That's usually a steady winner for me. What the hey ? I started blaming the tuner, of course. It's standard procedure for board whiners to blame everything but themselves, why should I be different ? Well, guess what ? After hooking the OTA cable directly to the TV for shits and grins, I discover that local analog is all to hell as well. Bingo ! Light goes on in my thick head. I look at the cable. I run backwards until I find a long ago forgotten splice, that fell apart at closer inspection. I run a new cable. Guess what ? I have, for the first time ever, seen channel 5-1 in a steady state with no monotonous disappearing acts. 7 & and 10 are back, and DirecTV is no longer complaining of periodically not finding the satellite. Now I am on a quest to replace all my 20 year old cable. What a chore that will be.

Next subject - Dolphins are to be televised ! Yippee ! Problem, though - I have not had very good luck with either Miami or WPB FOX stations lately. I hope they have it together Sunday. Anyone know if this will be in HD or not ?

Yes all the FOX games are HD this weekend

Ah, fantastic. I have a house full of people coming expecting to see HD. I hope I (and FOX) can deliver a reliable signal.

Good job troubleshooting there Jeff. When you replace your coax runs you should double or triple it to each room in anticipation of future multi-tuner devices like DVR's (TiVo, etc.). And finally, thank goodness football is on FOX instead of NBC this weekend. I still have no confidence in NBC WPTV 5-1.

My house was built in 1977. The original owner was a Ham radio fan, and I guess liked his TV. Every room in the 13 room house has at least two cable outlets(aside from bathrooms). Granted they are the old style they tell you won't work, but they worked for me as long as any crimps and connections were good. But anyway, since the fella had such foresight to run cable every-dang where, my job is that much easier - the cables all run through these hard plastic tubes, so I can (carefully) attach the new cable to the old and pull it through as I remove the old. As for 5-1, yeah, I still don't trust them, I usually watch Miami 6-1 in replacement.

Any one know when channel 15 the West Palm UPN is starting?

Is no one else is listening to channel 12-1 through a surround receiver using optical or digital hookup? When they go local all the sound is on the center and left speakers and LOUD. I watched the Dolphins game last week and listened to the radio broadcast. If the sound is gonna suck you might as well listen to something you can get info from.

I'll stop bellyaching now! Have a good weekend everyone.

you got it backwards. Channel 15 (the cable number) Lower power UHF 43 is there OTA number, and supossedly it's only receivable in the stuart/tequesta area. Is where the WB programming is now and it's already running... If you don't have cable you're basically screwed. They said they are negotiating with DirecTV. But from the FCC I see no records of them applying for increased analog power or constructing a DTV tower

Dolphan - yes I notice this as well.

Hard to miss it right now. 12-1 looks like a broadcast from the NFL archives in the 60's with sound to match and 29-1 has a smokin' good picture with sound to match like a broadcast from the 21st century should be.

Go Phish!

For all the people who bought the Radio Shack Accurian HDTV tuner, who live in south Florida and can not receive WFLX Fox 29-1 or the tube 29-2, please go to the WFLX web page and naviagte yourself to the HDTV information page. There will be a place to write to WFLX about Hi-def problems. They have not gotten more than two complaints about this problem, and are only now taking a look at it. The more of you they hear from, the more serioiusly they will look into resolving it.

Thank you, Joe

PS The people from WFLX called me today to talk about the problem I am having. they do care.

29-1 did a good job this weekend. In fact, so well, I went up and finally biased my bi-directional antenna towards WPB from Miami, giving up on Fox 7, who have been breaking up badly on me for 2 weeks now.

Post #5061 merged in.

Are any of the local news broadcasts in HD yet? I can't get any channel other than 25.1 until I get an antenna (possibly this weekend) and was curious if I could get the news in HD.

No none of the stations does the news in HD. There's only a handful that do news in HD in the nation. However WPTV would be the ones closet to make the conversion since they actually have HD studio cameras, but that's the only thing they have, so they'd have to replace/upgrade the rest to do it. Would be nice to see the day when it happens but I can't see it yet... ;)

I daresay they will never do the news in HD - the anchors might not look all that great without the smoothing and softening effects of 480i........ :D

WFLX was working on the Accurian receiver as of yesterday ( 9-27 ) evening. I too am in contact with WFLX and FOX Headquarters in LA. Now the same problem with WSVN needs to be resolved.

I was tweaking my rabbit ears after 25.1 kept breaking up on me tonight. Now I'm able to get WFLX 29.1 and 29.2, though it often pixellates. I doubt it'll come in at all during the day. Anyone know if Fox upped its broadcasting power or did I get lucky for a bit here. I'm using the D* HR 10-250.

BTW, I'll be picking up a radio shack antenna model 15-2160 this weekend. Based on the signal tests using the current antenna, I'm able to see but not lock Wpec 12.1 and am able to lock in Wflx 29.1 and 29.2 but with heavy pixellation. Also able to pull 25.1 and 34.1 with only occasional breakups mostly due to weather. With the RS antenna, should I expect success in getting CBS and Fox consistently? Can I possibly hope to get NBC 5.1?

SNIP
BTW, I'll be picking up a radio shack antenna model 15-2160 this weekend. SNIP Can I possibly hope to get NBC 5.1? I have one in my attic and get all the Martin/WPalmBeach UHF channels using it. You should have no problem with 5.1 as it has a very strong signal in this area. You'll probably have to put the antenna on your roof to get the weaker 42.1.

That's great to hear Joel! How do you have this antenna mounted in your attic? Did you bolt it to the truss uprights?

I daresay they will never do the news in HD :D

Wanna bet? :D

Ha ! How can I argue with David !

Say, you are the guys with Liz Quirantes and Claudia Shea.... Hmmm.... Bring on the HD, then !

Hmmm.... Very interesting.

Doesn't mean it will still hapen soon, but just probably happen.

Anyways :)

That's great to hear Joel! How do you have this antenna mounted in your attic? Did you bolt it to the truss uprights? The antenna is attached using a short piece of standard antenna mast and a standard TV corner mount that I found at Lowes. The mount is above the antenna rather than below as designed for. In my case, an exact level antenna (pitch & roll) made a big difference. My second antenna ( ch 13 yagi ) is attached using a PVC mast bolted to a truss.

I received a service notice from Adelphia yesterday with a small price increase of their broze Advantagepak which I use. But it also indicated WXEL is going to be added to their HD lineup soon.

Question
Does anyone have the HD/DVR with networking from Adelphia as yet? This is the model that lets you view programming recored on one DVR on another in the household.

Very bad voice sync problems on FOX HD today. Good thing sporting events mainly focus on the field of play.

Interesting about WXEL, thanks... Maybe if they're using cable bandwidth that will motivate them to broadcast HD more than Just 8PM-12AM

It's too bad that WXEL was not sold to WPBT. I believe we would have ended up with a first class PBS station in this area rather than what we have now. Hopefully the when new owners take over, they will put some money and energy into this station and improve the product.

It's too bad that WXEL was not sold to WPBT. I believe we would have ended up with a first class PBS station in this area rather than what we have now. Hopefully the when new owners take over, they will put some money and energy into this station and improve the product.

I missed the WXEL comment but last night's broadcast of Sound Stage was excellent. WXEL has a very intelligent group making decision because unlike WPBT, WXEL turns off their subchannels during HD broadcast. WPBT has a group of fools making decision as a result watching WPBT HD programming is pointless.

Please understand my rage is directed at the idiots at WPBT who insist on ruining HD and are determined to do everything within their power to ensure all viewer of their HD content see the worst HD broadcasts possible.

I have a hard time getting channel 25-1 and 5-1 at the same time, one is worst than the other. I have been pointing east and southeast and having the same results. I'm using a Terk antenna, I don't know the model but it's plastic and square, bought it at BB ($150) nice on the eyes compared to the radio shack special I had B4.

I live in Wellington, what direction do you all point yours and at what angle or deg.?

The race is starting soon.....

Go Happy!!! :)

David McRoy,

Before I begin my petition, is it even technically possible to only show the Cash 3 and Play 4 numbers on the Standard Def channel and not on 12-1?

It annoys me when it drops out of 16:9 into 4:3 and a small box at the beginning of shows. I understand showing the numbers and all but I would guess that most people that are recording the HD show, would rather have a clean copy and check the lotto numbers at http://www.flalottery.com/.

Thanks.

David McRoy,

Before I begin my petition, is it even technically possible to only show the Cash 3 and Play 4 numbers on the Standard Def channel and not on 12-1?

It annoys me when it drops out of 16:9 into 4:3 and a small box at the beginning of shows. I understand showing the numbers and all but I would guess that most people that are recording the HD show, would rather have a clean copy and check the lotto numbers at http://www.flalottery.com/.

Thanks.

I'm with you on that one. I truly hate the "Squeeze Back" at the beginning of a program that's supposed to be in High Definition and Dolby Surround Sound. But good luck because in the near future there will be advertisements on the margins of the picture ALL of the time. Free TV? I think not.

David McRoy,

Before I begin my petition, is it even technically possible to only show the Cash 3 and Play 4 numbers on the Standard Def channel and not on 12-1?

It annoys me when it drops out of 16:9 into 4:3 and a small box at the beginning of shows. I understand showing the numbers and all but I would guess that most people that are recording the HD show, would rather have a clean copy and check the lotto numbers at http://www.flalottery.com/.

Thanks.

I am also in your camp. I wonder if WPEC gets a kick back for showing the lottery? If not, I think the people watching the digital channel would rather see end to end HD and not the lottery numbers. As an HD viewer I don't find myself saying "I'm sure glad WPEC interrupted my HD viewing to show me the result of the lottery." If anything I find myself saying "I hate the fact that WPEC interrupts my HD viewing to show the lottery! If wanted to see the lottery results I would watch the SD channel! The fact that I am watching the HD channel means I want to see HD and not the lottery." I wish the affiliates would listen to their viewers.

SNIP Please understand my rage is directed at the idiots at WPBT who insist on ruining HD and are determined to do everything within their power to ensure all viewer of their HD content see the worst HD broadcasts possible. Is the quality of WXEL HD better than WPBT HD?

Rage ? Against PBS ?

I get both. WXEL HD is superb, better than the other.

Motorman - I gave up on 25-1 - its antenna is up in Martin county. Not sure about the geography from Wellington, but from east Boca, I have to point my antenna NW to get 25 and 5. However, if I forego 25, I can point my antenna such that I get both Miami and WPB stations. I watch 10-1 in place of 25 these days.

Is the quality of WXEL HD better than WPBT HD?

Joel. The difference is night and day. Seriously.

I missed the WXEL comment but last night's broadcast of Sound Stage was excellent. WXEL has a very intelligent group making decision because unlike WPBT, WXEL turns off their subchannels during HD broadcast. WPBT has a group of fools making decision as a result watching WPBT HD programming is pointless.

Please understand my rage is directed at the idiots at WPBT who insist on ruining HD and are determined to do everything within their power to ensure all viewer of their HD content see the worst HD broadcasts possible.



I don't find WPBT to be any worse than WPEC when it comes to managing HDTV...their NFL presentations in particular are very difficult to watch....I cringe every time they carry a game I want to see, and WFOR reception is not coming in strong. When you compare WPEC's broadcasts to WFOR's or even the bandwidth muxed D* sunday ticket HD games, they are a distant third. Last year major pixelization was mainly with red/orange uniforms and helmets, but now even with last weeks Jets vs ravens game I saw problems with the purple of the the raven's uniform. I have emailed them a few times begging them to try a football broadcast without the subchannel, but to my knowledge it has never been tested by them. I wonder if there is a technical reason why they won't at least test turning off the weather subchannel, similar to what WXEL does for their evening HD broadcasts. Their email reply to me hinted that the technical staff felt the near nothing bandwidth of the subchannel should not have an effect on the HDTV signal, but a side by side comparison with WFOR clearly shows the difference. Someone at WPEC must feel the constant radar screen is providing a valuable community service, or drawing a mass audience. Was hoping adelphia would get a full bandwidth version of WPEC, since they don't seem to be carrying the subchannel, but it looks just as bad as the OTA version, so maybe they are getting the bandwidth starved version also. I guess it could be their equipment, but I am betting it is the subchannel causing the problems.

Joel. The difference is night and day. Seriously.
I get both. WXEL HD is superb, better than the other.

Does someone a tie-breaking opinion?

I happen to like the 12-2 weather. good move with the new radar screen showing the movment .

8 months ago I couldn't get 25 HD , but could get 29,12,5 ,42..........

Since I lost 29 and got 25, What changed at FOX ?

Any idea on the timetable for our Direct TV local HD's...2006 ? I'm holding off on getting the new PVR.

Saturday Night Live looked good , weekend update close up didn't do any favors for the female anchor (forget her name)...

I don't think Sackett and Sauer are pushing for news in HD.

I'm looking forward to The Weather Channel in HD.

I happen to like the 12-2 weather. good move with the new radar screen showing the movment .

.


Do you watch it during prime time or when sporting events are broadcast on CBS (provided you are interested in the sporting events)? Would you feel slighted if they turned off the sub channel only during primetime or sporting events? I understand everyone has different tastes, but the HD experience is subpar when you see pixelization everytime there is a fast action sequence or when a problem color is broadcast (red/orange). I am by no means a videophile, but when comparing WPEC's broadcast to other avenues with the same event, it is clear there are differences. Not asking them to get rid of the sub channel entirely, just hoping for some compromise, like what the PBS station does with it's multicasting during their HD shows.

I got this from WPEC's contact page:

Send us your questions about reception, HDTV and digital broadcasting. (We will respond to your note)
kbetts@wpecnews12.com

Yes they should turn off the weather subchannel during HD broadcasts. If there is some severe weather they could reactivate it.

Running the Lottery numbers and reducing the HD broadcast to SD and terrible sound quality also should be stopped.

Keep bellyaching everyone you are really taking the load off of me! LOL

Does someone a tie-breaking opinion?


I don't see the need for a tie breaker as both Jeff and I agree WXEL has much better picture quality than WPBT.

I don't see the need for a tie breaker as both Jeff and I agree WXEL has much better picture quality than WPBT.Thanks for the reply, I misread your first response.

In fact, I have no problem with WXEL HD, it is the audio & video quality of their non-HD broadcasts that peeve me. Since it's off topic I won't expand on it.

Their email reply to me hinted that the technical staff felt the near nothing bandwidth of the subchannel should not have an effect on the HDTV signal,... I guess it could be their equipment, but I am betting it is the subchannel causing the problems.We have heard several times from WPEC how the subchannel uses little bandwidth and should not have an impact on 12-1. In looking at 29-1's broadcasts of the NFL, I do not see pixelization even though 29-2 is still on the air so I might be inclined to agree with WPEC's engineers.

So why does 12-1 experience noticeable pixelization with fast motion? The engineers at WPEC tell us the issue is not because of the sub-channel, but they fail to offer us an alternative explanation. Is it because WPEC's plant has internal bandwidth limitations? Or is it because of some other reason?

I am not saying we should abandon efforts to convince WPEC to give us a sub-channel free weekend as a test. I am however suggesting that we challenge WPEC to figure out what the real cause is since they “know” the sub-channel is not the cause.


David McRoy, do you have any insight as to what the station thinks is the cause for the fast motion/red color artifacts we are all seeing?

We have heard several times from WPEC how the subchannel uses little bandwidth and should not have an impact on 12-1. In looking at 29-1's broadcasts of the NFL, I do not see pixelization even though 29-2 is still on the air so I might be inclined to agree with WPEC's engineers.

So why does 12-1 experience noticeable pixelization with fast motion? The engineers at WPEC tell us the issue is not because of the sub-channel, but they fail to offer us an alternative explanation. Is it because WPEC's plant has internal bandwidth limitations? Or is it because of some other reason?

I am not saying we should abandon efforts to convince WPEC to give us a sub-channel free weekend as a test. I am however suggesting that we challenge WPEC to figure out what the real cause is since they “know” the sub-channel is not the cause.


David McRoy, do you have any insight as to what the station thinks is the cause for the fast motion/red color artifacts we are all seeing?



I agree. If WPEC is sure it is not the subchannel, then it would be interesting to know why their broadcasts have trouble where others don't. Not sure if the comparison of WFLX is valid, Fox broadcasts their HD in 720p, and the bandwidth demands are supposed to be less when compared to 1080i. I rarely see pixelization during any Fox or ABC broadcast, but even with WFOR pixelization can bee seen at some times, albeit much less often than with WPEC. The Fox 720p broadcasts probably leave enough bandwidth to allow a low res weather channel to simulcast without much effect.

I agree. If WPEC is sure it is not the subchannel, then it would be interesting to know why their broadcasts have trouble where others don't. Not sure if the comparison of WFLX is valid, Fox broadcasts their HD in 720p, and the bandwidth demands are supposed to be less when compared to 1080i. I rarely see pixelization during any Fox or ABC broadcast, but even with WFOR pixelization can bee seen at some times, albeit much less often than with WPEC. The Fox 720p broadcasts probably leave enough bandwidth to allow a low res weather channel to simulcast without much effect.

I don't believe WPEC is as in tune with their DTV viewers as we think. Dave does a great job of keeping us in the loop and I am sure he is conveying our concerns to the video engineers but I don't feel WPEC is concerned with picture quality. If they were the subchannel would A) not exist or B) go off during HD programming.

I believe if you polled 100 DTV viewers they would say video quality is more important than additional channels. I know additional channels bring marketing revenue to the stations but come on. The video issues make me not want to buy anything from WPEC advitisers.

Putting aside the often discussed WPEC motion artifact problem. In my subjective opinion, the WFLX picture always seems to be better than WPEC for football telecasts. When both stations are carrying HD football I usually compare pictures. The WFLX broadcast invariably appears to have more detail with superior color rendition.

Has anyone else noticed a difference?

I agree 29-1 is always better than 12-1 for football in HD. ESPN seems to be better than everyone though, IMHO. If you folks could have seen Voom in its early days you would have seen what HD could and should look like. It was 3d almost. I don't know why our ota stations don't look better.

Are all of you getting a great signal with 12-1 and still have picture problems? I'm 3 miles from the tower and my signal strength is in the top of the "bad" range. I seem to get a better signal at night. 5-1, 29-1 and 25-1 all come in the 95% range. I'm perplexed.

My signal has dropped on WPEC as well. I get between 85-90 on the other stations but between 65-70 on WPEC

I think something must've changed.

Are all of you getting a great signal with 12-1 and still have picture problems? I'm 3 miles from the tower and my signal strength is in the top of the "bad" range. I seem to get a better signal at night. 5-1, 29-1 and 25-1 all come in the 95% range. I'm perplexed.Unless you are getting intermittent reception, you should not be concerned with signal strength. Are you getting poor reception?

During football, massive pixilation and audio dropouts. At night, same signal strength but no problems. NCIS last night was perfect. I'm due east of the farm with a SqS on a rotor and the best signal comes from about 220 degrees. Maybe some multipath issues?

During football, massive pixilation and audio dropouts. At night, same signal strength but no problems. NCIS last night was perfect. I'm due east of the farm with a SqS on a rotor and the best signal comes from about 220 degrees. Maybe some multipath issues?Yes, possibly caused by over amplification. At 3 miles the signal is extremely strong and you should be very cautious with any amplification. An a unamplified coat hangar should provide sufficient signal strength.

The most irritating problem I have is when the HD shows go to commercial, the image shrinks and the volume goes WAY UP. I have found it very easy just to hit the MUTE button until the show starts again. MAYBE the stations would get on the ball and fix all this stuff IF THE SPONSORS knew that most of us are muting their commercials and aren't hearing them at all. Lots of advertising money down the drain to me.

Terry

For years now most stations have been making the commercials louder than the programs but the situation with HD is really bad. I also find big differences in sound level between some of the major networks. It can be really painful if you go from a WPTV program to a WPEC commercial. We have the Adelphia SA8300HD DVR box and usually watch recorded stuff. I wouldn't mind seeing some of the commercials or trailers for the local news programs. However since it would be uncomfortable on my eardrums I find myself hitting the fast forward button.

Is there something technically complicated about sound levels with HD or are the local stations just doing a bad job ?

Is there something technically complicated about sound levels with HD or are the local stations just doing a bad job ?

It's both. It's not just our locals that have this problem and it's probably beyond their control to fix it. You have not noticed the volume difference between commercials & programs and between channels because most TV's manufactured in the last 15 years have circuitry that automatically levels the volume for you. Now you are listening via your Home Theater System that does not "normalize" volume and realizing how bad it really is.

Another problem is 99 percent of commercials are still SD with a stereo or mono soundtrack. So your system switches from the Dolby Surround of your program then to the mono of the local car salesman yelling at you "come on down". The really annoying thing is at 8 PM when you get everything cranked up for your favorite HD program and 30 seconds into it the station squeezes the picture, blows out the surround sound and posts the lottery numbers. That is a local thing that I wish they would stop doing.

Are there home theater amps that have the volume normalizing circuitry?

Yes there are. My last two had it. Problem was, it was an across the board flattening of dynamic range, and I do not want my movies and programs "normalized" just because of some commercials, so I never enabled it. I use the mute button if it is bad - mine has two levels - press once, lowers volume, press twice, kills all volume.

So there we were enjoying CSI in all its HD and surround sound glory. What a great job WPEC-CBS was doing. When the gurney in the underground bunker moved past (in the right rear channel) my wife and I both jumped up thinking someone else was in the house !

Just when you thought they had it down pat someone forgot to flick the switch after the commercials at about quarter to the hour. Not only was it not in HD it did not even look 480p to me. It looked like a 480i feed displayed on a digital channel.
The HD picture never did come back for CSI.

Do the local stations often loose their HD national feed or is it usually a case of all the best techs have gone home and are watching prime time TV ?

I agree with all your posts. How about when 12-1 does anything "local" instead of network and the volume goes through the roof but only on your center and left speaker. I really enjoy this so much I immediately switch channels.

I guess someone has to switch back and forth between HD and SD. You would think it would be automatic. I wonder why they can't just show the commercials in stretch o vision and never have to switch locally. There must be a lot more to this whole HD broadcast thing than we know. Almost everyone I know has at least one HD TV in their house, and we all use an antenna for HD locals, so it must become a priority soon for the TV stations.

Just when you thought they had it down pat someone forgot to flick the switch after the commercials at about quarter to the hour.
Beautiful wasn't it. And earlier in the evening WPBF did the same on the Alias broadcast. Came back from a commercial in SD and stayed there until the next commercial. At the end of that next break they were in SD again for the 1st minute until someone called them to let them know.

I would say we get all the control rooms on speed dial but I watch everything recorded so I never know until the next day.

Anyone else receiving breakups on WPEC for the football games today? Started about half way through the 1pm game and has continued through the 4pm game.

Anyone else receiving breakups on WPEC for the football games today? Started about half way through the 1pm game and has continued through the 4pm game.

I have had quite a few breakups on the Broncos/Patriots game. I thought maybe it was me but I guess not.

If I wasn't watching it on a 30 minute delay I would have switched to 4-1.

I experienced the breakups during both games. It didn't matter whether it was with my OTA antenna or through Adelphia HD.

At times the breakups were real annoying.

I had the same problem with WPEC-DT OTA at about the 4th quarter of the Miami/Tampa game. I went to the signal strength meter on my HR10-250 and was getting a steady 95 % on channel 13 VHF. So it wasn't the transmitter this time.

How has WPTV-DT 5-1 been doing with NASCAR? Is everyone happy so far?

Do we have an update on when WPTV-DT 5-1 will be sending along 5.1 audio?

I had the same problem with WPEC-DT OTA at about the 4th quarter of the Miami/Tampa game. I went to the signal strength meter on my HR10-250 and was getting a steady 95 % on channel 13 VHF. So it wasn't the transmitter this time.

How has WPTV-DT 5-1 been doing with NASCAR? Is everyone happy so far?

I am not a nascar fan but I watched most of the race Saturday night because I was interested to see how it looked in HD and because they kept blowing tires every 20-30 laps (not that I was hoping for crashes, just an interesting story).

I thought the HD looked good and there was no dropouts or glitches on my end.

The use of SD cameras (blimp shot, in camera shots) wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I believe there was a higher percentage of HD v. SD than in the last PGA golf event I watched.

Do we have an update on when WPTV-DT 5-1 will be sending along 5.1 audio?

6-1 is absolutely dropping the ball coming back from the last commercial and staying in 4:3. It orginally started with all the Monday night shows and is spreading. I am hoping that 5-1 will start broadcasting in 5.1 sound so I can make them my primary.

I have had quite a few breakups on the Broncos/Patriots game. I thought maybe it was me but I guess not.

If I wasn't watching it on a 30 minute delay I would have switched to 4-1.

I am experiencing breakups on 12-1 and 29-1 that do not appear to be signal strength or multipath related.

Ansek - likewise.

9:24pm Monday - I called Channel 25 after no 16x9 picture from the beginning of the game. They are aware of it, so no reason to call them.

Hopefully they can get it fixed.

:mad: Let's see. Rocket science, or High Definition broadcast of Monday Night Football. It MUST be rocket science.
:mad:

I just got my antenna in the right position to pull in 25-1 ad they pull this crap.:)

I just got my antenna in the right position to pull in 25-1 ad they pull this crap.:)

Good thing you didn't invite everyone you know over to watch HD football.

Should we call up the WPBF news number (624-6397) and ask them to bribe the giant panda with some bamboo to throw the freakin' switch?

Already called, their HD feed is not working.

Already called, their HD feed is not working.

Thanks. It's a good game though.

Do we have an update on when WPTV-DT 5-1 will be sending along 5.1 audio?

I just asked that question to Channel 5 and they sent back the following reply:

"We have money in the budget to add 5.1 audio in 2006. I am huge Nascar fan and miss it as well! We hope to have it in place by the Olympics in Feb. 2006."


I guess we will have to wait until next year!

Just noticed WXEL is now on Adelphia channel 706.

Alright.

Is it the same thing as OTA? WXEL SD during the day, the HD feed at night?

Yea looks like they are passing the whole feed. 480i during the day and 1080i during HD programs. My QAM tuner picks up their sub channels but only the main channel is on the cable box.

My SD cable box can even tune the channel when its 480i.

What's going on with the sound on WFLXDT? It keeps cutting out and is so bad you can't watch any program on either OTA or via Adelphia 703. I first noticed it last night when I tried to watch the first game of the World Series in HD. Today it was just as bad when I started to watch FOX NFL Sunday.

No idea whats going on, but I noticed it as well last night. Ended up watchin the Series on channel 7.

Also noticed that The Tube was breaking up as well.

Yeah my wife pointed it out to me on thursday, I noticed it was worse on our HR10-250 units than the HTL-HD in the theater. I will check the E86 units shortly to see if its as bad on them as well.

Kudo's to WPTV for great storm coverage.

I took my DirecTV dish down the night before the storm to prevent wind damage.

I lost Adelphia cable around 8:00 AM the morning of the storm.

I watched flawless reception on 5.1 all morning during some pretty severe weather as the NE eyewall passed thru Palm City. (attic antenna)

This says a lot about the superior technology of OTA digital TV and what a first class TV station can do. Digital transmissions of WXEL, WPEC and WPBF are currently off the air.

At least in my area, this also demonstrates the superiority of Bell South DSL compared to Adelphia cable internet.

I tried to check WPTVs and WPECs webcasts around 2 and they are both down, the only webcast still going is WPBF

That was one heck of storm wasn't it? It seemed to spare no one. Everyone i know got some kind of damage. My antenna is fried and my dish is pointing East. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow. Any of you have electricity w/o a generator? I hope everyone came through in good shape!

Dolfan

The only digital signal I can get in PGA is PAX 67-1thru4, just what I need infomercials and preachers.. :eek: :( :mad: .................ABC, CBS, NBC are all STATIC (on a digital feed no less), think they've dropped their digital broadcasts in favor of analog, (which comes in like crap here).
UPN 34-1 was coming in fine after the storm, then they too D/C'ed the digital signal.
Adelphia still out. Thank G-D for DSL

I think the story is still that the digital transmitters aren't on generators so they'll still be out until they get power at those sites.
I thought PAX was simulcasting WPTV but i guess there done with that?

I can't believe that WPTV is still doing non-stop coverage they really must think they have a lot to gain and nothing better to do ;)

With all that coverage have you heard when The City of Lake Worth is forecasting the Electric to begin operating?

Just got off the phone with D**,the local channels are a problem throughout florida,not hurricane related just the floating bird up in the sky.....save yourself a phone call.

well um sorry but of course it's hurricane related.

If it's affecting the locals through florida that means their fiber optic path out of florida probly goes through an area affected by wilma got damaged and cannot get the signal back to D*.

Nothing is wrong with the satellites.

Yeah my antenna got torn off the side of my house as well. Dish is fine and I watched it through about 2/3rds of the storm, even went out and re-adjusted it real

Yeah my antenna got torn off the side of my house as well. Dish is fine and I watched it through about 2/3rds of the storm, even went out and re-adjusted it real quick during the eye of the storm since my antenna was down at that point. I had a CM4221 that I used when both the sat and ant were out from inside and was able to get decent coverage from 5.1 for the remainder of the storm. Just sustained minor damnage and we now have all services back up and running including electric, phone and cable/cablem modem. Seems like all of Loxahatchee has power so hit up a friend out here if you need a place to stay.

The people across the street have power but we don't

It's a problem with our local transformer, it's next to a tree so when limbs break and fall on it the jostle knocks it out, the rest of the grid is fine :(

Since this is so isolated we'll probably be out of power for a while :(

I took the dish down for the storm and put it back up once the winds subsided - no need to worry about alignment since the only thing I have to do is level the mast. Antenna is in the attic so all was fine with that. Was able to watch 6-1 and 5-1 once I fired up the generator.

Bighitter, being down the road from you I got power and cable when you did. However, my phone is down as my line got yanked :( .

With all that coverage have you heard when The City of Lake Worth is forecasting the Electric to begin operating?

We have been told 50% by November 4 and 100% by November 22.

Our DTV transmitter is not on generator backup at this time. We should restore WPEC-DT when FPL resumes providing power at the studio and the transmitter site. We just managed to have 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel delivered for the generators at both locations so that we can remain on the air longer.

I hope all of you are doing okay. I lost three window panes (even though they were shuttered!) and it looks as though a small twister must have torn through my back yard. Oh, well...we needed to renovate the old (80 years old) place, anyway!

Good luck, guys.

The locals were out last night for around 30mins,glad it came on at world series time. and to the guy in miami. If its fiber optic and not the sat, then why did 5,12,25,29,34,42,and all the rest of the locals go out if it wasnt a sat issueand 5.1 is the only working digital station working. Then why buy a dish then? Signal from the sats was high 90s across the board on the HD200. Thats why i dont post much here,and just read,l always get a genius wisecrack,try to be helpful so save you guys a phone call and 20mins waiting time. Ill just stick to reading again...

5.1 is the only working digital station working. I have also been getting 5-1 and 6-1 since the storm ended. I have been picking up 12-1 and 12-2 for some time now - not sure when it came back up. If you are not getting 12-1 you might want to adjust your setup.

Mr David McRoy,

Can you guys work on balancing the loudness of your audio a little closer to the other stations it really is LOUD? Also would you please check on when you go to Non 5.1 Dolby, why does the sound either come out center channel and left channel or center channel and right channel? During prime time and football you are in Dolby 5.1 and all is well but as soon as you hit local commercials or broadcasts including the news the problem occurs. FYI

I lost a few roof tiles and my landscaping was pulverized but all in all, everything is fine. Thank you for the update on Lake Worth power.

thanks, Dolfan

Power back on at my house.

I guess WPEC has power for the digital transmitter since I'm getting them, they are also streaming online again

Are they actually broadcasting on 12-1 and 12-2 now? I do have a strong signal but not picture, just wondering if anyone else is experiencing such.

Mr David McRoy,

Can you guys work on balancing the loudness of your audio a little closer to the other stations it really is LOUD? Also would you please check on when you go to Non 5.1 Dolby, why does the sound either come out center channel and left channel or center channel and right channel? During prime time and football you are in Dolby 5.1 and all is well but as soon as you hit local commercials or broadcasts including the news the problem occurs. FYI

I lost a few roof tiles and my landscaping was pulverized but all in all, everything is fine. Thank you for the update on Lake Worth power.

thanks, Dolfan

The engineeers are aware of these issues and they will be addressed once we are out of the woods on hurricane damage, which will take some time, of course.

I think bgall is mistaken - maybe Dave can answer this one for us - although I think he already did - I don't think any of the WPEC digital feeds are operating. The only ones I have operating are 5.1, 42.x, and 67.x

I have also lost WFLX 29 (Fox) today. I hope they can get power on soon.

Dave, any idea when the Digital channels will come back up? Just wondering if FPL has given you any updates or not. Also, you might want to suggest turning off some of the ad sales equipment to power up the digital equipment for football this Sunday! I am sure that stuff hogs lots of power if its anything like what the cable companies have on hand. :D

WPEC-DT is on the air now. I'm not sure when we brought it back up.

We have been back on FPL at the Mangonia Park studio site since 12:30 PM yesterday but the antenna site at the west end of Lantana Road is still running on a generator.

WPEC-DT is on the air now. I'm not sure when we brought it back up.

We have been back on FPL at the Mangonia Park studio site since 12:30 PM yesterday but the antenna site at the west end of Lantana Road is still running on a generator.

Super job getting WPECDT back on the air considering the extensive Palm Beach County hurricane damage. I'm receiving 12-1 using my OTA receiver, but Adelphia HD channel 702 is not working as yet. Strange the Adelphia HD channel 701 (WPB/NBC) is working, but not WPB/CBS.

Is anyone getting WFLX or a FOX affiliate in the Palm Beach area? I am not getting a signal off-air or via D*Tv. They say that the station is off the air. Any info would be helpful -- wondering about football this afternoon. :(

Is anyone getting WFLX or a FOX affiliate in the Palm Beach area? I am not getting a signal off-air or via D*Tv. They say that the station is off the air. Any info would be helpful -- wondering about football this afternoon. :(

They are off the air - even rabbit ears on a portable TV do not get channel 29. :confused:

Looks like 34-1 is back up now as i have been pulling them in since yesterday. I am still not getting 29-1 or -1 nor am I getting 25-1.

WFLX Analog was on for the World Series... Maybe they ran out of gas to power them?

I'm getting Fox 29 analog in Lake Worth on a portable.

I am getting WPBF-DT now as well, still nothing on WFLX-DT.

Funny, the only real damage I had, aside from shredded palm trees was my wing antenna. One wing bent up in the first half, then the other wing went up in the second half. Ordered a replacement, this time I will use fishing line to hold the wings level by tying off to the mast.

Jeff - What brand of antenna do you have?

Wingard GS2200

Hello.

I hope this is the correct place to ask this question. I've poked around and can't see anywere else to ask, so here goes.

We are planning on purchasing an HDTV soon, so I wanted to find out what type of channels everyone can pick up in the WPB Area.

WE live in Boynton Beach. Can we pickup Miami/Ft. Lauderdale channels, in our area, or do we need special amplifier equipment to do so?

Is there a general list of what chanels are available in the area (other than the obvious locals everyone has been talking about.)

Thank you all for your help.

Tom

goto www.antennaweb.org type in your address click the digital only button and it will tell you what you should be able to receive with what type of antenna

Since 29-1 is still off the air, tried to watch analog 29 last two nights.

On one HDTV, analog 29 is fine. On other, no audio but great picture. I can get audio and video on analog 25, 12, 5, 34, 42 just fine on this set. But on Fox 29 analog, no audio on one set (Toshiba HDTV 1080p).

Anyone else experience this?

(BTW, 12-1 and 12-2 were on Mon night but 12-1 was in SD, not HD. Watched CBS out of Miami on 4-1 in HD).

On one HDTV, analog 29 is fine. On other, no audio but great picture. I can get audio and video on analog 25, 12, 5, 34, 42 just fine on this set. But on Fox 29 analog, no audio on one set (Toshiba HDTV 1080p).

Anyone else experience this?I watched some of the tues nite 10 o'clock news on 29 analog, audio was fine.

Hello.

I hope this is the correct place to ask this question. I've poked around and can't see anywere else to ask, so here goes.

We are planning on purchasing an HDTV soon, so I wanted to find out what type of channels everyone can pick up in the WPB Area.

WE live in Boynton Beach. Can we pickup Miami/Ft. Lauderdale channels, in our area, or do we need special amplifier equipment to do so?

Is there a general list of what chanels are available in the area (other than the obvious locals everyone has been talking about.)

Thank you all for your help.

Tom

Tom,

This link should help you in your quest for information.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4487688&&#post4487688

Hi guys...

Its been some time since I last posted here...
"Wilma" did a job on my antenna/rotor as well as turn my dish into a pretzel. I was using "The Satellite Store" out of Loxahatchee for installation and maintance on my antenna. They don't answer or call back so I'm in need of someone who can put a new antenna up on the roof and evaluate the mast/rotor.

Can anyone recommend a company that I can use?
I reside in Lake Worth...

Thanks in advance!

I never did find anyone to install an antenna for me, I ended up doing it myself.

Hi guys...

Its been some time since I last posted here...
"Wilma" did a job on my antenna/rotor as well as turn my dish into a pretzel. I was using "The Satellite Store" out of Loxahatchee for installation and maintance on my antenna. They don't answer or call back so I'm in need of someone who can put a new antenna up on the roof and evaluate the mast/rotor.

Can anyone recommend a company that I can use?
I reside in Lake Worth...

Thanks in advance!


This link should help you with your question.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4486182&&#post4486182

This link should help you with your question.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4486182&&#post4486182

Thanks for the info but it is not what I'm looking for... I need a recomendation from someone who has actually used a company who's main area of expertise is in installing an antenna and rotor.

Thanks...

I need a recomendation from someone who has actually used a company who's main area of expertise is in installing an antenna and rotor.
The number of people using antennas is relatively low. The number using rotors is likely even lower. Therefore, the need for pure antenna installers is pretty low. Factor out the DIY crowd and the potential customer base is even lower. Such a pure play business would be difficult to keep liquid. Anyone doing antenna installs is likely doing it as a side business to a main business in home theater. Trying a company like Audio Advisors as ANSEK suggested might be your best bet for getting any sort of "expert" at antenna installation.

There are 4 listings under antenna at the Bellsouth.net homepage for West Palm yellow pages. American satellite did mine. I believe his name was Kevin. Very knowledgeable and honest.

I live in North Broward and am having a hard time getting 25.1 and 34.1 since the storm. I knoiw I am at the edge of their coverage area, but I have received them fine before the storm. Anyone know if they are at full power or not ? My antenna appears to be fine as I get all other channels that are broadcasting from Miami and West Palm.

Is 5-1 back to it's "old ways" for some of us? I was getting a stable signal before Wilma, but now the "strength" meter never gets above 40- no matter what angle I rotate the antenna. Anyone else have 5-1 before the storm and not now?

I notice strength dropoffs in general across the board since the storm. Prior, I could aim the antenna in one direction and get them all. Some (like 25-1) would rank 100%. Since, 25-1 ranks 90%. 34-1 was also strong, but weaker now.

Not seeing much of the same kinds of postings here, I suspected water might have gotten into the outside equipment. I re-leveled the antenna and checked it's connections (fine). I couldn't easily take a look inside the amp (but that was the only place where a problem could remain). So I cut it out of the equation, making a direct run from the antenna to the house. Strengths improved a bit (to numbers mentioned above).

I suspect that foilage buildup before the storm was causing enough signal issues that the amp boosting actually helped. Since the storm (with most leaves stripped from the trees), I suspect the antenna was getting too much signal and the amp was "overloading" the system. Maybe multipath?

At least for now, it seems to be working pretty well without the amp. Except for 5-1 of course.

I'm having multipath in Lake Worth on 5.1 my siganal is pulsing between 70 and 90. No picture loss though. All other stations are strong. This happened after the last storms as well.

Is 5-1 back to it's "old ways" for some of us? I was getting a stable signal before Wilma, but now the "strength" meter never gets above 40- no matter what angle I rotate the antenna. Sounds like your pre-amp suffered storm damage. 5-1 has been normal here in Palm City.


Joel

Since WPEC-DT has resumed broadcasting via Adelphia cable, following the hurricane, I have been experiencing an odd problem with the audio. When receiving an HD broadcast, with Dolby Digital audio, the sound is fine. When a commercial runs the audio dissappears. As soon as the program resumes so does the audio. When watching a non-HD program without Dolby Digital, the audio works both during the program and the commercials. This does not occur on any other station. Anyone else experiencing this? I know I should like the auto-mute "feature", but I find this odd. BTW this was not happening prior to the hurricane.

Joel, I cut the preamp out of the connection now. Basically, its a run from the antenna to the Dish 942, broken only by the grounding block.

It is a little worrisome to see that maybe I am the only one on here with this problem(?). I checked the antenna very carefully yesterday, looking for even the odd possibilities (bent posts, etc.). There is a little ciruit board that connects to the antenna wrapped in a plastic/rubber case. An original installation (a couple of years ago) punched a small hole in this, and I noticed gradual and stead signal "decay" about a year later. I did the same kind of activities back then that I've done in the last 2 days and discovered that the circuit board was rusting out.

But I replaced that board with a new one, more careful this time to avoid creating any opportunities for water to get inside. I checked it yesterday, and the board was rust free.

Nothing else changed since before the storm (when i was getting 5-1 just fine).

My antenna is on a rotor, and I have tried every angle. But the best "strength" I get is just under "40" (on a 100 scale) on the Dish 942. That's not enough to create a picture for more than about a half a second.

The problem looks just like the "old days" when 5-1 would lock for a lot of hardware, but not for the RCA 100, some Hughes boxes, my old Zenith 1080, and the old Voom box. But, unless everyone has "upgraded" and no one else is using a 942 up this way, I'm just about stumped on what else it might be.

I even took a leveler up there yesterday to re-level the antenna.

Any other suggestions anyone?

Joel, I cut the preamp out of the connection now. Basically, its a run from the antenna to the Dish 942, broken only by the grounding block. I agree you need feedback from someone who has the Dish 942 tuner.

Joel

We'll Joel... you must have done it. Soon after your post, without me doing anything on my end, 5-1 signal "strength" suddenly lept up to 75+ and now I have a stable picture again.

Isn't the world of over-the-air reception wonderful? ;)

My signal is not pulsing anymore. Steady at 85 so they must have fixed something at 5-1.

Sorapp, since I don't have cable, all I can suggest is you check the settings for your audio in cable box or tv. It may be set to SAP or some other alternate audio on that channel.
That was my problem with Fox 29 mentioned above. For some reason, on analog 29, TV had SAP turned on but not on any other channel. How it got turned on, don't know. Wilma did many a strange things. Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestion, however I use a Yamaha receiver for the DD audio, not the TV. There is no way to selectively change the DD settings, it's all or nothing. I discovered that if I disable the DD on the Cable box the audio returns as normal but, of course, I lose the DD for all channels. I'm beginning to suspect that the station may be killing the audio but leave the DD active, this would cause my receiver to "think" there is a DD signal and play empty sound. As I said it only occurs with WPEC-DT so I will just wait and see if they eventually fix it.

Quiet around here. Funny story - the last hurricane knocked down a lot of phone and cable TV lines in my neighborhood. I think it is an interesting commentary on the level of penetration of cable in my neighborhood when, as of today, the majority of those cables are still lying limp and disconnected. My neighbor and I pulled the ones laying across our property line down the rest of the way and just cut them off (the ones that came from the pole to feed our two houses). What a sorry company the local cable provider is.

Read a few posts above about 5-1. Noticing that the only shows I TIVO in HD are SNL and My Name is Earl. Both are constantly pixelating and losing signal. Nothing's changed on my end that I know of - any suggestions?

-Bruce
DirecTV in Wellington

Quiet around here. Funny story - the last hurricane knocked down a lot of phone and cable TV lines in my neighborhood. I think it is an interesting commentary on the level of penetration of cable in my neighborhood when, as of today, the majority of those cables are still lying limp and disconnected. My neighbor and I pulled the ones laying across our property line down the rest of the way and just cut them off (the ones that came from the pole to feed our two houses). What a sorry company the local cable provider is.

I have convinced so many people to get DirecTV in the past few weeks since many are still without cable. I explained to them that as soon as the storm passes, a quick reaim gets them back in service. So many people believe what the cable companies tell them about rain fade and the satellites always going out - it is shocking what they told me they pay for cable w/o movie channels. I already did 2 installs for friends.

I've noticed that myself lately as well. If adjusting your antenna does not cure it (did not for me), then the other solution (worked GREAT for me) is to start watching 6-1 instead.

6-1?? Hmm, I'll rescan for it and see if I can get it. It's been like that ever since Wilma, and I thought that they may not be broadcasting as strong a signal (for whatever reason). But things are returning to normal, and I'm still having this issue (with only this channel BTW - all other local digitals are rock solid).

Do you know if there is a way to check local signal strength on the D* HD TIVO?

Hofstra - even better, if you take the actual oval dish part down (by removing the 4 bolts), and leave the rest up, no re-aim is even necessary, you just put the dish back on the bracket and away you go. I've done this with success for 4 wind events now. Beats waiting for an installer (I never did have any luck properly aiming an HDTV capable dish myself).

When I first went to DirecTV, I was worried about rain fade as well. Turns out to be a non-issue, I've only experienced it a few short times over the last few years.

Bruce - no I don't know anything about Tivo. I do know you can check signal strength with the standard tuner, but that is about all I know.

This is interesting.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-1743A2.pdf

There's a channel for the North Pole ?!? What does this document mean ?

6-1?? Hmm, I'll rescan for it and see if I can get it. It's been like that ever since Wilma, and I thought that they may not be broadcasting as strong a signal (for whatever reason). But things are returning to normal, and I'm still having this issue (with only this channel BTW - all other local digitals are rock solid).

Do you know if there is a way to check local signal strength on the D* HD TIVO?


Yes click the "DirecTV" button, then select "Messages and Setup", then select "Settings", then select "Satellite & Off-Air Antenna", then select "Test Off-Air Signal Strength". You will have to confirm the warning message. The channel numbers displayed are the actual channel numbers and not the virtual channel numbers. For example virtual channel "6-1" is actual channel "55" and virtual channel "12-1" is actual channel "13". Use the arrows to channel channels.

There's a channel for the North Pole ?!? What does this document mean ?When TV analog frequencies go away, stations will have to choose a digital channel. This channel is not necessarily the one they are on now. For example, WPTV will not be able to use 55 as this frequency is being reallocated to other use. This list is preliminary but reflects stations current desires.

Ah, I see. North Pole still tickles me funny bone, though.

Anybody know anything about when WTCN might go digital? It would be nice to have HD WB in WPB. I can sometimes get 39-1, but not consistently enough to not care.

They haven't made any filing changes at the FCC so things are still stuck the way they are right now.

They're still a Low Power Analog station. So I think they at least have to upgrade that. I don't even know of any low power stations that have been given a digital channel. In fact I don't really know what happens to the low power guys after the digital transition.

Hello,

We were wondering if there was anything special we have to do in order to pick up the West Palm Beach CBS (WPEC) in HD. We live in Tequesta less than a mile of the Martin county-Palm Beach count line. We have dish network and use an over the air directional indoor amplified antenna to pick up the HD locals. We get a strong signal on the NBC, ABC, PBS, and Fox channels. However, we cannot seem to get anything for CBS. Even if we try scanning the analog frequencies, we cannot get the CBS analog signal. Is their towers that week and are we too far north to get their reception?

Dish networks offers the CBS HD national feed, but it appears we need to get a waiver from the station for that. Does any know if the CBS station will allow us to get a waiver so we can finally get the CBS prime time programming in HD?

Thanks.

WPEC-DT is on the VHF band and in my experience you're gonna need to get that antenna as high as you can inside or move it outside.

I think people have been able to get WPEC to hand out waivers because of this, I don't know how easy it was as I've never done it myself.

This station has a very strong signal, as bgall noted they transmit on VHF. Apparently your antenna is not designed for this band. You should try a different antenna. One option is to put an outside antenna in your attic.

Hi to All. I'm new to this forum, but sofar this a great source for AV info. I will be upgrading the home theater to include HD reception. The problem is do I stay with DirectTV, and chance the OTA local reception or go with Adelphia Digital Cable? I live in Port St. Lucie and am concerned about being able to pull in the signals, as I understand that with an OTA HD signal is "all or nothing".

Thanks.

I don't work for Adelphia but I'm pretty happy with it.

If you already pay for basic cable through your homeowners association
(like me and many others in Port St Lucie) then Adelphia is a good way to go.

For just about $100 per month you can get Broadband Internet, Digital Cable
with HD channels, rent the SA8300 HD DVR and get the Triple Premium package
including HBOHD, Showtime HD and StarzHD. You will also get all the SD and
on-demand SD of those (dozens of extra premium channels).

Once the local Blockbuster started charging me $20 per month for its
DVD pass I used the money towards the premium package. I figured I might
have to wait a few months longer to see films, but hey they would be in HD !

Without the Triple Premium HD package it would be about $70 per month.
The standard HD channels are ABCHD,CBSHD,FOXHD,NBCHD, WXEL-PBSHD, HDNET, HDMOVIES, INHD1, INHD2, Discovery HD, ESPNHD and NFLHD.

It is a LONG way from Port St Lucie to many of the transmission towers !

Hi to All. I'm new to this forum, but sofar this a great source for AV info. I will be upgrading the home theater to include HD reception. The problem is do I stay with DirectTV, and chance the OTA local reception or go with Adelphia Digital Cable? I live in Port St. Lucie and am concerned about being able to pull in the signals, as I understand that with an OTA HD signal is "all or nothing".

Thanks.If you want to put a decent antenna on your roof, you will get excellent reception from Palm Beach and Martin County transmitters. You MAY get good results with an attic antenna, I do in Palm City. I like DirecTV because of the programming packages, but I take my dish down when the wind blows more than 50 MPH, a plus for cable.

You should be aware that Adelphia is going away soon and it's anyones guess what Comcast will do with the service. In any case I would have some kind of inside antenna. Adelphia has had lengthy outages during hurricanes. It's nice to have a backup in these parts.

Thanks for the replies. I currently have Adelphia for my internet service, but my TV picture comes from DirectTV. I will keep a dish no matter what because of the NFL package. (mine survived all three storms!) I am glad to here that signals are obtainable here up "north". Adelphia would require less infastructure investments, so it looks like it will have to be a personal decision.
Can anyone recomend a type, or brand of OTA antenna?
Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. I currently have Adelphia for my internet service, but my TV picture comes from DirectTV. I will keep a dish no matter what because of the NFL package. (mine survived all three storms!) I am glad to here that signals are obtainable here up "north". Adelphia would require less infastructure investments, so it looks like it will have to be a personal decision.
Can anyone recomend a type, or brand of OTA antenna?
Thanks.Fortunately the local channels are all UHF with the exception of WPEC 12.1 ( actually VHF 13 ) A Radio Shack UHF Yagi should be OK even for 12.1 if placed on your roof and pointed South. You should be aware that channel assignment is a moving target, WPTV 5.1 ( UHF 55 ) will have to change when D-Day (digital day ) arrives in a few years. If WPTV decides to stay on 5 you ( and many others ) will need a new antenna.

I use the RS yagi in my attic coupled to a 5 element ch 13 yagi. I had marginal reception on WPEC using the UHF antenna only, but good enough that I believe I could get by with only one antenna if placed on my roof.

I have a channel master 3020 bought it at lowes and mounted it in my attic works well and I get all the channels no problem.Its also future proof gets both uhf and vhf without a problem and like Joel said just point it south and you should get everything.

I have a channel master 3020 bought it at lowes and mounted it in my attic works well and I get all the channels no problem.Its also future proof gets both uhf and vhf without a problem and like Joel said just point it south and you should get everything.
Where are you located?

Port Saint Lucie north of becker road and a little bit east of savona.

Port Saint Lucie north of becker road and a little bit east of savona.
How is your reception on channel 5 analog?

There are analog chaanels???? just kidding I get about 98 to 100 signal strength on the digital channel and really have no problems with the analog channel either but I really dont watch the analog channel all that much.

Dave McRoy,

Since CBS has informed it's affiliates about the problems using sub channels has on sporting events, (please see this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6687525&&#post6687525) ) just curious why WPEC's technical staff won't try turning off it's weather subchannel during sports events, especially HD football. Many have commented on how much better WFOR's HD football broadcasts are than WPEC's, and if anyone at WPEC has compared the two, they would probably see the artifacts in WPEC's broadcast that just are not there in WFOR's. Please don't take this post the wrong way, your posts have helped me with my HD setup, and for the most part WPEC has done a good job with their HD, but not even trying a HD broadcast without the subchannel to see if it helps things out is the one area WPEC has fallen way short. If WPEC's technical staff has already tried a sports broadcast without the sub channel, and it has not helped things, then I am sorry for bringing this topic up again. It is just that I have emailed this request to the HD contact on WPEC's web site a few times, and have received no response to the emails.

Thanks,

John

Is anyone getting a signal from WPBF 25.1 (ABC)?

My signal is a dead flat 0 which makes me think that their signal must be down for whatever reason...

Is anyone getting a signal from WPBF 25.1 (ABC)?

My signal is a dead flat 0 which makes me think that their signal must be down for whatever reason...


Everthing is fine for me. I was watching the final round of the Target World Challange without any problems.

It's disappointing that so many CBS games are not in HD. It's also disappointing to see the poor quality of the WPEC digital telecast of SD games. I don't often receive WFOR-DT in Miami, but yesterday during the Miami game I was able to compare the telecasts. Both the audio and video were much better from the Miami station as WPEC was very blurry and the sound muffled with poor high frequency response.

Anyone know why?

Dave McRoy,

Since CBS has informed it's affiliates about the problems using sub channels has on sporting events, (please see this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6687525&&#post6687525) ) just curious why WPEC's technical staff won't try turning off it's weather subchannel during sports events, especially HD football. Many have commented on how much better WFOR's HD football broadcasts are than WPEC's, and if anyone at WPEC has compared the two, they would probably see the artifacts in WPEC's broadcast that just are not there in WFOR's. Please don't take this post the wrong way, your posts have helped me with my HD setup, and for the most part WPEC has done a good job with their HD, but not even trying a HD broadcast without the subchannel to see if it helps things out is the one area WPEC has fallen way short. If WPEC's technical staff has already tried a sports broadcast without the sub channel, and it has not helped things, then I am sorry for bringing this topic up again. It is just that I have emailed this request to the HD contact on WPEC's web site a few times, and have received no response to the emails.

Thanks,

John

WPEC engineering and management are aware of all this, but I have no idea when they will choose to act on it. I suspect we will wait and see how CBS plans to implement this capabilty with their O&Os with the launch of CBS.2. Perhaps turning the subchannels on and off can be automated in some fashion.

It's disappointing that so many CBS games are not in HD. It's also disappointing to see the poor quality of the WPEC digital telecast of SD games. I don't often receive WFOR-DT in Miami, but yesterday during the Miami game I was able to compare the telecasts. Both the audio and video were much better from the Miami station as WPEC was very blurry and the sound muffled with poor high frequency response.

Anyone know why?

WPEC-DT has an older and less sophisticated SD to 1080i upconverter than probably any of the Miami DTV stations and that's why our upconverted programming looks softer. We have been having some problems with an audio processor on our analog station and it affects the upconverted DTV audio, too. I thought that the faulty processor had been removed from the signal path as of last week. I'll look into it.

WPEC-DT has an older and less sophisticated SD to 1080i upconverter SNIPThanks for the info Dave.

WPEC engineering and management are aware of all this, but I have no idea when they will choose to act on it. I suspect we will wait and see how CBS plans to implement this capabilty with their O&Os with the launch of CBS.2. Perhaps turning the subchannels on and off can be automated in some fashion.


Thanks for the reply Dave. I understand a station has a lot more to consider than a small group of enthusiasts who not only want digital signals, but the best possible HD. Hopefully there will be a way to automate things, and eventually WPEC will turn off the subs from cbs.2 and the weather sub currently running during HD shows.


John

Thanks for the reply Dave. I understand a station has a lot more to consider than a small group of enthusiasts who not only want digital signals, but the best possible HD. Hopefully there will be a way to automate things, and eventually WPEC will turn off the subs from cbs.2 and the weather sub currently running during HD shows.


John
I wonder if that is really necessary ( let's hope not as I doubt it will happen ) . I haven't noticed any degradation in WFLX football since they added their subchannel.

Thanks, Dave. I always wondered why the SD pic looked so bad compared to Miami.

[QUOTE= I haven't noticed any degradation in WFLX football since they added their subchannel.[/QUOTE]

Joel,

WFLX broadcasts in 720p while WPEC is 1080i. Somebody can probably explain technically why, but 720p seems to require less bandwidth before pixelization begins when compared to 1080i....not sure if I have ever seen any 720p sports begin to pixelate because of motion, but have seen it quite a bit in 1080i channels.


John

Joel,

WFLX broadcasts in 720p while WPEC is 1080i. Somebody can probably explain technically why, but 720p seems to require less bandwidth before pixelization begins when compared to 1080i....not sure if I have ever seen any 720p sports begin to pixelate because of motion, but have seen it quite a bit in 1080i channels.


John

This is true because while 1280 X 720p @ 60 frames per second has better temporal (time and motion related) resolution it also has about half of the spatial resolution as 1920 X 1080i at 60 fields/30 frames per second. 720p can be more gracefully compressed for squeezing into a 6MHz channel than 1080i.

Hi,

I wanted to report my OTA HDTV experience for receiving WP stations from Vero Beach. I am getting ABC, UPN, Fox, and NBC. ABC, UPN, and Fox are all solid. NBC is going in and out bit. I'm not getting the HD CBS, but I am getting the analog CBS. ABC and UPN aren't surprising because they are in St. Lucie County. Fox and NBC are surprising because they are 70 miles away. Fox is at 174 degrees, ABC and UPN are at 177 degrees, and CBS and NBC are at 172. I suspect the reason I am having trouble with CBS and NBC is because my antenna is more aligned with the Fox tower than with either the CBS or NBC tower. Until I get a compass, I won't know for sure.

My set-up is a CM 4228 in the attic with a CM 7777 amplifier. There may be 60 ft of RG6 between the antenna and the receiver. The receiver is a panasonic TUHDS20.

Overall, I am very happy. I was expecting only to be able to see ABC and UPN in HD. But now I'll be able to watch the BCS bowls and the Super Bowl in HD. Hopefully, I'll also be able to improve NBC enough that I won't have any problem watching the Olympics in HD as well.

Tim

Hi,

I wanted to report my OTA HDTV experience for receiving WP stations from Vero Beach. SNIP
Tim
Considering your antenna is in the attic, your reception is a lot better than one could expect from Palm Beach county transmitters. A couple of points.

1. You are having problems with WPEC (CBS) because it is a VHF station and you are using a UHF antenna. You could add a suitable antenna using an antenna coupler for this station.

2. All of the towers in Palm Beach county are in the same vicinity. If you have optimized your antenna pointing for WPTV (NBC) and are still getting drop-outs there isn't much you can do short of putting your antenna on the roof.

Thanks for the info. BTW, WPBF & WTVX towers are in Martin County.

Hi guys,

I have a DirecTV HD-TiVO, and the off-air antenna that D* gave me for OTA locals. I used to get all the major stations before the hurrican Wilma:

red - vhf WPLG-DT 10.1 ABC MIAMI, FL
red - uhf WTVJ-DT 6.1 NBC MIAMI, FL
red - vhf WSVN-DT 7.1 FOX MIAMI, FL
red - uhf WFOR-DT 4.1 CBS MIAMI FL

In the hurricane, my dish and the OTA antenna got out of alignment, so I had the D* technician come to realigh them about a month ago. The realignment work took place when I was out of town, and my roommate didn't care to check the reception after overseeing the realignmnet. :rolleyes:

Ever since the realignment, I am having major major problems with the WSVN-DT Fox channel in channel 7-1. :mad: I started seeing major lockups on the HD picture with horrible pixelation, and the picture is never continuous for more than 1-2 seconds. In effect, tht channel is totally fugged up reception. I've also noted that the Fox logo in the bottom right corner started being cut-off at the "O" - sort of like a bad overscan problem.

I never had these issues prior to the hurricane and the subsequent realignment of the antenna. I initially thought the HDMI card on the HR10-250 was starting to croak - so, I changed to component output, but still the problems persisted. On a hunch, I checked the signal strength of the station, and 'lo and behold' - the signal strength is in the low 60s, and always fluctuating between the 60s into the 80s. The signal strength is never constant - which is why I think my picture on the channel is so pathetic.

My question is for guys in the Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Boca Raton, Coconut Creek areas. Has the station just gone kaput after the hurricane, or is my antenna screwed up?? Please reply.

raaj - answered you in the Miami forum

1. You are having problems with WPEC (CBS) because it is a VHF station and you are using a UHF antenna. You could add a suitable antenna using an antenna coupler for this station.


The antenna is supposed to be decent at hi vhf (CBS = 13), but maybe not at this distance. The problem is the vhf antennas with the needed range are too big for my attic....I think. 13' long will be difficult. I would not be able to rotate it at all even if I can mount it. Too many trusses.

The antenna is supposed to be decent at hi vhf (CBS = 13), but maybe not at this distance. The problem is the vhf antennas with the needed range are too big for my attic....I think. 13' long will be difficult. I would not be able to rotate it at all even if I can mount it. Too many trusses.Antennas cut for this channel or even for hi-band VHF are not large. I use a 5 element channel 13 yagi (about 2" X 2' X 3') You might take a look at http://starkelectronic.com/winp12.htm#TACO From a Vero Beach attic a 10 element Yagi might be needed.

Thanks, Joel!

Interesting. I didn't realize that individual channel antennas were made and available. Have you seen any distance ratings for them?

Thanks, Joel!

Interesting. I didn't realize that individual channel antennas were made and available. Have you seen any distance ratings for them?Single channel Yagi's are designed for fringe areas. The number indicated below the little chart (7.5dbd for the 5 element Yagi ) is an indication of the gain of the antenna in comparison to a dipole. It's a logarithmic number, so the 10db antenna is about 40% more sensitive than the 7.5db antenna.

I don't post often and haven't really read much since I bought my TV and surround sound a year ago, but was wondering why the local CBS, NBC, & ESPN HD channels are broadcast in 2.1 audio instead of 5.1 surround sound?

I don't know if it makes a difference, but I have Adelphia. Thanks for any help.

Frankly, I'm glad that they keep the system in stereo vs. putting everything in Dolby 5.1 like ABC. No matter what you watch on TV25, its permanently in 5.1. Even non-HD shows are left in 5.1.

5.1 wouldn't do anything for most prime time shows anyway. Sitcoms or Drama's have no rear or side sounds so the normal stereo signal. If they would just use the front stereo speakers with center channel, I'd be happy.

One thing I'll give TV25 is when they do show a good prime time movie, at least the 5.1 supports the original format.

With all the bowl games coming up on ABC in HD over the next week, lets see if they make use of the 5.1 properly or mess that up.

Their 5.1 isn't even being encoded correctly. On my receiver it detects it as a Dobly EX 6.1 stream, and HD does not do that. All the other stations are fine standard DD except WPTV doesnt do any DD of course

Anyone experiencing troubles with the West Palm NBC signal over the last 24 to 48 hours. We are getting half the signal strength we normally have gotten from that channel and lots of drop outs. All our other digital over the air signals are fine and continue to come in as they have in the past few days.

Anyone experiencing troubles with the West Palm NBC signal over the last 24 to 48 hours. We are getting half the signal strength we normally have gotten from that channel and lots of drop outs. All our other digital over the air signals are fine and continue to come in as they have in the past few days.

I usually get about a 75% signal from 5.1. Right now it has dropped to only 35% and is unwatchable here in Margate. I hope it doesn't take as long as it usually does to fix this problem.
Tony

I usually get about a 75% signal from 5.1. Right now it has dropped to only 35% and is unwatchable here in Margate. I hope it doesn't take as long as it usually does to fix this problem.
Tony


I have not noticed any change in signal strength from 5.1. I watch 5.1 regularly.

Yes 5-1 is broken again. Same recurring issue. I too am seeing about a "35" strength reading on my Dish 942. It seems to be something that affects only some boxes when it happens. I've never seen it get fixed quickly, but whatever they usually do after the week or two (or more) it stays like this, it seems to fix it for all boxes.

Whatever it is that keeps breaking seems like it should be replaced this time.

Yes 5-1 is broken again. Same recurring issue. I too am seeing about a "35" strength reading on my Dish 942. It seems to be something that affects only some boxes when it happens. I've never seen it get fixed quickly, but whatever they usually do after the week or two (or more) it stays like this, it seems to fix it for all boxes.

Whatever it is that keeps breaking seems like it should be replaced this time.

Is this the issue which was affecting first generation boxes and few "later boxes"? If memory serves correctly WPTV had a problem which introduced interference to the signal that drove older boxes crazy. Does this sound right?

5-1 is breaking up in Lake Worth also. No HD for the game either. Aaaarrrgghh!

ditto on 5-1 with crazy signals as well.

Regarding the 5-1 problem, yes, exactly the same symptoms as I've seen several different times before. And yes, for a long time in the "old days" (of a few years ago), 5-1 blamed it on "1st generation boxes". Those of us who were suffering the same problem with the latest generation technology could get no explanation. Now I'm using Dish 942 (one of the latest platforms from DISH).

5-1 fixed something on their end and magically everything seemed to work- even for those first generation boxes and a few boxes that suffered the same problems that were not 1st generation.

I recall the description of the problem as "electrical arcing" but that's about all. I do perceive that whatever gets fixed has a regular tendency to break again. Then, it's about 1-2+ weeks before they fix it. Unless it is enormous money, I would probably replace whatever it is and keep this problem solved for the long run. But what do I know.

I am a new HD viewer and my OTA hook up last week does not get 5-1 at all. I am up in PSL and am able to get 29-1 with no problems. It is virtually at the same compass orientation, and distance, but no channel 5 HD. Any thoughts/comments?

JoePWR, use antennaweb.org to get a decent sense of antenna directions from your home. However, when 5-1 is like this, I wouldn't try too much experimentation right now (if it is much trouble). Usually 5-1 is a very strong signal in the area. I've got my antenna on a rotor and can lock it when pointing the antenna in almost any direction.

But right now, I can get signal strength of no more than about 38. If history proves anything, they'll fix it in another 7-14 days, and you'll probably lock it (quite strongly) with your antenna "as is" (now).

WPBF is having problems with their HD signal right now during the Rose Bowl. My signal is fine, but when they go to HD there have been freezing and blackouts, when they switch to local commercials the picture is fine, so they have a signal problem somewhere

Great now there are Color Bars saying "WPBF Please stand by" on the analog signal provided by Dish Network