Most transmitter towers are 1,000 feet in Miami, but Channel 6's Homestead tower is taller. Orlando's towers serve a large area so they are around 1500 feet tall. Channel 34's and 25's tower is located next I-95 in Stuart and they are around 1500 feet tall. 5, 12, and 29's tower are located just west of the Turnpike where the card collection booth (Lantana) is.

I really enjoyed the video's that were being played on Channel 29.2 yesterday. Very few commercials. Good songs. Does anyone want to second that?

Ah, 25 and 34 are in Stuart, now wonder they have always been a problem for me. That's a long reach to Boca for a multi-directional antenna to pick up.

I have picked up WBBH's HD signal, channel 20, a few times when trop ducting is good. Also seen WINK's analog signal on channel 11.

I have dual channel master antenna's in my attic. One facing West Palm and another facing Miami towers. Combined with a splitter. It makes nice multipath with the analog channels but it seems to work well with the digital channels.

Don't use the anteanna much any more as I use the signal from Comcast.

They are pretty much the hurricane backup now.

wally, whether you have the antenna outdoors or in the attic, the salt air is the same. Assuming your attic is not climate controlled :)

Your problem with 12 is that their digital signal is physical channel 13, VHF.
Channel 5's physical channel is UHF channel 55 and that's the reason why you get that and all the others.

BTW, any reports that 25.1 might offer some sub-stations? It would be nice if one of the networks offered a 24-hour newscast.

Wally, I have to ask. What antenna and amp are you using? I have an unamplified set of rabbit ears in my attic and I can just barely pull in WFLXDT. I often have pixelation issues and it usually won't even come in at all before 5 pm. Are you on the island?

Personally, I'd be glad if there were no substations, they steal bandwidth that should go to HD.

With my new antenna, I have been able to watch 5,12, and 25 reliably for the first time in ages. Prior, I had biased my less capable antenna towards Miami, since the WPB channels always seemed to have issues. I'm rather sorry to say, the WPB channels seem to still have issues. Audio sync on 25 last night was not that great, for example, and 5 still has periodic signal issues where it seems to go into a loop of pixelation\blackout for a few seconds, then back to normal for awhile.

WTVJ 6.1 has their digital antenna on the same tower as WFOR in North Miami-Dade off County Line Road. Only their Analog Transmitter is in Richmond Heights (Homestead).

Walt

I have a VU-150 Radio Shack antenna. This thing is probably 14 feet long. It is designed to be outside. It has a Radio Shack amplifier. It is the same antenna I used to pick up analog signals before the hurricane (after I took down the dish) It has been hanging in my attic for maybe 15 years. I think I paid about $75 for it, plus the amplifier.

I must say, if I lived in Palm Beach County, I would probably point my antenna south where all the stations are located instead of trying to point north to 25 and 34 and south to the others. If this market is suppose to serve from Boca to Sebastian, they should have placed all the towers in the Jupiter area.

I'm so far north, several years ago, WPEC gave me a waiver so I could get Directv from New York City and Los Angeles. My favorite line from KCBS was when anchor, Ann Martin said "we'll need to delay Dan Rather so we can finish our car chase."

That is interesting about 4 and 6 CBS and NBC sharing a tower. Channel 34 is owned by CBS (Viacom) and I keep hoping that CBS will move back to Channel 34. Did you guys know that Channel 34 is being run out of Miami in the Channel 4 building? That's why they carried Channel 4 news during the hurricane.

I live on South Hutchinson Island in Ft. Pierce. My television allows me to check the signal strength of stations in Digital. On a scale of 1-100, Channel 29 was 88, WPTV was 85, and WTVX and WPBF were 90.

Every once in awhile, (Usually a high pressure over South Florida) reception can be fantastic. I've even picked up Channel 58 analog (a low power repeater signal in Ft. Lauderdale for NBC6 up in Fort Pierce.

According to www.antennaweb.org, Channel 12's Digital signal only goes as far north as Stuart (B Grade). Last night, all of the Palm Beach stations were coming in really good, including 61, but I could not get 12 on either analog or digital.

You are not missing anything with 12. Audio sync issues with them, too. Amazing how much more stable the Miami stations are than the WPB, although you'd never guess it if you follow the Miami forum.

I caught the morning news on Channel 6 from 5:00 to 5:30 a.m. (I wasn't up by choice) It flickered for one second. The rest of the time the signal was at 50%. I ran the setup mode again. 2.1 (and substations) and 4.1 came in. So did 23.1, 35.1 and 69.1. Guess I need to learn Spanish.

I've always had the feeling that the WPB stations didn't want people to know about digital. Instead, they would like us all to pay the cable companys. Remember back in the 1970's when Channel 10 could draw 50% of the views with an ABC movie. Not anymore.

But if these local digital stations offered more variety, people might drop cable and watch the locals more.

Did you catch Jay Leno last night? Someone was interviewing a famous basketball star. They asked him if his aim was so good that he could leave the toilet seat up.

I, for one, always watch the locals via antenna these days. Talk about back to the future. I've got my antenna right, my pre-amp, and distrib amp set, my cable runs set, and aside from sporadic problems with the WPB stations that THEY need to fix, I could dump my satellite altogether, OTA is so good and stable now. Of course, I'd have to do without some specialty channels, so that's not likely to happen.

I really like the music channels that the satellite carries. I'm not really into watching videos like MTV because there are so many commercials. However, 29.2 is carrying some great videos. If I dropped the satellite, I would need to get the XM Radio or Serious system.

I have an old Directv receiver. I purchased it back in 1997. Doesn't really seem worth purchasing a high-Def receiver because they don't carry much in high def. right now.

I connected the satellite dish to my Sony DVR recorder and then connected the DVR recorder to the Plasma Television. I used the RGB wires to increase resolution when watching the satellite dish. Is this the best way to connect?

That is interesting about 4 and 6 CBS and NBC sharing a tower. Channel 34 is owned by CBS (Viacom) and I keep hoping that CBS will move back to Channel 34. Did you guys know that Channel 34 is being run out of Miami in the Channel 4 building? That's why they carried Channel 4 news during the hurricane.

Are you talking about WTVX in Ft. Pierce, or WBFS (Channel 33) in Miami ?
WBFS is the MNTV (ex-UPN) station operated out of the CBS complex in Miami.

The sharing of towers is not unusual. CBS and NBC have had the sharing agreement since the station/channel swap of several years ago.

Walt

I just spoke to someone at Channel 12 (a technician) who said I would probably need to mount my antenna 25 to 30 feet in the air to pick up Channel 12.

He also said that Channel 5, which is broadcasting on Channel 55, will switch to another frequency that might be VHF. Bad news for the future.

I sent an E-mail to Channel 6 to let them know I picked up their morning newscast. They sent me back an e-mail that said, it was a first. They also wanted to know what equipment I was using.

Can somebody using mpeg4 D* tell me what the current status is of the WPB locals? When WPB mpeg4 first came online there were some of the majors missing.

thanks.

jmck407, the standard four majors are in mpeg4 hd. CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC. No sub channels. Recommend an OTA antenna. OTA is slightly better since its not MPEG4 and you get alot more depending upon where you are.

I get 5,12,25, and 29

I just spoke to someone at Channel 12 (a technician) who said I would probably need to mount my antenna 25 to 30 feet in the air to pick up Channel 12.

He also said that Channel 5, which is broadcasting on Channel 55, will switch to another frequency that might be VHF. Bad news for the future. Don't know where you live, but in Palm City I am 40 miles away and get perfect reception with an attic antenna (15' AGL).

Thanks for the replies. I already have OTA antenna's in my attic, and get most of them fine, never have been able to get 34 in very well, and 25 gives me problems from time to time also. Am thinking about upgrading to the mpeg4 system, btw does direct TV show the South Florida Fox regional in HD in the mpeg4 stream? Would like to see the Marlins games that are in HD on the fox regional this year.

Anyone notice anything strange in the air last night? I reprogrammed my channels around 8:00, and every Miami channel except 7-1 and 10-1 showed up. I couldn't get Channel 12-1. I watched Survivor on 4-1.

Is everyone getting 1920 resolution on Channel 5-1 and 34-1?

Anyone else still having problems with the Channel 5 HDTV feed. Almost every show I record OTA on 5 has the same problems I saw before. The video will freeze up and audio will contine. Then later the picture will come back but no audio. Occassionally the audio will come back later.

This is really pissing me off. I would much rather watch Leno and Conan in HD but am tired of missing whole sections.

WPTV Channel 5.1 has been rock solid for me, here in Stuart, for quite some time. I frequently record programming (multiple times a week, mostly prime time evening) and have not had any issues with any recordings.

Update: HR10-250, Winegard squareshooter O-A antenna (amplified) mounted to dish on 2nd story balcony

I am having the same problem. I am using an HR10. I don't have any problems with 6-1.

I use an Adelphia cable 8300SA HD DVR to record NBCHD.

When we start watching a recorded show that is supposed to be an hour
long it is usually marked as 56-58 mins.
The last section of the recording is marked with a red zone.
There is almost always dropouts on primetime NBC programs.
Once the last 15 minutes of Law and Order had a frozen picture with only
audio.

Jay Leno is usually totally screwed up.
Even when the equipment is working properly they often forget to
switch back to HD after the commercials or at the start of the program.
This has been going on for years now.

Weren't they supposed to get some replacement equipment to fix this
a few weekends ago ?

WPTV Channel 5.1 has been rock solid for me, here in Stuart, for quite some time. I frequently record programming (multiple times a week, mostly prime time evening) and have not had any issues with any recordings.

Update: HR10-250, Winegard squareshooter O-A antenna (amplified) mounted to dish on 2nd story balcony


I call BS on this. Channel 5 was having known HDTV transmitter issues and said themselves that no one North of Jupiter would get the signal.

From their site:

"Currently our Channel 5 HD transmitter is at half power. Therefore it is not transmitting a signal north of Jupiter. This affects the quality of our HD broadcast channel, 5-1 and our WeatherPlus channel, 5-2. "

Their original post was on 2-2-07 and updated on 2-8-07 with same message. They told me the first parts did not work and were waiting for more parts. I have contacted them several more times about the ongoing problems with no response.

I call BS on this. Channel 5 was having known HDTV transmitter issues and said themselves that no one North of Jupiter would get the signal.

From their site:

"Currently our Channel 5 HD transmitter is at half power. Therefore it is not transmitting a signal north of Jupiter. This affects the quality of our HD broadcast channel, 5-1 and our WeatherPlus channel, 5-2. "

Their original post was on 2-2-07 and updated on 2-8-07 with same message. They told me the first parts did not work and were waiting for more parts. I have contacted them several more times about the ongoing problems with no response.
The following was posted on 2/22/07:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9853168&&#post9853168

WPTV DT has returned to FULL POWER for 5.1 and 5.2 today. Manufacturer sent in "new" part for the transmitter repair, but it was warped on 3 attempts over 3 weeks, today we finally got one that worked, and no longer caused the tube to arc, and we were able to restore full power, both tubes now running at 100%. We did everything possible to have made the turnaround time shorter, we held a tech from manufacturer on site for a full week until we got system fixed. Dave

As I said, there is no way that 5 has been "rock Solid" for crsanders in stuart "for some time now"

Anyway, they must be having other issues as I too lose parts of Leno almost every night, in addition to other shows. I am in Wellington and Antennaweb says I am ~5 miles from the tower so my signal is nice and strong no matter what.

In my OTA HDTV recordings, I have no issues with any other station, only WPTV. In addition, folks getting their HDTV feed from Cable have reported the same problems as mine.

Another thing...Why do they not transmit DD 5.1??? WPTV DT DOE made a post in Feb of last year saying equipment had been ordered and would be installed in a matter of weeks to get 5.1 audio.

As I said, there is no way that 5 has been "rock Solid" for crsanders in stuart "for some time now"


I am afraid I can't agree with this statement. I watch the news on 5.1 via OTA almost every night. I never had a problem when they were on reduced power, or noticed anything different. Although I didn't check the signal strength, when 5.1 was on reduced power a year or so ago, the signal strength went from very strong to good ( about the same as I get 42.1)

Some locations and antenna setups are less affected than others.

NBA TV no longer blacked out on INHD. I guess Comcast finally got around to getting that fixed.

NBA TV no longer blacked out on INHD. I guess Comcast finally got around to getting that fixed.


Wow, progress!

Now if only they will give us Cinemax HD and FSN HD, I'd be happy.

I was glad to see this as well. I called and complained a few weeks ago and the clueless CSR I spoke with couldn't even understand what I was talking about. I guess enough people called to fix the situation.

Now just bring on the rest of the HD channels they have in Broward and Miami-Dade and I will be even happier.

I picked up Channel 2 in Miami last night for a short time and they are broadcasting with 1920 resolution by 1080. Channel 42 has about 1/3 the resolution; can't remember the exact number. Anyone know if Channel 42 will increase their resolution?

Channel 42 is broadcasting on Channel 27 and there is a Strong Channel 27 south of Orlando, broadcasting on one of the tallest towers in Florida; about 1,900 feet tall. Channel 42's signal was everywhere on the signal indicator, from 80% to 15%, which I think was caused by this station in Orlando. I used to be able to pick up the Orlando station in Ft. Pierce until Channel 42 started broadcasting high definition.

I caught the NBC morning news Sunday morning and the NBC evening news Sunday night on Channel 6 in Miami. Channel 5 was having local news instead. You can always tell a networked owned station because they never drop the national news.

Still haven't picked up any VHF Hi-Def. stations. Can anyone in Palm Beach get 7 and 10 from Miami? I can't even get 12.

Does anyone know what the future plans for Channels 43 and 48 broadcasting from the Stuart area are? 43 has a pretty good analog signal and Channel 48 is a Spanish network. They were both purchased by CBS, so if they started broadcasting from the Channel 34 tower in Stuart, it would be nice for the Treasure Coast residents. The Channel 34 tower is around 1500 feet tall, compaired to Channel 12's tower that is only 1,000 feet tall.

According to the FCC table for broadcasters, Channel 5, which is broadcasting on Channel 55 HD at I believe, 1,000,000 watts, will switch to Channel 12 HD broadcasting in February, 2009, and their signal will be lowered to 134,000 watts, which is about half the power that Channel 12 is broadcasting on Channel 13. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG ON THIS, but I'm reading it from the FCC, which was sent to me by a technican in Miami.

Brfish - Sorry you are having difficulty with my statements ... let me try to clarify:

I watch and record several programs each week on 5.1, in some cases daily (eg Local news at 6:00, national at 6:30, Heroes, My Name Is Earl, Las Vega, etc). I do not record or watch Leno.

I don't recall when I last had regular drop-outs of any kind, it's simply been that long. But since I don't record and watch television 24 hours a day, I can only speak to what I've seen, which was reflected in my words, responding to your request to pulse folks on what they were experiencing. Your comments suggest I was not being truthful and that is simply not the case.

And I wouldn't take the published statement as gospil. I believe they can state they were at half poewr, but when they try and make a statement about who can and who can not receive their signal, given the many types and combinations of antennas and receivers, amps, etc, I find it hard to believe they can accurately assess who is getting their signal, let alone beyond what boundary no one will get their signal.

The minute I learned of the publication of the half power issue (I believe that day) I checked my signal strength on my HR10-250 and it was "rock solid" around 80-85, which is normal for me. After they told me (I am in regular communications with the engineering staff there) it was back to 100%, I checked again, and I'm seeing the same old 80-85 I have always seen. Granted I have no idea what the fidelity is of my receiver's signal strength meter. Again, during the period of time they stated they were at 1/2 power, I was still able to get all "my" broadcasts fine.

That's why I said " ... for me" reflecting the fact that for what I watch when I watch it I have had no trouble with the picture dropping out for quite some time.

Thanks.

Does anyone know what the future plans for Channels 43 and 48 broadcasting from the Stuart area are? 43 has a pretty good analog signal and Channel 48 is a Spanish network. They were both purchased by CBS, so if they started broadcasting from the Channel 34 tower in Stuart, it would be nice for the Treasure Coast residents. The Channel 34 tower is around 1500 feet tall, compaired to Channel 12's tower that is only 1,000 feet tall.

According to the FCC table for broadcasters, Channel 5, which is broadcasting on Channel 55 HD at I believe, 1,000,000 watts, will switch to Channel 12 HD broadcasting in February, 2009, and their signal will be lowered to 134,000 watts, which is about half the power that Channel 12 is broadcasting on Channel 13. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG ON THIS, but I'm reading it from the FCC, which was sent to me by a technican in Miami.

I wouldn't worry about the power reduction, less power is required for VHF. The last time I checked WPEC-DT power output on the FCC site it was listed as 29.5KW.

It is too bad that WPTV is electing to switch their digital signal to VHF as it is more susceptible to lightning impulse noise. But with an adequate antenna most people should get reliable reception after the change.

I can't get 12-1 at all up here in Fort Pierce. I caught part of 60 minutes on 4-1. Any one know why Directv is not carrying 34 in HD? They seem to have an excellent signal.

Joel, you are getting Channel 12 (13-1) in Palm City with an antenna in the attic? According to the charts, Channel 12's HD Grade B signal ends in Stuart. I remember picking up Channel 12-0 several years ago with my outside antenna. I had to go up about 15-20 feet. I really don't want to do that.

Joel, have you picked up any Miami stations? I just sent the Orlando CBS station an E-mail asking if he thought I could get their channel in Fort Pierce. He said in one line, "If you do, it will be a first."

Ft. Pierce's Channel 21, which is licensed as an Educational Channel, is suppose to be broadcasting on Channel 38. I haven't seen it yet. Right now it is being used by a Religious group, but if they loose their contract, maybe we could get something better up here. :rolleyes: Some of those religious stations have four sub-channels. They broadcast one hour of educational programs to keep the frequency.

crsanders...I want to apologize for being such an ass.... I have been having so many dropouts lately that I am just about fed up with channel 5. For me it is not just Leno, it has happened to me during Crossing Jordon, SNL, Heroes, and the various Law and Order shows. I record Leno and Conan every night and my wife and I will watch several episodes at once on the weekends. We had 3 episodes of Leno in a row that dropped out and it really sucks.

5 has never been stable for me. However, I have a new antenna now that has greatly helped things, but there still remains, for me, weird issues with that station that I don't see elsewhere. Audio dropouts, audio delay, and cyclical disruptions of the video continue to happen. I still favor 6 over 5, for this reason.

Another thing...Why do they not transmit DD 5.1??? WPTV DT DOE made a post in Feb of last year saying equipment had been ordered and would be installed in a matter of weeks to get 5.1 audio.

They used to transmit DD 5.1 though it was often plagued with issues. At the start of the curent fall season everytime they tried it, it was a total mess. They stopped all together sometime in September or October. I guess they gave up. I wish they'd get their act together. It's pathetic.

Joel, you are getting Channel 12 (13-1) in Palm City with an antenna in the attic? According to the charts, Channel 12's HD Grade B signal ends in Stuart. I remember picking up Channel 12-0 several years ago with my outside antenna. I had to go up about 15-20 feet. I really don't want to do that.

Joel, have you picked up any Miami stations?

I use an attic mounted 5 element Yagi cut for channel 13. Using a UHF/VHF coupler, this antenna is coupled to a Radio Shack UHF Yagi for the other channels. I did receive 13.1 on the UHF Yagi but the signal was not strong enough to prevent drop-outs. Once in a while I get a few drop-outs on 42.1, but the other channels are very reliable.

I do not receive Miami channels except on rare occasions with strong ducting.

In Ft Pierce you would need a roof top rig with higher gain antennas than I use.

Would a FM antenna pick up Channel 13? It is a 10 element antenna. I've already hooked it up but I'm need to find some wire.

I was getting a few drop-outs on 29.2 this morning and the signal was around 75%. I picked up 6.1 this morning from 5:00 to 5:30 a.m.

According to the FCC, Channel 25-1 is One Million watts while Channel 34-1 is only 522,000 watts. My signal is not real strong on 34-1 (50%) compaired to 90% for 25-1. This could cause a lot of Palm Beach viewers to point south.

Anyone know where the 34.1 tower is located?

The channel 25 and 34 towers are located right next to each other and are almost identical in height of 1,500 feet. Near the Martin County/St. Lucie county line just west of I-95. Channel 34 is licensed to the city of Fort Pierce. The original tower was in Northern St. Lucie County on U.S. 1, but was moved for obvious reasons to the Palm City area. Radio stations 95.5 and 98.7 are also licensed to Fort Pierce, but identify themselves as a West Palm Beach (except on the hour).

Channels 5, 12, 29, 42 and 67 and located just west of the Turnpike's paper ticket collection site or Lantana.

The West Palm Beach market goes from Boca Raton (south) to Sebastian (north). But these towers are located 20 miles from the Broward County line and 90 miles from Sebastian.

The Fort Pierce/Vero Beach area has some of the worst television reception by antenna of anywhere in Florida and has one of the highest cable/satellite penetration rates in the country.

Likely when those tower locations were chosen, the population in the Ft.Pierce\Vero\Sebastian area consisted mainly of cows. I know I used to love Sebastian because it still reminded me of old Florida. Now it reminds me of how many people are still moving into the state, and what quickly built, cheap developments look like.

Hi everyone. I've read through many of the posts and have a simple question.

I'm in Boynton beach, and need to find the best antenna for use.

Seems like the three preferred antennas are:

1. Stealth master
2. GS2000
3. Silver Sensor


Which one will provide the best reception for channels. I'm not trying to break a record here for most channels received (It would be neat) but we would like to get the 5,12,25,29 for sure.

I'm thinking about the stealth master mounted on a pole on our house putting the antenna about 12'-14' off the ground.


Thanks for all of your help.

My signal on 42-1 is all over the place. Usually it is between 70% and 80% and then it will dive down to 12%-20% for a second. I still think the problem is that Channel 27 south of Orlando that is broadcasting analog.

Channel 27's digital channel is currently 14 and it is located with the rest of the Orlando stations just east of Orlando, a town called Christmas. When the analog signals die in 2009, they will go back to Channel 27 for their digital signal but will use the Christmas location. Hopefully that will help.

If I lived in Delray Beach, I would get a multi-directional antenna so you could get 25 and 34 from the north and all the Miami stations from the south. A UHF antenna alone could pull in Channel 12, too.

Over the weekend, Channel 5 had local news at 6:30 so I watched the national news on Channel 6 in Miami. Channel six is network owned and is less likely to drop national news. I also caught the national Sunday morning news on Channel 6 because Channel 5 had local news.

shorrock - any of those antennas would do from your location, probably. I'd only go silver sensor, though, if you wished to keep the antenna indoors.

Does anyone here know why the WPB market can't get FSN Florida and Sunshine in HD from D*? Tampa, Orlando, and Ft Lauderdale/Miami all get FSN, Sun and the locals in HD but WPB only gets the locals. Any ideas why?

Does anyone here know why the WPB market can't get FSN Florida and Sunshine in HD from D*? Tampa, Orlando, and Ft Lauderdale/Miami all get FSN, Sun and the locals in HD but WPB only gets the locals. Any ideas why?

Cayson, I've been complaining about this forever. If you look back a few pages you'll see my periodic gripes about this. I sent an E-mail to FSN/Sunsports about a month or so ago (after Comcast switched the lineups in PBC). They told me that they were working on it, but no definitive date.

If you look on sunsportstv.com and go to the HD section, you can click on the different teams. If you click on the Marlins or Devil Rays you can see that Comcast customers in West Palm, Boca, etc and it says channel "TBA." So, hopefully, we'll get this soon.

It's a bit too late for me, though. Hockey regular season is just about over and I really wanted FSN in HD to see the Panthers in HD. The only game that VS carried of them this year was in SD and HDnet never carried one of their games.

This is probably an old issue, but I'd appreciate any help you guys can provide. My husband is snapping because the ComCast TV guide on the web (and the Palm Beach Post Guide) shows an HBO channel on 29 ... but we don't get it, just goes from 25 to 32.

The TiVo programming is still showing 29, so I'm wondering if this is a recent lineup change. I do see more HBO chanels in the higher channels (but the time of the show he wanted to watch was different).

Arrrgghhh ... I haven't noticed this, because I don't watch anything but HD..

THanks for any help.

Just a posting and a question to let folks know...

we placed our antenna outside today, and get everything that is listed on the antennaweb website except for three channel: 8,38,and 59. I was amazed running the scanner and seeing 45 channels found. All are watchable without breakups or problems here in the middle of boynton beach.

We don't care so much about 38 and 59, but 8 would be nice as a backup for fox when wflx isn't working.

We are using the basic Radio Shack u-75r antenna into a dish vip622 receiver.

I am assuming that since it is channel 8 that it is a VHF channel, and the UHF antenna will not receive it. does anyone have thoughts about a way to pull this channel in.

Channel 5 is moving from Channel 55 to Channel 12 in February, 2009, so you might need to purchase a VHF antenna. Did you get Channel 12 on Channel 13.1?
Their power will go from 1,000,000 watts to 13,400 watts. :( :mad:

Channel 6.1 Miami is coming in stronger than 13.1 West Palm and I live in Fort Pierce. I've been told by the WPEC enginneer I need to go up about 20 feet with the antenna. Currently, my antenna is in the attic.

According to the FCC, most UHF's emit 1,000,000 watts, while VHF's only emit 14,300 watts. (Channel 7.1) Otherwise, their signal would end up in another television market.

Someone, correct me if I'm wrong about this.

that doesn't sound right, how would wpec allow channel 5 to grab up their old analog number and use that for digital

WPEC is staying on channel 13. WPTV has elected to move to channel 12 (WPEC gives up the channel after transition), their second choice is channel 25. WPBF is staying at channel 16. WFLX is staying on 28. WTVX is going back to channel 34.

You can view the applictations on the fcc website. http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html You can search by call sign, select the links that showup, then select Application List link near the bottom. I would post the direct links but looks like the FCC website generates pages on the fly.

I really hope WPTV doesn't grab channel 12 if WPEC stays on 13.
Having two signals on adjacent channels in the same market isn't wise. In the past the FCC would never grant such a thing.

While NTSC tuners can't handle adjacent channel problems, and I haven't tested ATSC tuners on adjacent channels, it seems like a really bad idea.

BTW, these applications are for public record and public comment. Anyone can comment on them for this and any other reason they see fit.

If anyone is interested....from sunsportstv.com, this was updated today:


Florida Panthers

Comcast HD Ch. 200 in Dade, Broward, Keys
Comcast HD Ch. TBA in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Stuart
Comcast inHD Ch. 206 in Naples
Advanced Cable HD Ch. 656 in Coral Springs & Weston

DirecTV - Games with * DirecTV is making available throughout South Florida on HD Ch. 95. All others DirecTV is making available in Miami market only on Ch. 96 or Ch.97.


http://www.sunsportstv.com/hdtv_programs.jhtml?method=listSeparate&hdtv_programs.team=Florida%20Panthers

So, Panth1, Channel 5 had a choice of going to either 25 or 12 and picked 12? Personally, I would like to see Channels 2-13 pulled, and channels 52-58 put back in the spectrum. This way, every station would use the same antenna. Or, Channels 2-13 could be low power stations that broadcast for just a small town, like 20 mile radius, which is needed in smaller towns. For example, Very Beach. NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, Ion, are all 75 miles away. A few years ago, when there was a school bus accident in Vero, Channel 5 went live on the telephone and showed film from an Orlando Station.

Well the FCC applications have a primary and secondary choice. Those are the two WPTV chose. I think stations want VHF just because the transmitter requires less power. I wouldn't want to know how much a full power UHF stations power bill is.



Comcast HD Ch. TBA in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Stuart
Hmm... I went to channel TBA and got nothing... where it at? ;)

Most UHF stations are broadcasting at One Million Watts, while analog UHF stations are broadcasting at 5 million.

All those religious stations broadcasting on UHF. There must be money in the offering basket. :rolleyes:

Hmm... I went to channel TBA and got nothing... where it at? ;)

I don't know about you, but I'd take channel TBA over channel No Possability any day. I guess, my only reason why I am hopeful for this is because I hope that with FSN HD comes Cinemax HD and *holds breath* maybe NGC HD and Universal HD.

This is probably an old issue, but I'd appreciate any help you guys can provide. My husband is snapping because the ComCast TV guide on the web (and the Palm Beach Post Guide) shows an HBO channel on 29 ... but we don't get it, just goes from 25 to 32.Maybe a dumb question, but do you have HBO subscription?
because I don't watch anything but HD..Me too. I am glad that all local channels, and several other channels I watch are in HD (for free).

JeffXP ... yep, have the full ComCast Platinum package with HBO, ST, Starz, etc.

yeah their lineups do still show hbo, hbo 2, and hbo signature in the 27-29 range. maybe it's a mistake. I do find it odd that those 2 premiums would remain in analog while the rest are digital

yeah their lineups do still show hbo, hbo 2, and hbo signature in the 27-29 range. maybe it's a mistake. I do find it odd that those 2 premiums would remain in analog while the rest are digital
It's not a mistake. In my community we have a bulk contract for extended basic plus HBO on channels 27-29. This is only on the analog channel lineup (2-99) and no cable box is required. If you're using a digital set top box you will not receive these channels.

It's not a mistake. In my community we have a bulk contract for extended basic plus HBO on channels 27-29. This is only on the analog channel lineup (2-99) and no cable box is required. If you're using a digital set top box you will not receive these channels.

Thanks smithfarmer. That probably explains it ... we're on the digital package.

Are any cable channels carrying Channel 29.2, TheTube? I have really enjoyed that digital channel. It is a great place to go to at 6:26, when the locals play four minutes of commercials before the network news.

BTW, I was quite impressed with Channel 25's local news last night (Tuesday) from 6:00 to 6:30.

is anybody getting audio sync problems on tnthd ch#407? this started happening a few days ago and only on this station.

It's not a mistake. In my community we have a bulk contract for extended basic plus HBO on channels 27-29. This is only on the analog channel lineup (2-99) and no cable box is required. If you're using a digital set top box you will not receive these channels.Really? Adelphia took away the channels for me at least a year ago. Nothing but static on channels 26-31 when using an analog tv.
Are any cable channels carrying Channel 29.2, TheTube? I have really enjoyed that digital channel. Comcast carries The Tube on channel 220.

Really? Adelphia took away the channels for me at least a year ago. Nothing but static on channels 26-31 when using an analog tv.


I guess it's only available in the communities that have a contract for it like he explained. So I guess that's why it still shows in the lineup

I guess it's only available in the communities that have a contract for it like he explained. So I guess that's why it still shows in the lineup
There are about 1250 homes in my community and about three years ago when our initial bulk contract was up, Adelphia offered us the analog HBO channels for an extra $3 per month.

At that time, neither DSL or broadband were available and we were exploring other options (WIFI for internet and our own large satellite dish for feeding cable signals to the whole community). Adelphia didn't want to lose our business so they offered us a couple of incentives - cheap HBO and a promise that we would be the first community hooked up when high speed internet became available in our area.

Does anyone know what the future for Channel 43, WTCN, a low power station owned by CBS (Viacom). They call themselves, My15, because they broadcast on Channel 15 of cable channels. I find them on Analog station 43 but not on digital. Anyone picking them up on digital? They also have low power Channel 48, a Spanish station.

wtcn.com/html/aboutwtcn.html

Does anyone know what the future for Channel 43, WTCN, a low power station owned by CBS (Viacom). Low power stations and translators will have to switch to digital on the same channel. The FCC never gave them a second channel for digital like the full power stations.

Thanks Panth1 for that response. Channel 43 is playing about the same thing that Channel 39 in Miami is playing, so hopefully they will keep their transmitter in the Stuart area so that those of us on the Treasure Coast can pick them up. Everyone on the Treasure Coast has had to have cable or satellite for 50 years because Channel 12 and 5 have had such a bad signal up here. (analog)

When I purchased my HD television at Jetson's, I asked them if anyone had tried hooking up an antenna. Their response was, why? and that no one had.

I recently wrote a letter to the local Scrips Treasure Coast newspapers about Digital Reception on the Treasure Coast, and they wrote me back asking if I was trying to sell antennas and refused to print it in the paper.

We're still a little backwards up here.

When Channel 5 begins broadcasting on Channel 12.1, they will be using about half the power that WPEC is currently using on Channel 13.1 because 5's tower is taller. And there is a Channel 12.1 in Tampa. I expect a lot of people in Broward and Palm Beach County will listen to NBC6.1.

But think of all the money Channel 5 will save on their power bills. Guess someone is a little backward down there, too.

I have a DB4 antenna from Antennas Direct. I was getting ok reception with it. I was getting signal loss about 40% of the time on various stations. My wife was fussing about not getting her Y&R in HD. So I installed a PA16 signal amplifier. Now I have lost all but two OTA stations. WTH? I thought a signal amp was the answer.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ANTENNA OR AMP OR BOTH THAT I NEED TO GET ALL THE OTA STATIONS? IM IN JUPITER- INDIANTOWN & 95.

THANK YOU!!

I have a DB4 antenna from Antennas Direct. I was getting ok reception with it. I was getting signal loss about 40% of the time on various stations. My wife was fussing about not getting her Y&R in HD. So I installed a PA16 signal amplifier. Now I have lost all but two OTA stations. WTH? I thought a signal amp was the answer.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ANTENNA OR AMP OR BOTH THAT I NEED TO GET ALL THE OTA STATIONS? IM IN JUPITER- INDIANTOWN & 95.

THANK YOU!!


Don't forget DB4 is directional. Ensure it is pointing, I think for you to the south. Check with antennaweb for locations of towers and their relation to you.

Also ensure all your connections are good.

I have a DB4 antenna from Antennas Direct. I was getting ok reception with it. I was getting signal loss about 40% of the time on various stations. My wife was fussing about not getting her Y&R in HD. So I installed a PA16 signal amplifier. Now I have lost all but two OTA stations. WTH? I thought a signal amp was the answer.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ANTENNA OR AMP OR BOTH THAT I NEED TO GET ALL THE OTA STATIONS? IM IN JUPITER- INDIANTOWN & 95.

THANK YOU!!

It sounds like one of two problems. You are either overdriving your receiver or you are experiencing multipath and the amplifier is just making it worse. I would disconnect the amp and experiment with different heights and directions. Go to antennaweb.org and determine the optimal direction.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ANTENNA OR AMP OR BOTH THAT I NEED TO GET ALL THE OTA STATIONS? IM IN JUPITER- INDIANTOWN & 95.

THANK YOU!!

Is your antenna on the roof or in the attic?

As I have I mentioned before, Channel 5 will be switching from 55.1 to 12.1 in February, 2009. According to the government charts, a Tampa station will be broadcasting on 12.1 with the power of 72.3 and an antenna height of 436 (metric), while WPTV has the power of 13.4 and an antenna height of 13.4.

So, the Tampa station will be 3 times strong then WPTV and their antenna height is 49 meters taller.

Am I the only one worried about this?

They should have read WPTV's antenna is 387.

SDSinc - I'm not sure shouting is the best method to get an answer up here, but I will answer, anyway. Go here: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx and see what they say for your zip code. And, rather than a signal amp, go with a pre-amp, and, if needed, a distribution amp after that.

I was switching between Channel 5.1 and 6.1 Saturday morning between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. It appeared that channel 5.1 carried the morning (network) news one hour later than did Channel 6.1. NBC6 showed it with HD Camera in studio and Channel 5.1 never showed the HD camera view.

thank you all for your kind responces. I will try your recomended tips. shhhh....im trying to be very quiet. dont want to hurt anyone's feelings. :rolleyes:

:rolleyes: Gotta love the brash newbies :rolleyes:

LOL. I think you misinterpreted my caps. I was not shouting, I was trying to convey my frustration over this issue. But thank you for putting this "brash newbie" in his place. Have a great day. ;)

I find it interesting that most of the Miami UHF stations are 1 million watts, but Channel 29 is 630,000 watts, Channel 42 is 400,000 watts, Channel 34 is 522,000 watts, so Channel 25 is the only station that is 1,000,000 watts in the Palm Beach Market.

In the Miami Market, Channels 2, 39, 4, 6, 33, are all 1,000,000 watts.

Has anyone out there tried calling Comcast about the new HD channels that Broward and Miami-Dade just got? It's bad enough that we still don't have FSN HD or Cinemax HD but now they have Universal HD, A&E HD and National Geographic HD. What gives are we the red-headed step child of the family or what? (no offense intended to redheads just an expression)

wally, you raise alot of issues.

1. Channel 5 doesn't normally show HD when they tape-delay something. I guess they don't have a HD-DVR.
2. If and when WPTV goes to channel 12, they won't be running 13.4 kw. Not sure where you got that but you may have referenced a CP, i.e. a construction permit. (I hope they don't get 12 since it's adjacent to 13 and the FCC gives them 25).
3. Tampa is so far away, it won't interfere with anything on the east coast. After about 50-60 miles the curvature of the earth has more of an effect than anything else. It may not seem like that, but between the east and west coast of Florida, the center of the state literally gets in the way between someone on the east and west coast. The towers would have to be many thousand feet higher to overcome that. Now if you live NW of Lake Okee., then it will be interesting.
4. Check your numbers on power levels for Miami vs. WPB. Most WPB stations antennas are taller so they have lower power. Channel 34 digital (channel 50) is running 700kw. The difference between 1000kw and 700kw is about 1 db. To put this in perspective, to get reliable TV signals, you would want about a 10db margin, professional engs want 20db.
(Doubling power = 3db and 10x power = 10db, assuming everything else is equal including height)
Also with respect to WPB vs. Miami, TV licenses (as is AM and FM radio too) are granted on many factors. Most important the co-channel (same channel in another town) and adjacent channel interference (the next channel number). Miami is far south, so they don't have much to interfere with. As you move up the state, more factors come into play. WPB has to worry about more than Miami, Orlando more than West Palm and so forth. In other words, more neighbors within overlapping coverage areas.

Sit back, relay, enjoy the HD and we will all see what happens in 2009 with the new channels.

wally, you raise alot of issues. SNIP

Sit back, relax, enjoy the HD and we will all see what happens in 2009 with the new channels.

Well said.

I got my information from an engineer at a Miami television station, which he got from the FCC. Again, it says that a station that is currently broadcasting on Channel 13 in Tampa will move to Channel 12, where they are licensed to 72,300 watts, and Channel 5 will move to Channel 12 and 13,400 watts.

The Tampa transmitter is 436 meters and the Channel 5 tower is 387 meters.

I sent this information to the enginner at Channel 5, who responded to an earlier comment, but didn't respond to this comment. He did say earlier that all of the frequencies were full and only 12 was left as they shut down channels 52-69 in 2009. However, some has said that 25 was available as WPBF wants to stay with 16.

This means that Channel 5's signal on Channel 12 will be less than half the power of Channel 12's signal on Channel 13. And I can't pick up Channel 13-1. The signal is between 0% and 30%.

Those of us on the Treasure Coast have had to endure 50 years of poor reception from Channel 5. Even the cable company could not pick up the signal off the air due to reception problems. Now, finally, I am getting Channel 5 on Channel 55-1 at 77% to 85% signal strength. Now you know why the Treasure Coast has one of the highest cable/satellite penetration rates.

I am still experiencing minor problems with WXEL broadcasting at 27-1, because of an analog station on Channel 27 in Sebring, with a 1,900 foot tower. That is 75 miles from my house compaired to 61 miles for WXEL. That station is broadcasting digital with the rest of the Orlando towers, so the problem will probably take care of itself in 2009.

What I find interesting is now all the Miami stations are broadcasting digital from the Miami-Dade/Broward County line, all Orlando stations are broadcasting digital from about 15 miles east of Orlando, but the West Palm Beach market is broadcasting from the Palm City area and the Lantana area.

I have ordered a new antenna and will be placing it outside. If I can get Channel 12 (I can't now), then maybe I will be able to pick up Channel 5 on 12-1 in 2009.

BTW, did you know that only 2% of all television frequencies in 2009 will be VHF? It is too bad the FCC didn't take Channels 2-13 away so the consumer would only need to purchase a UHF antenna.

Adjacent frequency numbers are not a problem with digital. Channel 29 is broadcasting on 28-1 and 28-2 and WXEL is broadcasting on 27-1, 27-2, and 27-3.

On many days I have driven to work listening to a jazz FM radio station from Tampa. (94.1)

Has anyone out there tried calling Comcast about the new HD channels that Broward and Miami-Dade just got? It's bad enough that we still don't have FSN HD or Cinemax HD but now they have Universal HD, A&E HD and National Geographic HD. What gives are we the red-headed step child of the family or what? (no offense intended to redheads just an expression)

Do you think it'd make a difference if people called? I don't.

....The beauty of a monopoly. :)

Do you think it'd make a difference if people called? I don't.

....The beauty of a monopoly. :)

Actually I do call... at least once a month to find out when we're going to have the same features as the rest of the Comcast family. I'm tired of not having the same channels, tired of not having Comcast Internet, tired of not being able to go online to view my account and pay my bill, tired of not being able to record first run only shows, tired of different program guides between my SA 8300HD and my standard digital cable box (which does tell you if a show is new or not), and on and on.

WHat I get is this...

1) My email will change to comcast.net in April.
2) WE might get more channels later this year.
3) We should have comparable service to the rest of the Comcast market by the end of the year.

This was last week.

Last month it was...

1) Email should change in March
2) No idea on channels
3) Comparable service by May

So either they don't know, don't care or both.

So either they don't know, don't care or both.

Welcome to the New World Order.

It's Comcastic.

Getting rid of cable was one of the happiest days of my life. That was fifteen years ago and I have no regrets.

I was wondering if anybody noticed this or not. Tonight I was watching TV using my OTA antenna and my TV was showing channel 25.2 WPBF-Wx. The picture was regular program but the sound was messed up.

Does anybody know if WPBF is also starting a new sub-channel with weather just like 5 & 12?

I noticed that too. I hope the W doesn't stand for weather. It is too bad that the only sub station these stations can give us is weather.

I noticed Saturday night around 1:00 a.m. that Channel 42 was playing Austin City Limits and the resolution was 1920 by 1080, but the picture kept freezing up. My reception was at 60% strength, so I don't know what happened. Later, everything was gone. The next night they mentioned that the substations would be back to normal later as they played 1920 by 1080 programming on the main channel.

I've heard that if a station is playing 1920 by 1080 programming, there is only enough band room for one subchannel at a lower resolution.

You guys that have issues with cable should purchase a large antenna and stick it in your attic. I'm getting 82% signal strength from Channels 5 and 29 and I live in Fort Pierce, 61 miles from the transmitters.

What is it with WPTV? The last 2 weeks, I've wanted to watch the Sunday afternoon hockey game in HD. Not so much. WPTV apparently decided that they wanted the SD feed to go out instead. Tonight, I wanted to watch the NBC Nightly News because hey, first night in HD. Might be pretty neat right? Again, no luck. It seems like if a show is outside of prime time, it gets no consideration. I can deal with the crappy non-5.1 audio (they'll get it fixed someday, right?) but c'mon! Show the programs as advertised - IN HD!

Slightly irritated ranting over.

Channel 42 was breaking up last night and I had a 60% signal. They were broadcasting at 1920 by 1080 and the resolution was fantastic. The substations just had a message that one should watch the main channel and they didn't break up, which leads me to think the problem was with them, and not with my OTA antena.

Could the problem with Channel 5 not carrying HDTV on Saturday morning and the evening news be because they want to play local commercials?

Well, this sucks. FSN's (Sun Sports TV) website removed the channel TBA for the Florida Marlins in HD for West Palm, Boca and Stuart. I wonder if we'll ever get this channel.

Interestingly enough, Comcast just took over the internet in my area. The cable modem that I had apparently didn't work with the new Comcast network so the tech that came here installed a new one. I asked him when we were going to be seeing some new channels and he said sometime this month or next for A&E and NGC in HD. He was also really surprised that I didn't get Cinemax in HD (he lived in Broward).

I was watching the Evening News last night at 6:30 p.m. and Channel 5 did NOT have it in HD until about 6:40 p.m. (Wednesday night) About 10 seconds before the news ended, they switched back to Standard Format (No HD). Was someone sleeping at the controls?

I was watching the Evening News last night at 6:30 p.m. and Channel 5 did NOT have it in HD until about 6:40 p.m. (Wednesday night) About 10 seconds before the news ended, they switched back to Standard Format (No HD). Was someone sleeping at the controls?

I think the janitor was supposed to throw the switch. Budget cuts you know. They will send her a memo reminding her that she has responsibilities besides cleaning and emptying trash cans. ;)

Thursday night they were on top of things. HD at 6:30 and back to regular at 7:00. I'm surprised that Channel 25 hasn't started doing their news in HD. Since they have always been at the ratings bottom and they do have the younger anchors and reporters, it almost makes sense.

When Channel 5 starts doing their local news in HD, people will realize their anchors have worked at the station for a long time.

:D That's funny. Perhaps they will use a soft filter effect, like they do in the movies sometimes.


When Channel 5 starts doing their local news in HD, people will realize their anchors have worked at the station for a long time.

Latey (about the last two weeks or so) I've noticed a slight degradation of the picture quality of channels 2-100. The disturbance consists of a constant, slight grain of static in the picture. It uses to be quite clear all the time and now, it isn't. (all the time) Strangely I've only noticed this on my three sets with boxes. (2 with 3100s and 1 with an 8300HD) My fourth set is just basic cable straght out of the wall to the TV and it seems fine.

Now, this isn't a major deal as the only channels I even look at between 2 and 100 are Weather and SciFi but this static thing is the same type of crap picture I used to get from Comcast when I was in Hollywood so of course I lean toward blaming them. Anyone else seeing anything or have any insight? Has Comcast changed anything? Thankfully it's SD only. All the HD seems fine.

That's why I abandoned cable years ago.


Latey (about the last two weeks or so) I've noticed a slight degradation of the picture quality of channels 2-100. The disturbance consists of a constant, slight grain of static in the picture. It uses to be quite clear all the time and now, it isn't. (all the time) Strangely I've only noticed this on my three sets with boxes. (2 with 3100s and 1 with an 8300HD) My fourth set is just basic cable straght out of the wall to the TV and it seems fine.

Now, this isn't a major deal as the only channels I even look at between 2 and 100 are Weather and SciFi but this static thing is the same type of crap picture I used to get from Comcast when I was in Hollywood so of course I lean toward blaming them. Anyone else seeing anything or have any insight? Has Comcast changed anything? Thankfully it's SD only. All the HD seems fine.

That's why I abandoned cable years ago.

Well, right now that isn't a viable option but thanks for the valueless response, it really helps.

Latey (about the last two weeks or so) I've noticed a slight degradation of the picture quality of channels 2-100. The disturbance consists of a constant, slight grain of static in the picture. It uses to be quite clear all the time and now, it isn't. (all the time) Strangely I've only noticed this on my three sets with boxes. (2 with 3100s and 1 with an 8300HD) My fourth set is just basic cable straght out of the wall to the TV and it seems fine.

Now, this isn't a major deal as the only channels I even look at between 2 and 100 are Weather and SciFi but this static thing is the same type of crap picture I used to get from Comcast when I was in Hollywood so of course I lean toward blaming them. Anyone else seeing anything or have any insight? Has Comcast changed anything? Thankfully it's SD only. All the HD seems fine.
Cable is one of the most hated businesses in the US, for the most part a well-deserved reputation. As I recall they do one thing right, they make free service calls for reported problems. I would try it.

Does anyone know what resolution Channel 12 is broadcasting at? Since I can't pick it up, I would kinda like to know. Ironic that we have three CBS owned stations on the Treasure Coast, (34, 43 and 48) but I can't pick up the CBS network with a large antenna.

Latey (about the last two weeks or so) I've noticed a slight degradation of the picture quality of channels 2-100. The disturbance consists of a constant, slight grain of static in the picture. It uses to be quite clear all the time and now, it isn't. (all the time) Strangely I've only noticed this on my three sets with boxes. (2 with 3100s and 1 with an 8300HD) My fourth set is just basic cable straght out of the wall to the TV and it seems fine. Well analog can be affected by interference and the power level of the signal coming into your residence. Possible that the amps in your area need some adjusting. What happens when you bypass the cable boxes and plug the cable directly into your tv?

Wally, Channel 12 broadcast in 1080i on their main digital channel.

Hey, glad to be of assistance. :D


Well, right now that isn't a viable option but thanks for the valueless response, it really helps.

Channel 21 (analog) is licensed to Fort Pierce as an Educational station. A religious station has been broadcasting from a Fort Pierce transmitter with a few hours of educational programming to keep the license. Their digital signal will be on Channel 38. Is anyone picking them up? According to the FCC charts, they will have more power than Channel 34. I heard they were trying to broadcast from the radio tower in Hobe Sound. This means we will have two religious stations in our market.

Just got a HD Panny Plasma and at the weekend was watching the Miami Masters final on CBS HD, via Adelphia/Comcast. Oh my god, what a horrid picture. If was the first HD channel I switch on when I had my plasma set up and got the shock of my life. I couldn't read the players names :( I did notice that HBO, ESPN, Discovery, etc where just fine. Is the CBS feed via Comcast/Adelphia just crap ?

Would appreciate some feedback. Is it even worth the effort to call them about it ?

It is probably because what you were watching wasn't being broadcast in HD. CBS has good HD quality you just have to check to make sure that what you are watching is in HD. Most of the prime time shows are in HD as are major sporting events like football and the ncaa tourney. They also broadcast golf in HD and some tennis but typically US Open only if I recall correctly.

But it was the CBS HD channel. It thought that everything was in HD on this channel, otherwise why call it HD and why have a separate channel for it ? Am I missing something?

I am surprised that NBC doesn't have more HD programming. I checked at 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. and the shows were not in HD. I watched, "Everyone Hates Chris," and found the show to be pretty funny. CW has a lot of shows in HD.

But it was the CBS HD channel. It thought that everything was in HD on this channel, otherwise why call it HD and why have a separate channel for it ? Am I missing something?

Dave,

While the station may be digital the content may or may not be high definition. Digital is just the way they are transmitting the image, HD is the resolution. In general you will find the digital broadcast clearer than the analog one but the resolution is still only 480. So far HD is mainly confined to prime time programming and large sports events. Even seeing the broadcast in 16:9 is not a perfect indication that the broadcast is HD. Some stations stretch their SD broadcast to 16:9 and some upconvert a SD broadcast to 480p at 16:9. It is much better than it was 4 years ago when I started with my first HDTV but still has a ways to go.

stonecrd, thanks for the info. Well, based upon what you are saying I'd have to surmise that the Miami tennis final wasn't in HD. Real shame that as watching tennis in HD is so much better.

On a brighter note (and a wee bit off topic) my PS3 looks amazing on the Panny :D

I am afraid I can't agree with this statement. I watch the news on 5.1 via OTA almost every night. I never had a problem when they were on reduced power, or noticed anything different. Although I didn't check the signal strength, when 5.1 was on reduced power a year or so ago, the signal strength went from very strong to good ( about the same as I get 42.1)

Some locations and antenna setups are less affected than others.

I agree... about the only station I can pick up with an INDOOR OTA antenna is 5.1. Its usually very good for me when I need to use OTA.

It looks like FSN may finally be coming to West Palm Comcast.... On sunsportstv's site today they updated it. Although, it looks as though it won't be a dedicated FSN HD channel like they have most other places, at least it is a start!


Florida Marlins

Advanced Cable Communications, Coral Springs/Weston (Ch. 656)
Comcast South Florida in Dade, Broward, Keys (Ch. 200)
Comcast, West Palm Beach (inHD Ch. 408
Comcast Southwest Florida, Naples (inHD Ch. 206)
Comcast Treasure Coast, Vero Beach/Ft. Pierce (Ch. 199)
Comcast, Jacksonville (Ch. 181; changes to 443 on 4/10)
Comcast, Lake City/Live Oak (Ch. 443)
Comcast - Sarasota, scheduled to begin 4/20
Comcast, Tallahassee (Ch. 401)
Home Town Cable, Port St. Lucie (Ch. TBA), scheduled to begin 4/15
Verizon FiOS TV, Florida Gulf Coast region (Ch. 830)

DirecTV is offering the majority of these local HD games in Orlando, Miami and Tampa markets only on their HD Ch. 96 or 97. Games marked with an asterisk (*) DirecTV is offering statewide on their HD Ch. 95

Channel numbers subject to change.

Schedule Subject to Change. Check with your local provider to verify games offered/channels.

Anbody else having a problem with FOX HD on Comcast (I'm in Palm Beach Gardens). For some reason, I'm having lots of problems with American Idol - this week and last. It's only on the HD channel, SD is fine...

MartyS

Wait until February 2009, when Channel 5-1 starts broadcasting on Channel 12, and Channel 12's analog is gone. Channel 5's signal will be half of the current 13-1 that Channel 12 is using. I'm afraid it will be easier to get Channel 6-1 then 5-1. :mad:

Channel 5 will need to reduce their power so that the Tampa stations can be heard.

stonecrd, thanks for the info. Well, based upon what you are saying I'd have to surmise that the Miami tennis final wasn't in HD. Real shame that as watching tennis in HD is so much better.

On a brighter note (and a wee bit off topic) my PS3 looks amazing on the Panny :D
offtopic warning--
Looks good on my Sammy as well. My son got Motorstorm and the colors and graphics are great even as a 720p game. The only problem is that after 15min of playing I am soaked in sweat, brings a whole new meaning to total immersion on my 61"

Reception was sure good this morning on 6-1 from Miami. And I live in Fort Pierce and have an antenna in the attic. Reception was between 55% and 76%. NBC6 has the strongest signal.

Friday evening they didn't turn on the HD until 12 minutes of the NBC Evening News on Channel 5 had been played.

Saturday morning, no HD on the morning news with Channel 5 (Network) and when they did play the morning news from the network, I had seen it one hour earlier on Channel 6 in Miami.

Came home Sunday around 2pm and wanted to just lay around and watch some DiscoveryHD. Comcast seems to have rearranged things again. I am receiving more digital channels than before, but cannot find DiscoveryHD. (no I have not subscribed to the digital package, I just use the QAM in my Vizio 37 LCD) I am also getting some movie channel now that was not there before. It was playing "Apocalypse Now", but the signal was pretty bad. The audio and video were skipping and there were digi blocks on the screen constantly. Anyone seeing these things here in WPB/Jupiter area?

TIA,

Kid

[EDIT] After several scans, my Vizio finally found Discovery HD. I guess they are changing channels around and I picked the wrong time to rescan....

Came home Sunday around 2pm and wanted to just lay around and watch some DiscoveryHD. Discovery has always come in for me on 106.351.

There are other channels that seem to randomly become uneccrypted but lets keep it hush hush so they stay that way. :)

Also FSN Florida HD is now being shown in place of INHD tonight. The Marlins should be on tomorrow night.

Discovery has always come in for me on 106.351.

There are other channels that seem to randomly become uneccrypted but lets keep it hush hush so they stay that way. :)

Also FSN Florida HD is now being shown in place of INHD tonight. The Marlins should be on tomorrow night.

Yeah, I noticed that. I am watching the TB v Texas game now. It's a shame they had to wait until after hockey season to form an agreement. I still wonder why we couldn't have gotten the dedicated FSN HD channel like they have down south.

Baseball game looks good. Noticed that the game is in 1080i, I thought FSN did their games in 720p? Maybe has something to do with Comcast passing the game through where INHD usually is.

Maybe has something to do with Comcast passing the game through where INHD usually is.

that's it.

Do you think this is a temporary thing?

Will they eventually add a dedicated FSN channel because when they put an FSN event on INHD you lose what they were going to show which was an NBA game the past two nights?

Maybe it's a bandwidth issue?

I currently live in Plantation/West Broward and in a couple months will be moving to South-West Boca (military trail/ 18th street) and am wondering....

I currently have Comcast basic cable (ch1-27, $10/month) and via my QAM receiver am able to get several unencrypted digital channels (all the locals in HD, plus comedy/ movieplex/ wgn/ the-tube/ a few more) plus actually HBO-1 and HBO-2 in analog on 98 and 99... I would like to know, what unencrypted-QAM channels would I be able to receive from ComCast in the area I will be moving to??? for how much TV I actually watch I dont care to pay much more than I already am - tho i do miss my speed-tv and espn-hd and discovery-hd (which for a while here WERE unencrypted QAM) :-(

I would be interested in knowing if you get the Miami stations in Palm Beach county through the cable company since that is not part of the Miami television market. Most cable companies in Palm Beach County removed the Miami stations several years ago (around 1990) to make room for more cable channels. Channel 2 is about the only survivor.

You may want to invest in a small antenna since most Miami stations have a range that make go up to at least Lake Worth.

All the HD channels are in the clear since Comcast realigned the channels except for the movie channels. Sometimes some digital channels will be in the clear but it's random.

Comcast carries analog WPBT, WPLG, WSFL, WLRN, WAMI, and WSCV in the southern palm beach market.

Anyone watch the Marlins game in HD last night around 11pm? Well with Comcast's great idea of channel sharing, it went back to INHD at 11 even though the game will still in progress. :mad:

They could put FSN HD on channel 113 that is only carrying 4 SD extra innings channels instead of sending 27Mbps of null data.

Asked this earlier, but no responses ... has anyone had any problems with FOX HD from Comcast (we're in Palm Beach Gardens)? I've only noticed a problem (slight macroblocking, sound stuttering) on American Idol - but I don't watch that much TV.

When the problem occurs, other HD channels are fine, as is the Fox SD feed. Just trying to figure out of this is a source issue or something with my equipment. Thanks for any help.

I don't have cable, bit I watched Idol last night OTA, it had brief moments of blocking and a couple stutters, but nothing I'd note as unusual given this was OTA on one of my older generation tuners. I'd say some of the singers stuttered with the Latin songs worse than the OTA signal....

The only advantage I can see with cable in Palm Beach County over Directv is that DirecTV does NOT carry Channel 2 from Miami. The cable in Fort Pierce dropped Channel 2 about a year ago. That was the only thing I missed about cable. Unfortunately, there is a big charge for importing a distant station on cable. Thanks FCC.

BTW, Channel 6-1 was coming in at 87% strength this morning in Fort Pierce.

Question: Channel 2 (I picked it up OTA) had channel 2-1 at 1920 over 1080, and 2-2, 2-3 and 2-4 also had programming. How can they do that? When WXEL broadcasts in 1920 over 1080, they stop the programming on the other channels. And, BTW, it always breaks up on my television.

They can play with bandwidth allocation and compression. The absolute resolution itself won't preclude sub-channels. I have noticed WXEL breaking up much more than channel 2, it's weird, since they are much closer.

Thanks Jeff. Compression was the word I was looking for. I've noticed when WXEL goes 1920 over 1080, they put a message on their subchannels that says, please view our main channel.

There is an analog Channel 27 in Sebring, 85 miles from my house broadcasting on a 1,900 foot tower.

It is interesting you get channel 6 so strongly. It's a good thing, because I have found them, over the years, to do a much better digital broadcast than 5.

I don't have cable, bit I watched Idol last night OTA, it had brief moments of blocking and a couple stutters, but nothing I'd note as unusual given this was OTA on one of my older generation tuners. I'd say some of the singers stuttered with the Latin songs worse than the OTA signal....

Thanks for the response ... I do think it's a signal issue. I might try reseating my CableCard.

Loved your comment on the singers stuttering more than the signal :)

Here we go again with channel sharing... Hockey game is being shown by Versus and is being carried on INHD but the Tampa Bay game is on FSN HD.. so we got a channel on a channel on a channel. Hey at least we have SD golf channel upconverted to 1080i on Vs/golf. :rolleyes:

All the HD channels are in the clear since Comcast realigned the channels except for the movie channels. Sometimes some digital channels will be in the clear but it's random.

Comcast carries analog WPBT, WPLG, WSFL, WLRN, WAMI, and WSCV in the southern palm beach market.

Anyone watch the Marlins game in HD last night around 11pm? Well with Comcast's great idea of channel sharing, it went back to INHD at 11 even though the game will still in progress. :mad:

They could put FSN HD on channel 113 that is only carrying 4 SD extra innings channels instead of sending 27Mbps of null data.


"All the HD Channels"... does that mean just the locals (which per FCC are SUPPOSED to be unencrypted) or is that ALL the HD channels (espn-hd, discovery-hd, etc)???

WXEL last night on Channel 42-1 was better in the evening, but this morning I was getting nothing. Signal was around 60% and then it would dive to 15%. I noticed they had nothing on Channels 42-2 and 42-3.

"All the HD Channels"... does that mean just the locals (which per FCC are SUPPOSED to be unencrypted) or is that ALL the HD channels (espn-hd, discovery-hd, etc)???Yes. ESPN/2, discovery, tnt, inhd, nfl, mhd, and vs/golf, abc, nbc, cbs, fox, pbs.

I currently live in Plantation/West Broward and in a couple months will be moving to South-West Boca (military trail/ 18th street) and am wondering....

I currently have Comcast basic cable (ch1-27, $10/month) and via my QAM receiver am able to get several unencrypted digital channels (all the locals in HD, plus comedy/ movieplex/ wgn/ the-tube/ a few more) plus actually HBO-1 and HBO-2 in analog on 98 and 99... I would like to know, what unencrypted-QAM channels would I be able to receive from ComCast in the area I will be moving to??? for how much TV I actually watch I dont care to pay much more than I already am - tho i do miss my speed-tv and espn-hd and discovery-hd (which for a while here WERE unencrypted QAM) :-(

Good Luck... you're moving to an area that was previously Adelphia (I believe). If that's the case you can pretty much forget anything that ComCast has anywhere else in the market. I've been told that it will be about a year before we can expect to have all the services that Comcast offers everywhere else.

About the only thing that they did here was to cut out a bunch of channels (west coast movie feeds) and raised the price :(

Good Luck... you're moving to an area that was previously Adelphia (I believe). If that's the case you can pretty much forget anything that ComCast has anywhere else in the market. I've been told that it will be about a year before we can expect to have all the services that Comcast offers everywhere else.

About the only thing that they did here was to cut out a bunch of channels (west coast movie feeds) and raised the price :(

well I only have the most basic service - $10/month - and also get the 10-or-so digital channels plus the local-HD channels that are unencrypted-QAM and have no current desire to pay any more money so the lack of services wouldnt bother me :-)

Hmm... then I don't know about that. IN all the time we were with Adelphia, I don't know of an option like that. So I may have been speaking out of school.

I'd call the "adelphia/comcast" number at 800-638-1000 and ask them.

The number is actually 888-683-1000. Also as others have said now that the transition is underway I can verify atleast in a few areas that all the HD channels except for the HBO, Showtime and such are now un-encrypted. I have a few customers with the Series3 Tivo's and after the transition have had to re-authenticate all the cards, when they weren't authenticated they were still getting ESPN, Discovery, vsGolf and all the other non-movie channels. I will have to check it on my htpc with the Fusion5 card soon.

Just noticed that Comcast put on Sun Sports HD for the Heat game in place of INHD tonight.

Just noticed that Comcast put on Sun Sports HD for the Heat game in place of INHD tonight.

I think FSN/Sunshine got an agreement with Comcast in West Palm as they are now showing the Heat, Devil Rays and Marlins in HD on inHD. Like you mentioned before, I'd much prefer the dedicated channel like they have down south, but I guess this is OK (unless they preempt the game). It does seem that they modified the lineup in Broward/Dade their digital lineup now mirrors Palm Beach's.

If you look, where we have holes in our system, they have channels...401 is FSNHD, 409/410 are UHD and AEHD, Cinemax HD is 417, etc. I'd love to know the real reason why we can't get those channels.

If you look, where we have holes in our system, they have channels...401 is FSNHD, 409/410 are UHD and AEHD, Cinemax HD is 417, etc. I'd love to know the real reason why we can't get those channels.

Came home today (Comcast Delray Beach) and noticed for the first time I now have NGCHD 413, A&EHD 410, and UHD 409. Nice little surprise. NGCHD is no signal however. Anyone else notice these changes?

Yes I just saw the 3 new channels on Comcast too.

We subscribe to the Premium Package and get all premium HD
channels too. I do not see Cinemax HD 417 listed yet.

Saw them as well this evening. Nice addition to the lineup. :cool:

Well now comcast has almost caught up with dish. I'm deciding wether to upgrade to dish mpeg4 or go with comcast and their ditch the dish promo

Still hope comcast can come to an agreement with HDNet

So far it looks like only dish has:
HDNet
HDNet Movies
Voom (15) (which the only time i watched 1 channel was the bond filmfest)
HGTV
FoodNetwork

Only Comcast Has:
WPBF
WPEC
WFLX
WPTV
WXEL
Versus/Golf
INHD

Saw them as well this evening. Nice addition to the lineup. :cool:

Still no FSN HD or Cinemax HD! :(

I just noticed they were added as well. NGCHD still blank but UHD looks cool. Things are getting better. Can't complain about that.

Came home today (Comcast Delray Beach) and noticed for the first time I now have NGCHD 413, A&EHD 410, and UHD 409. Nice little surprise. NGCHD is no signal however. Anyone else notice these changes?

Has anyone checked to see if these are in the clear? If so, can you post the QAM channel they are on.
I will rescan tonight and see if they show up.

Has anyone checked to see if these are in the clear? If so, can you post the QAM channel they are on.
I will rescan tonight and see if they show up.NGC is coming in on 113-551, UHD on 114-526, and A&E on 114-527 for me.

My signal on Channel 42-1 OTA (over the air) is around 70%, but after about one minute the signal dives down to 15% for about three seconds and then rebounds back to 70%. Very annoying. I sent two E-mails to Channel 42 but they did not respond.

BTW, Channel 42 is playing in high resolution 1920 over 1080 after 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Is anyone getting 42 in HD on cable? Directv is not carrying them in HD yet.

Wally. Re. Channel 42-1 WXEL-DT.
Did you try repositioning your antenna a small amount? Believe it or not but the high winds that we have had lately will have an effect on your reception, even with an indoor antenna. I don't know why that is - I don't think there is any logical reason that wind would effect radio waves but I have been using various antennas to receive digital TV since it started here in Palm Beach County and I can say that it does happen.

Also try rebooting your receiver (unplug it for 5 minutes) and see if that helps. Check the vents too making sure that it's not overheating. If you have already done these things then you can probably consider yourself the victim of my number one pet peve with our local broadcasters. They don't report when they are having OTA broadcasting problems so you have no way of knowing if it's them or you. If they just had a place on their Web page that stated the current status of their equipment then our troubleshooting efforts would be simplified.

NGC is coming in on 113-551, UHD on 114-526, and A&E on 114-527 for me.
Thanks Panth1. Didn't get a chance to try it last night, but will check it out tonight.

I am very familiar with that symptom at my house. Turned out to be multi-path for me. I had to both change to a different antenna, and re-orient a tad.

My signal on Channel 42-1 OTA (over the air) is around 70%, but after about one minute the signal dives down to 15% for about three seconds and then rebounds back to 70%. Very annoying. I sent two E-mails to Channel 42 but they did not respond.

BTW, Channel 42 is playing in high resolution 1920 over 1080 after 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Is anyone getting 42 in HD on cable? Directv is not carrying them in HD yet.

*sigh* Marlins/Mets scheduled to be in HD tonight on inHD channel 408 according to sunsports website...yet it is just blackness. The game is in SD on channel 37, though. :(

Too bad you can't see it in HD. Must be Comcast problem. Mets-Marlins is in HD tonight on Directv from FSN Florida.

Does anyone know the "secret numbers" for the new 3 HD channels on comcast? (Sorry to sound like an idiot, but I've forgotten the acronym for the native channel that comcast sends the broadcast in). My DVR decodes to the 400 level channel, but my Sony Bravia needs me to enter the channel in the original XXX.XXX format in order to tune to the channel. (It doesn't scan them automatically).

My signal on Channel 42-1 OTA (over the air) is around 70%, but after about one minute the signal dives down to 15% for about three seconds and then rebounds back to 70%. Very annoying. I sent two E-mails to Channel 42 but they did not respond.

BTW, Channel 42 is playing in high resolution 1920 over 1080 after 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Is anyone getting 42 in HD on cable? Directv is not carrying them in HD yet.
I've been having this problem with 42.1 for a while, they just don't seem to be as reliable as the other WPB channels. Comcast does carry 42.1 along with their subchannels, normally with no picture problems.

Channel 42-1 was coming in really good this morning. They were playing the travel guide, "Rick Steeves," at 4:00 a.m. No breakups for 30 minutes.

Channel 42-6 showed a man standing in front of a microphone, yawning at 6:15 a.m. this morning. Interesting, programming skips from 42-3 to 42-6.

The religious station (61-1) is broadcasting on 49-1 on subchannels 61-2, 61-3 and 61-4. That station was coming in good to, way up here in good-ol Fort Pierce. Does anyone know if they moved to a different tower?

I've been having this problem with 42.1 for a while, they just don't seem to be as reliable as the other WPB channels. Comcast does carry 42.1 along with their subchannels, normally with no picture problems.

I think they know about the problem and I hope it gets corrected. As I mentioned earlier, the picture was good and reliable this morning. Does Comcast carry them in HD? PBS moved from the channel 29 tower to the Channel 5 tower, which is not as tall.

I heard that PBS is trying to get DirecTV to carry all PBS stations in HD and along with their subchannels. DirecTV doesn't carry any subchannels right now.

Joel, just your opinion, does Channel 5 put out just as good a picture on Digital 55-1 as Channel 12 puts out on 13-1?

Just curious to know if you think UHF is an advantage over VHF. According to a Channel 5 technican, Channels 2-8 don't work well with digital television.

I think they know about the problem and I hope it gets corrected. As I mentioned earlier, the picture was good and reliable this morning. Does Comcast carry them in HD?

Yes they do.

Joel, just your opinion, does Channel 5 put out just as good a picture on Digital 55-1 as Channel 12 puts out on 13-1?

Just curious to know if you think UHF is an advantage over VHF. According to a Channel 5 technican, Channels 2-8 don't work well with digital television.
The video quality of local news on 5.1 is far superior to 12.1. Network HDTV seems about the same.

It is generally accepted that UHF digital is far less susceptible to impulse noise as compared to VHF especially on lo-band VHF. I agree.

Channel 42-1 was playing better. The video wasn't freezing but the audio sounded a little funny. Anyone else notice it?

Once again Comcast screws up with showing FSN HD in place of INHD. I knew this would be trouble from the beginning.

Once again Comcast screws up with showing FSN HD in place of INHD. I knew this would be trouble from the beginning.

I am getting inHD instead of FSN HD (the reverse of what you said above). I sent an E-mail to sunsports last week when Comcast screwed up and they said that they had an agreement with Comcast to show all the Marlins games. Time to E-mail them again. Ugh!

I am getting inHD instead of FSN HD (the reverse of what you said above). I sent an E-mail to sunsports last week when Comcast screwed up and they said that they had an agreement with Comcast to show all the Marlins games. Time to E-mail them again. Ugh!Yea, they aren't showing the HD feed. I guess you could read what I typed either way. ;)

Have any of you cable users tried to get video output via firewire from your STB? My output seems to be dead.

I'm getting a signal of 71% from channel 61-1 (digital 49-1) but a signal of only 20% from 42-1 (digital 27). Did the religious station move up to the Channel 5 tower?

I scanned back and didn't see where anyone else asked this so here goes.

I live in W Lake Worth and have DISH and get my locals off air. For quite some time now, I don't get the program listings on the menu for 25-1 WPBF HD. It just says NO INFORMATION FOUND. I have to look at the regular 29 to see what is on, BUT I can't set a record timer because of this.

Anyone else have this problem or know the reason?

TLTURBO:
Which D* receiver do you have ?
My 811 shows Program Guide info for the OTA West Palm Beach stations.
I know some of the Dish boxes have problems with the EPG.
Check out the Dish forums on DBSTalk.com, they can be a big help.

Walt

I have a 921 HD receiver and I get the info on ALL the channels except that one.

I don't get the program listings on the menu for 25-1 WPBF HD. It just says NO INFORMATION FOUND.

TL - Can't speak for the Dish box. But, I can say that the guide data for 25-1 is definitely there. I see it on my Direct box and thru the guide on TV via ATSC tuner.

Have any of you cable users tried to get video output via firewire from your STB? My output seems to be dead.

I haven't tried it but I know the HDMI ports on the boxes are sent out inactive. It wouldn't surprise me to find out the FireWire was also inactive.

I've got Comcast coming out on Monday morning to install 2 Cablecards in a Series 3 Tivo. Anybody here have any experience with our local Comcasters when it comes to this (I have a cablecard in my TV currently and it works fine)?

I'm in Palm Beach Gardens. I am a little concerned, because the lady who took my order suggested I drop by and pick up the cable cards. I said "happy to do that, but my understanding is a tech has to do the install ... and needs to activate the cards, etc". She, very nicely, said ... Let me check. Sure enough, we scheduled the tech to come out Monday. She was extremely nice, embarrassed that she didn't know this - said she'd heard about the CableCards but had never taken an order. Oh well ... we shall see. (She did give me a discount on my current service!).

MOst of the installers are ex Adelphia folks, and I've had pretty good luck with them in the Boca area.

AS far as the CSR's are concerned, them not knowing that a Cablecard requires and install isn't surprising. In the overall scheme of things, I think that rarely will the typical CSR get a cable card question. Regardless, you most likely could have picked them up, installed them and called Comcast and a higher lever tech person (just like the one that the installer will call) could have activated them for you.

All my friends down here have gone to the local comcast office for new upgrades, called the toll free comcast numbers and had everything activated.

I haven't tried it but I know the HDMI ports on the boxes are sent out inactive. It wouldn't surprise me to find out the FireWire was also inactive.
Thanks for the reply.

I use the HMDI port to the TV display, haven't had any problems. Have you some reason to believe the FireWire port needs some sort of handshake to activate it?

ok so I think I have asked generally before, but I wanted to ask again as I am moving in a couple weeks... I will be moving to west boca (military trail/ 18th street) and am planning to get the same cable package as I currently have, the most basic package. currently where I am now (west broward/plantation) with the basic package I still somehow get hbo/hbo2 (on 98 and 99) and with my QAM receiver I get all the local HD channels, comedy channel, wgn, and a few more in digital. I also get a number of "on-demand" channels so if I tune those at the right time I get movies other subscribers have requested (kinda cool).

so, what unencrypted channels would a QAM receiver pick-up with the basic package in my new area?

Tuesday and Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m., the NBC evening news was not in Wide Screen HD. I was watching with DirecTV and off the air. Did someone at Channel 5 forget to push the button or has the network stopped the Wide Screen HD.

ok so I think I have asked generally before, but I wanted to ask again as I am moving in a couple weeks... I will be moving to west boca (military trail/ 18th street) and am planning to get the same cable package as I currently have, the most basic package. currently where I am now (west broward/plantation) with the basic package I still somehow get hbo/hbo2 (on 98 and 99) and with my QAM receiver I get all the local HD channels, comedy channel, wgn, and a few more in digital. I also get a number of "on-demand" channels so if I tune those at the right time I get movies other subscribers have requested (kinda cool).

so, what unencrypted channels would a QAM receiver pick-up with the basic package in my new area?

Not too sure about QAM, but I have a feeling that you're going to be surprised moving from Plantation to Boca.

We're a former Adelphia market, and as such use a completely different system that the markets that have been Comcast since before the takeover. You'll most likely be using a box or DVR from Scientific Atlanta, versus Motorola (at least I think so) and will have a completely different selection of channels.

Since from what I can tell, there's a lot of variation between comcast markets, you might want to go to comcast.com and find out what the channel list is specifically for that area. I'm at Powerline and Glades and we're in the Boca/Delray listings for Comcast.

I know it's not too much help, but at least you're aware of some potentially significant changes to your service at about the same price.

well I dont have a "box", I view via the QAM tuner in my TV, and via an HD card in my PC. I am not too interested in the channel listings (they arent available on comcast.com for my new area anyways) as I will only get the basic package. just wondering what anyone else that is using a QAM enabled HD-receiver is able to receive unencrypted in addition to the local HD channels via COMCAST

Thanks for the reply.

I use the HMDI port to the TV display, haven't had any problems. Have you some reason to believe the FireWire port needs some sort of handshake to activate it?

Nope, no idea. I was just guessing. So you're HDMI out works? When the guy installed my stuff he told me all the boxes go out inactive, which didn't make any sense to me. Of course, that was more than a year ago so I guess it could have changed. My box is the 8300HD.

just wondering what anyone else that is using a QAM enabled HD-receiver is able to receive unencrypted in addition to the local HD channels via COMCASTAll the HD channels except HBO, Showtime, and Starz are unencrypted. They have been that way since Comcast realigned our digital channels. It's anyones guess if they will remain that way or not.

Does anyone else who has a Cable Card receive a CableCard firmware upgrade? I just turned on my TV and it now says "CableCARD firmware upgrade in process. Estimate total time: 01:00:00" I have a Aquos LCD with, obviously a cable card in it. I wonder what Comcast is doin...

Nope, no idea. I was just guessing. So you're HDMI out works? When the guy installed my stuff he told me all the boxes go out inactive, which didn't make any sense to me. Of course, that was more than a year ago so I guess it could have changed. My box is the 8300HD.
I've had no problems with HDMI on my 8300HD. The box also does a nice job of HD recording, I can't tell the difference. A better menu system would be nice. I also understand that it is an FCC requirement that firewire ports be enabled for OTA channels.

Well, my cableCard firmware is still "upgrading." Comcast has to send a tech out. Ugh...

Well, my cableCard firmware is still "upgrading." Comcast has to send a tech out. Ugh...
I tried a cable card, it upgraded almost every day. Every time it upgraded is reset my Samsung TV guide feature rendering it useless. Got rid of the cable card.

I tried a cable card, it upgraded almost every day. Every time it upgraded is reset my Samsung TV guide feature rendering it useless. Got rid of the cable card.

I've had this CableCard for about a year and a half. Never had a problem with it until Thursday night.

Thursday night, the Office OTA HD feed from WPTV-5 feed was messed up. Audio was fine but no picture until about 16 minutes into it. :mad: I recorded this via D* SD on another TIVO and was able to see it normally. Anybody else experience this?

Thursday night, the Office OTA HD feed from WPTV-5 feed was messed up. Audio was fine but no picture until about 16 minutes into it. :mad: I recorded this via D* SD on another TIVO and was able to see it normally. Anybody else experience this?

I find their signal to be flaky all the time. I only get it OTA, but more than half the time I can't find a signal and about 20% of the time when it does find a signal it's pixelated. I never record OTA from them, I'll go to Channel 6 out of Miami from where I always get a strong signal.

All the HD channels except HBO, Showtime, and Starz are unencrypted. They have been that way since Comcast realigned our digital channels. It's anyones guess if they will remain that way or not.

thats the way it was in broward as well, all the HD channels were unencrypted at first and slowly they were added to the appropriate "package" and encrypted accordingly...

can I get a channel listing of the HD channels that are available via QAM-unencrypted?

I always favor 6 over 5, OTA. Less glitches. Only time I watch 5 is for local news, but 5 usually biases too far north for me, so even that is a wash.



Thursday night, the Office OTA HD feed from WPTV-5 feed was messed up. Audio was fine but no picture until about 16 minutes into it. :mad: I recorded this via D* SD on another TIVO and was able to see it normally. Anybody else experience this?

Well, channel 25 has jumped unto the bandwagon. Yesterday we got 25.2 Weather First.

Now we have three channels to tell us that it will be hot, humid, with a chance of showers each day during the summer.

I noticed today that the sound and picture with Channel 5 were a little off during the local news.

Hello, I'm a noob when it comes to this OTA stuff but I was wondering if you guys could give me some information. I'm located in PSL (traditions to be exact) and I want to install an OTA antenna to pick up the WPB HD locals since Dish does not carry them yet.

Could any of you recommend an antenna? most of the stations are directly South-ish, I should have good LOS since I have a 2 story and we all know how flat Florida is. The stations are mostly in the 39-45 mile range from me. Is it even worth the attempt to pick them up from that distance?


Thanks a ton!

Well, channel 25 has jumped unto the bandwagon. Yesterday we got 25.2 Weather First.

Now we have three channels to tell us that it will be hot, humid, with a chance of showers each day during the summer.Just noticed this as well. I don't care for all the fashy graphics, I just want to look at the radar. I mostly look at WPEC's subchannel where they have the full screen radar.

Well, channel 25 has jumped unto the bandwagon. Yesterday we got 25.2 Weather First.

Now we have three channels to tell us that it will be hot, humid, with a chance of showers each day during the summer.

These weather channels are a waste of bandwidth. I wish our local affiliates would shut them off during HD programing.

These weather channels are a waste of bandwidth. I wish our local affiliates would shut them off during HD programing.

Opinions vary... If you participate in outdoor sports you might appreciate them. I look at the radar on 12.2 before heading to Okeeheelee to water-ski all the time. My friends that play golf and/or tennis seem to appreciate the sub channels as well.

Hello, I'm a noob when it comes to this OTA stuff but I was wondering if you guys could give me some information. I'm located in PSL (traditions to be exact) and I want to install an OTA antenna to pick up the WPB HD locals since Dish does not carry them yet.

Could any of you recommend an antenna? most of the stations are directly South-ish, I should have good LOS since I have a 2 story and we all know how flat Florida is. The stations are mostly in the 39-45 mile range from me. Is it even worth the attempt to pick them up from that distance?


Thanks a ton!You should get good reception from all the stations with Martin and West Palm Beach county broadcast antennas (5, 12, 25, 29 34, 42 and a few others) . If you want to experiment, you may even have success with an attic antenna.

I have quite a few posts with what I did, you might want to take a look.

Anybody else getting audio dropouts on 42-1? Both pcm and dd drop off every other second and it's been like this for two days (only tried at night). My signal strength is good, and I'm not having any problems with the video. I also tried two different tuners and got the same results.

Well i bought a cheap $60 Terek antenna that is amplified. I was actually suprised how well it works I can pick up everything in WPB at around 80% signal strength and even the Vero stations at 70% which isn't bad considering this thing was pretty cheap and indoors no less.


One issue is I can't seem to get WPEC for some reason. Am I missing something here or doing something wrong? Maybe that one station is slightly out of range? I didn't think it was any farther than the others but I could be mistake but thats the only station I don't have an HD feed for now. I'm guessing there isn't an easy fix to that.

Well i bought a cheap $60 Terek antenna that is amplified. I was actually suprised how well it works I can pick up everything in WPB at around 80% signal strength and even the Vero stations at 70% which isn't bad considering this thing was pretty cheap and indoors no less.


One issue is I can't seem to get WPEC for some reason. Am I missing something here or doing something wrong? Maybe that one station is slightly out of range? I didn't think it was any farther than the others but I could be mistake but thats the only station I don't have an HD feed for now. I'm guessing there isn't an easy fix to that.
WPEC-DT transmits on VHF channel 13, apparently your antenna is not well suited for this channel.

There are no Vero Beach TV stations.

Totally missed it was in VHF that would probably explain the difference. UHF signals comming in clear but at my distance I guess VHF isn't cutting it. I doubt they'll switch on my account :P

Too bad to because everything else is good.

Totally missed it was in VHF that would probably explain the difference. UHF signals comming in clear but at my distance I guess VHF isn't cutting it. I doubt they'll switch on my account :P

Too bad to because everything else is good.
VHF, signals in general are longer range than UHF, providing you use an appropriate antenna. Unfortunately, VHF antennas must be larger than UHF antennas.

You should know that in Feb 09 on the analog termination day, many of the stations will change their frequency assignments. As I recall, 5.1 will move to 13 and 12.1 will move to 12. Hence there will be two VHF local channels.

Channel 12 (13-1) is broadcasting at 29,500 watts and their transmitter is only 1,000 feet. Their analog transmitter is on the top and I was told they would move their digital to the top in 2009.

The other stations are broadcasting from 1,300 to 1,500 feet and sending out a signal of up to 1 million watts.

The idea is that VHF signals travel further, so they don't need as much power, however, you do need a larger antenna to pick them up.

I would recommend this: Turn your television to 13-1 and click on signal strength. I usually need a signal of 30% to pick up the station. If the signal never goes down to 0% then perhaps an amplifier will help.

I've never picked up Channel 12 (13-1) from my house in Fort Pierce, but have picked up Channel 6 (31-1) on many occasions from Miami. Go figure.

The problem will double in February, 2009, when Channel 5 switches from Channel 55 to Channel 12-1. (Channel 12 will only be on Channel 13). When this happens, their signal strength goes from 1 million watts to 13,400 watts.

Since you live in a two-story house, I would consider buying the largest antenna that you can put in the attic.

The fact that the Palm Beach stations have located their transmitters 18 miles from their southern border and 95 miles from their northern border doesn't make any sense, except they want people in Broward County to listen to them.

Be glad you don't live in Vero Beach or Sebastian. You would be 85 miles from Orlando and Palm Beach and would only be able to pick up Channel 25 and 34 in digital.

There are two different types of antennas--UHF (Channels 14-69) and VHF (Channels 2-13). It is too bad that we need the largest antenna for just one station.

Advertisers take note: No one can pick up Channel 12!!!!!

"You should know that in Feb 09 on the analog termination day, many of the stations will change their frequency assignments. As I recall, 5.1 will move to 13 and 12.1 will move to 12. Hence there will be two VHF local channels."

Joel, I think you got it backwards. Channel 5 goes to 12 and 12 goes to 13. And again, there will be stronger stations broadcasting from higher antennas in the Tampa area.

Mooksas-I've been having the same problem with Channel 42. You won't catch me donating any money to this station until the problem is fixed.

:rolleyes: It appears to me that Channel 12, WPEC needs to build a new transmitter in the Jupiter area and then encourage Channels 42, 61, and 67 to join them where their signal will be in the middle of the market and everyone will be able to pick them up.

Ironically, we have three CBS owned stations on the Treasure Coast (34, 43, and 48) but none of them are broadcasting the CBS network. Perhaps if we complain loud enough, Channel 12 will not get their CBS programming renewed. :rolleyes:

For reception of channels 12,13 and all UHF channels I would recommend the Channel Master 4228 antenna with or without the CM 7777 pre amp. It measures 29.5"x36"x5" and easily fits in any attic. I wired its two screens together, since the screens and the rectangular support structure act as the antenna for high band VHF. You can see a picture and detailed information at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html.

Living in NE Boca, I can get both Miami and WPB stations with a simple bi-directional wing antenna and pre-amp. It's not always necessary to go with a large traditional antenna depending on what stations you are trying for and where you are located.

For reception of channels 12,13 and all UHF channels I would recommend the Channel Master 4228 antenna with or without the CM 7777 pre amp. It measures 29.5"x36"x5" and easily fits in any attic. I wired its two screens together, since the screens and the rectangular support structure act as the antenna for high band VHF. You can see a picture and detailed information at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html.Interesting information. This looks like a super antenna for UHF. The hi-band VHF gain looks adequate for strong signal areas. However, I don't believe it would be good enough for most of Martin County, especially in the attic. Has anyone tried it 40-50 miles from the transmitter?

I did get fairly good reception on 12.1 using my attic UHF Yagi, but ended adding a single channel 5 element Yagi ( 9db gain as I recall) which provides excellent reception on 12.1.

Is WFLX 29-1 off the air ?
Haven't gotten a signal all day, 2 different TVs and two different antennas.

Walt

WFLX DT off-air went out last night during the movie, the Comcast signal still is working.

so, nobody else uses QAM-enabled HD receivers (NOT provided by ComCast) and can provide the channel/sub-channel listings for Comcast?

Receiver : LG LST-4200A

081-576 WFLX-DT
081-577 WPTV-DT
083-376 ESPN 2HD
083-377 ESPN HD
084-580 WXEL-DT
084-476 MOJO HD
089-451 TNT HD
089-452 MHD
102-235 VS HD
106-351 DISCOVERY HD
107-551 WPBF-DT
107-552 WPEC-DT
113-551 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HD
114-526 UNIVERSAL HD
114-527 A&E HD

missing are the tube, weather, etc.


Different numbering on my Computer's DVICO Fusion HDTV Gold.

Is WFLX 29-1 off the air ?
Haven't gotten a signal all day, 2 different TVs and two different antennas.

Walt

Cecilia in the newsroom said that its the national feed that is down, not anything at their station. :rolleyes:

She recommended that we call Fox national. Did she have a number for me? No. :mad:

WFLX-DT 29-1 is still down. I'll bet they have it fixed by Monday though for the 24 finale. Maybe they will even call someone in on Sunday if enough people complain about not being able to see the Simpson's 400th episode.

Cecilia in the newsroom said that its the national feed that is down, not anything at their station. :rolleyes:

She recommended that we call Fox national. Did she have a number for me? No. :mad:

:mad:
Loss of national signal would not knock the transmitter off the air.
The majority of the programming is locally originated and in SD.

Walt

Channel 5-1 is supposed to be number one in this market, yet during the morning local news they are still having audio sync problems. It may be in HD but the audio problem really is annoying.

And when are they going to go Dolby Digital? All the other main local stations have.

The national feed is up for my father-in-law in Jax.

Well decided instead of installing a better VHF antenna to get WPEC from my location I called Dish network and "Moved" to Fort Lauderdale for the HD miami feeds. I still get all the other locals OTA (WPB) except WPEC except now I won't miss the NFL / other HD sports when playing on CBS. Should have just done that in the first place isntead of messing with the antenna but now I don't need to worry about the UHF VHF switch and my gear needing updated in two years, not too mention still keping my local news OTA.

Thanks for the help though and enjoy.

WFLX DT off-air went out last night during the movie, the Comcast signal still is working.

As of 4am this morning, WFLX 29.1 and 29.2 are still down.

The problem with the Channel Master 7777 Antenna is that it is not directional. Channels in Miami also broadcast on the same frequency in Orlando. It will work great in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade, but when you get to Northern Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River Counties, you really need a directional antenna, especially during strange weather patterns.

I have had two situations where Channel 5 on 55.1 was having problems being picked up because of a station north of Orlando.

Got a hold of Keith in Engineering, and started to describe the problem. I had dialed 848-NEWS, and when I told him that OTA digital was offline, he disagreed. He then identified himself as with channel 12, and said that channel 12 handles channel 29's news, and thus the reason I got him, I guess. He checked on his end, and confirmed that its down, and tried to get somebody in 29's engineering, with no luck. He asked me to call him back.

He was very nice, and hopefully very successful in figuring this out. We've got less than four hours until the 24 finale!

Well no answer on the return call - three hours and counting. Anybody have ANY contacts at this forsaken station?

Cecilia in the newsroom said that its the national feed that is down, not anything at their station. :rolleyes:

She recommended that we call Fox national. Did she have a number for me? No. :mad:

Call Cecilia back and tell her she's full of BS... Their SD feed is up and has been the whole time, HD still down at 5:05pm.

Cecilia was useless, yes - but telling her this would also be useless. What we need is someone in engineering at the tv station.

The transmitter will not be on today in time for 24. If all goes well it should be on Tuesday evening.

Thanks



Angelo "Butch" Figurella

Chief Engineer, WFLX Fox 29

4119 W. Blue Heron Blvd

West Palm Beach, FL 33404

Voice: 561-282-4146

Fax: 561-282-5046

Rats - ok, well thanks for the update, pickle. Did he say why or what happened?

Rats - ok, well thanks for the update, pickle. Did he say why or what happened?
No, he didn't give me any details about what the problem was but I didn't ask. I wanted to know if I needed to change my TiVo to the SD channel for the 24 finale. So all of you out there that have your DVR programmed for 29-1 better change it to 29 until they get it fixed.
You can email Butch Figurella [bfigurella@wflx.com ]. He should be able to answer any questions that you may have.

hi all. I'm wondering if anyone is having problems with channel 5.

I have a Dish Network 622vip, and channel 5 is all over the place in strength bounces from 100 to 0. it breaks up and is really annoying.

I have read of problems because of proximity to the xmiter (We are near congress and woolbright) but that would seem to be far enough way to not get over saturation. (I can't remember the name now.)

If we are getting too much signal, what kind of device should i get to attenuate the signal around channel 5? We get everything else from Miami North great. Just this one channel.


Thanks,

Tom.


(29 still off the air)

:( TIVO changed. Thanks pickle.

hi all. I'm wondering if anyone is having problems with channel 5.

I have a Dish Network 622vip, and channel 5 is all over the place in strength bounces from 100 to 0. it breaks up and is really annoying.

I have read of problems because of proximity to the xmiter (We are near congress and woolbright) but that would seem to be far enough way to not get over saturation. (I can't remember the name now.)

If we are getting too much signal, what kind of device should i get to attenuate the signal around channel 5? We get everything else from Miami North great. Just this one channel.


Thanks,

Tom.


(29 still off the air) The problem you describe is normally caused by multi-path interference, not by too much signal. If you are using an amplifier try disconnecting it.

You should be able to receive this station by using the proper antenna. Your antenna may be pointed wrong, located in a bad spot, or inadequate for the job.

I emailed Fox29 to see if they will be up by american idol..

replied
Yes if all goes as planed,



Angelo "Butch" Figurella

Chief Engineer, WFLX Fox 29

4119 W. Blue Heron Blvd

West Palm Beach, FL 33404

Voice: 561-282-4146

Fax: 561-282-5046

Cell 561-719-3933