You lease the DVR from DirecTV, it costs 300$ up front last time I did the math out. That's one of several reasons why I'm with Dish instead. It looks like they're now 199$ with 100$ rebate.

If you go to "Order Now" it lets you pick/assemble your plan and find out the costs.

That HD DVR upfront cost just dropped to $199. and with lots of new customer promos, can be had for $0. up front.

Dana

I went back and edited my post after the fact but while you were replying to mine. I adjusted the counts and provided where to find the materials needed to get a price.

It will be a colder day in hell before I go back to DirecTV. I have a few tens of thousands of reasons why not, literally. :)

I see the new OTA add on tuner, for the HR21, was announced at CES today, by DirecTV. It will be the same size (length x width) as the HR21 but is only 1 inch high. It can set on top of the HR20 and connects to the HR20 via the USB port. It has two tuners.

DirecTV also announced the new HR21-Pro, like the HR21, but more bells and whistles, and a bigger hard drive.

Another new device they announced was the HDPC20. A USB DirecTV tuner that will allow you to use your PC for viewing DirecTV.

Looks like some pretty exciting new products, in the future for DirecTV.

I live in Cumberland, ME, and currently get my HD signal from TW. I am considering moving to DirecTV. I get the basic package, which includes a handful of HD stations, along with the HDTier on which I watch HDNet Movies. I also get my phone and internet connections from TWC. I figure my cost to be approx $63 per month for the TV ($132 cost for the package, less the $82 cost for tel+internet combined, plus $8 for the DVR rental and $5 for the HDTier).

Looking at the DirecTV web site, it is difficult to figure out what their costs are going to be - they are anxious to tell you all about the promotional deals, but I am more interested in what the long term contract price is going to be.

They also have little information on their site about what the options for receivers and DVRs are - is this something that I buy, lease or what? -

My current setup includes the Panasonic 42PZ700 1080P plasma display, a Panasonic BD-30 Blu-Ray player, connected through an Onkyo SR705 all using HDMI. I would like to keep an HDMI connection between the Satelite receiver and the AV receiver.

Anybody in here able to shed some light on what costs I can expect - both startup, including the installation and any equipment that I will need to buy, and the ongoing costs for a package with HD programming, but minimal paid movie channels?

I posted an estimate of my bill after promos earlier. Here it is.

Choice package $50. "Over 140 channels including locals..."

Sports Package $10. That includes RSNs such as NESN and Fox Sports Net New England.

HD package $10. "Over 100 HD channels by year's end..." That includes channels in the Choice and Sports packages that are in HD.

No upfront charge for one HD nor any number of non-HD receivers. Each receiver costs $4.99/mo. to lease after the first one. You don't own them.

No charge for installation, dish, etc.

Since my last bill was zero with promotions, I can't share my actual itemized costs. But, I think it is quite competitive with cable. Don't forget the promos. It will take a long time for my costs with D* to catch up to my average cable bill. If there's any down side it's that there are many more programs to watch on D* and I have subscribed to the Premier package as a result! ;)

Bottom line. I am enjoying my investment in HD TV as never before. I found alternatives for phone and internet (GWI) that are significantly cheaper than Verizon/cable.

Dana

It will take a long time for my costs with D* to catch up to my average cable bill.

It ended up being about 40$ less a month when I switched away from cable (without Internet or anything since I already had DSL because of cable's 'no server' rules). That 21$ a month in digital cable boxes (this was before the HD and DVR offerings with Adelphia) was painful. I don't miss cable at all.

I told my father to call TWC Maine to get a list of in-the-clear QAM channels. After two hours of fighting with a super visor in the local tech support center, he got nothing!! They flat out refused to give him the physical channel numbers. They don't know what the numbers are (even tho they are broadcasting them!), and they told him that "we wouldn't give those out the public even if we were able to access the server and read the physical channel numbers".

I'm begining to think that they have encrypted those two remaining local channels (PBS-HD and NBC-HD), because his tuner cannot see them and the cable company refuses to access the server and get them!

WTF???????

Isn't it against FCC law to encrypt local digital broadcast channels? Can anyone help?

I see the new OTA add on tuner, for the HR21, was announced at CES today, by DirecTV. It will be the same size (length x width) as the HR21 but is only 1 inch high. It can set on top of the HR20 and connects to the HR20 via the USB port. It has two tuners.

DirecTV also announced the new HR21-Pro, like the HR21, but more bells and whistles, and a bigger hard drive.

Another new device they announced was the HDPC20. A USB DirecTV tuner that will allow you to use your PC for viewing DirecTV.

Looks like some pretty exciting new products, in the future for DirecTV.

Thanks, loudo38. I was looking for that earlier today. I wish I was in Melbourne right now for the weather. In the 70ºs I see. :)

I think you're right about exciting new products. I don't want to come off as a D* fan boy here, but I think satellite in general is where the new cutting edge technology is happening. Cable is literally old technology - hanging wires from poles - and my experience here is that innovation is slow to develop.

Dana

Thanks, loudo38. I was looking for that earlier today. I wish I was in Melbourne right now for the weather. In the 70ºs I see. :) I hear you there, that is why I am here. But I love those summers in Maine.

I think you're right about exciting new products. I don't want to come off as a D* fan boy here, but I think satellite in general is where the new cutting edge technology is happening. Cable is literally old technology - hanging wires from poles - and my experience here is that innovation is slow to develop.
You are right, but the behind the times for cable is not just in Maine. In this area with the cable, you can't even get one of our two local sports networks. The cable company refuses to put FSNFL on. Plus no NHL or NFL Network, on cable. Being a Panthers hockey fan, no FSNFL was the deal killer for me and cable.

Cable needs to go 100% digital and get rid of the grainy analog channels, as a first step. But it will be a big expense to supply everyone with digital boxes. They also need to keep up with satellite in adding new programing as it becomes available, not adding it months or years after satellite does.

Cable needs to go 100% digital and get rid of the grainy analog channels, as a first step. But it will be a big expense to supply everyone with digital boxes. They also need to keep up with satellite in adding new programing as it becomes available, not adding it months or years after satellite does.

Cable is going to force those costs for Digital onto their customers and continue to remove analog channels to force people to switch (A friend of mine in Comcast NJ land woke up to missing channels several times this past year that were 'moved' to digital only). It's been going on in several markets for quite some time. There might be analog channels on cable, but it will be cable in the classroom type stuff (locals/limited basic). They might just come up with a building-wide converter for those people and just dump analogs entirely.

For me, it started off when they told me I couldn't have HBO anymore unless I switched to Digital (which cost me ultimately 60$+ more a month after all was said and done). I did that for 3 months, one of their slow horrible boxes (DCT2000) broke, and I gave them ALL of them back. Went to D* for a few years until they wronged me, booted them out and have E* now. I'm happy with E* and keep switching people away from cable. I wake up to new channels and new features just about every month, something the satellite can do that cable apparently can't.

Cable wants to offer two-way services, then claim that they don't have bandwidth for broadcast services. They can beat satellite with two-way services, but ultimately, as a broadcast platform, the dish wins. I don't think that many of us really care THAT MUCH about VOD, considering we can just get a DVR and still more or less program things our own way.

The NFL Network thing is just ridiculous. The NFL gets blamed, meanwhile it's available on pretty much every tier on satellite from 29.99 up. The cable carriers look like money grubbers, nothing more. They don't have a whole lot to say when the two satellite carriers have more HD than they do either.

I hear you there, that is why I am here. But I love those summers in Maine.


You are right, but the behind the times for cable is not just in Maine. In this area with the cable, you can't even get one of our two local sports networks. The cable company refuses to put FSNFL on. Plus no NHL or NFL Network, on cable. Being a Panthers hockey fan, no FSNFL was the deal killer for me and cable.

Cable needs to go 100% digital and get rid of the grainy analog channels, as a first step. But it will be a big expense to supply everyone with digital boxes. They also need to keep up with satellite in adding new programing as it becomes available, not adding it months or years after satellite does.

Well, CES 2008 is also delivering some cable news along these lines. "Tru2way(TM) Brand to Succeed 'OpenCable(TM) Platform' in Consumer and Retail Settings" http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS135302+07-Jan-2008+BW20080107

This apparently applies to both Comcast and TWC. I find it interesting in that "OpenCable Platform" was the "Next BIG Thing" for cable when first announced a year or two ago, and Comcast was to have installed some new boxes in selected NH and MA. cable systems with it this past fall preliminary to a national rollout. I was all over that story for a while, thinking it might apply to the Brunswick system as well. If it ever did happen in NH or MA., I missed it.

Now, it is being replaced by the newest "Next BIG Thing."

Major cable operators have committed to deploy support for the tru2way platform in service areas covering more than 90 million U.S. homes by the end of 2008.

Right.

Dana

I wouldn't consider WABI to be local. It's owned by Diversified Communications (aka the Hildreth family) with corporate offices in Portland, ME. It owns another TV station in Gainsville, FL. and true to its name, has expanded into the publishing and trade show business with offices in CA, UK and AUS. http://www.divcom.com/history.htm Do family members watch WABI-TV? I doubt it.

Dana

I think "local" is determined by the site of the transmitter not the corporate offices. WABI is certainly "local" to 60 or 80 miles from Bangor.

I think "local" is determined by the site of the transmitter not the corporate offices. WABI is certainly "local" to 60 or 80 miles from Bangor.

We were namely talking about channels that broadcast locally over the air being tainted by outside ownership/control, something that WAGM in Aroostook County hasn't been subjected to yet.

I think "local" is determined by the site of the transmitter not the corporate offices. WABI is certainly "local" to 60 or 80 miles from Bangor.

Right. But, in the context I was referencing, I meant "locally owned and operated" such as WAGM-TV in Presque Isle.

My sense is that this station is close to its community roots and has an entrepreneurial spirit. By contrast we have too many stations (and cable systems) these days owned and operated by large corporations with hqtrs far removed from their customers.

Dana

I live in the Portland, ME area and am also a Basic Cable Subscriber of TWC. I want to purchase a "clear qam" tuner for my PC & be able to record these HD stations to watch at a later date. Are you getting these signals via built in TV tuner?

Thanks In Advance,

Erik


Dana,

I think he means that it is not listed as being carried in HD by Time Warner.

It lists

704 WPFO HD FOX
706 WCSH HD NBC
708 WMTW HD ABC
710 WPXT HD CW
712 Maine PBS HD
713 WGME 13 HDTV CBS


Joe

A friend of mine can get ClearQAM signals using a DVICO FusionHDTV QAM-compatible TV tuner no problem in the Comcast NJ market. I assume that tuner would work the same for you in Portland area.

The one I am currently looking at is Combopci-e Mce Upgradetv Tuner by Avermedia it is said to have clear Qam support....but I am also told Windows Vista does not support Clear Qam, so it may not work. That is why I am wondering.

Erik

Many pieces of software don't support ClearQAM properly outside of the software that comes with the device itself.

If you haven't tried it yet, you may want to try the TV software that came with the unit.

I do know that ClearQAM works with the Fusion, but the channel numbers are all screwy so it requires mapping them manually, which most software doesn't do.

The LCD TV that I have has an internal ATSC/clear QAM digital cable tuner. it can only tune one or the other -- either an antenna or cable TV.

I don't know anything about the capabilities of tuner cards or microsoft operating systems.

The manufacturer page does not say it is Windows Vista compatible (there is no mention of Vista support in the downloads section or FAQ's), so you might want to do more research. There is a link to sending questions to AVermedia on their homepage. http://www.aver.com/mpd/ultratv1500_spec.html

I've had mixed results running software designed for Windows XP on my pastor's PC running Vista... Some applications run fine, others won't install at all.

Joe

Here are the ClearQAM channels I get with TWC in Portland:

72.1 - WPXT (CW)
93.1 - WGME (CBS)
110.3 - WMTW (ABC)
110.4 - WPFO (FOX)

110.1 & 110.2 - non-local non-HD channels

Here are the ClearQAM channels I get with TWC in Portland:

72.1 - WPXT (CW)
93.1 - WGME (CBS)
110.3 - WMTW (ABC)
110.4 - WPFO (FOX)

110.1 & 110.2 - non-local non-HD channels

Welcome to the AVS Forum and this friendly Maine thread for your first post! Very good info. Many thanks!

Dana

I haven't checked these during the last two weeks, but the QAM tuner picks these channels up on TWC Augusta:

89-1 CW WPXT Portland
89-2 CBS WGME Portland
93-11 NBC WCSH Portland
93-16 PBS WCBB Portland
94-2 PBS
94-3 ABC WMTW Portland
94-4 FOX WPFO Portland
94-5 news and weather via WMTW
107-2 ABC WVII Bangor

Once in a while, they change the channels, so I will try to remember to verify later.

I'm reposting my list from Lewiston for comparison:

87-1 Movie preview channel
88-1 through 88-48 digitalmusic channels
89-1 Portland CW (WPXT)
89-2 Portland CBS (WGME)
93-1 Portland NBC (WCSH)
93-2 MPBN (PBS)
94-1 Portland ABC (WMTW)
94-2 Portland Fox (WPFO)
94-3 WMTW News 8 Now
94-4 PBS HD Feed (at least, McNeil Leher was on last night)
100-1 NBA Preview
107-1 ABC/FOX from Bangor (WVII/WFVX)

The Augusta list is the same as I posted for Lewiston, Stan, with the exception that some of the subchannel assignments were swapped around. Otherwise, I get in the same stations, on channels 89, 93, 94, and 107.

Also, 94-4, which I had tentatively identified as the national PBS-HD feed actually appears to be a standard definition broadcast (letterboxed) of PBS World.

Joe

My father said that he found a listing online of all the other clear QAM channels on the Portland, ME TWC system. He emailed me a list to post here in case anyone else out there has a problem finding them and a call to TWC also yeilds no help!

Some channels are hidden due to their deceptive double sub number such as NBC.

82.11 NBC DT -->(Hidden from most QAM tuners' auto program/auto find feature.)
82.12 PBS SD -->(Hidden from most QAM tuners' auto program/auto find feature.)
82.13 PBS-2 SD -->(Hidden from most QAM tuners' auto program/auto find feature.)
82.16 PBS HD -->(Hidden from most QAM tuners' auto program/auto find feature.)
93.1 CBS DT
72.1 CW DT
110.1 Create SD
110.2 PBS-3 SD
110.3 ABC DT
110.4 FOX DT

Actually, I don't really understand why all QAM tuners can't search for and find all of the QAM channels. I have a 2005 Sony SXRD and a 2007 Samsung LCD and they both turn up the channels that I listed. (I did not include 2 or 3 free on demand channels that appear when available. And I did not include the NBA advertisement channel.

My wife is satisfied (for now) with the QAM channels and I use a cablecard for all but the 4 premium HD channels (HBO, etc.) when watching on the Sony in the playroom.

great thread for me to be steered to...thanks to a tip from the engineer at WGME...total noob here but I just bought an Olevia 242T HDTV this week and was hoping to watch the Patriots game Saturday night for free in HD. According to the previous posts, do I just need to plug in my coax cable and tell the TV to do a QAM search or manually punch in 93.1 on my remote or something else? Thanks for any info, I'll be purchasing the HD package soon (need to have the Sox in HD this spring) but wanted to get this weekend's game if possible...

-matt

p.s. sorry, I live in South Portland...

great thread for me to be steered to...thanks to a tip from the engineer at WGME...total noob here but I just bought an Olevia 242T HDTV this week and was hoping to watch the Patriots game Saturday night for free in HD. According to the previous posts, do I just need to plug in my coax cable and tell the TV to do a QAM search or manually punch in 93.1 on my remote or something else? Thanks for any info, I'll be purchasing the HD package soon (need to have the Sox in HD this spring) but wanted to get this weekend's game if possible...

-matt

p.s. sorry, I live in South Portland...

Welcome to the AVS Forum and this thread in particular! I don't use QAM so I will defer to our QAM experts here for an answer.

Dana

Matt

The WGME signal is pretty strong in S. Portland, so you can always connect an inexpensive indoor antenna to your set and pull in the game that way. In many cases, the broadcast version is not as heavily compressed as what TWC carries, so you may well end up with a better picture.

Mark

so would I need to buy an indoor HDTV antenna then? Or just standard rabbit ears? Thanks!

-matt

Matt

The WGME signal is pretty strong in S. Portland, so you can always connect an inexpensive indoor antenna to your set and pull in the game that way. In many cases, the broadcast version is not as heavily compressed as what TWC carries, so you may well end up with a better picture.

Mark

I've actually heard the opposite. WGME multicasts OTA, but might have a direct fiber link to TWC, the bandwidth of which wouldn't be shared with the subchannel.

Matt: If you already have rabbit ears, give them a shot. Most "HDTV" antennas aren't really any different than traditional ones. Some may be slightly more directional to fight the effects of multi-path and some may receive UHF only (but I think all of the OTA HD stations around here are UHF anyway).

The digital channels are broadcast in the UHF band - I believe that their digital signal is in the band that was UHF channel 38. Therefore an antenna designed for UHF will work best Indoor UHF antennas usually look like a ring (often 'rabbit ears' will consist of a pair of straight antenna - intended for VHF, and a loop for UHF). \o/ These type of antennas should work fine in an area with a pretty strong signal. If your TV finds the signal, it will probably not display it as being channel 38, but rather as 13-1 or something like that.


With a digital signal, you will probably either get it, or you won't, there isn't the poor reception area where you get a fuzzy signal that is so common in the analog realm.

Let us know if it works.

Hi All,
New poster her. Live in Portland. Just got a 42 inch GV42LF HDTV and WOW this is nice. I also use it as a PC monitor (I am right now) and it's great for gaming. Actually I've had it for about a month. It goes pretty well with my new DVDR3575H PVR - (ATSC) DVD burner. I don't really use cable for much viewing at this point because the 480 they give out is nowhere near as enjoyable as the DTV I get with my RS Enterprise indoor antenna. I haven't subscribed to any premium HDTV offerings yet, just watching the free stuff. I first bought a little USB WinTV-HVR950 (ATSC) to try on the PC to find out what my DTV reception was where I am right now. It was acceptable so I went all out.
So I'm sorry if this question has already been answered but I noticed that ABC, which broadcasts in 720, sometimes stutters every few seconds when airing material from the Network. Has anyone ever seen this, or is it my Vizio?

And if anyone has questions about the use of the hardware I have, I'll answer them.

PCVidGuy,

Welcome aboard the AVS Forum and our friendly Maine thread for your first post! Glad to have you. I haven't noticed any problem with WMTW-TV ABC HD here. Perhaps others can help diagnose what's going on.

Dana

The digital channels are broadcast in the UHF band - I believe that their digital signal is in the band that was UHF channel 38. Therefore an antenna designed for UHF will work best Indoor UHF antennas usually look like a ring (often 'rabbit ears' will consist of a pair of straight antenna - intended for VHF, and a loop for UHF). \o/ These type of antennas should work fine in an area with a pretty strong signal. If your TV finds the signal, it will probably not display it as being channel 38, but rather as 13-1 or something like that.


Be careful about your antenna.

When the "analog era" goes away, the stations will be allowed to choose which channel to broadcast on (either their present analog channel assignment or the new digital assignment). Many are going to drop the new (mostly UHF) digital assignment for the analog assignment. I've posted much earlier in this thread what channels the local broadcasters are intending to broadcast on. I'll have to dig through it tofind out. I believe some are intending to use their VHF assignment.

Joe

Be careful about your antenna.

When the "analog era" goes away, the stations will be allowed to choose which channel to broadcast on (either their present analog channel assignment or the new digital assignment). Many are going to drop the new (mostly UHF) digital assignment for the analog assignment. I've posted much earlier in this thread what channels the local broadcasters are intending to broadcast on. I'll have to dig through it tofind out. I believe some are intending to use their VHF assignment.

Joe

Joe,

I think it's here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=2380553#post2380553

Dana

I'm not sure how well this table will format, but here is what I pulled off the FCC website:

call sign city NTSC TEMP FINAL

WAGM PRESQUE ISLE 8 16 8
WMEM PRESQUE ISLE 10 20 10
NEW PRESQUE ISLE 47 -- 47

WMEB ORONO 12 9 9
WMED CALAIS 13 10 10

WLBZ BANGOR 2 25 2
WVII BANGOR 7 14 7
WABI BANGOR 5 19 19

WPFO WATERVILLE 23 -- 23
WCBB AUGUSTA 10 17 10
WMTW POLAND SPRING 8 46 8
WPME LEWISTON 35 28 35

WGME PORTLAND 13 38 38
WPXT PORTLAND 51 43 43
WCSH PORTLAND 6 44 44

WMEA BIDDEFORD 26 45 45


The first number is the NTSC broadcast channel, the second is the temporary digital channel that they also broadcast on now, and the third is the channel they have been approved to broadcast on after the analog systems are turned off. I tried to roughly organize it by region.

It looks like Bangor folks will be fairly well off with just a UHF antenna. Those in Portland may still need one to get WMTW and WCBB. I'm a little surprised that WCSH is giving up channel 6. My understanding is that the power requirements for broadcasting VHF are significantly less than UHF for a given range.

take care,

Joe

This site is handy for antenna pointing: http://www.antennaweb.org

Folks in Brunswick and Midcoast - looks like prays have been answered. Fox is in HD on channel 507 tonight. Those with a QAM tuner and a straight coaxial connection should be able to get it on channel 2-1. I scanned tonight and noticed it new, and then checked the cable box for a new channel. My tv says the channel is 720p.

Folks in Brunswick and Midcoast - looks like prays have been answered. Fox is in HD on channel 507 tonight. Those with a QAM tuner and a straight coaxial connection should be able to get it on channel 2-1. I scanned tonight and noticed it new, and then checked the cable box for a new channel. My tv says the channel is 720p.

For those still on Comcast/SusCom mid-coast HD cable, I am delighted. But, what does it say about the credibility of Comcast corporate representatives - unless you believe that they just resolved the long-standing "bandwidth constraint" issue.

Enjoy!

Dana

Folks in Brunswick and Midcoast - looks like prays have been answered. Fox is in HD on channel 507 tonight. Those with a QAM tuner and a straight coaxial connection should be able to get it on channel 2-1. I scanned tonight and noticed it new, and then checked the cable box for a new channel. My tv says the channel is 720p.

Dreams do come true! Finally, after a year of waiting since I got my HD set, HD NFL playoffs on Fox. Time to send a thank you note to Tom and Mary. Regardless of what the truth is over the bandwidth constraints, I'm a happy camper. This saves me the hassle of having to switch to satellite. I don't care about the other 20 HD crap channels they probably have. As long as I have the major networks, ESPN(2), and Discovery HD I'm happy.

Dreams do come true! Finally, after a year of waiting since I got my HD set, HD NFL playoffs on Fox. Time to send a thank you note to Tom and Mary. Regardless of what the truth is over the bandwidth constraints, I'm a happy camper. This saves me the hassle of having to switch to satellite. I don't care about the other 20 HD crap channels they probably have. As long as I have the major networks, ESPN(2), and Discovery HD I'm happy.

There's little doubt that the former SusCom mid-coast cable system is constrained. It's just not the reason for the holdup - years - in getting WPFO/FOX23 HD on line.

Comcast Brunswick won't be competitive until the remaining cable upgrade started by SusCom is completed. Celebrate now but keep the pressure on. It isn't as if Comcast is offering a discount for getting fewer HD channels than TWC customers.

Finally, thank the many folks who left SusCom for helping motivate the management.

Dana

so after hooking up my coax only to my new Olevia 242T, it found 6 "digital" channels in addition to my basic cable package. However, only the CBS HD feed came through perfectly (fox, abc, pbs, etc. were all pixelated, broken up). Wasn't that big of a deal to me since the Patriots were on CBS but looks like I will have to upgrade with TWC to get the rest of the feeds with no issues...game was awesome to watch in HD, my parents were quite impressed with the pic quality...

-matt

p.s. what would the reason(s) be for none of the other HD networks coming in clearly? Thanks.

so after hooking up my coax only to my new Olevia 242T, it found 6 "digital" channels in addition to my basic cable package. However, only the CBS HD feed came through perfectly (fox, abc, pbs, etc. were all pixelated, broken up). Wasn't that big of a deal to me since the Patriots were on CBS but looks like I will have to upgrade with TWC to get the rest of the feeds with no issues...game was awesome to watch in HD, my parents were quite impressed with the pic quality...

-matt

p.s. what would the reason(s) be for none of the other HD networks coming in clearly? Thanks.

It appears that you are viewing local HD channels on TWC via QAM. I know of no reason why the picture from some of the locals would be pixelated or broken up. I watch them on my wife's Samsung that way frequently and the Sony in the playroom delivers high quality QAM pictures as well, although I use cablecard on a regular basis.

Undoubtedly, you have a special reason for the problem. Make sure the cable is connected to the correct input. Be aware of the possibility of an old or frayed cable. (The cable company wants new cable entering the house for digital and HD>)

It's unfortunate, but you will have to rent an $8 box if you want anything beyond the locals. My wife doesn't care about HD that much and I have cablecard for $1.75 where I watch, so I haven't had to rent a box myself. What a gimmick that is!

First time on this thread, and thanks for all the great info on D* and CC in Brunswick/Bath.

I have "analog" expanded basic service and pick up (now) CBSHD, FOXHD, ABCHD, and PBSWHATEVER (most are 480i!) with the QAM tuner on my LCD. In addition, there are about 7 SD/digital stations.

A short time ago, you could pick up ESPNHD (1 and 2), along with Universal, Discovery, A&E and TNT HD. It appears CC was arranging their shows since other channels would pop up, like HBO Latino, then TCM, and about a month ago, all disappeared except the ones noted.

What came across very clearly to me is 1. I want HD, and 2. I do not want to have to use a cable box but be able to tune directly, as I could when CC sent the others in the clear. If CC and all the other cable companies want to keep customers, they could do just that, charge what a box would cost, send in the clear like they do now with analog, and easily drive satellite companies out of business. You would pay the same but be able to tune directly, which would allow the use of DVRs, DVDRs and the like and reception in every room with no additional equipment. They would easily make up for any lost revenue with additional customers instead of more boxes.

Of course they will not, so when they lower the boom and make me get a box, I am off to D*.

Another comment. After I got my new LCD TV, CC Brunswick FOX analog was terrible. The signal was overdriven and whites bloomed like crazy. I called CC several times (the southern call center) and did see some correction after the calls but they soon reverted to normal. However, in the past couple of weeks, they seem to have put someone new in or did a complete realignment of their equipment, as the analog signal is much better on all channels. I do a lot of recording with my DVDR for time shift and the better pq is evident.

Also, it is very nice to have FOXHD on 2-1, especially in time for the NFC playoffs and Super Bowl. But I do miss Discovery sunrise (and NESN/ESPNHD). It is amazing how HD shows are so watchable even when they are nothing but the sun rising.

PBS/MPBN/10-1 is not HD, as noted on this thread. Most of the programs are SD and letterboxed all around so I have to use the zoom feature on my LCD TV. The pq is no better than the WB SD (also letterboxed) but MPBN is supposedly HD.

CC and all the other cable companies want to keep customers, they could do just that, charge what a box would cost, send in the clear like they do now with analog, and easily drive satellite companies out of business.

Or, you could purchase a television set with a cablecard that lets you tune encrypted QAM without a set-top box.

If the cable company went the way you are suggesting, I would not be able to purchase basic cable (channels 1-21) and get the HD locals at no extra cost. I'd be forced to subscribe to at least extended basic if not digital basic. My $16 per month cable charge would immediately double or triple.

Seems to me there was poor planning on your part. If your most important requirement is that you view digital cable without a set-top box, why did you purchase a TV set without that capability?


Joe

About the other comments:

MPBN used to be broadcasting an analog simulcast on 10-1 and the PBS-HD network feed on 10-2. Recently they dropped the PBS network feed from 10-2 and are broadcasting an upconversion of the local broadcast with HD content when it is available from the network. There is HD content only when MPBN is broadcasting a nationally televised PBS show at the network time/date. i.e. Austin City Limits, Great Performances, Nature, etc. Shows that are locally programed or syndicated are in standard definition. Someone (Stan? Dana?) earlier reported that this was in preparation for the analog broadcast going away.


take care,

Joe

About the other comments:

MPBN used to be broadcasting an analog simulcast on 10-1 and the PBS-HD network feed on 10-2. Recently they dropped the PBS network feed from 10-2 and are broadcasting an upconversion of the local broadcast with HD content when it is available from the network. There is HD content only when MPBN is broadcasting a nationally televised PBS show at the network time/date. i.e. Austin City Limits, Great Performances, Nature, etc. Shows (that are locally programed or syndicated are in standard definition. Someone (Stan? Dana?) earlier reported that this was in preparation for the analog broadcast going away.


take care,

Joe

Both Stan and I sent emails to MPBN and got responses from their PR person. But, they weren't very coherent. He claimed it was all in preparation for mandated HD in 2009. :rolleyes:

Daveinleeds came up with an informative link http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=871779 titled "PBS-HD gone from markets on or around 7/1/07..." On the one hand, PBS reportedly doubled its fees to member stations to carry PBS-HD as a pass through feed after 7-1-07. So, the immediate thought is that it was a business decision by MPBN-TV to drop the PBS HD feed it was using on its dedicated HD channel. Lots of other public television stations did the same thing. An apparent step backwards in advancing HD on public television.

But, a later comment on that thread claimed it was intended as a kick in the pants by PBS, wanting member stations to start developing their own HD content instead of just relying on PBS for HD programs.

(All of which reminds me of the story attributed to President Harry Truman. He supposedly said that he only wanted one-armed economic advisers in the White House so they couldn't say "On the one hand ... but on the other hand ...")

In the process, some award-winning PBS programs in HD I liked a lot - History Detectives, Legends of Jazz - are no longer seen on MPBN TV at all! And so far, I haven't seen more local programming in HD. To add insult to injury, the MPBN TV chief technician is an advocate of Stretch-O-Vision on their HD channel.

That's a brief summary. Whether we get more national PBS HD content in the future on MPBN HD remains to be seen. Until we do, no pledge dollars from me.

Dana

As far as seeing "more local programming" in HD on MPBN -- I'm not aware that MPBN has ANY capacity for "local programming" in HD. I don't believe it even has a capacity to provide syndicated HD content. All they can do is upconvert standard def video to broadcast on their HD channel. The only HD content I have seen on their channel is national PBS shows.

As far as I know, the ONLY "local programming" in Maine is "Bill Green's Maine" on WCSH. And I understand it is only rarely in HD, and they do not have the ability to do anything else (like news) in HD. Do ANY of the other local affiliates have "local" HD programming?

Joe

MPBN-TV has some locally produced programs. Maine Experience is one http://www.mpbn.net/maineexperience/segments.html Made in Maine is another http://www.mpbn.net/madeinmaine/index.html But, not in HD. That's my point. If dropping the PBS HD feed was intended to free up funds for locally produced HD programs, it ain't working. The result is MPBN viewers have fewer quality programs in HD.

Instead, we have a simulcast in Stretch-O-Vision. Ugh.

Dana

Here's MPBN's statement on the loss of PBS HD. http://www.mpbn.net/television/DTV_FAQ.html#question11


11. I already own a digital TV and I noticed that MPBN’s second digital channel used to broadcast different PBS programs than the ones being shown simultaneously on its analog channel. Now both channels show the same thing. Why did MPBN do this?

That change was made in preparation for the day when MPBN turns its second digital channel into a full-fledged second Maine public television station, with other local programs and underwriters. For MPBN to do that, the signal has to emanate locally from MPBN’s master control studio, not directly from PBS as had been the case when, for years, MPBN simply broadcast the PBS High Definition (PBS HD) channel as a “pass through,” to use industry jargon. In any case, MPBN has no plans to do anything new with the second digital signal until sometime after February 2009, but the planning needs to take place well in advance of that date, and from MPBN’s perspective, sooner is better than later.

"No plans to do anything new with the second digital signal until sometime after February 2009... " but getting rid of PBS HD in 2007 facilitates planning? :confused:

Dana

Dana, a friend told me that his son had problems with the D* broadcast of the Patriot game on Sunday. I saw nothing wrong on TWC, but he said his son's picture went to snow and he had to fool around with it for quite a while before the picture came back.

Can you shed any light on this so that I might offer some idea to my friend of what might have happened? As I think about it, his son might be on Dish, but my friend thought it was D*.

If dropping the PBS HD feed was intended to free up funds for locally produced HD programs, it ain't working.

Dana

In correspondence with station engineers in the past, I get the impression that "producing local programming in HD" entails much more than just buying an HD camera. It includes upgrading all of the pre and post production editing equipment, storage equipment, and pipeline to the tower. Many hundreds of thousands of dollars in total. I don't think the programming cost that MPBN was paying to carry PBS-HD could be anywhere near the investment needed for this.

Joe

Dana, a friend told me that his son had problems with the D* broadcast of the Patriot game on Sunday. I saw nothing wrong on TWC, but he said his son's picture went to snow and he had to fool around with it for quite a while before the picture came back.

Can you shed any light on this so that I might offer some idea to my friend of what might have happened? As I think about it, his son might be on Dish, but my friend thought it was D*.

Stan,

Gee, Stan, the Pats game here on D* spot beam WGME/CBS 13 HD was terrific. No problems whatsoever with PQ or audio. Dish doesn't offer locals in HD in the Portland-Auburn DMA. Do you suppose the fellow has an OTA antenna for locals in HD? That might explain his having "to fool around with it" before the picture came back.

Dana

In correspondence with station engineers in the past, I get the impression that "producing local programming in HD" entails much more than just buying an HD camera. It includes upgrading all of the pre and post production editing equipment, storage equipment, and pipeline to the tower. Many hundreds of thousands of dollars in total. I don't think the programming cost that MPBN was paying to carry PBS-HD could be anywhere near the investment needed for this.

Joe

Joe,

You know more about it than I do but I completely agree. Network affiliates in the major metro cities are just beginning to get local news, weather, etc., upgraded to HD and they have more resources than MPBN.

I think MPBN made a business decision not to pay the increased fees for the PBS HD feed but is cloaking it with the need to "prepare for local HD." I think the two are unrelated.

But, if so, I don't understand the lack of candor. Then again, there's lots of things I don't understand.

Dana

Or, you could purchase a television set with a cablecard that lets you tune encrypted QAM without a set-top box.

If the cable company went the way you are suggesting, I would not be able to purchase basic cable (channels 1-21) and get the HD locals at no extra cost. I'd be forced to subscribe to at least extended basic if not digital basic. My $16 per month cable charge would immediately double or triple.

Seems to me there was poor planning on your part. If your most important requirement is that you view digital cable without a set-top box, why did you purchase a TV set without that capability?


Joe

What capability? I get exactly what you describe without a cable card. I can view all the local HD channels (actually 13 digital channels in all)without a box or card as well as record on either of my DVRs since they can take the feed directly.

What I would like is the feed to the house be just like analog was handled with different levels of digital service with no requirement for a box until you shifted to PPV. Truth is, the coax coming into the house is not changed with digital service, since I get both analog and digital on the current feed.

You probably did not understand or misread my post, but the "poor planning" comment was a bit much. Assumes facts not in evidence.

It was not the TV but the feed that I want in the clear so you do not need cards in every box that has a digital tuner. Plus, everything I have seen shows the card to be in fewer and fewer sets and a moving target.

What capability? I get exactly what you describe without a cable card. I can view all the local HD channels (actually 13 digital channels in all)without a box or card as well as record on either of my DVRs since they can take the feed directly.

What I would like is the feed to the house be just like analog was handled with different levels of digital service with no requirement for a box until you shifted to PPV. Truth is, the coax coming into the house is not changed with digital service, since I get both analog and digital on the current feed.

You probably did not understand or misread my post, but the "poor planning" comment was a bit much. Assumes facts not in evidence.

It was not the TV but the feed that I want in the clear so you do not need cards in every box that has a digital tuner. Plus, everything I have seen shows the card to be in fewer and fewer sets and a moving target.


I think we are talking "across" each other.

OK, there are two types of QAM: "clear QAM" and "encrypted QAM". The digital cable set top box is able to "tune" both types. It is programable, so that you can view all of the clear channels plus only the encrypted channels you pay for. Typically the only "clear QAM" channels are the broadcast HD channels because every level of subscription "gets" them as part of the service fee. To get any of the others (the encrypted channels) you minimally have to subscribe to "digital basic cable" or "digital extended basic", or "the sports tier" or one of the pay channel packages.

Some modern TV's will tune "clear QAM". This is so people who subscribe to basic cable can tune the HD locals without paying for digital cable. This is my position. I pay for only channels 1-21, but am able to view the local broadcast HD channels directly with my TV's "clear QAM" tuner. But I don't pay for any of the digital cable channels, which are encrypted anyway so I can't see them.

Some modern TV's have a capability to tune "encrypted QAM" just like a digital cable box. They have a slot called a "cable card". You "rent" the card from the cable company for a few bucks a month, and it allows the cable company to tell your TV which of the digital cable channels you are paying for. It then lets your TV view them without a digital cable set top box.

The cable card corresponds to the subscriptin card that is used to enable DirecTV and DishNetwork (and former VOOM) satellite receivers.

It has been mandated that cable companies support this technology, but you still have to look for TV's with it.

If the cable company did what you suggest -- broadcast all of their digital cable channels in clear QAM, they wouldn't let me get the broadcast HD channels for free. I'd have to pay for the digital basic package. As it is, you can get a TV set with cablecard functionality, and view the channels you have paid for, without an STB. Unfortunately, you should have purchased a TV with a cablecard capability. Then you get all of the digital cable you pay for, and no set top box.

Joe

I think we are talking "across" each other.

OK, there are two types of QAM: "clear QAM" and "encrypted QAM". The digital cable set top box is able to "tune" both types. It is programable, so that you can view all of the clear channels plus only the encrypted channels you pay for. Typically the only "clear QAM" channels are the broadcast HD channels because every level of subscription "gets" them as part of the service fee. To get any of the others (the encrypted channels) you minimally have to subscribe to "digital basic cable" or "digital extended basic", or "the sports tier" or one of the pay channel packages.

Some modern TV's will tune "clear QAM". This is so people who subscribe to basic cable can tune the HD locals without paying for digital cable. This is my position. I pay for only channels 1-21, but am able to view the local broadcast HD channels directly with my TV's "clear QAM" tuner. But I don't pay for any of the digital cable channels, which are encrypted anyway so I can't see them.

Some modern TV's have a capability to tune "encrypted QAM" just like a digital cable box. They have a slot called a "cable card". You "rent" the card from the cable company for a few bucks a month, and it allows the cable company to tell your TV which of the digital cable channels you are paying for. It then lets your TV view them without a digital cable set top box.

The cable card corresponds to the subscriptin card that is used to enable DirecTV and DishNetwork (and former VOOM) satellite receivers.

It has been mandated that cable companies support this technology, but you still have to look for TV's with it.

If the cable company did what you suggest -- broadcast all of their digital cable channels in clear QAM, they wouldn't let me get the broadcast HD channels for free. I'd have to pay for the digital basic package. As it is, you can get a TV set with cablecard functionality, and view the channels you have paid for, without an STB. Unfortunately, you should have purchased a TV with a cablecard capability. Then you get all of the digital cable you pay for, and no set top box.

Joe

Joe, what if the cable company sent all of the channels unencrypted to a box on the side of your house where a computer chip or a card (not unlike a cablecard) determined which channels entered the house?

There would be no box and the rental fee might be similar to what I pay for cablecard ($1.75) or better yet, all subscribers would be handled this way so the cost would occur with installation.

As it is now, the monthly rental is some combination of $1.75 for a card or $8.00 for a box.

3 boxes amount to $288 per year and that is before you get to all of the programming that we purchase. ............ Makes you wonder what the po' fo'ks do for entertainment. ........... Probably shadow shows on the wall from a flickering candle.

Joe, what if the cable company sent all of the channels unencrypted to a box on the side of your house where a computer chip or a card (not unlike a cablecard) determined which channels entered the house?



Thanks for making my point. This is exactly the way analog was handled and what I would like for digital so I can use the tuners in my recorders and TV to tune the channels. For me, that allows recording of two different channels while watching a third. (That happens in the am when I record two different sports channels and watch the weather channel. After the weather, I can get through an hour of Sports Center in 15 minutes or less and a half hour of Fox sports in 10 or less. Time shifting is wonderful.)

AFAIK, card, box, or box on the house, you will still get the cable provided OTA stations in the clear with any tier of service because of the law. I do get the OTA stations in the clear in HD with no card and no box.

And Joe, I understand everything in your posts. Obviously, I am not making myself clear, that the cable cos should go back to their original marketing plan, which is to supply tiers of service controlled outside the house. I realize they need a cash cow, so they make you use boxes for a variety of services that are easily handled by the new sets tuners, including my set which is only four months old. I also realize that it will be a bit before they can do that, as the sets transition, so they can make money on boxes until then.

If they did that, they could easily undercut any dish service just because of convenience and multiple channels at one time. I realize it will not happen.

An example why. CC told a friend of mine that he was not really watching HD on channels 13-1, 2-1, 6-1, and 10-1 on his set. I previously set it up for him and they are HD channels on his HD set, as they are on mine. The CC rep had convinced him that they were SD analog channels and a digital and HD box was required to view them in "true" HD. An untruth, which <sc> surprised </sc> me coming from a CC rep.

As noted, when CC requires a box, I will move to D*. All who have it in the Brunswick area have nothing but good to say about it.

Joe, what tier of service are you on with your cable co.?

I'm going to address the three above posts at once:

Joe, what if the cable company sent all of the channels unencrypted to a box on the side of your house where a computer chip or a card (not unlike a cablecard) determined which channels entered the house?

There would be no box and the rental fee might be similar to what I pay for cablecard ($1.75) or better yet, all subscribers would be handled this way so the cost would occur with installation.

For basic cable they install a passive filter at the outside of the house. It costs a few cents. To do what you suggest, they would have to install a digital cable box at the outside of EVERY house -- not just the ones that pay for digital cable. This would be an active device, for all practical purposes a digital cable set-top box. Up front costs would be a few hundred dollars. More likely, they would charge a $6-$10 per month rental charge just like with the set-top box. The kicker: I don't get digital cable and I would have to pay for the installation or rental fee for the device that they install outside my house.

And Joe, I understand everything in your posts. Obviously, I am not making myself clear, that the cable cos should go back to their original marketing plan, which is to supply tiers of service controlled outside the house. I realize they need a cash cow, so they make you use boxes for a variety of services that are easily handled by the new sets tuners, including my set which is only four months old. I also realize that it will be a bit before they can do that, as the sets transition, so they can make money on boxes until then.

It is possible they could installfilters for the digital channels in the same way that they do for analog, but the cable company loses a lot of flexibility. With the passive filter I have, in order to change service levels I need to have a cable tech come to my house and change or remove the filter. It costs me I don't know. $40-$80 to make a change in service. For a digital cable subscriber to add the sports tier (so he can get that Thursday game on the NFL network, for instance), he calls up the cable company, they remotely reprogram his STB, and he gets the programming right away. Likewise, he may want to get a pay-per-view movie. The cable company remotely programs the box so he receives the A/V stream. These are big cash cows for the cable company, and I don't see them giving up this revenue stream.

Joe, what tier of service are you on with your cable co.?

I mentioned a couple of times, I subscribe only to the (analog) basic tier. This is just channels 1-21 on my system. Your system may call it "broadcast basic" -- it is only the local Maine broadcast over-the-air stations. I pay $15 or $16 per month for it. I only used to subscribe to it so I had a decent signal to record for my ReplayTV. My main TV uses an ATSC tuner to get HD over the air. I now also have a set with a clear QAM tuner -- which lets me get FOX-HD.

You still haven't answered the question I posed: if watching digital cable without an STB is important to you, why, when you purchased your set only 4 months ago, why didn't you get a set that has this capability? By "watching digital cable" I don't mean only watching the clear QAM, I mean watching encrypted digital cable.

And isn't one of the mandates from the FCC that all (new) TV's and all cable companies support cablecard technology, in which case this discussion is moot?


Joe

Beekeeper,

Your point about cable cos having a vested interest in their existing boxes may be more profound than you think. Not only does it impede the use of QAM tuners in the latest TV sets, but it undercuts the adoption of new cable co. technology. Example. There was an announcement of new cable co. technology at the recent electronics conference in Vegas. The latest and greatest. It will be embedded in all new TVs and eliminate the need for different flavors of cable STBs. Roll out by the end of the year. Right.

But, buried in the story was an observation by someone close to the cable industry that it will be a non-starter for most cable operators because they make a lot of money from renting their existing STBs!

Also, one significant difference between satellite and cable is that sat cos now design their own boxes and firmware. For D* that started as of March 1, 2006. So, they can push their own technology at both ends - transmission and consumer reception. Cable cos are still captive to Moto or Scientific Atlanta (now owned by Cisco) equipment and firmware. The SA3250 HD receiver I used from Comcast/SusCom is now several years old. It is a DVI equipped box. And in many MSOs, the DVI isn't enabled! The GUI menu is obsolete. Low def. Frozen in time. When I returned to D* this past fall, I found significant improvements from the point when I'd left - May 2006. D* is on its second gen D* branded HD STBs - regular and DVR - and is installing its latest HD sat dishes free! New firmware and - imagine - beta testing by users if you'd like to sign up!

The SA3250 HD had a firmware bug. You couldn't turn off the TV and listen to to music channels on your audio equipment as I did when originally with D*. Comcast and other cable operators could do nothing about it. It was years before SA got around to providing a firmware update and even then it was up to local MSOs to "push it" to their STBs. Some did, some didn't.

In short, sat cos seem to be using technology to drive their business. Cable cos seem to be just the opposite. Resisting change, faced with bandwidth issues, not in control of their own hardware, software, etc. Holding on.

Just my 2¢.

Dana

Come to think of it. Isn't the vested interest of the cable cos. in profiting from existing equipment/technology the reason that cable cards and QAM are having a tough time? Look at the recent story on this thread of the trouble a user had in finding out what stations were available over QAM. TWC stonewalled him. Likewise, when someone in Damariscotta wanted to implement his CableCard, the cable co was less than helpful. The tech admitted he didn't know much about it. The poster got more help from Stan than anyone else.

For the average consumer QAM and CableCard are mysteries - and that's just the way the cable cos want it.

Dana

Dana,

I have generally found that cable company customer reps and technical service reqs and installers basically don't know anything about the equipment their companies use or the products they sell. I don't think it is necessarily a case of stonewalling, I think it is a case of incompetence.

I've seen it again and again where I as an audio/videophile know more about their services and technologies than they do.

When I called Time Warner in January asking about clear QAM, the technical service rep I talked to had no clue what it was I was talking about -- she had to be educated by a tech engineer. Once she was informed, she told me that the local OTA channels were in clear QAM.

When I was in Austin, TX, I was one of the first in the city to get digital cable -- along with CD quality digital sound (or so the advertising said). But when I hooked it up, no digital audio. I had to go through 4 layers of technical support, all the way to the chief engineer, who finally got back to me a week later to let me know that they hadn't yet turned on digital audio yet. When they did, it took him a week to figure out why the digital audio was only available on some of the channels -- it was NOT provided for channels that were remapped analog basic and extended basic channels. They just don't know their own service.

I think this is a problem with training, not with obstructionism.

Two other observations:

1) You rent the DirecTV receiver now, don't you? And pay a monthly fee for each receiver? In the past you used to own one. I thought ownership was a big plus.

2) You can request an STB upgrade or swap out by calling your cable company. In the past when I have done this, I've had to swap it out at the cable company's office.

Joe

Hey everyone,

Looking for some advice. With the Superbowl being on Fox I'm desperately trying to figure out a way to get the game in HD.

I live in Portland, and have Dish Network. Locals are not available in HD from E*. Fox23 doesn't broadcast in HD, so picking that up OTA is not an option. It seems like the only options are getting Time Warner of D*.

Any suggestions? Is it possible to pick up Boston stations with a powerful antenna? What about "Moving" to Boston so that I will get the Boston Locals in HD over Dish?

Man, its so annoying that I can't watch the Superbowl in HD in the year 2008:mad:

Dana,

I have generally found that cable company customer reps and technical service reqs and installers basically don't know anything about the equipment their companies use or the products they sell. I don't think it is necessarily a case of stonewalling, I think it is a case of incompetence.

I've seen it again and again where I as an audio/videophile know more about their services and technologies than they do.

When I called Time Warner in January asking about clear QAM, the technical service rep I talked to had no clue what it was I was talking about -- she had to be educated by a tech engineer. Once she was informed, she told me that the local OTA channels were in clear QAM.

When I was in Austin, TX, I was one of the first in the city to get digital cable -- along with CD quality digital sound (or so the advertising said). But when I hooked it up, no digital audio. I had to go through 4 layers of technical support, all the way to the chief engineer, who finally got back to me a week later to let me know that they hadn't yet turned on digital audio yet. When they did, it took him a week to figure out why the digital audio was only available on some of the channels -- it was NOT provided for channels that were remapped analog basic and extended basic channels. They just don't know their own service.

I think this is a problem with training, not with obstructionism.

Two other observations:

1) You rent the DirecTV receiver now, don't you? And pay a monthly fee for each receiver? In the past you used to own one. I thought ownership was a big plus.

2) You can request an STB upgrade or swap out by calling your cable company. In the past when I have done this, I've had to swap it out at the cable company's office.

Joe

Joe,

Regarding your first point, I spent my working days in management. And I hold management accountable for the performance of its organization. If the employees are clueless, whose fault is that? Not theirs for sure. In the case of the fellow who got stonewalled, he escalated his inquiry to a supervisor who basically told him off. The super represents management.

The cable industry fought against QAM and CableCard, I believe. They had it imposed on them. But, it is simply not in their best financial interest to promote it. Try finding info about either on the cable co web sites. That tells you what the organization wants you to know.

Regarding ownership vs. leasing/renting D* STBs, I think the latter is preferred. When I first joined D* in the Fall of 2004, I bought a $300.+ Samsung HD STB through D*. I owned it. The box was warrantied by Samsung and the GUI was provided by Samsung. I think there was a trivial monthly usage fee of some sort imposed by D*. Within 15 months that box was obsolete. While I managed to sell it to someone for use as an OTA receiver for $50. it nearly became a doorstop.

I think the satellite technology is moving pretty fast. MPEG2 morphs into MPEG4, etc. Three LNBs morphs into 5. Buying a box locks me in. Leasing a box gives me flexibility. Likewise it facilitates D* using cutting edge technology to deliver the goods, continually upgrading the firmware, etc. And if the box goes bad, they replace it.

Finally, Comcast has no other HD receiver model. That's Scientific Atlanta's top of the line. When we got a second HD TV in the house, I picked up a newly manufactured SA3250 HD box at their office but it was identical to the older one in every respect other than birth date. When I asked if they had any STBs with HDMI, I was offered an SA8300 HD DVR box at twice the monthly rental.

As Bill Belichick likes to say "It is what it is."

Dana

Hey everyone,

Looking for some advice. With the Superbowl being on Fox I'm desperately trying to figure out a way to get the game in HD.

I live in Portland, and have Dish Network. Locals are not available in HD from E*. Fox23 doesn't broadcast in HD, so picking that up OTA is not an option. It seems like the only options are getting Time Warner of D*.

Any suggestions? Is it possible to pick up Boston stations with a powerful antenna? What about "Moving" to Boston so that I will get the Boston Locals in HD over Dish?

Man, its so annoying that I can't watch the Superbowl in HD in the year 2008:mad:

Welcome to the thread!! I feel your pain. I don't know anything about "moving" with E*. (Dish = EchoStar = E*) You might be able to switch to D* before Feb. 3. The FOX Boston affiliate is WFXT with a transmitter in Newton, MA. Not likely available OTA from Portland.

Know a friend with D* or TWC HD? Or a friendly pub? ;)

Dana

The only way to get Boston locals in your case? Maybe if you lived as close as Portsmouth, NH? That's the edge of the Boston/Worcester DMA (Rockingham County, NH). I once lived in Old Orchard Beach (1985 to 1987) and would faintly receive channels 4 and 5 a couple nights a week with rabbit ears on my 13" Curtis Mathes TV.

And isn't one of the mandates from the FCC that all (new) TV's and all cable companies support cablecard technology, in which case this discussion is moot?


Joe

So I should have waited until they got their act together before I bought my LCD TV? I bought it based on features, performance and cost. Plus the football season- which I had HD for all except Fox. Even ESPN until recently when CC dropped a bunch of in the clear HD channels. Everything I have read about cable cards and the moving technology target shied me away from that feature.

I really do not understand why you need a cable card in the first place if you receive basic analog cable. I do not. With digital tuners in my TV and recorder and no box I get the OTA HD channels on the basic feed. Basic cable should not require a box or cable card.

Just saw a post on another thread by someone looking for a set with a cable card and they could only find two (Mitsubishis) on Cruchfield. The cable cos may be required (eventually) to support the technology, but I would be limited in sets to buy because the manufacturers are not required to include cable cards, as is apparent on Cruchfield. That makes sense as the cards would not be necessary for most other applications, so why add the cost for most users who do not need it? Plus, my guess is that a cable card would really drop the additional features, such as TIVO, TV guide, channel info and the like, that both cable and dish feature and which require a box (so the card is superfluous).

Plus, I really do not care about the TV not requiring a box but the recorders I have and being able to record several channels. There is no requirement to have cards in recorders, which gets back to my basic issue. A clear feed into the house but CC. If that does not happen, and it will not, then I go D* with dual tuner and tivo like feature.

BTW, all who I have spoken to who have D* are very happy with the the service. Dish and CC are not. Consumer reports did have D* just behind Verizon with CC way down the list. Doubt we will ever see Verizon in the near future.

I really do not understand why you need a cable card in the first place if you receive basic analog cable. I do not. With digital tuners in my TV and recorder and no box I get the OTA HD channels on the basic feed. Basic cable should not require a box or cable card.

You don't need a cable card if you only subscribe to basic cable. Basic cable gets you all of the analog channels plus the local broadcast channels in HD if you have a QAM tuner. That's all. This is what I have (and apparently what you have, although you apparently have the extended analog basic package, what Time Warner calls "classic cable").

I thought your entire point all along was that you wanted to tune digital cable directly on your TV set. Didn't you mention the other HD channels?

A short time ago, you could pick up ESPNHD (1 and 2), along with Universal, Discovery, A&E and TNT HD. It appears CC was arranging their shows since other channels would pop up, like HBO Latino, then TCM, and about a month ago, all disappeared except the ones noted.

These HD channels aren't included in the basic cable price -- they are in a digital cable HD Tier. At least with Time Warner, the basic cable price only includes NTSC channels. For what it is worth, Time Warner did tell me you could subscribe only to the HD Tier (and not need to get the basic digital package), but you need an STB or a set with a cablecard to get them. They aren't part of "analog cable". This is why they "disappeared" when Comcast got their act together.

So, from the cable company at least, if you want the non-broadcast network HD channels, you need an STB or a television with a cablecard capability.

Joe

I thought your entire point all along was that you wanted to tune digital cable directly on your TV set. Didn't you mention the other HD channels?

Joe

No. What I wanted was what we currently have with analog: to not have to use a box on any set/recorder/computer but be able to tune directly as you can now. My point was, if cable did that they would capture the market from dish companies, since you would not need a box for each TV/unit. CC and others could sell boxes for PPV,tivo, and other add-on functions, so there would still be a cash cow out there. As is, they do not differentiate themselves from dish and are much more limited on what they can do because of landlines. Dish will always have the upper hand since they have one very large capital expense (satellite) and receivers in the home and that is it. But the cable has the same expenses plus landlines, which are very expensive since they include upkeep.

So if your model is no different than dish, you are going under eventually since dish is cheaper for the company per customer. But if you made your product different, you could charge about the same as dish and get more customers, which would decrease your cost per customer.

My point was just that- how can cable survive, and what would accomplish that. Answer: Do just what you are doing now in analog but make it digital.

It will never happen, so sell your CC stock before it completely tanks. It appears that Verizon may be taking that route, but not sure.

I suppose you already know that the cable companies already supply dual-tuner DVR's (HD and NTSC) for a rental fee. Presumably if you could use your own TiVo without the digital set-top box, the cable company WOULD lose that revenue stream. And they will have an advantage if and when cable cards are more widely integrated into new TV's. And the cable company can sell additional products like telephone and high speed internet that the satellite company can't. Cable will also realize a lot of new bandwidth if they dump analog and go 100% digital (of course, that loses the analog tuner advantage they have over satellite TV right now).

I think there are lots of advantages for cable over satellite. I don't think a set-top box or lack thereof is going to sink or save the cable inductry. Actually, I think where they really may run into trouble is in competing with the fiberoptic systems the telephone companies are installing.

Just my opinion.


Joe

I have a friend who was raving about XM satellite radio to me. We have similar music interests. He has a receiver in his car, at home, etc. "Oh, you gotta get it," he said. He couldn't believe it when I told him I already had it, that XM music channels are available on D* without added charge. He had to buy his receivers and now pays about $13./month for a subscription.

I mention it only because last night I spent my evening libation in hand listening to some terrific jazz. Life is good. :)

Dana

NESN has posted its 2008 TV schedule, presumably completely in HD. http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/programming/schedules/redsox/ (I'm not certain about the seven spring training games all being in HD.) The season starts with two games in Japan and I suppose a national network will pick those up, hopefullly in HD, if only for the novelty. In any event, they are on the NESN schedule with a 6 AM east coast USA start time!

The first game on NESN will be Feb. 29 at 7 PM. A harbinger of spring. Home opener April 8.

This may be the first year that all cable cos. in the Portland-Auburn DMA and D* provide NESN in HD. I read that E* does not provide NESN in HD yet.

Dana

I have a friend who was raving about XM satellite radio to me. We have similar music interests. He has a receiver in his car, at home, etc. "Oh, you gotta get it," he said. He couldn't believe it when I told him I already had it, that XM music channels are available on D* without added charge. He had to buy his receivers and now pays about $13./month for a subscription.

I mention it only because last night I spent my evening libation in hand listening to some terrific jazz. Life is good. :)

Dana

It's nice to have (mine is sirius) but I'd rather have the option of not having it than downgrading the subscription - another issue of forced programing to me.

Ala Carte already.

I have a friend who was raving about XM satellite radio to me. We have similar music interests. He has a receiver in his car, at home, etc. "Oh, you gotta get it," he said. He couldn't believe it when I told him I already had it, that XM music channels are available on D* without added charge. He had to buy his receivers and now pays about $13./month for a subscription.

I mention it only because last night I spent my evening libation in hand listening to some terrific jazz. Life is good. :)

Dana

Only a few of the music channels are available on D*. Most of the ones I listen to are not.

Only a few of the music channels are available on D*. Most of the ones I listen to are not.

Well, 73 music channels ain't bad considering that I can only listen to one at a time. Besides, I have only two favorites. ;)

Dana

Well, 73 music channels ain't bad considering that I can only listen to one at a time. Besides, I have only two favorites. ;)

Dana

:D Quite true. I was just pointing out for others that D* is not delivering all of XM, just a small subset.

:D Quite true. I was just pointing out for others that D* is not delivering all of XM, just a small subset.

Point well taken. I didn't fully realize it myself. And of course the talk channels - sports including each and every live radio broadcast of every MLB baseball game every day, etc. - are not on D*.

Finally, commercial free of course. The difference I notice on the music channels I listen to as compared with Music Choice on Comcast/Suscom is that there is some brief moderator talk and some customized themes, not just a mechanical CD loader playing whatever. I like it. The audio quality is fantastic.

Dana

Has anyone else heard that TWC here in Greater Portland will be moving to the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) standard sometime in 2008? (The cable companies either have or are about to rename OCAP, "Tru2Way.")

It is my understanding that once this move takes place, TWC customers will be able to purchase the set-top box of their choice at Best Buy, Circuit City (If they haven't gone bankrupt before then!:D), etc. Then TWC will install a card - something akin to the CableCard, I assume - thus allowing the box to decode whatever channel package the person has subscribed to.

This sounds a lot like what happened when the DOJ broke up "Ma Bell." We stopped leasing our phones from AT&T and instead purchased them from Radio Shack, Zayre's or Bradlee's (no Wal-Marts in Maine back then!:)).

Be skiing you,

h2osports

Has anyone else heard that TWC here in Greater Portland will be moving to the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) standard sometime in 2008? (The cable companies either have or are about to rename OCAP, "Tru2Way.")

It is my understanding that once this move takes place, TWC customers will be able to purchase the set-top box of their choice at Best Buy, Circuit City (If they haven't gone bankrupt before then!:D), etc. Then TWC will install a card - something akin to the CableCard, I assume - thus allowing the box to decode whatever channel package the person has subscribed to.

This sounds a lot like what happened when the DOJ broke up "Ma Bell." We stopped leasing our phones from AT&T and instead purchased them from Radio Shack, Zayre's or Bradlee's (no Wal-Marts in Maine back then!:)).

Be skiing you,

h2osports

Thanks for reminding me what the "new" name is for the concept that will supposedly do away with STBs. I noted it on the previous page but couldn't think of the name.

This isn't a new idea. Here's a comment from Engadget. http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/07/opencable-officially-becomes-true2way/

In the latest episode of as the cable industry turns, the rumors that CableLabs would rename OpenCable to tru2Way are indeed true. For those keeping track at home, once upon a time the world dreamed of ditching their cable box, but wanted to continue to take advantage of all the services their cable co' forced them to pay for. Then after an act of congress and ten years time; along came CableCARD, but left out VOD and PPV, so we all waited with baited breath for CableCARD 2.0 -- but it never came. But hope wasn't lost, as CableLabs released OCAP, which was marketed as OpenCable, but there was still no love from the industry. So what is CableLabs to do? It does the same thing anyone does when in this predicament; give it a new name. Whether a new name is what's needed to gets things moving remains to be seen ...

The story I originally read included an observation from someone close to the cable industry that it is likely to be a non-starter because cable operators make a lot of money from the rental of STBs. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Dana

BTW. In Canada cable subs can purchase (must purchase?) their cable boxes and own them. There's a Canadian forum I can provide a link to if anyone is interested. But, this doesn't help much because the decision as to which brand to buy is still governed by what equipment is used at the head end. And providing updated firmware is still at the discretion of the cable cos.

I did a quick google on Tru2Way and came up with some interesting hits:

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6517378.html
http://www.lightreading.com/blog.asp?blog_sectionid=419&doc_id=142446&site=cdn

Says that the CEA wants to make a (firmware?) upgrade to cablecard to allow for limited PPW and basic interactive services. They say that Tru2Way is an unneeded "personal computer" and overkill for many simple electronic devices. No word on how much cost is involved in Tru2Way, and the first devices equiped with it are not out until later this year. Apparently the cable industry is mucho worried they will have to support the upgraded cable card technology.

As far as I can tell, none of this is "real" yet.

Joe

I should have noted in my prior post that not only do cable cos make a lot of money renting STBs, but makers of STBs aren't about to let their business go away ... http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6522154.html?q=Tru2Way

While a lot of the cable industry's Tru2way initiative is aimed at incorporating many set-top functions directly into HDTV sets, the set-top isn't going away anytime soon, says Dave Clark, director of product strategy and management for Scientific-Atlanta.

"It doesn't mean the death of the set-top—absolutely not," says Clark. "What we see instead are connections to more and more devices in the home."

Dana

I should have added that this (the coming of "Tru2Way" here in Greater Portland) was mentioned to me (unprompted!:D) by a TWC employee (a "low level" field tech). So considering the source, the information is certainly not infallible.:)

I assume the cable companies are doing this, if in fact they are; because they're being mandated to do so by the FCC. Leasing the boxes must be a "cash cow" for TWC, etc.

I guess my main concern is this....Would we (cable customers) be better off as owners rather than renters of our set-top boxes? Certainly as regards phones I would argue that we have been. One can purchase a basic phone for next to nothing. (In fact, I've often seen them "free after mail-in rebate.") Or one can buy a deluxe model for $100 or more. And whichever model we choose simply plugs into the phone jack and works. Would the same logic apply in the world of cable?

Be skiing you,

h2osports

I should have added that this (the coming of "Tru2Way" here in Greater Portland) was mentioned to me (unprompted!:D) by a TWC employee (a "low level" field tech). So considering the source, the information is certainly not infallible.:)

I assume the cable companies are doing this, if in fact they are; because they're being mandated to do so by the FCC. Leasing the boxes must be a "cash cow" for TWC, etc.

I guess my main concern is this....Would we (cable customers) be better off as owners rather than renters of our set-top boxes? Certainly as regards phones I would argue that we have been. One can purchase a basic phone for next to nothing. (In fact, I've often seen them "free after mail-in rebate.") Or one can buy a deluxe model for $100 or more. And whichever model we choose simply plugs into the phone jack and works. Would the same logic apply in the world of cable?

Be skiing you,

h2osports

From what I've read on the Canadian forum, there's no apparent benefit to the consumer in owning a STB. They have the same complaints we have. In theory you could take the STB with you if you move to another cable co. But, compatibility is a problem.

In the world of cable, the equipment at the head end - where all the channel reception and distribution equipment is located - determines what brand of STB is compatible. If they have Moto equipment, you can't use a Scientific Atlanta STB. Is this something the FCC is glossing over? Hard to believe but maybe. Pace supposedly was going to produce a STB that would be more agnostic. But, other than write-ups, I've never seen a report of it in use.

As a previous quote indicated, the FCC has been pushing the idea of "opening up" the cable industry for ten years. Some say that "Tru2Way" is just an industry smoke screen, the latest effort by the industry to persuade the FCC that something is really going to happen "soon."

As Dr. Joe notes, this isn't "real" yet. A story I saw claimed Tru2Way will roll out by the end of the year. Engadget did a survey at the Vegas CES conference earlier this month on what equipment with Tru2Way was being shown. http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/10/tru2way-tvs-at-ces-2008/

We took a stroll around the CES floor, taking a straw poll on the state of tru2way among TV manufacturers. Our results were mixed -- three exhibitors had tru2way displays and four did not.


Bottom line. This is rebadged CableCard 2.0. Two-way cable card technology. There's nothing new about it other than the name.

Dana

Another quick point is that this technology doesn't work with existing electronic recorders or televisions. Your TiVo, my ReplayTV, his DVD recorder, her VCR -- will all be high and dry as far as a digital set-top boxes go. All they have are some combination of OTA NTSC tuners, analog cable tuners, or ATSC tuners. Even devices with clear QAM tuners probably won't work with CablecardPlus or Tru2Way. These technologies will only be built into NEW electronic devices. So unless you want to upgrade all of your electronics, the STB is still in your life.

Joe

Here's a link to an article entitled "CableCards Finale "Tru2way"" that was posted on the "Display Daily" blog today:

http://displaydaily.com/2008/01/29/cablecards-finale-%e2%80%9ctru2way%e2%80%9d/

Be skiing you,

h2osports

The February issue of Consumer Reports rates TV service providers. (Also internet service providers and long-distance telephone service providers.)

Since we've been talking about the pros and cons of TV providers in our DMA, I'll try to summarize. I value CR subscriber feedback pretty highly since there's a relatively large number - 44,457 in the case of TV service - of respondents that are pretty conscientious about accuracy. But, it certainly doesn't necessarily reflect our experience in this market area.

The categories were: value, reliability, performance and support. FIOS was tops out of 14 providers with a score of 84. (More about that in a moment.)

D* was 3rd out of 14 with a score of 74.

E* was 4th out of 14 with a score of 70.

TWC was 11th out of 14 with a score of 63.

Comcast was 12th out of 14 with a score of 62.

A footnote indicates that differences of less than four points are not meaningful. The other providers are not in our DMA so I didn't mention them, other than FIOS since it topped all lists.

The link to the data online is http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/televisions/bundled-services-2-08/ratings/bundled-services-ratings.htm but since i have a subscription, I'm not sure if it will work for others.

Clearly, FIOS is a leader across the board: internet, TV and long-distance phone service. Since it is not present in this DMA and may never be, it is possibly academic except that it is a major competitor to other providers in the markets in which it is available and thus, may drive the other providers to do better.

Dana

The above report appears on the CR web site with a February 2008 date. But, the March 2008 print issue just landed in my mail box with a similar study on pg. 30 rating "Digital TV Service." Six criteria: Channel choice, Image quality, Sound quality, Reliability, Value and Support.

The scores are similar but not identical. And there's 12 instead of 14 providers listed.

Overall, however, the same results.

Dana

When Verizon announced their FiOS service several years ago, I was pleased to think they provided my home phone service; because I assumed that (eventually!:)) they would bring FiOS to Maine. Of course, with Fairpoint now on the verge of acquiring Verizon's landlines here in Northern New England; it might be a while (like never?:D) before I see that "last mile" of fiber run to my house!

(Actually, I assume both TWC and Fairpoint will have to replace their fiber/copper mix with all fiber at some point in the future. Ever increasing bandwidth requirements will demand it, even with the ever more efficient compression codecs.)

Be skiing you,

h2osports

If Direct TV would offer a free HD DVR box..........I would probably swap over to them. But with the $200 price tag, I'll hold off for now.

My TV will take a cable card now, but I like having the DVR.........so that means I have a STB.

Steve

If Direct TV would offer a free HD DVR box..........I would probably swap over to them. But with the $200 price tag, I'll hold off for now.

My TV will take a cable card now, but I like having the DVR.........so that means I have a STB.

Steve

My son in Cal. got one free by negotiating as a part of his switchover from cable. Does one of the current packages include the HD box or is it only HD and not include the DVR? If it does not include it, try a little haggling. I am sure you can at least cut the price in half at worst.

If Direct TV would offer a free HD DVR box..........I would probably swap over to them. But with the $200 price tag, I'll hold off for now.

My TV will take a cable card now, but I like having the DVR.........so that means I have a STB.

Steve

D* has an online deal that expires tomorrow. $20. off for 12 months. That more than covers the cost of a new HD DVR! More info here. http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/index.jsp?_requestid=29612

Dana

I have sent the following "Letter to the Editor" of The Times-Record newspaper in Brunswick.

I enjoyed reading Meadow Rue Merrill's story on the "Neighbors" page 17 of the Monday February 4, 2007 Times Record. She wrote about her experience being on the "History Detectives" TV show that is shown on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Could it be that an 1853 French Napoleon five cent piece in her possession was one that had been shot in two by Annie Oakley? She has interesting photos that suggest her relatives were in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Band. She sent her story to PBS last year, hoping that the "History Detectives" could find out. Sure enough. She was invited to be on the "History Detectives" show and be a part of the filming of her story on location in Cody, WY. when they solved the mystery.

The story ends with the footnote "To find out whether Annie Oakley really shot (Ms. Merrill's) coin and whether her relatives were in Bill Cody's Wild West Band, tune into History Detectives when its six season airs on PBS early this summer."

I would like nothing better than to do so. History Detectives was one of my favorite programs on PBS HD while it was carried by Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN). Unfortunately, MPBN has seen fit to drop its carriage of PBS on its HD channel. It is no longer available on any MPBN channel.

An explanation of sorts has been posted on MPBN's web site. http://www.mpbn.net/television/DTV_FAQ.html#question11
That change was made in preparation for the day when MPBN turns its second digital channel into a full-fledged second Maine public television station, with other local programs and underwriters. For MPBN to do that, the signal has to emanate locally from MPBN’s master control studio, not directly from PBS as had been the case when, for years, MPBN simply broadcast the PBS High Definition (PBS HD) channel as a “pass through,” to use industry jargon. In any case, MPBN has no plans to do anything new with the second digital signal until sometime after February 2009, but the planning needs to take place well in advance of that date, and from MPBN’s perspective, sooner is better than later.
The explanation doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Stop carrying PBS IN HD in 2007 so that planning can commence for MPBN's own high definition programs in 2009? The station can't do two things at the same time? Really?

Perhaps Ma. Merrill can be persuaded to write another story after her tale is aired on the "History Detectives" later this year to tell us how it all turned out. Because we won't see it on MPBN. Why is another mystery.

Dana

(Note: The byline on the story indicates that Ms. Merrill, a native of Oregon, is a free-lance writer living in Bath. I sent a copy by email to MPBN.)

I received the following email from MPBN today.

Thanks for providing us the courtesy of a copy of your letter to the Times Record. I appreciate that because it allows me to assure you that the situation as you describe it is inaccurate.

MPBN will indeed be broadcasting the sixth season of "History Detectives," including the episode you referenced in your letter. The sixth season will premiere, as you correctly noted, early this summer. The series is only on temporary hiatus on MPBN because the show is currently between seasons -- MPBN chooses to broadcast first-run episodes of PBS programs whenever possible, and while "History Detectives" is on a schedule of fifth season re-runs at the moment in many markets around the country, MPBN has decided instead to broadcast new programs not yet seen by our viewers. When the sixth season of "History Detectives" premieres, rest assured MPBN will broadcast it, and you'll see it the same week the rest of the country sees it. And if you have a high-definition television, then you will be able to see the episode in HD.

I hope that clears up any confusion. Anytime you have a question about what MPBN plans to broadcast in the future, I invite you to call MPBN's Audience Services department, toll-free at 800-884-1717. Thanks again for your email, and please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Lou Morin
Marketing & Communications Manager
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240
Phone: 207-783-9101 or 1-800-884-1717
Fax: 207-783-5193

I have asked the editor of the "Letter to the Editor" column in the Brunswick Times Record not to publish my original letter in view of this response.

I have written back to Mr. Morin asking for clarification as to why PBS HD pass through content was dropped in 2007 on the MPBN HD channel in the name of "planning" for local HD production after February of 2009. And also why the Chief Technical Officer has been allowed to decide that it's appropriate to stretch 4:3 content on the MPBN HD channel.

Finally, I told him that as far as I am concerned, simulcasting standard def programming on the MBPN HD channel is worthless.

If/when I get a reply, I'll share it.

Dana

Go Dana!

Come to think of it. Isn't the vested interest of the cable cos. in profiting from existing equipment/technology the reason that cable cards and QAM are having a tough time? Look at the recent story on this thread of the trouble a user had in finding out what stations were available over QAM. TWC stonewalled him. Likewise, when someone in Damariscotta wanted to implement his CableCard, the cable co was less than helpful. The tech admitted he didn't know much about it. The poster got more help from Stan than anyone else.

For the average consumer QAM and CableCard are mysteries - and that's just the way the cable cos want it.

Dana

It has been awhile since I've been on here. Thought I'd make one last comment about my experience with the CableCard. For the short time I was with Adelphia, they didn't seem to have a problem with them. TWC had a problem though. It took them approximately a month to figure out how to activated the CableCard after the Adelphia/TWC migration. I knew I was in trouble when the Field Rep told me I had a bad CableCard after it functioned perfectly for 10 months with Adelphia. Field Reps showing up at the house were pointing their fingers at the Level IIIs sending the signals. The Level IIIs were sending Field Reps and stating the problem was with the CableCard. It got to the point where the Field Reps called me on the morning of an appointment and informed me that they were not going to show up. Eventually, the problem was more wide spread with the old Adelphia customers and TWC eventually resolved my situation. As I understand it, it had something to do with the order in which they sent the signals to the CableCard. It was at that time when I was writing to Stan54 as he had a functional CableCard and he also went through the Adelphia/TWC migration. TWC was pushing the DVR box and during the brief time I used one while they were attempting to resolve the CableCard issue, I got tired of hearing the low audible hum I was experiencing from the box to the speakers in my sound system. We tried a couple boxes but all had the same results. In Dec 2007 I cancelled my TWC Cable service and returned the CableCard to the Portland office. The gentleman behind the counter inquired as to how the CableCard worked for me and admitted that they were tough to work with.

The last adventure I had with the CableCard was programming being received on an incorrect channel. Case in point, I tuned in to watch the Red Sox one night during the playoffs (I think it was FOX) and found a CSPAN broadcast instead on the FOX channel. After returning home from the Sports Bar where I dashed off to watch the game, I tried "reorganizing" the CableCard and it solved the problem. To my recollection, this happened one more time and then I got in the habit of "reorganizing" the CableCard more frequently.

I eventually made the jump to D*. No CableCard and no noise from the satellite box. But the jump to D* has its disadvantages. Now I get to watch the Patriots lose again and again as the NFL Network replays the SuperBowl.

It has been awhile since I've been on here. ...

I eventually made the jump to D*. No CableCard and no noise from the satellite box. But the jump to D* has its disadvantages. Now I get to watch the Patriots lose again and again as the NFL Network replays the SuperBowl.

Hey Damariscotta,

Good to hear from you. Yeah, I'm not watching the NFL Network for that very reason. Guess I won't order a DVD of the 18-1 Pats season either. :(

Oh well, the Red Sox are coming up Feb. 29 on NESN from FL. I just wish I was going to be there in person. Come on Spring!

Dana

Just noticed that Time Warner added WPME-DT on channel 517 here in York County.

A day late and a dollar short. MYTV had the Duke v North Carolina hoops game last night. It was supposed to be on ESPN, but mytv apparently has an ACC contract and ESPN was blacked out. I though ESPN was screwed up at first, and called TWC to complain. The first recorded message was "If you are calling about the Duke/North Carolina game...." I had to switch over to antenna for the first time in quite a while!
I noticed we have 517 and 512 in Cumberland Co. today. I don't think we had 512 before either.

... and reception is fine!

We just finished cleaning up the latest snow fall. Fairly light and fluffy here. Six inches maybe. Ideal for my snow thrower. Anyway, I happened to look up at my D* satellite dish that is installed on the gable end of a one-story ell on our house right at the peak facing southwest. The dish and all components are covered with a couple of inches of snow. All fuzzed up. At first I thought I'd better get a step ladder and broom. Then I realized that our sat signal is just fine! The deck could be slippery and the broom could do more harm than good.

I should take a picture of it for use the next time someone asks if sat dish reception is affected by rain or snow. :rolleyes:

Dana

A day late and a dollar short. MYTV had the Duke v North Carolina hoops game last night. It was supposed to be on ESPN, but mytv apparently has an ACC contract and ESPN was blacked out. I though ESPN was screwed up at first, and called TWC to complain. The first recorded message was "If you are calling about the Duke/North Carolina game...." I had to switch over to antenna for the first time in quite a while!
I noticed we have 517 and 512 in Cumberland Co. today. I don't think we had 512 before either.

Does WPME present their college basketball games in HD?

It was in HD last night.

I finally have Time Warner in Portland working on the problem of all HD locals not being in the clear. As of today I noted the following clear QAM locals.

72-1 WPXT-DT
72-2 WGME-DT moved from 93-1
93-1 WPME-DT a new addition to TWC lineup in Portland

110-3 WMTW-DT
110-4 WPFO-DT
110-5 NEWS8NOW the WMTW-DT 8.2 ATSC signal

Still no WCSH-DT on any of my QAM tuners!

... and reception is fine!

We just finished cleaning up the latest snow fall. Fairly light and fluffy here. Six inches maybe. Ideal for my snow thrower. Anyway, I happened to look up at my D* satellite dish that is installed on the gable end of a one-story ell on our house right at the peak facing southwest. The dish and all components are covered with a couple of inches of snow. All fuzzed up. At first I thought I'd better get a step ladder and broom. Then I realized that our sat signal is just fine! The deck could be slippery and the broom could do more harm than good.

I should take a picture of it for use the next time someone asks if sat dish reception is affected by rain or snow. :rolleyes:

Dana

Right now our dish is also snow covered and no problems with reception. However, we have had problems when the snow is wet and heavy. We had no problems in December, but started to have problems in January almost every time it snowed. I checked signal strengths and found that they were low even when the snow melted, so we figured that the dish had slumped slightly. We were in the initial 90-day period, so we had a tech come out and realign. It turned out that it had slumped about 1/4 of an inch.

All has been fine since then until the wet, heavy snow early in the week. We lost all channels. The dish is mounted on our ell roof and can be reached with a mop or broom if you get up at least three steps on a ladder. No problem as soon as we cleared it off. The dish does not need a realignment at this point, so it appears that there can be snow interference issues if the snow is wet and heavy.

I suspect that there is more snow sensitivity with the new dishes and satellites than used to be the case. I never had a problem during the 1990s when I had DirecTV.

I am not too excited about ever getting up on a ladder during a snowstorm, or even after one. So I'm thinking that in the spring I will have the dish moved to a post in the ground just off my deck. Luckily there is good LOS from there.

If someone asked me if snow could be a problem with D*, I would have to tell that person it could in some cases. I know I am not alone in my problem, having researched it quite a bit in January. I would suggest that somebody considering getting satellite should look at placing the dish in as accessible a place as possible. If that's not feasible, I would look at getting a dish heater right from the get go.

Despite the snow issue, I'm still completely happy to have made the switch from Comcast to D* and would recommend it to anybody else.

Right now our dish is also snow covered and no problems with reception. However, we have had problems when the snow is wet and heavy. We had no problems in December, but started to have problems in January almost every time it snowed. I checked signal strengths and found that they were low even when the snow melted, so we figured that the dish had slumped slightly. We were in the initial 90-day period, so we had a tech come out and realign. It turned out that it had slumped about 1/4 of an inch.

All has been fine since then until the wet, heavy snow early in the week. We lost all channels. The dish is mounted on our ell roof and can be reached with a mop or broom if you get up at least three steps on a ladder. No problem as soon as we cleared it off. The dish does not need a realignment at this point, so it appears that there can be snow interference issues if the snow is wet and heavy.

I suspect that there is more snow sensitivity with the new dishes and satellites than used to be the case. I never had a problem during the 1990s when I had DirecTV.

I am not too excited about ever getting up on a ladder during a snowstorm, or even after one. So I'm thinking that in the spring I will have the dish moved to a post in the ground just off my deck. Luckily there is good LOS from there.

If someone asked me if snow could be a problem with D*, I would have to tell that person it could in some cases. I know I am not alone in my problem, having researched it quite a bit in January. I would suggest that somebody considering getting satellite should look at placing the dish in as accessible a place as possible. If that's not feasible, I would look at getting a dish heater right from the get go.

Despite the snow issue, I'm still completely happy to have made the switch from Comcast to D* and would recommend it to anybody else.

Yes, I agree that nothing is perfect. I was really just offering a counter observation to the typical cable industry ads that claim satellite reception is subject to frequent weather interference. (Of course I think it is hilarious that the cable industry knocks the use of sat dishes - and then when I drive to the Comcast/SusCom office on the Old Bath Road in Brunswick, there's a yard full of them! ;))

While I have had no reception problems here since rejoining D* last October nor during the time I was with them from November 2004 to May 2006 when a smaller dish was on top of my two-story roof 30 ft. in the air alone in the wind (which was amazing), it stands to reason that a dense build up of wet snow and ice could affect reception. My dish is practically vertical as probably all others are given the low sat elevation on the Maine horizon, so I think only real wet, sticky stuff will cling and freeze to it.

I have read that some folks use Rain-X on their dishes, the stuff that works well on auto windshields. Others have suggested PAM or something similar to give the dish a slick coating. Maybe I'll try it and see.

But, at the moment, with more white fluffy snow falling and landing on the dish and appurtenances, it looks like someone sprayed it with coconut! And yet it works perfectly!

Dana

I received this response this afternoon from Lou Morin at MPBN.

Hi Dana:

The storms of this week have left me a bit shorthanded, which is why I didn't reply to you yesterday, but I wanted to acknowledge your email and give you answers to those questions that I can answer.

Yes, Mr. Doyon confused HD and digital broadcasting in his reply to you. They are indeed different. In retrospect I wish I had had the opportunity to see his reply before he sent it out, in which case I would have spotted the error and corrected it. You have my apologies at the inartfulness of the reply, and I have pointed out its inaccuracy to Mr. Doyon personally. As for CTO Gil Maxwell's decisions on why we send out our digital picture at a particular aspect ratio, I can only say that I am pleased to inform you that MPBN staff got this message from his office about 5 minutes ago:

"As of today 2/8 we are no longer stretching 4:3 HD content. There are two operational modes when our content is upconverted - standard and letterbox. In the standard mode (normal 4:3), content on the our HD channel will be displayed with pillars or black bars on the sides of an HD display. This is accomplished by either programming Florical automation to initiate the contact closure or manually selecting "standard" on the GPO switch box. When we are displaying non-HD letterbox programming, we will zoom the content. The zoom function maintains picture aspect but fills a 16:9 display. This is accomplished by selecting "letterbox" on the GPO switch box or through Florical programming."

And finally with regard to the suggestion that the "real" reason we dropped the PBS HD feed on our second digital channel was because carriage fees had gone up, that's not accurate. While it's true we did save some money by reverting to our regular analog programming rather than continue to pay PBS for the right to broadcast its HD feed, A) the carriage fees had not gone up, and B) the savings were not the primary motivating factor behind our decision.

I hope the above at least begins to address some of the points you made in your most recent email. Thanks again for writing us and letting us know of your concerns.


Lou Morin
Marketing & Communications Manager
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240
Phone: 207-783-9101 or 1-800-884-1717
Fax: 207-783-5193

I have replied to express appreciation for the decision to abandon "Stretch-O-Vision." But, I have tried to hold his feet to the fire by noting that while he tells me that money is not the "real" reason for dropping the PBS HD pass through on the MPBN HD channel, he artfully dodges divulging what is the real reason. That is, unless we are to believe it is to facilitate "planning."

I pointed out to him that the end result of the decision is that MPBN provides no programming for adult daytime weekday viewers on any of its three channels.

Finally, I asked "Has MPBN signed off on the agreement between DirecTV, the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for carriage of local HD channels on DirecTV in 2008? I hope so. My reference is http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=P4450026 "

The timing of the decision to drop Stretch-O-Vision is curious but surely coincidental. Unless my calling the hand of the CTO revealed he had no high cards. :rolleyes: We'll never know.

Dana

In the response from MPBN, reference was made to "Florical programming." While I suppose everyone except me knows what that means, I decided to try and find out.

Apparently, it's a brand name, i.e., Florical Systems. http://www.florical.com/pressroom/release/newprod/NewProducts2007.htm

About Florical Systems
Florical Systems is the technical leader in television automation systems for satellite asset acquisition, media asset management and on-air broadcast automation. Florical is dedicated to providing powerful and reliable automation solutions that deliver a clear return on investment. System solutions by Florical can be configured for a simple single channel or can be scaled to the needs of very large, multi-channel, fully redundant ShareCasting operations. Our extensive customer base includes high profile cable networks, network owned and operated stations, individual network affiliate stations and PBS stations. For more information on Florical television automation products, visit www.florical.com, email sales@florical.com or call 352.372.8326.

Dana

Gr8St8oMaine,

Reality set in. I got a 771 "Searching for Satellite signal" on a few channels so we went out and used a long car wash brush to get the accumulated snow off the dish and LNBs. Signal is now back. :cool:

Man, I am tired of this weather.

Dana

I'm getting 771 searching for sat signal on alot of my hd channels as well. It only seems to be affecting 103-b (All 0's). It stinks because my dish is not easily accessible.:(

I'm getting 771 searching for sat signal on alot of my hd channels as well. It only seems to be affecting 103-b (All 0's). It stinks because my dish is not easily accessible.:(

Hopefully, we'll get a little sunshine that will warm up the dish and melt whatever is on it. And warm our hearts, too. :)

Dana

Could be an alignment issue. I get good signal on all my sats.

And talking to a friend of mine who is a DirecTV installer, and installed mine, when a dish is aligned properly the snow shouldn't be a huge issue.

I had a nice layer of snow on mine from the last snowfall and still had nothing less than 75% on all my sats. Most were above 95%.

Maybe your dish just needs an adjustment.

I've received another reply from MPBN's Lou Morin.

Dear Dana:

I regret that my answer as to why MPBN switched from the PBS HD feed to its regular analog feed on our second digital channel does not meet with your satisfaction, but I assure you I'm not trying to "artfully dodge" anything. I have been as forthright with you as I can be, and the answer is what we said it was in the section you cited on our online FAQ. It is certainly your right to question whether the length of time is too long, too short or whether "that bird" flies, but that's the honest answer. We will, for example, utilize that second channel later this month to broadcast simultaneous basketball games from Augusta and Bangor during the Maine high school basketball tournament, so while have no plans for any *permanent* solution for that second channel until after February 2009, we will be deploying and testing equipment to allow for simultaneous broadcasts in the meantime in preparation for that eventual day. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes you, but management felt it was necessary to make this change at the time we made it.

As for the answer to your question about whether MPBN has signed off on any agreements between DirecTV, APTS and PBS, I don't know the answer at this moment (Saturday at 5:30 pm). I will pose that question to relevant senior management here on Monday and see if I can get an answer for you. I appreciate your patience in the meantime, and thank you again for your correspondence.

Lou Morin
Marketing & Communications Manager
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240
Phone: 207-783-9101 or 1-800-884-1717
Fax: 207-783-5193
www.mpbn.net

I am underwhelmed by his response. I'm not sure that it makes much difference if D* does carry the MPBN HD channel since it's now a simulcast. Maybe after February 2009 it will.

Dana

10-2 is different OTA. It's current show is boxed-usually everything was stretched.

10-2 is different OTA. It's current show is boxed-usually everything was stretched.

No more Stretch-O-Vision. :) See my previous post here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13057072#post13057072
Dana

2 days late and a pixel short - nice info btw - thanks.

2 days late and a pixel short - nice info btw - thanks.

:) More to come I hope.

Dana

has anyone else noticed that WMTW-DT's PQ has really taken a hit since they added their new subchannel a while back? It really looked awful for most of the Celtics/Spurs game earlier today. Also, its a real shame that half of the 4th period was in SD because whoever was in Master Control failed to "flip the switch" after a local break.

I've received another reply from MPBN's Lou Morin. [cut] I am underwhelmed by his response. I'm not sure that it makes much difference if D* does carry the MPBN HD channel since it's now a simulcast. Maybe after February 2009 it will.

Dana

Dana,

Just out of curiosity, are you a contributing MPBN member for television? I'm not -- I contribute to MPBN's radio network.

Second, can't DirecTV pay PBS for the HD network feed? I wonder if they can because I am under the impression that Time Warner carries multiple non-MPBN PBS networks. The "PBS World" channel for instance. When I was in Cleveland visiting my folks at Christmas, they had "PBS Sprout". My thought is that you would be better off pressuring DirecTV to carry the feed independent of MPBN. I get the impression that MPBN will never carry the PBS HD network feed again. In which case DirecTV will never get it either. I would expect that after the analog switch is pulled, MPBN will continue with syndicated programming (Sesame Street et. al.) in HD and only PBS national programming in HD.


Joe

Dana,

Just out of curiosity, are you a contributing MPBN member for television? I'm not -- I contribute to MPBN's radio network.

Second, can't DirecTV pay PBS for the HD network feed? I wonder if they can because I am under the impression that Time Warner carries multiple non-MPBN PBS networks. The "PBS World" channel for instance. When I was in Cleveland visiting my folks at Christmas, they had "PBS Sprout". My thought is that you would be better off pressuring DirecTV to carry the feed independent of MPBN. I get the impression that MPBN will never carry the PBS HD network feed again. In which case DirecTV will never get it either. I would expect that after the analog switch is pulled, MPBN will continue with syndicated programming (Sesame Street et. al.) in HD and only PBS national programming in HD.

Joe

Joe,

I used to contribute to MPBN radio big time because I listened to it a lot, commuting to/from work, etc. But my listening habits changed after I finally retired - as did my income - so I no longer contribute to MPBN radio. I was an MPBN TV supporter at one time, too, but not under the present circumstances.

The carriage of PBS TV programs varies from state to state as I understand it. Lou Morin has so indicated in his response about the PBS HD channel. There's a lengthy discussion here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS

The member stations control what PBS does and under no circumstances do they want to have the PBS HD direct feed available outside of their control. Read pledge dollars. D* does carry it on its channel 384 but it is strictly limited to subscription as part of a package for schools and only when reception of a local public TV station is unavailable.

The pending agreement is between D* and the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=P4450026 The local station members of APTS have to ratify the agreement which will permit carriage of state public television HD channels on D*, not the national PBS HD on a pass through basis.

Dana

Lou Morin just sent me an email that includes the following...

Hi Dana:

At long last I have finally cornered Gil Maxwell regarding your question. Things have been crazy around here after Wednesday's storm knocked out power to our TV transmitter in Litchfield, WCBB-TV.

MPBN has signed off on the agreement between DirecTV, APTS and PBS; but according to the agreement, DirecTV is not *obligated* to carry PBS in HD in many markets until the end of analog broadcasting a year from now. (Feb. 19, 207) or within a "reasonable" amount of time thereafter, not necessarily on that day...

He obviously meant Feb. 19, 2009.

Looking at the D* press release (link above) one more time, I don't have any expectation of seeing PBS HD pass through. I'll clip a few descriptive sentences (without including the PR D* self-promotion if I can manage it).

... will include the local HD feeds of Public Television stations in its HD rollout plans beginning in 2008.

DIRECTV viewers will have access to other Public Television content as well.
...
DIRECTV, APTS and PBS also will work together to develop new video on demand offerings to make available local and national public television programming to DIRECTV's customers anytime they want it. In addition, DIRECTV will carry two national standard-definition channels of Public Television programming, further expanding its commitment to high-quality educational programming.
...
DIRECTV is ... delighted to begin carrying programs of the caliber of The NewsHour, Frontline, NOVA, American Masters, the American Experience and award-winning children's programming in this visually compelling format (HD) ...

It does seem that D* viewers will get more public television channels in HD than just the local HD channel but time will tell. Let's hope it's sooner than later.

Dana

Been wondering for a week. WPME OTA, I'm seeing it off center--bar on the left, close to nothing on the right-like now SG1. Other channel aspects seem correct.

Been wondering for a week. WPME OTA, I'm seeing it off center--bar on the left, close to nothing on the right-like now SG1. Other channel aspects seem correct.

I just checked it out now on D*. Looks great for an SD channel. Centered, etc. Black bars left and right equal width on my 16:9 screen.

Dana

Anyone else have trouble with 13 DT this morning? I am in NH but have not had trouble normally and WCSH and WMTW were both okay.

Anyone else have trouble with 13 DT this morning? I am in NH but have not had trouble normally and WCSH and WMTW were both okay.

WGME 13 SD channel was OK this AM on D* when I just looked. (D* channels are all satcasted as digital but does WGME provide D* its SD channel as digital? I don't know.)

Dana

Anyone else have trouble with 13 DT this morning? I am in NH but have not had trouble normally and WCSH and WMTW were both okay.

I, too, was unable to "lock" onto 13-DT's signal either last night (Sunday) or tonight (Monday). Even tweaking the position of my antenna didn't help.

I wonder if Craig Clark is still monitoring this thread?:)

Be skiing you,

h2osports

There a number of these threads I could be responding to. I have been on AVS for some time mostly on the HDTV and Blu Ray threads. Just discovered this one yesterday. I have been with DIRECTV for about 6 weeks and had great reception. Then I started dropping a number of the national HD channels. Signal went from great, to poor, to non-existant. I suspect that that the nasty wind we had a few weeks back may have realigned the dish OR I have a weather related LNB problem.

Between the weather and their communications problems it has taken two weeks, and three visits, to schedule a trip to my roof ! ( Tomorrow noon!) It is in a difficult loaction not safe when snow covered.

I have been pressing them to give us the transponder allocations for satellites 99 and 103 realizing it is just a snapshot in time. It would be a great aid in trying to troubleshoot the system.

Steve
35 Miles NW of Portland

There a number of these threads I could be responding to. I have been on AVS for some time mostly on the HDTV and Blu Ray threads. Just discovered this one yesterday. I have been with DIRECTV for about 6 weeks and had great reception. Then I started dropping a number of the national HD channels. Signal went from great, to poor, to non-existant. I suspect that that the nasty wind we had a few weeks back may have realigned the dish OR I have a weather related LNB problem.

Between the weather and their communications problems it has taken two weeks, and three visits, to schedule a trip to my roof ! ( Tomorrow noon!) It is in a difficult loaction not safe when snow covered.

I have been pressing them to give us the transponder allocations for satellites 99 and 103 realizing it is just a snapshot in time. It would be a great aid in trying to troubleshoot the system.

Steve
35 Miles NW of Portland

Welcome to the thread, Steve. Wish I could help. I assume you've been on the D* AVS thread here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=25

Dana

There a number of these threads I could be responding to. I have been on AVS for some time mostly on the HDTV and Blu Ray threads. Just discovered this one yesterday. I have been with DIRECTV for about 6 weeks and had great reception. Then I started dropping a number of the national HD channels. Signal went from great, to poor, to non-existant. I suspect that that the nasty wind we had a few weeks back may have realigned the dish OR I have a weather related LNB problem.

Between the weather and their communications problems it has taken two weeks, and three visits, to schedule a trip to my roof ! ( Tomorrow noon!) It is in a difficult loaction not safe when snow covered.

I have been pressing them to give us the transponder allocations for satellites 99 and 103 realizing it is just a snapshot in time. It would be a great aid in trying to troubleshoot the system.

Steve
35 Miles NW of Portland

Steve, see if this helps you.
http://www.widemovies.com/dtvtransponders.html

Starting last night (Feb. 18), during Deal or No Deal, got lots of pixelling on WCSH-DT 6-1.

At noon today, I checked signal strength meter on DirecTV HR20-700. Tuners 1 & 2 fluctuated between 66 - 70%. Even rotating antenna, this was the best I got.

Other channels (WMTW, WGMEW, WPME, WPXT) are all between 95 - 100%.

Antenna Web distances are:
WMTW 33.9 mi.
WCSH 34.7
WPME 39.1
WPXT 39.1
WGME 40.8

I did re-boot the HR20, results were the same.

Anyone else having trouble with WCSH?

Steve, see if this helps you.
http://www.widemovies.com/dtvtransponders.html

Whoa! Response all the way from Fla.! You must be from here? I do have that listing. I do not follow what the line following the "? 27" is trying to say? The rest appears to list Channels A and B, and which broadcasts are multiplexed onto each transponder for Sats. 101, 110 and 119.

There is no listing for 99 (local HD stations) and 103 ( Newest National HD channels).The last revision appears to be 3 years ago and may predate the launch of these 2? Since anytime they can modify transponder allocation this would only be a snapshot in time, but would nevertheless be useful.

Whoa! Response all the way from Fla.! You must be from here? I do have that listing. I do not follow what the line following the "? 27" is trying to say? The rest appears to list Channels A and B, and which broadcasts are multiplexed onto each transponder for Sats. 101, 110 and 119.

There is no listing for 99 (local HD stations) and 103 ( Newest National HD channels).The last revision appears to be 3 years ago and may predate the launch of these 2? Since anytime they can modify transponder allocation this would only be a snapshot in time, but would nevertheless be useful.

Now that I look closer at it, I guess it is kind of out dated. Hadn't used it for a while.

Yes, I am a Maine transplant living in Florida, since 72. We spend time during the summer up there (my blood is to thin for Maine weather this time of the year) and I watch this thread to help family members who still live up there.

Anyone else having trouble with WCSH?

and WMTW for the last 2-3 days--no reception. Right now 8, 20%, 6, zero

Anyone else having trouble with WCSH?

and WMTW for the last 2-3 days--no reception. Right now 8, 20%, 6, zero

Do you suppose this is all due to recent storm damage at the towers? Lou Morin said things were crazy at MPBN because they had lost power at the transmitter in Litchfield due to the storm last Wednesday.

Dana

Weather affects my reception greatly. 10 I have line of sight but 6.8.& 13 are 35 mile plus and have to jump over two 200' hills to get to my antenna. 10 is 17 miles away 5 close to 60, and 5 is @70% reception. OTA is 99% topography IMO. I had reception of 6 after MPBN's mishap-just the last couple days.

just checked and right now WCSH, WMTW, and WGME all are coming in okay

Since the Celtics are broadcasting all games even away games in HD now has anyone been able to see them? Last night I just got a black screen, no game.

Since the Celtics are broadcasting all games even away games in HD now has anyone been able to see them? Last night I just got a black screen, no game.

Doing a quick Google search, I see a poster on another forum asking the same thing. http://www.highdefforum.com/showthread.php?t=65087

Dana

Doing a quick Google search, I see a poster on another forum asking the same thing. http://www.highdefforum.com/showthread.php?t=65087

Dana

Yes, of all the complaints that I see here on the internet about HD programming, it is the Comcast Sports Network Channel (Fox Sports New England) that deserves the criticism the most. I have only seen Celtic home games and a very few other random sports productions on this sports channel. It is the next thing to useless that there is on the dial. All it does is occupy bandwidth except for Celtic home games. Fox or Comcast seem to be incapable of getting anything in HD on the air. What the heck is the matter with them? The channel has been there for quite awhile now.

Yes, I do keep an eye on this forum.. just in case there are questions or reception issues. Our DT transmitter is at 100% our signal to noise is also right on. So reception should be fine. My thought is icing around the area?, the tower/ antenna did collect some ice too but now has melted.

Let me know if this is a continuing problem.

Craig Clark

I live in Cumberland, ME, and have Time Warner cable/internet/phone service. Things work well for the most part, but I sometimes have difficulty bringing in the HD stations at the upper end of the range (555 and up).
I suspect that some of the problem is the fact that we are in an old house, and the wiring/cable is not optimal, with a couple of splitters in the path between where the TW cable enters our house and our box.

I am thinking about getting a bidirectional amplifier with multiple outputs to place where the cable enters our house and to use in place of the splitters - has anybody done this? - Issues?

I live in Cumberland, ME, and have Time Warner cable/internet/phone service. Things work well for the most part, but I sometimes have difficulty bringing in the HD stations at the upper end of the range (555 and up).
I suspect that some of the problem is the fact that we are in an old house, and the wiring/cable is not optimal, with a couple of splitters in the path between where the TW cable enters our house and our box.

I am thinking about getting a bidirectional amplifier with multiple outputs to place where the cable enters our house and to use in place of the splitters - has anybody done this? - Issues?

Some years ago when I had SusCom cable TV and internet with splitters on RG59 coax, I had a signal problem. SusCom sent a tech out, he tested the line and installed an amplifier no charge. If you have a problem, why not ask TWC to evaluate the system? (I don't have TWC so maybe there's a good answer I'm not aware of. But I don't see why you should have to buy an amplifier yourself to fix a cable problem.)

Dana

I've had "free" amplifiers installed by Time Warner in Austin, TX, and by Adelphia, here. I had a similar problem in Austin -- there was a particular range of HD channels which would not tune on my TV. They sent out a tech to measure signal strength at various locations (the street, the house, each room) to determine where and what type of amplifier I needed. Once the installed the amplifier everything was fine. It is better to have the cable company do the job for you because they will choose an amplifier that has the proper bandwidth, and will make sure that the signal strength is correct -- If the signal is over amplified, you can have the same sorts of problems you get with a weak signal.

Joe

Does anyone know when Time Warner plans on adding the new Comcast Sportsnet HD channel? I would like to start watching Celtics away games in HD ASAP!

Now that my dish has been "repeaked", a loose mounting bolt tightened, and a corroded COAX connector replaced I have a fantastic HD picture again. That gets us back to my original problem of occasionaly missing local channels.

The problem first manefested itself with channel 6 not being there when I first turn it on in the morning. Sometimes it carries over into the Today show and then miraculously appears. I first thought it was someone "asleep at the switch" and then a result of my antenna issues BUT.

It happened the other night when I switched from CNN for the 6 o'clock news on 6. Six was missing as were 8, 13, and 23. I went to other channels that did work and cycled through these 4 several times finally switching to SD to watch the weather. When I tried HD after the weather bingo! all are back.

I was able to pry from DIRECTV, with great difficulty, the fact that all our local channels are multiplexed onto satellite 99, transponder 6 where I have a 95+ signal strength.

My question to all of you on DIRECTV is this: Have you ever experianced " Searching for Signal" on our local HD channels when the weather is clear and other channels appear to work fine If you have or do please let me know.

I have had this problem with several reciever/ decoders thus I suspect it is either: at the multiplex switch, the satellite, or in the software downloaded to the box. The issue has been escalated and is being worked on by DIRECTV.

I've never had any fair weather "Searching for Signal" messages with any of the local HD channels through D*. My wife watches the Today show almost every morning and hasn't ever come across this problem.

It could also be something as simple as the wiring between the receiver and your TV. It does sound like a signal strength problem, especially with a digital signal to a fussy TV. If you occasionally get substantial tearing of the HD picture, not just pixillation, that could be an indicator. I am not on direct, but get the same from Comcast 13-1 but not often.

Leanto, sorry you're having this problem. On one of our TVs, we also had a problem that whenever we switched from a non-HD to an HD channel, we would get "searching for signal." It sounds like you are only having this problem with local channels, not all HDs, so it's probably a different issue. However, just in case, what solved our problem was to change our DirecTV setup for the TV to turn "native" off.

By the way, like you, we also were having issues with heavy, wet snow causing outages, but a service call to tweak the antenna and tighten bolts put our signal strengths back to the 90s. Happy to say we've been fine since then.

All the best with getting a solution to your problem. Have you also tried posting a description of your problem on the proper threads on this forum and on the dbstalk forum? Both can be great resources.

Leanto, sorry you're having this problem. On one of our TVs, we also had a problem that whenever we switched from a non-HD to an HD channel, we would get "searching for signal." It sounds like you are only having this problem with local channels, not all HDs, so it's probably a different issue. However, just in case, what solved our problem was to change our DirecTV setup for the TV to turn "native" off.

By the way, like you, we also were having issues with heavy, wet snow causing outages, but a service call to tweak the antenna and tighten bolts put our signal strengths back to the 90s. Happy to say we've been fine since then.

All the best with getting a solution to your problem. Have you also tried posting a description of your problem on the proper threads on this forum and on the dbstalk forum? Both can be great resources.

This last light snow did not cause any problems and I've not had missing channels for several days. I started here because it was just the locals and all missing at once not a signal quality issue.

It could be as simple as "native off" as you suggest. If we can confirm that the signal is always present then it must be in the box and could be a software issue. We know from computors that " things happen" and we may never know why?

...

My question to all of you on DIRECTV is this: Have you ever experianced " Searching for Signal" on our local HD channels when the weather is clear and other channels appear to work fine If you have or do please let me know.

I have had this problem with several reciever/ decoders thus I suspect it is either: at the multiplex switch, the satellite, or in the software downloaded to the box. The issue has been escalated and is being worked on by DIRECTV.

I was on the H20 thread, checking something else, and stumbled on this comment here from a reliable poster. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12406728#post12406728

OK, I'm basically out of tricks, other than the "unplug it for several hours".
This has helped for other problems that resets of any type wouldn't.
I was testing a beta that wouldn't find a SAT after the download. Tried everything. I finally pulled to power cord overnight, and in the morning it booted fine. This came up in the next beta round for the other H20 and was the only way to get them back. Some only needed a few hours for the voltage to bleed off inside the receiver.

Might be worth a try.

Dana

I was on the H20 thread, checking something else, and stumbled on this comment here from a reliable poster. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12406728#post12406728



Might be worth a try.

Dana

Thanks for the heads up. I have been hanging out on the MPEG4 Mastertopic II thread. I'll go through this whole thread. Looks like similar problems to what I have on te HR21.

I have unplugged, reset, changed channel, and just done nothing and all have worked! The problem was much more prevalent a month ago and has not ocurred since the last incident I reported.

Steve

Hey leanto,

I was just looking back over the last few posts and saw that I suggested you refer to the "proper threads on this forum and dbstalk." My apologies; I did not at all mean to imply that this was not a proper place to post your question. I meant to say that you might also look at tech/installation-type threads and, in trying to keep my writing short, I now see my words likely came across wrong.

Good luck.

anyone else lost their free HD QAM channels with TWC in South Portland? I had CBS, Fox, CW, etc. coming in fine through my coax into my new Olevia for the past couple of months and then late last week they disappeared (no signal error message on those channels) and have yet to return...did they move the channels around again? Thanks!

-matt

anyone else lost their free HD QAM channels with TWC in South Portland? I had CBS, Fox, CW, etc. coming in fine through my coax into my new Olevia for the past couple of months and then late last week they disappeared (no signal error message on those channels) and have yet to return...did they move the channels around again? Thanks!

-matt

We still have our QAM channels on the Augusta system, but they do like to move them around, so you should run another search.

anyone else lost their free HD QAM channels with TWC in South Portland? I had CBS, Fox, CW, etc. coming in fine through my coax into my new Olevia for the past couple of months and then late last week they disappeared (no signal error message on those channels) and have yet to return...did they move the channels around again? Thanks!

-matt
Yes, you will find channel WCSH-DT remapped to 6-1, WPFO-DT remapped to 2-1, MPBN-DT on 82, WMTW-DT on 110, WPME-DT on 93-1, WPXT-DT on 94-1, and WGME-DT on 94-2. TWC Portland is trying to fix a lingering problem with missing PSIP in their QAM streams. Some QAM tuners can scan for clear channels without PSIP data and some can't. One caveat on the above QAM numbers is that this is a work in progress on the TWC Portland system. So the numbers may well change again. Hopefully they will have the PSIP information working soon for the local broadcast HD signals. The present FCC regs state that cable MUST pass the PSIP data from the local HD broadcast signals for their primary channel to customers. TWC in Portland wasn't doing that.

Hey leanto,

I was just looking back over the last few posts and saw that I suggested you refer to the "proper threads on this forum and dbstalk." My apologies; I did not at all mean to imply that this was not a proper place to post your question. I meant to say that you might also look at tech/installation-type threads and, in trying to keep my writing short, I now see my words likely came across wrong.

Good luck.

Thanks Mel

I hang out on a few of these forums and that was pretty mild. I said Oh! and went looking for the HR21 thread? It appears the 20 is morphing into the 21 anyway and it looks like early adopters of the 20 had the same issues which appear to be firmware.

Steve

Does anyone know if Comcast Brunswick will add all the TWC channels mentioned to its clear HD line-up? Right now it is ABC 8-1, CBS 13-1, Fox 2-1, and MPBN 10-1 (which is actually not HD). I currently get them plus one weather 0-0(ABC) and two Encore SD digital channels (7x-x). Rather have the locals.

Also, what is the actual Comcast mapping? I do have MPBN on my DVDR at both 10-1 and (I think) 79-1.

Beekeeper,

Before I switched to DirecTV in October, I had Comcast connected directly to a TV with a QAM tuner.

Here is what I had then for HD channel assignments:

NBC HD on 6-1
ABC HD on 8-1
CBS HD on 13-1

I don't have notes anymore of where the other locals mapped, because I could only find my HD channel maps and, as you know, the other locals were not HD. I vaguely recall that they mapped to the same numbers as OTA, but I could be misremembering.

For non-broadcast HD channels, I had: A&E HD on 68-2, Discovery HD on 69-1, Universal HD on 69-2, ESPN HD on 72-2, HBO Latino (I have no idea why) on 73-13, ESPN2 HD on 77-1, TNT HD on 77-2 and NESN HD on 80-1.

Here is a better explanation from Multichannel news about the issue of your built in QAM tuner and clear QAM reception. This is why many of my sets can not receive WGME-DT
since it was moved to 94-2. I can only see 94-1 WPXT-DT with my Panasonic TV's.
..........................................
As more broadcast TV stations make the transition to digital, cable
operators are faced with some complex technical tangles. The latest to
rear its head is a problem with packet identification (PID) numbers.

The problem has arisen as cable operators look to local stations'
multiplex digital signals before retransmitting them over the plant.

Melding multiple signals on one 6-megahertz channel provides a great
advantage in bandwidth management, but the process is complicated by a
commitment the National Cable & Telecommunications Association made in
February 2001.

In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission, the NCTA
pledged that its member cable operators would pass through the Program
and Service Information Protocol (PSIP) information attached to local
broadcasters' unencrypted digital signals.

While the cable systems themselves ignore the information, the pass-
through allows off-the-air TV tuners to read the PSIP data on digital
channel assignments and basic program information.

But when operators set two off-air digital signals side-by-side on a
channel, they often reassign the signal's PSIP information a different
PID number, which designates the position the information occupies in
the video-signal stream. Separating the PSIP information onto two PID
numbers ensures that the information doesn't get jumbled as it passes
through the cable plant.

The problem is end devices such as digital and high-definition TVs are
programmed to look for PSIP information on only one PID number. So if
the number is changed, the TV set doesn't see the second signal.

Interesting, since it might explain why I get one digital weather channel on my set (0-0) and two on the same channel but different suffix (like 72.2, 72.3) on my DVDR ATSC tuner.

DIRECTV called yesterday to inform me that the day before they had "lost" the signal on Channel 6 for 10 min starting at 8:25 AM. I was ready for them! I had been watching 6 at the time and I immediately went to 8, 13, and 23 and they were all gone. i.e Searching for Signal.I switched to signal strength and the S-99, T-6 signal was zero! I asked that this be passed back to engineering.

Either the transponder shut down, or the multiplexer or the computor that controls it is the problem?

thanks for the reply on TWC moving their QAM HD channels...one other question, before we were getting the Fox feed with no problems but not the NBC one. Now, NBC is coming in crystal clear and Fox flickers in and out before blacking out totally and giving me a 'No Signal' message...thoughts?

-matt

For the last two weeks my TW 8300HD DVR has refused to record "Lost" and "Eli Stone" on 508. The scheduled recordings, set up as "First Run Only On This Channel," show up in the Scheduled Recordings list and are highlighted in the IPG, and carry the "REC" tag in the guide info. I've rebooted the DVR and created new schedules, to no avail. Test recordings of the local news and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that I set up on 508 last night were successful, as were SD recordings of "Lost" and "Eli Stone" on 8. I've also had no problem with "First Run" recordings of "The Wire" on 500.

My suspicion is there's a discrepancy between the IPG info and the info embedded in the broadcast, so the DVR isn't recognizing the shows on the HD channel. Anyone else having this problem -- or has anyone been recording these shows in HD on 508 without any problems (which would lead me to think the problem is at my end, not TW's)?

I watched the Red Sox play the Twins last night on NESN on the NESN HD channel on D*. But it wasn't in HD although the NESN graphics claimed it was. Video was 4:3 with side bars on my 16:9 display. The same HD graphics were shown on the NESN SD channel so apparently this was just a make do economy telecast.

But, just for the record, did anyone else see the game in "real HD," 16:9 etc?

In any event, I kicked back and watched the palm trees swaying, folks in shorts, shirtsleeves, sunburns, spending big bucks and imagined I was "there!" :cool:

It felt good until I looked out the window this morning. :(

Dana

PS. I just checked NESN's own monthly broadcast schedule posted online which clearly indicates what does and doesn't originate in HD. Last night's telecast was not in HD according to that schedule despite the on-screen graphics. http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/programming/onair/

But, just for the record, did anyone else see the game in "real HD," 16:9 etc?

Dana
NESN was the only telecast of the game, and it was like you said up converted SD telecast and pillar boxed. I see they also have a game tomorrow(Sunday) at 1:00, on NESN.

You are right yesterday was a nice day for baseball down here. Went to the Marlins/Nationals game.

Looking forward to being up there this summer and attending some Sea Dog games. But I can wait until summer, with days like you are getting today.

thanks for the reply on TWC moving their QAM HD channels...one other question, before we were getting the Fox feed with no problems but not the NBC one. Now, NBC is coming in crystal clear and Fox flickers in and out before blacking out totally and giving me a 'No Signal' message...thoughts?

-matt

When TWC messed with the QAM the 110 stream was affected. My Pany's can scan 110 and remap FOX to 2-1, WMTW is simply channel 0 or 110. On the 82 QAM stream, WCSH remaps to 6-1 but MPBN is missing. On my Samsung TV's 110 finds FOX, WMTW, and news8now but can't map them into it's channel map properly. I see a few seconds of each channel then the QAM tuner sometimes hangs and I need to poweroff the TV. The basic problem is what I stated in an earlier post. Namely multiple broadcast HD channels combined into a single QAM stream. They mess with the broadcast station PSIP information, when more than one broadcast station is in a single QAM stream, and that causes the QAM tuners heartache. There should only be a single local broadcast station included in any one QAM stream, such as 110 or 82. Then they could pass the single channels PSIP information and the QAM tuners would all be happy.

Thursday 3/6/2008 1:00 PM L.A. Dodgers vs. Boston Red Sox ESPN HD

Wednesday 3/19/2008 12:00 PM Toronto Blue Jays vs. Boston Red Sox ESPN HD (also on NESN in SD)

Tuesday 3/25/2008 6:00 AM Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics (Tokyo) (Rebroadcast 2:30 & 11 PM) NESN HD *

Wednesday 3/26/2008 6:00 AM Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics (Tokyo) (Rebroadcast 2:30 & 7 PM) NESN HD *

The much-ballyhooed March 29 game with the L. A. Dodgers at the L. A. Memorial Coliseum that may involve attendance of more than 100,00 is a spring training game and will be broadcast by NESN at 10 PM ET but not in HD apparently.

Corrections, additions welcome.

* Regular season game.

Dana

Been lurking and reading for a while - so I guess it's time I finally posted something...

Anyway, I also live in South Portland, and have been having a hard time getting my Panasonic to tune the QAM channels. I just did a firmware upgrade for the TV that supposedly fixes some of the digital tuning issues, and right now it is able to find WCSH on 6-1, and WPME on 93-1, and that's it. It can't seem to find any of the other locals at the locations that were listed in the previous posts. Not a huge deal for me - I have a digital box on the same tv, but I like the idea of having the HD locals available on another input becuase there are a few nights of the week where the DVR is recording two shows and it's nice to be able to still watch some HD channels.

Thanks for the good info and discussion in this thread!

DogDin,

Welcome to the AVS Forum and this thread in particular. Glad to have you with us.

Can we assume you're on TWC?

Dana

Can we assume you're on TWC?



Yes I am - sorry I forgot to mention that - I've toyed with switching away from them for a number of reasons, but it always comes back to them being a convenient choice. Plus I have a full DVR I would hate to lose, and I just can't seem to get ahead of.....

Yes, My Panasonic sets only see 6-1 (WCSH-DT), and 93-1 (WPME-DT) on TWC as of a few days ago. If you type in 94 and wait a few seconds the set will find 94-1 (WPXT-DT). However 94-2 (WGME-DT) won't be found by your QAM tuner because TWC altered the PID number for WGME-DT at the cable headend for that QAM stream (94). The PANY won't save 94-1 or 94-2 to it's channel map because it dosen't like the arrangement of PSIP and PID numbers in the QAM stream. The same goes for the 110 QAM stream. If you type 110 and wait a few seconds PBS-World will appear. My Samsung QAM tuners ignore the altered PID numbers assigned to several of the local HD broadcast stations at the cable headend. So I now receive all the locals...including WCSH-DT for the first time on the Samsung. NOTE: TWC tried to pass the proper PSIP data and messed with several PID's about two weeks ago. The result was the PANY QAM tuner could scan all the locals except for MPBN. However...the Samsung tuners lost most of the stations in the 110 QAM stream and even crashed on occasion. So, TWC made changes once again. The bottom line is that different QAM tuners use different PSIP and or PID information to map and tune the channels. A cable set top box does not use this information at all. As of today, the 5 Samsung and PANY QAM tuners in my home can all see 6-1 and 93-1 properly. The cable company headend has to process and repackage the ATSC information into an MPEG-2 QAM stream. It's a complex process that is the key to your QAM tuner seeing the local digital channels. I've confirmed that the individual QAM stream programs below...with the use of a scanner...are in the clear on TWC Portland as of this morning.

82-11 WCSH-DT...remaps to 6-1. (506 on a cable box)
82-12 MPBN (170 on a cable box)
82-13 MPBN 2 (171 on a cable box)
82-16 MPBN-HD (510 on a cable box)

93-1 WPME-DT (517 on a cable box)

94-1 WPXT-DT (512 on a cable box)
94-2 WGME-DT (513 on a cable box)

110-1 Create (172 on a cable box)
110-2 PBS World (173 on a cable box)
110-3 WMTW-DT (508 on a cable box)
110-4 WPFO-DT (507 on a cable box)
110-5 News8now (165 on a cable box)

Note: NBC WeatherPlus is encrypted as a premium channel in the 86 QAM series.

I've told TWC they'd better make sure the local network digital signals can be seen by all my QAM tuners. Otherwise, I'll watch the locals over the air and dump the cable in favor of satellite. I won't put a TWC set top box on each tv. If I need a box on each tv then satellite wins hands down over cable for price and value. Are you listening TWC?The other night I saw multiple drop outs on the Versus HD feed during part of an NHL game. Signal quality was fine on my meter. The problem was network congestion on my hub! So much for TWC and their Switched Digital Video solution for making the most of bandwidth!

Been lurking and reading for a while - so I guess it's time I finally posted something...

Anyway, I also live in South Portland, and have been having a hard time getting my Panasonic to tune the QAM channels. I just did a firmware upgrade for the TV that supposedly fixes some of the digital tuning issues, and right now it is able to find WCSH on 6-1, and WPME on 93-1, and that's it. It can't seem to find any of the other locals at the locations that were listed in the previous posts. Not a huge deal for me - I have a digital box on the same tv, but I like the idea of having the HD locals available on another input becuase there are a few nights of the week where the DVR is recording two shows and it's nice to be able to still watch some HD channels.

Thanks for the good info and discussion in this thread!

I updated the firmware on one PANY and left the old firmware on the second PANY and saw no difference in QAM tuner performance. My other post has additional information on this issue.

Good news concerning QAM for Panasonic sets on TWC Portland! If you enter 94 and wait a few seconds WPXT-DT appears then maps to 94-1 and is added to your channel map...along with 94-2 WGME-DT. So TWC has fixed the problem with conflicting PID numbers on the 94 QAM stream. Concerning WCSH-DT, TWC has been tinkering with the 82 QAM stream where WCSH and MPBN are located in order to make MPBN-DT visible to our QAM tuners. However...a change in PIDs has made a second 6-1 appear in the Panasonic sets channel map. You surf from 6 to 6-1 on your tuner and the first 6-1 works fine. You go up one channel and find a second 6-1 that is a blank screen and will display the message "Poor Signal Quality". This is a known bug in the Panasonic firmware and only a complete rescan of the digital channels can remove it from the Panasonic channel map. I'd probably hold off on a rescan now since there will be more changes as TWC resolves issues with QAM on both the 82 QAM stream and the 110 QAM stream. I checked my Samsung sets and this time they have no issues with the changes made to the QAM by TWC. Thank you Time Warner!


Been lurking and reading for a while - so I guess it's time I finally posted something...

Anyway, I also live in South Portland, and have been having a hard time getting my Panasonic to tune the QAM channels. I just did a firmware upgrade for the TV that supposedly fixes some of the digital tuning issues, and right now it is able to find WCSH on 6-1, and WPME on 93-1, and that's it. It can't seem to find any of the other locals at the locations that were listed in the previous posts. Not a huge deal for me - I have a digital box on the same tv, but I like the idea of having the HD locals available on another input becuase there are a few nights of the week where the DVR is recording two shows and it's nice to be able to still watch some HD channels.

Thanks for the good info and discussion in this thread!

>82-11 WCSH-DT...remaps to 6-1. (506 on a cable box)
>82-12 MPBN (170 on a cable box)
>82-13 MPBN 2 (171 on a cable box)
>82-16 MPBN-HD (510 on a cable box)
>
>93-1 WPME-DT (517 on a cable box)
>
>94-1 WPXT-DT (512 on a cable box)
>94-2 WGME-DT (513 on a cable box)
>
>110-1 Create (172 on a cable box)
>110-2 PBS World (173 on a cable box)
>110-3 WMTW-DT (508 on a cable box)
>110-4 WPFO-DT (507 on a cable box)
>110-5 News8now (165 on a cable box)

Thanks for the great info above! I hope someone with info like you have can update this as changes happen, it's great.

I just got a Tivo HD, and it does seem to allow me to pick up all the 110 channels that my Panny Plasma would not, very cool. The only thing is that I do not seem to be able to pick up 82-12, 82-13 & 82-16, and WCSH seems to map from 82-1 to 6-1... If I type in "82-1" or "82", it goes to 6-1 and picks up WCSH-DT fine.

It's really a bummer that the Tivo or TW or both can't map the channels to numbers that gives me guide data, the only way I can do that is with CableCards (which I'd rather not have, since all I want is locals/basic cable). Maybe once they have all the PSIP data straighted out it will work, although if 6-1 is correct PSIP-wise, it doesn't look promising, because TIVO gives no guide data for 6-1 (cable)

The other thing, is that the Tivo (and Panny) pick up ALL QAM channels that have a signal - it would be nice if they could add only the ones that have actual content. And conversely, it seems neither picks up all the subchannels that are there (such as the 110-*) and I need to manually add them (if I know they are there :-)

tviekman,

Welcome to the AVS Forum and this rocking thread for your first post! Thanks for your great contribution. :)

Dana

>82-11 WCSH-DT...remaps to 6-1. (506 on a cable box)
>82-12 MPBN (170 on a cable box)
>82-13 MPBN 2 (171 on a cable box)
>82-16 MPBN-HD (510 on a cable box)
>
>93-1 WPME-DT (517 on a cable box)
>
>94-1 WPXT-DT (512 on a cable box)
>94-2 WGME-DT (513 on a cable box)
>
>110-1 Create (172 on a cable box)
>110-2 PBS World (173 on a cable box)
>110-3 WMTW-DT (508 on a cable box)
>110-4 WPFO-DT (507 on a cable box)
>110-5 News8now (165 on a cable box)

Thanks for the great info above! I hope someone with info like you have can update this as changes happen, it's great.

I just got a Tivo HD, and it does seem to allow me to pick up all the 110 channels that my Panny Plasma would not, very cool. The only thing is that I do not seem to be able to pick up 82-12, 82-13 & 82-16, and WCSH seems to map from 82-1 to 6-1... If I type in "82-1" or "82", it goes to 6-1 and picks up WCSH-DT fine.

It's really a bummer that the Tivo or TW or both can't map the channels to numbers that gives me guide data, the only way I can do that is with CableCards (which I'd rather not have, since all I want is locals/basic cable). Maybe once they have all the PSIP data straighted out it will work, although if 6-1 is correct PSIP-wise, it doesn't look promising, because TIVO gives no guide data for 6-1 (cable)

The other thing, is that the Tivo (and Panny) pick up ALL QAM channels that have a signal - it would be nice if they could add only the ones that have actual content. And conversely, it seems neither picks up all the subchannels that are there (such as the 110-*) and I need to manually add them (if I know they are there :-)

Yes, I'm keeping an eye on TWC Portland and will keep folks updated as they makes changes to the clear QAM. I'm glad you like my list of QAM channels above and what number they correspond to on a set top cable box. Unfortunately, on it's trip through the cable plant several of the PSIP data fields are stripped from the information...including the (EPG) program information used by your built-in guide. The FCC allows CATV to do this. FCC was the culprit by dropping the ball on PSIP standards. I believe www.psip.org has quite a bit of technical information on the workings of PSIP.

On Friday March 14, Dish Network will launch it's AMC-14 satellite into the 61.5 orbital slot. This means more national HD programming from Dish and more HD locals. Among the cities announced for April expansion of HD locals is Portland/Auburn, ME.

John

Been lurking and reading for a while - so I guess it's time I finally posted something...

Anyway, I also live in South Portland, and have been having a hard time getting my Panasonic to tune the QAM channels. I just did a firmware upgrade for the TV that supposedly fixes some of the digital tuning issues, and right now it is able to find WCSH on 6-1, and WPME on 93-1, and that's it. It can't seem to find any of the other locals at the locations that were listed in the previous posts. Not a huge deal for me - I have a digital box on the same tv, but I like the idea of having the HD locals available on another input becuase there are a few nights of the week where the DVR is recording two shows and it's nice to be able to still watch some HD channels.

Thanks for the good info and discussion in this thread!

TWC Portland has fixed issues with the 110 QAM stream. If you enter 110 on your PANY set and wait a few seconds it should correctly map the 5 channels found in the 110 QAM stream. You should then see the following:

110-1 PBS Create
110-2 PBS World
110-3 WMTW-DT
110-4 WPFO-DT
110-5 News8now

I also checked the samsung sets and they have no issues with the changes to the 110 QAM stream. Now only MPBN-HD is still unavailable on TWC Portland. Thank you for fixing the QAM issues TWC! :)

On Friday March 14, Dish Network will launch it's AMC-14 satellite into the 61.5 orbital slot. This means more national HD programming from Dish and more HD locals. Among the cities announced for April expansion of HD locals is Portland/Auburn, ME.

John

Any links? I'm on the cusp of deciding Direct or Dish for HD upgrade. Didn't see anything on Dish's site. Thanks

Been lurking and reading for a while - so I guess it's time I finally posted something...

Anyway, I also live in South Portland, and have been having a hard time getting my Panasonic to tune the QAM channels. I just did a firmware upgrade for the TV that supposedly fixes some of the digital tuning issues, and right now it is able to find WCSH on 6-1, and WPME on 93-1, and that's it. It can't seem to find any of the other locals at the locations that were listed in the previous posts. Not a huge deal for me - I have a digital box on the same tv, but I like the idea of having the HD locals available on another input becuase there are a few nights of the week where the DVR is recording two shows and it's nice to be able to still watch some HD channels.

Thanks for the good info and discussion in this thread!

One other suggestion about the QAM channels on cable and a Panasonic TV.
I've found if you auto scan only the analog channels you can avoid the long list of digital QAM channels that can't be received. I auto scan the analog channels first. I then manually add the clear QAM channels. For example, on TWC Portland I enter 82 and wait about 15 seconds for the tuner to scan QAM stream 82 and add WCSH-DT as 6-1. I do the same thing with channels 93, 94, and 110. When I'm done I've mapped the clear QAM signals into my tuner without the additional 225 QAM signals that are scrambled. :)

Any links? I'm on the cusp of deciding Direct or Dish for HD upgrade. Didn't see anything on Dish's site. Thanks

My experience, researching which provider to go to, from talking to people who have both, is Direct. A friend at work has Dish and wishes he did not and another, with Direct, wants to marry his receiver. I was amazed at the difference of opinion.

Also Consumer Reports lists Direct higher as do many here on this forum.

The best service is Verizon fiber optic, but that is unattainable for us in the less populated part of the world.

When Comcast tells me I need a box for my current service, I will shift to Direct.

Any links? I'm on the cusp of deciding Direct or Dish for HD upgrade. Didn't see anything on Dish's site. Thanks

Dish's AMC-14 launched successfully but failed to reach it's correct orbit. There is a possibility that the satellite's own thrusters could be used to lift it to where it should be. More details will follow. Back up plans have not been released, Dish did have 2 more launches scheduled for this year. It could mean a delay in adding new HD programming or new HD LILs. More information can be found here : http://www.satelliteguys.us

John

One other suggestion about the QAM channels on cable and a Panasonic TV.
I've found if you auto scan only the analog channels you can avoid the long list of digital QAM channels that can't be received. I auto scan the analog channels first. I then manually add the clear QAM channels. For example, on TWC Portland I enter 82 and wait about 15 seconds for the tuner to scan QAM stream 82 and add WCSH-DT as 6-1. I do the same thing with channels 93, 94, and 110. When I'm done I've mapped the clear QAM signals into my tuner without the additional 225 QAM signals that are scrambled. :)

I am also on extended basic, and get 12 or 13 clear QAM channels. I have found, with Comcast Brunswick, that it is good practice to do an automatic scan every week, since it is like an easter egg hunt. Comcast keeps shifting channels in and out, so you have no idea what may be there for a long or short time. For the past month or more, it has been fairly steady, but it is fun to see what might pop up.

My experience, researching which provider to go to, from talking to people who have both, is Direct. A friend at work has Dish and wishes he did not and another, with Direct, wants to marry his receiver. I was amazed at the difference of opinion.



It all depends on programming. If you are into sports, DirecTV is definitely the way to go. For the price of general programming, Dish is better. In the opinion of many on the various Satellite forums, Dish hardware is superior to DirecTV (check out the new dual tuner 722 DVR - one receiver serves two locations, PIP, seamless OTA). As far as quality of service and installation, I have heard good and bad stories for both.

One other suggestion about the QAM channels on cable and a Panasonic TV.
I've found if you auto scan only the analog channels you can avoid the long list of digital QAM channels that can't be received. I auto scan the analog channels first. I then manually add the clear QAM channels. For example, on TWC Portland I enter 82 and wait about 15 seconds for the tuner to scan QAM stream 82 and add WCSH-DT as 6-1. I do the same thing with channels 93, 94, and 110. When I'm done I've mapped the clear QAM signals into my tuner without the additional 225 QAM signals that are scrambled. :)

Thanks for your info - the last time I had scanned, I went through and spent a while hiding the blank digital channels - but it took forever. Now it's finding everything I think it should - at least until the next time they move things around.

Thanks for your info - the last time I had scanned, I went through and spent a while hiding the blank digital channels - but it took forever. Now it's finding everything I think it should - at least until the next time they move things around.

Scanning the QAM channels produces a lot of channels that you do not want for one reason or another. Some are blank. Some are unwanted music. Some are cable advertising. It does take a lot of time to delete these channels. This discourages frequent rescanning.

Can someone in the Auburn/Turner area tell me how much TWC gets for just the Roadrunner High Speed Internet service, per month, no cable or phone?

Can someone in the Auburn/Turner area tell me how much TWC gets for just the Roadrunner High Speed Internet service, per month, no cable or phone?

I poked around the TWC web site, but I can't find it. :(

Before you commit, check out gwi.net which offers 3, 5, 10 & 20 Mbps broadband service in the Lewiston area. I bet you'll find it's cheaper. :)

Dana

I poked around the TWC web site, but I can't find it. :(

Before you commit, check out gwi.net which offers 3, 5, 10 & 20 Mbps broadband service in the Lewiston area. I bet you'll find it's cheaper. :)

Dana

Thanks Dana, I had checked their web site also and couldn't find anything on just the Internet service. I will look into gwi.net.

Thanks Dana, I had checked their web site also and couldn't find anything on just the Internet service. I will look into gwi.net.

I had a couple of issues, one on the internet side and the other on the telephone side and they were outstanding - dogged determination really - in solving the problems, which they did. I can't say enough good things about them.

Dana

Can someone in the Auburn/Turner area tell me how much TWC gets for just the Roadrunner High Speed Internet service, per month, no cable or phone?

I'm assuming (and I do know what "they" say when you "assume" something:D) TWC charges the same for RoadRunner in the L/A area as they do in the Greater Portland market - that being $44.95 per month with the option of upgrading to a higher speed (both up and down) for an additional $9.95 per month.

Be skiing you,

h2osports

I'm assuming (and I do know what "they" say when you "assume" something:D) TWC charges the same for RoadRunner in the L/A area as they do in the Greater Portland market - that being $44.95 per month with the option of upgrading to a higher speed (both up and down) for an additional $9.95 per month.

Be skiing you,

h2osports

I found the rate information buried on the TWC page for former Adelphia customers in Lewiston. The standard Road Runner IS $44.95. That connection gets me about 1.4 megabytes per second of download speed. I'm not sure how much extra bandwidth the Turbo will give you for an additional $9.95 a month.

10-2 OTA looks very good tonight.

Last night, while channeling up from 4 to 6 (cablecard), there was a stop at channel 5 (no programming). TWC Augusta has, apparantly, marked that channel number in the last day or two for some reason. Maybe WABI is on the way.

Awoke this morning to find that Time Warner here in Southern Maine had added some new HD Channels - a quick scan through had found Travel Channel HD, TLC HD, and Discovery HD listed. Makes me wonder if they are still in the process of updating this morning, because it seems most everywhere they add these channels they also add the rest of the "Discovery Suite", with Science Channel HD and Animal Planet HD. Perhaps more will show up later.

Comcast Brunswick is also adding and deleting unscrambled digital/qam channels on their feed. I have expanded basic, not digital. They added about 17 while dropping some others for a total of 30 unscrambled. If it goes to form, they should change in anywhere from a week to a month to an all new selection. The new group is mostly kids and music along with science, nfl and natl geo, mostly in the 70-xx range. The permanent ones are still the OTA broadcast HD channels (NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox) along with MPBN in SD.

I rescan weekly to see what they are doing, but it is fun to see what may be new.

I have noticed a substantial increase in pq for all Comcast analog channels, to the point that they are close or equal to the SD digital channels I can pick up. Also, MPBN's signal has gotten much better on both analog and digital. For a while it was really bad on both. Unfortunately, it is still digital SD, not HD.

Awoke this morning to find that Time Warner here in Southern Maine had added some new HD Channels - a quick scan through had found Travel Channel HD, TLC HD, and Discovery HD listed. Makes me wonder if they are still in the process of updating this morning, because it seems most everywhere they add these channels they also add the rest of the "Discovery Suite", with Science Channel HD and Animal Planet HD. Perhaps more will show up later.


damn you southern maine bias.

WOW! In the Bangor area we got the barker channel for TWC in an HD channel slot 705, thank god. Really, couldn't that have been use for a real channel like WABIHD or ESPNNEWSHD. Hell, I would even take DISNEYHD over a barker anyday. And now we learn that the Portland area has more HD channels

Getting More and MORE FRUSTRATED!

D* added ESPNews HD (ch. 207); Disney Channel HD (290); and Toon Disney HD (292) this morning. :)

Dana

Time Warner added ESPNews HD to channel 541 here in York County this morning...i'm actually impressed that they were able to get this done so fast!

They also added HD TLC on 546 and HD Discovery channel on 545.

Steve

500 HBO HDTV East
501 HBO HDTV West
502 Cinemax HD East
504 WBZ 4 HDTV CBS
505 HD On Demand
506 WCSH 6 HDTV NBC
507 WPFO FOX HDTV
508 WMTW 8 HDTV ABC
510 MPBN
512 CW HD
513 WGME 13 CBS HDTV
517 MYTV HD WPME
520 Showtime HDTV East
521 Showtime HDTV West
525 Starz HD East
527 New England Sports Network
528 Comcast SportsNet HD
529 TBS HD
534 ESPN-HD
536 ESPN2 High Definition
541 ESPNews HD
545 Discovery Channel HD
546 TLC HD
549 Versus/Golf HD
550 Discovery HD Theater
551 TNT HD
552 MHD
553 A & E HD
554 The Travel Channel HD
555 History Channel HD
556 Food Network HD
557 HGTV HD
558 Lifetime Movie Network HD
559 National Geographic HD
560 CNN HD
561 Fox Business Network
HDTV Tier
530 MOJO
532 HD Net
533 HDNET Movies
535 Universal HD

That's everything we have as of right now..............I'd like to see a few more -

Spike HD
the Discovery suite HD
Speed HD

Steve

The picture quality on 545, 546, and 554 is atrocious. Discovery (545) is almost unwatchable during fast movement. I really hope they aren't jamming 3 HD channels onto a single QAM frequency now.

When I visited my son in LA, who is on Direct, his HD channels did not seem as sharp as the local Comcast Brunswick HD channels. I realize that it is a function of your TV as much as anything else (he has a 37" Sony LCD), but wonder what any of you have noticed as far as comparing Direct to our local TW or CC cable providers.

Interesting that my choice was easy until recently when the pq of CC got much better for their SD channels. They actually act like they want to keep customers.

Obvious reason is I am moving toward Direct just because of selection, price and support. I can get the Direct low end package, along with HD and sports for nearly what I pay CC for expanded Basic. I did price them out, side by side, and the final costs are still cheaper for Direct which has more HD and SD channels of what I want. Plus more local and national OTA channels. But I do value picture quality.

beekeeper,

The D* HD channels here are just as sharp as they were on Comcast. Is your son's TV resolution 1366 x 768? That translates to 1,049,088 pixels which should be fine on a 37" LCD. But, a 1920 x 1080i/p resolution does have about twice the number of pixels =2,073,600. That might make a difference.

It also might be a particular channel issue. Rest assured. The days of HD-lite on D* are over.

Dana

Dana, Thanks.

Also, for anyone who cares, CC Brunswick is back to 11 unscrambled digital/qam signals for those on analog (or digital, since you get the same signal). One is NESN-2 (SD) (95 or 96) but had a terrible picture with lots of noise. I expect it to be gone after a while.

beekeeper,

This may be the real answer as to why the Los Angeles D* HD PQ didn't look as sharp as our local Comcast when you were visiting your son. http://forums.directv.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10384690

As of Monday, March 31, 3:00 am PDT, the Los Angeles HD local channels and HD West Coast Distant Network Services (DNS) are moving to a new satellite. If you are in either of these markets, you will need MPEG-4 equipment in order to continue viewing their NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX channels in HD. This means H21, HR21 Receivers are req'd.

These HD channels are moving to the 300 channel range (from the 80s)....

Apparently, the Los Angeles DMA was on a legacy MPEG 2 spot beam. So, you were right! You have calibrated eyeballs!! :)

Dana

Anybody else notice how horrible the quality of the recently added channels on Time Warner are (well, with the exception of ESPNEWS - that just looks fantastic)? Discovery, TLC and Travel Channel all look just absolutely horrible if there is any motion on the screen at all - blocks all over the place. Is this just me or have others noticed?

Dan

Anybody else notice how horrible the quality of the recently added channels on Time Warner are (well, with the exception of ESPNEWS - that just looks fantastic)? Discovery, TLC and Travel Channel all look just absolutely horrible if there is any motion on the screen at all - blocks all over the place. Is this just me or have others noticed?

Dan


yes i've noticed. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=13552691&postcount=2704) it is really unacceptable. what is the point of having more HD if it looks worse than SD?

Whoops - sorry, guess I missed that post - didn't mean to be redundant.

It certainly is disappointing to finally get some of the channels I've been asking for and have them look like that...

Game 1 of the Bruins playoff v. Montreal will be on NESN HD tonight. The Red Sox v. Tigers will be on NESNplus channels. (Not sure about HD on NESNplus.)

For Portland-Auburn, here's the channel assignments for NESNplus as reported here http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/programming/nesn_plus/

Comcast Brunswick 97

DirecTV 660

Dish Network 448

TWC (Cumberland/York Counties) 98

TWC (Central and northern Maine) TW9

Dana

For any on "analog" CC Brunswick, 97 is unscrambled for now.

As those who watched some or all of the Red Sox v. Tigers last night on an alternate channel know, it was not in HD.

The apparent explanation is posted here http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/2008/04/why-the-sox-arent-in-hd-tonight

NESN ... explained that because of the enormous amount of satellite bandwidth used in the delivery of an HD broadcast, it’s not technically possible for them to deliver two at the same time. Thus, the NESN broadcast of the Bruins (was) in HD, while the broadcast of the Red Sox game, no matter which (alternate channel) (was) in Standard Definition.

Dana

I was just reading this story prior to reading Dana's post. It's sort of related.

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/hd_lite_a_dirty_little_secret/C176?utm_source=eh&utm_medium=side

Dish Network now has Portland HD locals 6,8,13 & 23 uplinked. They are presently in test mode and unavailable to subscribers.

Dish Network now has Portland HD locals 6,8,13 & 23 uplinked. They are presently in test mode and unavailable to subscribers.

Is it off 61.5?

Is it off 61.5?

Yes

Thanks. I see Providence is up but not in HD. Any guess for a time frame?
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/dish61.html

Thanks. I see Providence is up but not in HD. Any guess for a time frame?
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/dish61.html

Providence is up in HD according to 2 sources, one of them Dish:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/dish_hd/programming/locals/channels/index.shtml

Portland ME was to light up May 8 but has been pushed back to June. It is possible that it will happen earlier.

John

I'm hoping that someone can help with a prob. Have TWC digital phone for two years. Moving to west coast this summer and using an entirely diff phone service. TWC service rep advises that they do not provide any type of recorded "message" that the number has been changed to "xxxx". It simply states that "number has been disconnected"! Has anyone encountered this? is there any type of service that will provide for a recorded message stating the new phone number?
Any help appreciated. Thank you.

I'm hoping that someone can help with a prob. Have TWC digital phone for two years. Moving to west coast this summer and using an entirely diff phone service. TWC service rep advises that they do not provide any type of recorded "message" that the number has been changed to "xxxx". It simply states that "number has been disconnected"! Has anyone encountered this? is there any type of service that will provide for a recorded message stating the new phone number?
Any help appreciated. Thank you.

Sorry to see you go! Maybe you could hire a local answering service such as doctors use to handle your calls for a short period of time? Leaving your TWC phone service connected for that period of course.

Dana

Portland HD Locals are now available on Dish Network. The originally rumored date of May 8 was true after all.

547 = HD Animal Planet
548 = HD Science Channel

Those 2 were added today to Time Warner.

537 = HD NHL Network
538 = HD Game

Those 2 were added last week, 538 is working now, but 538 doesn't seem to be working or are a pay channel.

Steve

TWC Ch. 538 is the HD feed of MLB In Demand.

Is anyone else noticing that A&E HD and History HD are all pixelated on the right side of the screen? My provider is Time Warner Cable in York County.

TWC Ch. 538 is the HD feed of MLB In Demand.

That makes sense...........wondered why I couldn't see any games on there.

Steve

A story in tonight's Times Record newspaper published in Brunswick carries the above-headline. http://www.timesrecord.com/WEBSITE/MAIN.nsf/0/91289CABC2DFCD280525744F00537B8E?Opendocument

FREEPORT — Two years after the Mid-coast area's cable provider changed from SusCom to Philadelphia-based Comcast, Comcast is exploring the sale of its Maine-based holdings as part of 46 properties nationwide, according to municipal officials.

We saw this coming months ago when Comcast clearly wasn't moving to complete the upgrading of its wire system which had been nearly accomplished (85%) by SusCom before it sold to Comcast two years ago. I had great hopes for the former SusCom system when it was sold to Comcast and dropped my subscription to D* to return to cable. But, as many posters here know, I became disenchanted and finally discouraged by Comcast's inaction. So, I left to return to D* and have been quite content. I won't move back.

The story indicates that the obvious buyer is TWC but no one is talking.

Dana

The story indicates that the obvious buyer is TWC but no one is talking.

Dana
If this is true it would really give TWC a stronghold on a cable monoply, in the State of Maine.

If this is true it would really give TWC a stronghold on a cable monoply, in the State of Maine.

Yes. It's really already in that position with something like 85% of cable subscribers in the state. At the time of the acquisition of Adelphia by TWC two years ago, the Maine AG grumbled that if TWC absorbed any more Maine cable systems, he's consider anti-trust action.

But, I think he's blowing smoke. Since he wants to be governor, however, it may suit his agenda to play David vs. Goliath.

Ultimately, however, what's best for mid-coast cable subscribers may be to join TWC.

Dana

It seems to me that whatever cable company exists within a community, already has a monopoly. It's not as if a subscriber can reach into the next town for a competitor's services. That's because the cable company in the next town is really not a competitor (for your business).

Perhaps, some believe that you can embarass a cable company into providing better and less costly service by pointing at some other cable company in the same state. In the words of that well known American philosopher, Jerry Seinfeld, .............. I don't think so.

It seems to me that whatever cable company exists within a community, already has a monopoly. It's not as if a subscriber can reach into the next town for a competitor's services. That's because the cable company in the next town is really not a competitor (for your business).

Perhaps, some believe that you can embarass a cable company into providing better and less costly service by pointing at some other cable company in the same state. In the words of that well known American philosopher, Jerry Seinfeld, .............. I don't think so.
That is true, only one cable company exists in most less populated areas. That is why it is good to have satellite competition. In some larger communities you have several cable companies to choose from, creating competition.

That is true, only one cable company exists in most less populated areas. That is why it is good to have satellite competition. In some larger communities you have several cable companies to choose from, creating competition.

It seems to me that whatever cable company exists within a community, already has a monopoly. It's not as if a subscriber can reach into the next town for a competitor's services. That's because the cable company in the next town is really not a competitor (for your business).

Perhaps, some believe that you can embarass a cable company into providing better and less costly service by pointing at some other cable company in the same state. In the words of that well known American philosopher, Jerry Seinfeld, .............. I don't think so.

Well said. I think you are both correct, as borne out by our experience with Comcast in the mid-coast in the last two years. The only reason Comcast came across belatedly with the local FOX23 HD channel in time for the Super Bowl (but not soon enough for the 2007 WS) was its revenue loss as subscribers defected to D*. In doing so, it undercut its own contention that bandwidth constraints prevented it from adding new HD channels. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Also in evidence is the fallacious notion that local communities can regulate local cable companies. The eleven local communities served by Comcast have done nothing to improve cable service to their citizens. All the locals care about is the revenue they get from cable.

Dana

why isn't the C's pregame on Ch 620 in HD? (comcastHD?)

The Associated Press picked up the Times Record story about Comcast offering the former SusCom cable system in mid-coast Maine for sale, which apparently was the first to break the news about 46 Comcast properties to be offered for sale nationwide. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080523/D90RJI780.html The AP writer completely loses focus when she writes that "...almost one-fourth of them are in rural central and northern Maine", however.

The AP supplemented the original story by identifying where the other systems are located. The story claims that Comcast "... acquired York, Maine-based Susquehanna Communications..." instead of York, PA.

The move is described as an effort "... to improve efficiency by shedding disparate operations." At least that is probably accurate. Possibly? Maybe? Oh well...

Dana

Another article about Comcast, in Maine: http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/25/comcast-looking-to-sell-outlying-markets/

I tried to search here...any news on TWC and Speed channel in HD? I'm in the "homework" phase of buying one of the following:

2008 Samsung LN52A650
2008 Samsung PN50A550
2008 Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ8000

Big Nascar fan...thanks.

I tried to search here...any news on TWC and Speed channel in HD? ...

Big Nascar fan...thanks.

FYI. The Speed channel is available in HD on DirecTV channel 607 as part of the Choice Xtra HD package. ;)

Dana

Yes, was aware of that on DTV...thanks...however, I currently have TWC...

I tried to search here...any news on TWC and Speed channel in HD? I'm in the "homework" phase of buying one of the following:

2008 Samsung LN52A650
2008 Samsung PN50A550
2008 Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ8000

Big Nascar fan...thanks.

If you want cablecard, you might want to wait until Fall when tru2way becomes available. Reportedly, Panasonic Viera will offer this feature. I have one way cablecard and I really like it. I do not want a box if I can avoid it. $1.75 for cablecard and $7.95 for a box.

If you want cablecard, you might want to wait until Fall when tru2way becomes available. Reportedly, Panasonic Viera will offer this feature. I have one way cablecard and I really like it. I do not want a box if I can avoid it. $1.75 for cablecard and $7.95 for a box.

I love an optimist! :p

I think you have identified the reason that cable co's will be very s-l-o-w to adopt this technology.

It looks good to the FCC however. :rolleyes:

Dana

I love an optimist! :p

I think you have identified the reason that cable co's will be very s-l-o-w to adopt this technology.

It looks good to the FCC however. :rolleyes:

Dana

I don't know, Dana, but I suspect it will work just as well as my one way cablecard. Two way is what cable has wanted, although of course, they would like to keep renting boxes. With two way, you can make impulse purchases of programming, so I imagine they'll make it work.

TWC of Southern Maine offers "free" HD when you have digital cable...no need for a card. Plus, I like the DVR option. However, I might make the jump to DTV, but hate the thought of a dish on the side of my house, however small it may be.

TWC of Southern Maine offers "free" HD when you have digital cable...no need for a card. Plus, I like the DVR option. However, I might make the jump to DTV, but hate the thought of a dish on the side of my house, however small it may be.

Does "free" HD include all of the HD channels (except premium HBO, etc.)? How about TNT, MOJO, ESPN, NESN, Discovery Theater, Universal, TBS, A&E, etc.?

Here's a brief story about tru2way. http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/21/cable-has-big-plans-for-tru2way/

Does "free" HD include all of the HD channels (except premium HBO, etc.)? How about TNT, MOJO, ESPN, NESN, Discovery Theater, Universal, TBS, A&E, etc.?


http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/CLU/TWCCLUs.ashx

HDTV


500 HBO East High Definition

501 HBO West High Definition

502 Cinemax HD East

505 Movies on Demand HD

506 NBCHD

507 WPFO FOX HDTV

508 WMTW 8 HDTV ABC

510 MPBN

512 The CW Network

513 WGME

517 MYTV HD WPME

520 Showtime High Definition

525 Starz HD East

527 New England Sports Network

528 Comcast SportsNet HD

529 TBS in HD

534 ESPN-HD

536 ESPN2 High Definition

538 GAME HD

541 ESPN News HD

545 Discovery Channel HD

546 TLC HD

547 Animal Planet HD

548 Science Channel HD

549 Versus/Golf Channel HD

550 HD Theater

551 TNT HD

552 MHD

553 Arts & Entertainment

554 Travel Channel HD

555 The History Channel HD

556 Food Network HD

557 HGTV HD

558 Lifetime Movie Network HD

559 National Geographic HD

560 CNN HD

561 Fox Business Network HD

http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/CLU/TWCCLUs.ashx

HDTV


500 HBO East High Definition

501 HBO West High Definition

502 Cinemax HD East

505 Movies on Demand HD

506 NBCHD

507 WPFO FOX HDTV

508 WMTW 8 HDTV ABC

510 MPBN

512 The CW Network

513 WGME

517 MYTV HD WPME

520 Showtime High Definition

525 Starz HD East

527 New England Sports Network

528 Comcast SportsNet HD

529 TBS in HD

534 ESPN-HD

536 ESPN2 High Definition

538 GAME HD

541 ESPN News HD

545 Discovery Channel HD

546 TLC HD

547 Animal Planet HD

548 Science Channel HD

549 Versus/Golf Channel HD

550 HD Theater

551 TNT HD

552 MHD

553 Arts & Entertainment

554 Travel Channel HD

555 The History Channel HD

556 Food Network HD

557 HGTV HD

558 Lifetime Movie Network HD

559 National Geographic HD

560 CNN HD

561 Fox Business Network HD

Yes, I have most of those "free" on Augusta TWC except for the $1.75 cablecard rental. Don't you have to rent a box of some sort for digital? Naturally, HBO, Cinemax, etc. are not "free" even though they are on the above list. I also have HD NET, HD Net Movies, MOJO and Universal with the cablecard.

I have reviewed the list of non HD digital channels many times and I just can't find anything that stirs my interest enough to get those channels or rent a $7.95 box.

You really might want to consider a tru2way cablecard (Panasonic, perhaps) when they come out in the Fall. I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to get all of the channels that you want and save yourself $6.20 a month or $74.40 a year on hardware rental.

On the other hand, you don't want to lose your DVR and I don't know how the rental costs work on those.

TWC of Southern Maine offers "free" HD when you have digital cable...no need for a card. Plus, I like the DVR option. However, I might make the jump to DTV, but hate the thought of a dish on the side of my house, however small it may be.

When I checked out "Home of Free HD TV" on TWC, it turns out to be a 3 month promo if you buy an HDTV from CC or BB. http://www.hdclearandsimple.com/

After the three month promotional period, regular monthly digital cable and HD rates, HD DVR and HD premium tier rates in effect at that time will apply. To receive all services, Digital Cable, remote and lease of HD DVR set-top box are required.

Is this what you referred to?

Dana

correct me if im wrong, but when you subscribe to digital cable you need a cable box. The price of which is already included in the package. When you get your box you can request a HD version thus giving you access to "free" hd channels. Although, if you want hdnet mojo you would have to pay the extra 4.95 a month. My parents pay for digital cable, and have an hd box. They don't pay a fee for this box.

correct me if im wrong, but when you subscribe to digital cable you need a cable box. The price of which is already included in the package. When you get your box you can request a HD version thus giving you access to "free" hd channels. Although, if you want hdnet mojo you would have to pay the extra 4.95 a month. My parents pay for digital cable, and have an hd box. They don't pay a fee for this box.

You are correct. The digital cable price includes one converter box at no extra cost. If your'e just interested in the local HD signals TWC is passing those in the clear if you have an HD set with a QAM tuner.