Wow! Does this mean that we in Maine will be able to receive all of the networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, UPN, WB, PBS) in HD via Direct TV in a few weeks, if we can not receive them over the air?

No, it doesn't.

DirecTV caries national HD feeds (east/west coast) for CBS and NBC. They are supposed to add Fox in the near future. You can only subscribe to these channels if you are either not in a location at which you can receive an NTSC analog broadcast of a network affiliate.

Dumbed down, these are the requirements:

* You don't live near a metropolitan area
* You can't get any TV reception whatsoever
* You live more than 70 miles from TV station broadcast towers

You can input your address here (http://directvdnseligibility.decisionmark.com/app/AddressEntry.asp) to see if you qualify. If the wizard tells you that you are in a "Grade A" or "Grade B" location, then you need a waiver from your local affiliate. Generally, local affiliates will not grant waivers for any reason -- because they lose you from the Neilson ratings if you are watching the national feeds.

Your only option if the local network affiliate does not grant a waiver, is to do what wingnut suggested earlier in this thread -- which is to lie about where your receiver is. I don't know what the penalties are if you are caught (the chances of getting caught are probably slim), and the moral implications of obtaining service by lying are left to you.

You might be able to get waivers for one of the networks, but not the others.

Please note: the ability to get distant locals has NOTHING to do with HD service. A broadcaster can refuse to grant a waiver strictly on the basis of your being able to receive its analog NTSC broadcast. It doesn't matter if they are broadcasting DTV at all.

As far as I know, there are no immediate plans for DTV to cary ABC, PBS, UPN, or WB high definition programing.

Joe

Thank you very much, DRJOE.

Farmingdale is eligible for channel 8. Channels 5, 6 and 13 are grade B (moderate) and 23 (FOX) is strong.

My analysis is that Direct TV will not provide 23 (FOX). It is very unlikely to be an approved source for 5 (CBS),6 (NBC) and 13 (CBS). Channel 8 (ABC New York station source) would be provided.

Further, your comment that the ability to receive HD has no bearing on the decision is useful in understanding the matter.

Fox 23 seems to be fairly good with issuing the waivers. If you are DirecTV customer simply call and ask them to fill out a waiver request for all channels. You might be surprised at what you get. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

No problem, Stan...

I should have added that if you qualify for DirecTV locals, you won't automatically get a waiver, even if the other requirements are met.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) Farmingdale is elligible for Portland/Auburn locals, so even though you can't get ABC over the air because of distance from the receiver, you can get it via subscribing to Portland/Auburn locals. I don't believe you can get a waiver for the ABC East feed unless local channels are not available at all.

What webini says, however, is true. When FOX HD becomes available, file for a waiver (and ask for one for CBS and NBC too). The worst they can do is say "no".


Joe

I know that the thing to do is ask Direct TV, but my question is will we get HD channels if qualified for locals? It would be wise, I guess, to pick up the phone and call. You might have a further comment, however. You have done a lot of research.

No.

To get the network east/west coast HD feed, you have to

1) qualify for the network east/west coast standard definition feeds or
2) be in a network (Fox, CBS, NBC) owned and operated local market or
3) get a waiver from the local network affiliate.

Because getting a waiver from the local network affiliate allows you to get the network standard feed as well as the HD feed, most local affiliates are loath to grant waivers even if they are not broadcasting HD.

So to summarize:

You don't qualify for #1 -- you are elligible for Portland/Auburn locals;
You don't qualify for #2 -- none of the affiliates in Portland/Auburn are network owned and operated;
You can request a waiver, #3, and see if any of the stations are willing to grant it. I would say that WPFO is the most likely of the three (Fox, NBC, CBS) to grant the waiver.

Later,

Joe

Thanks, Joe

Question:

Has anyone ever tried to "push" recorded content from their 8000HD or 8300HD to a DVD Recorder?

Noticed a recent firmaware update which created the "Copy to VCR" option on the recording choices.

Does it work?

and how?

and with DVD too?

Similarly, does anyone know if the firmware update has activated the DVI port on the 8300HD yet?

sagecounsel: I've had the 8300HD for a couple months and "Copy to VCR" was a software choice from Day 1. I haven't had the chance to try it, though, because I've essentially let the DVR replace my VCR. I'm not at all into archiving stuff or moving it from one TV to another.

zkolkin: The 8300HD doesn't have DVI Out. It has HDMI Out, which requires either an HDMI In on your TV/receiver, or an HDMI-DVI cable to connect to DVI on your TV/receiver. I've got the HDMI-DVI setup and it works fine. Got a Monster cable at Best Buy -- I probably paid too much, but I was eager. The 8300HD picture was slightly darker than the DVI-DVI connection I had with the 3250HD, but that was easy to compensate for by tweaking the TV. Overall, I'm very happy with the 8300HD.

sagecounsel: FYI, from what I gleen from the SA8000HD-Time Warner thread, where there's plenty of discussion about the 8300HD, it will archive successfully to either VCR or DVD.

Thanks for the info, mainemojo. I was looking at my old 8000HD manual with the DVI port and got confused.

Originally posted by zkolkin
I was looking at my old 8000HD manual with the DVI port and got confused.

You're not the only one who has been confused. When I first called TWMaine to see if they had activated DVI on the 8000HD, and they told me they were replacing it with the 8300HD, the tech support people I spoke to didn't know the 8300HD was HDMI, either. They told me that about half the customers who got the 8300HD had been the returning it because "the DVI didn't work," and they gave me a month's free use of the 8300HD because they couldn't guarantee it would work. I had to enlighten them about the difference between HDMI and DVI, and I suspect many of the people who had been returning the box were doing so because they didn't know the difference, or understand the compatibility, either. I wonder if TWMaine is any wiser by now ...

I live in Lewiston and Adelphia is currently only offering the WCSH and PBS channels. WMTW and WGME are only available OTA. Now that Adelphia has released a dual tuner DVR, it would be nice if these channels were also available on Adelphia. Does anyone have any idea if these channels will ever be added in the not to distant future? I realize that carriage agreements must be signed but it's been months since Adelphia started offering HD and you would think that the 3 major networks would be a priority. :( Adelphia as usual has not been any help in answering these questions.

Hi everyone! This is sort of off topic, but I wanted to get some of the other Maine people's views if possible. I currently have a projector (epson home 10+) and I have time warner's HD box.

I am thinking about dropping TW and going with Direct tv. My understanding is, if I do this I will need a hd converter box and an antenna to get high def locals, and if I want to get hd direct tv (hbo, espn, etc..) I will need a high def reciever. Does anyone know if this is right, and further, if Direct tv makes a high def box that will do both of these things, or if I need to buy both items seperately? Thanks for any help you all can give. If you don't want me to hijack the thread a pm would be great.

Thanks!

Unlike HD digital cable boxes, HD satellite receivers (VOOM, DishNet, and DirecTV) all have built-in ATSC tuners. Even without a DirecTV subscription, you can use an HD DirecTV reciever to pull in OTA digital television with an antenna.

Joe

I have what is hopefully a reliable update. I ran into a TW employee who said a memo had been circulated stating that Fox HD was to be added next and would be on line for the Superbowl.

If anyone has inside sources and can get confirmation, that would be great.

How does the Direct tv hd reciever compare to non-direct tv hd converters. The direct tv unit sells for about $300 I believe.

Too general a question. You'll have to look at the features of specific models. Look for thinks like DVI/HDMI outputs, zooming functions and video format conversion (720p to 1080i, etc). Specifically, you can use the DirecTV HD receiver to get both OTA digital television and HD DirecTV content. With a standard HD set top box, you will only get over the air digital television.

Joe

Thanks Joe, I guess what I was really asking was is $300 a lot more expensive than the stand alone units are? As long as the picture is good I don't really care about the extras all that much. In the end I just have to decide if it's worth it to dump Time warner and go with dtv or not.

You'll have to look around. My Simon (http://www.mysimon.com/4007-6487_8-0.html?tag=dir) lists tuners as low as $175. But you will need a seperate receiver for DirecTV or Digital cable. You'll want to be fairly certain that you can receive the OTA digital signals at your location (TitanTV has a nice antenna selector that will help you).

Joe

Once again, thanks Joe. I'm trying to justify to myself if I should leave time warner for direct tv. From what I can find out, it looks like I won't be able to get any of the high def locals from direct tv, so I will have to hope that I can get them with an antenna in Gorham. As opposed to staying with TW and getting everything but 13 and fox?? If only direct tv would offer all the locals in high definition.

Unfortunately there is little chance they will do that in the foreseeable future. It would take too much bandwidth for them to broadcast every local channel twice. They still don't have the bandwidth to put up every local analog station yet (Bangor stations, for instance).

This is the big advantage that cable has over satellite.

Joe

Originally posted by BL
I have what is hopefully a reliable update. I ran into a TW employee who said a memo had been circulated stating that Fox HD was to be added next and would be on line for the Superbowl.

If anyone has inside sources and can get confirmation, that would be great.

Don't know about TW, but Fox HD is up and running on DirecTV. If you have a local waiver and the HD package you are all set.

Originally posted by BL
I have what is hopefully a reliable update. I ran into a TW employee who said a memo had been circulated stating that Fox HD was to be added next and would be on line for the Superbowl.

If anyone has inside sources and can get confirmation, that would be great.

Where would TW get there HD Fox feed from? Fox 23 doesn't have the ability to broadcast a digital signal yet.

capsfan - you're going to have to go through some past posts on this thread for the gory details, but in a nutshell fox23 may be providing the HD feed to TWC even though they won't be able to broadcast OTA. Its pretty unorthadox, but it seems closer to happening. HUGE win for TWC if it does, IMO.

Originally posted by jkurlanski
capsfan - you're going to have to go through some past posts on this thread for the gory details, but in a nutshell fox23 may be providing the HD feed to TWC even though they won't be able to broadcast OTA. Its pretty unorthadox, but it seems closer to happening. HUGE win for TWC if it does, IMO.

Wow!! That would be huge for TW customers! Being an Adelphia customer, I won't hold my breath that anything like that could happen for us. Kudos to TW if they manage to do that for their customers.

I can't complain about Adelphia too much as they have come through with a large amount of HD channels thus far: NBC, ABC, PBS, HBO, SHO, STARZ, MAX, HDNET, HDNET Movies, ESPN, NESN, INHD, INHD2, Disc. HD, and NFL network. I just wish I could get CBS and FOX.

In reply to BL, here's the news.

DIRECTV to Offer FOX HD Programming

"LOS ANGELES, December 22: DIRECTV and the Fox Television Station Group have reached an agreement to bring FOX's high-definition programming–including the Super Bowl on February 6–to the satellite platform's subscribers in 26 markets." These are O&O markets which does not include Portland.

Also, in reply to mphinne2 who said "If only direct tv would offer all the locals in high definition" it is possible that it will happen in 2005 when it launches two new satellites. "The first two of these satellites, Spaceway 1 and Spaceway 2, will launch in 2005 with programming being offered to consumers by the middle of the year. These satellites will have the capacity for more than 500 local HD channels...." Two more satellites will launch in 2007. Let's hope the Portland-Auburn market is served by the first two!

Dana

I'm on Adelphia - Augusta and I am also interested to know when Adelphia will pick up channels 8 and 13, not to mention Fox. Unfortunately, Adelphia won't talk. Possibly, we could squeeze it out of the stations. In my area, they might have to wait until the stations go to full power. Channel 8 told me a month or so ago that they would go to full power early in the next year. Channel 13 wouldn't say.

Of course Adelphia still has to have carriage agreements.

Just to make sure I have exhausted all my options. I live in Gorham, and I get an A signal strength on all my channels. Therefore the only way I can get hd locals is OTA with an antenna, or if D* starts offfering them, or if I have TW cable.

Even though fox isn't offering the locals in HD, I can't get an exception to get the national feeds for HD right??

Merry Christmas everyone!

Well, you won't automatically qualify for the Fox HD feed, however you can request a waiver through directv. You could ask the station directly whether they will grant it.

Joe

My friend in Maine, just e-mailed with a message that he got from his (high ranking) contact at TWC of Maine. It said that if Fox23 still wasn't ready by the Superbowl, then TWC would try to provide a national FOX HD feed (like is available on DirecTV) from NYC, just for the SuperBowl with Fox23's permission. This is interesting, as I have really never heard of this before. He also said that he wishes that TWC would offer some more HD channels, like Cinemax-HD, NESN-HD and others. He really wants NESN-HD the most, but his contact couldn't find anything about those channels being added.

This just in (From friend in Maine): "I was looking thru the channels at lunch time today on HD cable. I knew WPFO (Fox 23) in HD was going to pop up soon, after I had been told it was coming soon by my contact at TWC. Well it appears "HWPFO" is up in "engineering/test mode" on channel 507, which now appears and has guide data. It did have a picture for a few moments, but that is now gone as of 1PM EST. Channel 611 (Test9) also had the feed, as they test it out on two channels for some reason before it is offically on. I hope I will be able to view Fox HD for the very first time tonight, we will see."

...which now appears and has guide data. It did have a picture for a few moments, but that is now gone as of 1PM EST....


It seems that the guide is wrong and that there will be only a couple of hours of feed during primetime. The guide info will be removed until Fox goes to a 24 hr feed. Whenever *that* will be!

He also said in that message that the guide data appears to be correct.

This just in as of 8PM: "The OC is up on channel 507 in HD!! The Fox logo is really cut off, don't know what that is about. No its not overscan, I'm missing the "ox" off the screen on both HDTV's. The feed includes 5.1 DD, even on SD commercials. (??)"

Certainly is on, but it looks pretty grainy to me for HD. I'm thinking it is some sort of mis-cue (zoomed?) at the station and that's why we're only getting the top of the "F" and 1/4 of the "O" and none of the "X" in the fox bug. But hey, its the first time out! Gotta give 'em props for doing this!

Well, I just did an AVS forum search on the OC and it turns out "grainy" is the norm. It's shot on 16mm film so it gets that inherient look to it.

Here in Portland, Maine, as of this evening, our local FOX affiliate is passing an HD feed to the local Time Warner cable company. Not so odd on its own, but here's the catch: The local (WPFO) doesn't have a digital broadcast assignment for over the air transmission.
The current owners bought the station after the first round of station assignments and are currently locked out by the FCC from getting an assignment. None-the-less, they have gone ahead with equipment installation and are now providing the HD feed to Time Warner Cable. Just a few weeks shy of the Super Bowl...whew. :) Our first FOX HD is The OC, which looks pretty grainy to me, but based on other OC posts, that seems to be the norm.
So is this Cable Co, local affiliate arrangement a first? Or is this old news?

I believe the Albany, NY Fox affiliate is only available on Time Warner Cable there.

Originally posted by Inundated
I believe the Albany, NY Fox affiliate is only available on Time Warner Cable there.

That's correct. They petitioned to change their original OTA assignment from 4 to 7 and that apparently was being contested by WABC, NY, but while we're waiting, at least we can watch the Giants lose in HD on cable.

Started another post to see if this was the first such "arrangement" between a local not broadcasting digitally and a Cable Co, and it turns out FOX did the same thing in Albany, NY. BUT they had originally gotten a frequency allocated and wanted to change it, so I guess they were slightly first. :)
Also, flipped back to the OC for the second show (9-10) and it was definitely Zoomed. I realized that the tops of peoples heads were getting cut off. That would explain the bug too. That probably made the "grainy" look even worse. Not sure when the next HD broadcast will be, but it might not be until Sunday football. Have to see how it looks then.

Hmmm... looks like the Fox HD channel 507 lineup has been removed from the guide...;)

Threads Merged.

TW still hasn't added Guide info for Fox HD on channel 507. Since the DVR relies on the Guide data, is there any way to record, for example, "24" in HD tonight?

If you tune to 507 and hit Settings on the remote, you can do a manual recording where you can set the time/date.

I'm looking for folks who get 8-1 OTA. The channel has been blank for me (only guide info) for a week, but the engineer, Jack Conner, says he's unaware of a problem. Is anyone seeing anything on 8-1, and if you're not, would you email jconner@hearst.com?

Thanks

Originally posted by zkolkin
If you tune to 507 and hit Settings on the remote, you can do a manual recording where you can set the time/date.

Maybe I'm missing something, but all that seems to produce is a "Start Recording Now" option -- without time/date inputs -- which suggests you still can't set up a scheduled recording.

Once I select Start Recording Now, I have the option of changing date/time. I'm sure of it, because I have it set to record 24 tonight :-) Maybe it depends on your box? I have the 8300HD.

Edit: Although I just realized from past posts that you have the 8300 too.

Originally posted by zkolkin
Once I select Start Recording Now, I have the option of changing date/time. I'm sure of it, because I have it set to record 24 tonight :-) Maybe it depends on your box? I have the 8300HD.

Edit: Although I just realized from past posts that you have the 8300 too.

You're right. Thanks for the tip. I'm good to go with "24" tonight.

8-1 ok here in poland jim. you might try a rescan on the channels or reboot the receiver. sometimes helps. alan

8-1 ok in auburn also. It's my weakest channel somtimes i lose it and get nothing, but most of the time its fine. 6-1 and 13-1 are allways great.

Thanks for the input, guys, a rescan for digital channels restored 8-1 for me.
:D

too bad it was too late for last week's Alias......

Anyone heard any info on CBS or NESN coming to Time Warner in Cumberland County lately?

I wouldn't hold my breath on CBS. It's all Sinclair Broadcasting. Reading in other forums, there are a bunch cable customers upset in other states because they can't get the Superbowl in HD. The FOX stations are owned by Sinclair. Sure sounds like last year for us.

I wrote to NESN today to ask what the status was with TWC of Maine and haven't heard anything back yet. We'll just have to wait and see. NESN not a priority for me until the World Champion Red Sox start their season.

BTW - I want to thank the folks at FOX23 and TWC for providing us an HD signal when they can't even broadcast OTA and won't be for a long time. It is great to finally get FOX HD.

Two questions:

1) Did anyone have a problem with HD for the Pats game yesterday? I have DirecTV and cannot get cable in Minot where I live. I watch the Pats in HD on CBS every week and yesterday I had some people over to watch the game and all I got OTA was analog - NOT HAPPY, LET ME TELL YOU!

2) Bad enough I (we) could not get the ACLS and World Series in HD (with the Red Sox finally winning!), now the Super Bowl is on FOX as well!!! FOX23 did not allow my waiver with DirecTV so I am SOL? It looks like some of the TW and Adelphia customers will have FOX HD, but what the satelite people doing??

TIA!

Mike

P.S. I finally have my dream theater and cannot get the BEST games in HD!!!! :(

Originally posted by mikebegin
1) Did anyone have a problem with HD for the Pats game yesterday? I have DirecTV and cannot get cable in Minot where I live. I watch the Pats in HD on CBS every week and yesterday I had some people over to watch the game and all I got OTA was analog - NOT HAPPY, LET ME TELL YOU!

Same problem here. I was receiving a strong digital signal, but no video/sound. I had company on Saturday for the Jets/Steelers game, so I emailed Craig Clarke at WGME about it. Haven't heard back from him yet. Sunday's Pats game was the same way.

Hi all, this is my first post in this thread. I've had an HDTV for about 2 years, but haven't actually had an HD capable receiver hooked to it for about 7 months, since I cancelled cable and went with DirecTV. I'm saving for the HD-Tivo, because I can't bring myself to go back to watching live TV, HD or not. I do miss the clarity of HDTV, but having a Tivo-powered DVR, with all of its features makes me not miss the Explorer 8000HD very much.

In the mean time, I'm going to be re-ordering time warner cable for the next month or so, so I can see the superbowl in HD.

I can't believe with the new legislation that there still isn't a "digital white area" that would allow us to get the national Fox HD feed since our local station doesn't broadcast digitally yet. I considered trying to get a waiver from Fox23 but it sounds like they don't like to give them out.

A question for the Time Warner subscribers: Has the picture quality/zoom/overscan/guide data problems with Fox HD been resolved? I noticed that Time Warner offically announced carrying the channel, so I assumed things were working, but want to make sure before I order. Also, when I cancelled my cable service about a year ago, NBC was the only HD local they carried, and it seemed to have lip synch issues almost all the time. Has this been resolved? How are the ABC broadcasts?

Finally, are there any South Portland people receiving OTA broadcasts? My next step is to get a DirecTV HD receiver (hopefully the DVR, despite the $$), and would like to know what kind of antenna I'll need. I'm really hoping that an indoor antenna like the Zenith Silver Sensor will be sufficient. Any real-life experience you can share?

Thanks,
Eric

Originally posted by AccidenT
A question for the Time Warner subscribers: Has the picture quality/zoom/overscan/guide data problems with Fox HD been resolved? I noticed that Time Warner offically announced carrying the channel, so I assumed things were working, but want to make sure before I order. Also, when I cancelled my cable service about a year ago, NBC was the only HD local they carried, and it seemed to have lip synch issues almost all the time. Has this been resolved? How are the ABC broadcasts?

Fox HD national feed PQ and audio (DD 5.1) is very good. Zoom/overscan concerns, to me, are overrated and highly subjective; I don't see a problem. Fox HD Guide data is still MIA; TW says they're working on it; in the meantime, you can schedule a recording manually if you know the program's start and stop times (available from the SD Guide). I still notice occasional audio synch issues with NBC, which, BTW, still doesn't provide DD 5.1 audio. ABC HD is very good; PQ is excellent and audio is DD 5.1. You didn't ask, but CBS HD seems to be a lost cause, thanks to Sinclair.

Yeah, I didn't ask about CBS because they didn't get it for the super bowl last year (despite telling me they were "in negotiations"), so I figured if they still didn't have it, they probably wouldn't for quite some time.

The Fox HD guide data is accurate on Directv. You need a waiver to the channel though - I doubt it will happen in South Portland.

I am in the midcoast area. I use a Square Shooter antenna indoors behind my TV with a Winegard amp (http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm). Everything goes into my Directv HD Tivo. No issues, I get HD local of NBC, ABC, CBS.

The silver sensor was not strong enough for my location.

Originally posted by redinger
Same problem here. I was receiving a strong digital signal, but no video/sound. I had company on Saturday for the Jets/Steelers game, so I emailed Craig Clarke at WGME about it. Haven't heard back from him yet. Sunday's Pats game was the same way.

I called Craig Clarke today at WGME - 13 as I was having the same problem with not receiving WGME's digital signal OTA on Bailey Island in recent days. I too missed the last two Pats games in HD. :( Clarke said that WGME had to make some technical changes to the digital signal to conform to FCC requirements ten days or so ago and that if I rescanned for OTA digital signals, I should be able to receive the new digital signals. Sure enough. It worked! Go Pats!

Originally posted by drbonbi
I called Craig Clarke today at WGME - 13 as I was having the same problem with not receiving WGME's digital signal OTA on Bailey Island in recent days. I too missed the last two Pats games in HD. :( Clarke said that WGME had to make some technical changes to the digital signal to conform to FCC requirements ten days or so ago and that if I rescanned for OTA digital signals, I should be able to receive the new digital signals. Sure enough. It worked! Go Pats!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

GO PATS!

Well, after what I've seen of the NFC championship game on 507 today, I don't think there's a zoom/overscan issue. The score bar at the top is compeletey visible. There's even a bit of picture above it. I think the problem just must be with the placement of the FOX bug during some of the shows (The Bernie Mac show Friday night, for example).

I agree, the football game looked fine (and did last week as well) so the problem is somehow limited to the prime-time shows. I sent the engineer at Fox an email (no reply) and I've also sent TWC an email about it. They said they'd "look into it"
Its not just the bug being off either. If you tune in about 5-10 minutes before the broadcasts you'll see the color bars and the "line-up" arrows for where the edge of the screen should be for 4:3 and 16:9. The arrows don't line up for 16:9. The "heads" on the arrows disappear of the edge of the screen on the right and top. The result is you get the tops of peoples heads getting chopped off.
Can someone else confirm this?

I have a SA8000HD DVR.

Every so often I will lose the Audio for JUST the spoken portions of the broadcast (so the music and effects will still play).

Generally ONLY on Channels 507 & 508 (for instance Alias last night when they are discovered by the Russians)

Anybody else run into this????

The same thing happened to me, OTA 8-1. It seems the center channel wasn't being transmitted for the last 5 or 10 minutes of Alias. So it affected over-the-air and cable, I wonder if anyone watching on DirecTV's ABC HD had the problem

Originally posted by sagecounsel
I have a SA8000HD DVR.

Every so often I will lose the Audio for JUST the spoken portions of the broadcast (so the music and effects will still play).

Generally ONLY on Channels 507 & 508 (for instance Alias last night when they are discovered by the Russians)

Anybody else run into this????

I noted the same issue at the end of "Alias" last night. It's happened a few times in the past, too, but only on WMTW HD (TW 508). I've got the 8300HD DVR. Nice to know it's not the box.

How do you like your 8300 hd dvr? I have an 8000 and the recording quality has dropped way off, so I was going to swap it for a new one. I just wanted to see if I should try and get an older model or go with the newest one.

You should go with the 8300, especially if you have an HDMI- or DVI-capable TV. I'm very happy with it (I moved up from the 3250HD), although I use it simply for time-shifting and don't expect it to perform like a TiVo. There are several threads about the device in the HDTV Recorders forum, too, if you want to do further research. From what I've gleaned, it definitely outperforms the 8000.

One thing I like about the 8300 vs the 8000 is the native passthrough and upconvert mode. I no longer have to manually change the output resolution to 480p on SD channels. I have it set it up as follows:


Signal Output
480i 480p
480p 480p
720p 1080i
1080i 1080i


Note that I have a 4:3 TV, so SD stuff had bars around all 4 sides if I didn't change the resolution to 480i/p.

The zoom modes seem to work better too. On HD channels that carry SD stuff (again, I had bars on all 4 sides), I can use zoom to fill the screen.

What I don't like is the severely limited searching/recording options compared to my DirecTV Tivo receiver. If only the HD-Tivo wasn't so expensive.... and if only WPFO was actually broadcasting OTA.

Has anyone with TWC seen any HD programming on 507 recently?

The feed seemed to be having problems the other night after the State of the Union (I didn't see the SOU, so I'm not sure if it was working, and in HD). The few times I've tuned in since then, there was SD stuff showing, but it's being broadcast at 480i and looks identical to 007. This isn't a big deal for SD stuff (even though the digital SD is better PQ), but I'm a little worried about whether they're still "flipping the switch" and broadcasting HD stuff in HD. I meant to tune in to see if Bernie Mac was in HD last night but forgot...

I noticed that the channel actually has guide data now, but stuff that should have the (HDTV) designation doesn't (the super bowl, for example). I'm guessing they just copied the guide data from 007.

"Bernie Mac" was in HD on 507 last night, but just before 9pm, while I was checking the Guide, it switched to SD and then the 8300HD rebooted. The reboot took about five minutes, and I hoped maybe they were adding the 507 data to the Guide. But when it came back up there wasn't any new info. I didn't bother checking 507 again to see if the HD signal was restored. "American Idol" had major pixelation, audio and video problems on 507 the other night, too. I sure hope TW gets its act together by Sunday afternoon ...

Ok "The road to the superbowl" on 507 right now is SD broadcast as HD (pillarboxed). The strange thing is that it switched to 480 on the last set of commercials, then back to HD after the commercials!

Edit: the most recent set of commercials were HD (upconverted/pillarboxed). Weird!

Edit 2: I rewound the recording and watched the first set of commercials again. The first 2 are upconverted/pillarboxed HD (Pizza Hut and IBM). The next two are 480i. (Sugarloaf/Verizon DSL). It must just be that Fox 23 doesn't have the ability to upconvert the local commercials that they splice in.

Sorry for the rambling! :)

I am curious to see if anyone experienced the same problem I did with my 8000 HD DVR during the game. As long as I was watching it in real time, the sound was fine, but if I rewound and played it back, the sound would "stutter" in and out, which was extremely irritating. When I caught back up to real time it would be fine. The picture was a solid HD picture either way.

I am wondering whether it was a bandwidth issue, or a DVR issue, or something else.

Any thoughts?

I only rewound once, but didn't have any problems. My party of "non-DVR" users were aghast that we weren't watching it live so I had to abort further attempts. :)
I did record the game though and I'll post back if there was any problems with that.

I rewound about a dozen times and never had any problem with the audio, but I don't have a 5.1 reciever, so I was just using the stereo-out. I also have the 8300HD. So basically, my post probably doesn't help you at all. ;)

Anyone else getting very low signal strength this last week on 8-1 13-1 6-1 ? I've had good signal strength in the upper 70's lower 80's. Last week it's dropped to high 30's, now most of the time nothing will come in. Maybe i have a problem with my receiver.

My 8300HD has been freezing and rebooting on Fox HD ever since TW added the local Fox commercials to its HD feed on 507. It's as if the switch between SD and HD confuses the STB. It's very annoying, too, since the reboot procedure takes a couple of minutes each time. Before they added the local content there were no problems with the Fox HD feed. Anyone else seeing this?

Originally posted by mainemojo
My 8300HD has been freezing and rebooting on Fox HD ever since TW added the local Fox commercials to its HD feed on 507. It's as if the switch between SD and HD confuses the STB. It's very annoying, too, since the reboot procedure takes a couple of minutes each time. Before they added the local content there were no problems with the Fox HD feed. Anyone else seeing this?

I'm seeing the switch, but it's not causing problems. I have it set to upconvert mode 1, so when a local commercial comes on, the resolution coming out of the box actually switches to 480p and my TV flashes for a second as it switches resolution. However, the box doesn't freeze or reboot like you're seeing.

Are you connected via HDMI? What output mode are you using? Maybe if you use a set output resolution (vs. native or one of the upconvert modes) then you won't have the problem. Or, if you are using a set output resolution, you should try native or one of the upconvert settings and see if that helps.

I was concerned about how a recording would behave when the resolution was switching during it, but it hasn't seemed to cause me any problems.

Originally posted by AccidenT
I'm seeing the switch, but it's not causing problems. I have it set to upconvert mode 1, so when a local commercial comes on, the resolution coming out of the box actually switches to 480p and my TV flashes for a second as it switches resolution. However, the box doesn't freeze or reboot like you're seeing.

Are you connected via HDMI? What output mode are you using? Maybe if you use a set output resolution (vs. native or one of the upconvert modes) then you won't have the problem. Or, if you are using a set output resolution, you should try native or one of the upconvert settings and see if that helps.

I'm connected via HDMI, so the resolution switch is automatic. The freeze/reboot doesn't happen all the time, either, and usually only when the change is from SD to HD, not HD to SD. I was hoping others were having the same problem :) . Guess I'll have to call TW and see what they say.

My friend who just recently got a HDTV just told me that he's getting "51-1" on his TV. I'm planning on running home after work and seeing if this is true, or if he's out of his mind. But, has anyone else noticed this yet? He says it's not HD, but it is Digital.

It came up on an FCC site search and it looks like they've been given digital assignment 43 (mapped to 51). I see in the record they were given a temorary license, broadcast at .4 KW (good luck with that) and there's a modification permit to up that to 750 KW. Maybe they've done that now.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=53065

Whats the WB got in HD these days?

I think it might be real...

Looks like WPXT is operating with a special temporary authority on channel 43. This would be mapped by your friends receiver to 51-1 (51 being the analog channel WPXT broadcasts on). According to the FCC database,

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq

TV Long search, WPXT

They are broadcasting at 400 Watts ERP (that is, 0.4 kW), so if you are located any distance from the tower, you may not be able to pull it in.

The "special temporary authority" antenna is on a different tower than the analog antenna -- the analog antenna is in Gray while the temporary digital antenna is near the intersection of county rd and spring st near Clark Brook west of South Portland. The temporary antenna isn't very high, either -- 128 feet above mean terrain. Compare this to the licensed digital values of 750kW ERP and 870 feet above mean terrain (at the Gray tower location). For additional reference, the analog antenna is at 3020 kW ERP, and is 919 feet above average terrain.

In Texas, we used to refer to low power operations like this as "microwave ovens" -- *grin*

Joe

I believe the modification was granted for a "signal maximization" -- to allow them to change from 500kW ERP to 750 kW ERP (or something like that). Granting this "minor change" took years because the Canadian government had to approve the idea.

The STA was granted AFTER the "minor change" was granted -- allowing them to operate at low power for the foreseeable future (until the FCC rescinds STA's).

Everything the owner of this station has done (with WPXT and WPME -- WPME requested a channel assignment change, if I remember correctly) has been to delay the day they go digital. I wouldn't expect them to change their ways any time soon. Expect them to broadcast at low power until the FCC forces them to go to full power). I wouldn't hold my breath for HD, either.

Of course I could be wrong -- I hadn't heard that they had been gotten this far.

Hey Gents,
I haven't posted in a while. Glad to see you're still here.
I have the SA 8000 HD cable box with the hard drive. Every once in a while the sound cuts out and I have to go to previous channel and back to get the sound again (or turn the box off and on). It seems to happen during certain commercials. Anyway, a TW tech told me there's a new, better HD box. Is it really better? Should I get it?

Thanks

On either box 8000HD or 8300 HD

Lose the center channel on ABCHD CONSISTENTLY during "LOST" for the last 5 minutes.

Anybody get any answers from TW ??

Mine would lose the sound altogether, but it seemed to only happen after a local commercial and going back to network (show or commercial). Also, it didn't stop the sound from recording. In other words, if it's a show I recorded, the sound is fine on the DVR playback. I do have other issues with DVR playback of HD material though. Sometimes it's choppy, on and off.
I'm taking my HT rack apart tomorrow to take out my VCR (spent a small fortune on a good one a year or so ago, now I won't be using it) and putting in a Lite-On 5005 DVD recorder. I did some firmware hacks on the 5005 to disable copy protection (macrovision) and add a 3 hour record mode. I'll copy the few vhs tapes we watch regularly to DVD using the front panel I/Os. For any other tapes we watch, I'll just pull a vcr out of the closet.
I figured that I may as well swap the 8000 for an 8300 while I have everything apart - do it all at once. I just did some more research on the 8300 and it doesn't seem to be any worse than the 8000, so I may as well do it. It would be nice if the 8300 had a DV output, but it probably doesn't.

8300HD has an HDMI port

Worked well with a HDMI to DVI cable set to Auto DVI/HDMI (passthrough)
EXCEPT when taping another show with LOW hard drive space available would not broadcast HDTV channels.

Worked fine immediately after taping finished.

The DV connector passes the digital video and audio signal as played. The 5005 has a DV input for a direct connection to camcorders. I don't think it's regular record inputs will take dd5.1 in tact, but was thinking that it may take the DV (firewire) input in dd5.1. I haven't tried it, though.
Let's say I record an HD show with DD5.1 sound on the DVR. As far as I know, I could make a dvd from the 8000 (or 8300) to the 5005 in DD 2-channel, so Dolby pro-logic II would be all I could get. Not bad, but if the DV connectors were on the 8300 (there's a place for them, but they are usually missing) I could probably make the dvd in 5.1, even better.

I called TW Friday afternoon and customer service (I guess) told me all I had to do is bring in my 8000 on Saturday, from 9 to 3, and pick up a new 8300.
So, Saturday morning I took apart my HT rack (not an easy job) to replace my VCR with my new DVD recorder and swap out the 8000 for the 8300. My wife was going to run a few errands, so I gave her the 8000 to take to TW. Of course, when she gets there, they're out of 8300s and give her another 8000 instead. The CSR actually went as far as telling her the 8000 and 8300 were identical except for the case.
In 10 minutes on this forum Friday, I learned that the 8300 has a bit better PQ than the 8000 and sd/hd setup is better (you don't have to manually switch from 1080i to 480p). It's too bad the TW employees don't have to learn about the products. As it is, not even management knows the differences in the boxes - maybe 25% of the tech reps do, if they're really into this stuff.
I guess I'll have to bring my box to work with me every day, call TW and ask them if they have an 8300 in stock and be ready to rush down there if they do. It could take days or weeks. In the mean time, my living room is a mess.

Ran into a problem with my AV receiver Pioneer 1014 and my 8000HD box.

I get NO audio on the digital (channels 100+) spectrum BUT I do for all the analog (99-)

System worked fine and then this happened. Thinking of rebooting the box and maybe resetting to Factory defaults the receiver as fixes.

Any ideas?

Sox-Yankees are on 531 tonight in HD. Guide has no info, but it appears they're adding HNESN and ditching INHD2.

Sweet! I just stumbled across it during a commercial break. Dolby 2.0, but sounds good.

Thanks Guys for the heads up. What a great sight!! Hope this is going to last for all NESN HD Programming. Sox are doing a lot in HD this year and it will be fun to watch. My guess is that they will pre-empt INHD2 for the NESN Broadcasts. I have read that is what other cable companies have been doing. I feel bad for those that don't have the HD Tier!! We're making progress with more and more HD!!

Originally posted by sagecounsel
Ran into a problem with my AV receiver Pioneer 1014 and my 8000HD box.

I get NO audio on the digital (channels 100+) spectrum BUT I do for all the analog (99-)

System worked fine and then this happened. Thinking of rebooting the box and maybe resetting to Factory defaults the receiver as fixes.

Any ideas?

That's a tough one. If you haven't made any changes in the settings (or added any cables) to the 8000 or receiver, I'd guess it's a temporary problem with the 8000.
Are you still having the problem?

I'm still in the "call them every day" mode. The problem is, back before I got my 8000, I called and asked customer service when they'd be getting it and they never heard of it and had no idea if or when they'd get them. That afternoon I checked on here and people had them, so the next day I went to TW and picked one up. The point is, of course, that TW customer service is clueless. They could be telling me the 8300s aren't back in stock yet and be giving them out at the same time. It seems like someone there should know when they'll arrive.
Does anyone know of another way to get one? Is there a way around customer service, like going through repair or something? I'd like to put my HT rack back together.

Reboot of the 8000 fixed the problem... TW tech agreed it's their boxes problem.

It seems the drop in method is the only tried and true way of getting new gear. A "repair" will become a charge I bet.

NESN HD is here! Our customers in Cumberland and York Counties will
see NESN™s HD programming on iNHD2 (Channel 531). iNHD2 is part of
the HD Tier but will be open to all HD/Digital customers when NESN airs a
game in HD. NESN HD will have its own channel in Aroostook County
(Channel 556) and in Keene (Channel 652) and Berlin (Channel 648).

NESN™s high definition programming includes 106 Red Sox games this
season, including 3 spring training games, 63 games from Fenway Park and
40 road games. NESN is also scheduled to televise the 2005 Hockey East
semifinals and finals (March 18th and 19th) in HD this season.
NESN™s pre and post-game studio programs, NESN SportsDesk, and other network
programs and events will be provided in a digitally enhanced format for
our HD customers.

We will send out an upcoming schedule for the 2005 Hockey East
semifinals and finals as soon as it becomes available
Joe,

This was just released to us. Also just got a call that the 8300's
have arrived. I have my name on one for your friend, let me know their
name and I will have one saved for you.

Sincerely,
Laurie Russell

GTX_SlotCar - check your private messages. Tell her that Joe sent you. :-)

Another quick update from Laurie - the expected shipment of 8300's has NOT arrived, however a few have become available.

Originally posted by jkurlanski
Another quick update from Laurie - the expected shipment of 8300's has NOT arrived, however a few have become available.

I picked one up anyway. It was a used one, but seems to work OK. I didn't have much time to play around with it because of my son's basketball game (1st place, playoffs start next week). Here are a couple initial, and I stess initial, observations. The HD is crisper than on the 8000. The "output to vcr" jacks on the back seem to always be alive, and I don't recall that being the case with the 8000. Maybe someone can check for me.
From other posts I've read, I thought there would be a different menu for setting upconverts, but it's the same. Maybe I misunderstood the posts. I'll check into it more.

Quick update from TWC:

NESN will be airing the 2005 Hockey East semifinals and finals in HD
this weekend. Customers in Cumberland and York Counties can catch the
games on iNHD2 (Channel 531). iNHD2 is part of our HD Tier but will be
open to all HD/Digital customers when NESN airs a game in HD.

Friday, 3/18

Semi-final #1 BC vs Maine at 5p (HD)

Semi-final #2 BU vs UNH at 8p (HD)

Saturday, 3/19

Championship Winner #1 vs Winner #2 at 7p (HD)

Has anyone figured out yet why TW is doing NESN this way in Cumberland County?? Why don't they just assign it, its own channel?

Fellow Mainers,

I live in York County and was wondering if I could get any OTA HD programs. Anyone else in this area (Kennebunk) try this at all?

I currently have Dish and they have a small section of HD programs (5 in all) and also speak of a reciever which can handle local HD programming. I haven't decided yet if I want to go through Dish for 5 channels.

Any info appreciated....

pjo - is Time Warner an option for you? You'll get the best selection of HD channels through them at this point, because you can get all the available locals plus NESN-HD (little Red Sox on mind), w/o extra equipment purchase and antenna cost. York county can also get CBS-HD on TWC via Boston which Cumberland County can't (long story, read the Sinclair posts) unless you go OTA.
Disclaimer: No I don't work for TWC, and I never thought I'd be "pushing" a cable company!
If you can't get TWC...well, its a crap shoot. I shudder to suggest it, but if you go to titantv.com they have an antenna selector which should give you an idea of what you can pick up. Bet on a rooftop antenna, and depending on your terrain, you may be in a great spot to pick up lots of HD from Boston. (MAY being the operative word!)
Good Luck!

Thanks jk, TW is not an option - Adelphia only - which I don't like. That's why I went with Dish. If TW ever makes it down here, I'll definitely go with them. Have you looked into trying VOOM at all? Granted, you might not get the Sox but with all of the HD channels they have it's almost worth a look. I do know that VOOM might be on it's way out though but if it isn't I might try them too.

Take care...

Originally posted by pjo
Fellow Mainers,

I live in York County and was wondering if I could get any OTA HD programs. Anyone else in this area (Kennebunk) try this at all?

I currently have Dish and they have a small section of HD programs (5 in all) and also speak of a reciever which can handle local HD programming. I haven't decided yet if I want to go through Dish for 5 channels.

Any info appreciated....

I live in Wells Branch. I typically get HD via QAM on my LG4200A from TWC. I did experimant with ATSC using an old UHF antenna I had. I was able to pick up CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS without too much fiddling. I wasn't able to pick up anything from Boston.

TurboWells,

Thanks for the info. Is your UHF antenna outdoors? How's the LG4200A treating you? I've read that it's a pretty good product....

Anyone else having any trouble with Fox Hd? None of the shows were in HD this week. I get Fox-HD on channel 704 on Adelphia. Was this also the case with Time Warner?

I have Time Warner, and the only thing I tried to watch this past week on Fox HD was The OC, but it was not in high-def. Glad to know I wasn't the only one.

I noticed it, too. "Idol" started in HD Tuesday night, but switched to SD after an early commercial and HD hasn't returned. I wish TW, which goes to great lengths to publicize its addition of HD content via an email list, would be as aggressive when it comes to advising its subscribers that a glitch like this is at their end and not ours.

Anyone else have this problem, too: My 8300HD frequently freezes and reboots when the signal on 507 changes from SD (local commercials) to HD (Fox network content). It doesn't happen in the other direction (Fox HD to local SD), and only occurs on 507. My workaround, of course, is to switch to 7 during commercials and then back to 507 when the network feed returns, but that's a pain.

Originally posted by mainemojo
Anyone else have this problem, too: My 8300HD frequently freezes and reboots when the signal on 507 changes from SD (local commercials) to HD (Fox network content). It doesn't happen in the other direction (Fox HD to local SD), and only occurs on 507.....

Not on my new 8300, but on my 8000 I would lose the sound. I think it was going from network commercials to local ones. I posted it on here somewhere a few weeks ago. I'd have to hit "last channel" or turn the box off and on. Either way usually worked. Also, if I was recording the show, the recording did not miss the sound. I was probably only losing analog or digital, but not both. Anyway. it's time for you to get another box.


I noticed the Simpsons wasn't in HD Sunday night. Since other HD channels worked, I figured it was either Fox or TW.

Originally posted by pjo
TurboWells,

Thanks for the info. Is your UHF antenna outdoors? How's the LG4200A treating you? I've read that it's a pretty good product....

I'm happy with the LG4200A. The antenna I used was an old outdoor UHF antenna that I hooked up to the LG4200A. I just set the antenna on the floor.

Back for another season. Tried WGME last night to see what was up. Cold Case was in SD. both 13-1 and 13-2 Are they not doing HD anymore? Really doesn't matter since I have all networks in HD from DirecTV.

Originally posted by sdf777
Back for another season. Tried WGME last night to see what was up. Cold Case was in SD. both 13-1 and 13-2 Are they not doing HD anymore? Really doesn't matter since I have all networks in HD from DirecTV.

WGME has been really inconsistent lately about HD. I'm going to drop them an e-Mail and ask why.

How did you manage to get HD locals from D*? You got waivers?

Steve,

I'm also in your area and was wondering how the signal strength is out of Portland to K'port/K'bunk. I'm thinking of going OTA/antenna but don't know of any who have tried this in my area. Any recommendations?

Thanks,

pjo

I have a UHF antenna in my attic. Reception is no problem. I've had DirecTV networks for 10 years and am grandfathered. WGME should be embarrassed. Digital is way past the inital learning curve. No HD is a management failure.

It's especially silly that sinclair expects cable companies to pay extra for an inconsistent "HD" feed of WGME.

I think it's time the FCC abandons the archaic notion that we should be stuck with local network affiliates. It was necessary in the early days of TV, but it's way out of date.
I bet if TW could offer us (Cumberland county) CBS Boston in place of, or along with Portland, you'd see things shape up a lot faster at good-ol' channel 13.

Can anyone comment on Adelphia's HD offerings in Adroscoggin county? The Adelphia lineup lists channel 706 as Network: WCSH HD; Station/Service: WGME HD.

I'm assuming that's a typo and WCSH is the station on 706. Am I correct that WGME is the onlky HD local not provided?

Thanks,

Joe

Did some looking on Sinclair's site regarding HDTV serice -- it seems they now have deals in place with Comcast and DirecTV for HD Local retransmission. Has anyone heard from WGME, Time Warner, or Adelphia regarding movement on the local front?


Joe

Adelphia responded to me Monday saying that they were still negotiating for the CBS station (HDTV channel 13). I am on the Augusta system.

What is the HD box they are using?

Thanks,

Joe

Originally posted by DrJoe
... Has anyone heard from WGME, Time Warner, or Adelphia regarding movement on the local front?
The last time I talked with TW, I was left with the impression that they were aggressively seeking an alternative route for bringing us CBS HD, but not ruling out an agreement with WGME. I'm not sure what this means, but I figured it would be something out of Boston like they have for York County. I don't know how they could pull it off. Personally, I'd rather have CBS HD from WBZ than from WGME.
My guess would be that Adelphia will probably see what TW is doing.

Originally posted by DrJoe
Did some looking on Sinclair's site regarding HDTV serice -- it seems they now have deals in place with Comcast and DirecTV for HD Local retransmission. Has anyone heard from WGME, Time Warner, or Adelphia regarding movement on the local front?


Joe

No deal in place on Adelphia and I'm not holding my breath. I live in Lewiston and have the Motorola 6412 hd-dvr. For the most part I'm pretty satisfied with it. The only recurring problem is pixelation(every 3-4 seconds ) on the HD tier channels 772-778. This also happens on several of the movie channels. It happens quite often and is very annoying to say the least. The only way I can get it to stop is to unplug the box and plug it back in. This wipes out the program guide for several hours. I don't know if this is a problem that would be remedied with a new box or if the problem is with the head end. I hesitate to swap out the box as I have alot of programs saved on the dvr that I don't want to lose.

I never thought that I would have Fox-hd before CBS-hd. Here's hoping that an agreement will be reached with Sinclair sometime this decade.

I went to the Adelphia office in Agusta today. Among other things, I asked if Adelphia had figured out how to make cable cards work yet. I am suspicious that they do not really want them to work because they want us to rent the box or at least wait for the 2 way cable card which might provide them with more business than the 1 way card.

In any event, I was informed that Adelphia had NOT yet figured out how to make cable cards work.

What has been your experience elsewhere with other cable companies? Reports from around the country show that not only do cable cards represent a lesser rental charge, but that a television set's tuner does a better job than the cable box in providing a high quality picture.

Originally posted by capsfan
I live in Lewiston and have the Motorola 6412 hd-dvr. For the most part I'm pretty satisfied with it. The only recurring problem is pixelation(every 3-4 seconds ) on the HD tier channels 772-778.

They gave me the same box. I'm noticing the pixellation too.

I've also noticed that the HD channels are slightly zoomed. This is extremely obvious switching between ESPN 2 HD and ESPN 2 analog. The scroll bar at the bottom of ESPN 2 HD is mostly gone. Do you notice this too? I'm using the component video output (I have a DVI cable being shipped to me), and have it set 16:9, 1080i, with 480i enabled (that way my set will put gray bars on 4:3 video). Do you know of any way to modify the geometry the box puts out? I don't _really_ want to adjust the geometry of my set (thankfully the 1080i settings are independent of 480i/480p -- and I already have them set well for 480i/480p) -- I'll wait until I record the test patterns from HDNet Tuesday morning, and until I see if DVI does any better.

I'm a bit disappointed that PIP doesn't work (although "swap" does), and that "aspect" doesn't function as well.

By the way, and for what it is worth, the technician that hooked my service up told me that Adelphia in Maine is _definitely_ going to become Time Warner when the Comcast/Time Warner deal goes through.

Later

Joe

As I said earlier, Adelphia in Augusta, ME does not know how to make cable cards work yet according to the clerk at the desk. How about other Adelphia locations?

Does Time Warner have cable cards working?

Is there a set date yet for the Time Warner takeover of Adelphia?

I read somewhere on the internet that it may be a year before the real switchover takes effect.

Adelphia sent out a mailer that said it was expected to take a year.

Coincidence. I received my mailing from Adelphia the next day (5/21) after my posting. I have to say that Adelphia has been good for me especially after they upgraded the headend about 3 years ago. Much better analog picture.

Adelphia needs to go away fast. Ever since they closed their Kennebunk office, the customer service has dropped off the map. I received a couple of free PPV vouchers one month, and was all set to order the movie with my remote. A message pops up saying I had to call in my order! This wasn't the case a year or so ago. They have regressed in service. When I called a couple of weeks ago to order the Motorola 6412 DVR, they told me it would cost 25 dollars to have someone drop it off at my house. So I opted to pick it up at my "local" office in Windham. I'm looking forward to the Time Warner/Comcast takeover. Time Warner will likely be taking over in my area, since I'm told the companies prefer to keep their operating zones in clusters.

Now that I have all of that off my chest, I will give credit where credit is due. Adelphia does have a great HD channel selection. They're up to 17 channels now, and the only noticable channel lacking is CBS WGME. Not their fault since Sinclair holding it hostage from cable operators, but I wish they would pick up WBZ4 out of Boston for the time being.

As of this morning, Adelphia has added Video on Demand service to its cable boxes. I'm not sure if its statewide, but it should be up and running everywhere in York County by now.

This doesn't change my opinion of Adelphia, but at least they are still upgrading their technology at this point :)

Yes, I am surprised that Adelphia (Augusta) continues to function as if there is no big change coming. I can't complain except when they told me a month or so ago that they still haven't figured out cablecard. I suspect that they won't until they are good and ready.

The big thing hanging in the air is the absence of CBS from the cable. Channel 13 is Sinclair, so nothing will happen there until Sinclair believes they have forced a lucrative deal. Channel 5 (Bangor) is CBS, however, and they are not on the cable either. The purchase of an HDTV would be made much nicer if all the networks were on.

Are there any Portland/South Portland area people who receive OTA HD broadcasts? I'm getting a DirecTV HD Tivo installed next week, and I'm curious what kind of antenna you're using. www.antennaweb.org says that a "yellow" rated antenna should work. I'd prefer one that attaches to the dish mounting stand to avoid installing another mounting pole.

Are there any Portland/South Portland area people who receive OTA HD broadcasts? I'm getting a DirecTV HD Tivo installed next week, and I'm curious what kind of antenna you're using. www.antennaweb.org says that a "yellow" rated antenna should work. I'd prefer one that attaches to the dish mounting stand to avoid installing another mounting pole.

Hi,

I had DirecTV install an OTA HD antenna when I subscribed. It's a Winegard non-amplified GS-1000 and mounts on a mast as part of the dish installation. I'm only able to get WGME 13 HD OTA at my location. But, that's the station I wanted in order to see the Pats games in HD. As far as I know, this is the only HD OTA antenna that DirecTV provides directly. Retailers such as Circuit City offer more selection. :)

Dana

Hi,

I had DirecTV install an OTA HD antenna when I subscribed. It's a Winegard non-amplified GS-1000 and mounts on a mast as part of the dish installation. I'm only able to get WGME 13 HD OTA at my location. But, that's the station I wanted in order to see the Pats games in HD. As far as I know, this is the only HD OTA antenna that DirecTV provides directly. Retailers such as Circuit City offer more selection. :)

Dana


I had read that the D* supplied antenna wasn't very good, so I figured I would pick one up on my own.

BTW, have you seen the great deal going on for the HD Tivo? I ordered mine for $299, which will be a net cost of $199 after the $100 mail-in-rebate. Considering that MPEG-4 Portland locals through D* seem a long way off, it was too good to pass up for me. :eek:

AccidenT,

It depends on whose opinion you read, I guess. It was good enough to get me the Pats games in HD - and the price was right. (Free.) I'm aware of the HD Tivo deal. Thanks.

Dana

AccidenT,

It depends on whose opinion you read, I guess. It was good enough to get me the Pats games in HD - and the price was right. (Free.) I'm aware of the HD Tivo deal. Thanks.

Dana

That does sound reasonable if it's free, but from what I've read, the current pricing is an additional $50 for the antenna. I'd rather be able to choose what I'm getting for that price.

If you haven't seen it on TWC, they have picked up the US Open in HD on channel 560. The only problem for me is that I can't keep the picture. It keeps flickering in and out and the sound cuts in and out as well (literally every second, in out in out).
I called service last night when it was still happening after a day and they saw no problems. The checked my signal, rebooted the box, but nothing fixed it. Last gasp for the tech was to suggest I swap out my DVR, which of course is a huge pain in the butt. Anyone else experiencing this problem or is it just me?

jkurlanski: I can't say it's just you, but can say I watched most of the Blake-Muller match last night in HD and had no problems.

I tivo'd the Jets vs. Chiefs game from 13-1 yesterday. By the time I got a chance to watch it, I had already heard the outcome from my brother in law, so I just took a glance to see what the PQ was like, since this was my first CBS HD game. From what I saw, the picture looked good when there was no motion, but any motion caused it to be blurry/blocky. Is this typical for WMGE OTA? If so, is there any hope of getting them to stop multi-casting? Even bandwidth starved football on ESPN-HD through DirecTv looked a lot better.

I tivo'd the Jets vs. Chiefs game from 13-1 yesterday. By the time I got a chance to watch it, I had already heard the outcome from my brother in law, so I just took a glance to see what the PQ was like, since this was my first CBS HD game. From what I saw, the picture looked good when there was no motion, but any motion caused it to be blurry/blocky. Is this typical for WMGE OTA? If so, is there any hope of getting them to stop multi-casting? Even bandwidth starved football on ESPN-HD through DirecTv looked a lot better.

AccidenT,

I watched some of the game on 13-1 OTA and it came in fine here. No artifacts during motion. I did not watch the entire game, however, nor did I try to record it. My OTA signal from 13-1 has been super, certainly the equal of ESPN-HD, etc., since I first connected up last December. Have you watched 13-1 HD in real time?

Dana

AccidenT,

I watched some of the game on 13-1 OTA and it came in fine here. No artifacts during motion. I did not watch the entire game, however, nor did I try to record it. My OTA signal from 13-1 has been super, certainly the equal of ESPN-HD, etc., since I first connected up last December. Have you watched 13-1 HD in real time?

Dana

I watched a bit of the US Open, and it looked fine. There's really no such thing as "real-time" with the HD TiVo, since even when you're watching "live", it's buffered to disk and then decoded from there. I'll give it another shot this weekend and see if I have better luck.

FWIW, signal strength certainly isn't a problem, as 13 is easily the strongest and most stable signal of any of the OTA channels. I ended up going with a direction indoor yagi (terk hdtvi, similar to the zenith silver sensor), and I get > 90% signal strength pretty much regardless of which direction I aim it :eek:

6-1 is usually much more finicky; 8-1 is usually pretty good, and I seem to only get 10-1 and 17-1 at night, (not that there's much that interests me on PBS).

AccidenT, are you using an LCD tv? LCD screens have a tough time with motion blurring.

No, I have a direct-view CRT. I'll have to check out the Pats game on Sunday to see if it was just an issue with the game last week, since no other HD on that channel has had any issues.

Anyone had success with OTA from the Auburn-Lewiston area? I understand that, at the least, a "red" class antenna is required. Hoping to find advice on how well one has worked in this area.

Well, I can't speak for the L-A area but down here in Southern Maine I've been watching CBS/NBC/ABC OTA with an antenna in my attic. I picked up the channel master 4228 and it's been awesome.

The best test when trying to get the digital channels around your area is to first see if you can get the analog signal. If you can get those, then the digital channels should work too. For example, I took a set of rabbit ears up to my attic with a small tv. I was able to get CBS/NBC/ABC/PBS..etc. Now, this doesn't mean that all stations broadcast a digital signal. I believe that the four I mentioned do along with the WB in the Portland area. I'm not sure if Fox is digital or not out of Waterville but I'm pretty sure it isn't.

Check out antennaweb.org, channelmaster.com and antennasdirect.com for decent antennas. There's also another cool site to check the status of a station in your area:

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html

I watched the Pats game and it looked great (OTA-WGME). CSI-Miami looked incredible last night too.

I'm on the Sabattus/Lisbon Falls line. I'm using the Winegard SS-1000 Square-Shooter HDTV antenna. Looks like a pizza box. WCSH, WMTW, WGME, PBS all come in great. PBS is the only one currently that is not coming from the same direction as the others. So it was a little tricky get the antenna pointed in a happy medium. It is very directional. When I was trying to get analog over the air, I got the stations, but they blew chunks. OTA ATSC is amazing, much better then what the cable company is pumping through the lines.

There's a version of the Square Shooter with a built in amp, I would probably go with that one. I added an amp to mine and it works better.

Antennaweb and Titantv are showing that WB is on the air, but I am not getting anything. Anyone else getting this yet?

On occasion I can tune in WPXT-DT. I believe the frequency assignment is 43. I'm only 6 miles from the tower and I barely pull it in. According to the chief engineer, they're broadcasting very low power while they build out their high-power location. They're not actually capable of broadcasting in HD yet. He said they're hoping for May '06 to start broadcasting at full power and in HD.

Cool, thanks for the info. They were listed as an air date of July 06, then all of a sudden they showed as active. Guess I can stop my daily scans now. :rolleyes:

Well, I can't speak for the L-A area but down here in Southern Maine I've been watching CBS/NBC/ABC OTA with an antenna in my attic. I picked up the channel master 4228 and it's been awesome.

The best test when trying to get the digital channels around your area is to first see if you can get the analog signal. If you can get those, then the digital channels should work too. For example, I took a set of rabbit ears up to my attic with a small tv. I was able to get CBS/NBC/ABC/PBS..etc. Now, this doesn't mean that all stations broadcast a digital signal. I believe that the four I mentioned do along with the WB in the Portland area. I'm not sure if Fox is digital or not out of Waterville but I'm pretty sure it isn't.


I watched the Pats game and it looked great (OTA-WGME). CSI-Miami looked incredible last night too.
Thanks for the feedback. I checked those sites .... they indicate I should be able to receive 2-3 Portland local HD channels OTA. I think I'll try a CM4221 first since it has a wider angle (20 degrees) than the CM4228 and sufficient range and may allow receiving several stations w/o a rotator.

Still hope to hear from someone in the L-A area.
- - Phil

Still hope to hear from someone in the L-A area.
- - Phil

I'm 6 miles from the Lewiston line, I wouldn't think there would be a whole lot of difference. :)

Did anyone here watch Lost on WMTW-DT tonight? I was watching OTA and was only getting rear-channel sound (no dialog, barely audible music) for the last segment of the show. From the thread in the HDTV programming forum it's clear that it wasnt' a national issue; I'm just curious if it affected both OTA and Time Warner (or maybe just me :eek: )

I'm 6 miles from the Lewiston line, I wouldn't think there would be a whole lot of difference. :)
I have no way to know ... terrain and angle to transmitter may make for differences.
I'd rather hope you are right. :-)

I'll know more after I test from my location with a CM4221 antenna.

- - Phil

Accident,

Same thing here. OTA-WMTW. I had to watch it in SD during the end of the show to hear what was going on. The same thing happened with Invasion as well. I'm going to send their engineers an email and see what they say.

-pjo

pmorgan,

Just wanted to let you know I'm not using a rotor with my antenna and it works great for getting all the stations I want. You might be able to get away without one as well. Good luck with it. Here's a cool link showing the different gain for antennas.

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

pmorgan,

Just wanted to let you know I'm not using a rotor with my antenna and it works great for getting all the stations I want. You might be able to get away without one as well. Good luck with it. Here's a cool link showing the different gain for antennas.

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html
You're fortunate. If you were in L-A, I'd take more comfort from your experience. I'll hope for the best in the meantime.

Antenna shipment delayed so I won't be testing for another week.

Still hope to hear from someone in L-A on their results.

Did anyone here watch Lost on WMTW-DT tonight? I was watching OTA and was only getting rear-channel sound (no dialog, barely audible music) for the last segment of the show. From the thread in the HDTV programming forum it's clear that it wasnt' a national issue; I'm just curious if it affected both OTA and Time Warner (or maybe just me :eek: )
I'm on TW in Cape Elizabeth. Had the same problem with dropped audio during the last few minutes of "Lost" in HD (from the the "post-op 'miracle' scene to the end). I recorded "Invasion" in HD, but haven't watched it yet, so I don't know if the problem persisted. Same thing happened frequently, and only during the last few minutes of shows, with HD from WMTW last season. Hmmm ...

Did anyone here watch Lost on WMTW-DT tonight? I was watching OTA and was only getting rear-channel sound (no dialog, barely audible music) for the last segment of the show. From the thread in the HDTV programming forum it's clear that it wasnt' a national issue; I'm just curious if it affected both OTA and Time Warner (or maybe just me :eek: )

The same thing happened to me. It also happened for one entire segment of Invasion. I recall that it used to happen alot last year on WMTW-DT especially during the last 5 minutes of shows (Alias). I now feel forced to record in SD as a back-up to watch any missed dialogue after the fact. I watched on Adelphia digital cable in Lewiston.

I called WMTW to report what is happening for what it's worth. They were supposed to check into it and get back to me. I'm not holding my breath.

Yeah I later scanned through a bit of Invasion and saw that the initial segment had the same problem. I ended up using closed captions rather than an SD backup, but I also have season passes on my SD DirecTivo for most shows given the somewhat fickle nature of OTA reception.

On a related note, it's dropouts and oddities like this that make it hard to justify the cost of the various components in an HD setup. I've been hearing the "We paid how much to miss important parts of the shows just so they look a little better?" line too often recently. :rolleyes:

I just got off of the phone with an engineer from WMTW and he said that they monitor the signal from their end and that they haven't noticed any such problems. He suggested that it could be a problem on Adelphia or TW's end. I explained that it often occurs OTA as well and that I didn't believe the problem was with the various cable companies. I also explained that the various audio problems often occur after a commercial break or when they go SD for station identification. He took my name and phone number and said he would investigate. If he gets back to me I will pass his reply along.

he said that they monitor the signal from their end and that they haven't noticed any such problems.

Hehe, this conjours up an image of the guy who's supposed to monitor the signal playing solitaire and listening to his mp3 player ;)

capsfan, thanks for looking into the problem with WMTW. I give kudos to the other stations that I've dealt with about their digital signal and HD programming (WGME, WCSH and WFXT). All of those stations have been very receptive to any questions or comments I've had. Did you happen to mention that other Mainers are complaining about their audio drops in this thread? I wonder if they even know about these forums........

capsfan, thanks for looking into the problem with WMTW. I give kudos to the other stations that I've dealt with about their digital signal and HD programming (WGME, WCSH and WFXT). All of those stations have been very receptive to any questions or comments I've had. Did you happen to mention that other Mainers are complaining about their audio drops in this thread? I wonder if they even know about these forums........

I did mention that this problem has been experienced by others in Maine and not just cable but OTA as well. I told the engineer about this forum but he had never heard of it. Hopefully, he will take a serious look at this and not just sweep it under the rug.

On a side note, I didn't encounter any problems with Desperate Housewives last night.

Update. The engineer from WMTW called me back today. He insisted that the problem isn't on their end and that it's Adelphia or TW's problem. I reminded him that it happened OTA as well and it only seems to happen with WMTW and not the other HD feeds. He said that the problem was remedied with TW and that he would try to find out what the specific fix was.

I still think the problem lies with WMTW so people need to keep reporting their findings on this forum and whether they are OTA, Adelphia, or TW.

I watched Grey's Anatomy tonight on DVR and was without dialog for 1 entire segment. Sigh. I guess I'll have to record in SD as well until the problem is taken care of.

Watched most of the game last night and didn't notice any audio problems. Granted, I wasn't glued to the set but when I was watching all was well - OTA signal.

capsfan, you didn't happen to get an email address for that engineer, did you? Thanks for the update.

Watched most of the game last night and didn't notice any audio problems. Granted, I wasn't glued to the set but when I was watching all was well - OTA signal.

capsfan, you didn't happen to get an email address for that engineer, did you? Thanks for the update.

I never experienced audio dropouts during football games at all last year. They always seemed to occur during shows such as Alias, Lost or Desperate Housewives. The next time I talk to the engineer I'll try to get an e-mail address.

If the problem supposedly isn't on their end why is it that these problems never occur with the other local HD feeds?

Update. The engineer from WMTW called me back today. He insisted that the problem isn't on their end and that it's Adelphia or TW's problem. I reminded him that it happened OTA as well and it only seems to happen with WMTW and not the other HD feeds. He said that the problem was remedied with TW and that he would try to find out what the specific fix was.

I still think the problem lies with WMTW so people need to keep reporting their findings on this forum and whether they are OTA, Adelphia, or TW.

I watched Grey's Anatomy tonight on DVR and was without dialog for 1 entire segment. Sigh. I guess I'll have to record in SD as well until the problem is taken care of.

I saw the same issue with Grey's Anatomy OTA.

It seems pretty clear that it's something that happens when switching back to HD after commercials. It's like someone flips all the switches except the center channel (and possibly left/right channel) one. I don't have a 5.1 receiver so I'm not able to confirm which channels actually have sound and which don't. Can anyone with a 5.1 receiver do some more thorough diagnosis?

Is the person "monitoring" the feed not actually listening to the sound?

Check out this thread for NBC audio loss: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=584471

I'm sure the same thing applies to other stations too.

Well, audio dropped again last night for WMTW-DT during Invasion. The last 15 minutes had no center channel audio. This happened right after the commercial break. OTA signal.

Lost was fine though......

I have not seen any discussion about picking up Portland TWC digital channels via QAM, but I thought I'd try anyways since it's time for Fox HD baseball playoffs. Background: I only have basic TWC but use a Samsung SIR-T451 HD tuner to get OTA HD. Up until a few weeks ago I was able to pick up TWC Fox HD via the QAM capability in the box. TWC was assigning Fox to channel 86-3. I have not been able to get it since around Sep. 19th. Does anyone know what may have happened or who I might ask? I wanted to try here before I bothered with TWC. I can't imagine they are scrambling the signal since they don't scramble other networks.

Folks,

Anyone else watching WCSH-DT OTA? I am and the HD PQ is terrible when compared to other channels (ABC, CBS, etc). I know that they are broadcasting a subchannel which might be impacting the PQ. Can anyone else confirm that the HD PQ isn't as good as other stations?

Folks,

Anyone else watching WCSH-DT OTA? I am and the HD PQ is terrible when compared to other channels (ABC, CBS, etc). I know that they are broadcasting a subchannel which might be impacting the PQ. Can anyone else confirm that the HD PQ isn't as good as other stations?

I emailed the programming manager about this issue (along with the issue of the digital channels' guide data just showing "sign off" from 12:30am-6:00am, making it so I can't set up a season pass for Conan). He seemed surprised to hear about it. I did find out that they actually have two subchannels now. 6-2 is "News Center Weather Plus" and 6-3 is an SD simulcast.

However, part of the problem could also be NBC's head-end equipment. There are a few threads showing people in various locations across the country all seeing the same problem (still images look pretty good, but any motion results in blocking/artifacting).

See here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=582862
and here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=594579

The programming manager's name is Mike Marshall. His email address is MMARSHALL@wcsh.gannett.com

I'm sure it would add validity to my issue if other people seeing the same thing drop him a line. If nothing else, maybe we can get them to drop the SD simulcast (which seems pretty silly, since any ATSC receiver should be able to output the HD channel to an SD TV)

I'm curious what method they use to get the HD channel over to TWC. Maybe that feed isn't affected by the multicasting? Any TWC users want to chime in? I know you don't have HDTV college football on CBS , but how is the quality of the Notre Dame games comparing to the Fox, ESPN or ABC football broadcasts? The difference I see is quite significant.

Accident, I got in touch with Mike and the Director of Technology at WCSH - Dave Mundee. Dave explained that they do not change the feed that NBC provides them. I'm paraphrasing here but he stated that NBC is in the process of improving their satellite delivery to the local affiliates. WCSH is also trying to improve the overall HD picture with their own technology but they do not alter the signal in anyway once it's delivered to them. However, they only allocate about 15 megs to the HD bitstream, instead of a full 19. Dave explained they have always done this though. Now, all of this information is for folks watching OTA. I'm not sure about TWC as I have Dish and get locals OTA. The difference I see watching CBS/ABC/NBC is significant when comparing HD PQ. Could it be the difference in bitstream where CBS/ABC send the full bitstream and don't have subchannels? Perhaps. I asked them to try the full bitstream but that more than likely won't happen as the WeatherPlus channel is providing revenue for them. That's all I know at this point...

I can receive NBC-DT OTA and via TWC. I've been waiting to get a good program to compare and I finally got it with the Belmont today. I have to say, the OTA actually looked a little crisper than TWC, but only by a nose (rimshot please). I didn't expect that at all. I had one signal drop towards the end of the race but I imagine that was me, since my attic antenna is primarily pointed for WGME. Overall, I have to say it looked a little soft though.
But, to answer the riddle of OTA via TWC, OTA won.

I've been checking out this thread with great interest as I have an HDTV card in my HTPC (Fusion5 Lite) and I cannot pickup anything with my Terk HDTVi indoor antenna. My landlord will allow me to install a rooftop antenna as long as it is professionally installed. I currently live on the West side of Portland. So I am just looking for some suggestions of antennas, but more importantly someone who can professionally install a UHF antenna and not cost me an arm and a leg!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Check out titantv.com for a decent look at what kind of antenna, and more importantly, direction it should point. I installed a radio shack special in my attic and that worked just fine for the locals. I couldn't even tell you the brand name!
As for an installer..no idea. Sorry.

Here's an FYI to the DirecTv customers that read this thread.

When I bought my HR10-250, I asked DirecTv to submit waiver requests to all of the local networks. I only really cared about Fox, but it wasn't any extra work on my part for them to submit all of them. About a month later a post card came in the mail. According to my wife (who threw it away before I got home to see it myself), it said that all the requests had been denied. I never really had any expectations, so I wasn't surprised or disappointed. However, on my last statement I saw a line item for the east coast Fox HD feed. I tuned my receiver to that channel (88), and it was active! If I had bothered to check earlier, I probably could have watched the world series in HD. Oh well, it'll still come in handy for football.

Long story short: your mileage may vary, but it's worth a shot to have D* request the waivers for you. :)

WMTW DT is back up at regular transmit power on their main DT antenna.... They had an antenna failure two weeks ago......[FONT=System]

Anyone else seeing problems on CBS-DT for the Patriots v. Miami game? I'm getting a signal breakup every five to 10 seconds. Sound drops out and/or the picture freezes. I don't think its me, but I tried repositioning my antenna anyway. No luck. According to my receiver I'm still getting a good signal from them, even during the breakup.
I seem to recall seeing this last week too, but I didn't pay any mind to it since I didn't care about the game that was on.

I have been having this prob all the time... I thought I needed to replace the connector up at the antenna, but maybe not if you're having the same prob
I'm in Windham, with a sig strength of 88 when this is happening

Same problem here on Bailey Island.

Dana

I'm having the same problem in Topsham. 100% signal and I've been having the problem all week. I even called Dish to complain because I thought it was another problem with my box. I guess maybe the problem is with the station.

Same problem here in South Portland, it's been going on for about a week as well. CSI:LV was almost unwatchable, Auburn vs. LSU was the same way. My signal strength never drops below 87%.

I've had problems like this in the past. The breakups usually weren't as often, but lasted longer. I figured I had a multipath issue with this one station, but it seemed to only happen during certain shows (Numb3rs, CSI:NY and CSI). I hadn't ever really seen it during the day until now.

Anyone have contact info for the engineer at WGME handy? I'm sure its buried in this thread somewhere....

Anyone have contact info for the engineer at WGME handy? I'm sure its buried in this thread somewhere....

Craig Clarke, chief engineer 797-1313 ext. 7780

He answers his phone. Thanks for helping...

Dana

I'm on it...let you know how it goes. I suspect they're aware of it, because with a couple minutes to go in the first half the signal disappeared completely for a couple of minutes. Probably trying the same thing I did...rebooting.

BTW - Universal-HD appears to have been added for good to the TWC lineup..channel 535. Besides EVEN MORE Law and Order, I haven't seen anything worth watching yet.

Just got off the phone with Craig (left a msg and he called back) They are very much aware of the problem and have a replacement module coming in today to resolve the problem. Sounds like they had a heck of time tracking it down. They even tried to switch to a backup unit last week, but it developed the same issue Same vintage equipment Hopefully this will all be settled later today or tomorrow.

Many thanks! Let's hope it works!

Dana

Greetings all,
I'm Craig Clark, Chief Engineer for WGME TV-DT. We believe we have found the problem to our HD blocking problem. The part came in today we tried for the Pats game but it did not make it in. We will have it online today.

Some had questions from where we broadcast.
We broadcast from Raymond, Maine, the same tower we use for our analog CH 13. We are not near the WCSH and WMTW tower sites.
A good tip forDT reception is to use Ch 13 first to point your antenna. A UHF antenna will work for CH 13. Point the antenna for best reception and then connect to your HD tuner.

If you have questions or comments please feel free to contact me directly at;

207-228-7780 , my direct line into the station, or email me.
I appreciate your comments and any feedback.

Craig Clark
C.E. WGME TV-DT

What a wonderful thing to see you on the forum, Mr. Clark. It's nice to know that we have a great source available for technical questions. Thank you for posting and being available to viewers.

It is refreshing to have enginners like Craig Clark who "get it". He is a real asset to WGME. I spoke w/him almost a year ago about problems receiving their signal when WCSH and WMTW were okay. He took the time to explain they were not at full power yet and volunteered to contact me when they were. I am in S. NH and for several months now receive WGME DT without problem. Thank you Craig.

I agree with the comments related to WGME. Craig has always been very responsive to any emails/questions I've had. Thanks for taking the time to join the forums and respond to us.

pjo

The module has been installed. The HD looks good, no blocking. Let me know if you see any problems!

Anyone else seeing problems on CBS-DT for the Patriots v. Miami game? I'm getting a signal breakup every five to 10 seconds. Sound drops out and/or the picture freezes. I don't think its me, but I tried repositioning my antenna anyway. No luck. According to my receiver I'm still getting a good signal from them, even during the breakup.
I seem to recall seeing this last week too, but I didn't pay any mind to it since I didn't care about the game that was on.

Same problem here in Kennebunk. Subsequent posts seem to indicate that WGME is on top of things. Very nice to see.

The module has been installed. The HD looks good, no blocking. Let me know if you see any problems!

Craig, silence is golden. Looks great from Manchester, NH

Looks great. Thanks for the help Craig, and welcome!

Is anyone else experiencing frequent short breakups on WMTW-DT? Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy were fine on Sunday, but Monday Night Football had small breakups every 5-15 seconds, as did the few minutes of Good Morning America I watched this morning. It looks a lot like when they were having transmitting issues a couple of weeks ago.

Are you watching OTA or through a cable company? I've had alot of problems with WMTW-DT on Adelphia in Lewiston. Frequent audio drop-outs and a few video problems as well (freezing). I noticed it with Lost a couple of weeks ago but switched over to OTA and the problem went away. This lead me to believe that the problem is more on Adelphia's end but I could be wrong. I've been forced to watch a few of my recorded WMTW-HD shows with the subtitles turned on so that I could catch all of the missed dialogue because of drop-outs. It's happened during Lost, Alias, and Boston Legal in the last 2 weeks.

I have also had problems with the center channel missing during segments of shows on ABC preventing you from hearing any dialogue, just sound effects. I haven't encountered any such problems with any other HD channels that Adelphia has so it's possible that the problem is on the WMTW end.

It's puzzling because if the problem is on the end of WMTW then you would think the problems would be there OTA as well as through cable. If anyone can shed some light it would be greatly appreciated.

I haven't seen any problems via TWC. I watched all of MNF this week w/no issues. I think (but I'm not positive) that TWC is getting their feed direct from WMTW over fiber.
I can't pull it in via OTA right now. In my haste to reposition my antenna when WGME was on the fritz I lost it. I'll try to retune later this week and see what I find.

[QUOTE=capsfan]Are you watching OTA or through a cable company? I've had alot of problems with WMTW-DT on Adelphia in Lewiston. Frequent audio drop-outs and a few video problems as well (freezing). I noticed it with Lost a couple of weeks ago but switched over to OTA and the problem went away. This lead me to believe that the problem is more on Adelphia's end but I could be wrong. I've been forced to watch a few of my recorded WMTW-HD shows with the subtitles turned on so that I could catch all of the missed dialogue because of drop-outs. It's happened during Lost, Alias, and Boston Legal in the last 2 weeks.[QUOTE=capsfan]

I've recently put a small Zerk antenna in the attic of my home in Auburn and was delighted to find a pointing direction that allows reception of OTA channels for 6-1, 8-1, 13-1, and 17-2. While they are stable most of the time and I have not experienced the audio dropouts reported by Adelphia users, I still cannot locate any channels for UPN and FOX. Are they receivable in Auburn or Lewiston?

I've recently put a small Zerk antenna in the attic of my home in Auburn and was delighted to find a pointing direction that allows reception of OTA channels for 6-1, 8-1, 13-1, and 17-2. While they are stable most of the time and I have not experienced the audio dropouts reported by Adelphia users, I still cannot locate any channels for UPN and FOX. Are they receivable in Auburn or Lewiston?

Neither FOX nor UPN are broadcasting digitally OTA, so you can probably stop adjusting your antenna trying to find them. :D

WPXT (WB) is broadcasting digitally but it's from a temporary location in South Portland, is very low power, and isn't HD.

I certainly am dissappointed to learn this ... you can be sure I will relax my antenna adjusting efforts for the time being!

Any idea when any of them (Fox, UPN, and WB) will commence HD broadcasting?
Thanks.
- - Phil

I certainly am dissappointed to learn this ... you can be sure I will relax my antenna adjusting efforts for the time being!

Any idea when any of them (Fox, UPN, and WB) will commence HD broadcasting?
Thanks.
- - Phil

The engineer at the WB was hoping for spring of 2006 to move the broadcast to the permanent, high-power tower and also begin passing HD. The engineer at FOX said it won't be until the analog cutoff date, because the previous owners of the station didn't apply for a second frequency assignment to use during the transition, so they have to shut the analog feed off in order to broadcast the digital one. UPN appears to have a frequency assignment, but I believe they were running into issues with the regulations regarding stations that are within a certain distance of the Canadian border.

A good resource is www.antennaweb.org

Click "choose an antenna," enter your street address and click submit. It will show you a list of all the available broadcasts, and you can filter to show digital only. Note that UPN says "TBD" on the "Live date". The WB digital broadcast isn't on the list, probably because it is fairly new.

Thanks for the status report on the prospects for UPN, Fox, and WB OTA broadcasts. There should be some way for Fox to get back into the game - hard to believe that the FCC left no provisions for such at situation.

I had looked at www.antennaweb.org but it was not as informative as you have been.

Looking forward to the upgrade of the broadcast power at WB....

- - Phil

Hi all,
I'm Chet Cook, engineer at WPXT-TV/WPME-TV. I just stumbled upon this forum and would like to share some info regarding our progress on our digital build out. I asked our Chief Engineer to write up a quick note to post here. It is as follows:

"My name is Roy Ouellette. I am the chief engineer of WPXT WB51 and WPME UPN35. I have been holding off on discussing our digital build out until we have firm plans in place.

"We will be building out WPXT digital (WB) on UHF channel 43 and WPME (UPN) on UHF channel 28 this spring. Our target date for on air is May 1st. Our transmitters will be located on Eagle Nest Road in Gray where we now broadcast our analog signals. WPXT digital is currently on the air in standard definition with low power from our studios on Ledgeview Drive in Westbrook. Since we are transmitting in low power, our coverage is limited to Portland and immediate vicinity.

"When we complete the installation in Gray, we will have the ability to air HD from network when it is available.

"As time goes on, we will post updates on our progress."

We will be glad to answer any questions you have. Just post them here.

Thanks,
Chet Cook

Chet,

Do you have any idea what your schedule will be for having your digital (HD) broadcasts added to Adelphia in Central Maine or Time Warner in Southern Maine?

Thanks,

Joe

Joe,
We are currently waiting for equipment to arrive. Look for us around March 1st. I'll post when I have a more definite date.

Chet

Thank you Chet and Roy for the time and effort to make yourselves available to viewers. It is great to know that viewers will have someplace to turn with technical questions that will develop as time goes on.

I have TWC in So. Maine and noticed yesterday that the HD feed would go dark (showing Fox logo from Los Angles) then it would come back. This happened quite a few times. Now today I'm not getting the Dallas vs. Washington game in HD (channel 507, showing a test pattern), just the SD feed on channel 7. Is anyone else having this problem?

Thanks for any info. on this issue, Bill

Threads merged.

Why was this merged? I'm not asking whats on Fox, I'm asking about a specific problem. I would appreciate if you would place my question back on its own.

Thank you, Bill

Bill,
This is either a football-related reception question, so it stays here, or it is a local channel question and should be in that forum.

So, now the ugly bar is white and even more distracting? Is Fox just completely stupid?

Your post was merged with the NFL on FOX thread because I figured more NFL on FOX viewers would see your post sooner and let you know if it was just you. Otherwise, as Spiky says, this belongs in a local thread.

Bill Mac,

I am also with TWC and have the same issue. I think Fox23 is having a problem because on the HD side most of the week, they were showing Fox News in the afternoon when they normally show the local programming. Yesterday, they were showing the raw feed from Fox for the Patriots game, hence the FOX Logo from LA. Hope they straighten is out soon. I love HD anything especially the sports. Hope Sinclair loosens up soon, I'm boycotting 13 except for the Patriots.

Why was this merged? I'm not asking whats on Fox, I'm asking about a specific problem. I would appreciate if you would place my question back on its own.

Thank you, Bill

Don,

Thanks for your explanation, I will now channel my displeasure towards TWC and not anyone here. My apologies, I have to lay off the chocolates. My wife has candy dishes in every room but the bathrooms (that'll be next)!

Bill

Bill Mac,

I am also with TWC and have the same issue. I think Fox23 is having a problem because on the HD side most of the week, they were showing Fox News in the afternoon when they normally show the local programming. Yesterday, they were showing the raw feed from Fox for the Patriots game, hence the FOX Logo from LA. Hope they straighten is out soon. I love HD anything especially the sports. Hope Sinclair loosens up soon, I'm boycotting 13 except for the Patriots.

darey1,

Thanks for the reply. It's hard for me to watch in SD after watching the Indy-Chargers in HD. I was so disappointed to see Indy lose (a little cheap sarcasm here)! If the Patriots get to Indy in the playoffs and beat them they'll have to take away Mannings belt and shoelaces for sure!

Thanks again, Bill

I know this has probably been beaten to death, but...has anyone received an update to the Sinclair / TWC HD broadcast negotiations??

This has gone on long enough!! I know I could buy the reciever and the antenna and become an expert in HD signals...but I thought this would get settled in 2005.

Maybe one of the WGME techies could respond with something other than the corporate line.

As far as I understand it, the "corporate line" is all there is. Sinclair is requiring compensation (I am not sure it has ever been made clear exactly what form of compensation they have required) for their DTV/HD feed to be carried over cable TV. Several of the major cable companies have refused. As far as I know, there are no "negotiations" going on any more -- it appears from lack of anything happening over the course of multiple years that they are at an impass. The rules will probably change when the analog switch is thrown (in 2007 now?).

I'm not sure Sinclair deserves all of the loathing and scorn it is getting (there was similar vehemance against Sinclair in the Central Texas market I lived in prior to moving to Maine) -- certainly it is a competetive advantage over satellite TV that they carry digital locals (although that may change as new DTV local DTV service comes on line), and they do pay/provide compensation for the majority of channels in their programming lineup. I think pressure needs to be put on Adelphia and Time Warner as much as on Sinclair -- if I remember correctly, didn't Sinclair come to an agreement with Comcast to allow local DTV to be carried? Or Cabelvision?


Joe

I am looking to hear from anyone that is using Directv HD and how to get local HD channels. Also would love to hear any suggestions on equipment and antennas that actually work if needed. Thanks!

I used to have it -- you have to put an antenna up on your roof, and connect it to your receiver. then, if you are near enough to the transmitter towers and if your antenna is pointed in the right direction, it will tune them.

If you are far enough from Portland and Bangor, you could be elligible for "distant locals" in which case you would get the East Coast feeds for each of the networks (both HD and standard def).

As I understand it, DTV rolled out HD locals for a handful of major markets (Boston, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Dallas and Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit as of last month), but smaller markets like Portland/Bangor will likely wait until 2007.

Joe

I am looking to hear from anyone that is using Directv HD and how to get local HD channels. Also would love to hear any suggestions on equipment and antennas that actually work if needed. Thanks!

Tom,

I have the basic DirecTV provided OTA antenna, a Winegard Model GS1000 non-amplified one. It pulls in Channel 13 in HD, the one I wanted so as to watch the Pats in HD. But I can't get any of the others due to my location - on the east side of Bailey Island. You should be able to get all of the OTA HD stations - Channel 6, 8 & 13 and maybe PBS - from Auburn unless you have topo issues, trees, etc., blocking signals. I am using the DirecTV Samsung 360 HD receiver. The latest DirecTV H20 HD box is reported to have a better OTA receiver for digital only stations.

Dana

Anyone have any problems getting WGME-DT OTA yesterday? Worked fine during the Pats game but didn't yesterday....

I am looking to hear from anyone that is using Directv HD and how to get local HD channels. Also would love to hear any suggestions on equipment and antennas that actually work if needed. Thanks!

Hi Tom,

I have DirecTV and use a Terk indoor amplified antenna that I got from Radio Shack. ( http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2110925&cp=&kw=terk&parentPage=search ) . The antenna is in my bedroom on the 2nd story of my house. I pick up WGME, WMTW and WCSH with good (~90) signal strength. As far as Fox goes, I asked DirecTV to apply for a waiver and I now get the east coast HD Fox channel through the satellite. I'm using the HR10-250 DVR for a receiver.

Anyone have any problems getting WGME-DT OTA yesterday? Worked fine during the Pats game but didn't yesterday....

No problems here, at least not during the IND/PIT game came.

I'm another one that is looking for digital CBS to be added to my cable system (Augusta) which is Adelphia now and should soon be Time Warner. I e-mailed both channels 13 and 5 (Bangor). I received the standard Sinclair answer from 13, and no response from 5. WABI 5 is not Sinclair but they are withholding their signal as well. This is very frustrating.

If I knew what to do to apply pressure to both the cable company and the stations involved I would do so. I would really like to know what the potential compensation involved is. I can't believe that stations aren't jumping for joy simply because cable companies want to carry their signals. Certainly, their signal has value to the cable companies, but so what? The television station is greatly benefited by cable carriage. It would seem that the benefits would be offsetting.

It would be great if channel 5 agreed to carriage and, then, channel 13 had to compensate the cable company if they agreed to carry them.

There is no actual advantage to a TV station to cause them to get out their DTV signal. The problem is how Nielson ratings work.

When you watch Channel 13, over the air or on cable TV, you are counted as part of the audience wacthing that station. Channel 13 takes the audience data and sets their advertising prices based on it -- the more viewers they have the more they can charge advertisers to run their commercials. The digital broadcast is not counted by Nielson as part of the Channel 13 audience. So if you watch Channel 13's DTV broadcast, they lose you as a viewer. From the point of view of the local affiliate, they lose money by having you watch their digital television station. As far as I can tell, aside from a public/community relations point of view, they have no benefit to increasing the viewership of their DTV broadcast, and actually a small downside. When you look at it from the point of view of actually being a cost because they have to support the transmitter to be OTA (both equipment and ongoing cost of transmission), this is an even larger cost. At some point, this will change as advertisers begin marketing to the HDTV market -- it is only a recent phenomenon that some national commercials are in HD.

Some medium sized media conglomerates, such as Sinclair, have decided that because of the above, and because there are commercial advantages to local cable for carrying the signal, the local cable companies should compensate them for the signal.

There is one action you can take that will hit Sinclair in the pocket book, and that is to actively boycott Sinclair and Sinclair's local advertisers. Stop watching CBS. Send a letter to CBS and to CBS' national advertisers. Send letters (snail maile, email, or fax) to the local advertisers, tell them that you disagree with Sinclair's actions and ask them to pressure Sinclair to change. You may have to go so far as to tell them that you will no longer support companies which support Sinclair. If Sinclair's advertisers pull their commercials, then Sinclair will have a reason to change.

In the past when people have discussed "boycotts" of local advertisers, someone always says "but it isn't fair to punish the local companies" -- you aren't. All the local company has to do is withdraw their advertising from Channel 13. Others say you shouldn't try to hurt Channel 13, because these local guys aren't making the rules -- but that is the only way you might get Sinclair to change.

You can take the same tack regarding Adelphia (or Time Warner). Complain to Adelphia. send letters to local advertisers, and to your local cable authority (probably your city hall). Then dump cable for DirecTV or Dishnetwork. Until you hit them in the pocket book, they have no reason to change.

I'm afraid none of these actions will give you much in the way of satisfaction.

Joe

Tom I also live in Auburn I have directv hd and i get my locals OTA. I use a CM4228 mounted on roof about 15' high, get great reception. ABC NBC CBS come in perfectly. From Auburn all three major networks are in the same direction. I get FOX east coast feed from directv. I had to cut down a couple of trees to get good reception on directv. Hope this helps, Larry

Tom I am in Lewiston and I am using a silver sensor antenna. I am picking up all CBS,NBC,ABC,PBS with no problems at all. All signals in the 80's and 90's.

I'm afraid none of these actions will give you much in the way of satisfaction.

Thanks for the very informative post DrJoe...I didn't think of the Nielsen angle.

Unfortunately, you have made me even more frustrated and depressed. :(

I might as well forget about Sinclair and Time Warner bringing this to a happy conclusion for now. You would think that that CBS wouldn't want to lose viewers over HD broadcast rights??

If CBS broadcasts the March Madness Tournament in HD...that may push me to stage a 1-man protest outside of WGME.

Here is an article reflecting a situation similar to ours:

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128769314684

Is anyone receiving 13-1 OTA right now? I get a searching for signal message :(

Update: I just called WGME and they're "working on it", but they didn't have an ETA for the repair since the engineering staff is off for the weekend.

It's working fine here

Just sent the following to Craig...
Hi Craig,
I have a new question... some time last week, I lost 13-1 & 13-2. Today I did a new scan for OTA to see if it would reacquire your signal info. It did, but in an unexpected way. Your station is now at its real location, 38-2 & 3, instead of being remapped to 13-x. Is that because of new Guide info that you are sending?? Just wondering...
And it's great to see you on the AVS Board... everybody appreciates your input.

Jim Tabor
Windham

13-1 coming in fine on Bailey Island. Fantastic PQ with the new H20 HD receiver just put into use, replacing my Sammy 360. Also, now I get Channel 6 & 8 in HD OTA. Big, big improvement.

I also am getting 38-3 & 38-4.

Dana

Forgot to mention, my receiver is an H10-250...

It's out here in Topsham. It is not totally out, I get an intermittent signal on my TV's (Sony 42A10) tuner but not at all on my Dish 942. I normally get 100% signal. Good thing the Pat's aren't playing, I'd be at the station looking for blood :D

We broadcast our DT signal on channel 38, we have a device that puts program guide information and channel identification information in our signal. It appears this device has either gone of line or has failed. This is problem for some HD receivers. A channel re-scan maybe required to receive WGME DT again. I will certainly look into it.

Same here for me in Topsham. My HD Tivo shows nothing on 13-1. A re-scan gave me 38-2. However, there is no guide info for 38-2 so all of my Tivo season passes for WGME.

Arrrgggghhhh! :/

All, the 13-1 / 38-1 issue has been resolved; some may have to perform a re-scan to receive 13-1 again. Please let me know if there any issues.

Craig Clark
C.E. WGME TV-DT

Craig,

All is well here. 13-1 comes in well; 38-x is no longer on the Guide. Lovely.

Dana

Thanks Craig.

It must have been a distraught Patriots fan trying to sabatoge the HD feed of the football game ;)

Say, Craig, you haven't heard any in-house rumors about signal authorization for cable companies have you? Don't say anything if it could cause you a problem, but it would be nice to think it is on the way. (I really don't want to put up an antenna.)

Hi Bill, WGME broadcasts from Raymond, Maine. The WCSH transmitter is in Baldwin, Maine. From Exeter your antenna would need to move around 20 to 30 degrees North East form where you receive WCSH. WMTW is very close to the WCSH site so you should pick them up if you are receiving WCSH, without moving your antenna (I would think). As for WGME DT you can use Channel 13 analog to help point your antenna. The picture on 13 may look bad using a UHF antenna but you should receive enough of a signal to know you have the antenna pointing in the right direction. Once you have your antenna pointed at us try tuning WGME DT in again. We broadcast on channel 38, there is a chance that WSBK CH 38 out of Boston may cause you trouble, but I would hope that with a directional antenna our signal will come in for you.

Good Luck,
Craig Clark
C.E. WGME TV-DT

Say, Craig, you haven't heard any in-house rumors about signal authorization for cable companies have you? Don't say anything if it could cause you a problem, but it would be nice to think it is on the way. (I really don't want to put up an antenna.)I don’t have any details, only that corporate is working on this at a national level for all their stations in the Sinclair Group across the county. They have reached agreements with other content providers, unfortunately not the ones in our area yet.

I don’t have any details, only that corporate is working on this at a national level for all their stations in the Sinclair Group across the county. They have reached agreements with other content providers, unfortunately not the ones in our area yet.

Thanks for your response, Craig.

Craig (or any of the other area TV station personnel monitoring this thread),

Without commenting on the actual situation between the cable companies and Sinclair, or disclosing anything that might be confidental, is the description I made above correct on how Nielsen ratings work regarding DTV? That DTV viewers are not counted as part of the primary analog TV station's audience? I think it was an Austin, TX area television station chief engineer who told me this 3-4 years ago (prior to my relocation to Maine). If this is still true, do you have any idea when/if Nielsen will roll DTV viewers into the analog audience numbers?

Thanks,

Joe

Am a TW cable customer trying to receive Ch 13 in HD! Can I connect an external antenna (ex. Radio Shack's VHF/UHF/HD model) to Time Warner's 8300 HD set top box and somehow receive the signal thru the box? The TV is not "HD Ready" (requires set top box) so I would not expect I can connect directly to tv. Tech support at TW could not give me an answer. If I cannot connect to the 8300 am I out of luck or is there another option--assuming I'm staying with TW for at least the near term?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
On a side issue, the TW guide is now showing HDOD (617), ENCD2(618) and HESOD (620) though none are yet operational according to the tech and he has no info on when that will occur. Assuming 618 is Encore (?) does anyone know what 620 is?
Thank you again.