Does anyone know if Service Electric for Bloomsburg transmits any of the HD locals in the clear (unscrambled)? Their web site lists a few stations as avaialble but is silent on the issue of whether the locals are unencrypted.

OK, I'm able to answer my own question. I finally heard back from Service Electric about HDTV locals on the Bloomsburg system:

"The local stations are not encrypted at all. The QAM tuner should be able to display them."

Does anyone know when WYOU and WBRE will begin broadcasting in high definition?

Does anyone know when WYOU and WBRE will begin broadcasting in high definition?They're saying the week of September 11th. We'll see.

WOLF seems to be at full power now so at least I can get Eagles games in HD now. Hopefully YOU/BRE will be there early in the season so I can get Steelers games in HD too.

Thanks for the update. I will have to try WOLF, since I could not pull in their low power signal here near Moscow, PA. It would be nice if YOU and BRE go to high definition in September.

WBRE/WYOU are now saying full power and HD won't be until November. I think we'll be lucky if they are there in 2005 at all (but of course hope I'm wrong).

Well, they only have until the end of the year. The FCC only allowed one extension of the full-power rule for big-4 stations in the top 100 markets. At least that's what I heard.

- Trip

I had my HD DirecTivo installed yesterday, I wanted an OTA antenna but the installer said that they couldn't get a signal in the Clarks Summit area with the OTAs.

Is this true, or was the installer just lazy?

Anyone have any success with a DTV OTA in this area?

Thanks for any help...

Bad Guy:

If you can receive the analog signals of WNEP,WBRE, WYOU and the other local stations, then you should get their high definition counterparts. WNEP and WVIA have been broadcasting at full power with high definition signals (when programming is present from the network feed).
I live in the Moscow area and can receive all of the digital signals (WBRE and WYOU are still just upconverting their standard definition signals) using a modest VHF/UHF antenna I purchased at Lowes a couple of years ago.

WOLF just recently went full power too. There signal is comparable to WVIA and WNEP as far as reception goes.

WBRE and WYOU plan to be full power HD by early November now. They had a few equipment and contractor delays that set them back.

Saw a news item on WYOU which gave a progress report on the conversion to high definition. Report showed the new antenna going up and said that a full power signal will be on the digital channel at the end of the month. Since the same company also owns WBRE, I suspect that that channel will also be showing high definition by the end of October. Hope their schedule holds up.

Yes, you are correct Tom. They will both go HD on the same day. Where did you see that report?

Those of you living here and particularly Arrowhead Lakes, what channels were you able to get very well despite all the trees and with what equipment?

Thanks

Saw a news item on WYOU which gave a progress report on the conversion to high definition. Report showed the new antenna going up and said that a full power signal will be on the digital channel at the end of the month. Since the same company also owns WBRE, I suspect that that channel will also be showing high definition by the end of October. Hope their schedule holds up.

I have only picked these stations up once, but I am 45 miles away (Orefield). Will the full power signal be on channels 11 and 13 as they are now? And what day in October will this happen? I assume they will use 22 and 28 when analog is chopped.

Jeff Williams Yes, you are correct Tom. They will both go HD on the same day. Where did you see that report?


We wrote to Him.
Hello,

What is the status of your High Definition upgrade?
And his reply was
Target date for WBRE and WYOU is on or around Halloween.

--Randy Williams

C. Randolph Williams

I noticed that Channel 22 was off the Air last week for 2 or 3 days.
Do we now have a updated Date as to when this may start...

The new date is by November 11th. Everything seems to be on track to hit that date; maybe even a few days early.

4 days to go, can't wait to see CBS and NBC in HD, will look great on my PL5000N :D

Slight delay because of the weather. Things will be officially on by Monday, but likely by late Saturday. Keep the fingers crossed.

They will go full power before passing the HD signal. Look for that to happen by Wednesday morning.

Late Saturday of next week, correct?

The 12th, this Saturday.

Awesome, thanks.

*fingers crossed*

Jeff:

Thanks for the update, but I have a question. Every since hooking up my ATSC tuner in my home theater I have been receiving WBRE and WYOU on their respective digital channel assignments but with the standard definition signal at a decent signal strength. I saw on the news some weeks ago a report that a new antenna was being installed. Why can't they just send out the high definition signal on what antenna and transmitter equipment that has been sending out the standard definition digital signal for all these months?

Jeff.

Just wondering.
I live in Pittston.
My Father in Wyoming.

Yesterday and for a day or so, both 22 and 28 have been off the air.

Last night Still nothing on mine. But Father in Wyoming says if he punches in 22 on his tv it goes to a 2-1 dtv and not 22-1 and on that it had Channel 22 working??
I could not do that. It would not work. Any reason or what is that channel he is showing?
Are the Stations still going to stay 22-1 using 13? I believe and 28-1 as 11?

WYOU (13-1 mapped at 22-1) and WBRE (11-1 mapped at 28-1) are now both HD and full power.

YES Finally!!!!!!!!

Awesome! Not in WB at the moment - I have Adelphia cable, does this mean I'll be able to get these at channels 722 and 728, respectively? Thanks!

Both signals reaching Moscow and my modest outdoor antenna with enough power to peg the tuner's signal strength meter.

Tom,

The antenna and transmitter were replaced because they could not output the full power signal that the new HD needed. The antenna was also mounted higher up on the tower to give better coverage.

Fatbob,

Think most of your questions are probably answered by now. The last few days were just steps in the process to get things up and running. The channels will stay 22-1(13) and 28-1(11).

Note for Sunday morning, the 13th, from the WYOU/WBRE chief engineer:

Tomorrow around 8:30 / 9:00 AM WBRE and WYOU-DT will be off. WYOU 22 (Analog) will be at 5-10% power.

The last part of this project is my new tower lighting system. Tomorrow the tower crew will climb to the very top of our tower and analog antenna with RF Suits on to instal the top beacon.

I will make sure that WBRE-DT and WYOU-DT are back on BEFORE NFL on WYOU and NASCAR on NBC!

Bummer, not on Adelphia's cable yet...

I don't think we will see them on Adelphia at all. I got the feeling that they wouldn't be added until Comcast took over.

Great. We have all the major stations using the HD.

Any idea on when WB and PAX might go HD?
Time Frame?

I don't think we will see them on Adelphia at all. I got the feeling that they wouldn't be added until Comcast took over.
Damn. Anyway, I'll install an external antenna to catch HDTV channels anyway (from old VOOM set-up), so I'll catch them eventually anyway. I live 2 miles away from the towers, so that's nice.

Is anyone using SusCom cable in the Williamsport area for HD? I just got a HD-capable monitor and I'm trying to decide whether to go with them or Dish Network. SusCom doesn't have all the locals in HD yet, but then again Dish doesn't have *any* HD locals yet, and I don't know if they'll end up a satellite that isn't behind a tree when they do. My other concern with SusCom is what the picture quality will be like. I have their standard-definition digital cable package and the compression is terrible. I can easily see artifacts on everything but the premium channels; the Discovery Digital channels have such a low bit rate that it often takes several seconds to build the picture after tuning to them and the MTV channels aren't much better.

Just curious, but can anyone confirm that WYOU and WBRE are now feeding HD?

Thanks.

- Trip

Trip,

They both are in HD, 5.1, and full pwoer.

What's the status of 16-1, 16-3 and 56-1

Had them all about aweek ago, now nothing

receive 22-1 and 26-1

Sugaroaf PA

Sorry - I meant 16-2

Yes, WBRE andW YOU have been feeding the HD network feeds since mid November. I noticed WNEP's high def signal was off about a week ago, but as of last night was working again.

Tom

I have been receiving 56-1, 22- 1 and 28-1 since November, but have been receiving 16-1 prior to that.

Now for about a week no 16-1 or 56-1 at all. Signals varies from 20 to 40 but mostly at 20 with no picture.

22-1 and 28-1 are about 65-70 with ok reception.

What's up?

I wonder if 16-1 is at reduced power, but at my Moscow area location I have been getting both 56 and 16 OK for the past few nights.

I'm not making excuses for them, but I do know that ice on the antennas will affect the power output.

Still no 16-1, 16-2 or 56-1
Since I received these stations before I received 22-1 and 28-1 and I still have 22-1 and 28-1, I have no idea as to how to correct the problem.

I get all channels except for Fox 56-1 & 56-2. The other OTA digital channels that I receive were coming in great last week (between 50%-60%) but now I am getting less at times. -

I posted this on the NEPA HDTV forum but hoping for quicker response:

Since I get all channels except for FOX.... I wonder if I get a second antenna and put a 2 to 1 splitter in the tuner would I get additional channels or better signal strength. I can place these antenna in 2 completely different locations... Would it work?

Had the Antenna moved - now get 22-1, 28-1, 44-1 thru 4, but no 56-1 or 16-1 and 2

No signal reading at all for 56-1
Reading for 16-1 will on occasion show receipt of digital signal but is in the teens - no picture

I live in Mountain Top, and have no problem getting 16-1, 16-2, 22-1, 28-1, 44-1, 44-2, 44-3, 44-4, 56-1 and 56-2. Occasionally there is a hiccup where I don't get 28-1 for some reason but other than that, I'm very happy. Using VOOM box with external antenna provided by VOOM plus amplifier.

I have a HR10-250 HD DVR - Terk Antenna - Kenwood Amp - The gentleman who checked the Antenna was at a loss - He moved it and I was able to pickup 44 HDs but no signal at all for 56 and very minimal signal for 16. When I was checking for signal strength on 49 (16) it would indicate no digital signal then off and on it would show receipt of digital signal but the signal would stay in the 16-24 range.

He is going to test fo the signal with a CM antenna.

It is hard to understand what is causing the loss of signal as I had 16-1, 16-2, 56-1 and 56-2 with very clear signals a couple of weeks ago

I haven't tried stacking yet... but I think I might have to. I moved the antenna to increase the signal strength for the Superbowl... by doing so I lost 28-1,22-1 so now all I have is 16-1 &-2 and the 44's..lucky me~ ;)

Henna:

I wander if you are now getting some out of phase reflections for 16 and 56 causing a cancellation of your signal at the antenna? Both of these stations continue to come in well at my location near Moscow.

I did a digital channel search yesterday and in addition to Fox 56's digital channels of 45.3 and 45.4 (remapped to 56.1 WOLF-HD, 56.2 PA'sWB) I picked up a new station 27.5.

27.5 is also Fox's (WOLF's to be exact) HD broadcast. The digital call decoded says "EAST". Does anyone know what and or why this is? Is this a different transmitter or is this another station remapped for the 45.x channel?

I did a digital channel search yesterday and in addition to Fox 56's digital channels of 45.3 and 45.4 (remapped to 56.1 WOLF-HD, 56.2 PA'sWB) I picked up a new station 27.5.

27.5 is also Fox's (WOLF's to be exact) HD broadcast. The digital call decoded says "EAST". Does anyone know what and or why this is? Is this a different transmitter or is this another station remapped for the 45.x channel?

That's odd. If you check the Binghamton thread, WICZ-DT is doing the same thing.

- Trip

For anyone in the Moscow area. Are you able to pull any NYC or Binghamton Stations? I want to try and get the Giants games in HDTV but not sure if this is possible or what equipment I would need.

gazoinplat: I leave about four miles from Moscow (near 380-84 junction) and can receive the Binghamton stations with a modest size VHF/UHF antenna, which I have on a rotor. Most come in as well as the local channels in terms of signal strength. Depending upon your location you should have similar results.

Tom,

You sound like you are pretty close to where I am at, I am located by the top of one of the bigger hills. What antenna do you use and do you use a preamp? Also, if you point the antenna towards Binghamton do you still recieve the Scranton stations? I was just wondering if I could get away without having a rotor. Also, what is the height of your antenna?

I haven't used an antenna since I was about 10 so I am trying to come back up to speed on it.

Thanks


gazoinplat: I leave about four miles from Moscow (near 380-84 junction) and can receive the Binghamton stations with a modest size VHF/UHF antenna, which I have on a rotor. Most come in as well as the local channels in terms of signal strength. Depending upon your location you should have similar results.

gazoinplat: You do need to point the antenna either toward Binghamton or WB to receive the respective signals, so you will either need two antennas and a switch or one antenna and a rotor. My antenna was purchase at Lowes and it was the smaller of the two they had available (three years ago). It is about 60 inches in length. I have it mounted about five feet above the roof and a two story house. Yes, I do use a modest preamp located in the attic where the RG-6 cable comes in from the antenna.The main reason for the preamp is the length of the RG-6 to the home theater room.

By the way I am retired and offer consulting services for home theater installationto include a home visit. I have been running an ad in the Villager.

Thanks for the info, do you perform installationsor are able to reccomend anyone? I was thinking of going with a set-up similar to a UHF and a VHF (I can't link it until I get 5 posts, but its by Larry Davis on his antenna experience and was a good write up) and sending it to my basement where I have all my structured wiring, and then handling it from there. I will have to check out your ad next time I pick up the villager.

Anyone using Blue Ridge Cable TV to get their HD???

Looking to dump DirecTV, and interested in experiences with Blue Ridge Cable.

dm

Towanda Pennsylvania
Hello. Just returned from my wife's hometown. Many of the family live across the Susquehanna and up the mountain from Towanda in Wyalusing township. As the crow flies it's about 36 miles to Elmira, 39 miles to Scranton (and virtually right on the NW to SW axis between them) and 32 miles to Binghampton. They are on the top of the world. About 1000' above the Susquehanna river. He has a Yagi and gets some Elmira, some Binghampton, some Scranton. Anyone else on this forum up in the "Endless Mountains" around Troy, Towanda or Sayre PA? He has not yet made the switch to an HD TV.

Hi alllll I just moved up to Brodheadsville off of rt33 and rt 80 area...
I bought a winegard UHF anntena a few years ago.
And hook it up to my Toshiba HD big screen TV but it does not have a HD receiver built into it..I was maybe Getting a few SNOWY stations from Scranton area on UHF that would come in and out...

Went to a Local Radio Shack and the guy said that you cannot get HD TV in the Brodheadsville area with a antenna......

Now I am second guessing

I just bought a 42 inch Samsung 4253 HD Plasma TV.....
And just wondering if you good folks think I should buy another Uhf antenna and maybe I might pickup some HD programing?????
Just wondering if my UHF stations from the Scranton area on regular tv comes in very snowy.
Will My HD stations come in the same way or will they come in better??????JohnnyThunders

Lukfilm,
I also live in Mt. Top, how was 24(FOX in general) last Monday night? I recorded it on my Sony DVR and it was no good.

it was crap for both prison break and 24

i had to watch in SD :(

Hello all,

I live in Tobyhanna (Coolbaugh Township) in the APCP development.

I am new to the HD market, but I have been researching quite a bit for the last couple months. I don't yet own an HDTV, nor have an antenna, and am looking for advice to help me make some decisions.

I've got my eye on a 37" 1080p LCD monitor for about $1000, but it does not include any tuners. Presently my most attractive alternative would be an $800 37" 1080i LCD with ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners, but I think I would prefer to have 1080p. The HDTV that I really want will not be available in my budget for several years, so these are basically the best I can currently afford and get me into the world of HD.

I currently use DirecTV and have their R15 DVR, which I assume includes an ATSC tuner, but the best quality output it has is S-video. Eventually I will upgrade to their HDTV service, but I am interested in setting up an antenna to pickup OTA channels regardless.

I used antennaweb and plugged in my adress info, and here is what it came up with for me:

DTV Ant-Type Call Sign Ch Ntwk City State Compass Mi Away Freq

red-uhf WBRE 28 NBC WILKES-BARRE PA 279° 24.9 28
*red-vhf WBRE-DT 28.1 NBC WILKES-BARRE PA 279° 25.3 11
red-uhf WOLF 56 FOX PENOBOAT MTN PA 279° 25.0 56
red-uhf WNEP 16 ABC SCRANTON PA 279° 25.2 16
red-uhf WYOU 22 CBS SCRANTON PA 279° 25.3 22
*red-vhf WYOU-DT 22.1 CBS SCRANTON PA 279° 25.3 13
red-uhf WVIA 44 PBS SCRANTON PA 279° 25.2 44
*blue-uhf WVIA-DT 44.1 PBS SCRANTON PA 279° 25.2 41
blue-uhf WQPX 64 ION SCRANTON PA 325° 23.9 64
blue-uhf WSWB 38 CW SCRANTON PA 324° 24.0 38
*blue-uhf WOLF-DT 56.1 FOX HAZLETON PA 279° 25.0 45
*violet-uhf WSWB-DT 38.1 CW SCRANTON PA 324° 24.0 31
*violet-uhf WNEP-DT 16.1 ABC SCRANTON PA 279° 25.0 49
*violet-uhf WQPX-DT 64.1 ION SCRANTON PA 322° 24.3 32
violet-uhf WMBC 63 IND NEWTON NJ 119° 43.4 63

That is my best attempt to format it so it will be viewable. If you're familiar with this screen, you know that the channels with the * are digital, and the call sign indicates this as well with -DT. I assume most or all of those are now in HD. Is that correct? Looks like these channels are 28.1, 22.1, 44.1, 56.1, 38.1, 16.1 and 64.1. I assume that I should only attempt to get the channels at 279°, which covers most of these. The ones I wouldn't get are 38.1 and 64.1 which are at 324° and 322° respectively. These networks are CW and ION, which I'm not even sure right now what those are, I never heard of them. Perhaps if I used a rotator, I could spin the antenna to pick those up when I wanted, since a large directional antenna seems to have at most a 25-30° window.

You'll also notice half or more are in the blue/violet range. However, I don't understand why this is - since I am within 25 miles of most of these networks. I thought the blue and violet antenna types were needed for 60-75 mile ranges. Anyhow, from the look of this, and your general understanding of the area that I live in, do you really think I need a large directional antenna mounted on my roof to receive these channels? In fact, violet even indicates that a pre-amp is necessary as well. I followed a user's link to solidsignal.com and checked out what they had. There is such a huge selection, I have no idea how to determine what I need. Really, I'd like to spend as little as possible on this. Plus their diagrams indicate that not only is a pre-amp used, but then the line is sent into a power injector followed by a power distribution amp, then into the TV. This all seems over the top to me, and a major investment, not to mention the work involved.

So it seems that an indoor antenna is certainly out of the question for me. But it also seems that one of these SquareShooter or Lacrosse type antennas that hook up to your satellite dish and are much nicer looking, is also out of the question for me. Although those antennas claim to reach up to 50 miles. Check out these specs for the SquareShooter SS-2000:

• Range for Channels (2-6): 0-10 Miles (Analog), 0-15 Miles (Digital)
• Range for Channels (7-13): 0-35 Miles (Analog), 0-40 Miles (Digital)
• Range for Channels (14-69): 0-45 Miles (Analog), 0-50 Miles (Digital)

I don't understand why there is a different range for different channels, but I'm sure some of you do know why. Anyhow, most of the channels in question here are in the 3rd category, which for digital seems to cover up to 50 miles. Now I only live half that distance, so why shouldn't this antenna work for me? Can't I use this instead of a large directional on my roof? Would I still need a pre-amp with this? Would I also need a power injector and a power distribution amp?

Would my DirecTV receiver then be able to tune this stuff OK and display it properly on a HD monitor? Or would I be making a mistake in not purchasing an HDTV with an ATSC tuner? Are the NTSC and QAM tuners important at all?

Also, when installing an antenna, it is recommended that you have a 2nd person nearby the TV monitoring the signal strength as you play around with the direction the antenna faces. Is there any kind of a handheld meter that I could hook up instead that could give me a signal reading, that I could monitor while I'm installing it? I'm thinking one of these would give me a better analysis and be less of a hassle than yelling back and forth.

Also, any chance of picking up any channels other than Scranton/Wilkes-Barre? What about Binghampton? New York? Philly? Jersey?

Is there anybody, especially someone close by that can relate, that can help answer any of these questions? I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Ryan O'Rourke

You raise several questions and will try to address some of them.

1. I would recommend getting an HDTV with a built in ATSC tuner (QUAM is included in the ATSC standard and deals with cable reception).
2. I live in Moscow and get the local stations fine with a suburban (not fringe) antenna that I got at Lowes a few years ago for about $40.00. I have it on a rotar and can also pull in the Binghamton stations.
3. Sometimes cable and satellite signals are compressed to fit in their available bandwidth and this compression can lower the quality of the signal. The best signals are those obtained over-the-air.
4. The lower the frequency the greater the range of the signal assuming effective radiated power is the same. Two stations in Scranton (WYOU and WBRE) use VHF frequencies for their high def signals. This is the first time in this market that VHF and not just UHF frequencies have been authorized.
5. The higher you can get the antenna the better. Living in Tobyhanna you may well be able to pull in some signals from the New York market area. But that would take a deep fringe antenna. Unlike analog signals when you get a weak signal with noise at the extreme range of the station, with digital signals you either get a good picture or nothing.

Hope this helps you a little.

I am trying to set up Mythtv using QAM on Comcast. I am having trouble coming up with a valid channels.conf file. If you live in Scranton area can you please post your channels.conf file? Thanks.

Threads merged.

Does anybody have any tips for what kind of antenna to buy for Swoyersville? (eg. near Kingston / Forty Fort)

AntennaWeb says I'm only 7.4 miles from the towers (the Mountain Top ones are all I care about [eg. WBRE, WYOU, WNEP, etc]) but I've tried a ton of antennas but I always seem to get blocky HDTV images even though my Dish Network ATSC tuner says I have 60 - 80 percent quality signal.

According to Google Earth, the elevation of my house is 545 feet and the towers are 2075 feet. (eg. the towers are 1/4 mile above me and to the south)

Is there something causing multi-path issues or something??

Does anybody have any idea when these locals will be available in HD via DirecTV? I live in Williamsport and do not think i can get OTA.

anyone know?

With all the trees in full bloom I am unable to get the HD UHF stations
in the Brodheadsville area,But I am able still to get the 2 VHF stations...
Just wondering if any of the good folks near me have the same problems...I will have to wait till the fall to get my UHF stations when the leaves fall off of the trees...JT

yellow - uhf WQMY-DT 56.3 MNT WILLIAMSPORT PA TBD 262° 10.1 29
red - uhf W39BT 39 TBN WILLIAMSPORT PA 262° 10.1 39
red - uhf W20AD 20 ABC WILLIAMSPORT PA 283° 4.6 20
red - uhf W55AG 55 PBS WILLIAMSPORT PA 283° 4.6 55
red - uhf W30AN 30 NBC WILLIAMSPORT PA 283° 4.6 30
red - uhf W26AT 26 CBS WILLIAMSPORT PA 283° 4.6 26
red - uhf WQMY 53 MNT WILLIAMSPORT PA 262° 10.1 53
blue - uhf WBRE 28 NBC WILKES-BARRE PA 105° 56.1 28
blue - uhf WNEP 16 ABC SCRANTON PA 105° 55.8 16
blue - uhf WYOU 22 CBS SCRANTON PA 105° 55.7 22
violet - uhf WVIA 44 PBS SCRANTON PA 105° 55.9 44
violet - uhf WOLF 56 FOX PENOBOAT MOUNTAIN PA 105° 56.0 56


I live in Williamsport, PA and have comcast standard package 1-77 channels. Question I have is, if i get a TV with a QAM tuner in it will I be able to get WOLF 56, WBRE,WNEP and WYOU High Def through my cable connection for free? I wouldnt be able to get them on antenna because they are about 50 miles away, unless I had a huge one. So im hopeing i can just be able to plug the cable in and get those through comcast. Any help is appreciated.

Hello everyone! My father lives in Brodheadsville, PA, and we bought him an HDTV, reciever, etc... HOWEVER, I can't find any info on the boxes that blue ridge cable gives out. I'm looking for their non-DVR HD cable boxes, so I can buy the cables before I trek up there from Philly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hello everyone! My father lives in Brodheadsville, PA, and we bought him an HDTV, reciever, etc... HOWEVER, I can't find any info on the boxes that blue ridge cable gives out. I'm looking for their non-DVR HD cable boxes, so I can buy the cables before I trek up there from Philly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm in the pocono's and in my area blue ridge cable non-DVR HD box is the scientific atlanta 3100HD. It looks like the 8000 HD is being used as well.

the manuals can be found at http://www.brctv.com/customer_care/userguides/index.php

one note, for my area the non-digitial channel line up - (below 100 on the box) do not have any audio output through the digital coax output. I need to run standard audio cables (red & white) to get audio on these channels.


good luck
dm

Does anyone know if WNEP has changed their broadcasting pattern? I am in upstate NY, 20 miles north of Binghamton and have been able to view WNEP since they went to digital. Since early summer the signal is terrible. I was thinking leaves on the trees, but they are gone now. I still have no problem recieving WVIA, WYOU, WOLF, WBRE, and WQPX, but WNEP and WSWB are allmost unwatchable. Even analog channel 16 is no where near as clear as it used to be. They allways seemed to be the strongest signal for me.
Something has changed and Im not sure if its my antenna or the broadcaster.
Im hoping someone on here might know an answer. Thanks all

Does anyone know if WNEP has changed their broadcasting pattern? I am in upstate NY, 20 miles north of Binghamton and have been able to view WNEP since they went to digital. Since early summer the signal is terrible. I was thinking leaves on the trees, but they are gone now. I still have no problem recieving WVIA, WYOU, WOLF, WBRE, and WQPX, but WNEP and WSWB are allmost unwatchable. Even analog channel 16 is no where near as clear as it used to be. They allways seemed to be the strongest signal for me.
Something has changed and Im not sure if its my antenna or the broadcaster.
Im hoping someone on here might know an answer. Thanks all


There's a chance if you were thinking trees, it could still be the issue -- While your leaves have changed and fallen up there, most of them down here in the WB/Scranton area are still green and full. Especially up on East Mountain where the WNEP antenna is located.

There's a chance if you were thinking trees, it could still be the issue -- While your leaves have changed and fallen up there, most of them down here in the WB/Scranton area are still green and full. Especially up on East Mountain where the WNEP antenna is located.

Thanks, I guess Ill wait and see what happens, I never had this issue in the past. I really miss Snedeker in the morning!

If anyone is having problems with WNEP OTA, heres why:

http://wnep.images.worldnow.com/images/incoming/zooms/63697bg.jpg

http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=7503525

WNEP-TV Tower Collapse

Sunday, December 16, UPDATED: 5:50 p.m.
By Scott Schaffer



Click for larger image
The WNEP-TV analog tower collapsed Sunday morning due to ice and wind conditions.


The WNEP-DT (digital signal) service has been restored.

Early this morning one of WNEP's towers collapsed in Luzerne County due to ice and strong winds.

It's one of two WNEP towers on top of Penobscot Mountain that came down just before 7 a.m.

Engineers from WNEP have been working on the problem all day. The broadcast tower that came down is 800 feet tall. It regularly puts out about one million watts of power.

Engineers said the tower was downed by strong winds and ice on top of the mountain, some 2,100 feet above sea level.

Crews worked all day to restore WNEP's signal to viewers.

"We are being carried on Comcast. We are now being carried on Service Electric. Service is back to them. We are now working with all the cable companies to get our service back up on cable," said WNEP President and General Manager Lou Kirchen.


Click for larger image
The tower damaged a transmission building when it fell.


She added 90 percent of WNEP viewers get the stations signal through cable or satellite providers. She said the roughly ten percent who pick up WNEP over the air by antenna will be affected the most.

"So the folks who are strictly getting us over the air will have the difficulties, but we hope to restore service throughout the DMA as quickly as possible," Kirchen added.

The tower that collapsed took out part of WNEP's transmission building on top of the mountain as well.

Kirchen emphasizes the most important thing is that no one was hurt at the transmission site.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused our loyal viewers," said WNEP President and General Manager Lou Kirchen. "We're grateful that no one was injured and we will do whatever it takes to serve everyone in northeastern and central Pennsylvania."

WNEP.com will continue to have updated information as it becomes available

Interesting that according to the station only ten percent of viewers receive their analog signals through OTA. I wonder if they will bother to rebuild that tower if in fact the digital tower is still up (did not know they had a separate one for their digital channel) if in about 14 months that signal will be shut down anyway.

I see that the tower also took out the power lines leading to the other transmitters in that WYOU, WBRE, WVIA, and others are also dark. WBRE came back for a while and then went dark again this evening.

Figures the tower went down. I had the new TV all set up to watch the Steelers game in HD with my dad (Never saw his team in HD). Couldn't get WNEP, WYOU or WBRE. Fox and all there digitals word though. Thanks for the pic and reason why it wasn't working!

From what I read at Scott Fybush's fybush.com media site, the tower of WBRE-TV (NBC) channel 28 Wilkes-Barre fell due to icing back in 1989.

I myself have only been in Wilkes-Barre maybe 5 times since 2004 (I live near Hartford, CT). When walking over the Market Street Bridge from Kingston heading back into W-B, I see a hill to my front and right with a few towers on it. Is that the hill with WNEP-TV/DT on it?

Also, did any cable company in that area briefly carry ABC from Elmira, Binghamton, New York City or Philadelphia to fill the temporary hole?

Good memory KML-224, the towers you saw from the Market Street Bridge is where the WNEP tower is (was). It's called Penebscot Mountain by the locals.

looks like those of us with DirecTv will be getting HD locals on 1/3/08 - at least Fox, ABC and CW

looks like those of us with DirecTv will be getting HD locals on 1/3/08 - at least Fox, ABC and CW

I got ABC & Fox. I don't seem to get CW. What channel does that come in on?

Any word on the rest of them?

Good memory KML-224, the towers you saw from the Market Street Bridge is where the WNEP tower is (was). It's called Penebscot Mountain by the locals.

Thanks for the tip. I may have taken a pic of it, but unless I zoomed it, I don't think you'd be able to see the towers in the pic too well.

Anyways, any updated information on progress with the towers at that site?

looks like those of us with DirecTv will be getting HD locals on 1/3/08 - at least Fox, ABC and CW

I don't get CW, only ABC and Fox. Should I get CW in HD now? Any word on the rest of 'em coming?

no CW here either

and no update that I've heard about the rest :(

Interesting that according to the station only ten percent of viewers receive their analog signals through OTA. I wonder if they will bother to rebuild that tower if in fact the digital tower is still up (did not know they had a separate one for their digital channel) if in about 14 months that signal will be shut down anyway.

I see that the tower also took out the power lines leading to the other transmitters in that WYOU, WBRE, WVIA, and others are also dark. WBRE came back for a while and then went dark again this evening.

After the tower collapsed, WNEP decided not to redo the analog since it was so close to the digital changeover. Analog is really nasty. I can barely get it in Allentown 40 miles away and I'm high up. 56 analog is pretty bad too. Digital is fine.

I installed a CM4228 and a CM7777 pre-amp in my attic. I am at -75.53750, 40.56672 in a 2 story house. I had initially targeted Philadelphia, but discovered that it was 2Edge (tvfool.com is great!) and instead pointed the antenna towards Scranton. I get a good signal from:

WNEP (ABC, 16.1,2,3)
WYOU (22.1) (VHF 13, I can get this with the UHF antenna)
WBRE (analog only, I can't get VHF 11 with the CM4228). I'll add a VHF antenna and see how it goes
WOLF analog only.
... and the Allentown locals, PBS, WFMZ etc.

I've looked at the radiation patterns and location of the tower. WOLF and WNEP are on the same mountain, with very similar radiation patterns. I get a pretty good analog signal -- it is a little snowy. I don't get one smidgen of digital signal. The auto-scan pauses for a while on UHF 45.. but no dice. Any tips for better reception?

If possible, I would like to keep the antenna in the attic. From what I have read, I might want to be able to manually enter UHF 45-1 then turn the antenna... but I do not know if my TV supports this.

To fullstop in Allentown: The WYOU-DT (CH 13) and WBRE-DT(CH 11) are both transmitting at the same power (30KW) from the same transmitting antenna on the WYOU analog tower. You may find that if you move your receiving antenna, you might get WBRE-DT. If not you may have to add a high VHF band antenna, like the Winegard or Antennacraft 10 element VHF high (CH 7-13) antennas. Moving your antennas outside will help also. Sometimes the roofing materials and wood will block the signals to a certain degree. What is you physical location, town and elevation ? This will determine what you should get. You can't always go by what TV fool provides. Their information is good, but not fool proof. I am located in Hazleton and can receive the Philadelphia digital stations, not all of them all of the time, but I am at 1,870 Ft elevation. This is a major factor in what you can receive. TVDXER

To fullstop: You probably are having a problem with WOLF 56.1, 56.2 56.3 because they are on CH 45 and your local WFMZ-DT is on CH 46. If you can disconnect our preamp, you might get less interference from WFMZ CH 46. Even here in Hazleton, WFMZ-DT comes in with a very strong signal. I currently am using a CM 4228 without any preamps in my attic.

Henna,
I know this was posted in Feb.2006, but the problem is probably the Terk antenna. They are not very good for some channels. Try a Channel Master 4228 8 bay UHF antenna. It also works well for VHF high band for WBRE-DT CH 11 and WYOU-DT CH 13. I have been using one in Hazleton and it works well.

To fullstop: You probably are having a problem with WOLF 56.1, 56.2 56.3 because they are on CH 45 and your local WFMZ-DT is on CH 46. If you can disconnect our preamp, you might get less interference from WFMZ CH 46. Even here in Hazleton, WFMZ-DT comes in with a very strong signal. I currently am using a CM 4228 without any preamps in my attic.

I would hope that my TV can handle adjacent channels well, but maybe it can not. WFMZ comes in without the preamp, and I can receive them no matter where I point the directional antenna.

Without the preamp, I can't get any stations from Wilkes Barre. I'm only at 430 feet above sea level according to google earth, so I am sure that has something to do with my problem.

I'll have to try adjusting my antenna position again this weekend.

My location is 40°33'54.63"N, 75°32'14.52"W, located in area code 18103.

Also, I can sometimes get WBRE-DT, so I think moving the antenna slightly will help with that.

I read today that WQMY-DT is supposed to be adding RTN next year. I'm wondering if that means it'll also end up as a subchannel on WSWB-DT.

- Trip

Anyone from the Williamsport area know if WQMY-DT is on air yet?

Can anyone in this area confirm or deny WSWB will be is broadcasting any content in HD as it is its own broadcasting station? Also, how is the content on WBRE and WYOU, once WBNG takes down their analog tower on 12 I should be able to pick these up. Thanks

WSWB has primetime shows being broadcast in HD on channel 38.1, I do not have a VHF antenna so I do not know about WYOU and WBRE OTA reception.

Can anyone in this area confirm or deny WSWB will be is broadcasting any content in HD as it is its own broadcasting station? Also, how is the content on WBRE and WYOU, once WBNG takes down their analog tower on 12 I should be able to pick these up. Thanks

I'm in Berwick (18603), and I can get WBRE-DT and WYOU-DT without issues. No subchannels, content is the same as the analogs.

Thanks I am hoping with a little luck maybe I will get these channels, I get channels in syracuse 55 miles the other direction, but with the hills and mountains, it may be tough 55 miles into PA.

Hi. I live in the Moosic area, and I'm in a really tough spot with reception. I'm between two mountains, in a valley where no one I know nearby can receive any channels without cable. :( It's even tough for those who have dishes to get reception. I've been living here for 18 years, spent oodles of money trying rabbit ears, then amplified ones, then rooftop antennas, guy wires, rotators, etc. etc. (To no avail) :eek: More recently, I was told about this YouTube antenna, (made of coathangers) which seemed to better than everything else up until now. :)

I became interested in this, began searching, and arrived here, in this forum, where there is a posting for building your own antenna. Following some advice of some helpful folks over there, I have come a long way since building several antennas.- Very interesting thread. :cool:

According to TVFool, I shouldn't be able to get anything from my address location, but am receiving 16.1, 16.2, 22.1, 28.1, 38.1, 44.1, 44.2, 44.3, 44.4, 56.1, 56.2, 56.3, 64.1, 64.2, 64.3, and 64.4 in digital. :D

Virtual 16 and 56, (WNEP and WOLF) being broadcast on actual digital 49 and 45, (respectively) have been giving me a bit of difficulty, however. I experience signal dropouts and pixelization quite often on those channels, making it not worth watching at times. I have also recently noticed that 28.1, (actual 11) my strongest station just started going out altogether for brief periods. I do not understand this.- Especially when I'm pulling well over 40-50% signal strength most of the time. :confused: I also noticed 44.2, .3, and .4 are occasionally doing the same thing. I am beginning to wonder if these are issues with the stations. I am wondering if WBRE cuts off for reasons of thier own they're not telling us about, and if WVIA shuts down those multi-cast channels when not in operation. ????? :confused:

Just wondering if anyone else in my area has noticed this or experienced similiar happenings. :)

Best Regards,
Eric

Virtual 16 and 56, (WNEP and WOLF) being broadcast on actual digital 49 and 45, (respectively) have been giving me a bit of difficulty, however. I experience signal dropouts and pixelization quite often on those channels, making it not worth watching at times.
WNEP has a decent signal up here in east lackawanna county, even though there are a lot of trees (pre-amp necessary to receive signals). I notice occasional pixelization on WNEP, but WOLF is awful with drop out and pixelization quite often.
I also noticed 44.2, .3, and .4 are occasionally doing the same thing. I am beginning to wonder if these are issues with the stations.

Those subchannels are taken off the air when WVIA airs HD programming on 44.1, makes the picture look better (full bit rate).

Can anyone report on the status of WQMY? As best as I can tell (from 3k miles away), they have not commenced DTV operations as yet and are still running analog on an auxiliary facility. They had indicated they would end analog operations before 2/17, but that no longer seems likely.

jmoz2989: Thanks for the reply, up there in Lackawanna County. I have been having troubles in those channels with much dropout, making it barely worth watching, at times. :rolleyes: 16, WNEP is probably my worst channel. :( Glad to hear your receiving WNEP well up in your area. :) I guess I'm not the only one with troubles on 56.1, .2, and .3. :o

I guess I can't really complain, considering that in 18 years living here, I have yet to receive any stations at all except perhaps, on a rare, good day one might expect to get a ghosty, snowy WBRE- 28, in analog, at best, until lately. :cool: (Exceptionally bad location) Anyway, since the digital signals came about, along with my own much, vast experimentation with various homebuilt antennas, I have made some very impressive, and significant strides in progress with reception. :D

I am beginning to wonder how much this might be related to my antenna, at this point. :confused: I have been experimenting a lot with homebuilt antennas, with help from some very knowledgeable guys here, in this forum. I will be making some modifications to the existing design to attempt to optimize the antenna, focusing on the problem frequencies in the upper 40's UHF band, as 56 is broadcast on 45, and 16 is actual 49. Currently, my antennas are optimized for VHF hi channels up to about 40, and probably about the best comprimise for channels ranging from actual 11-49, which is the makeup of our broadcast market area. I will likely focus the next antenna's gain to focus on the upper 40's band, where the stations that are weakest are. ;)

By the way, with these antenna designs, I am doing quite well without any sort of amplifier. :D Much better than ever before. In the past, with commercially available antennas, and pre-amps, I did more poorly than I am currently doing with these antennas, alone. :p

Falcon_77: In regards to WQMY, I am receiving them as a sub-channel of WOLF on digital (actual) 45.3- (virtual 56.3). Hope this helps. :)

Best Regards,
Eric

Falcon_77: In regards to WQMY, I am receiving them as a sub-channel of WOLF on digital (actual) 45.3- (virtual 56.3). Hope this helps. :)


Thanks for the info. It looks like they don't have their own DTV operating yet. Can you see any sign of analog 53? Perhaps not, since they are/were broadcasting well to the West (near Williamsport) and are obstructed by hills.

Hi everybody! I have relatives in Northeastern PA and they are thinking about getting an HDTV. They currently have Blue Ridge Communications, but they don't receive HD channels with their cable box. I was wondering if they just hooked up the TV without the box if they would get an HD signal on the digital subchannels. Such as WNEP in HD on 16-1 (even though its on cable channel 6) or WBRE in HD on 28.1 (its on with ch.3). I have an HDTV that I hooked up without the box and I get the HD signal on digital subchannels such as 2-1, 4-1.

Also, they live in Pike County, so they get the New York City stations on cable as well. Would they get the NYC digital stations as well, such as WCBS on 2-1, WNBC on 4-1, etc. I live in an area where I get stations from Johnstown, PA and from Pittsburgh, and I get digital subchannels from both markets on my TV.

Hi everybody! I have relatives in Northeastern PA and they are thinking about getting an HDTV. They currently have Blue Ridge Communications, but they don't receive HD channels with their cable box. I was wondering if they just hooked up the TV without the box if they would get an HD signal on the digital subchannels. Such as WNEP in HD on 16-1 (even though its on cable channel 6) or WBRE in HD on 28.1 (its on with ch.3). I have an HDTV that I hooked up without the box and I get the HD signal on digital subchannels such as 2-1, 4-1.

Also, they live in Pike County, so they get the New York City stations on cable as well. Would they get the NYC digital stations as well, such as WCBS on 2-1, WNBC on 4-1, etc. I live in an area where I get stations from Johnstown, PA and from Pittsburgh, and I get digital subchannels from both markets on my TV.

That would depend on the model of the TV and whether or not they have an antenna. If they have an antenna on the house, and the TV is new enough to have an "ATSC Tuner" built-in, then they should be able to plug the antenna into the TV and scan for channels, picking up a whole bunch.

I only recieve WQMY in the digital channel. Whether or not in analogue, I cannot say, for sure. :confused: You must have quite an antenna or amplifier/s to be able to receive anything that distant from Connecticut. :confused:

As stated earlier, here in Northeastern PA, WQMY is a sub-channel of FOX 56, (virtual 56) better known as WOLF-TV, on actual 45. WQMY is on actual 45.3. (virtual 56.3.) It is frequently coined, "MyNetwork." Hope this helps. :)

Best Regards,
Eric

The White House wants your opinion on The DTV Delay ACT Bill
President Obama wants to hear what the public has to say, you can comment here

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/dtv_delay_act/

Is anyone aware if WQMY is on the air with their digital transmitter? I was informed that they filed for their license, but I was not sure if they were even on the air yet. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks....

Glad to see this board is so active...and informative. Does anyone even read this Wilkes-Barre forum anymore?:confused:

WQMY is still in limbo. WNEP is changing its signal to UHF channel 50 and increasing the power (ERP) to 500kW on the new facility before June 12th.

This seems like a nice forum, so forgive me for perhaps straying a little off-topic.

First, I get cable from SECV (Shamokin) and the clear QAM HD channels are CW, NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC, and usually PBS (WVIA). Last month SECV unscambled all the non-premium basic cable channels. That allowed me to turn off every analog channel and use a paper to find the SD channels by raw cable number on my TV and Sony DHD-HDD250. I'm going to try to get an OTA signal from WHP (40+ miles) when it warms up a little, but I live in a small valley with a small chance of OTA.

Strangely, I can only find the TV Guide data coming from C-SPAN (15). I was wondering if any SECV users here get TVGOS from any source. I might get a signal from the NE (40+ miles), but WYOU has told me they won't send the data, and I stopped supporting WVIA since they stopped XDS and TVGOS two months ago.

Any feedback wil be appreciated. Thanks.

Don't watch much cable tv . Mostly Blu-Rays and dvds.magor movie nut.I'm thinking of switch to Directv because it's cheaper and will fill any non dvd viewing hours.Has anybody had any experience with Service Electric HD vs. Directv. HD. How does the dish measure up in pic quality compared to SECV. Don't need tech stuff, just eyeball opinions.
Thanks

I have cousins who live in Lewisburg and this is their tv market.

WQMY is available at 56.3 (although now I see it claimed at 53.1 as well)

I live near State College, I'm jealous you guys get CW in HD.

I have three differnt HDTVs hooked to COMCAST here in NE PA

At times I do NOT use the cable box and my tuners go *way* into the 100's

Can';t remember NOW because I am at work but I *found* a bunch of HD
channels that normally are in the 2xx range using the digital box; this includes 'local' channels and E! among others if memory serves me.

YAY!

Anyone want to share info just 'e' me

kctobyjoe@comcast.net

I *think* my old registration is me and my OLD Verizon addy.

I have three differnt HDTVs hooked to COMCAST here in NE PA

At times I do NOT use the cable box and my tuners go *way* into the 100's

Can';t remember NOW because I am at work but I *found* a bunch of HD
channels that normally are in the 2xx range using the digital box; this includes 'local' channels and E! among others if memory serves me.

YAY!

Comcast is slowing moving up the state changing to SDV. We'll all be screwed then. Best of luck.

In case I mistyped; what does the three letter acronym mean?; I surely don't know all the HDTV lingo by any stretch.

FWIW about a month or so ago, on 38-1, I got YES in HD
Otherwise you'd need a digital box and it is in the 200's
NOW that channel is listed as 'encrypted'. Oh well ;-(

In case I mistyped; what does the three letter acronym mean?; I surely don't know all the HDTV lingo by any stretch.

FWIW about a month or so ago, on 38-1, I got YES in HD
Otherwise you'd need a digital box and it is in the 200's
NOW that channel is listed as 'encrypted'. Oh well ;-(

The 'encrypted' may change, or if that station on 38-1 was a local, it may have been moved. I have to do a rescan due to changes about once a month. I can live with that even though I get 500+ channels and only have 20 or so enabled. If your supplier has a web site, keep an eye on it. When new stations get added and advertised (like BigTen or VS) you should watch out for a channel shuffel.

Technically, a local station being carried by a cable service can not be scrambled. But since when has that stopped a monopoly? I get "locals" like WVIA, WYOU, WBRE, WOLF and WSWB in analog, SD and HD. All the basic cable channels (and distant network channels) are in SD. Only premium stuff like HBO is/are encryped.

SDV is Switched Digital Video. I call it "channel on demand" since only channels being viewed are sent through the cable. And you need "something" to tell your provider what to send. Only up side for us consumers is that it costs a lot for the provider to implement, so it will take years.

My supplier, SECV (Shamokin) is going to send out QAM to analog converters for free so that they can drop all analog above channel 21. If you use SECV (Mahanoy City) you can get basic cable and local/remote network channels in clear QAM HD. Of course, this could all change.

Thankx Joe

Dont think it will affect me tho...thanks for the info

Having a h*ll of a time with Wintv software/7/tuining digital on my PC ;-(
I tried what I thought would work then remembered I have a licensed copy
of Beyond TV whcih I will install/run today Even the Media CEnter was/is stubborn icking up the OTA HD locals ;-( (with an antenna; not cable) . Win TV's tuner didn't want to scan for digital channels on COMCAST just being hooked to their wire without a converter box.

IT appears they have changed some of what I received in the 1xx-x area.
I know they can't 'scramble' local channels BUT does that mean that HD versions are immune too or is the law structured for only what was previously
analog.. We have 16, 22, 28, 38, 56, 44, 64, 67
Then their HD copunterparts 16.1; 16.2, 38.1, 56.1 etc...
Help!!!

Thankx Joe

Dont think it will affect me tho...thanks for the info

Having a h*ll of a time with Wintv software/7/tuining digital on my PC ;-(
I tried what I thought would work then remembered I have a licensed copy
of Beyond TV whcih I will install/run today Even the Media CEnter was/is stubborn icking up the OTA HD locals ;-( (with an antenna; not cable) . Win TV's tuner didn't want to scan for digital channels on COMCAST just being hooked to their wire without a converter box.

IT appears they have changed some of what I received in the 1xx-x area.
I know they can't 'scramble' local channels BUT does that mean that HD versions are immune too or is the law structured for only what was previously
analog.. We have 16, 22, 28, 38, 56, 44, 64, 67
Then their HD copunterparts 16.1; 16.2, 38.1, 56.1 etc...
Help!!!

I'm pretty sure that cable companies SHOULD send through broadcast channels as received. That would mean no messing with the signal. But cable companies are a monopoly and seldom get fined. I get, for example, WBRE in analog, SD and HD. The SD/HD channel numbers vary depending on the hardware. I have Sony, LG and Sanyo. All show a different (but similar) format. And I can testify from personal experience, unless we share the same zipcode, our cable signals are different.

I have a Toshiba laptop with Vista that works ok with a Hauppage HVR-1950 that worked ok on cable. I get nothing OTA on anything. The 1950 would lockup my XP system frequently. I'm casually shopping for a Windows 7 laptop, but in no rush. I just bought a new TV and need to pay that off first. I hope this helps, and if you want to get really into this stuff, check out TSReader. That's way more technology than I have time to use.

I have 7 on my DELL rig at home
I *forgot* I bought Beyond TV a while back and used that to tune in the digital channels.
I intend on getting a new i7xx box in the future with 7 Professional but not now
I have a Hauppage 950x USB tuner hooked to the dell
Distressed that it did NOT attempt to tune in digital hd channels only 'analog'
I have 2 lines split into it; one OTA the other COMCAST cable w/o a box
With my tvs; it scans up to around 2xx in channels; dunno why the tuning mechanism didnt do that with the stick. I want to be able to record cable and or OTS at my discretion. I was also suprised that Windows Media CEnterdidnt do teh job either. Maybe I am missing something.
I have 2 SONY 46" LCDs, a 20" TOSHIBA lcd hooked to the cOMCAST digital box and my DELL rig hooked up to just the cable itself w/o a box and an OTA setup.
Did that make sense???

I have 7 on my DELL rig at home
I *forgot* I bought Beyond TV a while back and used that to tune in the digital channels.
I intend on getting a new i7xx box in the future with 7 Professional but not now
I have a Hauppage 950x USB tuner hooked to the dell
Distressed that it did NOT attempt to tune in digital hd channels only 'analog'
I have 2 lines split into it; one OTA the other COMCAST cable w/o a box
With my tvs; it scans up to around 2xx in channels; dunno why the tuning mechanism didnt do that with the stick. I want to be able to record cable and or OTS at my discretion. I was also suprised that Windows Media CEnterdidnt do teh job either. Maybe I am missing something.
I have 2 SONY 46" LCDs, a 20" TOSHIBA lcd hooked to the cOMCAST digital box and my DELL rig hooked up to just the cable itself w/o a box and an OTA setup.
Did that make sense???

The 950q is needed for QAM64/256 (cable digital) reception. I have one and it works with Vista but I haven't used it for a while. You are making perfect sense, but frustration is part of this "hobby". I do almost all my recording with two DHG-HDD250 Sony DVR recorders (see forum - 20k postings), LG LST-3410A (see forum), and also save to DVD-RAM on two Toshiba DVD units, one with a hard drive but neither are HD but they upconvert. I just got the Sony 32XBR9 since the price is dropping like a rock before the XBR10 & 11 hit the stores. It is sort of scary that my TV and DVD Blu-ray have MAC addresses. Next problem will be a virus attack on televisions!

You have confirmed that your Comcast has not gone off QAM to SDV? I notice that WYOU is my only analog channel that display all PSIP data. They dropped TVGOS which my Sonys need for their clock. I hope you can work things out.