An advertiser boycott will do nothing. There is just not enough people interested in HDTV at the moment. I mean, if you don't like the station, don't watch it.

I sent an email to Marshall Porter, basically telling him I think WOI is a crappy station. This is what I sent:

Why haven't you started to broadcast your digital signal? Many people are saying that you are simply STALLING. Please refer to this thread where many people are constantly bashing your station, saying things like:

"I will report them and file complaints with the FCC. The people of Des Moines deserve MUCH better than this. Iowa State should have NEVER sold WOI to a greedy commercial entity."

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=136822&perpage=20&highlight=Iowa&pagenumber=23

I myself do not have an HDTV, but have been doing some research. It seems 1/2 the stations here in Iowa are dragging their feet about this, and the other half are anxious to embraces this new type of TV. You appear to be in the first group. Because of the lack of support of HDTV, I have decided NOT to buy a set.

You must realize that you must support the format before many people will buy it. It does not work the other way around, I wonder if this is understood by your company.

In addition, I have been unable to watch ANYTHING on your station. I have been waiting patiently for your station to be included in the Dish Network Locals.

What is the deal with this? All the other main stations are covered. I hear you are in contract negotiations? Do you think you are more special than the CBS and NBC stations here? They seemed to have no problems being included in Dish.

Anyways, you are only hurting yourself. I am actually perfectly fine with not watching your station, as it seems the only thing you are concerned with is saving the most money and getting the most money. I mean FOX got their digital signal up before you! That should be a slap in the face. I'm not going to tell you what to do, frankly, because I do not care. At first I missed ABC, but not much anymore. I just thought maybe I'll shoot you guys a heads-up. There just isn't one person in Iowa with an HDTV set, there are many.

In addition, there are MANY of us WAITING for WOI to come on to Dish Network.

In the end, I expect you to ignore this email, making fun of me, not realizing that you are ignoring the people you are here to serve. From what I have heard and seen, it seems like WOI is ran by a backwards company that ignores its customer's requests.


And He mailed me back this:

Dear Jack,

I almost did not bother to return your email, due to the lack of Professionalism displayed by your comments. Frankly, a response is not even warranted and you are right, most people would ignore your message and "make fun of you".

With your comments and your apparent distaste of WOI and ABC programming, I am mildly amused at how much rhetoric you decided to write. You certainly have the privilege and freedom to watch (or not watch) any program or station you desire. That's the wonderful thing about living in this fine country... "Freedom of Choice".

Bottom line... with Digital broadcasts... we are currently in the testing phase. We didn't like the quality of the picture and have ordered a supplemental piece of equipment. I am hopeful we will be operational in 2 to 3 weeks.

Regarding Dish Network, you can read my comments on our web page www.woitv.com DirecTV is about to offer the same Local into Local programming package. They were trying for a May launch and it looks now that it will likely be June. WOI will be included in that package from the outset. I would hope that would be the impetus for Dish Network to come to an equitable arrangement with WOI regarding local inclusion.


I like how his bottom line doesn't really promise anything. He just basically says he hopes they can be up in 2-3 weeks... Doesn't seem like much of a bottom line to me.

Then I emailed him back this:

Mr Porter:

I fully agree that my email was not professional. It was purposely written in this way. I apologize for starting right off the bat writing a letter in this way. However, I have spoken to many people about your station and have heard many complaints. I hear that letters are simply ignored etc etc… I hear that dates are quoted only to be broken OVER AND OVER again.

My letter was not professional, but yours is ALSO unprofessional. Simply pointing out MY letter was unprofessional is unprofessional in itself. Also telling me that you were not going to write back is EXTREMELY unprofessional.

Did you bother to read that message board? All of those dates quoted from people that called into your station. During this time LAST YEAR you stated DTV would be operational (maybe not you, but someone in your station). I bet you probably just saw the magnitude of posts and decided not to read them all. I can certainly understand this, as you are probably a very busy man. I suggest that you take a look at that entire thread and see how many times people have said WOI was going to be online any day.

Instead of simply making fun of me, could you please look into this matter?I understand that you are trying to get DTV working, but just think about this for a moment.

People call into your station, inquiring about the status of your DTV broadcasting. Someone at your station gives a date. In turn, this date slips, and then nothing happens. Someone calls in again, another date is given, and then it slips. This happens over and over again. What do you think is going to happen? That everyone will just sit back and not say anything about the repeated lies?

You can attack me all you wish, calling me unprofessional. I am EXTREMELY surprised that you did attack me and told me you weren’t going to email back calling me unprofessional, when you are doing the exact same thing(being unprofessional). I am perplexed by this.

Anyway, I am still without your station from Dish. I’m locked into a 1 year contract. We can’t pick up your station with an antenna(Well, not without half a screen of static), so we are without ABC. So, as you can see, I am without choice. For whatever reason, you are holding out on Dish Network, even though they have gotten NBC, PBS, CBS, and FOX, you seem to hold out. Could you at least maybe give me a reason why instead of attacking my professionalism again? I like how you say you assume that when DirecTV comes out with locals, Dish will follow, but in reality you have no idea.

And sir, I am thankful that I have gotten at least one “possible” answer from you. You state you hope to be operational in 2-3 weeks (like I haven’t heard this before). But, I’ll take a leap of faith and just assume that maybe YOU, the general manager MAY know what he’s talking about.

And I STILL can’t believe that you pointed out my unprofessionalism. I am a young college student, you are the General Manager of a TV station. You are representing your station and even ABC, and stooping to my level. I just represent myself, and frankly sir, I really don’t care what you think of me.

You may not care what I think about you, but as I said, you are representing your station and even ABC. Just a word of advice, try to keep your letters professional in the future, no matter how unprofessional the other person is. I always thought this was common sense. I was always under the impression that a manager was always supposed to stay professional. Perhaps I am wrong. Maybe this is why it seems your station is the poorest ran.

PBS, FOX, NBC, CBS all beat you and you still can't get it working? On top of that there have been numerous quoted dates that have passed by... You are last to Dish and you are last for HDTV.

Anyways, by now you’re probably really upset, not talking anything seriously and not thinking with an open mind. This is to be expected. Have a great day.

Please Note: This is an unprofessional letter. Also please note that you gave me zero concrete answers in your mail. You danced around everything. For a manager you seem to have no clue what is going on.

ha!

2 to 3 weeks...
2 to 3 weeks...
2 to 3 weeks...

I guess they think if they repeat it enough times it might eventually come true and they will get their crappy 480i signal live.

AustinPowers, I was surprised you got any response at all from WOI.

While I agree with most of the premise of your note; such a rambling, disjointed note is probably not helping advance our cause. I just hope that you haven't dried up the trickle of (mostly bad) information coming out of WOI.

I do disagree with you regarding the advertiser boycott. Especially if we can get one of the other Des Moines stations or the Register to give us a little press. Their checkbook is our only real leverage against them, they obviously don't care what ABC says at the corporate level. If they get enough of their advertisers calling and screaming at the sales manager because of this potential boycott, they WILL pay attention. They aren't attracting the top flight businesses to advertise with them anyway. I am guessing that KDSM's rates are very close to WOI's, small advertisers will jump ship rather than face bad press in a shaky economy.

Marshall Porter sent me a smart-assed response once too ... what a child. Stop whining like a girl and just get your damn DT/HD/Dish signals on the air for cripes sake! At this rate, the WB will have their stuff up and running before WOI.

jtuck2,

An advertiser boycott wouldn't do much. Most people don't care about HDTV and hate it since it'll make them have to get new cable boxes or new TV's.

Basically, I think the best thing you could do is what I do, Just don't watch WOI. If you could get people to simply not watch the station, it's basically the same thing as an advertiser boycott.

If their ratings go down, then they may actually do something.

An Advertiser boycott would just take too much organization. First you'd have to watch WOI and then figure out how advertises, then you have to take notes not to buy anything from those companies.

And how many people read this thread? 10-20? How many people in Iowa care about HDTV and WOI's lack of programming, maybe 1000 people out of 3 million. The numbers just aren't there.

I disagree 100%. Not watching won't do a thing if they don't know. It's nothing like an advertiser's boycott.

I spoke to a high-level employee of WOI on Monday. I told him an advertiser's boycott is in the planning stages. The panic in his face was evident. Advertisers are their primary revenue stream and it's hard for them to get new advertisers because they are so low in the ratings. Bad publicity that threatens that revenue is a potential huge hit to their finances. It doesn't matter initially if it's 6 people or 600. Getting the advertiser's (and WOI's) attention is all that matters.

Remember, this is all about the money. It's obvious they don't care about the viewers. At half power 5 hours per day, it will cost WOI about $1500 per week to run the new transmitter. At full power 12 hours per day they're up to $36,000 per month.

I still think we need an organized group and a plan to make this happen.

Dave, I am in. I agree 100% that the only way to hurt them is in the checkbook. They obviously are eroding market share and losing viewers right now with their position on Dish and quality of local programming. It must not be too big of a concern. Not watching is not an option, because I don't watch anything but Monday Night Football on ABC anyway.

I had planned on setting the Tivo to grab WOI when it isn't busy. It would be the first time ever that someone was fast forwarding to the commercials rather than over them. LOL. I will use that method to develop a list of local advertisers. God knows I don't want to actually have to watch the crappy channel's programming. I assume we are trying to keep this on a local level?

I also wonder if we could contact WOI's sales manager and simply ask for a list of current advertisers. Ostensibly with the idea that one of us, as a business, were going to become an advertiser and wanted to avoid a conflict with a competitor. Underhanded, I know. Give me some feedback on this.

With a good laser printer and some postage, there is no reason that there has to be more than 2 of us in the "Central Iowa Home Theater Enthusiasts". With a good name and a well worded letter, we will get some attention. The advertisers don't have to know how strong we are or aren't. Let's get behind this gang. Enough is enough.

Also, does anyone have any ideas to utilize the local media? Anyone have any contacts at the Register or the other 3 local TV stations? Maybe we can get Ed to use the Million Watt MegaDoppler to fry WOI's SD equipment? Seriously, does anyone think that we can use the local media to shine a little negative publicity on WOI? WHO and KCCI are both up and running over 50% of their broadcast day in compliance with the FCC (and spending a fair amount of money to do it), why wouldn't they both want to rub WOI's nose in it a little bit?

I too am tired of Mr. Porter's missed dates and excuses. If ABC is broadcasting HD football this year, and I don't get to see it, look out. They will hear me screaming at ABC HQ. If anyone caught the HD playoff games last winter on CBS, you know why I am so excited.

We can use this board to organize our thoughts for now. I can also be PM'ed or emailed at blackdogzoi@yahoo.com

Anyone who has WOI on, please try to jot down local advertisers and post them here, or email them to me.

Justin -

I'll start a list. If you can get one going we can compare later. We will need to first send a letter to the VP of Marketing/Sales at each of the advertisers with copies to the WOI marketing staff.

We can then try a news story approach by submitting the story through WHO's and KCCI's websites. I've had pretty good luck with that. We can also do a letter to the editor for the Des Moines Register.

We should then try to talk it up to extent possible on some of the other forums. I also plan to put a bumper sticker on my car.

Dave

Hey Guys,

This is my first post to the list, but I've been lurking for quite some time (since February). I'd be up for joining in the WOI advertiser boycott. I'm getting tired of this waiting game and am fed up with the broken promises and missed deadlines that have been given here.

I just watch Jimmy Kimmel on that station and that is it. I refuse to watch anything else until their Digital signal is up and running.

I'd like to add my name to the list of Central Iowa Home Theater Enthusists and join in on the cause.

Sincerely,

~JR Wymer

Thanks, JR. You're in.

As always, count me in too. We should all send an email on the same day to mporter saying that we are part of an advertising boycott on their station due to lack of progress or good faith effort to become HD/digital.

Given that our numbers will initially be small I think we should send a single letter with a group name so he can't tell how many are involved.

Count me in.

Great, welcome aboard.

Dave,

Add me--I'm sure I'm not the only one who watches HD programs at first just for the PQ and then gets hooked. This has happened several times with CBS shows and likely will happen with ABC if WOI pulls their thumb out of you know where.

You got that right. I never watched CSI until I saw it in HD. I'm not only hooked, I bought the now-widescreen 1st season on DVD.

I've had an idea here, hopefully someone on the list is good with HTML and webpage design.

Anyone for getting our own webpage on this -- to let others who are outside of this list know what's going on? Maybe even populate a list on the page of all of the local advertisers weve found on WOI to boycott? I'd like to get some of my friends involved, friends who love my HDTV set, but dont frequent this list.

My house was the Mecca of HDTV college basketball in March, thanks to KCCI and CBS's brilliant coverage of games (Butler v. Miss St. was a classic game in HD). My friends keep asking me why they cant watch the Stanley Cup and NBA Finals on HDTV and I have to explain why -- WOI doesnt have a signal yet. Even though the advertisements for ABC say "In HD where available", they think since CBS and NBC have it available (NBC has been good with the Triple Crown coverage), ABC here in Des Moines should have it too. But they dont. That pisses them off --- and they dont even own an HDTV set!

I think the webpage would get more publicity and we could get others outside of this list envolved. I would love to do it myself, but I just dont know anything about web design and couldnt make a site that would look really good. Anyone up to it?

We could also post the e-mail replies that Mr. Porter has given some of us and a calendar of the deadlines WOI has missed so far.

I dont know if anyone has hosting capabilites, but I would pay for the cost of a domain name out of my own pocket for this. Some ideas I've came across that are currently available are:

www.IowaHDTV.com
www.IowaHTE.com (HTE being Home Theater Enthusiats)

Or my favorite: www.WOISucks.com

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Feel free to share. Thanks

Pretty good idea. I have some space and can build basic pages - nothing fancy. If anyone else is good at it I'll defer, but I can go ahead if no one else can.

Out of my area of expertise, but I really, really like the idea. Nothing like the anonymity of the web. It would be nice to have a place to garner non AVS forum support.

The Tivo is recording WOI every spare moment. I should have the beginnings of a list of advertisers by the end of the weekend.

Great to see so much support. I agree with Dave, the first thing that Mr. Porter and WOI hear about this should be the frantic calls from a majority of their advertisers when they open their mail.

Anyone having any luck getting Ed Wilson to use the Mega Super Duper Gazillion Watt Weather Radar to fry WOI's equipment? LOL

Justin

I have read this thread with keen interest, as we have similar issues here in Iowa City. Please accept my two-cents-worth as a kindered spirit with a stake in a favorable outcome both here and in Des Moines.

I think we will be more likely to get what we want by being brief and crystal-clear about our complaint and the remedy we are seeking - and by avoiding dispariging or emotional comments. I suggest that someone (are there any attorneys in the group?) write a short letter for each of us to use individually. We could each send our signed letters to station managers, CEOs, Corporate Officers, etc. --- copying our local newspapers and other media, as well as our congressmen and the FCC. (Perhaps someone else in the group could develop a list of names, titles, addresses, etc.) Each of us probably knows a number of people who are not part of this board; but who would be willing to participate. So we could all pitch in to multiply our numbers among friends and colleagues.

If I were on the receiving end, I'd be much more likely to respond favorably to a message from sincere and determined individuals, rather than from an anonymous and potentially noisy group.

Well that's my two-cents-worth. Hope no one is offended. I wish you all the best.

Ron, most of us have already been vocal with anyone who would listen regarding this issue. These (at least on my part) sincere and very polite requests that this station get on the ball have been unsuccessful. Either the management of this station is incompetent (which I doubt) or full of manure. I do agree that we need to be:

Explicit with our issues and the remedies.
Sincere (and reasonable) with our requests.
Communicate that we are not unhappy with the merchant, but rather the media outlet they use to reach us.

I think we would be doing ourselves a grave disservice by sending out some half cocked, threatening, unreasonable and poorly constructed letter of threats. But I feel like we have been nice about this for nearly a year, and now it is time to give our requests a little muscle.

They don't have to get their digital channel running for 50% of their broadcast day (as the FCC has mandated) or present us with the HD ABC feed (which is just good PR). But we as consumers, in a tight retail market, have the right to purchase from merchants who do support our local stations that air HD programming and to let those who support WOI with advertising $$$ know that we aren't happy with the medium they use to reach out to us. They are supporting WOI's blatant disregard for the FCC's rules and the wishes of a small, but prosperous segment of their target population. If we have money to spend on HD gear, we are definitely consumers. I think it a travesty that we missed out on the HD feed of the Superbowl, an advertiser's wet dream.

I personally feel that as we gather steam here and reach out with the proposed website, we might find ourselves surprised by the number of lurkers and other dissatisfied consumers who haven't found this forum.

Sorry, I will get off my soapbox now. Not meant to attack you Ron, sorry if I got preachy there. I am glad to see some new faces around the board.

No offense taken... This is, after all, a discussion board. Thanks for your thoughtful response.

I think the website is a fantastic idea. I'm glad to see so many other Iowans passionate about the issue. I like the idea of using www.iowahte.com or something similar. that way we could continue to use the domain even after WOI issue is past. I would be willing to put a little money toward the domain purchase or hosting. I'd also be willing to put some time into site design or maintenance, although I don't have a lot of experience with it.

Ron is right. We need to be honest, sincere, brief and respectful. Individual letters will have impact but identical individual letters have a lot less.

There's no harm in taking both the group approach and the individual approach.

If I don't hear any other volunteers, I'll launch a web site. It will be a better place than this to post ideas for letters and lists of contacts. It will probably not be until next week.

I do have 7 sites up and running now. Not very fancy but they work. To see a sample of the site I built for my neighborhood go to this site. (http://www.GlenEaglesNorth.com)

I just talked to my fiance about this. she is a copywriter and has some experience doing press releases. she said that if we wanted to issued releases to the other media outlets, she would be happy to help us out with it.

I would also be more than happy to get this thing up and running on the web. I guess all we need to do is decide on a name for our organization. I like the Iowa Home Theater Enthusiasts. www.iowahte.org is available.

I went ahead and registered www.iowahte.com before I saw Adam's last post. It should be active tomorrow.

sounds great!

One more thought/question... Has anyone asked the owners of locally-owned audio and home theater retail outlets to advise their customers of your campaign - either by informative flyers or by business cards pointing to the Web site? Seems like they would have an interest in promoting HD.

Adam, might be worthwhile to have your fiancee start working on something for release, also a sample of the letter to mail out.

If someone could go back through this post and search out actual promises made and broken by WOI, it would be nice to document them a little in our letter to advertisers. Any emails that we as a group have saved from Mr. Porter that contain actual start up dates or other promises that have been missed, please communicate those dates to be included in our note to advertisers.

My $.02 about letter content, AKA working rough draft:

FCC has mandated digital broadcasting effective (date?). WOI has applied for and been granted repeated extensions of this date, even though they have had the equipment to broadcast digital signals since (date?) and this equipment has been in place since (date?). They are the only major station in Des Moines not in compliance with the FCC's mandate.


They also refuse to acquire the equipment to pass the network feed of HD ABC, depriving central Iowa of the stunning PQ and clarity inherent in HD programming. Mention SuperBowl, Stanley Cup, NBA playoffs, imminent Monday Night Football broadcasts, and the missed advertising audience. They are the only one of the Big Three in Des Moines not providing HD content (lets leave Faux out of this argument).

Finally work in the inability to reach a carry agreement with DISH, even though every other station in Des Moines was able to.

The number of viewers able to view HD programming on the digital channels is increasing exponentially daily. As more people enjoy HD content on other channels, WOI will find their viewership decreasing rapidly. Your advertising $ would be better spent on an alternate station with some forward compatibility that is working to grow their market share. WOI has proven incapable of hitting promised start dates for their digital channel, and has shown no desire to provide this market with HD content that is available now from ABC (list some of the shows.ie: King of Queens, Raymond, Monday Night Football, no idea of any other ABC shows). Their market share is leaching away, and they are making excuses rather than addressing the problem .

As a result, we (IowaHTE) will no longer be using your services, or the services of any other company who advertises with WOI. We will spread the word through any means available (word of mouth, public postings, press, internet) to garner support for our cause. Our argument is not with you or your services, but rather the outlet you choose to advertise on. As we have no other leverage on WOI, we have no choice but to hope that you as advertisers can prompt action, rather than empty promises. You are their revenue stream. Our polite requests to Mr. Porter and others at WOI have had little impact, perhaps you as advertisers can effect change where we could not.

Our requests are:

1. Immediate testing of digital channel (?), which is already hooked up. Public notification of testing times via newscasts, website and a weekly opt-in email.
2. Phased in daily operation of digital channel and simulcasting of analog programming, to be completed before (?). Ending with 50%+ of broadcast day as mandated by the FCC, status quo with WHO, Fox and KCCI. Again this should be communicated via newscast, website and weekly opt-in e-mail.
3. Make positive steps (ie:quotes, etc.) to acquire equipment necessary to pass on the network feed of HD ABC. Keep public updated via website, and weekly opt-in email.
4. Reexamine negotiations on retransmission on Dish. Everyone else in Des Moines was able to reach an agreement, WOI should too.

OK, I'm done. Feedback please. What to leave in or out, too threatening, too nice, too vague, too wordy, too indirect? I would like to see the threatened boycott come sooner in the letter, but don't want to threaten without background first. Any ideas? I am certainly not a professional letter writer. My feelings will not be hurt.

Am attaching first day's worth of advertisers in txt format. I will try to update the list more over the weekend.

Justin Tucker
blackdogzoi@yahoo.com

Nice work Justin. I have to leave town and won't be back until Monday so I'll put some comments together next week.

The Iowa Home Theater Enthusiasts site is now active but I won't be able to spend much time until next week.

www.iowahte.com

Hi gang, how is the week going?

I have searched the site for actual promises made by WOI's staff, found several beginning last September that WOI - DT would be live:

Prior to 10/31/02 (first FCC deadline)
Prior to SuperBowl
Sometime Spring 2003
May 1 (second extended FCC deadline)
2 weeks from 5-15
2-3 weeks from 5-31

I will work this weekend on letter wording and try to add more names to the advertiser's list. We need to try to reach some agreement on how many letters we want to send out and the advertisers we want to hit first.

Ideas on that list?

Any thoughts or input on my rough letter draft? We need to get this ball rolling. How is the website work going Dave?

I can be emailed at blackdogzoi@yahoo.com or PM'd.

Justin

Originally posted by jtuck2
2-3 weeks from 5-31Hmmm ... it's June 12th ... almost 2 weeks later and STILL not a peep from 59.1!! Big f***ing surprise!

Been a busy week but I got a little work done on the site. Trying to get a format established before going ahead with the WOI stuff.

www.iowahte.com

I'll try to get some more stuff on there and then start putting up some of the WOI info and we can work on a letter. We can also post a list of advertisers there.

P.S. I just reset the visitor counter to 1000 so we'd have an idea of traffic without starting at zero.

From Iowachannel.com (KCCI)

"Direct TV To Offer KCCI-TV
Des Moines Channels To Appear Friday

POSTED: 5:25 p.m. CDT June 12, 2003

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Satellite television subscribers will soon be able to watch KCCI NewsChannel 8 on Direct TV.

Starting Friday, Channel 8 will be available to any Direct TV customer who subscribes to any Total Choice package. The local Des Moines stations for ABC, NBC, Fox, and PBS will also be offered. Direct TV also said they're working to add the local WB station to their lineup.

Dish Network, Direct TV's competitor, has been offering Channel 8 since late last year.


For more information contact Direct TV."

Link to story:

http://www.theiowachannel.com/entertainment/2267264/detail.html
It looks like they are available to order on D*'s website. Think I will call and see if I can get a free month of locals to try.

I wondered about the counter Dave, thought we had a lot of traffic for a blank web page.

I'm getting the locals. They're included with the package I have. Pretty good picture.

Hi,
Just moved to the area. I'm waiting for the Sony 34-XBR910 to arrive so I don't have a TV yet but am researching HDTV content. How are the OTA signals here? The mediacom package seems really expensive especially with the $12 a month rental.

Dave

I hope DISH Network gets their act together and finally signs those WOI incompetants too. Looks like Pappas Telecasting is playing hard to get with both DBS companies.

I don't think the $11/month for mediacom is bad, considering it's $8/month just for digital.

dsm, welcome.

OTA signals (what there are) are pretty good lately. CBS and WHO stations both are live 50% of the broadcast day with digital, sending whatever HD content the network provides. Fox is running digital, don't watch it much. PBS has the equipment up and running, but no funding to run it. Our local ABC station is dragging their heels on digital, and won't be providing HD even when they turn the digital on.

I know nothing about Mediacom, sorry.

I emailed Marshal Porter and Dennis Poffenberger today asking when the digital signal will get turned on. I may have added a little more, like I never watch your station, the ownership is cheap, and a few other things, but I did get prompt replies from both. Dennis says, "The official turn-on date is now July 1st. I have been testing on and off for the last couple of weeks."
Porter's email elaborated further with his 2 word reply of "July 1"

So take that for what it's worth.

If they ever do get it turned on, we can't let off. We need to keep pestering them about HD .

I agree Dave, we can't let them off the hook on the HD.

Thanks for the info fireshoes, but this is just another of their "2-3 weeks" I am afraid.

If they have until Oct. 31, I am betting they will use it. Tigers don't change their stripes and Mr Porter has already proven to be a tight #ss.

I hope Dish considers adding the WB.

I talked with some guy from the Executive Vice Presidents Office about it and they have NO PLANS.

I spoke with him for 3 hours. He FINALLY substituted a New York WB for a year for free if I upgraded to the top 100 (I was gonna upgrade anyway). They won't add the WB because it is not on the "Must Carry List" which is a list of stations that you MUST carry if your going to carry a specific station.

Example: if Des Moines is to get an NBC station, it must be WHO-TV, since WHO is on the list.

If the WB station were to add itself to the list, it does not take effect until 2006.

Dish uses this as a cop out to not carry them. To get a WB you have to pay 1.50 a month more for a non-local one.

When ABC gets added, it's 6 bucks for the locals without the WB. Dish will say "We have all your locals" so it's 6 bucks, even though the WB is not included. They think that only the stations on the "Must Carry List" equates to "All the stations."

DirectTV charges 2 bucks over Total Choice Plus. If the WB is not added to Dish when my contract is up (this goes for WOI as well, but I think that'll be added since DirecTV has them), I'm switching.

This is my first draft of a boycott letter. Please offer honest opinions regarding length, content, quality, phrasing, etc. I would like to have this finished by the end of the week. I will be working on drafts to release to KCCI and WHO.

This letter is written to inform you of an immediate boycott of your goods and services in protest of the actions of the management of WOI-TV Channel 5, whom you use to advertise your business.

This boycott is being organized by the members of Iowa Home Theater Enthusiasts (Iowa HTE). We are a thriving group of affluent central Iowans who have organized to enjoy the technological advances that are available today, permitting us to enjoy the theater experience in our own homes. Please refer to our group’s website for further information. www.iowahte.com

We would like to enumerate our complaints with WOI-TV:

1. The FCC has mandated digital broadcasting effective May 1, 2002. WOI has applied for and been granted repeated extensions of this date, even though they have had the equipment to broadcast digital signals since early September 2002 and this equipment has been in place on their transmission tower in Alleman since late April 2003. They are the only major station in Des Moines not in compliance with the FCC's mandate. KCCI, WHO and KDSM are all meeting or exceeding the FCC’s requirement that 50% of their broadcast day be transmitted digitally. Several of our members have been in contact via e-mail and telephone with Marshall Porter, General Manager of WOI and Dennis Poffenberger, Chief Engineer at WOI regarding their transition to digital. Repeated promises regarding the inception of WOI’s digital signal have been made and broken. We, as consumers, are tired of being lied to.

2. ABC is currently providing stunning High Definition (HD) signals to its affiliates. WOI refuses to acquire the equipment to pass the network feed of ABC’s HD programming, depriving central Iowa of the stunning picture quality and clarity inherent with HD content. KCCI and WHO are both providing us with incredible prime time and special programming in HD. Your target audience has now missed out on the following high definition sporting events from ABC:

 The NFL Super Bowl
 The NBA Playoffs and Finals
 The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and Finals
 We will also not be able to view the upcoming NFL Monday Night Football season in HD

As well as the following weekly series:

 NYPD Blue
 The Drew Carey Show
 Alias
 The Practice
 The ABC Movie of the Week

(If you are unfamiliar with the amazing qualities of HD programming, we urge you to visit one of our local electronics stores and arrange for a demonstration. We are confident you will leave impressed. Be careful, you may even be tempted to purchase a new HD television.)

3. Finally, WOI TV is the only major Des Moines network unable to reach a retransmission agreement with DISH Network, hence their signal (and your ads) are not reaching ALL of DISH Network’s local programming subscribers. The other major Des Moines stations were able to reach an equitable agreement, and have been on the air for over 6 months.


In summation:

The number of viewers able to enjoy HD programming on the digital channels is increasing (removed exponentially)daily. According to a recent survey by the Consumer Electronics Association, 47% of respondents indicated that their next television purchase would be a HD set. The day is rapidly approaching when digital transmission of HD signals will be the norm, rather than the exception. As more people enjoy HD content on other channels, WOI will find their viewership decreasing rapidly.

Your advertising money would be better spent on an alternate station with some forward compatibility that is working to grow their market share. WOI has proven incapable of hitting promised start dates for their digital channel, and has shown no desire to provide this market with HD content that is available now from ABC. Their market share is leaching away, and they are making excuses rather than addressing the problem.

As a result, we the members of IowaHTE will no longer be using your services, or the services of any other company who advertises with WOI. We will spread word of this boycott through any means available (word of mouth, public postings, press, internet) to garner support for our cause. Our argument is not with you or your goods and services, but rather the outlet you choose to advertise on. As we have no other leverage on WOI, we have no choice but to hope that you as advertisers can prompt action, rather than empty promises. You are their revenue stream. Our polite requests to Mr. Porter and others at WOI have had little impact, perhaps you as advertisers can effect change where we could not.

Our requests are:
1. Immediate testing of digital channel 59, which is already hooked up. The public should be notified of testing times via newscasts, WOI-TV’s website (www.woitv.com) and a weekly opt-in email.
2. Removed "Phased in" Daily operation of digital channel 59 and simulcasting of ABC’s analog programming, to be completed before July 15, 2003. On August 1, 2003 WOI should be transmitting 50% of their broadcast day digitally as mandated by the FCC, to achieve parity with WHO, KDSM and KCCI. Again, progress should be communicated via newscasts, WOI’s website and a weekly opt-in e-mail.
3. Immediately acquire the equipment necessary to pass on the network feed of ABC’s HD content. Digital channel 59 must be transmitting all available ABC HD programming when the station goes to 50% daily broadcasts on August 1, 2003. Progress to be updated via WOI’s website, and a weekly opt-in email.
4. Reexamine negotiations on retransmission with DISH Network. Everyone else in Des Moines was able to reach an agreement; WOI should be able to as well.

Rapid and decisive action by the management of WOI-TV on the aforementioned remedies can forestall or significantly shorten the duration of any boycott. We are not seeking to harm your businesses, but have run out of options. It is now up to you as advertisers to leverage your hard-earned dollars and force WOI’s hand. This boycott will continue until WOI-TV is broadcasting 50% of its programming digitally and sending us all HD content that ABC provides its affiliates.

Sincerely,


IOWA HOME THEATER ENTHUSIASTS

I think the letter looks great. One thing I would do is make it clear (under requests #3) that we dont just want steps toward HD but we want an actual HD signal broadcasted.

I guess I also dont see the need to put in deadline dates. I would say the boycott should continue until WOI is transmitting digitally 50% and passing through all HD.

I was afraid that just demanding that they do it all immediately would seem unreasonable to the advertisers. I do agree that request #3 needs something more. Still mulling it over. Any ideas, gang?

I would like to see it all done overnight, but in reality I do understand that WOI needs to adjust their current budget to accomplish some of these things, especially the increased power demands from the extra transmitter and the capital expense of the new HD equipment.

Granted these things should have been budgeted for long ago, but we can't seem unreasonable in our demands or we will turn any sympathy we have from others off.

My 2c, let's hear some differing viewpoints regarding this please. We need to arrive at a consensus, and Adam and I surely aren't the only interested parties. C'mon Mark, Eyedox, fireshoes, ron, moss daddy, clones, and the rest of you lurkers. We surely aren't all on vacation at the same time. LOL

I agree with Adam on this. Once they start transmitting the big bucks are already being spent. We have to keep up the pressure until HD broadcasting starts or we'll just get more progress reports with no real progress.

OK, maybe the deadlines are appropriate. However I would like to see the August 1st deadline be 50% *and* HD passthru.

So that would be :
July 15 - transmitting digitally
Aug 1 - 50% of programming and HD

Sorry ... been really busy these last few weeks. I am still here lurking around. I think the letter is excellent and very well written. Let me know when you are ready to get it implemented. I believe WOI's JULY 1st new target date is just more bullsh*t and they will miss it again and again.

Sorry guys,

I just recently only got an e-mail about everything going on on this thread.

I really like the letter, I think "impending" should be changed to "immediate" and maybe a list of the advertisers. This letter could also be sent to the advertisers ahead of public release. (just a thought)

This should also be sent to The Register.

Mark

I like the idea of sending the letter to the Register. Anyone have contacts there that could suggest a story on the Des Moines station's entry (or lack of) into HD? Mentioning the budget woes of IPTV in the story might also help them.

I don't know the details of what WOI has for equipment right now, but if they don't actually have possession of everything they need to do HD, the target dates in the letter may be a little unrealistic (although I have no sympathy for them at all). We as a group just want to come across as being very reasonable in what we're asking...

They have everything they need to do digital right now. ASFAIK, they don't have any equipment to pass the HD network feed. I didn't set a date for HD because I didn't want to seem unreasonable. The dates I gave are extremely generous to WOI, they could turn the digital on 50% of the day today if they wanted to.

Now that I have slept on this, I am kind of shifting over to Dave and Adam's point of view regarding a deadline. I will turn the power up on the demands a little.

CHECK OUT THE NEW TEXT IN BLUE IN MY POST ABOVE AND COMMENT.

Great letter overall. I noticed two things:

1.) The number of viewers able to enjoy HD programming on the digital channels is increasing exponentially daily

- are there any legitimate numbers to back this up? If so, you might want to throw them in there for support. If not, I would suggest taking out the word "exponentially".

2.) Your target audience has now missed out on the following high definition sporting events from ABC:

The upcoming NFL Monday Night Football season

The target audience has not already missed out on something that has not happened yet. What if for some strange reason they are up and running by then? Might want to clarify.

Just my $0.02

Hope this works! It will be interesting to hear the responses from the advertisers.

Thanks Yoshi, I made some updates. They are in yellow.

I had wondered about the "exponentially". Still not too sure about the MNF thing, but felt like it needed to be in there. At least for myself, it is the only real reason I care about WOI at all.

Link to the source for my new 47% figure: http://www.ncta.com/images/HDTVkit-Researchfinal2.pdf
(in case anyone cares)

nice changes, I think they strengthen the letter quite a bit.

Those that have the mediacom hd box, is it true only shotime, hbo and CBS are offered in hd? What happened to NBC, hdnet and discovery (at least what happened to NBC)?

Yes, that's correct Randy. Those are the launch channels. Hopefully some more will be added in the near future. They decided not to air NBC at this time due to a lack of HD programming, so with any luck we will have it when the new season starts and more NBC shows are in high def. Hard to say why HDNet and Discovery aren't on. I can understand ESPN to some extent, with ESPN demanding a premium price. I will send an email to see if anything new is pending.

I'm working on the boycott section ofthe website. I will launch most or all of it later today.

Justin - I think "status quo" in request number 2 should be "parity". Status quo is business as usual. Also, please change "Fox" to "KDSM" to be consistent.

Changes completed Dave. Working on something to send to press, hope to have it done this weekend. If anyone has any comments on content of the press release, please let me know here or at: blackdogzoi@yahoo.com

Justin

Greetings from Iowa City again... In the spirit of fully participating in our campaign as an "injured party", I just ordered a Samsung T165 HDTV tuner (from Amazon).

I'm writing to ask for suggestions, recommendations and other wisdom regarding antanna selection (on the assumption that what works in Ames and other areas outside Des Moines will probably work equally well here).

I live in a two-level loft apartment on top of a modern steel / concrete / aluminum / glass building in downtown IC. I have open and uncovered outside balconies facing east (7th floor) and west (8th floor). My east wall is 12' high - mostly glass with aluminum frames. Balcony mount is OK; but roof mount is probably not an option.

My working plan is to try a Terk TV55 (amplified omnidirectional) inside. If that does not work, I'd try outside on either balcony. Does that seem like a reasonable starting point?

Thanks for any input.

The Iowa Home Theater Enthusiasts website is essentially complete. Please post comments here or in the website guestbook regarding ideas for additional pages or changes.

www.iowahte.com (http://www.iowahte.com)

I'd be especially interested if you have any quotes to add to the "Promises" page.

Ron,

Did you already buy a TV55? I have the old model TV50 and it is JUNK!!!

Try a better antenna that will look ugly on your balcony, unless you cant.

Do a search on antennas on this website, there is a wealth of info here!!!

Best of luck!!!

Mark

I think you will not find much enthusiasm for Terk antennas out there. There's a thread over the the HDTV hardware forum you might check out.

Mark, thanks for your comments about the Terk. I haven't bought one yet. But when I looked at Best Buy this morning, it seemed noteworthy that they have a number of open box TV55s on the shelf. I assume others tried it without success.

I will continue searching the AVS forums as you suggest. I didn't find much information on first try; but may have been looking in the wrong places.

Thanks again.

Originally posted by RonRathe
Mark, thanks for your comments about the Terk. I haven't bought one yet. But when I looked at Best Buy this morning, it seemed noteworthy that they have a number of open box TV55s on the shelf. I assume others tried it without success.


Terks usually are outperformed by cheap "rabbit ears" and UHF loops. Their inferior designs are a testament to what heavy marketing and attractive packaging can do that they cover the shelves as well as they do.

For UHF antennas indoors, the Zenith Silver Sensor is rated very high. For a balcony mount outdoors, look into the Channel Master 3021 - it does a great job if you're within 20-30 miles of the transmitters.

Make sure you go to www.iowahte.com (http://www.iowahte.com) and sign the guestbook to show support for the WOI-TV advertiser boycott. Letters are going out this week.

Invite all your friends to the site and let them know what we are trying to do. And have them sign the guestbook too so these advertisers know our group is growing and can make an impact on their business.

I just signed it myself. Site looks great.

The ball is rolling -- let's hope it starts to get some steam!

"Good Morning WOI. This is your wake up call."

If you haven't done so already, we need everyone to sign the guestbook at www.iowahte.com (http://www.iowahte.com) to show support for the boycott that's being launched on Friday.

did anyone notice that on 100000watts.com they show WOI up and broadcasting
http://100kwatts.tmi.net/tv/IA.html


--Andrew

Thanks, everyone, for signing the guest book at www.iowahte.com (http://www.iowahte.com) . Tell all your friends and get them to sign. The letters and press releases go out Friday. The more signatures we get in the guest book by then, the better it will look when the media checks it out.

Anyone here lurking from the Algona area? The local paper will run the IowaHTE press release regarding the boycott if we have a member from Algona.

Sometime since late yesterday afternoon this story on WOI's website has been changed to add this sentence:

"Channel 5 WOI-TV is now broadcasting a digital picture on Channel 59."

http://www.woitv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1292449&nav=1LFWG0Yq

Can anyone check on this? Think this has ANYTHING to do with WOI's advertisers? Demand #1 down, now we just need some HD content and to get them on DISH for you poor unfortunate non HD package DISH subscribers.

Sorry, I am a little giddy. Digital WOI and the D* HD package launching on the same day.

doesnt say what hours they are broadcasting. i will check this afternoon and evening to see if I can get it.

I emailed Dennis at WOI and he said that they are up and running on 59, with a city grade signal to cover Ames and Des Moines. I asked what the regular hours of operation would be and did not get an answer on that.

I can't pick it up yet on the north side of the Des Moines metro. I should be in a prime location. I'll check tonight. I don't plan to update the website until I see it for myself.


www.iowahte.com

Still no signal. Anyone else pick up WOI-DT?

No signal for me either.

If I go to my antenna menu and force my Sony to look at channel 59, I am getting a VERY weak signal. Peak strength of 7 (out of 100), wavering between 0-5. The Sony will not lock the station.

For comparison, the signals for other Des Moines digitals tonight:
Channel 16 (WHO)- 97
Channel 19 (KDSM) - 100
Channel 31 (KCCI) - 100

Sorry, would have reported sooner, got sidetracked watching the Discovery HD. I think I have a new favorite channel.

Are you sure it's WOI and not a harmonic of something else? Is it on 59 or 59-1? I'm getting nothing on either and I'm not that far from the towers.

I'm in West Des Moines and cannot get a signal at all. WHO, KCCI, and KDSM are coming in just fine.

YET ANOTHER WOI LIE! Chalk up another one of the growing list. Feel free to add that to the tally on the IOWAhte.com page

WOI: You post on your webpage its live -- did you not think we would check? This is unbelievable.

Can I doubly boycott WOI's advertisers? I work close by their building in West Des Moines. If this keeps up, i'm going to protest during my lunch hour with a big sign right on Westown Parkway. Any ideas what my sign should say?

It might be a harmonic, a lot of you guys are a LOT closer with better antennas than I have.

Let's give Mr. Porter hell in the guestbook. I am going to hold off on the email to him for now.

Just direct any non-believers to the "promises" page of the WOI section on the website. I added this to the list of lies. You would think it would be embarrassing after a while.

Wow ... another deadline has come and gone (July 1) with jack sh*t from WOI-DT. Who could have predicted that?!? I checked at 8am, noon, and 730pm ... nothing. Their claim that they had a signal up today was bullsh*t. If they think that 500 watts is going to do it for city grade reception, they are even more incompetant than I originally thought. I have light bulbs that user more power. This is outrageous. I sent an email today to mporter and dpoffenberger at woitv.com complaining about their lack of respect for the public by "claiming they are on the air today" when I called. 500 watts indeed. We each owe it to our community to file a complaint with the FCC at their website about this .. and press forward with the boycott.

No signal here in Grimes. I wont be upset until MNF comes on.

found on the Fcc web site WOI has a STA for there station for a .5 kw. which would give them a whole 10ft broadcast signal.

WOI-TV IA AMES USA (Digital)

Licensee: CAPITAL COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, INC.
Service Designation: DS Special Temporary Authority (STA) (digital)

Channel 59 Special Tem
File No.: BDSTA -20030417ACI Facility ID No: 8661
CDBS Application ID No.: 659261


41 ° 48' 1.000" Latitude Zone:
93 ° 36' 27.00" Longitude (NAD27) Frequency Offset: None
Effective Radiated Power (ERP): .500 kW ERP
Ant. Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT): 311.0 meters HAAT
Ant. Radiation Center Above Mean Sea Level: 600.5 meters RCAMSL
Ant. Radiation Center Above Ground Level: meters RCAGL

Directional Antenna ID: 59175 Pattern Rotation: 0000°
Ant. Make: Dielectric Ant. Model:
Not in a Border ZoneEffective Radiated Power (ERP): .500 kW ERP

here is the link to the web site
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?facid=8661

--Andrew

KCCI & WHO are at 316kw and KDSM is at 500kw. "City grade" apparently means the little town of ants at the base of the tower.

Of course, that depends on mounting height. It could be the ants are having trouble getting a signal lock.

You didn't scroll down far enough. The one you copied is the construction permit. The temporary operating license is just below it and it still shows .5 kW.

Off of the WOI front for a moment...

Has anyone heard when Mediacom is planning to add WHO-DT? Any news about getting other HD channels? I don't think they really become a viable option until they pick up a few more.

Did anybody ask WOI about the .5 kw thing to see what their excuse was?

I will email Mediacom to see if they have any info about more HD. Previous emails about this subject have gone unanswered however.

No, I haven't jumped WOI yet. I figured it would just be another excuse.

I sent a long email complaint regarding WOI to the FCC email address today. I suggest you all do the same. Ask them to immediately force WOI to raise their power level to at least 100kw and require 12hr/day broadcasting. CITY GRADE from Alleman, IA will require at least that much power, and WOI's antics are unacceptable.
You can file complaints at: fccinfo@fcc.gov

I doubt if the FCC will do anything yet, because technically WOI doesn't have to broadcast their digital station until their latest extension expires (assuming they don't reapply for another extension). With the approved extension, the FCC has nothing on them.

My $.02

You're right, Justin, but it can't hurt. I doubt the FCC gets all that many complaints so even a few will be considered significant. It might make a difference in October.

Hey everyone,

I've been picking up 59.1 since the 15th or so (if you can call it that). As just about everybody has found, the signal is wimpy. It hovers around 65 here in NW DSM and more often 5 and below. It chops up quite a bit for me; ironically when I have my antenna positioned best for KCCI-DT and WHO-DT.

But, in all honesty it is KDSM-quality when it shows up. Matter of fact, it's funny, the PQ is looking like they are pulling in their own analog transmission and recoding that. Not ideal to say the least.

They really do need to get their HD pass-through equipment set up, badly. And if they can't afford more than .5 kW of power, they must have some serious problems. We are really lucky to have a CBS and NBC affiliate who are serious about the transition and I definitely watch them more because of this.

Anyway, keep fighting the good fight guys and let's hope for some HD NFL later in the year.

-Loren

so it looks like they actually are transmitting something. Hardly call it "city grade" though. Still completely unacceptable.

I should have my TV in the next few weeks so I looked into Mediacom in Des Moines again for HDTV and they still only have CBS and Showtime in high definition. I may still get analog cable and then get a STB and antenna to watch NBC and CBS in HD. What would be the best way to do this that would allow me to watch analog cable and also OTA HD signals? Thanks.

Dave

Dave, Mediacom does have HBO HD as well. HBO and Showtime air with both east and west coast feeds in high def. I emailed Mediacom to see if any more HD channels were in the works, mentioning the recent HD pickups of Directv. Here is the reply:

We are currently negotiting with the additional channels for
the high definition channels. We will be adding them as soon
as the negotitions are over and we have the contract set up
with them. If you need anymore assistance please call (515)
246 - 1555 or email me back!

Hopefully that means ESPN HD by football season. ;) Although I really do want the HDnet channels and Discovery also.

Has anyone besides Xenon actually picked anything from WOI up? I have looked every eve. during prime time, with no luck.

What time of day are you seeing their signal Loren?

I havent been able to get a signal either. I'm in WDM and NBC, CBS, and FOX come in just fine.

I wont believe it until I see it and right now, I'm not seeing it. My boycott presses on.

still no signal for me either. I sent an email to Marshall Porter expressing my dissapointment in them, not that it will do any good. They state on their website that they are broadcasting on channel 59, only to have it too weak for anyone to pick up!

ARGH, they are pissing me off! Why cant they just be honest with us? If they just flat out told us they wont transmit because they dont want to spend the money, I think we would be less angry . It would still suck, but at least is would be the truth. I have completely lost ALL respect for WOI. Complete lack of professionalism.

I agree. It's all about the money. Unfortunately they can't say it's about the money publicly. To do that they have to make a filing with the FCC claiming they're essentially bankrupt.

I still get no signal. Less than 15 miles from the tower and nothing but flat terrain.

The plot thickens...



My email to Dennis
--------

Dennis –

I was hoping you might be able to update me on the status on your broadcasts on channel 59. Your website states that you are now broadcasting. I, along with everyone else I know, have been unable to lock onto the signal. I checked on the FCC website and it says you are broadcasting at 0.5kW. Obviously this is a completely inadequate signal to serve the metro area. Is this just a test? What are the plans to jack up the power so some of us can actually start watching it? If you have any news, I would love to hear it.

Thanks.
Adam Horak



His reply
-------

Dear Adam,
Our transmitter power is 500 watts. There are no plans to increase power levels at this time due to our placement at channel 59. When the digital transition is complete (with the analog channel going away) we will come up with a full power signal (probably on channel 5 assuming no interference issues). Due to our studio location not being line-of-sight (behind the Home Depot and the 1,000,000 gallon water tower on University Avenue in West Des Moines) we had to add a UHF booster amp to overcome cancelation (read "ghosting") problems. If you have any further questions, please e-mail.

Dennis

In essence he has said - "We are in technical compliance with the FCC even though no one can actually use the signal. Don't count on us spending any further money to improve the signal until 2006 or later."

Send your complaints to the FCC! This is NOT city grade reception and therefore they are NOT in compliance with the FCC.

From the chief engineer

Dear Adam,
We transmit 24 hours a day. Seven days a week.

Dennis

----

I guess thats it. They are transmitting 24/7 and have dont seem to have any plans to change anything. Somthing seems fishy to me. Somebody HAS to be able to pick up a good signal if they are broadcasting at 500kW like they claim.

It's not 500 kW. It's 500 watts which is .5kW or 1/2% of their license.

I thought most stations used leased data lines from their studios to their transmitter towers. Even if they don't, the water tower didn't just jump up there. You would have thought they would have surveyed any path between their studio and towers they were considering. The whole thing smells.

oops my bad, he did say 500 watts, not 500kW. I guess we will just have to continue with the boycott untill they increase power.

ok, we've got to take it to the next level...

We need to write the applicable state congressmen, US congressmen, and the governer. If we get lucky, we might be able to get someone to lean on WOI.

We also need to try and get the Register, WHO, or KCCI to run something. What ever happened to the press releases that were sent out? Any response?

I will compile a list of contact info for the govt officials if someone wants to write a letter. The letter to advertisers was great.

Government officials we can mail file is attached. I included all the state senators and reps that are in districts within WOI's transmitting range. We may not get anywhere with this, but its worth a try.

I would also urge everyone to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org. I just filed one. Gave a run down of the whole situation and told them to go to the iowahte website to check it out.

(Actually i gave them www.iowahte.org instead of www.iowhte.com but there was no way to go back and edit it. Someone might want to submit another complaint with the right address)

I sent a copy of the press release Dave and I worked on to everyone but the janitor at all of the local media I could find. (Register, Cityview, Des Moines Business Record, KCCI, WHO, KDSM, Ames Tribune, ISU Daily, a LOT of the local smaller papers, the Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Omaha TV stations).

All told there were 57 press release emails. The only bite I got back was from Cityview. Haven't seen anything there yet.

I will get an email out to the FCC and state government. I doubt it will have much effect, but at this point they are thumbing their noses at us. Let's all fire an email off. I am fresh out of ideas otherwise.

Has anyone asked anyone at WOI about HD equipment? I realize it is moot if no one but Xenon can pick the digital channel up, but it was one of our demands.

This went out via email to the FCC, and everyone on Adam's list. I also emailed WOI about HD and asking the same questions Adam did, thought I would feed them a little more rope.

I am writing to bring to your attention an escalating situation a group of central Iowans is having with WOI TV 5 (Des Moines' ABC affiliate).

Our problems and requests are outlined in detail on our website (www.iowahte.com).

In brief:
WOI's management is doing everything possible to avoid providing central Iowans with a legitimate digital TV signal as mandated by the FCC. Numerous promises made by WOI's management have been made and broken, now they have resorted to deception. Our requests to WOI's mangement are seemingly met with outright indifference.

We are seeking your assistance in this matter. WOI has let this problem fester, and we as consumers are powerless to effect change. Perhaps you, as lawmakers, can help them see our point of view.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Frankly, the whole thing is utterly retarded. I haven't watched WOI for so long now. I can't even pick up their NORMAL signal from Ames, can't get them on Dish Network, and can't get their Digital Signal.

I wonder how the expect people to watch them when they charge too much for a rebroadcast deal (dish network), have a terrible airway broadcast, and don't have any power in HD.

Screw them. ABC programming sucks anyways. Only thing I watch is football on there.

WOI has totally alienated most of their audience, why should our group be any different? No Dish, no digital station, and I bet at least 20% of central Iowa cant even get Ch. 5 in without fuzz.

I'm with the rest of the group -- I just dont watch WOI anymore. I used to, but I cant do it anymore. The real reason is because even a bad show on CBS or NBC is made watchable when its shown in HD. I've now become a Law and Order junkie, never miss Without a Trace, and seem to stop watching the DirecTV when an HD episose of anything comes on (Raymond, Baby Bob, CBS sunday movie, even The District).

WOI doesnt have any HD shows, therefore I dont watch.


Does ABC National know what is going on? Are they OK with the fact that their station in Des Moines is run by incompetent people who dont respond to e-mails, dont communicate with their audience, is dishonest, and doesnt seems to care about its audiences concerns?

I have no idea what is going on at WOI, but if any other organization ran a business like this, they'd be out of business. Pure and simple. What is keeping WOI afloat at this point?

WOI needs to understand that running their HD tower with 500 watts of power is only going to make us move vigilent in our cause. We're going to voice our opinions until our demands are heard and responded to in a proper manner. I hope to touch base with Attn General Tom Miller or someone in his office to let them know what is going on. Next week is too packed for me though so it might be a while until I can voice this. But I'm on it.

here's the kicker -- even if CH 5. gets their signal up and running, I probably still wont watch their station anyway after the way I've been treated as a consumer.

JR, I was wondering much the same things. I am very curious how WOI is still in business.

I only really care about ABC because of Monday Night Football, thought we might actually get something done before the season started. Other than that, they network can go fly a kite.

I also wondered about ABC and whether they care about the actions of WOI. I am more curious whether WOI's corporate ownership cares. This is not the way to conduct a business. I don't even know who owns WOI, though I have seen it on an FCC form. They aren't local. Maybe they are the ones generating the miserly response. It could be that M. Porter is just following corporate orders.

I am really at a loss here as well. This is just so wrong that I am dumbfounded. Oh well.

Have a good weekend gang.

And just to let the rest of the group know, Mask of Zorro is on CBS Sunday night in HD.

I personally will be looking forward to watching Catherine Zeta-Jones before she jumped the shark (IE, pre baby and pre-Michael Douglas). There's a scene when she comes around a corner in a white dress. When I watched in the theather, every man in there took a collective 'ugh' in unison -- Then we realized what we all did and everyone in the theater laughed. My favorite theater moment that I will never forget and I've yet to hear a theater laugh harder (even during comedies).

Anyways, I'm not going to miss it again as watching it in all its HD glory should be even better. Enjoy the weekend guys

And Adam_H -- I think I just realized who you are. You wouldnt happen to have gone to Valley, older sister named Jen? I think we went to school together, although about 3 years apart.

Originally posted by JWymer
Does ABC National know what is going on? Are they OK with the fact that their station in Des Moines is run by incompetent people who dont respond to e-mails, dont communicate with their audience, is dishonest, and doesnt seems to care about its audiences concerns? I was thinking the same thing today. Maybe we should also be sending complaint emails to ABC in New York. I'll say it again ... ISU should never have sold WOI to a bunch of raving incompetants. Screw them.

IPTV was just given a $10 million dollar grant for the digital conversion from our taxpayer monies (state of Iowa). So where the hell is DT 50.1?? Why are you still not on the air?!?

Eyedox,

IPTV is very aggresive about their HD programming, give them time, they will be up and that's all I will watch when it happens.

Remember they were the 1st station to broadcast a live event in DSM in HD (2002 state fair parade). I've got a great tape of it!!!

Our next enemy is Fox, in particular the EVIL Sinclair that owns our Fox. Fox is planning on HD, but look at the complaints that people around the nation have about Sinclair!!!

Mark

Eyedox, this was posted in the HD programming forum. Not exactly the greatest news for IPTV's HD content.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=278530

Seems like neither Marshall Porter or Dennis P. want to answer my email asking about HD broadcast equipment. BTW, I was up at some absurdly early hour (I think it was 3 am) and I was picking up a peak of 16 on channel 59. Still wasn't enough to lock the station, but it was more than I have ever seen before.

You are right ... I know that IPTV is not the enemy ... but I love how Iowa loves to put everything technological on the back burner while other states pass us by. We technically only have 2 HD stations on the air in all of central Iowa which is pathetic for a state capitol. And we wonder why every other state makes fun of us. Sad news about the fed cuts for PBS digital conversion. Now it will probably be years before we get everyone on the air digitally. It sucks that the digital transition in this country happened at the same time as a freak economic downturn. We should have done this a few years sooner. FOX (KDSM) better have their crap together when FOX goes 720p next fall (2004) or I will have yet another place to send flaming hate mail to. Haha! Watch out WOI! You are on my sh*t list!

If you send something to ABC, we need a specific name and should flood him. Last letter I sent them just got forwarded to WOI for a response and I got an inane M. Porter reply.

I sent an e-mail off to my uncle looking for assistance. He's a retired FCC lawyer and may have some ideas on how to stir them up.

JR -

Yep, I'm the Adam with the older sister Jenn. I figured that it had to be you. Hope everything is going well. Jenn's married and living in Illinois right now.

Hey there,
I haven't been a poster. Haven't had time lately, but can anyone tell me if KCCI has had a signal change on their HD signal. I was off on vacation, and now that I'm back, I can't seem to get their signal.
Living in Clive I never had a problem before.
Thanks

Watched part of Zorro in HD tonight. Didn't check signal strength but no pixelation. I'm in Urbandale.

Shrike, not too long ago on my Sony I had to rerun auto setup for the digital stations to pull in KCCI. They changed from 31.1 to 8.1 in my programming guide when I did it. I had the same problems as you and that fixed it.

KCCI was on normal times, good signal strength in Knoxville.

Zorro last night was great picture quality. Props to KCCI for a nice presentation. I've forgotten how good Catherine Zeta-Jones looked back then.

Adam_H -- yes, thought that was you. Glad to hear Jenn is doing well. You'll have to tell her JR says hello next time you talk to her.

I just finished talking to someone in the FCC Video Division. My uncle hired him about 25 years ago so he was very helpful and willing to listen to me rant.

He didn't give me a lot of hope for immediate help other than to say they would be looking into the signal strength issue. Because WOI is not in a top-30 market they can get away with a "city grade" service until the transition is over. City Grade has a technical signal requirement that WOI must think they've complied with but this guy said they still have to serve the major cities. He said complaints from individuals that they can't get the signal will cause the FCC to issue inquiries to WOI they must respond to. Complaints need a specific location.

Currently, there is no requirement for WOI to offer HD. However, there is an ongoing open docket on HDTV and letters to the DTV task force will have an impact on those eventual rules.

I gave him the web site address. He seem enthused to have a documented example of a station that is trying to get by with the bare minimum but is not really complying with the intent. He said he would pass along the web address to others.

Complaints that go in to the task force are reviewed in a weekly meeting and assigned for the staff to make inquiries. At the very least, we can keep WOI visible and force them to respond to the FCC.

Address your letters to:

Rick Chessen
Chief, DTV Task Force
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St SW
Washington, DC 20554

jtuck2,

Sorry for the delayed response. I am pulling in the signal at all hours from WOI, so they might be up up continuously. Line of sight from my home, to Home Depot (if they are transmitting from near there) is about 4 1/2 miles. That probably explains why I am able to pick it up. Another half mile or so and I'm thinking it'd be a no go for me too.

-Loren

From Marshall Porter:

Dear Adam,


Allow me to respond to your recent inquiries / statements regarding our digital television transition plans.

As you know, we started broadcasting a standard definition digital signal on July 1, 2003. We are utilizing a Harris 500 watt transmitter to broadcast WOI DT 59 as authorized by the Federal Communications Commission. Well over 100 stations in medium and small markets are using the same or similar transmitter model with plans like ours to upgrade their service at some future date. Our signal is run up through the antenna in a manner which provides a gain and an effective radiated power of 3.2kW. Our predicted signal extends beyond our cities of license (Ames/Des Moines) as required by the FCC in a manner which covers approximately 40% of our market area and 53% of our market’s population.

Our digital transition in this market was complicated by two significant issues. First, we do not have an ownership stake in a tall tower here in Des Moines as we do in most of our other markets (it is worth noting that our station in Lincoln was the first one in Nebraska to broadcast a digital signal). Second, the FCC assigned us an “out of core” digital channel no. 59, which greatly complicates the transition here. The extensions and STA granted us in recent months by the FCC is an acknowledgement of the enormous costs and other complicating factors associated with the conversion to a full-power digital station.

We will endeavor to keep you informed of our digital transition plans in the months ahead. Please feel free to contact me at any time.

Sincerely,


Marshall Porter
Senior Vice President / General Manager
WOI TV

Good Morning, I live in Nebraska and have been following the Woi situation, and read the previous post and what a joke about the Lincoln station being the first digital station in Nebraska, this station Klkn is very low power and has no plans on upgrading to full power and a Hdtv signal,this is now magnified in the Omaha,Lincoln area because Omaha's Abc affiliate Ketv tower collapsed, upgrading to full power, they were running low to medium power and sending out a hdtv signal, before the collapse,now it will be 9-months to a year, for a new tower to be built.

Adam ... I got the SAME canned response from Porter yesterday ... let me guess ... it was sent as an attached WORD document?!?! Am I right??

I got the same form letter but it was from the Operations Manager and came in the mail. It was adressed to President, Iowa HTE. They're looking at the site.

Eyedox, it did come in an attached word document.

There is NO WAY IN HELL that an 3.2kW effective signal covers 40% market area and 53% market population. That's just a blatantly false claim.

I just moved to a new place in Johnston from Ames. As you all might have guessed I have had no luck in picking up WOI.

i was able to pick up Woi today at the Best Buy store in West Des Moines with a set of $15 rabbit ears, so I'm thinking that maybe they are broadcasting from there studio roof and not from alleman.

Andrew

No signal here in Grimes

As many of you may already know, I live in INDIANOLA. I have a huge antenna with a booster on it. Not even a trace of signal down here for 59. WOI is actually planning on waiting until 2007 to switch to high power when they move off of 59 UHF back to 5 VHF! Can you believe that crap?

I received a copy of Porter's letter through the mail today from the BBB as a response to my complaint. I think I will work through them to press the issue.

Is the 40/53% figure he mentions a FCC requirement? It seems pretty clear that there isnt any way they are meeting that.

The FCC requirement is a signal strength requirement they think they are meeting. However, they also have to respond to coverage issues in their major cities. I already sent my complaint to the FCC that should cause them to have to explain my particular situation.

Hello,
tropo ducting is good tonight I'm getting KCCI at a signal of 100% here in Dakota City,NE witch is about 6 miles south of South Sioux City NE. Hack is back on talk to you later. I'll try to see if i can get WOI (just kidding)
___________
Craig

I've got a UHF/VHF in my attic, 3 different powered UHF antennas in my house and a Terk TV44 wrapped around my dish. I get WHO/KCCI/KDSM digital with all of them and near 100% on all with the Terk. Still nothing from WOI.

Just thought I would jump in real quick. I have been following the frustrations that all of you have been having. I was hoping to do some things for my brother who lives in Des Moines but I think we are going to wait just a little longer. However I do have just a couple of thoughts for you.

Eyedox you said that WOI plans to wait until 2007 to go to full power on their channel 5 vhf. I have talk to some of the enginners in Omaha and there is no for sure date that they can turn off the analog broadcast. I think that is just another blow off statement. Also I don't believe that the FCC has granted going back to the origianl channel for anyone yet. Also the engineers I talked were still worried about how 60 cycle interference would effect the digital siginal. On analog that is the white sparkles you see in the picture. It is mostly seen on channel 3-8.

Also I would ask the point blank questions. What is the expected radius (in miles) of coverage at the 3.2 kW erp? Which tower (give Lat and Long) are you broadcasting from. What is the height of the antenna on the tower? These questions will go a long way to finding out the truths.

For example channel 7 (KETV) was broadcasting at 18.9 kW erp at a height of about 750 feet (if I remember right is was half way up there 1300' tower). We were getting a signal in Lincoln but it did have break ups. From the tower to our shop was 47 miles. They were using channel 20 UHF. Now from talking with these engineers I thought that the higher the UHF channel the more power need to get the same coverage.

I hope this helps and good luck to all of you. I think if you can get them to answer those direct questions you will get a better feel of what is happening. If you have already tried those questions then I'm sorry for the post.

Shawn

I just did some quick calulations. I got the tower location for WOI 5 and WOI 59. They are different which seems weird. My brother lives in Urbandale at about 89th & Aurora. He is 13.5 miles from WOI 5 and 14.7 miles from WOI 59. At the levels you guys have given and not knowing the height of the antenna I would feel go about getting a signal. I was planning to visit him in three weeks. When I do I think I will bring my test antenna and meter to see what the levels are and compare them to reading I have taking from Lincoln. I know that doesn't help now but it doesn't look like thing will be changing soon. Plus I can't get up there any sooner.

The Lat and Long I used came from http://100kwatts.tmi.net/tv/DSM.html

Channel 5 is N41 48 33 W 93 36 53 and 59 is N41 49 47 W93 36 53 for those of you with a GPS unit.

Shawn

Thank you for your thoughtful input csschrot ... I follow the Omaha thread and was sorry to hear about the tower collapse on the 4th of July. Another tragic setback ... at least your stations have valid excuses for their delays and are trying.

I'm in Urbandale a little west of 86th and north of Meredith. I sometimes get a image from woi-dt. But it has only been broken up pictures., like DirecTV during rain only worse. Usually I don't seem to get anything.

I live on 25th St in WDM, near Woodland Ave -- its about a mile away from the WOI tower on Westown Parkway.

I cant get WOI in at all. Not even a grainy picture.

I still cant see it, so I still dont believe it.

I am thinking about buying a HD system and hoping I might get some insight into reception. I worked with your cohorts in Denver where I just got a HD tower permitted by the local county for four of the stations. As a result, I know nobody knows more about the reception or lack thereof than you all.

I live off 42nd street a few blocks south of Grand in DM. Right not my over the air reception for analog is poor. What are my chances with the stations current DT setup?

Re: WOI, the FCC defines city grade service as 48 dbu signal strength to 90% of the homes in the "principal city" (Des Moines), 90% of the time. 1/2kw isn't going to do it.

The guy at WOI is right though on one account- they can't operate their HD signal on channel 59 in the long term. Quite frankly, the FCC seems to have screwed them over as all TV stations on channels over 51 have to be moved in the near future as those frequencies are going to be auctioned off and/or used for public safety. Why the FCC assigned WOI that DTV channel I can't imagine. Of course they're not going to spend big money on a HD transmitter at a frequency that can't use but for a few years. Naturally, that means were SOL too. Nonetheless, 1/2 kw is a pretty pathetic attempt.

If you want to put heat on them via the FCC, you should provide the FCC with a list of signal strengths at various locations over time. That will paint a clear picture of non-compliance.

As far as WOI's site, it does appear that their temp site is at the station. They are also part of the consortium with the local PBS, Fox, NBC, and WB affiliates who built a monster 2000'+ tower between Ames and Des Moines. They dropped some cash on that baby and aren't using it! How is the reception for those other stations? WOI's will be similar someday. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be someday soon.

I just bought a Samsung T151 receiver to go with my new X1 projector, and I am severely disappointed with the reception.

I've got a Radio Shack VU-190 XR antenna that I put up on top of a 10 foot mast on my roof last year, which greatly improved my reception of all the analog channels (except Pax-39). I live in a 2 story behind Knob Hill a couple blocks south of University at the far east edge of Des Moines, so I have to believe I'm getting some interference because of the hill. Plus my antenna is bigger than I need - Antennaweb.org says I need a medium directional, and I've got a large.

As far as digital, I can get WHO on 19 pretty constently. When I check the signal, it usually says 3 out of 25 bars (12 of 100?)

None of the other channels (31, 50, 59, 16) gets any signal at all. I must have received 31 long enough once for the T151 to recognize that it's KCCI, but I've never seen anything.

I'm going to mess around this weekend, but I'm thinking about returning the receiver. I'm open to suggestions ....gb

Good to see some new faces around here. Welcome.

I live between Knoxville and Pella (about 35-40 miles as the crow flies). I have an off the shelf standard VHF/UHF/FM antenna in the attic of my garage. I have a 10db booster in line before my receiver.

WHO is normally 97%
KCCI is 100%
Fox is 95+%
PBS (when it is on) is in the high 80's
No idea about WOI, never have seen a picture.

PBS (Channel 50) has budget problems, they haven't had the digital channel on for quite a while now. They normally turn it on during state fair, so look for it then.

For both of you, I would suggest trying a small booster (Rat Shack) before you give up. I was in the same boat, and that cheap little amp really changed my reception.

Let us know how it works out.

Hi Bill, sorry to hear about the poor reception. I'm actually the guy that sold you the Samsung 151 (I would assume anyway, how many X1 owners bough 151's this week? ;) ).I was doing some research into your problem and it appears that the RS antenna you have is excellent for VHF, which is why it really improved your analog channels, but it's maybe not so good at picking up UHF, which unfortunately might be the root of the problem for picking up the digital channels. I would try the amplifier like jtuck said. People have mixed results with the RS model, but it might be worth a try. There seem to be a number of ChannelMaster recommendations as well. If the amp doesn't do the trick, you may want to look into UHF antenna options. Perhaps jtuck could get you the model number off of his, since he is very sucessful at getting strong signals, given his location. Good luck!

My antenna is the biggest conventional VHF/UHF/FM aerial that Home Depot sells. If I recall correctly, it is an RCA. It is nothing special.

I would agree with fireshoes, I have read somewhere in the hardware forum that the Radio Shack antenna you have is lacking in UHF. Poor UHF=Poor Digital. You mentioned poor Pax reception, is your SD Fox poor as well?

You might make sure that you don't have a splitter or some other device made for CATV somewhere in the line, some of those will filter out or attenuate your UHF frequencies.

If you are buying a booster, make sure that it is amplifying VHF and UHF (FM too if you need that). Some only work for CATV or Satellite,which are different frequency bands. I normally hit Radio Shack for those sorts of things, but I think Best Buy, American and Ultimate are getting better at stocking some of the more specialty little electronics items.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=15%2D1170
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F003%5F001&product%5Fid=15%2D1109
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F003%5F001&product%5Fid=15%2D1108

I don't really see the amp I bought, it is closest in function to the first link. It is strictly for indoor use, and requires a 110V outlet nearby. I think it was in the $25 range. One nice thing about the Rat Shack is that they will take ANYTHING back if it doesn't work for you. I would definitely purchase the cheapest one first and keep taking them back and upgrading until you get it right. No need to spend $60-70 if $25 will work.

One possible issue: You might cause ghosting or some other overamplification issues on the channels you are currently receiving well. Good luck.

Justin

Also, I have heard and found through experience that INLINE boosters (at the antenna), with their matching power transformer then at the TV-end, are most effective at amplifying weak signals.
KDIN (IPTV) was testing all day yesterday on 50.2 again. But they keep showing the same local content 5 minute HD loop consisting of Luther College Christmas concert .... flowers/bugs ... state capitol ... in the classroom bit .... missouri river loess hills history ... etc. Why not run the NATIONAL HD Loop???

Received this reply e-mail today from M. Porter in response to my e-mail inquiring about HD and politely complaining about the lack of signal from Channel 59. Not good HD news.


"Mr. Tucker,

I am forwarding your email to our Operations Manager, Randy Shelton and our
Chief Engineer, Dennis Poffenberger. One of them will contact you shortly,
to ascertain precisely where you are located to see if in fact there is a
way for you to receive our digital signal.

We are currently taking several measurement tests throughout our coverage
area to determine the exact extent of that new signal.

I am sorry to inform you that we will not be broadcasting Monday Night
Football this season in HD.

Marshall Porter"



BTW, Bill and Pete, resist all temptation and clever marketing by Terk. Stay away from the light .. er, I mean Terk antenna. They are for the most part JUNK. You probably knew this.

WHAT!!!!

NO HD MNF, I am p@ss(d!!! Ok now what can we do about this?

Jtuck2 the terk antenna is a fine piece of equipment, I have the terk tv50 which is great for say batting practice or say a filler board for a tree house :)

Mark

Been on the road calibrating, so this is catching up a few items.

1) I'm not a big fan of Terk, but the TV44 I wrapped around my oval dish pushed the digital from KDSM, WHO and KCCI up about 15 points. I'm in northwest Urbandale and am now 85-100 on all three. Still nothing on WOI.

2) Got a call from the FCC in response to my complaint letter. Not impressive. The lady that called was not from the video group, I think she was from a PR/Corporate Communications group. Very little technical knowledge. Her goal was to tell me WOI is meeting minimum standards so there isn't anything they can do. She claimed there is no coverage minimum, just a power level minimum. Not the same as I was told over the phone earlier. She said it was unlikely their permanent digital channel assignment would be 5 but she also didn't know if they would be keeping 59. I tried to make the point the rules are not helping the transition to DTV but she had a message she was trying to deliver to me so she wasn't listening much.

If you do send a letter, make sure to include your phone number. They will call and maybe someone else can be more convincing.

3) I've now seen several installations across the country in which users have the Canadian satellite service, ExpressVu, to get broadcasting not available locally. The 3 major networks all have East coast HD feeds that are in an HD package ExpressVu has. ABC HD is available there.

It's essentially a DISH system but uses a different card so you have to have a separate dish and receiver. The satellites are at 159 degress (HD) and 170 degrees (SD) from here so both can be hit with a dual LNB dish. They use the DISH6000 HD receiver so it will cost about $700 to add the receiver. Programming will cost $20-$25 per month for their basic package plus the HD package.

I'm going to do some more checking and plan to get it installed before MNF in September. One of the brokers you can check out is CanAm Satellites (http://www.canamsatellites.com/) if you're interested.

This afternoon I got my best WOI signal. The picture still broke up quite often but I got most of the sound track. I don't know if it was atmospheric or if they've cranked up the power a bit. Unfortunately, it's still not watchable.

I live in Ankeny and for the past 2 nights have been able to receive WOI thru standard bunny ears. I get all of 1 line of signal strength on the Samsung 151, but am going to hook up an amplifier to see if that helps, as it is only working from about 6:30 until 8:30. It hasn't remapped to 5 at all, and I do get quite a bit of pixelation at times, but they are out there believe it or not!

Still no WOI-DT at home. Great to see the spectacular HD picture of preseason MNF. Thanks for nothing WOI.

BTW, PBS-DT (Channel 50) was on the air last night. Hoping they will stay on through the fair. Programming was the Xmas concert at Luther College when I had it on last night around 8:00. Hoping they pick up some of the National PBS feed.

MNF will be on ESPN HD next week so you can check it out if you have the DirecTV HD package.

Canadian package is on order but receivers are on backorder. I plan to be up and running with MNF in HD by 8/25 and then no more WOI for me.

Too pricey on the Canadian package for me. I would really like to, but just not going to happen.

After I'm up and running I'll have to have a non-WOI MNF gathering for the locals.

Some broadcasters operating with very low power DTV transmitters may be required to increase power under the House Bill. Section 4 of the Bill states, "Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall revise its regulations to establish minimum power levels and deadlines for achieving such power levels for any television broadcasting facility transmitting a digital broadcast signal. Such regulations, at a minimum, shall require broadcasters to transmit a digital signal at sufficient power to ensure that its digital broadcast service matches the Grade A service contour of its NTSC broadcast signal by no later than July 1, 2004. Nothing in this Act shall limit the Commission's authority to prescribe higher power levels consistent with the objective of concluding the transition to digital television by December 31, 2006."

http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=108

Take that you WOI Jackasses.

Wow, I hope that goes through, Eyedox. You should make sure Marshall Porter gets that info, especially the last line. ;)

Dave, I'd be up for the MNF at your place. I hear you have a nice system. I got the beer if you got the HD!

I already thought of that ... mporter has a copy waiting for him in his inbox tomorrow. Heh heh! I love thumbing him. You should all cut and paste the SAME thing and email it to mporter@woitv.com .... just to make a statement that we are watching him and on his ass about his pathetic signal.

I almost forgot this tidbit. Kind of ironic since it invloves my employer. Did you see WOI is doing the HDTV giveaway on Monday Night Football with American TV and Papa Murphy's again this year? I was at a friend's house for the game last night so I only halfway caught the ad, but it seemed like they gave the impression MNF was in HD locally. Anyone see the whole thing?

yeah the whole ad was BS* saying Are you ready for MNF in HDTV win an Mitsubishi HDTV. not watch it in HDTV.

I was able to pick up Woi today too. To bad its a worthless signal to watch I would rather them turn it off for 2 months and save up the money to do a real signal by MNF kick off in September.

-Andrew

Received this email this AM:

KDIN, an Iowa Public Television station located in Alleman, will be broadcasting its digital signal on channel 50 from noon until midnight today, Wednesday, August 6th. In addition, we will be broadcasting from 5:00AM to Midnight for the run of the Iowa State Fair from Thursday, August 7th to Sunday August 17th. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing karen.schaeffer@iptv.org.
Karen Schaeffer
Administrative Assistant
William T. Hayes
Director of Engineering and
Technology
Iowa Public Television
Phone: 515.242.4139
Fax: 515.242.3109
email: karen.schaeffer@iptv.org

On a side note:

Let's email our Representatives asking them to support HR2825. I am not too sure about the numbers presented in the article you linked to Eyedox. If I am figuring them correctly, WOI is already claiming to meet the ERP (effective radiated power) proposed in the bill. I am certainly not an engineer, so I am probably wrong. I am guessing this bill has a snowball's chance in Hades to make it intact out of committee anyway.

Iptv has a signal of 90 to 92 here in Grimes. No signal whatsoever from woi.

I haven't got all the details but apparently an engineer from WOI called the store today to see if we were able to pick up their digital signal. We couldn't, and have never been able to. I find it interesting that WOI called to inquire about it, and I really hope that they are going to make an effort to make it watchable. I'm not holding my breath obviously, and I know it's still not HD, but at least maybe it's a step in the right direction.

While home at lunch today, I was flipping though the channels and noticed 59-1 was coming in. It was my best signal to date, although still scrambling and cutting out. Maybe they turned up the signal a bit.

Originally posted by fireshoes
I haven't got all the details but apparently an engineer from WOI called the store today to see if we were able to pick up their digital signal. We couldn't, and have never been able to. I find it interesting that WOI called to inquire about it, and I really hope that they are going to make an effort to make it watchable. I'm not holding my breath obviously, and I know it's still not HD, but at least maybe it's a step in the right direction. Maybe the FCC is coming down on the WOI losers because they have had complaints that NO ONE can receive a decent city greade signal even from within their core market. They need to crank up the damn power 100 fold.

I continue to get a stronger signal but still with some breakup of the signal. Of course it's a better signal than analog 5 from my antenae but it's still not a High Def picture so I'm not likely to spend much time watching.

It's too bad that in general our society is about quantity (500 channels you wouldn't watch) instead of quality. Still it's hard to believe that Fox could be doing high def before the local ABC affiliate.

Mossdaddy - Approximately where do you live (which suburb) in Des Moines that you are getting a signal from WOI? I am curious. I am in Indianola ... where there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of a signal.

Denis From WOI called my store yesterday too and asked if we could pick up our signal. I told him yes bit it was Pixalating pretty bad, and we needed a stronger signal to lock in better. I asked him to come in and see for himself and to my surprise he did along with his Operations Manager, We talked for a bit and he said that they will not turn the power up yet, Most likely because the transmitter is not high enough to turn it up to 5-10kw to reach a somewhat city grade signal. I also asked when they would get a HD satellite box to pass the HD signal through, but they said not anytime soon.

looks like we better pray for Direct TV to get National Network HD signals before we ever get to HD ABC.

-Andrew

Got an E-mail form Steve at KCCI

Andrew,

I will be late this year or beginning of next before the 5.1 is installed.
Happy to hear you enjoy CBS HDTV sports and KCCI programming.

Thanks

Steve


Good News from KCCI


-Andrew

I went to the American website on Monday and sent an online message to the corporate office about how humorous I found it that they were doing a promotion with WOI for an HDTV with Monday night football when WOI isn't even broadcasting a signal that their store can reach. I gave them some specifics on transmitter location relative to where I live (I can see the Alleman tower from my house and still can't get a steady signal from WOI with an amplifier on my bunny ears). I haven't heard a response back from American, but it sounds like they got my message, or just a coincidence. I didn't think they would think it was a good business decision to put their name with WOI on HDTV issues and giveaways. This may be another way of going about working with WOI on the issue, having a big player in the Des Moines market forcing the issue. Of course, WOI would probably just say ok, pull your advertising and promotion, it isn't worth it to us since nobody watches our channel anyway.

Got an e-mail back from KDSM today not a lot of info but promising

Doug,

Saw the press release on FOX going HDTV with 720p. Are you going to sending that through anytime soon on KDSM-dt any time soon? Thanks for any information.

-Andrew

Fox will be 720p in the Fall of '04. We hope to pass it at that time.

Doug Hammond

Lets all get on this and send some e-mails to KDSM and let them know we are watching and would enjoy HDTV from FOX.


-Andrew

Doug Hammond <DHammond@kdsm.sbgnet.com>

I was asked my location for receiving WOI signal. I'm in Urbandale just east of Super Target. The 5-1 signal is sharp but as was indicated it has a lot of pixalation.

Mossdaddy -

I'm also in Urbandale just east of Super Target - Glen Eagles North off 100th. We must be almost neighbors.

We are neighbors, I'm just south of you on the creek. You can tell my house because of the antenae. I'm right where 100th used to over the creek by Charlie's fruit and veggies stand.

Sure, I know where you are.


I back up to the north side of Charlie's property. White house - screen porch.

hey isn't this a HD Des Moines thread not Hey I know where you live!!!

Sad to see IPTV not broadcasting anymore

Just kiddin

-Andrew

Yeah, it sure was nice having IPTV on, even for a little while.

Playing around during the "football" game last night, picked up a peak of 17 on WOI-DT. Still not enough to lock the signal or even get a picture. Not sure if the power has gone up, or if it was just a good night for TV waves.

Well, I struck out with the DirecTV since my apartment doesn't face far enough south so I have to get Mediacom. They're telling my they only carry Showtime in HD and not NBC or CBS. I belive the Moto 5100 is the box they use so I can't decode OTA signals either. Anyone know what they actually carry or what the best way of getting the local channels in HD before the season starts with my setup? Thanks.

Here's what I found on HDTVpub.com site about what someone heard from Mediacom. Hope this is true.

Dave
-----------
Mediacom is reporting at their Iowa State Fair Booth that they will be rolling out full HDTV service on October 1, 2003, and hope to offer up to 30 channels immediately.
DTV Stations Offered:
ABC WOI-DT - Ch ?
NBC WHO-DT - Ch ?
FOX KDSM-DT - Ch ?
PBS KDIN-DT - Ch ?
CBS KCCI-DT - Ch ?
NBA-TV HDTV - Ch ?
CSN-HD - Ch ?
ESPN-HD - Ch ?
HBO - Ch ?
Showtime - Ch ?
Discovery HD - Ch ?

I have Mediacom for High Def right now, and I hope you are right about the new channels. I bug them about once a month for info. They are using the Motorola 5100. Right now they have KCCI-DT (808), HBO HD East (880), HBO HD West (881), Showtime HD East (891), and Showtime HD West (891). The HD picture is great, although I have been having some dropouts lately. If you have any other questions, let me know.

Tried getting 59.1 last night from Colo, IA... No dice. (Not that I was expecting to recieve anything anyway).

No matter to me though, I really don't watch WOI.

Originally posted by AbbeyRoad
After I'm up and running I'll have to have a non-WOI MNF gathering for the locals.

Sound like a good time. I can't wait to get my set completely running and I really hope Mediacom actually follows through with that Oct. 1st promise.

Dave

With over 30 years experience with several cable companies, I pretty much hate the lying *******s. (Think I'm biased?) But I don't know how they could be promising HD signals for the likes of WOI and Fox when they won't be broadcasting them. They might (dripping with sarcsm) offer the digital signal, and tell you it's HD. Not that they would intentionally mislead the customer.

So if it's not an HD signal, why would I care.

I'm in the same boat but for me, it's either pay $300 for an OTA box and not get other channels I want like ESPN and CNN or get cable even though they overcharge by about $25.

Dave

dsm363,

you can get an ota "open box" unit for $200 @ American.

Best of luck

Mark

Thanks. I'm actually getting the digital cable package tomorrow. They don't have NBC yet but at least I can see what HD looks on my new Sony KN-34XBR910 set with HBO/Showtime.

Dave

Well, they hooked up the cable box (I wasn't home when they did it) and it's a black Motorola cable box without a DVI port or component video and I'm not getting the HD channels. I assume this isn't the DCT5100. Is there a way to tell? Thanks.

Dave

Here's a couple of links to help you out. The first is the AVS forum 5100 faq. The other is to the Motorola webpage. The box I have is gray with a silver faceplate so initially it sounds like Mediacom messed up. There's a picture on the Motorola website. Let me know if you have any other questions.

http://cjhengineering.com/5100faq.htm
http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/dct5100.html

Thanks. Definitely wrong box. Guess I'll have to wait again to see what HD looks like on my TV.

Dave

Nice to know we have morons running Mediacom too. Add this to the idiots at WOI-DT, and KPWB ... you got yourself a regular hee-haw of technological vegetables.

Hello fellow HD'rs in Dsm. Is WOI broadcasting every night?

So far, I've never been able to get a signal for WOI. But it looks like 'a few' have been able to receive.

I'm in Windsor Heights using a Hipix card in my PC with a Sony HS10 projector. CBS, NBC, and Fox come in great. -Joe-

Originally posted by Eyedox
Nice to know we have morons running Mediacom too. Add this to the idiots at WOI-DT, and KPWB ... you got yourself a regular hee-haw of technological vegetables.

Yep, when my dad got the 5100 for HD they hooked it up with composite cables and left it in 480p output mode. :rolleyes:

TwilightZone - WOI is broadcasting every night (at least they claim to) I don't expect you will have any luck getting a signal in Windsor Heights.

Am I right that no one in this thread has yet gotten a watchable signal from WOI? City grade my ass.

WOI,

I receive it great on my digital cable :) No, I haven't had a blink of a signal on my dtc-100 or my integrated Mits. You have to be in home depots parking lot to receive woi in SD from what I have read.

Mark

I think oo00kool is the only person on this board that has picked up any kind of a watchable signal.

Adam_H, mtmdesmoines, and jtuck2: Thanks for the confirmation that WOI is next to impossible to get a signal at this time. I'm getting a ZERO signal strength. Is WOI broadcasting from the Alleman towers?

Sorry for being off topic, but has anyone put together a Metro area club for us video junkies? -TwilightZone-

twilightzone,

From what I have read on this thread, woi is broadcasting from westown parkway.

as far as a metro video club, I don't know of any.

But would like to find one!!!

Mark

I've received no signal yet.

As far as a metro club, that was part of the point of launching the Iowa Home Theater Enthusiasts - www.iowahte.com (http://www.iowahte.com) . It says "Iowa" but it's really more "Central Iowa". If I ever get my back ordered receiver for Canadian satellite, I'll have a MNF HD open house for the group.

I've noted in other posts that I have received a signal from WOI on 59-1 for a few weeks. I only check it once in a while because 1, WOI's cable and over the air signal suck so bad that I'm not in the habit of watching any ABC programing and 2, they don't broadcast an HD picture so I'm not intrigued enough to spend any time on them.

That said, I would say the picture has become better since I first started picking it up. I just wached about 5 minutes and most of it was watchable. However, there was still enough pixalization and signal breakup that it would be too annoying to try to actually watch a program.

I'm located just east of Super Target and have a roof top antenea. However, it certainly isn't pointed toward the West Des Moines location.

To me it's a moot point whether the signal can be received or not since they aren't likely to have any HD programming in the near future.

Anyone notice on the FCC web page that someone has a construction permit for a Digital station here's the info anyone have any idea

Licensee: CAROLINE K. POWLEY
Service Designation: DT "Full Service" TV Station or Application (digital)

Channel 56 (722-728 MHz) Construction permit
File No.: BNPCDT-19960117KE Facility ID No: 78915
CDBS Application ID No.: 680138

Antenna Structure Registration Number (ASRN): 1061304


41 ° 49' 47.00" Latitude Zone: 2
93 ° 36' 56.00" Longitude (NAD27) Frequency Offset: None
Polarization: Circularly Polarized (H = V)
Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 1000 kW ERP
Ant. Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT): 592.0 meters HAAT
Ant. Radiation Center Above Mean Sea Level: 1186. meters RCAMSL
Ant. Radiation Center Above Ground Level: 882. meters RCAGL

Directional Antenna ID: 61210 Pattern Rotation: 070.°
Ant. Make: Andrew Ant. Model:

It's gotta be either PAX or KPWB. Hopefully its KPWB, I could care less about PAX.

Any idea when Mediacom will have NBC or ESPN in HD?

Dave

Just that October rumor. Did you ever get the right box hooked up at your place?

Yeah, they came by the next day and brought the DCT5100 box. The receipt even said HDTV on it so the installer obviously didn't look too closely. I'm having all kinds of problems with CBS HD channel 808. It comes in choppy and digitized looking so it's unwatchable. They say it's my 'wiring' in my apartment even though ever other HDTV channel works.

Dave

"I'd like to take a bit of time to thank WOI for showing the game in HDTV last night"

That is the sentence I would have loved to have written this morning on the board.

As it is, I will point out the irony that WOI is running a contest with American TV where the winner gets....get this....an HDTV!!

Too bad they cant watch WOI on it (digitally that is). Tell the winner Good Luck getting a signal too!
========
I live on 25th st in WDM (about a 1.5 miles from the WOI station) and STILL cant get a signal from WOI.

I'm so pumped! I'm watching Drew Carey in HD from Urbandale. No more WOI!!

I'm on Bel Express Vu out of Canada. I still have to do some minor tweaks on the aiming to improve my signal strength, but I seem to have a good lock.

I'm getting both the east and west HD feed for ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox as well as CityTV which is a Canadian HD station.

The big expense is the receiver which is a relabeled Dish 6000. In a few months they'll be changing to the new Dish 811 which will be about $200 cheaper.

I've got some calibration tours coming up, so the non-WOI MNF HD Open House will probably be in October. Watch this space for an announcement.

Did I say how pumped I am?:D

Hi,

I've had HD for years, and use AVS for DVD and projector issues, but just found this massive thread (more like a rope at this point). I live in Urbandale and have an HS10 pj in my media room and a Elite 710 in my family room. I have 2 DTC100's with an attic radio shack UHF antenna. I did not see a complete list of DSM HD channels listed anywhere, so here is what I get (watchable means time without sound drop or picture freeze or any problem at all):

WOI-DT (5 - Very choppy signal, about 60% watchable)
KCCI-DT (8 - rock solid 99% watchable)
WHO-DT (ch 13 - pretty solid but lots of breaup still, aout 90% watchable)
KDSM (ch 17 - pretty solid but lots of breaup still, aout 90% watchable

Am I missing anything? This about what everyone else experiences? The drop outs really suck and ruin the fun. Any plans for the stations to increase their signal?

I get nothing on WOI-DT but have no dropouts on KCCI, WHO or KDSM.

No dropouts here for WHO or KDSM (still have to buy a good antenna, KCCI is getting better though).

Dave, FANTASTIC!!! about your new satelite reception!!! So, how much will the new receiver cost? How much is the programming? Thanks in advance for the info.

Dr. Joe F, welcome to THE thread!!! Please post what city that you live in. I get 0.00 signal from WOI on my DTC100 and my WS65905 (integrated tuner), I live in Grimes.

Mark

I have a small powered attic antenna. I live way down in Indianola, and I get no dropouts from KCCI, WHO, or KDSM. KDIN is never on, KPWB never will be, and WOI doesn't have a chance in hell at servicing anyone.

Eyedox,

your optimism is overwhelming about WOI :) In time the FCC will make them REAL!!! We already know we are going to miss MNF this year, but hopefully next year!!!

Mark

Welcome to HD video Dr. Joe F. I'm getting a great signal in Windsor Heights except for WOI. KDIN when it was broadcasting during the fair was around 8-9% lower than KCCI, WHO, and FOX. But still looked great. I too own a HS10.
-Joe-

Tell us more about the Bell Express VU Dave. If it isn't too nosy, what did it cost up front and what are you paying for programming?

I was looking at it, but I am not sure now. I might hold out for Rainbow's service offerings. They at least look promising.

Glad to see all the new faces around here, welcome. I live between Knoxville and Pella. Rock solid 8.1, 13.1, 13.2, 17.1. Not a blip out of WOI.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Bel Express Vu (BEV) is a Canadian counterpart to DirecTV or Dish Network. They use the Echostar (Dish) technology but since all serial numbers are matched against a list of equipment distributed in Canada you have to go through Canadian suppliers and brokers for everything.

There is confusion about the legalities. Due to an obscure law in Canada, the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled it illegal for Canadians to buy US satellite service. No such ruling has ever occurred in the US and there are a couple of legal opinions on the Net that indicate there's nothing wrong as long as you're paying for the service.

However, BEV cannot "knowingly" sell to an address outside Canada. They have thousands of Canadian customers who winter in the US so they look the other way if you don't tell them directly you're in the US. You buy the programming through a broker with a Canadian address and it's their name on the account. I used CanAm Satellites.

The big cost is the receiver. It cost me $650 to get Dish 6000 with a BEV nameplate that was on the Canadian list. That price is already dropping because Dish is moving to a new cheaper model. I've seen it as low as $530. However, the 6000 is getting to be very hard to get.

I pay $50/year to CanAm to act as my broker and I pay about $20/month for programming. The programming cost will go up a little in November when they start charging extra for the HD stations. I put up a Dish 500 Dish with a Dish Twin LNBF. There are two satellites (NIMIQ-1 and NIMIQ-2) that have the same separation as the 110 and 119 Dish satellites. HD is on NIMIQ-2 which is about 163 degrees from here on a compass heading and 42 degrees azimuth.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm eager to see how MNF will look.

That sounds like a nice setup. Let us know how MNF looks. The only channel I have in HD that shows football (CBS) still doesn't work.

Dave

KCCI-DT didn't show the HD game yesterday for some reason. On D* the Pats-Eagles was the CBS HD game. For some reason KCCI showed the Denver game.

What do you guys think of the Fox WS games on D*?

I didn't catch the Fox games on D* but on BEV I got the SF/St. Louis game off the west coast on Fox WS. The field level and close up shots were excellent but the aerial and high angle shots were not all that good. It looked like there was a lot of edge enhancement. Still it's a lot better than any of their 480i stuff.

I live in Urbandale ( that was in the post). I bought a huge UHF antenna from Radio Shack, and I have 2 in line amps (gives best reception). I have 2 DTC100's. Salesman have told me dropouts are due to DTC100 being a bad tuner. Recommend buy new OTA tuners. I am resisting. If a lot of you get no dropouts, then I am going to try a new attic antenna. Any suggestions?

PS - Vikes/Bears on ESPN was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have an attic antenna that was great for VHF but only okay for digital and I also got dropouts due to the attenuation from being inside. I switched to a Terk wraparound on my dish antenna to get it outside the house and that bumped my signal level 15-20% and now no dropouts. Only about $50.

Originally posted by jtuck2
KCCI-DT didn't show the HD game yesterday for some reason. On D* the Pats-Eagles was the CBS HD game. For some reason KCCI showed the Denver game.

What do you guys think of the Fox WS games on D*?

NFL rules prohibit KCCI from showing different games on the SD and HD channels. They probably figured Denver-San Diego would be a bigger draw than Philly-NE on the analog side, since that's where the ratings matter. I didn't get a chance to watch much football while I was at work yesterday, but I saw a couple glimpses of the Pats and Eagles and thought it looked good, and there were lots of positive comments from customers too. Rams-49ers looked decent on Fox WS but it's no HD either.

Well, it looks great. Same as ESPN HD on Sunday night with one exception. One of the end zone cameras they're using tonight for instant replay is clearly an SD camera and it has a smear on the lens. So some of the instant replays are very fuzzy. The audio from the west coast feed is at a higher level than the east coast but of course the pictures are identical.

Bought and tried the Turk 42 and 44 models and they were both worse then my attic UHF. I am going to buy a better amp and try moving the antenna.

Dr. Joe, you will find few around these boards who have much good to say about the Terk antenna, no matter what the model. Terk has a great marketing department. If they spent a little of their marketing budget on R&D, they might be worth the hype. IMHO, they are not.

Since you have them purchased, the amp may solve it, and moving it also may solve it.

Not sure where you are located. I live at least 75 miles from our local transmitters and am picking up good signals with an off the shelf RCA from Home Depot and a Radio Shack inline booster in my garage attic.

Good luck with the signal hunt, let us know how you come out.

Yeah,

I've had no luck with Turk products in the past, but one poster here suggested it. I bought a Motorola amp at BB that a guy at Radio Shack actually recommended, and replaced a cheapo.

I repositioned the attic antenna and took off (this actually increased the signal) a second cheapo amp down the line by a split (I have 2 HDTV's). With my son cursing from the attic we found a great position, and all but WOI come in without breakup... YEAH. Thanks all.

I agree the Terk products are generally marginal, but I've had good luck with the TV44 for digital on UHF. Pretty poor for VHF.

After several weeks of reading through this thread, I finally decided to officially register on AVSForum. I live about 20 minutes West of WDSM, and with a medium size antenna in my attic, I am now picking up digital signals on WOI, KCCI, WHO (both signals), and KDSM. All seem to be good signals (75% strength) except for WOI.

From what I've read, I guess I should feel lucky to pick up a signal at all on CH 59. It is registering at about 50% on the signal meter. The strange thing about the WOI signal is that it looks very ANALOGISH. I realize that WOI and KDSM are broadcasting a 480i signal, but the WOI signal looks as though it has "analog like" interference patterns. Diagonal lines running through the entire picture.

I'm not going to make accusations, but in my opinion, it looks like they are re-broadcasting an analog signal on their digital channel.

Does anyone else receive this signal well enough to comment?


Thanks,
Craig

WOI looks Ok to me for the few seconds here and there that I get it. I am in Urbandale.

Craig,

First off welcome to the thread!!!

I get nothing from WOI on my DTC100 or My integrated Mits.

I think I will try replacing my Terk.

Mark

Originally posted by hamilt0n
Does anyone else receive this signal well enough to comment?


Welcome Craig!

I too am a long-time-reader-first-time-poster. So, here goes...

From what I understand, getting even a marginal signal from WOI at that distance is doing pretty well. (no thanks to WOI, that is). Baby steps I guess. I live a few miles to the east and north from the tower and I don't get any signal on my SAT-HD200.

<joke>
Looks like I need to replace my radio shack antenna with the sweet Mockschmo model you must have.... ;)
</joke>

Are you down with current Mockschmo technology? Or are you 'old school'? If you're old school, it must be TJ. Too bad the Chiefs / Broncos game isn't HD this week. I think CBS is broadcasting Dolphins / Giants, in 1080i but KCCI is going with Chiefs / Broncos (better game).

I'm actually getting WOI fairly consistently (rarely drops on me) with no pre-amp. I was looking at the CM-7775 pre-amp since I have a 75' + run from the attic to the basement, but if I keep pulling it in like I have been, why waste the money?

Rush the Rock! :D

Craig

My WOI drops in and out more then my in-laws.

I've had WOI on several times this weekend. The signal appears to be getting stronger, as I have noticed a significant reduction in pixilation and signal loss. The digital signal is now much better than the analog signal I get on my antenna. I have a pretty large Channel Master on the roof and use a Mits DirecTV/Over the air receiver with my Toshiba Monitor. I live in Urbandale just east of Super Target.

My take is the signal is stronger, but it's still the 480i picture and so unless it's a sporting event, I 'm not likely to give ABC any consideration.

I switched back and forth last week between MNF on WOI-59 and the ABC station I get on Dish Network out of Chicago. Not only is the color better on the Chicago station, but the whole picture is clearer IMO. :(

My point is this... even with a clear signal (no drop), I still don't watch WOI. And I have no plans to until they go to 720P (which could be a while from what I understand). I emailed Dennis P at WOI last week, but have yet to receive a response.

KDSM on the other hand looks a little better on DTV for some reason (could be the component cable vs. the S-Vid from my sat).

Craig

MNF is not in HD this year... right?

No HD MNF in Des Moines this year. We are in the minority though. Most of the top 100 market cities are able to watch it in stunning 720p courtesy of their local affiliate. We'll probably have to wait another two or three years (unless someone buys WOI).

If you want to move to eastern Iowa... it looks like Cedar Rapids has been broadcasting in 720p for quite some time. :mad:

So, ABC is sending in HD but WOI ain't broadcasting it that way. I see. DTV and ESPN HD games are AWESOME. If I am moving for HD, it won't be to eastern IA!

I was looking in vain for WOI-DT last night during CSI commercials. Nothing there, but IPTV was broadcasting last night.

They are channel 50. I had to remap my Sony, where they showed up as 11.1. They had been sending out an email when they were testing, but guess they missed it. It was only state fair 2003 highlights, but it was in HD. No idea if they will be on tonight or not.

Hey guys, don't forget to watch Texas versus Iowa State on HDNet tomorrow at 11:30! Is this the first time any of the Iowa schools have been on in HD?

I think it is.

Should make it easy to see the tread marks on the backs of the Clones as they get run over. :D

Watched my Vikes go 6-0 in HD last Sunday... for free! It doesn't get any better then that!