Due to the fact that NBC broadcaast in 1080i and runs a subchannel as well (Weather+).

Not enough bandwidth for both at the same time when you have a high data rate demand show like a sporting event going on at the same time as a subchannel, something has to give. Wish they would just turn it off (Weather+) during games.

I had macroblocking during the football game again last night on NBC, viewing both TWC and OTA. I did not have that problem with the Cowboys game on Fox. Nobody else is seeing this?

I had macroblocking during the football game again last night on NBC, viewing both TWC and OTA. I did not have that problem with the Cowboys game on Fox. Nobody else is seeing this?

Yep. WOAI seems to have it worse than the other locals. They should turn off the subchannels when broadcasting sports and give the bandwith to the main.

I sent this email to Greg Derkowski of WOAI this morning. I will post any response I receive:

"Mr. Derkowski,

I obtained your contact info from the AVS forum. If you are not the correct recipient for this email, I would appreciate it if you would forward it to the correct recipient for me. I am writing to complain about the macro blocking which occurs when viewing Sunday Night Football in high definition. I have observed this phenomenon when viewing the game both over the air and through Time Warner Cable. It is my understanding that this phenomenon may be attributable to lack of bandwith as a result of WOAI multicasting the game and the weather channel. This phenomenon is very distracting and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game. Is WOAI aware of this situation and are there any plans to resolve this issue? In particular, if multicasting is the cause of the problem, why can’t WOAI turn of the weather info during the game – particularly if there are no threatening conditions?

Thank you for taking the time to consider this request."

Yesterday I received, what may be, the last new CM 4251. My OTA reception from the hills of Kerrville has not been reliable. Only about half the time the signal was good enough for my computers to record HD.

This antenna had been on sale for nearly a year at a pretty high (heart attack) price but finally came down to a level that only gags.

Just hope it wasn't broken or bent in shipment. Maybe then I can get a usable network broadcast signal from the SA transmitters 90% of the time.

U-Verse just became available in my neighborhood. Was considering it until Direct TV has been touting 100+ HD channels available sometime between now and 12/31/07. Just read an article stating the the sat has been launched and testing is going well.

Questions. Is anyone here impressed with U-Verse? I've really not heard a lot of good about it recently. Is anyone else anxiously await the new Direct TV?

All I know is I am pretty well fed up with TWC. Too few HD channels and this whole TWC / NFL Network thing bothers me. Seems kind funny that TWC is the only provider not carry it because they want to charge for it. How can everyone else give it away and yet they are unwilling.

Dave

Does anyone know why KLRN isn't broadcasting "The War" in HD? According to WETA's website, it was produced in HD.

Sorry about the SD version of "The War" last night. The HD version had a terrible lip-sync problem so we switched at the last minute. We have the SD version on our server for about a week and the HD version came down via satellite an hour before we aired it. We noticed the problem and made the decision to use the SD version. We hope the have the problem corrected so we can use the true HD version.

I switched to Ch 10 after the first 10 or so min of the program. Worst case of lip-sync I've seen in some time. I was about to blame TWC but they say "All we do is pass it on".

Hey Jerry,

Sorry if I missed this earlier in the thread but are you guys using HD cameras during your remote news shots? Whenever I tune in to KENS 5 news on the HD feed, I can swear the PQ looks downconverted from a HD camera. It looks too good to be one of the older clunky cameras.

U-Verse just became available in my neighborhood. Was considering it until Direct TV has been touting 100+ HD channels available sometime between now and 12/31/07. Just read an article stating the the sat has been launched and testing is going well.

Questions. Is anyone here impressed with U-Verse? I've really not heard a lot of good about it recently. Is anyone else anxiously await the new Direct TV?

All I know is I am pretty well fed up with TWC. Too few HD channels and this whole TWC / NFL Network thing bothers me. Seems kind funny that TWC is the only provider not carry it because they want to charge for it. How can everyone else give it away and yet they are unwilling.

Dave

If you are fed up with TWC, then U-Verse is a solid alternative. The technology is still a work in progress and you won't be able to get 2 HD streams at once for recording on your DVR but that will change in the coming months. You pay less and get more channels so that is the trade-off.

We hope the have the problem corrected so we can use the true HD version.

Thank you, Mr. Gonzales. I watched it last night (in HD) and it looked great. There's a lot to see in those old films and photos. While its coverage of Latino soldiers is unfortunately lacking, "The War" tells a compelling story. I appreciate your efforts.

What DVRs and STBs does Time Warner use in San Antonio?

In Austin, we are using the 8300HDC's.

I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out what TW STB comes with the neat Atlas OCAP remote that they refer to on their FAQ webpage.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/FAQ/TWCFAQCategories.ashx?CatID=953&MarketID=55

I just got that remote last month when I picked up a basic SA 2000 stb for the bedroom. I had no idea it was a learning remote - the only thing I knew was the different layout of the buttons ticked me off when the lights were out! I think this one is gonna get promoted to the theater room today.

Hey Jerry,

...are you guys using HD cameras during your remote news shots? Whenever I tune in to KENS 5 news on the HD feed, I can swear the PQ looks downconverted from a HD camera...

Chris,

while we are not using HD field cameras, the SD cameras we have in the field are pretty good. We are using Sony DNW-9WS Standard Definition cameras, delivering 600 TV lines per frame in 4x3 mode. When these cameras are used in 16x9 mode that will drop off somewhat; there is a tradeoff in resolution to deliver the wide screen picture everyone wants to see. Most stations in the country who do not have HD cameras are doing it this way.

When we begin HD news operations next year, our studio cameras and internal graphics will be HD. Field and recorded footage from other contributors will be SD but in 16x9 ratio when possible. HDTV field cameras will be added a little later.

Chris,

while we are not using HD field cameras, the SD cameras we have in the field are pretty good. We are using Sony DNW-9WS Standard Definition cameras, delivering 600 TV lines per frame in 4x3 mode. When these cameras are used in 16x9 mode that will drop off somewhat; there is a tradeoff in resolution to deliver the wide screen picture everyone wants to see. Most stations in the country who do not have HD cameras are doing it this way.

When we begin HD news operations next year, our studio cameras and internal graphics will be HD. Field and recorded footage from other contributors will be SD but in 16x9 ratio when possible. HDTV field cameras will be added a little later.Interesting! Thanks for the clarification. I have already seen a few news stories that were recorded in 16X9 but looked distorted when viewed at 4X3. Is there a reason why they are doing this knowing it won't look right for most viewers?

I just got that remote last month when I picked up a basic SA 2000 stb for the bedroom. I had no idea it was a learning remote - the only thing I knew was the different layout of the buttons ticked me off when the lights were out! I think this one is gonna get promoted to the theater room today.

Lucky you. Did you get one of the backlight ones?

Lucky you. Did you get one of the backlight ones?

Well, the new remote got called up to the big leagues, but is back in the bedroom after a lackluster showing. It wouldn't learn any of the commands on 3 different components that I needed. Unfortunately, when you have odd ball things like a projector, and an audio receiver with a separate power and standby button you need those learning functions.

And no, it wasn't backlit.

...I have already seen a few news stories that were recorded in 16X9 but looked distorted when viewed at 4X3. Is there a reason why they are doing this...?

Chris,

early adopters of HD news may have overlooked the need to deliver a center-cut version of their clips to 4x3 analog clients. As you can imagine, once you commit to 16x9 and lay something off to tape, you can no longer throw a switch to deliver a center cut. Most contributors are beginning to use a downconverting device that also provides the center-cut version we SD lackeys like to see. When we take live shots from these folks in the field, most of them are quite willing to switch their cameras to 4x3 for us; a few have been resistant, and you can see the difference.

When there is time before a newscast we process compressed anamorphic stories to extract a center-cut 4x3 version for air. If the story is late breaking or delivered at the last minute from the field, we're stuck with whatever we get.

Well, the new remote got called up to the big leagues, but is back in the bedroom after a lackluster showing. It wouldn't learn any of the commands on 3 different components that I needed. Unfortunately, when you have odd ball things like a projector, and an audio receiver with a separate power and standby button you need those learning functions.

And no, it wasn't backlit.

That's too bad... The learning stuff isn't that big of a deal, but the back-lighting would've been killer. That's why I'm on a quest to find one.

Chris,

early adopters of HD news may have overlooked the need to deliver a center-....Interesting. Thanks for the info. What's funny is when I see the anamorphic squeeze in the video, I switch my TV to stretch mode and it looks great. Gives me a nice preview when you guys go HD. :)

I just moved to SAT and got Dish Network. I get all the locals in HD except NBC. I can pick up NBC HD through an older OTA receiver, but I would rather not use it because the signal is unstable.

Is my OTA receiver my only option to get NBC HD?

I tried using my indoor antenna with the Dish receiver but it did not work.

I hope someone can help me before SNF tomorrow. Thanks.

Showtime Free Preview, Time Warner Cable Box Channel 350 And 1350. No Hd But It's Free. Till 10/1

On Dish!

Showtime Free Preview, Time Warner Cable Box Channel 350 And 1350. No Hd But It's Free. Till 10/1

Sorry, OTA is the only way to get WOAI in HD via Dish Network at the moment. If you can't lock on and hold to the signal start looking for a bigger and more than likely outdoor antenna. Due to the rolling hills around SA depending on your location you could need an outdoor antenna with strong gain. Something like a Channel Master 4228. You would also need a good preamp as well.

I just moved to SAT and got Dish Network. I get all the locals in HD except NBC. I can pick up NBC HD through an older OTA receiver, but I would rather not use it because the signal is unstable.

Is my OTA receiver my only option to get NBC HD?

I tried using my indoor antenna with the Dish receiver but it did not work.

I hope someone can help me before SNF tomorrow. Thanks.

Some are reporting they are getting it on Dish/DTV in other areas of the country. Give it a try:)

Now thats what I'm talking about!:) Didn't Martin Lawrence say that?:p

Or as someone else said about the CM 4251, size does matter. Taking my worst tuner, the MDP-120 and worst channel, Fox, I now have the same signal strength I used to get in Orange Cty. The tower guy, after getting the rig up wasn't inclined to spend another 30 minutes or so pinpointing the direction. The reception wasn't all that great and thats why I was poking around trying to get timeshifting to work by other means.

Just for the heck of it with the help of a family member sitting on the computer calling out the Fusion db values I climbed the tower and starting experimenting with different directions. Wasn't long and I had the dbs consistently in the 20s.

I didn't try Fox while I was up there because it is such a weak signal (comparatively) and the xmtr is located a bit away from the others. Then I got inside and tried Fox and there it was.

And it gets better. This work was done on the MDP machine which is two splitters down from the antenna line in. I switched over to the Shuttle box which does most all the recording and therefore has only one splitter in front of it and the Fusion signal strength is running between 95 and 100% on all the channels. This antenna is all it was cracked up to be.

Now, if I can only avoid the lightening strikes.:eek:

From the hills south of Kerrville.

TBS-HD has been added to channel 113 just thought I post

TBS-HD has been added to channel 113 just thought I post

GOT IT. THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP. SHOWTIME FREE PREVIEW STILL ON:)

Great news on TBS-HD! I checked earlier on the Showtime free-view and it was giving me the call to order screen for both the HD & SD channels :confused:

SA TWC is also going to be adding a few more HD channels in the coming weeks according to this article-

News
Time Warner Adding More HD Channels
San Antonio viewers will get more Starz in high-def.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (October 1, 2007) -- Time Warner Cable is adding four more high-def channels in the San Antonio area, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

On October 15, Time Warner will add The History Channel HD in San Antonio, and on October 20, it will add Starz Comedy HD, Starz Kids & Family HD and Starz Edge HD.

There's no word when -- or if -- Time Warner will add the high-def channels in other markets.

The cable operator negotiates the national rights to carry channels and then allows local systems to decide if and when to carry them.

Time Warner, and other major cable operators, are enhancing their high-def lineups now, apparently in response to DIRECTV's plan to offer 70 HD channels by the end of October and 100 HD channels by year's end.

DIRECTV added The History Channel HD and the three Starz HD channels last week as part of its initial rollout of new high-def networks.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/twhd100107.htm

Now thats what I'm talking about!:) ... size does matter ... the Fusion signal strength is running between 95 and 100% on all the channels. This antenna is all it was cracked up to be.

Now, if I can only avoid the lightening strikes.:eek:

From the hills south of Kerrville.

Allen,

that's the best news I heard all day. :D I think I did mention to you a long time ago that it might take a fairly Draconian antenna to bring everything in where you live. Nevertheless as you discovered, just having a large antenna does not help if it is not correctly pointed. Arrays that big are quite directional, and the further away you are, the more critical the need for accurate pointing.

Congratulations and happy time-shifting!:cool:

Great news on TBS-HD! I checked earlier on the Showtime free-view and it was giving me the call to order screen for both the HD & SD channels :confused:

SA TWC is also going to be adding a few more HD channels in the coming weeks according to this article-

News
Time Warner Adding More HD Channels
San Antonio viewers will get more Starz in high-def.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (October 1, 2007) -- Time Warner Cable is adding four more high-def channels in the San Antonio area, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

On October 15, Time Warner will add The History Channel HD in San Antonio, and on October 20, it will add Starz Comedy HD, Starz Kids & Family HD and Starz Edge HD.

There's no word when -- or if -- Time Warner will add the high-def channels in other markets.

The cable operator negotiates the national rights to carry channels and then allows local systems to decide if and when to carry them.

Time Warner, and other major cable operators, are enhancing their high-def lineups now, apparently in response to DIRECTV's plan to offer 70 HD channels by the end of October and 100 HD channels by year's end.

DIRECTV added The History Channel HD and the three Starz HD channels last week as part of its initial rollout of new high-def networks.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/twhd100107.htm

That is great to hear that TW is upping HD channels. I hope the quality at least stays the same.

Channel 1350 is where I originally signed up. It said something like (Free Preview, press select to purchase.
Purchase Price $00.00).

When we begin HD news operations next year, our studio cameras and internal graphics will be HD. Field and recorded footage from other contributors will be SD but in 16x9 ratio when possible. HDTV field cameras will be added a little later.NBC's Nightly News does that now if I understand your point. Seems like they fill in bars on the sides of the 16x9 screen rather than stretch the pic.

On the topic of news, will CBS evening news go to HD anytime soon or is that prevented by Katie's contract?:eek::D

Now thats what I'm talking about!:) Didn't Martin Lawrence say that?:p
...
From the hills south of Kerrville.

That's great news, Allen! I've tracked your problems since your very first post on this thread, since I am close to the same distance. Another point on your quest: When I lost my preamp due to a lightning strike, of course I had to lower my mast and install the new one. Upon re-telescoping the mast, I straightened my yagi vertically and got another 10% on signal strength! I'm sure that's not a problem with your big multi-bay rig, but it was a shock to me that just a tiny down-slant would attenuate that much.

Glad to have you happy, finally. I'm running signal strength in the 90's now and often 100% on channels 4,5 and 29 with 12 very adequate as well.

Just wish the local PBS had something in the UHF range that I could receive. I think it was Jerry that mentioned that most of the locals though would be switching to VHF HD some day in the future. Hopefully that will make things even better for us far fringe guys.

Great news on TBS-HD! I checked earlier on the Showtime free-view and it was giving me the call to order screen for both the HD & SD channels :confused:

SA TWC is also going to be adding a few more HD channels in the coming weeks according to this article-

News
Time Warner Adding More HD Channels
San Antonio viewers will get more Starz in high-def.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (October 1, 2007) -- Time Warner Cable is adding four more high-def channels in the San Antonio area, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

On October 15, Time Warner will add The History Channel HD in San Antonio, and on October 20, it will add Starz Comedy HD, Starz Kids & Family HD and Starz Edge HD.

There's no word when -- or if -- Time Warner will add the high-def channels in other markets.

The cable operator negotiates the national rights to carry channels and then allows local systems to decide if and when to carry them.

Time Warner, and other major cable operators, are enhancing their high-def lineups now, apparently in response to DIRECTV's plan to offer 70 HD channels by the end of October and 100 HD channels by year's end.

DIRECTV added The History Channel HD and the three Starz HD channels last week as part of its initial rollout of new high-def networks.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/twhd100107.htm

It appears that TWC is adding 4 channels, but unless you are a Starz subscriber, I doubt you will receive the Starz channels. I have the HBO channels and don't want to pay the extra for Starz. I'm even thinking of letting HBO go b/c I don't watch any of its original programming and for movies Blockbuster online is superior.

That's great news, Allen! I've tracked your problems since your very first post on this thread, since I am close to the same distance. Another point on your quest: When I lost my preamp due to a lightning strike, of course I had to lower my mast and install the new one. Upon re-telescoping the mast, I straightened my yagi vertically and got another 10% on signal strength! I'm sure that's not a problem with your big multi-bay rig, but it was a shock to me that just a tiny down-slant would attenuate that much.

Thanks for the observation. When the tower guy put up my XG-91 I asked him about pitch. The XG actually has a mount that is meant to be adjusted for pitch alignment. But he mumbled something about won't make much difference. I'll never now know if it would have. But actually he would have needed a good digital UHF antenna meter which he did not have. There is one for $200 that I really wanted to buy but didn't. A bit too much for one time use.

If its not obvious the antenna is hooked into my two computers, not the TV. They do all the recording and now I can timeshift again.

Glad to have you happy, finally. I'm running signal strength in the 90's now and often 100% on channels 4,5 and 29 with 12 very adequate as well.

Just wish the local PBS had something in the UHF range that I could receive. I think it was Jerry that mentioned that most of the locals though would be switching to VHF HD some day in the future. Hopefully that will make things even better for us far fringe guys.

I just started to play with a little loop/rabbit ear antenna up here in New Braunfels and read something about frequency changes after the switch. I think KSAT (ABC) is the one we have to worry about.

FROM:

DTV tentative channel designations for first and second round.

Current DTV Channel(Freq)/Tenative Channel Designation

KABB 30 same uhf 30
KENS 55 uhf 39
KLRN 8 vhf 9:(
KSAT 48 uhf drops to vhf 12:(
WOAI 58 uhf 48



I can not get PBS up here, but I am not sure they are putting out much power. Maybe someone can confirm KSAT move to vhf and if KLRN is at ~full~ power and if we will lose any more channels to the vhf side? After all, the chart does say Tentative.

KLRN will move to channel 9. We will keep the same power level at first and try for an increase after things settle down. Our lawyers told us to wait for the increase because the FCC is not approving many changes at this time. I hope to go from 8.32K of power to 39K.

Sounds like an exciting time! Wish I'd kept my huge channelmaster VHF antenna. 39KW should reach us on ch9 I'd think.

I just noticed golf channel in HD on 168 never notice this before anyone no when this was added

I just noticed golf channel in HD on 168 never notice this before anyone no when this was added

Think I saw it yesterday or the day before when looking for the new TBS station. I normally stop at NBCHD so I hadn't noticed it yet. I don't know what the name of the network is though.

[QUOTE=petegon;11822100]KLRN will move to channel 9. We will keep the same power level at first and try for an increase after things settle down. Our lawyers told us to wait for the increase because the FCC is not approving many changes at this time. I hope to go from 8.32K of power to 39K.[/QUOTE

Thanks for the confirmation.

Looks like I will be ok with only my little rabbit ears:D

Just wondering if anybody knows why the Texans game isn't in HD on KENS 5. It's in HD on KEYE 42 from Austin.

Just wondering if anybody knows why the Texans game isn't in HD on KENS 5. It's in HD on KEYE 42 from Austin.
Destrada, I know what happened and I will post the same reply here that I have given other KENS-DT viewers for the error on Sunday's Texans-Dolphins game:

"My face is red. Although the Texans-Dolphins game was in fact delivered in HD, an oversight in scheduling caused the game to be broadcast in SD instead. Please accept my personal apology to you for our failure to broadcast the game in High Definition. The individuals who missed their cue have all been counseled. I am making a commitment to you and all other KENS-DT viewers that we will never miss another HD event again. I shall personally see to it that every HD event on the schedule makes it to air.

Please accept my personal apology and my commitment to superior service in the future."
I also fielded some 'phone calls on this game, so I know we really dropped the ball. No matter what, it is best to 'fess up and admit we did not get it right.

Once more, I apologize for the mistake.

Does anyone know what in the world is going on with KSAT's HD feed? It seems like every primetime show over the past week or two has had some serious cutouts and audio dropouts. They'll switch to the SD feed sometimes, then back to HD. It's annoying, especially when you record shows, then miss key moments because the audio drops. At first I thought it might be TWC, but I switched over to the OTA and it was the same thing. What gives, and will it be fixed soon, or should I switch all of my recordings over to the SD feed?

I'm currently a TWC subscriber, but the addition of so many HD channels on Directv really has me tempted. From a cost perspective, I don't think I would save money by switching, but I don't know what other differences there may be from your experience. I'm assuming I could retain Roadrunner on TWC if I drop everything else.

Does Directv add on all the taxes and fees that TWC has on their bills?

I thought I would own the Directv boxes, but it refers to a lease. Is that perpetual? I think if a box goes out, I have to pay to replace it. Right?

I can't find any definition of "standard installation" on the Directv site.

If I read the Directv site correctly, any HD version of a regular, non-premium channel that is included in my package is automatically included as long as I pay the monthly HD fee.

I know the issues with TWC, including how slowly they are reacting to competition, but what are the downsides or big pluses on Directv?

Anything else I should consider?

I'm currently a TWC subscriber, but the addition of so many HD channels on Directv really has me tempted. From a cost perspective, I don't think I would save money by switching, but I don't know what other differences there may be from your experience. I'm assuming I could retain Roadrunner on TWC if I drop everything else.

Does Directv add on all the taxes and fees that TWC has on their bills?

I thought I would own the Directv boxes, but it refers to a lease. Is that perpetual? I think if a box goes out, I have to pay to replace it. Right?

I can't find any definition of "standard installation" on the Directv site.

If I read the Directv site correctly, any HD version of a regular, non-premium channel that is included in my package is automatically included as long as I pay the monthly HD fee.

I know the issues with TWC, including how slowly they are reacting to competition, but what are the downsides or big pluses on Directv?

Anything else I should consider?

The PQ on the DirecTV HD channels is much better with less compression.

Yes, you can drop everything except the high speed internet.

DirecTV does have some taxes and fees. Haven't done a direct comparison between the two though.

The DirecTV boxes are leased. If the box breaks, DirecTV will replace it. There might be a small shipping charge. The HR20 DVR is turning out to be a great box. There is some open beta testing going on over at DBSTalk.Com that allows users to set recordings over the internet. Very slick.

Does anyone know what in the world is going on with KSAT's HD feed? It seems like every primetime show over the past week or two has had some serious cutouts and audio dropouts. They'll switch to the SD feed sometimes, then back to HD. It's annoying, especially when you record shows, then miss key moments because the audio drops. At first I thought it might be TWC, but I switched over to the OTA and it was the same thing. What gives, and will it be fixed soon, or should I switch all of my recordings over to the SD feed?

Noticed the same problem. It totally ruined the show Carpoolers last week, as I missed a good 1/3 of the dialog. Pretty much ruined tonights episode as well. When I watched it, there was almost constant pixelization, then audio dropouts, then switch to SD, then back to HD with dropouts...

Horrible!

I noticed that when there is a double header on KENS, the first game is not HD. Is there a reason for that or will both games be broadcast in HD in the future? Thanks

I just emailed KSAT asking about their prime time HD problem. Lets see if I get a response.

I was watching the 6:00 news on KSAT and they were saying that there was a problem with the satellite. It was getting interfearance when it was picking up the HD signal. That's why it would pixelate and go out. They said they are having their engineers working on it, but they will have SD until it is corrected.

RE: KSAT HD problems.

Just received a reply from KSAT and they said that they are experiencing technical glitches from the new digital feed from ABC and that they are trying to correct the problem ASAP.

I noticed that when there is a double header on KENS, the first game is not HD. Is there a reason for that or will both games be broadcast in HD in the future? Thanks

Please see my reply to Destrada, above. Both games will be HD this Sunday.

Occasionally CBS will send us a game that is not delivered in HD; last Sunday that was not the case.

RE: KSAT HD problems.

Just received a reply from KSAT and they said that they are experiencing technical glitches from the new digital feed from ABC and that they are trying to correct the problem ASAP.
I was watching Steve Brown the other night on KSAT and he held up a light bulb about 10" long and said the bulb was close to the transmitter/receiver and it was going bad. It took the technicians several days to figure out it was the source causing the digital signal interruption. Since then, I have not seen any problems, so hopefully he is right. Thanks Steve Brown, your the man in the know :)

Destrada, I know what happened and I will post the same reply here that I have given other KENS-DT viewers for the error on Sunday's Texans-Dolphins game:

"My face is red. Although the Texans-Dolphins game was in fact delivered in HD, an oversight in scheduling caused the game to be broadcast in SD instead. Please accept my personal apology to you for our failure to broadcast the game in High Definition. The individuals who missed their cue have all been counseled. I am making a commitment to you and all other KENS-DT viewers that we will never miss another HD event again. I shall personally see to it that every HD event on the schedule makes it to air.

Please accept my personal apology and my commitment to superior service in the future."
I also fielded some 'phone calls on this game, so I know we really dropped the ball. No matter what, it is best to 'fess up and admit we did not get it right.

Once more, I apologize for the mistake.

Jerry, thank you for the response. I live in Lockhart and am fortunate enough to receive CBS from Austin and San Antonio over the air. I don't prefer one over the other. I just go to whichever one is closer to where I'm surfing. Due to my location, however, I do get Austin stations stronger than San Antonio.

I especially like it when you guys or KABB show different games than your station counterparts in Austin. I have my own mini Sunday Ticket.

I've got time warner SA, and when I got home today after work the TBS HD channel is "unavailable". WTF? All the other HD channels work. Anybody else experiencing this?

TBS HD is available now. But they are showing a movie in stretch mode. The only real HD I've seen on this channel, so far, is baseball. KSYM is totaly useless. No HD.

What is the point of the ksym channel I have yet to see an hd programming on this station the only thing that I think that it might be good for is the spurs.

What is the point of the ksym channel I have yet to see an hd programming on this station the only thing that I think that it might be good for is the spurs.

They told me last year that starting with this season they would be broadcasting their Spurs games in HD. I haven't had a chance to see if they are carrying any pre-season games to verify.

HI all,
First post, I'm a newbe but have been in the electronics industry for over 30
years but am confused when I look at the antenna suggestions on antennaWeb.

This is what I see on AntennaWeb after giving my street address in universal city.
DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live Date Compass Orientation Miles From Frequenc Assignment
* yellow - uhf KABB-DT 29.1 FOX SAN ANTONIO TX 168° 18.4 30
* yellow - uhf KSAT-DT 12.1 ABC SAN ANTONIO TX 166° 19.9 48
* yellow - uhf KWEX-DT 41.1 UNI SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.3 39
* yellow - uhf KVDA-DT 38.1 TEL SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.3 38
* yellow - uhf WOAI-DT 4.1 NBC SAN ANTONIO TX 167° 19.9 58
* green - vhf KLRN-DT 9.1 PBS SAN ANTONIO TX 185° 16.1 8
* red - uhf KHCE-DT 16.1 TBN SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.6 16
* red - vhf KCWX-DT 2.1 CW FREDERICKSBURG TX 01-09 330° 44.1 5
* red - uhf KENS-DT 5.1 CBS SAN ANTONIO TX 167° 19.9 55
* violet - uhf KMYS-DT 35.1 MNT KERRVILLE TX 270° 35.5 32

ABC, NBC and FOX are all about 19 miles away and the antenna suggestion is "yellow", a small multi-directional unit.

CBS looks to share the same antenna location with ABC and NBC (all are 19.9 miles away at 166/167 degrees) but the recommendation for CBS is red, medium directional unit which is 3 steps up
from the Yellow?
What am I missing? I'm assuming that the stations are transmitting at the same power and they appear to be at the same location.

Anybody have any ideas why the "red" recommendation for CBS but "yellow'
antenna for the rest?

Just about the only tv we watch is on CBS and I would like to break the TW
connection. I don't want to put up a lot more antenna than I need to get the job done but also don't want to buy one that is not up to getting CBS.

I'm interested in the digital HDTV signal only, we don't watch any Std Def tv anymore so analog is not a concern.

Second question:
Is the channel mapping for SA finalized yet? From what I've read, I think
that only PBS may still be on a VHF with everything else on UHF.

Thanks in advance.

HI all,
...I'm a newbe but have been in the electronics industry for over 30
years but am confused when I look at the antenna suggestions on antennaWeb...ABC, NBC and FOX are all about 19 miles away and the antenna suggestion is "yellow," a small multi-directional unit.

CBS looks to share the same antenna location with ABC and NBC...but the recommendation for CBS is "red," medium directional unit which is 3 steps up
from the Yellow?
What am I missing? I'm assuming that the stations are transmitting at the same power and they appear to be at the same location.

I'm interested in the digital HDTV signal only, we don't watch any Std Def tv anymore so analog is not a concern.

Second question:
Is the channel mapping for SA finalized yet? From what I've read, I think
that only PBS may still be on a VHF with everything else on UHF.

Thanks in advance.
Jacob,
first, KENS-DT shares a tower with WOAI-DT just east of Elmendorf, Texas. We are 3/4 mile from KABB-DT and about a mile from KSAT-DT. All of the DTV stations are operating with nearly the same amount of power, (800 - 1000 Kw) so the antenna that works for one of us should work for all of us. From Universal City I would use a small directional UHF/VHF combo antenna if I could find one. A medium Directional (red) UHF/VHF antenna will afford better gain in the direction it is pointed and better resistance to multipath.

I have no idea why the antenna selector recommends a red antenna only for KENS, unless you have two-story buildings or obstructions nearby in the path - but that will affect all stations, not just KENS.

Next, the final DTV allocations for San Antonio were announced a while back. Coolriver shared this data on some of the local DTV channels in his October 3 post:

KABB 30 same uhf 30
KWEX 39 uhf 41
KENS 55 uhf 39
KLRN 8 vhf 9
KSAT 48 uhf drops to vhf 12
WOAI 58 uhf 48

You can look up other DTV allocations here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=823166

I added the KWEX info since KENS will operate on their interim channel after Feb. 18, 2009. As you can see, there will be quite a bit of coordinating going on. KLRN and KSAT both will return to their VHF channels. KCWX, which already is difficult to receive in San Antonio, will move to DTV channel 5 (VHF,) but it is questionable as to whether we will be able to receive the DTV station here.

Thanks Jerry,
That's exactly the info I was looking for. It look like KENS will have a jump on the other stations being in the vhf range as the lower frequency should penetrate buildings better than the uhf ones do.

KABB 30 same uhf 30
KWEX 39 uhf 41
KENS 55 uhf 39
KLRN 8 vhf 9
KSAT 48 uhf drops to vhf 12
WOAI 58 uhf 48

If I read this correctly/literally I will stop receiving ABC when the switch is made. Somebody tell me I'm wrong. I didn't go thru 4 UHF antennas just to see all go by by in 2009.:(

If I read this correctly/literally I will stop receiving ABC when the switch is made. Somebody tell me I'm wrong. I didn't go thru 4 UHF antennas just to see all go by by in 2009.:(
I now believe these changes have been confirmed (Thanks Realthogue & Petegon). Time for you to start looking at VHF anttennas:(

HI all,
First post, I'm a newbe but have been in the electronics industry for over 30
years but am confused when I look at the antenna suggestions on antennaWeb.

This is what I see on AntennaWeb after giving my street address in universal city.
DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live Date Compass Orientation Miles From Frequenc Assignment
* yellow - uhf KABB-DT 29.1 FOX SAN ANTONIO TX 168° 18.4 30
* yellow - uhf KSAT-DT 12.1 ABC SAN ANTONIO TX 166° 19.9 48
* yellow - uhf KWEX-DT 41.1 UNI SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.3 39
* yellow - uhf KVDA-DT 38.1 TEL SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.3 38
* yellow - uhf WOAI-DT 4.1 NBC SAN ANTONIO TX 167° 19.9 58
* green - vhf KLRN-DT 9.1 PBS SAN ANTONIO TX 185° 16.1 8
* red - uhf KHCE-DT 16.1 TBN SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.6 16
* red - vhf KCWX-DT 2.1 CW FREDERICKSBURG TX 01-09 330° 44.1 5
* red - uhf KENS-DT 5.1 CBS SAN ANTONIO TX 167° 19.9 55
* violet - uhf KMYS-DT 35.1 MNT KERRVILLE TX 270° 35.5 32

ABC, NBC and FOX are all about 19 miles away and the antenna suggestion is "yellow", a small multi-directional unit.

CBS looks to share the same antenna location with ABC and NBC (all are 19.9 miles away at 166/167 degrees) but the recommendation for CBS is red, medium directional unit which is 3 steps up
from the Yellow?
What am I missing? I'm assuming that the stations are transmitting at the same power and they appear to be at the same location.

Anybody have any ideas why the "red" recommendation for CBS but "yellow'
antenna for the rest?

Just about the only tv we watch is on CBS and I would like to break the TW
connection. I don't want to put up a lot more antenna than I need to get the job done but also don't want to buy one that is not up to getting CBS.

I'm interested in the digital HDTV signal only, we don't watch any Std Def tv anymore so analog is not a concern.

Second question:
Is the channel mapping for SA finalized yet? From what I've read, I think
that only PBS may still be on a VHF with everything else on UHF.

Thanks in advance.

I am above you in New Braunfels (approx 30 miles from towers) and was surprised to pick up all stations steadily with a small loop/rabbit ears antenna (except PBS which is at a lower power for now). I suggest you stop by RadioShack and pick it up for 12 bucks and see what you think:) ABC will change to VHF #12, but you and I should be able to pick it up with the rabbit ears when this happens and PBS when they increase power:)

If I read this correctly/literally I will stop receiving ABC when the switch is made. Somebody tell me I'm wrong. I didn't go thru 4 UHF antennas just to see all go by by in 2009.:(
Actually this comes as quite a shock. As I have known for the last 4 or more years, (I've had HD since 2001) in 2009, analog TV transmission will cease. And somewhere along that way I understood that the VHF frequencies were going to be turned over/used for other purpose. Its been said that hundreds, if not thousands of different industries, want access to those frequencies. That VHF frequencies were never going to be used for digital TV. It was never mentioned.

When I first moved to Texas and I saw many people referring to VHF channel this for HD ABC viewing and VHF that for HD CBS viewing I knew that 2 different languages were being used. There were NO VHF channels that carried HD. The commercial HD transmission were all UHF since late 2000 (maybe a tad earlier) thru today as far as I know.

So now I'm wondering again. Was that a misspeak or VHF really is going to be used for digital HD transmissions? And it really doesn't make sense to force people to have multiple antennas to receive all network TV.

[QUOTE=So now I'm wondering again. Was that a misspeak or VHF really is going to be used for digital HD transmissions? And it really doesn't make sense to force people to have multiple antennas to receive all network TV.[/QUOTE]


I was surprised as well as you, but glad to find out now instead of 2009.

More info here http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf

Info confirmed for SA stations.

...Was that a misspeak or VHF really is going to be used for digital HD transmissions?"
In a word, yes.

The UHF (and some VHF) channels many stations have been using for transitional DTV service are temporary. Only a few stations will actually keep the DTV channels they now occupy; KABB-DT, for example. When DTV construction permits were first issued, stations were granted an essentially arbitrary channel to commence DTV service. Each station had the option to apply for a new permanent channel, keep the transitional assigned channel or return to their NTSC channel in 2009, but operating in Digital service.

Some choices are more obvious than others. In San Antonio KLRN and KSAT opted to return to their NTSC channels in the high band VHF region. KENS and WOAI opted for new UHF channels since low band VHF is rife with impulse noise, vulnerability to variable-e and tropo ducting interference and the requirement for relatively large receiving antennas.

KENS and WOAI both must return their transitional channels, which have been earmarked (auctioned) for other services in the post-transitional universe.

Anyone know if and when TWC (or any provider) will carry KCWX-CW in HD here in San Antonio? It sucks watching my fav CW show (Supernatural) in a matted letterbox.

3 new HD channels for TWC noticed today. FOOD on 147, LMNHD on 166, and HGTV on 167. So far the only one working is LMNHD, which I assume is Lifetime Movie Network HD - great, another channel I need to delete before the wife sees! Other new channels say not available yet.

3 new HD channels for TWC noticed today. FOOD on 147, LMNHD on 166, and HGTV on 167. So far the only one working is LMNHD, which I assume is Lifetime Movie Network HD - great, another channel I need to delete before the wife sees! Other new channels say not available yet.

I didn't noticed the History Channel HD in the lineup. According to an article in the paper a few weeks back, that was one of the primary new channels we were supposed to get.

Anyone know if and when TWC (or any provider) will carry KCWX-CW in HD here in San Antonio? It sucks watching my fav CW show (Supernatural) in a matted letterbox.
Sorry, hakujin;
KCWX is not prepared to deliver any programming in HD at present, by any method. This means that until KCWX builds an HD master control and delivery path, SD is what it will be on all providers and over the air. I have no indication as to when the owners will commit to an HD plan.

I also notice the HD channels but disappointed I dont care for these channels but im waiting for the the history channel none of the new 3 channels are working

Sorry, hakujin;
KCWX is not prepared to deliver any programming in HD at present...

Thanks anyway for the explanation. I have an unrelated question... well more of a gripe to anyone that feels the same way I do... Why in the heck does WOAI cut off live Conan in HD after Leno for repeats of Scrubs?! This just doesn't make any sense to me. Conan is definitely not a 3rd tier host... heck , he's gonna replace Leno in '09 and much better than Letterman but that's just IMO. I thought I was lucky the other night and things had changed when Leno was concluding and I saw a 2 second glimpse of Conan (1080i), only to be cut off for Scrubs.


Another unrelated... I envy a lot of you that describe how you receive pretty good reception of all UHF channels with merely rabbit ears. I've been pretty unsuccessful at receiving all channels; curently just WOAI and KEN, very little KMYS and KABB; however they all can be a bit sketchy most times. I'm using a unamplified HDTV Wonder Directional Antenna (pointed West in a 2nd story game room) that has given me the best luck among all the amplified ones that I've tried (Terk, RCA, Philips, etc.) from retailers. BTW, I'm 1 mile west on Marbach from 410 (Far West Side).

I think close coordinates are as follows:

-98.66910 Long
29.41671 Lat

Not sure of the height but Marbach does dip down right after Hunt (my location) so that perhaps is a factor. Yellow and green (medium directional) appear to fit the bill on antennaweb so maybe I'll give one of those yet another try... I would really like to drop basic cable; maybe I should install attic antenna? I have the wall prewired so that wouldn't be a problem, but I'm definitely a newbie when it comes to this sort of thing.

Can any of you advise on best course of action to receive all my locals (minus KCWX)?

New HD channel adds to TWC! Taken directly from Time Warner

The following channel ADDITIONS are planned:

10/19/07 - Food Network HD on digital channel 147, Standard Tier
10/19/07 - HGTV HD on digital channel 167, Standard Tier
10/19/07 - LMN HD on digital channel 166, Standard Tier
10/20/07 - The History Channel HD on digital channel 174, Standard Tier
11/16/07 - Disney Channel On Demand on digital channel 915
11/19/07 - Election 08 On Demand on digital channel 1308

I was looking forward to the History channel in HD but it proved to be a disapointment. They are stretching their widescreen content and leaving black bars at top and bottom and the picture is squatty.

Anybody have any idea why channels such as A&E, and TBS, can't transmit 16x9 without squatting?

I think that TNT does a good job of transmitting nonHD content in 16x9 without squatting. They do it a lot with the older Law and Order series. Not sure about other programming.

Maybe time warner should set these stations to transmit in 480I, same as their digital channels, instead of 1080I.

My set locks in full mode with 1080I.

Can any of you advise on best course of action to receive all my locals (minus KCWX)?

I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions from people near you, hakujin, but it might be worthwhile to go to a small rooftop antenna. There are plenty of close fringe yagi's that are very small and won't hurt the look of your rooftop.

Some of your problem might be the materials contained in your house itself or your roofing material if your antenna is on the second floor. Could be (only you could know) you have a metal roof or one that contains a little metal that obstructs the path for some of the stations.

There's a chance that you could just put a short pole at the peak of the house and run the wire down the side (if you are able to get up there).

My high power, deep fringe UHF antenna still sells for under $40, so a small one would probably be in the price range you're looking for.

good luck though...

As for KSAT going VHF-HD, most viewers know channels by their original VHF number and identify a station by channel 4, 5 or 12. Also (NOT being a TV transmission type) I'm sure there is a large investment in VHF equipment that can be re-used easily if the station can go back to their native frequency. Channel 12 is one of the very best VHF frequencies to have, so I'm sure those are the thoughts for KSAT. As Jerry said, 2, 4 and 5 are NOT good choices since they have lots of other problems (though they do get better range).

That said, since KSAT is on Dish in HD, I won't be investing in a big ChannelMaster deep fringe VHF antenna and a beefier mast. I feel a little like Allen ... cheated after lots of careful planning and installing... but unlike the WOAI situation, they're available in other ways (for me, not Allen).

I was looking forward to the History channel in HD but it proved to be a disapointment. They are stretching their widescreen content and leaving black bars at top and bottom and the picture is squatty.

Anybody have any idea why channels such as A&E, and TBS, can't transmit 16x9 without squatting?

I think that TNT does a good job of transmitting nonHD content in 16x9 without squatting. They do it a lot with the older Law and Order series. Not sure about other programming.

Maybe time warner should set these stations to transmit in 480I, same as their digital channels, instead of 1080I.

My set locks in full mode with 1080I.

I agree. Disappointed but not surprised! TWC will say "we send you what they feed us" And the originators think we are too dumb to care. If it were not for HD, Discovery, ESPN and a few others I would have quit long ago. I can get the locals on the air in HD but what sort of life would that be? I am just about ready to try satelite. I did not mention PBS...love their programs but they are really screwed up over the cable. O well have a nice day.

What's really annoying is when these channels take a 4:3 picture and stretch it, even though there is a widescreen source available. A&E has been doing that with Sopranos episodes that were originally broadcast in HD on HBO. Seems like they're doing this with movies as well. Makes the channels completely worthless and unwatchable.

At this point we still have the option of watching the analog station when an HD station is not transmitting HD and use the TV's own widemodes.

But the problem will be when analog stations go off the air. We will be stuck with HD stations broadcasting non HD programs with unwatchable stretch modes or 4x3 formats with bars on the side. The only wide modes available will be on the settop box remote.

Looks like the only option that sets that lock at full, when receving 1080I or 720P, will have is to set the set top box, assumming you are using one, to send a 480P or 480I signal to the tv. I experimented with the STB and I turned off 1080i. All HD channels were then sending a 480P signal to my set, same as digital non-HD stations. Then I was able to use my tv's own wide modes. It appears to be working but I'll have to experiment some more.

In the meantime, I'll just use the analog station when an HD station is not broadcasting in real HD.

New subject,
I'm trying to find out if the local time warner cable broadcasts the digital content as Unencrypted "Clear" QAM. I just got a AVerMedia AVerTVHD MCE A180 video capture
board for the pc. When I hooked it up to the cable output I use for the cable modem via a splitter and scanned for any unencrypted QAM channels I see nothing.
Since its a brand new board, I don't know if the board works (haven't tried an antenna
yet, the one I picked up at wal-mart was apparently a returned item and was broken) so I'm looking to figure out if I should be getting anything.
1. Does TW in SA send out the digital cable transmissions in the clear? I have digital
cable and hdtv service and can receive on the STB in hdtv fine (or as fine as TC can
be).
2. Since I'm splitting the signal off the line used for the cable modem, does this even
have the tv signal or is it filtered out? I don't have a portable htdv/tuner I can carry
back to the office to check if there is even tv signals on the cable modem line.

As soon as I can get to radio shack, I will get a small antenna to try. At this point I'm
just trying to figure out if the new board is working or not.

Does anyone have a similar setup that's working?

New subject,
I'm trying to find out if the local time warner cable broadcasts the digital content as Unencrypted "Clear" QAM. I just got a AVerMedia AVerTVHD MCE A180 video capture
board for the pc. When I hooked it up to the cable output I use for the cable modem via a splitter and scanned for any unencrypted QAM channels I see nothing.
Since its a brand new board, I don't know if the board works (haven't tried an antenna
yet, the one I picked up at wal-mart was apparently a returned item and was broken) so I'm looking to figure out if I should be getting anything.
1. Does TW in SA send out the digital cable transmissions in the clear? I have digital
cable and hdtv service and can receive on the STB in hdtv fine (or as fine as TC can
be).
2. Since I'm splitting the signal off the line used for the cable modem, does this even
have the tv signal or is it filtered out? I don't have a portable htdv/tuner I can carry
back to the office to check if there is even tv signals on the cable modem line.

As soon as I can get to radio shack, I will get a small antenna to try. At this point I'm
just trying to figure out if the new board is working or not.

Does anyone have a similar setup that's working?

1 Yes, Last discussion of channels is at page 96 post 2873 to bottom of page.

2 I think so, split before the box, I recall some people were able to get digital channels in the clear when they were only signed up for internet cable (no TV service ).

Yes, Scan on Cable IRC. I thought clear was a no-go as I scanned both HRC and IRC to no avail. But my TV's tuner can be finnicky sometimes. Now all is well. Interesting that QAM clear may not get filtered after shutting off cable. I may try that. I've downgraded to the basic $15.40 service and was already thinking of dropping it totally for OTA, but since I'm still receiving standard service, I've been putting it off.

Yes, Scan on Cable IRC. I thought clear was a no-go as I scanned both HRC and IRC to no avail. But my TV's tuner can be finnicky sometimes. Now all is well. Interesting that QAM clear may not get filtered after shutting off cable. I may try that. I've downgraded to the basic $15.40 service and was already thinking of dropping it totally for OTA, but since I'm still receiving standard service, I've been putting it off.
Glad you were able to get it to work.

I thought TW recommended to scan in ''STD'', but if IRC works, I guess that is all that matters:)

Glad you were able to get it to work.

I thought TW recommended to scan in ''STD'', but if IRC works, I guess that is all that matters:)

Thanks.

I know you had some mixed experience with them, but it is my impression that the majority of TWC that I'm able to interface with (CSR or Installer techs) wouldn't know clear QAM from a hole in the ground. One CSR even went as far as to say, 'it is most certainly encrypted, there is no question about it'. Heheh, 2nd scan on IRC did the trick.

That being said, I see myself installing an antenna sooner then later, so I can say bye-bye to the overpriced mediocrity of cable channels that I don't even watch.

Though, I miss CW/WGN and IMO better PBS content in high def.

RE: KSAT HD problems.

Just received a reply from KSAT and they said that they are experiencing technical glitches from the new digital feed from ABC and that they are trying to correct the problem ASAP.

That does not explain why does the KSAT HD on TW Channel 112 look like a 128k feed in windows media player over the internet? Where is all their bandwidth going? The picture quality is terrible. It's the worst SD I've seen on an HD channel :confused:

New subject,
I'm trying to find out if the local time warner cable broadcasts the digital content as Unencrypted "Clear" QAM. I just got a AVerMedia AVerTVHD MCE A180 video capture
board for the pc. When I hooked it up to the cable output I use for the cable modem via a splitter and scanned for any unencrypted QAM channels I see nothing.
Since its a brand new board, I don't know if the board works (haven't tried an antenna
yet, the one I picked up at wal-mart was apparently a returned item and was broken) so I'm looking to figure out if I should be getting anything.
1. Does TW in SA send out the digital cable transmissions in the clear? I have digital
cable and hdtv service and can receive on the STB in hdtv fine (or as fine as TC can
be).
2. Since I'm splitting the signal off the line used for the cable modem, does this even
have the tv signal or is it filtered out? I don't have a portable htdv/tuner I can carry
back to the office to check if there is even tv signals on the cable modem line.

As soon as I can get to radio shack, I will get a small antenna to try. At this point I'm
just trying to figure out if the new board is working or not.

Does anyone have a similar setup that's working?

I share the modem and a TV off the same outlet. According to TWC, this is not the preferred setup. They recommend that the modem have a completely separate line from the outside box to the modem. At my prior home, they ran a cable through the attic. In my new home, they wanted to run a cable along the eave all the way around the far side of the house to the room where I wanted to install the router. That room already had a cable connection, so I told them I would live with sharing the line. By and large, it seems to do OK this way. I did have difficulty in finding channels with the scan, although I do know whether this is because of a weakened (split) signal or a weak tuner.

These are the channels I am currently receiving on:

110-81 LATV
110-104 WOAI (NBC HD)
110-112 KSAT (ABC HD)
111-91 KLRN (PBS)
111-94 KLRN (PBS)
111-111 KABB (FOX HD)
112-107 KRRT (WB HD) (well sort of HD)
112-108 KLRN (PBS)
112-155 KENS (CBS HD)

KRRT is WB? Isn't that KCWX (the CW)?

I don't know what TWC is smoking about not running HSI and Cable off same line. I did it for more than a year with Comcast; it's the only choice you have sometimes in an apartment and the way they in fact set it up. Both worked great off a splitter, minus the abysmal upload speed they gave me (kind of like TWC but worse) but that was entirely another problem.

KRRT is WB? Isn't that KCWX (the CW)?

hakujin,

KRRT was the WB until last year, I believe, when WB and UPN folded into the CW. KRRT then became a member of "My Network," whatever that is, and changed its call sign to KMYS. Now they are "MY35" TV with "My Network" programs.

KCWX is the CW station in San Antonio, although the transmitter (analog ch 2) is licensed to Fredericksburg but covers San Antonio. The station is available on cable and via satellite in the San Antonio DMA and on some services in Austin. Unfortunately KCWX is not yet HD-capable. The owners continue to negotiate for a different channel than DTV 5, which is what was assigned in the final round of DTV allocations. They would rather have DTV 8, the same as WFAA in Dallas. I am certain there are discussions about co-channel interference, even though spacing should not be an issue.

So what are the latest HD boxes Time Warner has in their lineup?

I'm using a SA 8300HD DVR, anything newer out ?

What about the menu system. Does Time Warner have any intentions of upgrading it? it seems it's been the same for the last 10yrs at least.

And it starts again. The SA CBS affiliate tossed Moonlight and Numb3rs last night because of a basketball game. Last season I vaguely remember that they would be shown at some time in the wee hours of the morning like at 2am or something. I didn't see anything in the DirecTV schedule so I didn't know how to set up a recording.

Does anybody know what Ch 5 did with those two programs and how does one set up to record them (for a later showing) when this happens?

Anybody know why ABC/KSAT doesn't show afternoon college football in HD? Everybody else does except them, and that's where the UT games are usually shown? Just curious.

Does anybody know what Ch 5 did with those two programs
One of Jeanne Jakle's columns (http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/columnists/jjackle/stories/MYSA110207.01P.jakle.ef0afb.html) from last week had the details of the pre-emptions.

Maybe someone else with DirecTV can give you advice on how to record shows when KENS 5 moves them like that.

One of Jeanne Jakle's columns (http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/columnists/jjackle/stories/MYSA110207.01P.jakle.ef0afb.html) from last week had the details of the pre-emptions.
Thanks. I emailed her asking about how to get that information.

Thanks. I emailed her asking about how to get that information.
I'm a loyal KENS news viewer and I've noticed that they seem to mention those pre-emption reschedulings on their 10:00 newscast the night before a game and again on the 5:00 and 6:00 newscasts that precede a game. I haven't paid enough attention to know if it always happens at a specific point in the newscast.

And it starts again. The SA CBS affiliate tossed Moonlight and Numb3rs last night because of a basketball game...Does anybody know what Ch 5 did with those two programs and how does one set up to record them (for a later showing) when this happens?

Allen,
First, please accept my apology for your inconvenience. We should do better to make certain that schedule changes due to sports events get better publicity. I will work on that.

You are one of dozens of callers who had the same question. It turns out that for reasons unknown, DirecTV and Time Warner did not get the amended KENS schedule, showing when the delayed prime time shows were going to be played back. I am less certain of U-Verse, Dish network and Grande communications, but I do know that if Zap2it.com does not get the schedule, a whole host of people remain in the dark. That seems to be what happened this go 'round. Tribune Media Services, who populate the Electronic Program Guide in our PSIP tables, also did not receive our schedule changes for Friday's Spurs game. I found myself manually entering the data Friday afternoon. Unfortunately DirecTV and Time Warner strip off our PSIP tables and generate their own guide service.

Here is what I will do. The next scheduled Spurs game is December 13. I will post here the schedule of delayed recordings so viewers who read these posts can know when to set recording timers.

I will also mail all our MSO clients with the amended schedule so that no one can say they did not receive the changes.

That seems to be what happened this go 'round. Tribune Media Services, who populate the Electronic Program Guide in our PSIP tables, also did not receive our schedule changes for Friday's Spurs game.
That will be super. Especially if Tribune Media Services gets the updates. My computers are driven from that database and I don't download the data until a few hours before the nights showing start.

Thank you very much and I will put Dec 13 into my reminder app to watch and see what happens.

Allen

Was that KENS HDTV equipment that was used to televise the Spurs/Sacramento game last Friday? Everything looked great, and I started wondering if that was produced by KENS. PQ was excellent.

Dan, thanks for your kind compliment about the picture quality on last Friday's Spurs game. I wish we owned all of the remote equipment, but unfortunately we do not. The cameras and production truck are leased by the Spurs organization. The game is produced and switched in the truck and delivered to KENS via fiber.

Here in our Technical Center the fiber terminates into AT&T terminal gear which delivers the HD signal to a Tandberg TT 1282 HDTV decoder provided by Vyvx. From that point KENS takes the decoded HD signal and switches it to air through our own house system. We also do the downconversion of the HD signal for broadcast on the KENS-5 analog service.

Did anyone notice NHL network was added to the HD lineup for TWC?

Did anyone notice NHL network was added to the HD lineup for TWC?

Yeah, noticed it earlier in the week. TWC has been adding lots of new HD channels in the past few weeks. Too bad that they haven't been able to get the one that everyone wants this time of year (NFL Network HD).

Someone earlier mentioned what kind of bitrate are we getting from OTA so I decided to take a look and I was somewhat surprised. Here are a couple of snapshot during todays college football game Air Force vs. Notre Dame on WOAI-DT.

The first chart shows a breakout of the mux. The second is a 20 minutes graph with bitrate sampled every five seconds. Now you can see why the game looks so bad.

In contrast look at the third chart KABB-DT, now this is the way it should be.

Yeah, noticed it earlier in the week. TWC has been adding lots of new HD channels in the past few weeks. Too bad that they haven't been able to get the one that everyone wants this time of year (NFL Network HD).
I've been wanting to comment on the NFL Network issue so I'll take advantage of this entry. Especially since there was an article in todays paper and a comment from a TWC person. First off I'll start by saying that TWC has it RIGHT. Here's why.

Last year I relocated to Texas after 30 years in Calif. I don't know if Al Davis still owns the Oakland Raiders but I clearly remember a 5 to 10 year battle he had with the NFL essentially trying to do the same thing. He knew how popular the Raiders were, right up along side the Cowboys. He wanted to remove the Raiders from the revenue sharing parts of the NFL contract and in return to have sole control of Raider telecasts and revenue from such. In effect he was trying to put together a Raider TV network. This was about 15 years ago. Of course the NFL fought all the way to the courts and won.

And now the NFL is trying to do the same thing with the NFL product. They want to curtail free broadcasts as much as possible (up to the point Congress threatens them) and charge for individual or package telecasts via various outlets.

Al Davis must be screaming from from his............
Whoops, he's still the owner. I sure wish I was a fly on the wall in his office to hear what his thoughts are on this NFL Network thing. I mean they stole/adopted the idea from him.

Someone earlier mentioned what kind of bitrate are we getting from OTA so I decided to take a look and I was somewhat surprised. Here are a couple of snapshot during todays college football game Air Force vs. Notre Dame on WOAI-DT.

The first chart shows a breakout of the mux. The second is a 20 minutes graph with bitrate sampled every five seconds. Now you can see why the game looks so bad.

In contrast look at the third chart KABB-DT, now this is the way it should be.

You should send this to WOAI, including the KABB graphic.

Yeah, noticed it earlier in the week. TWC has been adding lots of new HD channels in the past few weeks. Too bad that they haven't been able to get the one that everyone wants this time of year (NFL Network HD).

Sure, they are adding more HD channels but the cable is still the same cable.
I really noticed this year how bad the HD channel is for CBS. Really noticeable
artifacts/blockly picture this year as they try to force more HD channels down the same circuitry. The only way they can get more channels is to really compress the HD signal. When I compare the OTA from the local CBS station side by side to what TWC is presenting, its really sad.
I get an excellent picture for free or pay TWC a lot of money to get a really
degraded one.

Do they really think nobody will notice?

I'm about to pull he plug on TWC as the only programs we ever watch are from the major networks and OTA is free.

I recently purchased a AverMedia A-180 OTA HD capture board (about $70)
to sample the local OTA and found that I can get all the local channels except PBS using a $12 settop UHF/rabbit ear antenna.
I suspect that with a little bit of work I can get PBS too.

As long as TWC continues to try to broadcast all channels down the
cable at the same time, the move to HD can only results in a further degraded picture. There is only so much bandwidth the cable can handle and when TWC compresses the HD video to try to fit it in the same slot taken up by SDTV, it actually looks worse than the standard definition channels they are sending.
Between the OTA (free) and the increasing availability of video content available from the web in HD, they have a really bad business plan going forward when they purposely degrade HD channels.

And now the NFL is trying to do the same thing with the NFL product. They want to curtail free broadcasts as much as possible (up to the point Congress threatens them) and charge for individual or package telecasts via various outlets.

I have Dish Network. The NFL is selling a product that I want. I go to 1 maybe 2 Cowboys games a year. Other than that I watch all the games on TV. I'll pay a little more to watch all the games. If I was in an area where I couldn't watch Cowboys games, I would switch to Direct TV and get Sunday Ticket. The NFL is 'selling' a product that I'm very much into. Until TWC gets NFL Network, TWC will never be an option for me.

I have Dish Network. The NFL is selling a product that I want. I go to 1 maybe 2 Cowboys games a year. Other than that I watch all the games on TV. I'll pay a little more to watch all the games. If I was in an area where I couldn't watch Cowboys games, I would switch to Direct TV and get Sunday Ticket. The NFL is 'selling' a product that I'm very much into. Until TWC gets NFL Network, TWC will never be an option for me.
The catch being that to build their product, ie: make it more attractive, is to minimize/curtail free broadcasts. Which is exactly what Al Davis wanted to do but the NFL would not let him.

The catch being that to build their product, ie: make it more attractive, is to minimize/curtail free broadcasts. Which is exactly what Al Davis wanted to do but the NFL would not let him.

I wonder if cities that have their own teams are as hard on their cable companies as some San Antonio Cowboy fans are. Anybody know? Don't get me wrong. I like the Cowboys too, but I'm undecided as to who is right on this issue. TWC or NFL network. In the meantime, I'll keep TWC.

I don't think there is a clear cut right or wrong side in the TWC/NFL debate. On one hand you can say it is admirable of TWC not wanting to pass on additional cost to the consumer for a network that won't be watched most of the time. That argument loses steam with anything less than a pay for what you watch pricing, or selecting channels a la carte. Using Time Warner's stance, I shouldn't have to pay a penny for Lifetime, WE, Lifetime Movies, etc., unless I subscribe to a "woman's package".

It is very clear who is right here. Time Warner

I am a huge NFL fan but this is unfair to the large percentage of viewers who do not care about football. Plus everytime I turn arround my cable bill goes up. I would switch to Directv but I have already had my disputes with them. They are no angels either.

I have sent TWC emails supporting their stance. I agree with you on the Lifetime issue. I would add MTV and many others but they are not charging what the NFLN wants.

I don't think there is a clear cut right or wrong side in the TWC/NFL debate. On one hand you can say it is admirable of TWC not wanting to pass on additional cost to the consumer for a network that won't be watched most of the time. That argument loses steam with anything less than a pay for what you watch pricing, or selecting channels a la carte. Using Time Warner's stance, I shouldn't have to pay a penny for Lifetime, WE, Lifetime Movies, etc., unless I subscribe to a "woman's package".

TWC & the NFL are screwing over the consumer. Looking at what is out there right now, and it really pains me to say this because of how TWC is in general, I tend to agree more with TWC than the NFL. The NFLN is being completely unreasonable in asking for more per subscriber than ESPN when they are not a year round sport. I don't mind paying an extra $5-10 per month during football season for the NFLN but don't want to have it year round.

I don't think there is a clear cut right or wrong side in the TWC/NFL debate. On one hand you can say it is admirable of TWC not wanting to pass on additional cost to the consumer for a network that won't be watched most of the time. That argument loses steam with anything less than a pay for what you watch pricing, or selecting channels a la carte. Using Time Warner's stance, I shouldn't have to pay a penny for Lifetime, WE, Lifetime Movies, etc., unless I subscribe to a "woman's package".

The way I understand it is that the NFL Network is upset with TWC because they want to the cable companies to keep it on their basic tier. TWC wants to put it on its sports tier, which costs consumers an extra $5-$8 or whatever it is. I see both sides, but I will say it was a key reason why I switched to Direct TV.

I should have prefaced that previous comment with "While I am on TWC's side..." :)

Have you watched their news? The technical quality is like streamed over the internet. Why?

If you all want the NFL network, just switch to Dish Network. I had TWC for over 5 years and switched to Dish 3 months ago I'm glad I did. There are way more HD channels on Dish, and a ton of sports. The Big Ten network has many games on different channels. If you are worried about not getting WOAI on dish, just get a $20 OTA. It includes the OTA stations on the menu bars and you can record and do the same things as normal. I have the everything package and it is still less expensive as time warner. The DVR that I have is VIP722 and it has 55hrs of HD capacity. You can't go wrong.

I like not having a box. I have two tvs with cable cards. That being said, TW has added a bunch of HD channels that do not work with cable cards. I heard a rumor that they were trying to get people off cable cards because they get more for rent on a cable box. Plus there is no pay per view with a cable card. I don't care about pay per view. I do have one box, a hd dvr.

They are close to losing me. Unless this cable card issue if fixed, I will be gone.

I have no problem getting local stations over my off air antenna.

TWC & the NFL are screwing over the consumer. Looking at what is out there right now, and it really pains me to say this because of how TWC is in general, I tend to agree more with TWC than the NFL. The NFLN is being completely unreasonable in asking for more per subscriber than ESPN when they are not a year round sport. I don't mind paying an extra $5-10 per month during football season for the NFLN but don't want to have it year round.

That's probably why TWC wants it on a sports tier but the NFL won't agree. NFL wants it on basic tier which would cost all subscribers .61 cents during football season http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Network TWC doesn't think that non football fans should be forced to pay for any of it. TWC must know their subscribers pretty well. It may only be .61 cents but they may think that they would lose more customers if they placed it on a basic tier than they are loosing by not having NFL network.

Direct TV offers it with any of their packages. Is Direct tV eating the cost or are they somehow passing the cost to all subscribers? Or is it a promotion that they are having to take customers from cable companies? If that's the case, how long will the promotion last?

Does anybody know an e-mail address or web addess with a commment for for TBD-HD and TNT-HD? Other than sports broadcasts, these are totally useless, as they stretch everything and make it unwatchable. Even more annoying is when there is a 16x9 source available (The Office re-runs TBS show, for example) and instead they take the 4:3 source and stretch it to widescreen.

TWC & the NFL are screwing over the consumer.

The problem is both, yes, but I think the larger problem is big league sports trying to squeeze every penny possible out of their fans. I can't afford to take my family to any sporting event anymore except a Missions game. Can't go to a MLB game, NBA or NFL. If I'm out of market, I have no free options for watching or even listening to games for free - used to be able to at least listen to MLB games for free over the net back in the 90's. The NFL is just taking it one step further by trying to squeeze the local market for local market games. It's just stupid. They're trying to see how far they can push the consumer to pay for stuff they used to get for free. What's even more stupid is that people are paying for it rather than saying "No more - we will not pay another dime for this crap." Until that happens, no one has a right to complain about any of it.

The NFL is just taking it one step further by trying to squeeze the local market for local market games. It's just stupid. They're trying to see how far they can push the consumer to pay for stuff they used to get for free. What's even more stupid is that people are paying for it rather than saying "No more - we will not pay another dime for this crap." Until that happens, no one has a right to complain about any of it.

And here in S.A., Jerry Jones is playing die hard Cowboy fans like a fiddle. The most we can expect from Jerry Jones is him throwing us a bone by allowing his team to practice here. And instead of trying to please the Cowboys fan base here in S.A., he works against us by siding with the NFL. I think he should be working to ensure a fair settlement between the NFL and the Cowboy fan base on TWC.

And here in S.A., Jerry Jones is playing die hard Cowboy fans like a fiddle. The most we can expect from Jerry Jones is him throwing us a bone by allowing his team to practice here. And instead of trying to please the Cowboys fan base here in S.A., he works against us by siding with the NFL. I think he should be working to ensure a fair settlement between the NFL and the Cowboy fan base on TWC.

I can't stand Jerry Jones but do believe that he cares about his fans and loves the Dallas Cowboys franchise. That said, he loves money more than life itself and if the fans get between him and money, they will get pushed under the bus with no regard whatsoever.

..he loves money more than life itself and if the fans get between him and money, they will get pushed under the bus with no regard whatsoever.And the congregation said "AMEN." I remember attending a game back in the nineties when my wife's purse was searched for an illicit camera which was not allowed into the stadium at that time:rolleyes: It's nothing but $$$$$$$$$$$ all they way.

Switched to D* in October, so I really don't have a dog in this fight anymore.

I'm neither a Cowboys nor Texans fan, but with San Antonio closer to Houston, is it still predominantly a Cowboys fan base here? Was that the case back when the Oilers were still in Houston as well?

I just recently purchased a 40' tower and monster antenna (15'+) from an estate sale. Not sure if the antenna is any good but it came with the tower. Now the problem is finding somebody to install and finally get good HD reception. Also need to move my DTV to the tower in preparation to upgrading to the mpeg 4.

I am out Boerne way and cannot pick up KLRN and just on the edge of the others to receive them consistently. Can anybody recommend (or maybe more importantly warn me) a good installer on the Northwest quadrant of the area. Figure there has to be some expertise out towards Kerrville and Bandera.

Thanks

I just recently purchased a 40' tower and monster antenna (15'+) from an estate sale. Not sure if the antenna is any good but it came with the tower. Now the problem is finding somebody to install and finally get good HD reception. Also need to move my DTV to the tower in preparation to upgrading to the mpeg 4.
I am out Boerne way and cannot pick up KLRN and just on the edge of the others to receive them consistently. Can anybody recommend (or maybe more importantly warn me) a good installer on the Northwest quadrant of the area. Figure there has to be some expertise out towards Kerrville and Bandera.
Thanks

Don't know if he has time to take the job but:
830-990-880
Ransleben Tower I think.

Wonder if CSI is going to start at 8:00 tonight???

Does anybody know an e-mail address or web addess with a commment for for TBD-HD and TNT-HD? Other than sports broadcasts, these are totally useless, as they stretch everything and make it unwatchable. Even more annoying is when there is a 16x9 source available (The Office re-runs TBS show, for example) and instead they take the 4:3 source and stretch it to widescreen.

I know what you mean. They certainly like to crop anything wider than 1.85:1. Maybe it's easier from a support perspective when there are so many clueless subscribers that think any movie that's widescreen should take up the whole screen. I think HD TWC channels on the whole are worthless. Maybe if National Geographic, Discovery, and the History Channel were in a HD anamorphic widescreen, it'd be cool but they even screw that up. About the only thing that is proper is the locals and that can be had without a box which makes me happy.

RE: NFL-HD

My sympathies to those of you who are either not getting the NFL channel or who don't want it but are expected to pay a few cents a month so that others can see it.

My outlook is a little different. I have Dish-TV so I'm one of the luckier football viewers, but at the same time it does perturb me just like so many others when games run overtime or pre-empt show's I've scheduled for recording on my DVR.

With the introduction of the NFL channel last year I found a new way to watch games I didn't have capacity to record, done with surgical precision to cut out lapses in the action, so that I don't even have to hit the fast forward to get past delays. I also enjoy the peripheral programs that go deep into strategies and team updates.

The big promise, though, is that perhaps as the NFL channel becomes more and more proficient, we'll route more of the live games to there, leaving the regular programs ota to start and end at the prescribed times. I think that in itself is worth the cost of adding the NFL channel for those who don't watch football.

Maybe within a few years we'll have all of the NFL games on that channel, scheduled so that we don't get 8 games playing all at the same time... that way those of us who like to watch a half dozen games each weekend can see them all and still count on the fact that our favorite dramas are recording properly.

I enjoy football season very much and predict the outcome of all of the games each week in a competition with my friends to see who comes out guru of the week. I do know that I can go online if I lose a bit or all of a program and either watch on the network's stream or I can go to one of the download sites and get the whole thing.

Have patience! Things are getting better, and making money is the incentive for people in this country to make all sorts of things better for us.

I'm neither a Cowboys nor Texans fan, but with San Antonio closer to Houston, is it still predominantly a Cowboys fan base here? Was that the case back when the Oilers were still in Houston as well?

Since no one has responded I'll give it a shot. As far as I know there are and have always been more Cowboy fans than Texans or Oiler fans not only in San Antonio but in south Texas. Not sure about the rest of the state. I have family in East Texas and they like the Cowboys. I can't say for certain but the strong fan base for the Cowboys is probably why San Antonio can't get it's own team. My wife heard a comment on the news once that San Antonio already has a team but they play in Dallas. One individual even told me that even if S.A. had it's own team, he would prefer to watch the Cowboys on TV. I have also known individuals who actually mourn on Mondays everytime the Cowboys lose.They get very depressed. I see more Cowboy caps, shirts and jerseys than I see for Houston. Hope that sort of answers your question.

I just found out that U-Verse is available now in my area. Have any of y'all switched over to AT&T's new service? Apparently 170,000 more households became available during the last couple of weeks. I have heard both good and bad about it, but I don't know many users so it is hard to get a sample. One drawback is only one HD feed at a time, but all my wife watches is OTA so that is solved for our household.

NFL Network -

Ed -

As you said, making money drives it all.

While the league is putting a lot into developing the NFL network, I doubt seriously it will be bringing in enough money for them to walk away from the huge bucks the networks are paying for the rights to carry the games. And if the games weren't adding value why are the networks paying so much? On top of all the money from the advertising, they get a locked in audience that they can pimp their dramas for three straight hours. Think they will give all that up just to make it more convenient for the DVR users that are fast forwarding through the commercials and driving down the advertising value of their programming?

Seems like better fix would be developing a smart DVR system that can recognize some type of program tag that would alert the machine when the program is beginning and ending rather than being dependent upon the program guide. Probably much easier said than done.

NFL Network -
Seems like better fix would be developing a smart DVR system that can recognize some type of program tag that would alert the machine when the program is beginning and ending rather than being dependent upon the program guide. Probably much easier said than done.

Everything you said is right on the money, Escondido.

1. I think the goal is to first get NFL network running well technically, and they seem to be picking that up very quickly. But of course before they can make it start earning its way, they'll need a much much much better ad sales group that can pack the spots with interesting ads rather than the same stuff over and over. When they do that, then they can begin to justify all of their work. Problem is how to get the ads when they don't have the viewership... we'll see on thursday how well they've done so far on that score.

Advertisers want their goods displayed where the people are, but they're so slow in seeing were the people are going to go, those places often starve to death while building the viewership. I'm thinking with all of the collective money available to the NFL, these guys might get there.

2. Your smart DVR system would be the cat's meow for sure. Tivo is close now and recognizes the importance of such a system. It will happen. All they need is to have the box program for a specific identifier that will be broadcast when the show starts, rather than the scheduled time. This requires cooperation from the program sources and shouldn't be all that hard to get. Of course there has to be some way for the box to know the end of the program as well.

Yes it will get better and better, and some people will make lots and lots of money making that happen... as has always been the case.

Has anyone here in San Antonio recently swtiched from TWC to either Dish or DirectTV?

I am seriously considering a change. My main concern is HD picture quality. TWC quality seems to be degrading as they add more HD channels. I certainly don't want to switch only to find I have more selection with less quality. I am hoping to see an improvement. Will I de disappointed? Is there any difference in PQ between Dish & Direct?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Dave

Can't speak for Dish HD, but my DirecTv with all their new channels is superb!

I just found out that U-Verse is available now in my area. Have any of y'all switched over to AT&T's new service? Apparently 170,000 more households became available during the last couple of weeks. I have heard both good and bad about it, but I don't know many users so it is hard to get a sample. One drawback is only one HD feed at a time, but all my wife watches is OTA so that is solved for our household.

I got a phone pitch for U-Verse last week, so mine must be one of the lucky 170,000 households, too. I didn't appreciate how the phone rep was trying to create FUD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear%2C_uncertainty_and_doubt) by saying that the analog signals would be going away from my cable next February. She feigned being taken aback fairly well when I pointed out to her that the analog sunset date is actually Feb. 17, 2009. :D

The pricing and the need to put converters on all 4 of my TVs didn't appeal to me. Picking up on her mention of the fact that AT&T would run fiber to the curb as part of the U-Verse install and that this would enable a faster broadband connection, I asked if they would be willing to run the fiber so I could get faster broadband a la carte, without TV. She said they don't offer that option.

Has anyone here in San Antonio recently swtiched from TWC to either Dish or DirectTV?

I am seriously considering a change. My main concern is HD picture quality. TWC quality seems to be degrading as they add more HD channels. I certainly don't want to switch only to find I have more selection with less quality. I am hoping to see an improvement. Will I de disappointed? Is there any difference in PQ between Dish & Direct?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Dave

I made the switch to Direct TV a year ago and have been extremely happy. The pictures are clean and sharp. Sound is great. DVR holds more HD programming. AND I'M SAVING MONEY!!

I made the switch to Direct TV a year ago and have been extremely happy. The pictures are clean and sharp. Sound is great. DVR holds more HD programming. AND I'M SAVING MONEY!!

Just as I thought. I'll probably place an order this weekend.

Do you know if Direct has any plans for networking of receivers? I know that with TIVO you can watch a recorded program on any tv in the house. Just a nice touch, but not a deal breaker.

I got a phone pitch for U-Verse last week, so mine must be one of the lucky 170,000 households, too. I didn't appreciate how the phone rep was trying to create FUD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear%2C_uncertainty_and_doubt) by saying that the analog signals would be going away from my cable next February. She feigned being taken aback fairly well when I pointed out to her that the analog sunset date is actually Feb. 17, 2009. :D

The pricing and the need to put converters on all 4 of my TVs didn't appeal to me. Picking up on her mention of the fact that AT&T would run fiber to the curb as part of the U-Verse install and that this would enable a faster broadband connection, I asked if they would be willing to run the fiber so I could get faster broadband a la carte, without TV. She said they don't offer that option.

Thanks for the reply. Never got a phone call, just the mailer. I already have a stb for each tv, so it wasn't a big deal for me. The main reason I am trying them out is price. I am paying WAY too much for TWC right now. However, if I can't watch programs without them dropping out - which I have read/heard is a problem - I'll be back to TWC.

As an aside: I had tried lowering my payments through new price breaks every time I paid a bill at the store, and even asked for some free premium channels since we are big (at least to me) customers. I was successful once in getting my bill lowered a whopping 5 bucks. When I called TWC yesterday to see about a la carte pricing while I am test driving UVerse, the lady said she could lower my bill over $30 a month and throw in free showtime and the movie channel for a year! Kind of ticked me off though, almost has the opposite effect.

What was with WOAI tonight? I started out watching Las Vegas using the computer for timeshifting but the pixelation got so bad I switched over to the satellite. And there it was too. I can't remember when I've seen such a bad picture breakup off the satellite.

I got a phone pitch for U-Verse last week, so mine must be one of the lucky 170,000 households, too. I didn't appreciate how the phone rep was trying to create FUD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear%2C_uncertainty_and_doubt) by saying that the analog signals would be going away from my cable next February. She feigned being taken aback fairly well when I pointed out to her that the analog sunset date is actually Feb. 17, 2009. :D

The pricing and the need to put converters on all 4 of my TVs didn't appeal to me. Picking up on her mention of the fact that AT&T would run fiber to the curb as part of the U-Verse install and that this would enable a faster broadband connection, I asked if they would be willing to run the fiber so I could get faster broadband a la carte, without TV. She said they don't offer that option.

I wouldn't exactly call you lucky ;)

I'm with you on the STB or Converters; I despise them.

Regarding the analog cut off in 2009, it's only going to affect analog over the air. Cable companies are till going to send analog over HFC (perhaps downscaled); I've read Comcast has plans to do this awhile back and I bet TWC, Cox, Adelphia and all the rest will too... it'd be stupid not to. I can hear the bells now, "Join (or stay) with XYZ Cable and keep your old TV!"

A friend of mine just signed up with u-verse to save some money from his bloated TWC pkg. Surprising to me, his DL speed was still only 6Mbps or so down. I knew Fiber to the node wasn't going to be that good, but that's no improvement whatsoever over what's available today. I'd surely give it a try if the speeds touched Verizon's FiOS, but I don't think that'll happen anytime soon, if at all under that delivery framework at least. I'm curious though... anyone get any better speeds than 6Mbps down and what about upload?

Right now I'm with TWC under a 6 mo promo. $30 for the regular tier 'net and $17 for basic (which is steep if you ask me), but I'm getting standard cable still so I can't complain. If TWC can't remain competitive at the end of the 6 mo term, I'll hop over to Earthlink 6 mo cable promo... would be a shame to lose the free nntp though...

Regarding the analog cut off in 2009, it's only going to affect analog over the air. Cable companies are till going to send analog over HFC (perhaps downscaled); I've read Comcast has plans to do this awhile back and I bet TWC, Cox, Adelphia and all the rest will too... it'd be stupid not to. I can hear the bells now, "Join (or stay) with XYZ Cable and keep your old TV!"
I knew that the sales rep was overstating her case for that reason, too, but I chose not to argue the point. I'm sure I demonstrated that I was better-informed than the average customer she talked to that day. :)

I think I've even seen a quote in the media from a local TWC official stating that analog cable service is not going away in 2009. I agree that it would be foolish for cable companies to shed analog service that soon. With the number of analog sets still in service, that would be a watershed event that would cause a large percentage of cable customers to consider switching to a dish.

What was with WOAI tonight? I started out watching Las Vegas using the computer for timeshifting but the pixelation got so bad I switched over to the satellite. And there it was too. I can't remember when I've seen such a bad picture breakup off the satellite.

Pixilation seems pretty bad to me tonight on WOIA Sunday Night Football over TWC channel 104. It seems worse when showing closeups of the Bengals helmets through the rain. Is that a camera problem, picking up the colors through the raindrops, or is it just bad signal strength? Are satellite viewers seeing this too? It's so bad that I'm almost ready to give the remote to my wife and let her switch to "Brothers and Sisters on ABC.

Somebody please tell me it's worse on TWC than satellite, so that I can finally make the call to switch to Direct TV.

DerrikM

Pixilation seems pretty bad to me tonight on WOIA Sunday Night Football over TWC channel 104. It seems worse when showing closeups of the Bengals helmets through the rain. Is that a camera problem, picking up the colors through the raindrops, or is it just bad signal strength? Are satellite viewers seeing this too? It's so bad that I'm almost ready to give the remote to my wife and let her switch to "Brothers and Sisters on ABC.
Somebody please tell me it's worse on TWC than satellite, so that I can finally make the call to switch to Direct TV.
DerrikM
Watching a couple of minutes OTA and a couple off D* I see no breakup tonight.

Anyone have a list of the QAM Clear channels on TWC-San Antonio? I use Vista Media Center and will pick up a HD tuner, I do not want to have to get a HD STB.

WOAI is out to lunch again, OTA and satellite. Can hardly watch Chuck.

WOAI is out to lunch again, OTA and satellite. Can hardly watch Chuck.

But isn't it interesting that whenever that happens, the commercials still come in crystal clear.

WOAI was unwatchable here too. (Early on while Chuck was airing. After a couple minutes of that we gave up.) My receiver was reporting steady full signal strength and zero errors while this was happening.

I don't know if it's always the network programming that's affected, but I've noticed it on and off for at least the last 3 days or so.

:(

I had problems toward the end of my recording of "Heroes" OTA on WOAI from last night. I gather it might not have been my equipment? Anyone else? Some complete breakups and stuttering sound.

I had problems toward the end of my recording of "Heroes" OTA on WOAI from last night. I gather it might not have been my equipment? Anyone else? Some complete breakups and stuttering sound.

I spoke to someone with Engineering department at WOAI and they said they were unaware of any issues last night but that he would pull the logs. He then said it appeared they had some issues with the network feed beginning at 8:45 but that programming should have just switched to SD. I explained that was not the case and that the picture was not watchable for several minutes in a row. He suggested that we file complaints with the Programming Director to try and get a replay scheduled.

Anyone have a list of the QAM Clear channels on TWC-San Antonio? I use Vista Media Center and will pick up a HD tuner, I do not want to have to get a HD STB.

Zagor posted this list a few months ago. I believe all the channels indicated are working in the clear on TWC, including KABB.


103-104 (WOAI-DT)
103-112 (KSAT-DT)
111-111(KABB-DT)
111-107(KMYS-DT)
112-108 (KLRN-DT)
112-155 (KENS-DT)
119-80 (WOAI Weather Plus)

Thanks Mr. Paonessa.

An open note to KENS and this forum's Mr. Paonessa.....

Out of nostalgia for the Rankin Bass stop-motion animation style of the 60s, I was happy to see that Rudolph was being promoted as remastered in HD (Great since film lends itself well to HD remaster), so here I am watching in the beginning of the show around the time of Santa and Mrs. Claus' introduction KENS switches to the SD feed on the HD channel. This despite it's saying "PRESENTED IN HD WHERE AVAILABLE." I even have the recording to prove it. I'm presuming the Master Control Switcher just presumed it was SD since it was 4x3.

How utterly ridiculous is this to assume since it's not 16x9 that the network and all its promotional staff was wrong and simply switch to the SD feed, thus negating any advantage to watching HD feed and proving the promotional spots run locally and nationally as liars.

This presumption just chaps me. This is the same sort of logic that causes a lot of makegoods for missed spots.

SHould you desire an off air copy please advise to show the person who was switching tonight!
Thanks
Chris Wallace

I spoke to someone with Engineering department at WOAI and they said they were unaware of any issues last night but that he would pull the logs. He then said it appeared they had some issues with the network feed beginning at 8:45 but that programming should have just switched to SD. I explained that was not the case and that the picture was not watchable for several minutes in a row. He suggested that we file complaints with the Programming Director to try and get a replay scheduled.

That's exactly when my problems started.

That's exactly when my problems started.

We actually had problems from the get-go until about 20 minutes in, then again around 8:45. The worst was at the beginning, though. Wish we had kept the recording, but needed to free up space on the DVR.

I had problems with Heroes. It kept pixelating and the dialog was impossible to understand. It would switch to SD for a minute, then go back to HD and within another minute, would start breaking up again. Switch to SD...

This cycle went on for awhile. Just tried to watch Chuck now, which I had recorded, and it was horrible. I gave up after about five minutes and not being able to understand half the dialog.

A rebroadcast of Chuck would be appropriate.

An open note to KENS and this forum's Mr. Paonessa.....

Out of nostalgia for the Rankin Bass stop-motion animation style of the 60s, I was happy to see that Rudolph was being promoted as remastered in HD (Great since film lends itself well to HD remaster), so here I am watching in the beginning of the show around the time of Santa and Mrs. Claus' introduction KENS switches to the SD feed on the HD channel. This despite it's saying "PRESENTED IN HD WHERE AVAILABLE." I even have the recording to prove it. I'm presuming the Master Control Switcher just presumed it was SD since it was 4x3.

How utterly ridiculous is this to assume since it's not 16x9 that the network and all its promotional staff was wrong and simply switch to the SD feed, thus negating any advantage to watching HD feed and proving the promotional spots run locally and nationally as liars.

This presumption just chaps me. This is the same sort of logic that causes a lot of makegoods for missed spots.

SHould you desire an off air copy please advise to show the person who was switching tonight!
Thanks
Chris WallaceYeah! What the heck happend. It looked great until someone flicked the switch. VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!

Well, if anyone wants info on U-Verse HD quality feel free to ask...someone who can get the service! Yep, after I had AT&T switch the phone yesterday, they came today to install U-Verse only to find about 3 hours in that I am too far from my box. The limit is 2800 feet and I am about 3900 feet away. Wish they could send a guy to check that out first before going through everything else!

Good news is I can still play TWC against U-Verse and get my rate lowered.:)

I'll bite.

How is the quality of U-Verse HD vs say E* or D*. They just came by my dad's house yesterday going door to door in the neighborhood trying to woo him away from his "unsightly" Dish and OTA antenna. They were claiming some intro offer of $40....

Went to their website and the cheapest package listed is the 100 channel for $59 a month. HD is extra on top of that. DVR is extra on top of that. Were they trying to pull a fast one on him? He is 76 and not quite as sharp as he used to be as they say.

So what's the scoop?

An open note to KENS and this forum's Mr. Paonessa...

...so here I am watching in the beginning of (Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer) around the time of Santa and Mrs. Claus' introduction (and) KENS switches to the SD feed on the HD channel. This despite it's saying "PRESENTED IN HD WHERE AVAILABLE." I even have the recording to prove it. I'm presuming the Master Control Switcher just presumed it was SD since it was 4x3.

This presumption just chaps me. This is the same sort of logic that causes a lot of makegoods for missed spots.

Thanks
Chris Wallace

I am embarrassed to say that you are exactly correct. The Master Control Operator switched away from the CBS HD feed because he thought the CBS eye was "in the wrong place." This, when every KENS-DT operating log clearly states for every operator that the network upconverts all prime time programming whether it is produced in HD or not.

Further, the log also clearly states that the Rudolph show was scheduled for air in HD, not SD.

I am not going to apologize for this operator. Instead I will present him with your correspondence and the others I have received, and I will direct him to write an apology for his error; when he has done so I will post his comments here.

I will apologize for the inability of KENS to deliver on an advertised enhancement to a perennial favorite. We are better than this and it should never be necessary for a major station to make excuses because we could not get something properly done.

I'll bite.

How is the quality of U-Verse HD vs say E* or D*. They just came by my dad's house yesterday going door to door in the neighborhood trying to woo him away from his "unsightly" Dish and OTA antenna. They were claiming some intro offer of $40....

Went to their website and the cheapest package listed is the 100 channel for $59 a month. HD is extra on top of that. DVR is extra on top of that. Were they trying to pull a fast one on him? He is 76 and not quite as sharp as he used to be as they say.

So what's the scoop?
Not sure about the quality as I couldn't get the service...

The deal - and I think the door to door guys were giving some better intro offers than what I was going to get - was $74 for internet and tv, with 3 boxes (one of them dvr) included. HD service was 10 dollars more, but if you bundled the internet and tv together there was a 10 dollar discount. The amount of channels and variety was comparable if not better than the extended basic from TWC and variety pack I think. It is a lot cheaper than what I was paying TWC for the same services.

btw, kind of new here. What does E* and D* mean?

btw, kind of new here. What does E* and D* mean?E* = Echostar/Dish Network
D* = DirecTV

:)

E* = Echostar/Dish Network
D* = DirecTV

:)

Thanks. Thought I knew what D* meant, then the E* threw me off. Don't think I have ever heard of Echostar.

I am embarrassed to say that you are exactly correct. The Master Control Operator switched away from the CBS HD feed because he thought the CBS eye was "in the wrong place." This, when every KENS-DT operating log clearly states for every operator that the network upconverts all prime time programming whether it is produced in HD or not.

Further, the log also clearly states that the Rudolph show was scheduled for air in HD, not SD.

I am not going to apologize for this operator. Instead I will present him with your correspondence and the others I have received, and I will direct him to write an apology for his error; when he has done so I will post his comments here.

I will apologize for the inability of KENS to deliver on an advertised enhancement to a perennial favorite. We are better than this and it should never be necessary for a major station to make excuses because we could not get something properly done.Thanks for the response Jerry. Any chance of getting it shown again in HD?

...Any chance of getting it (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) shown again in HD?

Chris, I wish there was a way but there is not.

Can anyone here reccommend a reputable local firm for rewiring my home for a satellite installation?

It is my inderstanding that D* will do as little as possible to hook you up. Meaning stringing cable outside of the house and drilling through the exterior walls for each room where service is needed.

I am switching from TWC. Right now I have a single cable hooked up to each DVR, but I'm told I'll need 2 feeds for each DVR when switching to D*. Also I supposedly need to upgrade to RG6 cableing.

I want the job done neatly and professionally with no ugly wiring strung all over the outside of the house. Want all cable dropped from the attic through the walls.

Any help will be appreciated. I was scheduled for my install next Tuesday, but will put it off until I can get the job done right.

Thanks in advance.

Can anyone here reccommend a reputable local firm for rewiring my home for a satellite installation?

I want the job done neatly and professionally with no ugly wiring strung all over the outside of the house. Want all cable dropped from the attic through the walls.
Electricians can run cables through walls, as long as you know which cables you want where. Rather than pay a premium for a HT installer, I would suggest hiring an electrician to run the RG-59 cables to wall jacks and letting the D* installer wire everything up.

For anyone that wasn't able to watch Chuck this past Monday due to the problems on WOAI, I got an e-mail from Ken and he confirmed they will re-broadcast the episode this Saturday at 7:00 pm.

For anyone that wasn't able to watch Chuck this past Monday due to the problems on WOAI, I got an e-mail from Ken and he confirmed they will re-broadcast the episode this Saturday at 7:00 pm.
This is almost good news. I only casually watch Chuck and last Monday ran across the unwatchable transmission. But I religiously record Heroes for later viewing. I think it was the season finale and have been too scared to see if it too was mangled. Did that say anything about Heroes?????

For anyone that wasn't able to watch Chuck this past Monday due to the problems on WOAI, I got an e-mail from Ken and he confirmed they will re-broadcast the episode this Saturday at 7:00 pm.

"We?" may watch Chuck but can't watch Rudolph! WHY? (No annswer required) Sure its a matter of $ & sense!

I just got my HDHomerun QAM/OTA Tuner and I decided to do a quick bit rate comparison between OTA and TWC of our four major HD Networks. Remember this is just one snapshot taken at about 9:30 this evening. I Think the results are a bit surprising. It seems that TWC and OTA have pretty much the same bit rate.

This is almost good news. I only casually watch Chuck and last Monday ran across the unwatchable transmission. But I religiously record Heroes for later viewing. I think it was the season finale and have been too scared to see if it too was mangled. Did that say anything about Heroes?????

My Heroes was sorta mangled, and I missed some snatches of dialog, but Chuck was much worse. I love the show, and I'm super glad they are rebroadcasting it.

Zagor posted this list a few months ago. I believe all the channels indicated are working in the clear on TWC, including KABB.


103-104 (WOAI-DT)
103-112 (KSAT-DT)
111-111(KABB-DT)
111-107(KMYS-DT)
112-108 (KLRN-DT)
112-155 (KENS-DT)
119-80 (WOAI Weather Plus)

Here's what I have (networks) picked up on TWC

110.1 NBC
110.2 ABC
111.1 PBS
111.2 CREATE (PBS)
111.3 FOX
112.1 MY35
112.2 PBS
112.3 CBS

110.1 and 112.1 may be vice versa; I can't tell because cartoons are on right now. There are a few more channels but I block 'em. Additionally the tuner in my Sharp picks up some music channels and some more stuff, but I block 'em as well.

I'll bite.

How is the quality of U-Verse HD vs say E* or D*...

So what's the scoop?

A friend of mine had it, switched immediately back to TWC; lots of artifacts on HD in his experience. The internet speeds seem lower than cable (maybe 5Mbps). IMO, I'd pass-go until something better comes along. I'm on $47 a month total for standard cable service (+ local HD via QAM) and HSI. When my $30 a mo Internet promo expires, I'll hop over to Earthlink unless TWC will keep me with the current deal. Complimentary Usenet is a definite bonus to TWC.

I just got my HDHomerun QAM/OTA Tuner and I decided to do a quick bit rate comparison between OTA and TWC of our four major HD Networks. Remember this is just one snapshot taken at about 9:30 this evening. I Think the results are a bit surprising. It seems that TWC and OTA have pretty much the same bit rate.

This is rather surprising. Do they transcode maybe? Cable has always seem inferior to OTA to me.

Here's what I have (networks) picked up on TWC

110.1 NBC
110.2 ABC
111.1 PBS
111.2 CREATE (PBS)
111.3 FOX
112.1 MY35
112.2 PBS
112.3 CBS

It looks like TV tuners of different manufacture use different designations for the clear-QAM channels received. For example, 112-155 is what shows up on all of the DTV receivers we have looking at TW cable (one Mitsubishi, a Sony and two Circuit City "Prima" cheapies.) 112.3 makes sense for KENS, however, because your tuner is pulling several stations out of slot 112 and the KENS-DT service number for our main channel is 3, even OTA.

It looks like your receiver is assigning its own service number to the stations it sees within the major channel.

I just received this from PBS. We will indeed record the HD feed and use it on 9.1. We will also have HD live pledge breaks tomorrow night and all prime time programming will be true HD by fall 2008.

Dear PBS Stations -


We are pleased to announce that The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer will enter the digital age as the broadcast goes “High Def” on Monday, December 17, 2007.

High definition offers many benefits to The NewsHour and to our viewers. The high def widescreen format enables us to deliver a broadcast with superb video resolution and higher-quality audio, and will result in a richer experience for those increasing number of viewers who watch the program on a HD television set. The transition also furthers the goal of PBS to deliver the majority of its national programming schedule in a high definition, widescreen, digital format. The NewsHour’s transition contributes an additional 260 hours of national programming to reaching that objective. Additionally, The NewsHour and PBS will produce approximately 24 hours of live, high definition primetime coverage of the 2008 Democratic and Republican &nb sp;National Conventions this summer.

To enable the transition, WETA, the co-producer of The NewsHour, has built a new state-of-the-art digital control room, constructed new NewsHour sets and installed new cameras and related digital editing equipment. WETA secured a generous grant to help fund the new studios and equipment from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), under the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program.

Although this is an exciting development, this transition is not without its challenges. We at The NewsHour want to make the transition a smooth one.

The percentage of households with HD television sets is still relatively small, ranging from a low estimate of 14% (Nielsen, Nov. 2007) to a high of 36% by the end of 2007 (Consumer Electronics Assn.). Numbers are expected to grow briskly over the next year, fueled by the Summer Olympics and the increasing availability of HD programming. However a large number of our viewers will continue to receive the program via standard definition analog signal.

Standard Definition Signal

To avoid disruption, PBS will continue to feed The NewsHour in standard definition (SD) on the same channels and at the same times it is currently fed. However, starting on Dec. 17, 2007, the standard definition NewsHour feeds will be “down-converted” from HD to SD at PBS master control and will appear to viewers in a “letterbox” format. Viewers watching The NewsHour on analog channels may find the switch to letterbox format jarring. We encourage you to alert viewers to this change.

High Definition Signal

PBS will offer three HD feeds of the NewsHour to PBS stations via the DT3A HD feed channel at 1800, 1900 and 2000 (ET) each weeknight. As specified by PBS. The NewsHour HD feeds will be in a “1080i” HD, full screen, 16:9 video format, with stereo audio and accompanied by new 16:9-oriented graphics.

Most original field video produced by The NewsHour will be shot in HD, and we expect to be at the 100% level by spring. Video from some outside sources, archived material, etc. will likely be in SD for quite some time. In those instances, the 4:3 SD video will be “pillar boxed” (colored bands on the left and right sides of the screen) in order to fit the 16:9 HD format.

The percentage of HD to SD video on the program will gradually increase, but in the near term the broadcast will contain a combination of full screen HD and less-than-full-screen SD images. This “combination” of material is consistent with live HD broadcasts currently being produced by such networks as ABC, CBS, NBC and ESPN with little viewer complaint. Although your viewers may well be familiar with the mixed format by now, we encourage you to alert your staff about these changes to anticipate any viewer and member concerns.


We hope that stations who can, will air the program on both their digital and analog channels.

NewsHour Broadcast to feature behind the scenes preview of HD transition

To both promote our transition and also to help viewers better understand the transition, The NewsHour will broadcast a segment offering a behind the scenes look at our transition to HD reported by NewsHour Senior Correspondent and Media producer Jeffrey Brown on Friday, December 14, 2007.

The video will be on our Online news exchange site, and you’re welcome to transfer it to your website. Answers to questions about our HD broadcasts are there and available, as well. Just go to www.pbs.org/newshour/.onix

Cognizant of the challenges, we’re enthusiastic about the NewsHour’s transition into the digital age, so that beginning next Monday, our viewers can watch the program in the most vivid format possible.

With best regards,

Les Crystal
President
MacNeil/Lehrer Productions

...We will indeed record the HD feed and use it on 9.1. We will also have HD live pledge breaks tomorrow night and all prime time programming will be true HD by fall 2008...


Congratulations, Pete! PBS leads the way again!

Tonight the same type of cut out happened around 9:20 during Journeyman. I've sent them a message via their "reception problems" link on their website (and given them the link to this forum). We'll see if I hear anything back.

Most original field video produced by The NewsHour will be shot in HD, and we expect to be at the 100% level by spring.

Super news. I'll call in my pledge tonight!!

In an earlier post, you mentioned that your digital transmission power was limited to a low level by the FCC. Do you expect an increase sometime in the future?

Tuesday evening December 4, KENS-DT began the broadcast of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" in HD, only to cut away to the SD version after a few minutes. The cutting back to SD was an operator error. As promised, here is the apology from that opreator:

"Dear KENS-DT viewers;

Please accept my sincere apology for my actions during the December 4th CBS HD broadcast of “Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer.” Although the show was digitally remastered for High Definition it aired that night in Standard Definition. I take full responsibility for the disappointment I caused to our loyal viewers. I have always held our viewing public’s enjoyment in high regard; I have been proud to offer them the best of our ever-changing technology. Needless to say I failed to deliver on my high standards as a broadcast professional. Please be assured that I will be diligent in my effort to avoid any future errors.

Respectfully,
R. M."

I have reiterated our policy on CBS HD broadcasts to all operators at KENS. It is our sincere hope that no one will switch away from any HD program unless we cover breaking news or we experience technical difficulties.

Super news. I'll call in my pledge tonight!!

In an earlier post, you mentioned that your digital transmission power was limited to a low level by the FCC. Do you expect an increase sometime in the future?

Yes. We will ask for more power after Feb. 2009. The FCC a very busy at the moment and our lawyer said that they wont approve any changes until things settle down in 2009.

Yes. We will ask for more power after Feb. 2009. The FCC a very busy at the moment and our lawyer said that they wont approve any changes until things settle down in 2009.

Here is a question for Pete at KLRN...

Any news on when PBS and/or KLRN will be available in HD on Direct TV? Your signal is the only one I can't pick up over the air... amazingly enough.

As promised, here is a listing of the Prime Time lineup on KENS-DT this evening.

7:00 Survivor: China
8:00 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
9:00 Spurs Pre-Game Show
9:30 Spurs Basketball: Spurs/Lakers, from Los Angeles
12:00 The Late Show With David Letterman (HD)
1:00 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (SD)
2:00 Without a Trace (HD)
3:00 EXTRA (SD)
3:30 Crosswords (SD)
4:00 CBS Up To The Minute (SD)

Times are approximate following the game and depend on how early the event finishes.

As promised, here is a listing of the Prime Time lineup on KENS-DT this evening.
7:00 Survivor: China
8:00 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
9:00 Spurs Pre-Game Show
9:30 Spurs Basketball: Spurs/Lakers, from Los Angeles
12:00 The Late Show With David Letterman (HD)
1:00 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (SD)
2:00 Without a Trace (HD)
3:00 EXTRA (SD)
3:30 Crosswords (SD)
4:00 CBS Up To The Minute (SD)
Times are approximate following the game and depend on how early the event finishes.
Thanks, this helps a lot. But the computers didn't get it right when it looked at the log. It saw Without A Trace starting at 2:02 in the morning on the 14th. Since the First Run date was 12/13 it took it as a rerun but of course its not. With a tweak all is well now.

Here is a question for Pete at KLRN...

Any news on when PBS and/or KLRN will be available in HD on Direct TV? Your signal is the only one I can't pick up over the air... amazingly enough.

No idea. I've talked to them and I have the means to get them the signal but, they won't give up the bandwidth. Echostar(Dish) did call me and will be getting ready to receive our main channel in digital format. They said that they will then down convert it to SD before using it. Not sure when this will happen.
I'll let you know if I hear about any changes.

I had a viewer call me this afternoon to ask if we were having problems with the audio on our HD Spurs games. In his experience the play-by-play announcers' voices are varying in level dramatically, almost like someone is throwing a switch on and off. He says it is driving him crazy when the volume goes up and down so much. He is watching our HD broadcast on Time-Warner.

Has this happened to any other Forum viewers when KENS-DT broadcasts the Spurs games in HD? I watched most of the game in HD last night on a fairly old Samsung SIR-T351 into a JVC Home Theater amp set for stereo and it sounded okay to me, but I'm just one viewer.

Please let me know in this thread if you or others you know are suffering any audio problems.

Watched the first half and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but I wasn't really looking - guess that would be listening - for anything.

Has this happened to any other Forum viewers when KENS-DT broadcasts the Spurs games in HD?

I watched most of it except the last minute:mad:. Didn't notice any problem with the sound. The picture looked great, by the way.

Watched all of it. Heard no problems. OTA

I had a viewer call me this afternoon to ask if we were having problems with the audio on our HD Spurs games. In his experience the play-by-play announcers' voices are varying in level dramatically, almost like someone is throwing a switch on and off. He says it is driving him crazy when the volume goes up and down so much. He is watching our HD broadcast on Time-Warner.
Sounds like the viewer might have a setting wrong on his audio equipment. Probably a surround mode option.

So I bit the bullet and signed up for the U-Verse free 30 day trial. They tech is coming next monday to install. The internet service doesn't have a trial period so worse case I'm out $35.

From the threads here, U-Verse HD quality sounds pretty bad, but what else is out there? I've got TWC currently, and from the previous page, sounds like OTA / TWC use the same bandwidth. D* was going to be my other choice but don't they compress it more? I'd be curious if they actually use AVC.

I wish we had FIOS down here.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my query about our HD audio during last week's Spurs game. I will have another chat with the viewer.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my query about our HD audio during last week's Spurs game. I will have another chat with the viewer.

I've had the sound fluctuations many times on past games. It's like there's a limiter that kicks in when there is a louder sound than normal then takes 2 seconds to come back up. I usually watch the games using headphones so it's really apparent with them. This is on TWC using their HDDVR box.

I missed last weeks game so I can't comment on that one however.

Will lock and hold for a second or two then drop out all together.

Even tho TV Guide, the internet database I use and the info from DirecTV said NCIS and The Unit were new episodes such was not the case for NCIS. I assume this was a network decision/feed and not a local one.

So I bit the bullet and signed up for the U-Verse free 30 day trial. They tech is coming next monday to install. The internet service doesn't have a trial period so worse case I'm out $35.

From the threads here, U-Verse HD quality sounds pretty bad, but what else is out there? I've got TWC currently, and from the previous page, sounds like OTA / TWC use the same bandwidth. D* was going to be my other choice but don't they compress it more? I'd be curious if they actually use AVC.

I wish we had FIOS down here.
I had heard good and bad before I signed up for an install. I think it has a lot more to do with infrastructure than TWC and D*. There is a maximum distance from the neighborhood box that you have to be, and I am sure that towards the end of that limit the service gets dicey. In my case I lived almost 50% farther down the line than the max, and on top of that my neighborhood is wired with 28 gauge, which is absurdly small in my eyes. The tech said service was better in newer subdivisions that laid higher quality infrastructure.

I am in shock. I was going to switch from E* to D* but decided to stay with E* and upgrade to HD. The installer just left after upgrading my equipment and I've been flipping through my new HD channels on my new HDTV.

There is no NBC in HD!! Is this for real? From scanning the threads, I can see this is old news for most of you, Is there any kind of fix?

AllenDB,

The network will change programming at will and without notifying anyone. In the case of your internet database, TV Guide and the DirecTV on-air guide, all of them draw their info from sources like Tribune Media Services, which operates Zap2it.com. If the network programmer makes a change and does not post it in time to TMS or Zap2it, the stale data is published.

That's what happened two Spurs games ago, when TMS and Zap2it didn't even have the game on their schedule. I manually updated the KENS PSIP, but that does not help anyone who was trying to plan recordings for delayed viewing.

All such network program changes are at the discretion of the network. The local affiliate is merely along for the ride. If I had to guess a reason for the reruns, however, it would be the writer's strike.

Get an OTA antenna and enjoy being able to record 3 things at once!

Is there any kind of fix?

Thanks very much!

I am in shock. I was going to switch from E* to D* but decided to stay with E* and upgrade to HD. The installer just left after upgrading my equipment and I've been flipping through my new HD channels on my new HDTV.

There is no NBC in HD!! Is this for real? From scanning the threads, I can see this is old news for most of you, Is there any kind of fix?


I bought a Terk indoor over the air antenna from Best buy

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7322587&st=terk+antenna&lp=5&type=product&cp=1&id=1118844608800

Connect it to your 722 receiver and do a scan or go to antennaweb.org and put in the frequency assignment number into and it will add the ota channels to your lineup.
The Terk antenna was a little expensive, but I am able to pull in all the OTA digital signals except for PBS. all come in at around 95% for me. I am even able to get MY 35. It is at 70%, but I am able to view it without problems. I live off of 1604 and Judson. I did have a Philips (walmart) ota, and was able to pull in Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS but the signals varied. Or I would pull in one network great, but the other network would not come in.

Well the installers left today. After a 4 hour ordeal they couldn't install it properly.

They wanted to piggy back on the TWC co-ax, and I refused, since I'd like to have TWC to do compares with Uverse. There is no Fiber to the prem. It's FTN. I'm a little bit of ways from the VRAD. The tech "eye-balled" it and thought it was within 2880 feet. The end result would be a wrap around the house with a nice fat white cable going around the house's exterior. As you can expect the WAF was absent. Even though I have CAT5 going into the attic, the tele is on the first floor of a two story. So they're saying they can't fish hook the wire all the way down to the first floor and the exterior wrap around was the only option they'd do. So there ended my adventure with Uverse.

Despite TWC not carrying NFL network, I'm still sticking with them for now, since I'm not convinced Directv's h/w will be any better, or give me any better quality wrt HD signals. From what I heard TWC's HD isn't HDLite but has similar bandwidth to OTA signals.

Now have to figure out how to archive the recorded programs off 8300HD SARA onto my PC. From the other threads it seems going the firewire route is a pain. Sounds like the best bet is to get an external eSATA HDD?

Now have to figure out how to archive the recorded programs off 8300HD SARA onto my PC. From the other threads it seems going the firewire route is a pain. Sounds like the best bet is to get an external eSATA HDD?
8300HD SARA, is that a hard drive? Onto my PC,,,, I would have thought you were going to say "plug the TW cable into an HD PC device". Then you could record to your hearts delight. I've got 1 TB online to 5 HD cards/devices on my 2 HTPCs. Got another 800GB in boxes but because of the writers strike I don't think I will need any of it this season. Right now while we're in rerun season I've started watching Boston Legal, Desperate Housewives and finishing up Heroes.

If you go the HTPC way there is a ton of help/ways to go.:) Or maybe your already are and I did not understand.:o

Can someone with Directv do me a BIG favor and post their signal strengths on all Transponders (TP) coming from the 103a and the 103b. Also, does anybody know what TP on the 103a are the Local HD channels transmitted. I thank you and appreciate your response.

Can someone with Directv do me a BIG favor and post their signal strengths on all Transponders (TP) coming from the 103a and the 103b. Also, does anybody know what TP on the 103a are the Local HD channels transmitted. I thank you and appreciate your response.
103(a) 5-84, 15-54, 16-40, 17-76, 18-100, 19-46, 23-59

103(b) 1 through 14 between 79 and 88. 17-75, 22-90

All others 0 or N/A

Thanks so much

Occasionally the Forum gets questions about the Clear-QAM HD cable channels in the area. KENS Director of Technology Rich Barton has compiled a table that shows the relationship between Over-The-Air, Time-Warner cable box and Clear-QAM channels for the San Antonio local HDTV stations. He assigned separate descriptors, Clear-QAM 1 (Q1) and Clear-QAM 2 (Q2) for the two known variations on Digital-Cable-Ready channel plan implementations in consumer Digital television sets.
This listing is in Time Warner Cable (TWC) box (DBox) number order. The blue lines are not on the cable system, but are included for those that receive the channels Over The Air (OTA). The green lines are those that are OTA and on TWC. For brevity, only the local HD channels are included here. If any Forum member would like the entire list of channels, please PM me and I will email you the Excel original. The numbers in parenthesis in the Ch column is the OTA channel allocation after 17 Feb 2009.
Our channel (KENS-DT) on Time-Warner Cable will change in Mid January from 155 to 105, but I am not sure what its Clear-QAM designation will be. When the change happens we will rescan and update this list.

Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=5-2 Ch=55 (39) KENS-DT Vipir-5 3d
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.1 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D1
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.2 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D2
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.3 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D3
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.4 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D4
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.5 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D5
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=38.1 Ch=39 (38) KVDA
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=41.1 Ch=38 (41) KWEX Univision
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=41.2 Ch=38 (41) KWEX Telefutura

Q1=119-80 Q2=119-1 DBox=80 OTA=4.2 Ch=58 (48) WOAI WeatherPlus
Q1=110-81 Q2=110-3 DBox=81 OTA=12.2 Ch=48 (12) KSAT LATV
Q1=111-91 Q2=111-1 DBox=91 OTA=9.1 Ch=8 (9) KLRN D1
Q1=110-93 Q2=110-4 DBox=93 OTA=9.3 Ch=8 (9) KLRN D3 Vme
Q1=111-94 Q2=111-2 DBox=94 OTA=9.4 Ch=8 (9) KLRN D4 Create
Q1=110-104 Q2=110-1 DBox=104 OTA=4.1 Ch=58 (48) WOAI
Q1=112-107 Q2=112-1 DBox=107 OTA=35.1 Ch=(35) KMYS MY 35
Q1=112-108 Q2=112-2 DBox=108 OTA=9.2 Ch=8 (9) KLRN DT D2
Q1=111-111 Q2=111-3 DBox=111 OTA=29.1 Ch=30 (29) KABB DT FOX 29
Q1=110-112 Q2=110-2 DBox=112 OTA=12.1 Ch=48 (12) KSAT-DT
Q1=112-155 Q2=112-3 DBox=155 OTA=5.1 Ch=55 (39) KENS-DT

Q1=16-10 Q2=16-2 DBox=239 OTA=no Ch=n/a NICK TOO (Pacific)
Q1=16-6 Q2=16-1 DBox=408 OTA=no Ch=n/a R&B Hits (audio only)
Q1=0 Q2=103-1 DBox=988 OTA=no Ch=n/a SA on Demand (loop video only)

Every set may not receive all Q1 or Q2 channels in orange; for instance my Magnavox does not see Q1=0 but Rich's Sanyo does.

As always, we welcome additional contributions from Forum members. Anyone got listings for Grande or GVTC?

I just moved to San Antonio. I live over by 281 and Bitters in an apartment (my balcony faces the northwest). I've tried 3 different indoor/outdoor UHF/VHF/HDTV amplified antennas. I've tried them inside, outside on the balcony, facing the west, facing the east, etc.... I receive all the stations I should in great clarity EXCEPT for the digital PBS channels. For those 4 stations, 9.1-9.4, I get absolutely nothing. This really sucks, because those are the stations that I wanted more than any other.

PBS told me that, even with their low power, everyone within San Antonio city limits should receive the signal without a problem. This doesn't seem so - for me anyways.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I should try? Is it going to be a lost cause in which I shouldn't waste my time with?

I just moved to San Antonio...(my balcony faces the northwest). I've tried 3 different indoor/outdoor UHF/VHF/HDTV amplified antennas...inside, outside on the balcony, facing the west, facing the east, etc.... I receive all the stations I should in great clarity EXCEPT for the digital PBS channels.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I should try? Is it going to be a lost cause in which I shouldn't waste my time with?

Guyd, you probably do not know that from your location, most of the San Antonio TV stations, including KLRN, are south and slightly east of your location. You will get the best results with an antenna pointed in that direction. Unfortunately that may not be possible from your apartment; it may be possible to make an arrangement with a neighbor whose apartment faces south or southeast. You might also want to speak to the apartment management. Some complexes have a house master antenna system that may be wired right to your wall plate; most may have only cable, though, so you need to ask.

Time-Warner Basic Cable service should include all local HD channels at no extra charge; you can get minimal cable service for less than $15/month if you can't resolve an antenna placement that works.

Spurs on KENS Thursday night?? Actually I don't think it matters to me because Schedules Direct has CBS marked as reruns.

Spurs on KENS Thursday night?? Actually I don't think it matters to me because Schedules Direct has CBS marked as reruns.

Allen, Spurs play Nuggets on FSN Thursday. Next game on KENS-DT is Spurs/Rockets Jan. 19.

Allen, Spurs play Nuggets on FSN Thursday. Next game on KENS-DT is Spurs/Rockets Jan. 19.
Thank you, I'll put it in my calender. Maybe the writers strike will be over by then and we'll see some first run stuff.

Maybe the writers strike will be over by then and we'll see some first run stuff.
I've read a lot of informed speculation from insiders about the writer's strike and I'll be surprised if it is over by the end of the NBA regular season. Even if it is over this month, it will take weeks for new episodes of scripted shows to make their way down the pipeline to us. :(

Back to the topic of HD. Over the holidays, I helped set up my parents' new HD flat-panel TV. Although they were a bit confused by their cable company's channel-mapping scheme, they were amazed at being able to receive so many must-carry HD signals with their analog cable subscription using the QAM tuner in their TV. The cable companies are definitely not making must-carry well known.

Back to the topic of HD...The cable companies are definitely not making must-carry well known.

That's exactly why we need to keep educating everyone we can, here in this Forum, in newspaper and magazine articles and, when we can get reporters interested enough, TV news stories.

Good job getting the TV set up for your folks. I hope they got a good one.

8300HD SARA, is that a hard drive? Onto my PC,,,, I would have thought you were going to say "plug the TW cable into an HD PC device". Then you could record to your hearts delight. I've got 1 TB online to 5 HD cards/devices on my 2 HTPCs. Got another 800GB in boxes but because of the writers strike I don't think I will need any of it this season. Right now while we're in rerun season I've started watching Boston Legal, Desperate Housewives and finishing up Heroes.

If you go the HTPC way there is a ton of help/ways to go.:) Or maybe your already are and I did not understand.:o

8300 HD = TWC cable box.

On a side note, did anyone else notice the New years celebration feed on FOX was not on HD?

San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the US. Ok, I admit, some smaller cities are surrounded by metro areas that are collectively much larger than ours, so our national market ranking is, what, 45th or so? Given all that, per tvpredictions.com, there are now +/- 55 local stations with their local news in HD.

Is the San Antonio problem that, since no one has stepped out, there is no competition to match? Or is it that there are fewer HD sets in our market because of lower per capita income, therefore a smaller market who would benefit? Maybe that is reflected in our market ranking, I don't know.

It would be nice if someone would kick it off. The clunky, cumbersome switching between network HD and local SD is a continuing reminder that we are way behind the times.

Just my $.02 worth....

San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the US.

Ok, I admit, some smaller cities are surrounded by metro areas that are collectively much larger than ours, so our national market ranking is, what, 45th or so?

San Antonio/Del Rio is ranked 37th (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market ) in TV market size, according to Nielsen.

Given all that, per tvpredictions.com, there are now +/- 55 local stations with their local news in HD.

Is the San Antonio problem that, since no one has stepped out, there is no competition to match? Or is it that there are fewer HD sets in our market because of lower per capita income, therefore a smaller market who would benefit? Maybe that is reflected in our market ranking, I don't know.

It would be nice if someone would kick it off. The clunky, cumbersome switching between network HD and local SD is a continuing reminder that we are way behind the times.

I just visited Market #32 over the holidays and noted that only one station there is presenting its news in HD. I believe it's significant to note that station in the other market has local ownership, rather than the large corporate owners based in other cities that own stations here. When your station's owners live in your city, bragging rights of being first with HD mean a lot more than they do to an ownership group based far away.

Much like in any other business, a station's decision of when to buy new equipment is based greatly on cost/benefit analysis. With costs of HD production equipment dropping every year and the number of HD viewers increasing every year, there is a lot of incentive to wait. Whoever waits the longest to "go HD" in the control room stands to get the biggest bang for their bucks.

Why should the local news Go HD when 90+% of the programs that precede or follow are in SD. I have it on ABC sometimes in the AM "listening" while I read the paper. There's a lot more in the paper than is on TV. I dislike the local news constant attempt to hold people hostage by feeding teasers. Love going out the door hearing MAJOR TRAFFIC JAM ON THE NE SIDE...STAY TUNNED FOR DETAILS IN THE NEXT HALF HOUR" OOPS I wandered from the subject>

It is coming. Speaking only for KENS, I can tell you we have been planning for local news in HD for a long time. I can also tell you that KENS wants to be first with local news in HD in San Antonio. But as BarsAntone pointed out,

"...I just visited Market #32 ...and ...only one station there is presenting its news in HD. I believe it's significant to note that station...has local ownership, rather than the large corporate owners based in other cities that own stations here..."

KENS' owners are the Belo Corporation, based in Dallas. Belo owns many TV stations, not just KENS, and must make corporate economic decisions about which of their stations will make the switch to HD and in what order. Recently Belo spent a lot of money rolling out HD news capability in Dallas and in Houston. Both of those are top ten stations. You may not know that much of the funding for expensive capital projects like the continuing HD buildout comes from our corporate parent. If we had to provide all the funding for HDTV operations from the beginning we might not be as far along as we are today.

You should also realize that at the local level, we have no control over when our corporate parent will release funding for each phase of the upgrade. We need to wait our turn, planning, constantly planning for the day we have all equipment installed and ready to go for HD news.

One more thing, while I have the soapbox. Our government did not just set a date in the future and say,
"OK, broadcasters. By this date you must replace your analog transmitters and studio gear with new digital gear and transmitters capable of HDTV. On that date you can turn off your analog transmitter and retire it as you commence digital operations."

What happened instead is that our government ordered us to purchase millions of dollars' worth of new equipment, build new towers in some cases and add new antennas, and put a digital signal on the air while maintaining our analog transmitters for several more years. Take note also that not one of us has made a dime on our DTV operations. Every hour of DTV and HDTV operation is fully subsidized by our analog operation. Every commercial run on our DTV side has been free of charge to the advertiser, even when those spots have been delivered in HD.

Finally, consider the impact on utility bills at transmitter sites. I will not cite dollar amounts, but now we use five times more power every month to operate the DTV system. We don't get a discount for consuming more. We do deliver the best digital television service that we can and we do it for free, while continuing to provide the highest possible quality analog TV service with the technology available.

We are DMA number 37. Speaking for all of my DTV colleagues here, it may take us a little longer than we would like to get HD news on the air here, but we will do it as soon as we can.

And when we do, it will have been worth the wait.

Nuff said!

and well said!

Dear All,
Anyone know of the basis for the change in the last 3-4 months for KABB's signal(on Cable and off-antenna)? Signal used to come in fine... of late, on both of my computer DVRs, there's a sync change that is fatal to the recording each time (I run both simultaneously to do the air check). This only started around October or November. Irritating to say the least...

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks
Also in HD!
Chris W.

Dear All,
Anyone know of the basis for the change in the last 3-4 months for KABB's signal(on Cable and off-antenna)? Signal used to come in fine... of late, on both of my computer DVRs, there's a sync change that is fatal to the recording each time (I run both simultaneously to do the air check). This only started around October or November. Irritating to say the least...

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks
Also in HD!
Chris W.
Haven't noticed any difference OTA on the NFL games on 29-1.

The San Antonio Spurs will take on the Houston Rockets Saturday, January 19 on their home court in Houston. The game will be broadcast live and in High Definition on KENS-DT beginning at 7:00 PM. CBS prime time programming will be delayed as follows:

12:05 AM CBS Special Movie: Runaway Jury (HD)
Directed by Gary Fleder. With John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman. A juror on the inside, and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial ...


2:05 AM CBS 48 Hours Mysteries (SD)
Death Without Mercy
A man is killed in a tragic fire, shattering his perfect marriage. Could his wife, a woman dedicated to healing, be responsible? Susan Spencer reports.

Set your DVR's

The San Antonio Spurs will take on the Houston Rockets Saturday, January 19 on their home court in Houston. The game will be broadcast live and in High Definition on KENS-DT beginning at 7:00 PM. CBS prime time programming will be delayed as follows:

Thank you Jerry. But it looks like new episodes of non-reality prime time programming will quickly be coming to an end. 4 of the top studios dropped 65 contracts with the writers effectively bringing this season to an end. All they have left is whats in the can. Now they are wondering how to salvage the '09-'10 season. Groan.

Pixilation on TNT through Time Warner seems horrible to me tonight. Seems I'm having more and more pixilation problems with TWC on all HD channels lately. Is it just me, or does TWC PQ seem to be steadily degrading?
DerrikM

Pixilation on TNT through Time Warner seems horrible to me tonight. Seems I'm having more and more pixilation problems with TWC on all HD channels lately. Is it just me, or does TWC PQ seem to be steadily degrading?
DerrikM

Spurs game on TNT looked horrible last night on Dish Network HD. Laker game looked a lot better. TNT is hit or miss. Most of the time it looks bad.

Spurs game on TNT looked horrible last night on Dish Network HD. Laker game looked a lot better. TNT is hit or miss. Most of the time it looks bad.

Niembre, you and Derrikm both need to report your displeasure to Time-Warner and Dish Network. This Forum is a good place for sharing the info, but MSO providers will never improve unless we report every flaw to them.

There is a lot of education going on, and even TW techs are starting to realize that good quality is not all about signal strength alone. Noise in the hubs, bandwidth throttling or starvation and work on the system all contribute at times to less-than-perfect service for their customers. But they will never make an effort to improve your service unless they know about it.

If you call customer service (Dish or TW) when you see the problem, they are required to make a record of your call. Their headend technicians can then track down the hub and node you are on and hopefully sort out the problem for you. Dish techs can likewise check the quality of the feed and their downlink quality.

Nobody wants to provide inferior service; but they often need to be told where and when it is inferior.

TWC is carrying KENS on both 105 and 155 as of sometime last night. It's been 155 for years. Not sure what the purpose is. When I saw it on 105, I was hoping a new station had been added in the other slot. Maybe Sci-Fi HD or something great like that, but nope.

anybody get the regularly televised program on Kens tonight instead of the last 2.5 seconds of the spurs game?

it went to a commercial during a timeout then i realized i was watching something else and bam it was back to the spurs and the game was over

anybody get the regularly televised program on Kens tonight instead of the last 2.5 seconds of the spurs game?

it went to a commercial during a timeout then i realized i was watching something else and bam it was back to the spurs and the game was over

Please accept my apologies for an unfortunate and embarrassing human error. An operator programmed the switch back from that break to CBS instead of to the Spurs game and it took a minute following that break for the crew to realize the HD switch did not happen as it should have.

TWC is carrying KENS on both 105 and 155 as of sometime last night. It's been 155 for years. Not sure what the purpose is. When I saw it on 105, I was hoping a new station had been added in the other slot. Maybe Sci-Fi HD or something great like that, but nope.
Albert, you're the first to notice. As it happens, since KENS is not going to operate on channel 55 after the DTV transition completes next year, we asked Time-Warner if we could move to channel 105 on their system. This will place KENS in a more competitive location, grouped with the other San Antonio HD stations on Time-Warner Cable. The channel 105 position also is consistent with the KENS 5 brand.

After February, 2009 we will retain the KENS-5 brand; OTA receivers will continue to show that they are mapped to KENS-DT 5-1 or 5-2 over the air. A cable channel of 105 makes good sense. As soon as we identify where 105 appears in the Time-Warner Clear-QAM lineup, we'll let you know.

Coincidentally, Animal Planet will locate their broadcast to channel 155, so what we have is a win-win situation for KENS and Animal Planet.

Please accept my apologies for an unfortunate and embarrassing human error. An operator programmed the switch back from that break to CBS instead of to the Spurs game and it took a minute following that break for the crew to realize the HD switch did not happen as it should have.

No problem bro, i completely understand mistakes happen :)

That's OK. CBS replayed it anyway.:(

I got a 58" Plasma HD about a week ago and enjoyed watching the Spurs on KENS HD Saturday night. It was a great picture. I have Time Warner cable plugged directly into the TV while in another room I have a TW digital cable box going to a receiver/projector system. Would there be any benefit in putting the TW box on the HD TV? Would I get any additional HD channels (such as TNT-HD)? Or do I need to pay TW more money for HD channels and an HD cable box?

Thanks.

I got a 58" Plasma HD about a week ago and enjoyed watching the Spurs on KENS HD Saturday night...Would there be any benefit in putting the TW box on the HD TV? Would I get any additional HD channels (such as TNT-HD)? Or do I need to pay TW more money for HD channels and an HD cable box?

Thanks.
Our experience here at KENS has been that to get the additional HD channels we need the HD box and so will you. Our HDTV receivers connected directly to the cable system receive only those local HD channels transmitted "in the clear," called Clear-QAM. You will see more HD channels once you get the HD box. Argue for the best deal you can before you sign up!

To help you find the rest of your Clear-QAM channels, here's a list we posted a little while back:

KENS Director of Technology Rich Barton has compiled a table that shows the relationship between Over-The-Air, Time-Warner cable box and Clear-QAM channels for the San Antonio local HDTV stations. He assigned separate descriptors, Clear-QAM 1 (Q1) and Clear-QAM 2 (Q2) for the two known variations on Digital-Cable-Ready channel plan implementations in consumer Digital television sets.

This listing is in Time Warner Cable (TWC) box (DBox) number order. The blue lines are not on the cable system, but are included for those that receive the channels Over The Air (OTA). The green lines are those that are OTA and on TWC. For brevity, only the local HD channels are included here. Orange channels are the few cable-only Clear-QAM.

If any Forum member would like the entire list of channels, please PM me and I will email you the Excel original. The numbers in parenthesis in the Ch column is the OTA channel allocation after 17 Feb 2009.

Our channel (KENS-DT) on Time-Warner Cable will change in Mid January from 155 to 105, but I am not sure what its Clear-QAM designation will be. When the change happens we will rescan and update this list.

Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=5-2 Ch=55 (39) KENS-DT Vipir-5 3d
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.1 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D1
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.2 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D2
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.3 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D3
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.4 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D4
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=23.5 Ch=16 (23) KHCE D5
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=38.1 Ch=39 (38) KVDA
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=41.1 Ch=38 (41) KWEX Univision
Q1=none Q2=none DBox=none OTA=41.2 Ch=38 (41) KWEX Telefutura

Q1=119-80 Q2=119-1 DBox=80 OTA=4.2 Ch=58 (48) WOAI WeatherPlus
Q1=110-81 Q2=110-3 DBox=81 OTA=12.2 Ch=48 (12) KSAT LATV
Q1=111-91 Q2=111-1 DBox=91 OTA=9.1 Ch=8 (9) KLRN D1
Q1=110-93 Q2=110-4 DBox=93 OTA=9.3 Ch=8 (9) KLRN D3 Vme
Q1=111-94 Q2=111-2 DBox=94 OTA=9.4 Ch=8 (9) KLRN D4 Create
Q1=110-104 Q2=110-1 DBox=104 OTA=4.1 Ch=58 (48) WOAI
Q1=112-107 Q2=112-1 DBox=107 OTA=35.1 Ch=(35) KMYS MY 35
Q1=112-108 Q2=112-2 DBox=108 OTA=9.2 Ch=8 (9) KLRN DT D2
Q1=111-111 Q2=111-3 DBox=111 OTA=29.1 Ch=30 (29) KABB DT FOX 29
Q1=110-112 Q2=110-2 DBox=112 OTA=12.1 Ch=48 (12) KSAT-DT
Q1=112-155 Q2=112-3 DBox=155 OTA=5.1 Ch=55 (39) KENS-DT

Q1=16-10 Q2=16-2 DBox=239 OTA=no Ch=n/a NICK TOO (Pacific)
Q1=16-6 Q2=16-1 DBox=408 OTA=no Ch=n/a R&B Hits (audio only)
Q1=0 Q2=103-1 DBox=988 OTA=no Ch=n/a SA on Demand (loop video only)

I am having and have been having Pixel issues with SEVERAL HD channels

Mainly
FoodNetworkHD (147)
MHD (134)
MOJO (160)

These seem to be spotty and happen at all different times of the day/night not always at the same time.

I have called and have had my box reset several times also had a tech come out and nothing changed. Said the "singal strenght" was good and did a little rewiring in the apartment.

I run my HD cable feed and Internet off 1 outlet with a spiltter from TW. Does or should this effect my HD signal?

Also I have changed out boxes and still same issue with those channels above and I am sure a few others but those are the WORST ones.

134 is awful with pixel issues on my Olevia 37" HDTV.

Is it me or does TW HD lineup stink!?
TW really needs to step up in 08' with getting more HD channels added and not just 1 or 2 every few months that is just crazy. Sure its nice to have a little than nothing but come on a Multi-billion dollar company with suboutlets can't compete with DISH and other Sat companies running 50-80 HD channels. If TW doesnt step up they might as well start losing customers as 08 grows on.

When will more 1080p programming come aboard?

I know 90% or more programs run only on 1080i.

The following channel ADDITIONS are planned:

* 02/01/08 - Faith On Demand, digital channel 965, on Family, Faith & Values tier
* 02/03/08 - Animal Planet HD, digital channel 155

The following channel CHANGES are planned:

* 01/22/08 - CBS-KENS HD, digital channel 155, will move to digital channel 105
* 01/27/08 - Discovery Times, digital channel 213, will be renamed to Investigation Discovery
* 01/30/08 - Answers On Demand, digital channel 960, will move to digital channel 988
* 01/31/08 - Alamo Bowl On Demand, digital channel 987, will be deleted
* 01/31/08 - Answers On Demand, digital channel 960, will move to San Antonio On Demand, digital channel 988
* 02/01/08 - VH Uno, digital channel 289, will be deleted from the Mas Canales tier

Stay tuned for more exciting channel additions from Time Warner Cable!


found this on time warner san antonio page as of 01/21/08

When will more 1080p programming come aboard?

I know 90% or more programs run only on 1080i.

I believe that no tv program is doing 1080p and it wont be for awhile if ever.

what 1080p program where you refering to I would like to know

Is it me or does TW HD lineup stink!?
TW really needs to step up in 08' with getting more HD channels added and not just 1 or 2 every few months that is just crazy. Sure its nice to have a little than nothing but come on a Multi-billion dollar company with suboutlets can't compete with DISH and other Sat companies running 50-80 HD channels. If TW doesnt step up they might as well start losing customers as 08 grows on.

Some of those 50-80 HD channels Sat companies say they have, are premium movie channels, which TW also has. TW also has several Pay for view HD channels.

Do you have any additional info on the cost of aquiring HD channels on Sat and if they are truly HD or stretchovision? I suspect that a lot of those HD channels play reruns of old tv shows which are not HD. I already see that on some of the HD channels TW has. If you have any additional info on Sat HD, please advise. Thanks.

Check this:

http://www.amrax.com/hd.htm

Jerry -- My guide indicates that the Saturday night episodes are now in HD. Is there some reason that KENS is not broadcasting them in HD? I know until recently the Saturday night shows were the older episodes that were in SD, but it looks like that has caught up.

Dan

My guide indicates that the Saturday night (Wheel) episodes are now in HD. Is there some reason that KENS is not broadcasting them in HD?
Dan,

There is an error in the guide. Wheel of Fortune Weekend shows are not being delivered in HD just yet. We expect that will come as soon as they have an archive with enough shows that clear CBS Productions' Legal Department to be rebroadcast.

No more 11:30 bedtime for me. I saw Conan O'brien in HD last night for the first time. My brain was trying to go to sleep, but my eyes would not close because Conan looked so nice (better than Jay & Dave because the camera shots don't stay so wide for the SD broadcast in 4x3) :D Thanks Greg, WOAI must have some new HD recording equipment:)

Did I read that right? WOAI is finally showing tape delayed Conan in HD?

Will Ellen go HD soon I wonder? I love watching CBS/Kens but it like many other stations have limited HD content.

Did I read that right? WOAI is finally showing tape delayed Conan in HD?


You read it right, 2 nights in a row, LOOKS SPECTACULAR :D

I'm sleepy today, 1:05 am to bed up at 7:00 am, but it was worth it :)

Will Ellen go HD soon I wonder?
Saturn,

I contacted Warner Brothers, who produce and distribute "Ellen" to syndication stations like KENS. Unfortunately the news from them is that there will be no "Ellen" episodes in HD this season.

Bring on the HD programming in 2009.
I really hope Time Warner starts to roll out more channels in HD for San Antonio area otherwise I might have to dump them in early '09. I will wait and see what they deliver during 2008 but once 20HD09 hits I WANT MORE HD programming.

Some channels I would like to see in TW HD Lineup

Sci-Fi
SpikeTV
TLC
Animal Planet (coming soon Feb 2008!)
USAHD
CWHD
MTV (not MHD)
FoxNews
CartoonNetwork

and a few others....

Saturn,

I contacted Warner Brothers, who produce and distribute "Ellen" to syndication stations like KENS. Unfortunately the news from them is that there will be no "Ellen" episodes in HD this season.


I hope 20HD09 brings us Ellen in HD!
I would love to see more daytime stuff in HD like Ellen or Judge Judy or Dr. Phil or something!

where's Animal Planet hd TW ch. 155?