Originally posted by LoveMovies
Sorry, I'm just joining this thread, but I read most of it.

I getting Directv with an HDTivo. I added a Terk44 (clip on) to my dish to get HD OTA. I'm located in Monte Vista (1m N of downtown) in a 2 story house.

I'm only getting a couple channels (I think pbs is the only stable one). Have I chosen a poor antenna? I went to Bjorns to buy a better one and the salesman said that transmitting towers are very low so far and that a new antenna would not help as much as a 20 ft mast. I'm in a historic neighborhood, so thats not happening.

Anybody live around here and get all of the channels? What antennas are successful in San Antonio? Is it directional.
thanks
michael

LoveMovies,

I live in northwest San Antonio near Guilbeau and Tezel. For OTA HD I use a Winegard GS-2000-A on a 10 foot pole in the attic of a 1 story. It is the antenna supplied with my DirecTV equipment. I get good reception on all OTA channels except PBS. Check out the web site: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Welcome.aspx to see where to point the antenna.

Good luck,
Jaque

MacBillybob: I'm impressed that you get all those channels. thanks for the encouragement.

Jaque: The link you provided really helps a lot.

Between both of your responses, I know that I will go buy a decent multidirectional uhf antenna.
thanks
michael

Those clip on antennas never work very well. I live in a two story house near Ingram Mall and I have an indoor Terk antenna sitting on the floor in our second story loft. I get everything except PBS but I can get that with a simple turn of the antenna.

A good indoor or outdoor antenna should do just fine. No need for a long mast.

This doesn't effect me, but I thought I'd pass it along. I've been chatting with the CE at WTNZ regarding what I believe to be co-channel interference in my area from WBKI analog 34 in Campbellsville, KY and here is his last response:

Thanks for the update Charles. I'll look into it once I get back from vacation. Here's some good news for some of our Comcast viewers....An agreement has finally been reached and we will be added to Comcast's digital line up soon. No "on" date has been established at this time, but It shouldn't be much longer.

Originally posted by Andrew_Ballew

I have no explanation as to why you aren't complaining as loudly about WVLT, other than you have some kind of affiliation with them.

Andrew Ballew

I have a 60" RPTV, I have never seen anything that looked really bad except the Olympics. As I said, I am satisfied with my OTA signal. Sometimes they will cut a program short, but the picture looks fine on my set. Have you used AVIA to configure your set?

ok,ok ... I bought a real vhf/uhf directional antenna ( took off the clip-on) and now I get all of the locals. (except pbs is weak, its in the opposite direction).

thanks
michael

I locate near the Kentucky stateline north of Oneida, Tn. I can only pick up Knoxville channel 26 WATE(ABC) ever now and then and rarely Knoxville channel 30WVLT(CBS) or 31NBC. And never Knoxville channel 34 Fox. I have an LG3510 recievier and a channel master 3020 vhf\uhf. I have had that since this summer and have had moderate success with it but its far from relaiable. I know now I that I would have been better off with a UHF only antenna. So I got a channel master 4248/3023 intead of a 4228 channel master antenna because I read that the 4228 isn't as good handling mutlipath as the 4248 is so I decide I would give it a try. I mounted my new 4248 over vhf/uhf 3020 antenna on the same mast(25ft) connected with a cheap combiner and a uhf/vhf channel master 7777 preamp. Using 75feet RG6 coax cable to the house from the antenna and there is a copper wire on the outside seleve of of the coax which is for grounding but I haven't use it. And the cable connect to the antennas which lead to the combiner are the same length and both are RG59 cable I had laying around. And that the combiner is connected to the preamp of course near the antennas. I know your not suppose to combined to antennas that aren't same but I try it anyway since I had nothing to lose and to my suprise the the combined 3020 and 4248 outpeformed the 3020vhf/uhf antenna only.
I have been able to lock on channel 30 almost everytime since I combined the antenna were as before I could lock on channel 30 maybe once a month. Even though 30 locks on almost always I still can barely get a picture. Channel 26 seems to come in about the same as it did before. But it was never reliable but often I could watch something at night with out the picture droping out to much. The last few weeks I could get channel 50 WB out of crossville really good with just the 3023 but after I put up the 4248 I have a real hard time getting it if at all. So now I am thinking about just trying the 4248 by itself(Long story why I didn't do that first) with preamp and see what results I get. I was wondering if would improve performance enough to justify taking my 25 mast down and redoing everything. Any Input or advice will be appercatied.
Cpcat I have been reading your post over a year now. I been learn a lot by reading them. I think your situation is closer to mine than anyone else on this forum I not to far from corbin. This is my first post. I hope I am doing this right

ABC out? I have not been able to get them tonight. All others are ok. Anyone else?

Originally posted by Harold Southard
ABC out? I have not been able to get them tonight. All others are ok. Anyone else?

No problems up here.

HDTN,
I'd suggest continuing to use the 3020 but for vhf only. All you have to do is get rid of the "cheap combiner" and use the internal diplexer on the 7777 i.e. use the vhf input for the 3020 and the uhf input for the 4248. Make sure the internal switch on the preamp is set to "separate" inputs. This will remove any uhf from the 3020 and make it vhf only and vice-versa for the 4248. Also make sure the FM trap is "in" while you're in there. You can then point the 3020 wherever you need for vhf (channel 7 WMAK in Knoxville or you might have a shot at channel 12 WYMT in Hazard). The 4248 should do a good job on the uhf for you. Aiming can be critical and make all the difference. Go to http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp and punch in your coordinates in decimal form for precise compass bearings to all the towers in range. You can put in any range you want. Magnetic variation is usually around -4 in our area.

Keep the coax between the 4248 and the preamp as short as possible and I'd recommend RG6. It won't matter as much for vhf as line losses are much less. 60 inches spacing between the two antennas is recommended (technically maybe even more for low vhf but 60 seems to work).

You may find you need a rotator if you want the best chance at the most channels. WB is west of the Knoxville towers from your location. You might also have a shot at WCYB 28 Bristol. Unless you use a guyed bearing above the rotator, you'll only be able to put the top antenna on the rotor as the lever arm gets too long it you try to put both up there, at least for the CM 9251 rotor.

Thanks Cpcat. Thats sounds like really good advice using the internal diplexer on the 7777 instead of the combiner. I am going to try take my antennas down today or tommorrow and hook them to the preamp instead of the combiner.
I can get a singal from channel 7 but have never been able to lock it on. I also have gotten some small amout of single from the Bristiol, Lexigton, and some other kentucky stations but haven't ever got them to lock or seen a picture. I can get channel 14 from Somerset super easy. I can actually get it with a small 3 inch of coppper wire attach to the end of a coax cable. But I never watch the channel.
I don't plan on getting a rotor at the moment maybe sometime in the future. The mast in only about 4 inches in the ground to my suprise. So I just go outstide and lift it up a little and turn it were I want.

Originally posted by cpcat
No problems up here.

Thats strange. 6-1 and 6-2 are out here. They had been messing with 6-2 and re-named it the wx24/7 or something like that. All my other stations are coming in strong. See BS, NBC, UPN, PBS HD, PBS SD, FOX, WB, PAX (4 feeds). Are you sure it's the Knoxville feed you are picking up? I may just have to re-scan to map it right so it will come in because of them screwing with the titles and stuff.

Originally posted by Harold Southard
Thats strange. 6-1 and 6-2 are out here. They had been messing with 6-2 and re-named it the wx24/7 or something like that. All my other stations are coming in strong. See BS, NBC, UPN, PBS HD, PBS SD, FOX, WB, PAX (4 feeds). Are you sure it's the Knoxville feed you are picking up? I may just have to re-scan to map it right so it will come in because of them screwing with the titles and stuff.

It just so happens that I went out and got a Walmart USDTV STB today to try and it has the same problem with WATE that you have, says "off the air" ( it adds the channel to the list when you scan, but you can't watch it). My LG 3510a doesn't do this and doesn't have the problem. Must be a PSIP thing, I guess.

Man that's strange. What is PSIP? Not realy got into the in's and out's of hd tunners myself. I rescanned and still am not getting it. :mad:

http://www.psip.org/

Basically, it's part of the signal which identifies itself, carries program info, station i.d., etc. If the station messes up on it's end and doesn't send it properly, it can cause the tuner to reject the signal. Some tuners seem to be more vulnerable than others.

You may need to contact WATE. Really bad timing with the bowls on tomorrow; hope it's fixed for you.

Do you have a circuit city or best buy close? Not sure if they're open tomorrow but you could pick up an LG 3510a and then return it if you aren't satisfied or whenever WATE gets its act together. (wink)

Originally posted by Harold Southard
had been messing with 6-2

6-2 is renamed on mine too. But both channels come in fine as of today.

Thanks for the link cpcat. Mine is also back up. I wonder what we can expect to come this year. If any will change freq, go HD instead of SD (like WB), etc. I hope 7 can send some more sig up my way, I don't get enough to lock on all the time. I would like to see UPN go HD, with out being in the same stream as 8-1, so they can put the bandwidth back to where it should be.

For one thing, all the big 4 network stations in our area have to be at full power by July, so that should help. This effects the top 100 DMA's in which Knoxville, Nashville, Bristol, Greenville-Asheville, Lexington are all included. The channel elections are going on as we speak (election of final digital channel). I've heard that WBIR will go back to 10 but I personally hope they stay on 31. It would seem to make sense to stay uhf since all the other Knoxville stations are (excepting WMAK of course).

Full power will be nice. I'm not sure about Blue Ridge (think its a PBS with multi streams), but if it is not full power and its power goes up I should pull it in. I can get it if I turn my ant, but I loose all the others. I could stop being cheap and buy another ant. :rolleyes: . We all may start to pick up other stations that we did not expect to as the power is raised. Lets keep our fingers crossed. There is a site that tells what power lever they are all at. I can't think of it right now, but if I find it I will post it. This will be a good year if none of them doing anything stupid. ;)

I have not been on here in a couple of weeks, so I apologize for no responses.

As far as WVLT, the Comcast picture is better than that OTA picture. Both are pixely on fast sequences. But the color and overall appearance are better via the Comcast feed.

Regarding WTNZ's problems during NFL games. They had that problem really bad about 6 weeks ago. Someone on here gave me the engineer's email address. I emailed him back and forth until they got it fixed. There was one re-occurance since then. But nothing like what it was.

I hope Comcast is getting smart and adding WTNZ-HD to their lineup soon. I know several people that can't get the signal via OTA or would need an tuner to get it. With the Super Bowl coming up and all the NASCAR races being in HD, the pressure will be on to have it added by the end of this month.

Anyone heard if Comcast is adding TNT HD soon?

Originally posted by MRM4
As far as WVLT, the Comcast picture is better than that OTA picture. Both are pixely on fast sequences. But the color and overall appearance are better via the Comcast feed.

I strongly dissagree, the difference is marginal at best, possibly only noticable by a machine. I see no "artifacts" when I am watching anything, perhaps it's your set or OTA box.

Can anyone tell me who in Knoxville is best at placing antennas for getting HD signal here in town? I am in a place where I evidently can't get any feed at all. D* has been trying to get the Winegard GS-1100 that they gave me to work and I have told them I will be willing to buy one to help get the channels.

I have had the rep for D* come out 5 times and this time the guy was different and he said I would need to ask for a supervisor next and see what he decides. If he says I can't get OTA then WTH am I supposed to do? That is quite a few channels I am missing out on.

I am in a neighborhood with covenants and I can't place a BIG antenna outside so my only hope would be an in attic antenna. Anyone have any recommendations?

Originally posted by Mwwilliams
I am in a neighborhood with covenants and I can't place a BIG antenna outside so my only hope would be an in attic antenna. Anyone have any recommendations?

Have you been to the FCC's website. You should check out your antenna rights before you presume that these covenants rule. You may be susprised?

Originally posted by Mwwilliams
Can anyone tell me who in Knoxville is best at placing antennas for getting HD signal here in town? I am in a place where I evidently can't get any feed at all. D* has been trying to get the Winegard GS-1100 that they gave me to work and I have told them I will be willing to buy one to help get the channels.

I have had the rep for D* come out 5 times and this time the guy was different and he said I would need to ask for a supervisor next and see what he decides. If he says I can't get OTA then WTH am I supposed to do? That is quite a few channels I am missing out on.

I am in a neighborhood with covenants and I can't place a BIG antenna outside so my only hope would be an in attic antenna. Anyone have any recommendations?

First off your HOA cannot stop you from having an outdoor OTA antenna it's illegal for them to do so.

Secondly you didn't leave a zip or where you are located. If you are in Knoxville proper you probably do not need a outside antenna. The installer may be diplexing the signal which can cause problems if not done properly. Have them try a seperate coax run for the OTA antenna. Most of the sat installers no absolutely nothing about over the air reception. May even be pointing the antenna incorrectly. Need more info to help.

Originally posted by Harold Southard
Full power will be nice. I'm not sure about Blue Ridge (think its a PBS with multi streams), but if it is not full power and its power goes up I should pull it in. I can get it if I turn my ant, but I loose all the others. I could stop being cheap and buy another ant. :rolleyes: . We all may start to pick up other stations that we did not expect to as the power is raised. Lets keep our fingers crossed. There is a site that tells what power lever they are all at. I can't think of it right now, but if I find it I will post it. This will be a good year if none of them doing anything stupid. ;)

WSBN does multicast two SD channels and are PBS but broadcast different programming as well. However their HD is as good or better then WKOP Knoxville. I believe they are at full power now for I get an excellent signal here in Morristown (mid 80's).

Channel 7 is at full power but must protect channel 7 out of Beatyville KY. so they are somewhat directional away from you.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot?temp=66337&rotate=0.00&p0=0.299&p10=0.308&p20=0.343&p30=0.411&p40=0.506&p50=0.614&p60=0.721&p70=0.816&p80=0.892&p90=0.946&p100=0.979&p110=0.996&p120=1.000&p130=0.998&p140=0.993&p150=0.988&p160=0.985&p170=0.984&p180=0.985&p190=0.988&p200=0.993&p210=0.998&p220=1.000&p230=0.996&p240=0.979&p250=0.946&p260=0.892&p270=0.816&p280=0.721&p290=0.614&p300=0.506&p310=0.411&p320=0.343&p330=0.308&p340=0.299&p350=0.298&p360=0.299&

As for WBIR their in no hurry for full power or the 24/7 coverage rule. I've read somewhere (don't remeber where) that adjacent channel digitals will have to move if they are within a 100 mile radius. This may be why channel 10 and 8 (DT30 DT31) , one of they may have to move. Why the FCC put them that close in the first place who knows? This may also be why even at full power channel DT 30 8.1 is so hard to get and may be suffering PQ problems as well. DT 30 10.1 at half power is only a mile closer to me but is much stronger and easier to receive. They have had some problems in Atlanta where towers and frequecies are to close to each other and in some cases completely wiping out the others digital signal. I guess they'll go back to the same old rules as the analog signals for adjacent channels in the same coverage area. This also means channel 8 cannot go back to 8 for channel 7 would be adjacent to it.

I am in 37918 zip code. Halls Crossroads. I have a tree lined ridge running right behind my house with Sharps Ridge beyond that in the same general direction. According to the web site they use, they are pointing in the right direction.

To tell you the truth, I don't want a huge antenna on my roof anyway. If it can go in my attic then that is well and good. Like I am going to piss all my new neighbors off by putting a big ass antenna up in a upscale neighborhood. How many of you did that? FCC rules or not it makes it look like a trailer park.

You could try the SquareShooter with a good pre amp. Thats what I am using. I am in New Tazewell. I am able to get WATE-DT 6-1 and 6-2 with signal strength of 94%, WVLT-DT 8-1 and 8-2 (UPN) with signal strength of 80%, WBIR-DT 10-1 and 10-2 with signal strength of 93%, WKOP-HD 15-1 and 15-2 (SD) with signal strength of 94%, WBXX-DT 20-1 with signal strength of 88%, WTNZ-DT 43-1 with signal strength of 91%, WPXK 54-1 54-2 54-3 54-4 with a signal strength of 72%. I have it on the back side of my house and you can't see it. I am going to ad a 4' ext pole on it soon.

Go here to see what the specs are and to look at it.
http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm

They make one now with a pre amp in it, but a friend that installs these and sat, said that they don't pick up as good as the one with out (put your own pre amp on) I used the winegard pre amp, not sure which one off hand. Just got the best one I could.

Originally posted by jimc705


As for WBIR their in no hurry for full power or the 24/7 coverage rule. I've read somewhere (don't remeber where) that adjacent channel digitals will have to move if they are within a 100 mile radius. This may be why channel 10 and 8 (DT30 DT31) , one of they may have to move. Why the FCC put them that close in the first place who knows? This may also be why even at full power channel DT 30 8.1 is so hard to get and may be suffering PQ problems as well. DT 30 10.1 at half power is only a mile closer to me but is much stronger and easier to receive. They have had some problems in Atlanta where towers and frequecies are to close to each other and in some cases completely wiping out the others digital signal. I guess they'll go back to the same old rules as the analog signals for adjacent channels in the same coverage area. This also means channel 8 cannot go back to 8 for channel 7 would be adjacent to it.

I'm not sure where you read this about adjacent channels. I don't think it's a problem unless the relative power levels are extremely descrepant b/w the two. Bristol has a similar situation with WKPT on 27 and WCYB on 28. Lexington, also, with WTVQ on 40 and WLEX on 39. WBIR may still choose to go back to 10 though (hope not).

WVLT being at their 230kw STA currently is my best guess. This may explain to some extent why WBIR at 420 kw is stronger for you (2x signal is 3db). It's also possible that WVLT gets some co-channel interference at times from UPN 30 analog in Nashville. I'm convinced that WTNZ gets interference from analog 34 WBKI in Campbellsville, KY, at least in my area and it's about once per week (or more) that it is completely wiped out. It's always during times when my signals from the northwest (Campbellsville, Louisville) are strong.

Does anyone receive KENS (CBS) OTA and run the sound through a dolby digital setup?

Yesterday, I watched the Steelers-Bills game in HD on Channel 90 on DirecTV. The sound was great. When it was over, I flipped to KENS OTA to catch the end of the Jets-Rams game and then watch the Broncos-Colts game, both of which were in HD. The sound was not right. The CBS transition music they play as they go to commercial break would only play through my subwoofer and not any other speaker. It was annoying to say the least. The DirecTV game, which was also a CBS game, didn't have this problem.

KENS really used to be at the top of local HD, but they have been very spotty and inconsistent lately -- not to mention their low power transmission. It amazes me that KABB has been doing HD for less time that KENS, but seems to be much more consistent and reliable.

Originally posted by Harold Southard
You could try the SquareShooter with a good pre amp. Thats what I am using. I am in New Tazewell. I am able to get WATE-DT 6-1 and 6-2 with signal strength of 94%, WVLT-DT 8-1 and 8-2 (UPN) with signal strength of 80%, WBIR-DT 10-1 and 10-2 with signal strength of 93%, WKOP-HD 15-1 and 15-2 (SD) with signal strength of 94%, WBXX-DT 20-1 with signal strength of 88%, WTNZ-DT 43-1 with signal strength of 91%, WPXK 54-1 54-2 54-3 54-4 with a signal strength of 72%. I have it on the back side of my house and you can't see it. I am going to ad a 4' ext pole on it soon.

Go here to see what the specs are and to look at it.
http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm

They make one now with a pre amp in it, but a friend that installs these and sat, said that they don't pick up as good as the one with out (put your own pre amp on) I used the winegard pre amp, not sure which one off hand. Just got the best one I could.

That is one I have suggested that they try and I will pay them for it but they have resisted. One of the lines to my DLP downstairs in diplexed (OTA and D* over the same line) and one to upstairs is dual line, one for antenna and one for D*. I am going to go buy one and put it on the post myself. Would it work in an attic as well?

Joe,

I checked it out tonight and also thought the sound was off. I switched back and forth between Kens 5 and 5.1. It was just a sitcom, but the sound was off just a bit.

I have no idea what that means. I don't have an analog audio connection in my system so I can't verify that its only a digital anomaly.

Originally posted by cpcat
I'm not sure where you read this about adjacent channels. I don't think it's a problem unless the relative power levels are extremely descrepant b/w the two. Bristol has a similar situation with WKPT on 27 and WCYB on 28. Lexington, also, with WTVQ on 40 and WLEX on 39. WBIR may still choose to go back to 10 though (hope not).

WVLT being at their 230kw STA currently is my best guess. This may explain to some extent why WBIR at 420 kw is stronger for you (2x signal is 3db). It's also possible that WVLT gets some co-channel interference at times from UPN 30 analog in Nashville. I'm convinced that WTNZ gets interference from analog 34 WBKI in Campbellsville, KY, at least in my area and it's about once per week (or more) that it is completely wiped out. It's always during times when my signals from the northwest (Campbellsville, Louisville) are strong.

CPCAT,

How's things in KY.? WVLT according to their engineer is at full power presently. As of about a month ago WBIR was not and they planned not to do so till they have to July 1 2005. They also have no DD5.1 and no plans at present to install DD 5.1 equipment. The word cheap skate comes to mind! This was from their email to me. In all fairness to the locals here they said the parent company has made the decsions. This is also why they shut off around 12:30am each night. Unless they have changed their minds but I haven't seen any increase in their signal here. 30 from Nashville shouldn't bother me here in Morristown.

The only Knoxvilles that are not 100% reliable are 15 DT17 and 8 DT30 both transmitting of the same tower. 15 is stronger then 8 but not by much. I get 15 about 95% of the time and 8 about 75%. Thank God for 11 from the tri cities or I'd be CBS less at times.

The only channel that gives me problems is 2 sneedville at 17 miles. Unfortunately it's the exact same direction as WSBN from Norton Va. If I point towards Norton after 2 goes off the air I get 85 plus signal. While 2 is on the air nothing! I must move off to the east then I can get WSBN at about 65 signal. Enough to lock (60 or more) and watch. Being they're DT32 and Sneedville is DT41 I wouldn't think it would make a difference but it does. This is using my combo antenna so I think it's the analog signal that's the problem. My UHF doesn't have that problem at all. It just doesn't see 2 that well. It may be I'm just too close for I pick up 2 analog in all directions even on the backside.

As for the adjacent channel info. I think I found it on the FCC sight, it was a bullentin or update. If I can relocate the article I'll post it. The FCC sight is not user friendly at all. Let it up to the government to make it as confusing as possible. I agree they'll have to be a lot of shifting if they plan on doing so. Like you I thought there was no problem with digitals being adjacent to each other so I was suprised. They did talk about a problem in Atlanta so maybe it's a case by case issue. I try to find it and post it.

I understand channel 27 Kingsport has already asked to be moved. Somewhere on this board someone who use to work for them said they want to go back to 19. He had a letter from Holston Valley Broadcasting which he posted.

I assume we'll know soon for all the apps had to be in before the end of Dec. if they wanted to change.

Originally posted by jimc705
CPCAT,

WVLT according to their engineer is at full power presently.

15 is stronger then 8 but not by much. I get 15 about 95% of the time and 8 about 75%.

As for the adjacent channel info. I think I found it on the FCC sight, it was a bullentin or update.

I understand channel 27 Kingsport has already asked to be moved. Somewhere on this board someone who use to work for them said they want to go back to 19. He had a letter from Holston Valley Broadcasting which he posted.

I assume we'll know soon for all the apps had to be in before the end of Dec. if they wanted to change.

I spoke to a local cable operator up here a few mos. ago and he had it from WVLT's engineer that they were going "up to another level" at that time. I was never able to get them before, after I was but inconsistently so I'm thinking they're at 230kw. Their signal is significantly weaker than WBIR at 420kw. Have you spoken to their CE? He's never returned any messages for me.

From here WVLT is definitely the stronger compared to WKOP. WVLT is now consistent for me (after recent antenna upgrade) while WKOP is still very intermittent. I believe WKOP is at 15kw. I'd say it's likely you have co-channel interference from UPN 30 in Nashville because of the direction you have to point for WVLT. That may explain why it's weaker for you.

You can access station pre-election certification forms via the FCC website.
I'm not sure if these really tell you what they're planning to do, but both WBIR and WKPT will "maximize" on their current channel. See http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101025184&formid=381&fac_num=46984 for WBIR. Again, I'm not sure if that really gives away what they'll do in the election process or not.

I've noticed that some stations will shut down the 5 channel feed when they go to commercial. They my be what you are hearing. I've been having problems with PBSs OTA audio feed. The L&R channels get scratchy.

I can't get KENS at all and WOAI cuts in and out all together. My antennas are on a mast and pointing in the right direction, but there is a tree across the street between me and the towers. I'm going to check my coax connections to make sure they are clean and tight. I'm on the verge of getting DishNet if I can't fix the problem. Any other suggestions?

Soundgardner,

where are you located and what kind of antenna do you have?

Last night we watched an HDNet show about Niagara Falls that I had previously recorded (HDTivo). The sound was just a bit off too. I don't know where thats coming from. My video signal goes through a processor for scaling and de-interlacing, which has to take some time, but I can watch some channels without a problem.

Cpcat, I uncombined my CM4248 from my 3020. The CM4248 works much better by its self on channel 26 then it did. WATE come in a %100 since of the time I have tryed it that last few days were as before with only the CM3020 I would only get channel 26 about %30 of the time with drops outs. But even thought WATE comes in a %100 of the time I still get a lot of small drops outs mostly just the sound for a second or two. Channel 30 WVLT still just locks on but rarely get anykind of picture. And Channel 31 has lock on at all lately even with the CM4248 I put up. I was hoping for better results. I wished now I would have bought 2 CM4248. That might be the only way I can get reliable reception from WATE and the other knoxville stations. I still can't get channel 7 from knoxville area but I wasn't really expecting to since you can't either and it appears you get the other knoxville channels way better than I do.
I hope WVLT and WBIR are not full power yet. If they are it doesn't look like I stand a chance of getting them up here.
Does anyone know if having some rust on the mast the antenna is connected to have any effect on getting TV signals. Also my surge protecter which my lg3510 and tv is pluged into is connected to a two pronge oulet. So I use a two prong adapter to connect my surge protecter to the wall. I was wondering if this would have any effect on grounding.
One more thing I have my lg3510 sitting in the floor in front of my TV and it does cause interfrence on my analog channels when my lg3510 is turn on. So I am thinking of moving it see if it also has a effect on my weak digital singals. Any input will be appericated.

HDTN,
The 4248 is a good antenna, but before you buy another one and attempt to stack them I'd suggest considering the Antennnasdirect XG91. It will likely improve upon the 4248 in performance and maybe you won't have to put up two. If you end up having to stack XG91's at least you'll know you're approaching the best wideband uhf setup possible.

If you're willing to give up performance above channel 38 consider a grouped channel antenna like the Triax Unix 100 Band A. For UHF 14-36 this is likely the best antenna generally available, although it's not cheap when you include the cost of shipping from England. It's available from CPC at http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/home/homepage.jsp

Have you tried pointing the VHF section towards Hazard? WYMT is channel 12 at 50 kw and it's my strongest digital. I don't know how well it will get over the mountain into Oneida, though.

Cpcat. yeah the most of the channels that I want are below channel 38. I can get channel 50WB crossville most of the time now I thinked the upped there power about about a month ago because I can get it pretty easy now. But of course they aren't passing any HD yet. Hope they do soon.
Channel 12 and I think 16 out of HAZARD trys to to lock in everynow and then but I have ever gotten it to lock on much less a picture. I have gotten MOREHEAD-LEXIGTION Pax channel on 2 times for about 30 minutes over past few months. And one morning I got the Louisville PBS HD channel for one minute with no drops outs. But thats the only time since then. One one sunday morining I got Kalamzoo Michigan channel 41(I think that was the channel number) analog. It was watchable and it last about 30 minutes before it went out. I have gotten most of the Louisville and Lexigtion analog channels at one time or another. I think Louisville channel 26 my be interfering with my knoxville channel 26 it sure seems that way sometimes.
Yeah I may look into some of those other antennas. But I may try another
CM4248 when I get some more funds.

Originally posted by cpcat
I spoke to a local cable operator up here a few mos. ago and he had it from WVLT's engineer that they were going "up to another level" at that time. I was never able to get them before, after I was but inconsistently so I'm thinking they're at 230kw. Their signal is significantly weaker than WBIR at 420kw. Have you spoken to their CE? He's never returned any messages for me.

From here WVLT is definitely the stronger compared to WKOP. WVLT is now consistent for me (after recent antenna upgrade) while WKOP is still very intermittent. I believe WKOP is at 15kw. I'd say it's likely you have co-channel interference from UPN 30 in Nashville because of the direction you have to point for WVLT. That may explain why it's weaker for you.

You can access station pre-election certification forms via the FCC website.
I'm not sure if these really tell you what they're planning to do, but both WBIR and WKPT will "maximize" on their current channel. See http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101025184&formid=381&fac_num=46984 for WBIR. Again, I'm not sure if that really gives away what they'll do in the election process or not.

Yep I 've seen that form to the FCC before. I don't know if it means they are staying where they are or not. Those forms had to be in before the channel elections so who knows.

Doug Stoddard the CE is who replied to my E mail from channel 8. He said full power I assume that meant 398 KW. maybe he was refering to the intermediate 230 KW. I sent another email and we'll see if I get an answer. I hope they aren't full power. I need just a little more signal and I'll be OK.

WKOP is a little stronger here then WVLT but not by much. I can get them without to many drops. WBIR, WATE WTNZ, and WMAK are all reliable and stronger then WVLT or WKOP.

Here's what Pat Thomas Asst. CE at WBIR wrote to me.

WBIR-DT transmits on RF channel 31 from a common antenna shared by RF
channels 26, 34, and 43 (NTSC). At present WBIR-DT is transmitting at
50% of our final licensed power. We turn the transmitter off just after
the end of the Jay Leno show weekdays. Saturday we stay on until after
Saturday Night Live at 1 AM. On Sunday's we shut down at midnight. The
DTV broadcast day starts at 5 AM. We at present plan to transmit 24/7
starting about April of 2005 and current thinking is that we will
increase power to 100% of licensed in the Summer of 2005. You will see
little improvement in reception when we go to full power which may seem
odd but is true. The reason we are not currently full power for the
entire day is entirely the cost of operating the transmitter. Doubling
power will double the power bill but will not double our coverage area.
DTV RF channel 26 is currently operating at a power level similar to
where we will be when full power. DTV channels 30 and 17 are nearby on
different towers as is DTV channel 7.

Our parent company did not purchase the equipment for us to operate in
Dolby 5.1. There was little programming from NBC in Dolby 5.1 prior to
the Olympics. I suspect that we will add Dolby 5.1 at some later date

Originally posted by jimc705

WKOP is a little stronger here then WVLT but not by much. I can get them without to many drops. WBIR, WATE WTNZ, and WMAK are all reliable and stronger then WVLT or WKOP.



Excluding WMAK (which I don't get 'cause of 7 in Beatyville) my stations in order of descending strength and consistency are WATE, WBIR, WVLT, WTNZ, and WKOP.

A plausible explanation for our differing reception would be you have co-channel interference on 30, I have it on 34, and WKOP is still at relatively low power.

It's ironic that WVLT apparently has an association with the UPN Nashville station of some sort and at the same time they could be interfering with each other's signal.

I'll be interested in what Doug says. I hope he responds.

Originally posted by HDTN
Cpcat. yeah the most of the channels that I want are below channel 38. I can get channel 50WB crossville most of the time now I thinked the upped there power about about a month ago because I can get it pretty easy now. But of course they aren't passing any HD yet. Hope they do soon.
Channel 12 and I think 16 out of HAZARD trys to to lock in everynow and then but I have ever gotten it to lock on much less a picture. I have gotten MOREHEAD-LEXIGTION Pax channel on 2 times for about 30 minutes over past few months. And one morning I got the Louisville PBS HD channel for one minute with no drops outs. But thats the only time since then. One one sunday morining I got Kalamzoo Michigan channel 41(I think that was the channel number) analog. It was watchable and it last about 30 minutes before it went out. I have gotten most of the Louisville and Lexigtion analog channels at one time or another. I think Louisville channel 26 my be interfering with my knoxville channel 26 it sure seems that way sometimes.
Yeah I may look into some of those other antennas. But I may try another
CM4248 when I get some more funds.

If you can intermittently lock on WKHA (KET 16 in Hazard), I really think you should have a shot at WYMT. Since that big combo isn't doing anything now anyway, you might replace it with a cut-channel 12. See http://www.starkelectronic.com/delhi.htm and I'd probably go with the 10 element. You're just out of the 36 dbu window according to http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS689527.html but again you've got a mountain in the way. WKHA is really pretty weak, though, and I've only recently been able to watch it consistently after putting up my Band A's so you may have some favorable
topography between you and Hazard.

Edit: Another option for *extremely* high performance on channel 12: http://community-2.webtv.net/GregBarker/UltraHighGain/index.html

Aspect ratio question

Why are most shows transmitted on OTA digital/HD stations in 4:3 aspect ratio? I thought all of the digital/HD televisions were 16:9, so why are they giving us the regular tv feeds? on these channels?

michael

The signal is digital but only shows that are truly HD are in 16x9. The majority of programming is still SD 4x3.... Kind of like playing your mono LPs on one of those new fancy stereo turntables. You only get what was recorded.

oops, did I show my age

"new" turntables?

Originally posted by paulbehnke
"new" turntables?

I prefer to wait until the technology is proven before adopting.

Either that or I am having one of my senile flashbacks....:confused:

I don't. Could not get enuf of those early LP's in the plain blue & white sleeves...Columbia Masterworks. That launched me into the never ending spiral (and costly) of gotta have this or that new tech item. Ah well!

Was WTNZ's digital signal out last night? I never could get it and moved the antenna with nothing coming through.

Yes, it was for me as well. My signal meter was registering like it was there but there was no picture and no PSIP info with receiver flashing "no signal".

Maybe they're working on something. Haven't checked it today yet.

Hello All:

I don't show any outages listed in our (WTNZ's) reports for last night, but I'll investigate further. If this problem persist, post the info. It's a tool that enables me to look at the big picture and troubleshoot problem areas faster.

We've been working on the PSIPs the last couple of days in order to be in compliance with new FCC mandates. Today, we launched our electronic program guide which still has some bugs. Nonetheless, it should now be available.

I've been monitoring the forum for a while now and impressed with the amount of knowledge and sharing of information. Keep it up. It will make the transition to digital a lot less painful.

Best Regards,

Tom Theilmann
Chief Engineer
WTNZ-TV/DT

Welcome Tom!

We'll all try to whine and complain to you as little as possible and try to keep the stupid questions to a minimum. :)
Pretty cool moniker, too. Did you mean to give away your channel election or could that just be a distractor?


JimC705,
Regarding adjacent digitals, I just received an interesting reply from William Smith in the Lexington thread. He's an engineer up at KET. He'd mentioned that WTVQ 40 and WLEX 39 would not only be sharing the same tower, but even the same antenna. I didn't really understand how this would work and here was his reply:


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by cpcat
Can they actually share an antenna? How does that work?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



They install both transmitters at the same site, filter them, and run them into a RF combiner. ( Think large filtered 2 way coax splitter reversed) up the tower on a single transmission line into a common antenna.


Depending on the antenna type, antennas can be from 6-18 Mhz wide or even cover the entire UHF band (but one that broad has very low antenna gain and is huge).

The big advantage for digital is that adjacent channels can be used in the same market (but perform best if on the same tower).

We have two sites that have adjacent analog and digital channels at the same site.

Ashland has analog 26 with the digital on 25
Owensboro-Henderson has analog on 30 and the digital on 31


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew! That's my 667th post, couldn't get off that previous number fast enough.
:D

Glad to have you on here Tom. I appeciated the notices and information on the fluttering signal a couple of months ago. Glad to see one station in town is on top of things.

* yellow - uhf KABB-DT 29.1 FOX SAN ANTONIO TX 124° 22.3 30
* yellow - vhf KLRN-DT 9.1 PBS SAN ANTONIO TX 129° 16.9 8
* yellow - uhf KVDA-DT 38.1 TEL SAN ANTONIO TX 123° 22.7 38
* yellow - uhf KWEX-DT 41.1 UNI SAN ANTONIO TX 123° 22.7 39
* yellow - uhf KRRT-DT 35.1 WB KERRVILLE TX 284° 21.8 32
* yellow - uhf KSAT-DT 12.1 ABC SAN ANTONIO TX 126° 23.8 48
* green - uhf WOAI-DT 4.1 NBC SAN ANTONIO TX 127° 23.5 58
* red - uhf KENS-DT 5.1 CBS SAN ANTONIO TX 127° 23.5 55
* red - uhf KHCE-DT 16 TBN SAN ANTONIO TX Testing 123° 23.1 16
* blue - uhf KPXL-DT 26 PAX UVALDE TX Awaiting FCC Permit 279° 30.9 26

I need to know what antenna to ask for when I call Voom. They said for me to check antennaweb.com and let them know which antenna i wanted so they could pass along the message to the installers. I asked about the SquareShooter, and they said I would get all but WB and PAX. Below is what I copied/pasted from another message I had.

Hopefully that comes out well. I have put the distances in miles. This is a copy/paste from antennaweb.com. The furthest one from me is PAX which is 30.9miles away. As you can see, most are in the 123-129 degree area, while PAX and WB are 279/284. I hopefully will be getting Voom in late Febuary, and would like to know the chances of getting all these channels. For those who live in the San Antonio are, I live very close to the 410/I10 interchange. Most of the shows I watch are on CBS/ABC/NBC, but I would love to get the WB channel for some of the spurs games. Anyone know which of these are broadcasted in HDTV over the air? Thanks in advance for those who answer.

Since I wont be getting Voom for another 2 months, is there any indoor antenna that will pick up all of these channels fairly well? I currently have TW digital HDTV channels, but Id like to pick up the WB/Fox channels in HD too. Please consider I live in an apartment, so no big antennas, or attic antennas for me. I would need a small indoor antenna, and probably omnidirectional to pick up from both directions.

Steve.

Originally posted by LoveMovies
Soundgardner,

where are you located and what kind of antenna do you have?

Last night we watched an HDNet show about Niagara Falls that I had previously recorded (HDTivo). The sound was just a bit off too. I don't know where thats coming from. My video signal goes through a processor for scaling and de-interlacing, which has to take some time, but I can watch some channels without a problem.

I am located on the NE side of SA. I am using conventional outdoor mast antennas. A local station's engineer informed me that you don't need a HD antenna. The audio is strange, sometimes I have to reselect the digital input on my processor to get the audio signal. Other times its the broadcast problem in that I can switch to another channel and get great sound.

uthscsa19,

Just to set your expectations: I wanted Voom and when the installer came out (December) he was not able to get a strong enough signal to do the install. He suggested that I get my neighbor to cut down the top half of her 70ft pecan tree. It seems there are two factors different from D*: 1) D* sats are at 59degrees elevation but Voom's are at 35 degrees, fairly low and towards southeast. 2) whereas D* will work fine with signal strength over about 40 (I get usually 90), Voom requires OVER 85 to prevent breakup. The installer does both and carefully let me to believe that its difficult to get a good Voom signal here. (Geeze, we are very south, the guys in Chicago or San Francisco must have to look horizontal.)

bottom line: Have a backup plan if it doesn't work.

To answer your question: I bought a VHF/UHF antenna at Radio Snack that had Yellow/Green on it and I get all of the channels, including pretty good WB.

good luck
michael

Michael,
I know that there is a chance that I will not get Voom. If I can not, I may just go back to TWC or perhaps Dish network.

What part of town do you live in? Is this an indoor antenna? What make and model is this? I might as well go pick one up so I can get FoxHD since TWC doesnt provide it. Oh, I am a complete newbie to OTA antennas, how does one connect it to the HDTV? I have a zenith with a tuner built in. I checked the website and it said (RF In 1 (Analog Terrestrial Antenna), 1 (Analog Cable Antenna)) under connections. Its a Zenith C32V36. Would the Antenna be all that I need?
Steve

I live in Monte Vista (1 1/2 mi directly north of downtown). Its an outdoor antenna. Do you have a chimney or something to attach it to? It cost $50.

About the Zenith connection: That sounds bad that it says analog in both places. Is there somewhere to connect a digital antenna? Check the manual for that. (All antennas receive both analog and digital signals but you want it to recognize the digital signals.) Are you sure it has a digital/HD tuner?

michael

Michael,
I copied it from the wrong Tv on Zeniths website. It has (RF In 1 (ATSC), 1 (NTSC)) instead. I live in an apartment complex, so I can only have an indoor antenna. Im really interested in getting Fox/WB HD while I have TWC. I am looking for an indoor omnidirectional, or even directional, cause i dont mind pointing it in the right direction for either WB or Fox, as long as I get a good signal. Sorry for the misinformation.
Steve

Tom,

Now that we've got you on this board I can ask a question I've been curious about for a while. Do you know anything on when we might get WTNZ-DT on Charter cable?

For those interested, WTNZ HD was added to Comcast today. It's on Channel 183. This move was long overdue. Now if they'll just add TNT HD.

You beat me to the post....

So AWESOME>.....NFL on FOX (Playoffs baby) in HD and....

The best show I have had the pleasure to watch

24 (starts Sun night)


Great timing....I have been trading emails with the Fox GM for over a year and he told me a few weeks ago that we might get a little playoff football surprise

I live on the northside of SA out by Canyon Springs Golf Course. I bought the Radio Shack Omnidirectional antenna (Catalog #: 15-1634 ). It works great and I pick up all of the channels with no problem. We even have quite a few hills around my neighborhood and it works fine.

There should be 2 RF connectors, one for the antenna and one for cable. Does this tv have a cablecard slot? I don't want to go into the problems I have had (having) with TWC over a cablecard. The cablecard allows you to not have a TWC box. Otherwise you need a TWC (or sat) box to get you HD.

The antenna connection will allow the tv to search for all channels, digital and analog. My antenna is only UHF therefore it only picks up those channels. That is fine with me since I have TWC. I get all the locals OTA from my antenna and from TWC. I can't really tell any difrerence between the two.

I bought an OTA several months ago because I was tired of waiting for this to happen. For those in Knoxville, you know how poor WTNZ's analog video quality is on Comcast. I got tired of it and bought an antenna. Glad to see these two work things out.

Hey all, I've been using TWC HD for a few months now and I'm completely fed up. The picture quality I'm getting is terrible, particularly CBS. It seems to have massive compression issues and the image is constantly blocky.

On top of that, Fox SD (possibly more channels as well) is being sent in mono which is really annoying.

I have had no luck with their customer service and am about to drop them for DirecTV.

Has anyone else had these problems with TWC? Does OTA HD reception look pretty good ? While I know that SD will look better with DTV, I want to be sure that I can receive decent HD for the 4 big networks before I commit since I know they aren't available over the satellite.

I dont seem to be getting the same problems as you have. This weekend I went to radio shack and bought a $50 OTA antenna and picked up CBS/Fox/WB/ABC/NBC without a problem. I'd have to say that all of the channels looked the same as with what I get on TW HD channels. I bought the antenna so I could get Fox/WB in HD however.

Anyone know if the Explorer 8300HD DVR can record from OTA signals? I know it will do whats being broadcast by TWC, but will it do OTA recording somehow? It would be a shame to not be able to record FOX/WB in HD. Anyone know if the Spurs games are broadcast in HD and 5.1DD on KRRT? I have yet to see a game on the WB over HD so i dont know yet.

Steve M.

Originally posted by uthscsa19
I dont seem to be getting the same problems as you have. This weekend I went to radio shack and bought a $50 OTA antenna and picked up CBS/Fox/WB/ABC/NBC without a problem. I'd have to say that all of the channels looked the same as with what I get on TW HD channels. I bought the antenna so I could get Fox/WB in HD however.


What model antenna did you buy? I'm completely new to OTA stuff.

I've had DirectV HD in the past and if you think you're going to get a better picture than with TWC then you're barking up the wrong tree. Even most of the SD channels on Directv are heavily compressed now.

Our CBS station here, KENS, still transmits the weather radar on a side channel even when it's not needed. TWC just passes the signal that KENS gives them so any compression issues you see will be present OTA also.

The 8300HD will not record any HD from OTA. I have one and you would have to pry it from my cold dead fingers. There's no way I could go back to Directv now.

Don't blame TWC for the lack of Fox HD. It's all because of Sinclair's insistence that TWC pay extra for the HD retransmission that we don't have it on cable here. Many other localities and cable systems are in the same boat.

jr

Derailed,
I purchased the RadioShack brand Catalog #: 15-1880 indoor antenna and was a breeze to hook up. I live in NW San Antonio right by the medical center. You need to have an HDTV with a built in tuner, or a stand alone HD tuner to make it work. My Zenith has a built in tuner, so all I did was plugged it in, flipped to Fox, i think its 30-1 but not completely sure, then moved the antenna around until I got a good picture. I got the WB channel also facing the exact same direction, I dont know if they transmit out of the same area, but this was great for me, since the only 2 stations I get OTA don't require me to move my antenna.

I think theres a Spurs game tonight on KRRT, anyone know if the Spurs games are in HD and 5.1DD on the WB?

Steve M.

the Spurs games are in HD, but I don't remember if they are DD.

Just one more question. I have TW cable, and just connected my OTA antenna straight into my tv since it has a built in tuner. However, my Hometheatre system only has one input for coaxial which is connected to my dvd player, and one connection for optical which I have connected to my TW box (dont know what model it is off-hand). It has a Optical Output and Input, right now one is connected to my HT system like i said previously. Currently I cant get Fox/WB in DD5.1 because I am out of connections on my HT system. Can I just run it through the Input Optical of my TW box and get it fed to my HT system that way? Does the TW box have to be on or off if this is the case. I dont want to go buy the $30 cable if this isnt possible. Anyone know if Fox/WB will go along with TW and let them transmit? Thanks for any replies.
Steve M.

CPCAT and whomever else may be interested,

Doug finally wrote an email back. Looks like both WVLT and WKOP are at full power. They may have some antenna orientation problems. See email attached. My 811 just may not like channel 30. Likes 31 and 32 well enough. Looks like they are aware of the problem and planning on doing something anyway.

Mr. Case,
Thank you for your letter and interest in digital television. WVLT DT is at full power. The WVLT and WKOP antenna is locted about a mile west of WBIR, WATE and WTNZ. I know from personal experience that antenna orientation is critical. My associate and I are planning a trip to the Morristown and Greenville area soon for signal evaluation.
WKOP is also at full power. I am having a few complaints from people with the Dish 811 receiver. I may have to purchase one for our test bench to see what the difference might be. So far no complaints from anyone with RCA, Hughes, Zenith, Samsung, Hitachi, US Digital or Mororola. I do have several positive reports from 811 users though. I have seen the pictures from you so I need to ponder it further.
Thanks again,

Doug Stallard
Vice President/Chief Engineer
WVLT-TV 8/WVLT-DT 30
Knoxville, TN

Spurs games don't show up on Titan as being HD. I am suprised if they are, due to the fact that even ESPNHD doesn't do all their NBA games in HD. Equipment costs etc. I do not get WB OTA since it is the opposite direction as the other stations. I only have a directional UHF antenna. I only went to the trouble to put up the antenna in order to get FOX football games in HD. I get other locals in HD over TWC.

You guys are picking up WB OTA and getting true HD????
I might look into adding another antenna. I do not watch much WB except for Spurs (currently getting it over TWC)

As for the audio issue, you need a receiver with enough optical inputs. It is the age of digital. I don't think you can go through the TWC box. Might be wrong.

Since I get WB from satellite on channel 35 its easy to go up 1 channel to 35-1 (OTA Digital) and compare. Huge difference during the last Spurs game. Admittedly it breaks up sometimes, since as someone stated, its in the opposite direction.

btw: Radio Snack sells a 4x1 optical switch, but I have not tried it.
michael

Any idea on the price of the 4x1 optical switch. I looked for it on the RS website with no luck. Product #? Anyone else have an idea as to being able to pass through the IN/OUT through optical cables?
Steve M.

This is the one that RS used to sell: ($30)

http://www.trianglecables.com/os-3pt.html

Originally posted by jimc705
CPCAT and whomever else may be interested,

Doug finally wrote an email back. Looks like both WVLT and WKOP are at full power. They may have some antenna orientation problems. See email attached. My 811 just may not like channel 30. Likes 31 and 32 well enough. Looks like they are aware of the problem and planning on doing something anyway.



If WKOP is at full power and I can't receive it any better than this, I think they may have some problems. According to the FCC site, I should be on the edge of their coverage area, which supposedly is an estimation based on a moderate rooftop antenna with 10db gain for UHF. See http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT987909.html. I suppose it's possible that there's co-channel interference from analog FOX 17 in Nashville or possibly digital KET 17 in Louisville. Jellico Mtn. also is obviously a factor but I receive the other digitals from Knoxville O.K. and WVLT is good from the same tower. Another weird thing is I can get really a pretty good (?grade B) signal from their analog which actually is directional away from me.

It's just the opposite here. I can't get WKOP analog clear at all. All kinds of multipath. Their digital is at my low end of the meter but locks and stays locked. WVLT that's another matter. I do have a small hill between me and Knoxville. Doesn't make sense that WBIR and WATE come booming in when their tower is only 1 mile from WVLT's.

I'm on the edge of coverage(but in their coverage map) for DT12 from Hazard but can't get a lock. I think the mountains are my problem. I can get a lock from WDBJ DT18 Roanoke occasionally at night but only for a short time. They do have a lot of height. Weird things going on.

I think they are getting ready for all digitals at full power and are starting to look into coverage areas. The FCC says they must match their analog coverage by people served but not by area. July 1 is going to be fun.

There may be simply too many variables at play here to really know what's going on. It may be the analog shutoff before we really know how good (or bad) the 8VSB system is. My local cable operator also complains of how bad the analog reception has become since digital has been on line.

It's frustrating waiting around for my local Charter Cable to get on board and the recent SHVERA legislation has taken away my options for DNS network HD via satellite as well.

I guess it was my choice to live in the Boondocks though.:)

Edit: This may be why you can't get DT12 Hazard. http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WDEF If you can turn your antenna towards Chattanooga and get any signal at all it's probably interfering. I think 13 analog Asheville prevents me from any chance at DT 13 from Lexington.

I can't even get a blip from Chattanoga. I've tried believe me I tried but nothing. As for 13 from Ashville you may be right for it's analog booms in here. I think they are still reduced power for Digital for I barely get a blip was in awhile. I get more from Spartanburg SC then them.

I am in Maryville Tennessee and I get Fox from Johnson City 39.1 as well as Fox 43 in Knoxville! I am just using a Radio Shack indoor amp. antenna.

It would be interesting to know if you could have gotten the analog 12 from Chat. before Hazard DT12 went full power. They could be cancelling each other. I can point my rotor towards Campbellsville analog 34 and get a good picture then as I rotate I still get a snowy picture right up until it zeros in on WTNZ digital 34 then the screen goes to pure snow. A similar thing happens with WTVZ 17 analog from Nashville. When it goes past the "zero in" on the corresponding digital then I can see a snowy picture again.

Anybody on the forum here have Comcast HDTV? I live in Oak Ridge and have a few questions to ask someone from around the area that has the same service. Feel free to send me a private message. Thanks in advance.

ASteele85:

A few of us do have Comcast HD. Just ask in the main thread and one of us will try to help you out.

Cip

Did anyone else have a lot of pixelation/noise on CBS during CSI,NY last night?

Comcast Cable Ch 182 was very bad the last 15 minutes and froze my DVR. Other channels were fine prior to this.

Ask away, I have Comcast HD.

Originally posted by hotshot
I am in Maryville Tennessee and I get Fox from Johnson City 39.1 as well as Fox 43 in Knoxville! I am just using a Radio Shack indoor amp. antenna.

That is fox Greenville. UHF 38 dt 39.1

Originally posted by cpcat
It would be interesting to know if you could have gotten the analog 12 from Chat. before Hazard DT12 went full power. They could be cancelling each other. I can point my rotor towards Campbellsville analog 34 and get a good picture then as I rotate I still get a snowy picture right up until it zeros in on WTNZ digital 34 then the screen goes to pure snow. A similar thing happens with WTVZ 17 analog from Nashville. When it goes past the "zero in" on the corresponding digital then I can see a snowy picture again.

I don't know for I moved here in Feburary and didin't get an good antenna to play with till fall. I don't think so for I got nothing from south except WSPA and WUNF digitals an occasional lock. I get WUNF and of course WLOS 13 analog very well but can't get WSPA analog 7 proably because of 7 Knoxville. I also get a signal from an analog 9 but not well enough to identify if it's Chattanooga. Kingsport has a low power 9 (I think) but this is SE of me. I can't get Kingsport 9.

As far as I've been able to recieve ground wave analog is WXII Winston Salem which is a channel 12. Don't know how many air miles but it's a bunch. I can get a signal during the day but very very weak. At night it's barely watchable I use the rooftop 7084 for the VHF which doesn't have an amp on it. I may purchase an amp for it when I get some money to burn not much use for VHF right now.

As for digitals WDBJ Roanoke is the furtherest. UHF 18 DT 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3. I had to turn the 91XG with the amp for that one then I still need rainy weather to help hold the signal. I beleive their tower is 3500 ft on Poor MT. Unfortunately they are another 7 and if I lock on them my receiver makes me manually choose the DT 7 from Knoxville again. It won't remeber to channel 7's even though was is actually 18 and ones digital 7 the other analog 7. I barely get at a lock at about 61 and then it's not reliable a lot of drops.

I wish I could afford a tower to get over this hill to my west. I might have a shot at some late night Nashville's. I mainly just play to see what's out there I can get. Drives the wife nuts.

I wish I could afford a tower to get over this hill to my west. I might have a shot at some late night Nashville's. I mainly just play to see what's out there I can get. Drives the wife nuts.

Sounds familiar.:D

According to what I am reading elsewhwere CBS is broadcasting HD with DD. CSI was one of the shows that is now supposed to be in DD. I have yet to receive any DD on CBS Via Comcast Cable Channel 182. I do Get Fox 183 and ABC 180 in DD when the show is broadcast in it.

Anyone else??

Well channel 8 Knoxville and 11 tri cities are rebroadcasting the DD 5.1 OTA. Must be a cable issue. Call Crumcast and ask them why there not passing the DD.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by uthscsa19
... anyone know if the Spurs games are in HD and 5.1DD on the WB?

Steve M.QUOTE] [B]

Spurs games are not produced in HD at present. I'll ask Spurs producer Mike Kickirillo about it next opportunity I get. Good question though - there is a lot of demand.

Originally posted by joealtus
Does anyone receive KENS (CBS) OTA and run the sound through a dolby digital setup?

Yesterday, I watched the Steelers-Bills game in HD on Channel 90 on DirecTV. The sound was great. When it was over, I flipped to KENS OTA to catch the end of the Jets-Rams game and then watch the Broncos-Colts game, both of which were in HD. The sound was not right. The CBS transition music they play as they go to commercial break would only play through my subwoofer and not any other speaker. It was annoying to say the least. The DirecTV game, which was also a CBS game, didn't have this problem.


Joe,

the problem you encountered is probably because we (KENS) were not yet switching with CBS metadata yet. CBS announced in December they would begin automatically switching the 5.1 out during commercials. I can't explain why you got the commercial bumper music through your subwoofer, but obviously you did.

I have kept a critical ear on this weekend's AFC playoff games and the surround/stereo/surround transitions sound okay to me now through our Sony HT system. We began implementing phase one of the CBS metadata program on Wednesday Jan. 12.[B]

Hi,

I am trying to get my Dad all setup with OTA HD. We have just picked up a 30" LCD HDTV from Costco (really sweet PQ) and he is taking the Dish 811 lease deal. The 811 won't arrive until the end of the week at best and I am flying back to NM today. We picked up a VHF/UHF boom antenna from Radio Shack along with RG6 coax and I have it installed on the roof and pointed at 130 degrees. We are roughly at Callaghan and IH 10 (78230 zip) and this seemed like the best compromise since it seems FOX is around 135 and everyone else is around 128 degrees (from antennaweb). The antenna is listed as Green/Yellow rated and according to Antennaweb that should be good for all except KENS (perhaps) which I understand is broadcasting at 1/2 power still. I also installed a Channelmaster preamp just to make sure we had the best shot at pulling in KENS. Not sure if its needed but it gives us an extra 22db gain since the antenna is not one of the 8 foot long ones (more like 4 foot).

Any help with anything I may have missed would be very appreciated. I realize we may have to tweak the antenna once the 811 shows up but want it to be as ready as possible as my dad is 73 and I don't want him climbing up on the roof for sure! If thats needed I will have a younger neighbor tweak it for him.

Thanks for any help with SA local OTA trials and tribulations!

Mike

Mike,

It sounds like you have done all the right things. Does the tv have a tuner for you to try the antenna? I also found that since WB (35) is almost exactly opposite (Kerrville) I get it ok.

michael

Hi thanks for the reply,

Yes, it does and I did plug it into the new TV and tested it for OTA analog reception. Everything seems to be working OK, KSAT is awesome, WOAI and KENS are good. FOX is sharp now with the new preamp but color ghosting is pretty bad. I assume this is due to not being more aligned/tweaked with the signal source and I realize UHF is more directional than VHF. They really only watch the big 3 so I am hoping we can pull them in and lock and hold them as well as PBS. They are not WB fans so I am not going to sweat them either. Guess for now we'll leave it alone and then when it (811) arrives we'll do a DTV channel scan and see what we get. Luckily I have owned an 811 before so am well aware of its +/-'s! Hardest thing is tech support over a phone!


Originally posted by LoveMovies
Mike,

It sounds like you have done all the right things. Does the tv have a tuner for you to try the antenna? I also found that since WB (35) is almost exactly opposite (Kerrville) I get it ok.

michael

I haven't turned on my receiver to see if it's in DD or not.

Originally posted by jimc705
Well channel 8 Knoxville and 11 tri cities are rebroadcasting the DD 5.1 OTA. Must be a cable issue. Call Crumcast and ask them why there not passing the DD.

I used to have my own Crumcast, Knoxville oversight group, Cable Watchdog. When they first introduced the "digital" boxes and promised they had "sir-round sound", well, there was no (Pro-Logic) rear channel, why? They threw it away to save bandwidth. I thought they should refund money and apologize to everybody and maybe be fined. They have g-o-o-d friends at city legal. All they had to do was cease and desist. They were breaking their cable contract by not maintaining, "Broadcast Standards" as required. It seems like that should apply here too...? I think's they's auh'cheetin'!:rolleyes: I only miss Crumcast when they play those several Lady Vol games...I went Direc.

Hi everyone. I have surfed this board often, but this is my first post.

Well, I am "experimenting" with HDTV.

I ordered a Samsung HDTV and it will arrive today.

I visited my nearby Radio Shack to get a an indoor antenna to start off. I spoke with "Bob" who indicates that indoor antennas have had little success in my neighborhood (Alamo Heights, Broadway @ Nacogdoches). He sells many, and three to four days later, "they come right back". He had no problem with me giving it a try.

I asked about what has been successful. He recommended an 80 in (#15-2152) antenna, but suggested I would not be able to get KRRT-DT. I asked him about "rotating" options, which he suggested would be expensive and require more wiring.

He showed me a schematic, created by a broadcast engineer, that utilizes the above plus a second UHF antenna (#15-2160)on the same mast that has been successful.

The cost will not be that much overall, and I am in San Antonio (not AH proper). I live in a one story house, very low pitch roof.

Any suggestions?

I plan to call Alamo Heights Antenna Specialists for a "second opinion".

I am also shopping around looking at D, Dish, Voom, TWC for other options. But for "experimenting, I don't want to sign up for any new services.

I won't be doing any of the installation myself.

Thanks.

Ted

Things are pretty quiet around here so I will answer my own questions:

Well, my Samsung TV arrived. I am using an old antenna I have lying around from an old TV I no longer own. Guess what stations I get...

KABB-DT
KENS-DT
KVDA-DT
KLRN-DT
KWEX-DT
KSAT-DT
WOAI-DT
KNIC-DT

What a pleasant surprise. The picture quality is great!

For now, I'll use my own FREE antenna.

Again, my location is near Northeast side, Broadway @ Nacogdoches.

Ted

Hi guys,

My Dads 811 arrived yesterday. He has it all hooked up and operational. We did a DTV channel scan. He is able to get KENS, KLRN, KSAT ok. We cant lock on to WOAI or KABB for anything. I have a Channel Master preamp installed and working. We only purchased the 50" boom antenna from Radio Shack (18 element) $36. Do we need the 80" boom antenna to pull in these missing stations? As I said he is located near Callaghan and IH10 area and it looks like he is around 24 milles from the towers. I may not be perfect in my alignment but it should be close. ( I used a compass).

Any help from you locals would be much appreciated. Its hard to troubleshoot from 800 miles away!

I am new to OTA reception and have so far been unable to pick up the DTV broadcasts from any of the stations.

For instance, I can pick up Fox on 29 fine, but I get nothing when I switch to channel 29-1. Anybody know why this may be happening? My TV does have an ATSC tuner so I don't think that's the problem.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Lots of stuff could be happening. First off KABB-DT broadcast on UHF channel 30. Not sure what TV you have or how it works as far as scanning for channels etc but you need to make sure your able to lock onto the channel first.

What type of antenna are you using? Go to antennaweb.org for more info on DTV stations and their frequencies as well as what direction you need to be pointed towards. TitanTV.com is another good site.

Reception is VERY directional. I agree with ibglowin. Get the directional map from antennaweb.org. I am watching the Atlanta /Philly game in HDTV on Fox KABB-HD and it is awesome (with an old antenna I had layin' around)!

Be sure and check your TV manual. You may need to "enable" your ATSC antenna input on your set. When my Samsung TV was deleivered, the "technicians" disabled one of my two antenna inputs (example A +B which means ,Cable + Air) during their setup. It took me a while to figure out the problem.

Also, consider using your VHF antenna alone. I am not using a UHF antenna.

Ted

Originally posted by tarevalo
Also, consider using your VHF antenna alone. I am not using a UHF antenna.

Ted

Ted,

All the SA DTV channels are UHF except for KLRN (VHF). How can you possibly pick up KAAB or anyone else without a UHF antenna????

Mike

OK, maybe I mis-spoke. I just assumed the "V" shaped antennas with the extendable tips that used to come with TVs were VHF. Just shows you how much I know about antennas.

Someone once old me however, any antenna can pick up UHF and VHF signals.

I am probably mistaken.

Ted

The V shape antennas can pick up both. I have one. Is there some kind of "combiner" to add a very directional UHF towards KRRT so I can dial in the others with my current antenna?

Did anyone try to watch the Spurs tonight on KRRT-DT1? It was great during the preshow with DD sound, and then the signal went dead! What happened?
I can't believe how undependable the digital signals/stations are.

Any word on when KENS is going full power?

I'm trying to work on adding a UHF antenna myself. I'll post any positive results.

I can't even get my tuner to pick up an HD signal from KRRT. It goes right to their regular signal (on channel 35) with a very good picture I might add.

Have no idea when KENS will go to full power. There used to be a KENS person monitoring this thread. Maybe he'll join us if we send him an e-mail. I finally found the direction to point my antenna that works great for KENS-DT. Watching the Pats/Pitts was great, although I think Fox had a better overall picture for Philly/Atlanta.

I have a 26" Samsung wide-screen, ATSC tuner.

Can someone tell me where the towers are for WOAI, KENS and KSAT DTV. Are they located in China Grove?

They are located on the southeaset side (Calaveras lake area).

Ahh,

OK Thanks!

I had no problem with 35-1 for the Spurs game last night. I use a 120" Radio Shack antenna with rotator.

Incidentally, in our upstairs bedroom, we use what must be the minimum possible antenna. It is the basic 7" diameter loop that came with an old TV as the UHF antenna. It's attached directly to a 300 ohm to 75 ohm transformer and plugged directly into a Zenith 1080 receiver. With that I get all the San Antonio digital channels except KRRT. Yes, it even picks up KLRN with "good" signal strength. I'm a mile and a half out Vance Jackson from loop 410. :D

Which is easier to pick up KABB-DT or KRRT-DT? Is one got a stronger signal than the other?

*NM*

Originally posted by tarevalo
*NM*


See my earlier post above. I am trying to get my elderly parents all squared away with HD locals in SA.

I got things all set up last week while I was home visiting and he received his 811 on Friday. He did a channel scan and he can't lock and hold both WOAI and KABB. I am not sure if its an antenna alignment thing or what so I am trying to research things a bit before making reccomendations.

It sounds like we need to peak his antenna alignment.

WOAI has been fairly solid but KABB has been unreliable. I spent an hour tweaking my antenna direction and checking all of the channel signal levels.

I'm now getting all of them well (70 or higher) except KENS, which is my most difficult channel (even including WB from Kerrville!).

We'll see how it goes tonight when I try to watch the Spurs on 35-1.

What type of antenna set up are you using and what is your approx location?

I'm still trying to figure out what people are using in SA.

Thanks!

Originally posted by LoveMovies
WOAI has been fairly solid but KABB has been unreliable. I spent an hour tweaking my antenna direction and checking all of the channel signal levels.

I'm now getting all of them well (70 or higher) except KENS, which is my most difficult channel (even including WB from Kerrville!).

We'll see how it goes tonight when I try to watch the Spurs on 35-1.

I'm located in Monte Vista (1 1/2 miles due north of downtown). I have a Radio Shack VU90-XR (Vhf/Uhf, 90 mile range [yea right], 80" boom). Knowing what I know now (that all of the channels are UHF except PBS), I would buy a UHF antenna instead. btw: Its mounted 1 foot from my D* HD Dish and pointing approx 135 degrees.

Is there a way to get KABB and KRRT with a Timewarner HD STB? or do I need to get an antenna?

Thanks for the info.

I hope the 50" Rad Shack will work. I did some looking on the map last night and after pinpoiting the towers a little better it seems like they may be more closer to 140 degrees instead of the 130 I set it at before I left. Hopfully we can get it tweaked this week. Nice to know the 80" monster works! PBS has many great programs and is worth the trouble to have VHF as well IMHO.



Originally posted by LoveMovies
I'm located in Monte Vista (1 1/2 miles due north of downtown). I have a Radio Shack VU90-XR (Vhf/Uhf, 90 mile range [yea right], 80" boom). Knowing what I know now (that all of the channels are UHF except PBS), I would buy a UHF antenna instead. btw: Its mounted 1 foot from my D* HD Dish and pointing approx 135 degrees.

ibglowin,

I finally had to create a chart showing the Signal Strength for each channel with a column for each tweak or direction adjustment. I found that KSAT was strong no matter what. WOAI is watchable. PBS (4 digital channels) seems to be watchable even though its SS dips below 60. It boiled down to KENS, KABB and KRRT which are very highly affected by antenna direction, with changes of only 10 degrees rotation causing SS going from unstable (5-80) to solid SS of 71. I even tried taking the diplexors out of the line (to piggyback on the Satellite line) creating a dedicated OTA connection. It didn't affect anything except KENS (which got stronger).

At this point all channels are watchable except KENS which fluctuates a lot. Somewhere I thought I read that they are at half power still. I'm hoping thats true and will improve.

Someone also told me that by spring there would be new taller transmitting towers and SA digital would be much better. Don't know if thats true at all.

bottom line: careful pointing matters with my semi directional antenna....
good luck

Originally posted by LoveMovies


At this point all channels are watchable except KENS which fluctuates a lot. Somewhere I thought I read that they are at half power still. I'm hoping thats true and will improve.

Someone also told me that by spring there would be new taller transmitting towers and SA digital would be much better. Don't know if thats true at all.


Well, folks...

I don't think any of us are building taller towers. All of the San Antonio TV stations are at the legal limit for tower height and not likely to change. Only KENS, which is presently operating at less than 10 percent of the maximum authorized DTV power output of 1 megawatt, will increase its transmitter power in a few weeks. We took delivery of most of the components necessary to finish our high power buildout only yesterday. Construction is in progress. By mid-February we expect to be able to begin testing the new transmitter.

Once KENS is at a competitive operating power, you'll still need to point your antennas toward the transmitter sites, but the angle of acceptance will be broader, making it easier to get a good signal.

Stay tuned.

Hello all,
I am moving into the area (Bandera) from Seattle an am looking for information on reception. I know Bandera is a long way out. Anyone in the area getting reception and what type antenna are you using? If I can't get local HD, can I get the national feeds on D*? Are all channels in SA in HD like they are in Seattle? Here's hoping!

Thanks,

Wayne

Jerry,

Thank you very much for the actual facts, "straight from the horse's mouth". I'm looking forward to KENS getting its new transmitter running.


Wayne,
Someone from the Bandera area will have to answer your first Q about reception out there. D* will only provide you with the local SD feeds because we are still just a 3rd world city, not a top 10 market. They won't let us have the national feeds. good luck

Only O&O (owned & operated) markets qualify for the HD national feeds. SA is doesn't have any to my knowledge so your out of luck unless you "move".

Thanks for the info Jerry!

Good to hear you will be full power in just a few weeks.

Hey good info, thanks!

My dads neighbor from down the street is coming over this AM to help him tweak the antenna. He has KENS locked at the moment. I hope they can tweak and not lose them for sure.

Originally posted by LoveMovies
ibglowin,

I finally had to create a chart showing the Signal Strength for each channel with a column for each tweak or direction adjustment. I found that KSAT was strong no matter what. WOAI is watchable. PBS (4 digital channels) seems to be watchable even though its SS dips below 60. It boiled down to KENS, KABB and KRRT which are very highly affected by antenna direction, with changes of only 10 degrees rotation causing SS going from unstable (5-80) to solid SS of 71. I even tried taking the diplexors out of the line (to piggyback on the Satellite line) creating a dedicated OTA connection. It didn't affect anything except KENS (which got stronger).

At this point all channels are watchable except KENS which fluctuates a lot. Somewhere I thought I read that they are at half power still. I'm hoping thats true and will improve.

Someone also told me that by spring there would be new taller transmitting towers and SA digital would be much better. Don't know if thats true at all.

bottom line: careful pointing matters with my semi directional antenna....
good luck

Just took down old rooftop antenna to replace with new one.
I've got Mitsu 55613 with D*sh 921, but need new rooftop antenna to pull in the OTA channels. Went to antennaweb for info, but now I need to make a decision on which model to get.
I live in the Vance Jackson/IH 10 area. I visited Lowe's today and noticed that they have the ChannelMaster 3020 and 3019 models available. Both are large antennas and am wondering if maybe these are overkill for my location. Anyone here live in my area, using smaller antenna with great reception? Thanks.

John

Originally posted by EZ2BME
Just took down old rooftop antenna to replace with new one.
I've got Mitsu 55613 with D*sh 921, but need new rooftop antenna to pull in the OTA channels. Went to antennaweb for info, but now I need to make a decision on which model to get.
I live in the Vance Jackson/IH 10 area. I visited Lowe's today and noticed that they have the ChannelMaster 3020 and 3019 models available. Both are large antennas and am wondering if maybe these are overkill for my location. Anyone here live in my area, using smaller antenna with great reception? Thanks.

John

I'm at the Bitters/Blanco area and have a Channelmaster Stealthtenna plus the amplifier module for it. I get ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and FOX without any difficulty. I can't get channel 35 though (KRRT?).

Hey that Stealth Antenna looks cool. Did you get it local or mail order?



Originally posted by joealtus
I'm at the Bitters/Blanco area and have a Channelmaster Stealthtenna plus the amplifier module for it. I get ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and FOX without any difficulty. I can't get channel 35 though (KRRT?).

Originally posted by joealtus
I'm at the Bitters/Blanco area and have a Channelmaster Stealthtenna plus the amplifier module for it. I get ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and FOX without any difficulty. I can't get channel 35 though (KRRT?).


Yes.....I noticed Lowe's had the Stealthtenna as well, but hadn't even looked at that model. Thanks for the info........I'll check the specs and see if it'll work for me.

Originally posted by jimc705
First off your HOA cannot stop you from having an outdoor OTA antenna it's illegal for them to do so.

Secondly you didn't leave a zip or where you are located. If you are in Knoxville proper you probably do not need a outside antenna. The installer may be diplexing the signal which can cause problems if not done properly. Have them try a seperate coax run for the OTA antenna. Most of the sat installers no absolutely nothing about over the air reception. May even be pointing the antenna incorrectly. Need more info to help.

I am in the 37918 zip code and they used some kind of site to tell them where it should be pointed and it did not work. I just thought if someone does it professionally that they could actually get it to work.

Anyone heard how well this antenna works? A friend of mine says he gets 4 channels with it and he is in Seymour.

Zenith Antenna (http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@1002353431.1106926396@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccleadddjlhgeejcehgcemgdffmdggh.0&pid=05768514000&vertical=ELEC)

Hey guys, this may be slightly off-topic but do any of the local stations ever broadcast test patterns?

I'd like to calibrate my TV's antenna input.

Thanks for any help.

What sort of control do you have with your antenna input that you can calibrate it? Does your tv have a signal strength meter?

michael

That antenna works well for a lot of folks.It's available at Sears and possibly Circuit City.At Sears you can easily return it.Definitely worth a try!

I'm sorry, I mean calibrate color, brightness, etc.

I'm not using a reciever or anything so I'm watching through my ANT coax input.

That was misleading and I didn't really need to mention that, sorry.

I just don't know of another way to adjust the colors, etc. if nobody ever broadcasts any test patterns.

Your better off using one of the DVD solutions from AVIA or like. they have many more bells and whistles so to speak plus you will get a good understanding of what it is your adjusting and why. You can also set up your DD5.1 system perfectly if you have a sound decible meter.

jimc705
Your reception of Ch 9 SE of you probably is SCETV's Channel 9 in Greenville SC, although its transmission id somewhat directional with most power south and east.
Jerry Birdwell
Asheville NC

The problem with the DVD solution is that it won't account for the right source.

For instance, my DVD player has different settings than my HTPC. Or right now, the TV input I'm using for my cable box and the TV input I'm using for OTA stuff have the same settings yet appear quite different.

So if I use the same settings for OTA that I use for my DVD player, it's likely still not going to look right. That's why I'd like to adjust the settings based on the source.

Agree with you on sources being different. What about buying a new DVD player with a DVI input? You could then calibrate using your DVI or what ever you nornally use?

There is just not much out there aside from an occasional test pattern on HDNet that I am aware of.

Originally posted by jerry birdwell
jimc705
Your reception of Ch 9 SE of you probably is SCETV's Channel 9 in Greenville SC, although its transmission id somewhat directional with most power south and east.
Jerry Birdwell
Asheville NC

Thanks JB. When I get my antennas stacked this spring I know where to point it now. I do get DT53 WSPA to lock on rare occasions from Spartanburg SC. It almost locks all the time but need a little weather help for it to lock.

jimc705
What elevation are you?
jb

Anyone know if FOX has made any deal to put the Super Bowl on cable?

I have an internal tuner in my office TV but none on my big screen in the living room (only TWC HD box). This has not been a problem during the season since I am usually the only one that watches football and the picture on my Sony 955 is superior to the big screen. This setup will be a little cramped for all the "fair weather" Super Bowl fans who come over.

Just noticed that SA TWC has added HD Movies on Demand on Channel 100. Has anyone tried it?

Forgive me if this question has been asked before but, I didn't feel like going through all 40 pages of this thread.

If I dump my local channels with DirecTV, can I get the network feeds in HD without having to buy an antennae?

P.S. I'm in Knoxville also, 37912.

Originally posted by derailed
Hey guys, this may be slightly off-topic but do any of the local stations ever broadcast test patterns?

I'd like to calibrate my TV's antenna input.

Thanks for any help.

Sorry to disappoint, Derailed, but the short answer is no, most of us do not broadcast any test pattern. In the early days of KENS-DT operation, when we were only on the air a few hours a day, we would put up a color bar signal for a few minutes, but that's all. AND I wouldn't use a simple, full-field bar signal to calibrate my monitor.

Others in this forum have given you good advice regarding the test DVD; HDTV broadcasts are quite similar to DVDs in terms of video dynamic range. While your local station's HDTV output is NOT identical to DVD quality, setting up the monitor with a (test) DVD (from ISF or a similar authority) should get you into the ballpark.

Originally posted by perry519
Forgive me if this question has been asked before but, I didn't feel like going through all 40 pages of this thread.

If I dump my local channels with DirecTV, can I get the network feeds in HD without having to buy an antennae?

P.S. I'm in Knoxville also, 37912.

You are very close to the towers. Yes you'll need an antenna. Probably not an outdoor antenna. You'll get the digitals from abc ,cbs nbc fox and pbs fairly easy. WB and PAX analog shoildn't be a problem. Their digital signal may be a little tougher. They may or may not come in. The zenith silversensor is one of the best indoor antennas. You can give it a try and return it if it doesn't meet your needs.

If you want certain and reliable a CM 4221 or DB4 from antennas direct in the attic should do the job.

Originally posted by perry519
Forgive me if this question has been asked before but, I didn't feel like going through all 40 pages of this thread.

If I dump my local channels with DirecTV, can I get the network feeds in HD without having to buy an antennae?

P.S. I'm in Knoxville also, 37912.

You won't be able to get the DNS feeds. This is all over the HDTV programming forum. You have to be in an O&O market (owned and operated by the network) to be eligible. Waivers are no longer granted in markets that aren't O&O.

LIL HD will be available through D* but not for awhile (at least a year or longer) here as they are doing the largest DMA's first.

Be glad you are as close as you are. It should be relatively easy for you OTA. You also have options with cable.

Originally posted by jerry birdwell
jimc705
What elevation are you?
jb

Good question. Morristown is 1283 above sea level. I'm down by lake Cherokee over the hill from downtown Morristown. I'd guess about the 1300' for I'm halfway up a small hill which crest to my west. Toward the east and south fairly open with distant higher but rolling mountains to get over especially toward Ashville much higher. (70+ miles) Norton Va very strong Grundy VA strong and Abingdon VA weak. ( 60+ mile range) Bristol, Johnson City and Kingsport Very strong. North Clinch mountains, and eastward the hill I'm on plus rolling hills towards Knoxville. The hill I'm on and against cuts my reception toward Knoxville down quit a bit. I get only about 50+ miles in that direction but still strong and reliable with no drops. To south an east max reliable digital is about 60 miles WUNF Ashville WLOS is still at low power I think. I can get on occasion (late night mostly) Roanoke Digital and with weather related assistance Spartanburg SC. North not much up there. Do get Harlan analog very well but just occasional digital lock on Hazard KY. Guess on miles around 55 to 70 air miles respectively.

Originally posted by macbillybob
Anyone know if FOX has made any deal to put the Super Bowl on cable?

I have an internal tuner in my office TV but none on my big screen in the living room (only TWC HD box). This has not been a problem during the season since I am usually the only one that watches football and the picture on my Sony 955 is superior to the big screen. This setup will be a little cramped for all the "fair weather" Super Bowl fans who come over.

I assume you are asking if the HDTV broadcast will be available over cable.
No, I have not heard anything. I doubt this will happen. It is a shame too! The Conference Championships on Fox and CBS looked incredible in HD (OTA). My Samsung 26" HDTV s also too small for a big group.

Ted

Originally posted by sfmartin
I had no problem with 35-1 for the Spurs game last night. I use a 120" Radio Shack antenna with rotator.

Incidentally, in our upstairs bedroom, we use what must be the minimum possible antenna. It is the basic 7" diameter loop that came with an old TV as the UHF antenna. It's attached directly to a 300 ohm to 75 ohm transformer and plugged directly into a Zenith 1080 receiver. With that I get all the San Antonio digital channels except KRRT. Yes, it even picks up KLRN with "good" signal strength. I'm a mile and a half out Vance Jackson from loop 410. :D

I'm looking for a reason to install an outdoor antenna to pick up KRRT-DT. Are the Spurs games on KRRT in HD widescreen? What is the picture quality like?

Ted

The Spurs games on KRRT are digital 4:3 with DD sound but not HD and not widescreen. When I switch between 35 (Directv sat) and 35-1 (Digital OTA) you can definitely see that the digital ota channel is clearer, but unfortunately not HD.

Ted,

Spurs games on KRRT (35-1) are not in HD, but are excellent quality SD. Much better than 35 on DirecTV and somewhat better than 35 analog OTA.

Incidentally, my antenna is a Radio Shack VU-190XR, not a 120". It may be overkill for KRRT. I got it mainly as a backup for KBEJ (Channel 2,UPN) in Fredericksburg. If a thunderstorm knocks out the satellite, I can still get Enterprise snow-free :) .

Sherrill

Hey Sherrill,

Question for you. Can you pull in all SA OTA DTV locals without having to use a rotator with your 120" Radio Shack antenna?

I set up my dad with the small 50" Radio Shack Model and it seems like he can get some stations but then if he tweaks it he pulls in the missing ones but looses some others. In his case specifically he wasn't able to get WOAI so he tweaked it till he pulled it in but now he has lost KSAT. We haven't even tried to get KABB yet. He lives off Callaghan down about 1 mile from IH10 (towards Vance Jackson) so your sorta in the same direction. I installed a good Channel Master preamp. I just want to find out if their is a sweet spot that will pull in everyone if we have a better/different antenna. It sounds like we may have to swap it out for a larger one. My dad went looking at Lowes this weekend for one of the Stealth Antennas from Channel Master. They had 3 and it appeared that all 3 were opened/returned so not sure how well they work in SA overall.

Any help here is much appreciated!

Originally posted by sfmartin
Ted,

Spurs games on KRRT (35-1) are not in HD, but are excellent quality SD. Much better than 35 on DirecTV and somewhat better than 35 analog OTA.

Incidentally, my antenna is a Radio Shack VU-190XR, not a 120". It may be overkill for KRRT. I got it mainly as a backup for KBEJ (Channel 2,UPN) in Fredericksburg. If a thunderstorm knocks out the satellite, I can still get Enterprise snow-free :) .

Sherrill

If the antenna is tweaked for KENS, it should get all the other stations except KRRT. They are all located in the same direction (except KRRT) and KENS is the weakest. From your location, the antenna should be pointed very nearly southeast. I hope I'm not insulting your intelligence to point out that the small end of the antenna should be pointing toward the station.

That said, I can almost reach a compromise pointing the antenna at KRRT, which is approximately northwest. It will still pick up the other stations, apparently off a back lobe, but with occasional breakup. Incidentally, it is the Radio Shack VU-190XR, not the 120- incher as I previously stated.

Sherrill

Hehehe....

Yea, small end (UHF) is pointing towards the Towers... Very weird that we are able to pull in KENS but NOT WOAI and KSAT at the same time......

I still can't figure out if its an antenna thing or alignment thing or perhaps an intererence thing. He does have some large electrical distribution towers running through the line of site south. They are less than 100yards away but like I say he can pull in KENS at 1/10 power so I'm at a loss here.

I wish antenna specs were more universal in nature. Saying something is good for up to 75miles is not as good as saying how much gain each channel has with the same antenna.

Originally posted by sfmartin
If the antenna is tweaked for KENS, it should get all the other stations except KRRT. They are all located in the same direction (except KRRT) and KENS is the weakest. From your location, the antenna should be pointed very nearly southeast. I hope I'm not insulting your intelligence to point out that the small end of the antenna should be pointing toward the station.

That said, I can almost reach a compromise pointing the antenna at KRRT, which is approximately northwest. It will still pick up the other stations, apparently off a back lobe, but with occasional breakup. Incidentally, it is the Radio Shack VU-190XR, not the 120- incher as I previously stated.

Sherrill

Originally posted by tarevalo
I assume you are asking if the HDTV broadcast will be available over cable.
No, I have not heard anything. I doubt this will happen. It is a shame too! The Conference Championships on Fox and CBS looked incredible in HD (OTA). My Samsung 26" HDTV s also too small for a big group.

Ted

Ted,

Yes, I meant HD. I guess I will be out in my office watching on my 34" Sony. Great picture and great reception OTA, just not as big as the one in the living room.

Looks like a small but intimate gathering.

No, Spurs on WB not in HD. But they looked great the other night on TNTHD

Side note: wonder when TWC is going to add ESPN2HD???

Where can you get your elevation at? Is there an online resource?

Originally posted by Mwwilliams
Where can you get your elevation at? Is there an online resource?

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/

This site will give you exact lat/long for your address (just enter the address in the space provided) and also if you click on "topographic map" once your info is up it will privide your elevation.

Thanks!

You can also download Keyhole 2 LT and get all the information you need about your property. A guy I work with told me about it.

__________________________________________

Man, that program is awesome! Does anyone have the address of the WATE or any location where the towers are located on Sharps Ridge? I need to get elevation for there and a flyby with Keyhole to determine the highest ridge between me and Sharps Ridge. I am at 1034 and the ridge behind me is at 1250 so I may be blocked. We shall see.

jimc705:
That's impressive reception considering the obstructions between you and the Xmitters. Here we have a lot of multipath and co-channel and adjacent channel problems cropping up as stations increase power. I am using a Samsung TS 160, but look to replacing it with (LG's) next generation RX chips if they are ever released. It is supposed to handle OTA problems such as multipath much better.

Originally posted by Mwwilliams
Where can you get your elevation at? Is there an online resource?
Yes here is one. Type in your city and state then at top elevation is given for your area.

http://www.topozone.com/

Originally posted by jerry birdwell
jimc705:
That's impressive reception considering the obstructions between you and the Xmitters. Here we have a lot of multipath and co-channel and adjacent channel problems cropping up as stations increase power. I am using a Samsung TS 160, but look to replacing it with (LG's) next generation RX chips if they are ever released. It is supposed to handle OTA problems such as multipath much better.

Hopefully when they start shutting off some analogs (be it 2008 now I think) it will help. I have severe multipath from Knoxville stations both before and aft main signal. The 91xg is very directional and has pretty much eliminated the problem. Tried some other antennas and really got nothing but one station from Knoxville and that had drop outs. Now I get them all reliably. I'm using a Dish 811 for OTA reception.

I heard the new 5th gen chips are going into the HDTV's and will not be put in STB's. This came from another forum so don't know how true it is. I would think eventually they put them in the STB's maybe just the HD sets first.

Someone just told me that CBS will not be broadcasting the Superbowl game in HD anywhere in Texas. Did this person misunderstand something or is this true??

michael

Sounds like that crazy person needs to be committed. There isn't ANY WAY the bigger stations could get away with that. Makes me wonder why you gave that person any credit for knowing how to even spell their own name....

Ok, so I just started looking around and find that FOX is broadcasting the Superbowl not CBS. On the FOX San Antonio website, it says they will be broadcasting the game in 720P.

sorry
michael

I still have a 16 foot Radio Shack antenna new in the box that I will sell cheap. It's great for people in fringe areas. PM me if interested.

jr

Originally posted by LoveMovies
Ok, so I just started looking around and find that FOX is broadcasting the Superbowl not CBS. On the FOX San Antonio website, it says they will be broadcasting the game in 720P.

sorry
michael

FOX broadcasts all of their games in 720p (at least all the ones that are HD)

The problem here is that you can only get FOXHD OTA, no cable. I get it on the one TV that has an internal tuner but the other (main bigscreen) tv does not have a tuner and relies on a TWC HD box for its input. Hence no Super Bowl in the living room.

I get the OTA signal very strong and the picture quality is great. As a matter of fact I get all the locals strong, except for WB which is in the other direction. Don't really care since there are no HD programs that I know of on WB. Only reason I watch it is the Spurs.

I currently live on Orange County Cal and get all my HD via OTA from Mt. Wilson. Its about 60 miles with no hills between me and the antennae. I use an 8' Channel Master to bring 'em in.

In a year or so we will be retiring in Kerrville Texas. Does anybody have any idea on being able to pickup CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX out of San Antonio? From Kerrville that is. Looking at the map and Kerrville being up in the hill country it looks like it ain't gonna happen.

The options left are DirecTV which I don't know if they yet have all four networks. Even if they do I can't record or timeshift using my HTPCs.

And then there is TimeWarner. I haven't had cable TV in 15 years or more. Do they carry all the newtorks in HD in Kerrville or San Antonio?

Actually cable might not be an option if one lives a few miles outta town.

How about an 80' monster antenna. Joking. Am I just outta luck up there?

AllenDB

D* offers all of the local channels, but not any in HD. We are not in one of the big markets that allow D* to give us the national feeds, so you will only get HD networks via OTA if you get them. Hopefully someone here lives in Kerrville and will tell you about OTA. I have read here that TWC does not provide HD locals either.

good luck
michael

http://twc-kerrville.com/cable/index.html

Here is the link for TWC Kerrville. Didn't see HD service. you could call.

I like TWC here in San Antonio. Lots of HD content and I actually got a tech guy who knew what he was doing. Finally go a cable card after 4 months. AND IT WORKS.

I would think Kerville would be a real crapshoot. It would depend on your elevation and line of site to the towers. You would need a big mast more than likley and a Channel Master 4228 (8 Bowtie UHF) along with a good preamp. KLRN (PBS) is UHF so if you want it you may have to put up a 2nd VHF antenna. On the other hand, you should have no problems with KRRT Fox out of Kerrville which many San Antonians have difficulty locking on to it seems.

Has anyone tried to pull in KLRN with a Channel Master 4228 in San Antonio?? According to the test specs from HDprimer.com it can pull in the higher VHF channels pretty darn good. By that I mean 9-13. So it may work as a single antenna only. This is what I use here in NM and I am pulling everyone in from Albuquerque, NM from about 48 miles away. Of course the towers are located at 11,000 feet so that helps!

I spoke to twc today still no agreement that really sucks!!

I bet there will be a lot of p...ed off people. How about this:

Someone goes down to their local store and buys a new HDTV just in time to watch the Super Bowl.
The sales people aren't going to educate them except to tell them they need a TWC HD box (maybe if they are lucky).
They get it home and invite everyone over, have the chips, dip and beer out.
Start surfing through the channels to find the game and all they get is a crappy 4x3 SD pic on channel 11.
Even if they have an antenna, most HD sets don't have tuners.

Fortunately I get FOXHD OTA and can watch on my small set. I have been thinking about getting a tuner since they have come down i price. I like watching the locals in HD OTA. Picture seems better. Maybe my imagination.

Oh well, welcome to the new world of TV. TVs are now more complicated than the personal computer.

Time Warner's answer:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/sanantonio/customerinfo.html

We swapped out the 50" Radio Shack antenna for the 80" on Saturday. Just not enough gain on the small one. We were able to find a sweet spot with this one. Got all SA locals locked including KENS. My Dad watched his first Super Bowl in HD last night. Awesome PQ on Fox. No compression for sure.

Go ahead Time Warner keep holding out! Folks.... "Let your cable go!"

I thought the PQ and sound were both very good. I usually watch all local programing OTA unless I am in the living room with no tuner. I think OTA gives the best quality.

But, have to have my cable for ESPNHD and TNTHD

I was very pleased with the PQ and sound last night. (I also have the 80" RS antenna).

Is WVLT passing the new 5.1 on to Knoxville?

My Dolby 5.1 light on my receiver is not coming on like it does for other digital broadcast.

I was watching one of the prime time shows the other night and noticed that CBS said it was 5.1 but I was not getting that signal from VLT.


BTW...I was one of the WVLT bashers, and it seems to have gotten better. Still wish they would not chew up bandwidth with that UPN garbage, but at least most of the shows seem to be in HD rather than the AVS'ers having to call and wake up the engineering dept....

I look forward to the responses.

Cip

PS KUDOS to WTNZ & Fox....seemed to pull off a pretty flawless Super Bowl, glad Comcast finally came to the negotiating table.

I had two of the supervisors at my house yesterday to try and get my OTA working. One problem discovered was that the channel guide was not updated for either receiver for my OTA channels. Every connector on the cables were changed, the diplexer was replaced (it is coming out completely), the barrel connector replaced and after all that, I got one channel. The antenna was not touched. They did not move it at all. I may be able to get other channels but FOX is coming in so well I decided I would rather keep the one until after the Daytona race is over.
Anyway, here is my dilemma. What type\brand\model of antenna should I get to replace the one D* sent me and where should it go? I am considering two locations. One is my attic and one is out under my eave at the back of my house. I have referenced AntennaWeb and it is saying medium directional antenna. So, back to my original question, what to get and from where? Who has the easiest return policy if it doesn't do what you need? Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

If you can get Fox 43-1 you should be able to receive WBIR-DT 10-1 and WATE-DT 6-1. If you cannot, the problem is not your antenna. These stations are transmitting from the same tower.

Then why would I NOT get those? That does not make sense. Maybe a slight move to this antenna would enable me to get them?

Try rescanning for channels if that function is available on your receiver. The FCC mandated some changes in the mpg stream that may have confused your receiver.

They tried that while they were there and it added no more channels.

These questions are for anyone who can get UPN. I know Sherrill has mentioned she can get it.

What is your location?

Equipment?

Self or Professional Install.

I've called two professional install places and most don't even consider KRRT let alone UPN likely with their installs.

I am able to get KRRT with the RS 15-1880, with a marginal, but watchable signal.

I may be fortunate to be in an area of SA that is a "hill", and I want to maximize the OTA HD shows I can get.

I am so impressed with OTA HD programs, (I bought my first HDTV with tuner about a month ago), I might get rid of cable.

Ted

Bear in mind that UPN is only analog at this time. I usually watch it on DirecTV. The antenna is just a backup.

Sherrill (I'm a he, but no problem. A frequent assumption.)

Originally posted by sfmartin
Bear in mind that UPN is only analog at this time. I usually watch it on DirecTV. The antenna is just a backup.

Sherrill (I'm a he, but no problem. A frequent assumption.)

Thanks for both clarifications. It makes a big difference then!

Ted

D* offers all of the local channels, but not any in HD. We are not in one of the big markets that allow D* to give us the national feeds, so you will only get HD networks via OTA if you get them. Hopefully someone here lives in Kerrville and will tell you about OTA. I have read here that TWC does not provide HD locals either.


That's not entirely true -- I live in New Braunfels and I currently have FOX HD and CBS HD national feeds through D*. I've heard conflicting things about D* allowing some people to have certain HD channels in certain markets and not others -- a lot of it, truth be told, depends on the Customer Service rep you talk to. I lived in Austin when I got CBS added and they never took it off when I moved closer to S.A. When I heard they were starting to put stuff on FOX on D*, I called and asked them to add it.

I've got the HD-TiVo and it has channel listings for all San Antonio and Austin HD locals.

I'm picking up CBS, ABC and NBC from San Antonio well enough with an indoor top-of-the-TV Silver Sensor antenna. FOX OTA is good, but sometimes spotty. Super Bowl looked great.

I haven't been able to pick up 9-1 or 9-2 (PBS) at all. Haven't been able to pick up WB from Kerrville (that one really hurts -- we used to watch a lot of WB in HD in Austin and the WB feed in SD from D* looks pretty crappy). On a good day, I can pick up KLRU (PBS) from Austin if I point the antenna the opposite direction.

We're considering an attic mount -- we live on a pretty high hill with no real obstacles around us and we're very south New Braunfels (between Walnut and Sequin exits).

Anyone have any suggestion on whether we should have an install done or antenna suggestions? Any success with PBS/WB/UPN from this far out?

Originally posted by Cipro
Is WVLT passing the new 5.1 on to Knoxville?

My Dolby 5.1 light on my receiver is not coming on like it does for other digital broadcast.

I was watching one of the prime time shows the other night and noticed that CBS said it was 5.1 but I was not getting that signal from VLT.


BTW...I was one of the WVLT bashers, and it seems to have gotten better. Still wish they would not chew up bandwidth with that UPN garbage, but at least most of the shows seem to be in HD rather than the AVS'ers having to call and wake up the engineering dept....

I look forward to the responses.

Cip

PS KUDOS to WTNZ & Fox....seemed to pull off a pretty flawless Super Bowl, glad Comcast finally came to the negotiating table.

Cip ,
Yes my receiver shows it as DD 5.1.

Originally posted by Mwwilliams
Then why would I NOT get those? That does not make sense. Maybe a slight move to this antenna would enable me to get them?

First off the sat installers no little or nothing about OTA. Secondly digital if fickle. WKOP and WVLT use the same tower and I barely get WVLT but WKOP comes in fine. WBIR is at less then half the power of WVLT but yet their towers are only a mile apart. I get WBIR excellent. I don't know what kind of antenna they installed but it may be pointed in the wrong direction. That' would be the easy fix. Go to antennaweb.org web sight punch in your address and see what compass direction the stations are from you. It will also tell you what size antenna you need. See link below.

As close in as you are a Channel Master 4221 for about $25 will do the job. I am assuming you are in the greater Knoxville area. I heard that some Ace hardwares are starting to carry these locally but don't know that as a fact.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?main_cat=03&CAT=&PROD=SCM4221A
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

Mwwilliams - check your PMs.

I've done some calling around and reviewing of suggestions on this board. IMHO, if you want the best result, call around to the antenna installers near your location and ask them what their success has been at getting for their customers the stations that they want. Call more than one. I spoke to one antenna installer who enjoyed the topic and we chatted about how good the Super Bowl was, how the World Series looked, whether we'll be able to get KBEJ-DT (UPN) when it goes on line in Nov (maybe!?). He even talked about his own antenna install.

Hopefully someone one on this board who lives in your area will chime in. We should really help each other out as much as possible!

For now, I followed a frequent recommendation and got the Radio Shack 15-1880 (indoor). My main goal was to be able to get KRRT-DT, plus the other major San Antonio digital stations (including KABB-DT). With this antenna, and after a lot of location trials, I am able to get it (solid signal)! I'm statisfied (for now).


Ted

Hello everyone, I've finally seen the light.

I just put up a Winegard PR-4400 for my locals. I can't believe I waited so long. I had to have HD for the SuperBowl and Daytona.

I finally broke down because I was exchanging emails with Engineer Tom Theilmann at WTNZ. He felt like it would be a while before any kind of contract was signed with charter. Here in Maryville, we still don't have 6 or 43 available in hd and their downward analog conversion is terrible.

I've also learned and figured out that Charter nor Comcast carry all the info. for a channel anyway. Example... Channel 8's CBS signal is excellent and often includes 5.1 audio on shows like CSI, on Charter we do have an HD channel 8, but they skip the audio and only broadcast stereo, or maybe the older surround sound code.

My question to everyone is.... What's your opinion on dumping all my Charter boxes and just keeping their basic cable package. I rarely watch HBO or Showtime. ESPN HD is excellent but since football is over and Nascar is on FOX, HDNET is about all that I watch.

Their straight analog signal is better than running it through one of their boxes anyway. I guess this is just a rant, but I feel Charter has only teased me to this point and now I see the light.

Scott

Do I need a hd tuner for this antenna Radio Shack 15-1880 (indoor)? My TV does not have HD tuner Samsung 5085 DLP.

Originally posted by jag2005
Do I need a hd tuner for this antenna Radio Shack 15-1880 (indoor)? My TV does not have HD tuner Samsung 5085 DLP.


YES

Just out of curiosity... What HD programming does KRRT (WB) have?

Do their SD programs have any better pd than cable?

Originally posted by macbillybob
Just out of curiosity... What HD programming does KRRT (WB) have?

Do their SD programs have any better pd than cable?

The OTA SD PQ is about the same as cable.

This is off of their website. I watched part of Jack & Bobby last night.

The WB's HDTV offerings:

Monday - EVERWOOD
Tuesday - GILMORE GIRLS; ONE TREE HILL
Wednesday - SMALLVILLE, THE MOUNTAIN
Friday - WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU, COMMANDO NANNY, REBA
Sunday - ONE TREE HILL (EasyView), THE MOUNTAIN (EasyView), JACK & BOBBY

I'm sure more will follow soon.

Ted

I don't cable, I have satellite. My HDTivo places the OTA stations right next to the statellite stations, (35 for WB sat, 35-1 for WB OTA), so its easy to compare them. I think the OTA SD broadcast is sharper than the sat SD signal. I'm guessing its because of compression via satellite. I would assume that cable uses compression as well, but I don't know how they compare. Of course HD programs look much better. I always watch the Spurs via OTA broadcast.

michael

I guess I will have to try to pickup WB digital. I always go by Titan and they don't indicate that any of those shows are in HD. They have been wrong before though. My girls will be excited, they watch that Tuesday lineup.

Spurs on WB are not in HD, but I'm all for a better SD picture if possible.

I watch most local HD content OTA also but I have TWC HD package because one of my TVs does not have a tuner. Plus you gotta have ESPNHD and TNTHD for the times when the Spurs are in HD.

I live on the northeast side of town. I've been using an LG OTA tuner with roof mounted antennas aligned to the bearings assigned by the antenna web. There is a big tree in the way. I can typically pull in KLRN, KSAT, WB strong. WOAI comes and goes, KENS, nothing. TimeWarner is such a shell game. Anyone tried Voom? How about the other Sat providers? We want to be able to get the Spurs in HD whenever possible. Thanks!

I was wunderin' the same thing about VOOM. As I said earlier we'll be moving to Kerrvile sometime in the next few years. I've been watching HD since 2001 and cannot/will not live without it. OTA ain't gonna happen there unless someone knows of a miracle. And TWC in Kerrville doesn't cut it either.

Guess I should just call VOOM. But then I can't use my HTPCs for recording and burning and it all goes downhill quick from there.

How about Boerne? Is that in the range of OTA? Its about 30 miles out.

Many have asked about Spurs games in HD. After much research, I conclude that you can only see the Spurs play in (true) HD on TNT-HD, NBATV HighDef, and ESPN HD. If you get the game on KENS-DT, KRRT-DT, their broadcast will look better than their analog signal (IMHO) and if it is possible to "Zoom", those broadcasts will look pretty good.

The next game that might be in HD is coming up on Wed, Feb 23, on ESPN.

Incidentally, I have read that the NBA Finals will be on ABC (KSAT-DT) and will be broadcast in HD.

There a a few threads on AVS that talk about VOOM. Here is one. There seems to be a question of how long they will be in business.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=508012

I have had my problems with TWC but as it stands now, I am happy with the service and the content.

Doesn't look like the game on 2/23 is HD. For ESPNHD listings:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tvlistings/espnhd/index

I believe all TNT games are HD and they will carry a large portion of the playoffs.

I tried to get Voom. The installer came out to my house, which is 2 story with a peak roof, got up there and walked all around with a dish and signal meter and could not get a signal over "45" and said he needed "greater than "85" to prevent breakup. I have some branches from a neighbor's tree in that direction. Apparently the current Voom satellites are very low (35 degrees vertical) compared to D* (59 degrees). The direction, incidently is around 135 degrees. The installer said that he has had very poor success installing Voom in San Antonio. He also installs D* and Dish.

good luck
michael

I contacted one of the local Sat companies today that sell all three brands. They claim that Dish Network is the best for HD in the area and I believe for local channels. But they were vague. I still get the feeling that the best way to get the local HD signals is OTA, any comments?

Does anybody know the final channel elections for the Knoxville stations? I see the tri cities have made a few changes. If you have a link to the FCC channel elections sight please post. I haven't been able to find a thing on Knoxville.
Thanks

Originally posted by jimc705
Does anybody know the final channel elections for the Knoxville stations? I see the tri cities have made a few changes. If you have a link to the FCC channel elections sight please post. I haven't been able to find a thing on Knoxville.
Thanks

WVLT will stay on 30.
WBIR will go back to 10.
WTNZ will stay on 34.
WATE will stay on 26.
WKOP didn't have their's in the last I checked.
I'm assuming WMAK will stay on 7 but I didn't check them.

Go to http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/tn/tv_information.asp?m=kno
and click on "complete info" for the analog station, then click on "application list" and it's under "BFRECT".

I've had Voom since February of last year and am very pleased. I just reused my existing Dish 61.5 dish...didn't even go up on the roof...just swapped the recievers. If you can see the Dish 61.5 you've got Voom.

I'm in Fair Oaks and also have TWC for the HD locals.

I was a previous Direct and Dish customer and much appreciate the HD and SD quality of Voom.

Originally posted by cpcat
WVLT will stay on 30.
WBIR will go back to 10.
WTNZ will stay on 34.
WATE will stay on 26.
WKOP didn't have their's in the last I checked.
I'm assuming WMAK will stay on 7 but I didn't check them.

Go to http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/tn/tv_information.asp?m=kno
and click on "complete info" for the analog station, then click on "application list" and it's under "BFRECT".

Thanks cp. I really was hoping WVLT would get off that 30 though.

So,those of us with UHF only antennae will have to add another antenna to get CH10...WBIR.........Rats

Not necessarily although best performance is from an antenna designed for the channels in question.

Are you able to receive DTV channel 7 at present?
Are you able to receive channel 10 analog?
Then you will probably be okay with your existing antenna.

Did anyone experience the audio dropping out of the wtnz boradcast in the first portion of the Bud Shootout? It seemed to clear up later in the night.

My 43.1 signal is very strong but around 8-9 each night it seems to fluctuate slightly .

Thanks,
Scotty

Is KENS-DT full power yet?

I don't know but they are still the lowest power I receive.

KENS 76
WOAI 95+
KABB 90
KSAT 89

I tried to turn my antenna and p/u KRRT this weekend and got nothing.

I live almost downtown (near Woodlawn Lake)

This is a bit of work, but try pointing the antenna toward KRRT and have your tuner auto program (scan). Sometimes once it picks up the signal via auto program you can later make adjustments to the antenna to get a solid signal.

I had to do this on my Samsung and Sony TVs to finally get KRRT. You might be able to get it moving the antenna around, but my tuners could not even find the signal doing this.

This is a bit of work, because usually you have to go back and then delete all the channels you do not want that were picked up on the auto scan.

YMMV

Ted

Originally posted by Jimbo713
Is KENS-DT full power yet?

Well, no, not yet. During the next few days KENS will install the new plumbing that will connect either our low-power DTV transmitter or our new high-power DTV transmitter to the antenna. As of today construction is nearly complete on the new system. All that remain are a few operational trials, installation of remote control and monitoring systems and of course, getting the plumbing chore done.

Because of this, KENS-DT will drop off the air at times during daytime hours only to permit cutting the transmission line, building and connecting the new line segments and installing the output connection from the antenna switch to the transmission line. Whether we finish this task in one day or not, we will restore DTV operation every afternoon before Eyewitness News at 5 pm, long before your favorite prime time programs.

We hope to have all the plumbing work finished by week's end. Please be patient; the results will be worth the wait!

Jerry,

Thank you very much for the update.

michael

Jerry,

THAT is such great news! I'm looking forward to CBS-HD!

Thanks Jerry!

Looking forward to seeing 4.71 Gigawatts from KENS!

ibglowin,

Thinking about getting KENS from Kerrville?

No just happy to see the last of the majors at full power finally. After all SA is like the 9th largest city in the US!

Originally posted by LoveMovies
ibglowin,

Thinking about getting KENS from Kerrville?

9th largest, but still a 3rd world city in many ways :-)

And to think we'll be moving back to the area in a few years.

I asked earlier about HD OTA reception in Kerrville. The responses sounded negatory. How about Boerne?

I take the reference to "third world city" to mean "charming and diverse"!

well, actually that is correct ...... thats the trade-off. You can have sophisticated with all the trimmings or you can have charming and diverse.

Notice that I live here in SA and love it. I would never trade SA for Houston or Dallas.

Hey, wait a minute ..... San francisco is sophisticated and charming and diverse! oh yea, and very expensive......

Can anyone recommend a good indoor antenna that will reach up to 35 miles?

I hear the Silver sensor is one of the best if you want something indoors meaning like would fit near your TV. If you mean indoor attic I would go bigger for sure.

Originally posted by elsalvador69
Can anyone recommend a good indoor antenna that will reach up to 35 miles?

Boerne is no problem. I live in town and use a Winegard (don't know the model). It is not a really large antenna, maybe 8' long, and relatively light (as in not heavy). The antenna is about 8' above the roof of my single story residence or about 23' above the ground. I definitely do not live on a hill. I chose this antenna over the heavier 10' or so Radio Shack, which I still have (for sale). I tried them both and had almost identical reception so I opted for the smaller of the two.

As you have read, KENS has been at low power but I have been receiving it just fine, a 70 reading on my Dish 6000. I receive the other three majors at a 80 - 92 strength with FOX being the strongest. The PBS tower is in a somewhat other direction and the reception is iffy unless I rotate the antenna and therefore lose or diminish the locals.

email me if you need any HDTV or Real Estate info for the area.

Originally posted by elsalvador69
Can anyone recommend a good indoor antenna that will reach up to 35 miles?

I do not believe indoor antennas are rated for distance (and terrain for that matter) like outdoor antennas are. Maybe if you give your location, another indoor antenna user following this thread can assist you.

I live near Broadway and Nacogdoches and have had very good success with the Radio Shack 15-1880. I am able to get all the (english) OTA HD broadcasts including KRRT. YMMV.

Ted

Hello All,

Is anyone here from south of town? I am in Lytle (just south of SA). I just bought a US Digital (Walmart) STB to connect to my Mits 55 inch.

The tv has two antenna inputs- I connected one to my outdoor VHF and the other to my indoor UHF. The Mits has an antenna pass through that I connected to the STB. I assume this combines the antenna signals, right?

I am able to receive 10 channels.
NBC (2 channels)
PBS (4)
ABC (2)
Fox
Channel 60

No signal at all from CBS or WB.

Can anyone recommend a good indoor antenna (UHF and VHF)to use for my other STB (LG-4200A). This one is on the opposite side of the house from the outdoor antenna.

Thanks.

How did you get a USDTV receiver in SA? Walmart.com?

They had one in stock at the one by 410 and 151. I believe I have seen them at others in town as well. (If you call them, they might have no idea what you are talking about- its best to go in person). The one I got was on a top shelf (not prominently displayed).

Are you just trying to use the OTA HD tuner since USDTV doesn't operate in SA? Can I ask what you had to pay for it? They are still showing $198 on Walmart.com. Somewhere I read where you could pick one up at a firesale price. Would be great to have a spare OTA tuner to play with.

Right,

For OTA use only- I refuse to pay for cable, satellite, or even US Digital's service. I mainly watch DVDs anyway.

It was the same price locally as on-line.

Ahh good thing as it is rumored that USDTV will be out of business soon. Not soon enough for me since they are sucking much of the precious HD bandwidth off several of the local Albuquerque DTV stations.

Wonder why they would sell a receiver in a market that they don't even operate in? I saw them at our local Wallymart but figured they were only available in the 3 markets they are currently operating in. I know they had big dreams but it appears they are close to being over.

Originally posted by aVOLanche
So,those of us with UHF only antennae will have to add another antenna to get CH10...WBIR.........Rats

Whats this? When? This thread is so long I haven't been keeping up with it much. Just enjoying HD.

I also have a Winegard 4 bay UHF only and I really don't want to mount another medium sized directional antenna in the attic and besides it probably wouldn't fit.

Got some pictures here. (http://webpages.charter.net/presleys/Home%20Theater.htm)

Anyways I live in Madisonville and its about 50miles straight line to most of the towers. I pick up most at 97% or higher with the Winegard 4400, WB about 94%. This is with the tuner built into my TV. So if anyone in the Madisonville area should be able to get a pretty good digital signal out of Knoxville.

The Daytona 500 on Fox wasn't as good of a picture as the World Series was. The grammy awards looked really good and I watched the show from beginning to end for the first time. I really wished it was in DD 5.1 instead of DD 2.0. I also wish PBS HD would fix that damn hissing background noise.

Originally posted by aVOLanche
So,those of us with UHF only antennae will have to add another antenna to get CH10...WBIR.........Rats

Most bowtie uhf antennas also have decent gain for vhf 9-13. I doubt it will be a problem for most who are reasonably close in. People in the fringe like me likely already have separate vhf and uhf setups so will also probably be unaffected. Also, a channel 10 folded dipole is ridiculously simple to make. See http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/misc/dipole.html

I've used a homemade channel 4 folded dipole like this mounted to 1/2 inch pvc. It works. It wasn't really good enough at my distance, though.

Jimc705 uses one of these for WMAK 7 and he's in Morristown.

I was getting CH7(Knoxville) when I had a VHF/UHF combo antenna installed by thr Directv folks.But my UHF wasn't good enough.The installer didn't know squat about the antenna install,so I eventually discarded it(and the $180 was blown) and got a good UHF only antenna(Winegard 9032),which is currently OK.I'm not that far from the towers,but have a huge hill and trees.

If I add VHF,I assume I will need to add a UHF + VHF combiner(even if I make the dipole from your link)?Is this not correct?If correct,does a joiner hurt the UHF signal?Thanks for your reply!

Patrick:I don't get any VHF off the current UHF antenna.And CH7 was strong when I had the UHF/VHF antenna-UHF was poor to marginal until I got the Winegard(a 10 ft yagi-style).

Originally posted by aVOLanche
I was getting CH7(Knoxville) when I had a VHF/UHF combo antenna installed by thr Directv folks.But my UHF wasn't good enough.The installer didn't know squat about the antenna install,so I eventually discarded it(and the $180 was blown) and got a good UHF only antenna(Winegard 9032),which is currently OK.I'm not that far from the towers,but have a huge hill and trees.

If I add VHF,I assume I will need to add a UHF + VHF combiner(even if I make the dipole from your link)?Is this not correct?If correct,does a joiner hurt the UHF signal?Thanks for your reply!

Patrick:I don't get any VHF off the current UHF antenna.And CH7 was strong when I had the UHF/VHF antenna-UHF was poor to marginal until I got the Winegard(a 10 ft yagi-style).

Yes you'll need a combiner. It does have a little loss but very little. If your UHF is good now it probably won't effect it. If you are using the CM 7777 amp on the UHF it has a built in combiner. You must flip the internal switch of the amp to seperate UHF/VHF inputs and you'll see no loss. If your UHF is effected you can A/B switch it with no loss. Bonus it will probably also pick up 10 when they do go back to 10DT.

A UHF only antenna will still have some gain at VHF. Before I became too concerned about events that are years away, I'd try to receive channel 10 analog with the UHF antenna. If you can get a half-way decent picture on channel 10 analog you probably will be okay for a conversion to digital without any further investment in antennas. As far as overall coverage of channel 10 versus channel 31, I suspect that channel 10 will out preform channel 31 in poor reception locations.

As far as combining antennas, VHF to UHF, there is always some signal loss through passive devices but probably not enough to notice.

Jamie ,
WBIR will be installing the equipment to pass 5.1 sometime this year. At least it's in this years budget.

Who here is receiveing OTA CBS or KRRT? Are you using indoor antennas? If so, which one?

Originally posted by aVOLanche
I was getting CH7(Knoxville) when I had a VHF/UHF combo antenna installed by thr Directv folks.But my UHF wasn't good enough.The installer didn't know squat about the antenna install,so I eventually discarded it(and the $180 was blown) and got a good UHF only antenna(Winegard 9032),which is currently OK.I'm not that far from the towers,but have a huge hill and trees.

If I add VHF,I assume I will need to add a UHF + VHF combiner(even if I make the dipole from your link)?Is this not correct?If correct,does a joiner hurt the UHF signal?Thanks for your reply!

Patrick:I don't get any VHF off the current UHF antenna.And CH7 was strong when I had the UHF/VHF antenna-UHF was poor to marginal until I got the Winegard(a 10 ft yagi-style).

For channel 7, you may need a separate antenna. In addition the pr9032 will not do well on channel 10 pointed directly *at* the tower. Likely, it's best gain on 10 will be *through the back* and off axis about 30-40 degrees so that the antenna "looks" like a channel 10 dipole to the tower.
This has been my experience anyway.

Probably what you should do is make a channel 8 or 9 folded dipole, add it in through a good vhf/uhf diplexer such as the CM 0549, and this should allow you to receive 7 and most likely 10 when it comes on. They are so easy you could also just make a 7 now and worry about 10 later.
CM 0549: http://www.starkelectronic.com/cmjoiner.htm
Pico uhf/vhf diplexer: http://www.picomacom.com/specs/pico/C/C24.pdf

Originally posted by kwill
Who here is receiveing OTA CBS or KRRT? Are you using indoor antennas? If so, which one?

Kwill, given your distance from the transmitter sites, an indoor antenna is not a good idea. You probably already know that KABB, KENS, KSAT, and WOAI are all in approximately the same location, 33 miles east of Lytle. KRRT's antenna site is north by northwest of you, in Lake Hills above Medina Lake. You're probably not going to get them on an indoor antenna, period. You'll receive KENS a lot more easily in a couple of weeks, when we're finished testing our new high power transmitter. We are waiting for the installation of one final component in the control and monitoring system.

I think most Forum writers would agree that a good outdoor antenna, even an inexpensive one from a discount electronics retailer, will serve you better than an indoor device. And, since KLRN-DT (PBS) is VHF, a VHF/UHF combo antenna would be a good choice. Many other posts in this thread suggest antenna options. I'll only add that if you want WB along with the other mainstream San Antonio stations, point your combo array to the east, and combine its signal with a UHF-only antenna pointed north, toward Medina lake. There's no reason why you cannot use a combined antenna array to feed all the receivers in your home - it'll take running some cable lines to the rooms you want to serve, and good quality splitters and maybe a preamplifier at the antenna. I would connect the RF from the combo array directly to the input of the STB, since this is doing the DTV tuning for you. Precise pointing angles can be found at http://www.antennaweb.org.

Good luck and best regards,

Thanks for replying Realthogue.

Its good to know that I will be able to get KENS in a few weeks.

Just to clarify, when you mention splitters directly to the STB, do you think this work better than combining the signals in my tv and passing the signal to the STB? In another thread, I mentioned a problem with audio sync on all channels from the STB. I wonder if this is at all related to my antenna configuration.

I was just hoping to avoid running 150 feet of RG6 to my outdoor VHF (I am lazy).

Here's a pic of the channel 4 folded dipole I made.

I used a 5/32 bit to make pilot holes, then a 5/16 bit to widen them for the u-bolt. The pvc tends to hang on to the bit a little, but if you forward and reverse it a couple of times it works o.k.

Kwill,

I don't know that signals are being combined in your TV. There are many ways to skin the beast of connecting antennas in a multi-purpose system; you seem to be a fairly advanced viewer, judging from your HT lineup, so my suggestion would be to experiment.

I'll need to look at the audio sync post in another thread to comment on it, but generally if you connect the antenna to the STB first, then use component analog or DVI outputs from the STB to your display, monitor, TV, whatever, and audio outputs to your HT audio amp, your sync should be golden.

(and having looked over your post on audio sync problems with your USDTV box, I think you're already on the right track and you have been given good advice.)

Here's some pixs of my dipole and antenna system along with some results.
http://jimc705.tripod.com/pixs/

Hope link works.

The link works!

Looks like you are all set for VHF DTV and UHF DTV no matter where the stations finally land.

Originally posted by jimc705
Here's some pixs of my dipole and antenna system along with some results.
http://jimc705.tripod.com/pixs/

Hope link works.

I bet the Christmas lights help on low band a bit. ;)

Anyone else know whats up with KLRN HD (9-2) Have a great picture but no sound for the last 2 days. 9-1 the SD channel is working fine.