MDK,

Is UPN at 32 HD?

Originally posted by acegolfer
MDK,

Is UPN at 32 HD?

not that I know of. AFAIK for the 8 months I've been in this area, 32 has just been a clone of 39, coming from a different direction. CBS 1080i and UPN 480i on both channels. Never seen UPN in HD in this city. Never seen the WB (34) in HD here either, although it is flagged as 1080i. These things are sure to get better in time, although it is taking longer than one would hope.

See http://www.geocities.com/toddemslie/UHF-TV-DX.html for more details. Interesting read, BUT that article is somewhat dated and appears to be of European origin noting all those completely unknown equipment names at the end. I never heard of RG-75U cable. I don't believe UHF tuners are that less sensitive anymore. Ten plus years ago maybe, but not now. I don't know of any antenna that has a "inbuilt printed circuit board baluns", at least American made. I would never consider those antennas from Spain. Plenty to choose from from here. Within 10 to 15 miles of Grand Island or the Boston Hills, a mast mounted pre-amp isn't going to do you any good because of signal overload UNLESS you are off to the side of those stations when trying to receive a distant station (90 degrees away from those locations). Propagation is a iffy thing and can't be depended on for long term reception so it's a moot point.

B.T.W. im watching ch 5dt and 25dt out of To. almost full scale on mt zenith 520+420 also getting toronto one and city tv on 53-1 using 7' parascope 70' tower with winegard preamp 19 db gain. also on house modified( made longer) prostar 9032 w 19 db gain on a 10' tripod.Just what are available along Lake Ontario from Toronto (digital numbers please. no virtual)? Any idea with all of that how much head room you have form signal? Have you actually measured signal level off the antenna from those digital channels? is it possible to buy attenuators for specific channels? 17 and 23 are still overriding channels near it, although not as severely as with the stronger pre-amp. Yes and they are called traps (or notch filters if you prefer) but they are not that cheap and and it is tough to tune them )ones that are user adjustable). I posted a link to a company in East Syracuse in a past post that will build a single channel trap to your specs. Prices start around $50 to a few hundred depending on how much attenuation and how tight the 'skirt' has to be (how narrow the 'notch' is);

http://www.cefilter.com/products/display_complete_catalog.asp

They also have a nice freq. chart for d/l. I recommend them highly as they went out of their way for my order. Here are pics of those traps;

This is what I have for the 'Grand Island' problem. Note I have two antennas, one amped with traps for Toronto stations and for the ATSC stations and the other with no traps or amp for ch 17 (analog). BTW, I have 2 traps that I'm not using if anyone is interested.;

Another subject; has anyone that has OTA AND cable compared quality on both on the same station? IOW's how does cables compressed signal compare to the same OTA signal?

Originally posted by videobruce
Just what are available along Lake Ontario from Toronto (digital numbers please. no virtual)?

20-1 CBLT (CBC channel 5)
24-1 CBLFT (CBC french channel 25)
53-1 CITY (City-tv channel 57)
66-1 CKXT and 15-1 CKXT-2 (Toronto 1 channel 52 and 45)

Isn't it 52 and 55?
Just how strong are the signals and who is strongest??
I can't imagine anyone getting 24 here (south of Nia Falls and north of Orchard Park or there abouts) with 23 located where it is! 53 & 66 are possibilities, butr between the frequncy, distance and power level (or lack of) those are lost causes also.:mad:

Originally posted by videobruce
Isn't it 52 and 55?

55 is CIII Global out of Fort Erie same as 41 out of Toronto.

For power check Daniel Tonk's site:

http://www.remotecentral.com/hdtv/index.html

Originally posted by videobruce
Just what are available along Lake Ontario from Toronto (digital numbers please. no virtual)? Any idea with all of that how much head room you have form signal? Have you actually measured signal level off the antenna from those digital channels?

WELL I HAVENT MEASURED THE ACTUAL SIGNAL WITH MY FSM ,BUT THE SIGNAL I GET FROM 20/24/66 FROM To. IS ALMOST AS STRONG AS THE COLDEN STATIONS SO IM GONNA SAY PROBABLY +20 DB OR BETTER. THE LOCALS WHEN POINTING DEAD ON ARE ALMOST +30 W/EXCEPTION OF WB 49 DTV. KEEP IN MIND IM RUNNING A 7' DISH AT 70 FT W/ 19 DB AMP. IM RUNNING NO TRAPS ON MY SYSTEM EVEN THOU I CAN SEE GRAND ISL. FROM MY BACK YARD. APX 7 MILES WSW.
THE TUNABLE TRAPS REQUIRE A GOOD FSM OR ANALYZER TO TUNE. THE OTHERS I SELL AND INSTALL ARE FROM C.E. (FORMERLY MICROWAVE FILTER CO) I'VE SOLD NUMEROUS ONES TO DXERS AND TROUBLE SPOTS. THEY ARE ALL CUT TO CHANNEL. USING A YAGI OR A DISH GREATLY REDUCES THE BEAMWIDTH WHICH SOMETIMES ACCOUNT FOR UNWANTED SIGNALS. OF COURSE THAT GOES WITH LOCATION TO TRANSMITTER TOO!
B.T. W. IM NOT NEAR THE LAKE. IM ACTUALLY ALMOST IN ERIE CO. IN S/E COR OF NIAGARA CO (RAPIDS AREA)
RICH






Yes and they are called traps (or notch filters if you prefer) but they are not that cheap and and it is tough to tune them )ones that are user adjustable). I posted a link to a company in East Syracuse in a past post that will build a single channel trap to your specs. Prices start around $50 to a few hundred depending on how much attenuation and how tight the 'skirt' has to be (how narrow the 'notch' is);

http://www.cefilter.com/products/display_complete_catalog.asp

They also have a nice freq. chart for d/l. I recommend them highly as they went out of their way for my order. Here are pics of those traps;

rwantennasat; stop shouting (turn your caps lock off).;)

Originally posted by videobruce
rwantennasat; stop shouting (turn your caps lock off).;)
whatever do you mean videobruce?

Using all capital letters.

Originally posted by videobruce
Another subject; has anyone that has OTA AND cable compared quality on both on the same station? IOW's how does cables compressed signal compare to the same OTA signal?

Yes - I have.

Cable compreses - I think I posted something on this several pages ago. The pic from my STB had no artifacts, and I noticed some from cable. I am using my Sony direct view for the comparison, so I am guessing I will see slight variations that might be less noticible on other types of TV's. Cable HD is still a very good picture - I don't want to give the wrong impression - but I think my OTA was slightly better.

Does anyone know if WGRZ is going to increase their power soon?

I remember people talking about April 1st, 2005 as the date they were increasing to 480 Kw.

Originally posted by dsspredator
Does anyone know if WGRZ is going to increase their power soon?

I remember people talking about April 1st, 2005 as the date they were increasing to 480 Kw.

I'm guessing July 1, 2005.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1047430

I'm hoping I can get some advice here.

A few months ago I was planning to get HD via Adelphia cable. But I was forced to move to a new apartment. This new place lets me share cable so I won't have access to ordering new services from Adelphia.

I don't have an HDTV now but I'm thinking about getting one. I don't watch a ton of DVDs but my current set may die so if I have to buy a new one I may as well get HD.

Since I can't get HD via cable, how good would be reception be in the middle of the city (literally - right near Children's Hospital) with a not-too-big-and-ugly indoor antenna?

Would I get anything using a small set-top indoor antenna? If so, any recommendations?

Originally posted by cwoody222


- lets me share cable so I won't have access to ordering new services from Adelphia.

- I don't have an HDTV now but I'm thinking about getting one.

Does anybody know if Adelphia sends their HD sigs with this "digital cable ready" option that cable ready HDTV's can receive them? That way you wouldn't need a "digital cable box".

-------------------------
Cut/Paste quote:

These new Digital Cable Ready models offer cinema-like widescreen viewing and a CableCARD™ security interface that enables plug-and-play functionality for receiving digital content from local cable providers, including high-definition programming, without the need for a separate set-top cable box. HDTV over cable is now as simple as plugging in the cable line and obtaining a CableCARD from the local cable operator.

You need a box. The HD channels come in on the 700 tier - an HD tuner will not bring in channel 702. But, if you got a box you should be able to hook you cable into it.

You would probably be able to get a signal from somewhere in your apartment. The stations broadcast from Grand Island and the southtowns - if you have any line of sight to the south or northeast you will probably have a chance for OTA reception.

how good would be reception be in the middle of the city (literally - right near Children's Hospital) with a not-too-big-and-ugly indoor antenna?Golly, someone else that actually LIVES in Buffalo. ;)
To answer the question, Grand Island should be no problem, the Boston Hills is another thing. How high up are you and which way are you facing?

Unfortunately I'm not high up at all - 2nd floor of a 3 story house. Other houses immediately on either side, too. My living room is facing south and west.

Is there any way to inexpensively 'test' to see what I'd get before going out and buying a HDTV?

Originally posted by cwoody222
Unfortunately I'm not high up at all - 2nd floor of a 3 story house. Other houses immediately on either side, too. My living room is facing south and west.

Is there any way to inexpensively 'test' to see what I'd get before going out and buying a HDTV?

The Silvor Sensor from BestBuy should assist you with that determination. It is a UHF antenna, so you'll want to orient it towards Grand Island to see how clearly Fox and UPN come in analog. If the signals are clean (ie. no multipath, ghosting), then you could surmise that your digital signals from GI will arrive unscathed.

For reception capabilities towards the Boston Hills, try to pull in WB49 analog. If the signal is decent, then once again, you should have no issues pulling in digital 2, 4, and 7 with a minor turn towards the southeast. WB49 is slightly more northeast from the Colden towers.

If the SS does not produce desirable results, BB's return policy is not as stringent with this type of equipment. I'm fairly certain that 30 days is the policy.

Good luck.

That's exactly the type of info I was looking for. Thanks! :)

Originally posted by J in OP
You need a box. The HD channels come in on the 700 tier - an HD tuner will not bring in channel 702.

I'm talking about this new "Cable Card" capability.

Yes, I do understand the 702 channel is QAM and not receivable by a regular OTA HD tuner (whether it be built in, or a separate component box).

Sorry for not being clear on what I meant.

I see that WB49 now has an application for 34-1 on Grand Island.


WNYO-TV NY BUFFALO USA (Digital)

Licensee: NEW YORK TELEVISION, INC.
Service Designation: DT Digital television station

Channel: 34 590 - 596 MHz Application
File No.: BPCDT-19991027ACW Facility ID number: 67784
CDBS Application ID No.: 1047259

43° 01' 32.00" N Latitude
78° 55' 43.00" W Longitude (NAD 27)
Site in Canadian Border Zone

Polarization: Horizontal (H) Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 175. kW ERP
Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 288.3 meters HAAT
Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 466.9 meters AMSL
Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 287.4 meters

Hopefully it will get approved.This transmission pattern has nulls to avoid Peterboro and Brantford Ontario;future channel 34 applications.This will greatly improve the signal.

Originally posted by pmb1010
I'm talking about this new "Cable Card" capability.

Yes, I do understand the 702 channel is QAM and not receivable by a regular OTA HD tuner (whether it be built in, or a separate component box).

Sorry for not being clear on what I meant.

I do not have firsthand experience with cards - I was hoping someone else would answer. I think that the card needs to be "enabled" in order to work. I don't think you can just plug in the cable and recieve HD stations.

In that way, the card would be no different that a box.

Hope this helps . . .

While certainly no expert, this is the way I understand the Cable Card to work; You will receive all the HD channels available including 702 and the pay channels as long as you are subscribed to them.

What you lose when using the cable card is the EPG. (the guide) Although you would still have access to the basic scrolling guide on channel 98 or whatever channel it's on.

As some of you have noticed, the radar subchannel 4-2 has been taken off. I think this will be permanent. It seems to have improved 4-1 when in HD by giving it some more bandwidth. Any comments would be appreciated.

Yes, tv4chief,

The picture quality is much better and more stable.

Thank you.

To be fair I had stopped watching of late as I am not a sport fan . .
but I am happy if the impetus for more bandwidth came from the sports fans.

Interesting how sports and porno drive the video business.

The weather radar is not great loss . . . at all.

PS; is that you, John?

Speak for yourself.

I truly appreciated the weather radar and hope that one day (hopefully sooner than later, especially with the warmer weather coming), there will be provisions to allocate some bandwidth to its restoration. Perhaps when UPN is moved off of sub 3 to its own frequency (therefore sub 1 on 23 will longer be necessary), you can bring it back online without signal deprivation.

Maybe one day we will be lucky enough to see UPN shows in high defintion.

The first new Lost episode in weeks and no HD. Bummer.

Originally posted by jeffand
The first new Lost episode in weeks and no HD. Bummer.

As well as last Sunday's Desparate. Sucks. Is it really that hard?!!? :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Did anyone called WKBW (our ABC affiliate) and asked to turn the HD switch on? What's wrong with them? I'm getting really pissed with them.

Originally posted by GregHoey
Yes, tv4chief,

The picture quality is much better and more stable.

Thank you.

To be fair I had stopped watching of late as I am not a sport fan . .
but I am happy if the impetus for more bandwidth came from the sports fans.

Interesting how sports and porno drive the video business.

The weather radar is not great loss . . . at all.

PS; is that you, John?

Yes, this me.

Originally posted by acegolfer
Did anyone called WKBW (our ABC affiliate) and asked to turn the HD switch on? What's wrong with them? I'm getting really pissed with them.

Well on the WKBW website (http://www.wkbw.com/contactus.aspx) there is a quick form for sending them a polite message to turn on the HD switch, please send only polite messages, I think that would be more effective. I hope that if they see enough messages they will get the hint.

Originally posted by tv4chief
As some of you have noticed, the radar subchannel 4-2 has been taken off. I think this will be permanent. It seems to have improved 4-1 when in HD by giving it some more bandwidth. Any comments would be appreciated.

Perhaps someone can help clue me in on what's happening during CSI. I have Adelphia with a SA8000HD HD-DVR, and the past while I have been having issues with the image and sound freezing up after flashbacks. Last night's froze up for a good 30+ seconds after one of the flashbacks later in the show. This is frustrating as there is often some important dialog after the flashback, and I'm starting to feel like I have to sacrifice the beauty of HD if I want to not miss any of the story...

Is anyone else experiencing this? Is it a WIVB-DT issue, or an Adelphia one? Perhaps my cable box specifically...Any insight y'all could share would be great!

I have the same trouble with the OTA. In fact the wife refuses to watch "her" shows in HD for that very reason. It's very fustrating...


Rabid :(

Try watching CBS programming on Ch-32 instead of 39, you wont see the
freeze ups. This issue has been ongoing for more than a year and WIVB
refuses to fix the problem, so they duplicate their signal on WNLO's transmitter.
Mind you I'm not seeing the audio cutouts anymore.

Has anyone here noticed that WGRZ seems to be broadcasting a stronger signal now, or maybe its my imagination, because I seem to now get a steady 9 Bars for the last few weeks, when I usually only get 8 bars on my Samsung 151. Can anyone confirm that they have gone to full power??

Yes . .

Yes, Thursday's CSI did have a couple of "freeze ups" . . . . that said, overall the image quality does look "better" -- sharper with more grey scale depth.

Yes, there seemed to be fewer breakups on the 23-1 signal on WNLO.

Yes, WGRZ does appear to be stronger -- also up to 9 bars from 8 on my Samsung 165.

HOWEVER, I have noticed that the NBC HD picture quality seems softer and darker
than CBS or FOX -- LAW AND ORDER; TRIAL BY JURY being the muddiest.

IMHO with NBC's letterboxed shows I can see only a slight qualitative different between
the HD feed and the SD signal blown up to the same size . . . . at least with my scaler.

Has anyone else noticed this?

It's odd that on one hand NBC is enlightened enough to shoot and broadcast in letterbox which yields MUCH more satisfying compositions than everyone else's "center extractions" . . . but then across the board seems to have a darker and softer picture than anyone else.


I'm glad people are mentioning the CSI freeze ups cuz I was starting to think it could be a problem with AUDIO my system's chain. EVERY freeze up came immediately after a VERY big low bass
sound effect or music cue.

has anyone else noticed this on their system????

It seems that the WIVB / WNLO/s "switching problems" or ghost images have decreased as well . . .
but they're still there.

Any ideas?

tv4chief?

John?

I do wonder what the deal is at WIVB. FOX WUTV is looking great with NO freeze ups or
switching issues all with only FIVE bars of signal. Also WNED usually looks great with
all three channels going.

John???

Looks like this week WKBW did well making sure the HD switch was on during Deperate Housewives. Thanks WKBW.

I like the weather radar.
Not like your going to see it on the weather channel.
Sorry, only on the 8’s….

Has anybody had any problem receiving WIVB 4-01 today. I'm using a Dish Network HD receiver for off air and have had very good results. But this morning my signal went from around 85 down to 49 and the receiver won't lock in. All the other channels appear to be fine, except for WIVB and WNLO. I'm trying to determine if the problem is with them or me. It's starting to piss my family off, after I trumpeted how great digital was compared to analog and how the picture would be that much better. Any help is appreciated . Thanks biersy

Threads merged.

Just giving a heads up notice that CTV out of Toronto is on the air on channel 40.

The PSIP information is not being sent, so you may not be able to automatically scan in this channel depending on your receiver.

Follow up to the Toronto thread.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5432775#post5432775

New Channel
Rescan your receivers folks - CTV out of Toronto is now broadcasting in HD on channel 40-4 according on my USDigital receiver.

Whoopee !!

Rabid

(Now all we need is Global to get off the stick)



:)

Originally posted by cfilkins
Perhaps someone can help clue me in on what's happening during CSI. I have Adelphia with a SA8000HD HD-DVR, and the past while I have been having issues with the image and sound freezing up after flashbacks. Last night's froze up for a good 30+ seconds after one of the flashbacks later in the show. This is frustrating as there is often some important dialog after the flashback, and I'm starting to feel like I have to sacrifice the beauty of HD if I want to not miss any of the story...

Is anyone else experiencing this? Is it a WIVB-DT issue, or an Adelphia one? Perhaps my cable box specifically...Any insight y'all could share would be great!

Please Channel 4, put a high priority on this FIX THIS PROBLEM

And for all those that think the UPN transmitter is a solution, feel for us poor Tivo folks that need correct guide data for our systems to work properly and therefore have to use 4-1.

Today is forecasted to be a fair tropo day, so I'll check 40 CTV later. What is their current ERP?

With all due respect to the fans of WIVB / WNLO weather radar;

IMHO at the present time a vote for the weather radar will degrade picture quality.

In a perfect world we possibly could have both better HD picture quality AND the weather radar.

Well, it is NOT a perfect world . . . . and it would appear that WIVB / WNLO can't do both
at present.

So, until WIVB / WNLO fixes it's "other problems" the best solution is to free up bandwidth
by not doing the weather radar.

That's just the way it is . . . .

If they get too many complaints about the lack of weather radar they could turn it
on an the PQ most likely WILL suffer.

CBS-HD has looked just GREAT the last few weeks, possibly thanks to college basketball.
The last time it looked this good was when CBS had the Super Bowl . . . . and turned off the
weather radar.

I would be very disappointed but not too surprised if now that basketball is over the PQ will
deteriorate again.

Again,

IMHO at the present time a vote for the weather radar at this time will degrade picture quality.

I just wish that CBS would reorder their subchannels lineup to put the main channel on the -1 and UPN on the -2 channel.

The manager e-mailed me back about hd signal and guide.A new satellite dish will be installed in 2 weeks to insure a reliable signal and a service for the guide info.will be available in a about a month.Excellent news thanks WKBW tv.:D

Yes, it is good news that WKBW is getting a new dish . . . thanks for the info.

None too soon, however, as it looks like WKBW wasn't transmitting HD this evening.

I certainly hope they will have it working Wendesday for LOST and ALIAS.

Perhaps if we gently reminded them with E mails Wednesday . . . . . . it could help

Any news WKBW will be transmitting audio in DD 5.1?

Re Lost in HD this Thursday: I was hoping that since CTV is now broadcasting and they carry Lost, they'd have Lost in HD if WKBW didn't... but looking at the program guide, they don't seem to indicate that it's HD. Bummer.

1) Does anyone else with Adelphia now have the on-demand guide?
2) Does anyone else hate it?
3) Are any of the on demand selections HD? I can't see where it says anything about it.

I got all Buffalo stations, but for UPN, I only have WNLO-SD and never see it's HD, what's could be wrong ??:confused:

Originally posted by SDB
1) Does anyone else with Adelphia now have the on-demand guide?
2) Does anyone else hate it?
3) Are any of the on demand selections HD? I can't see where it says anything about it.

1. Yes.
2. It's sort of cumbersome. Extra buttons to push to get to guide now. Seems slow.
3. No HD on demand I can find.

Originally posted by pmb1010
2. It's sort of cumbersome. Extra buttons to push to get to guide now. Seems slow.

How do you get out of the main menu and back to the station you were just watching? Hitting "guide" again doesn't do squat anymore.

Originally posted by SDB
How do you get out of the main menu and back to the station you were just watching? Hitting "guide" again doesn't do squat anymore.

I have an "exit" button...

(on my remote control)

Sorry for OT - taken to PM as of 4/7/05

Radar is available elsewhere. We should definately favor a stronger HD signal over the radar

Originally posted by pmb1010
I have an "exit" button...

The "exit" button on the remote or is there one in the guide for you? The one on the remote doesn't get me out of it. (Sorry to go OT here everyone)

Amew wrinkle last night on CSI on WIVB. After a few freezups, started getting the onscreen message "lost input signal". Anyone have any clues what this means? Is the problem CBS or WIVB?

I have seen this before on my receiver. I am sure this is the signal from WIVB to you. I don't know what it is about CSI and Without a Trace. I have more problems with those 2 shows than any other HD programming on any channel.
Very annoying. I initially thought it was only me due to local interference or something but the problems are so widespread with channel 4 that it has to be a problem at the station. I wish they would fix this.
Bernie

Originally posted by JCochran
Amew wrinkle last night on CSI on WIVB. After a few freezups, started getting the onscreen message "lost input signal". Anyone have any clues what this means? Is the problem CBS or WIVB?

I got it on the HD feed from Adelphia at the end of the show and had to switch to the analog cable feed. Whatever it was effected the cable feed too.

Good People of Buffalo.

I just saw on our local South Florida PBSHD station a WNED HD production called "Buffalo Houses of Worship". The production was quite stunning and brought back memories of my youth in Buffalo. I attended a few of the churches shown and some how passed by those structures for years without knowing their historical value. The downtown Episcopal church was the site of numerous musical performances I attended in the 70's.

My set up is an Infocus SP4805 projector on a 96 inch Vutec screen. The detail of the stone and woodwork , down to the grains and mortor filled up my screen in glorius HD. I wish more of Buffalo was preseved like that as the history of the city is rich and should be part of real urban renewal, not just boarding up business and homes. Buffalo never looked better. We have Comcast and I saved the program on the cable DVR, which was flawless.

I do hope you folks have seen it in the Buffalo area. I also hope that it looked as sharp and clean as it did on my local PBSHD station. On my next visit I will make another round of those sites.

PKinSFLA

Anybody been having problems with Fox 29 lately? It used to be iffy for me with a samsung ts-360 d* receiver,then I got an HDTIVO,and it was flawless for about 4 months,now ever since last weekend,i've been getting alot,I mean alot of signal loss and pixelization,mainly on just primetime shows.
I thought maybe the slush storm last week got my outside connection with moisture,but everything cchecks out good.I'm missin alot of my season passes cuz of this!! I used to get about 85 signal on the hr10-250 off-air meter but now it just jumps constantly from 0 to 60's,but only during primetime when my shows are about to start!!
Any opinions appreciated.

Originally posted by tv4chief
As some of you have noticed, the radar subchannel 4-2 has been taken off. I think this will be permanent. It seems to have improved 4-1 when in HD by giving it some more bandwidth. Any comments would be appreciated.

Yes the PQ on 32 and 39 is better. Less pixel problems during CSI and less occurences of the odd blips or glitches. The Masters was perfect! But last night during Numbers is PQ was excellent but there was no DIALOGUE in the audio. The 5.1 sound was missing and the center channel info was not there?

Originally posted by PKinSFLA
Good People of Buffalo.

I just saw on our local South Florida PBSHD station a WNED HD production called "Buffalo Houses of Worship". The production was quite stunning and brought back memories of my youth in Buffalo. I attended a few of the churches shown and some how passed by those structures for years without knowing their historical value. The downtown Episcopal church was the site of numerous musical performances I attended in the 70's.

My set up is an Infocus SP4805 projector on a 96 inch Vutec screen. The detail of the stone and woodwork , down to the grains and mortor filled up my screen in glorius HD. I wish more of Buffalo was preseved like that as the history of the city is rich and should be part of real urban renewal, not just boarding up business and homes. Buffalo never looked better. We have Comcast and I saved the program on the cable DVR, which was flawless.

I do hope you folks have seen it in the Buffalo area. I also hope that it looked as sharp and clean as it did on my local PBSHD station. On my next visit I will make another round of those sites.

PKinSFLA


Yes I did see that production.
I didn’t know Buffalo looked so good.
Two thumbs up!!

Is it just me, or is everyone having some sound problems when watching CSI on CBS?

Seems that I have no dialogue audible at all just music and sound effects, sounds like the center channel audio is missing. Very strange indeed.

I can't speak for CSI but I can say that Las Vegas was the worst technical performance of any HD production I have ever seen. Not because the production sucked, but because either Adelphia or Channel 2 sucked.
Although I recorded it, based on previous issues I'm pretty sure these problems were happening live.
I also have Star Choice and the I compare sometimes to see if a show is bad from the networks.
98.3 % of the it is not. So why do all our locals seem to have so many issues?

Vegas was in 4:3 the entire show, and I have compared before only to see it in 16:9 on the sat, but in 4:3 locally.

How can all of locals seem to have so many issues when other stations don't.
Are we that stupid here? I don't think it's technically possible that one guy is running the boards for all our locals but it sure as hell seems like it. By that I mean there must be 1 guy going from station to station forgetting to throw the magical HD switch when an HD show comes on.
It happens to often here.
It happens on to many stations here.

I have called and complained to the stations before. I'm thinking now of just bypassing them and complaining to the networks because I know that they can't be happy that their affiliates aren't doing basic stuff.

I just wanted to say Thank You to everyone here. I've been lurking on these boards for the past two months, finding out what equipment to buy and how to receive High Definition locals, and all the information has really helped!

I've been watching HD on my DirecTV for about 2 weeks, and last night was the first night I saw locals in High Definition. I'm just using a Zenith Silver Sensor inside my downstairs living room, and I get reception in the 70+ for Fox, 80+ for CBS and NBC. A few others come in really well, but I haven't seen a signal (PBS 17 and 23). I couldn't get WKBW at all, but again, I didn't see anything that was broadcast on Channel 7 HD last night. Maybe tonight? Is WKBW working?

I just want to say that I tried an RCA antenna and it didn't work at all. I had to order a Zenith Silver Sensor over the internet (based on recommendations here), as I could not find one at a store locally, and the HD locals come in great! (I'm in Cheektowaga near Steigmeier Park)

Brandon

Originally posted by brandon_tagger
I just wanted to say Thank You to everyone here. I've been lurking on these boards for the past two months, finding out what equipment to buy and how to receive High Definition locals, and all the information has really helped!

I've been watching HD on my DirecTV for about 2 weeks, and last night was the first night I saw locals in High Definition. I'm just using a Zenith Silver Sensor inside my downstairs living room, and I get reception in the 70+ for Fox, 80+ for CBS and NBC. A few others come in really well, but I haven't seen a signal (PBS 17 and 23). I couldn't get WKBW at all, but again, I didn't see anything that was broadcast on Channel 7 HD last night. Maybe tonight? Is WKBW working?

I just want to say that I tried an RCA antenna and it didn't work at all. I had to order a Zenith Silver Sensor over the internet (based on recommendations here), as I could not find one at a store locally, and the HD locals come in great! (I'm in Cheektowaga near Steigmeier Park)

Brandon

Brandon,

You should be able to get WKBW without any hiccups. If you can't, try relocating your silver sensor to a higher ground such as attic. SD or HD doesn't matter, they are all digital signal.

If you don't have any existing cable in the attic, then connect the silver sensor to any TV outlet in the 2nd floor facing the TV antennas. Then figure out how your TV cables (RG-6) are wired throughout your house and make sure it's connected to your HD receiver. Any RG-6 can be bi-directional.

Good luck!

Anyone notice a audio delay with analog stations using a MyHD120?

Originally posted by daredevil23
Is it just me, or is everyone having some sound problems when watching CSI on CBS?

Seems that I have no dialogue audible at all just music and sound effects, sounds like the center channel audio is missing. Very strange indeed.

Yeah, WIVB seems to be having encoder issues since about Friday. For 2.0 programming everything is fine, but when a 5.1 program comes along the encoder is dropping 3.1 of those channels and just giving us front left and front right - and remember, all the dialogue is in the center channel, so we can't hear anything.

It's not a network problem though - I can get Detroit HD CBS on cable now, and except for two quick blips the presentation was perfect.

Originally posted by Daniel Tonks
Yeah, WIVB seems to be having encoder issues since about Friday. For 2.0 programming everything is fine, but when a 5.1 program comes along the encoder is dropping 3.1 of those channels and just giving us front left and front right - and remember, all the dialogue is in the center channel, so we can't hear anything.

It's not a network problem though - I can get Detroit HD CBS on cable now, and except for two quick blips the presentation was perfect.
There was a problem with WIVB's Dolby encoder - it wasn't responding properly to the CBS metadata. They re-programmed it Tuesday evening before prime time, so all should be fine now. If not, I'm sure they would appreciate a heads-up at 716-874-4410.

Originally posted by videobruce
Anyone notice a audio delay with analog stations using a MyHD120?
This has always been a problem for me when I send the sound over the pci (which I'm doing right now...). The only fix I know of is to hook up that little internal audio cable and checking the "analog cable out" box on the MyHD setup.

Originally posted by MrTV3
...... so all should be fine now. If not, I'm sure they would appreciate a heads-up at 716-874-4410.


???? This is puzzling.

Can't imagine that nobody (engineer, floor sweeper, news room, etc) monitors their signals going out the door, in such that it requires a CONSUMER to call them and say there is a problem with their signals.

Amazing...

You'd be amazed. And I don't mean that as a slight specifically against WIVB, but it seems this is an industry-wide issue... no one watches themselves.

For instance, around here every now and again on cable one channel will suddenly have sound issues, usually the balance is completely off (all left or all right channel). Usually I'll wait a week and if it's not fixed give them a call. They usually say something like "it can't be like that, the whole of Toronto would be that way"... but guess what? Within 24 hours it's back to normal.

Am I like the ONLY person in the GTA **including** Rogers (the cable company) that notices or cares that Comedy Network or Teletoon only has left channel sound? Am I the only person with stereo sound capabilities?

More recently, CBC suddenly lost its right channel. Then went on for three weeks (I don't normally watch much CBC so I wasn't overly concerned) but then CTV suddenly had its right channel drop out as well. So I phoned them up, but they said it was all working fine on their side and it had to be my issue (yeah, right). A week later, suddenly both stations were fixed. One MONTH after the problem started on CBC.

And the issues continue - about two weeks later Fox suddenly lost its right channel and as of right now it's still a problem. I know it's not their reception of Fox, as it happens on simsubs as well, it's their analog distribution of channel 21 that's been messed up.

But I've given up phoning. I'm hoping a friend of a friend who is a senior tech at the cable company can eventually get someone to correct the issue.

This shouldn't be this difficult.

Originally posted by pmb1010
???? This is puzzling.

Can't imagine that nobody (engineer, floor sweeper, news room, etc) monitors their signals going out the door, in such that it requires a CONSUMER to call them and say there is a problem with their signals.

Amazing...
Of COURSE we monitor the signals, but it is still a fair question. I'll try to explain how this kind of thing can happen. Keep in mind that I'm speaking for myself and my station in Syracuse, not for WIVB.

I got my start in radio. When your product is audio only, it gets all your attention. Radio jocks usually monitor an OTA stereo receiver on headphones or a decent set of speakers, so any problem with the air chain becomes evident quickly.

In the typical TV station, audio gets much less attention. Nobody EVER listens to TV audio on headphones. There are TVs everywhere, but most of them are consumer units with little mono speakers. Even if they are stereo, you can't tell much - especially if the TV has that stupid stereo enhancement turned on. The only time we have a dedicated audio operator is during newscasts, and although our audio console has really good JBL monitors, it is a mono mix and has nothing to do with any non-news programming.

In Master Control, we also have two decent JBL monitors, which are fed by an OTA analog receiver. However, the MC Operator is responsible for THREE TV stations (soon to be FIVE), so they can't spend much time critically listening to the audio of any one station. Most of the time they have to presume that if they are hearing audio on NBC analog, then NBC HD is OK too (unless something is broken).

5.1 audio for TV is a relatively new phenomenon. Only a few prime time shows have it. NBC doesn't necessarily inform us which shows are 5.1, and they shouldn't need to. If the system is set up and operating correctly, we just pass on through whatever NBC sends us. Few MC Operators even understand what 5.1 audio is. If we gave them a way to monitor 5.1 audio in the control room, they would never just leave it on, because the HD feed is 2 seconds behind the analog channel (due to the encoding time for the digital stream). Quick spot checks would be the best we could hope for. As it stands now, the MC Operator has to walk to another room to get access to a 5.1 monitor; it has 6 meters, but only 2 small speakers (with switches to assign the speakers to whichever channels you want to hear).

Master Control Operators are responsible for so many things, and they aren't engineers, so we really can't expect them to critically evaluate the technical quality of every component of every signal that leaves Master Control. That's what engineers are for. The MC Operator will pick up on video problems and most audio problems pretty quickly, but the finer points of 5.1 audio are not in their domain.

In our engineering office, we have a TWCable HD STB, so we decided to add a home-theater type system to allow us to properly monitor the audio on our digital channel. But of course, we're not here in the office during prime time! I do have a 5.1 system at home, but I'm the only engineer at our station who does, and I certainly don't watch every show.

We DO care about the quality of our signals, and we do the best we can to make them the best they can be. We install the equipment and verify that it is working correctly. At the exact moment something goes bad, we may or may not notice right away. Our viewers have many more eyes and ears than we do, so the bottom line is that our viewers will sometimes notice a problem with 5.1 audio before we do. That's why I suggested that a friendly "heads up" call would be appreciated.

I hope this puts it in perspective.

I think the main problems are that most of the stations around here don't make it easy to get in contact with the right person... usually it's a generic phone number or email address, so you never know if your information is getting where it should. And if you do find the right contact, there's rarely any feedback to your feedback - so who knows if it's even gone through, and should you bother to send feedback later? Even a simple "we know about this" or "it's been fixed" would be nice now and again...

And then there's the stations that don't care much about OTA HDTV (you'll find an example earlier in this thread). I'm sure the guy actually responsible for getting the signal on the air cares, but when management doesn't it's kinda tough.

MrTv. Spin it any way you want sir. But in this day and age expecting the paying consumer to monitor for you and give you engineering is BUSH.
Don't waste my time. I wont watch a channel if I'm expected to call you with issues.

Originally posted by beerme1
MrTv. Spin it any way you want sir. But in this day and age expecting the paying consumer to monitor for you and give you engineering is BUSH.
Don't waste my time. I wont watch a channel if I'm expected to call you with issues.
In my previous post I said: "That's why I suggested that a friendly "heads up" call would be appreciated.", not that we expect it or require it of viewers.

We do our own monitoring. We don't expect it from viewers, but we do APPRECIATE it when something is brought to our attention - especially when it is done with even a marginal amount of common courtesy - because it helps us take care of problems even more quickly.

Sorry MrTV,
but I would think that someone on staff is certainly aware of repeated problems in prime time. Like ch. 7 here usually showing Desperate Housewives in 4:3 most of the show consistently and ch. 2 showing full episodes of Vegas in 4:3 consistently.

They have gotten calls and know when that these events occur. They are simply sub par in their respective operations.
I would like to think that the Networks can start applying some heat to these types of affiliates in light of how much they spend to produce and promote a show in HD.
I doubt very much that Network owned stations for example have these issues on such a regular basis.

You would think that the locals would have some sort of "quality control" to look after what they send out, but I guess not.

The only positive, is that hopefully this will change once all analog broadcasting stops.

Originally posted by beerme1
Sorry MrTV,
but I would think that someone on staff is certainly aware of repeated problems in prime time. Like ch. 7 here usually showing Desperate Housewives in 4:3 most of the show consistently and ch. 2 showing full episodes of Vegas in 4:3 consistently.

They have gotten calls and know when that these events occur. They are simply sub par in their respective operations.
I would like to think that the Networks can start applying some heat to these types of affiliates in light of how much they spend to produce and promote a show in HD.
I doubt very much that Network owned stations for example have these issues on such a regular basis.
My previous long post was specifically about my station, and specifically about how it might be that we wouldn't immediately notice the lack of center channel audio on the digital channel.

Now, if you open it up to a more general discussion that encompasses all manner of technical problems at a variety of stations, then I pretty much agree with you - not enough attention is paid to the signal quality, and follow-through could be better. I also agree that it should be easier to engage in discussion with the engineers (that's one reason I was glad to find this forum). I've certainly taken my share of technical calls at WSTM. If you call during the day, it should be possible to get connected to an engineer. If you call at night, more often than not you'll get the newsroom - and they may or may not deliver the message.

In a previous post I mentioned that we monitor the digital channel in the engineering office. The sound is always on, but down low. If a monitor goes to black, or there is no audio, we immediately trot out to Master Control to check it out. We also have monitors for the UPN and PAX channels that operate from our building, as well as a DirecTV monitor showing our NBC channel. The sound for those is all turned down, but we still keep our eyes on them (and this is in addition to the monitoring in Master Control). If TWC messes up our signal, we generally see it pretty quickly.

With regard to how the networks feel about what the affiliates do, I'd guess that if they got a few complaints, they might contact the station for an explanation. But I don't think that HD vs. SD would be a particularly hot issue for them, as long as the commercials aired.

You're right about network O & O stations not having as much of this kind of trouble. They have the advantage of more money, and therefore better staff, better hardware, and better management than some of the affiliates.

So let's agree that some stations aren't doing a very good job handling the new technology. Some of what you observe can be explained by mitigating factors, some of it can't.

Originally posted by Daniel Tonks
I think the main problems are that most of the stations around here don't make it easy to get in contact with the right person... usually it's a generic phone number or email address, so you never know if your information is getting where it should.
At most stations, it should be possible to call the receptionist, ask who the Chief Engineer is, and what their direct phone number or extension is. Also, they would probably give you their e-mail address if you ask.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but all the engineers I know are good guys, who care about their station's signal quality.

Originally posted by MrTV3


But I don't think that HD vs. SD would be a particularly hot issue for them, as long as the commercials aired.



They should care about it. If it weren't for Nikki Cox, I wouldn't watch that show period :D Oh it's a beautiful sight to see Nikki in HD.
I think she is going to be my generation's (well maybe one younger than me) Mary Tyler Moore. Except hotter. Much hotter!
However when the HD feed breaks up and freezes I change the channel and they lose me.

I'm curious though about something, you say you monitor all feeds from your source, are you saying that your station may have an issue on TW but not DTV?
I am speaking of your standard channel on this one because I don't think DTV is carrying your HD channel.

Nice speaking to you.

I for one want to thank you for your side of the picture. It is nice to know that there is someone out there with us on the bleeding edge of technogly(sp?)


Rabid :D

I see that WIVB has fixed their sound problems - and in fact it's better than ever. Now, shows that should be shown in 2.0 are shown in 2.0, instead of a 5.1-flagged signal with just 2.0 content as it's been doing since they first upgraded to 5.1. This means we can finally do surround sound decoding!

For example, tonight CSI was shown in 5.1, followed by Without A Trace in 2.0, all as it should be... fantastic!

Originally posted by Daniel Tonks
For example, tonight CSI was shown in 5.1, followed by Without A Trace in 2.0, all as it should be... fantastic!

I agree. Thanks WIVB!

Well Conan O'Brien show was supposed to be in HD today, but it appears WGRZ has dropped the ball and didn't select the correct HD feed.

EDIT: The show finally went HD after Conan talked about going wide.

They fixed it at 12:45, just in time for Conan doing a funny bit on HD.
Looks pretty good.

An Adelphia rep called me yesterday and during the conversation, the HD lineup came into question and she stated that no more changes to would be made to pricing or the lineup until after any sale went through (which could take over a year). Can we assume this to be true?

She also stated that some guy that worked at the Coudersport office shot himself in the head because he might lose his job? Does anyone know anything about this either?

Originally posted by SDB
An Adelphia rep called me yesterday and during the conversation, the HD lineup came into question and she stated that no more changes to would be made to pricing or the lineup until after any sale went through (which could take over a year). Can we assume this to be true?

She also stated that some guy that worked at the Coudersport office shot himself in the head because he might lose his job? Does anyone know anything about this either?

Local HD changes or national? Not adding any more local ones makes sense since the remaining holdout (WUTV) is currently in negotiations with Adelphia. One could imagine that talks would be on hold.

I couldn't see that national HDs or any other national cable channel couldn't be added during this time.


If a guy shot himself in the head it would have made the news and I don't see anything about it.

That said, that's an AWFUL thing for a customer service rep to tell a customer on the phone - true or not. That person should lose THEIR job!

Originally posted by cwoody222
Local HD changes or national?

It sounded like she was referring to ANY change HD local or otherwise.

Originally posted by cwoody222
That said, that's an AWFUL thing for a customer service rep to tell a customer on the phone - true or not. That person should lose THEIR job!

The entire call was almost as if she was just going through the motions of being a CSR. It was as if she didn't care what anyone thought and just wanted to chat and get paid for it. I had a tough time getting her off the phone.

The original call was asking me if I had any questions about my HD DVR and I ripped into her about it locking up and crappy whatnots. She just blew me off like we were bowling buddies and started going off on how it was going to be a nightmare if locally we got the Comcast side of the deal rather than the TW side (she is in Coudersport).

Originally posted by SDB
An Adelphia rep called me yesterday and during the conversation, the HD lineup came into question and she stated that no more changes to would be made to pricing or the lineup until after any sale went through (which could take over a year). Can we assume this to be true?

She also stated that some guy that worked at the Coudersport office shot himself in the head because he might lose his job? Does anyone know anything about this either?

Well I just got the VOD menu over the weekend. It’s not functional yet.
Also a few weeks past I did see ESPN2HD show up in my guide.
No picture on it or the INHD1 & 2. Aldephia doesn’t know why it’s in my guide...
:confused:

Originally posted by clight385
Well I just got the VOD menu over the weekend. It's not functional yet.
Also a few weeks past I did see ESPN2HD show up in my guide.
No picture on it or the INHD1 & 2. Adelphia doesn't know why it's in my guide...
:confused:

Those are existing services to other local area Adelphia customers though. I have all of the ones you mentioned including an active VOD. I was talking about adding completely new services like FOXHD such as cwoody described.

Originally posted by SDB
It sounded like she was referring to ANY change HD local or otherwise.



The entire call was almost as if she was just going through the motions of being a CSR. It was as if she didn't care what anyone thought and just wanted to chat and get paid for it. I had a tough time getting her off the phone.

The original call was asking me if I had any questions about my HD DVR and I ripped into her about it locking up and crappy whatnots. She just blew me off like we were bowling buddies and started going off on how it was going to be a nightmare if locally we got the Comcast side of the deal rather than the TW side (she is in Coudersport).

Wow, that's scary.

I'd love to know why she'd think Comcast would be a nightmare and TW wouldn't?

Plus, the published report I see shows that Buffalo will go to TW so it doesn't look like she's informed anyway.

Does anyone know if OnDemand is available in all areas? Specifically, Orchard Park? My parents don't get it on their menu but I don't know if that's just because they have an older cable box.

Originally posted by cwoody222
I'd love to know why she'd think Comcast would be a nightmare and TW wouldn't?

Plus, the published report I see shows that Buffalo will go to TW so it doesn't look like she's informed anyway.

She said costs would skyrocket with Comcast but it sounded like there may have been some other backoffice reason behind her saying that. I don't really know. I can't see how they could get much higher without another mass exodus.

I also thought we were supposed to get TW. We used to be TW before Adelphia showed up here in Olean so it's not a stretch that we would just revert back to them.

A customer service rep who's quoting suicides to people on the phone thinks she knows all the in's and out's of future cost increases based on 2 various take-over scenarios?! Hilarious!

Is it just me, or has anyone else lost WIVB's D39 channel signal.

The signal from WNLO D32 is working fine.

No, daredevil, it's not just you

WIVB-DT 4-1 was acting up all evening IE crashing my Sam 165 when I scanned to it . .

. . . and then at the end of CSI, of COURSE it was CSI, the HD crapped out all together

AFTER having had the SAME audio issues it's had for MANY months IE picture freeze-ups at loud
full-of-bass audio hits.


Well, at least they've got the dialog channel running.

BTW has anyone else noticed that WIVB audio sounds louder and sometimes more compressed and harsh??

. . . or is it just me?

I forgot to call the station at 8:50pm when the HD signal locked up...
So I had to switch to SD Ch 4 to watch the remainder of the show.

Guess nobody else called either, as I went back and checked at 8:58 and the signal was still gone.

Looks like a rough HD night for WIVB tonight, green screen and then only 4:3 picture.

Enough is enough, get on the ball.

CFTO had the proper HD CSI on tonight.

Really? It seemed to go fine after a minute or two. I switched to cable when I saw the green screen (forgot about CTV) but went back to WIVB during the title sequence and everything was fine for the rest of the night.

Has anyone noticed that ch 49DT has increased power and is doing HD with 5.1 DD surround? I'm getting an excellent stable signal from Tonawanda. Until this week I was able only to get a blip on the strength meter. Too bad Smallville is the only show worth watching, but I guess any new HD is good news.

Originally posted by JCochran
Has anyone noticed that ch 49DT has increased power and is doing HD with 5.1 DD surround? I'm getting an excellent stable signal from Tonawanda. Until this week I was able only to get a blip on the strength meter. Too bad Smallville is the only show worth watching, but I guess any new HD is good news.

My signal strength shows pretty much the same, between 16-24%.

Originally posted by SDB
An Adelphia rep called me yesterday and during the conversation, the HD lineup came into question and she stated that no more changes to would be made to pricing or the lineup until after any sale went through (which could take over a year). Can we assume this to be true?

She also stated that some guy that worked at the Coudersport office shot himself in the head because he might lose his job? Does anyone know anything about this either?



I can put to rest the later part of this statement, nobody committed suicide here in Coudersport. She must have been bored. I wouldn't put it past some of the CSR folk to come up with something like that.

As for the lineups not changing, I don't think that is the case. About a month ago (i live in ny) I started getting fully functional VOD. And just this past week we started getting INHD and INHD2 in the HD lineup. I think that puts us up to 16 total HD channels. I wish they could get a deal worked out so that fox could be broadcasted in HD, I've been hoping for that ever since the superbowl!

Has anyone noticed that ch 49DT has increased power and is doing HD with 5.1 DD surround? I'm getting an excellent stable signal from Tonawanda. Until this week I was able only to get a blip on the strength meter. Too bad Smallville is the only show worth watching, but I guess any new HD is good news.

I notice that also but the last few days I can not pull it in also live in tonawanda

:(

RE" chan 49-1 DT

I have been getting almost 8 bars on the olde Samsung SIR- T 165 .

The PQ is pretty good . . . .

Too bad the WB doesn't have any / more decent shows.

SMALLVILLE is decent . . . but not up against ALIAS or LOST.

Speaking of needing more decent shows . . . wonder when WNLO / UPN will finally go HD.

It seems odd that WNLO is not doing HD when WIVB is in HD on both 32 and 39.

Is wpxj going to convert to hd just wondering as they have the yankees games on and their pq is terrible

Is wpxj going to convert to hd just wondering as they have the yankees games on and their pq is terrible


Interesting -- WPXJ doesn't show up on the FCC list of Buffalo stations.

It seems odd that WNLO is not doing HD when WIVB is in HD on both 32 and 39.

I emailed them this is what they said

Dear David:

At this time WNLO is not currently broadcasting in HD - we are still awaiting the delivery of HD satellite receivers from the UPN Network. The target date for the start of HD is September, 2005.

I hope this answers your question.

Diane Breen
Program Coordinator
WIVB/WNLO Buffalo

At this time WNLO is not currently broadcasting in HD - we are still awaiting the delivery of HD satellite receivers from the UPN Network.

Can't you just get one of those off Ebay? ;)

Other UPN stations have the HD satellite receivers, what's the hold up.

Are they making them by hand or something?

Well with some fair tropo effect today, I am able to get a sufficient signal to watch WQLN-DT (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state=&call=wqln&arn=&city=&chan=&cha2=69&serv=&type=0&facid=&list=2&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&size=9) at 12.8 dB maximum signal.

WQLN-DT is in Erie, PA and has a 39.1 KW transmitter located at 88.6 miles distant from my aerial.

For the last few days, 2-1 or 33-1 have been going up and down like crazy. Mostly down. I am in Amherst, and can usually get it with no problem. All the other locals have been pretty good lately, except WGRZ. Anyone else notice any issues with WGRZ lately?

I noticed the sme issues with 2-1. I thought maybe it was just multipath because of all the new leaves on the trees. Glad to hear it's not just my problem.

Thanks,

PPPPHHHHEEEWWWW, Now I know I not losing it, or on the sauce or something, and didn't even know it:-)

Wed. night I lost WIVB all together even though the signal strength showed 90. Anyone else experience this?

Wed. night I lost WIVB all together even though the signal strength showed 90. Anyone else experience this?

did not check signal, but loss picture

Same issue with WIVB again tonight. 90 signal strength on Dish 811 but no picture, only black screen. Anyone know what's going on?

Did anyone else lose ABC and the NBA game last night? Was this just the storm or was it something else? I'm getting everything else but 7.1 WKBW.

Did anyone else lose ABC and the NBA game last night? Was this just the storm or was it something else? I'm getting everything else but 7.1 WKBW.
I think it was the storm. Can't recall a signal ever being so jumpy, but I can't recall watching during so much lightning before either. Lost the digital feed entirely twice and switched to analog....lost the analog once, too.

Same issue with WIVB again tonight. 90 signal strength on Dish 811 but no picture, only black screen. Anyone know what's going on?

Yup, I notice the same phenomenon, switched to the simultcast on 23.2 and all was fine there.

Can anyone confirm that WGRZ will be increasing their power on July 1st?

Can anyone confirm that WGRZ will be increasing their power on July 1st?

I've heard this too -- but remember, their power is currently 240 kW and is supposed to increase to 480 kW -- which is only 3dB.

I've heard this too -- but remember, their power is currently 240 kW and is supposed to increase to 480 kW -- which is only 3dB.

That is true. But WKBW is about 350 kW and their signal is rock solid. WGRZ gives me problems along with Toronto people. I don't believe WIVB is full power because WKBW's signal is stronger without using an pre-amp.

That is true. But WKBW is about 350 kW and their signal is rock solid. WGRZ gives me problems along with Toronto people. I don't believe WIVB is full power because WKBW's signal is stronger without using an pre-amp.

WIVB is at full power -- 790 kW, WKBK is still at half power -- 358 kW. WIVB & WKBW are further away from Toronto -- a few miles south of WGRZ.

Wrgz-dt signal is always going to be more difficult to receive in Toronto because the tower is much lower in elevation. Wkbw is the highest.

Is WGRZ on the air? Seems I can receive WIVB and WKBW but get zero signal for WGRZ?

Just wondering.

I've also lost WGRZ 2-1, and something strange on CFTO 9-1, the carrier is there, the picture comes in briefly, freezes, then disappears -- a message comes on screen saying no signal, but hitting the signal strength button, shows a good normal signal.

Hope they remember to turn on the HD for the NBA game tonight.

Hope they remember to turn on the HD for the NBA game tonight.

They will.

They forgot to do it for game 5, so forgetting for game 6 was expected. I mean usually they forget for a period or even a few minutes and then turn it on, but this time it was SD for the entire game.


P.S. I also lost WGRZ recently, probably between Sunday night and Tuesday night.

That's strange. I had the entire game in HD -- WKBW 7-1 @ 720p, and it was spectacular.

Is WGRZ having some kind of audio issue, the sound has a hiccup in the audio?

Or is it just me?

Someone in the Toronto forum has complained about 33 also.

My readings for all 3 stations (33, 38 & 39) are all down from a year ago by 5-7 dbmV.

My readings for all 3 stations (33, 38 & 39) are all down from a year ago by 5-7 dbmV.

Did WGRZ turn up the juice to 480 kW? Today is July 1, 2005.

Did WGRZ turn up the juice to 480 kW? Today is July 1, 2005.

I'm getting 17.7 dB maximum on WGRZ, and the FCC (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state=&call=wgrz&arn=&city=&chan=&cha2=69&serv=&type=0&facid=&list=2&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&size=9) website hasn't changed.

I'm getting 17.7 dB maximum on WGRZ.

Hey Daredevil23,

How does that 17.7 dB for WGRZ compare to WIVB (39) and WKBW?

ESPNHD2 is no longer coming in through Adelphia. Anyone have any info?

How does that 17.7 dB for WGRZ compare to WIVB (39) and WKBW?

Well using the same antenna position I get about 18.5 dB on WIVB and 15.5 on WKBW.

And 17.2 dB on WNYB-DT 27.1, so where's that WNYO big ERP?

And 17.2 dB on WNYB-DT 27.1, so where's that WNYO big ERP?

WNYB-DT is rock solid. They must be full power out of Jamestown. Great signal on a station I'll NEVER watch. I wish WNYO and WGRZ would lock in like WNYB.

Adelphia's ESPN HD is working fine here in NT...

What channel was ESPN HD2 on before?

ESPN 2 HD was on 775 or 776. It looks like it has been dropped for some reason . . .

ESPN 2 HD was on 775 or 776. It looks like it has been dropped for some reason . . .

775 Espn2 HD is still there for me in NT... at least on 7/28/05.

Is espn2 worth it? Do they just mirror their programming like espn? wonder if time warner gets it,I was thinkin about adding it as an add on to D*.

what is the best deal for Adelphia standard cable with internet in terms of $$$$

Anybody else have a problem yesterday with Crossing Jordan in OTA HD on channel 2-1? It changed on me a few times from 4:3 to 16:9.

what is the best deal for Adelphia standard cable with internet in terms of $$$$

Check out www.Adelphia.com for the deals.

i thought you avsforums know of secret deals or something

i thought you avsforums know of secret deals or something

My new job is working for Adelphia billing, the only deals are for Adelphia employees.
Once in a while they offer signup promos, and those are found on the website.

I am getting good signal strength and get 29-2 okay, but 29-1 is a blank screen on my DISH 942 and Samsung T151 tuners. The tuner in my Panny plasma and Sylvania Z3000 STB work ok on the same feed.

I gather they have something in the PSIP that some tuners dont like, I used to recieve 29-1 fine.
BTW - my T151 has the latest firmware upgrade.

Any one else having trouble?

I am getting good signal strength and get 29-2 okay, but 29-1 is a blank screen on my DISH 942 and Samsung T151 tuners. The tuner in my Panny plasma and Sylvania Z3000 STB work ok on the same feed.

I gather they have something in the PSIP that some tuners dont like, I used to recieve 29-1 fine.
BTW - my T151 has the latest firmware upgrade.

Any one else having trouble?

Watching Patriots-Saints Football right now on 29-1 using my internal ATSC tuner.

Anyone know why their selection to return to their original channel when analog shut off occurs were denied due too channel interference conflicts?Their are no conflicts now and I thought they had the right to return to their original channel frequencies.This means WNYO will never have a digital signal into Canada as strong as their analog is today.

Utter hogwash... what POSSIBLE CONFLICT could there be with maintaining their existing analog station designation? THEY ALREADY HAVE IT!

I can see why WUTV gave up and stuck with 14 (assuming they ever get their 1000kw going), however I cannot believe that WNYO is going to be happy with having their TOTAL STATION OUTPUT stuck at a miserable, lightbulb-level of 650 watts. If anything it's 34 with the conflict, not 49!

Watching Patriots-Saints Football right now on 29-1 using my internal ATSC tuner.

29-1 was back for me on all tuners during the football game last night, but 29-1 was black screen again this morning with sound. 29-2 works fine so it isn't a signal issue.

WNYO has applied to move the transmitter to Grand Island with a directional antenna directing most south to Buffalo at 175kw.This may provide a little stronger signal into Toronto put will not match their analog by a long shot.They selected channel 49 return to but was denied.They now have selected channel 34.

New member here.

I'll be getting a HD-DVR from DirecTV installed on Tuesday. I need recommendations on an OTA antenna to get the local HD stations. I'm in North Buffalo near Delaware and Hertel Ave. That puts me right in the middle of the two major tower groups. Here is the data from antennaweb on my location, zip code 14216:

* red - uhf WUTV-DT 29.1 FOX BUFFALO NY 341° 6.0 14
* red - uhf WNYB-DT 26.1 TBN JAMESTOWN NY 216° 42.5 27
* red - uhf WNYO-DT 49.1 WB BUFFALO NY 129° 23.9 34
* red - uhf WNED-DT 17.1 PBS BUFFALO NY 346° 6.1 43
* red - uhf WNLO-DT 4.1 UPN BUFFALO NY 346° 6.1 32
* red - uhf WKBW-DT 7.1 ABC BUFFALO NY 160° 25.0 38
* red - uhf WGRZ-DT 33.1 NBC BUFFALO NY 146° 22.3 33
* red - uhf WIVB-DT 4.1 CBS BUFFALO NY 159° 23.6 39

As you can see ABC, NBC and CBS are all ~24 miles away from me and within 14 degrees of each other relative to my location. FOX, WB, and UPN are ~180 degrees in the opposite direction!

Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of antenna I should get that will alow me to get all of the stations without alot of hassle and constant adjusting? It would seem that I need a multi-directional antenna, or a directional antenna with a rotor so it can be adjusted. An external antenna is fine, but a good indoor antenna would be prefered. I have attic space that can be utilized, but not much - more like a crawl space ~3ft high.

Any advice here would be appreciated.

I live near Main and Eggert and have the Terk Indoor antenna on the ground floor. I am able to pull in ABC,NBC,CBS,FOX, PBS,UPN no problem. If i aimed it straight north I would pick up CBC as well. Very rarely did I need to adjust the antenna though.

briless; CBC as in analog channel 5?
I believe you are above the escarpment which would make reception from the NW (Toronto) good.

alexrud; UHF antennas are small. Even a large one (other than the boom lengh) isn't that bad compared the size the low band needs to be effective.
I have and recomend the Channel Master 4228a. That now can be had for $40 (they dropped the price!);
http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/4228.htm

There is a bi-directional antenna that might be ideal for you or anyone else that is in line with the Boston Hills and Grand Island that forms a figuer '8' pattern;
http://www.wade-antenna.com/UHFantennas.htm

It's the 3rd one down the page. Model SL-4BT.

PS. welcome to the forums. :)

Its been a while since i've aimed it towards the tower but I received an HD signal on 5-1

You are telling me you receiverd a Toronto DTV station (channel 64) from a indoor antenna 60 miles away? :confused:

Here is search from 2150 for my area;
http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp?latitude=42%2E9466&longitude=%2D78%2E8497&magnetic_north=9&range=90&sort=distance&show_expired=False&show_construction=False&show_analog=False&show_low_power=False&action=Show+Stations

Here is the FCC data for 64;
http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1022250

Please check the channel number and turn your virtual channel mode off so you see the actual channel number. It's less confusing this way since that will be the channel the station will be referred to after it's analog counterpart bites the dust. Analog channel 5 is on the low band, digital channel 64 is at the top of the UHF band. HUGE difference in frequency.

CBC is broadcasted from the CN tower i believe. I had no trouble picking it up with my indoor antenna (I kid you not). I think with out the mapping it was on 20-1. I also remember picking up the French version on CBC on 25-1, but it was only in in test mode and didnt come in very strong.

Digital ch 20 is only 20kw. Hardly enough to get across the Lake let alone way down here.
I will take a look at signal levels and report back since I haven't done it for 6 months. You have my interest up now.

I will take a look at signal levels and report back since I haven't done it for 6 months. You have my interest up now.

Try digital 40 (CFTO 9-1) you might get that too!

Check out this link, it has pretty up-to-date information on signal strengths and the status of toronto/buffalo area stations.

http://www.remotecentral.com/hdtv/

My bad. I got CBLT mixed up with CBC.

My bad. I got CBLT mixed up with CBC.

What Toronto HD channels do you get?

0

Not with Grand Island where it is!

Ok, there is a Santa Claus. I DO get CBLT digital ch 20. :eek: I don't know if they actually have any HD material yet.
Completely amazing.

I'm still very surprised you get it with a indoor antenna. Which side of the building are you in?

Good news / bad news

The good is that ABC showed it 2.39: 1 OAR which was a pleasant surprise
and one that I'd love to see more of.

The bad news is that the picture kept breaking up and dropping audio.

Did anyone else have this problem OTA?

I was getting 10 bars of signal [ Samsung SIR-T165 ] and the signal was
consistent . . . . but the was still microblocking etc. Also, it only seemed to happen with NETWORK material -- the local stuff was fine.

What exactly was ABC doing for the last four days???

Any ideas?

Ok, there is a Santa Claus. I DO get CBLT digital ch 20. :eek: I don't know if they actually have any HD material yet.
Completely amazing.

I'm still very surprised you get it with a indoor antenna. Which side of the building are you in?

Yep, I have been getting 9-1, 5-1 and 25-1 (tho I don't speak French) for some time here in Lockport...Hockey night in Canada! Hope they have some HD cameras in the great white north, eh? There is that Toronto 1 station that I cannot get unless I point my antenna north and then I can't get Buffalo stations as good.

ABC showed it 2.39: 1 OAR Huh?I have been getting 9-1, 5-1 and 25-1 (tho I don't speak French) for some time here in Lockport You mean 40, 20 & 24? Easier if you don't use that silly 'virtual' channel mode. In a few years that is what you should be using anyways.
Lockport is halfway there. I would suspect most anyone in Niagara and Orleans county can/should get Toronto, Oshawa, & Peterbourgh!
Water works wonders...........

Which Toronto 1 are you receiving; ch 66 from Toronto at 3kw or ch 15 at 4kw from Hamilton??

I just got a HR-10-250, and I notice that the guide for the local channels has PBS messed up. 17-1 says there is no signal, 17-2 seems to be mapped to 17-1, 17-3 is mapped to 7-2 and you cannot get 17-3 at all. Can you fix this somehow or do I have to contact Directv?

Thanks for the help in advance.

I just got a HR-10-250, and I notice that the guide for the local channels has PBS messed up. 17-1 says there is no signal, 17-2 seems to be mapped to 17-1, 17-3 is mapped to 7-2 and you cannot get 17-3 at all. Can you fix this somehow or do I have to contact Directv?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Did you try 43-1? WNED-HD is on 43-1.

This has nothing to do with DirecTV. It is OTA.

It's easier if you forget those foolish virtual channel numbers. In a few years they will be all known as that actual channel number they are on.

Might of well get use to it now!

I just got a HR-10-250, and I notice that the guide for the local channels has PBS messed up. 17-1 says there is no signal, 17-2 seems to be mapped to 17-1, 17-3 is mapped to 7-2 and you cannot get 17-3 at all. Can you fix this somehow or do I have to contact Directv?

Thanks for the help in advance.

It has been that way for years. I tried both D* and WNED to see how to fix it. Nobody seems to be able to figure it out. Other D* receivers do it correctly for 17, the HR10 does it correctly for all the other stations. CBS had the same problem several months ago, it was "accedentially" fixed by a PSIP update by WIVB. There is a fix if you wish to alter / hack the software on the tivo.

More info-

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=174218&page=1&pp=30

I live in Lancaster near Transit/Genesee... my wife's favorite show by far is Gilmore Girls (WB). First, does anybody know if WNYO transmits gilmore in HD and second is there a snowballs chance in hell of me picking it up with an indoor antenna? I'm close to the airport and there is a large water tower within a mile or so of me so AntennaWeb recommends a medium directional for pretty much all stations and a pre-amp for WNYO... are they pretty accurate?

If this is you;
http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/mapsurfer?act=out&outfact=2&map.x=211&map.y=180&lat=42.9375534&lon=-78.6989059&wid=0.006&ht=0.006&iht=359&iwd=422&&&on=majroads&on=places&on=statehwy&on=street_names&on=ushwy&tlevel=-&tvar=-&tmeth=i&mlat=42.901681&mlon=-78.663085&msym=redpin&mlabel=14086__Lancaster_&murl=&conf=mapnew.con

Take a look here;
http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp?latitude=42%2E9375534&longitude=%2D78%2E6989059&magnetic_north=%2D13%2E25&range=90&sort=distance&show_expired=False&show_construction=False&show_analog=False&show_low_power=False&action=Show+Stations

That is a cool site, but what sort of antenna is it assuming? Do you need a directional with pre-amp to pick up all those or would an interior silver sensor type work?

I have no idea. I assume that it would be some kind of average since it would be hard to take everything into account. Though some locations dont' show all or any stations. I perfer 2150 for the additional details it has. Colored rectangles just don't cut it! Reminds me of 3rd grade............ :p
As far as what antenna, a indoor anything is very limited. Unless you absolutely can't erect an outdoor antenna or at least one in an attic or crawl space that silver sensor is really the only choice. I'm not a fan of preamps, especially ones for indoor antennas.

One other thing, it includes Canada that Antennaweb doesn't! Huge plus where I am!

Did anyone notice WGRZ-DT now has a sub-channel 2-2. Its an all weather channel
complete with commercials and lots of graphics

Yup,

It is broadcast in HD . . . and looks pretty good on my indoor antenna.

That said, I can see the WNYO transmitter from my house altho it is
6 miles away.

They have increased their power -- I used to get like 3 bars now I get 11
-- insert SPINAL TAP joke here.

HOWEVER, their signal is still extremely directional and, of course,
90 degrees away from all the other transmitters so I have to re aim
my antenna to pick it up.

Yup, I'm six miles from 4 of the transmitters and I can't pick them all up
without moving the antenna.



Now if WNYO only had shows that HUSBANDS wanted to watch.

Just noticed this had popped up on my SIR T-165 last nite.

I sure hope they have better luck with it than WIVB did with theirs.

I also noticed that WGRZ HD 2-1 was coming in with fewer problems.

In the past sometime the HD 2-1 wouldn't lock up even though I was getting a strong signal and the "digital sound" light was on.

I called the station and was told there were PSIP and broadcast flag "issues"
with some "older" OTA receivers and the only thing I could do was to
disconnect the unit to let the memory drain and then rescan.

This did work but it was such a pain in the ass that I stopped watching
WGRZ HD

*** ARE YOU LISTENING, BOOMER ? ? ? ***

So to have their subchan magically appear without rescanning was actually
annoying.

Anybody else have problems with WGRZ?

Anybody else have OTA reception problems with FOX 29.1 last night -- Monday 9/12/05 ??

I usually pick it up really well but last night ZIP -- couldn't even get the analog 29.0
to come in.

What up?

Funky atmospherics?
Gremlins at the station?

Hope it's better tonight for BONES and HOUSE

Came in 100% rock solid for me - however NBC was the opposite :-)

Thanks Daniel;

After your post I checked my cheapie TERK indoor antenna and found a loose
wire. Didn't affect any channel but FOX - WUTV for some reason . . probably Fox's low power.

Got a NEW TERK amplified unit from Radio Shack -- on sale BTW -- and
everything works SO MUCH BETTER without even re-aiming . . . . . . except WRGZ-HD which I have to move the unit for. Since I live 6 miles from their transmitter
I would guess something is funky over there. I have had a lot of trouble picking up WGRZ.

FURTHER RE FOX

the image quality on Fox's BONES Friday night was VERY good . . . .
better than CBS's "THRESHOLD" IMHO.

Still looking for anyone south of North Tonawanda that can get stations out of Toronto other than CBC 20.

Still looking for anyone south of North Tonawanda that can get stations out of Toronto other than CBC 20.

I wish! Cheektavegas checking in here after some time away.

The best I get is blips on 40, 24, and 66. I can pull in Rochester HD on a good tropo day. Still no luck with Erie or Hamilton, although one day last year around this time of the year, I captured Pittsburgh HD for one evening. I think it's time to up the ante and buy the CM 4248 and retire the Rat shack 10 footer VHF/UHF combo.

How old is the antenna and when was the last time you replaced the balum and downlead? Is it RG59 or RG6?

Do that first (you will/should have to anyway, new antenna or not).

Forgive me for jumping in here, but I don't have time to read all 85 pages. I don't have HDTV now, but think I might in the next 3-6 months. I'm just wondering how reliable the local HD feeds are. I read on various boards about people's locals dropping out of HD in the middle of a show, or switching to 4x3 HD, or sound missing, etc. How are the Buffalo locals? Also, do any of them broadcast their HD shows in DD 5.1 sound? I live in Wheatfield if that matters. I wish I knew someone with HD so I could maybe experience it first hand for myself, but I don't. TIA.

Mark

You are in a good area for Toronto, but you might have a issue with Grand Island, though since it is 90 degrees away from Toronto and the Boston Hills, you might have it made! When you get your CM 4228a up and running let us know how the CN tower comes in up where you are!

As far as your question, with anything new, there are bugs.

I'm sure it's buried in this thread somewhere, but why is there no Fox HD on Adelphia Cable? I suppose I can pick it up over the air but I'd have their PVR and would like to record some HD Fox shows... What's the deal?

I think it's $$.
Fox wants them to pay.

Sinclair broadcast group expects cable companies to pay them for their HD signals, when no other networks do. This is a precedent cable companies have no intention of setting. It's a national problem, not a local one. If you have an atsc tuner and an indoor antenna, you should be able to pick up 29-1 with no problem.

Howdy, y'all. I'm out in Dunkirk with Adelphia and a SA8300HD. Is anyone else having issues with channel 4, especially during any/all of the CSI's? The past two weeks, across 5 episodes, there have been audio dropouts lasting 2-3 seconds occurring every couple of minutes, as well as occasional video dropouts. I'm trying to identify if it's a CBS thing, Channel 4 thing, or Adelphia issue. Thanks!

Chris

I've had this issue with CSI since the day WIVB-DT started broadcasting. My Dish Network 811 ota tuner does it and I know several people with Adelphia who have the same problem. Maybe it's WIVB or maybe CBS or maybe a combination of the two. This past week I used the ota tuner in my Sony KDF42A10 and didn't experience a single problem with CSI. I'm not sure what conclusion to draw from that.

there have been audio dropouts lasting 2-3 seconds occurring every couple of minutes

Yep.
HD 4 used to be very solid, worked great for the last few months.
Last 10 days or so, freezeups makes watching unbearable.

(Using Adelphia, and non PVR HD tuner. I have a Samsung OTA hd but have not tried it. Maybe if there is audio trouble tomorrow (thurs) night with CSI, I'll switch to it & report back).

I haven't been watching WIVB, but rather the WNLO rebroadcast of WIVB, and I haven't seen any issues except for the normal ones that have been happening for the past year - namely the occasional glitchy frame inserted (saw one mentioning the 11:00 news - are we sure this isn't some form of subliminal advertising?) and the occasional audio dropout on their local inserted material that occasionally extendes 5-10 seconds into the HD program.

Are there any board regulars from the Buffalo area that have a D* HD-TiVo (HR10-250)? I have a question about the locals and it's guide data and was hoping someone could help. Currently, my guide data shows the proper info for WNED on 17-1, 17-2, and 17-3. However, when tuning into those channels, 17-1 shows nothing, 17-2 shows 17-1, and 17-3 is 17-2, leaving me with no viewable 17-3. So I do a channel scan, and WNED scans as 43-1, 43-2, and 43-3, but has no guide data. Is there anyway to fix this situation? It doesn't matter if 17 or 43 ends up the "fixed" one. Thanks in advance.

Are there any board regulars from the Buffalo area that have a D* HD-TiVo (HR10-250)? I have a question about the locals and it's guide data and was hoping someone could help. Currently, my guide data shows the proper info for WNED on 17-1, 17-2, and 17-3. However, when tuning into those channels, 17-1 shows nothing, 17-2 shows 17-1, and 17-3 is 17-2, leaving me with no viewable 17-3. So I do a channel scan, and WNED scans as 43-1, 43-2, and 43-3, but has no guide data. Is there anyway to fix this situation? It doesn't matter if 17 or 43 ends up the "fixed" one. Thanks in advance.

It has always been that way for the HR10-250. There is no way to fix it without hacking the Tivo software.

"Brought to you in High Definition by Sony" yeah right

Do you think WIVB can stay with the HD feed for longer than a few seconds?

they "flip" to a different game in HD.

Apparently they are not getting the HD feed from CBS corporate

They just flipped to the HD feed.

Thanks Todd.

finally just flipped to HD

"Brought to you in High Definition by Sony" yeah right There is your answer. Phony all baloney.............. :mad:

Separate question; when did WIVB move CBS to 39-2 and 32-2? At least that is where it is on a MyHD-120 card.

Where can one buy an STB in Buffalo?
They seem to be non-existent in Toronto.

Hey everyone,

I've been following this thread for a while. I finally decided to take the plunge and try to pick up HDTV. I already picked up a HD Receiver (Toshiba DST-3100) and have DirecTV, but I am looking to get an antenna set-up for OTA broadcasts. I went to a local antenna installer, and he insisted I needed a $200 attenna, a $150 rotator, $100 pre-amp, basically the works came out to like $600, but I can tell from what I've read that this is overkill for picking up the locals in HD.

Can anyone give me some advice:
-What's a good antenna to pick up the HD stations? What if I also want to pick up the Canadian stations (5 and 9??)?
- Do I really need an antenna rotator if I buy the right antenna, at least for the locals? How about for Canadian stations?
-Do I need a pre-amp if I have to run about 100 feet of cable? (My guess there is yes.)

Honestly, I mostly care about the HD, if getting stations out of Toronto involves a lot more expense, I won't bother. I live in a pretty open area, and my roof is about 20 ft up (I still don't know how I'm going to get an antenna up there, though, but I'll get to that once I figure out)

I'd appreciate any advice that anyone could give.

-What's a good antenna to pick up the HD stations? What if I also want to pick up the Canadian stations (5 and 9??)?
- Do I really need an antenna rotator if I buy the right antenna, at least for the locals? How about for Canadian stations?
-Do I need a pre-amp if I have to run about 100 feet of cable? (My guess there is yes.)

Honestly, I mostly care about the HD, if getting stations out of Toronto involves a lot more expense, I won't bother. I live in a pretty open area, and my roof is about 20 ft up (I still don't know how I'm going to get an antenna up there, though, but I'll get to that once I figure out)

Welcome to the forum.
Try what you have first - don't go to a $600.00 solution when a $6.00 one might be enough. Take the biggest indoor antenna you have lying around the house (preferably a UHF one, but even if it's rabbit ears) and try it on different sides of your house on the highest floor. See if you can get anything, you might be supprised. Personally I'm watching MNF right now using a $3 Radioshack bowtie (AKA coathanger) Scotch taped to a window and run over 100' of coax and NO pre-amp. Just can't get the Canadians with this, though.
Being in an open location will help a lot. Only drawback is the broadcast antennae are in 3 different directions....might eventually need a rotator.
The golden rules of antenna reception:
1. higher (and unobstructed) is better
2. bigger is better
3. get a pre-amp only if you have maxed out on #1 and 2
Everyone's terrain / situation is different and ultimately only trial and error will tell what works for you. Best of luck.

skier_pete; Where do you live?

First, go here;
http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp

Use the link to find your exact location, copy down the lat. & long. and enter it into the spaces provided. Change the default distance to, say 90 miles, and check 'by distance'.
Bookmark the results using the link provided (you can't bookmark the page without doing this step).


Channel Master 4228 ($40 + shipping),
rotor (between $50 & $70) ,
mast,
5' tripod,
RG-6 cable,
ground wire,
3 conductor rotor wire

Piece of cake

I would go with a indoor amp where it is accessible just below the roof line in the attic or crawl space.

Videobruce: I live off of Schultz Road off of NFB in Wheatfield.

Videobruce and MDK: Thanks for the advice. I don't really even have any rabbit ears sitting around the house. I think I'll get a basic antenna and rotor and give it a whirl, probably hold off on the pre-amp. (Though I may pick that up too.)

I will keep things posted here as to how it all works out.

You have to do the trip to Buffalo. Either Curcuit City or Walmart. I have the Walmart Hi-Sense, it's Ok, but when it needs to be replaced, I'll go to C.C.

Rabid

You sjould have a great chance of getting many of the ATSC stations out of Toronto along with possibly Rochester.
Since the 'problem' is to your west a directional antenna should reduce the 'problem' to manageable levels and a amp might work fine.

CC and ChinaMart for what? :mad:
Can't imagine any accessories worth while going there for.

1. Does anyone have trouble getting NBC 2-1 lately?
2. How many of you receive Canadian HD? If you get, what antenna do you use? What HD programs are worth watching?

WGRZ-DT is bad with OTA in Toronto -- it cuts in and out. On Rogers digital cable it's bad too, barely liveable.

WGRZ (analog) has the audio cutting in and out on analog cable.

How many of you receive Canadian HD? CBC (NTSC 5) ATSC 20 is the only one I get with a CM 4228 up around 55'.
I asked this before, but didn't get any response.

New to OTA HD here hoping someone can help. I just had Directv installed and got them to throw in a antenna for free (not sure if this is normal or the equipment is any good). I'm able to pick up ABC, CBS, and Fox all at 100% but can barely get a signal from NBC. Is NBC typically harder to pick up in my area? I'm in Amherst / Eggerstville area. Any recommendations on how I could get some decent reception for NBC?

Thanks.

Here in Toronto I get all the Buffalo channels but with varied signals (between 57% for WNED to 82% for WKBW) but WGRZ varies. One day it`s there the next it`s gone. I use a CM-4228 about 25 above ground but just outside a window (so I can adjust it) and a Winegard Squareshooter which is fixed on the chimney about 10 feet higher. Both have pre-amps but no rotors. The 4228 picks up Buffalo no problem but the Winegard doesn`t however the Winegard is able to pick up stronger signals from our locals. Because it`s a hassle to get up there to adjust it (fear of heights) I haven`t been able to fine tune the Winegard yet but I have a suspicion it will do a better job. Is anyone out there using a Winegard SquareShooter that can relay their findings? Much obliged.

Here in Toronto I get all the Buffalo channels but with varied signals (between 57% for WNED to 82% for WKBW) but WGRZ varies. One day it`s there the next it`s gone. I use a CM-4228 about 25 above ground but just outside a window (so I can adjust it) and a Winegard Squareshooter which is fixed on the chimney about 10 feet higher. Both have pre-amps but no rotors. The 4228 picks up Buffalo no problem but the Winegard doesn`t however the Winegard is able to pick up stronger signals from our locals. Because it`s a hassle to get up there to adjust it (fear of heights) I haven`t been able to fine tune the Winegard yet but I have a suspicion it will do a better job. Is anyone out there using a Winegard SquareShooter that can relay their findings? Much obliged.

You may want to go to the Toronto forum.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6358977#post6358977

FYI -- I'm in Toronto using a single CM4228 on a 10' chimney mast with a Winegard AP4700 pre-amp (high overload limit) and get all the Buffalo and Toronto HD channels.

Thanks, where exactly are you in terms of intersections? I am in the Keele-Finch area and I can see the CN Tower from my roof. I have a Winegard pre-amp as well but I don`t know the model it only says Winegard on the front and rs-9370 on the back . Should I change this model? Also, what does high overload limit mean?
Thanks again.

The damn Bills game is in SD again! What the hell is wrong with these people???

Looks like the Oak game will also be in SD, then the Pats game will be in HD before the bye.

The Bills will need to win some games to get more HD exposure

Does anyone have trouble getting NBC 2-1 lately? Yes on a new Mits DLP, 33 doesn't register at all. 38 and 39 are fine. Signal good (around +10 dbmV).

Anyone else that can't capture ATSC ch. 33?

I have various problems getting NBC in, but it was good for at least the 8-10pm hours yesterday...

Thanks, where exactly are you in terms of intersections? I am in the Keele-Finch area and I can see the CN Tower from my roof. I have a Winegard pre-amp as well but I don`t know the model it only says Winegard on the front and rs-9370 on the back . Should I change this model? Also, what does high overload limit mean?
Thanks again.

I'm in Thornhill -- Bayview/Steeles.
High overload is protection against overloading. The amp can take a higher input signal without going into overload. An overload can cause the same effect as no signal. In the Toronto area, an amplifier may cause overload because of the proximity of the stations on the CN Tower. There are a few Winegard models that have this feature but not all.

OTA signals are constantly varying -- if you look at a signal indicator, you will see the values change up and down, and closer stations will cause overload.

The AP-4700 has an overload of 110,000 microvolts, while others have a lower limit of 29,000 microvolts which means they are better suited for areas without strong local stations.

You will find more issues related to Toronto reception issues in the Toronto forum.

Hi All,

This is my first post on this website. Great place. I thought OTA was pretty much dead and gone, and then DTV put a new twist. So, I decided that I would like to get the Buffalo channels from here in Toronto, Ontario. BUT, I do not have a HDTV tv yet.

For years I've had problems getting OTA with my TV tower. Seems like I have a lot of interference in my area. So I have sort of given up on it. Then I recently started researching DTV and found that you could pick up OTA digital signals from Buffalo. I have a 30' tower with a combination VHF/UHF Antenna with rotor. Would I be able to get DTV with this? I currently get 2,4,7,17,23,29 & 49 from Buffalo. My UHF channels come fairly clear in analog. I just have a problem with FOX29. It comes in weak.

Since I don't have a HDTV set YET, I am opting to buy a digital receiver to convert the signal for my current tv set. I sub to BEV here in Canada, but I don't sub the US networks. I don't feel I need them because of all the sim-subbing that goes on. But, I would like to get some life back into my TV tower and would be a great addition to my BEV.

Could anyone from Toronto suggest a good HDTV/DTV receiver that is reasonably priced and where I could find them in Toronto. I have search the net for vendors, but seems they are mostly in the US. I am not interested in getting HDTV equipement through BEV. I just want a stand alone receiver.

Thanks in advance for your help.

P.S. I will post pictures of my antenna setup tommorrow if that helps.

Hi All,

This is my first post on this website. Great place. I thought OTA was pretty much dead and gone, and then DTV put a new twist. So, I decided that I would like to get the Buffalo channels from here in Toronto, Ontario. BUT, I do not have a HDTV tv yet.

For years I've had problems getting OTA with my TV tower. Seems like I have a lot of interference in my area. So I have sort of given up on it. Then I recently started researching DTV and found that you could pick up OTA digital signals from Buffalo. I have a 30' tower with a combination VHF/UHF Antenna with rotor. Would I be able to get DTV with this? I currently get 2,4,7,17,23,29 & 49 from Buffalo. My UHF channels come fairly clear in analog. I just have a problem with FOX29. It comes in weak.

Since I don't have a HDTV set YET, I am opting to buy a digital receiver to convert the signal for my current tv set. I sub to BEV here in Canada, but I don't sub the US networks. I don't feel I need them because of all the sim-subbing that goes on. But, I would like to get some life back into my TV tower and would be a great addition to my BEV.

Could anyone from Toronto suggest a good HDTV/DTV receiver that is reasonably priced and where I could find them in Toronto. I have search the net for vendors, but seems they are mostly in the US. I am not interested in getting HDTV equipement through BEV. I just want a stand alone receiver.

Thanks in advance for your help.

P.S. I will post pictures of my antenna setup tommorrow if that helps.

Mark,

You may find more help in the Toronto forum.

My UHF channels come fairly clear in analog. I just have a problem with FOX29. It comes in weak. That should be the strongest. It's the closest & strongest station.
17, 23 & 29 are 30+ miles closer to you than 2,4 & 7.

Go here, input your lat. and long., for a more detailed breakdown of what is out there;
http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp

FWIW; WGRZ had a prblem last week (Wednesday) from the heavy rain around NYC which messed up their network receive equipment. That caused the equipment to drop the PSID. Anyone that didn't have their set on 33 at the time and left it on (a cable headend for example) lost WGRZ digital even though the xmitter was up and running.
It was corrected Firday morning.

Just wanted to say No FOX HDTV on Adelphia stinks!! Rupert Murdoch and his DirecTV empire want you to sign up there to get FOX! I cannot record anything on FOX in HD on My HD8300! At least I picked up a STB cheap to get the World Series....

...on the topic of Adelphia, when are they adding more stations? Here in Lockport we get:
ABC
NBC
CBS
PBS
HDNet
HDNet Movies
HBO
Cinemax
Showtime
Stars
ESPN-HD

It has been forever since a new channel... I would love to have Bravo-HD, TNT-HD and even Discovery-HD! (let alone Fox). They have been updating the infrastructure here since early summer to make way for In demand..supposedly a InDemandHD channel or two are coming...are they waiting for the new owners to take over to do anything here?! Come on...

Have you considered an outdoor antenna??
From where you are a Silver Sensor would work..............

>Is anyone out there using a Winegard SquareShooter that can relay their findings?

I live just east of Toronto (Pickering) and can catch every channel execpt WGRZ.
I have the SquareShooter but use a different amp.

>Is anyone out there using a Winegard SquareShooter that can relay their findings?

I live just east of Toronto (Pickering) and can catch every channel execpt WGRZ.
I have the SquareShooter but use a different amp.

WGRZ-DT is one of the hardest ones to get from Toronto. It is amongst the furthest and the power is lower than the rest.

You should go to the Toronto forum.

Here is the latest from 2150;

http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp?latitude=42%2E9466&longitude=%2D78%2E8497&magnetic_north=9&range=90&sort=distance&show_expired=False&show_construction=False&show_analog=False&show_low_power=False&action=Show+Stations

Anybody using the channel master 4228 around here? I am in akron,ny and my winegard gs 2000 insnt bringin in ch 2 & 4 hd very well lately.

Isn't everyone? ;)
How old is the antenna and feedline?

I just installed it a couple of months ago.Today I put a db2 on a 10 ft tripod and all channels seem to be holding good at a range of 80-90 strength,i think I just had to get over some trees nesr the house!The only one I cant get is 49-1,but I never got that.So i'm gathering that the 4228 performs well?
Ive only been foolin around with the antennas I get free from work,but if I have to spend money,I'll probobly go with the channel master.

Looks like NBC digital is off the air, as I can get no signal, and just as the NASCAR race was in the last several laps.

Okay, it's back, after the race finished.

what happened to 7-1?No signal since all the wind last night

what happened to 7-1?No signal since all the wind last night
Yeah, I thought it would be back up by now. Looks like it's monday night football in analog tonight.

So you guys aren't the only ones that are missing this channel (7-1)? I can get every other Buffalo channel in HD (apart from Fox) in full strength. I was up on the roof like an idiot turning and adjusting the antenna. Any word on when it might be coming back?

I was up on the roof like an idiot turning and adjusting the antenna.
That's why you check and/or post here first. ;)

ABC suffered damage in the windstorm on Sunday and the transmitter is offline. I hear it won't be back until Wednesday at the soonest.

hOPEFULLY IT WILL BE BACK BY WEN.,i CANT BRING MYSELF TO WATCH LOST OR iNVASION IN sd!

i CANT BRING MYSELF TO WATCH LOST OR iNVASION IN sd! Yea, I can't bring myself to watch "Lost" any way but with the set off! :rolleyes:
As bad as watching WB 34. :mad: