Getting WUNL-DT in north Greensboro. Remember that -2 is only on OTA from 8pm to 11pm and while -2 is on, -4 and -5 are off.

Hello all,
I would like to get your opinions as to the best roof mounted antenna for local HD channels for me.
I am in Winston Salem, just south of business 40 near downtown. I am running a Panasonic TH-50PH9UK 50" plasma with a Hisense DB2010 STB for tuning. I like the Winegard MS2000 Metrostar because it won't need a rotor and I just like the way it looks.:o Would this be a good choice? If not, what would you suggest?
Thanks in advance.

Hello all,
I would like to get your opinions as to the best roof mounted antenna for local HD channels for me.
I am in Winston Salem, just south of business 40 near downtown. I am running a Panasonic TH-50PH9UK 50" plasma with a Hisense DB2010 STB for tuning. I like the Winegard MS2000 Metrostar because it won't need a rotor and I just like the way it looks.:o Would this be a good choice? If not, what would you suggest?
Thanks in advance.

Don't worry about how something looks. Nine times out ten, something that looks good doesn't work good. Performance is all you should care about. I will put up with my ugly antenna that picks up everything I want to watch over your pretty antenna that doesn't pick up anything. That is the attitude you have to have.

Here is a URL that compares some of the most popular antennas. Remember that even though all of the digital stations are on UHF, in 14 months some will go back to VHF, so you need to take that into account as well. In the area, you will have digital stations on channel 3, 8, 10, 11.

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

As a matter of fact, this site has all kinds of facts about HDTV and antennas that can be helpful to a beginner. And of course we will be happy to answer any question you might have.

Thanks for the input.
I was kidding about the looks. As long as it pulls in the stations, I don't care is it looks like a bunch of coat hangers tangled up together!
I had forgotten about the coming VHF stuff. I'll definitely be mindful of that when choosing an antenna.

Something strange... I'm in Winston 27107.

I have a digital tuner which works ok with a small portable antenna. Minimum amount of gain. I get 8.1 (wghpdt) , 2.2 and 12.2 weather and 2.1 (wfmy) sometimes good enough for digital reception. I want to receive all local programs, particularly UNC TV. I have a better antenna, currently mounted in the attic. It's omni UHF. I plan later to add an external and having a dual digital tuner up in the attic which would have one tuner connected to the UHF and the other to a directional to get Charlotte programming and run cat-5 from there so that I dont have to deal with loss of signal.

Currently, I run this antenna with integrated amp, to a power injector also in the attic, then to the cable input on the side of the house (I dont have cable), which then is distributed to 5 jacks. This is all done with high quality cables and connections. Now, a 5 way split does attenuate the signal, but I have an old TV with analog tuner and it receives pretty well through the wall jack:

WFMY 2 (ok, a bit snowy)
WBTV 3 (not clear - after all it is mostly a UHF antenna)
WUNC 4 (very snowy)
WGHP 8 (some cyclic video noise) on both channels 7 and 8
WSOC 9 (sound only)
WXII 12 (perfect)
WGPX 16 (snowy)
WTWB 20 (good)
WUNL 26 (a bit snowy)
WXLV 45 (good)
WMYV 48 (very good)

So it appears it's not working too good on lower VHF and upper UHF (no reception of 58 and 61).

But anyway, this is a better situation than with the small antenna so I connected the digital tuner to it and.... nothing.

Really weird. Am I below threshold for digital, yet get all of the above?

Maybe an amp to compensate for the 5 way split?

WXII-DT and WUNL-DT are the only digital stations on Sauratown Mt. The rest of the digital stations are south of Greensboro at Level Cross and Randleman.

You say "omni antenna.' Do you mean a saucer antenna? Terk 55 antenna? If you have either one of those, GET RID OF THEM. They don't work. You might want to look at a Channel Master 4228 or similar antenna. It will also do a decent job at channel 8 as well.

A 5 way splitter cuts the signal down to 35% of what you start out with. Also the fact that you have the antenna in the attic attenuates the signal to start with also. With your current setup, putting an amp in will just increase the line noise and you will not really receive anything. It sounds like you need to start with an antenna and then move on from there. Take into account that post Feb 17, 2009, WGHP will move from UHF back to VHF channel 8.

You want to use a good quality RG-6 coax cable with NO splices anywhere except at the 5 way splitter. Make sure the F connectors are crimp on or compression type. NEVER use screw ons. They are too lossy. If you need an amp, because of living in a populated area, do not put anything more than 15dB in line or you will overload the receiver. Unlike analog, an overloaded receiver will not decode a digital signal.

Let's start with that and see if that doesn't help some.

Thanks for the tips. I was thinking everything was ok as far as cabling since I assumed all done by cable installer (previous owner had high speed internet access). However it turns out that the previous owner added a few things...

I ended up finding some RG59 cables and 3 more 2 way splitters. I removed 2 of the 2 way splitters going nowhere and restoring the original layout as the cable company had done. All is RG6. What I used in my part of the install is RG6 quad shield. Basically it goes from antenna, to short cable to power injector, to long cable to grounding unit, then there is a 2 way splitter which I had not noticed before, with one cable going to the 5 way splitter and the other to a closeby jack in the house. I connected the tuner to that jack and what do you know, I got a signal.

On the analog side I get 2,3,8 (I get mains harmonics on the video signal that might be caused because the power injector/electric wiring is too close to the antenna),12,16,18,20,26,36,45,46,48 and 61. The hybrid tuner will not get 4 and 9 (the old analog tv was able to), but mostly as noted previously, although the borderline channels looked better. On the digital side I did get:

WFMY-DT 2.1 and 2.2
WGHP-DT 8.1
*WX+ 12.2
*WCWG-DT 20.1
*WUNL-DT 26.1, 26.2, 26.3, 26.4, 26.5
WXLV-DT 45.1
WMYV-DT 48.1
WLXI-DT 61.1

*some issues

The antenna is a Philips MANT940. The antenna is mostly omni, but with a front lobe that is aligned toward east/southeast, eyeballed. I will try to align with my compass, if need be. It seems good enough to get all the digital broadcast coming from that direction.

The fact that I cant receive WXII-DT 12.1 (or is 12.1 down?) and borderline 12.2 and that I lock on WUNL but is unwatcheable on any of the channels tells me that I need to point to Sauratown Mt. This is about 25 miles a few degrees left of north, so omni apparently is not good enough for that. I was trying to avoid a more complicated setup.

I also cant get a good enough signal on WCWG-DT. Where is their transmitter?

So pre 5 way splitter, it is real close to where I want to be.

Now going back to the 5 way splitter, if the signal from the antenna is good enough, would an analog distribution amp work ok for this? I have one somewhere in a box. The other thing is that I dont really need that many jacks, so maybe I can rearrange this a bit

At any rate, longer term, I'll have networked tuners broadcasting UDP over cat5, so I dont want to sink too much money on the analog distribution side of things.

Finally, does fox 8 not have a secondary channel? And is there no one broadcasting test patterns or music on extra channels?

Thanks

I also cant get a good enough signal on WCWG-DT. Where is their transmitter?

Same tower as WXLV-DT, WMYV-DT and WXLI-DT at Level Cross.

Now going back to the 5 way splitter, if the signal from the antenna is good enough, would an analog distribution amp work ok for this? I have one somewhere in a box. The other thing is that I dont really need that many jacks, so maybe I can rearrange this a bit

Do not put more amplification than what you need to overcome the loss in the splitter. To do more than that will add noise and degragate what signal you have. They do make amplified splitters that match the loss in the splitters to equal it out and that is the way I would go.

Finally, does fox 8 not have a secondary channel?

No, we currently do not.

And is there no one broadcasting test patterns or music on extra channels?

Not currently.

You might want to look at a Channel Master 4228 or similar antenna. It will also do a decent job at channel 8 as well.

Do you think the 4228 will do an ok job for VHF channels below 8 in this area? I know (from reading the antenna link you provided....thanks again) it is not really a VHF antenna. Also, is there a happy medium for a direction setting that can get the Sauratown stations along with the Greensboro area or would I need a rotor? (My zip is 27101)

Do you think the 4228 will do an ok job for VHF channels below 8 in this area? I know (from reading the antenna link you provided....thanks again) it is not really a VHF antenna. Also, is there a happy medium for a direction setting that can get the Sauratown stations along with the Greensboro area or would I need a rotor? (My zip is 27101)

The 4228 is a UHF but for VHF high band (channels 7-13) it will work, meaning if you live within the market and the VHF station is full power, maybe not great, but OK. Below channel 7, it will not work at all.

The 4228 isn't an omni antenna, but depending on where are you and where you have to point, it can act like an omni. For instance, I live in Greensboro. If I point my 4228 on my roof to Sauratown Mt, I can still pick up 2, 8, 20, 45, 48 and 61 off the corner of it. If I have the antenna pointed south toward Level Cross/Randleman, I do not pick up 12 and 26.

The 4228 is a UHF but for VHF high band (channels 7-13) it will work, meaning if you live within the market and the VHF station is full power, maybe not great, but OK. Below channel 7, it will not work at all.
So, to receive 2 I would also need a VHF antenna?

The 4228 isn't an omni antenna, but depending on where are you and where you have to point, it can act like an omni. For instance, I live in Greensboro. If I point my 4228 on my roof to Sauratown Mt, I can still pick up 2, 8, 20, 45, 48 and 61 off the corner of it. If I have the antenna pointed south toward Level Cross/Randleman, I do not pick up 12 and 26.
I am about 1/2 mile south of Business 40. I was thinking I might be able to point the antenna north of GSO and get both.

Sorry for all the questions but I appreciate the help!

So, to receive 2 I would also need a VHF antenna?

No. Channel 2 will stay on channel 51 and Channel 12 will stay on channel 31. Only Channel 8 will be returning to VHF.


I am about 1/2 mile south of Business 40. I was thinking I might be able to point the antenna north of GSO and get both.

You would more than likely need to point toward Sauratown Mt and get the other stations off the back of the antenna like i do.

OK gang, I need your help here.

I have been working with DirecTV on this audio issue when we go from net back to local and we lose audio for a few seconds. At first we thought it was because net is using 5.1 and we are using 2.0, so I changed the local encoder to 5.1 and it still continued. So the theory they were shooting me that there was some incompatablity in their receiver between the two formats appears to be bunk.

Last night I was sitting around answering a PSIP question in another thread and thinking what PSIP does and how it does it, got me thinking that the issue may not be format incompatablity, but bitrate incompatablity. We have been sending 192 kbs since day one. Network sends 448 kbs when the splicer is on line. It could be the receiver has all these bits stored up and has to clear the buffers, reset and then load the 192 kbs to decode. This all takes time. Today I changed the encoder to 448 kbs so tonight, those of you Terminator fans who have D* HD and watch our HD via the sat and not OTA, Prison Break and The Sarah Conner Chronicles will be on again. Give it a listen and see if you see the problem has either gone or been greatly reduced through D* when we switch from net back to local. If this doesn't get it, I don't know and we are back to square one.

It is interesting that OTA with both a H20 and HR20, you don't have the problem, only when it is through D*. So it has to be their collection point receiver or their MPEG4 encoder. Good news is we are not the only market having this problem so if this fixes it, you will be helping D* HD viewers all over the country because I will call them tell them! D* that is! ;)

Anyway, thanks in advance.

Hey foxeng, you appear to be a genius because I think your solution worked. I flipped over to the Terminator show around 9:20 and I caught the entire commercial break and the sound problem didn't occur. When the teaser for the 10pm news came on the sound was on the entire time. In fact the sound never went away for the entire 3 minutes of commercials.

I was watching Enterprise on HDNet but set the HR20 to record our feed on D* and I checked the recorded part and there was a momentary drop but I think that was my decoder relocking. If I hadn't been looking for it, I wouldn't have noticed it. I watched the 10pm News teaser live at 9:54 and the news open live at 10 and it all seemed to work OK. I need to do one more test mode tomorrow night and if that works too, I will call D* and tell them what needs to be done.

Thanks for checking!

I had the same 192 kbs settings with My Network a while back and had to change the bit rate also. No one was watching to complain I guess. With the higher bit rate settings the Streamscope lists an error with "audio buffer out of bounds", but the problems with audio dropout is gone. I had noticed Fox 8 never had the buffer out of bounds error, but I bet if I looked at it now it would. The Streamscope software is about 2003 vintage and may need an update to measure properly.

Reminds me of the time I wondered why the ATSC spec didn't specify the ability to change formats on the fly, which would prvent the channel shuffling that some PBS stations do at night.

Well it looks like my tests are complete in reguard to the audio dropout on D* HD when we go from net to local and it was a success. If you guys spot anything else funny, let me know.

Foxeng,

I watched Terminator from Sunday and Monday yesterday. Neither of which had the drops.

Great! Thanks. I think I have knocked that problem in the head.

Great! Thanks. I think I have knocked that problem in the head.

Great thinking, foxeng! Even my wife, who never notices anything other than the "pretty picture" on the wall, was complaining about that one!

Great! Thanks. I think I have knocked that problem in the head.

Well done. If you've really fixed a problem that Direct TV's customers are experiencing nationwide with other affiliates, maybe they should compensate you! :)

What the hell WXLV? The UNC/Maryland game came on the air in HD but before the game even started it dropped back to SD.

Does anybody know the extension (or direct number) of master control at WXLV. I call the number on their web site and it's just a recording. The message says hit # to get a company directory but instead it replays the message.

There is no apparent way to get in touch with WXLV. I have called during business hours, got the receptionist, and been patched right through to the menu. Your best bet is to drive to the station and beat on the door.

If I drive to the station I might beat more than the door. :)

What the hell WXLV? The UNC/Maryland game came on the air in HD but before the game even started it dropped back to SD.

Is it snowing there? It is here and we're on the backup feed so no HD.

I was just about to type a not so friendly email to WXLV and then the game flipped back to HD mode. Hopefully they can keep it like that this time.

I would have rather not seen that ugly mess in HD!

I have no idea what the problem was with WXII, but I can tell you that stations are more in tune to the digital viewers these days just because of the number of TV's in the marketplace.

Several years ago, I could turn off the digital transmitter in the middle of the newscast (I actually did several times) and not one call. That is the not the case anymore. When we had Sun Outage in October during the Panthers game, it was holy bedlam on the phones and emails. We got some pretty nasty ones too, but there wasn't much we do about it but ride it out. Stations still put the main emphasis on analog, but the pendulum is starting to swing.

Of course, one of the nicest calls I have every received was from a viewer on the second day we were on the air digital in 2002. We signed on at 5pm on Monday April 29th but didn't say anything on air about it since no one really had any receivers, we weren't on cable yet and we were only 4200 watts and really had no clear idea what our coverage would be. We were upconverting our analog signal since we didn't have the digital microwave in yet. This gentleman called and said he saw were transmitting in digital and asked why we were not passing the FOX network programming in 16:9 like the Charlotte FOX station. I explained that we had just got the transmitter on air and hadn't put in the digital microwave that would allow us to show FOX's 16:9 network programming. He thanked me for the information and hung up.I have never heard from him since. So you never know who or what will be on the other end of the line.

Just remember, would you take abuse from a caller at your work place? We don't have to either just because we work in broadcasting. Just remember that.

Just remember, would you take abuse from a caller at your work place? We don't have to either just because we work in broadcasting. Just remember that.

Amen Brother! When I get those type calls or emails, they get deleted and are ignored. Sometimes we pass them around and laugh that such idiots need to get a life.

WFMY, what happened to your HD alert ticker/scroller? Please tell me you will have it running once the games starts!!!

I would have rather not seen that ugly mess in HD!

You have a point there. :(

The Business of Television
Arbitrator Finds for MASN in Time Warner Cable Dispute
Cable Operator, Regional Sports Network Can't Reach Agreement on Tier Placement
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 1/21/2008

An arbitrator concluded in a strongly worded decision that there is "inescapable" evidence that Time Warner Cable discriminated against regional sports network Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in a North Carolina carriage dispute.

Following a Dec. 17 hearing, arbitrator Jerome Sussman of the American Arbitration Association took less than three weeks to rule (in a Jan. 7 decision) that “the conclusion that Time Warner deliberately discriminated against MASN is inescapable from the documents and testimony,” adding that Time Warner “had both motive and opportunity to discriminate" against MASN in favor of its own RSN.

Time Warner argued that since it offered to carry MASN on a digital tier, it was not denying carriage. But Sussman said that since only 50% of Time Warner's subscribers were digital and since Time Warner carried its own and other RSNs on an analog tier, "This is exactly the kind of discrimination that I think the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] intended to prevent."

He said he agreed with Time Warner that it should have substantial editorial discretion over the channels it chooses to distribute, but since MASN was singled out, that such discretion was "abused" with the intent to discriminate. He added that there appeared to be no evidence that there were ever any real negotiations between the two parties, and that instead, "It appears that all of TWC's efforts went into figuring out ways to avoid putting MASN on the air."

Sussman also dismissed Time Warner's contention that MASN was not an RSN, while concluding that Time Warner's News 14 Carolina was an RSN since it provides Charlotte Bobcats National Basketball Association games and was looking to pick up more sports rights, which it might be able to do if MASN "were squeezed out" by a lack of carriage.

The dispute now goes to a second round of so-called baseball style arbitration, in which Sussman will decide based on the "best offers" submitted by each side.

As a condition of its July 2006 decision allowing the top two cable operators, Time Warner and Comcast, to divvy up systems of bankrupt Adelphia Communications, the FCC said that if there was evidence that either buyer was exerting undue market power in denying carriage to an unaffiliated RSN, the complaint could be submitted to outside arbitration.

While the commission found no reason to anticipate discrimination regarding national or nonsports regional programming by the cable operators, it said "additional measures are necessary with respect to unaffiliated regional sports networks to mitigate the potential harms deriving from the increased vertical integration and increased regional concentration produced by the transactions. Accordingly, we adopt a condition allowing unaffiliated RSNs to use commercial arbitration to resolve disputes regarding carriage on Comcast or Time Warner cable systems."

MASN pointed out that it is already carried in North Carolina by EchoStar Communications' Dish Network, DirecTV, Mediacom Communications and Charter Communications, arguing that this suggested that the terms it offered Time Warner were reasonable.

“This is a resounding victory for consumers, for sports fans, for colleges and universities in the state and for diversity of programming,” said MASN spokesman Todd Webster in announcing the decision. "We look forward to reaching a swift resolution that allows all Time Warner customers throughout North Carolina the same opportunity to watch their local sports on television that millions of other North Carolinians who receive their television service from other providers already enjoy."

Time Warner spokespeople were not available to comment on whether the company would appeal the ruling, but Time Warner has said that it was willing to talk about putting the network on a sports tier but not on basic because, according to a Time Warner executive at the time, “the programming is of little or no interest to our customers in North Carolina.”

Cable operators have been caught between a regulatory rock and a hard place. Operators have been under pressure from the FCC and legislators not to deny must-have programming, like college and pro sports, to fans used to getting it over the air or on basic cable. But at the same time, regulators and legislators have complained about soaring cable prices, which cable operators point out are linked to programming costs.

In September, MASN got some backing from the mayors of Raleigh and Durham, N.C., who wrote identical letters to Time Warner asking them to carry the network on the basic tier. MASN even got support from the managers of the Durham Bulls and Carolina Mudcats minor-league-baseball teams.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ind...leID=CA6524190

The Business of Television
Time Warner Cable to Appeal Arbitrator's Decision on MASN
Cable Operator: ‘No Basis’ to Conclude that Baltimore/Washington, D.C.-based Mid-Atlantic Sports Network Should Be Carried in N.C.
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable, 1/22/2008

Time Warner Cable said Monday that it would appeal an arbitrator's conclusion that it discriminated against Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in a carriage dispute.

"We respectfully disagree with the arbitrator's decision and will be appealing it," Time Warner said. "There is simply no basis to conclude that Time Warner Cable's decision not to provide broad distribution of a regional sports network that features teams from Baltimore and Washington, D.C., on its systems in North Carolina was in any way improper.”

The cable operator continued, "Rather, it reflected our editorial and business judgment that a service featuring distant teams was of little interest to the great majority of our customers in North Carolina and that the bulk of our customers shouldn't be forced to absorb the costs of programming that is of interest only to a few. We also believe it is inappropriate for government to intervene in private carriage decisions."

In granting Time Warner's and Comcast's bid to divvy up Adelphia Communications’ cable systems back in 2005, the Federal Communications Commission required that they submit to arbitration if negotiations with an unaffiliated RSN reached an impasse.

Cable operators have been caught between a regulatory rock and a hard place. Operators have been under pressure from the FCC and legislators not to deny must-have programming, like college and pro sports, to fans used to getting it over the air or on basic cable. But at the same time, regulators and legislators have complained about soaring cable prices, which, cable operators pointed out, are linked to programming costs.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ind...leID=CA6524454

This is a E-mail I sent to Time Warner Cable in Greensboro this morning. I'll let you know their response.

Thank you for taking the time to read my request. I would like to receive a custom response, not just a prewritten auto reply. I've been a customer for several years now. I subscribe to Road Runner, Digital Phone and Digital cable, including HDTV with most premium channels. I pay you nearly $200.00 a month. Here's my concern: TWC Greensboro has deployed SDV digital switching. Therefore, you should be on the cutting edge with HDTV channel deployment. However, sadly this does not appear to be the case. Corporately, Time Warner has negotiated deals in place with many channels that you have not deployed, including Cinemax, which Time Warner owns. Why have you not added these channels? Have you looked at the TWC Greensboro thread on AVS Forum? Many subscribers like myself are considering switching to Direct TV due to lack of channels. Most of us are higher end subscribers that pay you a lot of money each month, not your typical $30.00 per month basic cable subscriber. I have no desire to make the jump to satellite, but if you’re not going to provide them, you will leave me no choice. Here are the channels currently offered by other TW cable networks that I would like to see added ASAP.
Cinemax HD
Starz HD
Fox Business HD
Weather Channel HD
Disney HD
ESPN News HD
Science Channel HD
The Movie Channel HD
Again, thanks for reading this and I look forward to your reply.

In all honesty, Greensboro now is one of the better or "cutting edge" HD markets.... for TWC customers. Given my past experience with emaling them I wouldn't expect much more than a canned response, but good luck.

Cinemax HD
Starz HD
Fox Business HD
Weather Channel HD
Disney HD
ESPN News HD
Science Channel HD
The Movie Channel HD

While both D* and TWC have agreements to carry Disney HD and ESPNews HD, they channels don't exist yet. They will in a couple months. If you're going to ask for Starz HD, you might as well ask for all of the Starz! HD channels. D* carries Starz East HD, Starz West HD, Starz Comedy HD, Starz Kids HD and Starz Edge HD.

You have a better chance of getting a un-canned response by sending an email directly to: Buck Yarborough
Director, Government & Public Affairs
Time Warner Cable
Greensboro Division

TWC is looking at direct competition on when they will add more channels. Around here, the only competition they have is satellite. They don't see that as huge. If we had FIOS here or TWC didn't have 50% of the cable market already, they would be more inclined to add channels. At this point, they feel they don't have to.

If you want more HD channels, then sat is your only answer at this point. If you want local channel HD on sat, then DirecTV is your only choice. Dish hasn't announced if they will even provide HD channels in this market, much less when and no word yet when AT&T will bring FIOS.

I personally dumped TWC 11 years ago for DirecTV. I have never looked back and I am enjoying their HD channel line up including locals and DVR. Your mileage will vary.

There was an article in today's paper about AT&T U-verse coming soon. Although it says it may take up to 18 months for them to complete. 18 months sounds like a long time....


http://journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173354366628&path=!business&s=1037645507703

TWC is looking at direct competition on when they will add more channels. Around here, the only competition they have is satellite. They don't see that as huge.

With the amount of advertising that TWC does on both TV and radio it seems to me that TWC does consider Directv and Dish to be huge competition.

There was an article in today's paper about AT&T U-verse coming soon. Although it says it may take up to 18 months for them to complete. 18 months sounds like a long time....


http://journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173354366628&path=!business&s=1037645507703

I wouldn't touch AT&T U-verse with a 10 point pole. Besides having less HD than Directv or Dish, U-verse limits your household to just one stream of HD at a time. I currently have two HDTVs, one with a HD DVR and I will soon be switching out my HD receiver for a HD DVR on the 2nd HDTV. So I will be needing 4 different HD streams at once. U-verse would be worthless to me.

There was an article in today's paper about AT&T U-verse coming soon. Although it says it may take up to 18 months for them to complete. 18 months sounds like a long time....


http://journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173354366628&path=!business&s=1037645507703

To install the infrastructure to provide any service in 18 months, even to a just small piece of Triad geography is a significant challenge. To cover the entire market will take a miracle. Eighteen months is not a long time for an undertaking of this magnitude.

The engineering and permitting process alone will take a year. And given that the home installation takes several hours, how long will it take to complete several thousand installs?

The only thing U-verse had going for it was a "window" to get more programming out to cable households while the cable giant slept. The giant is awake, with a much better infrastructure already in place.

U-verse is a cobbled technology that just can't support the video demands of the multi HD/DVR household.

The "phone" industry has tried and failed to gain significant market share in the video arena several times in the past. Their solutions are either too expensive, or too techically compromised to implement on a wide scale basis.

From a pure technological and strategic perspective, a hybrid fiber/coax system is the most effecient delivery mechanism for the video demands of the future, and will continue to be the dominant delivery vehicle.

I am glad, however, we have all the competition. With as many as four video providers available to a given household, one would hope that the subscriber will be the true winner.

I personally dumped TWC 11 years ago for DirecTV. I have never looked back and I am enjoying their HD channel line up including locals and DVR. Your mileage will vary.

I have both TWC and DirecTV. I've kept TWC for a couple of reasons, first, not having to buy a $300 DVR which will surely become obsolete, and secondly, the SD PQ quality on DirecTV is terrible.

I recently learned that DirecTV SD is indeed a 240h x 240v transmission being upconverted to 480i, (or your fixed output resolution) and then stretched from 480h to 640h at the set-top. No wonder it sucks. Talk about SD-Lite.

The TWC digital simulcast SD pictures look every bit as good as the HD channels when the HD channels are transmitting SD content.

I watch less and less SD, but when I do, I revert back to TWC. The best way to qualify the perceptive difference is that while watching DirecTV SD I feel like I'm watching a 16 mm kinescope as opposed to a 35 mm film.

But I applaud DirecTV for being so aggressive with HD. I'm just wondering, however, how much of the decision was based on how poor their SD looked on a 40+" flat panel device. "You can fool some of the people some of the time."

D* is going up $3 to $5 on price for this year. That is a bit much to me. Is TW cable going up, and if so how much? They always have in the past.

At this rate, I may bid farewell to D* if an alternative becomes available that looks promising. Right now I'm not confident in E* (dish network)

Thanks.

My TWC is going up $3.30 this month ($119.45 to $122.75 including taxes/fees for the DigiPic 1000 digital service, 1 DVR, and no premiums or specialities). I see that the premiums are increasing from $8 to $10 for the first two.

My TWC is going up $3.30 this month ($119.45 to $122.75 including taxes/fees for the DigiPic 1000 digital service, 1 DVR, and no premiums or specialities). I see that the premiums are increasing from $8 to $10 for the first two.

WOW! Even after the D* increase I pay less then you do and I have 3 premium services all the HD services and 2 DVR's, one HD and SD! I didn't realize TWC had gotten that expensive.

WOW! Even after the D* increase I pay less then you do and I have 3 premium services all the HD services and 2 DVR's, one HD and SD! I didn't realize TWC had gotten that expensive.

I think he neglected to tell you that $40 of that is his RoadRunner or Phone service. Copied from TWC Triad site:

DIGIPiC 1000 Includes: Standard Package, Digital/HD Receiver or DVR/HD DVR** with remote, Interactive Program Guide, Digital Specialty Networks, Digital Music Service, Free On Demand programming and access to Movies On Demand, Events On Demand and Pay-Per-View services.) $69.95

DVR Service $6.95

Sounds more like $77 to me.........:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

I think he neglected to tell you that $40 of that is his RoadRunner or Phone service. Copied from TWC Triad site:

DIGIPiC 1000 Includes: Standard Package, Digital/HD Receiver or DVR/HD DVR** with remote, Interactive Program Guide, Digital Specialty Networks, Digital Music Service, Free On Demand programming and access to Movies On Demand, Events On Demand and Pay-Per-View services.) $69.95

DVR Service $6.95

Sounds more like $77 to me.........:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

That is comparable to what I pay with D* and I have WAY more HD. TWC still isn't as good a deal when you compare apples to apples.
:eek:

But if you have all of the trees I have, and at least a 100 foot run of cable from the dish to the TV, and the installer just shakes his head and tells you "no way", then you are stuck.

But if you have all of the trees I have, and at least a 100 foot run of cable from the dish to the TV, and the installer just shakes his head and tells you "no way", then you are stuck.

I have a 150 ft run of coax and I have to shoot through trees myself. Some of these installers only want to do easy installs because they make more money because they can get 2 or 3 easy installs in one hard install.

But if you have all of the trees I have, and at least a 100 foot run of cable from the dish to the TV, and the installer just shakes his head and tells you "no way", then you are stuck.

Remember this:

Currently you need to see satellites at 99/101/103 and 110 and 119 to access ALL HD channels. The ONLY channels you will get off 119 in the Triad are ESPN2 and HDNET. If not getting 119 is the issue (usually is as it's the lowest look angle), and you can live without those two channels, INSIST they do the install, and sign a waiver saying that you know that you won't get 119.

That's exactly what I had to do, and had to get a supervisor on the phone to approve it.

It won't matter for long anyway as those two channels (as well as the HD channels on 110) will be moving to the 99/101/103 cluster by the end of the year.

Since it's being discussed, my TWC bill went up about $8/month. And, I hadn't compared for a few months, so I did a TWC vs. Direct TV price comparison and once again Direct TV is more expensive (slightly) for what I get today.

I have TWC with digital cable, one HD DVR, one HD receiver and HBO and Showtime. Removing the $70 for Roadrunner and Digital Phone, my monthly TV cost adds up to $97.85 (no taxes included).

To get the equivalent (which to be fair would provide me with many more HD channels. I would definitely like to have USA, FX, Sci-Fi, and FSN - the others are pretty meaningless for me) from Direct TV (configured on their web site) is $98.98/month + $198 startup costs for my 2 boxes (to be fair, I am sure I would greatly prefer D*'s boxes (especially the DVR) to TWC's). Now obviously, I am comparing normal Direct TV price to normal TWC price. My first month of Direct TV would be only around $50. I have no idea how long I would benefit from promotional rates. I doubt that value would add up to the $198 startup cost, but I really don't even hold the $198 against them - it's just part of the deal for going D*. The other side effect (besides getting gobs of new HD channels) of switching to Direct TV would be effectively bricking 3 of my other TVs. <---- This keeps me shackled to TWC more than anything else. I like having TVs in the guest bedrooms and kitchen that don't require me to have another box. If TWC ever drops analog, then D* will be much MUCH more appealing to me.

Time Warner may still cost a little more overall, since I am not including the Sales tax/fees in my calculations. (Direct TV doesn't provide me with taxes and fees on their website, so it's not fair to include it on TWC unless I had definitive evidence that there would be NO further fees/taxes from DirectTV, which I doubt.)

So D* is still not really a deal for me at all - certainly not far cheaper as they would have me believe in their ads. Of course TWC is just as misleading with their silly "Free HD" claims which are stretching the truth too. I give major kudos to D* for giving me the nice web interface for configuring what I want and seeing how much it costs. Very nice, and something I don't think TWC does.

I had a pretty large rise from TWC this year which is a bummer. I think Sho/HBO went up around $2 each a month. I also had promotional rates on phone and internet end too. I find it amusing that TWC charges 20 cents LESS for the HD DVR than they do for the normal box (of course tacking on the $6.95 DVR fee). I should call and see if I can swap out my normal HD receiver for another DVR (or will they ding me for the $6.95 DVR service fee again?)....

I have a 150 ft run of coax and I have to shoot through trees myself. Some of these installers only want to do easy installs because they make more money because they can get 2 or 3 easy installs in one hard install.

True. DirecTV did our initial install on the chimney. As soon as the trees leafed out in the spring, we started having problems. When we called them, they said they could come out but would have to charge a $75 fee. This after I repeatedly asked the 1st installer if the tress would be a problem. So, we told them to drop the service and come get the equipment. Then they decided they could come out and recheck it for free! The 2nd guy took his time, looked at our situation and came up with an odd location (on the side of the front porch at ground level) but hey, it worked!

Currently, we have dropped D* (good service but tired of paying for a bunch of channels we don't watch). We now have a Hisense STB and antenna for digital locals and a Dlink DSM320RD Media Player to stream content from the internet. There are some channels we miss but we sure don't miss that bill!

That is comparable to what I pay with D* and I have WAY more HD. TWC still isn't as good a deal when you compare apples to apples.
:eek:
Exactly right! A "senior moment" had me comparing apples to horse apples. I neglected to note the $39.95 RR service. I had DirecTV from its start in 1994 until we moved to another house in 2005. I was happy. Left the dish and a receiver for the new owner and turned-in a second receiver for a convincing one-year deal from TWC at the new house. Actually, I'm not all that unhappy at this point since we watch TWC HDTV and digital cable on the big screen in the family room, and the cable feeds 6 other analog TV's and 3 ReplayTV DVR's in other rooms. The analog DVR's and 2 security camera DVR's are modulated onto unused cable channels for viewing where ever the cable coax runs. I'll probably maintain this setup until the digital dust settles in a year or so.

I enjoy reading this forum and look forward to it leading me to a new and even better configuration and media service in the years ahead. Thanks to everyone who contributes!!

I want:

Discovery - HD
TLC - HD
Sci-FI HD

I want:

Discovery - HD
TLC - HD
Sci-FI HD

Already got it! :D

Nice to see local sports from Raycom in HD. I'm getting some audio garbles, but the PQ is real good on WFMY. My first reaction after seeing the blackout message popup on ESPN was, Damn I gotta watch the game in SD. I was pleasantly surprised to change to WFMY and see the game in HD.

WRAL had the audio problem too, and WCTI from New Bern had a problem getting HD at first, because Raycom gave out the wrong symbol key. Right now it seems fine.

It does. After about midway through the first half the problem seemed to go away.

I watched CSI on WDBJ-DT! I had no problems at all!! Man I LOVE my antenna!!

I enjoyed the HD from Raycom as well. But those audio issues about drove me crazy!

WOW! No Super Bowl talk?

I'm not a big NFL fan, but Manning scambling out of that scrum and making the pass caught with a helmet will be played and replayed for years!

WOW! No Super Bowl talk?

No talk was needed. Fox 8 handled the game very well. Kudos to you and everybody else at Fox 8. At other places around the net I heard a lot compliants about their local Fox station, especially in the eastern part of the state with picture freezes and other issues.

especially in the eastern part of the state with picture freezes and other issues.

Yeah, that is a real mess down there. Good news is the station was just sold 30 days ago and new owners are trying to clean up the mess. It is going to take a little time though. I don't think the former owners really understood what technical issues they were up against trying to run a station with two transmitter sites 130 miles apart and a studio 90 and 50 miles from each transmitter.

As far as our part went, we had about 3 sets of back ups in place! The only problem I heard of (I am taking the day off so I haven't really heard what went on) was a bunch of people called complaining they were hearing Spanish instead of English for the game. They had the SAP channel turned on their analog sets! But that is the norm when there is a big event!! Just another day.

Well I wasn't pulling for either team (my Panthers weren't there!) but I am glad the Giants won. NFC team winning, and the whole taping scam on NE soured me on the Patriots.

Well great game. Two plays can sure make a difference. Pats go for it on 4 and 13?? Worst of the three choices. And how did Eli avoid that sack. His brother must be proud.

I'm originally from NYC but had mixed feelings going into the game. I spent 17 years in Buffalo, NY and had to endure not only the three Super Bowl losses but the ten years in a row that the Bills lost both seasons games to the Dolphins.
Miami fans get to keep the record.

Kudos foxeng, the game looked and sounded great. Nothing like the NFL on a 133" screen.

Question, have you guys tweaked anything at the station?

I'm in Lewisville and after you went to full power I still needed to carefully dial in my rotor position. I've had a problem with WXII's signal lately. A recording of "Friday Night Lights" on my HR10-250 was unwatchable. Found a new rotor position thats fine for WXII, that also has WGHP at around 85% signal strength. That position would not have worked in the past.

Thanks again for what you post here.

Joe

And how did Eli avoid that sack. His brother must be proud.

Or jealous! :D

Kudos foxeng, the game looked and sounded great. Nothing like the NFL on a 133" screen.

Question, have you guys tweaked anything at the station?

You are the second viewer to ask in the last week. Honestly, no we haven't. Not a thing, not since we put the all digital master control on line back in June. And we more than likely won't be making any upgrades until we move digital to channel 8 at the end of the transition. Just not enough time to do any upgrades and make the transition at the same time. I just started the transition process and believe it or not, it will take the full 12 months to make it happen. Lots of things for us to do.

I'm in Lewisville and after you went to full power I still needed to carefully dial in my rotor position. I've had a problem with WXII's signal lately. A recording of "Friday Night Lights" on my HR10-250 was unwatchable. Found a new rotor position thats fine for WXII, that also has WGHP at around 85% signal strength. That position would not have worked in the past.

Could be either atmospheric or somebody built something that is now bouncing the signal differently. Either case, I take it!!

Thanks again for what you post here.

Joe

Just trying to help. It is all pretty confusing.

anyone else lose WFMY this afternoon?

Yes, both digital channels 520 and 521 blank on TWC Greensboro.

antenna users anyone having reception problems on wfmy for the duke/unc game. seems like the wind is messing with it...i know it doesn't make sense but i've seen this before when it was windy. i tried three different tvs all with their own antennas and all are having problems on all channels. i'm in adams farm main tv has a radio shack indoor/outdoor powered ant mounted in the attic with about 100ft of cable.

anyone else lose WFMY this afternoon?

At approximately 5:50 P.M. there was a power failure at the transmitter facility which is normally unmanned. The power failure was apparently due to wind.

Next the transfer switch that was supposed to take us over to the emergency generator malfunctioned due to a bad actuator motor. Shortly afterwards the transfer switch was actuated by hand placing us back on the air.
I personally apologize for any inconvenience that this interruption may have caused.

Rickey.

antenna users anyone having reception problems on wfmy for the duke/unc game. seems like the wind is messing with it...i know it doesn't make sense but i've seen this before when it was windy. i tried three different tvs all with their own antennas and all are having problems on all channels. i'm in adams farm main tv has a radio shack indoor/outdoor powered ant mounted in the attic with about 100ft of cable.


I have observed this as well with indoor TV antennas, both HD and analog. The effects appear more pronounced on UHF. This type effect is also observed on FM and HD radio, and on cell phone and other terrestrial services.

Basically the less signal to noise margin that a particular receiver/antenna combo has the more that these effects will be noticed. Bottom line here is that an outdoor antenna will perform much better in this scenario.

If I understand correctly the radical mixing of cold and warm layers of air is responsible for this effect. A visual analogy would be the mixing of water and oil in a clear glass, shaking it up and then trying to look through it. Either scenario results in a constantly varying transmission of respectively; light or RF. That is until either the atmosphere settles down or the glass is no longer shaken.
Please don't take the water/oil analogy as an exact one. Atmospheric RF effects are much less profound than the visual effects obtained with the water/oil example. A tornado or hurricane might be an exception.


Rickey.

I didn't have the commentary audio for the first part of the game last night. It was kinda cool just having the crowd/arena noise.....made you feel like you were actually there. I wish all TV games were like this, no more biased commentators!

I didn't have the commentary audio for the first part of the game last night. It was kinda cool just having the crowd/arena noise.....made you feel like you were actually there. I wish all TV games were like this, no more biased commentators!

I didn't see this, but I agree with the sentiment completely. In college basketball/football there are so many events that have to be covered, you are often stuck with poor announcers who often detract from the experience. I really wish we could use the SAP feature to choose a commentary-less audio. Of course Hispanic viewers may not like that much.

rickey i dropped out of mechanical engineering so i can't decipher what you said...lol but are you saying that if i put my same ant outside the problem won't be as bad when it's windy? currently its located about 2 feet from my attic vent so it's almost outside basically. most days i can get all the channels with minimal or no hiccups.
I have observed this as well with indoor TV antennas, both HD and analog. The effects appear more pronounced on UHF. This type effect is also observed on FM and HD radio, and on cell phone and other terrestrial services.

Basically the less signal to noise margin that a particular receiver/antenna combo has the more that these effects will be noticed. Bottom line here is that an outdoor antenna will perform much better in this scenario.

If I understand correctly the radical mixing of cold and warm layers of air is responsible for this effect. A visual analogy would be the mixing of water and oil in a clear glass, shaking it up and then trying to look through it. Either scenario results in a constantly varying transmission of respectively; light or RF. That is until either the atmosphere settles down or the glass is no longer shaken.
Please don't take the water/oil analogy as an exact one. Atmospheric RF effects are much less profound than the visual effects obtained with the water/oil example. A tornado or hurricane might be an exception.


Rickey.

rickey i dropped out of mechanical engineering so i can't decipher what you said...lol but are you saying that if i put my same ant outside the problem won't be as bad when it's windy? currently its located about 2 feet from my attic vent so it's almost outside basically. most days i can get all the channels with minimal or no hiccups.

Yes an outdoor antenna will almost always outperform an indoor or attic mounted one. One of the reasons for this is that building materials and objects in the attic or house will tend to reflect and/or absorb the signals.
Masonry and metal are much worse in this respect as opposed to wood and vinyl. Roofing tends to take a greater toll on the signal than most folks expect.
And remember that height is where it's at regarding antenna location.
To that end I would rather have a small and sturdy antenna at 50 Ft. than the best antenna made at 20 Ft.
Good luck sir. :)

Rickey.

Rickey,

Congrats on the CSI:NY delay on Thursday morning. I had set the DVR to record it at 3AM and figured it would be SD and was quite surprised and happy to see it in HD. Guess you guys are using that record deck for more than Wheel and Jep!

A friend who lives in NJ tells me that he is able to watch PPV movies that his neighbours are watching. He says he painstakingly scans his channels especially on a Fri or Sat night and often stumbles across other people's movies. Has anyone tried this in the G'boro area?
Would you know what channels these might appear in?

Tx

i could see this happening with cable but not ota.
A friend who lives in NJ tells me that he is able to watch PPV movies that his neighbours are watching. He says he painstakingly scans his channels especially on a Fri or Sat night and often stumbles across other people's movies. Has anyone tried this in the G'boro area?
Would you know what channels these might appear in?

Tx

Yes an outdoor antenna will almost always outperform an indoor or attic mounted one. One of the reasons for this is that building materials and objects in the attic or house will tend to reflect and/or absorb the signals.
Masonry and metal are much worse in this respect as opposed to wood and vinyl. Roofing tends to take a greater toll on the signal than most folks expect.
And remember that height is where it's at regarding antenna location.
To that end I would rather have a small and sturdy antenna at 50 Ft. than the best antenna made at 20 Ft.
Good luck sir. :)

Rickey.

my current ant is an indoor/outdoor and it's about 3ft from the outside wall, will i get a real benefit by moving it to the other side? it's 3 stories up so a ladder is out of the question for me but i could prolly take out my attic vent. i'm just wondering if it's worth the trouble.

Rickey,

Congrats on the CSI:NY delay on Thursday morning. I had set the DVR to record it at 3AM and figured it would be SD and was quite surprised and happy to see it in HD. Guess you guys are using that record deck for more than Wheel and Jep!

Thanks foxeng. All that and we have only two inputs on the HD switcher with four HD sources. The patch panel is getting used a lot these days.

And much credit is deserved by the master control operators for pushing the right buttons and patches at the right time. :)

Rickey.

my current ant is an indoor/outdoor and it's about 3ft from the outside wall, will i get a real benefit by moving it to the other side? it's 3 stories up so a ladder is out of the question for me but i could prolly take out my attic vent. i'm just wondering if it's worth the trouble.

It's hard for me to say. Especially not knowing how much trouble it is to move. Getting it outside the wall should give an improvement.
However signals coming from the other side of the house will now have another wall to come through???
If so it is a trade off of sorts. I am assuming here that it will be below the roof line after the move.
If it will be above the roof line after the move then reception should be much improved. Above all be careful.

Good luck Sir.

Rickey.

A friend who lives in NJ tells me that he is able to watch PPV movies that his neighbours are watching. He says he painstakingly scans his channels especially on a Fri or Sat night and often stumbles across other people's movies. Has anyone tried this in the G'boro area?
Would you know what channels these might appear in?

Tx

In Winston-Salem, on Time Warner Cable, I frequently find other people's on-demand programming this way. On my tv (no cable box) this shows up on channels between 113 and 116. You never know which, and frequently the show you're watching will move from, say, 113.1 to 113.2 for no apparent reason. So this is not a way to get free programming, it's just a curiosity. For a while last year, one of the neighbors was really fond of those "Girls Gone Wild" videos.

Scanning the unused channels will occasionally turn up other things. For a while, TWC was moving channels around for some reason, and ended up with a really XXX rated channel on clear QAM one weekend.:eek: So be aware that you may run across something you don't want to see. (Or, maybe you do.);)

i could get it outside with a little work i think, i'd just have to take out my attic vent and put it back but it would then be on the side of my house about 3 stories up but still below the roof. u think it's worth it?
It's hard for me to say. Especially not knowing how much trouble it is to move. Getting it outside the wall should give an improvement.
However signals coming from the other side of the house will now have another wall to come through???
If so it is a trade off of sorts. I am assuming here that it will be below the roof line after the move.
If it will be above the roof line after the move then reception should be much improved. Above all be careful.

Good luck Sir.

Rickey.

i could get it outside with a little work i think, i'd just have to take out my attic vent and put it back but it would then be on the side of my house about 3 stories up but still below the roof. u think it's worth it?


I would give it a try, and would not expect a huge improvement given that it will still be below the roof line. Is this antenna an omni directional?


Rickey.

I would like the group's opinions:

1. We have been watching (or trying to watch) OTA TV today (2/10/08) and all our channels have been dropping in and out. Watching the meter, they go from a full signal to dropping out the bottom. I realize the wind today is much stronger than normal but is this just part of having a roof mounted antenna on a windy day?

2. Speaking of antennas, I was planning on getting a CM 4228. I called Dow Electronics and the guy said they were out of that model. They had bought a bunch of Winegard HD8800's and wanted to sell those before ordering any more 4228's. My wife saw the antenna pictured below here at Radioshack.com (http://snurl.com/1zf8g) and wanted to try it.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-1/1134815/pRS1C-2265531w345.jpg
It had many good reviews, was cheap and was available locally. It seems to do ok. We are getting 2,8 (iffy),12,26,20,45 (also iffy),48, and 61. Would an amp help this antenna or should I pitch it and go for something different?

As usual, thanks for your help!

I would give it a try, and would not expect a huge improvement given that it will still be below the roof line. Is this antenna an omni directional?


Rickey.

here it is: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2253765

it doesn't say if it's omni or not but i think it is, i remember seeing it on the box.

where it is get fine reception during normal conditions. my question is will it improve during windy conditions if it's moved to the other side of the wall?

I would like the group's opinions:

1. We have been watching (or trying to watch) OTA TV today (2/10/08) and all our channels have been dropping in and out. Watching the meter, they go from a full signal to dropping out the bottom. I realize the wind today is much stronger than normal but is this just part of having a roof mounted antenna on a windy day?

2. Speaking of antennas, I was planning on getting a CM 4228. I called Dow Electronics and the guy said they were out of that model. They had bought a bunch of Winegard HD8800's and wanted to sell those before ordering any more 4228's. My wife saw the antenna pictured below here at Radioshack.com (http://snurl.com/1zf8g) and wanted to try it.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-1/1134815/pRS1C-2265531w345.jpg
It had many good reviews, was cheap and was available locally. It seems to do ok. We are getting 2,8 (iffy),12,26,20,45 (also iffy),48, and 61. Would an amp help this antenna or should I pitch it and go for something different?

As usual, thanks for your help!


These are not a bad setup at all. I have two of this model setup in my attic and then run into a combiner. ($5 part from Radio Shack). I am located on the Forsyth Davidson County line, and can pick up all of the locals fine with no problem. I have one pointed towards Sauratown Mountain and the other towards Level Cross to pick up the other stations. I ran a short cable from each to the combiner all in the attic, and then ran one line down the back of my house down to my basement. Probably 50-60 feet of cable. I can get a 60-80 signal range on all channels with no problem.

I really like this setup, because it is cheaper than buying an expensive antenna, then trying to figure out how to get a rotor, etc. For the dumb noobie like me, this was the best setup I could hope for. The only issue with this setup is picking up the low UHF stations once WGHP converts back next year.

And yes, I think everybody was having trouble with the OTA signal during the weekend due to the extensive winds. But I don't think there was much you could do about that. Most of the time (98%) I never have trouble with my setup.

These are not a bad setup at all. I have two of this model setup in my attic and then run into a combiner. ($5 part from Radio Shack). I am located on the Forsyth Davidson County line, and can pick up all of the locals fine with no problem. I have one pointed towards Sauratown Mountain and the other towards Level Cross to pick up the other stations. I ran a short cable from each to the combiner all in the attic, and then ran one line down the back of my house down to my basement. Probably 50-60 feet of cable. I can get a 60-80 signal range on all channels with no problem.

I really like this setup, because it is cheaper than buying an expensive antenna, then trying to figure out how to get a rotor, etc. For the dumb noobie like me, this was the best setup I could hope for. The only issue with this setup is picking up the low UHF stations once WGHP converts back next year.


Hello, fellow noob!

You know, my wife had talked about getting another of these antennas and doing exactly what you have done, since we already have this one. Now that I hear someone else is having good luck with this setup, we'll probably go that route. Like yourself, I really don't care to fool with a rotor setup.

Do you have your antenna(s) positioned with the 2 side arms pointing vertically or horizontally? In the pic I posted, it looks like they are horizontal but the antenna's mtg holes would make them vertical. We had our ant. connected and on our front porch before I had a chance to chimney mount it. It was sitting on a table with the arms vertical. The wife laid it on the porch (so the neighbor's cat wouldn't knock it off) with the arms horizontal. It seemed to work better that way, so when I mounted it I tried it both ways. It seemed better with a horizontal orientation.

Thanks for the input :)

Mine has the arms going vertical like " l< ". I don't really remember when I put the antenna together that having the arms horizontal was an option. So if that works better for you, you should be fine. Good luck with the setup.

I don't really remember when I put the antenna together that having the arms horizontal was an option.
Let's just say I made it an option. :D I drilled 2 holes in the sides opposite the original mount holes. I figured it couldn't hurt.
Thanks again!

That antenna is a horizontal antenna and if you turn it sides ways you will be reducing the signal by a factor of 10. Bad idea.

That antenna is a horizontal antenna and if you turn it sides ways you will be reducing the signal by a factor of 10. Bad idea.
Gotcha.
foxeng, what's your take on all this? Would you do a dual antenna setup like this (since I already own one of these antennas) or would you go with something else?
Also, what are your feelings as far as the CM 4228 being comparable with the Winegard Hd8800?

foxeng, what's your take on all this? Would you do a dual antenna setup like this (since I already own one of these antennas) or would you go with something else?

The Radio Shack antenna is optimized for the upper channels, above 45. All of the stations will be in the low to mid UHF except WFMY on channel 51 and of course WGHP back on channel 8. That was the first antenna I tried back in 2002 when the stations started to sign on and I never got it work all that well and that is why recommend the 4228. The 4228 is pretty linear throughout the UHF band.

Also, what are your feelings as far as the CM 4228 being comparable with the Winegard Hd8800?

I have no actual experience with it, but I would suspect it is comparable to the 4228 since it is based on the same design. The screen UHF design is not a new design, but has been around for as long as there has been UHF TV. It wasn't used much around these parts because the most watched stations were on VHF, not UHF. in UHF only markets up north and midwest, the UHF screen antennas are pretty much the norm.

OK, guys....thanks for the input.
Decisions, decisions :confused:

We need Rickey to come by from WFMY and help us figure out what is going on with the sound modulation during the Raycom HD broadcasts. It has been present on the UNC-UVA, Duke-UNC, and Duke-NCSU games. Any ideas what is causing that?

Quote:
Originally Posted by fairtomiddlin
There has been a strange sound issue on WFMY (Greensboro) during the last 3 Raycom hi-def broadcasts. It's hard to explain--it's an annoying modulating sound (pitch goes up and down repeatedly) throughout the broadcast--including commercials. It's worse with certain sounds/frequencies (game buzzer, crowd chants, Wachovia commercials, etc.) Any one else experience this? Is it just WFMY? I've never heard this any time except this year's hi-def broadcasts from Raycom.

I am definitely hearing this also. I checked OTA and via TWC and the sound modulation is on both signals. It apparently is something local to WFMY. I will post this in the local Greensboro forum and see if Rickey from WFMY can help us out. We may have to get him to hook up with Wendel to figure it out.

It was not present last year durying the tournament, as that was a A1 quality broadcast. Picture has been fine this year, the sound has just been irritating. I am already hearing the modulated music from the Wachovia and truck commercials in my sleep!

I totally agree about the Raycom sound modulation being incredibly annoying. Especially the crowd noise like you noted.

"OHHHohohohohohohOHOHOHohohohohohOHOHOHohoohohOHOHOH"

i was watching this game via my slingbox and i was wondering what was going on. i thought it was just the way their horn sounded at their arena. when i heard it diring the commercials i thought it was stuck in my head from hearing it so much during the game. least i know i'm not going crazy...though that sound could make it happen.
I totally agree about the Raycom sound modulation being incredibly annoying. Especially the crowd noise like you noted.

"OHHHohohohohohohOHOHOHohohohohohOHOHOHohoohohOHOHOH"

Excellent post! I was going to post during the UVA-UNC game but couldn't think of a way to accurately describe what I was hearing. You described it perfectly. My OTA was a bit flaky that night so I was not able to test it out, but it was like this on the D* HD feed also.

We need Rickey to come by from WFMY and help us figure out what is going on with the sound modulation during the Raycom HD broadcasts. It has been present on the UNC-UVA, Duke-UNC, and Duke-NCSU games. Any ideas what is causing that?

Quote:
Originally Posted by fairtomiddlin
There has been a strange sound issue on WFMY (Greensboro) during the last 3 Raycom hi-def broadcasts. It's hard to explain--it's an annoying modulating sound (pitch goes up and down repeatedly) throughout the broadcast--including commercials. It's worse with certain sounds/frequencies (game buzzer, crowd chants, Wachovia commercials, etc.) Any one else experience this? Is it just WFMY? I've never heard this any time except this year's hi-def broadcasts from Raycom.

I am definitely hearing this also. I checked OTA and via TWC and the sound modulation is on both signals. It apparently is something local to WFMY. I will post this in the local Greensboro forum and see if Rickey from WFMY can help us out. We may have to get him to hook up with Wendel to figure it out.

It was not present last year durying the tournament, as that was a A1 quality broadcast. Picture has been fine this year, the sound has just been irritating. I am already hearing the modulated music from the Wachovia and truck commercials in my sleep!

We are aware of it and I believe that we have a solution.We believe at this point that the problem is an audio format issue. We have signals routed differently than last year and will be going back to the old routing.


Thanks all.

Rickey.

I would like the group's opinions:

1. We have been watching (or trying to watch) OTA TV today (2/10/08) and all our channels have been dropping in and out. Watching the meter, they go from a full signal to dropping out the bottom. I realize the wind today is much stronger than normal but is this just part of having a roof mounted antenna on a windy day?

2. Speaking of antennas, I was planning on getting a CM 4228. I called Dow Electronics and the guy said they were out of that model. They had bought a bunch of Winegard HD8800's and wanted to sell those before ordering any more 4228's. My wife saw the antenna pictured below here at Radioshack.com (http://snurl.com/1zf8g) and wanted to try it.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-1/1134815/pRS1C-2265531w345.jpg
It had many good reviews, was cheap and was available locally. It seems to do ok. We are getting 2,8 (iffy),12,26,20,45 (also iffy),48, and 61. Would an amp help this antenna or should I pitch it and go for something different?

As usual, thanks for your help!


I use this RS antenna and find it a bit too directional for my needs. I have it on the roof with a rotator and on my Viewsonic (and also on an old Dish 811 receiver) I need to move the antenna between 2.1 and 8.1/45.1. They should almost be in the same direction from Oak Ridge but moving the antenna makes a big difference. Likely due to multipath effects. However, my Sony SXRD tuner has no problems receiving at either position and even gets 12.1 off the back of the antenna. A newer tuner makes a big difference.

I also have the RS antenna pictured above, and it is very directional. For some reason though, I find it works better on the lower UHF frequencies than the higher ones. I cannot get Raleigh channels in the 50's with it, but do get WRDC 27. The CM 4221 does better over the whole spread which I also have, However I find that the RS will find signals from 200 miles away that are in the 40's range that the CM will not on warm humid nights.

Hope this helps someone with their decision on antennas.

Luckily we don't need to pull in stations from 300 miles like you do! :D The 4228 has a little less gain than the RS, but as you and others have noted, you have to be more precise in your aiming. That is one draw back of a super high gain directional. The more gain, the narrower the beam. That is a function of physics.

You have a circle that we will call 100%, you increase distance by squeezing the circle and how you squeeze the circle determines the pattern. You still have 100% but if squeezed correctly, you will have 1000% in one direction and 0% in the opposite. When you increase in one direction, you are taking away from another so the sum still maintains 100% even though you have 1000% in one direction. This is universal with receive or transmit. That is how a station can have 50,000 watts on the ground (TPO - Transmitter Power Output) and get the effect of 1 million watts off the antenna (ERP - Effected Radiated Power) . It is how the antenna is "squeezed" by phasing the waves within the antenna so it radiates in a certain way. It is all quite "black magic" but it is predictable "black magic." Neat stuff!!

Make that 200 nautical miles. LOL 300 would be more like down past Savannah Georgia! It is a good antenna, but like foxeng said, requires a lot of fine tuning in some cases. Mine is on a rotator.

Anyone watching the movie "Miracle" tonight on WXLV? I was watching it via D* and some of the fast motion scenes played choppy. After dealing with it for a while I thought to check the OTA feed and see if the problem was occurring there too. Turns out it was only the D* feed, OTA was perfect. Anyone else notice this?

Hi Folks,

Just got my fist HDTV and am trying to see what's available in GSO. Reading past posts have been very helpful, thanks for those! Please excuse me if this is a dumb question.... I have a fairly basic cable package from TW at the moment. I read a post a while back that said that TW has to provide the available HD broadcasts on local networks. I have tuned into some sporting events this weekend that were listed as being in HD but they were not coming through my TV in HD. Do I have a misconception about TW cable or is my equipment set up incorrectly to receive HD? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Folks,

Just got my fist HDTV and am trying to see what's available in GSO. Reading past posts have been very helpful, thanks for those! Please excuse me if this is a dumb question.... I have a fairly basic cable package from TW at the moment. I read a post a while back that said that TW has to provide the available HD broadcasts on local networks. I have tuned into some sporting events this weekend that were listed as being in HD but they were not coming through my TV in HD. Do I have a misconception about TW cable or is my equipment set up incorrectly to receive HD? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Did you connect your new HDTV directly to the time-warner coax, or are you connected to their set-top-box?

If connected directly to the cable, and you use your set's tuner to tune to the channels, what channel were you watching?

If connected directly to the cable, does your HDTV have the ability to receive QAM modulated signals as used on the cable system? (Some sets can detect un-encrypted QAM, others only have an ATSC capable tuner and can only get the analog signals on the cable since TWC does not use ATSC on its cable system.)

If connected to the set-top-box, and you use it to tune to the channels, how is it connected?
Composite Video?
S-video?
Component Video?
DVI/HDMI Video?

If connected to a set-top-box, is it an HD set-top-box? (Did you trade in your old SD box for a new HD version?)

Finally, not all programs are in high-definition... so even if you do have an HD Cable box and tuned to the 500 range for local channels in HD and were using component or DVI/HDMI cables, or don't use a set-top-box and scanned for and found the un-encrypted QAM modulated versions of the local channels, it is possible for the program to be available only in standard definition.

Joe L.

I'm in the Winston-Salem area (Clemmons), with Time Warner cable. Recently I've been having a lot of problems with the digital stations on channel 78 (Fox, CBS, UNC-NC, UNC-ED, one of the news/weather channels). Sometimes they all come in fine, other times all break up and are unwatchable. When one is bad, all are bad. This is via QAM, not through a cable box. Has anyone else noticed this problem? I suspect it may be a problem with my tv's tuner, but it only involves this one channel. None of the other digital stations (NBC, ABC, UNC-HD, etc.) show any problems at all - it's just those on channel 78 (on my tuner, may be different on others for all I know). :(

Sounds like a signal issue. You need to call TWC about a signal level issue.

Thanks for the reply Joe. I have a Samsung HP-S4253 with an ATSC tuner. I have the cable hooked directly to the TV through a coax cable, so it's not running through a cable box. I understand that not all of the network broadcasts are in HD, but there are some sporting events on the weekends that are listed as being broadcast in HD. I've tried them with no luck thus far. From what you said, it looks as though I can't receive an HD signal with the cable package that I have right now because the tuner in my TV is not compatible with TW cable. If anyone has any solutions, please let me know.

Hi Folks,

Just got my fist HDTV and am trying to see what's available in GSO. Reading past posts have been very helpful, thanks for those! Please excuse me if this is a dumb question.... I have a fairly basic cable package from TW at the moment. I read a post a while back that said that TW has to provide the available HD broadcasts on local networks. I have tuned into some sporting events this weekend that were listed as being in HD but they were not coming through my TV in HD. Do I have a misconception about TW cable or is my equipment set up incorrectly to receive HD? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

If you take your cable and connect it straight into your digital TV and it has a QAM digital tuner in it, do a scan and the network channels (2,8,12,45) will be in the channel 113, 116 and 93 area. If your TV doesn't have a QAM digital tuner, you will need either an antenna for off air ATSC or a cable HD box for the HD channels.

If you use a cable box, you need to get an HD cable box and connect it to your TV using component, DVI, or HDMI cables (plus audio for the first two)

If you do not use a cable box, assuming your TV has a digital cable tuner ("clear QAM"), you will have to use the TV sets setup to scan for the programs, as TWC doesn't publish a list of what channels to find these on. The published channel lists are for cablr boxes and receivers with something about the sieze of a laptop PC card called a cablecard.

At this point in time, IF TWC carries the local broadcast digital channels, which include the HD broadcast channels, then they must be carried unencrypted. Their is no regulation saying they must be easy to find, although some of us believe that by law we ought to be able to find, for example, WFMYDT at 2.1 (that;s how over the air tuners find it).

If you take your cable and connect it straight into your digital TV and it has a QAM digital tuner in it, do a scan and the network channels (2,8,12,45) will be in the channel 113, 116 and 93 area. If your TV doesn't have a QAM digital tuner, you will need either an antenna for off air ATSC or a cable HD box for the HD channels.I did a quick google search... His Samsung HP-S4253 does not have a QAM tuner... only NTSC/ATSC.

The Samsung may have a clear QAM tuner even if the specs don't mention it. Their current HD STB will tune clear QAM, even though it's not on the box. As i recall, the manual makes only a very vague reference to this in the setup instructions.

Just a reminder. We are now 1 year away from full power analog shutdown. 365 days to go. You might want to run some tape on the analogs this year so in the future you can show your kids or grandkids what analog TV was all about.

The Samsung may have a clear QAM tuner even if the specs don't mention it. Their current HD STB will tune clear QAM, even though it's not on the box. As i recall, the manual makes only a very vague reference to this in the setup instructions.
I did some digging and found that J.L. is correct, my set does not have a QAM tuner, just NTSC/ATSC. It looks like my options are to get an antenna and try to catch something out of the air or to upgrade my cable package. Thanks for the responses, I really appreciate it!

Even though I don't have CC turned on, I'm seeing it on 48 and 48.1. Is anybody else seeing this?

Edit to add that the CC is now gone. Somebody must've ready my post. :)

Does anyone happen to know the direct email address of a human being at Time Warner? (And no, I'm not just being funny.) I've tried their online form option several times and have yet to receive a response.

Now that the spec is available for the tuning resolver I'd like to know what Time Warner - Piedmont's plan is (if any). Trying to talk to one of the tier 1 folks about cablecards in general is a nightmare.

Does anyone happen to know the direct email address of a human being at Time Warner? (And no, I'm not just being funny.) I've tried their online form option several times and have yet to receive a response.

Now that the spec is available for the tuning resolver I'd like to know what Time Warner - Piedmont's plan is (if any). Trying to talk to one of the tier 1 folks about cablecards in general is a nightmare.

buck.yarborough@twcable.com

Director, Government & Public Affairs
Time Warner Cable
Greensboro Division

Those looking for a cheap antenna setup should check Craigslist.com
I saw a CM 4228 listed for $35 a few weeks ago, might still be available.
I bought one used as well and have it mounted on my chimney without
a rotor. I have it pointed roughly NNE and get all four networks really
well. I think the Level Cross signals are being reflected off the side of
my neighbor's house.

For those with cable, TWC and otherwise that have WGHP-DT on it, can you please look and see if you are seeing an English audio service and a Spanish audio service. We just added a second audio service for Spanish on the digital and I am curious to see if the cable companies are passing the Spanish audio service. Spanish isn't on it all the time, only during network, the rest of the time will be English from our English service. During NASCAR you will have all of the race sounds EXCEPT the announcers and some MLB will have Spanish as well, same as the SAP channel on analog.

DirecTV isn't currently carrying it so I will need to get on them about it. :D

For those with cable, TWC and otherwise that have WGHP-DT on it, can you please look and see if you are seeing an English audio service and a Spanish audio service. We just added a second audio service for Spanish on the digital and I am curious to see if the cable companies are passing the Spanish audio service. Spanish isn't on it all the time, only during network, the rest of the time will be English from our English service. During NASCAR you will have all of the race sounds EXCEPT the announcers and some MLB will have Spanish as well, same as the SAP channel on analog.

DirecTV isn't currently carrying it so I will need to get on them about it. :D

I use the 8300HD DVR, and for the life of my I cannot figure out how to activate or access SAP. There is a language option in the Quick Settings menu, but English was the only option to choose from. I tried this during American Idol last night.

I use the 8300HD DVR, and for the life of my I cannot figure out how to activate or access SAP. There is a language option in the Quick Settings menu, but English was the only option to choose from. I tried this during American Idol last night.

My guess is they aren't passing the Spanish because if they were, you should have seen it listed as English and Spanish, not just English. Guess I will have to beat up on them! :D

Just talked to TWC and they said they are passing the Spanish audio channel. While I was on the phone, they brought it up so I could here it. I asked them how does someone with a 8300 access and they said they weren't sure but would have to look tonight when he went home! Not sure what they had turned up on the phone for me to hear it, but it was there.

Would we definitely need to use the box to get to the spanish audio or would using the TV's SAP feature work?

Charlie,

Just checked WGPHD on TWC at 4:30 PM.

English is the only choice on my Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3250HD SAP menu.

(program is Judge Joe Brown. Should Spanish be available? If yes, it is not a menu choice and you will need to put another call into TWC.)

Joe L.

I asked them how does someone with a 8300 access and they said they weren't sure but would have to look tonight when he went home!

LOL!!

Would we definitely need to use the box to get to the spanish audio or would using the TV's SAP feature work?

I also checked during AI on one of my sets that was connected via internal QAM tuner (no cable box on that set), and found English only.

Charlie,

Just checked WGPHD on TWC at 4:30 PM.

English is the only choice on my Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3250HD SAP menu.

(program is Judge Joe Brown. Should Spanish be available? If yes, it is not a menu choice and you will need to put another call into TWC.)

Joe L.

It should always be there whether there is Spanish on it or not. If you receive it off air, you will see there is two audio services.

We just added a second audio service for Spanish on the digital .. :D

Cool Beans Charlie.:)

I use the 8300HD DVR, and for the life of my I cannot figure out how to activate or access SAP. There is a language option in the Quick Settings menu, but English was the only option to choose from. I tried this during American Idol last night.

Press settings twice to go into the larger settings options - choose language Language: Audio. I have three options - Spanish, English, and French.

During Idol tonight I checked it out. For most of the show, in the initial settings menu, the only option was English. For about 10 minutes or so, that option changed to "Enable SAP" which was a toggle. (Then you could select "Disable SAP".) Sadly, whether SAP was enabled or disabled - we still heard English. At about 10 minutes till 9, it went back to "Select Language" with English being the only choice. No Espanol at mi casa.

FOX doesn't provide every show in Spanish and yes, AI was not in Spanish, but there was English on the Spanish to keep the service hot. Check out the races or Sat night programming.

Ok now that its official I will "spill the beans"

I am no longer a WFMY employee. I now provide engineering services for WXLV/WMYV .
As before if you folks have any comments good or bad I will appreciate and welcome them. Sometimes instant solutions will not be available.
We will be in the constant pursuit of progress.
I wish the good folks at WFMY and here as well the best of luck. :)



Rickey.

Rickey,
Congrats on the new position. I recommended you when I left. I knew they would make the right choice:)
Good luck, Zane

Congratulations Rickey!
Zane, where did you go to? I must have missed it.

Rickey,
Congrats on the new position. I recommended you when I left. I knew they would make the right choice:)
Good luck, Zane


Zane,I don't know how to thank you enough.

I promise to take good care of the equipment including the Explorer. Now I know kinda how it feels to drive a bus.

Good luck Sir.:)

Rickey.

And thank you as well Pam.:)


Rickey.

hey i have a couple of questions maybe you guys can answer...

first, why did some stations choose to go back to the VHF channel for their DTV after feb 2009 (wghp, for instance) while others are staying on the new channel. also, will the coverage area for each stations DTV transmitter be the same or close to their analog was? a friend has a cabin in woolwine, va and cannot get WFMY-DT at all, but channel 2 analog comes in great, is their DTV at full power? by the way, he can get WXII-DT and WGHP-DT. and UNC-HD from Chapel Hill, but none of these have great signals. most of the time they're watchable with a great digital pic. antennaweb says he shouldn't get anything in digital, but he IS on a mountain. not sure what the antenna is, but it's a uhf/vhf on the roof.

and... after feb 2009 analog only tvs won't get anything via OTA, but will still get cable signals for customers that have basic cable. for customers that don't have digital cable and haven't upgraded to a digital tv how long will the cable companies modulate an analog feed? will the basic cable channels migrate to clear QAM eventually (DTV, not HDTV) for customers that don't want digital cable? (i suppose the name "digital cable" will change somewhere along the way). is there an FCC timeline for TV sets requiring ATSC tuners, and for no longer carrying NTSC tuners?

thanks :o
-amos

hey i have a couple of questions maybe you guys can answer...

first, why did some stations choose to go back to the VHF channel for their DTV after feb 2009 (wghp, for instance) while others are staying on the new channel. also, will the coverage area for each stations DTV transmitter be the same or close to their analog was?

The reasons stations choose what they did vary as much as the number of stations. Many stations couldn't got back because of digital interference rules. Others decided after spending the millions of dollars to just remain, like WXII. Others, like WXLV, WCWG and WMYV, their digital channels were close enough to their analog channels, there was no advantage to go back. Others like WLXI could not go back because after Feb 17, the channel will not be a TV channel anymore.

With WGHP, we could go back to 8 and the cost to operate a VHF channel is MUCH cheaper than a UHF transmitter and channels 7-13 will carry farther with less power than UHF. Example, on channel 35 it takes 1 million watts digital to cover the same area as we will be able to with 15,000 watts digital on channel 8. The operational cost difference is huge. To make that 1 million watts on channel 35, it takes a 50,000 watt transmitter. To operate that it costs about $12,000 a month average. On channel 8, to generate that 15,000 watts to cover the same area it only takes 2,000 watts operating at an average of $2500 a month. VHF transmitters are MUCH simpler to operate as well. They are air cooled whereas UHF transmitters are liquid cool. Also VHF transmitters are solid state requiring low voltages in the 50 volt range to operate. UHF transmitters require expensive tubes that cost on average $35,000 each and require HUGE voltages in the 35,000 volt range. Also at the time we installed our new tower and building, our old channel 8 transmitter was at the end of it's life. We were going to have to replace it to stay on the air and so it was decided by the corporate people that we could buy a new channel 8 transmitter and then convert it to digital when the time came and in the end, it would save the company money so we proceeded in that direction. So as you see, many things went into the decision. That was common at all stations.

a friend has a cabin in woolwine, va and cannot get WFMY-DT at all, but channel 2 analog comes in great, is their DTV at full power?

Yes, 1 million watts. They operate on channel 51 digital and your friend could be receiving interference from another station in the next channel. After the analog shutdown, a lot of interference will go away because the number of stations will decrease by one half. WFMY decided to remain on channel 51 because channels 2-6 are prone to man made interference that tears the digital signal apart. Less than 30 stations nationwide will remain on channels 2-6 after the transition.

by the way, he can get WXII-DT and WGHP-DT. and UNC-HD from Chapel Hill, but none of these have great signals. most of the time they're watchable with a great digital pic. antennaweb says he shouldn't get anything in digital, but he IS on a mountain. not sure what the antenna is, but it's a uhf/vhf on the roof.

VHF carries farther than UHF. Lower UHF channels carry farther than higher UHF channels as well.

and... after feb 2009 analog only tvs won't get anything via OTA, but will still get cable signals for customers that have basic cable. for customers that don't have digital cable and haven't upgraded to a digital tv how long will the cable companies modulate an analog feed? will the basic cable channels migrate to clear QAM eventually (DTV, not HDTV) for customers that don't want digital cable? (i suppose the name "digital cable" will change somewhere along the way). is there an FCC timeline for TV sets requiring ATSC tuners, and for no longer carrying NTSC tuners?

thanks :o
-amos

The FCC required all TVs that had analog turners to have digital OTA tuners (not cable QAM tuners but many TV's have both digital tuners) as of March of last year. The FCC also required cable companies to provide an analog signal for those analog only TVs until 2012.

Hope that answers your questions.

hey i have a couple of questions maybe you guys can answer...

first, why did some stations choose to go back to the VHF channel for their DTV after feb 2009 (wghp, for instance) while others are staying on the new channel. also, will the coverage area for each stations DTV transmitter be the same or close to their analog was? a friend has a cabin in woolwine, va and cannot get WFMY-DT at all, but channel 2 analog comes in great, is their DTV at full power? by the way, he can get WXII-DT and WGHP-DT. and UNC-HD from Chapel Hill, but none of these have great signals. most of the time they're watchable with a great digital pic. antennaweb says he shouldn't get anything in digital, but he IS on a mountain. not sure what the antenna is, but it's a uhf/vhf on the roof.

and... after feb 2009 analog only tvs won't get anything via OTA, but will still get cable signals for customers that have basic cable. for customers that don't have digital cable and haven't upgraded to a digital tv how long will the cable companies modulate an analog feed? will the basic cable channels migrate to clear QAM eventually (DTV, not HDTV) for customers that don't want digital cable? (i suppose the name "digital cable" will change somewhere along the way). is there an FCC timeline for TV sets requiring ATSC tuners, and for no longer carrying NTSC tuners?

thanks :o
-amos


Amos I will attempt to answer at least some of of your questions.
The Ch 2 Vs: Ch 51 option for WFMY was a tough decision and hotly debated.
Ch 2 DTV would have had greater range and would have did a better job of filling in poorly covered mountainous areas.
Ch 2 DTV would have required much larger sized antenna elements at the receiver end to acheive efficient signal interception.
There would have been times during the Summer when Ch 2 DTV would have been unusable due to lightning static and or co-channel interference.
Man made electrical noises (drills hair dryers power lines) would have had a large effect on Ch 2 DTV reception.
Basically the opposite of the above iis true for Ch 51 DTV.
And I will add that Ch 51 DTV generally penetrates buildings in a superior fashion.
Ch 51 DTV has greater losses with distance as opposed to lower channels.
The power bill for a UHF DTV transmitter of similar coverage is much higher as opposed to a VHF transmitter.

So the choice involved a trade off. There are people who never got good reception who now have perfect digital pictures and there will be folks that had good reception before the cutoff that will have difficulty with reception.

No ideal choice was available in this scenario.

Stations that have VHF Hi-Band assignments (Ch7-13) have a better scenario to deal with: most or all of the compromises are reduced.

As for your friend in Woolwine: having his antenna raised a few feet may solve his problem.
No guarantees, I have seen this to work more than once.

And a little history: Way back in the infancy of broadcast TV a low band assignment was desirable (Ex Ch2).
This was because the primitive receiving and transmitting equipment of the time lacked efficiency and stability at the higher frequencies (higher channel numbers)
As for the cable questions all that I have is word of mouth at this point which I can not represent as factual and will not repeat here.

Good Luck All


Rickey.

Congratulations Rickey!
Zane, where did you go to? I must have missed it.

I made the switch at the first of the year to WLXI TV 61 in Greensboro. My former boss from WXLV had come to work for them 4 years ago as the director of engineering for the TCT network. He is gone most of the time and found he needed an engineer for his local station. He made me a great offer and I took it. It's a little bittersweet as Sinclair has plans for a HD master control buildout in the next couple of years that I will miss, but TCT has the same plans here locally that I will be in charge of.

Awesome! Congratulations to you as well!

foxeng and rickey, THANK YOU very much for your answers. you guys are great!

-amos

Hey Zane, I know some people over at WLXI too. I produce audio for our TV broadcast of "A Word From Glory" that goes out on TCT and DirecTV. Our new NLE system is going in very soon as we still shoot straight to Beta.

Does anyone here know if TWC is going to be adding any new HD channels to there line-up this year. I would really like to see channels like FX, SCIFI, USA, CINEMAX, and some other channels that they are currently not providing. I called the TW office here and that was a waste of time as they had no clue. Any thoghts would be appreciated.

Roque

TWC has to get the bandwidth freed up first. They are at max now.

I currently watch HDTV via QAM with the 10$/month basic cable from TWC. Is there any way to get an HD-DVR (Tivo or TWC or PVR) to work with the basic cable? I really don't feel digital cable is worth the money considering how little broadcast TV I watch and was wondering if Cablecard/Tivo works with basic or do they require the digital tier? I'm pretty sure they require the digital tier to use a TWC DVR and while I would love On Demand HD movie rentals I'm not paying $45/month extra for the priviledge.

It is possible to get a digital cable box (which would include the HD DVR) without paying for the digitial "tier". My parents used to get a box every fall for Gameplan and they never paid for the digital tier. I doubt you can get one and stick with the $10/month basic package though. You'll likely have to upgrade to the standard "advanced" (or whatever they call it) tier. I am not sure how many HD channels you get without the digital tier beyond the locals.

TWC has to get the bandwidth freed up first. They are at max now.

I thought Greensboro had SDV up and running. Shouldn't that free up bandwidth?

I thought Greensboro had SDV up and running. Shouldn't that free up bandwidth?

Not enough for 50 HD channels. SDV is on the least used channels which doesn't free up that much bandwidth.

If TWC here is at max bandwidth it makes me wonder what the other parts of TW that have SDV are doing differently? If you type in Austin, San Antonio - even Buffalo, Rochester, or Hawaii they are all offering more HD channels.

Yes emailing or calling TW seems to be a waste of time. I think local TW also is pretty slack on updates to their website - the Raleigh site definitely has a lot more information - but I suppose they are probably more technologically oriented people that direction.

So why not consider a switch to D*? Just a friendly question.

Joe

So why not consider a switch to D*? Just a friendly question.

Joe

I would gladly switch if I could. Too many tree's in my yard pointing to the 103 degree area if I'm not mistaken. I think those are the one's that are the lowest to the ground from the East Coast..... They both canceled the install after lookingn. I've heard the new Direct HD satellite is higher in the sky somewhere....?

I had Voom until they went out of business - I'm still amazed at how many HD channels they had 5 years ago.

It is possible to get a digital cable box (which would include the HD DVR) without paying for the digitial "tier". My parents used to get a box every fall for Gameplan and they never paid for the digital tier. I doubt you can get one and stick with the $10/month basic package though. You'll likely have to upgrade to the standard "advanced" (or whatever they call it) tier. I am not sure how many HD channels you get without the digital tier beyond the locals.

I'm really not interested in adding another $45/month to my cable bill. If an HD-DVR was available with the $10/month basic I would get one. There isn't any reason they can't program one to only allow the channels I pay for, but knowing TWC I'm sure they probably require a higher level of service than I have to get one. The only channels above what I have now that I would ever watch are Sci-fi Cartoon Network and DiscoveryHD. As far as I know, digital tier is required for those 3 channels in HD according to the poor explanation of HD on the TWC website. I assume because they are using SDV for those channels.

I'm really not interested in adding another $45/month to my cable bill. If an HD-DVR was available with the $10/month basic I would get one. There isn't any reason they can't program one to only allow the channels I pay for, but knowing TWC I'm sure they probably require a higher level of service than I have to get one. The only channels above what I have now that I would ever watch are Sci-fi Cartoon Network and DiscoveryHD. As far as I know, digital tier is required for those 3 channels in HD according to the poor explanation of HD on the TWC website. I assume because they are using SDV for those channels.

Actually none of those 3 channels are available at all in HD on TWC. The only thing close is Discovery Home Theater HD which is not the same thing as Discovery HD. TWC does not carry Sci-Fi HD, or Cartoon Network HD. I am not sure if Cartoon Network HD even exists, in fact. D* people would know, because I am sure they have it if it exists.

Actually none of those 3 channels are available at all in HD on TWC. The only thing close is Discovery Home Theater HD which is not the same thing as Discovery HD. TWC does not carry Sci-Fi HD, or Cartoon Network HD. I am not sure if Cartoon Network HD even exists, in fact. D* people would know, because I am sure they have it if it exists.

D* has all three and about 54 others not counting the RSN's that are in HD.

Actually none of those 3 channels are available at all in HD on TWC. The only thing close is Discovery Home Theater HD which is not the same thing as Discovery HD. TWC does not carry Sci-Fi HD, or Cartoon Network HD. I am not sure if Cartoon Network HD even exists, in fact. D* people would know, because I am sure they have it if it exists.

I thought TWC Austin just got Discovery HD TLC HD and something else I cant recall right now.

I thought TWC Austin just got Discovery HD TLC HD and something else I cant recall right now.

Yes but that doesn't guarantee anything for TWC in the Triad. No two cable franchise are created equally. At least with D* or E*, what you get in Greensboro is the same you get anywhere else.

Yes but that doesn't guarantee anything for TWC in the Triad. No two cable franchise are created equally. At least with D* or E*, what you get in Greensboro is the same you get anywhere else.

Sorry yes, I was speaking about TWC in Greensboro specifically, since this is the thread for such talk. :)

WFMY hasn't switched to HD for the Stanford/USC game.

Edit: They've now switched to HD.

Anyone else has this problem. I watch WCWG20 out of Greensboro,NC via OTA. I have one set hooked directly to the antenna and the other is hooked with D*** and antenna. I was receiving this channel with no problem until Friday 7th of March. Is WCWG20 having problems with the DTV transmitter? The WCWG20 SD channel still can be received.

Anyone else has this problem. I watch WCWG20 out of Greensboro,NC via OTA. I have one set hooked directly to the antenna and the other is hooked with D*** and antenna. I was receiving this channel with no problem until Friday 7th of March. Is WCWG20 having problems with the DTV transmitter? The WCWG20 SD channel still can be received.

I noticed today that I'm not receiving WCWG DT via OTA either.

Anyone else has this problem. I watch WCWG20 out of Greensboro,NC via OTA. I have one set hooked directly to the antenna and the other is hooked with D*** and antenna. I was receiving this channel with no problem until Friday 7th of March. Is WCWG20 having problems with the DTV transmitter? The WCWG20 SD channel still can be received.

Yeah I lost WCWG in HD on TWC QAM at the same time and it's still out

I emailed WCWG20 on Saturday, but I guess no response till Monday. Here is their email if anyone wants to ask what's going on. info@wcwg20.com

Once again WFMY doesn't have a game in HD at the start of the game. Florida vs Kentucky isn't being shown in HD like it should.

WFMY finally switched, at halftime.

With all the issues TWC has around here, be thankful you don't have to put up with this as well:

Time Change Boggles Cable
The New York Times, March 10, 2008

For more than a million Time Warner Cable customers in New York, it was as if daylight saving time never happened.

After setting their clocks forward an hour as they were supposed to, some people awoke Sunday morning to find that many of their cable television programs seemed to be running an hour behind schedule, at least according to the onscreen guide.

“It’s affecting a lot of people,” said a Time Warner customer service representative when queried by phone. “It’s all over the city — Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx.”

The source of the problem, she said, was related to the set-top boxes, which unscramble the signals transmitted over cable. Some of the boxes were somehow askew, thrown by the adjustment to the new time, through human error, technical failure or gremlins yet to be identified.

Programs were not appearing in accordance with the onscreen guide, and people were calling in — some angry, but most just confused.

A Time Warner spokesman, Alex Dudley, said he could confirm only that the outages affected “at least a million people in Brooklyn and Queens,” with no evidence of trouble elsewhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/business/media/10warner.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=media&pagewanted=print

Here is an email I received from WCWG20:

Thanks for the email. Yes, we are off air. We have had a major problem in our RF System of which we are in the process of repairing. We hope to be back on the air within the next few days.

Thanks again.





Lindsay L. Bold

Chief Engineer

WCWG-TV

622-G Guilford College Road

Greensboro, NC 27409

Direct: 336.346.3690

Cell: 336.402.2339

Fax: 336.547.8144

A part of the Pappas Telecasting Companies

I'm new to the forums (and to hd content in general), so forgive me if some of this comes off a bit...newbie-ish. I'm a current subscriber to Directv, and am planning on getting an HD tv in the next few weeks, so I'm trying to figure out the best option for the local HD content. From what info I've been able to find, I've seen that Direct does carry some of the channels in HD, but not CW, PBS, or MyNetwork. Does anyone happen to know if there are any plans to add those channels to Direct anytime soon, and if not, anyone have any suggestions for picking them up without having to totally drop our current service? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

I'm new to the forums (and to hd content in general), so forgive me if some of this comes off a bit...newbie-ish. I'm a current subscriber to Directv, and am planning on getting an HD tv in the next few weeks, so I'm trying to figure out the best option for the local HD content. From what info I've been able to find, I've seen that Direct does carry some of the channels in HD, but not CW, PBS, or MyNetwork. Does anyone happen to know if there are any plans to add those channels to Direct anytime soon, and if not, anyone have any suggestions for picking them up without having to totally drop our current service? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Welcome sanders241!! Remember, we all were newbies at one time!

I have DirecTV and their HD service. Currently DirecTV offers WFMY, WGHP, WXII and WXLV in HD. DirecTV is to launch a new HD sat today that will add national and local HD channels. This will complete their 150 national HD channels (there aren't 150 national channels yet) and the remainder of the 1500 local HD channels. They have started to add CW and MyNetwork stations in larger markets so it will only be time now until our locals are added off of the new satellite. PBS just worked out a deal with DirecTV so that should be added soon as well.

To get DirecTV's HD service you will need a new dish called the Slimline and a new receiver (H20/H21) or DVR (HR20/HD21). The H20 and HR20 have built in over the air HD receivers and the H21/HR21 will have an add on HD over the air receiver to pick up the stations not on the sat yet. You will still be able to use your old SD receivers with the new dish. The Slimline replaces your current dish. The Slimline just adds satellite positions (it is an integrated 5 LNB dish or 5 LNBs on one dish) while maintaining the current line up. This is done because the HD channels are sent on two new satellites that are not in the same positions in the sky as the SD channels.

I have been very satisfied with the DirecTV HD service and the picture quality is very good and the channel selection is better than anyone at this point, no matter what Time-Warner says. Time-Warner just don't have the channel selection and won't for a while.

Welcome sanders241!! Remember, we all were newbies at one time!

I have DirecTV and their HD service. Currently DirecTV offers WFMY, WGHP, WXII and WXLV in HD. DirecTV is to launch a new HD sat today that will add national and local HD channels. This will complete their 150 national HD channels (there aren't 150 national channels yet) and the remainder of the 1500 local HD channels. They have started to add CW and MyNetwork stations in larger markets so it will only be time now until our locals are added off of the new satellite. PBS just worked out a deal with DirecTV so that should be added soon as well.

To get DirecTV's HD service you will need a new dish called the Slimline and a new receiver (H20/H21) or DVR (HR20/HD21). The H20 and HR20 have built in over the air HD receivers and the H21/HR21 will have an add on HD over the air receiver to pick up the stations not on the sat yet. You will still be able to use your old SD receivers with the new dish. The Slimline replaces your current dish. The Slimline just adds satellite positions (it is an integrated 5 LNB dish or 5 LNBs on one dish) while maintaining the current line up. This is done because the HD channels are sent on two new satellites that are not in the same positions in the sky as the SD channels.

I have been very satisfied with the DirecTV HD service and the picture quality is very good and the channel selection is better than anyone at this point, no matter what Time-Warner says. Time-Warner just don't have the channel selection and won't for a while.

Thanks for the response foxeng. I had no idea Direct's HD receivers had an over the air tuner built in, so I was pleasantly surprised when I read that. I had heard a lot of positive info about the channel selection and picture (and, as you also pointed out, a lot of negative about Time-Warner's service when it comes to HD), but this completely sealed the deal on staying with Direct for the HD. Thanks once again for the info.

Thanks foxeng for the news about a pending D* deal with PBS. When is the add on ATSC tuner for the HR-21 supposed to be available? I've been holding off swapping out my HR10-250 since the HR-20 seems very hard to obtain at this point.

Will still keep the antenna/rotor in the loop for Charlotte Stations. Will be nice to not need the rotor for in-market stations. The wife and kids just can't used to changing rotor position.

Ah, March and all that College BB to watch in beautiful HD!!


Joe

Thanks foxeng for the news about a pending D* deal with PBS. When is the add on ATSC tuner for the HR-21 supposed to be available? I've been holding off swapping out my HR10-250 since the HR-20 seems very hard to obtain at this point.

Will still keep the antenna/rotor in the loop for Charlotte Stations. Will be nice to not need the rotor for in-market stations. The wife and kids just can't used to changing rotor position.

Ah, March and all that College BB to watch in beautiful HD!!


Joe

The ship date for the AM21 isn't known yet but a great deal of information about it can be found here:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=123012

I know this doesn't mean much to anyone on the list, but I thought I would let you know that one of the national broadcasting magazines had a picture of our towers in it. It was totally a surprise to us since the picture was taken by a third party who regularly photographs broadcast towers, Scott Fybush. He has a web site called Tower Site of the Week that he highlights a tower or market each week. Guess we will on there sometime in the future.

There is also a web site in Austria where a guy there photographs towers and he was here in NC about 18 months ago and took pictures of all of the broadcast towers here and in Charlotte. You just never know about this "Internet stuff."

In Winston-Salem, on Time Warner Cable, I frequently find other people's on-demand programming this way. On my tv (no cable box) this shows up on channels between 113 and 116. You never know which, and frequently the show you're watching will move from, say, 113.1 to 113.2 for no apparent reason. So this is not a way to get free programming, it's just a curiosity. For a while last year, one of the neighbors was really fond of those "Girls Gone Wild" videos.

Scanning the unused channels will occasionally turn up other things. For a while, TWC was moving channels around for some reason, and ended up with a really XXX rated channel on clear QAM one weekend.:eek: So be aware that you may run across something you don't want to see. (Or, maybe you do.);)

Thanks. I have so far found 2 or 3 times a movie in the eighties range. But it is far and in between. Not sure if by "scanning" you mean some automated procedure. I have to, like my NJ friend, first tune each and every one of the available channels and then press channel up, wait a few seconds, and keep doing it.
I think not too many in my neighbourhood are splurging on PPV!

(Not allowed to post URLs yet - just search for 'Dish Network's Spring HD Rollout' on EngadgetHD dot com, should be the 7th or 8th post in the Search Results)

I know I'm probably in the minority on this thread to be excited about this since most of you seem to be using DirecTv and have been enjoying LiL HD for a while now. But woo hoo! I have been a Dish subscriber for just over 2 years now and I am really happy with their HD channel lineup. The only thing missing was HD Locals for which I've had to use an antenna. Still plugs into their HD DVR and allows you to record OTA HD. But now I can record 3 Local HD channel broadcasts at a time! And also, I believe Dish Network still has the best HD DVR out there from reading other forums that have compared them. Sorry, not meaning to start any D* versus E* debate/flame war, just thought I'd give props where it was due among all the D* love around here. Now if only 'April' would mean early April instead of almost-May!

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/03/18/dish-networks-spring-hd-rollout-still-on-track/

I think I should be able to do this now...

is it just me or is the feed from cbs been very poor in quality for the NCAA Tourney? the picture goes in and out of focus alot showing pixels and such. my reception is fine it not losing the feed, i have my powered antennae in my attic. btw i'm in gso adams farm neighborhood.

is it just me or is the feed from cbs been very poor in quality for the NCAA Tourney? the picture goes in and out of focus alot showing pixels and such. my reception is fine it not losing the feed, i have my powered antennae in my attic. btw i'm in gso adams farm neighborhood.

I'm seeing some of the same things.

Multichannel News (a cable/sat industry rag) posted this interesting article about how Dish is falling behind DirecTV in the HD war.

Dish Gets Grounded As DirecTV’s HD Plans Take Off

By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News

Dish Network, with its new bird falling short in its orbit, lost a round in the competitive HDTV arms race earlier this week. Meanwhile DirecTV — after a scare — got a literal rocket boost for its ambitious expansion plans.

The news involving the two rivals centered on satellite launches. Those new birds were meant to enable Dish and DirecTV to ratchet up the number of national and local high-definition channels they can offer, as they compete to sign up subscribers.

In the case of Charlie Ergen’s Dish, it’s not the first dismal news he’s received this year related to his HDTV offering, which lags way behind DirecTV’s. SES Americom disclosed that its March 14 launch of a satellite — AMC-14, which Dish Network was going to use to expand its local HD service — had gone awry.

The full significance of Dish Network’s satellite snafu — the bird fell short of its correct orbital position — remains unclear, as does the future of the actual satellite. Dish Network officials last week downplayed the short-term impact of the mishap, issuing a press release saying that they are still right on schedule to add a host of local markets for HD service in April and May.

Nonetheless, skeptical Wall Street analysts pummeled Dish, its stock dropped early in the week, and at least one satellite-industry expert warned that the problems with AMC-14 threaten to impact Dish Network’s long-term HD expansion plans.

“It’s pretty clear that this bird was a significant part of its [Dish Network’s] business plan, so its failure to launch properly will affect their business plan, regardless of what recent announcements say,” said Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman of The Carmel Group, a consultant who had done work for Dish Network, DirecTV and SES Americom.

Potentially, if the problems with AMC-14 are not resolved, it could cost Dish Network hundreds of millions of dollars in future-business losses, according to Schaeffler.

“They’re downplaying [AMC-14’s problems] based upon a short-term argument, which is that it takes a long time for a bird to launch, be tested and then put into operation,” Schaeffler said. “That’s a given. There’s no question about that. But this bird wasn’t launched for the short-term. So that’s a relatively irrelevant argument. The real relevancy is the mid- to long-term [impact], and it’s going to take a long time before we know that.”

By contrast, DirecTV, came out ahead in the HD game last week after it initially appeared that its satellite launch might be in jeopardy. The liftoff of DirecTV 11, originally set for last Monday, was delayed due to unspecified issues. But the countdown was resumed, and the bird was successfully launched last Wednesday.

In order to stay competitive, Dish Network has to deploy HD service in more local markets. Dish CEO Ergen, during a fourth-quarter conference call in February, blamed delays in satellite launches last year with paring down Dish’s subscriber gains, because it only has local HD in a relatively small number of markets.

Dish Network gained 85,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, while DirecTV gained 275,000.

“If you could somehow measure the loss of potential business from this bird [AMC-14] not coming online as quickly as possible, all you have to do is look at the success that DirecTV had in their last quarterly report,” Schaeffler said.

“They’re basing a very large part of their business plan on their ability to offer more competitive HD quicker than anyone else, and their ability to market that,” he said. “[Dish] has had to move a little more slowly in that regard, and this will slow them down even more.”

Dish notified the Securities and Exchange Commission about the AMC-14 problem in an 8-K filing last Monday, where it said that the “launch anomaly will result in a delay in our roll out of some high definition channels, including some local network channels.”

That filing immediately sparked a negative report by Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett, who said the AMC-14 situation was “a major blow” to Dish Network’s HD offering. The next day, Dish Network shot out a press release that maintained their HD plans remained right on track.

“This satellite, as with any satellite, was not scheduled to be in operation for more than a month, so the events that transpired on Friday have no effect on our short-term goals of adding national and local HD content,” Dish Network spokesman Kathie Gonzalez said.

But Schaeffler and some Wall Street analysts are questioning Dish Network’s assurances.

Gerard Hallaren, director of research for JRPG Research, predicted that the AMC-14 problem will impact Dish’s HD expansion.

“These guys have had a second-rate HD product for a while,” Hallaren said. “While their HD-channel coverage is improving, it’s still not going to be as strong as DirecTV’s. It will be strong as DirecTV’s, or maybe even stronger in the not-distant future, but AMC-14 just puts a kink into the plans.”

SES Americom said it will be evaluating which course to take with AMC-14 for about another week.

“There are various tools that can be used” to get the bird in the right orbit, SES spokesman Monica Morgan said, adding it must then be decided “what does that bring you in the end.”

is it just me or is the feed from cbs been very poor in quality for the NCAA Tourney? the picture goes in and out of focus alot showing pixels and such. my reception is fine it not losing the feed, i have my powered antennae in my attic. btw i'm in gso adams farm neighborhood.

It's because WFMY has turned on two additional sub channels to carry extra games. While being SD channels, the two sub channels are taking away some of the bandwidth that is needed to show a HD channel without macroblocking. I'd rather WFMY not add the extra channels (which ruins the HD game) as long as the local team is always guaranteed to be on the HD channel.

The poor picture quality for the NCAA's has been driving me crazy for the past couple days. Would the added sub channels also affect the DirecTV picture quality? I've already called WFMY (said nothing was wrong on their end) and DirecTV technical support to complain (they gave me 3 free months of the baby channel for my troubles...).

Would the added sub channels also affect the DirecTV picture quality?

Yes, and the Time-Warner channel as well. This is because both D* and TWC gets the feed OTA.

I just ordered Direct TV and I am trying to find out what the status of MLB games (Braves) in the Winston-Salem/Greensboro area. Does having the Sports Package from Direct TV achieve this or is that a waste of money? I noticed after I placed the order that the Regional Networks for this area are for the Orioles and the Nationals and not the Braves.

I ordered the Premiere pack for now just so I can see all the programming Direct TV has to offer. From what I gather, I can cancel things like movie channels and sports packages at a later date. Correct?

i believe this thread is more for local programming, i did a quick search and didn't see an area for satellite tv discussions but hear is a forum where i'm sure u can find all the information u need. http://www.satelliteguys.us/
I just ordered Direct TV and I am trying to find out what the status of MLB games (Braves) in the Winston-Salem/Greensboro area. Does having the Sports Package from Direct TV achieve this or is that a waste of money? I noticed after I placed the order that the Regional Networks for this area are for the Orioles and the Nationals and not the Braves.

I ordered the Premiere pack for now just so I can see all the programming Direct TV has to offer. From what I gather, I can cancel things like movie channels and sports packages at a later date. Correct?

i believe this thread is more for local programming, i did a quick search and didn't see an area for satellite tv discussions but hear is a forum where i'm sure u can find all the information u need. http://www.satelliteguys.us/

Apologies. I was asking about MLB games in this area so I thought it was relevant.

Asking about MLB Braves games is considered a local topic.

Since we are in the Orioles and Nationals home team area, you'll need to order the MLB Extra Innings package to get whatever Braves games aren't on TBS.

Since we are in the Orioles and Nationals home team area, you'll need to order the MLB Extra Innings package to get whatever Braves games aren't on TBS.

TBS isn't the Braves' home station anymore. They're on FXSS, SS, and PeachtreeTV (Atlanta only). Shame, too, as baseball is the only thing TBSHD actually does in HD.

This isn't TV news, but many of you may be interested.

One of the great personalities of 60's and 70's radio and who was from North Carolina and worked for a time recently here in the Triad has died.

John C. "Big Jack Armstrong" Larch died over the weekend. Jack had worked at some of the great radio stations of the time. He started out at WCHL in Chapel Hill in 1960 at the age of 14. Locally Jack worked at WCOG from 1962-1965 and Oldies 93 from 1997-2003.

Jack's resume reads like a who's who of Boss Jock radio of the 60's and 70's with stops at WMEX Boston, WNBC New York, KTNQ and KFI Los Angeles, CHUM Toronto, WIXY and WKYC Cleveland, KDKA Pittsburgh, WIFE Indianapolis, KFRC San Francisco, KBOS Fresno, and two stops at his most famous haunt, WKBW/WWKB Buffalo and many other stops along the way. He was listed as the fastest talking human in the 1971 Guinness Book of World Records. Jack's famous catch phrase "I am yourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!" rang out for over 4 decades of radio.

Locally during his run at Oldies 93, he was much more subdued but during that same time period he was wide open with a daily show that was taken over a special phone line to WWKB Buffalo (the old WKBW renamed) where the full force of Big Jack Armstrong was heard.

Jack had been a resident of High Point for many years. No cause of death has been announced. He was 62.

His myspace page is http://www.myspace.com/jackadj

TBS isn't the Braves' home station anymore. They're on FXSS, SS, and PeachtreeTV (Atlanta only). Shame, too, as baseball is the only thing TBSHD actually does in HD.

Yup. And even when those games are scheduled to be shown on FXSS or SS here in Winston-Salem, I will not get to see them, even if I buy the Sports Pack from Direct TV. That is really dumb.

I have been watching the Braves on TBS all my life and this news is pretty disheartening. Paying $179 for the MLB Extra Innings is not worth it to me and I guess I will have to resort to XM satellite radio to get my fix.

TWC advertises Braves home games in HD from FSN HD (althought it appears on MOJO channel.)

Sometimes they remember to switch it, most times they do not much like the Sunday ACC HD Hoops.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/PiedmontTriad/products/cable/bravesinhd.html

I spoke with a local Time Warner Cable sales rep last night who claimed that the Discovery Networks (TLC, Discovery, Animal Planet, and the Science Channel) would be added to the HD lineup today (the standard HD lineup, not the HD Pack). I didn't see them in the guide this morning but today probably means five minutes to midnight if his information was remotely accurate to begin with. I think he said they'd appear on channels 546-549. I guess we'll see.

I spoke with a local Time Warner Cable sales rep last night who claimed that the Discovery Networks (TLC, Discovery, Animal Planet, and the Science Channel) would be added to the HD lineup today (the standard HD lineup, not the HD Pack). I didn't see them in the guide this morning but today probably means five minutes to midnight if his information was remotely accurate to begin with. I think he said they'd appear on channels 546-549. I guess we'll see.They are there now... he was correct... and before midnight.

Joe L.

I have them now.

Anyone have any idea on when we might get Cinemax HD, Cartoon Network HD, FX HD, TWC HD, or USA HD? I'm glad to see that they added the other Discovery channels!:) I'm in Winston Salem by the way.

Thanks,
Roque

I was very glad to see the new channels, hopefully it won't be another 6 months when we see more added.

Yay! New HD channels on TWC!

I wish there was a way to delete the SD channels off my TWC guide. My wife always picks the SD channels and skips going to the 500's for HD. Drives me nuts!

I wish there was a way to delete the SD channels off my TWC guide. My wife always picks the SD channels and skips going to the 500's for HD. Drives me nuts!You would think they could add an option to map them to the HD equivalents.

I suppose you could use the parental lock feature to keep your wife from watching the local news in SD, but the SD versions of the channels would still show up in the program guide anyway.

I wish there was a way to delete the SD channels off my TWC guide. My wife always picks the SD channels and skips going to the 500's for HD. Drives me nuts!

That is one nice thing about DirecTV. The local channels are listed by their analog channel numbers (analog and digital) and if there is an HD counterpart, the STB goes to the HD channel by default. Since I have both a H20 and HR20 with the built in ATSC tuner, I have 3 channel 2's, 8's, 12's, and 45's. One is the SD, one is the OTA and one is the MPEG4 sat signal with the STB going to the MPEG4 sat version by default. Makes it convienent for me to just click one time in either direction to check to see what my analog or digital OTA is doing!

For the national channels, it is the same thing. History Channel for example is channel 269 SD and HD. If I enter 269, it goes to the HD 269, not the SD 269.

I wish there was a way to delete the SD channels off my TWC guide. My wife always picks the SD channels and skips going to the 500's for HD. Drives me nuts!

I thought I was the only one that had that problem.

That is one nice thing about DirecTV. The local channels are listed by their analog channel numbers (analog and digital) and if there is an HD counterpart, the STB goes to the HD channel by default.
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.
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For the national channels, it is the same thing. History Channel for example is channel 269 SD and HD. If I enter 269, it goes to the HD 269, not the SD 269.

That is outstanding. On the "cable" channels, can you still access the SD version if you want to?

Yeah, the SD channels are still there.........I would check out dish or DirecTV but my wife doesn't like the idea of a dish on the patio of our townhouse.......plus there is the equipment purchase.

The good thing is she can program the cable DVR

I have a pending order with DirectTV and since then I have learned that the Braves may be on in SD on TWC as well as HD in some cases. Last night, TWC added TLC-HD (and the other HD Discovery Network channels) to their lineup. Now, it sounds like the Braves will not be on DirectTV in my area. Grr.

Which brings me to the reason I wanted to switch to DirectTV. Over the last couple of months, I have been getting a lot of service hiccups with TWC (Winston-Salem) which include channels freezing and skipping, program guides not updating properly, dramatic changes in picture quality on some HD channels; etc. Have others experienced similar issues? We had a technician out at the house about a month ago who put in a new box and put a booster on our line because he said there was a weak signal in our area. But the problems persist. TWC says they will send someone else out again, but this will be out third service call in less than two months. Is this a more widespread problem for TWC customers in this area or is it just my service?

I have a pending order with DirectTV and since then I have learned that the Braves may be on in SD on TWC as well as HD in some cases. Last night, TWC added TLC-HD (and the other HD Discovery Network channels) to their lineup. Now, it sounds like the Braves will not be on DirectTV in my area. Grr.

Which brings me to the reason I wanted to switch to DirectTV. Over the last couple of months, I have been getting a lot of service hiccups with TWC (Winston-Salem) which include channels freezing and skipping, program guides not updating properly, dramatic changes in picture quality on some HD channels; etc. Have others experienced similar issues? We had a technician out at the house about a month ago who put in a new box and put a booster on our line because he said there was a weak signal in our area. But the problems persist. TWC says they will send someone else out again, but this will be out third service call in less than two months. Is this a more widespread problem for TWC customers in this area or is it just my service?Usually, if there is a weak signal in an area, the line-amplifiers on the poles need attention. A quick fix by adding an amplifier at your house might work, but if it has a noisy signal to work with, all you get is a stronger set of noise AND signal once amplified.

Another call to TWC might be in order, and mention that this is a repeat call, and that the tech last time found the signal weak in your AREA.

Joe L.

I get occasional freezes on some of the SDV HD channels (TBSHD in particular) but no other problems with the guide, etc.

Time Warners HD service for the NCAA basketball tournament SUCKS!!!! The picture will fade tile freeze about 50 times during a two hour game.

Is anyone else having issues with sound on channel 540? It will cut out after about a minute. The interesting thing is that if i tune directly to the channel using my TV's QAM tuner I have no problems. Both my cable box and my tv connect via TOSlink to my surround sound receiver. Thank you

A week or so ago I mentioned that a picture of our towers had made a industry trade rag. That picture in the article has been posted on line. If you look about 2/3 of the way of the down on the right, you will see the wonderful sunset picture Scott Fybush took of our two towers. Here is the link to the article and picture.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0082/t.12273.html

Yup. And even when those games are scheduled to be shown on FXSS or SS here in Winston-Salem, I will not get to see them, even if I buy the Sports Pack from Direct TV. That is really dumb.

I have been watching the Braves on TBS all my life and this news is pretty disheartening. Paying $179 for the MLB Extra Innings is not worth it to me and I guess I will have to resort to XM satellite radio to get my fix.
The Braves Games on PeachTreeTV can be seen on Directv channel 617. The channel became active earlier today.

FXSS is a part of your basic service on D*, SD and HD.

The Braves Games on PeachTreeTV can be seen on Directv channel 617. The channel became active earlier today.


Time Warner Cable in Winston Salem has the Braves games on PeachTreeTV on channel 590.

They are there now... he was correct... and before midnight.

Joe L.

Anybody found these on QAM yet? Might have to do a search tonight to see if they are coming through unencrypted. I doubt it, but you never know with TWC! ;)

Time Warner Cable in Winston Salem has the Braves games on PeachTreeTV on channel 590.

Glad to hear this. I remember back when the N&R would put TV ratings in the sports section, the Braves games were usually tops during the week in our market for sports broadcasts. It would be pretty dumb on the Braves part to lose that viewership even though only a few games will be on Peachtree.

The Braves Games on PeachTreeTV can be seen on Directv channel 617. The channel became active earlier today.

I read on dbstalk.com that Directv is working on bring an HD version of this channel but no timeline was given.

For those with DirecTV the following was posted in the Programming section today:

Washington, D.C. (April 2, 2008) -- DIRECTV today is adding three new Disney-owned High-Definition channels to its high-def lineup.

The channels are: ESPNews HD (ch. 207); Disney Channel HD (290); and Toon Disney HD (292).

The channels are expected to be added to the satcaster's lineup this morning, DIRECTV has already included the three channels in its programming guide at its web site.

Update: The channels were added to DIRECTV's lineup at 6 a.m. ET

The three additions are the first HD channel launches from DIRECTV in 2008. The satcaster dramatically expanded its high-def lineup in 2007, from nine national HD channels to 92. Today's additions will give DIRECTV 95 national HD channels.

The ESPN sports channel launched on Sunday, but apparently had not been picked up by any cable or satellite provider until now. Disney Channel HD and Toon Disney HD are also new channel launches.

Comcast and Time Warner have also said they will launch ESPNews HD at some point and Comcast has said Disney Channel HD will be added in Seattle.

Dish Network is reportedly planning to add ESPNews HD as well, but as of 5 a.m. ET today, there has been no confirmation of that.

Peachtree is on the Greensboro system as well as fox sports south hd. My enthusiasm for fsshd will be tempered if the canes don't make it to the playoffs.

Wouldn't braves games on FSS be blacked out since we are considered Nationals/Orioles territory? I know that games involving Atlanta based teams on SportsSouth are blacked out here.

I don't get the point of ESPNNewsHD at all. I would be much more excited about ESPNU-HD (assuming they filled it with actual HD content). I never really watch ESPN News since Sportscenter is seemingly on all the time anyway.

I don't get the point of ESPNNewsHD at all. I would be much more excited about ESPNU-HD (assuming they filled it with actual HD content). I never really watch ESPN News since Sportscenter is seemingly on all the time anyway.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/espn120307.htm

ESPN announced today that ESPNU will begin broadcasting in High-Definition on August 28, 2008.

In the first year, the 24-hour college sports network will feature more than 200 exclusive live events in high-def, ESPN said.

ESPNU's HD launch, which will occur as the 2008 college football season kicks off, will be the fourth network from ESPN to broadcast in high-def.

Peachtree is on the Greensboro system as well as fox sports south hd. My enthusiasm for fsshd will be tempered if the canes don't make it to the playoffs.

Wouldn't braves games on FSS be blacked out since we are considered Nationals/Orioles territory? I know that games involving Atlanta based teams on SportsSouth are blacked out here.

I am in W-S and we are in the Nationals/Orioles/Reds & Braves territories according the the Zip Code search on the MLB website. I checked a Greensboro Zip code and it does only show the Nationals and Orioles which explains your experience. A few miles makes a big difference. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/mlbtv.jsp

It looks like TWC has added 2 new HD channels possibly for Braves games on 590 and 591. The only thing I have seen on either is a Braves game that was on 67 in HD on 591. I haven't yet noticed anything on ch 590 but it's letters are "BRAVE" so I am guessing they will show Braves' games there too.

Does anyone "in the know" have an explanation for why WFMY News 2's news broadcasts look dark and crappy for the past few weeks? It's like everyone got a bad tan. Seems to be bother the SD and HD feeds on TWC (not sure if the same OTA or Directv). Are they perhaps in the process of doing HD news and using some older equipment right now or something? Cause the newscasters really look bad...

anyone else getting a big black square in the center of the screen on Channel 2's HD channel on TWC? I'm using QAM and the HD channel has it, the SD channel doesn't.

Check your closed caption settings. You may have one of the alternate text modes turned on, which usually results in a big black box like you described.

It looks like TWC has added 2 new HD channels possibly for Braves games on 590 and 591. The only thing I have seen on either is a Braves game that was on 67 in HD on 591. I haven't yet noticed anything on ch 590 but it's letters are "BRAVE" so I am guessing they will show Braves' games there too.

It looks like Channel 590, "BRAVE" went away.

anyone else getting a big black square in the center of the screen on Channel 2's HD channel on TWC? I'm using QAM and the HD channel has it, the SD channel doesn't.

I got the big black square about 30 minutes into Ghost Whisperer, which I had recorded on my Directv dvr. It went away for the last 10 minutes. That's the only thing I watched or recorded on channel 2, so I'm not sure about the rest of the programming. I'm glad I wasn't the only one with the problem. That means my equipment is okay; and I'm guessing your is too:).

I had it too. TWC 520

Does anyone "in the know" have an explanation for why WFMY News 2's news broadcasts look dark and crappy for the past few weeks? It's like everyone got a bad tan. Seems to be bother the SD and HD feeds on TWC (not sure if the same OTA or Directv). Are they perhaps in the process of doing HD news and using some older equipment right now or something? Cause the newscasters really look bad...

I noticed the same thing this weeked. Worse on my 720 LCD OTA 2.1 and not quite so bad on the SXRD through TWC 520.

Does anyone "in the know" have an explanation for why WFMY News 2's news broadcasts look dark and crappy for the past few weeks?

The past few weeks were broadcast from a temporary studio, while their normal one was being redecorated with HD broadcasts in mind.

This morning's news was their first broadcast from the new studio set:
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local_state/article.aspx?storyid=101299&catid=57

Joe L.

I always thought that Fox 8 would be the first local TV station to provide HD news instead of WFMY (assuming the WFMY does so in the near future). I thought that mainly because Fox 8 always appeared to be more advanced technically of the local news stations. Perhaps the sales process of Fox 8 put that on hold. Maybe Foxeng can talk about it if he is allowed to.

I am just speculating, but isn't Fox 8 being sold this year? I would think that may hold up and HD plans they may or may not have had for the newscasts.

All I can say is that it has been reported in the industry rags that the O & O's will be HD within 3 years. But that does not include the 8 stations being sold (which we are one of them). The sale has been said will close 3rd quarter of the year. There is nothing else I can say about it because I don't know anything else.

American Idol is not looking good on the HD channel through Time Warner. Not sure why I'm even watching it this season.

Edit: Something is evidently going on around my neighborhood/house. Sorry for any confusion.

I have checked it OTA and through D* and AI is having no problems through WGHP-DT. It could be a TWC issue.

All I watched was Fergie's segment but it looked fine to me (on TWC).

Got a survey call yesterday on the transition. I told the lady taking the survey that I worked for a TV station and she said that didn't matter. I asked her who commissioned the survey but she didn't know, even after I through out some names. It was geared to did I know about the transition, when it was and did I have any way of watching TV after the transition. Poor lady, I knew more about it than she did! Anyway, you may get a call too.

Raleigh, N.C. — The NFL Network's feud with Time Warner Cable now has the attention of North Carolina state lawmakers. A public hearing is set for Tuesday.

The president of the Carolina Panthers and NFL officials are expected to attend. The NFL Network and Time Warner Cable can't come to terms on how the network would be carried on cable.

The NFL network wants to be offered on standard cable. Time Warner officials said they believe the channel should be part of a sports package that is offered at an additional cost.

The Network is also trying to get the FCC to force arbitration.

The North Carolina Telecommunications Association plans to argue that the government shouldn't be getting involved in a private business negotiation.

Without a cable offering, viewers have to get satellite TV to see the games the NFL Network offers.

The Joint Legislative Utility Review Committee will hold the public hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Legislative Building.

There's still time to call/e-mail your state representative to weigh in on this issue

I apologize for derailing the thread from HD TV for a moment. Does anyone know somewhere in Greensboro that repairs subwoofers? I have a Paradigm sub that's around 3 years old that started emitting a somewhat high pitched whining/buzzing today. I have a feeling its a precursor to something maybe blowing/breaking. The buzzing does go away when it falls into standby mode. I bought the sub from Custom HiFi, which has closed its greensboro store, so before I call them, I'd rather try to see if there's a local place I could try taking it to. I'm pretty bummed that this died in only 3 years as it was pretty costly. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

You might try the place over at the Taget shopping center on Wendover, the old Twitter, (I am not sure what they call it today) and they may be able to either fix it or steer you in the right direction.

FYI, all of the full power TV stations in the state will be broadcasting a 30 minute program Saturday night at 7:30 about the transition. It is produced by NCAB and is part of the required FCC DTV Education Order.

You might try the place over at the Taget shopping center on Wendover, the old Twitter, (I am not sure what they call it today) and they may be able to either fix it or steer you in the right direction.

It used to be called Now! Audio but Now! Audio was bought by Tweeter and that's what it is still called today.

Marc Lerner is a sales rep there at Tweeter - you may know him as the "Gadget Guy" on Fox 8. He'll know who can fix it.

Great article on msnbc.com on Cable companies compressing HDTV signals.

It even specifically mentions the AVS forums! Guess somebody is hearing the complaints!:)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24238071/

I have been using the Terrestrial Digital DB8 Multi-Directional HDTV Antenna for about a year now. All is well with it. Just have one question that maybe you can help me with. I have two DTV's one only uses the OTA and the other OTA and Dish Network. The one closest to the antenna (hanging on the wall where the antenna is mounted outside) pulls all of my locals in fine, except for the PBS stations. They have pixelization every now and then. The other set OTA cable runs into Dish Network's receiver and is located about 30 feet from the antenna. All channels come in well, except for PBS. They will not come in. If they do manage to come in it is for a few minutes at the most. Is there anything I can do or add to increase the signal or gain. I have the cables running the most shortest possible distance. They are RG-6 and are grounded with surge protectors. I have tried the amps from Radio Shack with no luck, they only decrease the gain instead of adding. I run one of the OTA cables into Dish Network due to it adding it to the program guide. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

The stations I receive are: WFMY 2-1,2-2. WGHP 8-1. WXII 12-1,12-2. WCWG 20-1. WUNL 26-1,2,3,4,5. WXLV 45-1. WUPN 48-1. WLXI 61-1

WUNL-DT on Sauratown Mt is only broadcasting at 197 kW, much lower than the other stations. UNC did ask for a power increase several years ago and the FCC denied it. If you can, try to get WUNG-DT on channel 44 or WUNC-DT on channel 59.