The channels listed above are the only ones that will show when scanned.

Aim your antenna and enter the channel manually. WUNL-DT 32, WUNG-DT 44, WUNC-DT 59 and see if any will come in.

I tried, but no luck on finding other channels. Is their an amp or anything that give me more gain? The amps I found say it will not work if passing through the Dish Network receiver.

I don't remember where you said you are located or what kind of splitter you are using and whether you already have a pre-amp in line. If you could give a bullet point of your complete setup and where you are located, I will see what I can do.

Using a Terrestrial Digital DB8 Multi-Directional HDTV Antenna on a 30 foot pole. Cables are RG-6 with a 2GB splitter. (The channel 26 would not come in even without the splitter). The TV I am having trouble with is located about 40 feet from the antenna and is passing through Dish Network receiver. If the antenna is hooked directly to this set, channels 26 won't come in either. The reason I pass through Dish Network is because it adds the channels to the line up/guide. The cables are grounded through a 4000 joules surge protector and the antenna pole is grounded also. I live in the 27360 area. Here is the map view of my area from antennaweb. I have the front of the antenna facing the C area. Tried different positions, but this was the strongest setting. I am not using any pre-amps. Did try one from Radio Shack and it did more harm than good. the set closest to the antenna comes in great. every now and then it will break up on channels 26. Thanks!

Being around Thomasville, WUNC is not an option. WUNG in Concord might be but checking with TVFool.com, a much bettter website than antennaweb, it shows WUNL-DT at a -61 dbm from Thomasville which is on the low side, but it still viewable. The transmitter is 38 miles from Thomasville.

The most pre-amp you should use is 15 db. Anything more and it will cause problems. It could be that your antenna is in a dead spot for WUNL but how well do you get WXII-DT? It is located with WUNL-DT on Sauratown Mt also. WXII-DT is running at 814 kW compared to WUNL-DT's 197 kW.

Anyone else down Thomasville/Lexington way getting WUNL-DT?

As of now 12:30PM EST WXII is at 70%. Here are the percentage of the others: WFMY 95, WGHP 82, WCWG 81, WXLV 100, WMYV 93, WLXI 75. When UNC comes in it is around 60%. The set closest to the antenna is around 85%. So I think my settings are good just the distance from the antenna for the second set. I check on some amps I found on the web and they state do not work if passing through Dish Network receiver. Is there one that would work while passing through receiver? Thanks for your help thus far.

Just tried tvfool.com. Excellent, thanks foxeng.

Joe

Anyone know if TW will add MASN anytime soon?

For some reason I thought they were ordered to carry the channel in January - but perhaps I'm mistaken. Last year all the Nats/Orioles games were blacked out on INHD/MOJO. I guess it is better this year - I have seen the Nationals playing the Braves on FSN in HD.

Anyone know if TW will add MASN anytime soon?

For some reason I thought they were ordered to carry the channel in January - but perhaps I'm mistaken. Last year all the Nats/Orioles games were blacked out on INHD/MOJO. I guess it is better this year - I have seen the Nationals playing the Braves on FSN in HD.

Article from The Raleigh News and Observer about the MASN/Time-Warner Dispute from 2/22/2008 providing the latest details:
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/960382.html

Apparently, the appeal by Time-Warner allows everything to remain status-quo on carriage...err...lack of carriage of MASN for now. Also, with the arbitrator being ousted and none currently selected as a replacement (at least I couldn't find any info online saying so), you'll probably be out of luck on receving MASN via Time-Warner. I know, it doesn't make sense to me, either. :cool:

Went to WalMart and purchased the Philips MANT940 Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna for my sons TV in his apartment. Tried it on my set with the issues of PBS channels 26. It worked like a charm just from being held indoors. Might get one for myself and combine with my other set up until I figure something else out.

I know that E* was using Anik F3 at 118.8 for Charlotte and Raleigh HD LIL. Does anyone know for sure which bird/transponder the GSO/WS/HP HD-LIL are on via E*?

Thanks

I know that E* was using Anik F3 at 118.8 for Charlotte and Raleigh HD LIL. Does anyone know for sure which bird/transponder the GSO/WS/HP HD-LIL are on via E*?

Thanks
A friend of mine at work just got it I believe she said it was at 61.5. They could not get a clear view of all so they put in a second dish.

Has anybody else seen a problem with WFMY HD on TWC tonight? NCIS doesn't appear to be in HD. There are black bars on the side in addition to vote totals, making the program take up maybe 1/4 of what its supposed to.

I would suspect there is no problem, just they don't have all of the HD graphics equipment to do what needs to be done for elections so they have to go back to SD to show that information. Many stations have that same problem right now.

man, someone at American Idol sure screwed up the audio mix last night. Asleep at the mixining console. I mix live audio to tape for our broadcast on WLXI 61 and that mixer must have had cotten in the ears to not hear that the band was missing in the mix and there was no reverb on the vocals either.

FCC Sets Wilmington, N.C., as Digital-Switch Test Market, Sources Say

By Michele Greppi and Ira Teinowitz

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is set to announce Thursday that it will run a test of the switch to digital broadcasting signals in Wilmington, N.C., the smallest TV market in the Tarheel state, sources said.

The congressionally mandated national switch to digital takes place Feb. 19. The FCC didn't return multiple calls seeking comment.

The test in North Carolina, Mr. Martin's home state, is likely to take place before the November sweeps ratings period. If things do not go smoothly during the trial run, it could affect stations’ revenues during one of the months used to set advertising rates for the next fiscal quarter.

The Wilmington market, served by affiliates of all the major networks, is the 135th largest measured by Nielsen Media Research, which says 179,760 of the 182,500 homes in the area have televisions.

WWAY-TV, owned by Morris Multimedia, is the ABC affiliate in the area. NBC-affiliated WECT-TV and Fox-affiliated WSFX-TV are owned by Raycom Media. WILM-TV is the CBS affiliate owned by Capitol Broadcasting Co. WMYW-LP is the MyNetworkTV affiliate, and The CW has a cable-only affiliate. The market gets its public broadcast signal from WUNJ-TV.

Local broadcasters did not return calls seeking comment.

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps has been pushing for a test in a small market that met certain criteria, including that all broadcast stations’ digital signals already are on the air on the same channels where they will be found when the official digital switch takes place.

The idea is to learn, among other things, how many TV homes may be unprepared for the transition, which will require viewers to have digital sets, boxes that can convert digital broadcast signals to analog on older sets, or delivery of programs by cable or satellite services.

The sources who confirmed the announcement of the test weren't able to say when it may begin. However, the trial run will be preceded by a big education campaign by local stations about converter boxes and the availability of coupons worth $40 toward the purchase of the converters through local retailers.

Throughout the country, some 1 million coupons have been used as part of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration’s converter box coupon program, according to recent information.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/05/sources_fcc_sets_wilmington_nc.php

Wilmington DTV Switch: Sept. 8, 2008
135th Largest DMA To Become First Transition Test Market
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 5/7/2008 7:09:00 PM
Washington—Wilmington, N.C., will become the first market to switch to all-digital broadcasting on Sept.8, 2008, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said Wednesday.

“We'll be the first in the country,” Saffo said, adding that he was “honored” to have his city take the lead.

The test is slated to begin Monday Sept. 8, a week after Labor Day.

The Federal Communications Commission is planning to announce Wednesday afternoon that Wilmington will be selected as the TV transition test market, an FCC official said.

By law, all full-power TV stations need to terminate analog service on Feb. 17, 2009. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has been coming under pressure to find a test market to determine the level of preparation in a typical market prior to the national switch over.

FCC Democrat Michael Copps has been nagging Martin for months to find a test market.

"This is very good news for the DTV transition. Real-world experience is an extremely important step—although only one of many—that will help minimize consumer disruption next February. Broadway shows open on the road to work out the kinks before opening night. The DTV transition deserves no less," Copps said in a statement Wednesday night.

Saffo said he is optimistic that his city will be ready to conduct a smooth transition soon after Labor Day.

“The FCC has assured me that they are going to come down here and do everything in their power ...to make this as smooth as possible,” Saffo said. “We look at the FCC as being a partner in this.”

According to Nielsen Media Research, Wilmington is the 135th largest TV market out of 210.

Saffo said he was well-aware that the eyes of the nation would be following DTV developments in his coastal city.

“It's a huge opportunity for Wilmington to pave the way for the rest of country,” Saffo said. “I am looking forward to working with [the FCC] and honored to be the first community in the country to do it.”

Nielsen has cable and satellite TV providers serving 92.6% of Wilmington area households, leaving just 7.4% relying exclusively on free TV. Nationally, the broadcast-only audience ranges from 11% to 19% of households, depending on source of the data.

According to the Center for Public Integrity's media ownership database, the Wilmington market has 10 licensed TV stations.

The city of Wilmington, situated close to the Atlantic shoreline, has a population of 91,137, according to U.S. Census Bureau data for 2003.

Analog TV sets that rely exclusively on free over the air broadcasting will cease to function unless they are adapted to display digital signals.

The federal government plans to spend up to $1.5 billion to subsidize consumer acquisition of digital-to-analog converter boxes. The program allows each household to receive two $40 coupons to defray converter box costs. On Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that 1 million coupons had been used since people began applying on Jan. 1.

Saffo said that ensuring broadcast-only viewers were not left behind was essential.

“Obviously we have some concerns,” Saffo said. “Our concern is at those folks who do not have a converter box are going to be given those converter boxes ...”

In theory, cable and satellite TV homes won't be affected by the transition unless they have analog TV sets not connected to one of the pay TV services.

It looks like DirecTV will start to take the digital signals of the local stations and downconvert them for SD starting in June in preparation for the transition. This means they will stop receiving the analog signals and use the digital signals in place of the analog signals for SD LIL. No change is expected for the HD LIL signals. According to DirecTV sources, the HD LCP (local collection point) is at WFMY.

It looks like DirecTV will start to take the digital signals of the local stations and downconvert them for SD starting in June in preparation for the transition. This means they will stop receiving the analog signals and use the digital signals in place of the analog signals for SD LIL. No change is expected for the HD LIL signals. According to DirecTV sources, the HD LCP (local collection point) is at WFMY.
Just to clarify, they will be taking the same digital signal as HD LiL and using that for SD LiL? Any word on what they will do with the 16x9 content? Will they letter box it or crop?

Just to clarify, they will be taking the same digital signal as HD LiL and using that for SD LiL? Any word on what they will do with the 16x9 content? Will they letter box it or crop?I can envision some interesting issues.. A pillar-boxed,stretched, letter-boxed and cropped version anyone? And when a storm alert, or breaking news comes through and the image is compressed to a corner, ouch...

The issues are identical to those who connect one of the new $40. ATSC tuner/converter boxes to their SDTV, except DirectTV will decide if they should zoom or not. (no way to please everybody)

Joe L.

Yes, the same signal that you see in HD will be downconverted to SD. The AR will be station determined.

FCC Confirms Wilmington as Digital Test Market
By Ira Teinowitz and Julieanne Smolinski

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has formally selected Wilmington, N.C., as the test market for the digital transition.

“It will help us spot issues that we need to address throughout the country,” Mr. Martin told a Washington news conference today, surrounded by the mayor of Wilmington and local broadcasters.

The announcement confirms TVWeek’s report that Mr. Martin would select his home state for the dry run of the congressionally mandated switch.

Nielsen ranks the Wilmington market as the 135th largest of major-network affiliates. Beginning at noon on Sept. 8, WWAY-TV (ABC), WSFX-TV (Fox), WECT-TV (NBC), WILM-LP (CBS), and W51CW (Trinity Broadcasting) will broadcast only digital signals to their viewers in the five North Carolina counties that make up the market.

Wilmington PBS station WUNJ-TV will continue to broadcast in both analog and digital until the national transition, set for Feb. 17. The station is part of UNC-TV, the state’s public TV network; it said today that it was concerned that turning off its analog signal in the midst of hurricane season might deprive viewers of needed emergency information.

Mr. Martin said today that the FCC would have full-time staff in Wilmington through the transition to speak and attend events ranging from the riverfront festival to the blueberry festival. He said the agency would prepare public service announcements, outdoor billboards and posters promoting the transition.

Wilmington was chosen for the test run because all of its commercial stations have completed construction of their DTV channels and are operating at full post-transition power.

Jonathan Collegio, the National Association of Broadcasters' VP of the digital television transition, said in a statement: “The FCC-initiated experiment in Wilmington can shed light on a number of issues surrounding the national DTV transition in February 2009. The results must be objectively reviewed to determine how or whether the findings can be applied nationwide. NAB will be fully supportive of our local television broadcasters in this effort."

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who had been to England to watch its switchover, had pushed for a test before the national switch. Today he praised both the FCC and local broadcasters for voluntarily agreeing to it.

“It’s not risk-free. It’s not problem-free,” he said.

While Mr. Martin suggested Wilmington’s switch would offer valuable information, Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said he was concerned that Wilmington would be more a showplace than a real test. The kind of effort the agency is putting into making sure Wilmington goes right is unlikely to be there when the rest of the country switches.

“The question is whether it is a real test or a staged dress rehearsal,” said Mr. Adelstein.

Broadcasters said they expected some disruption in advertising and viewership during the switch, but that it would have occurred anyway in February.

“Whether we do the transition in September or we do it in February, we are going to have some disruption to work through,” said Jim Goodmon, president-CEO of Capitol Broadcasting, which owns WILM-LP.

“If you don’t know the transition is coming in Wilmington, you won’t be breathing. But I don’t know how we are not going to have a disruption. We are going to have a disruption. We are going to make it as small as we can.”

Paul McTear, president-CEO of Raycom Media, which owns WECT-TV, said the high level of cable and satellite households in the market—93%—together with the number that already have requested discount coupons for converter boxes, meant few households would lose TV service. He predicted the biggest problem would be with second sets.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/05/fcc_confirms_wilmington_as_dig.php

foxeng,

Would seem the next many months will be exciting and stressful for you and your colleagues.

I find the 93% cable+sat penetration for the Wilmington market interesting. Is the # similar in our market?

I wonder what's the average # of analog sets deployed in households that rely on OTA exclusively.

Lately, I've been asking friends and colleagues about their understanding of what is going to happen next February.I would guess based on my too small, non scientific sample That 30% really understand, another 30% have a vague idea and the other 40% are clueless.

This country is going to see how much spent on political ads between now and November? And the FCC has an educational budget of what?

I mean this is TV we're talkin about :)

Joe

foxeng,

Would seem the next many months will be exciting and stressful for you and your colleagues.

The Wilmington issue doesn't effect us here; but it could have. Here are the variables that got Wilmington the nod. Chairman Martin is from Charlotte, he wanted a market in his home state. All of the digitals for Wilmington are on the air, at full power from their final locations. No other NC market meets the second criteria. Had we not been moving back to 8 post transition, this market would have been prime. since everyone else is where they are going to be.

I find the 93% cable+sat penetration for the Wilmington market interesting. Is the # similar in our market?

We are at 85% and that is the national average. Locally, TWC has 50% by themselves. Sat combined has 15% and the rest are small cablecos.

I wonder what's the average # of analog sets deployed in households that rely on OTA exclusively.

No one really knows. That is the huge unknown here.

Lately, I've been asking friends and colleagues about their understanding of what is going to happen next February.I would guess based on my too small, non scientific sample That 30% really understand, another 30% have a vague idea and the other 40% are clueless.

This country is going to see how much spent on political ads between now and November? And the FCC has an educational budget of what?

I mean this is TV we're talkin about :)

Joe

Well because it IS TV, it isn't as important as the political process. :D

It looks like DirecTV will start to take the digital signals of the local stations and downconvert them for SD starting in June in preparation for the transition. This means they will stop receiving the analog signals and use the digital signals in place of the analog signals for SD LIL. No change is expected for the HD LIL signals. According to DirecTV sources, the HD LCP (local collection point) is at WFMY.

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageNR.jsp?assetId=P1400108

Greensboro-Winston-Salem, NC
SD
496-F Gallimore Dairy Road
Greensboro, NC 27409

HD
1615 Phillips Ave
Greensboro, NC 27405

1615 Phillips Avenue is clearly WFMY.
Shockingly, 496-F Gallimore Dairy Road is Time Warner.

Shockingly, 496-F Gallimore Dairy Road is Time Warner.

Different division. You get your cable service from Time-Warner Cable. The LCP for D* and E* SD is a division of Time-Warner Telecom. It is like FOX News and FOX Television Stations are two different divisions that do different things.

Has anybody heard if the local CBS, NBC and Fox will re-air the shows that weren't shown because of the storm coverage. I'm not knocking them for doing it because the storm coverage was more important but there are some shows from last night that I'd like to see. I know I can go to NBC.com to get the full episode of The Office but I'd rather see it in HD on my big TV. ER isn't even offered on NBC.com. CBS.com has CSI I believe but I will probably download it from Xbox Live so I can see it in HD on my big TV.

At least I was able to watch Lost last night.

Has anybody heard if the local CBS, NBC and Fox will re-air the shows that weren't shown because of the storm coverage. I'm not knocking them for doing it because the storm coverage was more important but there are some shows from last night that I'd like to see. I know I can go to NBC.com to get the full episode of The Office but I'd rather see it in HD on my big TV. ER isn't even offered on NBC.com. CBS.com has CSI I believe but I will probably download it from Xbox Live so I can see it in HD on my big TV.

At least I was able to watch Lost last night.

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080509/NRSTAFF/662796847

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080509/NRSTAFF/662796847

Excellent!!! Thanks a lot!!

Excellent!!! Thanks a lot!!

I will bet you they aren't in HD - I can say with 100% confidence that Survivor and Oprah will not be in HD either :cool:

I will bet you they aren't in HD - I can say with 100% confidence that Survivor and Oprah will not be in HD either :cool:

Well, since Oprah won't be offering her show in HD until Sept. 8th and Survivor won't be in HD on CBS until this Fall, I guess you'd be 100% correct.:rolleyes:

Neither ER or The Office were in HD, but it is better than nothing.

Hi all,

Totally new person here, with what I'm sure will be some dumb questions - so please forgive me in advance. We're in day 3 of our new HD set (a Philips) and I have zero complaints with the tv, and I've been blown away by the HD things we've been able to see (it's all new to us). My question, though: we subscribe to TWC basic service and unfortunately cannot (financially) upgrade to digital cable. TWC said they would not montly fee me the HD box without upgrading to digital, but right now we're picking up the HD networks on the higher (ex., 94.95) channels. Those are hit and miss, though. For example, sometimes WFMY comes in, and sometimes it doesn't. I tried an external HD (inside) antenna, and it was actually worse (fewer) channels. I did notice today that the longer the set is on, WFMY and FOX come in stronger. ABC and NBC have always come in - is this a normal thing? If you have the TWC HD box are the major networks "always" in signal? Thanks for any advice! PS - We live in NW G'boro...

i can't speak on the twc quesiton but i would try to tweak ur antennae or get it outside or as high as possible inside. i get 17 channels (all free) and i'm in Adams Farm. is ur antennae powered? if it's not a powered one would probably help. when i 1st installed mine i only got a few channels but with the adjustments i'm where i'm at now. mine is mounted in my attic 3 stories up.
Hi all,

Totally new person here, with what I'm sure will be some dumb questions - so please forgive me in advance. We're in day 3 of our new HD set (a Philips) and I have zero complaints with the tv, and I've been blown away by the HD things we've been able to see (it's all new to us). My question, though: we subscribe to TWC basic service and unfortunately cannot (financially) upgrade to digital cable. TWC said they would not montly fee me the HD box without upgrading to digital, but right now we're picking up the HD networks on the higher (ex., 94.95) channels. Those are hit and miss, though. For example, sometimes WFMY comes in, and sometimes it doesn't. I tried an external HD (inside) antenna, and it was actually worse (fewer) channels. I did notice today that the longer the set is on, WFMY and FOX come in stronger. ABC and NBC have always come in - is this a normal thing? If you have the TWC HD box are the major networks "always" in signal? Thanks for any advice! PS - We live in NW G'boro...

If you TV has a QAM tuner in it, just connect the cable to the RF jack and do a channel scan. You should be able to pick up WFMY, WGHP, WXII, WXLV and WUNL in digital without a cable box. The channel numbers will be in the 113-116 range, not the more familar 510, 520, 530, 540, etc.

Thanks, everyone. foxeng, our TV does have a QAM tuner it in, and right now, that's how I've got it hooked up. WFMY and WGHP are almost too strong (or something) - it pixelates and the sound breaks down. WXII, WXLV and WUNL are crystal clear and great. Any ideas on WFMY and WGHP? Is that a gain issue? Since the other channel are coming in so well, would we be best to stay with TWC or go the antenna route?

Thanks, everyone. foxeng, our TV does have a QAM tuner it in, and right now, that's how I've got it hooked up. WFMY and WGHP are almost too strong (or something) - it pixelates and the sound breaks down. WXII, WXLV and WUNL are crystal clear and great. Any ideas on WFMY and WGHP? Is that a gain issue? Since the other channel are coming in so well, would we be best to stay with TWC or go the antenna route?

It sounds like a lack of signal. TWC can't charge you beyond what you are paying now even if you have your TV directly connected to the cable. You need to call them and have them run a signal check on your cable IN THE HOUSE. DO NOT LET THEM get away with a pole signal strength check. It may be prefectly fine on the pole, but if there is a issue in the house, they will never know it from the pole. Also, if you have any splitters that you put in on the cable lines, take them off first to see if that improves the signals. If so, it is your splitters. If it is their splitters, then it is their problem and they have to fix it.

ONE OTHER THING FOR EVERYONE

If you do put splitters in line, be sure they go to at least 800 MHz and NOT 550 MHz. All of the digital signals on TWC are above 600 MHz and if your splitter doesn't go to at least 800 MHz you will have a pretty drastic drop in signal level on the digital channels (cable channels 90 and up). We had to change out some splitters and amps at work when we put in our Samsung STB to receive our digital signal in Master Control via TWC because they stopped at 550 MHz. With a spectrum analyser you can really see the digital channel drop off with a 550 MHz splitter/amps.

Thanks, everyone. foxeng, our TV does have a QAM tuner it in, and right now, that's how I've got it hooked up. WFMY and WGHP are almost too strong (or something) - it pixelates and the sound breaks down. WXII, WXLV and WUNL are crystal clear and great. Any ideas on WFMY and WGHP? Is that a gain issue? Since the other channel are coming in so well, would we be best to stay with TWC or go the antenna route?
I have a similar problem, with a Westinghouse tv. The digital channels for WFMY and WGHP, plus WFMY's news/weather channel, and UNC-NC and UNC-ED all are on channel 78 (78.1, 78.2, etc) on my tv, and occasionally all of them will show signal problems at the same time. When this happens, I can sometimes get it to clear up by tuning to a different HD channel (UNC-HD, or WXII), and then back. I called TWC and got absolutely no help from the person I spoke with. First, she obviously wasn't a tech because she didn't know it was possible to receive any digital channels if you aren't paying for the digital serevice. Second, her attitude was that if I wasn't paying for digital, then they didn't have to provide me with any technical assistance for a problem with a digital channel. :mad:

ONE OTHER THING FOR EVERYONE

If you do put splitters in line, be sure they go to at least 800 MHz and NOT 550 MHz.

If the splitter caused a problem, would it show up across the entire digital spectrum? In my case, it's only those stations that are on channel 78 (at least, that's the channel number on my Westinghouse tv) that are affected. The others are fine.

If the splitter caused a problem, would it show up across the entire digital spectrum? In my case, it's only those stations that are on channel 78 (at least, that's the channel number on my Westinghouse tv) that are affected. The others are fine.

Maybe, maybe not. Not all digital channels are sent at the same strength. They are close, but if you are on the edge, some stations may come in better than others and depending on many factors, the problem stations may work one day and not the next.

Thanks again, foxeng. We don't have any splitters - just the TWC line running into the back of the DVD/VCR and then back out to the TV. I'll give them a call and see where we get...

Thanks again, foxeng. We don't have any splitters - just the TWC line running into the back of the DVD/VCR and then back out to the TV. I'll give them a call and see where we get...Try hooking the cable directly to the TV and scan once more. It could easily be that the feed-through circuit in the DVR/VCR is what is filtering out the higher channels.

If that works better, then get a 1Ghz splitter, split the signal from TWC two ways, connect one to the DVR, the other to the TV, and that might just work to get all the QAM signals present on the TWC cable. You can use component, or composite video to feed the TV from the DVR.

Joe L.

Hey J.L.,

Thanks for the info. Sadly, I understood all of that. ;)
I'll give it a shout and let you all know what happens. Being new to HD (and digital TVs) I find all of this stuff fascinating...

Woot!! They're actually exaggerating a little since SciFi, USA and CNN have already been on for a couple of weeks. But still, there's a fair bit of HD content on some of these channels, not all of them though: http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/dish-network-rolls-out-22-new-hd-channels/

This, coupled with the fact that they turned on the HD locals for Greensboro, makes E* a very attractive option for the Triad area now.

Poor ratings, sluggish economy and the cost of the digital transition are listed as the reasons

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pappas-telecasting-files-bankruptcy-blames/story.aspx?guid=%7BBD3264A3-7A33-4F4C-A513-C5E210DC5C28%7D&dist=msr_28

Thanks again for the advice on my reception, everyone. Last night, I tried it both with the splitter and TWC directly into the TV. Into the TV was the big winner. Since our VCR/DVD player is hooked up with composite video, the only thing we really "lost" was the VCR part (which I will probably move to another room anyway). The weird thing - and I think it's been mentioned here before - is that we started to pick up on demand or ppv shows somewhere in the 80's (like 80.3). Strange. Otherwise, it was a beautiful night to watch "House" in HD for the first time!

Black VW,

I have had the same issue as well. It is definitely a low signal issue. I have seemed to notice my problem with a lot of pixelation and sound dropouts is related to the outside ambient temperature. It seems the hotter it gets, the worse the problem is.

I am on a splitter with mine, and have some trouble with both my HDTV and cable modem. I have the TV and modem on as close to a dedicated line as I can get with my arrangment. I think my problem is my signal coming in from the street is borderline at best.

And yes, the Customer Support at TWC is no help at all, because 99.9% of them have no clue what QAM is. Do a search on this thread for Steven Medley from TWC. He was a specialist I spoke to a year ago and was extremely helpful and knowledgable. His phone # is listed somewhere on this thread.

I got tired of TWC's awful performance, and went and blew ~$60 bucks on 2 cheap antennas to put in my attic. That solved my problem, and now I don't have to fool with watching HD via QAM. My antennas work fine!

Let me know if I can help further.

Thanks, DaveWolf. Right now, it's holding but I would hate for it to get worse or more complicated. As my wife says, "I just want it to work." I'll search for Steven's number. Foxeng had also said it might be a signal problem in the house, or on the line.

Did you mount the antennas in the attic, or just lay them up there? And just drop the line down the wall into the TWC space for cable?

I did notice today that Dish has a small, easy $35 package with all HD channels and local networks...

Anyone else noticing lip-sync issues with WFMY on digital 520? There's a distinct video delay even through rca connections and not digital output from the box. This is with audio direct into the tv, not split, not running through a receiver. Prime time programs seem obviously video lagged.

Black VW,

I have seemed to notice my problem with a lot of pixelation and sound dropouts is related to the outside ambient temperature. It seems the hotter it gets, the worse the problem is.

Actually, thats a thermal problem.

An active near your house has a problem and the line should be rebalanced after it is fixed as well.

VW,

I just have the antennas standing up in the attic. I actualy have them fastened to a sledgehammer that is standing on its head. (Real scientific huh?) I have had this setup for over a year now, and so far no complaints. I had wired my basement when I finished it out to run some cable for the antenna out the back of the house. So when I hooked up the antenna I just ran the cable down the back of the house to hook it up behind the air conditioner.

Here is some pics of my basement BTW. Finally got around to posting them on the home theater forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1026822

Here is some pics of my basement BTW. Finally got around to posting them on the home theater forum.

Don't let Van Denton see these!! :D

Don't let Van Denton see these!! :D
As an NCSU meteorology student, I can say love it!

i'm currently using OTA for all my locals on 3 different plasmas, my 2 Samsungs have tuners in them but no program guide, my Maxent i have to run through my sat box. since dish now has local hd channels i thought i'd try it out since it's only 4.99. is anyone using dish currently for their hd locals and what do you think? i get pretty good reception using OTA except when the weather is windy or stormy, i have less problems with dish recpetion during the same weather plus i'll get the program guide through my sat boxes. just wondering if it's worth the extra $$ per month? any comments would be great thanks

Some of TWC's new anti-Directv ads running on channel 45/48 are blatantly false. They claim Directv doesn't have HD On Demand. I just went through the HD On Demand list on my Directv receiver and I counted about 80 HD On Demand choices.

Some of TWC's new anti-Directv ads running on channel 45/48 are blatantly false. They claim Directv doesn't have HD On Demand. I just went through the HD On Demand list on my Directv receiver and I counted about 80 HD On Demand choices.

Does Time Warner have any HD on demand besides the one HD Movies on Demand channel? Oh wait I guess they have HD Showcase too.

Both cable and Direct TV's ads have very little in common with truth. Direct TV's crack me up because they talk about how great their HD is and then throw out a $29.99/month rate and the "no equipment to buy" which are both complete BS if you want HD programming. (Not that I am making them out to be any worse than Time Warner who quotes their "free HD" BS...)

Does Time Warner have any HD on demand besides the one HD Movies on Demand channel? Oh wait I guess they have HD Showcase too.

Both cable and Direct TV's ads have very little in common with truth. Direct TV's crack me up because they talk about how great their HD is and then throw out a $29.99/month rate and the "no equipment to buy" which are both complete BS if you want HD programming. (Not that I am making them out to be any worse than Time Warner who quotes their "free HD" BS...)

I agree that you can't get HD from D* for 29.99 a month. D*'s Family package is $29.99 but if you add the 9.99 HD access fee you will get these HD channels:


The 101 (D*'s own specialty channel)
Disney Channel HD
Food Network HD
HGTV HD
National Geographic HD
Nickelodeon HD
Discovery Science HD
Toon Disney HD
The Weather Channel HD
ABC HD
CBS HD
NBC HD
Fox HD


So D* should advertise that you can get HD for 39.98. That would be more truthful. All of D*'s packages include varying degrees of HD channels. Every HD channel that has an SD equivalent is available in the same package as the SD channel. You do you have to pay the 9.99 HD access fee to get any HD channels though. There are a few HD only channels that exist in the HD Extra Pack. The two exceptions are HD Net and HD Theater which are available in the Choice package which is 52.99 which includes 35 HD channels if you get the HD access.

The "no equipment to buy" to view HD isn't as untruthful as you think it is. If you are a new customer you can get the HD receiver for free with free installation. So you can get HD without buying equipment. That said if you are a new customer the HD DVR still costs $99. However, if you aren't a new customer the HD DVR does cost $199 which irks me. As a longtime 13 year customer I have to pay twice as much to get me an additional HD DVR as new customer does.

I agree that you can't get HD from D* for 29.99 a month. D*'s Family package is $29.99 but if you add the 9.99 HD access fee you will get these HD channels:


The 101 (D*'s own specialty channel)
Disney Channel HD
Food Network HD
HGTV HD
National Geographic HD
Nickelodeon HD
Discovery Science HD
Toon Disney HD
The Weather Channel HD
ABC HD
CBS HD
NBC HD
Fox HD


No lie. They just didn't finish the sentence! :D

Truth is, it is getting to be VERY dog eat dog in the HD wars. It will only get worse no matter who the MVPD is, cable or sat.

i'm currently using OTA for all my locals on 3 different plasmas, my 2 Samsungs have tuners in them but no program guide, my Maxent i have to run through my sat box. since dish now has local hd channels i thought i'd try it out since it's only 4.99. is anyone using dish currently for their hd locals and what do you think? i get pretty good reception using OTA except when the weather is windy or stormy, i have less problems with dish recpetion during the same weather plus i'll get the program guide through my sat boxes. just wondering if it's worth the extra $$ per month? any comments would be great thanks
The Dish HD Locals are great, excellent picture quality, flawless 5.1 surround. Until they turned them on, I'd been getting all my locals OTA. I've still kept the OTA plugged in so I can record 3 HD programs at once if I need to (esp on Thursdays). I'm not a rabid AV expert but the difference in PQ between the Dish HD Local feed and OTA isn't apparent visually. There is some compression and you can tell that by the amount of space a show takes up on the DVR when recorded OTA versus Dish. A 1 hour show reduces the space on the DVR for HD by 1 hour using OTA but only reduces 40 minutes of space on the DVR using Dish. Also, you get only NBC, CBS, Fox and ABC from Dish. If you want the CW and MyNetworkTV, OTA is your only option. Neither of those have the audio in 5.1 yet though even for the shows that are in HD :-(

I would highly recommend taking the Dish HD Locals. Well worth the 5$. During the two tornado-alert situations, I didn't lose picture on the Dish HD Locals whereas my OTA became sketchy. It's a different matter that the shows themselves were constantly interrupted by the alerts. Also, you can record up to 2 more shows in HD whereas with OTA you could only DVR one HD local at a time.

my install is supposed to happen sat morning, thanks for the write-up. i thought they would have to carry all the locals...no PBS? i didn't even check which channels i'll get. that kind of sucks, the big four are the ones i usually watch though so i guess i can't complain.
The Dish HD Locals are great, excellent picture quality, flawless 5.1 surround. Until they turned them on, I'd been getting all my locals OTA. I've still kept the OTA plugged in so I can record 3 HD programs at once if I need to (esp on Thursdays). I'm not a rabid AV expert but the difference in PQ between the Dish HD Local feed and OTA isn't apparent visually. There is some compression and you can tell that by the amount of space a show takes up on the DVR when recorded OTA versus Dish. A 1 hour show reduces the space on the DVR for HD by 1 hour using OTA but only reduces 40 minutes of space on the DVR using Dish. Also, you get only NBC, CBS, Fox and ABC from Dish. If you want the CW and MyNetworkTV, OTA is your only option. Neither of those have the audio in 5.1 yet though even for the shows that are in HD :-(

I would highly recommend taking the Dish HD Locals. Well worth the 5$. During the two tornado-alert situations, I didn't lose picture on the Dish HD Locals whereas my OTA became sketchy. It's a different matter that the shows themselves were constantly interrupted by the alerts. Also, you can record up to 2 more shows in HD whereas with OTA you could only DVR one HD local at a time.

I agree that you can't get HD from D* for 29.99 a month. D*'s Family package is $29.99 but if you add the 9.99 HD access fee you will get these HD channels:


The 101 (D*'s own specialty channel)
Disney Channel HD
Food Network HD
HGTV HD
National Geographic HD
Nickelodeon HD
Discovery Science HD
Toon Disney HD
The Weather Channel HD
ABC HD
CBS HD
NBC HD
Fox HD



That's not a very impressive offering considering they (correctly) bash cable's HD Lineup and then insinuate that you'll get all of their great HD offerings for $10 less than that not so steallar HD offering is.... I was actually unaware until you told me that you could get some amount of HD for only $10 more than the family package. I always thought it was $45/month for HD without DVR. I guess it's $45/month for all of the HD.


The "no equipment to buy" to view HD isn't as untruthful as you think it is. If you are a new customer you can get the HD receiver for free with free installation.

You are quite correct here. I was misremembering since whenever I calculate the D* costs I always match what I have which is an HDDVR and a 2nd HD box, both of which I have to pay for (with a $100 discount on the HDDVR). So, sorry for my mistake there. One other thing that irks me about D* is that they make me buy equipment and then still charge me a lease fee for it? What the Hell?! A buddy of mine at work was all ready to switch to D* just before baseball season and that lease fee killed the deal for him.

I'm not trying to paint D* out as bad guys or anything. They offer a much superior TV product and for most people (not me) it's at a lower price. I just wish they could match cable's analog service since I have 5 TVs - 4 of which get regular use and I don't want to buy 4-5 set top boxes. As long as cable continues giving me analog, I am very unlikely to ever switch - even though they piss me off... a lot.

After 2007, I am really not that hungry for much more HD channels. Really, all I really long for is a Fox Sports Net HD, FXHD, USAHD, and Sci-FiHD. And, those last two I would probably barely watch anyway. Cable's inadequacies in HD are really not substantial as far as providing me with the channels I care about. I hope they don't lag too long in adding ESPN-U when it starts up. I do however wish the PQ was better. Now that D* has improved on that front, that's another enticement to switch. But again, that lack of analog is a huge issue for me and the wife.

Well, they do have to carry all the locals and they do do that, in SD!

In HD, they have only the big 4 and that is the case in all the markets. Some of them don't even get all 4 so I guess we're lucky. I believe the case is the same for D*, they also have only the big 4 in HD. You will get PBS, CW and MyNTV in SD so I guess something is better than nothing.

my install is supposed to happen sat morning, thanks for the write-up. i thought they would have to carry all the locals...no PBS? i didn't even check which channels i'll get. that kind of sucks, the big four are the ones i usually watch though so i guess i can't complain.

Well, they do have to carry all the locals and they do do that, in SD!

In HD, they have only the big 4 and that is the case in all the markets. Some of them don't even get all 4 so I guess we're lucky. I believe the case is the same for D*, they also have only the big 4 in HD. You will get PBS, CW and MyNTV in SD so I guess something is better than nothing.

In our market here, D* only offers the big 4 but there are a fair amount of markets in which D* provides the CW as well and even some markets they have MyNTV as well. D* does have an agreement to start offering local PBS HD too which will probably happen later this year.

I'm not trying to paint D* out as bad guys or anything. They offer a much superior TV product and for most people (not me) it's at a lower price. I just wish they could match cable's analog service since I have 5 TVs - 4 of which get regular use and I don't want to buy 4-5 set top boxes. As long as cable continues giving me analog, I am very unlikely to ever switch - even though they piss me off... a lot.

For your benefit I hope cable doesn't drop the analog. I've seen lots of people say that the analog/not having a STB is a big reason they have cable and D* will never offer a similar service. However, I know at one point it was thought that cable would have to drop the analog channels in order to free up bandwidth for more HD channels. Now maybe with SDV, that will eliminate the need to drop the analog service.

For your benefit I hope cable doesn't drop the analog. I've seen lots of people say that the analog/not having a STB is a big reason they have cable and D* will never offer a similar service. However, I know at one point it was thought that cable would have to drop the analog channels in order to free up bandwidth for more HD channels. Now maybe with SDV, that will eliminate the need to drop the analog service.

I've read this too, and I think it would be a catastrophically stupid decision for cable to not provide the one thing that the satellite companies will never be able to offer. I just wish cables didn't have monopolies over nearly every local community. What I really want is an alternative cable choice vs. switching to satellite. If cable ever does drop analog, I can't really think of a reason to stick with them.

I've read this too, and I think it would be a catastrophically stupid decision for cable to not provide the one thing that the satellite companies will never be able to offer. I just wish cables didn't have monopolies over nearly every local community. What I really want is an alternative cable choice vs. switching to satellite. If cable ever does drop analog, I can't really think of a reason to stick with them.I agree, it would be a really bad idea to drop analog on the cable systems, but I seem to remember reading that they are only "required" by the current FCC regulations to offer it until 2012. At that point, unless the FCC extends the requirement, I expect some cable companies will reduce their "analog" tier to only the most basic of offerings to free up more space for HD. Instead of 70 channels of analog programming, I feel we will be limited to a dozen or so, at most, of local programming.

More details here:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070912-fcc-to-cable-you-must-support-analog-tvs-until-2012.html

Joe L.

FYI...
The WMYV HD switcher has experienced a hard drive failure. This renders WMYV unable to switch HD programming. A new hard drive is scheduled to arrive Tuesday.
I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Rickey.

Cable must maintain the basic tier (local channels) available to analog TV sets until FEB 2012. They can convert OTA digital to analog or provide an analog signal via cable box (for which they can charge).

Comcast appears ready to replace analog cable boxes witn digital ones this year. I imagine TWC will be doing something similar in a similar time frame. If you think about how they can make their existing cable boxes last longest, you can make your own conclusions about what they will do.

What I really want is an alternative cable choice vs. switching to satellite.


Been waiting for word about AT&T's U-Verse for 2 years now.......

.....Although most of what I've read about it so far doesn't sound promising

U-Verse is going to be available in a limited area in Winston-Salem in 18 months on a trial basis. i won't hold my breath for wide available for several years at the earliest. They have to install a whole new infrastructure of fiber to support it that isn't here.

The biggest problem with U-Verse is the limited number of HD inputs you can have coming into your house. Until recently you could only have 1 HD input active at a time which sucked if you wanted to have an HD DVR. Now they have started to upgrade some areas to two HD inputs active at the same time. However that is still too limiting. I have 1 HD DVR and an HD receiver. That's 3 active HD inputs and I will some day upgrade the HD receiver to a HD DVR. That would 4 HD inputs. U-Verse can't handle that.

So I just bought an HDTV with QAM built in (vizio VU37L). I have TWC through my apartment complex (kinda stupid, I pay $48/mo an don't get an DVR :().

If I get some HD channels, does that mean it is "digital cable"? I am wondering, because I don't get all the listed available free HD channels and I'm wondering where the problem is... I won't really get any help complaining to the apartment complex, because they really don't know anything...

The Whole "Free HD" pitch by TWC is BS. If you want all the "Free HD" available, you'll have to get a cable box at extra cost.


UNCRULES, got any rooms for rent?

So I just bought an HDTV with QAM built in (vizio VU37L). I have TWC through my apartment complex (kinda stupid, I pay $48/mo an don't get an DVR :().

If I get some HD channels, does that mean it is "digital cable"? I am wondering, because I don't get all the listed available free HD channels and I'm wondering where the problem is... I won't really get any help complaining to the apartment complex, because they really don't know anything...

TWC only has the local digital stations in the clear for those with QAM capable TV's without a box. They are required to do that. The rest of the "free HD" is marketing hype in an attempt to stop the exodus to satellite since sat offers more HD than TWC and requires a cable box that you pay extra for. The numbers leaving TWC these days are truly frightening.

UNCRULES, got any rooms for rent?

Well, my college age sister-in-law stays with us rent free while she goes to college. However, I could kick her out for the right price. :D:D

But then again my wife would probably kick me out too. :eek:

TWC's "Free HD" is at least true for some TWC customers. If you already have a non-HD cable box, TWC will switch it out for an HD box at no charge and your lease fee doesn't go up. For that customer the HD is "Free". D* advertises the $29/month rate and their awesome HD in one ad and there is no way to get that HD lineup for $29/month.

Both companies are stretching the truth. I grow weary of people acting like TWC is the only one who has misleading ads.

If you are in the eastern side of TWC, WGHP-DT is on 113-3. I have no idea what it is on the western side of TWC, but it is different. We have a Samsung DTB-H260F OTA/QAM STB in our Maser Control that we have connected to TWC to be sure our signal is there.

Also make sure your tuner is set for HRC (I believe it is and if that does work, select IRC and/or SRC) cable channels.

I went back through the thread and found this TWC W-S list from April. Don't know how accurate it is:

82-1 WXII
82-2 WXII Weather Plus
82-4 UNC HD
108-45 WXLV
109-1 WFMY
109-2 WFMY WeatherNow
109-3 WGHP

Here is a GSO TWC list from the same time period:

93-45 WXLV
113-1 WFMY HD 113.1
113-2 WFMY WeatherNow
113-3 WGHP
113-6 UNC ED
113-17 UNC NC
116-3 WXII
116-4 WXII Weather Plus
116-13 UNC
116-14 UNC HD
116-15 UNC KIDS

This was working for me till yesterday but 116-13, 116-14, 116-15 stopped working. Is that it for me now? (I don't have TW HD package or anything like that, just a tv with the QAM tuner)
Thanks

just got my locals through dish last week so i fianlly had a chance to do some direct comparision last night using the Finals Game 1. Here are my findings please give me your experiences if they are different:

Equipment: Samsung 5045 50" Plasma, Vip 211 connected via HDMI, Powered Radio Shack OTA antenna mounted in the attic connect directly to the TV.

Vip 211-Great picture, crystal clear, no artifacts, sound was another story the level went up and down alot but was mostly low. Video=10 Sound=4

OTA-Picture was slightly snowy in the background (prolly not noticeable without a direct comparison), no artifacts, sound was perfect stay at the same level througout. Video=6 Sound=10.

Did anyone else see these issues on their broadcast?

This was working for me till yesterday but 116-13, 116-14, 116-15 stopped working. Is that it for me now? (I don't have TW HD package or anything like that, just a tv with the QAM tuner)
Thanks

I had the same problem but those channels just came back on a few minutes ago while I was searching this thread to see if anyone else was in the same boat

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

Per this marketing link, Raycom is selling advertising for their regular season football broadcasts for the SEC & ACC in HD. Would be a great thing if they are able to pull it off!

http://raycomsportsmarketing.com/ind...d=87&Itemid=91

Doesn't appear to be an official announcement, but hopefully this shows their game plan and proves they have the capability.

Why is Time Warner not carrying Fox News HD? It launched 1-1/2 months ago. They carried CNN HD from day one. Guess they are not to "Fair and Balanced".

CNN is a Time-Warner property and FOX News is competition.

TWC of Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville division doesn't carry CNN HD.

CNN is a Time-Warner property and FOX News is competition.

And on D* CNN is in HD but FOX News is not (although FOX Business is).

Go figure.

And on D* CNN is in HD but FOX News is not (although FOX Business is).

Go figure.

News Corp no longer owns D*. It did when FBN launched.

News Corp no longer owns D*. It did when FBN launched.

Hard to keep up with this stuff. But you do so we are set.

Hey Foxeng, on another site there was a post that talked about a problem that will come up next Feb. with the end of analog. According to this any station going back to VHF from UHF will have a problem on D* with ATSC program listings in the guide. The point being that program listings may not be available for quite some time until all are inline.

Has to do with the need to have D*, the local station and the entity responsible for the actual program listings to be in conjunction.

WGHP is reverting back to a VHF signal, correct?

Your insight please.

Thanks, and Happy Fathers Day to all,

Joe

Hey Foxeng, on another site there was a post that talked about a problem that will come up next Feb. with the end of analog. According to this any station going back to VHF from UHF will have a problem on D* with ATSC program listings in the guide. The point being that program listings may not be available for quite some time until all are inline.

Has to do with the need to have D*, the local station and the entity responsible for the actual program listings to be in conjunction.

WGHP is reverting back to a VHF signal, correct?

Your insight please.

Thanks, and Happy Fathers Day to all,

Joe

That could cause a problem but everyone will be on the same page long before then. D* and E* both are in a program now to be sure they are ready for the transition. As a matter of fact, D* is to be here this week to change the SD feed from the analog stations to the digital stations. We obviously are in a unique situation that D* will have to change a receiver on the 17th when we go back to channel 8, but they are aware of it and seem to have a plan in place to deal with it. As a matter of fact, we are in contact with all the local cable companies to be sure they are on board with what we are doing. Will there be problems? I am sure there will be, but it is to the cable companies advantage to be ready as well because if they aren't and the public finds out someone else is, ie sat, they will switch.They DON'T want that. Their numbers are eroding too fast for them as it is to sat.

I need opinions please......

Finally got me a CM 4228 antenna. It's a great improvement over the Radio Shack antenna we were using. 2, 8, 12, 26, 45, 48 are all coming in clearly. Surprisingly (to me anyway) I ended up with the front of the antenna pointing almost due west but that what seemed to work best.

The Hisense/USDTV box we have automatically scans for new channels periodically. It has added 3, 5, 16, 36, and 64. These come in intermittently, if at all. I want to add an amp to boost the signal. My question is do you think a small 10db boost is enough or should I go with something like the CM 7777?

As always, your help is appreciated. This forum has been a great help.

If you are talking analog channel numbers for the additional digital stations, channel 3 and 64 are Charlotte depending on where you are you may get them reliably ,while 16 is local and you should get them all the time on 14 and 5 is on 53 from Raleigh and again depending on where you are, you may get them reliably.

The past week we have had atmospheric enhancement that will allow you to pick up stations you normally would not pick up all the time. A guy in Greenville, NC picked up our digital signal last week. First time he had ever gotten us.

If you are talking analog channel numbers for the additional digital stations, channel 3 and 64 are Charlotte depending on where you are you may get them reliably ,while 16 is local and you should get them all the time on 14 and 5 is on 53 from Raleigh and again depending on where you are, you may get them reliably.
Sorry....I wasn't clear on that. I am talking about the digital channels from Charlotte and Raleigh.

The past week we have had atmospheric enhancement that will allow you to pick up stations you normally would not pick up all the time. A guy in Greenville, NC picked up our digital signal last week. First time he had ever gotten us.

I see. That explains that.

I would still like your thoughts on adding an amp and if so, which one.

Sorry....I wasn't clear on that. I am talking about the digital channels from Charlotte and Raleigh.

Like I said, analog 3 (23D) and analog 64 (50D) are in Charlotte. Analog 5 (53D) is in Raleigh. Analog 16 (14D) is located at Reidsville.

I would still like your thoughts on adding an amp and if so, which one.

If all you care about is the locals and you get them now, I wouldn't bother with an amp. If you want to try and receive the Raleigh or Charlotte stations, then yes, an amp would help. Depending on where you live in the Triad will dictate how often you receive the Charlotte/Raleigh stations. The trick is to NOT get the most powerful amp you can get. The local signals will overload the amp and you will get less than you do now. Something in the 15 db range is plenty and with this mounted at the antenna and RG-6 cable used all the way into the set with no splitters, you should get pretty good reception. Of course there are other factors that will effect your final reception, but until you do this much, you won't know what they are.

Does anyone know when the stations will switch their local news programming to HD? It's less than a year to the switch, and they still broadcast the news in low-def. Surely they don't plan to do this after the switch to HD.

Does anyone know when the stations will switch their local news programming to HD? It's less than a year to the switch, and they still broadcast the news in low-def. Surely they don't plan to do this after the switch to HD.No station is required to transmit anything in HD, even a year from now. They are only required to transmit a digital signal instead of an analog one.

ATSC Digital transmissions are not necessarily HD.

I expect the major networks will transition equipment to HD as budgets allow, others may never use HD cameras for news.

Joe L.

It all comes down to money. If the news show doesn't bring in enough ad revenue, then there's no money to updgrade the newsroom to HD.

Does anyone happen to have any inside skinny on when TWC plans to more HD channels. Is their delay in adding channels due to budgetary reasons, technical difficulties / constraints or perceived lack of interest from the customer base. My son has DTV in Raleigh and he has way more ch offerings. Granted a lot of the chs don't offer much in the way of HD programming. I would like to get USA-HD, FX-HD and Speed-HD.

It is an available bandwidth issue, as in they don't have any more.

I heard on Rock (2, when 2 gusy named Chris were advertising Time Warner, that Disnkey HD and ESPN News HD are coming. Likely as they are both owned by Disney. Unfortunately I could care less about either channel. Waiting for CNBC HD to see if Erin Burnett looks as good in HD as SD. Or maybe Bravo or some other offering that my neighbor has on DirectTv. It'll be interesting to see what happens with NFLNetwork or MSN by Fall, may be time to switch.

It is an available bandwidth issue, as in they don't have any more.

Thanks for the info .... do you happen to know what they are doing to free up bandwidth? I hear and read about SDV (switched digital video) being implemented in some markets, but I believe that in order to roll SDV out in an area they have to download new software to the set top box to allow it to work. And I don't think that has happened in the Triad yet.

One thing which has always bugged me is the large number On Demand channels they have in the guide. I cannot believe that most of those have any (or very little) traffic.

I am starting to seriously consider moving to DTV but I want to give TWC a little while longer to get their act together. But I am not going to wait forever.

I also could not care any less about getting Disney or ESPN News ...

Thanks for the info .... do you happen to know what they are doing to free up bandwidth? I hear and read about SDV (switched digital video) being implemented in some markets, but I believe that in order to roll SDV out in an area they have to download new software to the set top box to allow it to work. And I don't think that has happened in the Triad yet.

One thing which has always bugged me is the large number On Demand channels they have in the guide. I cannot believe that most of those have any (or very little) traffic.

I am starting to seriously consider moving to DTV but I want to give TWC a little while longer to get their act together. But I am not going to wait forever.

I also could not care any less about getting Disney or ESPN News ...

Just go ahead and take the plunge. D* has another bird in testing mode. Things are pretty good now and about to get even better.

Joe

Thanks for the info .... do you happen to know what they are doing to free up bandwidth? I hear and read about SDV (switched digital video) being implemented in some markets, but I believe that in order to roll SDV out in an area they have to download new software to the set top box to allow it to work. And I don't think that has happened in the Triad yet.

SDV is very much part of TimeWarnerCable in the Greensboro area. It is not used for all digital channels, but just a dozen or so the last time I looked. It is how they were able to add the last set of HDTV channels they added (FOOD-HD, SciFi-HD, etc)
The challenge is to use it on a set of channels that are not simultaneously being watched in a given node. In other words, it does not help to put ESPN on it, because that channel is almost always being watched.

One thing which has always bugged me is the large number On Demand channels they have in the guide. I cannot believe that most of those have any (or very little) traffic.

Those are some that are great candidates for SDV. Very few people watching, and good to be able to say in the advertisements "More channels than Dish, or DirectTV." And you can have hundreds, as long as no programming is on them, they use no bandwidth,

Channels with nobody watching... I'll bet they can even negotiate a price from the content owner based on how many people tune in to watch. Hardly any viewership=hardly any cost.

I heard on Rock (2, when 2 gusy named Chris were advertising Time Warner, that Disnkey HD and ESPN News HD are coming. Likely as they are both owned by Disney. Unfortunately I could care less about either channel. Waiting for CNBC HD to see if Erin Burnett looks as good in HD as SD. Or maybe Bravo or some other offering that my neighbor has on DirectTv. It'll be interesting to see what happens with NFLNetwork or MSN by Fall, may be time to switch.I saw Erin Burnett on NBC Nightly news about two months ago sitting across the table from Brian Williams. Wait until you see her eyes in HD. Fabulous.

OTOH, I don't know if CNBC is going to HD cameras, but I think they plan on filling the extra screen space with stats,etc. I might be thinking of Fox News HD.

I saw Erin Burnett on NBC Nightly news about two months ago sitting across the table from Brian Williams. Wait until you see her eyes in HD. Fabulous.

OTOH, I don't know if CNBC is going to HD cameras, but I think they plan on filling the extra screen space with stats,etc. I might be thinking of Fox News HD.

CNBC HD, ESPNEWS HD and Fox Business HD have stats on one side and info scrolling at the bottom and the screen and the video on the rest.

CNBC HD - (SD video and HD graphics)
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2007/10/cnbc_hd1.jpg

Fox Business (HD video and graphics)
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2007/10/directv_foxb_hd3.jpg

ESPNEWS (HD video and graphics)
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/03/3-6-08-espnews-hd-screen.jpg

The challenge is to use it on a set of channels that are not simultaneously being watched in a given node.

So how many homes are on a node (on average) ?

Is there any possibility that TW would convert the whole system to digital, including the ch 1-77 or are they obligated to leave it analog? And would that free up BW for more HD? I thought I read somewhere that one or more TW areas had converted to all digital.

So how many homes are on a node (on average) ?
From what I've read, typically somewhere between 400 and 500 homes.

Is there any possibility that TW would convert the whole system to digital, including the ch 1-77 or are they obligated to leave it analog? And would that free up BW for more HD? I thought I read somewhere that one or more TW areas had converted to all digital.
I think they are "required" by the FCC to keep the basic analog signals until 2012. I would expect that the lowest group of channels will stay analog even after that, unless there are a lot of SD boxes they can simply re-issue to subscribers who today do not have a set-top-box. It sure beats putting the old set-top-box in a landfill somewhere as many people upgrade to an HDTV capable set-top-box.

If only a dozen or so SD channels are left as analog, and SDV used for many of the less watched remainder, there should be lots more room. I'm sure TWC would love to go all digital, but at least for the transition next year, they will want to make it easy for new customers to subscribe to cable (as their old NTSC sets all of a sudden stop working)

I think they are "required" by the FCC to keep the basic analog signals until 2012. I would expect that the lowest group of channels will stay analog even after that, unless there are a lot of SD boxes they can simply re-issue to subscribers who today do not have a set-top-box. It sure beats putting the old set-top-box in a landfill somewhere as many people upgrade to an HDTV capable set-top-box.



There is no requirement for cable to not go all digitial. I believe all cable set top boxes are digital (unless you still have something lying around from the late 80's) and the conversion to all digital would require everyone to have a cable box, rather than just the cable plugged into the back of the TV.

I don't think adding more HD channels requires the conversion to all digital. I see in TW HD posting on avs - Rochester and San Antonio postings with channel additions that are not all digital just SDV.

I've been curious why TW hasn't added more channels too. Perhaps the SDV node size is too big? They are still working on converting old Adelphia areas? Something else...?

There is no requirement for cable to not go all digitial. I believe all cable set top boxes are digital (unless you still have something lying around from the late 80's) and the conversion to all digital would require everyone to have a cable box, rather than just the cable plugged into the back of the TV.
You are correct, if they convert the local analog channels to digital before 2012, I think they will be required to supply the set-top-boxes (although it is not clear if there would be a charge for them. Somehow, I think there will be :()

See here: http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6478706.html

Joe L.

They are required to maintain service to analog TV sets for the "basic service tier" until FEB 2012. Thay are allowed to do this with digital cable boxes and they can charge for them. There is a small west coast cable company that is all digital. Comcast's Chicago system is all digital right now (or as of 1 July, I forget the details).

Time Warner in Greensboro has added ESPNNews, Disney HD and Family Channel HD today between 565-568 (can't remember the exact station numbers)

I hope we'll get ESPNUHD when it launches. Meh on ESPNNewsHD.

Whoopee on Disney HD and Family Channel. More upconverted SD I guess. Does Disney shoto any of the shows in HD? Maybe Hannah Montana in HD? My 17 yr old daughter hates Hannah Montana.......

Whoopee on Disney HD and Family Channel. More upconverted SD I guess. Does Disney shoto any of the shows in HD? Maybe Hannah Montana in HD? My 17 yr old daughter hates Hannah Montana.......

Both Disney HD and Toon HD (whenever TWC gets it) shows lots of it's animation in HD. There's some live action stuff in HD but not as much as the animated stuff.

Nice VHF high band opening going on right now. Here in Greensboro I am seeing WNCT-DT Greenville, NC here at 10 bars solid over WSLS-TV Roanoke on channel 10 that overrides WNCT-DT. WFXI TV channel 8 in Morehead City is also causing some interference with WGHP here and if I turn my antenna in a null of WGHP, I can see WFXI.

Good UHF tropo as well. Picked up WVEC-DT Norfolk, WITN-DT Washington over WUNL-DT on channel 32 as well as the WRPX-DT, WRAY-DT all from the Raleigh area and not that strong stations and the usual WRAL-DT, WTVD-DT, WLFL-DT, etc.

It was good down here too. Last night I picked up WUNL-DT, WXII-DT and WMYV-DT from your area. For some reason I didn't see the others, but I've had them before.

out here in "God's Country" (aka Stokesdale), I have been noticing quite a few TWC vans in the area...every day. We usually go months without seeing one unless there is a bad storm or new install.

Today, saw 3 going down Ellison Rd. and it got me to thinking about a problem I and another neighbor further down the street have been having.

Late in the afternoons, after 3...always before 4, while our TWC channels stay crystal clear, our RR goes nuts. The modem reboots, next minute we have a signal, next minute it reboots, next a signal and it goes on like this for several hours.

I was just wondering if they are doing any upgrades that I have missed? They actually put fiber in the ground out here last year and that baffled me beyond belief. To my knowledge, Greensboro is not covered in fiber yet..why would they put it out here where a lot of house are still on satellite.

Up until a few years ago, this entire area had no choice but to have satellite because they had not run the lines. I would say that was 4 years ago, no more than 5. Now last year they run fiber.

Just curious if they are using us hillbillies as guinea pigs for something that is about to be rolled out. If they are, I sure wish they would do it late at night instead of the middle of the afternoon.

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday and from all of us at FOX8 WGHP, Happy Fourth of July!!

Has anyone else been having trouble with the switched digital video channels on Time Warner Cable? For example, although I'm not sure CNN HD is on SDV I can only tune it in about 40% of the time; the rest of the time I get a blue or blank screen followed eventually by a message saying the channel is unavailable.

For those with DirecTV, do they carry WCWG HD or the subchannels for the network locals?

Has anyone else been having trouble with the switched digital video channels on Time Warner Cable? For example, although I'm not sure CNN HD is on SDV I can only tune it in about 40% of the time; the rest of the time I get a blue or blank screen followed eventually by a message saying the channel is unavailable.

For those with DirecTV, do they carry WCWG HD or the subchannels for the network locals?
I've seen that same message on occasion, on various channels, but usually just tuning off the channel and back on works.

I think it is either a timeout, when an available SDV channel is not available, or TWC is unable to respond to the SDV request within an allotted time.

I would call it in to TWC. Just be prepared to deal with the normal "reboot your cable box" first tier support types.

Best case, the SDV node you are sharing is defective, and they will fix it. Worst case, you have a set of 400-500 neighbors watching a very diverse set of channels, and perhaps TWC will split the SDV node into two. (don't bet on this occurring just because you call, but hey, at least you voiced the complaint)

Has anyone else been having trouble with the switched digital video channels on Time Warner Cable? For example, although I'm not sure CNN HD is on SDV I can only tune it in about 40% of the time; the rest of the time I get a blue or blank screen followed eventually by a message saying the channel is unavailable.

I've been experiencing similar problems with the new SDV channels (DisneyHD, ESPNews, etc) on TWC-Greensboro.

For those with DirecTV, do they carry WCWG HD or the subchannels for the network locals?

Right now Directv only carries Fox, CBS, ABC and NBC in HD. They do carry the CW and PBS in SD but with Directv's new satellite coming online in a few weeks I believe we may soon see the CW HD and PBS HD added. Directv has said that they would add PBS and CW to most markets that already have HD locals from D* once the new satellite is in use. I use an antenna to pick up the CW and PBS in HD. However, if you get Directv today, you would most likely get a receiver that doesn't have an OTA jack. An OTA add on is available for the HD DVR but not the regular HD receiver.

Right now Directv only carries Fox, CBS, ABC and NBC in HD. They do carry the CW and PBS in SD but with Directv's new satellite coming online in a few weeks I believe we may soon see the CW HD and PBS HD added. Directv has said that they would add PBS and CW to most markets that already have HD locals from D* once the new satellite is in use. I use an antenna to pick up the CW and PBS in HD. However, if you get Directv today, you would most likely get a receiver that doesn't have an OTA jack. An OTA add on is available for the HD DVR but not the regular HD receiver.

Hi Neighbors,

I have been reading old posts in this thread over the past few weeks. They are mostly about cable and satellite. That figures since about 85% of the population pays for those services. I am in the 15% that still uses an old fashion antenna.

I have a 25 year old outdoor Radio Shack VHF - UHF antenna. There are lots of massive oak trees around my home that absorb some of the UHF signals. But still with this old antenna, I can pull in the following local digital channels: 2-1, 2-2, 8-1, 12-1, 20-1, 26-1, 26-2, 26-3, 26-4, 26-5, 45-1, 48-1 and 61-1 on a regular basis. When the weather is just right, I can even pull in 3-1, 3-2, 9-1 and 9-2 out of Charlotte.

I am very pleased with the picture quality of DTV compared to their analog counter parts. No snow, no ghost images, and the colors are much brighter and more saturated. The picture quality of the prime time shows broadcast in High Definition are just fantastic.

The only problem I have with the new digital broadcasts occurs during windy weather conditions. At these times, I experience some signal dropouts. There are temporary but frequent video interruptions, screen pixelization, and momentary audio dropouts. I thought it might be due to my antenna waving like a flag in high winds, so I started experimenting with do it yourself indoor antenna designs. I now have an indoor antenna that works about as well as my outdoor antenna. Since it is inside, it does not blow around in the wind... LOL... but I still experience the same sort of signal break up during windy conditions.

My favorite indoor antenna is based on an amplified folded dipole design. Does anybody have any suggestions for stabilizing DTV signals during windy weather? Your suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you,
DTV Student

Does anybody have any suggestions for stabilizing DTV signals during windy weather? Your suggestions are appreciated.

Cut the trees down. Their movement at UHF will cause enough of a signal change that many digital receivers can't handle it. As receivers get better, that should improve.

I would like to open a discusion about Time Warner and future HDTV channels. With the upcoming cut off of analog channels, when will Time Warner start freeing up bandwith. Many other cable systems across the country have begun converting channels from analog to digital. I know they must maintain locals in analog for a few more years. But they could free up a lot of bandwith for additional HDTV channels if they would pull the trigger. They now carry a lot of lesser watched channels on SDV. But they apparently don't currently have the bandwith to add more highly watched channels like Cinemax, Starz and Fox News because these channels would be to heavily watched for SDV. This is madness, add the channels that are not heavily watched, but not the higher demand channels. They are also going to have a problem in a few weeks when the Olympics begin. NBC will be multicasting on USA, MSNBC and CNBC. At present, TWC Greensboro does not offer these channels in HD.

Actually the cable companies must only make the basic tier available to a]nalog TV sets thru 2012. They can use a cable box to do this, if desired. Comcast and a few smaller systems are electing to go all digital, putting off SDV for a few years. TWC seems to be going the SDV route and may maintain the basic tier on analog.

Cable is in a bind since offering an analog signal is the one thing they can offer that the Satellite providers can't. I know if they remove or greatly reduce what's available on the analog tier, that would remove the greatest obstacle to me switching to Direct TV.

Actually the cable companies must only make the basic tier available to a]nalog TV sets thru 2012. They can use a cable box to do this, if desired. Comcast and a few smaller systems are electing to go all digital, putting off SDV for a few years. TWC seems to be going the SDV route and may maintain the basic tier on analog.I expect the "basic" tier supplied in "analog" form will end up being only a dozen or so channels, and not the up through channel 70 as we have currently.

Freeing up 50 analog channels would make room for lots of digital, both SD and HD. Combine that with SDV and they might be able to keep up with the demand for programming and keep competitive.

Joe L.

Cut the trees down. Their movement at UHF will cause enough of a signal change that many digital receivers can't handle it. As receivers get better, that should improve.

Foxeng is right, I sometimes have similar problems with storms and my indoor antenna (Zenith Silver Sensor). You will also notice better reception in the winter when the trees have no leaves. For instance, I can usually pick up some of the Roanoke stations in the winter but not in the summer.

I would like to open a discusion about Time Warner and future HDTV channels. With the upcoming cut off of analog channels, when will Time Warner start freeing up bandwith. Many other cable systems across the country have begun converting channels from analog to digital. I know they must maintain locals in analog for a few more years. But they could free up a lot of bandwith for additional HDTV channels if they would pull the trigger. They now carry a lot of lesser watched channels on SDV. But they apparently don't currently have the bandwith to add more highly watched channels like Cinemax, Starz and Fox News because these channels would be to heavily watched for SDV. This is madness, add the channels that are not heavily watched, but not the higher demand channels. They are also going to have a problem in a few weeks when the Olympics begin. NBC will be multicasting on USA, MSNBC and CNBC. At present, TWC Greensboro does not offer these channels in HD.

I too am concerned about TW's seeming lack of urgency to roll out HD channels. However, regarding your question about the Olympics I am not sure that all of NBC's broadcasts on the sister stations will be in HD. Have you heard / seen something which leads you to believe that all broadcasts will be in HD. If so, that could very well drive me to finally switch to DirecTV. Just curious ...

NBC has stated in the past that this Olympics would be all HD.

Directv is your place for the Olympics in HD.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/nbc070908.htm

NBC will offer around-the-clock HD coverage of next month's Summer Olympic Games on its Universal HD channel.

That's according to an article by the Associated Press.

In addition to Universal HD, NBC plans to broadcast some HD coverage each day on six different high-def channels, including NBC itself, CNBC, Bravo and the USA Network.


Directv gets all of HD NBC Universal channels that will be showing the Olympics in HD.

Again those are:

USA HD
Sci-Fi HD
Bravo HD
CNBC HD
Universal HD
NBC HD

Directv even offers Olympics on Demand content.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080717/20080717005244.html?.v=1

DIRECTV customers are catching Olympic fever early this year via a special video on demand (VOD) Olympics programming package now available on DIRECTV’s VOD service, DIRECTV on DEMAND, through an agreement with NBC Universal (NBCU). DIRECTV on DEMAND is a new VOD service that is available to those customers who have the DIRECTV Plus® HD DVR or R22 DVR receiver.

As promotion for NBCU’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (Aug. 8-24, 2008), NBCU is providing DIRECTV with 10 VOD titles each week, including athlete features, Beijing previews, and more. The service will be available through the end of the Olympics in both standard-definition and HD. NBCU will produce more than 500 titles now through the end of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

To access the VOD content, customers with VOD-enabled DVRs can tune to channel 1008 or go to the home of DIRECTV on DEMAND – Channel 1000 – to see highlights of Gold Medal winning performances.

“NBCU’s 2008 Beijing Olympic Games content is an exciting addition to our growing DIRECTV on DEMAND lineup and a great opportunity to generate anticipation for the uniquely enhanced Olympic coverage that NBC plans to distribute to the subscribers of DIRECTV this summer,” said Eric Shanks, executive vice president, DIRECTV Entertainment.

“Our robust On Demand offering for the 2008 Olympic Games is unprecedented and will provide our customers a unique way to access the exciting content from Beijing,” said Bridget Baker, president, TV Networks Distribution, NBC Universal.

Does anybody on the forum use a HDTV tuner card in their computer to receive DTV? I just got one last night and for some reason WXLV (45-1) won't tune in. I get a great signal strength reading from the card's software, and it comes in fine on my other TVs, just not the tuner card. So what's the deal? For the record, it's an ATI HD Wonder card.

FIXED:

I downloaed Mediaportal and it was able to tune all the HD channels. Anybody out there with a HTPC should check out Mediaportal. It's very cool to say the least. (Not to mention free),

Does anybody else have a home theater PC setup? I'm in the process of building mine and for some reason my tuner card won't lock on a few Triad subchannels.

Does anybody else have a home theater PC setup? I'm in the process of building mine and for some reason my tuner card won't lock on a few Triad subchannels.

What channels won't it lock on?

After the channel scan, it'll get all the main channels, but I'm missing the PBS sub-channels. And WXII's audio is strange to say the least. I can hear the news crew talking off camera during commercials. MedaiPortal has a place where I can add channels but it looks like I'd need an engineering degree in order to make them work.

I have a similar problem as Milchad. I am not getting any picture OTA for 48-1 and 45-1. I check the signal strength and both channels are ~98%. No image though. All other stations come in fine. :confused: Any idea? I am using my QAM tuner on the back of my Panny. I have rescanned, etc to no avail.

Hi everyone. While I'm in Florida now, I grew up in Greensboro and my mom and sister still live there so I've found this forum interesting reading about how DTV is progressing there. One thing I am curious about- how did WFMY, the oldest station in the area, wound up with perhaps the least desirable channel for their DTV home? Generally stations prefer lower channels (except 2-6) for better transmitter efficiency and lower coax and propagation losses, so I would have thought WFMY would have made every effort to secure one of the lower channels for their new permanent home after Feb'09.

Also a few questions about WFMY's antenna set-up. Judging from the FCC database, it appears the DTV antenna is mounted on top of the ch-2 analog antenna. Are they going to leave the old ch-2 antenna in place after the analog cutoff? Are they feeding the ch-51 antenna with coax or waveguide? And does anyone know how much transmitter power (not ERP) they are running?

WFMY got 51 by luck of the draw from the FCC. 51 does well for them, better than some of the lower channels and because of it, they were the only station to get the full 1 million watts out of the box and post transition will be the only station at 1 million watts on UHF in the market. It has worked out well for them and should in the future. My guess would be that the channel 2 will stay unless the elements can be removed without removing the pole that supports the channel 51 antenna. I haven't heard. Maybe Rickey can say on that one. The feedline is not waveguide but rigid circular feedline like what feeds the chanel 2 antenna.

Here is a picture of their antennas:

http://www.wabweb.net/radio/images/WFMYTower2.jpg

Thanks Foxeng. That's a great photo! I really appreciate that. The ch-2 turnstile looks a little short- was it cut to accommodate the Ch-51 ant?
Do you know the TPO to get that MW at ch51? I'm surprised at that frequency they didn't use waveguide to reduce coax loss. Perhaps a windload issue. And can you tell me if they still have the old tower on Phillips Ave?

Thanks Foxeng. That's a great photo! I really appreciate that. The ch-2 turnstile looks a little short- was it cut to accommodate the Ch-51 ant?
Do you know the TPO to get that MW at ch51? I'm surprised at that frequency they didn't use waveguide to reduce coax loss. Perhaps a windload issue. And can you tell me if they still have the old tower on Phillips Ave?

Don't you love it when the engineers start talking geek speech.

And the scary part is that after too many hours on AVS I can follow along. Keeps me out of trouble.

"Yes honey, I'll get to the painting project, right after I download the new FW I just found out about on AVS". :)

Joe

Do you know the TPO to get that MW at ch51?

According to their license, as shown in the below link, it's 61.1 kW.

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101070076&formid=2&fac_num=72064

- Trip

According to their license, as shown in the below link, it's 61.1 kW.
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101070076&formid=2&fac_num=72064
- Trip

Thanks Trip. According to the application the coax loss is 2.17 DB which would be about 24 KW by my figuring. I can only imagine what the AC power input to get 61-KW TPO at ch-51. Maybe they should put some solar panels out! :p

You guys are a great help. Now can anyone tell me if the old 760-ft tower on Phillip Ave is still there and if so what's it being use for now.

Has anyone noticed any signal changes in the last few days on GSO TWC? My older 34" CRT Sony (which locks into full screen aspect when it detects 720p) is having trouble displaying the correct aspect. Although my SA HD DVR shows 720p or 1080i being output and my TV displays "Full", the picture is basically stretched with appreciable overscan vertically and horizontally. All the crawlers are off the screen low and all signal is stretched vertically so the top 10% of the screen is now off the top of the screen.

Sometimes my older set seems more sensitive to STB updates. Just wonder if anyone was aware of any changes in the last couple of days.

Never mind, a hard reboot and a new setup fixed the problem. Maybe TWC sent an update which caused my default SD to change.

Thanks Foxeng. That's a great photo! I really appreciate that. The ch-2 turnstile looks a little short- was it cut to accommodate the Ch-51 ant?
Do you know the TPO to get that MW at ch51? I'm surprised at that frequency they didn't use waveguide to reduce coax loss. Perhaps a windload issue. And can you tell me if they still have the old tower on Phillips Ave?

My guess is that there was allowance for the size of both antennas but how much, I don't know. I know that channel 2 uses a Harris 2 tube IOT transmitter and runs around 60 kW TPO, which is average for most full power DTV stations these days. My own 1 million watt ERP channel 35 DTV runs 51 kW TPO but mine has about 500 feet less transmission line in the system as well. The reason why most DTV systems do not run waveguide is due to excessive group delay that reduces system S/N that is so important in DTV reception.

And yes, the old tower is still standing on Phillips Ave.

And yes, the old tower is still standing on Phillips Ave.

Is that tower being used for anything now? Surprisingly, it's not licensed as a aux xmtr site. Does it still have that big 6-bay turnstile on it? That tower always fascinated me ever since I was a kid living in Greensboro because I never saw a tower that high with just three sets of guys. It's been up a long time though- since 1954 I think! Considering the cost of maintaining towers- especially painted ones I just wonder why they are keeping it? Are there FMs or something on it?

Is that tower being used for anything now? Surprisingly, it's not licensed as a aux xmtr site. Does it still have that big 6-bay turnstile on it? That tower always fascinated me ever since I was a kid living in Greensboro because I never saw a tower that high with just three sets of guys. It's been up a long time though- since 1954 I think! Considering the cost of maintaining towers- especially painted ones I just wonder why they are keeping it? Are there FMs or something on it?

As far as I know it is still configured as an aux and was used for about a month in 2001 when the new antennas were installed on the tall tower. It is also used as the microwave tower to send the signal to the tower at Level Cross. As it being licensed for an aux, I noticed had it wasn't licensed either. I think the issue in the past has been keeping the old RCA in operational condition. I was told, and Rickey can correct me since he was there at the time, that they had to call in one of the retired engineers who know about that old transmitter to get it up and running again for the time they used it to change out the antennas. It isn't the stations original transmitter but was installed back in the 50's and WFMY used it for years until the tower was built at Level Cross in the late 70's and it is HUGE for the amount of power it produces. You can walk right in to it. I have seen it, but it was about 15 years ago. An RCA A Line if I remember correctly.

One of the stories that float around about that transmitter is one of the GM's was giving a tour to some school children in the 60's and while it was on the air, walked the group right into the transmitter! The engineer at the time almost had a heart attack when he saw those people INSIDE the transmitter and it on the air with thousands of volts exposed on the circuits. It is said he shouted into the transmitter for everyone to freeze while he shut down the transmitter to get everyone out. It is also said the engineer was chewed out by the same GM for taking the station off the air in the middle of the day. Don't know if the chewing out part is true or not. I go either way on that one since I have know some GM's to be pretty stupid when it came to things like that (the one that you hear the most about is the station goes off the air with transmitter problems and the GM or Sales Manager, whats you to get on the air to tell the audience about it. DUH! It REALLY HAPPENS).

Since we are on GM stories, and any engineer who has been in the business for a while has a story or two of a GM or SM.

When I was in radio in ENC, I built a transmitter site out in the boonies and we were last on the power line. I tried to get them to buy a generator ($26,000) and and small backup transmitter. The answer was, the station couldn't afford it. OK, I said but you need to know we do get ice and if the line goes down, it may be days before the power is back. He thought I was trying to get money out of him. He was from up where north snow is common, ice isn't so I couldn't know what I was talking about. That winter we had a bad ice storm and the station went off the air. After about an hour, he called me and wanted to know when we were going to be back on the air, we were loosing money. Told him it was out of my hands that the lines were down and it might take a day or two to get them back up. That was unacceptable to him. I was to get a generator down there right now and be back on the air in an hour. I just laughed at him. They don't stock big generators and they don't deliver in the middle of ice storms. We got power back after 4 days of being off the air. This was also the same GM who when we had transmitter problems (we only had one transmitter) he would call every 5 minutes wanting an update. After about the 4th time I told him that every time he called, it cost him 5 minutes of time to get on the air. When I had something to report, I would let him know, until then, STOP CALLING ME! He stopped. They fired him about 3 months after the ice storm and the new GM had me order a generator for the site and we got a aux transmitter from another station to put in for back up service! There are some REAL stupid people running radio and TV stations.

Well I knew Doyle Thompson, the 'FMY chief back in the 1960s. I even remember when the "old" RCA was the "new" transmitter- replacing a DuMont. If you think the RCA was big you should have seen the DuMont! It was installed when they moved to Phillips avenue in 1954. Originally the station was down town at the Daily News building. And it actually started out as a early FM radio station- that's where the "FM" came from in the call letters. I was just a kid back then but already fascinated with TV. I help build the original ch-48 station WUBC in the 1960s. Back then UHF was a good way to burn money. We put 30-KW up the coax and never could figure out where it was going because hardly anyone in Greensboro could see it- but it came in great up around Reidsville. Needless to say the station when belly up in 1970. Fortunately UHF technology has improved quite a bit since then. :p

Back again and now I am looking for someone who is knowledgable with the Triad TW network and the equipment used. I am having a problem described below (and I posted this message in another thread) but was hoping I could find some local expertise who might be able to help. Here is the message and thanks if you can point me in the right direction.

"I have a TW 8300HD DVR with Sara ver 1.89.????, connected to my Sony via HDMI. I have been having a problem for the last two months or so in which scheduled recordings don't record and it appears that the DVR thinks that it already has two recordings going so when the scheduled recording comes up the DVR just ignores it. I have tried to manually record a program and I get a message that you can't record three programs at once when I am only trying to record a single program. Rebooting sometimes fixes the issue for a while but it eventually comes back again. I was told by a tech to take the box in and exchange it for another 8300HD, he warned I shouldn't take one of the cable card boxes because they are more troublesome than the 8300HD. I exchanged the box a couple days ago and the same old problem is back. The problem seemed to start (although not sure) when TW added some new HD channels here in the Triad NC area and I was wondering if this problem could be associated with the migration to SDV. I don't know enough about SDV to know whether this could contribute to the problem.

I am at my wits end, the tech support folks at TW are almost worthless and the folks they dispatch aren't much better.

Has anyone experienced this kind of problem? Would one of the newer boxes give me a better result?

Is the software (Sara, Passport etc) in a particular box unique to a box model #. In other words my 8300HD has Sara; would the 8300 HDC have different SW or would the 8240HDC have still different SW?

Or rather is the SW the same throughout a TW franchise area and therefore the SW is tha same on all boxes deployed within the franchise area?"

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a Satellite Installer to make a trip to my home and tell me if satellite reception is possible on my site. I am surrounded by a lot of very tall oak trees and I would like to have a "site survey" done before I commit to DirecTV.

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a Satellite Installer to make a trip to my home and tell me if satellite reception is possible on my site. I am surrounded by a lot of very tall oak trees and I would like to have a "site survey" done before I commit to DirecTV.

If you have decided that D* is the way to go, then call and order up the equipment you need and schedule an install.

The installer will show you the placement options. Basically a clear line of sight to the southwest is needed. In the old days of self installs, a compass and protractor were all that were needed to pick a dish mounting placement that would work. A bit more complicated with the current 5 LNB units.

No commitment on your part until install is finished and you are satisfied.

Happy D* customer since 1995. Good luck.

Joe

A self survey can be pretty accurate with a compass, carpenter's level, protractor, and a straw. Tape the straw to the protractor at the Elevation angle, set it on the level that is pointed at the right compass heading and look through the straw. If no trees, you can see that sat.

I am not getting any picture OTA for 48-1 and 45-1. I check the signal strength and both channels are ~98%. No image though. All other stations come in fine. :confused: Any idea? I am using my QAM tuner on the back of my Panny. I have rescanned, etc to no avail.

Any suggestions? I realize I don't post often here, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

Any suggestions? I realize I don't post often here, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

I am using a Hisense tuner that periodically scans for new channels. 45 & 48 are very hit or miss for me right now. I can come home in the eve to find a bunch of new channels added. I currently have 3 sets of UNC channels (4.1-4.5,26.1-26.5, & 31.1.-31.5). 26.1-26.5 are the only ones that work consistently though I have had 4.1 out of Raleigh to work on the rare occasion. I never get the ION channels (16.1 etc). I have a lot of other channels that come and go (WRAL,WCCB) but rarely (if ever) work. Will things stabilize as we get closer to Feb 09?

Also, anyone here have any experience with Dish's new TurboHD service? $24.99 per month for 40+ HD channels sounds good to me. That with my antenna for locals would be all I need.

The eastern side of Guilford County should pick up WUNC-DT easier than WUNL because of the distance and power level. From Greensboro, WUNL-DT is almost 50 miles as the crow files and only runs 197 kW. WUNC-DT is at Carrboro is also at 50 miles from Greensboro and runs 893 kW.

As for things "stablizing out," there be some stations shifting channels and half of the stations will go away (analog) and that will help in reception for the remainder of the digitial staitions. How much is left to be seen.

Public aware of DTV transition, slow to take action

A new survey from the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) reveals a mixed bag when it comes to the public’s involvement with the February 2009 digital television transition.

On the one hand, awareness of the impending transition is at an all-time high, according to the study. On the other, many over-the-air (OTA) households are slow to take the necessary steps to continue receiving terrestrial television after the plug is pulled on analog transmitters, the survey found.

As of May 2008, 62 percent of OTA households said they would buy a converter box or digital television, compared to 28 percent in November 2006.

However, the study found that most of the 8.8 million OTA households saying they would buy a set-top converter box to continue receiving free OTA television have not done so.

Among all TV households surveyed, 9.2 percent — or 10.3 million households — said they requested a coupon. Of those requesting a coupon, 64.4 percent said they received the coupon and 54.2 percent had redeemed the coupon. Roughly 38 percent of those who redeemed the coupon reported installing the converter box.

About 70 percent of OTA households said they know what they need to do to continue to view television after the transition.

The APTS study also found that as the transition date nears, fewer OTA consumers said they would sign up for cable, satellite or telecommunications service to receive digital television, while more are inclined to buy a converter box or digital TV set. Those that said they would sign up for a paid service had dropped from 29 percent in November 2006 to 12 percent in May 2008.

The study results are based on a May-June 2008 survey of 1439 households conducted by research firm CENTRIS in Fort Washington, PA.

For more information, visit www.apts.org.

http://broadcastengineering.com/eng/...w-action-0813/

All I know is that I'm getting really irritated at my Hi-Def broadcasts being messed up (thrown into SD) because they need to scroll that stupid message about the DTV transition across the screen over and over. And that goes for the thunderstorm warnings on FOX. I don't need 50% of my screen taken up by a radar map. Seemed like every episode of So You Think You Can Dance got completely trashed by the thunderstorm warnings. I guess FOX doesn't have a .1 weather channel, but NBC and CBS do and they should use them for that stuff.

^ Um, I'm pretty sure they have to put the warnings on the main channel. Since it bothers you so much, I'm sure WGHP and WXII will welcome your check for the equipment that allows them to run a crawl in HD.

All I know is that I'm getting really irritated at my Hi-Def broadcasts being messed up (thrown into SD) because they need to scroll that stupid message about the DTV transition across the screen over and over. And that goes for the thunderstorm warnings on FOX. I don't need 50% of my screen taken up by a radar map. Seemed like every episode of So You Think You Can Dance got completely trashed by the thunderstorm warnings. I guess FOX doesn't have a .1 weather channel, but NBC and CBS do and they should use them for that stuff.

I can't speak for the other stations, but in our case, because of the splicer, we have no way to overlay the weather graphics in HD. The splicer is literally the last device in line before the transmitter and outputs a completed ATSC signal so there is no real way to insert the weather graphics in HD. Until FOX makes some kind of allowance, or a way to insert graphics directly into the splicer, there isn't anything we or any other FOX station can do about it.

Now, for the size or placement of the graphics, if you don't like something about it, call the station and ask for the General Manager and tell her. That is all I can tell you. I hope it has given you some satisfaction.

I can't speak for the other stations, but in our case, because of the splicer, we have no way to overlay the weather graphics in HD. The splicer is literally the last device in line before the transmitter and outputs a completed ATSC signal so there is no real way to insert the weather graphics in HD. Until FOX makes some kind of allowance, or a way to insert graphics directly into the splicer, there isn't anything we or any other FOX station can do about it.

Now, for the size or placement of the graphics, if you don't like something about it, call the station and ask for the General Manager and tell her. That is all I can tell you. I hope it has given you some satisfaction.
Thanks foxeng, if they could just make the graphics smaller that would help. They literally occupy about 40% of the screen. I'll call the GM.

^ Um, I'm pretty sure they have to put the warnings on the main channel. Since it bothers you so much, I'm sure WGHP and WXII will welcome your check for the equipment that allows them to run a crawl in HD.
Well, maybe when the DTV transition is done, they can simply put a short warning on the main channel that says if you want full coverage of the storm, tune to the alternate channel for the weather and let everyone else go back to watching HD. Maybe I'm different, but if I'm really interested in the storm, then I want full coverage of the storm, not a crawl of counties and a radar map.

And um, I'm pretty sure they can pay for their own equipment and hopefully they will soon. But thanks for taking the time to post that.

Well, I just figured that since you're always bitching about something or other on here, maybe you'd like to actually do more than whine.

Well, I just figured that since you're always bitching about something or other on here, maybe you'd like to actually do more than whine.
Hmm, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and figure that you have me confused with someone else since my last post in this thread before today was about 8 months ago. And the last time I could find that I complained about something here was over a year ago.

I've always enjoyed the majority of AVS forum community members, but you apparently have a problem.

Sorry, I forgot...you're not the bitchy one, you're the one that wants to throw everyone accused of a crime in jail, and then gets personal in simple debate. Whichever guy you are, you're on ignore now, so it's all good.

WHOA GUYS. Personal attacks are not warranted here.

Yes, TV stations are required to provide information to the public when there is possible danger to of life or property. That has recently been tested where stations didn't put that information up on their digital stream, but did on their analog stream and they got fined by the FCC. That is also why in the 2nd DTV Review, it was ordered that stations mulitcasting, were also required to provide the same information on all subchannels of their digital signal as well as the analog signal and main digital signal.

The options are to either run crawls with the information while disrupting portions of the video screen but allowing the program to continue or to just bail out of the program all together and go to the studio. Which would you do?

WHOA GUYS. Personal attacks are not warranted here.

Yes, TV stations are required to provide information to the public when there is possible danger to of life or property. That has recently been tested where stations didn't put that information up on their digital stream, but did on their analog stream and they got fined by the FCC. That is also why in the 2nd DTV Review, it was ordered that stations mulitcasting, were also required to provide the same information on all subchannels of their digital signal as well as the analog signal and main digital signal.

The options are to either run crawls with the information while disrupting portions of the video screen but allowing the program to continue or to just bail out of the program all together and go to the studio. Which would you do?

They need to come to Eastern NC then, because the three main channels never put warnings up while the show is in HD, or never "switch back" to SD to display them. I can't really say one of the three is better than the others. FOX here did stay in SD however last weather event, so the warnings could be seen.

WHOA GUYS. Personal attacks are not warranted here.
I agree.


Yes, TV stations are required to provide information to the public when there is possible danger to of life or property ...

The options are to either run crawls with the information while disrupting portions of the video screen but allowing the program to continue or to just bail out of the program all together and go to the studio. Which would you do?
I certainly don't want to endanger anyone's life. I just thought that at least once the DTV transition was done and everyone had access to the subchannels that a reasonable option might be to have a brief message/crawl every few minutes on the main channel alerting people to tune to the subchannel for the full coverage. Maybe I'm being unreasonable though.

I just thought that at least once the DTV transition was done and everyone had access to the subchannels that a reasonable option might be to have a brief message/crawl every few minutes on the main channel alerting people to tune to the subchannel for the full coverage. Maybe I'm being unreasonable though.

At this point it isn't a question of being unreasonable, it is the issue that the FCC has stated and codified that stations WILL do this and that kinda has the effect of ending the debate.

Now to be completely honest, internally we have discussed this whole crawl situation over network programming more times than I want to count. It is something that hasn't been "just not thought of" or "not just talked about because it costs money." Many of our employess have HD sets now and see the same things you do and have the same concerns you do and yes, when bad weather comes up and we think it may be during a big network program, the internal grumbling starts of "oh great, we will be hearing from the viewers about it and some of them will be a**holes about it." So yes, that issue runs both ways and yes, we are VERY aware of it, but can't do anything about it due to "technology."

foxeng,
Thanks so much for the insight. Maybe at some point the FCC will consider something like I suggested. If the weather is going to affect me, I'd rather be able to turn to that subchannel and get the real detailed info rather than just a crawl. But I guess for now it needs to be this way for safety.

foxeng,
Thanks so much for the insight. Maybe at some point the FCC will consider something like I suggested. If the weather is going to affect me, I'd rather be able to turn to that subchannel and get the real detailed info rather than just a crawl. But I guess for now it needs to be this way for safety.

When you say "detailed info" do you mean a live update from the studio weather person?
The crawls could state to turn to *.2 or whatever for live updates I suppose... rather than ruining the program on the main channel. The crawls on some channels tell exactly where the storm will be near at a particular time, but again, around my area (Eastern NC) you have to turn to a subchannel to get the crawl, and a couple of stations don't even give it there. You have to go and turn on the analog. I still have one TV that is just analog for this purpose.:rolleyes: LOL It should be interesting to see what they do if a Hurricane approaches, which they are talking about one being close next week.:eek:

The Raleigh stations now have HD graphics/text crawls... WRAL and WTVD, WNCN uses a downconverted SD crawl over the HD show.

WECT in Wilmington has an HD graphics crawl now also.

When you say "detailed info" do you mean a live update from the studio weather person?
What happens on some of our stations is that about 40% of the screen is taken up with a county map of the area with the radar on it and a crawl going by. It's big enough to mess up the show, but not big enough to be very useful in my opinion.

Seems to me that right now it's a compromise, not great for the show or the weather. I'd rather turn to the subchannel for more detailed info than you could put on the crawl.

The Raleigh stations now have HD graphics/text crawls... WRAL and WTVD, WNCN uses a downconverted SD crawl over the HD show.

WECT in Wilmington has an HD graphics crawl now also.
That's good to hear, maybe we won't be too far behind.

What happens on some of our stations is that about 40% of the screen is taken up with a county map of the area with the radar on it and a crawl going by. It's big enough to mess up the show, but not big enough to be very useful in my opinion.

Seems to me that right now it's a compromise, not great for the show or the weather. I'd rather turn to the subchannel for more detailed info than you could put on the crawl.


That's good to hear, maybe we won't be too far behind.

That banner sounds like what WWAY in Wilmington uses. They shrink the picture down with an "L" banner with lightning bolts as the background and a crawl at the bottom with county map flashing and then as the crawl repeats they put a radar on over the county image. It is a bit much, but they don't leave it on all the time... Instead, They put a strip down across the bottom with the type of warning and the county. It cycles through them all alphabetically.

I would rather have a small map in the corner with the appropriate county painted in. It isn't so distracting like a crawl is. Of course, I'm sure your never going to satisfy everyone no matter what kind of system a station chooses, but some out there are a lot better than others.

I believe WFMY already has HD weather crawls. I hope FOX gives our local FOX a way of doing that later since House always seems to be on during a thunderstorm. :)

I hope one of the knowledgeable posters on this board can help me with my current situation. It seems very confusing to me, but probably isn't for some of you here.


I am installing built-ins in a multipurpose room. An electrician will be running wires in wall, etc. I want to be sure that I have adequate signal strength, etc, and that nothing I do will pose problems in the future since the cable will not be easily accessible.


Currently, I have Time Warner cable (but would consider satelitte service in the future). My cable goes through a 2 way splitter - with one cable to a SA8300hd and the other to my cable modem (I have cable phone and RR). Signal strength varies from 0 to -4, with S/N 33 to 36. This includes HBO, SHOW, TMC, Starz and the HD Pack. The HD channels and West channels tend to run lowest (-4).


Ideally, I would like to split the signal again to run cable to 1.) my computer for recording, 2) a dvd recorder I already have, and 3) the tv directly. (1. is a must, 2. I would really like, and 3. I can live without). At one point I actually had these devices connected and a cheap amplifier I bought somewhere, but I removed the splitter and the amplifier. I realize that this is really splitting the signal alot, but would think that others have as many/more components than I. FWIW, I was told placing the amp before the cable modem would "fry" it.


Different cable guys that have been out at various times (for installs, etc) have said different (sometimes conflicting) things. The last one ran a new, thicker cable to the house to give me a stronger signal. He also said that a new line should have been run directly for the computer/phone (separate from the tv/cable box) when I got RR. He said they could do this - but I held off knowing that I would be rearranging the room, etc and was unsure where to put the cable. He said he would note in my record so that another cable could be run later. (Another person stated that it would make no difference, however, because the signal would either be split inside the house or out at the box.)


Also, a couple of technicians mentioned putting an amplifier at the box outside, but at least one (who seemed the most knowledgeable) said that could not be done.


My electrician stated that he would run the cable through the wall to the location it is now needed (FWIW the computer will be within 10' or so of the tv). He said that would be better because the cable company would run the cable along the outside wall, it would look bad, etc.


I am very confused (as you may be reading this post:). I want this done correctly since it may be very difficult to change later with the built-ins.


1.) Is it possible to connect cable to this many devices?
2.) Can I/the cable company amplify the signal?
3.) Do I need a separate cable run?
4.) Can Time Warner run it in-wall?
5.) Will this cause problems if I want to get satelitte service in the future?


If the electrician runs the current cable to the new location, it originates very close to a storage door (that you often see in bonus rooms) that gives access to a small amount of storage space beyond the rooms walls. So it could be fixed so the cable was accessible before going to the tv/computer, etc.


Given the permanence of the built-ins, I am very concerned that I have the cable run correctly. Unfortunately, I have received conflicting information from different sources. In the past I have found these forums more informative than the "experts" and technicians. Any advice or help that you can offer will be greatly appreciated.


Thank You,
OMeany

As someone who has had cable run 3 new jacks in 2 homes over the past year or two, I can say you definitely want to let your electrician run the cable and not cable. They will definitely just run the cable around the outside of your house which sucks.

I'm sorry, but I can't give you any other advice on the signal strength.

I hope one of the knowledgeable posters on this board can help me with my current situation. It seems very confusing to me, but probably isn't for some of you here.

If I were in your shoes, here is what I would do. Pick a place in your house, like that storage room and let that be your central location that ALL TV cable for your house comes to. Use high quality RG-6 coax cable NOT RG-59. Most electricians will use RG-59. It is smaller and easier to work with but has more line loss than RG-6. Run point-to-point "home runs" to every source you plan on connecting. Don't let your installer talk you into a single line with a splitter. THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING YOU CAN DO just so he gets done quicker and easier and you "save some money." Use a high quality unity gain amplified splitter in your storage room to feed all the home runs. If you can't find one, then calculate the db loss of each port on the splitter (it is usually marked on them as 2.5 db or 7.75 db, etc) and then buy an amplifier to run ahead of the splitter that is pretty close to that loss number at the port to keep the gain uniform. FYI, each 3 db is a loss of one half or a gain of 2. A 2 way splitter will be 3 db loss at each port. That means that the signal at that port will be one half as strong as what is put in so a 3 db amplifier would be used. You more than likely will not find the value amp you need so they make variable gain amps for that. An eight port splitter yields 1/12 the signal strength of the input or roughly 9 db loss on that port.

The good thing about this if you decide to drop cable in the future for sat, the sat distribution box would replace the splitters and amp without needing to replace cable and also work if you decide to drop cable or sat and use an outside antenna only. If you think you might want to add an outside antenna to your cable or sat system, have your installer run TWO cables for each location you would want to use both and set up two splitter systems for those locations. Don't let your installer talk you out of using RG-6 for EVERYTHING. Yeah it is a little more expensive than RG-59 but once it is in the wall, and you are loosing signal, you will kick yourself for being talked into an easy install for your installer and not doing the job right.

Just remember, the trick is to keep the gain equal though the system and not have it up and down allowing noise to get into the system and degregate the S/N (signal to noise) number that is so critical for solid digital reception, OTA, cable or sat.

Just so you know, that is how the cable companies do their main transmission lines, but most of their home installers don't work on the transmission lines and don't know that. The engineers back at the headend do and design to that standard.

Thanks very much for your replies foxeng and pwrmetal. I am going to have to sit down and carefully digest foxengs post so I can correctly understand the specifics of what you are saying (Seriously, I'm just not that informed on this issue).


From my initial read(s), I gather that I have given the wrong impression about exactly what the electrician will do. This is an existing house with existing cable outlets. The electrician was merely going to extend the current cable/outlet to a new location in the same room. I realize now that it sounded like he might be running all new cables through the house. One cable guy, however, said he would run a new, second outlet into the room from outside (he said this should have been done when I got broadband service). A second cable guy said this would just split the cable outside rather than inside, making no difference.


As I understand it, the existing outlets in the house are all "homeruns" from the cable "box" on the outside, side of the house (this is the "central box" that all my cable runs come to). When I had a signal strength issue earlier they tested the outlets in different rooms to see which was connected to the strongest output on the splitter inside this "central box" (one output on the splitter is stronger than the others by design). They then "rearranged" the cables on the splitter outside so the cable coming to the bonus room (the room in question) received the strongest signal . That is why I am fairly certain each cable run is a "homerun" from the central box on the side of the house.


They also ran a new "thicker" cable from the "neighborhood box" to the box on my house. This gave me the signal I have now (0 to -4 depending on the channel, after the modem/cable box split). So as is, I assume my setup would work if the electrician just moved the outlet to a new location. My concern is what happens if I split it so I can hook up other items (computer, dvd recorder, popcorn).


I was also unclear about the storage area I mentioned. This is one of those small "attic" spaces you see in bonus rooms that have a door about 2.5' high - not a true storage room. I can access the existing cable/outlet for this one room from this area (a small area I can stick my upper body into, store boxes, etc. studs and insulation, not walls). I thought that might somehow be helpful.


So I am actually dealing with an existing cable "homerun" from the existing "central box" outside. I apologize for the confusion. I am guessing that this completely changes the advice you offered. I would think it would be to difficult to run a new cable from outside through walls, to the second floor, etc. for each component I have (1 cable for cable box, 1 for modem, 1 for computer, etc.). I'm also not sure if placing the amp in the outside box is a) possible, or b)would work since the signal strength from the central splitter to the different rooms is sufficient. It is only after multiple splits in the 1 room (the bonus room) to feed different components that it may be too low.


Thank you very much for taking the time to offer your advice and to educate me on db loss, etc. I am going to reread the post carefully to try to get a grasp on the effects of the splitter. I apologize again for giving the wrong impression of my setup. I hope that this clarifies the situation and that there is something that can be done short of running new cables into the second floor room from outside for each component I have. If that is the case I will probably just have to do without several of them, unfortunately.


Thanks again for you help. It is much appreciated.

OMeany

I believe WFMY already has HD weather crawls. I hope FOX gives our local FOX a way of doing that later since House always seems to be on during a thunderstorm. :)

Yes, WFMY does run their crawls in HD and it looks pretty cool. I've watched a lot of golf on CBS recently and it was nice not to have all the weather crawls we've had recently force the picture back to SD. I know Fox can't because of the way they are setup so I won't complain about that. However, I don't know if the local NBC or ABC have the same type of technical limit that Fox has.

However, I don't know if the local NBC or ABC have the same type of technical limit that Fox has.

FOX is the only network that has this limitation. Even MYNetworkTV, a FOX owned OTA network doesn't use the splicer (like FOX network) but the conventional method of HD delivery even though it is 720p also.

One cable guy, however, said he would run a new, second outlet into the room from outside (he said this should have been done when I got broadband service).

Yes, I have had cable guys who basically refused to install a cable modem when I intended to use a splitter so I could have TV and cable in the same room. I basically disconnected the splitter and then reconnected it when he left. I've also had some who didn't care at all and I think I even got my splitter from one of them. In my office I just use cable for SD analog programming so any potential signal loss wasn't really a big deal for me. I haven't had any known internet/TV issues from having a splitter in the room, and have been using that setup for 9 years.

I have a similar problem as Milchad. I am not getting any picture OTA for 48-1 and 45-1. I check the signal strength and both channels are ~98%. No image though. All other stations come in fine. :confused: Any idea? I am using my QAM tuner on the back of my Panny. I have rescanned, etc to no avail.


I personally apologize for the length of time it took me to read this and reply.
I've had my hands full lately...working on this and other problems.

Please check your reception again....last week I changed some encoder settings that were suspected of being a part of reception difficulties with certain brands.

Please let us know if it worked for you, others with that brand have reported good results.

Thanks :)

Rickey.

As far as I know it is still configured as an aux and was used for about a month in 2001 when the new antennas were installed on the tall tower. It is also used as the microwave tower to send the signal to the tower at Level Cross. As it being licensed for an aux, I noticed had it wasn't licensed either. I think the issue in the past has been keeping the old RCA in operational condition. I was told, and Rickey can correct me since he was there at the time, that they had to call in one of the retired engineers who know about that old transmitter to get it up and running again for the time they used it to change out the antennas. It isn't the stations original transmitter but was installed back in the 50's and WFMY used it for years until the tower was built at Level Cross in the late 70's and it is HUGE for the amount of power it produces. You can walk right in to it. I have seen it, but it was about 15 years ago. An RCA A Line if I remember correctly.

One of the stories that float around about that transmitter is one of the GM's was giving a tour to some school children in the 60's and while it was on the air, walked the group right into the transmitter! The engineer at the time almost had a heart attack when he saw those people INSIDE the transmitter and it on the air with thousands of volts exposed on the circuits. It is said he shouted into the transmitter for everyone to freeze while he shut down the transmitter to get everyone out. It is also said the engineer was chewed out by the same GM for taking the station off the air in the middle of the day. Don't know if the chewing out part is true or not. I go either way on that one since I have know some GM's to be pretty stupid when it came to things like that (the one that you hear the most about is the station goes off the air with transmitter problems and the GM or Sales Manager, whats you to get on the air to tell the audience about it. DUH! It REALLY HAPPENS).


Foxeng, Greetings Sir.

I apologize to all for my absence here.

The WFMY AUX is a RCA TT25DL from about '64 or so.
6166A Visual finals and 4CX5000 aural final.
Solid state exciter conversion from the late 70's.
The restoration for the digital change over was conducted by me while I worked for WFMY.
Blower belts, blower bearings, filament blocks, IHV transformer, aural driver finger stock, aural AFC loop, countless loose connections, and weak vacuum tubes were among the numerous items needing attention and/or replacement. Visual TPO was about 21 kw IIRC with 10 percent aural of course.

During the antenna change out the old lady served well 24/7 with crisp video, full chroma, and mono sound for 13 days and about 10 hours IIRC.
I did consult with some "old timers" on this one.
As for the AUX licensing I was told that if the AUX was less than X miles from the main an AUX license was unnecessary.:D
It is indeed a shame that this piece of broadcast history will probably soon be chopped up and hauled away to who knows where.
Time marches on....

As for the GM tour story:
I have heard versions of this as well. A few things to take into consideration... There are interlocks on the transmitter door. One is a switch that puts the transmitter into standby whenever the door is opened. Then there is a cross bar safety that opens primary power to the transmitter whenever a person entered. So there are two safeties.
Interesting to note that there are still remains of an adhesive residue in the area surrounding the door switch safety. This residue would be consistent with duct or gaffers tape.
As for the cross bar it is rumored that it was easy to "limbo dance" under it. And just for the record these things never happened on my watch there.

With about 6800 VDC at 12 plus amperes available there would be no such thing as a minor electrical shock in this electric chair. Imagining what could happen is a dreadful thing for me.
The rubber mat floor inside the RCA TT25DL was probably the cleanest floor surface in the building...practically no foot traffic at all. Very peaceful in there too, I sometimes went in there to reflect.

Rickey.

Thanks Foxeng. That's a great photo! I really appreciate that. The ch-2 turnstile looks a little short- was it cut to accommodate the Ch-51 ant?
Do you know the TPO to get that MW at ch51? I'm surprised at that frequency they didn't use waveguide to reduce coax loss. Perhaps a windload issue. And can you tell me if they still have the old tower on Phillips Ave?

It's a 4-bay Dielectric batwing, 31KW TPO required for 100KW ERP with line loss. The perspective from the ground makes everything look shorter than it really is. The Ch2 section is actually about 60' tall and the Ch 51 section is about 45' IIRC. As reported 61Kw TPO is correct for the DT. Input is about 1/4 megawatt including support systems.
There were many engineering concerns with waveguide, group delay, and wind load as mentioned, and cost.


Rickey

The WFMY AUX is a RCA TT25DL from about '64 or so.

....

As for the AUX licensing I was told that if the AUX was less than X miles from the main an AUX license was unnecessary.:D


MI amigo! Glad to see you are still among the living. I have been hearing ALOT about your reception problems with Panny sets and I don't even ownone. Just shows you how many people still watch OTA. Glad you found out what the problem was. One setting and POOF! You gone!

I had heard the old beast was an A line. Didn't realize it was a D Line. Our first transmitter here was also a TT25DH, 1963. As far as the Aux licensing, my friend, you got told some BAD information, but I think you know that now. ;) The FCC is pretty clear that EVERY radiator under Part 73 will be individually licensed. Last time I checked TT25DL's and associated radiators fall under Part 73, not Part 13!! But that is water under the bridge now. Stuff you tell your grand kids about!! :D

Got my Aux's, NTSC and DTV, all 6, between both channels licensed. Now that was PItA, but it got done. Of course now we will have to go through the whole process again post transition on 8. Lawyers!!!

And don't make yourself such a stranger 'round here, OK?! I need the help!! :)

I just wanted to say before I posted my question, that I love seeing the technical posts from foxeng and xmitterengineer on here.

For the person who is trying to wire their room for cable with an eye on possible movenment to a dish, from what I understand, the upcoming trend for dishes is to have a 1 wire solution with an SWM. Directv has dishes with this available built in, but I'm not sure whether they have hit our area yet or you can get them without at least 2 DVR's in your order due to them being fairly new. If you are considering a move to a dish, I would strongly consider having the electrician run 2 RG6 lines from your junction outside the house to your media room without a splitter.

For cable, using a splitter and the cable modem is ok, you may need an inline amplifier as the HD channels and boxes need a bit more power. This is how I had mine and it worked fine for 5 years.

I recently moved to a DSL connection for internet as I was tired of a lot of Time Warner outages in my area, possibly due to new constructiuon nearby and it wasn't as reliable as I would like.

This all leads up to my questions. I like many on here are in the process of considering a move to Directv. Is there anyone in the area who has had a recent install of a Slimline SWM dish? I am not sure whether they are available here, but I would prefer a 1 wire solution for an HD DVR as I really hate to run more wire under the crawlspace if I can help it. I already have holes near the baseboard for outside speakers and a run from an outlet directly to another room. Also I have trees that had been planted a couple years ago which may grow tall enough in the coming years to affect the line of sight of the dish. My neighbor 2 houses down has his dish on the roof of the fireplace (same style house, roof is about 9 feet up). Does anyone know the actual angle that the satellites are at since it's hard to tell from just looking at the dish? I'm more concerned about losing signal in the future and whether I'll have to remove top limbs of the trees (or gasp, go back to cable) based on these. I like many others am tired of all of the waiting for HD channels on Time Warner when my neighbors get many more than I do, especially with the football season coming up. I also ass ume that after the olympics, the NBC HD channels such as CNBC and USA will disappear. I guess this does prove that they have available bandwidth, but just not the contracts.

I just wanted to say before I posted my question, that I love seeing the technical posts from foxeng and xmitterengineer on here.

For the person who is trying to wire their room for cable with an eye on possible movenment to a dish, from what I understand, the upcoming trend for dishes is to have a 1 wire solution with an SWM. Directv has dishes with this available built in, but I'm not sure whether they have hit our area yet or you can get them without at least 2 DVR's in your order due to them being fairly new. If you are considering a move to a dish, I would strongly consider having the electrician run 2 RG6 lines from your junction outside the house to your media room without a splitter.

For cable, using a splitter and the cable modem is ok, you may need an inline amplifier as the HD channels and boxes need a bit more power. This is how I had mine and it worked fine for 5 years.

I recently moved to a DSL connection for internet as I was tired of a lot of Time Warner outages in my area, possibly due to new constructiuon nearby and it wasn't as reliable as I would like.

This all leads up to my questions. I like many on here are in the process of considering a move to Directv. Is there anyone in the area who has had a recent install of a Slimline SWM dish? I am not sure whether they are available here, but I would prefer a 1 wire solution for an HD DVR as I really hate to run more wire under the crawlspace if I can help it. I already have holes near the baseboard for outside speakers and a run from an outlet directly to another room. Also I have trees that had been planted a couple years ago which may grow tall enough in the coming years to affect the line of sight of the dish. My neighbor 2 houses down has his dish on the roof of the fireplace (same style house, roof is about 9 feet up). Does anyone know the actual angle that the satellites are at since it's hard to tell from just looking at the dish? I'm more concerned about losing signal in the future and whether I'll have to remove top limbs of the trees (or gasp, go back to cable) based on these. I like many others am tired of all of the waiting for HD channels on Time Warner when my neighbors get many more than I do, especially with the football season coming up. I also ass ume that after the olympics, the NBC HD channels such as CNBC and USA will disappear. I guess this does prove that they have available bandwidth, but just not the contracts.

Well, the easy part first.

For my location in Lewisville the line of sight to the birds is: Azimuth 220* Elevation 43*. If your in the Greensboro area these numbers will be close. There is a quick way to do a rough site check to see if a certain placement at your house will work. With a compass, protractor, level, a drinking straw and some way to keep it all plumb and in line.

With the compass find 220*. Set the protractor up at that heading and aim the straw up to 43*. Look through the straw to see if there is a clear line of sight.

Of course the simpler way is to just set up an install with DirecTv and let the installer show you the options. Unlike some other parts of the country the installers around here seem pretty competent.

I have had D* since 12/24/95 and have been very happy. Been fun witnessing the evolution of the service. And NFL ST and superfan is about to start again :)

Yes the new SWM LNB's are great. I just had to replace my 3 LNB dish and HR 10-250 IRD with an HR-21 and 5 LNB dish. You have to have MPEG 4 capability for superfan and all the new HD channels. The swap out, (including the AM-21 OTA tuner), happened for me about 6 weeks ago.

When I set this up the first D* CSR had no knowledge about SWM. A higher level CSR was aware but had no idea when they would be available in our area.

For my actual install a supervisor showed up with a new hire in training. The senior guy seemed to know his stuff. He said he did not think he would be seeing SWM equipment before the end of the year.

For me it really did not matter as I already have 3 RG6 lines running to the theater (2 for SAT, 1 for the OTA antenna).

Btw the locals over SAT with MPEG 4 look very good. OTA capability gives me the option of switching if rain fade occurs, tuning to the sub channels, receiving PBS HD and picking up some Charlotte stations.

I also enjoy the posts from our resident engineers. The recent one about the transmitter room was a hoot. How many DC volts at 12 amps was that?

That setup could make for a rather effective interrogation room in some parts of the world :)

Joe

The WFMY AUX is a RCA TT25DL from about '64 or so.

It was put in for WFMY's conversion to color in 1964 IIRC.


As for the GM tour story:
I have heard versions of this as well.

Supposedly after a taping of the Old Rebel Show.

From the above post - a home run solution as foxeng suggested is the best. But I would add, run twice or 3 times as many lines as you think you need. If you can run pvc or flexible conduit from the roof to pull more cables in the future, so much the better.

As for the D* one wire solution, it appears some confusion is in place. First, there are 3 different versions of the unit right now. a SWM-5, a SWM-8 which most have seen and a brand new unit that most have not seen with the multiswitch built in to the LNB, the FTM.

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/442/dsc00307vg8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The SWM-5 and SWM-8 require 4 RG6 cables coming out of the Dish LNB to SWM - which would usually be in the data closet. This is the best solution for a homerun installation, imo. The SWM can feed either 5 or 8 tuners via a single wire from that point. You also have the ability to use several non-HR2x/H2x IRD with the unit . Furthermore, one can also insert an OTA feed into this setup on the same run from the roof.

The FTM with the built in SWM is brand new and only requires 1 RG6 cable to the lnb instead of 4, so it will become the typical residential install and yes, its easier for an installer with only one coax instead of 4 from the lnb.

This approach has several issues though.

1) You cannot expand past 8 tuners (and remember DVRs have 2 in each DVR)

2) You cannot use any legacy equipment, only the H2x HR2x series.

3) You cannot insert an OTA TV Antenna feed into the system.

4) If the SWM/LNB goes out, everything has to be replaced. Not a big deal if you pay them the $5 a month for that type of thing, but if you don't, you could take a bigger hit than just the multswitch or lnb alone.

pwrmetal, rtisovec and beachcomber,


Thanks for the additional replies. Your help is appreciated. After discussing this, my electrician will run a new, second "homerun" cable into the bonus room in addition to relocating the existing outlet. That would give me one "homerun" for the computer and one for the cable and video components (assumming we are understanding each other correctly).

Thank You

OMeany

Looks like WXII is getting ready for hi-def, their "olympic zone" program is using hi-def cameras in studio. a soft launch, i'd say.

can a hi-def 6pm newscast be far behind?

-amos

It's a 4-bay Dielectric batwing, 31KW TPO required for 100KW ERP with line loss. The perspective from the ground makes everything look shorter than it really is.

I was thinking there was a 6-bay up there when I drove by many years ago so I thought maybe they cut the top part off to accommodate the ch-51. Didn't occur to me they replaced the whole system.


The WFMY AUX is a RCA TT25DL from about '64 or so.
6166A Visual finals and 4CX5000 aural final.
Solid state exciter conversion from the late 70's.
The restoration for the digital change over was conducted by me while I worked for WFMY.
Blower belts, blower bearings, filament blocks, IHV transformer, aural driver finger stock, aural AFC loop, countless loose connections, and weak vacuum tubes were among the numerous items needing attention and/or replacement. Visual TPO was about 21 kw IIRC with 10 percent aural of course.

During the antenna change out the old lady served well 24/7 with crisp video, full chroma, and mono sound for 13 days and about 10 hours IIRC.

It is indeed a shame that this piece of broadcast history will probably soon be chopped up and hauled away to who knows where.
Time marches on....

Yes it's sad how much good hardware is going to the dump as a result of the digital conversion. In some cases stations are converting their old NTSC xmtrs to 8VSB by changing the exciter and retuning- mostly for use as auxiliaries but don't guess it's very practical to convert a ch-2 xmtr to ch-51! :p That would be one hell of a conversion! :p not to mention VSWR problems with 54-Mhz antenna. :p

But do they plan to keep that Phillips Ave tower when it can't be used for aux purposes anymore?

FYI to other cable victims,

I have sent the obligatory e-mail to Triad TWC asking if/when they are adding ESPNU-HD. I'll post their response (or a summary) here when I get one.

I dropped TWC a week ago and am very happy with Directv, except that the lazy tech didn't align my dish properly (99 sats are low % and I get locals dropping out ) and they are coming out tomorrow. Not sure if Direct gets it as I don't have the sports pack yet and don't get ESPNU, but I'd argue that they have a better chance of getting it sooner. Funny thing is the argumentative lady with whom I spoke when canceling TWC claimed that the problem with NFL Network is that people liek me didn't e-mail NFL Network. I have, and I don't see TWC's inability to get the deal done as "my problem"- and it isn't anymore.

For anyone interested, there are a couple of ways to save a lot of money on Directv, either PM me or look it up on dbstalk.com.

But do they plan to keep that Phillips Ave tower when it can't be used for aux purposes anymore?

They would need to support the microwave system and hold up a weather cam.

Going by the HD Sports guide, it appears Raycom will be broadcasting all of the ACC football contests in HD this year. It has Georgia Tech vs. BC at 12:00 this Saturday as being in HD. So let's hope they can pull it off without a hitch.

Based on the ACC Tourney last year, I am cautiously optimistic as the picture and audio was actually pretty good for that last year.

Yeah I think they are doing all their SEC games in HD too, although we are slightly out of that market sadly. I am not sure if this is the last year for SEC on Raycomm or not.

In any event, this is a most welcome change. Even if their HD picture is mediocre, their SD picture has been so horrifically awful, anything is an improvement.

I haven't seen this posted even though it has been out for a week or so. NCAB is asking stations on Sept 17 (except Wilmington) between 6 and 6:30 pm for 60 seconds to break the analog signal path and put up some kind of announcement that if you see this, and you are watching on an antenna and no converter box or digital TV, then you ain't ready. Not sure how many stations are going to do this but it will be interesting to see what happens.

Here is something I found on the net that really got my attention! This was a 1 million watt AM station in Venezuela (La Voz de Venezuela - The Voice of Venezuela) that caused so much interference in the Carribbean about 10 years and the government abandoned it in place, even the towers! The issue is this station sat beside the ocean and you KNOW what happens with metal at the beach! OUCH! Look closely at the bottom supports of BOTH towers. Me thinks I don't think I know ANYONE who would climb it now!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9bzQfEcs4dw/SKeHsQ4DsTI/AAAAAAAAAs8/AT9VM0kshp4/s320/Foto+3+Parte+de+la+pared+perimetral+en+el+suelo.JPG

The full URL for more pictures is http://diexismovenezolano.blogspot.com

I'm sure this might be around the thread (feel free to point me to it) but does anyone have a list of the QAM Time Warner channels for the locals? As in, 94.5 is ABC, etc. I feel like I'm missing some - and, is everyone still getting the random on demand stuff?
Thanks, all.

I don't know I have seen a list lately since TWC changed them up again. I know of the following off the top of my head:

78-1 CBS
78-2 WFMY Weather
78-3 FOX
78-4 through 78-8 UNC and UNC HD (not sure of the sequence of channels)
78-45 ( I think this is right) ABC

90-1 NBC
90-2 WXII Weather Plus

Haven't seen much on demand stuff but I rarely go searching for new channels.

It seems like in the past year or so TWC has settled down on the random channels that show up. I keep dreaming I'll stumble across ESPN and ESPN2 HD again like before, but so far no luck.

I realize I'm quite possibly the only Greensboro area forum member that's using a TiVo S3 with Time Warner, but for anyone who's interested, I emailed the director of public affairs about SDV and the tuning resolver. He said testing was set to begin "shortly" and pending the success of those trials, rollout of the tuning resolvers should happen in the next few months. So I have my fingers crossed that maybe by the end of the year we'll be able to get all of the new HD channels on TiVo and not need their DVR which has grossly inferior software IMHO.

Keep us up to date on that, jacksonian.

Out of curiosity, how much extra do you pay Tivo for using their box?

Yes please keep us up to date ... I'm curious, are you not able to receive TW-Triad HD channels thru your Tivo as it stands today or are there some which you can get? Inquiring minds ...

Mike

Yes please keep us up to date ... I'm curious, are you not able to receive TW-Triad HD channels thru your Tivo as it stands today or are there some which you can get? Inquiring minds ...


I think he can get the non-SDV channels (ie. the older ones).

Jacksonian, thanks for checking on that and do keep us updated, this is really good to hear. I called them earlier this week to cancel Cinemax and put out some feelers to both the CS rep and the techs and didn't chase it since noone even knew what SDV was (evidently a common complaint).

We've got a TivoHD on TWC Greensboro. To answer another poster's question, we get HBO-HD (HBO is the only premium we carry); HDNet, HDNet-Movies and Mojo but no Universal HD (the HD package). None of the newer HD channels are available (Food, Science, CNN, etc.) as they are all SDV. Local origination HD is available, HD Theater and the ESPNs. And obviously no on demand.

As for cost, we've got a series 2 upstairs so we pay the $99 annual fee for service (that's with a multi-service discount.) The 2 cable cards for the Tivo run 3.50 a month total. And yes, the switch back to Tivo from TWC's horrible DVR is well worth it. My wife, who doesn't really care too much about this stuff, actually insisted that we buy the TivoHD.

Everything's been great since the switch. Installer got it right the first time (even though he'd never seen one) and other than a minor occasional hiccup with music choice (which we don't usually use) it's been flawless.

Keep us up to date on that, jacksonian.

Out of curiosity, how much extra do you pay Tivo for using their box?
xiandeath already answered, but I pay $12.95 a month for one and $6.95 for the second plus the cable card rental.

I'll try not to go all TiVo fanatic, but honestly, there's simply no comparison between the TiVo interface and the SARA software that TWC uses. Charlotte TWC actually had a different software called Passport that was pretty decent, but that's been replaced in order to use SDV. I have a TV downstairs hooked up to the TWC DVR in case I want to watch those other channels, but it's such a painful experience that I just pretend I don't get those channels yet. It's not worth it to me to try to watch them yet.

I put the HD list at the bottom and put an * by the SDV channels that you need a TWC box or the forthcoming tuning resolver to get.

The good part of SDV, we have a lot of HD channels compared to many cable systems, even other TWC systems. The bad part is that for the moment we're dependent on their box to get them. Hopefully the tuning resolver will remedy this before the end of the year.

510 WGHP HD
520 WFMY-HD
521 WFMY True View 2
530 WXLV HD
531 WMYV-HD
536 WCWG - HD
540 WXII HD
541 WXII Weather Plus
*545 MTV - HD
*546 TLC HD
*547 Animal Planet HD
*548 Science Channel HD
*549 Discovery Channel HD
550 Discovery HD Theater
551 TNT HD
*552 TBS HD
*553 National Geographic HD
*554 A&E HD
*555 The History Channel HD
556 ESPN2 HD
*557 HGTV - HD
*558 Food Network HD
560 MOJO
*561 Universal HD
562 HD Net
563 HDNET Movies
564 ESPN-HD
*565 ESPN News HD
*566 Disney HD
*567 ABC Family HD
*569 Golf Channel/Versus HD
*575 CNN HD
*581 Lifetime Movie Network HD

I realize I'm quite possibly the only Greensboro area forum member that's using a TiVo S3 with Time Warner

Not quite, but almost. I use an S3 downstairs and a Tivo HD upstairs, both with OTA and analog cable. Once they figure out the tuning resolver, I'll be in line right behind you for it.

Not quite, but almost. I use an S3 downstairs and a Tivo HD upstairs, both with OTA and analog cable. Once they figure out the tuning resolver, I'll be in line right behind you for it.
Glad I'm not quite alone. :) I'll definitely keep you guys posted as I hear of any progress.

I live in Greensboro NC.Has anyone heard if Time Warner plans to add any new HD channels soon.Would love to have SCIFI HD channel'USA hd/FOX News hd/Starz and Cinemax hd.Their are so many HD channels other TWC divisions carry that we do not have it is crazyAll the local division says is not yet.The CSR service is like a bunch of robots.If anyone has any info it would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

I live in Greensboro NC.Has anyone heard if Time Warner plans to add any new HD channels soon.Would love to have SCIFI HD channel'USA hd/FOX News hd/Starz and Cinemax hd.Their are so many HD channels other TWC divisions carry that we do not have it is crazyAll the local division says is not yet.The CSR service is like a bunch of robots.If anyone has any info it would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

I wouldn't count on it. I had been a 6 year HD TWC subscriber (back when we only got 3 locals, thanks Sinclair). The line-up is a bit anemic still compared to what Direct and Dish offer. Until we get a fiber optic type distribution, and don't hold your breath as it will likely be years, other than the dish services, all there is is TWC. And they know it. And they have implemented switched digital video to try and deal with the lack of bandwidth. Given that I can watch all of those channels and Big Ten network as well as NFL, I just couldn't not switch. There are tricks to save a bunch on new Direct installs, but look back at the past couple of month's posts, and you'll see how little TWC seems to add. I think the last addition was Lifetime Movie Network and Disney. So if you have to have LMN in HD (even though the content is not hd mostly), Direct doesn't offer this station. Score one for TWC! (sarcasm)

Rich Tisovec

I wouldn't count on it.
I'm certainly not a TWC fanboy, but I have to disagree a little. They've added about 17 HD channels over the past year which is pretty significant for TWC. I know they have plans to try to add more specifically to compete with DirecTV. And the analog-digital transition may speed up the process by freeing up bandwidth.

The main thing that's kept me with TWC is being able to use my TiVo S3. DirecTV just announced that they'd have TiVo back as an option in about a year. So at that time I'll have to really sit down and compare the lineups, picture quality and cost because the DVR aspect will be even (provided it's not a dumbed-down TiVo that DirecTV will have).

For those who either aren't in the know or haven't kept up for whatever reason, today begins the "official" analog turn off. Wilmington will be ceasing analog programming at noon today. For the next 30 days, WWAY, WECT, WILM, WSFX and W51CW will have a graphic on their respective analog channels directing people to their digital channels. It is then expected they will turn off the analog transmitters all together.

The rest of the country has 162 days, as of this post, until all full power analog ceases. Time is flying by.

For those who either aren't in the know or haven't kept up for whatever reason, today begins the "official" analog turn off. Wilmington will be ceasing analog programming at noon today. For the next 30 days, WWAY, WECT, WILM, WSFX and W51CW will have a graphic on their respective analog channels directing people to their digital channels. It is then expected they will turn off the analog transmitters all together.

The rest of the country has 162 days, as of this post, until all full power analog ceases. Time is flying by.Do you know if most stations will do the same on the "official" cut-over date, and put up a graphic that asks users to tune to their corresponding digital channel? I can imaging that some will not be able to, as they will be re-using their current analog frequency, but it would be a nice touch for those who can, even if only for a few days.

In the same fashion, who wants to bet how many HDTV tuners will get completely confused by the fact that NO analog channels exist to be found and only digital channels are present when they scan.

Joe L.

Do you know if most stations will do the same on the "official" cut-over date, and put up a graphic that asks users to tune to their corresponding digital channel? I can imaging that some will not be able to, as they will be re-using their current analog frequency, but it would be a nice touch for those who can, even if only for a few days.

In the same fashion, who wants to bet how many HDTV tuners will get completely confused by the fact that NO analog channels exist to be found and only digital channels are present when they scan.

Joe L.

The FCC has stated that NO ANALOG transmitter of the full power TV stations will be able to remain on AFTER Feb 17 to run a graphic like the Wilmington stations. That question has already been asked. If a station wants to do that BEFORE Feb 17, they have no problem with that.

Is it possible for our local stations to show more than one NFL game on their sub-channels like CBS did during the NCAA tourney? I would have liked to have seen the Cowboys game instead of the Panthers yesterday...(nothing against Carolina) We basically have two local teams here WSH and CAR so my chances on getting a Cowboys game are slim when both are playing at different time slots. I have Dish so Sunday Ticket isn't an option.

No. NFL doesn't allow that due to contract agreements with D* for ST.

man the NFL and their "exclusive" agreements...they let EA have monopoly on video games and they restrict the locals to certain games what's next...u can only watch a game if ur drinking a Pepsi? Don't they realize more viewers will tune in if more games are available. I love football but i wasn't interested in any of the games yesterday so i didn't tune in.
No. NFL doesn't allow that due to contract agreements with D* for ST.

man the NFL and their "exclusive" agreements...they let EA have monopoly on video games and they restrict the locals to certain games what's next...u can only watch a game if ur drinking a Pepsi? Don't they realize more viewers will tune in if more games are available. I love football but i wasn't interested in any of the games yesterday so i didn't tune in.

If more people had access to the sunday ticket, then the NFL couldn't sell the TV packages to CBS/Fox for as much money as they do now.

WXII did a cool thing on the 6 PM news this evening. When they were discussing Wilmington going digital today, they did a "test" for the viewers and went over to a digital signal for a moment. The anchors told the viewing audience that if they had problems with the reception during the test, then their TV was not ready for the digital changeover. WXII then said they would repeat the "test" once a month until February.

xiandeath already answered, but I pay $12.95 a month for one and $6.95 for the second plus the cable card rental.

I'll try not to go all TiVo fanatic, but honestly, there's simply no comparison between the TiVo interface and the SARA software that TWC uses. Charlotte TWC actually had a different software called Passport that was pretty decent, but that's been replaced in order to use SDV. I have a TV downstairs hooked up to the TWC DVR in case I want to watch those other channels, but it's such a painful experience that I just pretend I don't get those channels yet. It's not worth it to me to try to watch them yet.

I put the HD list at the bottom and put an * by the SDV channels that you need a TWC box or the forthcoming tuning resolver to get.

The good part of SDV, we have a lot of HD channels compared to many cable systems, even other TWC systems. The bad part is that for the moment we're dependent on their box to get them. Hopefully the tuning resolver will remedy this before the end of the year.

510 WGHP HD
520 WFMY-HD
521 WFMY True View 2
530 WXLV HD
531 WMYV-HD
536 WCWG - HD
540 WXII HD
541 WXII Weather Plus
*545 MTV - HD
*546 TLC HD
*547 Animal Planet HD
*548 Science Channel HD
*549 Discovery Channel HD
550 Discovery HD Theater
551 TNT HD
*552 TBS HD
*553 National Geographic HD
*554 A&E HD
*555 The History Channel HD
556 ESPN2 HD
*557 HGTV - HD
*558 Food Network HD
560 MOJO
*561 Universal HD
562 HD Net
563 HDNET Movies
564 ESPN-HD
*565 ESPN News HD
*566 Disney HD
*567 ABC Family HD
*569 Golf Channel/Versus HD
*575 CNN HD
*581 Lifetime Movie Network HD




Although I don't post much here on this board, I always look it up everyday to see what is said. I too am a TWC customer and I have two of the SA 8300HD boxes. I use to have a Tivo box a couple of years ago, and I do love the interface better with a Tivo than I do with TWC. I have had problems with TWC DVR's cutting off recordings or not recording a new show whatsoever. I would have recordings of one show three times on my DVR. For a one hour show, it would have 34 min, 20min, then 6min. I never thought about going back to a Tivo and did not know about the tuning resolver issue until I read it here. Reading this post has made me think about buying a TivoHD, but I am going to wait until TWC finishes with the tuning resolver so I can get all of the available HD channels. Please keep us in the know. When I do buy a Tivo, should I buy a new Tivo box or a refurbished one that is offered on Tivo's website?

It seems that Elon Universty has some media students manning a phone bank in Wilmington to answer questions of people about the DTV Transition that took place yesterday in Wilmington. Here is Press Release by Elon:

Elon University data on caller concerns about DTV in N.C.

September 8, 2008
For more information:
Eric Townsend, director of the Elon University News Bureau
O: (336) 278-7413 or etownsend4@elon.edu
C: (336) 337-7974

Problems with digital conversion devices, not unawareness, hamper DTV transition for some viewers in Wilmington, N.C.

In the five hours after television outlets in Wilmington, N.C., switched from analog to digital broadcasting, dozens of viewers in the southeastern corner of the state called local stations and the regional cable provider with complaints – though most concerns had little to do with the conversion itself, but rather with the way their converter boxes or new television sets did not seem to work.

Elon University student researchers assisted local stations and the Time Warner Cable call center with answering phones once the conversion took effect at 12 p.m. EST. They surveyed residents without broadcast signals, collecting from them demographic information, their prior knowledge about the conversion, and reasons for not buying a digital converter box or new digital television receiver.

Of the 81 logged calls as of 4:50 p.m., just one person who contacted local television networks said they were unaware of the transition. Instead, most callers reported problems with receiving signals, often because their converter box or digital television receiver had not been programmed. Students helped several callers address technical concerns, which included directing people to turn antennas in the correct direction.

“The good news in these calls is that people were aware of the transition,” said Connie Book, associate dean of the School of Communications at Elon and the lead professor of the research project. “TV stations need to be prepared as they make the switch for calls like these where viewers need someone to walk them through the correct installation steps for their converter boxes and tuning to a digital frequency.”

General Demographic Information:

Reported ages ranged from a caller in his upper 30s to residents in their mid 80s. Slightly more women had called then men. More than 80 percent of callers were white.

For More Information and Photos:

Students are blogging about their experience at www.wilmingtondtvtest.wordpress.com

All images are free to use with attribution to Elon University. For a high-resolution image of a particular photo, contact Eric Townsend, director of the Elon University News Bureau, at (336) 337-7974.



Eric Townsend
Director
Elon University News Bureau
Office of University Relations
2030 Campus Box
Elon, NC 27244
O: 336-278-7413
C: 336-337-7974

Hi,

Is anyone receiving Roanoke WFXR Fox 27 I think it is in NW Guilford County? Thanks

Hi,

Is anyone receiving Roanoke WFXR Fox 27 I think it is in NW Guilford County? ThanksRoanoke is in Virginia... Virginia is not in NW Guilford County.:(

I'm in NW Guilford County. I just did a channel scan and did not pick up channel 27.

Joe L.

Hi,

Is anyone receiving Roanoke WFXR Fox 27 I think it is in NW Guilford County? Thanks

WFXR's digital channel is 17. I get it most of the time with my antenna at Battleground and Westridge. I get WDBJ-DT 18 and WSLS-DT 34 well all the time. WNCN in Raleigh is also on 17 analog and does occasionally interfere with WFXR-DT at my location. Sounds like someone is a Skins fan! :D

Roanoke is in Virginia... Virginia is not in NW Guilford County.:(

I'm in NW Guilford County. I just did a channel scan and did not pick up channel 27.

Joe L.

LOL too funny. Yeah too quick on the keyboard! I was attempting to type if anyone in NW Guilford can recieve the Roanoke channel.

WFXR's digital channel is 17. I get it most of the time with my antenna at Battleground and Westridge. I get WDBJ-DT 18 and WSLS-DT 34 well all the time. WNCN in Raleigh is also on 17 analog and does occasionally interfere with WFXR-DT at my location. Sounds like someone is a Skins fan! :D

Nope a Saints fan! Need it for Sunday broadcast. At this point I would be happy with an analog broadcast! Thanks for the info. I haven't been able to receive it. Looks like it is time to get out the channel master again and try again.

I sent 2 emails to TWC about ESPNU-HD and they didn't respond to either. In any event, we get ESPNU-HD on Friday.

Linky. (http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/09/10/article/time_warner_cable_to_launch_new_hd_channels_friday)

My mom asked me why Oprah wasn't being shown in HD on WXII, now that it's being aired as such. The DirecTV guide says it is. I'm in Raleigh and WTVD (ABC11) has it in HD. Is it an issue of "flipping the switch" or does WXII not have the equipment to air it in HD? I saw over in the HDTV Programming thread that a lot of the syndicated talk shows have gone HD as of Monday. Too bad I don't watch any of them...

I sent 2 emails to TWC about ESPNU-HD and they didn't respond to either. In any event, we get ESPNU-HD on Friday.

Linky. (http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/09/10/article/time_warner_cable_to_launch_new_hd_channels_friday)

TWC adding ESPNU HD / Planet Green HD in Greensboro, NC
by Darren Murph, posted Sep 10th 2008 at 7:18PM



One word Time Warner Cable: pathetic. Look, we're as stoked as we can be for our pals up in the Triad area of North Carolina -- after all, ESPNU HD and Planet Green HD are coming just months after a trio of others arrived -- but the lack of attention in the Triangle is sickening. While the Raleigh area limps along with an absolutely anemic HD lineup, Greensboro is being promised two more on Friday. The stations will be available on slots 570 and 559, respectively, and at least the former should provide plenty of entertainment as the football season really gets going. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

ESPNUHD and that Green HD channel are up and running on TWC. (I am guessing they were switched on at around 11pm.) We got ESPNU two weeks after it launched, so not bad at all.

TWC adding ESPNU HD / Planet Green HD in Greensboro, NC
by Darren Murph, posted Sep 10th 2008 at 7:18PM



One word Time Warner Cable: pathetic. Look, we're as stoked as we can be for our pals up in the Triad area of North Carolina -- after all, ESPNU HD and Planet Green HD are coming just months after a trio of others arrived -- but the lack of attention in the Triangle is sickening. While the Raleigh area limps along with an absolutely anemic HD lineup, Greensboro is being promised two more on Friday. The stations will be available on slots 570 and 559, respectively, and at least the former should provide plenty of entertainment as the football season really gets going. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Boy, glad I dumped TWC 11 years ago for D*.

For those interested, here's the e-mail reply I received from Wayne Estabrooks (Engineering Specialist) at UNC-TV concerning their new DT subchannel setup beginning on Sept. 25th:


Mr. *****,

If you are referring to over-the-air (OTA) digital reception with an
antenna, we are expecting to go to full time HD on the 25th of
September. This will result in 2 less subchannels overall.
The subchannel lineup for OTA will only have three subchannels. They
will be UNC-TV -1, UNC-KD -2 and UNC-NC -3.

Cable carriage will be mostly unchanged.

The UNC-TV -1 subchannel will be primarily HD 24/7 and the KD and NC
channels will be SD. The UNC-TV -1 channel will be in the HD format
full time but there will be some SD programs or widescreen SD programs
in the schedule. I hope this answers your questions but if not, please
feel free to e-mail me at westabrooks(*at*)unctv(*dot*)org or call me. Please also let us know where you are located and which UNC-TV station(s) you receive.

Wayne Estabrooks - Engineering Specialist
UNC Center for Public Television

Boy, glad I dumped TWC 11 years ago for D*.

You're just bitter because for once TWC got a channel before Direct TV did. ;)

You're just bitter because for once TWC got a channel before Direct TV did. ;)

Well if he's doing what I'll be doing Sunday for week two of ST, that feeling will vanish. :)

So what do we think about the chances for Jake & Co. this season? Best last two seconds of a 4th. qtr. I've seen in years.

Well if he's doing what I'll be doing Sunday for week two of ST, that feeling will vanish. :)


I guess it's the difference between really preferring CFB or really preferring the NFL. Though seriously, I'd rather have the FSNs in HD than ESPNUHD anyway, so it's yet another point for D*. I was just goosing foxeng. :)

So what do we think about the chances for Jake & Co. this season? Best last two seconds of a 4th. qtr. I've seen in years.

I'm mildly optimistic. I was thrilled (and mildly shocked) with the way the Panthers offensive line mostly pushed around the Chargers' defensive line last week. I have to admit to not being a big believer in Jake. I think he makes very dangerous throws all too often (I thought he got away with several last week), and while he definitely plays some great games, I've seen him play plenty of clunkers as well. He's been pretty good in the playoffs though, so hopefully the kitties will make it this year.

Boy, glad I dumped TWC 11 years ago for D*.

I belive one reason that the Triad is getting more hd is that our SDV has been up and running for over a year.I understand with Navigator Raleigh will soon be fully SDV and be receiveing more hd channels.Got this information from a TWC repairman who was working next door.He just moved here from Raleigh and worked with TWC there. Hope this info helps. SARA 1.89.24.1 here in Greensboro

You're just bitter because for once TWC got a channel before Direct TV did. ;)

You mean all the HD channels I have had since last year that you STILL don't have? Yeah, I am bitter! :D

You mean all the HD channels I have had since last year that you STILL don't have? Yeah, I am bitter! :D

No I meant ESPNUHD which you STILL don't have! :D

On a more serious note, anyone know why WXLV isn't showing Ga Tech vs Va Tech in HD?

On a more serious note, anyone know why WXLV isn't showing Ga Tech vs Va Tech in HD?

According to http://www.hdsportsguide.com/ it isn't in HD despite ESPN/ABC promises that all of their CFB games would be in HD this year.

WWAY and WCTI in ENC are not in HD for the GT VT game either.

According to http://www.hdsportsguide.com/ it isn't in HD despite ESPN/ABC promises that all of their CFB games would be in HD this year.

Actually according to the hdsportsguide it IS in HD (I checked before I posted, and rechecked after your post and it is listed). Of course since other affiliates aren't showing it in HD there may be some issue. I saw some early highlights of the game on ESPN2HD's scoreboard show and they were in HD. I wonder if the Ike rescheduling of some games affected ABC/ESPN's ability to make good on their "all HD" promise...?

EDIT: Oops! That's what I get for checking the hdsportsguide.com on my iPod Touch! I was scrolling down to the listings and ignoring the top article where it does clearly state the game is not in HD. Maybe what I saw on ESPN2HD briefly were highlights of an earlier matchup between them. My mistake. Well, so much for Disney's false HD promises! :)

No I meant ESPNUHD which you STILL don't have! :D

I don't watch the ESPN channels anyway so why would I care if TWC has ESPNU and D* doesn't. It isn't a channel I am interested in. But on the other hand how are you liking Bio HD. Oh wait, you don't have it! How about The Weather Channel HD? Oh wait, you don't have it! How about FOX Business Net HD? Oh wait! You don't have it! How about Cartoon Network HD. Oh wait! You don't have it! Do you really want to play this game? If I was you, I won't. Even cable is VERY careful how they word their ads so not to get caught in that trap.

I know you are joking here and having fun too, and so am I, but in my opinion, getting hepped over one channel in HD is nothing to write home about. I look forward when all channels are in HD. Now THAT is something to be hepped up about!!

Does anyone know when TWC Greensboro is going to overhaul their channel line up. I would think that between now and the analog cutoff, that they would convert many of their analog's to digital. Maybe not all to HD, but to digital. I know that they still have to carry the locals in analog, but it seem that they would open up a lot of band width by converting 14-99 to digital. Several other TWC systems across the country have already done this. In my opinion, this is the only way they can offer more high profile HD channels. Those being the ones that would have to many viewers for SDV. It seem like the only way they can stop the bleeding of subscribers to D*. I would send a E-mail to them, but I'm sure they wouldn't respond. Is there an employee of TWC that frequents this thread that could answer this question?

Does anyone know when TWC Greensboro is going to overhaul their channel line up. I would think that between now and the analog cutoff, that they would convert many of their analog's to digital. Maybe not all to HD, but to digital. I know that they still have to carry the locals in analog, but it seem that they would open up a lot of band width by converting 14-99 to digital. Several other TWC systems across the country have already done this. In my opinion, this is the only way they can offer more high profile HD channels. Those being the ones that would have to many viewers for SDV. It seem like the only way they can stop the bleeding of subscribers to D*. I would send a E-mail to them, but I'm sure they wouldn't respond. Is there an employee of TWC that frequents this thread that could answer this question?

I am NOT an employee of TW-Triad but I also have the same questions as you. I have sent emails to an Operations VP for TW but generally when I ask about channel lineup changes he will not tip his hand in advance. But it won't hurt for you to send an email to him and see what he says. His name is Buck Yarborough and his email addy is:

buck.yarborough@twcable.com

By the way he was very helpful in referring a technical issue to their engineering group when I was having loads of problems with my DVR. All I could get from the CSRs and field techs was to either rebbot or switch the box out. It turned out the box needed a SARA SW upgrade. It's worked fine since.

I know you are joking here and having fun too, and so am I,

Yikes, you are? Your seemed genuniely pissed in that last one! :)

Seriously, the channels that I really want are the NBCU ones (USA, Sci-Fi), FX HD, BBCAHD (when it launches, or has it already?), and FSNHD. If we got the Starz and/or Cinemax in HD, I might drop HBO for other channels. I was as you stated, completely joking. The whole point of my original post was to simply poke fun that seemingly for the first time ever, TWC got a channel in HD before D* did, and it is actually one I wanted. I am only too painfully aware of how much superior D*'s HD offerings are.

I generally think of TWC with little but disdain, but sadly there are a lot of issues I have with D* which I have enumerated many times here before which keep me from switching. Whenever I move to my next house in a few years, I expect a lot of things to have changed with both cable and D* and will seriously consider switching then.

Of course if TWC ever caps my internet usage, that could bring about a much quicker switch on my part, those bastards. :)

Yikes, you are? Your seemed genuniely pissed in that last one! :)

I am not HONEST!!

Seriously, the channels that I really want are the NBCU ones (USA, Sci-Fi), FX HD, BBCAHD (when it launches, or has it already?), and FSNHD. If we got the Starz and/or Cinemax in HD, I might drop HBO for other channels. I was as you stated, completely joking. The whole point of my original post was to simply poke fun that seemingly for the first time ever, TWC got a channel in HD before D* did, and it is actually one I wanted. I am only too painfully aware of how much superior D*'s HD offerings are.

Yeah, I know it is hard to change sometimes. I can tell you when D* didn't have any HD to speak of and other services were adding channels left and right, it was hard not to be upset but I knew our day would come too.

I do know that TWC is trying really hard to add channels, but they, along with most other cableco's put most of their infrastructure into Internet and phone service and now the market has shifted back to TV and internet phone isn't doing the business it was because of the issues they have with it and they are now paying for it with bandwidth for TV. Cable was putting a lot on SDV but that technology rolled out much slower than it was supposed to and that has put cable playing the catch up game while D* has spare bandwidth and I suspect it will be a while before they can come to parity with D*.

Of course if TWC ever caps my internet usage, that could bring about a much quicker switch on my part, those bastards. :)

I hear they already have started limited internet bandwidth to try and boost bandwidth for TV. They are trying any and everything.

I am not HONEST!!

Good. :)

I do know that TWC is trying really hard to add channels,

Here in Greensboro, they came a long way last year. SDV has helped with their bandwidth issues (I originally typed it "badwidth" - a Freudian slip perhaps...), but I think it's a flawed tech they have sunk their near term future in to. SDV channels don't look as good as their "older" HD channels to my eyes, and there are plenty of times where one or more of the SDV channels are offline for a time (sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for an evening). I anticipate, with more channels this will get worse. If they ever drop, or cut back their analog channels, I am sure this will help their bandwidth issues a lot, but then they'll be gradually losing one of my main reasons for staying (lots of TVs getting lots of channels). So, I agree their infrastructure is hurting their TV product a lot.
now the market has shifted back to TV and internet phone isn't doing the business it was because of the issues they have with it and they are now paying for it with bandwidth for TV.

This is interesting. I hear plenty of horror stories locally and from other regions about how unreliable their phone and internet services are, but it has been very reliable for me. I suppose I have been very lucky in that regard.
I hear they already have started limited internet bandwidth to try and boost bandwidth for TV. They are trying any and everything.

I think capping internet will backfire on them big time if they really do implement it for all customers. With more and more people wanting video online and with more and more software being distributed digitally, people are going to want more and more capacity. Much like when dial-up access was limited, once someone (AOL) came around and said, "Here, have all you want for $20", they dominated. I am sure someone else will come along and do the same thing and everyone will flock to them. I know I'll immediately switch to DSL if I have to. I'll take slightly slower internet (if it even is slower) for unlimited capacity.

What I don't understand is why they are so secretive. Nationally, TWC confirms the channels they have "Known Deals" with. Each division is free to add these channels when ever they see fit. If the Greensboro division would be more public about their plans it might stop some people from bailing on them.

I see that triad time warner has changed there website around. I also noticed that the Triad region will be getting the Navigator format sent down to there cable boxes. That would be great since I think the format we have now looks like something from the early 1990's. Depending on how the DVR's react after the Navigator change will let me to decide whether to keep the TWC DVR or go to a Tivo HD.