I emailed the engineer at WCWG and they replied and said that was the only feed they were provided today. They hoped to have HD feeds for future games.

I emailed the engineer at WCWG and they replied and said that was the only feed they were provided today. They hoped to have HD feeds for future games.

Hmmmm...That's a very interesting reply since WYCW here in Western NC/Upstate SC carried the HD feed for today's game. To be sure, the feed isn't station specific(?).

My guess is that unlike our CBS/ABC/My Network TV stations that are capable of carrying non network fed HD sports games (like Raycom football/basketball) our local CW isn't setup for it. Foxeng or Rickey can probably explain better but I think it's different than passing network HD shows.

My guess is WCWG doesn't have any non network HD receivers.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I bet you're correct.

I just saw highlights of the Tennessee game on Sportscenter in HD.

My bet is on foxeng being right that they don't have the right equipment so I doubt we'll see any of these games in HD this year unless another local channel carries them.

jpd31 and jacksonian,

I have a single M card. TWC just indicated that the "upgrade" is complete, and they are going to roll a truck Tuesday.

FYI, I'm not getting a lot of channels, including 411, 418, 423, 424, 436, 437, 447, etc. Mostly HD, and I suspect, all SDV.

Thanks for your assistance.

W

I just saw highlights of the Tennessee game on Sportscenter in HD.

My bet is on foxeng being right that they don't have the right equipment so I doubt we'll see any of these games in HD this year unless another local channel carries them.

WCWG has limited equipment. They (with other stations in their group) were recently bought out of bankruptcy. From the rumor I have heard (and take it with a grain of salt since NONE of this can be confirmed) after their change to The CW, sales were off. Then the economy tanks, they go into forced bankruptcy/liquidation sale (in the form of all asset sell including license) and then they have to continue to operate the analog transmitter 4 months longer than planned. Yeah, that takes a heavy toll on the bottom line. It is also public knowledge that in the Triad market, market wide advertising is off an astounding 40% due to the recession. Of course it is worse or better depending on the station, but everyone is feeling it quite bad right now, no one is immune.

jpd31 and jacksonian,

I have a single M card. TWC just indicated that the "upgrade" is complete, and they are going to roll a truck Tuesday.

FYI, I'm not getting a lot of channels, including 411, 418, 423, 424, 436, 437, 447, etc. Mostly HD, and I suspect, all SDV.

Thanks for your assistance.

W


That is strange. I remember before they rolled out the tuning adapters, I was unable to get the west coast feeds of HBO. Now, I am able to get them. They could do a number of things. They could check out your config on the tuning adapter, or check the config on your M cable card. They may not have the "account balance". Or, they might even switch out your M cable card with 2 S-Cards. Even though it should not make a difference, but it is strange that you don't get those channels. It could be a defective cable card after all.

When I scan with the Tivo HD I get hundreds of clear QAM channels popping up.

(basic cable, no cablecard)

I've figured out a few (e.g. 90-1 for WXII), but is there a listing for clear QAM for TWC Winston Salem so I know which "found" channels are good?

thanks for any info!

My guess is WCWG doesn't have any non network HD receivers.

I sent an email to the engineer asking,
"Would I be correct in guessing that you don't have any non-network HD receivers?"

And got the very short reply:
"No"

So I don't know what the deal was, but I'm thinking I'm wearing out my welcome with the questions. :)

I sent an email to the engineer asking,
"Would I be correct in guessing that you don't have any non-network HD receivers?"

And got the very short reply:
"No"

So I don't know what the deal was, but I'm thinking I'm wearing out my welcome with the questions. :)

Last I heard was they only had 3 dishes and one was network leaning me to believe they don't have that many receivers. We have 23 receivers, not counting the 4 network receivers and 20 dishes of varying sizes and shapes and we just got our first non network HD receiver because it does S2, something we need for a news sharing service we are in.

But if they say no, then I guess it is no, whatever that means.

That is strange. I remember before they rolled out the tuning adapters, I was unable to get the west coast feeds of HBO. Now, I am able to get them. They could do a number of things. They could check out your config on the tuning adapter, or check the config on your M cable card. They may not have the "account balance". Or, they might even switch out your M cable card with 2 S-Cards. Even though it should not make a difference, but it is strange that you don't get those channels. It could be a defective cable card after all.

jpd31,

I tried several arcane boot sequences, performed certain Santeria rites, and seem to be getting all authorized channels. I think the boot sequence that worked involved disconnecting the TA USB connection, having booted everything else several times. It was odd though, the next couple of boots failed. I thought I had bricked the TiVo. TWC says my account is "balanced".

Anyway, I cancelled the truck roll. We'll see how it goes.

W

When I scan with the Tivo HD I get hundreds of clear QAM channels popping up.

(basic cable, no cablecard)

I've figured out a few (e.g. 90-1 for WXII), but is there a listing for clear QAM for TWC Winston Salem so I know which "found" channels are good?

thanks for any info!
Wish I could help you, but it seems my Westinghouse tv maps the channels differently than other equipment. For what its worth, on my tv, 78.1 is WFMY; 78.3 is WGHP; 90.1 is UNC TV; 118.1 is WXLV (ABC); 90.2 is "This TV" (free movie station); 90.5 is WXII (all this is from memory) and there are several others.

I think next week will be an interesting week.

:D

- Trip

jpd31,

I tried several arcane boot sequences, performed certain Santeria rites, and seem to be getting all authorized channels. I think the boot sequence that worked involved disconnecting the TA USB connection, having booted everything else several times. It was odd though, the next couple of boots failed. I thought I had bricked the TiVo. TWC says my account is "balanced".

Anyway, I cancelled the truck roll. We'll see how it goes.

W
the boot sequence I was told came from SA that worked for me is to unplug the TA (power + USB), wait a few minutes. Then plug only the power back in and wait for the green light on the TA to go solid. Then reconnect the USB.

I've had to do this every few weeks when TWC adjusts something and I lose my sdv channels. And lately I've had to wait an hour or two after that (with everything on) for my channels to show back up.

I think next week will be an interesting week.

For any particular reason? Or are you gonna just be a big tease. :D

For any particular reason? Or are you gonna just be a big tease. :D

;)

;)
Let's see... un-planned FCC field agent visit... nah...probably not much fun when they pull up in that van with all the antennas.:eek:

I'll check back to see what's up and coming for next week. :)

the boot sequence I was told came from SA that worked for me is to unplug the TA (power + USB), wait a few minutes. Then plug only the power back in and wait for the green light on the TA to go solid. Then reconnect the USB.

I've had to do this every few weeks when TWC adjusts something and I lose my sdv channels. And lately I've had to wait an hour or two after that (with everything on) for my channels to show back up.

I have to say that the tuning adapter is not that great. I have had problems since day one with the tuning adapter. The picture would either freeze, lose the channel, or picture pixalation. Normally, a reboot of both the tivo and tuning adapter would fix the issue. It happens about once or twice a month where I would have to reboot everything and it does become a inconvenience. TWC is not going to go out of the way to fix the tuning adapter because they rather you rent there own cable boxes. I hate to say, but when or if TWC upgrades there cable boxes to Navigator, I might switch back. It is a shame, because Tivo is a great box. Wish TWC would rent out some TWC/Tivo boxes. It would be a lot better than what they have now.

Let's see... un-planned FCC field agent visit... nah...probably not much fun when they pull up in that van with all the antennas.:eek:

They have already been by and I have seen the antennas. They wouldn't let take any pictures though!!

They wouldn't let take any pictures though!!

Well that was not nice, what do they have 30ft boom VHF-HI beams that they are trying to hide? :)

TWC = Evil?

But what do I know. Don't have to deal with them. So many seem so unhappy though.

Too much NFL to watch now to worry about it. All in HD this season.

Cheers,

Joe

Well that was not nice, what do they have 30ft boom VHF-HI beams that they are trying to hide? :)

No actually not. They showed up with a LARGE thin brief case with a foam insert with MANY dipole antennas for every frequency from DC to daylight in it with a spectrum analyzer for looking at signals. They say the days of the trucks are all but over since they can get more data out of a modern day computer driven spectrum analyzer in a HUGELY SMALLER package than out of a truck. The antennas in the brief case are basically the same antennas they had on the trucks anyway and this way they can fly to any place in the country and and know they have what they need and not depend on the local field office, which in most cases doesn't exist anymore due to budget cuts.

It was a pretty cool set up. Technology is a WONDERFUL thing!

Oh, I saw a memo from FOX the other day stating that ALL of their NFL games will be in HD this season, unlike in past seasons where there was a max of 6 games a week in HD due to the limitation of the satellite distribution system. That was one of the advantages of the new receivers recently installed.

That was one of the advantages of the new receivers recently installed.

MPEG-4...its a good thing!

I'll check back to see what's up and coming for next week. :)

Well I wasn't going to say anything but since the on air talent has been tweeting about it all day today, I guess the "cat is out of the bag" now. Sunday night (tomorrow night) after network, we officially switch from 4:3 to 16:9 format as our main aspect ratio format. Programs that are available to us in 16:9, we will begin airing them in their native aspect ratio formats.

Right now that is only 4 programs, but we will do everything we can to provide them in their native format. We will also begin 16:9 newscasts as well starting with tomorrow night. The first being the 10 O'Clock News being our first official 16:9 locally produced program. The new Dr Oz program debuting at 9am Monday will also be in 16:9. Seinfeld will also start in 16:9 either later this week or next week depending on receipt of some parts for the sat dish that will receive the Seinfeld 16:9 program. The 16:9 version is sent linearly and not via server like the SD version. Weekend syndicated runs of Bones and Grey's Anatomy will also be in 16:9. We have been shooting some of the local commercials in 16:9 as well as promos and they will be transitioning to 16:9.

This has been in the works since the first of the year when it became obvious that our 15 year old studio cameras were on their last legs and if we had to replace them, it might be time to move to 16:9 with new cameras. We completed the camera replacements this week. If you have been watching this week, you might have noticed that the color balance on the studio cameras have been a little wacky as we get used to them since their technology is SO advanced over the old cameras we had. I think camera 3 is pretty close, camera 1 is a soft for some reason and camera 2 is a little too yellow. Only time will work out the bugs.

This project got delayed because of the delay in the Digital Transition and now we are finally ready to do it. More things to do along this line, this is but the start. The next week or so may be bumpy as we shift gears in the way we do things.

Even though operationally very little changes, it is a totally different way to think about how to do it. It has been a fun but hectic time. We still have more equipment coming in to continue this shift in the next month or so so we will still be busy for a while. Now the real "TERROR" starts! Does it all work like we think it will!? We shall see.

I guess the 16:9 won't look "zoomed in" like it did on WYDO when Ken hit the wrong setting a few weeks ago if you recall. I was sure hoping he was moving to 16:9! This isn't new stuff to me because WWAY has been doing 16:9 on commercials and certain shows for a good year now. Bonnie Hunt and ET for instance... Good luck!

Well I wasn't going to say anything but since the on air talent has been tweeting about it all day today, I guess the "cat is out of the bag" now. Sunday night (tomorrow night) after network, we officially switch from 4:3 to 16:9 format as our main aspect ratio format. Programs that are available to us in 16:9, we will begin airing them in their native aspect ratio formats.

Right now that is only 4 programs, but we will do everything we can to provide them in their native format. We will also begin 16:9 newscasts as well starting with tomorrow night. The first being the 10 O'Clock News being our first official 16:9 locally produced program. The new Dr Oz program debuting at 9am Monday will also be in 16:9. Seinfeld will also start in 16:9 either later this week or next week depending on receipt of some parts for the sat dish that will receive the Seinfeld 16:9 program. The 16:9 version is sent linearly and not via server like the SD version. Weekend syndicated runs of Bones and Grey's Anatomy will also be in 16:9. We have been shooting some of the local commercials in 16:9 as well as promos and they will be transitioning to 16:9.

This has been in the works since the first of the year when it became obvious that our 15 year old studio cameras were on their last legs and if we had to replace them, it might be time to move to 16:9 with new cameras. We completed the camera replacements this week. If you have been watching this week, you might have noticed that the color balance on the studio cameras have been a little wacky as we get used to them since their technology is SO advanced over the old cameras we had. I think camera 3 is pretty close, camera 1 is a soft for some reason and camera 2 is a little too yellow. Only time will work out the bugs.

This project got delayed because of the delay in the Digital Transition and now we are finally ready to do it. More things to do along this line, this is but the start. The next week or so may be bumpy as we shift gears in the way we do things.

Even though operationally very little changes, it is a totally different way to think about how to do it. It has been a fun but hectic time. We still have more equipment coming in to continue this shift in the next month or so so we will still be busy for a while. Now the real "TERROR" starts! Does it all work like we think it will!? We shall see.


That is awesome to hear. Can't wait to see the news in HD!!! WGHP is now putting the pressure on the other networks, WXII and WFMY, to follow up and broadcast there news in HD. Wonder how long that will be???

That is awesome to hear. Can't wait to see the news in HD!!! WGHP is now putting the pressure on the other networks, WXII and WFMY, to follow up and broadcast there news in HD. Wonder how long that will be???They can take as long as they need...(right foxeng) as long as they don't mind losing their viewers to WGHP news... :D I'm looking forward to watching tomorrow night's broadcast.

Joe L.

After the crap we gave WCWG last week, I have give them credit today. They have the Troy/Florida game in HD this week.

Please reread my post. I never said, HD. I said 16:9. This is just the first step. There are still some other things we need before we can do HD news. All of our field cameras are still SD but they will do 16:9 Our production switcher will do 16:9. And before anyone asks, yes, the new studio cameras are HD. (And they look FABULOUS! Even in 16:9 mode they still have better resolution than the old cameras.) The only limiting factor up to now for us to do 16:9 news were the studio cameras and the 4:3 of analog. The 4:3 issue resolved itself on June 12th and the new cameras resolved the other one. As we change out equipment, we buy HD equipment. Have been for years. Our master control switcher was HD upgradable. That is one of the reasons why we bought that one. HD will obviously be the next step but it does take a lot of money to do it. There is a plan and we are working it. I hope it will be sooner than later if things continue as they are and I hope they do.

For those keeping score, the first 16:9 local will be the 2 minute news update in the second game since this is a double header weekend. We have converted over now and I think the weather people are finishing up on their 16:9 stuff. And of course the 10 O'Clock News will be 16:9.

I just confirmed that the midnight episode tonight of Seinfeld IS in 16:9. The 11pm episode of Idol Rewind is NOT in 16:9.

Foxeng - congrats on this milestone.

Now the real "TERROR" starts! Does it all work like we think it will!? We shall see.

Ha! you have no idea Charles! ;)Just wait til you go HD..try to explain to your ops the difference between 1080i and 720p..and why a deck in 1080i mode won't record that one 720p feed you have..And how to set the SDID for correct captions..Oh, they forgot to double check audio :mad:on the feed and the playback only has full-scale white noise?:confused: What's a PID? And wait until your lead "news anchor's" package gets aired in stretch mode..and then it's engineerings fault they gained 100 lbs for the package..(guess someone turned the fat knob). :eek:..Oh, and by the way..it all needs regular software updates, and when you upgrade the XDCamHD decks..they no longer record feeds from the Tandberg IRD's, so you have to go update the Tandbergs too. :D

Ha! you have no idea Charles! ;)Just wait til you go HD..try to explain to your ops the difference between 1080i and 720p..and why a deck in 1080i mode won't record that one 720p feed you have..And how to set the SDID for correct captions..Oh, they forgot to double check audio :mad:on the feed and the playback only has full-scale white noise?:confused: What's a PID? And wait until your lead "news anchor's" package gets aired in stretch mode..and then it's engineerings fault they gained 100 lbs for the package..(guess someone turned the fat knob). :eek:..Oh, and by the way..it all needs regular software updates, and when you upgrade the XDCamHD decks..they no longer record feeds from the Tandberg IRD's, so you have to go update the Tandbergs too. :D

Why do you think we are doing things THIS way? :D One step at a time!

Why do you think we are doing things THIS way? :D One step at a time!

No, You know it really boils down to money.. but as an engineer friend of mine says: See me now.. or see me later..:)

Foxeng,

Everything looks great on the 10:00 news but I have two complaints. One, Fox8 does not have to show everytime Melissa Painter is on tv, her name. Show it at the beginning of the newscast, but not the entire newscast. After a while, it became a distraction, and I just changed the channel. Also, the Fox8 logo is a bit big on the screen. Other than that, it looks great.

The FOX8 logo is the same size it always has been and in the same place on the screen it has been. It does look different with the extra content on the side. As far as the reporters name, that is a director thing. Each one does it differently.

Thanks for watching.

Hello Forum Users,

Here is a copy of the last post I will ever write on the Roanoke Va. forum. This is what happens when "Know it alls" try and rule a forum when virtually everything they post is critical and demeaning of a certain stations HD efforts, and of personal pot shots at a stations friendly engineering staff who formerly posted in the Roanoke Va. forum to try and be helpful in the spirit of what a broadcast license is granted to a station for in the first place. The original topic was "We live in an all digital world" and it was posted by a Roanoke area "Know it all" who doesn't even work in this industry. It is rather long, and I apologize for that.

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

Originally Posted by FOX TV in reply to an always critical idiot


------, You are either so stupid, or so naive that you cannot see the forest for the trees. My comments about digital versus analog were in response to your very ignorant statement that we live in an all digital world. You are the main d-----s who has driven me to stop reading and posting on here. Your stubbornness and your ignorance shows through in every post you write.

Your original statement did mention HD, but the mention of resolution as a topic was never mentioned. You seem to change the topic every time you post another of your ignorant statements. You also seem to think you know everything about TV and HD broadcasting, or you are just to proud, stubborn, or arrogant to admit when you are wrong as can be seen by all of those on here who seem to agree with my statements.

Even the ____ engineer stated that "the live trucks until 2 weeks ago were analog NTSC equipment" and by that I am assuming that you know what a live truck is, and what NTSC even stands for, and no, it does not stand for the National Television System Committee; it actually stands for "Never the same color twice".:D

If you still think that we live in "An all digital world, you are either blind, stupid, or think that you know more than you actually do. Additionally your statement here " I doubt that any of our local stations use analog equipment any more, even with SD broadcast" really shows your true lack of knowledge about the inner workings of a TV broadcast station, and about the use of proper sentence structuring to boot, so I took the liberty of adding a needed coma to your improperly written sentence, which is just another example of your ignorance.

I would bet you a large chunk of change that even ____ still has a few A to D converters somewhere in their station. Do you even know what an A to D converter is? I doubt it from the nature of your completely uninformed statements. I would also bet that ____, as well as all of the other stations still have a few "ANALOG" C-Band satellite receivers in their plant too. You do know that broadcast stations are sometimes referred to as a plant don't you? What TV station or broadcaster do you work for, and is it broadcasting 24 hour HD content? Again, I would bet not. Have you even seen inside of Master Control in a TV station? I can tell from your ignorance that you most likely have not, and if you have, you learned nothing from it.

Your ignorance is not worth arguing about, and this is absolutely the last post I will waste my time writing, mainly because of you. It is scary to think that they even let people like you drive a car, and I hope I never meet you on the road.

In ending my absolute last post, I want to take the time to apologize to _______. You are absolutely correct that I took your post the wrong way. It was my fault for even getting on the computer after being up most of the night, and then getting woke up by two consecutive early morning phone calls from telemarketers, even when I am on the no call list, and that is no excuse.

Unlike ______, I am mature enough to admit that I was wrong, and again I am sorry for blasting you. The reason you lost us on Direc TV, is the fact that someone who decides how the money is spent decided to be cheap and pull our HD signal off air instead of using Fiber Optic, when the SD has been fed via Fiber Optic cable to the distribution point from day one.

We would gladly pay for the Fiber Optic feed for our HD signal, and have offered to do so, but that decision is out of our hands, so that if or when we have to take a transmitter off the air, we would not have to interrupt the feeds to the satellite distribution points.

I don't even care if I get banned form here because of this post because I am through here anyway, and I can tell when there are to many know it alls, that it is time to go. I joined this forum to try and be helpful to viewers who are having reception issues in the spirit of what a broadcast license is issued for in the first place, and that is to serve the public, and be a friendly neighbor to our audience, not to be in a pissing contest about who knows more about TV broadcasting than the other.

I now have the attitude that I could care less about what goes on in this forum in the future, or with anyone's reception issues. It only takes one d-----s to ruin it for everyone, but in this case, there were two. I could help a lot of people with reception issues, but the Bullsh__ that goes on here is not worth the time I waste doing it.

I have learned a lot more in the recent weeks about the weak signal areas with every station in the market since we have been doing technical signal strength tests using some very expensive and accurate test equipment that was deemed as more important to purchase than local HD equipment and I have been comparing our signal levels to other stations in this market. I can now identify a lot of the problem signal spots for all of the stations in the area and for viewers alike, but now that knowledge will be kept secret from forum users because of all of the crap that goes on here. We have also discovered that there are UHF antennas available that will receive weak signals, even when the signals are below the theoretical receive level, and below the minimum SNR levels of most receivers, but I will keep that to myself too.

Now I see why other engineers in this area do not care to contribute their vast knowledge on this forum, because there will always be those who think that they are better or smarter than everyone else, when in actuality you really show your arrogance and what you are made of inside, and that is not a pretty picture. I was actually warned about this several years ago by another engineer in this market who chooses not to post on here, and now I see why he does not participate here, and that what this person said about this forum is ABSOLUTELY TRUE !

For the very last time, I am going to repeat this..Good riddance to all of the "I know more than you do's" on here, and goodbye to a lot of friendly caring people who actually like to help folks, and not try to impress others with their knowledge level, just to feed their own ego and help reinforce their own insecurity.

I won't mention any names, but I am sure that they, and many others on here too will know who I am talking about, and it is definitely not _____, for he is cool with me and he and really wants to contribute to this forum and be helpful to people, as opposed to others who are only on here to show others how smart they are, and to show others what they think they know, and I have no further use for them, or the criticism they seem to love to spout out every time they get on here.

As for ______, may you and your precious HD equipment take a direct lightning strike in the next big thunderstorm to roll through. I would laugh until I was red in the face and short of breath if it actually happened, for you truly deserve it....and don't even bother to reply, for I will never read it. :mad: BYE BYE for good, I am done here !! _____, you can e-mail me at work about the PM, and I believe you have the address.

____________________________________________________________ __

Glad to hear the 16:9 switch went well, Charlie. I haven't checked the forum in a few days and missed the first broadcast last night. I'll have to take a look at the 5:00 news in a few hours.

Glad to hear the 16:9 switch went well, Charlie. I haven't checked the forum in a few days and missed the first broadcast last night. I'll have to take a look at the 5:00 news in a few hours.foxeng,

Caught the tail end of the news last night... The pictures of the city lights in the closing moments looked great. This morning's talent were happy to have the new-found width... but lamented they now needed to keep the additional area tidy. I watched the noon news today and only noticed one spot where the 4x3 pillarboxed image was really a 16x9, so the people looked like they lost 50lbs.

For those who have stretched their image to fill the screen, they probably looked perfect!!

All in all, a very smooth transition... at least it appears so from this side of the tube. Congratulations.

Joe L.

foxeng,

Caught the tail end of the news last night... The pictures of the city lights in the closing moments looked great. This morning's talent were happy to have the new-found width... but lamented they now needed to keep the additional area tidy. I watched the noon news today and only noticed one spot where the 4x3 pillarboxed image was really a 16x9, so the people looked like they lost 50lbs.

For those who have stretched their image to fill the screen, they probably looked perfect!!

All in all, a very smooth transition... at least it appears so from this side of the tube. Congratulations.

Joe L.

All in all, things have gone as smooth as we could hope. Of course today we are seeing things that we missed earlier but it is a learning curve for everyone and we expect that mistakes will happen until everyone gets used to 16:9 when using 4:3 material. But as time goes by, there will be more and more 16:9 so that will go away one day, soon we hope.

Good news from WGSR-47 . . . .

Our second channel of regular programming has been added. 47.4 is now up and running with Star News Channel - Martinsville. This is our company's original channel, and formerly available only on cable on Henry County, VA.

While some features are seen on both 47.1 (main channel) and 47.4, the programming on each channel is separate, local and distinct.

As always, comments are welcome.

I have Time Warner HD and I recently went over to a friends house and saw his new HDTV hooked up to DirectTV HD and I was blown away!!

As I watch Fox football recently the picture like freezes constantly like watching it in stop motion, really frustrating, and most of the time when I turn to an HD channel it says that it is unavailable at this time???

I called DirecTV to get their service and they came out and said they couldn't get a signal because of trees, so it looks as if I am going to be chopping down some trees, because the difference in signal quality was amazing

I own a Panasonic 50" 1080p plasma and my friend (with the DTV) has a Vizio 37"

Any suggestions????

My cable box is a 8240hdc using hdmi

As I watch Fox football recently the picture like freezes constantly like watching it in stop motion, really frustrating, and most of the time when I turn to an HD channel it says that it is unavailable at this time???

Here is the problem with live Fox sports and Scientific Atlanta set top boxes:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1163878

Hew HD coming for TWC next month. It figures that this would be announced 2 weeks after I cancel HBO. :)

October 28, 2009: The following channels will be added:

* HBO2 HD - Channel 451 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Signature HD - Channel 452 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Family HD - Channel 453 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Comedy HD - Channel 454 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Zone HD - Channel 455 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Latino HD - Channel 456 (requires subscription to HBO)
* BBC America HD - Channel 592 (Digital Tier)
* Turner Classic Movies HD - Channel 593 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)
* Investigation Discovery HD - Channel 594 (Digital Tier)
* Headline News HD - Channel 595 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)
* MSNBC HD - Channel 596 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)
* TruTV HD - Channel 597 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)

With us getting BBCA in HD, this brings the # of HD channels I want that TWC doesn't have down to ZERO. Woohoo!

Hew HD coming for TWC next month. It figures that this would be announced 2 weeks after I cancel HBO. :)



With us getting BBCA in HD, this brings the # of HD channels I want that TWC doesn't have down to ZERO. Woohoo!


TWC still needs to add Spike HD, Comedy Central HD, and The Weather Channel HD and I will be happy. Wish TWC would group the HD HBO channels near one another instead of leaving HBOHD and HBOWHD on 410 and 411. Oh well, I will just delete the SD HBO's from my Tivo list so my wife does not watch the SD versions. :)

I'm looking forward to the new HD channels and dumping the SARA software.

Triad TWC told me on Thursday, that they will be switching to the new Navigator software for the SA boxes "on or around October 6"

I'm looking forward to the new HD channels and dumping the SARA software.

Triad TWC told me on Thursday, that they will be switching to the new Navigator software for the SA boxes "on or around October 6"

Tell me more about this SARA software...interested in knowing everything I can right now so I don't make a bad decision of keeping cable or going with Dish, thanks!

Steve in Winston Salem

I hope that the new software fixes the bug that defaults the audio to SAP instead of Main.

TWC still needs to add Spike HD, Comedy Central HD, and The Weather Channel HD and I will be happy. Wish TWC would group the HD HBO channels near one another instead of leaving HBOHD and HBOWHD on 410 and 411. Oh well, I will just delete the SD HBO's from my Tivo list so my wife does not watch the SD versions. :)

I'm with you.....Spike, Comedy Central, The Weather Channel PLUS Cartoon Network(Star Wars:Clone Wars the TV Show) all of those in HD are the last of channels I would really want....

and My wife gets mad at me for blocking the SD version of channels that have an HD version....lol...am I wrong for wanting the TV to get the best version of the channel available??

Tell me more about this SARA software...interested in knowing everything I can right now so I don't make a bad decision of keeping cable or going with Dish, thanks!

Steve in Winston Salem

From what I've read, the SARA software was a sort-of proof of concept for TWCs version of a DVR. It has the basic functionality of a DVR with none of the finesse and features of TiVo. The interface looks straight out of the 90's, it's horrible.

The new Navigator software is more polished, from what I've read, but it is still far behind TiVo or Moxi in terms of usability and polish. I'd switch in a second to Dish or DirecTV if I had the option, picture quality is much better...along with a better DVR, but I'm surrounded by trees.

After looking at SARA for the last 6 years anything is an improvement.

I hope the version of Navigator we get can do 16x9....as I hear there is a newer version that can do this

I hope the version of Navigator we get can do 16x9....as I hear there is a newer version that can do this


16X9 has nothing to do with software. The issue is a hardware issue. The 8300HD or 8300HDC cannot generate a 16X9 guide. The new Samsung boxes can do 16X9 but the guide is stretched and is not true 16X9.

16X9 has nothing to do with software. The issue is a hardware issue. The 8300HD or 8300HDC cannot generate a 16X9 guide. The new Samsung boxes can do 16X9 but the guide is stretched and is not true 16X9.

oh ok...I was thinking it was a Software limitation, but now after going back to the Navigator thread I noticed that the people that mentioned it said it was the Sammy boxes. But for it to be just stretched is useless. I mean you can do that with SARA on the SA boxes now if you set it to output everything in widescreen...I remember my box was acting up once and was stuck that way, I pretty much had to switch it out cause the techs couldnt fix it.

I'm looking forward to the new HD channels and dumping the SARA software.

Triad TWC told me on Thursday, that they will be switching to the new Navigator software for the SA boxes "on or around October 6"

I hope you are right. However in the past Time Warner has given me 3 dates for the Navigator switchover. All the dates passed with no Navigator or explanation of why. Hope this date is correct not just a csr telling you something to get you off the phone.

I'm looking forward to the new HD channels and dumping the SARA software.

Triad TWC told me on Thursday, that they will be switching to the new Navigator software for the SA boxes "on or around October 6"

October 6 of what year? :D

October 6 of what year? :D

That's what I was thinking when the TWC rep told me. She also said TWC would be sending out a mailing next week to show customers the new interface.

The software was downloaded to all the reps cable boxes so they would have a chance to learn to use it, before it went out to the customers. I asked her if they would flash my 8300 with the new software, but that was a no-go.

And to answer your question, that would be October 6, 2009. We'll see about that. It sounds like the new software is marginally better. If it totally sucks, I'll switch to an HD TiVo.

Hello Forum Users,

Here is a copy of the last post I will ever write on the Roanoke Va. forum. This is what happens when "Know it alls" try and rule a forum when virtually everything they post is critical and demeaning of a certain stations HD efforts, and of personal pot shots at a stations friendly engineering staff who formerly posted in the Roanoke Va. forum to try and be helpful in the spirit of what a broadcast license is granted to a station for in the first place. The original topic was "We live in an all digital world" and it was posted by a Roanoke area "Know it all" who doesn't even work in this industry. It is rather long, and I apologize for that.



Don't you just love the internet.......the place where facts only confuse the issue for many.......in fact you are correct we live in a digital world, some of us are "1"'s and some are "0"'s :D

Looks like you've been zero fishing, and pulled in quite a haul!

Speaking about TWC, what's up with channel 587 (Fox news)? On my set it is heavily pixellated and the sound scrambled, while the adjecent channels are excellent quality. One of the adjacents is 588 Fox business HD, so in the absence of other facts I'm ruling out the feed to TWC.

It was pixellated last night as well in the 5:00 time frame, getting better later in the evening. Is someone scrambling Glen Beck's broadcast?

I did call this into TWC, spoke with a very polite customer service agent, but there's little she can do except log the complaint.

Any body else seeing this?

I don't really watch Fox News, but I frequently see pixellation on any and all of the SDV HD channels. The locals look the best in HD, followed by non-SDV channels (ESPN, etc.). The SDV's frequently are the worst, especially with flashes, strobes, rapid color changes, etc.

I don't really watch Fox News, but I frequently see pixellation on any and all of the SDV HD channels. The locals look the best in HD, followed by non-SDV channels (ESPN, etc.). The SDV's frequently are the worst, especially with flashes, strobes, rapid color changes, etc.

Here's the thing:
9/22, 5 ish: ch 587 glen beck scrambled
10 ish: ch 587 all clear
9/23, 5 ish: ch 587 glen beck scrambled
ch 588 clear
10 ish: ch 587 all clear
ch 588 scrambled, by the way, O'reilly's being interviewed.

You can tell me is SDV, but I'm sticking with the Venzeluean/Iranian conspiracy theory for now......look at the nutjobs speaking at the UN today!

I was over at TWC on another issue but was told they plan on making the 100 HD channels by the end of the year and plan on heavily using SDV to make it happen. Also they have teamed the Greensboro and Durham headends. All the HBOs are received in Durham and then shipped via fiber over to Greensboro now.

My pixellation issues with the SDV channels have been really sporadic. I had none for a long time, then it started and was getting progressively worse over a couple of months, then my TA's went offline and I had to reboot them. Since then I've had very little to no pixellation issues.

I'm stoked about all the new HD content!

I spoke with our local Time Warner office today and they confirmed Oct. 6 as the date Navigator will begin it's launch in Greensboro and they hope to have it finished by the end of Oct. I guess the rest of the triad is on that schedule also. Here's hopeing this time the date is correct and we really get navigator.

A co-worker of mine who lives in the Triad (Thomasville maybe, but I am not sure) received a mailer yesterday about Navigator so it does appear it's finally coming. I am cringing, but hoping it will be better than my experiences with it before...

Just thought I would pass along that this coming week, we are installing the HD upgrade to our master control switcher. This will allow us to pass programming we get along in HD. We do have 2 HD receivers so we will be able to do non-network HD when available. We have a HD server on order, but we have no idea when it is to arrive. We have had it on order since July and was told it wouldn't take this long to get here, but we are ready for it and it isn't anywhere in sight. That is the way these things go.

Just wondered if anyone has received the Navigator flyer Time Warner was susposed to be sending out. No flyer here yet.Anyone in Greensboro receive it yet?

I want to make sure I've read everything correctly on this and other forums, as I'm in the market for a new antenna - WGHP currently broadcasts on channel 8 and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future (not on channel 35). Is this correct? I was hoping not to worry about whether I'd need VHF capabilities, but if WGHP doesn't broadcast in UHF then I will.

Currently, WGHP is transmitting on both channels 8 and 35. At some point in the future, a determination will be made about discontinuing one or the other.

- Trip

Just wondered if anyone has received the Navigator flyer Time Warner was susposed to be sending out. No flyer here yet.Anyone in Greensboro receive it yet?

I havent gotten anything...

I am sure the flier goes something like this:

We at Time Warner are so excited about launching this space age futurized technology!!!

Never again will your HD TV look so bad!!!

Because of this technology we will be imposing a small increase in your monthly bill so our extremely rude, inconsiderate, knowledge less employees can continue to enjoy their services for free.

Since Friday in west Greensboro my picture has been suffering from severe pixalation on TWC. Last night I could hardly watch the football game. Happened on HD, SD, basically every channel I turned to. Anyone else experiencing this?

Wednesday we start the upgrade of our master control switcher to HD. All the equipment and wiring has been installed for it and now just waiting on the factory rep to come tomorrow to start the process to setting it up. He leaves Thursday afternoon so lots to do once he gets it all configured and then we have to make sure the automation is squared away with it and then reconfig cables. We might make it by the weekend, if we are lucky! :)

Since Friday in west Greensboro my picture has been suffering from severe pixalation on TWC. Last night I could hardly watch the football game. Happened on HD, SD, basically every channel I turned to. Anyone else experiencing this?
Nah I havent noticed anything that bad...I stay off Randleman.....most issue I will have is sometime I can't get USA-HD or Bravo-HD due to the SDV...I hate that

Don't you just love the internet.......the place where facts only confuse the issue for many.......in fact you are correct we live in a digital world, some of us are "1"'s and some are "0"'s :D

Looks like you've been zero fishing, and pulled in quite a haul!

Ones and ZEROS, I am still trying to figure out the balance between the two. Maybe a poll is needed here..I am a one, but are there are so many Zeros that they offset the balance of the ones ? Lets hope not:D

For those interested, well it works! The HD master control switcher is making HD pictures. Not on the air yet. Still have lots of work to do before we can put it on air. I figure it will be some time next week before we get it on the air at the rate things are going. But so far things are looking good. You probably wont see any difference when it goes on line, but we will have the capability of showing non network HD programming, when it is available to us. Still waiting on our HD playback server. I have NO idea where that thing is. Been on order since mid July. We will have everything ready to go before it even gets here and we thought it would be the FIRST thing to arrive.

foxeng seems like only a few months ago we asked you when you guys were going HD and you said you guys had a LOOOOONG way to go...glad you are ALMOST there. Can't wait to have some local HD news!! Hell the 16x9 although not in HD is refreshing.

foxeng seems like only a few months ago we asked you when you guys were going HD and you said you guys had a LOOOOONG way to go...glad you are ALMOST there. Can't wait to have some local HD news!! Hell the 16x9 although not in HD is refreshing.

Well we still have a ways to go but things are moving along nicely and I can't tip my hand on EVERYTHING we are doing. ;) The competition does read AVS! :( .

At the time you asked me, HD was NOT on the plate for this project, just 16:9, but I couldn't even say that much. As we started to move on this project and looking at what we needed to do to make this work, it became clear that if we could get some HD items we wanted now so that allowed us to up the timetable a little bit on certain items. Hey, if we can get a deal with HD, we, like other stations WILL take advantage of it in this economy (distributors are making some GREAT deals now!) since that is where everyone is trying to get to anyway. We needed new cameras to do 16:9 anyway, make them HD! It would cost the same amount. So we did. We try and be smart in purchases since this equipment will be around for years.

As I have been saying forever it seems, we have a HD upgrade path in place we have been traveling since 2000. No dates are on that path, but when it comes time to replace something, we make sure it is either HD or can be easily or cheaply upgradable to HD (like we did with our master control switcher, we bought it new in late 2005). That is the key now. With prices as they are, we look at HD first, not last. We aren't the only ones who do that.

We may not be the first with HD news, but we won't be far behind either with what we have in place now and what we need to finish. We do have a goal in sight and our attitude is slow and steady finishes the race (hey if the choice is between HD news and me losing my job or staying 16:9 SD and keeping my job, I will GLADLY forgo HD for a while). We WILL get there, maybe not when we want to, but we will get there.

Slightly off topic question. Do any of you guys/gals here have any experience with either Premier Technologies or Advanced Tech Systems here in Greensboro when it comes to any home automation/home theater stuff? Just looking for any references for good/bad experiences. Need someone to help me with a Control4 project.

Thanks,
Brent

For what it's worth, I got a Time Warner Update E-Mail today (that is definitely produced locally based on its content) and there was no mention of Navigator in it. Still no flyer as of yesterday either.

Edit: Forgot to add, for college football fans CBS College Sports (SD and HD) will be available free starting tomorrow for a week.

Hello All,

For some reason, I am now unable to receive Fox 8 OTA with the same TV Tuner/Antenna that just a couple of months ago received it just fine. I can receive every other channel in the area, but not Fox 8. I have a Radio Shack Model 15-1892 HDTV antenna (not allowed to post a URL yet) and I'm using a Hauppauge ATSC TV Tuner (the WinTV-PVR-1800) all connected to a Windows 7 Media Center machine. I'm in Jamestown, NC, right where MacKay and Guilford College intersect and the antenna is on the second floor. I was previously able to receive WGHP with this same setup downstairs.

Channel 8 is automatically added, but I get nothing for signal strength, so I tried manually adding 35, but I also get nothing for signal strength.

Any ideas?

IT"S OFFICIAL. Got my Navigator flyer in the mail today. Also got a call from TWC other night confirming Oct.6 as the start date for Navigator in Greensboro.The rollout will continue thru Oct until all boxes have Navigator.But I do have the flyer and Navigator will be here in a few days.

IT"S OFFICIAL. Got my Navigator flyer in the mail today. Also got a call from TWC other night confirming Oct.6 as the start date for Navigator in Greensboro.The rollout will continue thru Oct until all boxes have Navigator.But I do have the flyer and Navigator will be here in a few days.

I hope you like it as much as you think you will.

Just a reminder to all the football fans. It is your favorite time of year. SUN OUTAGE!!

Between 1:50 and 2:40 this Sunday.

Slightly off topic question. Do any of you guys/gals here have any experience with either Premier Technologies or Advanced Tech Systems here in Greensboro when it comes to any home automation/home theater stuff? Just looking for any references for good/bad experiences. Need someone to help me with a Control4 project.

Thanks,
Brent



ATS is Excellent! Ask for Jeff-- Tell him Mark sent you!

I hope you like it as much as you think you will.

Already have it at a small home I have at Emerald Isle. Been useing it a year down there with no problems at all.

Just a reminder to all the football fans. It is your favorite time of year. SUN OUTAGE!!

Between 1:50 and 2:40 this Sunday.

Thanks for the "heads up"!

I received the brochure on Navigator from Time Warner Cable yesterday. The upgrade is coming in a couple of weeks. Depending on what model SA box you have, some boxes will update before others.

We can finally move from a 1980s style to a 1990s interface. At this rate, we'll have TiVo quality software in another decade.:rolleyes:

Well, I've lost WXII-HD on 90-1 in Winston (and 90-2) on TWC.

Those channels have had multiple issues over the last couple of weeks.

Anyone else here still getting it on TWC?

Wonder if it's time to crawl up on the roof...

I received the brochure on Navigator from Time Warner Cable yesterday. The upgrade is coming in a couple of weeks. Depending on what model SA box you have, some boxes will update before others.

We can finally move from a 1980s style to a 1990s interface. At this rate, we'll have TiVo quality software in another decade.:rolleyes:
Do not laugh please. I have Navigator at our beach cabin.If what we get here works as well as what I have there you will think you have a Tivo if you compare it to SARA not Passport. Hopefully in a few more months Navigator will be up to Passport. If they add keyword search, manual recording and folders they will be almost on par with passport. I her these fetures are comeing shortly along wit remote scheluding and longer show reviews.Only a matter of months on those I hear.

ATS is Excellent! Ask for Jeff-- Tell him Mark sent you!
Awesome. Thanks for the tip. I have Allan coming out on Thursday (had already talked to him before you mentioned Jeff).

If what we get here works as well as what I have there you will think you have a Tivo if you compare it to SARA not Passport. Hopefully in a few more months Navigator will be up to Passport. If they add keyword search, manual recording and folders they will be almost on par with passport. I her these fetures are comeing shortly along wit remote scheluding and longer show reviews.Only a matter of months on those I hear.

That sounds good. I've been using SARA for years so I'm looking forward to an updated interface. It would be nice if TWC were to also start changing out the old SA boxes with the new black Cisco/SA boxes with faster processors. I'm sure that will happen as the older silver SA boxes start dying.

Do not laugh please. I have Navigator at our beach cabin.If what we get here works as well as what I have there you will think you have a Tivo if you compare it to SARA not Passport. Hopefully in a few more months Navigator will be up to Passport. If they add keyword search, manual recording and folders they will be almost on par with passport. I her these fetures are comeing shortly along wit remote scheluding and longer show reviews.Only a matter of months on those I hear.

Whoa... I can't manually record something anymore? So Navigator actually REMOVES a SARA feature? Great, my dread has increased.

Or new Samsung boxes.

Whoa... I can't manually record something anymore? So Navigator actually REMOVES a SARA feature? Great, my dread has increased.

Never fear the manual recording feature along with keyword search is being added back soon.

Never fear the manual recording feature along with keyword search is being added back soon.

But initially it is a loss of function. That fact can't be spun. And who knows WHEN it will be added? If I was a TWC sub I would be LIVID.

Whine and complain to them by using the contact us feature and have it sent to the Navigator engineering team. Then they might add it back.

It's going to be interesting to see how this transition pans out. They must have a lot of SARA areas to convert. They have more SARA areas than ex Passport areas so this will be a very big project indeed.

It's going to be interesting to see how this transition pans out. They must have a lot of SARA areas to convert. They have more SARA areas than ex Passport areas so this will be a very big project indeed.

Yep from what I hear. Time Warner was 25% Passport and 75% SARA. It's gona get interesting. I'm not a Navigator ya ya fan. I loved Passport. However SARA is so far behind as a modern guide anything has to be a improvement. For my money they should have switched eveyone to Passport. However if you stay with TWC it;s going to be Navigator. All we can do is complain and I'm sure it should improve as time passes.If not I hear TWC is in talks to add Tivo as a premium guide.But Lord knows when or if we will ever see that.So for now let's just try to be constructive about Navigator or buy a Tivo or switch to Direct TV. Both those choices bring problems also.

Never fear the manual recording feature along with keyword search is being added back soon.

So Navigator is in fact more primitive than the first VCR I ever owned. Bravo TWC. Sorry, but a better guide is not worth losing a completely basic feature I use frequently. Since there is no manual record, will I no longer be able to rewind a show I have been watching (but not programmed to record before hand)?

So Navigator is in fact more primitive than the first VCR I ever owned. Bravo TWC. Sorry, but a better guide is not worth losing a completely basic feature I use frequently. Since there is no manual record, will I no longer be able to rewind a show I have been watching (but not programmed to record before hand)?

When I say manual record I do not mean you cannot series record or single show record. What is missing is the ability to manually record blocks of time.Such as 8 to 10 on friday night. Now you just have to set it to record the shows you want at that time. Is it better NO but their is a work a round. Should we have to use a work around absoutely not. I agree TWC was stupid in removeing features. Another feature from sara we are loseing is the record to vcr (or dvd recorder)You can still do it but now you cannot change channels or watch something else. This is another Navigator backstep.Am I happy at loseing features I use all the time NOOOOOOOOOO. But since we are stuck with Navigator I hope TWC will add features back soon.It's not a perfect world but their are options to Navigator.We can either wait for Navigator to improve or bail.Trust me I agree on a lot of what you say.However we can either bail or bear it. Is it fair NO. But life and large companies are rarely fair.If enought people leave because of Navigator things might change.However if you look at the Passport change over many people whined but few left. In fact in the last two quarters TWC gained subs from Direct tv. Let face it. We are small fish in a big corperate bowl. Thats my rant for today. Seriously hope you have a great week. Maybe Navigator will not be that bad. The version I have at the coast is reliable and fast.Lets face it Road Runner and Digital phone both of which work well and are very stable keep lots of folks wedded to Time Warner.

When I say manual record I do not mean you cannot series record or single show record. What is missing is the ability to manually record blocks of time.Such as 8 to 10 on friday night.

OK I think I misunderstood "no manual record". What I want to know is, can I hit the "record" button while watching a show and it will record the rest of that show from the point I started watching the channel with the show on it until the show ends?

OK I think I misunderstood "no manual record". What I want to know is, can I hit the "record" button while watching a show and it will record the rest of that show from the point I started watching the channel with the show on it until the show ends?

From what I understand yes.Also I hear we have 3 fast forward speeds and 15 minute skip has been added instead of a fourth fast forward. This means if you are watching a recorded show or movie and want to get to the middle you can skip ahead 15 minutes by the push of a button. Also a 8 second jumpback simular to Tivo has been added. If you are fast forwarding thru a commerical and overshoot Navigator automactlc backs up 8 seconds.

Thanks for the clarification. If I can still hit record to record a show I am watching, then I am less unhappy about getting Navigator. I remain concerned with the slowness I have experienced with it in navigating channels when using it in Wilmington and Ocean Isle Beach.

Another cool feature Navigator has is a true series manager with series priority function the same as Tivo or Passport. A feature that Navigator has is that if you set your show prioritys right it gets smart. Say you record Stargate Universe on Friday nights. However a discovery special comes on you wish to see and you also have Psych set to record at the same time. Useing the series manager set the discovery special at a higher priority than Stargate and Psych. Depending on which is a lower priorit Psych or Stargate Navigator will record the higher priority of the two. Say Psych had a higher priority Navigator will then record the next available epsode of te Stargate you wanted exactly as Tivo does.If Stargate does not repeat until the next day or 2 days it still will record it. Neither Sara or Passport could do that. Also we have a keyboard to search shows with. Just type in show name like Tivo and Navigator tells you all the times it will air. Keyword search which is close to Tivo wishlist will be added in the next couple of updates. Also Navigator on demand is yeas ahead of Sara. Say you want to watch movie trailers on demand the new movies in the list have a red dot next to them to show they were recently added and have not been viewed.. There is a lot of new cool stuff in Navigator us SARA folk have only dreamed about.

It's going to happen tomorrow morning at some early time. Probably in the 12-6 AM region. Heres to a successful SARA to Navigator transition.

Another feature from sara we are loseing is the record to vcr (or dvd recorder)You can still do it but now you cannot change channels or watch something else. This is another Navigator backstep.

Wow. I am seriously unhappy about losing this feature. I regularly copy PBS shows to dvd for my son to watch in the car, etc. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but this feature is very important to me. Do you know if this was removed intentionally or if it is a feature that they are working on adding?

Does Tivo, or any other type of box allow you to copy recordings to a dvd recorder? This is something that might persuade me to switch services. Also, I'm assuming Navigator will be on all boxes, so I couldn't get a non-hdtv box to allow me to continue copying shows - is this correct?

I know everything has its own advantages and disadvantages, but it seems ridiculous to me to not support a feature that the box was specifically designed to have.

Thanks.

Wow. I am seriously unhappy about losing this feature. I regularly copy PBS shows to dvd for my son to watch in the car, etc. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but this feature is very important to me. Do you know if this was removed intentionally or if it is a feature that they are working on adding?

Does Tivo, or any other type of box allow you to copy recordings to a dvd recorder? This is something that might persuade me to switch services. Also, I'm assuming Navigator will be on all boxes, so I couldn't get a non-hdtv box to allow me to continue copying shows - is this correct?

I know everything has its own advantages and disadvantages, but it seems ridiculous to me to not support a feature that the box was specifically designed to have.

Thanks.

Tivo does have a feature like that but even better. If TWC doesn't copy flag the channel you can transfer it your PC in which you can record to a DVD. Then again you'll have to have a Tuning resolver which works pretty well. You can always do a realtime of that recording.

Wow. I am seriously unhappy about losing this feature. I regularly copy PBS shows to dvd for my son to watch in the car, etc. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but this feature is very important to me. Do you know if this was removed intentionally or if it is a feature that they are working on adding?

Does Tivo, or any other type of box allow you to copy recordings to a dvd recorder? This is something that might persuade me to switch services. Also, I'm assuming Navigator will be on all boxes, so I couldn't get a non-hdtv box to allow me to continue copying shows - is this correct?

I know everything has its own advantages and disadvantages, but it seems ridiculous to me to not support a feature that the box was specifically designed to have.

Thanks.

The sara software we have now does that. Record what you want to your dvr. Go to the copy to vcr option in the dvr..This also works on a dvd recorded.I use it all the time. But you better hurry only a few weeks til we all get Navigator and that feature is gone.That feature has been on sara at least 3 years.You can still copy to a dvd burner on Navigator you just cannot change channels or look at another show while you do.It must stay on the same channel. Another step backwards for Navigator. Like you I use this option a lot.

If Time Warner would add the Passport features they removed from Navigator and add back the Sara features they are removeing they would have a fairly nice dvr guide.

Some folk in Greensboro got Navigator last night. Mostly the 8300hdc boxes. Still waiting here. *IT HAS BEGAN*

Some folk in Greensboro got Navigator last night. Mostly the 8300hdc boxes. Still waiting here. *IT HAS BEGAN*

You DO realize don't you that since you WANT it so BAD, you will be the last one to get it? :eek:

Well the wayward HD server FINALLY arrived today. Looks like it has been in a hockey game as the puck. Who knows if it works or not. Still don't have the HD master control ready to go on air yet so it will have to wait until we get that on the air later this week or next. Always something.

You DO realize don't you that since you WANT it so BAD, you will be the last one to get it? :eek:

LOL probably. But it least I have a years experience with it thanks to TWC at the coast.

Some folk in Greensboro got Navigator last night. Mostly the 8300hdc boxes. Still waiting here. *IT HAS BEGAN*

I haven't even received the brochure from TWC advising of the switch to Navigator. I would have thought they would have mailed them out to everyone at the same time.

Tivo does have a feature like that but even better. If TWC doesn't copy flag the channel you can transfer it your PC in which you can record to a DVD. Then again you'll have to have a Tuning resolver which works pretty well. You can always do a realtime of that recording.

Thanks, that's good to know. I really have no desire to leave TW because I'm not sure what I'll get elsewhere, but I use Copy to VCR quite a bit now. It would be considerably less convenient to have to keep the box set to what I am recording. I guess I need to do some research into Tivo (who offers it, etc.) - I've heard great things but avoided it due to the cost (particularly the subscription fee). Many days we never even turn on our tv - so its hard to justify to great of an expense. (I do record shows frequently during the week which we then watch when possible on the weekend). I guess I also need to look into recording with my computer, although my current computer only records the lower channels, no the digital ones.

Thanks for the response.


Crazywoody
The sara software we have now does that.

That's how I currently record shows to dvd. I was unaware until your post that Navigator didn't support this feature.

Thanks for your help.

Here is something I came across from ABC's 20/20 from 1989. A two part story on some new technology called "HDTV." Scary stuff!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srieR_dAzMw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iOaziIUPpg

Here is something I came across from ABC's 20/20 from 1989. A two part story on some new technology called "HDTV." Scary stuff!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srieR_dAzMw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iOaziIUPpgAre any HDTV sets are manufactured here in the USA? Is Zenith still a manufacturer? or just re-labeled LG?

But never fear, you can still use your old SD TV to watch the new HDTV stations once they arrive some time in the 1990's.;)

Are any HDTV sets are manufactured here in the USA? Is Zenith still a manufacturer? or just re-labeled LG?

LG bought Zenith since they hold the ATSC patent. The only line that has Zenith on it that I know of were the CECB's LG made. Everything else is LG labeled.

But never fear, you can still use your old SD TV to watch the new HDTV stations once they arrive some time in the 1990's.;)

It was interesting to me how much of it that came true and how much of it didn't.

The part that they didn't make any reference too, because it wasn't relevant at the time was it was ANALOG HD they were talking about. Digital HD was still several years away from reality hence the reference to HD taking more OTA bandwidth, which at the time, WAS true. The NHK system took 12 MHz of bandwidth. Digital was able to bring it down to the US 6 MHz channel bandwidth.

Satellite, Telcos Beat Cable On TV Satisfaction: J.D. Power
Overall Satisfaction With TV Service Providers Bounces Back
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 10/7/2009 9:00:00 AM

Most major cable operators continue to fall short on customer satisfaction compared with satellite and phone company TV services, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2009 television service satisfaction survey.

AT&T U-verse TV had the top score in the West and South regions for the second year in a row, and Verizon's FiOS TV took the crown in the East, also for a second consecutive year. Overbuilder WideOpenWest ranked highest in the North Central region.

By contrast, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications turned in below-average scores in all four regions.

Overall, customer satisfaction with television service providers in 2009 increased considerably over last year, J.D. Power found. Average satisfaction nationwide was 632 on a 1,000-point scale -- up 23 points from 609 last year, which was the lowest industry average during the past five years. The research firm said the increase was the result of fewer outages and improvements in problem resolution.

"In the wake of receding satisfaction scores in 2008, improvements in product performance and the service surrounding it this year suggest that providers are eager to better position themselves to retain and grow their customer bases," said Frank Perazzini, J.D. Power's director of telecommunications.

According to the survey, average time on hold required to resolve a customer's most recent problem declined 13% year over year, to 9 minutes and 5 seconds this year. J.D. Power also found that fewer customers are experiencing outages: 11% reported an outage this year versus 15% in 2008.

Across each geographical region, telco and satellite TV by and large outperformed cable.

In the East, Verizon FiOS was No. 1 with a score of 714, followed by DirecTV (684), Dish Network (669), Cablevision Systems (649) and Cox Communications (644). Below the East's average of 635 were TWC, RCN, Comcast and Charter.

WOW led the North Central region with 724, followed by AT&T U-verse (715), Verizon FiOS (712), DirecTV (674), Insight Communications (672), Cox (652) and Dish (650). Falling below the region's 625 average score were Bright House Networks, TWC, Comcast, Charter and Mediacom Communications.

In the South, U-verse (718) was followed by Verizon FiOS (702), DirecTV (685), Bright House (674), Insight (658), Dish (654) and Cox (641). The average score in the South was 635, with Cable One, Suddenlink Communications, TWC, Comcast, Charter and Mediacom below the mark.

Finally, in the West, AT&T U-verse (721) and FiOS (682) led the pack, followed by DirecTV and Dish (both with 664), Cox (646) and Cable One (635). Providers under the West average of 632 were TWC, Comcast, Mediacom and Charter.

Cable operators have fared better on J.D. Power's residential phone service survey. This year, Cox topped East and West, Bright House won the South and WOW scored highest in North Central (see Cox Tops East, West Regions On J.D. Power Phone Survey). However, not all MSOs excelled -- Comcast, for example, had below-average phone service scores in all four regions.

According to J.D. Power, cable customers are far less likely to recommend their provider than satellite TV customers.

Of satellite subscribers, 78% said they "definitely will" or "probably will" recommend their provider to others, an increase of six percentage points from 2008. About 60% of cable customers said the same, up from 55% in 2008.

Meanwhile, the percentage of cable customers who affirmed their loyalty to their provider declined to 25% in 2009, down from 27% last year. DirecTV and Dish Network also saw a drop on loyalty, down four percentage points to 40% in 2009.

"Given the current state of the economy, customers generally want to keep their options open, even if they are satisfied with their current provider," Perazzini noted.

J.D. Power found there was belt-tightening in some areas of video services. The percentage of cable customers who subscribe to additional premium channels fell to 29% in 2009, down three points from 32% in 2008. Video-on-demand and pay-per-view use also moderately declined, with 33% reporting VOD usage this year (compared with 35% in 2008) and 16% reporting a PPV order (compared with 18% in 2008).

The study is based on responses from 28,118 U.S. consumers who evaluated their cable, satellite or telco provider. It was fielded in January, March and July 2009.

J.D. Power's TV service survey measures customer satisfaction on five factors: performance and reliability; customer service; cost of service; billing; and offerings and promotions.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/357001-Satellite_Telcos_Beat_Cable_On_TV_Satisfaction_J_D_Power.php

Satellite, Telcos Beat Cable On TV Satisfaction: J.D. Power
Overall Satisfaction With TV Service Providers Bounces Back
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 10/7/2009 9:00:00 AM

Most major cable operators continue to fall short on customer satisfaction compared with satellite and phone company TV services, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2009 television service satisfaction survey.

AT&T U-verse TV had the top score in the West and South regions for the second year in a row, and Verizon's FiOS TV took the crown in the East, also for a second consecutive year. Overbuilder WideOpenWest ranked highest in the North Central region.

By contrast, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications turned in below-average scores in all four regions.

Overall, customer satisfaction with television service providers in 2009 increased considerably over last year, J.D. Power found. Average satisfaction nationwide was 632 on a 1,000-point scale -- up 23 points from 609 last year, which was the lowest industry average during the past five years. The research firm said the increase was the result of fewer outages and improvements in problem resolution.

"In the wake of receding satisfaction scores in 2008, improvements in product performance and the service surrounding it this year suggest that providers are eager to better position themselves to retain and grow their customer bases," said Frank Perazzini, J.D. Power's director of telecommunications.

According to the survey, average time on hold required to resolve a customer's most recent problem declined 13% year over year, to 9 minutes and 5 seconds this year. J.D. Power also found that fewer customers are experiencing outages: 11% reported an outage this year versus 15% in 2008.

Across each geographical region, telco and satellite TV by and large outperformed cable.

In the East, Verizon FiOS was No. 1 with a score of 714, followed by DirecTV (684), Dish Network (669), Cablevision Systems (649) and Cox Communications (644). Below the East's average of 635 were TWC, RCN, Comcast and Charter.

WOW led the North Central region with 724, followed by AT&T U-verse (715), Verizon FiOS (712), DirecTV (674), Insight Communications (672), Cox (652) and Dish (650). Falling below the region's 625 average score were Bright House Networks, TWC, Comcast, Charter and Mediacom Communications.

In the South, U-verse (718) was followed by Verizon FiOS (702), DirecTV (685), Bright House (674), Insight (658), Dish (654) and Cox (641). The average score in the South was 635, with Cable One, Suddenlink Communications, TWC, Comcast, Charter and Mediacom below the mark.

Finally, in the West, AT&T U-verse (721) and FiOS (682) led the pack, followed by DirecTV and Dish (both with 664), Cox (646) and Cable One (635). Providers under the West average of 632 were TWC, Comcast, Mediacom and Charter.

Cable operators have fared better on J.D. Power's residential phone service survey. This year, Cox topped East and West, Bright House won the South and WOW scored highest in North Central (see Cox Tops East, West Regions On J.D. Power Phone Survey). However, not all MSOs excelled -- Comcast, for example, had below-average phone service scores in all four regions.

According to J.D. Power, cable customers are far less likely to recommend their provider than satellite TV customers.

Of satellite subscribers, 78% said they "definitely will" or "probably will" recommend their provider to others, an increase of six percentage points from 2008. About 60% of cable customers said the same, up from 55% in 2008.

Meanwhile, the percentage of cable customers who affirmed their loyalty to their provider declined to 25% in 2009, down from 27% last year. DirecTV and Dish Network also saw a drop on loyalty, down four percentage points to 40% in 2009.

"Given the current state of the economy, customers generally want to keep their options open, even if they are satisfied with their current provider," Perazzini noted.

J.D. Power found there was belt-tightening in some areas of video services. The percentage of cable customers who subscribe to additional premium channels fell to 29% in 2009, down three points from 32% in 2008. Video-on-demand and pay-per-view use also moderately declined, with 33% reporting VOD usage this year (compared with 35% in 2008) and 16% reporting a PPV order (compared with 18% in 2008).

The study is based on responses from 28,118 U.S. consumers who evaluated their cable, satellite or telco provider. It was fielded in January, March and July 2009.

J.D. Power's TV service survey measures customer satisfaction on five factors: performance and reliability; customer service; cost of service; billing; and offerings and promotions.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/357001-Satellite_Telcos_Beat_Cable_On_TV_Satisfaction_J_D_Power.php


Speaking of AT&T U-Verse, has anyone heard when they will be offering TV services in Winston-Salem/Greensboro? They already have the cabinets here in Winston-Salem. The only good that is doing is collecting cobwebs.

I joined the forum a couple of days ago after TWC 'upgraded' me to Navigator. So far, progress has cost me a handful of features I used several times daily. To me, the loss of the copy to VCR function is pretty much a deal breaker as far as the TWC box goes. As a result, I've spent far too many hours over the last 3 evenings looking at options - switching to satellite, TiVo with CableCARD, gritting my teeth with what I have now, and on and on and on.

I know now that Dish and TiVo both offer a copy to VCR/DVD function. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the TiVo fees to replace my 8300HDC with a TiVo HD and keep cable for TV service. If I do that, I'm also leaning toward using the TiVo box to replace local channels with the OTA feed instead of using TWC's. Anyone have experience with that locally?

Also, can anyone point me to a thread (or offer advice) for the best HDTV antenna option for local towers spread from Sauratown Mountain to Sophia? (If it helps, I'm in the Sedge Garden area, on the Kernersville side of Winston. According to AntennaWeb, everything I'm after is yellow.)

Thanks to all for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Speaking of AT&T U-Verse, has anyone heard when they will be offering TV services in Winston-Salem/Greensboro? They already have the cabinets here in Winston-Salem. The only good that is doing is collecting cobwebs.

I had an AT&T tech out to the house last week. She seemed to be in the know and technically savvy. Said to expect U-Verse in my subdivision around January. I'm in Lewisville.

The past few days someone has been installing new cable in the neighborhood. I haven't had time yet to check and see what type it is.

Joe

Are any HDTV sets are manufactured here in the USA? Is Zenith still a manufacturer? or just re-labeled LG?

But never fear, you can still use your old SD TV to watch the new HDTV stations once they arrive some time in the 1990's.;)The manufacturing jobs would still have migrated overseas regardless of who owned the company. The real loss is that taxes on profits that would be paid by American companies are lost. This also likely would have happned anyway. When InBev bought Anheiser-Busch, the total taxes they pay now are less than A-B alone used to pay the US government. You should consider this as you review the president's alledged desire to raise corporate taxes.

Hello everyone. I have a Vizio LCD tv that has a bad tuner. I am unable to view any channels on the tv. I have placed a cable box from another room on the tv and the HDMI does work on the vizio and I am able to watch tv on it. This TV only gets used every once in a while, and I don't want to rent another TWC cable box for it. Can anyone suggest what I can use? It would be great to get HD channels OTA, like I use to with the Vizio, but it is not a requirement. Thanks!

Watching the Panthers on Fox on D*. Frequent audio stutter. Switch to OTA. No stutters.

Watching the Panthers on Fox on D*. Frequent audio stutter. Switch to OTA. No stutters.

Did you email the station?

Did you email the station?

No. Would not have thought that might have helped in real time.

Joe

Did you email the station?

Curious .... for future reference foxeng, what email addy should be used for tech problems like that

On the station web site under Contact FOX8 there is a link to a form for TV Technical Problems. That is sent to my work email directly. I do have access to that when I am home. When we have big events going on I try and keep an eye on that and AVS both for problems. Actually you might get faster response by posting here than the web site but you can post at both. I recommend you DON'T call the station. If you do, they will just call me and by the time all that happens, I could have already read it off AVS and fixed it!

This past weekend I was out of town so I wasn't watching the email or AVS. (I HAVE to get away sometime! :D ) I did talk to D* about the stutter this morning early and they admitted it was an encoder issue on their end and it is now fixed.

Ok, so I must of got the new navigator or whatever they call it last night, I woke up this morning to a new guide and dvr screen.

Why did they not make it full widescreen, I still have black bars on the sides when I pull up the guide or dvr screen

Is there anyway to make it wide to fill the whole screen?

Thanks guys

OK, this thing is garbage, its horrible, it is slow, and UGH!!!!

OK, enough is enough for me, I am calling a tree service and cutting down the trees in my back yard ASAP and getting DirecTV

I should bill TWC the bill for the tree removal

Ok, so I must of got the new navigator or whatever they call it last night, I woke up this morning to a new guide and dvr screen.

Why did they not make it full widescreen, I still have black bars on the sides when I pull up the guide or dvr screen

Is there anyway to make it wide to fill the whole screen?

Thanks guys


It is a hardware issue. The 8300 boxes do not support a widescreen guide. Other than stretching everything on the screen there is no way to make it full screen. The new samsung boxes do 16X9 guide but it is stretched an is not a true 16X9 guide yet.

OK, this thing is garbage, its horrible, it is slow, and UGH!!!!

OK, enough is enough for me, I am calling a tree service and cutting down the trees in my back yard ASAP and getting DirecTV

I should bill TWC the bill for the tree removal

Your comment caught my attention. I live in Mebane and finally bit the bullet to start paying for tv. I resisted for many years. A few years ago I tried to get Road Runner but was told by a TWC engineer that I lived in an "inaccessible" area. That was funny because the pole that has the TWC box is actually located on my property at the top of my driveway. However it's over 300' from my house which they said was the limit. Anyway I decided to give DTV a try knowing that it was iffy if I would be able to have a clear view of the southern sky. I too have lots of trees around my house. I had hoped the installer would be able to put the dish on the roof but it was a no go. At best he could only get about a 40% signal strength at the only clear spot to the sky. He actually ended up installing the dish about 100' from my house on the other side of the trees on the edge of a field that belongs to my neighbor. Otherwise I would not have been able to get DTV without cutting down several trees.

It is a hardware issue. The 8300 boxes do not support a widescreen guide. Other than stretching everything on the screen there is no way to make it full screen. The new samsung boxes do 16X9 guide but it is stretched an is not a true 16X9 guide yet.

I'm on my 3rd 8300 box. How does one get the new Samsung box?

I'm on my 3rd 8300 box. How does one get the new Samsung box?

Call your local office. If they have them in stock go down trade in your old box for one. It's that simple.

Is there any difference in functionality between the SA box and the samsung box? I guess what I'm wondering is there any benefit to getting the samsung box?

And does the Samsung box allow an external drive to be hooked up via e-SATA?

Call your local office. If they have them in stock go down trade in your old box for one. It's that simple.


They stopped giving them out here in Raleigh because they were having too many problems with them. The Samsungs have either a 160GB or 320 GB hard drive so the need for an external drive is less. However they are running the same ODN software that the 8300HDCs are running and having problems with the external drives. Last time I heard the Samsungs and external drives did not work.

The Samsungs have either a 160GB or 320 GB hard drive so the need for an external drive is less.

Deal breaker. Between myself and my wife, we need 500 GB minimum. Thanks for the info.

OK, this thing is garbage, its horrible, it is slow, and UGH!!!!


Don't have it here yet. I'm not looking forward to it, and your comments are not reducing my dread. :(

Don't have it here yet. I'm not looking forward to it, and your comments are not reducing my dread. :(

I have been Gatored and my box and software are working fine. If anyone has a older 8300hd box hangon to it because Navigator MDN version supports hard drives. For some reason ODN does not at this point do so but I have been told they soon will. Gator has a lot more features gained than any we lost with SARA. Lots of hidden features TWC should tell us about. But to me it's definitly a upgrade.

I have been Gatored and my box and software are working fine. ... But to me it's definitly a upgrade.

How's the speed? One of my main sources of dread is how slow it seems when I visit my in-laws in Wilmington. It's far slower there than SARA is on both my DVR and non-DVR boxes here at home.

What happens with your scheduled recordings and recorded shows? Do you lose them or are they preserved somehow?

Anybody heard or expect Dish Network to put GSO HD locals on Satellite 129 in addition to 61.5?

I joined the forum a couple of days ago after TWC 'upgraded' me to Navigator. So far, progress has cost me a handful of features I used several times daily. To me, the loss of the copy to VCR function is pretty much a deal breaker as far as the TWC box goes. As a result, I've spent far too many hours over the last 3 evenings looking at options - switching to satellite, TiVo with CableCARD, gritting my teeth with what I have now, and on and on and on.

I know now that Dish and TiVo both offer a copy to VCR/DVD function. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the TiVo fees to replace my 8300HDC with a TiVo HD and keep cable for TV service. If I do that, I'm also leaning toward using the TiVo box to replace local channels with the OTA feed instead of using TWC's. Anyone have experience with that locally?

Also, can anyone point me to a thread (or offer advice) for the best HDTV antenna option for local towers spread from Sauratown Mountain to Sophia? (If it helps, I'm in the Sedge Garden area, on the Kernersville side of Winston. According to AntennaWeb, everything I'm after is yellow.)

Thanks to all for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Another practical option is an HTPC running Windows 7. You could have Cablecard and OTA and have extenders to send content to other TV's. The DRM has been relaxed so that channels marked as copy freely can be archived to DVD.

There are no monthly fees except the cablecard fees.

Another practical option is an HTPC running Windows 7.

Indeed, but not one I'll pursue. It was all I could do to run an XP system so I don't see Vista or 7 in my future at any cost - or benefit. I might consider a Linux box but my lack of familiarity with both the OS and the seeming voodoo of high end A/V options is a double whammy that will probably keep me out of the running. Right now, I'm leaning toward biting the bullet with TiVo and CABLECard.

But I'm interested in OTA for locals if I do go with TiVo. Sadly, my experience so far with a Radio Shack antenna and a DTV Pal converter box on another system has made me leery of the possibility of quality reception. That's why I was asking for any recommendations of antennas people used locally with success.

OK, this thing is garbage, its horrible, it is slow, and UGH!!!!

So far, I've noticed no speed difference either way on my 8300HDC. The one benefit is that I have yet to have any kind of slowdown when looking at programming days into the future. With SARA, I would often have 10-15 second delays when going several days into the future. In fact, for the last 3-4 weeks, Wednesdays wouldn't come up at all until the first of the week. I could get Thursday and Friday listings over the previous weekend, but Wednesday was off limits.

i live in Winston Salem i have Time Warners 8300HD dvr has anyone got the navigator on it yet???:confused:

i live in Winston Salem i have Time Warners 8300HD dvr has anyone got the navigator on it yet???:confused:

Once they finish the HDC boxes then they'll move to the legacy boxes. The 8300HD will be the first to get it.

Indeed, but not one I'll pursue. It was all I could do to run an XP system so I don't see Vista or 7 in my future at any cost - or benefit. I might consider a Linux box but my lack of familiarity with both the OS and the seeming voodoo of high end A/V options is a double whammy that will probably keep me out of the running. Right now, I'm leaning toward biting the bullet with TiVo and CABLECard.

But I'm interested in OTA for locals if I do go with TiVo. Sadly, my experience so far with a Radio Shack antenna and a DTV Pal converter box on another system has made me leery of the possibility of quality reception. That's why I was asking for any recommendations of antennas people used locally with success.

Make sure you get a tuning resolver when you get a cablecard installed. If you don't get a TA you can just go to the nearest office and install it yourself. It's a small yet big box. It lets you get SDV channels. It's also free throughout the life of the product. You can archive shows but it depends on the channel. If a show is marked as copy once or copy never then forget it. Usually premiums and PPV is marked as those flags. If it's copy freely than its fine.

Tivo uses Linux albeit a highly customized version that uses proprietary and GPL components.

OK, this thing is garbage, its horrible, it is slow, and UGH!!!!

OK, enough is enough for me, I am calling a tree service and cutting down the trees in my back yard ASAP and getting DirecTV

I should bill TWC the bill for the tree removal

Just a thought.

You might call D* and tell your story. With their current marketing strategy they might just make a new add with your situation.

Too many trees, sky obscured, heck of a problem. Chain saw noise in the background. Fade to black.

Next scene a starry night,a full moon rising (ok I know this makes no sense, the path never intersects the sats but when did advertising ever adhere to scientific method?)

The Moon image is replaced by something similar, but an ovoid, a D* slimline.

A few star blasts and cut to the happy family watching on a large plasma.

Joe

I post this because a good friend down the street has about had it with TWC. I did a site survey and LOS will be tough. Two trees on the neighbors lot. Should work out.

But I'm interested in OTA for locals if I do go with TiVo. Sadly, my experience so far with a Radio Shack antenna and a DTV Pal converter box on another system has made me leery of the possibility of quality reception. That's why I was asking for any recommendations of antennas people used locally with success.

As far as OTA antennas go, the Channel Master 4228HD or the Winegard 7694HD do very well in this area. I have tried several Radio Shack antennas and I was not impressed.

I have an older 4228 and in north Greensboro get all the local stations as well as many of the Roanoke stations and many of the Raleigh stations. I have it mounted on a one story house with a modest pre-amp. My boss has a 7694 mounted in his attic in Jamestown and picks up all the locals with no problem. YMMV.

i live in Winston Salem i have Time Warners 8300HD dvr has anyone got the navigator on it yet???:confused:

Nope but I hear that might be happening next week.:)

Nope but I hear that might be happening next week.:)

I live in Winston-Salem and got a call from Time Warner over the weekend saying Navigator would be installed by Oct. 13. That never happened.

As far as OTA antennas go, the Channel Master 4228HD or the Winegard 7694HD do very well in this area. I have tried several Radio Shack antennas and I was not impressed.

I have an older 4228 and in north Greensboro get all the local stations as well as many of the Roanoke stations and many of the Raleigh stations. I have it mounted on a one story house with a modest pre-amp. My boss has a 7694 mounted in his attic in Jamestown and picks up all the locals with no problem. YMMV.

If you are talking UHF antennas, the Clear Stream C series antennas are impressive to me. We have been using a C2 in our Road Trip signal strength tests that have been ongoing for months now. We do a channel power test using a Z Technology calibrated dipole at 30 feet, and then erect a Clear Stream C2 for "Consumer tests" at only 20 feet. We have actually seen signals on the dipole test antenna that in theory "Shouldn't" be receivable, but the C2 will pull them in.

We went to one viewers house who had just erected a "100 mile" combo Yagi, and it would only receive 1 VHF low on channel 3. He lived in a hollow with mountains on 3 sides, and the Clear Stream C4 would receive the UHF channels that the 100 miler would not

If you are talking UHF antennas, the Clear Stream C series antennas are impressive to me. We have been using a C2 in our Road Trip signal strength tests that have been ongoing for months now. We do a channel power test using a Z Technology calibrated dipole at 30 feet, and then erect a Clear Stream C2 for "Consumer tests" at only 20 feet. We have actually seen signals on the dipole test antenna that in theory "Shouldn't" be receivable, but the C2 will pull them in.

We went to one viewers house who had just erected a "100 mile" combo Yagi, and it would only receive 1 VHF low on channel 3. He lived in a hollow with mountains on 3 sides, and the Clear Stream C4 would receive the UHF channels that the 100 miler would not

We tested a C2 and a 4228 and the 4228 was better. The C2 does nothing for VHF (obviously) and the C5, the VHF "add on" isn't all that great for VHF either. For the performance per cost, in these parts, the Winegard did better than the C's.

I live in Winston-Salem and got a call from Time Warner over the weekend saying Navigator would be installed by Oct. 13. That never happened.

I never got a call just woke up one morning and had Navigator on my 8240HDC. The 8300hd in my den is still SARA. The TWC office said they hope to get to those next week.

We tested a C2 and a 4228 and the 4228 was better. The C2 does nothing for VHF (obviously) and the C5, the VHF "add on" isn't all that great for VHF either. For the performance per cost, in these parts, the Winegard did better than the C's.

How is the VHF-hi performance on this design of antenna...the C4, C2, DB8, 4228? I am very attracted to the compact design, but I'm skeptical of its VHF-hi performance although some of the manufactuers' advertising claims things like "enhanced reception" on channels 7-13.

about an hour ago my on my 8300hd i lost the last three days of my guide its just blank

Ok need some help, just got gatored and occasionally when I hit the guide button not all of my channels show up. If I change the channel all of them show up after I hit the guide button. Any ideas?

My brother got Gatored. He hates it. Says it's way slower than what he is used to. Wonderful. I feel like my cable box is a time bomb waiting to go off. Could Direct TV please get ESPNU-HD and BBC America HD so they could be a viable option for me?

My brother got Gatored. He hates it. Says it's way slower than what he is used to. Wonderful. I feel like my cable box is a time bomb waiting to go off. Could Direct TV please get ESPNU-HD and BBC America HD so they could be a viable option for me?

As Coach John Fox says "It is what it is"

my guide is still missing info and time warner was no help in fixing the issuse ,does anyone know if i got directv are the Charlotte Bobcats blacked out on them like they use tobe?

I didn't think a lot of people would like Navigator compared to what I had been hearing. Sorry to hear of the nightmares.

We tested a C2 and a 4228 and the 4228 was better. The C2 does nothing for VHF (obviously) and the C5, the VHF "add on" isn't all that great for VHF either. For the performance per cost, in these parts, the Winegard did better than the C's.


In this market, multi path is much more of an issue, and the C series antennas work extremely well in high multi path areas. We deal with multi path much more than low signal or gain issues. Some of our multi path locations are very close to the transmitters where gain is not the main concern. I have not even done any comparisons on the C5 VHF since I work for a UHF station. I really am not concerned with the VHF channels in this area except to see what their signal levels are in the far field, and that is the purpose of the C5.

Every market is different, and this one requires an antenna design that works well with multi path signals. One viewers home we went to had multi path signals showing up at over 50 microseconds out in the time domain, and his reception was almost non existent with his own antenna, but the C4 solved his reception issues on UHF, and he is now a satisfied viewer of our station when he could not even receive it in the past. Different antennas for different applications and situations. I call the C series "Ghost Busters" because they handle multi path so well. I have attached a picture of our city of license from the transmitter site to show the soup bowl that Roanoke is surrounded by.

my guide is still missing info and time warner was no help in fixing the issuse ,does anyone know if i got directv are the Charlotte Bobcats blacked out on them like they use tobe?

I am sorry to hear of your problem. I have a 8240HDC that is working perfect with Navigator. My Uncle had a couple of small glitches then he swaped out his box. Got a new 8300HDC that solved all his problems. I think I would go that route. It might be the easiest way to a fix. Sometimes a box swap solves a lot of Navigator problems.:)

i switched my dvr out and they gave me another 8300hd and still parts of the info on the guide still not showing , they said it is being caused by the switching over and should be corrected in the coming week

i switched my dvr out and they gave me another 8300hd and still parts of the info on the guide still not showing , they said it is being caused by the switching over and should be corrected in the coming week
I am not excited about the transition!!!!:(

I am not excited about the transition!!!!:(

My switch over went velvet smooth. Navigator so far has a 100% performance record for me.

Well, the dreaded mailing has finally arrived so I assume I will have Navigator soon. Is it possible to configure Navigator to only output one resolution(Like 1080i only or 720p only)? I did not see anything in the "settings" section of the flyer to indicate that. If I have to sit through my TV switching resolutions while channel changing I will be upset.

Well, the dreaded mailing has finally arrived so I assume I will have Navigator soon. Is it possible to configure Navigator to only output one resolution(Like 1080i only or 720p only)? I did not see anything in the "settings" section of the flyer to indicate that. If I have to sit through my TV switching resolutions while channel changing I will be upset.

The answer to your question is YES.

the Channel Master 4228HD or the Winegard 7694HD do very well in this area. I have an older 4228 ... mounted on a one story house with a modest pre-amp.

We got a Sears coupon in the mail today. I looked at their site and saw model #HD7694P. Anyone know if that's a new/different version of the one foxeng mentioned? Also, is a pre-amp a necessity in the Triad? recommended? just in case?

(Cross-posting with the Allotment thread)

Well, sorry foxeng, but the cat is now out of the bag. WAXN filed for that channel 36 translator and included the interference agreement. http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1338503&Service=LD&Form_id=346&Facility_id=12793

So that's the FCC action for tonight, WGHP apparently plans to file to relocate from channel 8 to channel 35, after having simulcast on both for four months now.

- Trip

We got a Sears coupon in the mail today. I looked at their site and saw model #HD7694P. Anyone know if that's a new/different version of the one foxeng mentioned? Also, is a pre-amp a necessity in the Triad? recommended? just in case?

The HD7694 is the same Winegard I was talking about.

(Cross-posting with the Allotment thread)

Well, sorry foxeng, but the cat is now out of the bag. WAXN filed for that channel 36 translator and included the interference agreement. http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1338503&Service=LD&Form_id=346&Facility_id=12793

So that's the FCC action for tonight, WGHP apparently plans to file to relocate from channel 8 to channel 35, after having simulcast on both for four months now.

- Trip

Yes, it is true, we are in the process of filing to receive permission to change channels permanently. I would think the application would be filed, if not already, any day now. I suspect it will not be until next year before we will be allowed to change channels at the earliest because first we have to ask to change the Table of Assignments and then once that is approved, we will have to file a Construction Permit to "build" the channel 35 even though it is already authorized under a STA. Once that is approved, then we can file the License to Cover for channel 35, and once that is filled, then we can turn channel 8 off. So as you can see, many hoops to still jump through and no guarantees of anything. We will ask for permission to continue to operate both 8 and 35 until the FCC decides if they will allow us to change channels permanently since the current STA expires on December 17 I believe it is. Until the License to Cover for channel 35 is filled with the FCC, channel 8 is STILL our licensed channel. In other words, the opera isn't over until the large lady sings and that will be when the last piece of paperwork is filed for channel 35

Just so you know.

Wonder when TWC will push Navigator to the SA8300HD boxes? What are the latest boxes TWC has in G'boro?

(Cross-posting with the Allotment thread)

Well, sorry foxeng, but the cat is now out of the bag. WAXN filed for that channel 36 translator and included the interference agreement. http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1338503&Service=LD&Form_id=346&Facility_id=12793

So that's the FCC action for tonight, WGHP apparently plans to file to relocate from channel 8 to channel 35, after having simulcast on both for four months now.

- Trip

Good luck to foxeng and his station.

Also, is a pre-amp a necessity in the Triad? recommended? just in case?How many TV's do you plan to feed? How long of a cable run?

Most people in the forum say don't use a preamp unless you absolutely need it, but if you are feeding a large number of TV's, I don't see how you can avoid one.

How many TV's do you plan to feed? How long of a cable run?

Most people in the forum say don't use a preamp unless you absolutely need it, but if you are feeding a large number of TV's, I don't see how you can avoid one.

Many of us use the preamp to help get out of market stations. For those that get Roanoke stations, it means additional NFL games on the weekends.

Good luck to foxeng and his station.

The amount of power we would need to replicate 35 on 8 is more than the other stations near by (including WFXI) would be willing to let us do.

Wonder when TWC will push Navigator to the SA8300HD boxes? What are the latest boxes TWC has in G'boro?

I believe my brother has a Gatored 8300HD. Mine is a 8300HD and should be Gatored "soon". I think location is a factor just like box type.

EDIT: For some reason I was calling 8300s, 3800's

The amount of power we would need to replicate 35 on 8 is more than the other stations near by (including WFXI) would be willing to let us do.


I thought that this would be the route you would go. I think it is the right way and really the best and easiest for the viewers, so hopefully you will be allowed to turn off 8 and stick with 35. :)

How many TV's do you plan to feed? How long of a cable run?

A single TV is all I plan for now - max would be 2. If the antenna is mounted to the chimney like the old motorized one we had back in the dark ages, that's right above where the TV sits, so maybe 20-25' of cable from the antenna to the TV/Box/etc. (If TV #2 were added later, that would add a run of maybe an additional 40' through the crawl space above.)

As far as out of market stations for sports and other programming, that holds little appeal for me.

Thanks!

The HD7694 is the same Winegard I was talking about.

Thanks. I just didn't know if there was any significance to the 'P'

In trying to watch an English Premier League soccer match on ESPN2 this morning, I found Time Warner had inserted a local Elon sports program. Can anyone verify that DTV or Dish actually showed the soccer game?

Navigator was installed on my SA box Wednesday. There are several areas where it is a step backwards from the old SARA software. Recording from the hard drive to a DVD recorder no longer works. While the guide has been dressed up with new graphics, it only shows about 90 minutes ahead of the current time and seems to show fewer channels. It's not designed for HD sets so everything is displayed in 4:3 (kinda feels claustrophobic). And you can't adjust the color or transparency of the channel bar. Bummer for us plasma owners.

The main issue for me is the picture size option...stretch, zoom or normal. When I set it to normal, HD channels look good, but SD channels have a black bar on the left side of the 4:3 image. Also, in the normal setting, if I try to use the zoom function of the TV it won't take the 4:3 image and fill my 16:9 screen. Weird...so I leave it on stretch and 4:3 images fill the screen and HD channels look fine (unaffected by the setting).

IMO I'd say the new software has brought TWC DVRs into the 90's. With just a little more tweaking, they could have a more polished, better functioning DVR.

In trying to watch an English Premier League soccer match on ESPN2 this morning, I found Time Warner had inserted a local Elon sports program. Can anyone verify that DTV or Dish actually showed the soccer game?

Yes. I woke up to watch the second half this morning on DirecTV.

my Time Warner 8300hd is slowest its ever been and parts of the info on the guide arent always there even after switching out dvr same problem, does anyone know where you can go into a store like walmart and see a directv dvr that is hooked up? to see how it is before buying , mainly want to make sure i can see the charlotte bobcats games in hd if i get directv

Navigator was installed on my SA box Wednesday. There are several areas where it is a step backwards from the old SARA software. Recording from the hard drive to a DVD recorder no longer works. While the guide has been dressed up with new graphics, it only shows about 90 minutes ahead of the current time and seems to show fewer channels. It's not designed for HD sets so everything is displayed in 4:3 (kinda feels claustrophobic). And you can't adjust the color or transparency of the channel bar. Bummer for us plasma owners.

The main issue for me is the picture size option...stretch, zoom or normal. When I set it to normal, HD channels look good, but SD channels have a black bar on the left side of the 4:3 image. Also, in the normal setting, if I try to use the zoom function of the TV it won't take the 4:3 image and fill my 16:9 screen. Weird...so I leave it on stretch and 4:3 images fill the screen and HD channels look fine (unaffected by the setting).

The SA 8240 and 8300 boxes can't do 16:9 graphics which is why it's 4:3. Next gen boxes can stretch the guide or render it in 16:9.

IMO I'd say the new software has brought TWC DVRs into the 90's. With just a little more tweaking, they could have a more polished, better functioning DVR.

The SA 8240 and 8300 boxes cant render 16:9 graphics but the Samsung boxes will stretch to 16:9. The Samsung boxes haven't been deployed yet.

What's the best box TWC has now? I wonder when my 8300HD gets upgraded (?)

What's the best box TWC has now? I wonder when my 8300HD gets upgraded (?)

My 8240HDC got upgraded a week ago but my 8300hd is still running SARA. Navigator has worked perfect for me so far. No missing guide data, no reboots. no missed recordings. Also loads of new features SARA never had. We lost a few sara features but gained a lot of features that used to be in passport echo.

Yes. I woke up to watch the second half this morning on DirecTV.

Thanks, If Time Warner preempts this week's game, DirecTV instantly gets my business. Hear that TWC?

Thanks, If Time Warner preempts this week's game, DirecTV instantly gets my business. Hear that TWC?

i think Directv is going to get my business soon , Time Warner doesnt seem to care wheather my dvr works like it suppose to or not

Directv gave me NHL hockey package for nothing because of Comcrap cable charging too much to D* for carriage of Versus.

Directv is not perfect, but they do a lot more for me than cable ever did.

Does anyone in the area have a Dish Network "Eastern Arc" dish installed? It is the Dish 1000.4 (61.5W, 72.7W, 77W). I have trees in the back yard and there is no line of sight to the 110, 119 satelites, but I think that the Eastern Arc might work. Also, does anyone have any pros or cons about Dish Network? I'm willing to dump TWC to Dish. Also, I don't think my Tivo HD will work with Dish, so I wonder how Dish's DVR is?

Does anyone in the area have a Dish Network "Eastern Arc" dish installed? It is the Dish 1000.4 (61.5W, 72.7W, 77W). I have trees in the back yard and there is no line of sight to the 110, 119 satelites, but I think that the Eastern Arc might work. Also, does anyone have any pros or cons about Dish Network? I'm willing to dump TWC to Dish. Also, I don't think my Tivo HD will work with Dish, so I wonder how Dish's DVR is?

I had dish netork 2 years ago decent service but your under contract , hd line up close to directv and twc now, for about same price under a special for first year give or take a few dollars only problem I had I would lose singal during heavy rain only happen probably 10 times in the 2 years I had it lasted maybe 5 mins at most not a big problem if u have 90 percent signal to start with.{ALOT OF SPORTS THAT ARE ON DISH OR DIRECTV THAT ARE LOCAL ARE ONLY SHOWN FROM A 75 MILES RADIUS OF EVENT JUST BEWARE OF THAT FACTOR}

then we can turn channel 8 off.

Which sounds as if we will no longer need VHF and would be UHF ONLY in our area. Correct?

i think Directv is going to get my business soon , Time Warner doesnt seem to care wheather my dvr works like it suppose to or not

That's a whole other can of worms. I'm on my 3rd DVR in 6 weeks. Each time one breaks, TWC gives me a fresh "used" one that I'm sure another customer turned in for the same reason. You can't analyze the functionality of a box by simply plugging it in a running it through some tests, which it appears TWC does. The hardware must be able to function during normal customer use, which would take several hours to test properly. This is why TWC keeps sending out boxes that don't work properly.

Which sounds as if we will no longer need VHF and would be UHF ONLY in our area. Correct?

That is what we would hope we would be allowed.

That's a whole other can of worms. I'm on my 3rd DVR in 6 weeks. Each time one breaks, TWC gives me a fresh "used" one that I'm sure another customer turned in for the same reason. You can't analyze the functionality of a box by simply plugging it in a running it through some tests, which it appears TWC does. The hardware must be able to function during normal customer use, which would take several hours to test properly. This is why TWC keeps sending out boxes that don't work properly.

Strange. I must be lucky or the norm. I have had my 8300HD going on 3 years and it has performed flawlessly ever single day. No missed recordings, no reboots. Only thing I hate about it is the ugly SARA IPG which will soon be leaveing for Navigator. For me no complaints except the one I listed.

That's a whole other can of worms. I'm on my 3rd DVR in 6 weeks. Each time one breaks, TWC gives me a fresh "used" one that I'm sure another customer turned in for the same reason. You can't analyze the functionality of a box by simply plugging it in a running it through some tests, which it appears TWC does. The hardware must be able to function during normal customer use, which would take several hours to test properly. This is why TWC keeps sending out boxes that don't work properly.

i been through 8 dvrs in last year most look like they have been in a war zone dents all over the top of the box , 2 of them didnt even power on when i got them home, most have a built date on bottom of box on a sticker most of the 8300hd where made in 2006

i been through 8 dvrs in last year most look like they have been in a war zone dents all over the top of the box , 2 of them didnt even power on when i got them home, most have a built date on bottom of box on a sticker most of the 8300hd where made in 2006

A year ago we purchased a small HDTV for the bedroom. I turned in a 8300SD. They tried to give me a rebuilt 8300HD. I refused made a bit of a stink and was given a brand new still in the box unopened 8250HDC which I have had great results with. Stand up to the counter CSR and demand a new box and you can usually get one.

I haven't mentioned this in a while since I have been working on it pretty hard. Looks like we will have everything ready to put the new HD master control switcher on line Thursday, lack of some major meltdown that is out beyond the horizon. You more than likely will not see any difference to start with, but this will allow us to carry live HD programming besides network and to begin offering syndicated HD programming when we complete the configuration and installation of our new HD server sometime in the not too distant future. It will also allow us to use AFD on local programming if we so desire (that one is still up in the air) and in house tests of it have been pretty cool to say the least.

We are getting there one step at a time.

Afd?

Active Format Description. It is a code sent to tell 4:3 devices that understand the code how to format a 16:9 picture. Letterbox, center cut, etc.

I'm about to pull my hair out. I am trying to watch something that I recorded, its a one hour show. When I try to play it the dvr skips to every 15 minute mark and I have no option to watch anything really. So in other words my dvr is quartering the one hour show. Any ideas? I have a 8240hdc

I'm about to pull my hair out. I am trying to watch something that I recorded, its a one hour show. When I try to play it the dvr skips to every 15 minute mark and I have no option to watch anything really. So in other words my dvr is quartering the one hour show. Any ideas? I have a 8240hdc

Not trying to be smart just trying to help. Check and see if maybe your remote control is stuck in the 15 minute skip mode.

For those interested, we will attempt to get the new HD master control switcher on line this afternoon. We have a little more testing to do this morning and then after the noon news, we will start the process. We hope on air, you will only see a little glitch as we switch out switchers. We think we see a very small improvement of PQ of the news casts via this new path, though we are not sure exactly why. We don't think 90% of the audience will even notice, if we have done our job correctly on this. Time will tell.

Not trying to be smart just trying to help. Check and see if maybe your remote control is stuck in the 15 minute skip mode.

Thanks for trying. I ended up re booting the box and it fixed it. Not sure what was going on.

At 2:03 this afternoon, we successfully put the new HD Master Control Switcher on line. And it worked first time!! We all think the PQ is a skoash better than before, but hey, we are biased! :D

anyone missing channels in winston salem area i woke at 6 am and about half of the channel hd and sd were giving a message saying channel not aviliable please try back later i rebooted the box and channels still missing call TW and they said it was a SDV problem i just got home and the channels still out

With all the dread and hoopla over Navigator I haven't checked my favorite TWC web page for a while and there are some updates on new HD channels:

October 28, 2009: The following channels will be added:

* HBO2 HD - Channel 451 (requires subscription to HBO)
* BBC America HD - Channel 592 (Digital Tier)
* Turner Classic Movies HD - Channel 593 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)
* Investigation Discovery HD - Channel 594 (Digital Tier)
* Headline News HD - Channel 595 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)
* MSNBC HD - Channel 596 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)
* TruTV HD - Channel 597 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)



November 24, 2009: The following channels will be added:

* HBO Signature HD - Channel 452 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Family HD - Channel 453 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Comedy HD - Channel 454 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Zone HD - Channel 455 (requires subscription to HBO)
* HBO Latino HD - Channel 456 (requires subscription to HBO)
* Showtime Too HD - Channel 470 (requires subscription to Showtime)
* Action Max HD - Channel 461 (requires subscription to Cinemax)
* Cartoon Network HD - Channel 507 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)
* WE HD - Channel 508 (Basic Cable plus HD converter)
* IFC HD - Channel 509 (Movie Tier)

Still no Navigator for SA8300HD yet in G'boro

Still no Navigator for SA8300HD yet in G'boro

Same here. Have Navigator on my 8240HDC and SARA on my 8300HD. I much much prefer NAVIGATOR.

Still no Navigator for SA8300HD yet in G'boro

Still none here either or on my regular HD cable box. (thankfully)

Still none here either or on my regular HD cable box. (thankfully)

I thing you m ight be in for a pleasant supprise.

I thing you m ight be in for a pleasant supprise.

I don't agree. My 2 HD boxes were gatored, and I feel like I have gone back in time.

I don't agree. My 2 HD boxes were gatored, and I feel like I have gone back in time.

Gosh SARA was so 1960's.

1) I see where the Navigator rollout is different in different areas. I have Navigator on an SA8300HD. I'm in Sunset Hills.

2) Did any GSO TiVo users get a cablecard firmware update today? Wondering what that's about, and hoping it fixes some lingering pixelation/macrblocking issues.

W

I live in Burlington. My parents have received Navigator. Perhaps it takes some getting used to, but I was definitely disappointed. It is definitely slow on their box - so much so that I overshot myself several times by repeated button presses because I thought they didn't register - then they eventually all register sending me past my "target". The guide info was also compressed, which wasn't good on their non-big screen. Before I learned about the loss of copy to vcr I really was unconcerned about the change. I thought it would be insignificant. Now I don't like it at all.


I received a message today (phone recording) saying that I would receive Navigator on Tuesday or Wednesday. I assume if I unplugged my box for a couple of days it would still be switched over whenever I plugged it back in. Is this correct?


In the meantime, I'm working hard to archive as many "Magic School Bus", "Sid the Science Kids", "Peep and the Big Wide World"'s etc to dvd for my son before I lose the copy to vcr function. After the change - will the copy to vcr outputs still work even though we will lose the "copy to vcr" command (so I can copy what the box is playing)? If so, will this work even if I am watching a dvd or other source (so that the hdmi for the box will not be receiving a "handshake" from the tv, even though both are on - since the receiver will be set to blu-ray for example)?


I'll be interested to see if anyone other than Crazynavigatorguy actually likes this change. No offense, but I'm beginning to wonder if he earns a commission on the software or something, because it doesn't seem to me that anyone would consider the software an improvement. Then again, maybe you are just "Crazy":) It will not make me rush out to change my service, but it may be enough of a regression to make me look at other options.


Hopefully I'm wrong and the software will grow on me.


omeany

I live in Burlington. My parents have received Navigator. Perhaps it takes some getting used to, but I was definitely disappointed. It is definitely slow on their box - so much so that I overshot myself several times by repeated button presses because I thought they didn't register - then they eventually all register sending me past my "target". The guide info was also compressed, which wasn't good on their non-big screen. Before I learned about the loss of copy to vcr I really was unconcerned about the change. I thought it would be insignificant. Now I don't like it at all.


I received a message today (phone recording) saying that I would receive Navigator on Tuesday or Wednesday. I assume if I unplugged my box for a couple of days it would still be switched over whenever I plugged it back in. Is this correct?


In the meantime, I'm working hard to archive as many "Magic School Bus", "Sid the Science Kids", "Peep and the Big Wide World"'s etc to dvd for my son before I lose the copy to vcr function. After the change - will the copy to vcr outputs still work even though we will lose the "copy to vcr" command (so I can copy what the box is playing)? If so, will this work even if I am watching a dvd or other source (so that the hdmi for the box will not be receiving a "handshake" from the tv, even though both are on - since the receiver will be set to blu-ray for example)?


I'll be interested to see if anyone other than Crazynavigatorguy actually likes this change. No offense, but I'm beginning to wonder if he earns a commission on the software or something, because it doesn't seem to me that anyone would consider the software an improvement. Then again, maybe you are just "Crazy":) It will not make me rush out to change my service, but it may be enough of a regression to make me look at other options.


Hopefully I'm wrong and the software will grow on me.


omeany
I have always tried to be respectful in my posts. I do not do personal attacks. Navigator works fine for me. I do not work or have any connection to Time Warner. If you do not like Navigator get a Tivo or Direct TV. I do not appreciate makeing this board personal. Please do not attack me or my opinions again. We can disagree but drop the personal stuff. You can debate my opinons all day but drop the personal part of it. Calling me crazy is very offensive.

The Tivo HD is $60 off this week at Best Buy. I guess I would like to give Navigator a try this week so I can opt out if I want. I am still not sure when I am getting it. Though buying a Tivo HD would, in effect, shackle me even further to cable. I really wish Direct TV would get off its ass and add some HD channels. It's amazing to me that TWC's HD lineup (for my tastes) has actually gotten better than Direct TV or Dish. I would have never believed that possible a couple years ago.

D* is to add channels when the next sat goes up. They are out of bandwidth at the moment.

I have always tried to be respectful in my posts. I do not do personal attacks. Navigator works fine for me. I do not work or have any connection to Time Warner. If you do not like Navigator get a Tivo or Direct TV. I do not appreciate makeing this board personal. Please do not attack me or my opinions again. We can disagree but drop the personal stuff. You can debate my opinons all day but drop the personal part of it. Calling me crazy is very offensive.


Wow. I was joking. I thought the smiley face would make that clear. Your user name is CRAZYwoody - that's where crazy came from. As in you are crazy about Navigator. Not crazy as in mentally ill. There was absolutely nothing personal about my comment - other than joking that you love navigator and a play on your username. I had no idea you would take offense. Sorry for offending you.


omeany

Wow. I was joking. I thought the smiley face would make that clear. Your user name is CRAZYwoody - that's where crazy came from. As in you are crazy about Navigator. Not crazy as in mentally ill. There was absolutely nothing personal about my comment - other than joking that you love navigator and a play on your username. I had no idea you would take offense. Sorry for offending you.


omeany

Sorry I musta be haveing a bad day. To tell you the truth I have had TIVo, PASSPORT and SARA and now NAVIGATOR. TIVO rules the roost. Passport is a close second. Navigator is arround 75% of Passport at this point. SARA had so many problems it almost made me ill to use after useing TIVO and Passport. We lost the record to vrc option in SARA but gained so much more. You can now in Navigator bookmark multible shows, you can cancel one show wihout cancelling a entire series. Navigator will automactly reschedule a conflict show if there is a later showing.. Navigator has the Tivo jump back when rewinding. It also has a TIVO like 24 day rule that it will not record a show it has alreadsy recorded.(Some cable shows without proper guide data such as the Daily Show, NFL live are exceptios to this rule. We also at last have a REAL SEARCH ENGINE that SARA never had. Comeing soon to Navigator are remote scheluding. Keyword Search. Multi room DVR and yes they are adding back the copy to vcr option. I also hear a Navigator box with a dvd burner is beingtalked about. These are things we would have never got with SARA because it was leased and TWC had to take what was offered on it. Give Navigator a chance. With the features that are comeing soonI think it will be getting REAL GOOD REAL FAST.

Got word that our SA8300 is to get "Navigated" Tuesdayish. I'll start recording my saved things today.

SARA had so many problems it almost made me ill to use after useing TIVO and Passport. We lost the record to vrc option in SARA but gained so much more.

The more I read, the more I realize how much of this must be attributable to personal need and preference. While I will admit that Navigator is a little better looking, aesthetically, than SARA, I never had any kind of problems that stick in my memory. Other than the ability to record at all, losing the ability to record to VCR in the background is a loss of about 75% of the functionality of the machine, to me.

You can now in Navigator bookmark multible shows, you can cancel one show wihout cancelling a entire series. Navigator will automactly reschedule a conflict show if there is a later showing.. Navigator has the Tivo jump back when rewinding.

None of which I have any interest in. I guess the jump back could be satisfactory once I'm used to it, but I was so used to SARA after a couple of years, I continually find myself stopping where I don't want to.

We also at last have a REAL SEARCH ENGINE that SARA never had.

Here is another place where I'm realizing I must be in a small minority. I've tried using this a couple of times but the onscreen keyboard makes me feel like I'm back to using my dad's WebTV back in the day. I realize that others may not be as computer-centric as I am, but to me it's far easier to use the imdb database to see if anything I want to watch or record is upcoming and then go to the DVR and schedule it accordingly.

Comeing soon to Navigator are remote scheluding. Keyword Search. Multi room DVR and yes they are adding back the copy to vcr option.

Remote scheduling might come in handy, especially if I could just do it from my main desktop. Keyword search and multi-room DVR would never be used. I never would have entertained the idea that some of these features would be useful to people before reading these posts...

Re: the return of the VCR copy function - Is that common knowledge or inside information you have from somewhere?

The more I read, the more I realize how much of this must be attributable to personal need and preference. While I will admit that Navigator is a little better looking, aesthetically, than SARA, I never had any kind of problems that stick in my memory. Other than the ability to record at all, losing the ability to record to VCR in the background is a loss of about 75% of the functionality of the machine, to me.



None of which I have any interest in. I guess the jump back could be satisfactory once I'm used to it, but I was so used to SARA after a couple of years, I continually find myself stopping where I don't want to.



Here is another place where I'm realizing I must be in a small minority. I've tried using this a couple of times but the onscreen keyboard makes me feel like I'm back to using my dad's WebTV back in the day. I realize that others may not be as computer-centric as I am, but to me it's far easier to use the imdb database to see if anything I want to watch or record is upcoming and then go to the DVR and schedule it accordingly.



Remote scheduling might come in handy, especially if I could just do it from my main desktop. Keyword search and multi-room DVR would never be used. I never would have entertained the idea that some of these features would be useful to people before reading these posts...

Re: the return of the VCR copy function - Is that common knowledge or inside information you have from somewhere?

The VCR Copy feature is to be readded. Was told to me by someone connected to TWC. Not sure when but it's comeing. Also a DVR box with built in dvd burner is on the drawing board with Samsung I belive.

The Tivo HD is $60 off this week at Best Buy. I guess I would like to give Navigator a try this week so I can opt out if I want. I am still not sure when I am getting it. Though buying a Tivo HD would, in effect, shackle me even further to cable. I really wish Direct TV would get off its ass and add some HD channels. It's amazing to me that TWC's HD lineup (for my tastes) has actually gotten better than Direct TV or Dish. I would have never believed that possible a couple years ago.

D* is to add channels when the next sat goes up. They are out of bandwidth at the moment.

Based on transponder analysis at dbstalk.com Directv is at about 95% capacity (when the NFL Sunday Ticket channels are active) and probably could add a few channels if they wanted to (especially when football is over). The next satellite is supposed to go up late Dec/early Jan so by about March/April they will have capacity for about 70-80 more HD channels.

Also for Tivo lovers, there is supposed to be a new Tivo model for Directv sometime early next year per Tivo's investor calls and financial reports.

has anyone had 591 564 pixiliale in winston salem 27127 area and i have a few channels have message saying channel not available please try back later

has anyone had 591 564 pixiliale in winston salem 27127 area and i have a few channels have message saying channel not available please try back later

I am in Greensboro and ch 591 (Fox Sports Carolinas - HD) has had serious pixellation issues during the last two Hurricanes hockey games I have watched. I haven't noticed any problems with ch 564 (ESPN-HD). I have sent an email to Fox Sports re: the ch591 issue since it looked to me to be their issue rather than TWC.

As for the "ch not available" problem you are having you need to get it escalated to the TWC Engineering group. I had the same problem earlier this year and once it got escalated to the engineering group the problem was resloved pretty quickly. It seems the issue had to do with the way the SDV server was configured in the hub that provided service to my neighborhood. I sent an email to an executive whose email address I was able to get. However, I sent him am email recently and it was bounced by their email server so I guess he is no longer there. If I were you I would try to find an email address of a Triad TWC executive and send him / her an email. I find the local Customer Service folks to be almost worthless.

I'd love a dvr box with a dvd burner that could record anamorphic SD or HD to a dvd. If they used x264 you could probably fit an hour or two on a dvd of 720p video.

This box will likely be for the retail market. It might just be an SD box though and not HD.

This box will likely be for the retail market. It might just be an SD box though and not HD.

There's no way DRM will allow it to be anything but SD.

591 was awful for the Iowa St/Nebraska game. Not pixellation, but lots of hitches with horizontal lines of video distortion every few seconds. The SD channel looked ok, but even glitchy HD football looks better than SD, so I didn't look at the SD channel for long.

I finally got the call from TWC. I will get Navigator tomorrow or Wednesday according to their message. We'll see how it goes (queue ominous music)...

I live in Burlington. My parents have received Navigator. Perhaps it takes some getting used to, but I was definitely disappointed. It is definitely slow on their box - so much so that I overshot myself several times by repeated button presses because I thought they didn't register - then they eventually all register sending me past my "target". The guide info was also compressed, which wasn't good on their non-big screen. Before I learned about the loss of copy to vcr I really was unconcerned about the change. I thought it would be insignificant. Now I don't like it at all.


I received a message today (phone recording) saying that I would receive Navigator on Tuesday or Wednesday. I assume if I unplugged my box for a couple of days it would still be switched over whenever I plugged it back in. Is this correct?


In the meantime, I'm working hard to archive as many "Magic School Bus", "Sid the Science Kids", "Peep and the Big Wide World"'s etc to dvd for my son before I lose the copy to vcr function. After the change - will the copy to vcr outputs still work even though we will lose the "copy to vcr" command (so I can copy what the box is playing)? If so, will this work even if I am watching a dvd or other source (so that the hdmi for the box will not be receiving a "handshake" from the tv, even though both are on - since the receiver will be set to blu-ray for example)?


I'll be interested to see if anyone other than Crazynavigatorguy actually likes this change. No offense, but I'm beginning to wonder if he earns a commission on the software or something, because it doesn't seem to me that anyone would consider the software an improvement. Then again, maybe you are just "Crazy":) It will not make me rush out to change my service, but it may be enough of a regression to make me look at other options.


Hopefully I'm wrong and the software will grow on me.


omeany
I like it....it looks better and I havent had any issuse other than guide data not showing up the first day....I just wish the Guide would make use of the ENTIRE SCREEN and not just 4:3 style

I like it....it looks better and I havent had any issuse other than guide data not showing up the first day....I just wish the Guide would make use of the ENTIRE SCREEN and not just 4:3 style

Not until the Samsung boxes come out and even then it's stretched. TWC always uses the half assed option. The BCM chips in the Samsung boxes are capable of an HD guide. Even Moxi's retail device uses a similar chip as the Samsung DVR and it can do an HD guide.

We received our new splicers today. That is the good news. The bad news is they will be installed Wednesday and Thursday (by FOX contractors, not us and that is the schedule we got) and there is a good chance we will NOT have them ready for Game 1 of the World Series. If that happens, we will be 4:3 upconvert for that game only. But we are hopeful.

Does that mean that the FOX8 bug and station ID might make it all the way onto the screen now, or will the new splicers have the same programming?

Initially, no. The old splicer isn't exactly going away. FOX is waiting for a software upgrade due next spring for the new splicers that will not only allow graphics to be displayed during network, EAS specifically, but will move the FOX8 bug to the 4:3 area. But until that update is released next year, the old splicer will have one function only and that is to provide the bug in the lower left corner and the legal ID bug in the bottom center and since the old splicer can't move the bug to the 4:3 area, the bug will remain in the bottom left corner of the picture. After the software update is made, the old splicer will be retired.

The good news about the new splicers is that there are TWO of them. One is the main and one is the backup so in the future when there are sun outages, we will not have to drop back to SD while the sun transits through the main sat.

Thanks. I know I asked you about it a few weeks back, but I didn't recall you mentioning the new splicers. Every time I see the logo being cut-off, I find it strangely annoying. Maybe even more so now that I've seen first-hand how much work you guys put into everything at the station...

Tonight, for the first time, I noticed that, when I select info for a show on FOX8, the logo is yellow on a white background. That seems like an odd choice - I've always assumed that graphics people all knew not to put yellow on white. Since Fox's searchlight logo has always been on the golden part of the palette, maybe there was no option...

WUNL's new top-mounted antenna is slightly lower than anticipated. As such, they've filed to modify the permit (and today added an STA to operate immediately). The modified permit and STA specify a power increase from 400 kW to 575 kW, from a height of 1637' instead of 1653' (likely a negligible difference).

I would suspect the new signal might already be on the air. Is anyone noting a difference?

- Trip

Tonight, for the first time, I noticed that, when I select info for a show on FOX8, the logo is yellow on a white background. That seems like an odd choice - I've always assumed that graphics people all knew not to put yellow on white. Since Fox's searchlight logo has always been on the golden part of the palette, maybe there was no option...

I am not sure what you are talking about?

I am not sure what you are talking about?

He is referring to the icon used in the program guide and in the OSD for program info on Time Warner cable boxes. The icon for Fox8 is definitely yellow on white, and basically impossible to see in that program guide. Whoever chose that as the icon for Fox stations at TW or SA/Cisco just made a poor decision. I guess it's better than no icon at all.

He is referring to the icon used in the program guide and in the OSD for program info on Time Warner cable boxes. The icon for Fox8 is definitely yellow on white, and basically impossible to see in that program guide. Whoever chose that as the icon for Fox stations at TW or SA/Cisco just made a poor decision. I guess it's better than no icon at all.

OK, good. I know WE don't have any yellow in the logo.