Nice pictures! I love spectrum analyzers and desperately want one of my own.

Channel 55 is Qualcomm's MediaFLO. Qualcomm owns channel 55 across the US.

Channel 45... could that be KWHD-DT 46 in Castle Rock?

Channels 30 and 32... can you get a closer shot of them? I can't really make them out at that resolution.

I see an analog on 23 in your closeup of 22/24. I also think I see an analog on 41 in your 42 closeup.

- Trip

Ask and you shall receive.
Attached are screen captures of Ch 30 and Ch 32.

The peaks are:

Ch 30:
567.25 MHz, -34.2 dBm
571.75 MHz, -39.6 dBm

Ch 32:
579.25 MHz, -36.6 MHz
583.75 MHz, -45.8 MHz

Checked Ch 45 in more detail. It really is Ch 45, not Ch 46. Strange. Yes, there is an analog on Ch 41. Could be K41JO I suppose.

Wish I had my own spec an too. An HP/Agilent 8592, 8593, or Anritsu 2724B preferred. :D

Cheers.

Has anyone noticed that Comcast has reassigned Fox-HD (I think it's KXRM) from virtual ch 21.1 to 0.0? I rescanned my Sony LCD and found this oddity. The reason I ask is that my aver combo tuner and Win7 Media Center does not detect it. Anything I can do?

Somehow, I missed your reply last night. :eek:

Ask and you shall receive.
Attached are screen captures of Ch 30 and Ch 32.

Thanks. :)

Checked Ch 45 in more detail. It really is Ch 45, not Ch 46. Strange.

KTLO-LP maybe? Is their channel 51 still on the air?

Yes, there is an analog on Ch 41. Could be K41JO I suppose.

Any idea what's on it? W9WI says it repeats KUSA but I'm not sure I believe that.

Wish I had my own spec an too. An HP/Agilent 8592, 8593, or Anritsu 2724B preferred. :D

Cheers.

I want a Tektronix simply because it's what I've used before. But I'd be happy with just about anything that works. :)

- Trip

Part 1 of 2

Continuing on with my spectrum analyzer saga, I took a look at the Comcast cable in Colorado Springs and here are the results. The cable bandwidth is 864 MHz. A Tektronix 2712 spectrum analyzerwas connected to the cable and 20 dB of attentuation was applied to the signal. The reference level was -20 dBm. All images were obtained by keeping Max Hold on.

Notes:

01 Entire Spectrum.jpg is an end to end snapshot of the cable band transmission. The Center Frequency was 500 MHz and the span was 1 Ghz. The drop off around 550 MHz (just to the right of mid screen) is the transition from analog to digital channels.

02 Low End.jpg is a close up of the low end of the spectrum. The Center Frequency is 50 MHz and the span is 100 MHz. Note the two spikes to the left. Those are in the T-Subband region. The first large signal to the right of midscreen is the Ch 2 video carrier. Not sure what the sike to its left is since the Ch 2 audio carrier will be the left bump on the next signal to the right.

03 100 MHz.jpg. A closeup of the 100 MHz span centered at 100 MHz. Not sure what the null is between ~104 and 113 MHz (Ch1?).

04 200 MHz.jpg. A closeup of the 100 MHz span centered at 200 MHz. note the flat spot btween 234 and 239 MHz. There was another similar spot at 324-329 MHz. Any ideas?

05 550 MHz.jpg. This 100 MHz span centered at 550 MHz shows the analog to digital transition portion of the spectrum. Analog channels are to the left, digital to the right.

Here's the second part of the note on Colorado Springs cable.

06 Hi End.jpg. 20 MHz span centered at 860 MHz shows the top end of the bandwidth. No signals are above this.

07 Analog Closeup.jpg. This 10 MHz span is centered on at 57 MHz (half way through Ch 2). Video carrier is the large signal to the left and the audio carrier is the small signal to the right. Ch 3 video carrier is the next signal to the right.

08 Digital Closeup1.jpg. A 20 MHz span centered on 750 MHz to show the difference between digital and analog signals. Channels are the elevated signals between negative spikes.

09 Digital Closeup2.jpg. 10 MHz span centered on 753 MHz to show what a digital channel looks like. Note that it occupies nearly the entire 6 MHz bandwidth. Compare this with the bandwidth occupied by an analog channel (see 07 Analog Closeup.jpg). You can see why there is so much interest in converting from analog to digital. A lot more information can be sent over cable on a digital channel than over an analog channel.

04 200 MHz.jpg. A closeup of the 100 MHz span centered at 200 MHz. note the flat spot btween 234 and 239 MHz. There was another similar spot at 324-329 MHz. Any ideas?

It looks like a digital signal on cable 26 or so.

- Trip

Any chance RMPBS will get the stuff figured out before the end of 2009?

2009 Austin City Limits started last week with The Dave Mathews Band and sure enough it was in glorious 480i low def crap-O-vision. Not only that but, they chopped off the first 5-6 mins with another program and then just jumped into the middle of the ACL program.

Next week is Ben Harper and it'd be nice to see it in HD, and all of it, thank you.

I'm getting really tired of this nonsense and I'm just going to find ACL in HD on B1t T00r3nt.

Any chance RMPBS will get the stuff figured out before the end of 2009?

Apparently they can do it when they want to do it. According to their website, they managed to do 2 hours of HD per night for the National Parks broadcast. I wish I had known earlier; it would have been interesting to compare their multicast-HD with the recordings I made off of Ku band.

Apparently they can do it when they want to do it. According to their website, they managed to do 2 hours of HD per night for the National Parks broadcast. I wish I had known earlier; it would have been interesting to compare their multicast-HD with the recordings I made off of Ku band.

Ahhh, finally got my computer back after a power supply, mother board, and CD drive went *poof* last weekend. Grrrr. At least the hard drives were good and no data was lost. Now I have the equivalent of a new computer, System 7 ready :D - All for $600 repair bill *sigh* Oh well, runs great. Fast too!

Anyway back to Gato's comment. I keep seeing digital artifacts on the cable. (i.e. break-ups, freezes, etc.). I doubt that they exist on the Ku-Band feed. Gato, I'm presuming you watch PBS programming off the satellite feed? Or, do you ever check the cable or OTA transmission? I'm curious if you see any of the same artifacts we see up here in Colo Spgs. You don't have to watch very long before they show up. Seems like something happens every 5 min or so. Yeah, it would be nice if they would turn off the SD at night for prime time and devote all BW to an HD program. I feel your pain Rmassey.

Cheers

re: RMPBS>> Apparently they can do it when they want to do it.

So WTH? ACL is not worthy of and HD broadcast in their minds?

I used to regularly record/watch/archive (all in HD)
Austin City Limits
SoundStage
American Masters
Great performances

there's also an upcoming Santana performance on Latin Music USA that I'd like to see/keep.

Oh well, it took me all of 5 mins to find DMB on ACL in HD via B1T T0rr3nt.

Looks like RMPBS lost a pair of eye balls.

what the heck with Conan being in SD lately?!? :mad:

what the heck with Conan being in SD lately?!? :mad:

Your username is wrong. It should be springsHD=nil :rolleyes:

re: RMPBS>> Apparently they can do it when they want to do it.

So WTH? ACL is not worthy of and HD broadcast in their minds?

I used to regularly record/watch/archive (all in HD)
Austin City Limits
SoundStage
American Masters
Great performances

there's also an upcoming Santana performance on Latin Music USA that I'd like to see/keep.

Oh well, it took me all of 5 mins to find DMB on ACL in HD via B1T T0rr3nt.

Looks like RMPBS lost a pair of eye balls.

Um, OK. Not to sound ignorant (there's a lot of things I don't know), but what is DMB and B1T T0rr3nt? Bit torrent? Will mentioning that phrase get your post deleted? And just what is it? Can I use it to get real full bandwidth HD PBS programming? Alright, I'll go out and G00gl3 it. :D
Cheers

I believe DMB is referring to Dave Matthews Band.

- Trip

Anyway back to Gato's comment. I keep seeing digital artifacts on the cable. (i.e. break-ups, freezes, etc.). I doubt that they exist on the Ku-Band feed. Gato, I'm presuming you watch PBS programming off the satellite feed? Or, do you ever check the cable or OTA transmission? I'm curious if you see any of the same artifacts we see up here in Colo Spgs. You don't have to watch very long before they show up. Seems like something happens every 5 min or so. Yeah, it would be nice if they would turn off the SD at night for prime time and devote all BW to an HD program. I feel your pain Rmassey.

I don't get cable at my location and I really never check RMPBS OTA any more. I accidentally tuned it in a few weeks ago and it was showing something that I had just watched in HD; I recoiled in horror (not to be overly dramatic). If they ever resume HD programming I will make a point of taking a closer look.

Ku-Band reception problems are practically nonexistent. I would guess that I get a minor glitch in a single frame about once every four hours. Unless I can get a no-fly zone set up over my house I think that is the best I can do.

Of course, 1080i is suboptimal for lots of motion and randomness. I still see some artifacts in extreme cases (closeup of a breaking wave or cheetah bringing down an antelope, for instance) but it is far from unwatchable. Most PBS programming is flawless.

Um, OK. Not to sound ignorant (there's a lot of things I don't know), but what is DMB and B1T T0rr3nt? Bit torrent? Will mentioning that phrase get your post deleted? And just what is it? Can I use it to get real full bandwidth HD PBS programming? Alright, I'll go out and G00gl3 it. :D
Cheers


yes DMB = Dave Matthews Band.... as shown in my original post.

Seems AVS did not like my BT reference and filtered it out of my original post, so I geeked it up with the 'B1T T0rr3nt' syntax to bypass their filter.

my point is, if RMPBS cannot fix their delivery issues of HD content, I'll find it elsewhere.

... Looks like today I need to spend a few mins to find Ben Harper on ACL in HD :D

Seems AVS did not like my BT reference and filtered it out of my original post, so I geeked it up with the 'B1T T0rr3nt' syntax to bypass their filter.

bit torrent

bit torrent


whereas mine shows up as ********** :confused:

whereas mine shows up as ********** :confused:

Should we try a full fledged dirty word test? :)

Should we try a full fledged dirty word test? :)

So do you think ********** is forbidden? If so, why? :D

Cheers

So do you think ********** is forbidden? If so, why? :D

Cheers

Wow, as soon as I posted the "dirty word" (B T) it was banned (masked with ***). Hmmm

I don't get cable at my location and I really never check RMPBS OTA any more. I accidentally tuned it in a few weeks ago and it was showing something that I had just watched in HD; I recoiled in horror (not to be overly dramatic). If they ever resume HD programming I will make a point of taking a closer look.

Ku-Band reception problems are practically nonexistent. I would guess that I get a minor glitch in a single frame about once every four hours. Unless I can get a no-fly zone set up over my house I think that is the best I can do.

Of course, 1080i is suboptimal for lots of motion and randomness. I still see some artifacts in extreme cases (closeup of a breaking wave or cheetah bringing down an antelope, for instance) but it is far from unwatchable. Most PBS programming is flawless.

Thanks for the note Gato. A couple of questions:

1. How big is your antenna (reflector diameter).
2. Only 1080i? Is that what they feed the affaliates? Curious.

satcom

So do you think ********** is forbidden? If so, why? :D

Cheers

OMG! I can't believe you just said that! You **********!! :cool:

Thanks for the note Gato. A couple of questions:

1. How big is your antenna (reflector diameter).
2. Only 1080i? Is that what they feed the affiliates? Curious.

satcom

1. 36".
2. Yes, 1080i, because that is what the locals should be broadcasting. Imagine the begging and whining that would ensue if they received h.264 from the satellite and had to transcode it for broadcast.

2. Yes, 1080i, because that is what the locals should be broadcasting. Imagine the begging and whining that would ensue if they received h.264 from the satellite and had to transcode it for broadcast.

So there is no 1080p PBS feed? Bummer.

OMG! I can't believe you just said that! You **********!! :cool:

Is B T illegal? Is that why its banned? I really don't know and am curious. Thanks

Is B T illegal? Is that why its banned? I really don't know and am curious. Thanks

It's not illegal. But many use it for questionable transfer of copyrighted material, so discussion is discouraged on this site :)

It's not illegal. But many use it for questionable transfer of copyrighted material, so discussion is discouraged on this site :)

Hmmm. Interesting. Thanks for the insight. Wonder if that is spelled out anywhere in the AVS use policy.

Wow, as soon as I posted the "dirty word" (B T) it was banned (masked with ***). Hmmm

Huh.. not me.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=17335744&postcount=6267

Huh.. not me.

Looks like you used 2 words. My entry was one word. Apparently a single word gets censored. :D

Cheers

Looks like you used 2 words. My entry was one word. Apparently a single word gets censored. :D

Cheers

**********

**********

wow... yep, it does. I just tried it.

How incredibly lame and utterly pointless.

wow... yep, it does. I just tried it.

How incredibly lame and utterly pointless.

Wonder what other words are on the "banned" list. DirecTV? Echostar? Dishnetwork (or is it DISH network? LOL)

Cheers

Wonder what other words are on the "banned" list. DirecTV? Echostar? Dishnetwork (or is it DISH network? LOL)

Cheers

Bush

Hmm... surprised that one made it through.

Is anybody else having problems picking up KXRM-DT1 (21.1) and KXRM-DT2 (21.2) over the air? It stopped coming in this week, it was working fine last week and now Windows 7 Media Center says that there's no TV station on that channel and WinTV 7 doesn't even pick it up when scanning for channels.

Is anybody else having problems picking up KXRM-DT1 (21.1) and KXRM-DT2 (21.2) over the air? It stopped coming in this week, it was working fine last week and now Windows 7 Media Center says that there's no TV station on that channel and WinTV 7 doesn't even pick it up when scanning for channels.

No problem on any of my tuners (BeyondTV, Dish, 2 TV's). Did you rescan Win 7 MC? With the playoffs on Fox, if there was a problem it would be well known. Do you have an ATSC tuner on a TV, and if so, do Fox & CW come in?

Has to be a tuner or software problem (most likely software).

Is anybody else having problems picking up KXRM-DT1 (21.1) and KXRM-DT2 (21.2) over the air? It stopped coming in this week, it was working fine last week and now Windows 7 Media Center says that there's no TV station on that channel and WinTV 7 doesn't even pick it up when scanning for channels.

No problems in Monument on my Mac.

Has anyone heard anything recently about KRDO getting their HD channel up on DirecTV anytime?
I sent an email to Tim Larson & Joe Reed over a week ago and did not get a response.
I also asked them about Dolby Digital.

Has anyone heard anything recently about KRDO getting their HD channel up on DirecTV anytime?
I sent an email to Tim Larson & Joe Reed over a week ago and did not get a response.
I also asked them about Dolby Digital.

I talked to Reed a couple of months ago about Dolby and the response was it's not in the budget right now. My guess is that the only thing they care about is the news and that's probably where the money went. In this economy I don't hold out a lot of hope for Dolby anytime soon. I mainly watch sports on ABC anyway, but I'm a country music fan and ABC gets some of their specials which really suck in analog when you hear a concert on KKTV in good Dolby.

Has anyone heard anything recently about KRDO getting their HD channel up on DirecTV anytime?
I sent an email to Tim Larson & Joe Reed over a week ago and did not get a response.
I also asked them about Dolby Digital.

Here's the response I got from Joe Reed:
-----------------
I have no time frame as to when we will be completed with the negotiations on the DirecTV issue.
As of this writing we have an unapproved capital budget to add Dolby 5.1 in fourth quarter 2010.
-----------------
Not good news on either front!! :mad:

Here's the response I got from Joe Reed:
-----------------
I have no time frame as to when we will be completed with the negotiations on the DirecTV issue.
As of this writing we have an unapproved capital budget to add Dolby 5.1 in fourth quarter 2010.
-----------------
Not good news on either front!! :mad:

An example of how living in a small market results in bush league service.:(

Has anyone heard anything recently about KRDO getting their HD channel up on DirecTV anytime?
I sent an email to Tim Larson & Joe Reed over a week ago and did not get a response...

Need to pester NPG (http://www.npgco.com), KRDO's parent company. They are the ones who don't play well with D* in any of their markets.

I got tired of waiting and ordered an AM21 a while back. Couldn't stand watching another season of Lost in SD :(

I have a question....I used to be able to get the local stations HD feeds on my HDTV even though I don't subscribe to an HD package. I have Comcast as my cable provider. Does anyone know where those channels moved to or can be found?

Has KRDO changed something on their transmitter. I live north of Divide and I've never been able to get any Springs stations OTA because of Pikes Peak being in line of site with Cheyenne Mountain. I have my antennas pointed north to get the Denver stations and last week I did a rescan and KRDO showed up. I thought it might be the weather because I was getting Cheyenne WY. at the time as well, but KRDO has been solid ever since even though my antennas are about 100 degrees off point.

Here's the response I got from Joe Reed:
-----------------
I have no time frame as to when we will be completed with the negotiations on the DirecTV issue.
As of this writing we have an unapproved capital budget to add Dolby 5.1 in fourth quarter 2010.
-----------------
Not good news on either front!! :mad:

KRDO is always so lame, it's ridiculous. I've called J.R. and their GM several times and they won't call back. If I happen to get J.R. live, he gives evasive answers and doesn't really care. The above is more informative, but just shows that the powers that be at the station (or owners) don't really care about the quality they present vs. their competition, and they don't care whether DirecTV customers watch them in HD. Most new DirecTV receivers don't include an antenna, and people who see HD from the other 3 networks won't be too likely to stay tuned to ch. 13 in SD.

Also, it cannot be that expensive to PASS THROUGH the stupid DD 5.1 audio from the national feed. They act like it takes a massive bunch of equipment to produce this, but other markets and many other smaller stations have figured it out. Simplify, people. Let it go.

Makes me want to move to Denver or get LOST from other methods. KRDO really encourages you not to watch KRDO.

KRDO is always so lame, it's ridiculous. I've called J.R. and their GM several times and they won't call back. If I happen to get J.R. live, he gives evasive answers and doesn't really care. The above is more informative, but just shows that the powers that be at the station (or owners) don't really care about the quality they present vs. their competition, and they don't care whether DirecTV customers watch them in HD. Most new DirecTV receivers don't include an antenna, and people who see HD from the other 3 networks won't be too likely to stay tuned to ch. 13 in SD.

Also, it cannot be that expensive to PASS THROUGH the stupid DD 5.1 audio from the national feed. They act like it takes a massive bunch of equipment to produce this, but other markets and many other smaller stations have figured it out. Simplify, people. Let it go.

Makes me want to move to Denver or get LOST from other methods. KRDO really encourages you not to watch KRDO.
Why not buy them a Dolby 5.1 encoder and see if they'll install it for you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dolby-DP569-Multichannel-Dolby-Digital-Encoder_W0QQitemZ260472443700QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDo main_0?hash=item3ca55e1334

Questions:

What the heck with KOAA and not showing Conan in HD?

How can we tell what resolution KKTV and KRDO are broacasting in for their news? I have heard that they are not using true HD camera but are only using ones that are shot for 16x9.

Questions:
From SpringsHD=Horrid
What the heck with KOAA and not showing Conan in HD?

How can we tell what resolution KKTV and KRDO are broacasting in for their news? I have heard that they are not using true HD camera but are only using ones that are shot for 16x9.


And from TallGuy:

KRDO is always so lame, it's ridiculous. ...



I go back to my earlier comment:

Examples of how living in a small market results in bush league service.:(

Oh one other thing that drives me nuts about our local cable company: How come they refuse to move KTSC from Ch8 on the cable to another channel (like they did for Ch 11 to Ch 10 back in the analog days). With cable leakage inevitably there was multipath interference. It was really bad where I lived before. Shouldn't be a problem with the digital signal, but my cable analog cable Ch8 is still the worst signal of all networks (i.e. snowy). And, to add insult to injury I get periodic digital aritacts (pixilation, freezing frames, frame dropouts). What is wrong with things arround here? :mad:

I swear KTSC does not know how to do HD right. They don't seem to know when to flip the switch.

Dear KTSC,

"The New Yankee Workshop" is NOT shot in HD. Stretching the picture makes Norm look fatter than he already is.

I swear KTSC does not know how to do HD right. They don't seem to know when to flip the switch.

Dear KTSC,

"The New Yankee Workshop" is NOT shot in HD. Stretching the picture makes Norm look fatter than he already is.

Is it KTSC or RMPBS? I swear after RMBPS took over KTSC, quality went downhill. Also, I wish RMPBS would stop SD programming during primetime major programs and devote all bandwidth to HD. Imagine what the National Parks program would have looked like in full HD ...

Is it KTSC or RMPBS? I swear after RMBPS took over KTSC, quality went downhill. Also, I wish RMPBS would stop SD programming during primetime major programs and devote all bandwidth to HD. Imagine what the National Parks program would have looked like in full HD ...

I think it'd be nice if RMPBS could simply get the aspect ratio correct.

Why not buy them a Dolby 5.1 encoder and see if they'll install it for you?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dolby-DP569-Multichannel-Dolby-Digital-Encoder_W0QQitemZ260472443700QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDo main_0?hash=item3ca55e1334

I'm not sure whether an affiliate absolutely has to do the encoding at the local station, but even if they do, have some pride in your major network's product and provide some industry-standard DD5.1 audio, instead of just stereo which was the standard how many decades ago??

Again, KRDO is the only one in the market without surround sound, and is the only station not carried in HD on DirecTV. Either KRDO is somehow smarter than all 3 other affiliates of major networks, or they're the cheapest/dumbest...

I try not to watch ABC as a result, but I know LOST would be even more compelling and engrossing if the spooky sounds were coming from behind us... Yeah, it's a first world problem, I know...