Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
We've still got lots of work to do, KOAA, KRDO, and KTSC are still lagging behind.
True. We had a less than resounding response of volunteers to call these 3 jokers and get an update. How about if we call 1 each and report back here?

Drvais would be ashamed of us not calling.... :cool:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
[B]But only if you have the 3-4 hours to wait for the guide to load....;)

Frank, what do you mean by wait 3-4 hours fpr the guide to load. Are you talking the initial guide when you activate or every time you bring up the guide?

I have the HDTivo and it is awesome. My guide comes up lickety split with no waiting at all.

eichenberg

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
But only if you have the 3-4 hours to wait for the guide to load....;)

Either way, HD-DVR's are the way to go. There are pro's and cons for all of the DBS/Cable systems. The biggest down side right now is programming, but that will change with time. Yes Voom has the most content, but the majority is upverted. To some that's a minus, others don't care.
HDTV NOW!!!


What do you mean by upconverted?
Like from film? All of the HD channels are 99% HD.They rarely have 480i sourced material on their own channels. Its only on channels like HBO, and ESPN, when they don't do HD programming. I'm assuming you mean something else though?

Yup, That's what I mean. As far as I'm concerned, if it's in HD it's worth watching.:D

Originally posted by eichenberg
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
[B]Frank, what do you mean by wait 3-4 hours fpr the guide to load. Are you talking the initial guide when you activate or every time you bring up the guide? I have the HDTivo and it is awesome. My guide comes up lickety split with no waiting at all.
The guide on the HR10-250 is notorious for its slowness. The TiVo-style guide is faster than the grid-style guide, but each can take several seconds to draw and populate on screen each time. (The reason is that its processor is busy recording 2 streams, sometimes both HD, simultaneously!)

Excuses, Excuses!;)

eichenberg,
Way back when we had the HT Meet, TG and a couple of other attendees commented on the speed of my 921's guide vs. the D* guide speed. The 921 is a faster guide, that's all.

I got a letter from CO Congressman Joel Hefley (crotchety old fart) yesterday rebutting my HDTV comments and the FCC DTV mandate. To say I disagree with his comments would be an understatement. To say his letter confused me would as well. I'll type up the letter I got shortly...

All typos are mine...

Dear Mr. Walker:

I have received your comments concerning the transmission of high-definition television broadcasts.

Limitations on HDTV have less to do with any conspiracy by cable companies and television broadcasters than with the ruinous costs of converting. HDTV was launched more than 15 years ago as a means of developing better gunsights for military aircraft while establishing a beach-head technology for the 21st century.

The thinking behind HDTV was that the costs would become affordable as the technology spread. This has not been the case and television stations, whatever their affiliations, are going broke trying to finance the mandated conversions. The conversion to high-definition television has virtually eliminated the production of original programs by public television stations.

I have opposed this program ever since it was first explained to me in the late 1990s. If the Pentagon wanted better gunsights, it should have paid for them outright, rather than shunt the costs onto the public. Further, I cannot see the driving appeal of HDTV's visual quality. A picture is a picture, as far as I am concerned.

That said, I have noted your comments and will keep them in mind.

Sincerely,
Joel Hefley
Member of Congress

"Further, I cannot see the driving appeal of HDTV's visual quality. A picture is a picture, as far as I am concerned."

Obvisouly he has never seen a true High Def picture. Otherwise he would understand the appeal of HDTV's visual quality, not too mention audio quality!!!

What the ....? How can he say that?

Yeah.. you'd think I'd be making up the whole letter... He's a 69ish year old fart - he probably CAN'T see the difference.
The whole letter is crap. I've never even heard of the HDTV/aircraft thing before. Google searches haven't helped. Google has shown, however, that HDTV is a little older than 15 years... :rolleyes: and that plenty of television stations are indeed NOT going broke from their transitions to HD.

Originally posted by PlayDoh

I have opposed this program ever since it was first explained to me in the late 1990s. ... Further, I cannot see the driving appeal of HDTV's visual quality. A picture is a picture, as far as I am concerned.


Doesn't sound very PRO-HD does he? Guess who WON'T be getting my vote next time?

--Eric

I suggest you, meaning everyone on this forum to contact BOTH of his offices about his stance about HD.

http://www.house.gov/hefley/contact.shtm

He is not my Rep. so I will not.

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
Yup, That's what I mean. As far as I'm concerned, if it's in HD it's worth watching.:D

So you think all HD such as shows on networks that aren't sports(CBS, NBC, Fox, CBS), HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, etc... are all not good HD because they are transferred from film? A source that is higher quality than HD?

Just a note... a lot of the Voom original channels are almost all pure HD Video. The sports, music, fashion, equator, moov, news, and gallery (all of the top of my head) channels are most of the Voom HD originals that come from HD Video.

And their oiriginal channels are all on top of a bigger selection of standard/premium HD channels then any other provider.

So whether you count those channels or not, they have more HD.

Now... keeping them up and running might be a different story. If they do go down, someone will buy them out, maybe Dish Network?

Wow... has anyone ever heard of this Gunsight theory before? I sure haven't. I also don't think KKTV or KXRM are closing shop anytime soon because of getting HD equipment.

Also based on his comments, he thinks HD is what the FCC is requiring, instead of just digital. With his other comment about a picture being a picture... it's obvious he has no idea what he's talking about. If he did he just couldn't say that. If he did he would sound like an idiot trying to back it up, "Actually, with 1920x1080i, the amount of detail you see is only 6x the amount you would on a normal television. This is a difference that is hard to see for the average viewer." So he just dumbs it down, and says there is no difference.

Originally posted by Vaggeto
So you think all HD such as shows on networks that aren't sports(CBS, NBC, Fox, CBS), HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, etc... are all not good HD because they are transferred from film? A source that is higher quality than HD?



No. I never said that, but there is a difference and some people are a bit anal about it. As I said before....
As far as I'm concerned, if it's in HD it's worth watching.
If it's in HD it's better than SD, regardless of the original source material. Some people complain about the quality of the shows on TNT-HD but I think they look a hell of a lot better than whats on TNT-SD. At this point I'm thankful for just about any movie/sports/concert/documentary/etc. that's presented in HD. Whether it's shot with an HD camera or upconverted, it's all good. Hell even the old episodes of MASH look a lot better in HD.

As for our Senator, obviously a man in need of a bit of educating. After seeing an HD image, how can anyone say a picture is a picture?!? Perhaps his gunsight comment was refering to this:

Within the government the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have been researching HDTV for several years, drawing upon the expertise of American industry and academia, to develop standards and prototype technology that balance the special needs of military imaging with the need for affordable, commercial technology. The experts believe today's 720p standard delivers the best image quality at the lowest practical bandwidth, with the fewest image artifacts. HDTV 720p technology is now commercially available at prices comparable to the older interlace technology. This note addresses the adoption of the progressive scanning format (720p) over older interlaced formats for use in future systems and integration into the DoD.

You can read the entire document here. (http://www.atd.net/HDTV_faq.html) I think the gist of the article is that the government is using the existing technology to improve their imaging systems, not that HDTV is a result of the governments efforts. I could easily be mistaken though.

I have to wonder if the senator has forgotten about the huge amounts of money that Uncle Sam was gonna make by selling off the bandwidth currently occupied by the nations NTSC stations.

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
No. I never said that, but there is a difference and some people are a bit anal about it. As I said before....

If it's in HD it's better than SD, regardless of the original source material. Some people complain about the quality of the shows on TNT-HD but I think they look a hell of a lot better than whats on TNT-SD. At this point I'm thankful for just about any movie/sports/concert/documentary/etc. that's presented in HD. Whether it's shot with an HD camera or upconverted, it's all good. Hell even the old episodes of MASH look a lot better in HD.

I can't help but think while reading your post that you consider shows upconverted from tape(480i) are the same thing as movies converted from film, which is a source above the 1080p resolution.

I'm not talking about upconverted shows, which are still SD in my opinion, whether they look better or not, or if they are being upconverted to 1080i, they are still SD IMO.

By first saying Voom has a lot of "upverted" content, and then saying "Whether it's shot with an HD camera or upconverted, it's all good." You act as if their exclusive channels are upconverted from SD shows. But they are all either from film, or HD Video. Obviously some shows on some channels like TNTHD or ESPNHD(along with all movies that the movie channels don't transfer to HD) will be from SD, and they don't look near the quality of true HD(from film or video).

What I'm getting at is... why make the distinction that Voom has HD content that is upconverted?, but acting as if D* and E* don't? I believe D* has HBO HD and TNTHD.. both show the exact same amount of upconverted material on V* or D*. The plain and simple fact is... only counting the V* exclusive 20 or so HD channels, none of the content on those are from SD sources. All from HD video or transferred to HD from film. That alone gives them 20 more choice of HD to pick compared to any other provider at any time. But in addition to that they also carry more of the non-exclusive HD channels that the other providers want to. So there's also more of that.

If I'm coming off angry at all.. I'm not. I'm just trying to make a point that I can't seem to make very clearly.

I understand the point you are trying to make and have no problem with it at all.

How come you guys can't just type VOOM and DIRECTV and the like??? The astericks drive me friggin' crazy!

Great...

and I have no idea why the astericks are the norm. I do feel a bit weird when using them 10 times in a post though. I guess it is just easier to write.

I got that EXACT same letter from Hefley last week too!

I never did like that old fart - never voted for him - and now I like him even less.

If this response is indicative of how well him - or his staff - research things before coming to conclusions, that doesn't say much for him as an elected representative of us fair citizens.

I'm going to put that letter up in my cube for people here at MCI to see and will be making copies of it to distribute when he comes up for reelection next.

Rob

I also got the brilliant Hefley letter. If you're interested, you can see it (though it's blurry because I had to reduce the file size for this board):

Although that's really hard to read, its the same thing as written above in another post.

Yep

Hello from another newbie....(been lurking on AVS for a year now...)

Thanks to you all for your informative posts....

I'm in Manitou and, as previously reported, the Adelphia/Fusion QAM combo in my HTPC (el cheapo rig...X1, etc.......I love it) kicks tail...

Was able to get OTA Fox and CBS, but I really wanted ABC and ESPN for the full football thang...Now I'm in nirvana...sorta...(always want more, don't we????)

Welcome!

Do you get ESPN-HD from Adelphia? I thought they had it.

For ABC, we're SOL for a while. If we wanted it bad enough, we'd have to get StarChoice or BellExpressVu from Canada to get ABC-HD. Someday I'll have to get back around to pricing them and figuring out whether they have an HD PVR by now...

Broncos are in HD again this weekend, on CBS (a small step down from FOX-HD). Hopefully not the same result as last week...

Still need volunteers to call KOAA and KRDO's Engineering departments for updates on our non-HD status. KTSC too. It's going to be December before I can spare the time at work...

Thanks TallGuy...

Yep, getting ESPN-HD, Fox, CBS, ABC, PBSHD, INHD, INHD2, HDNET, HDNET movies, STARZHD, HBOHD and SHOWTIMEHD...

Kinda PO'ed about HBO because they have lots of sleaze-ball programming...I'm hiding it from my 14 year old son!

I'm mainly excited about the sports stuff, the rest is just icing....

I'll try and e-mail KOAA and KRDO about their feet-dragging....

Yeah, much of HBO isn't real positive for men of all ages! I choose to not subscribe...

Let us know on this board if you hear anything coherent back from KRDO and KOAA. Thanks!

If you've been thinking about getting an HD-DVR, nows the time. Dishnetwork recently announced a $400 price drop on the 921DVR!!!

http://www.dishstore.net/index.php?cPath=22

Can someone tell me what I can expect if my father in Pueblo attempts to go the HD route. He is looking at getting a new TV and the HDTivo to go with it.

Is there anyone in Pueblo that is able to pick up the signals from Colorado Springs for the OTA stuff?

I'm in Denver so I am familiar with the low power signals we have here and know that a few feet can really make a difference, but I didn't see anyone in Pueblo in this thread that was picking up the stations.

Thanks
Joe

Originally posted by joej
Can someone tell me what I can expect if my father in Pueblo attempts to go the HD route. He is looking at getting a new TV and the HDTivo to go with it.

Is there anyone in Pueblo that is able to pick up the signals from Colorado Springs for the OTA stuff?

I'm in Denver so I am familiar with the low power signals we have here and know that a few feet can really make a difference, but I didn't see anyone in Pueblo in this thread that was picking up the stations.

Thanks
Joe

CBS, FOX, and PBS will all come in with a good external antenna.

"I called KKTV and the begining of the Bronco and complained about the lack of HDTV. The lady who answered the phone was very courteous and called the Engineering dept and responded to me that CBS could only send one HD signal at a time to them. They had to wait until the Patriot/Bills game was finished to get us the Bronco game in HD."

No HD once again... and the game on before the Broncos ran really late.

But based on the comment quoted above... since the game before the Broncos wasn't HD... why would it delay the Bronco game being in HD?

634-2844
636-9292

These were 2 of the #s previously listed.

I'm getting no answer currently with the first # after many rings.

Edit: update: and the 2nd # appears to be a fax line.

I'm not sure what page the # is on.

Game is on DirecTV HD Channel 96 if anyone is interested. I am resolved to the fact that KKTV is for sh*t. Why can FOX manage to display HD content on time and reliably? Seems like a strange way for CBS to do business.

Fox has a much simpler setup. I don't think they even need to push a button to go HD. They have a very good setup, which others might eventually change to.

But.. They finally went to HD starting at the Broncos last drive, and they seem to have said "Screw it" and are not even bothering to change the commercials to stretched. Which is fine by me.

I swear KKTV must be dense about this. The other game didn't run 55 minutes long. The email I got from KKTV the last time this happened basically said "There are a lot of channels for our engineers to scan through to find the right one." It even mentioned that there can be 2 to 3 HD CBS feeds at the same time. I'm sure it's very difficult to find the right 1 out of 2 or 3. I think we have to keep calling until they figure it out.

We have to be the only city hearing this excuse from their local affiliate. Do we really think that CBS can only transit one HD game at a time to all the affiliates in the country? Isn't it nice when the Broncos are on FOX-HD and we don't have to worry about which quarter we might see HD?

I'm frustrated. So here you go: Tim Timora's email at KKTV is ttimora@kktv11news.com

I agree... it shouldn't be very hard to fix if they want to fix it. But I'm thinking it's not a big deal to them, so it just keeps getting put off.

Thanks eddie

Did you guys see the announcement on altitude.tv. Altitude has signed an agreement with comcast cable. Including in the agreement is HD broadcast of select nuggets and avs games. Here's the link.

http://www.altitude.tv/news/newsDetails.aspx?NID=60

I wonder if HD is comcast only or if we can get it on D* or E*.

Originally posted by ryttingm
Did you guys see the announcement on altitude.tv. Altitude has signed an agreement with comcast cable. Including in the agreement is HD broadcast of select nuggets and avs games. Here's the link.

http://www.altitude.tv/news/newsDetails.aspx?NID=60

I wonder if HD is comcast only or if we can get it on D* or E*.

I am fairly certain that the HD is not exclusive and I am absolutely certain that neither D* or E* will carry this in HD for the near future. They don't even have the bandwidth for local channels in HD, let alone enough bandwidth for small market sports channels in HD.

--Ron

odd.. we found out that they have an HD studio... but they will need their own HD setup at the Pepsi center to record the games in HD. I really hope they do get that. Then every home game can be in HD, and I'll be forced to get Adelphia since they will probably carry it.

I'm really not sure what these select games can be.

Oh, shoot me now...I'm going to have to pay for cable again (on top of DirecTV) AND buy a component switcher!! Well maybe since the Avalanche won't be playing for a long time, and since the Nuggets are allergic to winning, I can wait a while...

Thanks for the link!

This is a quote from their "new net is high on sports" article:

"CED: High-definition TV is gaining momentum, and in the next few years, will be a mainstream offering by service providers. How is Altitude preparing for HD and will the network launch with any type of HD programming?



ALTITUDE: HD has huge potential for us, but we felt it just wasn’t necessary for our launch. We will be prepared to deliver HD when our distribution affiliates are in a position to take and distribute our events to their customers. It’s definitely coming, and affiliates are asking us to be ready for it. We’ve purchased the switchers, routers and audio equipment that can grow into the HD component at Crown Media, where we will eventually build an HD island. It costs 30 to 40 percent more than standard definition, so it’s a financial commitment, but we’re planning on offering HD service in about 18 months. Until then, we will speak to the masses and will launch with standard definition service."

I really thought they would be ready soon then that.

So how can they do select HD games in early 2005 if they don't build it out for 18 months... Hmmmm....

BTW, the SD quality on Altitude didn't look very good to me, even on a 32" SD set. But that may be because D* compressed the snot out of it. Fox Sports Rocky Mountain never looked good on D* either - could be compression or mediocre production on both channels.

Fox's 2 HD shows tonight aren't in HD. Hope KXRM isn't having equipment issues...

The SD quality of Altitude on Adelphia seems OK to me. Nothing special, but not bad. Maybe I got too used to the Rockies games on Adelphia's CH. 32.. which is about as bad as it gets.

I definently prefer watching them in HD on TNTHD though!

On Fox: I also Really hope it isn't an equipment issue!

on ABC: When are they going to stop "testing" the digital signal. I can't stand that they shut it off everynight at around 10:45. It's probably harder on the equipment to turn off and on everyday then to just leave it on.

The Nuggets look a lot better on TNT-SD than Altitude, but maybe that's because they're using HD cameras tonight and downconverting for DirecTV... :( Isn't it time for TNT-HD on D* yet??

I picked up an RCA DTC 100 on ebay for $100. In addition to OTA, I scored the following DirecTV HD deal (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4650863#post4650863) .

Sorry in advance, as I haven't read all 78 pages of this thread.

Can someone suggest a good/cheap indoor OTA Antenna for use in FoxRun area ( North end of COS, just east of GlenEagle in the trees)?

I am currently only getting CBS in HD with my current antenna ( Recoton TV2000 (http://products.consumerguide.com/reviews/product.epub?productId=18243) ). I cannot get Fox at all with my current setup (RCA DTC 100, Recoton Ant. and Pio 532 RPTV).

I got one suggestion for this RS antenna (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=930%2D0998) . Any other suggestions for my area of town?

[Edit]: Ahh just found the official Antenna thread and am reading up over there on suggested antennas.

So it took 2 months, but KOAA finally responded to my Satelite Waiver request.

I clearly stated in the request that although I can get their analog signal fine, I only wanted this until they could get their HDTV troubles with the FCC worked out and that I would continue to TiVo/watch their 10:00 news every night, but they still denied it.

Already switched my D*TiVo to record KKTV's 10:00 news every night now instead of KOAA after 9 years of watching their news - including TiVo'ing it every night the last 2 years!!

:mad: Rob :mad:

P.S. Anyone here heard anything from KRDO recently that would lead you to believe that they will EVER broadcast HD?!? At least KOAA seems to be about 12 months (http://www.koaa.com/community/listens/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1950) or so away from it if their Construction Permit gets approved by the FCC soon as KOAA thinks it will.

I just refiled a waiver with KRDO for the same reasons you did with KOAA...waiting to hear from them, but I'm sure the answer will be a resounding, David Spade-like, "NO!!!!"

We still need someone to call and get a live update from these 2...I really want to know if the HD plans are for 2005 or for 2015...plus you could try to reason with them on the waiver :rolleyes:

I'll try to give them a call today (KOAA, KRDO, KTSC)...

KTSC is still working out microwave issues (same as before) but Ian said he's still looking to get it up by this year. In other words, no change in the situation.

Just spoke at length with Quentin Henry at KOAA. No new news.. still waiting on construction permit. I mentioned AVS and he said he'll try to check it out and maybe put a post up here explaining things a bit better. He seems just as enthusuastic about HD as we do, but there probably isn't a whole lot he or the station can do about it.
At best, maybe by September...

Talked to Joe Reed at KRDO - they seem to be waiting for ABC to send them HD equipment - estimated 2nd quarter '05.

Just a quick heads up to all of my fellow Colorado Springs/Denver AVS'ers:

I may be having a projector shootout/home theater meet over at NEW, IMPROVED! place in Northgate this Saturday. I will be comparing the new JVC HX2 DILA projector plus the SIM HT300E, the Screenplay 7205, and the Screenplay 4805. That, plus audio and speakers from Denon and Energy.

Hey, my new home theater is about done and I want to show it off!

As always, no sales pitch, just lots of cool demos. Anyone interested can write or call!

I will write again as things firm up.

See ya!

John

OK, it's official:

For anyone interested in attending, we have arranged to get both a SIM HT300E plus a JVC HX2 to evaluate this weekend. As always, we will be showing these without any kind of sales pitch for anyone who wants to see them.

The shootout will be held at my new home/showroom on the north end of Colorado Springs, at Gleneagle and I-25. I point this out because it is only about 25 minutes from south Denver, making it a short drive for any Denver AVS'ers.

We will also have my regular demos, the Screenplay 7205 and 4805, there to compare as well.

Right now we are scheduled for Saturday afternoon, between 2-5 pm.

I am very excited about both of these pieces - the SIM looked great at CEDIA, and we were impressed with the limited look we got at the HX-2 last week at our Denver distributor.

Sorry about the short notice, but we just got notification that we could get these and did not want to conflict with everyone's Thanksgiving plans!

Please contact me at the number/e-mail below if interested in attending.

Thanks!

John

Hi John,

I am very close to you here in FoxRun and would love to attend. I am not really in the market for a projector, but I always like to learn a bit more about this hobby.

I just sent you a PM about this GTG. Thanks for the open invitation for the event. Please take a look at my profile for my HT equipment list, etc.

Rich

John,

This sounds like great time. I wish I could attend, but my Thanksgiving plans are starting early this year and I'll be tied up all day on Sat. I've got a couple months before I get into the new house and start my theater project so maybe I can make the next one.

I know a couple of people right now that are in the planning stages of building a HT, so I'll pass on the info and see if they are interested.

--Eric

Did anyone else get the STB message about Adelphia moving some channels up 3 hours (Discovery Channel, Oxygen, FX, Court TV, E!, and ABC Family) and moving Comedy Central 3 hours BACK? Apparently some people wrote in (country wide) and demanded the changes. Reasons cited were people wanted their kids to be able to watch educational programs earlier (which I don't have a problem with) but then in the same breath they complain of South Park's raciness. Anyone ever watched FX's Nip/Tuck or Court TV's sometimes graphic scenes?
Am I the only one outraged that an obviously inept parenting minority is getting their way on this (coming mid-December I believe)?
I've searched the web and seen no mentioned of the changes. AFAIK, there were no letters sent - only a message on the STBs. Kinda sneaky if you ask me.
Just one additional reason to dump Adelphia.

Thoughts/Sightings of this?


Edit: I just called A* (new acronym! ;) ) @1-888-683-1000 AGAIN and I spoke to a supervisor this time - he said it was only for the CS area. I would urge anyone who has control of what their kids watch (via actually sitting with them while they watch TV, V-Chip, or STB controls) to give our local office a call/email/letter explaining how silly it is to: A. Change the programming based on a vocal (hopefully) minority without consulting the rest of the populous, and B. Only sending a STB message (sneaking the change in) instead of sending out letters, etc.

Hmm FXs normal graphic shows would be on at 8pm instead of the normal 11pm, which is probably a step back from what these people want if they're moving Comedy Central back 3 hours. I don't really see any problems with Comedy Central right now. This means their late night uncensored material will be on at 3-5AM instead of 12-2am. That's cutting out a lot of viewers.

Originally posted by PlayDoh
Did anyone else get the STB message about Adelphia moving some channels up 3 hours (Discovery Channel, Oxygen, FX, Court TV, E!, and ABC Family) and moving Comedy Central 3 hours BACK?

I happened to notice this message as well. It was one of the few notices I have actually read on the STB. :) At one time I would have been happy about the forward move of some channels like DSC, but since I got my Netflix subscription, I hardly watch TV anymore. When I do, it's usually via recorded content since I can record via FW to my PC from the 6200 box.

Did anyone else notice the message about a new HD channel coming, Discovery-HD? I haven't ever seen this channel, so I'm not sure what it's content is like, but more is always a good thing, right?

As much as I love to hate A*, every time I think I'm going to switch to something else, they come up with a reason for me to stick around.
I just haven't been able to find a better deal for all my needs.

--Eric

I figure a bunch of religious over-reactors/nutty Focus-on-the-Familiers/lazy parents* called in as a result of a church/organized function "awareness" meeting. Adelphia, knowing what a can of worms is going to be opened (either way this goes), are just going to "sneak" it in to their lineup change to (at least temporarily) appease the vocal ones. When the stuff hits the fan (Dec 20, I think?) and everyone catches up and notices their programming times have changed, they'll end up switching it back.

Hopefully.

* - No offense to anyone reading this who fits into these categories... just please stop trying to force your silly ideas on a whole city of viewers. :)

For those interested, Comedy Central's reply:


Thank you for contacting us about this. We are already aware of Alephia's actions and are addressing the issue. I have forwarded your message to the Vice President of Affiliate Relations and your comments will be taken into consideration. Thanks for watching Comedy Central!

Sincerely,
Comedy Central Viewer Services

Originally posted by EHHoffman
Did anyone else notice the message about a new HD channel coming, Discovery-HD? I haven't ever seen this channel, so I'm not sure what it's content is like, but more is always a good thing, right?
--Eric

I watch Discovery HD every now and then. (On D*) They seem to be adding new shows with less repeats than there used to be. American Chopper, Trading Spaces, etc. You're right, more HD is always a good thing (unless it's the current Bravo - thankfully that will be changed soon :) )

Originally posted by PlayDoh
Talked to Joe Reed at KRDO - they seem to be waiting for ABC to send them HD equipment - estimated 2nd quarter '05.
Thanks for calling them and updating us. ABC is really the one I want around here. I hope that 2nd quarter is realistic and that it doesn't slip from this...

No Alias in HD for January through spring 2005.... :mad:

Originally posted by PlayDoh
I figure a bunch of religious over-reactors/nutty Focus-on-the-Familiers/lazy parents* called in as a result of a church/organized function "awareness" meeting. Adelphia, knowing what a can of worms is going to be opened (either way this goes), are just going to "sneak" it in to their lineup change to (at least temporarily) appease the vocal ones. When the stuff hits the fan (Dec 20, I think?) and everyone catches up and notices their programming times have changed, they'll end up switching it back.

Hopefully.

* - No offense to anyone reading this who fits into these categories... just please stop trying to force your silly ideas on a whole city of viewers. :)
I doubt it was any conspiracy like that...plus I still can't believe anyone watches live TV, with the inconvenient times and the commercials screaming at us...

Originally posted by PlayDoh
I watch Discovery HD every now and then. (On D*) They seem to be adding new shows with less repeats than there used to be. American Chopper, Trading Spaces, etc. You're right, more HD is always a good thing (unless it's the current Bravo - thankfully that will be changed soon :) )
Discovery HD is probably the best HD channel on DirecTV, though there are repeats for sure. Lots of great-looking shows.

Does anyone know if there's any loophole that would allow a viewer to subscribe to Adelphia HD cable without a $30-50 base package of SD channels? I'm going to keep SD and HD on DirecTV, but would like to add Adelphia HD channels but not at another $60 a month. It's not like I'm not already forking over $50 a month for Adelphia PowerLink internet services, so I wish things were a la carte and I'd be over the minimum $ amount...

Originally posted by TallGuy
Discovery HD is probably the best HD channel on DirecTV, though there are repeats for sure. Lots of great-looking shows.

Does anyone know if there's any loophole that would allow a viewer to subscribe to Adelphia HD cable without a $30-50 base package of SD channels? I'm going to keep SD and HD on DirecTV, but would like to add Adelphia HD channels but not at another $60 a month. It's not like I'm not already forking over $50 a month for Adelphia PowerLink internet services, so I wish things were a la carte and I'd be over the minimum $ amount...


I'd also like to know. Already pay $50/month for Powerlink... I wish you could add on their HD box and the HD channels for a small fee.

Thanks for calling the stations!

Tallguy: I still don't use any tivo type of device... still all live :-)

Originally posted by TallGuy
I doubt it was any conspiracy like that...plus I still can't believe anyone watches live TV, with the inconvenient times and the commercials screaming at us...
Well, that's the point.. they can move channels *UP* 12 hours if they want, I can always TIVO it and watch it at my leisure. If they move it BACK 3 hours, I don't have the option of watching it *tonight* due to work, etc. There's just really no point dicking with the schedule like that. Also, they don't have an HD DVR yet...

As far as "conspiracy" - It was clearly a group of people in the Springs making their voice heard. 1000 people aren't going to come up with the idea of moving channels ahead/back indiviually.. it seems more likely that a group got together and handed out flyers/form letters/whatever. If it was 100 people raising their voices, A* would (and should) have ignored them. 1000+ letters should have been met with letters to subscribers, etc., asking opinions.

It's the principle..

Do you know that it's only being done in Colorado Springs?

Originally posted by TallGuy
Do you know that it's only being done in Colorado Springs?
Yup. Adelphia has confirmed it 3 out of 4 phone calls :) The first time the lady had no idea what I/she was talking about. The other 3 times, they looked it up via my area code/phone number.
If it was nation-wide, I'd feel a bit more helpless..

By the way, sorry it's an off-topic subject.. doesn't affect HD at all. I just don't know of any other CS-based enthusiast boards I can complain to. :)

I really hope this town gets more local HD soon. I am hooked up with D* HD and after the 6 mo free honeymoon, it will cost me roughly $4/ch per month for HD (see my breakdown here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=471718) ) This is just too much per channel IMO. Free OTA is what make sense to me given these costs.

I am a SD DTivo user too and going from this, back to watching live HDTV and muting during commercials is like going back in time (in a bad way). I just cannot justify paying $1K for an HDTivo when I know they will be half this price this time next year.

Re: COS consipiricy. I wouldn't doubt it. This town is messed up with a very vocal RW morality group. My solution use a Tivo and who cares when they air programs, except HD, of course.

Originally posted by Rmassey
This town is messed up with a very vocal RW morality group. My solution use a Tivo and who cares when they air programs, except HD, of course.

To quote the locals, Amen! :p Get yourself a HD-TIVo and then you can timeshift HD too. I couldn't tell you the last time I watched live TV.

Looks like someone in Washington is listening!! Seems that DBS companies will be able to provide distant HD channels to subscribers that do not have a local affiliate that is not broadcasting a digital signal. Sure it's gonna take a while, but when it finally happens it will be great for folks like us that cannot get ABC or NBC HD feeds locally!!

Dishnetwork News Release (http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=dish&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=646314 )

GAWD I hope this happens soon!! Maybe KKTV and KOAA will get their collective asses in gear..............naw, never happen.:rolleyes:

As I understand it, the bill will only require that a waiver will be granted if the local channel does not broadcast a "digital signal." This does NOT mean they have to broadcast HD. Therefore, stations like KRDO can sit on their asses apparantly as long as they'd like. Fortunately, KOAA still does not transmit a digital signal, so maybe we'll get a waiver for that when the time comes.

Anybody else have any input??

Frank, I'm sure it was just a typographical error but I like to correct what you said. KKTV is not sitting on its ass. It is KRDO (ABC) and KOAA(NBC). KKTV (CBS) was the first station in the area to broadcast HD and should be given proper credit for that. I for one am glad they did. KRDO and KOAA are on my @#% list and very seldom view any of their shows because of it.

You are so right, meant to say KRDO. KKTV did a great job with the game yeaterday, hats off!!

I got a call from the Nielsen folks the other night. They wanted to sign me up. I don't know how much influence one household makes in the grand scheme of things but this one watches a lot of HDTV so I jumped at the chance. They're going to send an agreement for me to sign and get me set up.

Woo-hoo! HD now!

Hmm.... I thought they only do non HDTV stats?

I didn't ask about the HD stats but the lady who did the phone survey asked me if I had any HDTVs and if I received any HD channels.

Having not checked here recently, I sent an email to Joe Reed in the Engineering Department at KRDO asking about HD.

Here is the text of his response:

As of this writing the soonest we will have any HD content to broadcast will
be the first or second quarter of 2005.
thanks for viewing
JR

Similar to what other people are hearing, but I thought I'd just add the update. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that something happens by at least the early part of 2nd quarter!!

Rob

Vagetto and TallGuy-

I THINK you can acccess the HD stuff on A**** with an HTPC and a Fusion card. I have Powerlink and basic cable and get the HD stuff (all 9 channels or whatever) with my Fusion QAM card....

That's a lot of fiddlin' for you (HTPC), but I would guess it would work. My guess is that the digital (and HD) feed is included in the Powerlink feed. Don't know for sure, tho....

It works for me except ESPN is giving me fits( lots of stutters...everything else is great...)...I get HBO (I'm no prude but the soft porn pi**es me off as I have a 14 year old son!) and Starz and another movie channel as well as the normal stuff.....

probably not much help, but there it is...correct me if I'm wrong...Also, I don't get ABC in HD...thought I would, but no luck....

Thanks!

I was unaware that they were still sending that through without being encrypted. I think the QAM channels come through as long as you get a cable signal from them, not too sure if you only have internet. I do have the HTPC hooked up, but I'm not sure it would be worth it to get a Fusion QAM card just to have those 9 channels, (most of which I already receive with Voom/OTA).

I can vouch for the Fusion as well - no scrambling yet, and everything is working fine since the latest driver release.

You can pick up the Fusion III for about $150 now.

John

FYI - Adelphia has added Discovery HD to their HD lineup.

John

Does anyone think we'll have the late Broncos game in HD before the 3rd quarter? Sure hope that KKTV finds the HD feed before an hour or two goes by again!

By the way Vaggeto, have you still been noticing more pixellation on KKTV's Broncos games than on DirecTV's Sunday Ticket? I haven't seen a CBS-HD game in a while but I think they're not quite as clear as ESPN-HD like last week. Which is strange because my RPTV is 1080i and has no 720p native mode.

CBS - good job
KKTV - good job
Broncos - bad job - if the second half is the same, no playoffs for you
:eek:

TallGuy... no D* this year. But I do notice CBS pixelate when they zoom in on a player, and follow him running because of the fast moving background. But I don't think that can be avoided OTA with 1080i. I think CBS is giving around 17MBps to the signal.

Heartbreaking loss for the Broncos... I find it hard to believe that anyone is more crushed then I am when we give up chances to win like we did.

Agreed.

I'm looking at it like it would have been nearly impossible to beat Indy, Pittsburgh and/or New England in the AFC playoffs had we been able to make it in anyway...

hehe.. I still plan on them making it. If there's ANY chance, which there's a GOOD one here... then I plan on them making it. They can beat any of those teams on any given week. They are a good team that normally plays with their opponents, whether good or bad. With a little luck which we deserve by then... we can beat any of those.

Not having check this thread in a while, like to say that I just saw this info at the fcc site:
KOAA CO PUEBLO 42 Authorized to construct and program test

Cool, I hope they get their channel up and running asap.

Hah! Just saw a news story on KRDO's 5:30 news about what to look for when buying an HDTV, including making sure you get a tuner if you are using an antenna. I guess it's time to send them an email asking them what digital channel they are broadcasting on.

Well they are broadcasting a weak digital signal, but not an HD signal.

John-
What's the Fusion equivalent for Discovery? (89.9 or whatever...?)I'm too lazy to search each channel, though I will eventually get around to it....

Thanks....

Originally posted by MalcolmG
Hah! Just saw a news story on KRDO's 5:30 news about what to look for when buying an HDTV, including making sure you get a tuner if you are using an antenna. I guess it's time to send them an email asking them what digital channel they are broadcasting on.
They should have said, "to receive KRDO-DT, you need an antenna the size of your entire roof, plus a preamp, plus bad vision to enjoy the breathtaking 480i digital picture in 4:3 ratio and 1 or 2-channel sound"...

About NBC, that's great, but I've seen NBC-HD and there ain't much to get excited about. Hopefully they'll get with the HD program next season. ABC is where we are really missing out.

No Broncos in HD this weekend...:mad: Wonder if CBS will match FOX next season in doing almost every NFL game in HD. Seriously, if they lose to Miami at home...:mad: :mad: :mad:

Not to bring up an old topic, but the Indy just picked up on the Adelphia Time shift. I can not find the original article on their web site, but here (http://www.csindy.com/csindy/current/publiceye.htm) is an article about the responses they received about it (specifically the move of the Daily Show to midnight.)

They are accepting comments about the shift at degette@csindy.com. I wrote them already and pointed them to this thread.

Brian

Any body have audio problems with CSI last night. About 40 minutes into it, it got all choopy. but, when they cut to non HD the sound was fine. Of course I am watching this after being recroded on HD Tivo, so it may be my TIVO, not sure.

I was having issues with KKTV also. Glitchy sound, sometimes even during commercials. (I think when they forgot to change it from dd5.1 encoding for a commercial) It was pretty unwatchable though.

and the only real reason I want NBC is Jay Leno. I don't even know what else they have in HD.

Originally posted by Vaggeto
I was having issues with KKTV also. Glitchy sound, sometimes even during commercials. (I think when they forgot to change it from dd5.1 encoding for a commercial) It was pretty unwatchable though.

and the only real reason I want NBC is Jay Leno. I don't even know what else they have in HD.

That brings up another question I have. Is it CBS or KKTV that switches DD and HD on and off for the commercial breaks. THe reson I am asking is because I noticed while watching the Broncos this past weekend I noticed the DD stayed on the whole game. Not once did it switch on and off like it does the rest of the time.

So, if that can be done for a game why not all the time? Unless KKTV is recieving it that way from CBS and can not alter the DD during a game, but can alter it for regular TV.

Any thoughts???

KKTV does the switching from 4x3 bars in commercials to stretched commercials. (wonder what their OAR policy would be for movies ;) )
So I think they also do the switching of the sound also.

CBS itself does it sometimes when going to a different announcer for highlights. You'll easily notice that change though.

Originally posted by eichenberg
Any body have audio problems with CSI last night. About 40 minutes into it, it got all choopy. but, when they cut to non HD the sound was fine. Of course I am watching this after being recroded on HD Tivo, so it may be my TIVO, not sure.

I watched Thursday's CSI episode last night on my HD-DirecTivo, and experienced the same audio problem that you described. After about 5 minutes it was irritating us so I switched to the backup.... SD DirecTivo.... and watched the remainder of the show in SD. :(

I hope it was a 'one time' problem at KKTV.

Originally posted by Paul E
I watched Thursday's CSI episode last night on my HD-DirecTivo, and experienced the same audio problem that you described. After about 5 minutes it was irritating us so I switched to the backup.... SD DirecTivo.... and watched the remainder of the show in SD. :(

I hope it was a 'one time' problem at KKTV.

It continued through most of Without a Trace, then they fixed it. So, I would assume it will be a one time oops.

Originally posted by BadBilly
John-
What's the Fusion equivalent for Discovery? (89.9 or whatever...?)I'm too lazy to search each channel, though I will eventually get around to it....

Thanks....

80-2, I believe.

John

Originally posted by eichenberg
It continued through most of Without a Trace, then they fixed it. So, I would assume it will be a one time oops.
Oh great, sounds like it will be real enjoyable for us to watch the Without A Trace we recorded.

John- Thanks for the info....

At least we won't see the Broncos lose in the playoffs.

Originally posted by Vaggeto
I was having issues with KKTV also. Glitchy sound, sometimes even during commercials. (I think when they forgot to change it from dd5.1 encoding for a commercial) It was pretty unwatchable though.

and the only real reason I want NBC is Jay Leno. I don't even know what else they have in HD.

Ditto on the CSI and the stuttering/echo sort of sound. I TiVo'ed it and was getting worried my HDTiVo was dying!!!!

--Ron

It's confusing whether the Broncos-Chiefs game next Sunday is HD or not. I originally thought it was at 2:15, but yesterday the stations announced 11:00 for game time. CBS' site http://cbs.sportsline.com/cbssports/schedules/page/nfl shows it as HD at 2:15. If it's really 11:00 now, will they keep it HD and have no HD game at 2:15?? Who knows. I want to invite people over to watch it, but not if it looks like SD crap...

I read a couple of weeks ago that the KC game was changed to 11AM because the Chiefs were doing as well as thought and this game has lost some of its national luster. No idea if it's HD or SD. It was difficult watching the Miami game in SD. I was getting used to the HD games and they are so much more enjoyable to watch. Let's hope CBS will try to match FOX next year. Now if only KRDO would play the HD game.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

May Santa bring us all lots of new HD channels in 2005!

Looks like my HD-Free-Ride is over on adelphia. :(

Came back in town this week to find that I no longer get any of the HD channels via cable, other then OTA, Discovery-HD and ESPN-HD. Used to get both InHDs, HBO-HD, SHO-HD, STARZ-HD, HDNET, & HDNET-Movies. The funny thing is, if you look at their channel line-up, it appears that I should be getting the HDNet stuff, but not ESPN-HD. Guess they haven't completely gotten it straightened out yet.

I knew it would come sooner or later. Guess now I have a reason to go ahead and cancel my cable service again as with out all that HD content cable just isn't worth the monthly bill.

Hey, I'm with you, same thing for me...Are you using the Fusion card? (I am..) Are you paying for the full HD package? (I'm not...)

I'm paying for the basic HD upgrade which includes 5 channels....I think I still get all of them....Fox, CBS (both also OTA as you know), Discovery, ESPN and one other...can't remember what..

Was in like Flynn, got all the above you mentioned, but last week they dropped a few and changed a few. Then yesterday it was down to the standard five...

I did get a message on my answering machine about two weeks ago that my "free trial period" was about to end. Figured I'd wait and see what happened and here it is....

The ESPN alone is worth the extra $12 I pay per month (plus the convenience of no antenna) at this point....If they end up encrypting the QAM ESPN and I can't get it on my Fusion card, I'll drop the digital/HD option as well...

Wellllllll....Just screwing around and tonight, I have ALL the stations back, but they are on totally different channels!!! (for the most part, anyway...CBS is still 104.2)...but I seem to have all 10 HD back?!?!?!

Kinda p*ssed because I stumbled onto HBO (and their soft porn) right as my 14 year old walked downstairs! HBO was missing last night...now it has reappeared on 89.5 or something...

This is strange!

Adel**** is definitely doing something weird....

I wasn't paying anything extra or above my normal cable bill for digital basic, other then an extra $4 or so for the HD STB. ($8/mo compared to $4/mo for a SD STB). I was going to cancel cable last summer and when I called them up I found out they had just gotten the HD STB for my area, so I dropped both SD-boxes in exchange for one HD box. This had a net $0 effect and I got every HD channel they offered. I knew this going to be short lived, but decided I could stomach it in the short term to see what the HD was like.

For PC use, I was using the 1394 ports to record (works for every channel, HD and SD) and then used my MyHD 120 for playback. I did like this feature quite a bit.

I haven't called them to see if they offer some HD package for an extra charge (I bet they do), because I don't intend to pay anything more then I am paying now for TV. If I could get EVERY HD channel and ONLY the HDs for like $10-$20, I might keep it. But I won't pay $60mo for basic digital cable, plus some extra charge for a few HD channels plus hardware costs, and still not have HBO-HD, SHO-HD or Startz-HD. Just not worth it to me. I can still get OTA HD with my MyHD120 card.

I think I'm going to be a Netflix-only house here very soon. Since I've started using Netflix, I just don't watch much TV anymore. The few shows on broadcast TV I did want to watch are available on DVD and I'd rather watch em that way. Sports and some occasional news is about the only "TV" I watch anymore. I guess I'll have to see how I feal about this when(if?) Hocky season comes arround next year. Sure wish their was going to be an OTA-HD station where I could get hocky too.

I had thought about get the VOOM service for some HD content, but given the state of that company of late, I'm not sure that is a good investment either.

--Eric

Eric-

Don't know if it's worth it to you, but I just run my coax straight into the Fusion card and I get all the HD channels. The Fusion is $150, but then you're done.

Of course, with Adel*** screwing around as they are, changes might be in the wind and if they DO encrypt the QAM, the Fusion would be useless, except for OTA, of course...

Thanks for the info about the 1394 port...I had wondered if that would work with the STB from Adel....not that it matters much as I'm not using it, but it's good to know...

We will just have to hope that Altitude goes HD for next season...this season seems to be toast...sure miss the Avs!

Well, well....back to what it was a few days ago...the standard five channels in HD.....Fox, CBS, Discovery, PBS and ESPN....

Don't know what happened to the HBO, etc. that I saw last night.....

Another strange thing happened two nights ago...rescanned digital channels and found "Mars Attacks" playing on one....I searched high and low and found that "Mars Attacks" was scheduled to start rotation THE NEXT DAY on many flavors of HBO!!! As soon as the credits finished, the channel was gone?!??! Too strange....

Hey John, are you still getting all the stations?

I spoke with the engineer at KRDO yesterday. He said their HDTV buildout is a $2M major project and they hope to have it done 2nd quarter of 2005, April-June. He has an HDTV himself and enjoys the Broncos more on ESPN-HD than on Monday Night Football right now. He also said they are required to go to full-power (DTV minimum) by 7/1/05. The new transmitter and equipment coming in will be capable of full power.

He said they don't expect to receive much additional advertising revenue after going to HD. I tried to make the case for losing viewers while they're not HD, and adding viewers when they are HD.

I also told him that DirecTV is about to add NY/LA ABC-HD channels for DNS/O&O people. He was very interested and will try to get that himself via a waiver. My understanding of the new law, SHVERA, is that no new waivers are allowed, but who knows if that is right. It didn't sound like he was allowed to give waivers to viewers, just to station engineers.

I told him several times we were excited about the move to HDTV and that right now, I watch CBS and FOX more because they are HD. So hopefully the 2nd quarter date doesn't slip!

Tallguy,
That sounds promising. Given that I'm likely going to be going with out any cable/sat for a little while at least, the more HD OTA I can get the better. (Heading back to school and don't need the distraction. :)) Maybe by next Broncos season, most, if not all games will be available OTA in HD.

BadBilly,
I've thought about getting a fusion card a couple of time but just haven't done it. I'm thinking that if the QAM stuff works well enough, I might be able to use it as my main recording device, and use the MyHD for playback. (I like that it's an all hardware decoder). What channels are available with this card from Adelphia right now? Are they mostly just the 1-100 channels and the HD ones we've talked about or do most of the digital channels (100+) come in too?

--Eric

TallGuy,
Do you know if the KRDO transmitter tower will be anywhere near the tower for KKTV?

Originally posted by Iwanthd
TallGuy,
Do you know if the KRDO transmitter tower will be anywhere near the tower for KKTV?
Sorry, we didn't discuss it, but I assumed that everything will be on Cheyenne Mountain in SW Colorado Springs. Hope it reaches Castle Rock for you.

Eric-

I've heard some positive feedback with the Fusion/MyHD solution.

The Fusion card only receives channels 1-125.

As you've probably read, the Fusion software is NOT highly developed. You perform a scan (with 256QAM or 64 QAM for cable; 8VSB for OTA) with the Fusion software and it recognizes any digital and analog signals. For me, the digital starts at 80 and runs through 104 (not every channel is recognized...80. 81, 85, 87, etc.)

Then you have to go to each channel and manually search the sub-channels...some have 3, some one...the most I've seen is 10. I note the received digital channels and write them down. Then I go to a "Favorites" folder and add the digital channels to favorites.

Whan I was getting all 12 HD channels offered by Adelphia (as it sounds like you were as well), my favorites folder had them all listed. A problem with the software is that they are only listed by number and you have to remember which number is which channel...80.1 is ESPN-HD, for exanmple). Two (as I remember) channels listed as digital AND having 10 sub-channels have no signal. (Theory is that they are music channels, which Fusion can't receive.)

The Fusion also scans all analog channels from 1 to 125 so you can also use it's analog tuner for those, however, the PVR-250 (with a hardware decoder)does a much better job (PQ) with analog.

The Fusion does a great job with OTA signals (of course you have the MyHD, best solution for OTA, I've heard) as well.

Here's my whole story...

I had BASIC cable service plus Internet from Adel when I first bought the Fusion card. My initial scan brought up one 256QAM station and one 64QAM station. ESPN-HD (my most desired channel) was very choppy. I decided to go basic HDTV and was told it was $10 extra plus $10 monthly equipment rental (and $25 install) so I decided to give it a trial. The cable guy was very nice but had no clue as to how an HTPC would be set-up. He did find that I had a VERY weak signal and replaced a couple of splitters which really improved my signal. I reconnected the coax after he left (never have used the digital out-put box) and got all 12 HD channels.

As mentioned previously, I got a recorded message after a month from Adel saying my "free trial" was almost over (never initially heard about THAT), but I never replied. Then last week everything was scrambled for a few days and I lost all the "premium" content.

I really liked some of the content I was getting (INHD concerts, for example) as well as the four movie channels, but not sure I want to pay the premium as my cable bill is high enough. I am considering re-upping for the premium content although I have my issues with HBO (also noted previously). I am not a prude but I don't want my kids exposed to it. I was able to hide it as I just didn't add HBO to the Favorites folder.

Once we go totally OTA HD, I think I will be satisfied with the basic HD content. It would have been nice to record some of those HD movies and burn them to DVD, though...Woulda done that had I known it was a trial...

Hope this helps....

BadBilly

Eric again-

Just called Adel and got the inside scoop....I just re-upped for HD Plus which is only an additional $5 a month.....Too cheap to pass up...This takes my monthly bill for cable alone to $57.22 (taxes not included...)and I'm not real happy with that, but just BASIC (non-digital) with the channels I want (daughter has to have Animal Planet) was $45... The cheapest HD package I can get is $55.22 (basic digital cable + HD upgrade)...I can send the box back and save $10/month, but I might just play around with it first as I've never explored that option; using the 1394 line-out as you suggested...

I'll keep you posted as to my results...the cable rep said the change should take place immediately...

BadBilly

So we have DD 5.1 but no HD. Good job KKTV!!!!

By the looks of it so far, we may not care to see this in HD.

OK, some redemption, but they need to play some defense!

I wonder if the St. Louis/NY overtime game has anything to do with the switch to HD on the Broncos?

OK...some DEFENSE!

I wonder if the St. Louis/NY overtime game has anything to do with the switch to HD on the Broncos? [/B][/QUOTE]

Well, with about 5 minutes left in the STL game KKTV switched the HD off and it has been off ever since then.

I tried to call KKTV but could not get a hold of any one.

It's been up for awhile now... but man, have some faith EDL :-) Can't give up on them after 2 drives.

Yea, I know, but it seems ominous when Indy's second teamers can have their way with the Broncos first teamers. The Broncos defense is their downfall, this week and next if they make it that far.

I long for the days of Elway...

Faith????

I got faith that the Broncos are gonna get their butts handed to them on a sling next weekend....

I'm with you Eddie, but even Elway couldn't help this team.....The "D" stinks too much, for one.....And the other problems are too numerous to list...

We need a new coach...IMHO....

Goodluck to the Broncos next week.

If you really want to argue about how bad the Broncos are, I recommend going to denverbroncos.com forums. I personally read there a lot, but can't even bother to register because of all the jerks that are nothing put trolls. There are some good talks there though, but let's please not make this the place for it.

At least they ended up on CBS-HD for next week instead of ABC carrying it as their Saturday AFC playoff game. And being the early game, KKTV should "find" it right at the beginning of the hour.

(I think we want to clearly see all of Peyton Manning's touchdown passes.)

I live off Baptist Rd (Fox Run) just above GlenEagle. I currently get CBS very good, Fox and PBS once in a while and nada for ABC. I am looking to upgrade the antenna to the DB4 form Antennasdirect.com. Does anyone have any experience with this antenna in this part of town. The antenna will be mounted in the attic, multi story house, treed lot, 80921. Any other antenna recommendations? TIA.

My location is very close to yours. I don't know about the DB4 antenna, I just have a generic 6-foot ugly mast from Radio Shack in my attic. If it's a good one, it will probably be fine.

My advice would be that if you can get CBS, Fox and PBS consistently with your new setup, that you not worry about ABC at this point. KRDO told me the other day that their new transmitter (I think it was) will be at full power when they go HD hopefully around second quarter. I've added a line amp to my antenna feed and KRDO is still spotty, but the 480i isn't worth watching anyway. Guys in town get KRDO-DT at 100% so I think our distance at the low power level is the problem.

Thanks TallGuy. I am not so concerned with KRDO/ABC. I know they are testing and not running at full power yet. I am more interested in getting Fox and PBS consistently. CBS is a joy and I'd like/expect the same from Fox and PBS, with ABC to follow soon like you said.

I e'd AD.com and they said that have sold DB4s in the area with success, but who knows if they actually mean 80921 where we live.

I'll give it a try, it's only $59 with a 90 day return policy.

That DB4 should work very well for you. You could add a Winegard preamp if the new antenna isn't enough.

Vaggeto,

You said "I personally read there a lot, but can't even bother to register because of all the jerks that are nothing put trolls."

What are trolls exactly? I have heard that term for people who make negative comments in forums, but I would like to know if the yerm means anything more than that. Thanks and happy new year.

Roy

Hi - I have been lurking and getting lots of info from this thread for the past year. Thanks for everyone who posts here.

I thought I would share the latest info on KTSC. I emailed them recently about their status and this is the respose I got:

**********
The equipment to bring the PBS HD signal to KTSC-DT is currently in
test. The expectation is that this should be finished soon and that the
HD signal will be available sometime in the early part of 2005.

Hope this answers your question.

Elaine W. Miller
Engineering Project Assistant
Rocky Mountain PBN
1089 Bannock Street
Denver, CO 80204
303-620-5628 voice
303-620-5600 FAX

***********

Anyway - here's hoping it happens by MID-year knowing how things go around here.

Susan
In Briargate
Using Directv HDTIVO
And Rabbitt Ears.

Originally posted by suzeo99
Hi - I have been lurking and getting lots of info from this thread for the past year. Thanks for everyone who posts here.

I thought I would share the latest info on KTSC. I emailed them recently about their status and this is the respose I got:

**********
The equipment to bring the PBS HD signal to KTSC-DT is currently in
test. The expectation is that this should be finished soon and that the
HD signal will be available sometime in the early part of 2005.

Hope this answers your question.
***********
Anyway - here's hoping it happens by MID-year knowing how things go around here.

Susan
In Briargate
Using Directv HDTIVO
And Rabbitt Ears.
Susan, welcome. And nice choice of equipment. People think we're crazy to spend $900 on an HD-TiVo, but it's probably the my favorite piece of technology in the house.

Good news about KTSC, that will be 3 out of 5 stations locally making it to HD. Then it will be a race between KOAA and KRDO. KOAA is the only one we haven't heard from in a while. I thought someone said they are finally un-stuck with the FCC permit thing. I just emailed KOAA engineering through their web site; if I hear back I'll post here.

Originally posted by royrose
Vaggeto,

You said "I personally read there a lot, but can't even bother to register because of all the jerks that are nothing put trolls."

What are trolls exactly? I have heard that term for people who make negative comments in forums, but I would like to know if the yerm means anything more than that. Thanks and happy new year.

Roy

Trolls are really people just looking for trouble. There are a LOT from other teams as you could probably guess just there to argue, but there are also many Bronco fans there that argue endlessly. I don't register because I don't even want to attempt to argue with them because I feel I would only be wasting my time. Maybe I'm just too used to AVS :-)

Originally posted by TallGuy
Susan, welcome. And nice choice of equipment. People think we're crazy to spend $900 on an HD-TiVo, but it's probably the my favorite piece of technology in the house.

Good news about KTSC, that will be 3 out of 5 stations locally making it to HD. Then it will be a race between KOAA and KRDO. KOAA is the only one we haven't heard from in a while. I thought someone said they are finally un-stuck with the FCC permit thing. I just emailed KOAA engineering through their web site; if I hear back I'll post here.

Thanks Susan!

Tallguy: Thanks for emailing them, hopefully now that they have the permit, they will do what they said they would, and start building asap.

Does anyone know where I can find a satellite waiver to send to KRDO? And the address to send it to?

KOAA had one on their webpage that you could print out and fax in, but I can't find anything on KRDO's page.

This is probably just a useless attempt to get the National ABC-HD feed from DirecTV, but I at least want to make them know there are people out here waiting for High Def. KOAA denied my waiver request, but at least I'm making them (KOAA & KRDO) know that I refuse to watch their local newscasts until they are broadcasting in HD! :)

Thanks,
Rob

Other than googling for it, I don't know where you could find a generic form. I'm sure there's not one on the website. It would be noticed by the station if several of us would submit for it.

First off, thanks to this forum and everyone on it for giving everyone else some more insight in to HDTV.

I have DirecTV and get my local channels from an amplified indoor antenna, run to my Samsung SIR-TS360. I get FOX (KXRM-DT, CH 21.1) CBS (KKTV-DT, CH 11-1), and PBS (KTSC-DT, CH 8.1).

I also get ABC (KRDO-DT, CH 13-1), but I do not get any audio with ABC. I know that ABC is not broadcasting in HD, but 13-1 is the DTV feed, so I get a good digital feed. But again, with no sound.

Is it possible to get sound from KRDO's DT? It is hard to watch regular TV after HD, and I would really like to watch Lost tonight on a halfway good broadcast. Thanks in advance.

I have not checked this AM, but last night during the Orange Bowl I had sound on my HDTivo. Check ypur signal strength. I could be wrong, but I think with a weak signal you can get a piture and no sound. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but it used to happen to me all the time with CBS until I amplified the signal.

Thanks eichenberg! I have not got sound from ABC since I installed my antenna. I was not sure if it was me or the feed. Now that I know it is me, I will try adjusting the antenna and strength.

I just found this site today and wish I would have found it last week. It is much better to discuss local HDTV with someone local.

I could also use some help with choosing an antenna. I went with the indoor amplified antenna for cost reasons. But I know that I will get better reception with an outdoor antenna. Does any one have any suggestions on witch antenna to use? How many people are using indoor antennas, out door antennas? Is there much of a difference? Thanks again for your help.

As far as no sound, I get spotty reception with ABC but have never experienced no sound up until the other day. I forget which programs I was trying to tune into, but there was no audio with it.

Anyone else witnessed this??

I think I can shed some light. When I talked to the KRDO engineer the other day, he asked what my receiver was and whether I was getting sound on 13-1. He said that they have just started having problems where the Samsung SIR-TS160 (interesting to me because I paid $600+ for it, then sold it on eBay to get my HD-TiVo) has no sound. It makes sense that your 360 is similar to the 160. He thought it has something to do with their PSIP data or something - can't remember exactly what he said. We didn't dwell on it because my receiver is fine. I do have sound on 13-1 tonight and the last several days.

Anyway, it seems to be receiver-specific so I wouldn't spend a lot of time on your antenna setup for this issue. As far as antennas, I tried the good-looking Terk TV55 outside twice and reception was crappy. Returned it. I didn't want the big mast outside and covenants wouldn't allow it anyway. I've spent too much time at this but eventually got a big 6 foot antenna in the right position in my attic over the garage, which is great. No wind, no lightning strikes, no ugliness on the house. Mine is Radio Shack but I know there are better brands.

P.S. Welcome to the forum! It is the only place to find out what's going on in Colorado Springs!

Thanks Tall Guy. Yesterday I did adjust the signal and the antenna, but I still had no sound. I guess I will have to live with it for now. What are my options? Should I write KRDO and tell them I have this issue in hope they will find a fix, or is the problem my receiver and I need to look to invest in another one? Thanks again.

Originally posted by Rmassey
Thanks TallGuy. I am not so concerned with KRDO/ABC. I know they are testing and not running at full power yet. I am more interested in getting Fox and PBS consistently. CBS is a joy and I'd like/expect the same from Fox and PBS, with ABC to follow soon like you said.

I e'd AD.com and they said that have sold DB4s in the area with success, but who knows if they actually mean 80921 where we live.

I'll give it a try, it's only $59 with a 90 day return policy.

Well the DB4 arrived today. UPS bent the living heck out of it, not good. I opened it up and it looks bad. The packaging is very flimsy IMO, not UPS proof by any means.

I contacted AD and they will send another one, but....

I went ahead and tried to install this one, bending the thing back into shape. The results were very poor reception compared to my current antenna.

My current Antenna is a 4 yo Recoton TV2000. The installed DB4 gave me signal strength numbers of 20-40 for CBS and FOX, zip for PBS whereas my Recoton gave me 82-85 for these stations, 45 for PBS. Not quite what I expected.

Two ideas, 1) UPS mangled this sufficiently to the point where it does not work, or 2) I have selected the wrong antenna for my intended indoor attic install. Given my current indoor reception, I am not interested in an outdoor install.

Any ideas, before I RMA this one back to AD?

Originally posted by mrtolles
Thanks Tall Guy. Yesterday I did adjust the signal and the antenna, but I still had no sound. I guess I will have to live with it for now. What are my options? Should I write KRDO and tell them I have this issue in hope they will find a fix, or is the problem my receiver and I need to look to invest in another one? Thanks again.
I would definitely call KRDO engineering and see if they've figured anything out on their end. They may be able to figure out how to encode differently or something. If you like your receiver, I wouldn't worry about it for now because KRDO-DT isn't really much different from regular SD/analog KRDO. The PQ is 480i crap for now.

The ironic thing is that I understand there is some sort of bug with the Samsung 360 box in viewing 720P programming, so when KRDO does go HD, maybe this will affect you. I saw a link to a thread dedicated to this, so you could search "Samsung 360 720P" on AVSForum.com and read up to see if it would affect you.

Originally posted by Rmassey
Any ideas, before I RMA this one back to AD?
Your guess is as good as mine. I'm starting to think that antennas' reception is not an absolute...one works better for one place and another for a different house. Experimentation is the key. And a good return policy.

Well, it looks like the attic install is killing me for the DB4 install. I did some more testing and put the DB4 outside, on the back porch, on a portable speaker stand and ran a direct line into the ant input of the sat box. I am getting signals in the 70-80 range for PBS, CBS, Fox, still no ABC, but they are only in test anyway.

So decisions, decisions, do I keep the DB4 and just mount it outside or continue my search for a suitable indoor antenna. HOA regs be damned, but I am not fond of doing the roof monkey thing and not a big fan of the asthetic look of outdoor installs.

Packers and Vikings are playing......No pic on 21!! What heck is going on?!? Tried calling the station and got there voice mail system. Nice job FOX!!!:rolleyes:

Frank - KXRM-HD was fine here from 2:30-2:40 and 3:45-4:30, but I wasn't watching it in between.

That's wierd, I've got a great signal strength but no pic at all. KKTV's signal was good, no problems during the game.

We have gotten The game in HD on Fox with no problem. I hope you figure out what is going on.

Roy

Uh-oh - maybe the 921 doesn't like the NFC :D

Reboot? CTRL-ALT-DEL? The three-finger salute?

Okay this is getting even stranger. I think someone may have accidentally pushed some buttons on my remote that they shouldn't have. I ended up re-booting my DVR and was surprised to see "022-02 RF-02" listed in the local OTA Digital Channel section of the on-screen channel guide after rescanning for local OTA-Digital channels. Fox is back on and the new channel is also a Fox-HD feed, not sure (yet) if it's from KXRM or not. I'll have to keep an eye on it and see what happens to the content.

Frank - So you're receiving identical audio and video on 21-1 and 21-2? Don't know if I want to re-scan to see what happens here. I wonder if they're testing something.

Yep, same on both.

Must be a channel mapping thing; they couldn't send it twice and fit 2x the bandwidth in the spectrum without killing the PQ, I would think. Maybe for audio in Espanol in the future or something. I'm curious so I might email the engineer guy I talked to a few months back.

Below is an email reply I received from an engineer at KXRM on 1/10/05. I wanted to watch the Green Bay vs. Vikings game last Sunday on 21.1. My Sony SAT-HD300 was getting a great signal for 21.1, but I was not getting any picture or sound. My Samsung SIR-TS160 that is in a different room got the game just fine. After working with Sony 2nd level support for hours that afternoon, I decided to email KXRM.

I thought the email below might be helpful to some people in Colorado Springs.

----start KXRM email----
In order to comply with FCC regulations, KXRM was required to change their PIDs (program stream identifiers) prior to 1 January 2005.

Since some receivers “remember” where they have been receiving the signal, these receivers may not be able to see that channel without some sort of manual “reacquiring” process. That is what it sounds like has happened in this case. To continue receiving the KXRM signal, please refer to your owner’s manual and reacquire the signal. This should solve the problem (FYI, they are now using ATSC program 3, rather than the old program 2 which is what your receiver is probably remembering).
----end KXRM email----

Knowing that KXRM had made a recent change I decided to try the following on my Sony receiver:

1. Reset ARG Database (12 or more times)
2. Reset NVRAM (12 or more times)
3. Run the Auto Program (too many times to count)
4. Adjusted my antenna (just to make sure even though I still get a great signal)
5. Verified my software is current (running the most current version HD3 2.01.00 that I received from DirecTV September 2004)
6. Changed from using the DVI out, and hooked up Component connections (to make sure it was not a DVI issue).

None of these resolved my issue. Late in the afternoon on Tuesday 1/11, the picture and sound came back. KXRM said no changes were made, yet it started working and continues to work today Wednesday 1/12.

Did anyone else with a Sony receiver have an experience like this?

Strange. The timing matches with Frank's issue too. I wonder if one of your changes/resets didn't take immediately but the next day it cleared its head and started working. Sometimes the logic doesn't make total sense.

Back to the guys with the Samsung problems, I ran across a thread that could be related to the problem: The Official Samsung 360 720P Bug Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=485536)

Hope it helps

I posted on the KOAA message board to see if I can get an approximate date for going to digital.

http://www.koaa.com/community/listens/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1950

On another topic my Sony HS51 is on its way, I may get it by Friday. I still have to buy the screen.

Did anyone else have problems with the audio on KKTV-DT on Saturday for the Jets @ Steelers game?

The background/field audio was fine, but the announcers were SOO low that I couldn't hear them over the other audio. I switched my receiver to play the audio from the DirecTiVo which sounded normal but was a few seconds behind the picture!

(KXRM-DT was fine both Sat & Sun and the Colts @ Pats game on KKTV-DT on Sunday was also fine.)

Rob

I had the same audio problem except that I have Adelphia HD Dvr.

Same here with the audio...another resounding 'atta boy' for the technologically impotent city we live in.

Yep, the KKTV 5.1 was hosed up. I heard that the national CBS-HD feed from NY was fine on DirecTV, so maybe they decode it, screw it up, then re-encode it, then not check it...

Tim Timora, do you know anything about this? At least it was fixed by Sunday.

Originally posted by clifface
I had the same audio problem except that I have Adelphia HD Dvr.
Does Adelphia finally have an HD-DVR? I thought that was still in dreamland, "coming soon". What are the specs as far as recording time, 2 tuners, etc?

It is the Motorola Moxi unit. I will try to find the pdf again and link to it. Nice machine but I miss my directivo through directv. I just didn't want to spend that much on a hd directivo

Originally posted by clifface
It is the Motorola Moxi unit. I will try to find the pdf again and link to it. Nice machine but I miss my directivo through directv. I just didn't want to spend that much on a hd directivo
Yes, I'd be interested to see the .PDF file. Apparently there's more than one 'Moxi' unit. This is an interesting comparison chart: http://www.ce.org/publications/books_references/dtv_guide/listings/Cable_Boxes.pdf It's interesting that Motorola's site shows no DVR at http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/home_entertainment.asp .

The DirecTiVos are nice, but now it's good to wait with the new announcement of D* moving from MPEG2 to MPEG4 and we might have to replace all these boxes in 1-2 years. They say they may do an exchange program of some sort. Supposed to bring a ton more channels with the better compression, but the box swapout would be expensive, you'd think.

Frank, are you still receiving 21-1 and 21-2? If so, I might do a re-scan. But you wouldn't think that they've cut the bandwidth in half.

Originally posted by BadBilly
Eric again-

Just called Adel and got the inside scoop....I just re-upped for HD Plus which is only an additional $5 a month.....Too cheap to pass up...This takes my monthly bill for cable alone to $57.22 (taxes not included...)and I'm not real happy with that, but just BASIC (non-digital) with the channels I want (daughter has to have Animal Planet) was $45... The cheapest HD package I can get is $55.22 (basic digital cable + HD upgrade)...I can send the box back and save $10/month, but I might just play around with it first as I've never explored that option; using the 1394 line-out as you suggested...

I'll keep you posted as to my results...the cable rep said the change should take place immediately...

BadBilly

Sorry it took so long to respond - been at CES checking out the new toys and am just getting caught up!

I did a scan last night and got nothing on my Fusion Card - nothing at all! Are you getting any HD channels? If so, where are they? I have to admit that I did not check every sub-channel.

Thanks!

John

Clifface, you say you have an Adelphia HD DVR? Available in Colorado Springs? Did you have to buy it out right or or you renting it if i may ask? Also if you do not mind, would you mind telling us the cost renting or buying it? Thanks.

I live in Colorado Springs, I have a screenplay 4805. I'm having Dish installed this weekend and I don't really want to pay for HD from Dish, I am however interested in OTA HD, does anyone know if I can use any of the Dish hardware for OTA HD (obviously I need to buy an antenna too)? Thanks.

Yes you can use either the Model 811 or 921DVR receivers, both have an OTA-Digital(HD) card. You can also use an older #6000 with an OTA Module.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/receivers/HD/index.shtml

Thanks for the info Frank, just what I wanted to know.

KOAA updated their website: http://www.koaa.com/info/

The FCC granted KOAA their Construction Permit (CP) for Digital Television (DTV). KOAA has purchased the associated digital transmitter equipment from the manufacturer, and will begin construction on the Cheyenne Mountain transmitter building when the snow thaws.
Installation of the equipment on Cheyenne Mountain will follow the completion of the building, and KOAA-DT should be on the air by the fall of 2005.

:eek:

Frank, are you still getting anything on 21-2?

That is great news. Hopefully they get it done in time for the fall TV season and hopefully NBC will have more HD by then. NBC doesn't have that much that's done with HD cameras now, as far as I know. Maybe some HD sports, there's a concept. The Tonight Show does look great in HD... For years they've been saying it will take over a year to build after the CP, and now they're saying less than a year.

And where is PBS/KTSC?

If KOAA, KTSC and KRDO get their act together in 2005, we could be 5 for 5!

Nathan,
I'm still getting a signal on "RF22-2", it's the exact same programing that is on 21-1.

So KOAA-DT is going to be on the air by fall of 2005. Is it going to be HD however? KRDO-DT is on the air but it isn't HD. Digital TV doesn't mean high definition.

John-
I'm still getting the basic HD stuff: ESPN, Fox, CBS, Discovery and PBS on the Fusion. I did go for the digital box from Adel for my X1 so I could get the other stuff (InHD, etc.), so I'm really not using the Fusion much these past 10 days or so....Also need to get a new sound card as my Audigy 2zs does not have spdif input, and I think I need that to get 5.1 sound....

BadBilly

Does anybody know what was wrong with KXRM Fox 21 Tuesday night? They had no HD and the audio was not synchronized with the video. I hope this gets resolved before the super bowl on Sunday.

RJO, on Tuesday, Fox 21-1's audio was out of sync and there was no HD for American Idol, but i watched House and it was in HD and audio was fine.

I watched House OTA and it was not in HD (side bars visible and PQ bad) and there was the audio issue. I'm not sure how we could see the same show and have different reception.

Well now i feel stupid. I asked my wife if House had side bars last night and she stated it did. My audio was not off, well not off more it always is, less then 1/2 of a second. but i always have the less then 1/2 second problem. I find that if i do a channel up then a channel down Fox's Audio gets more in sync. I also do the channel trick when i get bad reception.

Can anyone living in WP(especially Western) report on what HD signals that they are getting from Cheyenne mountain? I live in Woodland West(between WP & Divide), and all of my signals are currently coming from Denver. However, due to the 'low power debacle' there, I'm unable to receive Fox, NBC & WB2. I'd like to know if it's worth trying to get signals from C/S? Due to the way my system is designed, it's not a simple change.

Thanks,
....jc

Hey everybody, thanks for all the great posts regarding HD in the Springs!!!
I was hoping someone could shed some light on the Adelphia HDTV service. What brand and model STB do they supply, does it have dvi-d output? I'm assuming it is a Motorola, but from an earlier link to http://www.ce.org/publications/books_references/dtv_guide/listings/Cable_Boxes.pdf

Hey everybody, thanks for all the great posts regarding HD in the Springs!!!
I was hoping someone could shed some light on the Adelphia HDTV service. What brand and model STB do they supply, does it have dvi-d output? I'm assuming it is a Motorola, but from an earlier link to http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/dct6200/ the Mot*** DCT6200 does not show any dvi output slots.

Also I saw mention of a HD DVR from Adelphia, but no specifics on features (record time, specific inputs outputs, etc.). Does anyone have any first hand experience with the above mentioned questions that could shed some light?

Finally, I hate Adelphia, but would like to give their HD service a shot before switching to E* or D*. Can anyone with Adelphia HD service comment on pq, sq, reliability, and general impression of service? Also, are they willing to make deals to beat current E* pricing and promos?

Again thanks for all the great in depth info, I've learned so much by reading this thread!

My wife and I just pulled the trigger on the Sammy HL-P5685w, and we are stoked to join the HD community!

Originally posted by TotallyPreWired
Can anyone living in WP(especially Western) report on what HD signals that they are getting from Cheyenne mountain? I live in Woodland West(between WP & Divide), and all of my signals are currently coming from Denver. However, due to the 'low power debacle' there, I'm unable to receive Fox, NBC & WB2. I'd like to know if it's worth trying to get signals from C/S? Due to the way my system is designed, it's not a simple change.

Thanks,
....jc
Sorry, I guess we don't have anyone living in Woodland Park yet!

cack, someone else will have to tell you about Adelphia because I'm D*, but I think Adelphia would be the good choice now especially with them getting bought out by a big time cable company soon (probably). No upfront equipment costs! I'm sure their HD DVR can't be as good as the HD-TiVo that I love, but it won't be $999 either. Down the road, D* will be the ticket again when they put all the new HD locals on their new MPEG-4 satellites, and hopefully we get past this bit-starved "HD-lite" that we've been getting lately.

Cack,

I've had the Adelphia HD DVR for about a week now (Motorola BMC9012). I had a ReplayTV previously. We've been enjoying it for the most part. Best thing about it is the dual tuner capability and being able to watch one program while another records or recording two programs simultaneously.

Unfortunately, the DVI out doesn't work. I get a picture for a second or two, then it drops, then comes back. Tech who installed the box said it isn't supported "yet". The menu system takes some getting used to coming from the Replay, but it's not bad. Only other problem I have is that I occasionally get a stutter when something is recording and I'm watching another program. Not a huge deal, but annoying.

One other complaint is the small storage space (80 GB) and the fact that the USB port isn't active so no expanding with an external drive.

It does make my wife happier--only one box and no switching back and forth on the preamp/TV to go between HD and Replay. Oh yeah--the picture is fantastic.

The box is $15 a month to rent (vs $8 for the standard HD box).

So 80GB is about 10 hours or so? That would be limiting. Also I thought it would be $10 instead of $15. Will be interesting to hear in this forum when they get those bugs worked out.

Sorry--the rental is $13 a month instead of $15.

Originally posted by TallGuy
So 80GB is about 10 hours or so? That would be limiting.
I had to check that out, 80GB is quite a bit of space. If my brain and calculator are correct, an 80GB drive, using a 19.2Mbs data stream, will hold 9.942 hours. Yup, 10 hours is correct. I guess the new Tivos are going to need larger drives.
....jc

Originally posted by TotallyPreWired
I had to check that out, 80GB is quite a bit of space. If my brain and calculator are correct, an 80GB drive, using a 19.2Mbs data stream, will hold 9.942 hours. Yup, 10 hours is correct. I guess the new Tivos are going to need larger drives.
....jc

The stock HD-TiVo has a 250GB drive. Roughly 30 hours.

Originally posted by TotallyPreWired
I had to check that out, 80GB is quite a bit of space. If my brain and calculator are correct, an 80GB drive, using a 19.2Mbs data stream, will hold 9.942 hours. Yup, 10 hours is correct. I guess the new Tivos are going to need larger drives.
....jc

The only saving grace (if you can call it that) is that very few, if any, of the channels on Adephia use the full 19.2Mbps stream. From my experiments recording from the 1394 port to my PC, most of the HD channels where in the 9-12Mbps range, with a few in the 12-14Mbps range. As I recall, the inHD and HDNet stuff was the best, while the movie channels seemed to be only marginally better then an up-converted DVD.

--Eric

Hi,

I'll be getting my Adelphia Mot HD DVR on Saturday. The current HD Mot Box allows setup of TV type and also detects a 4:3 broadcast and sends it at 480i or 480P. This new box, after reading the specs on the Mot site, may not do this automatically, it stated having to change the settings for 4:3 each time you change from an HD program to standard. This would be just an incredible PITA. Anyone using this box with a 16:9 widescreen having any aspect problems with standard? I let the box I have now send 4:3 at 480i and my TV does the auto wide zoom correction. TIA!

Joan

Thanks Tyler for your info regarding Adelphia.

Good thing I picked up some HD Comp cables, since the dvi is not supported.

Hopefully I can talk the wifey into the HD DVR. Maybe I can sweeten the deal this Valentines day ;) ! Weve never had Tivo or a DVR before, so with all the new video gear were getting what is a few dollars extra a month for a DVR.

Anyone know of any good snowboard or ski videos in 16:9 aspect ratio? I think our new sammy would like a taste of some good powder!

The output setup was kind of a PITA. The box comes configured for 480i, so if you connect up your component cables to an input that doesn't take 480i, you're out of luck. Took me a while to figure that one out. The only input on my Samsung that will accept 480i is Component 1 (I was connected to Component 2, so I was getting a "this mode not supported" message on the TV).

So, you have to make 2 connections (s-video and component or composite and component). Then, from the s-video or component input, you change the settings on the MOXI box to output your favorite flavor of HD (I chose 720p for my Sammy). Then, switch the TV to the HD input and you will have a display on the MOXI asking you if it is OK. Select "yes" and your all set.

As far as issues with 4:3 material, I haven't had any. I just switch the aspect on the TV to "normal" and all is good. Am I missing something, or is it more complicated than that?

BTW cack, the installer brought out a set of 10ft component cables for the install. I had to ask for them though. He was going to hook the thing up via composite if I would have let him.

Originally posted by tyler2you
He was going to hook the thing up via composite if I would have let him.
Sometimes you just have to laugh...

Yep--didn't have the time or patience to give the guy HDTV 101.

Now that's scary..............LOL! Almost as scary as their "tech support lines."

BTW, forgot to ask, is the VOD active on the new Moxi box? They are giving me 3 free months of Starz and I already get HBO, and all the HD content so I should see some VOD content, correct? That's if I can get anything at all, our old DCT Mot box has been out since Tuesday night when it went into this weird download mode and never recovered. I took it back on Wednesday eve, hooked up the new box and got every channel under the sun. Thursday after work, got home and the new box was out also. Hopefully it's a box thing and the new Moxi I'm getting tomorrow WILL work............

One nice thing about Adel, they know how bad they are and are always willing to give credit for the days you are out of service, and usually add a few days extra just for good luck....

Joanr:

Yes, the VOD works. If you go to "premium" on the VOD menu, you will find Starz, HBO, and Showtime stuff.

Enjoy.

Thanks Tyler, good to know about the output defaulting at 480i, I've got four sets of component in's, only two will take everything. Also nice to hear the VOD is active. They were telling me the content would be free if choosing from something I already subscibe to....we'll see.

I'll be back Monday to tell about the install, should be a hoot. Thanks!

I live in Colorado Springs. I have a dish 811 hd receiver hooked to my Infocus SP4805. The HD only channels (Discover HD, HDNET, ESPN HD) etc. look great, when I switch to them I just switch the PJ to 16:9 and all is good. However it is my understanding (perhaps I'm wrong) that since I have the Dish HD package I should get HD programming that is offered on my local networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, I know that my local CBS affiliate broadcasts HD stuff, not sure about the others). Anyways stuff that is on CBS in HD I do not get in HD, just regular 4:3. I tried the different settings for the kind of HD the receiver will take in the Installation Setup, that didn't seem to fix it. So any other ideas? Thanks.

Originally posted by cmarsh90
I live in Colorado Springs. I have a dish 811 hd receiver hooked to my Infocus SP4805. The HD only channels (Discover HD, HDNET, ESPN HD) etc. look great, when I switch to them I just switch the PJ to 16:9 and all is good. However it is my understanding (perhaps I'm wrong) that since I have the Dish HD package I should get HD programming that is offered on my local networks (ABC, CBS, NBC,

Nope, neither DISH nor DirecTV offer HD locals yet (DirecTV will later this year). However, if the network affiliate where you live is owned & operated (O&O) by the network, and your satellite company has a carriage agreement with the respective network, then you can receive the nationwide HD feed (for us, it comes from LA). I know DirecTV has agreements with all networks. Don't know about DISH.

Unfortunately, none of Colorado Spring's stations are O&O. Denver has a O&O FOX and CBS. So if you live north of County Line, you would be eligible to receive the LA feeds of FOX and CBS on DirecTV. Again, I don't know what agreements DISH has hammered out.

The best way to receive your locals is with a satellite receiver that has a built-in over-the-air (OTA) tuner and seamlessly integrates the OTA locals with the satellite channels in your guide. Of course, a terrestial antenna and a satellite dish much be hooked up to the receiver. I'm not familiar with the DISH receivers anymore.

I also have an 811 and live in Colorado Springs. I have an antenna hooked up to the 811 and it passes the digital signals of CBS, Fox, ABC and PBS. CBS and Fox are HD. Depending on where you are in the Springs, even an indoor antenna may pick up the signals.

Roy

I have been bussy upgrading my system. My latest additions,are a Denon
receiver and a Sharp 37 inch HD widescreen LCD TV. I'm feeding the
Samsung SIRTS160 signal from Directv to the Denon and from the Denon
to the LCD TV by component cables. On directv HD programming,everything is beatyful,but if I tune to any standard signal, the picture is stretched to fill the full widescreen. The reason,I discovered, is that the Denon upconverts all component signals to 1080i, and the Sharp TV, when receiving component signals, at 1080i locks it's mode to "STRETCH" when it receives
a standard 4:3 signal. Yes, I know that I can switch to video or Svideo,and
everything is 4:3 format, but at the penalty of somewhat lover resolution.
I have tried to change te settings on both the Denon and the Sharp,
without luck.
Is this a problem without a solution, or is there someone out there with a
fix ???
Jan.

HI Jan, our WS Sony RPTV does the same thing at 1080i, the TV zoom functions are defunct at higher than 480P. So it is a tradeoff. Unless you want to use a splitter and/or make use of an additional composite video out from your STB to the receiver to the TV and switch inputs. Someone with DirectTV may have a better fix for you.

I wanted to update re: adelphia DVR install. I was amazed. They sent a tech out named Dean who actually knew the difference between component and composite, and had the Moxi HDDVR up and running in under a half hour. The Moxi menu takes a little getting used to, but after playing around for a few minutes I was recording, watching free Video on Demand and really enjoying the upgrade. On the downside, this box handles the analog channels even worse than the DCT HD box. We had to split the signal at the wall so we can watch the lower channels without the box. Big improvement. One of these days they will figure out the problems with the analog channels via the boxes. Overall, I'd recommend the upgrade for $2.50 extra a month you'll be getting a whole lot more.

Has anyone elses noticed stuttering/skipping video & audio on Fox lately? It happened a number of times while watching American Idol last night, but I know I've seen it before this too.
(I use an antenna through a Samsung TS360 DirectTV HD receiver.)
Quite annoying!

Thanks,
Rob

Yeah, saw the stuttering/skipping audio and video during American Idol as well. It must have happened a dozen times or so. Noticed it last week too. I though it might have something to do with my receiver, glad to hear others are seeing it too.

John

Whats up with this....tonights American Idol is in SD...where's the Hi-Def guys!!!

John

Hi Joanr.
Thanks a lot for trying to help with my "stretch" problem with 1080i inputs.
I have just about concluded there are no solutions. Today,I even made an all digital DVI connection directly from the DirecTV receiver to the LCD TV.
Didn't help at all, but I did get an even better picture than the Coponent
hookup,on HI DEF channels.
( PS. In case my 1st name confused you; I am a guy. Jan is a very common
first nane in europe, including Norway, where I came from, some 44 years
ago. I have been doing electronic equippment design for all those years.)
Jan

Good to see new people joining... I've been reading, but not posting much lately.

Maybe American Idol wasn't HD because of the glitches? Were there any glitches noticed when it wasn't in HD?

Welcome Jan and John!

Catching up...welcome everyone...

Jan, you shouldn't have to live with stretched 4:3. I was going to suggest not going through the Denon but now you've tried that. I thought most receivers could select whether to send 4:3 or stretched to 16:9 before it leaves the receiver. I don't have much experience with DVI though.

Yeah, strange about American Idol. It looked so great last night. (I'm trying not to get hooked or watch all of that show.) It was HD on the New York Fox feed tonight, so not a problem at the network level.

As far as Adelphia goes, I will be very interested to see what their offerings are once they get bought out by a big cable co soon. Not that their HD channels are bad now, but could they be even better, or could the HD receivers be better? I'm locked in to DirecTV for a few more months, plus DirecTV is supposed to get a lot more bandwidth once the new satellites get going (not real soon, but still is supposed to be great). I just recommended Adelphia HD to a friend because the cost barrier to entry is so much lower.

Jan,

Have you gone into your setup menu on the STB receiver and see if you have any options for what to do when the STB detects a SD broadcast? I know the Mot boxes have that sort of option and you can force the box to send 4:3 at 480i or 480P, that would probably solve the input zoom mode problems on the monitor.

Still enjoying the Adelphia Moxi Box, but sometimes it will loose it's net address or whatever and have to re-boot, this right during a broadcast. If they send it more menu items etc., they should probably schedule those events during the middle of the night if they are able to. This box is always powered on, like the cable modem.

Anyone hear anymore about ABC HD time schedule? Are they even working on it?

FOX is having problems locally, now The O.C. is not H. D.

Hi Joanr andTallGuy.
Thanks for trying to help again. As I explained before, I get standard 4:3
video by simply making a SVideo connection to another TV input. This TV has 5, count them, five video inputs, that are readly selected with the remote. So it is not the end of the world. It is simly that I can't realize the
improved resolution prvided by the Denon's upconversion on standard def.
Yes, Joanr, my sat rceiver can be set to 480i,480p, but only by flipping a
switch on the back of the receiver, and then HD programming comes out
as Standard resolution. And I am not going to risk my life by going beind my wall to wall racks of equippment,everytime Iwant to watch HI DEF.
By the way, DVI is a single cable, all digital connection, and it stays in 1080i.
So it was doomed as a solution even before I tried it. But since I have all
these inputs, I kept it as my very best resolution. Clearly, no TV can tell
that a signal that comes in at 1080i, is really a 480i standard def signal.
So a million thaks for the suggestions, and I'll just learn to be happy with
S video quality on "FOX NEWS". By the way, the HD quality with the DVI
connection, is outstandingly good.
Jan.

Well,

Just got the notice from D* that I have to choose between my local channels and distant networks. I had gotten a waiver for CBS and NBC back in March of 99. Now, my choice is keep my two distant networks SD (HD feeds are in question...waiting to hear from D* on that, but I am guessing no go), or keep my local channels. The pisser is if you keep even one distant network, you loose all your local channels. I guess if you got your waiver after SHIVA went into affect (Nov, 99) you are not affected, but if you got one after you are OK. This sucks! Well, all I really loose is NBC HD...and they don't have that much in HD...although three shows I watch are in HD (Vegas, West Wing and Medium). Oh well, back to SD for now.

I sure hope the local NBC and ABC get their act together this summer!

John

Sometimes progress is backwards...ugh

By the way, I called KTSC/PBS out of curiosity today about their HD progress - they've been working on it for a long time... Their engineer was friendly once again and explained that the equipment manufacturer swears they have the problem straightened out and that a new part will come in April that should solve whatever issue. But the PBS engineer said he didn't totally believe it would come in April. I think KTSC has more challenges than most stations because they have to microwave their signal from Denver (Rocky Mountain PBS) down to the Springs or Pueblo or something, and it may be multiple stops on the way IIRC. Anyway, maybe in a few months, maybe not.

I haven't bothered checking back with KOAA/NBC since they have the whole station to build. KRDO/ABC said recently "2nd quarter 2005" or April-June, so let's hope they have a prayer of sticking to that schedule. I do think it would be good if we could keep up the heat, or at least the HD interest, with the stations. Every time I've called anyone, they've been very easy to talk to and communicative. I really think that more interest from HD viewers is better than none, so I'd encourage all of you to call once in a while. It can't hurt, and might raise the priority level a little bit.

I am here in Colorado Springs too. As you know KKTV (CBS) currently broadcasts in HD. Also Fox 21 broadcasts in HD as well. I called both KOAA (NBC) and KRDO (ABC) and both said they would be broadcasting in HD by the end of 2005, probably sometime in the fall. I am not sure of when PBS will broadcast in HD, but I must say, their digital station comes in really well. If I hear anything else, I will let of you know.

~Josh

Welcome; good to know. I liked KRDO better when they told me 2nd quarter 2005 but I'm sure the fall is more realistic. We may have to try to keep them to that for Monday Night Football, and the next Superbowl is on ABC. Uh-oh...

Hi,

Anyone know for sure if the DVI is active on the new BMC 9012 Mot box DVR that Adelphia is distributing? I have the box downstairs but have no DVI input so I can't test it. However, I just bought a 30" lcd for the bedroom and wanted to use the digital connection. Their tech line said it is active but I think I read a post here that said it wasn't working. You just never know with Adelphia what's up. I know they were having a software issue but it may have been solved by now. Thanks.

Joanr,

I went with Adelphia to try their HD DVR service and I lasted for one week. The DVI port is not active and they have no plans to make it active. I spoke to a senior tech and he explained it to me. The other problem is that Adelphia broadcast channels 2 through 99 in analog. This includes all the networks, TBS, TNT, USA, etc. and the picture quality on an HDTV is horrible!! I strongly recommend staying away from this service. Also Adelphia lists KRDO (ABC - Channel 713) in their HD Package. As it turns out it is just analog. You may have also noticed in the Gazette that in March Adelphia will be implementing an accross the board rate increase of 14%. I went back to Directv and couldn't be happier.

~Josh

Originally posted by beatboy77
I went back to Directv and couldn't be happier.

Get the HD-TiVo and you'll be ecstatic! I know I am. :)

I would love to get one, but the $999.00 price is holding me back. I may wait for the Directv Home Media Center (HMC) which comes out in early 2006.

~Josh

Originally posted by beatboy77
I would love to get one, but the $999.00 price is holding me back. I may wait for the Directv Home Media Center (HMC) which comes out in early 2006.

Robert over at Value Electronics has them for $899 and that includes a 5yr warranty. Plus, he'll give you another 10% off if you mention AVS Forum. I bought mine from him a year ago (as well as my SquareShooter). Great guy to deal with. I've heard of some folks getting them in the $700->$799 range elsewhere.

Plus there are unofficial rumors of DirecTV upgrading us or giving us HD-TiVo owners a major credit towards the MPEG-4 HMC when it's out. They are going to be motivated to get all of the legacy (MPEG-2) HD receivers gone in a couple years and converted over to the MPEG-4 boxes and satellites.

HI CHANCE. Phone number and info on Robert at Value Electronics,please.
Jan

http://www.*********************
800-789-5050

I also did the original pre-order frenzy for the HR10-250 DirecTV DVR with Robert at **************** and he seemed to handle all the craziness with class and fairness, and did what he promised.

Thanks TallGuy.

I'm not worried about the MPEG-4 conversion either. Unlike my previous experiences with DISH (Two DishPlayers), I'm sure we'll be fairly treated. Plus, they'll keep the MPEG-2 stream on in conjunction with the MPEG-4 stream for quite a while.

You know for the time being I am going to hold off buying the HD Tivo. I still feel a price of $800.00 is too steep. As summer approaches, my tv time decreases, as do quality shows. I think in mid-summer I will buy one, I think they will be around $500.00 then. This should also allow me to upgrade to the MPEG-4 HMC as well at either no cost or a very limited cost. When does everyone then MPEG-4 will be available here in Colorado Springs?

~Josh

Originally posted by beatboy77
When does everyone then MPEG-4 will be available here in Colorado Springs?
I assume that you are talking about D* HD LIL. Since we still don't know whether Denver will even be online this year, and the fact that D* seems to be following DMA size in it's rollout, we may be lucky to see HD LIL in C/S in 2006. Denver is #18 and C/S is #93, so you do the math.

....jc

I assumed since the announcements said the top 20 markets in 2005 and then new satellites go up in 2007, that we were waiting until 2007... OTA HD is probably the answer for a couple years.

Originally posted by TallGuy
...OTA HD is probably the answer for a couple years.
For you! My best possibility, up here, between WP & Divide, is Denver. And with the low power transmissions there, I might as well be on Mars!

....jc

Oh, true, I meant for COS folks... Maybe the new SHVERA digital white areas will help you, whenever the FCC gets around to defining them.