Just curious how many AVS Forum members reside in Colorado Springs and own an HDTV.

Are you miffed too that the locals can't get their act together and get an antenna on Cheyenne Mountain so that they can broadcast in digital?

Well, I'm up here in Denver, but I'd certainly be willing to put a big-a** antenna up on my roof to try to get your signals. You'll probably have it before we do...

I was in a local A/V retailer today talking to the sale guy about HT in general and he told me that one of the techs from KKTV Ch 11 had been in recently and that he had stated that KKTV would start HDTV test broadcasts in January of 2003! I spoke with an engineer from KOAA a few months ago and he said that they are going to put up a 200' tower in order to broadcast HDTV, no date given though.

We might just get out of the dark ages in the near future!

According to TitanTv.com, KKTV-DT will begin broadcasting on 1 Oct of this year, with KTSC-DT to follow on 1 May.

I wish that KKTV would confirm or deny, but I've never had any luck getting a response from them. I've emailed the station before and never received a reply.

I sent an email to KKTV this morning and was really surprised when I got this from Charlie Hogetvedt...

"We anticipate the initiation of a digital broadcast signal in Dec. of this
year, pending
resolution of several technical and other questions."

At least it is something to hope for!

Finally got a response from KOAA regarding their HDTV plans

http://www.koaa.com/community/listens/

Click on the "technical" forum and read the response from ADMIN

I was not able to provide a direct link to the thread for some strange reason.

Not looking too good for NBC viewers in the Springs!

Still waiting on KRDO to respond to an email I sent a few WEEKS ago. If it takes this long to answer a simple email I have my doubts about their ability to get an HD broadcast on the air in this century!

That's great news about KKTV, and yes I believe I can pick up a signal, as I have LOS from here in Castle Rock and i can see Cheyenne MTN, I am 500 ft above the town, in Castle Wood Ranch, so i am crossing my fingers.

any word from KRDO? and what was the guy from KOAA talking about channel 32? i thought they were going to be channel 42?

Still nothing from KRDO,.I don't think that they really understand the adavantage that KKTV is going to have with regards to pulling in more advertisers.

I'm not sure what channel KOAA will be on. A lot can happen in 2 years so I don't think that they really know either.

I'm getting ready KKTV, I just ordered my OTA Module and am really looking forward to getting more use out of my TV!!

Just spoke with "Tim," the engineering manager at KKTV and he says that we should expect to see a signal by Valentine's Day of next year. He said that they're waiting on a critical component to come in that has to be installed on Cheyenne Mountain, and that the current arrival time is 120 days out. He also said that KKTV will be one of the few DTV stations in the country broadcasting in digital from a VHF signal. He said all the other locals in the Springs are trying to figure out what to do as they were only allocated UHF bandwidth. However, he said that if you can currently receive Channel 11, you should have no problems receiving their digital station.

Glad I could get to the bottom of this for everyone.

BTW, KOAA should be one of the stations fined by the FCC for dragging butt on the rollout. Excuses, excuses!

So then your saying to me - when I get my stb - to just skip the antenna install and just be happy watching Directtv Hd ? :-) Well at least we have 300 days of sunshine :-)

Mr. Miller
Direct TV!! Your supposed to have E*!!

I was hoping to get the locals on E*, but everytime I call and ask when it will be available I get the standard "I dunno." I'll just have to make due with CBS-HD and 1 PPV channel for the time being.

I prefer DirecTV in the Springs over E*. Besides, we'll be getting CBS-HD soon enough. Might as well enjoy HBO-HD, HDNet, and Blowtime HD in the meantime.

E* has Disc. HD, D* has HDNet. otther than than the HD content is the same. D* will not have our locals any time soon, E* is supposed too.

here you go:
ABC 24 KRDO-DT
CBS 10 KKTV-DT
FOX 22 KXRM-DT
NBC 42 KOAA-DT
PBS 26 KTSC-DT

i think i have them all, Frank have I forgot any?

This is what I found at TitanTV.

http://www.titantv.com/ttv/programming/ComingSoon.asp

Well guys - hopefully we wont have to start a support group will waiting for Vatican West to come up to speed with the rest of the planet :-)

Although waiting for the Zenith SAT-520 / Samsung SIR-TS160 is about to drive me over the edge.... lol..........

So I guess, I will have the installer diplex the Terk 55 (unless we have other suggestions, but without an actual station I wont take your suggestions too seriously, cus how would you know?) on my roof while he up there putting the 3lnb, that he should have put up there last month - but didnt since I wasnt getting the HD stb, the put up the small dish.... <insert rant here>

I asked them to do this once - but hey - its their ladder, body, and liability - so much for my planning, maybe they get $ for a second service call ?

Does anyone use that dish warmer? or cover their dish with that bag? I am wondering how winter will be - like most maybe, all melted by 11am..

Can I come over and watch tv Drvais while I am waiting? :-)

Well its nice meeting you all -

MRMILLER,
If it helps I'm also waiting patiently to see if my TV55 will work as well with HD as it does with our local analog channels.

I just picked up the 8VSB module for my #6000 receiver today, so I'm ready!! Guess I'll have to prime myself by watching CBS-HD (East Coast via E*) as much as possible and maybe even a few PPV.

Let the excitement begin - :-) I want updates regularly...

mrmiller and Frank,

Back when I lived in Colorado Springs I made the unfortunate decision to part with >$100 for a Terk 50. The thing did a lousy job of receiving the analog channels in the Colorado Springs area. That same Terk did a poor job with digital when I moved out of Colorado.

From my experience, I would advocate going with a decent quality Channelmaster or Winegard antenna. Your local CBS station will be on VHF, so you may want to go with a combination VHF/UHF antenna instead of the UHF-only antennae that are often suggested here on AVS Forum. The other possibility would be to go with a cut to channel antenna for channel 10 and a UHF bowtie or yagi. (Actually that would probably be the best solution, but I don't know if you want to deal with two antennae.)

Some of the bigger Radioshack antennae were on sale for serious discounts about a month ago. You may want to see if they have any left. The only problem with Radioshack is that they're not as sturdy as Channelmaster or Winegard, so you may want to mount the antenna in the attic to survive the ice and high winds during those Front Range winters.

Jim

Jim,
I have been getting extremely good results with the TV55(analog only of course). I am a little worried about how well they will perform with an HD signal. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens. I have not seen any comments (good, bad , or indifferent) regarding the TV55 HD performance on this site, or any of the other sites for that matter. Do you know how the TV50 compares to the newer TV55?

BTW, I took a look at your profile and saw that you are in the Air Force. My dad was the first Senior Enlisted Adisor for Space Command in the Springs. He did 26 years, my older brother brother and I joined the Marines. The old man still can't figure out where he went wrong.

God Bless You for keeping us safe and free!

Matthew, I've never heard of a "dish warmer." This past winter, I never had a problem with reception, even when it was snowing. Also, I don't recall seeing any ice forming on or snow sticking to the dish itself.

I'd be glad to give you a demo of my setup sometime Matthew.

drvais,
The dishwarmer/heater is an electric heater that is attached to the back of a dish to warm the surface to prevent snow from accumulating and obstructing the signal from the dish to the LNB. Last winter, hell for the last 3 winters we have not had enough snow to be a proplem. But in prior years we have had enough snow that I did lose the signal. A properly aimed snowball will eliminate the problem. The amount of snow that sticks on the dish is going to depend on the angle and elavation of the dish. If your dish is pointing west or northwest and the elevation is acute, a heater may be needed to prevent signal loss.

Like you said, we haven't had enough snow in recent years, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

Frank, are you in Aurora?

Nope,
The Springs, thats why I'm following this thread closely.

Hi ya - got my Samsung TS160 - the D*tv stuff is nice :-) - purchased a RShack indoor digital antenna to get locals (15-1890)- 5/8/11/13/21 ? and only pbs 8 looks good - ? I get some snow on 11 and 13 has like a moving 1/4 screen section up the image.

So do I take back the antenna and go get a real antenna and diplex it from my roof ? You know the more I think about it, what could I possibly want to see locally? Maybe I will just return the antenna and remain ignorant?

And so then do I have to wait until channel 11 or 5 like have a primetime show that is broadcast in Hd ? or have I not scanned the channels correctly? is this a part time broadcast thing?

Well - like I said, its a good thing we have lots of sunshine - so that when I become frustrated with the indoors I can go out :-)

Have a great day - Matthew - d4d9d4@adelphia.net

.And so then do I have to wait until channel 11 or 5 like have a primetime show that is broadcast in Hd ? or have I not scanned the channels correctly? is this a part time broadcast thing?


None of the Colorado Springs locals have started broadcasting a digital signal yet. As mentioned previously KKTV (channel 11) will be the first to get one on the air, it will be channel 10.

Here's what I got from KOAA.

http://www.koaa.com/community/listens/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=807

As far as your RS antenna is concerned, take it back. I have had great results with my Terk TV55. It cost me $100 at SoundTrack. I am hopefull that it will perform as well for DTV as it has for analog.

For those of you in the Colorado Springs/ Southern colorado area, Dishnetwork is getting closer to having our locals on their system. Click on the link below and go to the very bottom of the page.

http://www.dishchannelchart.com/

Frank - where do you have your antenna ? in your room / attic ? Where do you live ? I live at Oro Blanco / North Carefree - so I have a great line of sight to Cheyenne .. :-)

I have mine mounted under a 2' over hang on the outside of my house. It is on the west side so I get really good results. The only channel that I don't get too well is 57.

I could throw a rock from my house to yours! Powers and Stetson Hills.

I'm using a modified RS Bowtie antenna, and it seems to work pretty well on the locals. I get Ch. 30 decently, which is saying something.

Frank, just realized that one of my co-workers lives (with a DISH HD hookup) pretty close to you as well. Right off Stetson Hills near that elementary school.

I'm near Austin Bluffs and Barnes.

Dishnetwork will have our locals available in the very near future, possibly by the middle/end of November! UPN57 will not be available, according to their Chief Eng. they have no intention of getting on the satelite any time soon.

Roger on UPN. I called them two weeks ago and confirmed as much. I should have posted that information when I received it, as the CEA website lists UPN 57 as presently being digital. LOL!

I have a Panasonic CT32-HX41 flat screen HDTV and the Panny TU-HDS20 STB and can't wait for SOMEBODY to start start transmitting HDTV OTA here in the Springs. I use a Recoton TV3000 antenna mounted on my roof and it pulls in everything great, except UPN 57 of course. Digital? Yeah right! At least I can still enjoy HDNET and HBO-HD until something better comes along. We early-adopters are always a pretty impatient group!

I just got a reply from UPN57, here it is;

Mr. Zimkas,

Our tentative air date is May 1, 2003.

Mike Dunlap

KXRM/KXTU

At least it's not 2004!:cool:

great.....What about KOAA, KKTV, and KRDO ?

From www.titantv.com

ABC 24 KRDO-DT Mar 31 2003
CBS 10 KKTV-DT Feb 15 2003
FOX 22 KXRM-DT May 1 2003
NBC 42 KOAA-DT Awaiting FCC Permit
PBS 26 KTSC-DT May 1 2003

Now, I wonder if we'll see true HD or just DTV from any of the stations listed. Nevertheless, I'm anxiously awaiting CBS' arrival. I rarely watch CBS, but I'll watch all the time if it's in HD.

dravis,
Time to start showin off those juevos and make the calls!:D Let us know what you find out.

Damn Damn

Double Double

Post Post!

Originally posted by drvais
Just curious how many AVS Forum members reside in Colorado Springs and own an HDTV.


Im a tad late to this thread, but im in the Springs, have an HDTV, and am waiting for ota hd. Hoping it arrives sooner rather than later :)

David

(edit) remove double post, spelling..

I, too, am in COS awaiting OTA HDTV. I'm also awaiting my HDTV set, but that's another forum discussion.

Jack

Right now I'd settle for a foot or two of snow and and some bitter cold! Looks like another lousy winter for us!

Well I fired off another email to KXTU and asked about HD programming. Here's their response:

Mr. Zimkas,



As of this time, FOX is not offering any HD programming, however most of their prime programming is in 16:9 aspect.

The DTV mode offered by FOX is 480p (480 line, progressive scan), instead of 1080i (1080 line, interlaced scan).



Mike Dunlap

KXRM/KXTU

HMM, I get 480p from my DVD collection, and no commercials.

Looks like they did not answer your question...

WHEN IS KXRM GONNA HAVE A DIGITAL BROADCAST?

Hi guys again ;-) just hanging out and waiting like the rest of us. I did finally settle on a Sony HD200 set top box and a Terk TV55 antena - so we wait, watch HDNet - the Avs games are really great this way! :-) I will chat with you later - lets hope the broadcasters keep on schedule.

I'm watching the Steelers vs. Titans game right now in 1080i on CBS-HD (Dishnetwork). The picture quality is beyond discription!!

ok, I sent of an email to the President, and the General Manager
about channel 24. When ?

Just got off the phone with the head of engineering at KKTV (Tim T.). He said they now have all of the equipment to broadcast in 1080i and 5.1 surround sound. He also said that he is trying his hardest to ensure that they are on schedule for the Valentine's Day rollout. Furthermore, he stated that KKTV will broadcast it's HD content just as it appears off of the network feed (I guess we WILL be one of the lucky cities to get to see the Grammys in 5.1 next month). Right now, they are figuring out cooling issues for the equipment, along with a host of other issues. On the bright side, he referred to all of this "as a fun project." He's very enthusiastic about broadcasting in HD next month.
BTW, I told him what a leap in technology it will be to go from SD and mono to 1080i HD and 5.1 sound- he obviously completely agreed. Tim also mentioned that the SD version of KKTV will continue to broadcast in mono, since there's no real need for it to be in stereo now due to the upcoming HD channel.

There, sorry it took some time to get this answered, but I had a lot to do to prepare for my CES trip.

Originally posted by drvais

There, sorry it took some time to get this answered, but I had a lot to do to prepare for my CES trip.

Hey good news is always worth waiting for! How was CES? Did you bring back some goodies for the rest of us?

It was my first CES, and I must say that it was one of the greatest weekends of my life.

I made a few contacts with big wigs at Zenith and Denon, and I got to check out a lot of neat toys (the Dish PVR921 had to be the coolest, that and the "flexible" monitor).

I've been following a couple of threads at WWW.DBSTalk.com regarding the 921, so I'm really looking forward to it's release. I'd like to get one after the price drops a little. I'll be very happy to retire the VCR! My 6000 will get moved to the bedroom TV for HD duties there.

Did Tim mention if/when they are going to start TEST Broadcasts on channel 10? I run a scan for digital signals with my 6000 every now and then to see if they have anything "In the wind' yet.

BTW, still no date from KOAA with regards to their DTV start date. As usual they are slow to keep up with viewer demands, or any technology upgrades for that matter. Maybe they'll get movin' after the other locals steal all of their loyal viewers with a clean (H)DTV signal! :D

I asked Tim if they've sent out any test signals yet, and he said, "No."

Glad to see an active thread here for those of us in CSprings! I have a Panasonic HDS20 and was searching for OTA info and landed here. Looks like I'll have to keep a close watch on this thread to see if any of our local stations come through with their promises!

I really wished KRDO could have gotten their HD ready in time for the Super Bowl, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. So sad to see them come on the air a couple of months too late. Maybe next year I'll finally get to see an HD Super Bowl.

Anyway, I'm over in the Cheyenne Mountain area, just below Norad, so hopefully I'm not in the mountain shadow. I can receive all of the normal analog signals just fine, so hopefully I'll be able to get the DTV signals as well. I saw someone recommend a Terk TV55 antenna...any other recomendations? Especially for an indoor antenna?

In the meantime, back to watching HDnet.

I think a lot of us are going to be playing antenna roulette until we find one that works. With the geography the way it is around here, my Terk antenna may be great where I'm at (Powers & Stetson Hills) and totally useless in your home. Some the members here report good results with a Radio Shack Set Top double bow tie.

Originally posted by drvais
Right now, they are figuring out cooling issues for the equipment,


Have them call me, I'm in the Heating and A/C business!!

Hey Mike P: I also have the Panny tu-20 and had the mods done at the factory for dropouts etc...Do you still get occasional dropouts like I do?? I can't wait till someone makes a box that is BUG FREE! I doubt that any locals will be on-air by VD .

I just spoke with Tim at KKTV again, he said that they're still on target for at least having test signals (color bars) up and running by Friday. He said that initial testing will begin on Wednesday (I assume most likely during the day time). He said that they'll run color bars for a few days just to make sure that everything is running smoothly, then they will make an announcement on channel 11 (I assume either with an ad or inside of a newscast) when they go fully operational with programming. Tomorrow, they're having some transmitter engineers fly in and do a final check on all of the tower equipment.
When I asked him about being ready in time for the Grammys, he said that he believed they would be totally up and running by then.

Thanks for the update! I guess I'll find out if my Terk antenna will be adequate in a few days. I'm also looking forward to cancelling CBS-HD from E*...It's been nice to be able to watch some HD programming, but I'll be glad to lower the bill a little.

Are they going full power? I'm not sure I will get any low power signals (Unless someone removes that hill between me and Cheyenne Mountain)

Jack

For those that may need a little help with selecting a good antenna or need a little more info on HDTV reception, The latest issue of Home Theater Mag. has a really good article on this subject. Since most of us are OTA-HDTV virgins it might be worth the time to research a little and hopefully avoid spending needless amounts of cash on gear that either won't work well or isn't needed.

I've been scanning for a digital signal for the past couple of evenings but haven't found any yet. Anyone else have any luck yet?

I've been scanning at about 9:30 at night and haven't found anything. I am using an IT910S and it is finding analog channels I have never seen before, so I hope it will be able to catch the digital signals as well. I know there may some problems with 8VSB bouncing off the hills to the west, but I won't know for sure until they go live with some real power. Who knows, it may actually work.

Jack

I just talked to Jerry at KKTV, he told me that they are waiting on some parts/equipment so we won't see anything for a week or two. He did tell me that the signal will be full power. He also said that they did broadcast a test signal yesterday for a short time. I guess it's going to be hit or miss for those that are trying to set up before the "Big Day."

Funny, I did a scan yesterday with both my HD SAT 520 and my TV's ATSC tuner. The TV's tuner (on a Sony KD-34XBR2) didn't pick up any stations, but the SAT 520 (which is reputed to have a very sensitive tuner) actually paused on Ch. 10 during it's channel scan for several seconds before moving on. I guess it didn't officially pick up a concrete signal, but it was sensing something, as that was the only digital channel it stopped on. This was around 1:30 MDT or so. Last night and today, however, neither tuner can pick up any digital signal OTA.

I just spoke with Bob with engineering at KKTV. He said that they actually had a picture up last Friday for about an hour, and that Tim might have ran a signal today as well for a little bit while they were testing. However, he said that they are awaiting a program for their server that will allow the station to pause their network satellite feeds and allow them to insert their own commercials. He said that as soon as they get this program in, they should be up and running.

I would suggest everyone do a digital channel scan for Ch. 10 at least once a day and report back if you find anything.

KKTV 11-1 is up right now. I have been reading this forum for a long time and have been waiting for this day.

Jeff Anderson

I guess they are still testing KKTV DT 11-1. It was up for awhile but when back off the air. I was hoping that this late in the day it would stay up. The signal was near perfect in north Colorado Springs near Woodman and Powers.

Jeff

Thanks for the post. At least I have it programmed into my receiver. Now at least I can check on it. I'm at Woodman and Austin Bluffs.

Well I'm at Powers and Stetson Hills so I hope that I get a good strong signal also!

Hey, I'm drooling over the impending Colorado Springs HD along with you guys. Can anyone tell me what experience you've had with the Terk TV55 or any other <$150 antenna, at least with analog to this point? I'm trying to figure out if this will be a good antenna for me (from way north in Gleneagle), for both KKTV HD and weak analog signals like KOAA. The Terk website at http://www.terk.com/tv/antwebframe.html tells me that only the big ugly mast antenna TV35 is recommended for KOAA, etc. but not the TV55.

I get a really good picture (Analog) with my TV55, I'm hopefull that the same will hold true for DTV reception!

KKTV-DT is up this morning but very weak in north COS. Does anyone else receiving this station and what is your reception?

Jeff

Yes, I'm receiving the station with about 95% signal strength using my SAT520 tuner, and about 90% using my HDTV's tuner. Very cool. I initially tuned in to the station at 10:45, and saw the soap opera program but without any audio and with the KKTV-DT bug improperly set (it was far off of the right of the screen). However, by 11:00, the audio was on just fine, and the bug was fixed.

This is so nifty that I'm finally able to grab a local in HD. Wahoo!

I had some antenna problems and was only receiving a 30 percent signal. I corrected the problem and now I am getting 100 percent in Northern COS. I would be nice if they turned off the channel bug to prevent burn in problems. Otherwise it looks good.

HOT DAMN!!

Just scanned again and got an 87% signal strength!! There was some soap opera on...looks good!! I hope they stay on-air now too!!!

At 1100, they were showing upconverted material in the 4x3 aspect ratio, now they are stretching 4x3 material to fit a 16x9 screen.

Just curious, are any of you guys hosting the Tyson fight this weekend?

Btw, a few moments ago, I noticed a bad lip syncing problem. Does anyone else notice this?

Frank, I bet you took off from work early to do a scan, didn't you?

You can do anything you want when you're the chief cook and bottle washer!!

Wouldn't you know I have PRK surgery on Monday? So, I get to enjoy local DTV access for a whole four days before I'm banned from TV for a week.

TallGuy, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm using the Radio Shack Bowtie antenna. This antenna is no longer sold, but is easily found on eBay. It's small in size and based on the signal strength that I'm getting, works likes a champ (especially when it is slightly modded per the info found on this forum).

FYI,
All of the Colorado Springs locals are now available on Dishnetwork, not just ABC, Fox, and PBS!

Last night, around 18:45, I noticed the signal was down after I took a nap.

This morning, around 06:00, the signal's back up and running and their's no huge station bug like there was yesterday.

Did the station come back earlier last night, I mean, did anyone get to watch CSI in HD?

The signal went down before 6 PM yesterday. I wonder if they are shutting down before primetime because they can not transmit 1080i CBS programming yet.

I thought I saw the Young and the Restless in 1080i yesterday.

Here is CBS' HDTV lineup, though its calendar has a continuity problem at the moment. http://www.cbs.com/info/hdtv/

Has anyone had any success (on analog or digital) with an antenna placed inside a stucco house? I've heard the mesh under the stucco wreaks havoc with the signal waves. Plus, I'm 20-25 miles from Cheyenne Mountain so the signal won't be real strong to begin with.

I don't have a stucco house, but my bowtie antenna is indoors.

Bad news- just spoke with Tim T. again at KKTV, he said that he's shooting for March 1 as a full-time rollout date. He said that their HD server is still FUBAR and that it's been sent to Denver for a second time for repairs. Basically, the server won't allow them to pause network feeds so that they can insert their local spots. Nevertheless, he expects the server back in on Monday. He said that if the server works ok, plan on them being up and running by Tuesday.

I asked him about what channel the HD version of 11 should be on, and he said that it's technically Ch. 10, but at the studio they plan on sending a signal to our tuners to make it appear as Ch. 11.1 in order to make it easy for J6P's to understand that it is still Ch. 11, just the HD version.

Btw, I was right when I thought I saw The Young and the Restless in HD yesterday, Tim said he was just playing with the signal directly off the network feed.

As far as having 4x3 material stretched to 16x9, Tim said that he always plans on doing that to keep burn-in to a minimum.

As far as the Grammy's, it looks like were SOL for the HD version. Oh well.

Excellent update.

Reading the Denver thread they seem just as anxious as we are for Springs HD.

-Armando

Hi,

I just found this thread after reading in the Gazette today that KKTV plans to launch digital broadcasting around March 1st. I live in Manitou and have a C Band dish. I have an Integra it910s tuner which gets both satellite and ota HD. I have direct line of sight to Cheyenne Mtn, so I hope that I don't have a problem getting KKTV-DT. Please keep posting when you get the signal so I can try to get it too.

Roy

For those living in Manitou, I think Tim said that you should be able to get the signal ok.

royrose, I'm surprised you caught the article, it was such a tiny blurb. Btw, for everyone who missed Saturday's paper, here's the article below.

I don't think the reporter gives the general public much credit for upgrading to HDTV. I'm sure that there are those that won't upgrade, but I think a lot of people will now that we finally have a station that has crawled out of the dark ages! I wonder what the percentage is in areas that have all 3 major networks broadcasting in HD?

KKTV-HD was switched on for the noon news today. They were broadcasting in stretched mode. Here's hoping that they will be turned on for the Boss Friday night! :cool:

It's actually listed as KKTV-DT. Anyway, the only HD program that CBS is airing today is The Young and the Restless, which is not being shown right now in HD by KKTV-DT . Hmm...

Can anybody say when they turned it off today? Thanks. It is bugging me that I haven't been able to catch it yet.

Roy

The online program guide had the show listed as KKTV-HD 1. They also had KKTV-HD 2, KKTV-HD 3, and KKTV-HD 4 listed at 3 hour intervals but as far as I know they never came back on. The station was shown as KKTV-DT on channel 11-1.

Which online guide are you referring to?

Oops, I'm too computer oriented. I should have said on-screen program guide. I guess they sent some practice program information along with the HD-signal.

But they aren't broadcasting 24 hours or prime time yet, right? Since I get very ghosty images on the analog channels I am a bit worried about actually receiving the digital streams. And I've only been able to scan for them in the evenings.

Jack

Jack,
I got lucky and was able to find them on the air when I was home in the early afternoon, I have checked every night since then and have yet to see anything on the air.

If any of you are using a Dishnetwork#6000 receiver you DO NOT need to scan for the channel. All you hace to do is go to the "Local Channel" screen and Select "Add DTV" On the next screen enter "10" in the channel number field and select the text (K-K-T-V) to Id the channel on the onscreen channel guide. After saving the data got to the channel guide, the station should be hi-lighted in yellow. Make sense so far? Once you select the station, you will see a signal strength indication. If a signal is present the indication will be 1-100%. If no signal is present the indication will be 00%.

I'm going to give them until Saturday before I start calling again, since March 1st is their expected arrival date.

Ok, I admit it, I called them early and here's the scoop:

They are waiting on their HD receiver before they start broadcasting true 1080i material. Bob at KKTV said that we might see them up and running (for real) by early next week, but it might be a week or two later than that.
Right now, they have the station broadcasting upconverted material (I got the impression that this is just for testing, so don't expect it to last into the night).

Apparently, J6Ps in the area are starting to notice, as Bob said that they received a call from someone in Canon City who was getting their signal loud and clear.

Were they on today? I tried scanning today, several times, with no luck. From the notes above, it looks like I shouldn't try for another couple of weeks.

Jack

They normally don't test on the weekends. I hope to see a steady signal by the end of next week.

Originally posted by drvais

Apparently, J6Ps in the area are starting to notice, as Bob said that they received a call from someone in Canyon City who was getting their signal loud and clear.

drvais, I sure hope I got the quote right this time.
:D

FWIW, there is no "y" in Canon City. It is pronounced the same a the word canyon, but not spelled that way, it is the Spanish spelling and should have a tilde over the middle 'n'. Trust me on this one, I was born and raised there waaay too many years ago. I was actually a kid here in Colorado when the Denver stations first came on the air and I also remember when we finally got TV in Canon City (first only from KOAA in Pueblo if I remember the call letters right, until the Springs stations put in some repeaters for the Canon City area) several years later. Imagine the irony in knowing that Canon City will be viewing full power HD long before those of us living in Denver and Boulder will.
:rolleyes:

Okay folks it looks like we've got some time to kill while KKTV is getting their act together. Let's see if we can discuss the other stations for a change!

1. KOAA is going to be the last station in the continental USA to get an DTV signal on the Air! The last time I looked at the FCC website the FCC had rescended their authorization for a new tower. As far as I know KOAA is now milking this situation for as much time as they can. Too bad really, NBC has some shows that I would really like to see in HD.

2. KRDO is supposed to be on the air Mar. 31, 2003 ( According to WWW.TitanTV.Com). I have sent a few emails to KRDO and they have not responded. Seems that they don't believe in sharing any information with their veiwers.

3. Fox is supposed to be on the air May 1, 2003 ( According to WWW.TitanTV.Com). Big deal!! if they do broadcast an HD signal it won't be worth watching anyway! Fox is pushing their 480p format, yeah it's better than an analog signal, but not by much!!

4. PBS is also supposed to be on the air May 1, 2003 ( According to WWW.TitanTV.Com). I have not seen or heard any thing about their progress. Anybody heard anything?

5. UPN.....???? Anyone???

What about WB? The WB remains the only station in town that I cannot receive OTA with my antenna.

Late last year, I called UPN when a website (I think it was www.antennaweb.org) listed them as going HD in October. The engineer there just laughed and indicated that it would be a long time before they go HD.

As far as KRDO, I plan on getting to know their engineers here in a few weeks to get the real scoop.

I found them this morning. I was able to scan in KKTV on channel 10 on my IT910S. It showed up in the channel guide as 11-1. They were simulcasting some infomercial that was being broadcast on the analog channel 11, which is 11-0 in the channel guide.

What I noticed was that the DTV picture was cropped. The various texts and captions, like people's names and "Before and After" were cropped in DTV. One i noticed was a "before" caption; on the DTV, it was 'fore', on NTSC there was a margin on the left and then 'Before'. They may be cropping 50 or more pixels on each side to create the SDTV image they send. Very annoying.

I'm watching on a DLP set, so I just watch it as 12x9 and don't try to expand it to a full 16x9 image. I don't know if they think they are removing overscan or what, but it doesn't work. Looking again, the top and bottom appear to be the same, so no cropping there, but they are stretching the image horizontally to fill in for the missing pixels and it looks bad. I wonder if they have a square vs. rectangular pixel configuration problem?

But I am happy to see that I will be able to get some OTA DTV and maybe even HDTV.

Jack

Tim told me that they are just trying to keep people's sets from getting burn-in, so they will be zooming and cropping upconverted material whenever possible.

Jack,

It is great to hear that you scanned it in on your Integra. That means that I should have no problem also. I am hopefull that they will listen to feedback and improve their presentation. What time in the morning were you able to scan it in?

Roy

The signal is still ongoing, however it isn't true HD. The Young and the Restless is on right now, but it's an upconverted SDTV signal. D'oh.

I guess they're still testing and don't yet have all of the right equipment in place.

On another note, I was at the Circuit City on Academy and Platte today, and they had an open box HD SAT520 for $349, that's a great price if anyone is interested in it. The 520 has a very sensitive ATSC tuner that may work great for those of you in poor reception areas.

drvais,
Last time I looked Co Spgs did not have a WB station. I get KWGN (channel 2 - Denver) with the Locals package from Dishnetwork.

As far as KRDO is concerned - I sent an Email to their Eng. Mgr. via their website yesterday. I'll post the reply, if I get one.


For those that have yet to get a picture on channel 10, the only time that I have been able to get a signal is around noon. I just can't bring myself to watch to much daytime TV just to see when they go off the air!

Well, I was able to scan it in this morning around 8:05! Now I know for sure that I can get it and can relax.

I have another question. Are those of you with Dish Network HD tuners or other tuners able to stretch the HD signals. My Integra tuner will do that. If the engineers at KKTV knew that most people can stretch it, then they could use 4x3 for upconverted material and let the viewer chose whether to stretch. After all, not all types of sets are subject to burn in.

Roy

Just a post for everyone here wondering about what antennas, range, etc would work for reception.

Here is what I am using to receive the signal:
Terk TV50 antenna in attic (not my choice, already here when we bought house from Vantage).
Hughes E86.

For those not familiar with the Latigo Trails area, it is North of Falcon approx 5 miles so a good distance from Cheyenne Mountain. I am on the N side of Latigo Blvd so the hill on the S side of Latigo keeps me from having direct line of sight.

With that, this morning I have receive level at 93. :)

Do any of you know what the reception area South of Springs is? I'm way down south in Walsenburg and would love nothing more than to get some network HD programming. I've been debating whether or not to go Canadian. It would make my decision a lot easier if I could pull some in from Springs. Anyway, just wondering if anyone had some info on my situation.

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas

4. PBS is also supposed to be on the air May 1, 2003 ( According to WWW.TitanTV.Com). I have not seen or heard any thing about their progress. Anybody heard anything?



Per a note from Jim Schoedler, RMPBS Director of Network Engineering , in the Denver forum, ( POST #3840 ) PBS is supposed to be getting a low-power transmitter on Cheyenne Mountain this summer.

Jack

Well it's 3:56pm and KKTV is still on the air!

That's nothing new. When they're testing, they're typically on until at least 5:15 PM. However, I've never seen them later than 6:00 PM... yet.

Anyone have any news about Comcast? When they take over cable is there any indication whether or not they will provide HD over the cable system? Do you know how far south they will offer their cable. I heard that they sold the southern part of CO to a cable company called Bresnan. I just wasn't sure if by southern they meant Pueblo or just south of Pueblo. I really won't be happy if all of CO can get HD over cable and us southerners still get the screws put to us. Oh well, the price you pay for living in quiet (sometimes), little communities.

I spoke with Ray at KKTV today and I hope I'm properly relaying the following info. He said that they are looking for a mainframe to go with their server, and that the mainframe had been shipped to the Springs as of today, with a delivery scheduled for tomorrow.

They apparently have their server back now. So, he hoped that they would be up and running full time by the end of the week.

However, as we've seen thus far, despite their valiant efforts, don't hold your breath on seeing a signal by the weekend.

I don't know what this means, but it sounds encouraging. Did you take it to mean that they now have their HD tuner? It does sound like they won't go full time until their HD capability is fully functional, including inserting commercials.

It makes sense for one person to contact them rather than having several of us bug them. Thanks for the update.

Roy

Originally posted by royrose

It makes sense for one person to contact them rather than having several of us bug them. Thanks for the update.

Roy

In the caseof KKTV i would agree, they have been really good at suppling info about their status. The other major stations have not though. I still have not heard any thing from KOAA or KRDO. Maybe a flood of emails, snail mail, and phone calls would get the point across that there is a great interest in HDTV availablitiy in our area. KOAA has a BBS/Forum but it's very rare that anyone posts on it regarding (H)DTV. KRDO has a feedback/contact page on their site but they don't respond to emails, at least not yet.

Perhaps a "Sit-in" or "Hunger Strike" would work! Anybody know any good (or bad) Anti-Analog protest songs, better yet does anybody know Joan Biaz? :D

Seriously though, the more people that contact these stations the better. maybe they'll figure out that their viewers do in fact want HDTV!!

Well, Here it is on a Friday after 8 and KKTV is showing 'hack'. Of course they are still cropping the edges so we can't even see the same picture the regulars viewers see, but it is DTV at night.

(and they're cropping the CBS logo!)

Jack

Maybe Tim forgot to flip the switch to off, or maybe this is a sign that they are really close to going full time.

Either way, Hack is sent in HD from the network feed, and it's not being shown in true HD by KKTV, so some equipment must still be missing or non-functioning.

I just checked it out, and I'm pretty sure it's not cropped at all on my Mitsubishi RPTV. I had the full CBS eye logo in the corner, with room to the right and below it, and also saw the full text with no cropping on both a commercial and a KKTV news banner.

Here's hoping they actually get HD operational this month. The NCAA basketball tournament has some HD games beginning March 21 through the finals on April 7. http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/cbs/sports/news/0220ncaahdtv.htm And more importantly, the Masters from Augusta National will be presented using 42 HD cameras on the course, April 10-13. http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/cbs/sports/news/0306masters2003.htm

Switching back to reception issues, I'm receiving the digital signal just fine with a $29 Radio Shack helix/dipole set-top antenna, all the way up in Gleneagle, with the antenna on the wrong (north) side of the house for now. I don't see where the Mitsubishi's HD tuner gives me a signal strength percentage, but it doesn't cut out at all where I have it positioned now.

And thanks, drvais, for making the calls and giving us the updates!

I also didn't really notice any cropping as severe as what jackheneghan described.

Compared to when they started doing daily tests on 20 Feb, has anyone else noticed in the last week or two how the digital signal looks a lot better than the analog signal?
For the first week or two after they started, I was hard pressed to tell any difference, but now it is clearly sharper.

I may have been jumping the gun on the cropping. I'm using an IT910S as a receiver and it looks like it can change the output from 16x9 to whatever without my doing anything. I'm looking at one channel and it's full 16x9 and I look at the other and it's a cropped 4x3. But I found some settings in the video setup that may fix it. I will see.

At least now KKTV doesn't looked cropped. And the digital looks a lot clearer that the NTSC picture.

Jack

As of yesterday, KKTV was still awaiting their server from the factory in California. The factory stated that the server would probably be shipped at the end of last week. KKTV is also still waiting on a satellite receiver that was promised to them (I guess by CBS), however I was assured that they can still operate without this particular piece of equipment.

When I asked Ray at KKTV why they left the signal up over the weekend, he said it was because a lot of 9-5ers had called in and complained that they wanted to see the signal to make sure all of their HD equipment was good to go, but they kept getting in from work too late.

*KRDO-DT UPDATE*: I just spoke with Mike over at KRDO engineering, and he stated that they will not have a signal up by the end of this month. Instead, they are aiming for July as a rollout date, albeit not at full power. He stated that "a lot of politics" have slowed their digital transition. Sorry folks.

Is KKTV-DT on the air today? I am stuck at home, for some strange reason, and I have tried to look at KKTV and don't see a signal. I wonder if they are even on or if the weather may be affecting the signal.

Jack

I also am getting no signal from them, and I haven't changed anything from the many days where I got the signal fine. So most likely the digital signal is off the air or the weather has affected it.

Guess the delivery of their new server is going to be delayed by 3-4 days now, huh?

By the way, is there anyone out there with a Mitsubishi rear-projection TV (with HD tuner) who has displayed a signal strength reading? I can't seem to find it...

No signal for me either. At least I know that you guys are not getting it either.

Roy

It was turned off yesterday, but I don't know why.

I understand that CBS is broadcasting the 1st and 2nd round Birmingham games in HD. Any word that KKTV will broadcast them Friday and Sunday?

Jack

Holy Cow! KKTV-DT is broadcasting the basketball game live and in HD! Wahoo! Hopefully this indicates everything is up and running.

This is interesting, on the analog feed from KKTV, they are showing the CBS network coverage of the war, but they are giving the regularly scheduled programming on the HD feed.

I see that KKTV-DT is broadcasting the NCAA in HD, while the analog channel has scenes of Baghdad.

Jack

Just spoke with Tim (Chief Engineer at KKTV), and he said he's merely doing some more testing of a true 1080i network feed during the daytime.

The server that they have been waiting on has been trapped in Denver since Monday. It may end up in the Springs by this afternoon, but he's not holding his breath.

Also, Tim said that he doesn't feel comfortable going full-time until they get their satellite receiver in, which has an unknown ETA.

My TV has finally had the privilege of knowing what HD is. I even watched the Purdue rout of LSU just because it looked so good.

Tim needs to have mercy on us! There are 2 more NCAA games tonight in HD and another 2 on Sunday (i.e., the games from Birmingham, AL only). We don't need no stinkin' server or a different sat receiver. Leave it on, man!

Then during the week, he only needs to leave it on for Letterman (5x a week), CSI (2x a week), Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens. Then again, they'll all be pre-empted for the war coverage.

[Anybody want to sell me a DirecTV HD tuner for less than $699??]

If you go to Circuit City on Academy, they have the HD SAT520 for $399 or so (or at least they did two weeks ago). It was an open box item, but it should work ok.

I have not seen anything on KKTV-DT all week....Anybody know whats going on?

Just spoke with Bob at KKTV, apparently, their server finally came in.

However, they are still awaiting their satellite receiver and there are "other issues going on" that has put the rollout on hold.

He sounded as disappointed as I felt when he said that they have no estimated date of operation.

Hard to imagine what their other issues or politics are that could be more important than 1) beating all your competitors to the HD market by the longest margin possible of time, 2) getting to brag to your advertisers about it, 3) getting to provide the best quality TV in Colorado Springs ever and 4) taking advantage of highly watched upcoming events like the NCAA Final Four and the (Tiger vs. Martha) Masters. Must be really serious "issues".

If public pressure from multiple viewers would help, many in the forum would be glad to start calling. But only if you think it would help, drvais. We'll plan on holding off unless you tell us otherwise.

At least KKTV HAS these type of issues and is dealing with it. The other stations are nowhere near the ballpark and won't be in the game for a while.

-Armando

Well, I think Tim is pretty firm in his belief that they won't go full time until that sat receiver comes in, and no amount of complaining (on our part) will change when that piece arrives.

As a matter of clarification, if KKTV does go full time soon, they should be the first true 1080i full power HDTV station in the entire state (at least according to Tim)!

drvais
Unless there is something in Grand Junction I don't know about, Tim is 100% correct. They will be the first 1080i (or 720p) full power station in Colorado. The closest Denver has to full power DTV is KDVR FAUX which is AFAIK about one-third power and FAUX widescreen 420p. The only true 1080i HD in Denver is from KRMA and KCNC, both at very low power (~1-10KW) from the Republic Building. KUSA is at the same power level there too, but is not transmitting any NBC network HD, only upconverted SD. KMGH transmits 720p at about 1 KW from on top of their 3 story tall studio to several square blocks.

Congratulations to KKTV, or at least congratulations when they get on the air.

I take back what I said, let's inundate KKTV with calls so that they know how many people are actually interested in OTA HDTV service. It might not get their receiver here any quicker, but at least it'll give Tim and the station management some incentive to speed up things once all the parts come in (and hopefully nip any "other issues").

KKTV: 634-2844

As always, be polite, but just let them know that you can't wait to see the fully operational KKTV-DT signal!

I agree. I will call and will send e-mail to people listed on their web site.

Roy

I've emailed all listed on their website. I only received this one reply:

I'm sorry David I don't know anything about HDTV, please call 634-2844
and
ask for Engineering.

Sarah Bernhard
KKTV Programming
(719) 634-2844 x.207
(719) 475-9662 Fax
Sbernhard@kktv11news.com


I've made the call and of course they are just testing and the person I spoke to said they may be on in a couple weeks. I asked for the NCAA tournament games but he stated again they are just testing. Seems like they could just test the games then also, but...... Anyone else had any luck?
Sorry nothing new, but hopefully the calls will make them realize there are a lot of people who want this signal.

I left a polite, encouraging, upbeat voicemail for Tim at KKTV Engineering today.

Has anyone else called or gotten a more definitive answer?

I haven't bothered to call, at this point I don't think it will do much good. I guess we are going to have to wait a little (or a lot) longer.

(Sighs and curls up in fetal position...sobbing uncontrolably)

Hi, I've been reading here for a few days, great to see some others in this area talking about this stuff!

I had no idea you could test yet, but have tried for the past two days and have gotten nothing on 10, or 11-1. I'm guessing they've had it down the past two days. I noticed their going live date, and was waiting for titantv.com etc to confirm they went live before I was going to try to see it.

Can anyone here please PM me if you get a signal so I can test to see if it works for me yet. I don't have the correct antenna setup yet.

They've stopped their testing. The next time you see a signal, it will probably be when they are going full time.

It's too bad they didn't throw the switch for the NCAA final game, that would have been sweet. If they don't give us a little HD action for the Masters Golf Tournament this weekend then I may just loose interest, at least until fall. I don't think there is enough going on at CBS over the summer to hold my attention. Watching soccer on HDnet on Saturday nights will have to be enough to satisfy my HD fix.

Any idea what's up with KRDO-DT on channel 24? They're listed as under review so their "live date" has passed, anyone talk to them or pick up any signal on channel 24 or 13-1 yet?

Vaggeto,
This is the latest news as of 3-18-03

Originally posted by drvais


*KRDO-DT UPDATE*: I just spoke with Mike over at KRDO engineering, and he stated that they will not have a signal up by the end of this month. Instead, they are aiming for July as a rollout date, albeit not at full power. He stated that "a lot of politics" have slowed their digital transition. Sorry folks.

Hello all -

I'm amazed at how many posters here on AVS are not only are from Colorado Springs, but also live right near my house! I also live in the Carefree/Oro Blanco/Barnes area. I have a Screenplay 7200 and the Matinee HD1 (same as Sanyo PLZ1) here to demo.

I plan to do a "home theater" seminar in town sometime in the next month or so, in conjunction with Carefree Video (maybe some of you have seen my display there). Someone needs to explain to people out there exactly what those "funny black bars" are at the top and bottom of the screen! I also want to discuss exactly when we will be getting HD here in the Springs - many of my customers have no idea what to expect and even what the differences are between the various formats. Since I do audio and video post production here in the Springs as well, I have some decent contacts at the TV stations and will be picking their brains. I can't wait to see what the Screenplay 7200 looks like with a true HD signal!

Hope to see some of you around!

JOHN SCHUERMANN

I'm glad you're here!

Anyone have any new news on the KKTV signal going live? It's about time for their last given roleout date.

I called and talked to some guy in engineering named Tim, maybe the same guy that Drvais has been talking to, and yes I was courteous. Anyway, I asked what was going on with their signal, and when we could expect to see them on the air again. His response was a very curt "I Don't Know!" Could be he's frustrated with getting asked the same question over and over again. But then again we are all getting tired of waiting ourselves.

Just more evidence of how anal the management/ownership of the local stations are!!

Perhaps an Email campaign would help. The message could be "HDTV NOW!!" If we all sent the same message everyday to each station they MIGHT get off their collective butts!!

Sorry for the rant, Just getting damn frustrated with the endless delays!!

I will be contacting all of the station managers over the next few weeks and will be happy to post the results here. I'll also let you know when I do the Home Theater Seminar in case any of you would like to attend/participate. It should be fun and informal.

The person I talked to at KKTV indicated that the station may be interested in promoting or sponsoring the seminar to coincide with their launching of HD. It is my understanding that the delays are not necessarly the fault of the stations, but over antenna placement, interference with Denver signals. etc.

Some stations, though, just don't seem to care. Adelphia told me point blank that they have no plans at all for HD because of "lack of consumer interest." I find that last hard to believe based upon customer feedback I have recieved. I know Adelphia is having all kinds of other troubles - it will be interesting to see how this all resolves itself!

JOHN

JS MUSIC AND SOUND

John,

When did you talk to someone at KKTV? It seemed that they were almost ready to go, then problems that they will not discuss with us lowly consumers came up. It is hard to believe that they are in the communication business. You might let them know, nicely, that they are treating their customers poorly.

I would be interested in the home theater seminar. Let us know.

Roy

KKTV is not having an "antenna placement" problem. Beyond any issues we have not yet been informed of, they are still waiting on their satellite receiver.

I agree with everything from the last 9 or so posts. I spoke with a Jerry (I think) in Engineering at KKTV on Friday, nicely trying to get some information or a timeframe, or at least another "testing period" activated for the Masters this weekend. Basically his answer to everything was "I don't know." I realize they don't owe us HDTV but it's tough when we know they're so close. (Since they've already transmitted, they do have all the necessary equipment...)

John, it sounds great that you may be able to get some contact with folks at the top since Engineering has clammed up. Hope they will be straight with you, and you can pass on some factual information to us here.

And I've decided that Adelphia will be behind the rest of the cable industry for the foreseeable future, given their bankruptcy. I don't know how they could afford to roll out the on-demand and HD services that are coming soon on the bigger cable systems. That's OK, as soon as DirecTV catches up to Dish Network on COS local channels, I'll drop Adelphia cable and the only thing I'll lose will be some of the Rockies games. (Then they'll charge me more for PowerLink cable internet but that's another story...)

My TV was so disappointed in KKTV's HD delay that it made me buy a DirecTV HD box. Maybe that will make it happy for a while...

There is an article on HDTV in today's Gazette. It's on Life page 8, the TV listings page. I'll just quote one paragraph on KKTV's problems:

"According to Hogetvedt, it's a matter of legal interpretation. Now that KKTV has added an antenna to the site of its current set-up, Cheyenne Propagation Co. (the company that owns the land where the station's analog tower sits on Cheyenne Mountain) claims the expansion warrants additional compensation."

Interesting....

A few days ago, I called the 800# I had for Adelphia.. talked to an eager young guy. I asked him when we'd be getting HD cable. He told me they had just received a memo from corporate saying that they were working out kinks, etc, and tentatively planned to start rolling out HD boxes 3rd or 4th quarter this year. He made it sound like a test-market kinda thing, only in a few areas. That got me kinda excited - he sounded like an a/v enthusiast and knew his terminology, so he knew what I was asking for. But then I read a few places that Adelphia has no plans for HD. Hmm.

So I called back today and talked to a woman who confirmed the "no plans" story. I made her log an entry into my file to record my interest in getting HD cable channels. I'd recommend we all do that weekly to let them know we're serious about it - that there IS a market for it, albeit fairly tiny...

*sigh* maybe someday :)

I loved it when the Gazette article said that "Viewer mail has been pouring in to KKTV" about the digital channel. Hopefully the channel will be up and running soon.

Apparantly the engineers didn't feel that they could tell us about the conflict with the antenna site company.

Roy

Sounds like we need to start emailing KOAA and KRDO as well!! 2 little words....

HDTV NOW!!


Add your message to KOAA here:
http://www.koaa.com/community/listens/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=12

Send Patti Hoth (Head Bubba @ KRDO) your message here:
hoth@krdotv.com

http://www.cableworld.com/archive/cableworld/2003/03/17/cwd03031701.shtml

...talks about Adelphia's HDTV "plans"

Any thoughts?

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
Sounds like we need to start emailing KOAA and KRDO as well!! 2 little words....

HDTV NOW!!


Add your message to KOAA here:
http://www.koaa.com/community/listens/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=12

Send Patti Hoth (Head Bubba @ KRDO) your message here:
hoth@krdotv.com

Are you guys going to chime in on these or do I have to do it all myself?!?;)

Just looked at www.titantv.com and if their info is correct KKTV won't be on the air for awhile. Here's what I found;
ABC 24 KRDO-DT Under Review
CBS 10 KKTV-DT Jul 1 2003
FOX 22 KXRM-DT May 1 2003
NBC 42 KOAA-DT Awaiting FCC Permit
PBS 26 KTSC-DT May 1 2003


Anybody know if Fox or PBS have anything worth watching?

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
Just looked at www.titantv.com and if their info is correct KKTV won't be on the air for awhile. Here's what I found;
ABC 24 KRDO-DT Under Review
CBS 10 KKTV-DT Jul 1 2003
FOX 22 KXRM-DT May 1 2003
NBC 42 KOAA-DT Awaiting FCC Permit
PBS 26 KTSC-DT May 1 2003


Anybody know if Fox or PBS have anything worth watching?

PBS will have stuff worth watching, especially their evening slate of programs which could be in HDTV. Fox doesn't provide HDTV. They are in the EDTV camp, i.e. 480P. From what I 've heard from RMPBS, they will be going online later in the summer in COS. Their chief engineer has posted to the Denver HDTV forum in the recent past.

Maybe KTSC-DT will beat out KKTV-DT for the first full-time HDTV broadcaster.

Jack

Originally posted by Frank Zimkas
ABC 24 KRDO-DT Under Review
CBS 10 KKTV-DT Jul 1 2003
FOX 22 KXRM-DT May 1 2003
NBC 42 KOAA-DT Awaiting FCC Permit
PBS 26 KTSC-DT May 1 2003

Just found this great thread. I'm in Monument. Anybody on this forum this far north? If so, what antenna do you use?

It looks like some of the broadcast rollouts will coincide with my planned purchase of the Samsung HLN567W DLP and HD931 DVD. Excellent! Now I just need to identify a good HDTV decoder. What do you all recommend?

Thanks!

Zenith HD SAT 520

I am almost that far north (Baptist Road area) and a $40 Radio Shack dipole/helix antenna has worked fine so far, that is, back when KKTV was testing their digital signal. And that was even when it wasn't in the best place in my house.

My guy at The Sound Shop downtown has told me that the Samsung SIR-TS160 was the best HD box with DirecTV and OTA by far. I don't know for sure if that means that the Samsung SIR-T165 is the best HD OTA-only receiver out there. http://www.avguide.com/product/HDTV_Set-Top_Boxes/Video_Sources/Samsung/SIR-T165/2411.jsp

...just waiting until HD actually matters around here! sigh...

Originally posted by TallGuy
I am almost that far north (Baptist Road area) and a $40 Radio Shack dipole/helix antenna has worked fine so far, that is, back when KKTV was testing their digital signal. And that was even when it wasn't in the best place in my house.

My guy at The Sound Shop downtown has told me that the Samsung SIR-TS160 was the best HD box with DirecTV and OTA by far. I don't know for sure if that means that the Samsung SIR-T165 is the best HD OTA-only receiver out there. http://www.avguide.com/product/HDTV_Set-Top_Boxes/Video_Sources/Samsung/SIR-T165/2411.jsp


Thanks for the info. That's an encouraging data point.

I've thought about the DirecTV box, but I'm too addicted to my two DTivos! I dumped E* for the DTivos and don't want to give them up. Maybe I'll have to wait for the HDTivos... :D

Originally posted by chanceG
Just found this great thread. I'm in Monument. Anybody on this forum this far north? If so, what antenna do you use?

It looks like some of the broadcast rollouts will coincide with my planned purchase of the Samsung HLN567W DLP and HD931 DVD. Excellent! Now I just need to identify a good HDTV decoder. What do you all recommend?

Thanks!

I live just north of the Air Force Academy without direct sight of Cheyenne Mtn. I have a Radio Shack 120 and it picked up KKTV OK when they were testing.

I'm using an Integra 910S but I don't think they're available in the states, anymore. A great unit for receiving OTA HDTV and MPEG/DVB satellite HD video, on a big dish.

Welcome to the thread.

Jack

Originally posted by jackheneghan
I live just north of the Air Force Academy without direct sight of Cheyenne Mtn. I have a Radio Shack 120 and it picked up KKTV OK when they were testing.

Another excellent data point as I don't have LOS of Cheyenne Mtn either (trees). Thanks!

BTW, D* announced that they have all COS locals now except Ch 13 (KRDO?).

Is DirectTV broacasting the locals now or this summer?

Originally posted by jeffaa1124
Is DirectTV broacasting the locals now or this summer?

According to this morning's Gazelle (back page of the life section), they're offered now. However, I haven't contacted DirecTV to confirm this. YMMV.

I called Directv and they are available. But they can not get them activated on any of my receivers. Is anyone receiving them as of yet?

Originally posted by jeffaa1124
I called Directv and they are available. But they can not get them activated on any of my receivers. Is anyone receiving them as of yet?

I get the Denver locals. I can't decide if I should give them up and the COS locals as I MUCH prefer the quality of the Denver local news. Plus, in the Denver locals package, I get two PBS stations...

Yes, just like jeffaa1124 said, if you're getting them, please let us know. I'd love to know if the PQ is any better than what I get OTA. Most people at my work say that the PQ for locals by D* is too compressed and looks like crap.

I'm getting 5,8,11,21 and 57 from D*. Channel 57 is much improved but the other ones were ok to begin with so there is not much difference. The Gazette says we are supposed to get channel 2 (KWGN) but I can't find it anywhere. It won't be worth it to me unless I can get channel 2.

What's so important about KWGN? They don't carry Rockies or Avalanche games any more. Is there anything special that they do carry?

Roy

The Colorado Springs locals showed up on my 3 receivers automatically. By the way, ABC (KRDO) is on now too. I would say the picture quality on 5, 8, 11, 13 is really good and 2, 21, 57 are not as good. Since 2 and 57 are smaller stations, the source may be the reason. I've seen a few pixellations on different channels so far but need to keep watching for it.

Also interesting that there is no program guide information at the moment for 2 and 57, but for WB and UPN, who cares? I agree with royrose, I only watched KWGN/2 for Rockies games, never for WB. I guess we will never get Denver's UPN/20 for Rockies/Avalanche since Colorado Springs has a UPN on 57. Guess I'll cut my cable service down to just the "Lifeline" (cheap, unadvertised) package of analog channels 2-13, in order to get the UPN/20 weekend Rockies games on cable channel 6.

ChanceG, I know what you mean about Tivos. It's inconceivable to leave them, once you've stopped watching commercials and stopped caring what time a show is on. I have 2 DirecTivos, one in the home theater room with the DirecTV HD box. That's either overkill or the best of both worlds, depending on your perspective. But those 2 boxes will be sold on eBay as soon as the HD-DirecTivo comes out at the end of the year.

I knew that the titantv.com dates for FOX and PBS going digital on May 1 in Colorado Springs wouldn't come to pass.

Hopefully the rumors about D*'s upcoming HD package are true, adding ESPN-HD and Discovery-HD, etc. Especially since E* announced yesterday they are going to unveil a new a new "SuperDish Technology" capable of providing consumers "up to" 50 HDTV channels. Hopefully D* won't get left in the dust since I'm under contract!

Originally posted by TallGuy
ChanceG, I know what you mean about Tivos. It's inconceivable to leave them, once you've stopped watching commercials and stopped caring what time a show is on. I have 2 DirecTivos, one in the home theater room with the DirecTV HD box. That's either overkill or the best of both worlds, depending on your perspective. But those 2 boxes will be sold on eBay as soon as the HD-DirecTivo comes out at the end of the year.


Yep, I've got two DTivos also. I was a LONG time E* subscriber with two DishPlayers. I finally got fed up with that poor excuse for a PVR and E* wanted $199 for me to "upgrade" to a unit with less features! So long E*, hello Tivo! It's so liberating not having to worry about whether or not my programs recorded. :D

Well folks,
May 1st has come and gone with no DTV signal from PBS or FOX. Anyone else losing hope?

Not losing hope so much as not caring that much anymore. I know they will get there eventually. It's not like I watch that much network TV and I get plenty of HDTV from my 4DTV satellite receiver (8+ channels).

For special events, sometimes the network feeds are in the clear, sometimes not.

C'est la vie.

Jack

PS I would recommend that any station not broadcasting DTV in COS (or Denver) should have its analog license revoked, but the FCC is run by Republicans so that's not going to happen.

Hey, what's wrong with Republicans?

Originally posted by drvais
Hey, what's wrong with Republicans?

Once they get to Washington they become bureaucrats.

Jack

KKTV-DT is up and running now.

It's on, but it doesn't look 1080i to me. Upconverted at the station?

I just watched the end of Everybody Loves Raymond on 11-1 and it looks much better then satellite locals. The main difference being the colors! I hope CSI is in HD!

Anybody else having a problem watching KKTV? I'm getting a lot of audio dropout and severe pixalation, sometimes the picture just disappears completely. Signal strength is low also (69-71%), I was getting a much stronger signal last time they tested and have not moved my antenna since then.

I'm getting a 100 signal with a bunny ear setup lying down on the TV. I'm very glad to see this because before I doubted if I could even pick it up.

BTW: It's now 8:41 and I can't pick it up anymore. I think it went off. Also, Everybody Loves Raymond was not in HD.

CSI: Miami is on now...signal is 100%. I'm at Woodman & Austin Bluffs.

HD?

Isn't working for me from 9:29 to now.

So far only upconverted 4:3 picture. At least it's a clean picture.

You mean they're broadcasting in 1080i, just not true HD? My receiver upconverts everything, so I wouldn't know if they were sending 480i/p or 1080i.

You're right Vaggeto.

I got it working... but only right as the news started. It was 4:3 stretched though, was this the same format CSI had on?

Well my problem is corrected! I had a bad coax connection, Sure glad it was minor!

Good to hear that!

I really hope they keep this going for maybe some NBA finals?
I have yet to see any network show in HD though, so I'm really looking forward to that. I hear they are great.

Sorry, but the NBA finals aren't on CBS/KKTV. I think they're only on ABC, ESPN and TNT (and maybe TBS) from here on out.

Well, the good news is that they must have worked out a contract with the company that manages the antenna site. Hopefully they will soon go full time and with HD on all HD shows.

Roy

Sorry, I was confusing ABC with CBS.

All I've seen is standard def. pictures so far today. Anyone heard if they ever got their server issues resolved?

Yes, the Young and the Restless was in true, 1080i HD. All of their equipment is in place. Have no doubt, this is a permanent thing.

I spoke with one of their engineers today, and I'll fill y'all in after 24 is over.

Dang, I wasn't home tonight to check it out. And tomorrow night they have zero shows in HD, except probably Letterman. Were they really on in HD for their 3 HD prime time shows tonight? http://www.cbs.com/info/hdtv/

Jag and Judging Amy did not appear to be in HD, but The Young and the Restless was.

Apparently, KKTV is still in legal wranglings (3 lawsuits from the land owner where their antenna resides), but is pressing forward anyway. The cases go to trial in the Fall.
I'll call tomorrow and find out why their primetime shows weren't in HD. Nevertheless, KKTV-DT is up and running for the foreseeable future.

Why would the Cheyenne Mtn. company that owns the land expect more money from this? KKTV gains nothing from it, and they're required to make this change. Are other stations having similar problems with the land owners?

Letterman has never been in HD. They are shooting for Fall.

Roy

They want more money because they are greedy. Most likely, the suits will be dropped as this really comes down to extortion.

Well now I'm not sure where KKTV is on this. I saw a few minutes of CSI last night around 8:55, and I'm pretty sure it was a real 16:9 non-stretched picture, but it wasn't quite as clear as HD. Then around 9:30 Without A Trace was definitely upconverted, stretched-from-4:3 non-HD.

At first I thought CSI was in HD, but it seemed to be very low quality HD. But when I switched to the analog channel, the characters were stretched out the same, so it was a good upconvert.

It shouldn't be an upconvert, though. I'll try and get to the bottom of this debacle.

THanks, any chance you will find out before they broadcast HD/upconvert tonight?

The District is in widescreen HD right now!

So is The Agency now at 9:00. Maybe they are full-time HD now, which would be nice next week for the shows I normally watch.

Thanks for the heads up.

I put on the agency at around 9:40 and it wasn't HD. I compared to the other one and it was the same image.

I noticed that too. I flipped it back on around 9:45 and it wasn't HD. It looked totally different on my set than the beginning of the show at 9:00. More confusion...

Well, tonight's "feel good" movie of the year was definitely in HD. Interestingly enough, the 60 Minutes special that preceded it was a non-stretched 4x3 upconvert.

I would really like it if KKTV would continue to not zoom and crop 4x3 shows for future programming.

The movie started in HD tonight, went on in HD until I think they went to the SD feed to show the storm warning. (This was coming back from a commercial break at around 9:40) After this they didn't go back to HD until the end of the next commercial break, and then during the next commercial break they went back to the SD feed and I didn't notice them switch it back after that.
I wonder what it takes to switch it, and why they even mess with it once it's going? I noticed the strom warning was on the sd channel early in the movie and it wasn't on the HD version so I'm thinking this was the cause, but I didnt' see any banner after they went back to SD for a second time.

They did this on the District the other night, but since I didn't watch I didn't look for any banner.

Ok, talked to Bob at KKTV. He said he just got back from vacation, but speculated that any weird format changes like the one Vaggeto described are most likely due to "operator error." However, he said he would look into what happened last night. BTW, he said that KKTV missed the feed today for the HD broadcast of The Young and the Restless.

So, it just appears KKTV is having growing pains. He said they're trying to get all of their engineers up to speed on the new technology as soon as possible.

In the meantime, he agreed that if WE notice a problem with the signal, we should immediately call their engineering staff so that it can be fixed. Their number is 634-2844 (ask for Engineering). After hours, you can still call that number, but you just have to enter in an additional extension for "news emergencies" and once again request to be patched through to Engineering. I think it's 243 if I remember right (the prompt tells you, either way).

Although this is sort of trivial, I told him how I wish KKTV would only turn on the HD broadcast flag that my SAT520 picks up for true HD material, instead of all programs like they are presently doing. He said he would look into whether this has to be done manually or can be preset.

Last but not least, he expressed my sentiments regarding the current policy of zooming and cropping 4x3 upconverted material. He said he was going to try to convince Tim that they should leave 4x3 material as 4x3 and let the viewer decided if they want it zoomed and cropped (provided, of course, that your display or receiver can do this).

Cheers!

More of the same last night. True HD for King of Queens (at least 7:05 to 7:15) but it looked a little grainy to me; true HD for Everybody Loves Raymond (at least 8:15 to 8:45) and it looked very good; true HD for CSI:Miami (at least at 8:45 when the show opened) and it looked excellent; then I checked back with CSI:Miami around 9:15 and it had dropped to a stretched, upconverted non-HD picture. I forgot to call the Engineering phone number at that point. Until then I was thinking they had gotten their bugs worked out. Well, now that we're nearly into all-rerun summer season, we can wait it out.

By the way, is anyone receiving program guide or program description information on the digital channel? I'm not, and I assume it's not just my setup. It's understandable if that's something KKTV is going to work on much later.

I wonder if the local ABC, FOX and PBS are making any real progress...

Well, JAG is stretched tonight. It would be nice if we could get an e-mail address for feedback and questions. One question I have is whether they still consider this a testing period. If so, will they have an official launch that they will announce publically? It would seem strange for them to go to all this trouble and not bring it to the attention of people.

Roy

JAG was HD and not stretched for me at least from 7:53 pm until the credits rolled and they went to commercial at 7:56 pm.

Roy, perhaps I did not make it clear enough, they ARE full time and no longer testing. You should call the station if you notice any weirdness to their signal as it is probably operator error. Their operators are learning this new equipment as fast as they can, but they can still make mistakes.

The word I've received as to why they have not made an official announcement stems from a request from their General Manager. I will try and get some more info on this at a later date.

In the meantime, enjoy!

P.S.- One more thing, because of the lack of publicity, I challenge each of you to make comments to any electronics store managers you run into that the first 1080i OTA station is now active in the Springs. Maybe they will pass this along to their sales staff as a selling point?

OK, maybe testing is not the right word. How about "working the bugs out" or "getting up to speed". My point is that they have not announced the launch for some reason and I am curious why. Maybe there are factors that we know nothing about. As an HD enthusiast, I would like to see it promoted more.

I am, of course, happy that they are full time. From reading other threads in this forum, it is clear that a lot of stations have had difficulty getting consistent at switching to HD at the right time. Hopefully KKTV will get better at it quickly.

Roy

Originally posted by drvais
P.S.- One more thing, because of the lack of publicity, I challenge each of you to make comments to any electronics store managers you run into that the first 1080i OTA station is now active in the Springs. Maybe they will pass this along to their sales staff as a selling point?

With the nature of my job, I spend alot of time in other people's homes and am surprised at the amount of HD sets that I see. I always mention that KKTV-(H)DTV is now on the air. Most of the time they have no idea!

Way to go, Frank! :)

Last Friday, I called the station manager at KKTV, Charles "Charlie" Hogvedt (sic), and he basically indicated that KKTV would not make an official announcement of their DT status until the litigation is finished. He was very tight lipped about the lawsuits too, and wouldn't even budge a word out about it- typical management I guess.

He said that we should expect to see an official announcement within "the next 31 days," so I guess he's hoping the suits will be settled by then.

I also mentioned how they've missed the feeds for several HD programs, and he just said that his engineering staff has "come a long way" and that they're learning how to do things the right way as quickly as they can.

Maybe it's because I'm in the military, but I wouldn't leave brand-new engineers at the helm of a station that just entered the HD arena (which is apparently what has happened lately). I would have also spent all that time between February, when they first started playing around with the equipment, and now to train my existing staff and make sure they were up to speed. Finally, I would make sure that my people knew that they're supposed to record the HD shows each night and present them in HD for local broadcast. I mean, don't they have checklists to follow? Am I just asking for too much here?

I agree drvais, but it seems it's been this way at most local stations everywhere.

I'm just wondering what's up with other stations? Fox or PBS? What about KRDO? I'm not evne gonna ask about 5/30 ;-)

I'll look into Faux, KRDO, and PBS sometime this week and post an update.

Thanks.

Here's the latest from www.titantv.com

ABC 24 KRDO-DT Under Review
CBS 10 KKTV-DT Jul 1 2003
FOX 22 KXRM-DT Under Review
NBC 42 KOAA-DT Awaiting FCC Permit
PBS 26 KTSC-DT Nov 1 2003


I noticed that PBS has changed from July to November.

Woo-hoo! Sounds like we've got HDTV broadcasts here in the Springs, based on what I've read here. I can't wait to actually use my HDTV like it is meant to be used. Someone at an a/v store told me that it would be later this summer, but I guess sooner is better than later. From what I gather, CBS (KKTV) is the only one that is really on-air, right? What do you recommend for a tuner? Looks like Samsung makes a pretty cheap one, any ideas?

Jeremy,
Welcome aboard!
Yes KKTV is on the air, but still working a few bugs out. The Samsung receivers are one option, but the most recent edition of Sound&Vision was a review of the Zenith receiver/HD PVR that might be worth a look. If you Dishnetwork you might want to consider the #6000 receiver with an OTA module, or a comparable DirecTV reveiver. If you are waitng for Adelphia to carry HDTV, well lets just say it's going to be a long wait.

Thanks, Frank. For now, I'm just looking for an over-the-air HDTV tuner. I've got Adelphia digital cable, and I'm not holding my breath for them to get HDTV. However, when I went in to exchange my cable box for the newer one with s-video and optical, the girl who helped me said they hoped to have HD by the end of summer, and are currently discussing plans. (Although I doubt it) I looked into satellite, but the HDTV tuners for that are around $500 and get very few channels. I think I can pick up a Samsung 151 on ebay for around $250. I have a good view of Cheyenne Mtn, but I still need an antenna, right? I live around I-25 and Rockrimmon, maybe someone could suggest an antenna that would work for me also.

Well, there are only a few HDTV channels on satellite. But (hopefully)very soon there will be more. Hopefully they'll have the following: HD PPV, HDNET, HDNET Movies, HBO-HD, SHO-HD, Discovery HD, and ESPN HD.

As of now they have: HDNET, HBO-HD, SHO-HD, and an HD PPV channel.

If you really want you use your HDTV to its full potential, I recommend you go for satellite. Either Dish or DTV.

BTW: Do you get any dolby digital signals? The sound on standard channels on satellite is much better then any channel on my old digital cable box.

Yeah, I'd like to go to satellite, but last time I checked it's just too much dinero for what you get. What is the best satellite deal in town? I do get dolby digital signals from my cable box. Lots of shows are in Dolby, only a few are in 5.1. When you flip the channel, now it shows what kind of sound signal it carries, and my reciever picks it up. I've seen satellite, and I'm sure it is a little better quality in audio and video. However, for the price I think digital cable is a better deal for now, IMO. Now I just want an OTA HD tuner to get a taste. When I bought my Sony 36HS500, they had Discovery HD on it, quite impressive. Crazy nature shows are almost worth the satellite alone. Almost. ;)

Oh well, the free local channels on D* are gone! I guess that DirecTV allowed viewers to get the new locals for a couple of weeks in hopes of having us pay for them after awhile. I noticed quite a bit of pixelation on them anyway, so I'm going back to my antenna.

Jeremy-

Hold out on getting a HDTV receiver since they all have bugs and are not that reliable yet. There should be some new equipment coming from Dish and DirecTV eventually that will be a big improvement from what you get now. I sold a Panasonic TU-HDS20 for more than I paid for it after getting tired of the drop-outs even after the box was supposedly "fixed" by Panasonic. My new DirecTV box (Samsung S75) has DD 5.1 output and component video, and is rock-solid. DirecTV is about $10-15 per month cheaper than I was paying Adelphia, and I get the same channels and it is true digital, something Adelphia is not.

Dan-
I think I'll take your advice on holding out on the HDTV for now. Maybe at the end of the summer if they have more stations up, I'll look into converting. You think that DirecTV is a better choice than Adelphia? What do you use for internet access? My internet is bundled with my digital cable, so I think it would be more expensive to have cable internet and satellite TV. (Although DSL is an option too, but also a bit expensive) Also, you have to buy the equipment for satellite correct? I'm always looking for other options, but for now I just don't see anything that tickles my fancy.

Originally posted by Jeremy Tebo
My internet is bundled with my digital cable, so I think it would be more expensive to have cable internet and satellite TV.

I have DirecTV and Adelphia for net access. If you buy your own modem (they charge $5/mo rental), the price for internet only is $51.95. For us, it was only about $5-10 more per month than dialup when the second phone line was taken into account. Well worth the consistent 1Mbps download speeds I get!

I *think* you can get "lifeline" cable (locals only) and internet access for about $54-55/mo.

I too have heard that Adelphia is a pretty good deal if you get the "bundled" services. I have not looked into the satellite net access and am still using dial up :-(

The one thing that made me laugh and finally get rid of Adlephia cable was that the crappy boxes they have (Motorola 2000) do not have a timer function and can not be controlled by a VCR, so to tape shows off the box you could only do the channel the box was left on. Also, the box did not have DD 5.1 outputs or component video even though there is a logo for Dolby on the front! At least satellite (on many boxes) has all of those things and is true digital, something Adelphia is not.

Only stations above 100 on Adelphia are digital, and all means with cable is that they can fit more channels into the spectrum. Maybe Adelphia will eventually have a better box and maybe eventually they will cease the annual/semi-annual price increases.

Does anyone know how much DSL runs? Also, do the satellite providers have net access? It seems like $55 per month for cable internet access is highway robbery. I pay around $110 for "the whole shootin match," which includes internet w/ modem rental and all of the movie channels. My newer Motorola box has optical and s-video, but no component. It gets 5.1 now, but the old one didn't. If it weren't for the internet, I'd be more likely to move to satellite, but for now I can't justify the switch. I really don't record any shows, maybe when Tivo comes down in price I'll give it a try. That's interesting about the channels 100+ being digital, I do notice a quality improvement in the higher channels. As for dial-up, you can just stab me in the eye with a sharp stick and we'll call it even. :)

DSL seems pretty expensive compared to Adelphia except if you need fast upload speeds. Check out qwest.com and look at their prices. D* has satellite internet but, it isn't too fast, and if you're a heavy downloader, they will limit your speed if you use above what they consider an average user would. So I think it would be a last resort if you had nothing else but 56k.

Those Adelphia cable boxes are a joke. We used to have the special deal for around $100 which included a decent long distance plan, all the cable channels, and cable internet. Since we got D* the cable internet alone costs $60/month with the modem.(I remember it used to be $35 + $5 rental fee!) But remember I used to remember reading that cable internet came with basic cable, but now it isn't talked about much from what I can find. But, since we've cancelled digital cable, we still get basic cable. (1-77, plus a few cahnnels after that)

ChanceG, you download at actual 1MBps on a single file? What are your dslreport.com speeds??? I usually get 250-300k download speeds, and it never really varies by time of day, so I figure not many people are on around me.

Originally posted by Vaggeto
ChanceG, you download at actual 1MBps on a single file? What are your dslreport.com speeds??? I usually get 250-300k download speeds, and it never really varies by time of day, so I figure not many people are on around me.

Yes indeedy. 1Mbps. Never varies, and I'm out in the sticks! Well worth the $$$. I'd complain about those speeds! A co-worker claims that he gets almost 2Mbps, so I though *I* was getting the short end of the stick. Apparently not.

This is the test I've run several times:

http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

Now upload, that's a whole different ballgame. I think 128kbps is about as fast as it gets.

Here are my results from that place:

Communications - 2.1 megabits per second
Storage - 253.9 kilobytes per second
1MB file download - 4 seconds

Is this what you'd consider 2.1 Mbps? I really only care about actual download speed which was 253K.

Originally posted by Vaggeto
Communications - 2.1 megabits per second
Storage - 253.9 kilobytes per second
1MB file download - 4 seconds

Is this what you'd consider 2.1 Mbps? I really only care about actual download speed which was 253K.

Yes, they are one and the same. 253.9 kilobytes per second is:

253.9 kbytes/sec * 8 bits/byte * 1024/k = 2,079,948.8 bits/sec = 2,031.2 kilobits/sec = 1.98 megabits/sec

So apparently I am getting the short end of the stick! :mad:

Well, I get 5.7 mbps at work. :) I'll have to check at home now.