Raleigh, NC - HDTV [Text View] - Page 34

edvedd

09-10-07, 12:13 PM

Don't know if anyone of you heard this, but this morning on the local sports radio station (850 the Buzz), Brad Phillips (TWC VP for the Raleigh region) came on to defend the TWC position on not carrying MASN.

Same stuff we've all heard about how TWC cares about keeping costs down, sports tier, bla bla bla. Then, he went on to say that the 8 games on the NFL Network will be broadcast on local TV. The host said ... "wait a minute, are you saying that all 8 games will be shown here in Raleigh?". And, Mr. Phillips said, "YES". Of course, that's a lie (whether intentional or unintentional).

Speaking of which - does anyone know who is going to carry that NFL Network game here locally? I've contacted WTVD (since they are the local home affiliate for the Panthers and carried pre-season games) but haven't heard back.
I wouldn't think that the game would only be available in the greater Charlotte area. Anyone know? I don't think it's necessarily a question for TWC but for the broadcaster in the area.

CCsoftball7

09-10-07, 12:36 PM

Speaking of which - does anyone know who is going to carry that NFL Network game here locally? I've contacted WTVD (since they are the local home affiliate for the Panthers and carried pre-season games) but haven't heard back.
I wouldn't think that the game would only be available in the greater Charlotte area. Anyone know? I don't think it's necessarily a question for TWC but for the broadcaster in the area.

No one will carry the game locally. The NFL Network games are exclusive this year. Therefore, no NFL Network, NO GAME!!!

DonB2

09-10-07, 02:38 PM

Scooper,

"You're going to need a rotor if you want the digitals. From my location, getting channel 59 out of Chapel Hill or channel 39 out of Roanoke Rapids both require moving my antenna in that direction. OTOH, You should also get 27 (28's digital) and 57 (22's digital) as well. If you get 2 UHF antennas , aim one at Garner, and the other at Chapel Hill, and combine their signals with a channel 59 jointenna (it will need to be replaced with a channel 25 jointenna after Feb 17,2009), that would work too. For Jointennas - check out http://www.warrenelectronics.com/ant...Jointennas.htm"

This actually worked for you???

I had zero luck with the Join antenna. There are just too many frequencies packed too close to the PBS digital frequency to make it work for me with ATSC. I even sent the Join antenna back for fine notch tuning.

Now maybe it would work on analog for me but it did not begin to work on ATSC Digital.

I am now back to two antennas with a infrared attic mounted radio shack A/B switch and my radio Universal repeater getting the a/b choice up to the attic.

-DonB2

ENDContra

09-10-07, 02:45 PM

No one will carry the game locally. The NFL Network games are exclusive this year. Therefore, no NFL Network, NO GAME!!!
I think they are carried locally, but locally means Charlotte -- not Greensboro, not Raleigh, not North Carolina -- just Charlotte. So yeah, that Panthers game will require you to visit a bar or get a dish.

DonB2

09-11-07, 12:31 PM

PBS - Reception on 4.1 ATSC

I am always amazed how I can go one evening with PBS and not have one single break up in signal. And than the next night I turn on the tv and barely a signal with signal reception just constantly changing between 0 and 5 on my Samsung STB tuner. It looks like Multipath issues but what has changed? The weather had been consistant.

I guess it is just typical with Attic mounted antennas.

-DonB2

Chuckeis

09-11-07, 01:10 PM

Just to verify, is the 12 months where they are offering you the deal for 12 months, or do you have to commit to 12 months to receive the deal. Im thinking of doing this, but I dont want to lock myself into anything as Im still very possibly calling up one of the sat companies in the very near future.

That being said, Im also moving within the next year, and Im wondering how much of a hassle it is to get a dish reinstalled at a new location either by a tech or doing it myself. Definitely would hate to have to pay someone to install and/or reinstall a few months later.

There is no contract with it. I am hoping for something better to come along before my 12 months is up, if not I will cancel and go back to OTA only until someone offers me a deal that cannot be beat.

DECdaze

09-11-07, 09:28 PM

... And than the next night I turn on the tv and barely a signal with signal reception just constantly changing between 0 and 5 on my Samsung STB tuner. ... I guess it is just typical with Attic mounted antennas.
Might not be due to an Attic mount. Might be more due to other issues. I see the same thing on my indoor antenna. A medium or large directional UHF antenna might help. For more on fading and other HDTV OTA info:

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/GlossaryA.html#fading

SugarBowl

09-12-07, 07:14 AM

drewwho

09-12-07, 08:23 AM

PBS - Reception on 4.1 ATSC

I am always amazed how I can go one evening with PBS and not have one single break up in signal. And than the next night I turn on the tv and barely a signal with signal reception just constantly changing between 0 and 5 on my Samsung STB tuner. It looks like Multipath issues but what has changed? The weather had been consistant.

Me too!

I didn't watch PBS Monday night, but Tues night was my worst PBS night in weeks. Up until Tues night, things had been perfect. But NOVA was nearly unwatchable last night. Maybe it is something WUNC was doing, and not us?

Drew

CCsoftball7

09-12-07, 08:53 AM

Me too!

I didn't watch PBS Monday night, but Tues night was my worst PBS night in weeks. Up until Tues night, things had been perfect. But NOVA was nearly unwatchable last night. Maybe it is something WUNC was doing, and not us?

Drew

If you're both East of the tower, there was a fire out by Thomas Brooks park yesterday. Maybe that caused issues?

drewwho

09-12-07, 09:00 AM

If you're both East of the tower, there was a fire out by Thomas Brooks park yesterday. Maybe that caused issues?

Hmm... Could be. According to antennaweb, I'm just a little South of due East from the tower.

Drew

AJerman

09-12-07, 11:53 AM

I've noticed that when you first get a cable box everything is unscrambled. After a few hours, or sometimes days, it starts scrambling. I think the cable company sends a signal over the line to get it going.

I want to upgrade to HD service, but when I called to ask about deals, and specifically mentioned that I was looking at Satellite companies, I was told how much it was to upgrade (extra $7.95/mo) and no offers were made whatsoever. It was like they didn't care at all because I was an existing customer, and they just want to sign up new customers. And I bet there's some accountant telling them that most people won't switch because it's too much of a hassle.

Now I have to decide if I'm calling their bluff or if it really is too much of a hassle....

That says to me then that you could somehow reset the box to think that it's "new" again. I'm not saying anything about stealing cable or anything, but I find it curious. Seems weird that they would do that.

pkscout

09-12-07, 12:29 PM

fyi, the new OTA channel 50.2 has some old shows on the weekend. Greatest American Hero, ATeam, AirWolf.

I don't think the Greatest American Hero has ever aired since the 80's.

Should be on time warner too, probably channel 256 ?

Very cool. I may check some of those out. Very funny thing about the description I saw for Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew. It said:

"Teenage detectives solve non-violent mysteries."

How PC of them. :p

CCsoftball7

09-12-07, 12:33 PM

A few questions for those with D*:

1. How are the HD locals compared to OTA?
2. How are the HD stations (ESPN, etc.) compared to TWC?
3. Any rain fade issues?

Thanks,

Jeff

DonB2

09-12-07, 01:21 PM

EricRobins

09-12-07, 01:55 PM

A few questions for those with D*:

1. How are the HD locals compared to OTA?
I know everyone will say that there is a difference b/c D* compresses the signals they get from the local stations, but honestly, I don't think I can really tell the difference. Most of the problems I have had viewing HD has been on the local channels OTA.

2. How are the HD stations (ESPN, etc.) compared to TWC?
I have NEVER had problems with the existing HD stations in my 3 years of having HD from D*, in contrast, my phone and internet (via TWC) have gone out or been unusable at least 10 times in the 6 weeks I have had the service.... You be the judge.
3. Any rain fade issues?A properly aligned dish should only have rain fade issues for 10-15 mins AT MOST.

Thanks,

Jeff
You are welcome! :D

dukkha2

09-12-07, 04:19 PM

Does anyone know where to purchase a Channel Master 4228 antenna local? I'm hoping to avoid shipping. I'm in Durham and don't mind a short drive.
Dow electronics in Garner:

276 Hein Dr.
Garner, NC 27529
Wake County

919) 779-9939

SugarBowl

09-12-07, 04:20 PM

50.2 - Interesting. I checked the online ATSC EPG and did not see anything about these shows.

I guess I will just go to 50.2 and see what is happening.

Update: I checked TitanTv guide to see what the line up for Sat was on 50.2 and either this Sat 50.1 and 50.2 are the same or Titan has not updated to different line up yet.

-DonB2

www.zap2it.com seems to be up-to-date for the time warner lineup. It is channel 251, which is the Fox50 subchannel 50.2.

The channel is RTN, http://www.fox50.com/entertainment/news/9498362.html

esfb8zs

09-12-07, 06:53 PM

I purchased a satellite mount from them a couple of months ago, and they gave me a hard time when I mentioned I was installing myself. They said they were not supposed to sell to individuals. You might be careful what you tell them. I did not think they were going to sell it to me, but they did in the end...

Dow electronics in Garner:

276 Hein Dr.
Garner, NC 27529
Wake County

919) 779-9939

DonB2

09-13-07, 10:41 AM

"I purchased a satellite mount from them a couple of months ago, and they gave me a hard time when I mentioned I was installing myself. They said they were not supposed to sell to individuals. You might be careful what you tell them. I did not think they were going to sell it to me, but they did in the end..."

Boy do I hate stores that pull that trick. I have encountered it with trying to buy HVAC parts.

BTW- does DOW sell discrete components like caps and resistors? I am looking for an alternative to RS.

-DonB2

DonB2

09-13-07, 10:43 AM

"www.zap2it.com seems to be up-to-date for the time warner lineup. It is channel 251, which is the Fox50 subchannel 50.2."

Thanks I will try zap

-DonB2

gstelmack

09-13-07, 11:29 AM

A few questions for those with D*:

1. How are the HD locals compared to OTA?
2. How are the HD stations (ESPN, etc.) compared to TWC?
3. Any rain fade issues?

Thanks,

Jeff

I cannot comment on 1, as I left DirecTV before I could get HD locals. Of course, my OTA was never great shakes, as I had all kinds of reception issues thanks to being in a low point with lots of trees around.

2 they are equal. Again, I have not tested the MPEG-4 stuff on DirecTV, but the MPEG-2 stuff I got like ESPN are pretty much the same. No noticable difference for me.

I had some rain fade when it rained really hard, but only during a hard rain. I also have some trees my sat was shooting through which likely added to this.

If you have a clear shot, you'll be fine with DirecTV. My lack of a clear shot (plus the third $300+ chunk of money they wanted me to spend) plus SD picture quality issues was why I left. Of course, now that TWC is showing me plenty of pixellation, especially during some SD sports broadcasts, I've come back to the "SD is a wash" position.

MingusDew

09-13-07, 11:41 AM

Is anyone here using the Tivo HD box with Time Warner Raleigh? If so, how does it work?

AFH

09-13-07, 12:49 PM

A few questions for those with D*:

1. How are the HD locals compared to OTA?

They look the same to me on my Mits 57in and on the DLP projector. Plus I can switch back and forth between the MPEG4 locals and the OTA antenna I have connected and they look the same as I said before.

2. How are the HD stations (ESPN, etc.) compared to TWC?

Comparable to me. At least they were for the one month I had both services a couple of months back. I'm still with Direct.

3. Any rain fade issues?

No rain fade issues on my end. Make sure your dish aligned properly b/c the will cause problems. Directv has to come out to my place on Sat to realign. You really have to take care in aligning the 5lnb dish.

SugarBowl

09-13-07, 01:41 PM

Is anyone here using the Tivo HD box with Time Warner Raleigh? If so, how does it work?

I have the series 3 and it works great with Time Warner. But i don't have cablecards, and that's probably what you really want to know about?

drewwho

09-13-07, 02:04 PM

I have the series 3 and it works great with Time Warner. But i don't have cablecards, and that's probably what you really want to know about?

I thought you didn't get guide data unless you used cable cards. Do you just use the analog stations from TWC, and get your HD OTA?

Drew

drewwho

09-13-07, 02:58 PM

Has anybody else noticed that the audio sync has been off lately on WUNC-HD? I noticed it for one of the Friday night travel shows recorded on my DVR. I then noticed it again watching that "brown is the new green" documentary last night live over the air on my TV's built in tuner. The SD (4-1) version seemed fine.

Drew

scsiraid

09-13-07, 03:42 PM

Is anyone here using the Tivo HD box with Time Warner Raleigh? If so, how does it work?

Im using an S3 (Tivo HD big brother) with two cablecards and its working fine. I do have some periodic pixelation that we are trying to track down.

DonB2

09-14-07, 09:13 AM

50.2 - I caught part of Magnum PI last night on this ATSC channel. Pretty nice have another free option.

Makes up for the loss of the Tube:)

-DonB2

larc919

09-14-07, 02:18 PM

50.2 - I caught part of Magnum PI last night on this ATSC channel. Pretty nice have another free option.I just checked and the RTN feed is available at 113.5 on QAM. The first episode of "The Fugitive" is on now. :)

According to Wikipedia, RTN has arranged for access to the CBS Television Distribution library of classic programs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_Television_Network

DonB2

09-14-07, 03:11 PM

RTN - SO that is what it is called. Retro is a good thing for me. It was nice to see Higgins again last night on Magnum.

It is sorta like having TVLAND over the air.

-DonB2

HDMe2

09-14-07, 04:49 PM

I agree with the sentiments on RTN. I admittedly have not sat down to watch much as yet, but like having the option. I had not too long ago commented (prior to the DVDs starting to be released) that I had not seen Wild Wild West on TV in many years... and then I noticed RTN has Wild Wild West as part of their weekend lineup.

For the moment, they have a nice selection of some shows that have not been around in a long time. Hopefully they will be able to acquire some additional similar themed shows as well once they run through all the episodes of what they have now.

On a semi-related note... Anyone else notice that the afternoon syndicated airings of Two-and-a-half-men on 50.1 have been in HD?

Aside from Wheel & Jeopardy on WTVD, this is the first HD-syndicated non-primetime programming I have seen. Oddly enough, King of Queens has not yet been in HD.. but it gives me hope we may start to see more OTA HD syndicated programming.

pkscout

09-14-07, 09:41 PM

Aside from Wheel & Jeopardy on WTVD, this is the first HD-syndicated non-primetime programming I have seen. Oddly enough, King of Queens has not yet been in HD.. but it gives me hope we may start to see more OTA HD syndicated programming.

I don't think it's the first, but I'm not entirely sure. Here's a little something from Engadget (http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/09/12/hd-syndication-expanding-with-two-and-a-half-men/) about that.

DECdaze

09-14-07, 10:13 PM

Greetings! I wanted to check with others before I start heading this route... I am interested in putting together an antenna in my attic. Most of the OTA stations I want to get are toward Raleigh. The lone exception is WUNC over toward Chapel Hill way.

Using an indoor antenna, I have lots of problems with WUNC. I have fewer problems with the rest of the stations. We sit in a small valley and seem to have either some fade, multi-path reflection or both.

So, here's what I am thinking of doing:

1. Mount two antennas in the attic

2. Point a Channel Master 4228 toward Chapel Hill

3. Point a Channel Master 4221 toward the Raleigh stations

4. Use a Channel Master JoinTenna on the 4228 to allow WUNC (channel 59) through without causing problems with the two antennas.

5. Run an RG6 line through the house to a wallplate behind the TV

A quick test with the Channel Master 4228 yielded great results for WUNC. Of course, it points just one way. The signal from the Raleigh direction was much weaker - as expected. So, with some research at the following URL, and it appears the above approach will work.

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/

But it's always good to check with others who probably faced some of these issues.

Some questions:

1. Will this work? Anyone else tried it in this area?

2. From what I've read, it appears WUNC will change to channel 25. So I'll need to get another JoinTenna when that happens. Correct? At least that's what this document seems to indicate:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf

3. Since I'll be running this from attic to first floor, will this require an amplifier?

By the way, I got that Channel Master 4228 from WRAL. They are a phenomenal station. Over ten years ago my daughter had the chance to tour the WRAL station and heard all about HDTV. It's amazing we are getting the chance to see their efforts come to life.

Anyway, thanks for taking a look at this and providing your thoughts and suggestions!

posg

09-15-07, 09:45 AM

DECdaze

Reception is like real estate. Location, location, location. The results you get will be unique to your location and to the reception pattern of the antenna you use. Even minor relocations of antennas at UHF frequencies give dramatically different results.

Since antennas in general seem to have less front to back ratios and directivity at lower frequncies, once WUNC moves to 25, it should be easier to receive off the back or side of an antenna pointed at Garner.

Consider the simple, reliable solution, a lifeline cable connection, or be prepared to pull your hair out on windy days, unless you're well above the tree line.

Scooper

09-15-07, 10:35 AM

#1 - yeah, it will work. It will help if your tuner is a 5th gen or better (to deal with any potential multipath issues).

#2 - yes on the jointennas. That's why I haven't set it up myself yet - $30 now for the ch59 one, followed by another $30 in Feb2009. You might see if just a simple combiner will work.

#3 - not necessarily. Try it without the pre-amp first.

You might want to put your antennas outside on the roof for best reception, although many people can get by with an attic installation. This also depends on the construction of your house as well as the other factors previously mentioned. Trying to use an attic antenna for me would be an exercise in futility - the sheathing of my house is foil covered.

DECdaze

09-15-07, 12:10 PM

... You might want to put your antennas outside on the roof for best reception, although many people can get by with an attic installation. This also depends on the construction of your house as well as the other factors previously mentioned. Trying to use an attic antenna for me would be an exercise in futility - the sheathing of my house is foil covered.
Thanks for the answers.

I'll try the combiner first. We'll see if that does well enough. I will also see if I need an amplifier first.

I think we are fine on the construction of the house. We don't have foil covered sheathing. ... My indoor antenna almost does well enough now.

But it's at ground level, so trees and such does impact the signal. I'm hoping going to attic level will resolve those issues. I'm thinking I will place the antennas on mounts which I can move around until we get a good signal. Then we'll lock it in place. If that does not work, then I'll consider an external mount.

Hmmm... I can see a unique selling feature for your house. Just position it as being a Faraday Cage. Most people wouldn't understand. But some might think it's a great feature! :D

DECdaze

09-15-07, 12:19 PM

... Reception is like real estate. Location, location, location. The results you get will be unique to your location and to the reception pattern of the antenna you use. Even minor relocations of antennas at UHF frequencies give dramatically different results.
You've got that right. I found a few inches one way or the other impacts my indoor antenna. It works well enough most of the time. I just hope to get WUNC along with the other channels.

Since antennas in general seem to have less front to back ratios and directivity at lower frequncies, once WUNC moves to 25, it should be easier to receive off the back or side of an antenna pointed at Garner.
That's a good point. I may only need one antenna. If it works well enough for WUNC now, it will work much better after Feb 2009. Hmmm... I might make that my first step. Install it and see if it does well enough until then.

Also, not only do we need to worry about WUNC, but WTVD will move back to channel 11. That's an advantage of the 4228 antenna, which seems to do well enough on the upper VHF bands.

Consider the simple, reliable solution, a lifeline cable connection, or be prepared to pull your hair out on windy days, unless you're well above the tree line.
Call it principle. Time Warner Cable wants us to fork over 15 to 25 dollars more per month to get a few channels more than what we get off the air. Excuse me? There's very little "value add" in this equation.

larc919

09-15-07, 12:54 PM

By the way, I got that Channel Master 4228 from WRAL. They are a phenomenal station. Over ten years ago my daughter had the chance to tour the WRAL station and heard all about HDTV. It's amazing we are getting the chance to see their efforts come to life.OT from the real point of your post, but...

I agree with your WRAL comment. They are indeed a first class station that we're fortunate to have in this area. But there was a time when I wouldn't have said that.

Back in the mid '50s when pipsqueak, low-power WRAL was fighting mammoth 50,000W clear channel WPTF for channel 5, hardly anybody thought the FCC would even consider awarding the channel to any station other than WPTF. In fact, WPTF had already invested heavily in video equipment and had even converted their Studio B on the mezzanine level of the then Durham Life Insurance building in downtown Raleigh to a TV studio. Following nearly three years of battle, the FCC decision in favor of WRAL blindsided and displeased practically everybody. There was talk of possible payoffs!

But time sure changes things. When WPTF finally got its chance at TV with channel 28, they really didn't shine with it. While that was still in the early days of UHF when quite a few stations were going under, WPTF showed no more than a pedestrian ability that made many realize the FCC had made the right decision in awarding 5 to WRAL after all. Subsequent years have really proved that realization in ways nobody could have even imagined 50 years ago.

There's some interesting background on WRAL here:
http://www.cbc-raleigh.com/history/corp_history.asp

Scooper

09-15-07, 01:56 PM

Thanks for the answers.
Hmmm... I can see a unique selling feature for your house. Just position it as being a Faraday Cage. Most people wouldn't understand. But some might think it's a great feature! :D

Let's just say I'm NOT concerned about WIFI freeloaders around my house / neighborhood :D . WIFI dies at the end of my driveway (and I have a 3 acre lot in the woods).

RBSteffes

09-15-07, 07:27 PM

I just got my first HD tuner card this week and I'm trying to integrate it into my mythtv set up. Before I "give up" and go to OTA broadcasting, I was trying to get it to work with the QAM channels I get from Time Warner.

This is my first foray into this area, so a lot of the information given out is greek to me, but I think I'm catching on.

MythTV found some channels automagically scanning, so I'm thinking my next step is to manually go through and guess how the remaining channels match up by watching them.

I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if someone has already done this legwork though, and wouldn't mind PMing with the information to update my database manually.

What I have via scanning is:
+--------+---------+--------------+---------+-----------+
| chanid | channum | callsign | mplexid | serviceid |
+--------+---------+--------------+---------+-----------+
| 3013 | 78#11 | UNKNOWN44#11 | 44 | 10 |
| 3055 | 5-5 | WRALDT3 | 45 | 6 |
| 3247 | 105#6 | UNKNOWN49#6 | 49 | 9 |
| 3299 | 112#7 | UNKNOWN51#7 | 51 | 9 |
| 3300 | 112#8 | UNKNOWN51#8 | 51 | 10 |
| 3342 | 118#7 | UNKNOWN54#7 | 54 | 10 |
| 3343 | 118#8 | UNKNOWN54#8 | 54 | 11 |
| 3345 | 118#10 | UNKNOWN54#10 | 54 | 13 |
| 3346 | 118#11 | UNKNOWN54#11 | 54 | 9 |
| 3348 | 118#13 | UNKNOWN54#13 | 54 | 2 |
| 3349 | 119#1 | UNKNOWN55#1 | 55 | 4 |
| 3350 | 119#2 | UNKNOWN55#2 | 55 | 5 |
| 3351 | 119#3 | UNKNOWN55#3 | 55 | 6 |
| 3352 | 119#4 | UNKNOWN55#4 | 55 | 7 |
| 3354 | 119#6 | UNKNOWN55#6 | 55 | 2 |
| 3355 | 119#7 | UNKNOWN55#7 | 55 | 8 |
| 3911 | 91#1 | UNKNOWN91#1 | 64 | 128 |
| 3912 | 91#2 | UNKNOWN91#2 | 64 | 129 |
| 3913 | 91#3 | UNKNOWN91#3 | 64 | 130 |
| 3914 | 91#4 | UNKNOWN91#4 | 64 | 131 |
| 3915 | 91#5 | UNKNOWN91#5 | 64 | 132 |
| 3916 | 91#6 | UNKNOWN91#6 | 64 | 133 |
| 3917 | 91#7 | UNKNOWN91#7 | 64 | 134 |
| 3918 | 91#8 | UNKNOWN91#8 | 64 | 135 |
| 3919 | 91#9 | UNKNOWN91#9 | 64 | 136 |
| 3920 | 91#10 | UNKNOWN91#10 | 64 | 137 |
| 3921 | 91#11 | UNKNOWN91#11 | 64 | 138 |
| 3922 | 91#12 | UNKNOWN91#12 | 64 | 161 |
| 3923 | 91#13 | UNKNOWN91#13 | 64 | 162 |
| 3924 | 91#14 | UNKNOWN91#14 | 64 | 163 |
| 3925 | 91#15 | UNKNOWN91#15 | 64 | 164 |
| 3926 | 91#16 | UNKNOWN91#16 | 64 | 144 |
| 3927 | 91#17 | UNKNOWN91#17 | 64 | 145 |
| 3928 | 91#18 | UNKNOWN91#18 | 64 | 146 |
| 3929 | 91#19 | UNKNOWN91#19 | 64 | 147 |
| 3930 | 91#20 | UNKNOWN91#20 | 64 | 148 |
| 3931 | 91#21 | UNKNOWN91#21 | 64 | 149 |
| 3932 | 91#22 | UNKNOWN91#22 | 64 | 150 |
| 3933 | 91#23 | UNKNOWN91#23 | 64 | 151 |
| 3934 | 91#24 | UNKNOWN91#24 | 64 | 152 |
| 3935 | 91#25 | UNKNOWN91#25 | 64 | 153 |
| 3936 | 91#26 | UNKNOWN91#26 | 64 | 154 |
| 3937 | 91#27 | UNKNOWN91#27 | 64 | 155 |
| 3938 | 91#28 | UNKNOWN91#28 | 64 | 156 |
| 3939 | 91#29 | UNKNOWN91#29 | 64 | 157 |
| 3940 | 91#30 | UNKNOWN91#30 | 64 | 159 |
| 4059 | 105#9 | UNKNOWN105#9 | 49 | 1 |
| 4160 | 116#0 | UNKNOWN116#0 | 79 | 4 |
| 13080 | 1008-0 | | 53 | 9 |
| 3012 | 78#10 | WCTI | 44 | 12 |
| 3011 | 78#9 | WTVD | 44 | 11 |
| 3051 | 5-1 | WRAL DT | 45 | 2 |
| 3171 | 17-1 | NBC17HD | 50 | 2 |
| 3221 | 22-1 | WLFL-DT | 43 | 1 |
| 3052 | 5-2 | WRAL NE | 45 | 3 |
| 3053 | 5-3 | WRAL SD | 45 | 4 |
| 3054 | 5-4 | WRALDT2 | 45 | 5 |
| 3041 | 4-1 | UNCTV | 47 | 1 |
| 3042 | 4-2 | UNCHD | 47 | 2 |
| 3043 | 4-3 | UNCKD | 47 | 3 |
| 3044 | 4-4 | UNCED | 47 | 4 |
| 3045 | 4-5 | UNCNC | 47 | 5 |
| 3281 | 28-1 | MyRDC | 43 | 2 |
| 3172 | 17-2 | NBC17SD | 50 | 3 |
| 3173 | 17-3 | NBC17WX | 50 | 4 |
+--------+---------+--------------+---------+-----------+
65 rows in set (0.01 sec)

So that's still quite a few channels to go!

posg

09-16-07, 09:28 AM

Call it principle. Time Warner Cable wants us to fork over 15 to 25 dollars more per month to get a few channels more than what we get off the air. Excuse me? There's very little "value add" in this equation.

$12.00/month for lifeline service. You can easily invest twenty times that in antennas, preamps, cables, combiners, etc. We're talking about the price of a single topping medium pizza here for a month's service.

Besides, more and more the stuff worth watching is on the cable networks, not the broadcast networks.

What will $80 buy these days? A couple of tanks of gas. A couple of dinners out. A cell phone bill for a few dozen phone calls. A whole month of several hundred 24/7 channels of TV programming. I have a hard time not thinking that cable/sat isn't a pretty good value. For $12/month for reliable reception, INCLUDING a scrolling program guide, it's a no brainer.;)

eyekode

09-16-07, 09:29 AM

esfb8zs

09-16-07, 01:12 PM

pkscout

09-16-07, 01:20 PM

$12.00/month for lifeline service. You can easily invest twenty times that in antennas, preamps, cables, combiners, etc. We're talking about the price of a single topping medium pizza here for a month's service.

Besides, more and more the stuff worth watching is on the cable networks, not the broadcast networks.

Well played from the cable shill. 20 times more would be the most extreme, most expensive, bought only at retail price, but I'm sure you know that. I spent $40 on the antenna and another $50 on cable, terminations, and tools. And for that $90 I've had three years of free HD service and haven't missed the paltry HD channels TWC offers in this area. Oh, and I'll continue to get that service, so the monthly right now for me is $2.50 a month and going down. That is a fifth of what even lifeline cable would cost me.

DECdaze

09-16-07, 01:34 PM

$12.00/month for lifeline service. You can easily invest twenty times that in antennas, preamps, cables, combiners, etc. We're talking about the price of a single topping medium pizza here for a month's service.
Well, perhaps it's just $12 in your area. The uplift to HD is more than $20 in my area. Then add the ongoing $20 per month, and the cost grows substantially. Now, I agree it's not a lot of money. But $250 per year is noticable.

Digital cable service does add some channels (SDTV). There are only a few channels that have a PQ of HDTV. And most of those are OTA broadcasts from the area. Not the best value for that increase.

Even with a preamp, which I probably don't need, and two JoinTennas (one for Channel 59 for WUNC now and one for Channel 25 for WUNC after Feb 2009) - even with all that, the cost washes out within a couple years.

I agree location is important. I already get adequate service with an indoor antenna. 90% of the time it works fine. This will improve that to over 95% of the time. At least on a monthly basis, cable has issues (frozen images, etc). Neither cable nor antenna is without problems / outages.

I've not decided yet, but it's not just $12 per month.

Besides, more and more the stuff worth watching is on the cable networks, not the broadcast networks.
No disagreement. That's why I will keep analog standard cable.

zim2dive

09-16-07, 04:23 PM

$12.00/month for lifeline service. You can easily invest twenty times that in antennas, preamps, cables, combiners, etc. We're talking about the price of a single topping medium pizza here for a month's service.

They must teach funny math over at the cable company... I got my "free" HD antenna (thank you WRAL) (oh wait it cost me a $0.39 stamp), and a 50' run of coax (I suppose it might cost $10 new at RatShack, but I had it laying around), and wammo, 20(?) HD channels picked up (lots of repeats in there).

Sounds like every month using that and NOT using TWC would be a pizza in my favor, not the other way around.

Mike

klapa

09-16-07, 05:59 PM

Hello All,

Just found this great forum for my local area (Cary, NC).

I guess I'm like allot of folks - just got tired of paying $50/month for DTV to watch commercial laden re-runs and finally made the move to cut them off.

I have a Panasonic CT32HL-42F "HD Ready" TV that I bought back in late 2002 which requires an external HD tuner. It is 1080i capable with only component inputs (no DHMI) I was just shopping around to see what was out there today - which is what led me to this forum.

Recording is not really a priority for me - so just looking at the "tuner only" set top boxes I've about decided on the Samsung DTB-H260F - though it does seem to have some limitations - it seems to be the best. The Humax HFA100 would really fit the bill better - but has terrible reviews concerning reliability.

There don't seem to be many choices for us folks with digital "capable" TV's that don't have tuners.

I have gone to the CNET site antenna section and thought I should get a medium range VHF/UHF antenna and mount it on a rotator up on my chimney.

Just wondered what others are using in my area.

RBSteffes

09-16-07, 06:01 PM

Sounds like every month using that and NOT using TWC would be a pizza in my favor, not the other way around.

Mike

When you think about it, what he's really saying is, "Isn't digital cable worth going hungry one night a month?"

klapa

09-16-07, 06:20 PM

For me - the only "no-brainer" is that I simply refuse to deal with a monopoly.

Here in the Southeast - cable companies serve "regions" and thus those in that region have _one_ choice of a company. This lack of competition tends to make for poor customer service - and poor options for programming. I learned to hate the cable company years ago living in Atlanta Georgia.

I went with DTV for exactly that reason - as with Dish TV as a competitor they had reason to provide competitive programming and good customer service. Alas no sooner had those two companies merged did the re-runs and commercials begin to pile up. So I'm paying $40-$50 a month for re-runs and commercials.

Since cutting off DTV last month I reverted to my "rabbit ears" and find that it actually seems "regular" TV has less commercials that the cable and satellite TV. Remember when cable first came out - years ago - being touted as "100 channels of commercial free TV"?

Just goes to show what a lack of competition will do - more commercials and less fredsh programming = more revenue for the company. No choice = no choice for the consumer.

For me - I'll take OTA HDTV and my Netflix for 12 bucks a month.

That's a "no-brainer".

RBSteffes

09-16-07, 08:00 PM

My (limited) understanding of this is that the mapping changes periodically. I do not know of an automated way of keeping your mapping up to date.

I think I've decided to give up on the QAM, it just didn't seem to work well for MythTV, and I couldn't seem to find all the channels.

I'm trying OTA now, but due to the location of my house, I can't get a reliable lock with NBC17 or WRAZ. Buying a HD capture card for just ABC wasn't really what I had in mind.

What I have now in terms of antenna is a small directional antenna I bought today from Best Buy. It's a Terk HDTVa made by Adiovox. It didn't give me significantly better reception than the $9.99 el cheapo UHF loop I tried first.

Now I'm debating on giving up on the HDTV, but I do love toys, which is all that's keeping me going.

I'm in north Raleigh, and antennaweb reports me as being 15 miles away from what I assume is the Garner tower (NBC, et al) which doesn't come in cleanly, and 16 miles away from WTVD's tower, which actually does come in pretty well. I have no idea what to do at this point, other than trying a bigger antenna, so I'm strongly considering seeing if WRAL will give me one.

My two main questions at this point are:

1) How difficult is it to install an antenna in your attic or roof, if you're fairly incompetent? (Side question: Does anyone know of someone who installs antenna that isn't expensive?)

2) Besides waiting to see if WRAL will send me one, where does one go to buy an outdoor antenna anyway? Do you generally have to order them?

Thanks, sorry if I'm asking ridiculously stupid questions; this just isn't my field!

Ry

SugarBowl

09-16-07, 08:48 PM

RTN scheduling data seems a little off. None of my Greatest American Hero's have actually been Greatest American Hero.. Lots of Airwolf..

SugarBowl

09-16-07, 08:50 PM

We just moved here from Louisiana, and were looking forward to the Saints vs Tampa game on Fox at 1pm today (Sunday 9/16). Can anyone tell me why Fox 50 here in Raleigh is running American Idol Rewind instead of this or any other game? Is there some kind of blackout restriction?

I see WRAL is running the Panthers, but not in HD :-(

They usually show 2 games.. I think they were showing a greensboro bull riding event today..

Not sure why the panthers game wasn't in HD today.. The bull riding was in HD, and Fox50 and CBS are owned by the same company, if that has anything to do with it.. I thought every NFL game was in HD.

SugarBowl

09-16-07, 08:51 PM

I think I've decided to give up on the QAM, it just didn't seem to work well for MythTV, and I couldn't seem to find all the channels.

I'm trying OTA now, but due to the location of my house, I can't get a reliable lock with NBC17 or WRAZ. Buying a HD capture card for just ABC wasn't really what I had in mind.

What I have now in terms of antenna is a small directional antenna I bought today from Best Buy. It's a Terk HDTVa made by Adiovox. It didn't give me significantly better reception than the $9.99 el cheapo UHF loop I tried first.

Now I'm debating on giving up on the HDTV, but I do love toys, which is all that's keeping me going.

I'm in north Raleigh, and antennaweb reports me as being 15 miles away from what I assume is the Garner tower (NBC, et al) which doesn't come in cleanly, and 16 miles away from WTVD's tower, which actually does come in pretty well. I have no idea what to do at this point, other than trying a bigger antenna, so I'm strongly considering seeing if WRAL will give me one.

My two main questions at this point are:

1) How difficult is it to install an antenna in your attic or roof, if you're fairly incompetent? (Side question: Does anyone know of someone who installs antenna that isn't expensive?)

2) Besides waiting to see if WRAL will send me one, where does one go to buy an outdoor antenna anyway? Do you generally have to order them?

Thanks, sorry if I'm asking ridiculously stupid questions; this just isn't my field!

Ry

You can buy antennas at Radio shack, lowes, home depot, best buy, circuit city.. All antennas are HD antennas, they don't have to say HD on the box.
In north raleigh, you will almost certainly need to mount the antenna outside to make it worthwhile.

RBSteffes

09-16-07, 10:35 PM

You can buy antennas at Radio shack, lowes, home depot, best buy, circuit city.. All antennas are HD antennas, they don't have to say HD on the box.
In north raleigh, you will almost certainly need to mount the antenna outside to make it worthwhile.

Best Buy, Circuit City and Radio Shack didn't have outdoor antennas anywhere I could find; if they've got em, they've got em hidden away somewhere away from their indoor sets. I didn't try Lowes or Home Depot, but I checked their website for "uhf" and "antenna" and didn't see them so I just assumed they didn't have any. Guess I need to walk around a store on my lunch break tomorrow and see if something jumps out at me.

HDMe2

09-16-07, 10:37 PM

We just moved here from Louisiana, and were looking forward to the Saints vs Tampa game on Fox at 1pm today (Sunday 9/16). Can anyone tell me why Fox 50 here in Raleigh is running American Idol Rewind instead of this or any other game? Is there some kind of blackout restriction?

I see WRAL is running the Panthers, but not in HD :-(

Some weeks FOX has a doubleheader, other weeks CBS has it. This week was a CBS doubleheader so no early game on FOX. We will always get the Carolina game, whatever channel it is on, since that is our local team.

Baler

09-17-07, 09:53 AM

drewwho

09-17-07, 10:28 AM

I think I've decided to give up on the QAM, it just didn't seem to work well for MythTV, and I couldn't seem to find all the channels.

Good choice.

What I have now in terms of antenna is a small directional antenna I bought today from Best Buy. It's a Terk HDTVa made by Adiovox. It didn't give me significantly better reception than the $9.99 el cheapo UHF loop I tried first.

I'd return it, and get something like a Channel Master 422x, either via your own purchase or via the WRAL program.

1) How difficult is it to install an antenna in your attic or roof, if you're fairly incompetent? (Side question: Does anyone know of someone who installs antenna that isn't expensive?)

2) Besides waiting to see if WRAL will send me one, where does one go to buy an outdoor antenna anyway? Do you generally have to order them?

I am totally incompetent and I installed a CM4228 in my attic myself. I was lucky, and had an abandoned drain from a water heater (which we relocated to the garage where it cannot flood 2 stories of our house). The drain led from the attic down 2 stories to the crawl. It wasn't a straight shot, and running the coax was frustrating, but doable after the purchase of a drain cleaning gizmo which I used as a snake.

I would strongly suggest before "really" installing it, you run the cable through the house (or an open window or something), and verify the position is good. I'd kill mythtv, and use azap from the dvb utilities pkg. Put this in $HOME/.azap/channels.conf:
WUNC:743000000:8VSB:0:0
WTVD:701000000:8VSB:0:0
WRAL:707000000:8VSB:0:0
WRAZ:683000000:8VSB:0:0
WFMY:695000000:8VSB:0:0
WNCN:719000000:8VSB:0:0
WRDC:551000000:8VSB:0:0
WRPX:479000000:8VSB:0:0
WLFL:731000000:8VSB:0:0

Then run azap $CHANNEL (eg, azap WRAL).

You want to see FEC_HAS_LOCK, 0 UNC (uncorrectable errors), 0 BER (bit error rate), and a high signal and snr. Some DVB drivers don't report signal or snr correctly, so you may need to go by just having a zero error rate.

Last, I have one tuner (air2pc hd5000) which is very sensitive to low signal. In order to get it working at all, I needed to use a small 5db (?) combo splitter / amplifier rather than a regular splitter.

Drew

SugarBowl

09-17-07, 12:03 PM

Best Buy, Circuit City and Radio Shack didn't have outdoor antennas anywhere I could find; if they've got em, they've got em hidden away somewhere away from their indoor sets. I didn't try Lowes or Home Depot, but I checked their website for "uhf" and "antenna" and didn't see them so I just assumed they didn't have any. Guess I need to walk around a store on my lunch break tomorrow and see if something jumps out at me.

Here are a few:
http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2032205&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189

I've seen the big boxed antennas at lowes/home depot in the CableTv/Phone aisle.

HDMe2

09-17-07, 12:38 PM

Inter-conference games will be assigned based on home team. AFC at home - FOX, NFC at home - CBS. Therefore Houston at Carolina = CBS. Don't ask me how they came up with that, it's the NFL.

Since CBS has AFC and FOX has NFC (other networks have had them depending upon the bidding those past years)... they had to do something with inter-conference games..

It may have been a coin-flip.. or they may have thought that having the home team on the opposite network was good since the rest of the season they would normally not be on that network at all.

chsgas

09-17-07, 12:48 PM

DECdaze

09-17-07, 01:21 PM

... I am totally incompetent and I installed a CM4228 in my attic myself. I was lucky, and had an abandoned drain from a water heater ...
You make a really good point. Sometimes it's easy (well, easier) to get the antenna from the attic to the TV. Sometimes it's not. Then it may be wise to call in a handyman to run the coax. Keep it in the house if possible. If not, you really need to ground it - and use the same gound as the house ground. Getting it wrong can lead to problems.

...I would strongly suggest before "really" installing it, you run the cable through the house (or an open window or something), and verify the position is good. ...
Again, an extremely important step.

As I've mentioned, my indoor antenna does okay. I then tried a Channel Master 4228 by holding it in my living room. The reception was exceptional. Now I need to decide if I want two antennas joined (to pick up WUNC without a rotator) or just use a Rotator if WUNC reception is poorer than I would like. On WUNC with the indoor antenna I get about a 40% signal strength with lots of fading - probably due to multi-path interference. With the Channel Master 4228 in the same location I saw a rock solid signal at about 80% signal strength. Some fading still, but no dropouts.

So, I am fairly certain an attic mount will work. Next step is to locate it in my attic. Again, I need to test the location to lock it in place. So, I will run a cable through my attic door down to my TV while I am testing it. Once I decide on the correct orientation, I will 'lock down' the antenna position.

The idea of using an abandoned drain is a good one. Thanks!

SugarBowl

09-17-07, 03:37 PM

The visiting team network in the NFL (CBS for AFC) has the rights to carry the game when a team from the AFC plays a team from the NFC.

Question - I live outside the Raleigh area. Do the local Raleigh channels carry the ACC football games in HD?

Thanks!!

No, not the RayCom/Lincoln coverage. They even black out ACC Basketball tournament on ESPNHD to show local non-HD coverage.

ENDContra

09-17-07, 03:43 PM

^The tournament was in HD on Raycom this past season, Im sure it will be next year too. They say they may do 3-4 regular season basketball games too. But yes, no HD football games from Raycom.

drewwho

09-17-07, 03:45 PM

Then it may be wise to call in a handyman to run the coax.

BTW, if you end up needing (and finding) a handyman to pull your coax, please let us know who it was, and how it went. I'm still looking for somebody to pull Cat5 here (the cat5alive guy mentioned earlier in the thread is apparently gone, or at least does not answer email).

Drew

DECdaze

09-17-07, 04:10 PM

... I'm still looking for somebody to pull Cat5 here (the cat5alive guy mentioned earlier in the thread is apparently gone, or at least does not answer email)...
Too bad. He did good work and the price was reasonable. I've used another company which did some handyman work. I will see if they can help. "Just" need the cable run through the wall. I can do the antenna setup and all the connections. It will be a month or two before I have the time, but I'll let everyone know if they work out.

klapa

09-17-07, 04:19 PM

BTW, if you end up needing (and finding) a handyman to pull your coax, please let us know who it was, and how it went. I'm still looking for somebody to pull Cat5 here (the cat5alive guy mentioned earlier in the thread is apparently gone, or at least does not answer email).

Drew

I would mention a couple of thing (if you don't me me butting in)

The only local outfit I've seen listed in the Raleigh area for Channel Master products is: (from the Channel Master webpage)

O'Rourke Bros. Distributing
326 West Lane St.
Raleigh, NC 27603
Tel 800-772-3947

Myself - I just bought my Samsung receiver today and will send the paperwork to WRAL tomorrow. I'm just going to use the rabbit ears till the 4228 antenna comes in. My chimney is between the house and garage - thus a roof installation will be easy - just peel back the flashing next to the chimney - run the coax down - and re-seal with asbestos roofing compound (tar).

I would think you would want to run a ground on that antenna even in the attic - I've seen very strange occurrences with lightening. Should be easy in an attic - at least to ground it to the power line ground would be better than nothing. On the roof - run a heavy SOLID COPPER (~12-10 AWG) along the roof ridge (or a valley - but not across the shingles) and then down behind a gutter downspout to a copper rod driven in the earth.

Needless? to mention here - if you have overhead power lines - don't try to mount your antenna anywhere near them, as holding the antenna and touching the power line would probably be lethal.

I would also mention that I am a recently unemployed (August 24) electronic hardware design engineer and could do antenna installations and other engineering services (amplifiers, distribution, etc.) here in my local area (Cary).

Right now - I'm looking at a 1 month or so contracting job in two weeks - but I do "smell" some opportunity here. Though I didn't realize anyone even wanted Cat5 anymore with wireless such as it is.

drewwho

09-17-07, 04:31 PM

Though I didn't realize anyone even wanted Cat5 anymore with wireless such as it is.

Unlike a previous poster, my house is not a Faraday cage, and I now have at least 6 neighbors (plus cordless phones, microwaves, etc) competing for the 2.4GHz band that my wireless equipment uses. Streaming HD video is sometimes possible (but mostly annoying). My goal is to separate my HTPC into an general purpose home server housing the tuners, and one or more small appliances which stream the video from the server.

I could try to upgrade to N, but I'm assuming it would just be a matter of time until my neighbors also upgraded. The 2.4GHz band was great when I first moved into the house 4 years ago. I'd rather throw my money at something which is immune to interference.

Drew

DonB2

09-17-07, 04:38 PM

DECdaze ,

If you are going to have someone run one cable you may just want to have them run two. One for Garner stations and one for PBS.

Than you can do a/b switching downstairs next to the set which is a lot easier than working an a/b switch from the attic.

I realise you are going to try an antenna joiner. It may work for you and than you will just need one cable coming down to tv.

The antenna joiner did not work for me. It caused too many ghosting issues on the other local stations that had frequencies close by.

I just wish PBS would move their antenna to the Garner farm and make life easier for us!

BTW- I ran a cable out the attic down the edge of the outside of the chimney and than back into the crawl space and up to the tv room.

The white cable on the white sideing is not noticable and it is on the far side of the house away from most traffic anyway.

I am not sure which has given me more reception trouble: PBS or Sirius.

Don

klapa

09-17-07, 04:52 PM

Unlike a previous poster, my house is not a Faraday cage, and I now have at least 6 neighbors (plus cordless phones, microwaves, etc) competing for the 2.4GHz band that my wireless equipment uses. Streaming HD video is sometimes possible (but mostly annoying). My goal is to separate my HTPC into an general purpose home server housing the tuners, and one or more small appliances which stream the video from the server.

I could try to upgrade to N, but I'm assuming it would just be a matter of time until my neighbors also upgraded. The 2.4GHz band was great when I first moved into the house 4 years ago. I'd rather throw my money at something which is immune to interference.

Drew

I had cat5 - too many problems as my only option there was to run it in my crawl space for the bedrooms in the house (wife and kids computers). The problem was the construction of my home uses no conduit at all - and much of the wiring is through the walls instead of up into the attic and then down into the room.

I found that without the very expensive outdoor cable the moisture degrades the cable (especially junction connectors) after a couple or years - also had one lightening strike that took out a switch. So I took the easy way out as I was tired of crawling around under the house to fix the stuff.

Thus I went with wireless using WPA security and a Radius server. With only a 2.4 GHz phone I've no problems with channel allocation.

I've not noticed any bandwidth problems yet must admit I still run cat5 on my servers and office computer which are the bandwidth hogs - the wireless is for my wife and kids.

DECdaze

09-17-07, 05:17 PM

... If you are going to have someone run one cable you may just want to have them run two. One for Garner stations and one for PBS. ... Than you can do a/b switching downstairs next to the set which is a lot easier than working an a/b switch from the attic.
Actually, you caught me in mid debate on this. As long as I'm running wire... Besides the extra wire and the a/b switch would be cheaper than the joiner and definitely less likely to cause interference. Even with the extra cable run it should be cheaper.

And I can teach my Logitech Harmony remote the commands to switch the channel (using the IR version of the RadioShack a/b switch).

I just wish PBS would move their antenna to the Garner farm and make life easier for us!
Amen. It would be tons easier for all of us.

BTW- I ran a cable out the attic down the edge of the outside of the chimney and than back into the crawl space and up to the tv room.
For my home, I like the idea of using the hotwater emergency water drain. Best I can tell it's a straight run. Good news is that it can exit from in the crawlspace and be grounded there. Oh, I might need to remove it if/when we move, but I would anyway.

Anyway, thanks for the tips. Learning from the experience of others (and avoiding spending money on something that won't work) is one reason why I like AVS Forum. Thanks!

RBSteffes

09-17-07, 07:16 PM

eyekode

09-17-07, 08:23 PM

I think I've decided to give up on the QAM, it just didn't seem to work well for MythTV, and I couldn't seem to find all the channels.

I'm trying OTA now, but due to the location of my house, I can't get a reliable lock with NBC17 or WRAZ. Buying a HD capture card for just ABC wasn't really what I had in mind.

What I have now in terms of antenna is a small directional antenna I bought today from Best Buy. It's a Terk HDTVa made by Adiovox. It didn't give me significantly better reception than the $9.99 el cheapo UHF loop I tried first.

Now I'm debating on giving up on the HDTV, but I do love toys, which is all that's keeping me going.

I'm in north Raleigh, and antennaweb reports me as being 15 miles away from what I assume is the Garner tower (NBC, et al) which doesn't come in cleanly, and 16 miles away from WTVD's tower, which actually does come in pretty well. I have no idea what to do at this point, other than trying a bigger antenna, so I'm strongly considering seeing if WRAL will give me one.

My two main questions at this point are:

1) How difficult is it to install an antenna in your attic or roof, if you're fairly incompetent? (Side question: Does anyone know of someone who installs antenna that isn't expensive?)

2) Besides waiting to see if WRAL will send me one, where does one go to buy an outdoor antenna anyway? Do you generally have to order them?

Thanks, sorry if I'm asking ridiculously stupid questions; this just isn't my field!

Ry

Everyone I have talked to that has asked for an antenna from WRAL got one. I don't think it is a question of "if" but a question of "when".

I "installed" mine in my attic. The only hard part was getting the cable there. Then there is some trial/error for placement/direction. My "install" was simply bolting a pole to a 2x6 for the CM4228 that WRAL gave me and laying the 2x6 on the floor of my attic :).

IF you have a QAM card the lack of channel mapping really isn't that big of a deal. We use a DVR (mythtv) to record shows and then view them on our own time so the station ID's are not that big of a deal for us. Note that I use OTA so I am only guessing that the lack of proper station identifiers would not bother me... but it might if I actually had to live with it :).

eyekode

09-17-07, 08:38 PM

I'm wondering if ordering a Channel Master is a big enough of a change to clean up the last little bit of occasional distortion. My wife has informed me that I'm less valuable to her than an undistorted roofline, so mounting it on the roof is out of the question, especially since Garner is in the same direction as the hill and the street.

Thanks for all the help so far!

Funny, if anything on the Garner tower drops out on me it is 17 (and I think others have reported the same).

The funny thing about RF is that nobody can tell you if it will work. There are too many variables. You just have to try, and it usually works :). You could also try the following general rules of thumb:
1) keep the antenna away from large metal objects
2) try to get it as high as possible
3) point it in the right direction. A "good" antenna is very directional.
4) for indoor installs if possible, try to point it out a wall, not the roof. Roofs can be evil on RF. Even worse when it rains.
5) if all else fails, move the antenna to a different location. Sometimes even moving it 3 feet makes a difference. And the "best" spot may not be a location that the first 4 rules of thumb point you toward :)

Scooper

09-17-07, 09:29 PM

I seem to get either 17 OR 22 digital (not usually both), unless conditions are just right. Of course - I DO live in a forest, and I'm using a CM3021 (4221) with a Winegard 19dB preamp.

RBSteffes

09-17-07, 10:49 PM

Everyone I have talked to that has asked for an antenna from WRAL got one. I don't think it is a question of "if" but a question of "when".

I "installed" mine in my attic. The only hard part was getting the cable there. Then there is some trial/error for placement/direction. My "install" was simply bolting a pole to a 2x6 for the CM4228 that WRAL gave me and laying the 2x6 on the floor of my attic :).

IF you have a QAM card the lack of channel mapping really isn't that big of a deal. We use a DVR (mythtv) to record shows and then view them on our own time so the station ID's are not that big of a deal for us. Note that I use OTA so I am only guessing that the lack of proper station identifiers would not bother me... but it might if I actually had to live with it :).

Heh, mythtv is WHY I gave up on QAM! Without being able to identify the stations properly, it's about impossible to schedule recordings.

I just went upstairs and explained to my antenna that if really loved me, it would show me the TV. Then I pointed it away from the direction antennaweb recommended, but more towards the side wall of the attic as opposed to the roof and everything is giving the distinct impression of working now. I've set a bunch of random recordings to record and transcode overnight, so we'll see how successful I am in the morning! If it's at least acceptable, I'll write WRAL and wait for them to send me an antenna, and see if it makes it even better.

Thanks again,

Ryan

DECdaze

09-18-07, 01:19 AM

... Clearly, I'm in a bad spot, but I thought I understood that antennaweb took things like terrain into account. My side of the street is significantly downhill from the other side, and of course the tower is in that direction!
Actually, antennaweb does not take elevation and such into account. It appears to assume a flat surface. Here's another site that does better:

http://www.tvfool.com/

Since you are slightly downhill you might find if you tip up the antenna toward the horizon you will get slightly better reception. I found the same thing when I was tinkering with the Channel Master 4228 at 1st floor level. Pointing it up slightly added at least 10% to the signal strength.

drewwho

09-18-07, 09:02 AM

IF you have a QAM card the lack of channel mapping really isn't that big of a deal. We use a DVR (mythtv) to record shows and then view them on our own time so the station ID's are not that big of a deal for us. Note that I use OTA so I am only guessing that the lack of proper station identifiers would not bother me... but it might if I actually had to live with it :).

Whatever TWC did to screw up the PSIP info on 113 also screws up MythTV. I was using QAM until they did that and I lost ABC and FOX, and I moved to OTA only. I just rescanned QAM on Friday, and for 113 MythTV just says "no tables". My dumb 4 year old HDTV is not bothered by it at all, though :)

Drew

DonB2

09-18-07, 02:41 PM

RBSteffes,

Bad 5.1 reception vs 17.1 - welcome to the varying world of ATSC digital!!

But before I go off on a tangent it may be that 5.1 is just too strong and that is why you are seeing the drop outs.

DECdaze,

Good luck with the hot water tank drain approach!!

Just make sure you don't need a new hot water tank soon.

If you do the inspector will not pass the cable and you will have to pull it back up.

Don't get me wrong it is a great idea if you don't have the hot water tank upstairs or if your tank is not that old.

As far as causing water restriction going down it I would not be concerned. Our tank developed a leak earlier this summer and shot water out the top of the tank and passed the floor pan. So the pan did zero good anyway.

Needless to say after GE/Lowes got thru adding in all the extras the tank cost me about $1000.00. I was not happy.

There are new requirements that bumped the price up above the $450 or whatever the GE tank cost.

One -the pan was not large enough. two - Wake requires a expander tank in the line attached near the hot water tank. Three - the plastic drain that you will be running the coax thru now has to exit out through the house foundation. It can no longer drain into the crawlspace.

And what a bunch of crap that is. Why didn't the inspectors stop the attic install of these tanks years ago.

I now have two ceilings that need to be repainted due to the water leaking out in the attic.

-DonB2

RBSteffes

09-18-07, 02:51 PM

RBSteffes,

Bad 5.1 reception vs 17.1 - welcome to the varying world of ATSC digital!!

But before I go off on a tangent it may be that 5.1 is just too strong and that is why you are seeing the drop outs.

So I spent the my lunch break moving my antenna around the attic and turning it slightly trying to find a spot and direction that doesn't drop out, and I was going to ask if a preamp may help get a steady signal. The idea that the signal may be too strong hadn't even occurred to me.

drewwho

09-18-07, 03:21 PM

Needless to say after GE/Lowes got thru adding in all the extras the tank cost me about $1000.00.

Should have just moved it to the garage! Darn southern houses without basements... Q@$@!#$!@$#...

Drew

Scooper

09-18-07, 03:21 PM

Yep - too much signal CAN be as bad as too little.

Scooper

09-18-07, 03:24 PM

And MY water heater is outside the house, in a little metal shed. If/ When I ever need to replace it, the Crawl space is a strong possibilty - But then, my "crawlspace" would qualify as an unfloored halfheight basement for most of it. I'm out in Franklin County.

DonB2

09-18-07, 03:46 PM

RBSteffes

09-18-07, 04:36 PM

RBSteffes,

There are attenuators to help reduce a too strong signal. Of course you would only want to attenuate 5.1 and not the others.

I am not sure why 5.1 is stronger then the rest of the Garner field. Maybe it is higher on the tower or just has a stronger transmitter to begin with.

What tuner are you using? One of the newer generation tuners that has good multipath control?

-DonB2

I'm using an AverMedia A180. Other than checking the output of azap, I have no idea how to test signal strength or quality. My basic method at this point is to record some random shows on each HD channel, then watch the output. It's not a particularly good method since I'm not 100% positive right now that the HD playback isn't the culprit itself, but my error log does show problems with the mpeg stream that correspond to the glitches so I'm fairly sure it's some kind of corruption in the signal.

As I mentioned before, I moved the antenna around in the attic on my lunch break and kicked off recordings of random shows to check when I get home. My wife is going to be curious when I became such a big daytime soap fan.

I'm encouraged, the azap reports from the new antenna direction and position look very good. The funny thing is the antenna is about 5 to 10% off from where antennaweb told me to point it, but the signal SEEMS solid.

I also sent off my form to WRAL today, to see if they send me a better antenna than the one I bought. I've decided I WILL be receiving my beautiful over the air free HDTV channels, no matter what it ends up costing, and no poorly placed housing is going to be getting in my way!

DECdaze

09-18-07, 07:40 PM

... Good luck with the hot water tank drain approach!! Just make sure you don't need a new hot water tank soon.
We were having problems keeping the pilot lit. So, we replaced it ... as it just developed a slight leak. Whew!!!!

So, no problem with the drain. Amazingly, they did not have us relocate the drain to outside the foundation. I will probably add a ground junction at the base of the drain, so I can remove it as needed.

Don't get me wrong it is a great idea if you don't have the hot water tank upstairs or if your tank is not that old.
Bingo. It's just a year old.

...Our tank developed a leak earlier this summer and shot water out the top of the tank and passed the floor pan. So the pan did zero good anyway.
Ouch!

Needless to say after GE/Lowes got thru adding in all the extras the tank cost me about $1000.00. I was not happy.
I can imagine. All too well. I had the gas company install it. Their price was not much different than Lowes, etc.

... Why didn't the inspectors stop the attic install of these tanks years ago?
Amen. I even had the attic ladder replaced to be certain it could handle both my weight and the weight of moving the a hot water heater and a gas heater / air conditioner system. I don't need to replace that, but one day ... YUCK! That will be a mess when we need to replace it.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and cautions. Fortunately, it sounds as if there will not be any problems. Well, no more than I would expect when you put me near some tools. :D

toadfannc

09-18-07, 07:58 PM

DECdaze

09-18-07, 08:26 PM

... I'm encouraged, the azap reports from the new antenna direction and position look very good. The funny thing is the antenna is about 5 to 10% off from where antennaweb told me to point it, but the signal SEEMS solid.
Sounds as if you found a strong reflection. Sometimes that reflected signal works as well or better than the line of sight signal.

[ DECdaze avoids various puns as he refle .... er ... you get the idea! :D ]

I also sent off my form to WRAL today, to see if they send me a better antenna than the one I bought...
WRAL's antenna giveaway program is a remarkable program! Great marketing. And amazing how they help drive customer loyalty with it.

pkscout

09-18-07, 09:49 PM

Get a load of this:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/NC/programming/masn.html

I see at least 5 outright lies in this. But, since I'm getting Dish Network installed tomorrow, it isn't worth pointing them out. It was so sweet turning in those SA8300's today.

If it's worth the time to accuse them of lying, it's worth the time to actually point them out. I looked at it, and nothing jumped out to me as obviously false, at least note from the point of view of a non-sports fan who really doesn't care if we get MASN or not. So unless you want to point them out I'll assume you're just exaggerating.

toadfannc

09-19-07, 06:02 AM

If it's worth the time to accuse them of lying, it's worth the time to actually point them out. I looked at it, and nothing jumped out to me as obviously false, at least note from the point of view of a non-sports fan who really doesn't care if we get MASN or not. So unless you want to point them out I'll assume you're just exaggerating.

For example:

1. "Why doesn’t TWC carry MASN and the Orioles and Nationals baseball games? MASN is saying we are ‘blacking out’ these games"

MASN does not claim that TWC is blacking out these games. They are claiming (rightfully) that TWC is blacking out MASN ... which is the exclusive carrier of these games. And, since MASN is the only way to get what MLB considers to be our local teams-- all of these games are blacked out on other outlets (ESPN, etc.). Also, there is no reason for customers to pay for MASN if it's put on the basic tier. That's just TWC coming up with another excuse to raise rates. TWC wants to put it in a sports tier, so that they can charge us for something that should be absorbed by the outrageous rates we are already paying.

2. "MASN says they want to offer the service for free. MASN knows that high wholesale fees must get passed through in retail rates to our customers."

MASN cares about positioning not subscriber rates.

3. "Why is MASN pushing so hard to get Orioles and Nationals games in North Carolina? I’d much rather see Braves games!"

Why would anybody in their right mind say this about the Braves? They are already shown on TBS.

4. "We used to get the games on cable that MASN is trying to carry now. When MASN pulled the rights to these games from Fox Sports Net in 2006, we received virtually no calls from customers."

Fox Sports Net (through an agreement with Comcast) carried the games. MASN didn't "pull" the rights. They negotiated and obtained the rights ... just like TWC did with the Charlotte Bobcats. And, if they haven't had any calls from customers, why did the mayors of Raleigh and Durham write personal letters on behalf of angry residents to demand that TWC put MASN on basic cable?

5. "MASN says they will air local college games too, so why not carry them? MASN is emphasizing its carriage of college sports but in reality will carry only a handful of local games."

Another lie. MASN will have a ton of NC collegiate sports on this year. Much more local sports than FSN (channel 50 on BASIC cable) which has absolutely nothing other than some Hurricanes games.

6." Why are other cable operators carrying MASN and TWC is not? Other cable operators who have agreed to carry MASN operate in states like Maryland and Virginia, where a much larger portion of their subscriber base is interested in watching Orioles and Nationals games."

It's not just Va and MD ... ALL other providers (satellite and cable) in the region EXCEPT FOR TWC carry MASN.

This enough for you? I could go on. But, since I'll be getting Dish installed in 3 hours, I suspect this will be my last post on this thread. I just think that people should be informed and not just accept the garbage that TWC is jamming down our throats.

BlueCamel

09-19-07, 09:43 AM

Whatever TWC did to screw up the PSIP info on 113 also screws up MythTV. I was using QAM until they did that and I lost ABC and FOX, and I moved to OTA only. I just rescanned QAM on Friday, and for 113 MythTV just says "no tables". My dumb 4 year old HDTV is not bothered by it at all, though :)

Drew
I'm also a MythTV user...

I just abandon my first TWC QAM attempt this week. I was nearly in heaven until I ran into the same exact issue with 113. Luckily, the WRAL CM4228 arrived yesterday and it's happily installed in the attic. Props to WRAL!

My initial placement seems to be okay. Since this antenna is smallish I was able to move it around quite a bit and get it placed so it points out the side wall instead of the roof.

I need to tweak it some as the sig strength reported on WTVD is only 60. NBC17 still blips for a second about once every 15-30min despite having a sig strength of 69.

I'm still hopeful I can find the perfect attic spot for 80 across all channels :) I should just give up and put the thing outside!

DonB2

09-19-07, 10:07 AM

I am still enjoying retro tv on 50.2. I just wish they would swap Mission Impossible to an early time slot than 11 pm.

But beggers can't be choosers.

What I find interesting about Mission Impossible is that it is not showing the main star I remember "The guy with white hair" I think he was a brother of the star on Gunsmoke.

All I can figure is I am watching the first season before they got him. Even the burning of the tape is being done differently . In fact they burned a 33 lp the other night and last night they were in search of the wire from a wire recorder. Even I am too young to remember ever seeing a wire recorder in real life.

Another interesting thing is the quality difference between the different shows. Mission Impossible is almost DVD quality.

I know it makes a big difference if they were filmed with actual film or were recorded on Mag tape. As I recall the film stored much more detail than the mag tape.

-DonB2

ENDContra

09-20-07, 08:57 AM

3. "Why is MASN pushing so hard to get Orioles and Nationals games in North Carolina? I’d much rather see Braves games!"

Why would anybody in their right mind say this about the Braves? They are already shown on TBS.
[quote]
TBS did a lot fewer Braves games this year than previous years, and starting next year they will be moving to a more national broadcast schedule and will have the Braves on no more than any other team.

[QUOTE=toadfannc;11664515]
5. "MASN says they will air local college games too, so why not carry them? MASN is emphasizing its carriage of college sports but in reality will carry only a handful of local games."

Another lie. MASN will have a ton of NC collegiate sports on this year. Much more local sports than FSN (channel 50 on BASIC cable) which has absolutely nothing other than some Hurricanes games.

I somehow doubt this. They will have some UNCW and ECU games I suspect...maybe UNC-Charlotte as well. They will not have any NC State, UNC, Duke, or Wake Forest basketball games from what I can tell, and I know they will not have any ACC football games (baring the occasional OOC away game that isnt picked up by a larger network). The coaches shows they promote in their commercial are already available locally. FSN DOES have a lot of ACC basketball games, though, as well as other ACC sports. The North Carolina sports that MASN will carry are not exactly in high-demand...sure they would be nice to get, but nothing most people will be clamoring for.

Im not a Time Warner apologist by any means (I have Dish coming out in a few weeks), but MASN is really stretching the truth on what they are offering and whats going on here, just as much if not more than TWC. That being said, TWC is recording some large enough profits they should easily be able to cover the cost without more customer expense, and a local professional sports team, regardless of how local they actually are, shouldnt be relegated to a sports tier.

CCsoftball7

09-20-07, 09:01 AM

Regarding MASN - I hope NO ONE carries the channel until MASN decides HD is not the wave of the future...it is the present.

VisionOn

09-20-07, 09:03 AM

http://www.timewarnercable.com/NC/programming/channelChangeUpdate.html

Among more pointless VOD stuff is:

October 1: TBS HD will be added to Digital Variety Ch. 282.

October 15: Versus/Golf Channel HD and A&E HD will be added to Digital Variety on channels 283 and 284, respectively.

posg

09-20-07, 09:55 AM

DaveWolf

09-20-07, 09:58 AM

I am interested in finding out if anyone has had any experience with trying to pull in digital stations OTA with a small antenna while tailgating at Carter-Finely Stadium. I am thinking about bringing a small digital TV and my indoor TERK antenna to see if I can pick up anything.

Antennaweb.org says the towers are about 13 miles away from the Trinity Road area, so I would think my antenna should pick that up. I was able to pick up a signal from 25-30 miles away when the antenna was in my basement, so I think that would work.

Here is my antenna:

http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Technology-HDTVi-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B0001FV36E

Just wasn't sure of the geography of the area, if that was a realistic chance of picking those up. Wanted to ask before I drag all of our stuff to the next tailgate.

It looks like all of the signals are within 2 degrees on the compass, so that would be convenient for switching channels during the tailgate! Thanks for any help.

Freunde

09-20-07, 10:18 AM

Can anyone explain why I almost never get proper decoding of WRAL? While it displays perfectly my Polaroid 3232 can't seem to extract the channel remapping or program guide. Autoscans show it as RF53 except for once in a blue moon when it will map into 5 and show program info. Weak channels (e.g. Charlotte) also show up as RFxx but WRAL is a strong signal here in central chatham county. Does WRAL use a different PSIP format? Could it be multipath effects from an attic antenna and trees?

andy.s.lee

09-20-07, 11:59 AM

toadfannc

09-20-07, 01:47 PM

DECdaze

09-20-07, 01:56 PM

I am interested in finding out if anyone has had any experience with trying to pull in digital stations OTA with a small antenna while tailgating at Carter-Finely Stadium. ... Just wasn't sure of the geography of the area, if that was a realistic chance of picking those up. Wanted to ask before I drag all of our stuff to the next tailgate.
I use an amplified version of that antenna from my first floor to receive OTA signals. It works okay there. However, I would worry about the signal reception with lots of people/cars moving through the area. Perhaps if it is on the roof of a van / SUV / truck it would get above that interference.

DECdaze

09-20-07, 01:58 PM

Can anyone explain why I almost never get proper decoding of WRAL? While it displays perfectly my Polaroid 3232 can't seem to extract the channel remapping or program guide. ... Does WRAL use a different PSIP format? Could it be multipath effects from an attic antenna and trees?
Works every time for me. I suspect you are correct that you have problems with some sort of interference. You might want to send an email to the WRAL engineer and/or the HDTV manufacturer to see they know what might cause this and any possible rememdies.

VisionOn

09-20-07, 02:15 PM

Of course .. the day after I bolt for Dish. Oh well, no looking back now.

don't be too disappointed. I'm sure you'll be seeing better HD channels far faster. The Discovery package, Cinemax and Starz HD for example. Apparently even after three years premium movie channels are still not as important as getting Dog the Bounty Hunter for TWC.

DonB2

09-20-07, 02:39 PM

"Freunde
Can anyone explain why I almost never get proper decoding of WRAL? While it displays perfectly my Polaroid 3232 can't seem to extract the channel remapping or program guide. ... Does WRAL use a different PSIP format? Could it be multipath effects from an attic antenna and trees?"

Are you referring to the show information and or the 24 hr EPG guide info?

If so I randomly see No Data or something to that effect with almost every channel.

Recently it was 4.1 with no data.

The most reliable - when I can get it in was PAX/ION. They always had EPG and show information.

-DoNB2

toadfannc

09-20-07, 03:19 PM

don't be too disappointed. I'm sure you'll be seeing better HD channels far faster. The Discovery package, Cinemax and Starz HD for example. Apparently even after three years premium movie channels are still not as important as getting Dog the Bounty Hunter for TWC.

Oh, I'm not disappointed. I'm thrilled to have Dish-- much more (HD and otherwise) for $13 less per month. It just disgusts me that I stayed with TWC all these years and they dragged their feet with HD. Hopefully they'll continue to catch up for those who choose to stay with them.

toadfannc

09-20-07, 03:33 PM

Im not a Time Warner apologist by any means (I have Dish coming out in a few weeks), but MASN is really stretching the truth on what they are offering and whats going on here, just as much if not more than TWC. That being said, TWC is recording some large enough profits they should easily be able to cover the cost without more customer expense, and a local professional sports team, regardless of how local they actually are, shouldnt be relegated to a sports tier.

I agree with you here. This bickering between network and providers is so stale and disingenous (sp?). Anyway, I too switched to Dish (installed yesterday), so this doesn't have a whole lot of meaning for me anymore. I will say that the TWC DVR, while having limited capacity, does have some functionality that the Dish version does not. With Dish, you can't record and watch something else simaltaneously. You can send it to another TV, but what happens when you want to record 2 programs while watching a 3rd? You can do that with the SA8300HD, but not with the Dish DVR. Anyway, hope you enjoy Dish.

zim2dive

09-20-07, 03:51 PM

I agree with you here. This bickering between network and providers is so stale and disingenous (sp?). Anyway, I too switched to Dish (installed yesterday), so this doesn't have a whole lot of meaning for me anymore. I will say that the TWC DVR, while having limited capacity, does have some functionality that the Dish version does not. With Dish, you can't record and watch something else simaltaneously. You can send it to another TV, but what happens when you want to record 2 programs while watching a 3rd? You can do that with the SA8300HD, but not with the Dish DVR. Anyway, hope you enjoy Dish.

That is not a true statement for the 622. At least not if you run it in single room mode, which is what I do (since its just me in the house). I can still access the DVR, tuners, and all stored programming from my TV upstairs (my 2nd TV). And I with 3 tuners (2 for sat, 1 for OTA) I can record 2 programs and still watch a 3rd live (depending on Sat/OTA permutations).

I assume this is also the case for the 722 (but I have a 622 so I cannot be sure)

Mike

SugarBowl

09-20-07, 03:54 PM

SouthernJet

09-20-07, 04:00 PM

Thursday, September 20, 2007
HDTV clients to get new channels, Time Warner says
29 choices will be available next month

This from the Winston-Salem Journal re: HD adds in Traid TWC systems

By Tim Clodfelter
JOURNAL REPORTER

Time Warner Cable announced yesterday that it is expanding its offering of high-definition-channels, and, by the middle of next month, it will have 29 channels of HDTV programming.

Today, Time Warner is adding the HD channel for WCWG Channel 20, the local CW Network affiliate, on Channel 536. On Oct. 1, TBS HD will be added in time for the Major League Baseball playoffs.

Then on Oct. 15, a wider expansion will take place, with the addition of WMYV Channel 48, the local MyNetworkTV affiliate, on Channel 531, and the cable channels A&E HD, MTV HD, History Channel HD, CNN HD, Lifetime Movies HD, Food Network HD, Golf Channel/Versus HD, and Universal HD.

Channel numbers have yet to be assigned.

Universal HD will be in the HD Pack with HD channels Mojo, HDNet and HDNet Movies, which is an extra $ 6.95 a month. The other new channels are part of the normal digital package.
so whats Raleigh TWC's problem,,
on Oct 15th why does Triad get A&E HD, History Channel HD, CNN HD, Lifetime Movies HD, Food Network HD, Golf Channel/Versus HD, and Raleigh only gets A&E HD, Versus HD and TBSHD????
This is crazy.
Is it because of the SDV= Switched Digital Video upgrade Triad has done and raleigh TWC group is woefully behind as usual????
What gives, why is raleigh so behind the curve compared to other TWC affiliates,,
Its insane we dont get the same upgrades for HD as the folks 80 miles up the road,,
and if its SDV glitch, when is raleigh going to have SDV installed? a month, 3 months, a year, 2 years,,this Raleigh crew is getting a awful bad rep in the TWC affiliate world..

edvedd

09-20-07, 04:13 PM

so whats Raleigh TWC's problem,,
on Oct 15th why does Triad get A&E HD, History Channel HD, CNN HD, Lifetime Movies HD, Food Network HD, Golf Channel/Versus HD, and Raleigh only gets A&E HD, Versus HD and TBSHD????
This is crazy.
Is it because of the SDV= Switched Digital Video upgrade Triad has done and raleigh TWC group is woefully behind as usual????
What gives, why is raleigh so behind the curve compared to other TWC affiliates,,
Its insane we dont get the same upgrades for HD as the folks 80 miles up the road,,
and if its SDV glitch, when is raleigh going to have SDV installed? a month, 3 months, a year, 2 years,,this Raleigh crew is getting a awful bad rep in the TWC affiliate world..

Raleigh will have more HD channels once they start switching channels - which will probably be in a two to three months according to my buddy. Switched Digital will be here soon and when it is - more HD channels will launch.

VisionOn

09-20-07, 04:16 PM

Its insane we dont get the same upgrades for HD as the folks 80 miles up the road

Insane?

This. Is. Time Warner Cable!

This is unfortunately par for the course. If you think that's weird, try figuring out why after all these years, Carrboro is still the only town in the area that gets Bravo.

VisionOn

09-20-07, 04:19 PM

Raleigh will have more HD channels once they start switching channels - which will probably be in a two to three months according to my buddy. Switched Digital will be here soon and when it is - more HD channels will launch.

If that's true (which goes against what I've seen for this area's projected launch for SDV) then that also brings with it the woeful Navigator and the truck load of glitches and bugs that come with it.

So there's something not to look forward to. Win/Lose.

SouthernJet

09-20-07, 04:20 PM

Raleigh will have more HD channels once they start switching channels - which will probably be in a two to three months according to my buddy. Switched Digital will be here soon and when it is - more HD channels will launch.
so you are saying that even though they havent started it will be 2 to 3 months? I hope, cause I am thinking of going to dish if not,,from data i have it looks like they havent started SDV:

SDV Deployment for TWC
AS OF AUGUST 2007

Time Warner Cable Albany, N.Y. **
Time Warner Cable Austin, Texas*
Time Warner Cable Binghamton, N.Y. ****
Time Warner Cable Columbia, S.C.*
Time Warner Cable Green Bay, Wis.*
Time Warner Cable Greensboro, N.C.*
Time Warner Cable Kansas City, Mo.****
Time Warner Cable Milwaukee, Wis.**
Time Warner Carolina North Carolina systems (Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Wilmington)***
Time Warner Cable Oceanic (Hawaii)***
Time Warner Cable Portland, Maine*
Time Warner Cable Rochester, N.Y.**
Time Warner Cable San Diego, Calif.***
Time Warner Cable Syracuse, N.Y.*

* Commercially deployed
** Installing system
***Contract awarded, SDV not yet installed/deployed
**** Installation/deployment status not yet known
***** Full deployment expected in next 30 days

toadfannc

09-20-07, 08:51 PM

That is not a true statement for the 622. At least not if you run it in single room mode, which is what I do (since its just me in the house). I can still access the DVR, tuners, and all stored programming from my TV upstairs (my 2nd TV). And I with 3 tuners (2 for sat, 1 for OTA) I can record 2 programs and still watch a 3rd live (depending on Sat/OTA permutations).

I assume this is also the case for the 722 (but I have a 622 so I cannot be sure)

Mike

I'm in dual mode (with no OTA).

pkscout

09-20-07, 09:39 PM

I think I clevered myself out of Survivor tonight. Actually, I know I did, I'm just trying to see if this was a one time thing or just The Way It Is (TM).

I decided not to waste drive space recording Survivor from 5-1 since Survivor isn't in HD. I didn't want to record it analog (I have a S3 TiVo), so I saw that 5-3 had Survivor in the guide data and recorded it there. I noticed Survivor didn't record. When I checked 5-3 it was black. I'm assuming WRAL takes 5-3 offline during primetime to devote more bandwidth to 5-1, and I'm fine with that. I just wish the guide data they provided said OFF AIR instead.

So, did I get this right, or was 5-3 off air for some other reason this evening?

HDMe2

09-21-07, 09:52 PM

I'm in dual mode (with no OTA).

Keep in mind that dual-mode is an ability to run two TVs off of one DVR, with the ViP622 from Dish. I am not aware of a Time Warner cable box that will let you connect two TVs at the same time and watch 2 different channels on those different TVs.

In dual-mode you are making the choice that your other tuner goes to another TV... so technically speaking you are still capable of watching 2 different channels at the same time, from different rooms... whereas I and the other poster, who explained the virtues of this receiver above, choose to run in single mode and use both (3 counting OTA) on the same TV.

If you had another ViP622 for your other TV, much like having two cable boxes from Time Warner, then you'd have the single mode capabilities in both rooms. As far as I am aware, the dual-mode functions of the Dish DVRs are unique to them.

Dan-O-F

09-23-07, 10:01 PM

Hi everyone,

I have time warner standard cable which is just the cable from the wall right to the tv.... a few hours ago my HD channel for fox (ch.113-1) just disappeared and I cant seem to get it back. I've tried auto program and all that... I'm just wondering if some of you are in the same situation I'm in.

( i get abc, cbs, nbc in HD fine )

Zilla

09-24-07, 08:53 AM

Fox is very iffy for some reason;last night it was very choppy and unwatchable; other nights it's ok.

larc919

09-24-07, 10:00 AM

"The War" sound on WUNC-HD last night was noticeably out of sync. Did anybody who watched it OTA notice the same problem, or is it just a TWC thing?

drewwho

09-24-07, 10:23 AM

"The War" sound on WUNC-HD last night was noticeably out of sync. Did anybody who watched it OTA notice the same problem, or is it just a TWC thing?

I've noticed the same thing OTA. In fact, the audio sync on WUNC-HD has been off for the last week or two at least. I posted something about it earlier.

I just complained to them on line. I suspect the more people who complain, the better the chance is that they'll fix it! Go to: http://www.unctv.org/aboutus/contactus.html

Drew

NBC17ENG

09-24-07, 04:07 PM

A few viewers have called in (complaining) about Spanish audio and captions during our Sunday Night Football. NBC was saluting National Hispanic Heritage Month last night mixing in some Spanish audio and captions.

Dan-O-F

09-24-07, 06:32 PM

Fox is very iffy for some reason;last night it was very choppy and unwatchable; other nights it's ok.

Yeah, I just called time warner and they said the Fox HD feed I was getting was from the air signal or something like that... Seems like its still down for me, is FOX HD working for you guys??

-Dan

SingleBbl

09-25-07, 09:51 AM

a few hours ago my HD channel for fox (ch.113-1) just disappeared and I cant seem to get it back.

I have TWC basic in Cary and I lost 113-1 (Fox) and 113-4 (ABC) at about the same time.

I now have them at 50-1 and 11-1, which is where you might have expected them to be in the first place. I did not check until today, so I have no way to know how soon they showed up at the new addresses.

SugarBowl

09-25-07, 10:53 AM

pkscout

09-25-07, 11:43 AM

larc919

09-25-07, 12:44 PM

Looks as if there are no changes in the Raleigh TWC QAM lineup so far.

NBC17ENG

09-25-07, 12:44 PM

These cool damp Fall mornings are creating some DXing issues for those with outdoor antennas. Can be fun for some by trying to catch distant signals, but not for some trying to get the locals. Don't blame reception problems on the neighbor's tree just yet, and try to have fun with it!

drewwho

09-25-07, 01:01 PM

Looks like TWC is playing QAM roulette again. It's been a few months, so the engineers must have gotten bored and decided to remap some channels. I would say it's preparation for new HD channels, but I doubt anything is coming until SDV is deployed.

At least here in Cary, all the major channels were still on the same QAM frequencies when I was home for my lunch break an hour ago. Perhaps they changed the mapping information..

Drew

Larry J

09-25-07, 02:17 PM

Does anyone happen to live in the Fayetteville area, especially a little on the south or east side, that can give me signal reading for the 103a Directv spot beam satellite?

Since nobody knows what transponders they actually use for Raleigh, and the problems with it, I was trying to find out how strong it is in those area's. They are listed as available, or the zip codes I've tried do.

Dan-O-F

09-25-07, 06:48 PM

Tony Tingen

09-25-07, 08:52 PM

Yeah, I just got those channels sometime last night, sucks that I missed Prison Break in HD :(

I now get FoxHD and ABCHD at 50-1 and 11-1. I'd lost them a few weeks ago. But now it seems I've lost the CW HD channel from the TWC feed. Not complaining, I'd rather have Fox and ABC.

Daryl L

09-26-07, 01:13 PM

AJerman

09-26-07, 01:30 PM

By the way, for an SDV update, I'm sure they won't mind me sharing, but I sent an email to execs asking a few questions including about SDV and was told that they are planning on starting to test SDV sometime next month and hope to have it ready by the end of the year. And that was straight from probably the best source you can get for it.

drewwho

09-26-07, 01:33 PM

While I was using my QAM tuner in my Samsung STB, Sharp LCD HDTV and Sony LCD HDTV I had problem keeping ABCHD and FOXHD. Seems TWC has problems with their QAM modulation and 720p signals. Seems many people have a problem with ABC/FOX's 720p on TWC using their built-in QAM tuner.

The problems stem from the PSIP information that TWC re-encodes. The actual signal is fine. My ancient Zenith HDTV has no problems whatsoever with FOX/ABC on QAM, because its QAM tuner doesn't even pay attention to the PSIP information TWC sends along. My MythTV HTPC was confused (like your tuners) on C113 (fox/abc shared) because it pays attention to the PSIP information. I ditched QAM and moved to OTA only for MythtTV because of this.

It is too bad there is no "the PSIP is bogus, do your best to find all the video/audio streams yourself" options for all tuners. :)

Drew

Erik Garci

09-26-07, 01:35 PM

I have TWC basic in Cary and I lost 113-1 (Fox) and 113-4 (ABC) at about the same time.

I now have them at 50-1 and 11-1, which is where you might have expected them to be in the first place. I did not check until today, so I have no way to know how soon they showed up at the new addresses.
I think the problem is related to the CVCT (cable virtual channel table). According to my receiver's diagnostic info, the CVCT was not being received on channel 113. As a result, my receiver did not know what the virtual channel numbers were, since those numbers are supposed to be contained in the CVCT.

Now the CVCT is no longer missing on channel 113. So I told my receiver to "auto-scan" the channels again, and this time it found the CVCT, so it knows the virtual channel numbers (such as 11.1 and 50.1).

MattNelson

09-26-07, 02:45 PM

dgmayor

09-27-07, 05:41 PM

I received an email from TWC today and it said:

"More HD Coming To Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable will soon be adding the HD Channels of some of the best programming on television today. On October 1, HD subscribers will get TBS HD (channel 282). And on October 15, Versus/Golf HD (channel 283) and A&E HD (channel 284) will be added to the the HD channel lineup. "

Now if they are getting Discovery/TLC/AP/TSC this year I will be psyched.

From what I understand, TBS HD and A&E HD are two more channels that stretch SD crap like TNT does ><. I'm just happy that we're getting TBS HD in time for the Baseball playoffs, since they split duties with Fox for the games.

SugarBowl

09-28-07, 11:25 AM

pkscout

09-28-07, 01:16 PM

5-3 is off right now. Maybe they did away with it?

It's not showing up in their guide. http://www.wral.com/wral-tv/tv_schedule/

I'm thinking they did. Oh well. 5-3 is still showing up with valid guide data on my TiVo S3, but TiVo gets their guide data from Tribune, so I might submit a lineup change or just delete the channel from the channel list and be done with it.

HDMe2

09-28-07, 01:50 PM

I've never known 5-3 or 5-4 to be active OTA except during multicasting for the NCAA basketball tournament. Usually those channels come on the first day of the tourney... then go off sometime shortly after the tournament ends.

IF you don't re-scan for channels, you sometimes can still "tune" to it OTA, but it really isn't there broadcasting anymore.

DonB2

09-28-07, 02:21 PM

Murder She wrote on 50.2

I was watching one of the Murder She Wrotes last night and the episode written in 1990 delt with stock investments and they were suggesting to invest in HD TV which would be a hot item in five years.

I thought that was kindo of interesting.

-DonB2

jspENC

09-28-07, 10:39 PM

pkscout

09-29-07, 06:38 AM

WRAL's new Dual Doppler is fascinating. The radar wars are on now between all three channels. WTVD was ahead for a while, but now they are back to second again it looks like. Both stations have 1 million watt radars, but only WRAL can tilt their beam. lol You can also watch the live radar sweep with your media player.

And because of it they break in anytime there is a thunderstorm to tell you about it. I really hate that. Of course that hasn't been a problem this summer, but I remember some times they would break in on shows to zoom in to street level to track a thunderstorm. Really annoying. Of course they never broke in on a commercial, only the actual show.

And it was doubly annoying because I was watching the show three days later on my TiVo.

jspENC

09-29-07, 10:26 AM

And because of it they break in anytime there is a thunderstorm to tell you about it. I really hate that. Of course that hasn't been a problem this summer, but I remember some times they would break in on shows to zoom in to street level to track a thunderstorm. Really annoying. Of course they never broke in on a commercial, only the actual show.

And it was doubly annoying because I was watching the show three days later on my TiVo.

I can't understand why they don't put a crawl up saying to tune to a sub-channel for the weather coverage. You could tune to 5.2 for instance if you want to know about the storm, and likely it isn't affecting 90% of their viewing area to start with. The regular programming wouldn't be affected this way. They've used this method sometimes on WITN 7.2

HDMe2

09-29-07, 10:28 AM

WRAL's new Dual Doppler is fascinating. The radar wars are on now between all three channels. WTVD was ahead for a while, but now they are back to second again it looks like.

Just out of curiosity, when was WTVD ahead? For as long as I can remember WRAL has had a priority focus on their weather team and equipment... and I honestly cannot remember a time when they were not out in front setting the precedent.

jspENC

09-29-07, 12:41 PM

I thought WTVD's newest radar was faster, and WTVD had the VIPIR 7 radar sweeps before WRAL did if I remember correctly... Then WRAL got this capability and not long after went all HD which took them ahead, then WTVD installed that XP Radar that is the most powerful and WRAL countered by installing Dual Doppler and claims that they use 500,000 watts for Horizontal, and 500,000 watts for Vertical.

Scooper

09-29-07, 04:16 PM

Yesterday - "old reliable" (1997 Sony 27 inch NTSC TV) went titsup - everything tuned OK, but the display was severely distorted. So, today's chore - buy our first HDTV - an Olevia 232T from Tiger Direct in Durham.

First impressions - tuner not quite as good as my Samsung H-260F, but true HD is NICE !! It even does a respectable job on the SD shows - we plan on watching most of that in "Aspect" mode. The SD channels give us a picture about the same size as the old Sony. DVD watching - haven't watched a 4:3 DVD yet, but we found that ZOOM1 works pretty good for a widescreen (16:9) DVD. Haven't gotten the component outputs from DVD to work with new TV yet - this was using the component cable that came with the Samsung though - it's like we weren't getting full color - may need a "real" component cable to make this work. HDMI appears to work between the Samsung and the Olevia with the cable that came from the Olevia, but I need to hook up analog audio. Since there is NOT digital audio out on the Olevia - I may use the Samsung anyway.
One nice thing about the Olevia tuner - I can mix/match the analog/ digital stations as desired - so the ones that come in great in digital - I just blocked their analogs :) .

rdu_avmac

09-29-07, 10:05 PM

Has anyone been successful firewire recording HD from the SA 8300HDC boxes? I've tried all of the suggestions (well, all of the ones I have seen) from this thread -- Recording to PC from a SA 8300HD via Firewire (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=593271) -- for getting this to work but no luck so far.

A few details:

I'm using a MacBook Pro to try to record. I've installed the Apple Firewire dev kit that's mentioned in the other forum.
The file size and firewire packets increase, but the time index never moves. I cannot play any resulting file. I typically get an "unrecognized format" error.
I tried several different sources (previously recorded show on DVR, NBC, ABC, HDNet) and everything seems to be marked as copy once. I think this is the root cause.
I tried both of the firewire ports on the back of the box and the results were the same.

Any help is appreciated.

SugarBowl

09-30-07, 10:43 AM

Blue Devil Tide

09-30-07, 12:07 PM

Hi, first time poster here.

I just bought a cheap LCD tv for my campus apartment at Duke over in Durham. The campus cable doesn't have any HDTV, but I saw some cheap ($20-$50) "off the air" HD antennae over at Best Buy. I have looked through the thread quite a bit, but haven't been able to find an answer to my question, which is...

Will I be able to receive ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox (maybe others?) if I purchase one of these antennae? The TV has an ATSC as well as a QAM tuner, if that means anything to you.

Thanks a whole lot.

SugarBowl

09-30-07, 01:05 PM

pkscout

09-30-07, 02:46 PM

Will I be able to receive ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox (maybe others?) if I purchase one of these antennae? The TV has an ATSC as well as a QAM tuner, if that means anything to you.

Check out:

http://www.antennaweb.org

It'll give you some idea what your options are. I stuck in 1901 Yearby (since I don't know which apartment you're in) and got back very iffy results. You can probably get PBS and FOX, might be able to get ABC, CBS, and the CW, and have no chance of getting NBC.

Have you done a QAM scan on your cable ? Those channels are provided with Time Warner, not sure who your company is.

Duke runs it's own cable system, and it's all analog. Not one bit of digital or QAM on there. I speak from experience. I used to work there in IT and had more experiences with the cable system there than I ever wanted to have.

fmoraes

09-30-07, 03:56 PM

SugarBowl

10-01-07, 09:43 AM

Does anyone know why we are having so many non HD games on CBS? This is quite annoying now.

Almost as annoying as WRAL's weather interruptions where they go SD on the HD feed. And I can barely call it SD, probably more like analog version of SD.

Very annoying.. Not sure why this has been happening. On the good side, the Greensboro CBS showed a different game than WRAL for both time slots.

zim2dive

10-01-07, 09:49 AM

VisionOn

10-01-07, 09:50 AM

TBSHD is now live on TWC (282).

If you don't like baseball it's fairly pointless. Unless you like watching stretch-o-vision. The movie Showtime is on now, and that's stretched as well.

SingleBbl

10-01-07, 09:55 AM

I have TWC basic cable in Cary. Sometime Saturday or Sunday I lost 4-1, WUNC-TV DT.

For starters, has anyone else had this problem and/or know where it went?

I called TWC and got the standard run around about "no HDTV with basic service". But after giving a supervisor the spiel about "you must carry local broadcast channels on basic, I was able to get a her to schedule a service call.

Now I'm wondering if I've "shot myself in the foot". When I looked for the chapter and verse on the basic cable "must carry" rules to have handy when the tech shows up, I could not find it. My recollection is that I saw a pointer to it in this forum but none of my searches found it.

Can anyone point me to a site that gives the current "must carry" rules for basic cable?

SugarBowl

10-01-07, 11:21 AM

abward

10-01-07, 01:30 PM

...I lost 4-1...

17.1, 17.2, and 17.3 is gone too, I noticed a few days ago. I can still get it on 111.1, 111.2, and 111.3.

UNC stuff is on 90.2, 90.3, 90.4, 90.5

AJerman

10-01-07, 05:25 PM

jimholcomb

10-01-07, 07:53 PM

SugarBowl

10-01-07, 09:58 PM

TBSHD is now live on TWC (282).

If you don't like baseball it's fairly pointless. Unless you like watching stretch-o-vision. The movie Showtime is on now, and that's stretched as well.

anyone know what needs to be done to get this channel added to a cablecard setup ?

scsiraid

10-01-07, 10:02 PM

anyone know what needs to be done to get this channel added to a cablecard setup ?

TBSHD as well as the two channels coming in a couple weeks will not be made available to cablecards... per my conversation with TWC management. They will be part of SDV with it 'arrives'.

kirkusinnc

10-02-07, 09:17 AM

anyone know what needs to be done to get this channel added to a cablecard setup ?

I just got off the phone with TW Customer Support. They claimed cablecard customers will not be able to get TBS-HD or the other two new channels because the cablecard is not a twoway device that supports switched digital video.

I understand the explanation but am still confused as I thought TW couldn't turn on SDV as long as they were still using Passport on their converter boxes. (Have to convert to Navigator; my 8300HD on the other set is still Passport 2.6.022.)

SingleBbl

10-02-07, 09:28 AM

Have you tried a re-scan for channels? They've been messing with the QAM lineup recently. I lost the 17.x channels, and a rescan fixed it.

Re-scan did not fix the problem. 4.1 is still missing. And I never lost the 17.x's.

Am I correct that a rescan is not required to direct tune a channel? If I enter "4-1" the TV should attempt to tune that channel even if it was not previously scanned.

UNC stuff is on 90.2, 90.3, 90.4, 90.5

Are you getting 90.1? According to Erik Garci's chart (http://home1.gte.net/res18h39/channels.htm), that should be "UNC-TV DT". It's the HD version of analog channel 4. I prefer this because my Panny plasma gives a better quality pic with the HD signal.

BTW, the only addresses that work with TWC basic on my Panny here in Cary are the OTA digital virtual ones from Garci's chart. With the exception that prior to 25 Sep I was able to tune 113-1 (Fox) and 113-4 (ABC). So my UNC stuff is on 4.1 thru 4.5.

I had a real scare with the rescan. The first time I did it, NONE of the HD channels were detected. Needless to say, my heart was in my throat. But then it worked OK the second time. Hopefully just a UFU.

And, quelle suprise, TWC service never showed or even called.

scsiraid

10-02-07, 10:02 AM

I just got off the phone with TW Customer Support. They claimed cablecard customers will not be able to get TBS-HD or the other two new channels because the cablecard is not a twoway device that supports switched digital video.

I understand the explanation but am still confused as I thought TW couldn't turn on SDV as long as they were still using Passport on their converter boxes. (Have to convert to Navigator; my 8300HD on the other set is still Passport 2.6.022.)

They arent 'turning on' SDV just yet. But they are 'earmarking' the bandwidth of the 3 new channels for SDV for when they DO turn it on next year. What you have today for cablecard will likely be all you (and I) will ever have.

SugarBowl

10-02-07, 10:18 AM

They arent 'turning on' SDV just yet. But they are 'earmarking' the bandwidth of the 3 new channels for SDV for when they DO turn it on next year. What you have today for cablecard will likely be all you (and I) will ever have.

oh well.. I just got the cablecards in my tivo so I could watch the ESPN's in HD. At least they work (for now.. )

kirkusinnc

10-02-07, 10:21 AM

Not a great loss as I get these channels from DirecTV.

thunderclap8

10-02-07, 10:52 AM

scsiraid

10-02-07, 11:12 AM

oh well.. I just got the cablecards in my tivo so I could watch the ESPN's in HD. At least they work (for now.. )

What I have been told by a very reliable source in TWC management is that we wont be losing anything that we currently have when SDV gets turned on. We just arent gonna get anything new. Hopefully the 'Tuning Resolver' USB dongle will appear and open Tivo to the world of SDV.

Scooper

10-02-07, 12:10 PM

Hi, I'm moving to Chapel Hill later this month, and have a question.

I live near Huntsville, AL at the moment and have been using the Philips PHDTV1 indoor antenna (http://www.amazon.com/Philips-PHDTV1-Digital-HDTV-UHF-Antenna/dp/B0007XDI54******pd_bbs_sr_1/105-5362356-2235600?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1191336589&sr=8-1) to receive over the air HD broadcasts. It has worked wonderfully.

Does anybody in the area have experience with this antenna there? Or any other indoor antenna?

I'm wondering if I will need to upgrade to something larger. I'll be living in an apartment and so won't have the ability to put up anything too fancy. But I'd really like to avoid subscribing to cable if possible.

1. - Get an apartment that has a window facing east.
2. - Hopefully you won't have alot of trees in your way.
3. - ditto with apartment being on a hill.

All stations but the PBS are in an antenna farm just east of Garner, at about 15-30 miles from Chapel Hill. The PBS station is right there in C.H. For right now - all stations are on UHF, but on Feb 17, 2009 ABC goes back to channel 11.

scsiraid

10-02-07, 02:51 PM

What I have been told by a very reliable source in TWC management is that we wont be losing anything that we currently have when SDV gets turned on. We just arent gonna get anything new. Hopefully the 'Tuning Resolver' USB dongle will appear and open Tivo to the world of SDV.

Well.... my source has updated.... HDSuite is coming off cablecards. We should be getting letters soon saying no more HDSuite. About 45 days till it dies.

SugarBowl

10-02-07, 04:08 PM

Well.... my source has updated.... HDSuite is coming off cablecards. We should be getting letters soon saying no more HDSuite. About 45 days till it dies.

That should save me 6.95 a month.

pkscout

10-02-07, 06:04 PM

Well.... my source has updated.... HDSuite is coming off cablecards. We should be getting letters soon saying no more HDSuite. About 45 days till it dies.

Which basically means if you can get the local HD OTA there is no reason to get CableCards from TWC, right? Or are there a couple of non-OTA HD channels available clear QAM?

I've been OK with analog cable and OTA HD and will wait for the TiVo USB dongle for SDV channel tuning. Or switch to DirecTV, maybe. If DirecTV would renew their deal with TiVo (rumor is it may happen after Murdoch sells to Liberty Media) I would definitely go back to DirecTV.

SugarBowl

10-02-07, 06:32 PM

Which basically means if you can get the local HD OTA there is no reason to get CableCards from TWC, right? Or are there a couple of non-OTA HD channels available clear QAM?

I've been OK with analog cable and OTA HD and will wait for the TiVo USB dongle for SDV channel tuning. Or switch to DirecTV, maybe. If DirecTV would renew their deal with TiVo (rumor is it may happen after Murdoch sells to Liberty Media) I would definitely go back to DirecTV.

ESPNHD and ESPN2HD. I am happy with analog cable and OTA. I just got the cablecards for college football season.

HotTubJohnny

10-03-07, 05:08 PM

This may be old news, but i just noticed that TWC-NC moved espnHD, espn2HD, SHOHD and HBOHD out of the HD Suite:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/NC/products/cable/HDTV/raleighNewHDChannels.html

The main reason to pay $6.95/month for the HD Suite was for those channels. I think they may have just saved me some money. I never thought it was fair to have to pay for HD versions of channels i was already paying for.

Erik Garci

10-03-07, 09:43 PM

This may be old news, but i just noticed that TWC-NC moved espnHD, espn2HD, SHOHD and HBOHD out of the HD Suite:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/NC/products/cable/HDTV/raleighNewHDChannels.html
ESPNHD was moved out of the HD Suite about 6 months ago.

ESPN2HD was never in the HD Suite.

SHOHD and HBOHD were never in the HD Suite. They have always been "premium" channels.

merlintl

10-03-07, 11:27 PM

For anyone that watches L&O SVU or Bionic Woman......

Have you noticed a lot of motion blur in these two programs this Season. I've got 8300HD-DVR and a Sony A3000. All other channels and programs seem ok. But with these two programs, I see a lot of motion blur. Sometime if you pause the DVR at the right spot, you can see a person hand in two locations if they're moving their hand fast. Bad video source encoding??

Note though with NBC programs like the Today Show, Nightly News, or Leno I don't see any motion blur.

klapa

10-04-07, 01:38 AM

Wow!

I only bought my Samsung STB two weeks ago - and sent the papers in immediately to WRAL for the "free antenna deal" - I was figuring to wait at least five weeks to get it - but...

Today - I've just received my new FREE ChannelMaster 4228! I had asked for this in a note at the bottom of my application - and they have sent what I asked for - shipping included!

I'll order the rotator shortly - Goodbye Rabbit Ears! - and Hello blacked out games and great reception!

I have also bought a Logitech Harmony 520 remote control - hopefully I will be able to integrate channel selection with antenna movement - time will tell there.

For the meantime - Hats off to WRAL!

drewwho

10-04-07, 08:50 AM

For anyone that watches L&O SVU or Bionic Woman......
<...>
Note though with NBC programs like the Today Show, Nightly News, or Leno I don't see any motion blur.

SVU and Bionic are filmed on traditional film, at 24fps. The other shows are broadcast live, and as such are "filmed" digitally at 30fps. In order to fit the 24fps content into the 30fps 1080i format, there needs to be some funky stuff (telecine/inverse telecine, 3:2 pulldown). See the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDTV_blur

According to what I was able to google, the A3000 is supposed to have some sort of 120Hz "motionflow" tech which might help. Have you tried enabling that? Do things look any better live than through the 8300?

Drew

petes-24

10-04-07, 03:08 PM

When we switched to this HD box from TWC, I noticed that the "On With Mute" function for the closed captioning didn't work -- can anyone tell me if this is my setup specifically, or is it universal? We are using it with a Samsung LN-T4065F, Thanks!

DonB2

10-04-07, 05:27 PM

"Originally Posted by merlintl
For anyone that watches L&O SVU or Bionic Woman......
<...>
Note though with NBC programs like the Today Show, Nightly News, or Leno I don't see any motion blur."

I am not noticing that yet.

I do see HD shows that have moving water or fire that it typically pixelates and I usually blame it on bandwidth being cut for the SD channels.

But one thing I am not seeing recently and PBS got close last night with Wired science is background scenes being in focus.

I really like it when they do a close up on the actors and in the background almost everything on a desk or a bulletin board is perfectly clear.

BTW - 28 still has the white pixles randomly showing in the middle top center vertically on the screen.

-Donb2

eyekode

10-05-07, 08:10 AM

DonB2

10-05-07, 11:50 AM

"Just for a datapoint: I watched an episode of bionic woman OTA. Bad acting and bad script, but no motion blur on my Pioneer 5070."

I gave up on the Bionic women after the first episode. I figured if the first episode was that uninteresting.

-DonB2

pujanam

10-05-07, 02:24 PM

Hi folks, I just bought a HDTV - and would like to know if i can get a small in door HD antenna to view the local hd channels. I live behind CarMax on Glenwood Ave in Raleigh.

Scooper

10-05-07, 03:54 PM

Doubtful. The major antenna farm is east of Garner, and all of our Digital stations are UHF right now. You may be able to get by with a Silver Senser type antenna.

VisionOn

10-05-07, 04:50 PM

Hi folks, I just bought a HDTV - and would like to know if i can get a small in door HD antenna to view the local hd channels. I live behind CarMax on Glenwood Ave in Raleigh.

that would be a funny location to add to your profile. :D

"I live behind CarMax in Raleigh."

DECdaze

10-05-07, 05:05 PM

Hi folks, I just bought a HDTV - and would like to know if i can get a small in door HD antenna to view the local hd channels. I live behind CarMax on Glenwood Ave in Raleigh.
You can use one of the two following URLs to better research the type of antenna you may need:

http://www.tvfool.com/
http://www.antennaweb.org/

I do fairly well with an indoor antenna (a Terk HDTVa - an amplified indoor antenna). But you will find that WUNC is up in Chapel Hill and the rest of the broadcasts come from Garner. So, you need an antenna that can get both directions.

bnishida

10-06-07, 12:45 PM

Hi folks, I just bought a HDTV - and would like to know if i can get a small in door HD antenna to view the local hd channels. I live behind CarMax on Glenwood Ave in Raleigh.

I live near the Lynn and Glenwood intersection and I can get the Garner Antenna stations 99% of the time. But then again I am in a 3rd floor apartment on top of a hill. And my window faces the right direction. Here is the antenna I have, if anyone knows a good indoor antenna that will also let me pick up WUNC let me know.

http://www.target.com/RCA-Power-Amplified-Antenna-ANT1250/dp/B000063SNE/qid=1191688848******br_1_2/601-1785300-3033751?ie=UTF8&node=3987991&frombrowse=1&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=3987991&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=2

merlintl

10-07-07, 04:46 PM

SVU and Bionic are filmed on traditional film, at 24fps. The other shows are broadcast live, and as such are "filmed" digitally at 30fps. In order to fit the 24fps content into the 30fps 1080i format, there needs to be some funky stuff (telecine/inverse telecine, 3:2 pulldown). See the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDTV_blur

According to what I was able to google, the A3000 is supposed to have some sort of 120Hz "motionflow" tech which might help. Have you tried enabling that? Do things look any better live than through the 8300?

Drew

Drew, thanks for the link. I might not be explaining it right so I attached a paused image.

So I hit the pause button during a fast pan scene and you can see an after image or the lady's head while the DVR is paused. Since its showing up on the DVR's pause, it kinda leads me to believe its the 8300HD-DVR or TWC.

I haven't gotten a chance to check an Over The Air broadcast yet. Seems like NBC is when I notice it the most on TWC/8300HD-DVR.

Scooper

10-07-07, 11:21 PM

DonB2

10-08-07, 11:01 AM

Scooper,

I have the same Samsung unit and see the pixelating also on UNC. I also have about the same signal strength as you for this channel but I get it from Chapel Hill.

I do not think it is a signal strength issue. I do think it is a bandwidth issue and UNC is starving the HD version of the channel for bandwidth.

At least that is what I observe on the Chapel Hill UNC station.

The pixelation on the HD channel 4-2 is most evident during close up scenes of moving water or fire flames.

Our UNC ATSC channel 4 may be using dynamic bandwidth and sharing the bandwidth with the other multichannels on PBS that are broadcasting at the same time.

Or since you are watching off of a different Roanoke Rapids station ATSC transmitter maybe our Samsung DTB-H260F is the culprit.

But I believe I saw the same pixelation off of my Pioneers ATSC tuner as well as off of my two older generation Samsung ATSC tuners.

What I can't figure out is why PBS will show their flagship Mystery show on Sunday night in low res DTV and use the HD channel for repeats.

-DonB2

posg

10-08-07, 11:23 AM

Scooper

10-08-07, 11:43 AM

Cable will NOT be coming into this house unless I get treed out of DBS. :) I was pretty sure the answer was like donb2 said, just wanted confirmation.

vicw

10-08-07, 11:48 AM

I have no sound on the HDNET Movie channel 294 on TWC in Southern Pines as of 11:45 AM. It was off throughout a movie I recorded at around midnight last night. All other channels are fine. I wonder if it is a localized problem, TWC wide, or from the source.

popweaverhdtv

10-08-07, 11:56 AM

eyekode

10-08-07, 08:33 PM

Yo - veterans of watching HDTV in the triangle area -

I was watching WUNC (actually the Roanoke Rapids station - but it's basically the same except for channel number) on the HD subchannel viewing "Nature" and the show after that. I was noticing a fair amount of pixelating during the shows. Signal strength on my Samsung DTB-H260F was 3-4 bars. Is this pixelating normal, or should I have rotated my antenna to get more signal strength (and maybe reduce the pixelating) ?

Thanks,
Scott in Youngsville

I watch WUNC OTA on my Pioneer and see the same thing. I am 99% sure it is bandwidth issues. It only happens in very "busy" scenes with lots of motion. I believe they have to overcompress the signal in these cases.
Salem

pkscout

10-09-07, 06:45 AM

I recorded This Old House and Ask This Old House over the weekend from 4-1. It looks like these two shows are being filmed this season in HD, but WUNC's supposed HD channel is transmitting them letterboxed (i.e. iWUNC sends it in a 4:3 screen with black bars at the top and bottom). I can use my TV's zoom feature to get rid of that, but it sure is annoying that something being recorded in HD isn't being transmitted at least in 16:9, especially on the "HD" channel.

posg

10-09-07, 07:31 AM

AFH

10-09-07, 08:09 AM

pkscout

10-09-07, 01:23 PM

UNC-HD is on 4-2, not 4-1. Maybe that's the problem.;)

A. that is really dumb. Who puts the HD channel on a subchannel?

B. That is the reason, but not the problem. ;) TOS and Ask TOS are not on 4-2, only 4-1. So the problem seems to be to be that WUNC is being stupid to not air shows in HD when they are available in HD.

tarheelone

10-09-07, 01:51 PM

For all you Hurricanes fans out there:

Time Warner Cable today announced that it will launch Vs./Golf Channel HD on digital cable channel 283 in time for tonight’s Carolina Hurricanes game at Toronto. The split-network HD channel was scheduled to launch Oct. 15, but will be available starting today for all TWC subscribers with a high-definition television and TWC HD cable box.

Tonight’s game is one of five Hurricanes games this season that will be telecast by the National Hockey League’s national cable-television partner, Versus. Throughout the 2007-08 season all NHL games on Versus will be produced in high definition.

DonB2

10-09-07, 05:06 PM

pkscout ,

Rest assured. I watched Columbus last night on 4.2 and still saw the occasional pixelization during a fast movement scene.

It is weird that 4.2 is the HD channel but also keep in mind that it only broadcasts from 8 until 11pm.

-DonB2

posg

10-09-07, 05:06 PM

A. that is really dumb. Who puts the HD channel on a subchannel?

B. That is the reason, but not the problem. ;) TOS and Ask TOS are not on 4-2, only 4-1. So the problem seems to be to be that WUNC is being stupid to not air shows in HD when they are available in HD.

I guess the logic is that the HD channel IS NOT a simulcast channel of the main program service. In fact it is only available 8-11pm OTA because they multicast four channels during the rest of the day. Now THAT is really dumb.

DonB2

10-09-07, 05:19 PM

4.2 no audio- Twice now I have selected 4-2 directly using my Samsung DTB-H260F and found no audio. I than channel down to 4-1 where I get audio and channel back to 4-2 and than I get audio.

I remember this happening about a year ago.

It is right at the start of the show that it happens so maybe that is the culprit.

-Donb2

Scooper

10-09-07, 05:28 PM

I've had to do the same thing.

dgmayor

10-09-07, 06:25 PM

bigcementpond

10-09-07, 09:29 PM

Did anyone else have problems with ABCHD (I'm on TWC Cary) not having any center channel audio/dialogue for the first 18 minutes or so of tonight's Cavemen? I noticed they switched to the SD feed and it fixed the problem, but I didn't really want to watch the majority of the show with closed captioning on.

bnishida

10-10-07, 08:59 AM

jamieh1

10-10-07, 04:22 PM

New Directv HD channels added today.

FOOD HD 231-1
MGM HD 255
NAT GEOGRAPHIC HD 276
CNBC HD+ 355

This brings Directv to about 45 HD channels
other channels added in the last 3 weeks

CNN HD
NFL NETWORK HD
BIGTEN NETWORK HD
USA HD
SCI FI HD
TBS HD
BRAVO HD
SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL HD
A&E HD
HISTORY CHANNEL HD
TLC HD
ANIMAL PLANET HD
DISCOVERY CHANNEL HD
SCIENCE CHANNEL HD
THE WEATHER CHANNEL HD
VS/GOLF HD
MHD
HBO WEST HD
CINEMAX HD
CINEMAX WEST HD
STARZ COMEDY HD
STARZ KIDS HD
STARZ EAST HD
STARZ WEST HD
STARZ EDGE HD
SHOWTIME WEST HD
SHOWTIME TOO HD
THE MOVIE CHANNEL HD
YES HD
NESN HD
SPORTSNET NY HD
COMCAST SPORTSNET MIDATLANTIC HD
COMCAST SPORTSNET CHICAGO

Directv is sending the full resolution, not a compressed picture. MPEG4 video is awesome.

meanieme

10-11-07, 12:57 AM

pkscout

10-11-07, 06:45 AM

NBC 17.1HD - I have a permanent yellow vertical line down the leftmost side of the screen

ABC11.1HD - I have a static horizontal line on the topmost side of the screen

I've never seen either of those issues. One of my HDTVs gets those channels OTA with an antenna, and the other gets them from the TWC cable feed. It might not matter, but it would be helpful to know which of these ways your using to receive those channels.

drewwho

10-11-07, 08:11 AM

NBC 17.1HD - I have a permanent yellow vertical line down the leftmost side of the screen

ABC11.1HD - I have a static horizontal line on the topmost side of the screen

I'm kind of guessing here.. Is your TV 720p? Most 720p LCDs have a native resolution of 1366x768 which is a hair bigger than the standard 720p size (1280x720). If your TV is running in some kind of "dot by dot" or "pixel perfect" or somesuch mode, you may see artifacts on the edge of the screen. I sometimes see such artifacts when watching HD shows in a window on my computer.
Try playing with the video settings. Look for things like "dot by dot" (turn off), or "overscan" (turn on).

Drew

drewwho

10-11-07, 08:18 AM

So I hit the pause button during a fast pan scene and you can see an after image or the lady's head while the DVR is paused. Since its showing up on the DVR's pause, it kinda leads me to believe its the 8300HD-DVR or TWC.

I *think* that seeing artifacts like that when pausing is just how things are supposed to work. You just happened to hit pause at the "wrong" time when 2 widely separated fields were being draw. No matter how good your TV's deinterlacer is, it cannot blend a paused signal which has stopped updating. I'm not an expert on these things, so perhaps I'm wrong.

If you really think it is the DVR, I'd try watching OTA (or via QAM) and see if things look better..

Drew

drewwho

10-11-07, 08:32 AM

I guess the logic is that the HD channel IS NOT a simulcast channel of the main program service. In fact it is only available 8-11pm OTA because they multicast four channels during the rest of the day. Now THAT is really dumb.

Indeed. I've often been tempted to get a DVB-S card and a used dish so that I could pick up the PBS satellite on AMC 3 where it looks like PBS-HD has a frequency all to itself. I've been kicking myself for a while for taking the old dish that came with our house to the junk yard when we moved in a few years ago. Using a DVB-S card is not much more effort beyond a separate tuner card and a separate antenna, which the annoying location of our PBS affiliate forces me to use.

Drew

zim2dive

10-11-07, 08:59 AM

zim2dive

10-11-07, 09:53 AM

Antennaweb seems to get the most press here (and elsewhere), but I recently found tvfool.

http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

AW told me to aim at 130 deg
TVF told me to aim 121 deg

so I changed my aim last night and got much better signal with the results from TVF. I'm close to signal level 100 (according to my Dish 622) for several of the channels on the farm.. only the high 70's for NBC tho (?!?!?!) and mid-80's for WUNC.

Mike

meanieme

10-11-07, 11:55 AM

To answer the questions:

I have just rabbit ear antenna getting OTA HD. No cable TV connection.
I have a 1080p display.
I only see these certain problems on certain channels. Other channels are fine all the time.
I get the left-side yellow line on NBC all the time consistently.
Moving the antenna around does not fix anything.

At this time, I really don't know if it's the TV or just the reception.
If it was the TV, shouldn't I see these problems on all channels/inputs regardless?

I'd just hate to package up the TV and return/replace it just to find the same issues and find out it's not the TV.

zim2dive

10-11-07, 12:52 PM

hbehrman

10-11-07, 01:37 PM

I think its

a) not the TV
b) not the reception

c) its the broadcast
Actually the answer is:

d) It is the broadcast, it is the reception and it is the TV.

In that the broadcaster is sending more than the picture over their bandwidth (broadcast), and your TV is receiving this broadcast at 100% (reception) and your TV is displaying the entire broadcast (TV). This is actually a great thing as the source is not being modified at all and you are seeing the true broadcast. Some sets do not show 100% because they have overscan set at the factory to only show , say, 98% of the broadcast (i.e. some or all of Samsung) while others do not overscan (i.e some or all of Sharp). If it bothers you and you can calibrate the screen (or hire someone to do it) based upon teh service menu commands for your set. Personally I would not mess with that becuse you can make your set unusable (hire the professional). Just enjoy the 100% unaltered image.

Disclaimer: This was quick and dirty explanation. Go look on the users group about your set and you may find kernels of knowledge.

bt-rtp

10-11-07, 01:50 PM

so you are saying that even though they havent started it will be 2 to 3 months? I hope, cause I am thinking of going to dish if not,,from data i have it looks like they havent started SDV:

SDV Deployment for TWC
AS OF AUGUST 2007

Time Warner Cable Albany, N.Y. **
Time Warner Cable Austin, Texas*
Time Warner Cable Binghamton, N.Y. ****
Time Warner Cable Columbia, S.C.*
Time Warner Cable Green Bay, Wis.*
Time Warner Cable Greensboro, N.C.*
Time Warner Cable Kansas City, Mo.****
Time Warner Cable Milwaukee, Wis.**
Time Warner Carolina North Carolina systems (Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Wilmington)***
Time Warner Cable Oceanic (Hawaii)***
Time Warner Cable Portland, Maine*
Time Warner Cable Rochester, N.Y.**
Time Warner Cable San Diego, Calif.***
Time Warner Cable Syracuse, N.Y.*

* Commercially deployed
** Installing system
***Contract awarded, SDV not yet installed/deployed
**** Installation/deployment status not yet known
***** Full deployment expected in next 30 days

Today my engineering contact at TWC Raleigh told me that all of the SDV equipment is fully deployed at the optical nodes and that they are waiting for management to provide their approval to put them into operation.

meanieme

10-11-07, 04:05 PM

drewwho

10-11-07, 04:25 PM

My first guess was also (c) the broadcast, that's why I was hoping someone on here can simply confirm it, but it seems like some people don't have the problem.

So then I am now leaning towards (b) the reception and hoping someone who lives in Apex can confirm as well.

No, no, no. If it were a reception problem, the the picture or sound would be choppy; you wouldn't just have a problem on the edges of the screen. It is the broadcast. It is just that 95% of HDTVs have some overscan enabled, so most people don't see the edges of the broadcast ( On my HDTV, I can barely see the "5" in "FOX 50" for example).

What kind of TV is this? Have you looked through the menus for something like "dot by dot" or "overscan" ?

Drew

pfitzmsn

10-11-07, 04:30 PM

Today my engineering contact at TWC Raleigh told me that all of the SDV equipment is fully deployed at the optical nodes and that they are waiting for management to provide their approval to put them into operation.

Actually my TIVO S3 HD doesn't get the new TBS-HD nor Versus-HD. So it appears SDV is already in play. I noticed last week and already called DirecTV, they are coming out tomorrow. The HD offerings from Directv make it an easy choice.

DECdaze

10-11-07, 05:53 PM

My first guess was also (c) the broadcast, that's why I was hoping someone on here can simply confirm it, but it seems like some people don't have the problem.

So then I am now leaning towards (b) the reception and hoping someone who lives in Apex can confirm as well.
I live near Apex and don't see that issue with OTA broadcast on NBC. However, as previously noted, you may be able to adjust the picture size on your display to overscan it a bit. My Samsung TV has "Just Scan" which should show *everything* that is broadcast. Then it has a "16:9" picture size which overscans the image a bit. Your set probably also has a similar picture size control. Check your user manual for such features. That slight overscan will eliminate the yellow line with minimal loss of content.

pkscout

10-11-07, 07:02 PM

Actually my TIVO S3 HD doesn't get the new TBS-HD nor Versus-HD. So it appears SDV is already in play. I noticed last week and already called DirecTV, they are coming out tomorrow. The HD offerings from Directv make it an easy choice.

Not being able to get those two channels does not correlate to SDV being in action. TWC here has not been providing any new HD or digital SD to CableCard customers in preparation for SDV. They're logic is they don't want to give you something and then take it away later.

eyekode

10-11-07, 08:11 PM

hi folks I just bought a new LCD TV woo hoo a step up from my old CRT
i get a lot of channels but there are a couple of channels where there's some weird problems

NBC 17.1HD - I have a permanent yellow vertical line down the leftmost side of the screen

ABC11.1HD - I have a static horizontal line on the topmost side of the screen

all other channels are fine with no problems

i'm worried if this has to do with my TV and I need to return it or just the HD reception. Has anyone experienced these problems?

I'm located in Apex btw.

As another poster mentioned, it sounds like your TV has 0% overscan. Most TV's crop the image a little. Like 3-5%. I would bet either you have a 1:1 pixel setting enabled. Another way this can happen is if you are using a video capture card and the signal is coming from your computer. In this case just adjust the picture to crop a little.

Note that the static-like line across the top of the screen is actually closed captioning information. The line at the left of the screen I have seen before too, but only when getting the signal from my computer.

Best wishes,
Salem

merlintl

10-11-07, 08:45 PM

I *think* that seeing artifacts like that when pausing is just how things are supposed to work. You just happened to hit pause at the "wrong" time when 2 widely separated fields were being draw. No matter how good your TV's deinterlacer is, it cannot blend a paused signal which has stopped updating. I'm not an expert on these things, so perhaps I'm wrong.

If you really think it is the DVR, I'd try watching OTA (or via QAM) and see if things look better..

Drew

Drew, thanks for the input. I tried QAM but also see it a little but. Strange thing is its just NBC. All the other channels seem fine CBS (1080i) and ABC (720p) for similar night time programs. I might also query the A3000 thread to see if they have any ideas. Since its just that channel thats a problem child, its not a huge deal.

meanieme

10-11-07, 10:10 PM

hbehrman

10-11-07, 10:40 PM

I have the Westinghouse 42" 1080p LCD HDTV TX-42F430S
http://www.westinghousedigital.com/details.aspx?itemnum=125

The only screen size adjustment is something called Fill and Overscan.
Fill stretches the screen about 15%, Overscan stretches it about 35% to fill the screen. Of course these get rid of the line but then I'm losing the complete full video image and looks bad if there is text on the screen.

I've attached pics for your viewing pleasure.
That would explain our similarity in viewing images well, since I have the Westy 32W13. I only have standard (0% overscan) and fill (10% overscan) choices. What you are describing is exactly what my standard picture shows and I am looking at an OTA picture.

Erik Garci

10-11-07, 11:06 PM

VisionOn

10-12-07, 01:21 AM

Not being able to get those two channels does not correlate to SDV being in action. TWC here has not been providing any new HD or digital SD to CableCard customers in preparation for SDV. They're logic is they don't want to give you something and then take it away later.

Plus in order for them to make SDV live, they would need to roll out Navigator to all Passport users, since according to TWC, Passport can't handle it. Or to be more accurate, the last version they upgraded users to can't handle it. Later versions of Passport apparently can.

That means in order to see more HD we have to use TWC's unfinished software.

pkscout

10-12-07, 07:19 AM

Is it legal for TWC to withhold non-SDV channels from CableCARD users?

From my perspective it certainly violates the spirit of the FCC regulations (if not the actual letter), but there has been no indication that the FCC gives a crap about consumers, so I wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Here's hoping the tuning resolver dongle will be out soon so that CableCard devices can talk to the head in and do SDV. In the meantime TWC is getting the minimum amount of money from me (I get just analog cable from them and HD OTA), and with the TiVo/DirecTV relationship rumored to be getting better, I might just be switching back to DirecTV if/when a new MPEG4 compatible TiVo comes out.

Of course wouldn't it be dandy if satellite providers had to abide by the same rules as cable providers (and both actually had to follow them)? Then I could keep my equipment and pick the content provider with the best service for my needs.

NBC17ENG

10-12-07, 08:02 AM

drewwho

10-12-07, 09:32 AM

It appears the raster is centered a few scan lines down and to the right. Do you have horizontal and vertical position adjustments? I've never seen this one and I watch OTA at home on an 65" RCA DLP and at work on a 32" Sony Vega on TWC.

It looks like the active picture needs to move up and to the left a few scanlines.

The problem is on the broadcast or network end, not the TV. I just played the first few minutes of last night's "office" in a window on my desktop (captured OTA from NBC17), and it shows the yellow line that the original poster is complaining about. I normally never see it either, since my HDTV is a CRT and has a *huge* amount of overscan.

See the linked screenshot of a freeze frame. I captured just a small snippet, but the line goes from the top to the bottom of the screen. See http://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/office.jpg

Drew

SugarBowl

10-12-07, 10:32 AM

From my perspective it certainly violates the spirit of the FCC regulations (if not the actual letter), but there has been no indication that the FCC gives a crap about consumers, so I wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Here's hoping the tuning resolver dongle will be out soon so that CableCard devices can talk to the head in and do SDV. In the meantime TWC is getting the minimum amount of money from me (I get just analog cable from them and HD OTA), and with the TiVo/DirecTV relationship rumored to be getting better, I might just be switching back to DirecTV if/when a new MPEG4 compatible TiVo comes out.

Of course wouldn't it be dandy if satellite providers had to abide by the same rules as cable providers (and both actually had to follow them)? Then I could keep my equipment and pick the content provider with the best service for my needs.

My wife did a survery online the other day about HDTV's and they were specifically asking about a Panasonic DirectConnect line of televisions. There were exact questions about "Would you buy this TV if you didn't have to have a cablebox" and "would you buy this Tv with an integrated two-tuner dvr". It also specifically mentioned 2-way technology in talking with the cablo co. It never mentioned cablecards, but i would have to think this is OCAP?

I googled panasonic directconnect but couldn't find anything. The survey said there was a 42" plasma version that would retail at $1499 and a 50" for $1999. And they mentioned $200 extra for the integrated DVR.

meanieme

10-12-07, 12:08 PM

first thing i looked for was if my tv had some kinda of horizontal adjustment, then i would just have to move it to the left a little bit...but alas my tv does not have such a capability

but glad to see now it's not the tv and others have seen it as well

posg

10-12-07, 02:19 PM

hi folks I just bought a new LCD TV woo hoo a step up from my old CRT
i get a lot of channels but there are a couple of channels where there's some weird problems

NBC 17.1HD - I have a permanent yellow vertical line down the leftmost side of the screen

ABC11.1HD - I have a static horizontal line on the topmost side of the screen

all other channels are fine with no problems

i'm worried if this has to do with my TV and I need to return it or just the HD reception. Has anyone experienced these problems?

I'm located in Apex btw.

Simple answer:

You have your TV in what Sony calls "Full Pixel" mode. Other brands may call it something else. Adjust setting in "Display Area" to "Normal" and you have slight overscan but no junk on the sides.

You are seeing stuff that's outside the normal safety display area of a TV transmission. There is nothing wrong with your TV.

You will also see vertical blanking telemetry on most SD channels at the top of the screen.

(Full Pixel mode only works with a 1080i/p input signal)

Gastric

10-12-07, 09:03 PM

Is this site still up to date with the HD channels available via QAM when connected to TimeWarner cable? this wonderful site maintained by Erik Garci -
Unencrypted Digital TV Channels in Durham, NC (http://home1.gte.net/res18h39/channels.htm)

Erik Garci

10-12-07, 10:37 PM

Is this site still up to date with the HD channels available via QAM when connected to TimeWarner cable?
Yes. I updated it just last week, which is mentioned at the very bottom of the page.

Gastric

10-13-07, 08:45 AM

Yes. I updated it just last week, which is mentioned at the very bottom of the page.

Liar! You added that date stamp after I posted this here and I have the screenshots to prove it! :p

I'm totally joking. But I swear I looked for some sort of update stamp on the page and couldn't find it. Must have been on the back of the shelf near that ketchup bottle I can never find. ;)

dave_ral

10-15-07, 08:11 PM

Uhhh.... so I just went in my DVR list and saw that apparently before last Tuesday, all of my shows are gone. I have one of the dreaded new Navigator boxes. I don't know if they did an update last week or what. I'm so sick of these crappy boxes. Anyone else have any issues?

I also am having all kinds of problems. I had one of the old HD DVRs and the RF front end went bad, and we went down to the Atlantic Ave office and just swapped for a new one and they gave us one of these new boxes. Similar issues, shows not recording, shows disappearing, even the rewind live programming (the buttons are currently not active or some such nonsense). Other than the cost, I like TWC...picture quality is OK, etc. but this is driving me mad. I've had such poor experience with the folks on the phone, I won't call because I know I'll get somebody who is reading from some script (why don't they just outsource this to India, or just not answer the phone)?

Anybody got any tips on how to get to someone knowledgable at TWC? I spend a bunch of money every month with these guys, and this just stinks. If I miss one more Grey's Anatomy....well, let's just say Momma ain't happy.