coming to Greensboro.. hope it says on that side of the state...

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090331_726397.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

Not good for those of us trying internet based TV services..

ODN 3.1.1_3 arrives.

Cons:

AXIOM diagnostics are not accessible. This can hamper people who are trying to judge whether there is room to add a splitter or an amplifier.


Hold down Vol + and INFO....

coming to Greensboro.. hope it says on that side of the state...

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090331_726397.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

Not good for those of us trying internet based TV services..

That explains the sudden burst of download speed. TWC want you to be initially so thrilled by the ease with which it takes to download large files now, that you'll be more inclined to get more and more content delivered over the internet.

And while you are enthusiastically downloading HD trailers and internet TV and video, TWC are rubbing their hands with glee while watching you fly past the pitiful 5-40GB cap as you rack up the charges on your bill.

That explains the sudden burst of download speed. TWC want you to be initially so thrilled by the ease with which it takes to download large files now, that you'll be more inclined to get more and more content delivered over the internet.

And while you are enthusiastically downloading HD trailers and internet TV and video, TWC are rubbing their hands with glee while watching you fly past the pitiful 5-40GB cap as you rack up the charges on your bill.

Looks like it might be time to downgrade to DSL. I'll take the slower speed if they're not going to screw me on caps.

coming to Greensboro.. hope it says on that side of the state...

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090331_726397.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

Not good for those of us trying internet based TV services..

That's unbelievable, if I'm reading that article right their cap is at 40GB and then $1 overage charge per extra GB. This is going to seriously stifle the whole download/streaming way we are heading for. I mean seriously Time Warner, 40GB? You hit that after a few movies. If they try to implement that here I will be running as far away as possible from them. This doesn't surprise me at all though, instead of upgrading their network, they just force everyone to use less. I don't see how this is going to fly. I predict massive consumer outrage.

That's unbelievable, if I'm reading that article right their cap is at 40GB and then $1 overage charge per extra GB. This is going to seriously stifle the whole download/streaming way we are heading for. I mean seriously Time Warner, 40GB?

That's an improvement. The max cap they were using previously was 20GB.

That's about 4 HD movie downloads per month and no room for anything else.

They can do what they like here. The only alternative is DSL. If you're lucky you'll be at a reasonable distance to get 5-6mb down. And that's the best you can do. And if AT&T start capping then Raleigh may as well just kiss any form of online HD goodbye.

There is still U-Verse. It's like what, $65 a month for 18/1.5 service?

But seriously think about it. I really doubt these companies will be able to get away with this as a nationwide roll out. There would be such a huge public backlash. What about all those people who have unsecured networks? Most people I know don't know how to secure their router, there are like 10 open networks I can connect to around my house. If I were to connect to their network and download movies, they could be charged hundreds if not thousands in overage fees. I think the whole idea of capped internet is ridiculous. What's next, you can only watch cable 20 hours a week? :rolleyes:

...What's next, you can only watch cable 20 hours a week? :rolleyes:

While I'd hate the caps as much as the next streaming video aficionado, that's really apples and oranges since they're perfectly happy if you watch either analog or regular digital cable TV 24/365.

Their video on demand programming is pay per view. Let's not pretend, smileys not withstanding, to be shocked that they'd prefer that we use their VoD service to get, you know, video on demand. I realize VoD and IP service aren't exactly the same under the covers, but they're a lot more comparable than IP service and watching simple cable TV.

There is still U-Verse. It's like what, $65 a month for 18/1.5 service?

But seriously think about it. I really doubt these companies will be able to get away with this as a nationwide roll out. There would be such a huge public backlash.

They aren't doing it nationwide. They are only targeting areas that don't have viable competitors i.e. FiOS. U-verse is barely out of the womb here, by the time it covers the entirety of the current TWC Raleigh market they could have had bandwidth caps in place for a long time.

If U-verse expands to cover the whole area within a year then I could see us avoiding those TWC caps. But I don't see U-verse extending that far that quickly.

I know they aren't doing it nationwide, but isn't the point that they are starting small, with the eventual goal to force it on everyone? How are they supposed to sell Road Runner Turbo to you for $10 extra a month, when you can't even take advantage of the extra speed to get more content?

Some of the comments on Engadget are pretty funny.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/01/twc-moves-consumption-based-internet-billing-to-more-markets/

I know they aren't doing it nationwide, but isn't the point that they are starting small, with the eventual goal to force it on everyone? How are they supposed to sell Road Runner Turbo to you for $10 extra a month, when you can't even take advantage of the extra speed to get more content?

Some of the comments on Engadget are pretty funny.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/01/twc-moves-consumption-based-internet-billing-to-more-markets/

I don't think U-verse has made it to Morrisville yet, but I will hop on DSL to avoid this cap crap (if it happens here). We watch 4-5 netflix movies a week (streaming) plus my kids and their xbox live.

I also think this "pricelock" crap TWC is pulling now is a joke...they boast about "no contracts" but that's what you "lock" into to get lower pricing. They will continue to act like a monopolistic bully until someone gets in and challenges them. I feel great getting rid of cable and their phone service and now they are looking for a way to get back in my wallet. :eek:

I know they aren't doing it nationwide, but isn't the point that they are starting small, with the eventual goal to force it on everyone?

Any area which has unlimited capacity offerings from a competitor offering the same speeds will make their service uncompetitive and pretty much hand their business to someone else. That's why they are avoiding those markets now and will probably do so forever.

There's a good commentary on this over at DSLreports.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Expands-Metered-Billing-101655

If they try and pull this, they need to spend a month or two telling us what our bandwidth usage has been to help us prep and decide on a plan. Placing a cap and adding overages without you knowing how much you're using beforehand is pretty nefarious.

I also want to see them improving the throughput and latency for gaming, perhaps with DOCSIS 3.0.

Otherwise, yes I'm looking hard at U-Verse once it hits my area in Cary.

Otherwise, yes I'm looking hard at U-Verse once it hits my area in Cary.

Has anyone heard whether or not U-Verse will expand to areas not typically serviced by AT&T for phone? Holly Springs, for example, is primarily Embarq territory for land-lines, so I didn't know if that would preclude U-Verse from coming to that area. If not, I would be limited to satellite or OTA-only, and my lot doesn't lend itself well to putting a dish up.

Has anyone heard whether or not U-Verse will expand to areas not typically serviced by AT&T for phone? Holly Springs, for example, is primarily Embarq territory for land-lines, so I didn't know if that would preclude U-Verse from coming to that area. If not, I would be limited to satellite or OTA-only, and my lot doesn't lend itself well to putting a dish up.

Nope. I'm Durham and I wish that AT&T had a franchise agreement in Durham. I have Verizon DSL but the download speed offered in my area of Durham is slower that was AT&T offers and what Verizon offers in other areas of Durham.

Looks like it might be time to downgrade to DSL. I'll take the slower speed if they're not going to screw me on caps.

Speaking of DSL, this whole bandwidth cap thing has made me look around. Bell South's best offering in my area of Cary seems to be 6Mbs down / 512Kbs up. I work from home, and often upload fairly large files, which is painful with RR, and would be almost as bad with Bell South's 512Kbs upload speed. Does anybody have a pointer to local ISPs who offer more upload bandwidth?

Drew

If you can get Uverse, it has a plan that has 18mbs down and 1.5 up.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/443393263.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

If you can get Uverse, it has a plan that has 18mbs down and 1.5 up.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/443393263.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Wow, 1.5 up sounds awesome. But, according to their web page, U-Verse is not available for me yet.

Drew

Any area which has unlimited capacity offerings from a competitor offering the same speeds will make their service uncompetitive and pretty much hand their business to someone else. That's why they are avoiding those markets now and will probably do so forever.

There's a good commentary on this over at DSLreports.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Time-Warner-Cable-Expands-Metered-Billing-101655

What's to stop ATT and the other companies from also capping? Comcast already caps at 250GB. Seems like they could all just collude and try to screw everyone over.

Has anyone heard whether or not U-Verse will expand to areas not typically serviced by AT&T for phone? Holly Springs, for example, is primarily Embarq territory for land-lines, so I didn't know if that would preclude U-Verse from coming to that area. If not, I would be limited to satellite or OTA-only, and my lot doesn't lend itself well to putting a dish up.

So in Holly Springs it's either Time Warner or Embarq for internet?

I just looked at their website and it says they offer 10/896k speed for $74.90 with local phone included. Road Runner Turbo is about $59 standalone for 10/512 speed. So for $15 more you get double the upload speed. Not terrible I guess. I know U-Verse charges $65 for 18/1.5 service which is the best deal of all.

Does anyone have/had Embarq dsl? I've never personally had dsl but from what I remember reading it doesn't suffer the slowdown problems of Road Runner because you aren't really sharing your connection right?

Double edit: Do you have to get phone service with dsl? They list the price as being $55 for the 10/896 service, but then when I go to customize the package I can't seem to get rid of the local phone option.

So in Holly Springs it's either Time Warner or Embarq for internet?

It is for Youngsville / Wake Forest.

What's to stop ATT and the other companies from also capping? Comcast already caps at 250GB. Seems like they could all just collude and try to screw everyone over.

Read the article, they bring up that point.

So in Holly Springs it's either Time Warner or Embarq for internet?

Yep, as far as I know. I'd love to know some alternatives, if any (aside from moving elsewhere, that is). I just checked if U-Verse was available, and considering that it couldn't even locate Holly Springs, I would say that's a big "no!"

(Moderately back on-topic, as HD is available through U-Verse... :) )

A little bird told me that one could find This on 50-3...

- Trip

The interesting thing is that they seem to have actually given more bandwidth to 50-1 in the last month or so. Fox primetime used to be ~5GB/hr and now it is closer to 6GB/hour. Here are some recordings of the same series from 50-1 over the last few weeks:


% ls -lt /var/media/tv/LietoMe-*.mpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 sagetv sagetv 5912840192 Apr 1 21:00 /var/media/tv/LietoMe-DepravedHeart-652403-0.mpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 sagetv sagetv 5933772800 Mar 18 21:00 /var/media/tv/LietoMe-TheBestPolicy-628656-0.mpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 sagetv sagetv 5736689664 Mar 11 20:59 /var/media/tv/LietoMe-DoNoHarm-620173-0.mpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 sagetv sagetv 4800284672 Mar 4 22:00 /var/media/tv/LietoMe-Unchained-613013-0.mpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 sagetv sagetv 4941811712 Feb 18 22:00 /var/media/tv/LietoMe-LoveAlways-596403-0.mpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 sagetv sagetv 4722948096 Feb 4 21:59 /var/media/tv/LietoMe-APerfectScore-580779-0.mpg


Maybe it is the placebo affect, but FOX HD programming looks substantially better to me.

Drew

Internet usage has become an integral necessity of everyday life. While the US lags far behind many other nations in internet usage, access, and affordability, in today's economic times it seems extremely unpatriotic to exploit our internet addiction. The end game for the cable companies is to stop "on line" video delivery options in their tracks before they gain enough traction to erode cable TV video revenue, PERIOD.

With the risk of sounding political, this is, in my opinion, a situation where some government regulation is in order.

TWC is required to carry EarthLink over their lines, right? I wonder if EarthLink would have the same caps that TWC is considering for roadrunner.

I know that EarthLink still offered access to newsgroups after that feature was dropped on roadrunner (not sure if they still do, though).

Internet usage has become an integral necessity of everyday life. While the US lags far behind many other nations in internet usage, access, and affordability, in today's economic times it seems extremely unpatriotic to exploit our internet addiction. The end game for the cable companies is to stop "on line" video delivery options in their tracks before they gain enough traction to erode cable TV video revenue, PERIOD.

With the risk of sounding political, this is, in my opinion, a situation where some government regulation is in order.
I 100% agree with your reason, even the fact that only the government can really impact this.
I recently got Directv as you know and their VOD is delivered via the internet which works remarkably well. There should be some pretty big lobbyist on the other side of cable on this one. This will also effect the whole push to cloud computing, online media storage, online backups, video games, netflix and itunes streaming and the list goes on. I can see this being a fight not only between consumers and isp's but the consumers may have the Apples, Microsofts, Googles, Amazons and other big players fight the legal battle for us. Of course for them to get involved they may wait until they actually see the dip financially.

TWC is required to carry EarthLink over their lines, right? I wonder if EarthLink would have the same caps that TWC is considering for roadrunner.

I know that EarthLink still offered access to newsgroups after that feature was dropped on roadrunner (not sure if they still do, though).
Not to get to philosophical but I guess, we won't know until we know.
I jumped on Earthlink for the newsgroups and the deep discount. I was pretty disappointed when I found out TWC was still handling the billing. :(

I 100% agree with your reason, even the fact that only the government can really impact this.
I recently got Directv as you know and their VOD is delivered via the internet which works remarkably well. There should be some pretty big lobbyist on the other side of cable on this one. This will also effect the whole push to cloud computing, online media storage, online backups, video games, netflix and itunes streaming and the list goes on. I can see this being a fight not only between consumers and isp's but the consumers may have the Apples, Microsofts, Googles, Amazons and other big players fight the legal battle for us. Of course for them to get involved they may wait until they actually see the dip financially.

Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but this is exactly why government regulation is a necessary evil, because greedy corporate bastards are an even bigger evil.:D

Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but this is exactly why government regulation is a necessary evil, because greedy corporate bastards are an even bigger evil.:D
Alright you couldn't just let me agree with you. :D
The free market would work if we were talking about an industry that had true competition. We have gone round and round on cable being a monopoly or duopoly or just a pain in the @$$. But the truth is TWC or any cable company that has a carved out plot of land that no other cable provider dare tresspass on can do as they please. If the telcos can offer the speed of cable and both lines (fiber and coax) get opened up to any provider we might just see a the free market fix this as well. But yes that will take the biggest evil of all uncle sam.

AT&T just buried fiber optic in our neighborhood last week. (Cary near Cary Parkway and Tryon Road) U-Verse may be on its way...

Alright you couldn't just let me agree with you. :D
The free market would work if we were talking about an industry that had true competition. We have gone round and round on cable being a monopoly or duopoly or just a pain in the @$$. But the truth is TWC or any cable company that has a carved out plot of land that no other cable provider dare tresspass on can do as they please. If the telcos can offer the speed of cable and both lines (fiber and coax) get opened up to any provider we might just see a the free market fix this as well. But yes that will take the biggest evil of all uncle sam.

The free marketplace model, for better or worse, just became extinct, or at best, is on life support. We now have the government/taxpayer subsidized marketplace due to the reckless irresponsibility of the custodians of the so called free marketplace. Be prepared to pay more and get less. It was only a matter of time.;)

The free marketplace model, for better or worse, just became extinct, or at best, is on life support. We now have the government/taxpayer subsidized marketplace due to the reckless irresponsibility of the custodians of the so called free marketplace. Be prepared to pay more and get less. It was only a matter of time.;)
The ship is off course and sadly needs righting (pun intended).
But I believe the break down in the free market started when the government wanted to make home owners out of people that couldn't afford homes. Someone creates a pie chart that makes a group or class look disenfranchised and a new law (for the children) is born.
I believe TWC is a monopoly. If a good percentage of the population has NO other choice (renters, no LOS, strict HOAs, upfront expense, aesthetics) than to use TWC, the only answer is the government opening up the lines and or subsidize a fiber or other competitor until there is competition. Now here Earthlink is offered (I have it) but my bill is thru RR so I am pretty sure this means the lines here are not a free for all with the competition that comes with.
As far as what the future holds we will probably see what other Cities are seeing, a Internet utility via public works. :(

The ship is off course and sadly needs righting (pun intended).
But I believe the break down in the free market started when the government wanted to make home owners out of people that couldn't afford homes. Someone creates a pie chart that makes a group or class look disenfranchised and a new law (for the children) is born.
I believe TWC is a monopoly. If a good percentage of the population has NO other choice (renters, no LOS, strict HOAs, upfront expense, aesthetics) than to use TWC, the only answer is the government opening up the lines and or subsidize a fiber or other competitor until there is competition. Now here Earthlink is offered (I have it) but my bill is thru RR so I am pretty sure this means the lines here are not a free for all with the competition that comes with.
As far as what the future holds we will probably see what other Cities are seeing, a Internet utility via public works. :(

Locally, Time Warner has probably around 25% (less nationally according to D* and E*) of the video market to themselves for the reasons you indicate. The other 75% has two or even three other video providers to choose from. A monopoly exists when the vast majority of potential users have no other options.

TWC competes with AT&T for phone. There are at least a couple of alternate options for data. I can rent a PPV movie from Amazon or ITunes as well as OnDemand. They compete with Lodgenet and others for commercial video accounts.

They are fighting for dollars in the marketplace on several fronts. They do not have a monopoly by any definition of the word.

Soon Uverse may be a viable contender. So when D*, E*, and U* collectively have more subscribers that TWC, will you then concede TWC is not a monopoly, or will it only be when every bloody tree is cut to the ground?:D

They do not have a monopoly by any definition of the word.

We left the triangle for 2 years a while back, and lived in the middle of nowhere in Ohio while my wife tried out being a college professor. The small town in the middle of nowhere had exactly one option for cable TV and high speed internet access: TWC. Similarly, I'm sure there are areas locally where TWC is the only option for high speed internet or TV. That's my definition of a monopoly.

I think it is totally wrong for private companies to own public infrastructure. I think the cable, fiber, etc, lines should be owned and maintained by municipalities, and leased to many providers.

My personal take on the whole bailout thing is that it was predicated by huge (too big to fail) corporations with vastly overpaid executives with lousy incentives. The whole thing could have been prevented by capping maximum compensation (to fix the overpaid exec problem), and by putting a cap on the size of corporations (to fix the too big to fail).

OK.. maybe we can talk about local HDTV for a while: Anybody else notice that WTVD is now doing HD Crawls too?

Drew

OK.. maybe we can talk about local HDTV for a while: Anybody else notice that WTVD is now doing HD Crawls too?

I haven't, but I did notice FXHD and that's a welcome addition.

At long last I'm pretty content with the TWC HD lineup. What I'm not impressed with is some of these new channels look like over-compressed crap.

Sorry to derail back to internet connectivity, but...

I'm the one with the neighborhood node saturation problem. I'm waiting for my DSL 'service ready date' with Verizon since the local TWC coordinator stopped returning my calls.

Tonight I noticed my speedtests jumped to 8mb or so (I am on the 7mb cap), but my gaming latency to WoW is at its usual primetime 400-500ms [geek note: Heigan at 500ms sucks]. Usually when the latency is that bad, our download speeds are also in the toilet. I am wondering if this means I'll see much higher speed tests tomorrow during non-primetime (when latency will also be typical <100ms for gaming).

Anyway, this brought up the download caps in Greensboro as a topic of conversation with a friend, we also wondered if this speed increase was ahead of the caps. We are both users who would probably exceed 40gb.

I thought I remembered though, in prior news coverage of TWCs cap thing, isn't this only going to apply to NEW customers? I'm definitely interested to know because it'll mean I really ought to keep my TWC cable going even if we have to use DSL until time warner decides to fix my node.

I do understand that caps in RTP are not guaranteed just yet.

Sorry to derail back to internet connectivity, but...

I'm the one with the neighborhood node saturation problem. I'm waiting for my DSL 'service ready date' with Verizon since the local TWC coordinator stopped returning my calls.

Tonight I noticed my speedtests jumped to 8mb or so (I am on the 7mb cap), but my gaming latency to WoW is at its usual primetime 400-500ms [geek note: Heigan at 500ms sucks]. Usually when the latency is that bad, our download speeds are also in the toilet. I am wondering if this means I'll see much higher speed tests tomorrow during non-primetime (when latency will also be typical <100ms for gaming).

Anyway, this brought up the download caps in Greensboro as a topic of conversation with a friend, we also wondered if this speed increase was ahead of the caps. We are both users who would probably exceed 40gb.

I thought I remembered though, in prior news coverage of TWCs cap thing, isn't this only going to apply to NEW customers? I'm definitely interested to know because it'll mean I really ought to keep my TWC cable going even if we have to use DSL until time warner decides to fix my node.

I do understand that caps in RTP are not guaranteed just yet.

My downstream connection speed has been bumped up to about 10,000 kbps, but there is still much higher response latency than with my much slower non-RR connection at work.

As far as node saturation, that is one reason why TWC must be rolling out HD in spoonfuls so that they can address these issues as they occur. The correction involves reinforcing fiber feeds to the nodes and subdividing them into smaller subscriber counts. Simple solution but takes time and money.

My biggest gripe with RR lately is that much of my traffic (including AVS) seems to be being routed through a UK server, causing the banner ads to have UK content. The big issue is that i cannot access streaming video from several US sites because they see me as "out of country". According to tech support this is a known issue, but two weeks, come on guys.

The cap situation is alarming. I don't think we'll go down without a fight.:mad:

The cap situation is alarming. I don't think we'll go down without a fight.:mad:

There is one way to avoid the cap and that's to get a business class line. They are not planning to control that content.

But just in case you think it's a gateway to HD online heaven, the speeds are not the same as consumer class and the tiers are higher priced.

AT&T just buried fiber optic in our neighborhood last week. (Cary near Cary Parkway and Tryon Road) U-Verse may be on its way...

Hopefully they will get moving on it but don;t get your hopes up. I live in Morrisville in a relatively new neighborhood (heck what around her eis not pretty new) with Fiber running right to a box in front of my house and I can;t even get 6.0 from ATT, just 3.0.

As far as caps go, at least Comcasts 250 gig caps takes a little effort to reach. The stuff TWC is talking about is crazy low.





WRAL: PLEASE FIX THE STUPID AUDIO. I am tired of missing dialog from shows.



.

I think the color is off on WRAL as well. Ever since last night everything has a blue tint to it, more of Carolina Blue. :D

Well, my first issue with the SDV. Trying to watch the Red Sox opener on the extra innings preview...switched off for a second, now it's telling me that it's not available, try again later. Ridiculous.

I subscribe to TWC's "Standard service" in Durham, i.e. no set-top box. My TV has "TV Guide Onscreen", which is a menu-style system picked up off of the cable. I'm not talking about the channel that scrolls through show listings while an infomercial plays, this is similar to the menu that the set-top-box gives, only it's built right into the TV.

Since Thursday 4/2 the guide has been missing data for most of the channels. The display says "no listing" instead of the normal program. It isn't all the channels, just most of them. Has anyone else noticed a problem?

Last night, WRAL had a useful DTV crawl where they announced the exact time that they were shutting off analog (1pm, June 12) and they announced the new frequency they're going to move to (48), and reminded people they'd need to do a channel rescan.

I was very impressed.

Drew

Last night, WRAL had a useful DTV crawl where they announced the exact time that they were shutting off analog (1pm, June 12) and they announced the new frequency they're going to move to (48), and reminded people they'd need to do a channel rescan.

I was very impressed.

Drew

They showed it on Sunday too, maybe saturday as well. It's usually displayed on the evening primetime programming.

Looks like Universal Sports is now available on 17-2...

- Trip

Last night, WRAL had a useful DTV crawl where they announced the exact time that they were shutting off analog (1pm, June 12) and they announced the new frequency they're going to move to (48), and reminded people they'd need to do a channel rescan.

I was very impressed.

Drew

I know lots of people south and east are anxious to be able to view WRAL OTA again.

They showed it on Sunday too, maybe saturday as well. It's usually displayed on the evening primetime programming.

Cool. I didn't watch much on WRAL over the weekend (my team was not in the finals, sniff..).

FWIW, I think they also played with their encoder some. A show ("The Mentalist") which used to always be about 6.7GB was 6.1GB last night. It looked mostly OK, but there was one scene where they were panning the background as the characters walked along a pool that was quite jerky.

Drew

I know lots of people south and east are anxious to be able to view WRAL OTA again.

My dad is itching to get WRAL's OTA once again in Kinston. He's glad that he can get WRAZ for the 10 p.m. News, though.

I subscribe to TWC's "Standard service" in Durham, i.e. no set-top box. My TV has "TV Guide Onscreen", which is a menu-style system picked up off of the cable. I'm not talking about the channel that scrolls through show listings while an infomercial plays, this is similar to the menu that the set-top-box gives, only it's built right into the TV.

Since Thursday 4/2 the guide has been missing data for most of the channels. The display says "no listing" instead of the normal program. It isn't all the channels, just most of them. Has anyone else noticed a problem?

Have you tried rescanning? Channels seem to be bouncing around every month at the moment.

Looks like Universal Sports is now available on 17-2...

- Trip

Yes indeedy, I was pleasantly surprised when I did a search for "cycling" in my DVR guide and saw several items show up on 17-2. There did seem to be a hiccup on Monday 4/6 (perhaps the first day of the new programming schedule?) where instead of Stage 1 of the Tour of the Basque Country race, all I got was soap operas. I think they've got it straightened out now though.

The content does look a bit overcompressed though--but maybe it's the source material, we'll see.

Because it's very motion-intensive, it apparently looks compressed everywhere as they try to balance the SD sports channel with whatever's on the HD. It doesn't help that they have weather on 17-3...

- Trip

Off topic, but everyone in Raleigh who has RoadRunner, reboot your modems. The new standard speed is 10Mbps, up from 7Mbps.

Off topic, but everyone in Raleigh who has RoadRunner, reboot your modems. The new standard speed is 10Mbps, up from 7Mbps.

Excellent news. Now, did they happen to increase the upload speed any? (That's really what I'm waiting for)

Excellent news. Now, did they happen to increase the upload speed any? (That's really what I'm waiting for)

My upload speed is same around 360k but download is running 12M.

Off topic, but everyone in Raleigh who has RoadRunner, reboot your modems. The new standard speed is 10Mbps, up from 7Mbps.

If that's the new standard, they haven't said squat to me about the extra 10 a month I'm paying to be at 10 from 7....Looks like I need to contact them.

According to their site (after putting my zip in) it shows 7 is the standard, 10 for Turbo. I know I was getting 9.3 this morning which was normal for me on Turbo.

Off topic, but everyone in Raleigh who has RoadRunner, reboot your modems. The new standard speed is 10Mbps, up from 7Mbps.

At least in Cary, I'm still capped at 7. The most I see is 6.85 on test I care to run, even after a reboot.

Drew

Because it's very motion-intensive, it apparently looks compressed everywhere as they try to balance the SD sports channel with whatever's on the HD. It doesn't help that they have weather on 17-3...

At least they don't still have an SD mirror of the 17-1 content on 17-2. I removed 17-2 from my lineup, to keep recordings from being inadvertently scheduled on 17-2 and looking like a webcam video. It is nice that Universal sports has replaced the SD mirror, and thank you for letting us know. Otherwise, I wouldn't have noticed until the big rescan in June.

Drew

If that's the new standard, they haven't said squat to me about the extra 10 a month I'm paying to be at 10 from 7....Looks like I need to contact them.

According to their site (after putting my zip in) it shows 7 is the standard, 10 for Turbo. I know I was getting 9.3 this morning which was normal for me on Turbo.

Got home.. did speedtest.. had 6.8Mbps.

Unplugged modem, replugged, had 10.1Mbps.

Hope its not just some kind of buffering trick and actual sustained bandwidth..

it's a trick, don't let them get you!

They want you to take advantage of the speed to download more and more then they can justify capping you because you are stealing all their capacity.;)

Got home.. did speedtest.. had 6.8Mbps.

Unplugged modem, replugged, had 10.1Mbps.

Hope its not just some kind of buffering trick and actual sustained bandwidth..

I saw similar results here as well (West Cary). Unfortunately, like sjay said, the upload speed has not changed. :mad:

I rebooted and the twc speed test shows 13158kbps down, 366kbps up. So about 2x faster down, same up.

EDIT: well that was short lived. I re-ran the test and now it's 11114kbps down. I guess it's very bursty, starting out around 20000kbps then slowing down quite a bit.

Unplugged modem, replugged, had 10.1Mbps.


I'm so jealous. I'm still stuck at 6.8.

Drew

More info on the TWC data caps: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/Time-Warner-to-Offer-150-Unlimited-Bandwidth-668524/

TWC is going to have this massively backfire... they won't need to cap after all the customers switch to other providers.

Opposition website: http://stopthecap.com/

More info on the TWC data caps: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/Time-Warner-to-Offer-150-Unlimited-Bandwidth-668524/

TWC is going to have this massively backfire... they won't need to cap after all the customers switch to other providers.

Opposition website: http://stopthecap.com/

There was a ton of backlash on Twitter after the original announcement. Then, @jeffTWC (http://twitter.com/JeffTWC) and @MsmarTWC (http://twitter.com/MsmarTWC) insinuated that a big announcement was coming that would make things all better. Turns out it was just the "Unlimited" tier for $150 / month mentioned in the above article.

<sarcasm>Yeah, I'm super happy about a >300% price increase for the same service I get now!</sarcasm> U-verse can't come fast enough for me...

I unplugged the modem for about a minute, retested and got 6.74Mb/s. I'm in northeast Raleigh near Triangle Town Center. Hope this speed increase will work it's way to my side of town.

Mildly related to the caps: I ordered a self-install kit for Verizon DSL (quick recap, I have a saturated TWC node and have for months and cannot get resolution). Had the DSL up and running within about 5 business days. Speeds as advertised (3mb/768up), my gaming pings back to normal, etc. I know this is not very desirable esp. with the talk of people getting 10mb connections right now, but...no fear of caps, or at least not yet. The install was pretty painless, no contract, and did not have to fight for a dry loop.

Turns out it was just the "Unlimited" tier for $150 / month mentioned in the above article.

I think that's called business class. Or at least that's about the price of a business class account. I think I'll just poke along a 3mb on DSL and hope FIOS or something else comes along some day.

At least in Cary, I'm still capped at 7. The most I see is 6.85 on test I care to run, even after a reboot.

Drew
Same results here in Cary between Crossroads Shopping Center and Cary Towne Center Mall. :(
It could be worse, I could be one of my neighbors. :D

I live in Wake Forest and now I am getting between 9mbs and 13mbs. It seems to vary quite a bit depending on with speedtest.net server and during repeated tests.

I posted about the drastic speed increase I was seeing 2 weeks ago. Seems like it might actually be happening.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16162799#post16162799

http://www.speedtest.net/result/441512569.png

This is not going to end well for Time Warner.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/04/10/time-warner-cable-lays-out-broadband-capping-plans-says-150-fo/

Time Warner Cable lays out broadband capping plans, says $150 for "unlimited" use

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 10th 2009 at 10:27AM
In a move seemingly designed to further our frustrations with broadband providers, Time Warner Cable has soft-announced an "unlimited" package once its new data caps go into place... for an affordable $150 monthly charge. Responding to criticism over the company's plans to start capping usage and charging for overages, Landel Hobbs clarified the provider's stance, letting users know that the capping would be limited to a $75 ceiling, thus (when paired with its top tier plan) would provide "virtually unlimited" usage. Virtually unlimited. Here's a rundown of what the COO proposes:

* A limited package for "light users" at 1GB / monthly, 768KB down / 128KB up, with overage charges of $2 / GB / month.
* Road Runner Lite, Basic, Standard, and Turbo packages at 10GB / 20GB / 40GB / and 60GB caps, respectively, and overage charges at $1 / GB / month.
* A big daddy, 100GB Turbo package at $75 / month with overage fees of $1 / GB, which, when coupled with that magic threshold of $75 in charges, becomes the "unlimited" plan.


We only have two questions, guys. First, how will you let end users know they're hitting caps? Right now there's no centralized solution for monitoring bandwidth. Even cell phones show minutes used, so will you give us the infrastructure for broadband monitoring? Secondly -- instead of giving users a "virtually" unlimited package, why not just sell an unlimited package at $150 a month? The impression we get is that you want to leave the door open for aggressive users, and that your capping of capping charges might be a moving target in the right situation.

Is this how cable companies will "fight back" against people that download video content for free vs. paying for cable TV service?

As long as OTA remains available, it will be difficult to put a cap on that.

The cable industry is protected from Federal regulation until 70% of all viewers subscribe to cable TV? Considering the regulations on broadcasters for roughly 15% of viewers (OTA), this doesn't make any sense to me. Satellite seems to be doing cable TV a favor in this regard, by taking away enough subscribers to make sure the 70% figure is never reached.

I unplugged the modem for about a minute, retested and got 6.74Mb/s. I'm in northeast Raleigh near Triangle Town Center. Hope this speed increase will work it's way to my side of town.

Same thing here in Holly Springs; no increase this way quite yet.

I posted about the drastic speed increase I was seeing 2 weeks ago. Seems like it might actually be happening.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16162799#post16162799

http://www.speedtest.net/result/441512569.png


Hmm, interesting. Just checked mine again this morning, and am seeing similar results. (Was only seeing ~10Mb a few days ago.) Perhaps they are rolling out the changes gradually.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/449953037.png

With Windows Vista I get 10Mbps using Firefox, about 4.5Mbps with IE8 and Chrome.

with the increasing number of HD-cable neutral(web-based) alternatives, and the very real threat of bandwidth caps by TWC, perhaps it is time to talk of ISP alternatives to TWC in the RTP area.

can we start getting some good suggestions for alternative ISPs before we are forced to act?

with the increasing number of HD-cable neutral(web-based) alternatives, and the very real threat of bandwidth caps by TWC, perhaps it is time to talk of ISP alternatives to TWC in the RTP area.

can we start getting some good suggestions for alternative ISPs before we are forced to act?

Here's a couple I'm aware of:


Earthlink (http://www.earthlink.net/access/) - They share Time Warner's lines in the RTP area, but no word on if they will implement bandwidth caps here.
AT&T DSL (http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=6431)
AT&T U-Verse (https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do) - For those of us lucky enough to have service in their area already. They are rolling out within the Triangle, starting in Cary.

with the increasing number of HD-cable neutral(web-based) alternatives, and the very real threat of bandwidth caps by TWC, perhaps it is time to talk of ISP alternatives to TWC in the RTP area.

can we start getting some good suggestions for alternative ISPs before we are forced to act?

That would be a good idea. But not here. This is the HDTV thread and we've already derailed it long enough with ISP talk.

http://www.dslreports.com/ is the place to be looking at.

That would be a good idea. But not here. This is the HDTV thread and we've already derailed it long enough with ISP talk.

http://www.dslreports.com/ is the place to be looking at.
I receive my HD-VOD from Directv via Earthlink\RR internet service. I would not have known to reboot my modem if not for this thread (although I didn't get a speed boost yet). I also think Hulu, Netflix Streaming in HD and any other way for those of us in the Raleigh area to receive HD is on topic. With many trying to go exclusively OTA and supplement their TV content via other sources, we would be doing ourselves a disservice not to allow a broader discription for HD in the Raleigh area.
I agree I don't want this thread to turn into an all things ISP (troubleshooting, etc). I do think we can't ignore what TWC knows and that is the Internet is the future conduit to the majority of HD in the future and that includes the Raleigh area.

I agree I don't want this thread to turn into an all things ISP (troubleshooting, etc). I do think we can't ignore what TWC knows and that is the Internet is the future conduit to the majority of HD in the future and that includes the Raleigh area.

And there is already a place to discuss that on AVS. It's a national topic.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=184

We shouldn't let this thread become post after post of ISP speeds.

Here's a couple I'm aware of:


Earthlink (http://www.earthlink.net/access/) - They share Time Warner's lines in the RTP area, but no word on if they will implement bandwidth caps here.
AT&T DSL (http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=6431)
AT&T U-Verse (https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do) - For those of us lucky enough to have service in their area already. They are rolling out within the Triangle, starting in Cary.


I looked at that, and Earthlink is actually cheaper than Road Runner even though it's the same thing.

Earthlink $30 for 6 months intro/$42 after
Road Runner $50

Although for some reason Road Runner Turbo is $60 and $73 on Earthlink. :confused:

And there is already a place to discuss that on AVS. It's a national topic.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=184

We shouldn't let this thread become post after post of ISP speeds.

I don't see what the big deal is. Keeping up to date on U-Verse availability and potential Time Warner caps will help us all. Considering the amount of tv I watch online this basically qualifies me as "Raleigh - HDTV" as it affects how I will get my content.

I don't see what the big deal is. Keeping up to date on U-Verse availability and potential Time Warner caps will help us all. Considering the amount of tv I watch online this basically qualifies me as "Raleigh - HDTV" as it affects how I will get my content.

I agree. This threads sits idle for days. It's nice to see some activity for a change, and I think these discussions are relevant to Raleigh HD.

I'm in favor of letting the broadband stuff play out here for now--this thread is fairly slow and I've never had much luck with regional info on DSLReports (except for a bunch of fake reports about FIOS coming, sigh). With these services increasingly being bundled this is going to continue to come up anyway, even without TWC's current meddling with speeds and caps.

On that note: I've recently had to switch to Verizon DSL because of my eff'd up TWC node, and it was painless (on the alternate-choices topic), and also a friend just sent me this: (I don't immed. have source link)

Time Warner's recently announced plan to expand their broadband transfer caps to new markets drew heavy criticism, which prompted their attempt to smooth things over with a ridiculously expensive "unlimited" plan. That wasn't enough for New York Representative Eric Massa, who now says he will draft legislation to "curb tiers, particularly in areas where a broadband provider owns a monopoly on service." Massa said, "Time Warner believes they can do this in Rochester, NY; Greensboro, NC; and Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and it's almost certainly just a matter of time before they attempt to overcharge all of their customers," adding, "I believe safeguards must be put in place when a business has a monopoly on a specific region."

Has WRAZ changed anything about their transmission recently?

I had lots of short breakups on last night's recordings House and 24 using my "good" tuner, while recordings done from WRAL at the same time using my "bad" (much older, much worse at multipath rejection) were perfect. I'm in Cary, near Evans & Maynard, 17.8 miles from the towers. Of course, the trees are now getting leaves, and I'm worried that one of them is now interfering with WRAZ. But I'd think I'd also have problems with WRAL, since they use the same tower.

One other thought that I had was that with last night's cloud cover, there might have been some "dx-ing" going on. What's the closest UHF station that broadcasts on 49?

Thanks,

Drew

I guess I found out why WRAL might be compressing the signal little more than they used to. THey annonced this venture with CAT buses this morning. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4948031/

According the article, the new ATSC Mobile standard allows broadcasters to allocate some of their bandwidth for mobile services. I don't know if that is an entirely seperate cubchannel or just extra data to allow the mobile receiver to ensure good reception of the actual signal being broadcast seperately.

I appreciate all that WRAL has done for DTV, but I can;t say I like the fact that they are potentially diluting their HDTV broadcasts for this.

I also am still sick and tired of the stupid logo insertion glitch. It is about time they fixed it. Somehow "crappy" stations like WTVD have it figured out, why can't WRAL get it right? I am beyond caring whether this is a CBS national thing or WRAL, I just want to be able to hear the dialog of the show I am watching. Now, I get to miss 5 seconds every time WRAL puts their logo up.

That story makes it sound like they're transmitting it already. I'm unfortunately stuck at school, so I can't turn the antenna at home even though I can remote control my computer, but if the signal gets strong enough to decode off the side of the antenna, I'll attempt to analyze it and see if they've knocked the bandwidth down. With them on that side-mounted antenna, it'll be pretty difficult, but I'll definitely try.

Unless, of course, there is someone in the area who could run TSReader on it. Requires OTA, 32-bit Windows XP or Vista, and a compatible tuner card...

- Trip

That story makes it sound like they're transmitting it already.

I *know* they've knocked the WRAL-HD bandwidth down by about 10% simply by looking at the file size on my recordings. WRAL-HD recordings used to require around 6.8GB/hr, and now use 6.1GB/hr. The change was made sometime in the last week or so. I posted about it last week.

What do we know about the mobile ATSC? Does it at least use MP4 so as to save bandwidth?

Drew

Yes. Each ATSC-M/H "stream" (I guess is the best word) is 0.917 Mbps, but one stream does not necessarily correspond to one video feed. More than one stream can be used for a single video feed in order to bump up error correction.

It runs MPEG-4 at a low resolution that would be used on mobile devices. I forget what resolution it is exactly at the moment.

I've seen exactly one other station test it, and they had 4 ATSC-M/H streams up. It was this ION station in San Francisco:

http://www.rabbitears.info/screencaps/ca-sfo/22644-0_0.htm

All the way at the bottom, note the 0x1eee stream, which TSReader didn't understand. That's the ATSC-M/H part. Divide by 4 and you'll see it comes out to almost exactly the bitrate I specified above.

- Trip

It runs MPEG-4 at a low resolution that would be used on mobile devices. I forget what resolution it is exactly at the moment.


Here's a link sent in a PM to me by a new member (bhawley) who cannot post links yet:
http://www.openmobilevideo.com/about-mobile-dtv/mobile-dtv-101

It is a shame stations cannot broadcast their HD in H.264. It would free up so much bandwidth for things like this.

Drew

Personally, I want a cell phone that will do Mobile DTV but I don't think there'll be one available before my contract comes up next month.

Not that I'm a fan of pulling bandwidth away from the HD, but if the stations are going to do it anyway, I might as well be able to test it out in the middle of nowhere. :)

- Trip

All the way at the bottom, note the 0x1eee stream, which TSReader didn't understand. That's the ATSC-M/H part. Divide by 4 and you'll see it comes out to almost exactly the bitrate I specified above.

Not as nice as your tool, but Linux' dvbtraffic shows the following for WRAL. The 0x1eee stream has slightly less b/w than in your example.

Drew

-PID--FREQ-----BANDWIDTH-BANDWIDTH-
0000 10 p/s 1 kb/s 16 kbit
0030 2 p/s 0 kb/s 4 kbit
0031 8620 p/s 1582 kb/s 12965 kbit
0034 261 p/s 47 kb/s 393 kbit
0040 2 p/s 0 kb/s 4 kbit
0041 1392 p/s 255 kb/s 2093 kbit
0044 131 p/s 24 kb/s 197 kbit
0110 30 p/s 5 kb/s 46 kbit
0111 16 p/s 2 kb/s 25 kbit
0112 0 p/s 0 kb/s 1 kbit
1e00 12 p/s 2 kb/s 19 kbit
1e01 19 p/s 3 kb/s 29 kbit
1e02 18 p/s 3 kb/s 28 kbit
1e03 21 p/s 3 kb/s 32 kbit
1eee 1865 p/s 342 kb/s 2805 kbit
1f00 1 p/s 0 kb/s 2 kbit
1f01 1 p/s 0 kb/s 2 kbit
1f02 0 p/s 0 kb/s 1 kbit
1f03 0 p/s 0 kb/s 1 kbit
1ffb 11 p/s 2 kb/s 17 kbit
1fff 473 p/s 86 kb/s 711 kbit
2000 12901 p/s 2368 kb/s 19403 kbit

They're using three streams instead of four, apparently. 2805/3 = 935. 935/1024 = .913 which is roughly .917 Mbps. Close enough.

Any chance you could capture 60 seconds worth of raw transport stream on it? I know the TSReader guy wants it so he can implement support for it. If you can capture it and get it to me, I can get it to him.

- Trip

For what its worth, I managed to capture a little bit of the 0x1eee stream. None of my players know what to do with it..

Drew

For what its worth, I managed to capture a little bit of the 0x1eee stream. None of my players know what to do with it..

Drew

That's because it's got a bunch of error correction in it. It's something that's going to have to be implemented once people start reading the standards and have sample implementations like this one to go by.

I know the TSReader guy wants to implement it. I was able to send him the 3 seconds of KKPX-DT that I was sent by dr1394 in the San Francisco area, but he wanted a full minute of it.

- Trip

They're using three streams instead of four, apparently. 2805/3 = 935. 935/1024 = .913 which is roughly .917 Mbps. Close enough.


Let's hope they keep it at 3 streams. If not, I just got a new tuner card I'm still playing with before installing in my "real" media PC which seems to be able to get WFMY reliably off the *back* of a CM4228 I have pointed at the Raleigh towers. I've been too lazy to try it on the antenna I have which is actually pointed more-or-less towards the WFMY tower.

As to the cap, its uploading. I'll send you a PM with a URL.

Drew

Alright, thanks.

Yeah, I should think they won't be increasing it. I'd be curious to know how they have it broken up though. I wonder if they're simulcasting the current 5-1 and 5-2 across the three streams, or if there's separate programming.

Think I should send an e-mail?

- Trip

Alright, thanks.

Yeah, I should think they won't be increasing it. I'd be curious to know how they have it broken up though. I wonder if they're simulcasting the current 5-1 and 5-2 across the three streams, or if there's separate programming.

Think I should send an e-mail?

- Trip

I think that we all should write/call WRAL with our concerns. They have gone from being the best channel in the area to the worst. I would suspect that their management doesn't have a clue as to how their "techies" are handling things and the adverse affects of trying to squeeze every drop out of their bandwidth. Really, all of those subchannels they have are crappy and a waste of bandwidth anyway, in my opinion. Does anyone really go to their 24 hour recycled weather information channel?

Does anyone really go to their 24 hour recycled weather information channel?

50-3? They just killed that in favor of This TV.

- Trip

I think that we all should write/call WRAL with our concerns. They have gone from being the best channel in the area to the worst. I would suspect that their management doesn't have a clue as to how their "techies" are handling things and the adverse affects of trying to squeeze every drop out of their bandwidth. Really, all of those subchannels they have are crappy and a waste of bandwidth anyway, in my opinion. Does anyone really go to their 24 hour recycled weather information channel?

WRAL used to have 5-1 at about 15Mb/s and 5-2 at about 4Mb/s. Now they have 5-1 at about 13.5Mb/s and 5-2 at about 2.5Mb/s and the mobile stuff nobody cares about at 2.8Mb/s

I personally think they should either drop 5-2 entirely, or at least throttle it down to 0.5Mb/s at most during prime-time and during sports. 5-2 *does* have some unique local content (Focal Point, etc) so I can see the value of keeping it around. but replaying their news in a loop, and simulcasting the WRAZ 10pm news during prime time is just a stupid waste of bandwidth.

Drew

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4948031/

Is there a problem with the time on WRAL and WRAZ? I noticed WRAL times for OTA are off by almost 1 hour compared to others and WRAZ is almost 5 - 6 minutes earlier than other channels. Anyone seeing this? I'm seeing this on my RCA DTA800B1 and Channel Master CM-7000.

Thanks!

DTV Notes
Raleigh To Be First Real-World Mobile DTV Market
WRAL will broadcast to buses this summer
By Glen Dickson, Broadcasting & Cable - 4/14/2009 2:30:51 PM MT

CBS affiliate and Capitol Broadcasting station WRAL announced that it will launch mobile digital television (DTV) broadcasts to everyday consumers this summer, making Raleigh, N.C. the first U.S. market to commercially deploy mobile DTV.

The station is working with technology vendors LG Electronics and Harris to create a system that will use WRAL's digital spectrum to deliver both linear programming and interactive data to Capital Area Transit (CAT) buses serving passengers throughout the capital city. Beginning this summer, CAT bus passengers will be able to watch WRAL's local, syndicated and network programming throughout the day. In addition to WRAL programming, CAT passengers will also get city-oriented news briefs, real-time weather and other information on digital screens strategically placed inside buses.

The Open Mobile Video Coalition, which represents over 800 stations interested in providing mobile DTV services, announced at the CES show last January that stations in 22 markets would begin mobile DTV broadcasts this year using a new ATSC candidate standard based on the "MPH" technology developed by LG and Harris. That WRAL would be the first OMVC member station to declare its plans is not surprising, as the station has long prided itself on being a technology vanguard: it launched the first commercial HDTV broadcasts in the U.S. back in July 1996, and began doing field tests of mobile DTV last summer.

"Mobile DTV broadcasting is a major part of our future and we are excited to partner with the City of Raleigh as we enter a new era of technology," said James F. Goodmon, President and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc, in a statement. "Mobile DTV enables WRAL to better serve the public by extending our reach with free over-the-air programming and information to people on the go."

LG is providing mobile DTV receivers, flat screen monitors and project development and support, while Harris is supplying its complete "MPH platform for ATSC Mobile DTV", InfoCaster digital signage systems and development and support services. Microspace Communications Corporation will provide wireless networking and digital signage system management, while Digital Recorders, Inc (DRI) will provide integration of the communications systems on the CAT buses.

The first mobile DTV-capable bus in Raleigh is expected to be fully operational this summer, and additional buses will be equipped and rolled out over the next twelve months.

"We are proud to be the pilot to offer mobile digital television to the riders of the Downtown Circulator," said Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker in a statement. "We salute WRAL for being pioneers in mobile digital television as they were in high definition television. We look forward to the day when all of Raleigh's CAT buses will offer this means of information and relaxation."

Mobile DTV should be a hot topic at the NAB show in Las Vegas next week, where the OMVC is expected to provide further details on its launch plans and various vendors will be demonstrating products using the new ATSC mobile DTV candidate standard. NAB is also hosting a Mobile Entertainment Summit, featuring representatives from networks, handset manufacturers and carriers, on the Wednesday of the show.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/196239-Raleigh_To_Be_First_Real_World_Mobile_DTV_Market.php

Yada, yada, yada.


WRAL let me know when you fix your setup so my sound does not drop out.

Yada, yada, yada.


WRAL let me know when you fix your setup so my sound does not drop out.

I agree. I guess this is nice if you ride the bus, but I think WRAL should focus on the crap that have been putting out lately.

I agree. I guess this is nice if you ride the bus, but I think WRAL should focus on the crap that have been putting out lately.

Could someone explain what's happening with the audio? I just use either my TV speakers or my old (very plain) 2-channel stereo receiver. I thought it was a problem switching from DTS to dolby digital or something like that, so I was surprised it affects just plain old stereo output...is there a different dynamic range between those 2 and that's why the volume appears to change so much?

Could someone explain what's happening with the audio? I just use either my TV speakers or my old (very plain) 2-channel stereo receiver. I thought it was a problem switching from DTS to dolby digital or something like that, so I was surprised it affects just plain old stereo output...is there a different dynamic range between those 2 and that's why the volume appears to change so much?

They are switching between DD5.1 and DD2.0 and back when they cut in the station ID. An AVR takes time to make the switch and audio drops out during the switch. My receiver switches fast and its still annoying. I cant imagine how bad it would be with other receivers which can take a couple seconds to make the switch. Sometimes, the switch will be accompanied by a video pixelation.

They are switching between DD5.1 and DD2.0 and back when they cut in the station ID. An AVR takes time to make the switch and audio drops out during the switch. My receiver switches fast and its still annoying. I cant imagine how bad it would be with other receivers which can take a couple seconds to make the switch. Sometimes, the switch will be accompanied by a video pixelation.

My AVR switches fairly fast but still takes enough time for me to miss a few words. This is annoying as hell. My question is, why do they do it? The other stations don't seem to have this problem. What's up with WRAL?

Anyone having problems with WUNC digital? I have completly lost 4.1-3.
Are they on low power or perhaps I have springtime problems? I am in the Auburn area, of course 5-11-17-50 are fine.

This is from the Charlotte Channel Change page which means we likely will see it here as well.

May 28, 2009: HD Net will be moved from the HD Tier to the Free HD service which requires Digital Cable service with an HD Converter and an HDTV. Smithsonian HD will be added.

Unbelieveable...FSCarolina can't be bothered to broadcast the damn playoffs in HD? Absolutely unacceptable. I mean the 8 or 10 games they showed in HD this season was already pathetic, but the playoffs? come on.

Unbelieveable...FSCarolina can't be bothered to broadcast the damn playoffs in HD? Absolutely unacceptable. I mean the 8 or 10 games they showed in HD this season was already pathetic, but the playoffs? come on.


This ticked me off last night two. Seriously, no HD for the Canes playoffs? What's the point then? I loved not seeing the puck at all as it went under Ward's legs for one of the goals...

Time Warner has canceled plans for consumption-based billing! I guess the court of public opinion wins one!

http://a.longreply.com/120178

Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Officer Glenn Britt said, “It is clear from the public response over the last two weeks that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about our plans to roll out additional tests on consumption based billing. As a result, we will not proceed with implementation of additional tests until further consultation with our customers and other interested parties, ensuring that community needs are being met. While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process.”


I love how they blame it on us ignorant customers ;)

This ticked me off last night two. Seriously, no HD for the Canes playoffs? What's the point then? I loved not seeing the puck at all as it went under Ward's legs for one of the goals...

It's not like the channel was busy either. The Devils crowd got to see it in HD. What a crock.:mad:

Someone forgot to flip the HD switch at WLFL. Smallville is a repeat, but I wanted to check it out with my new TV and surprise no HD tonight :(

On a not-so-related note... I don't seem to be able to get any signal on WUNC OTA tonight. I can't even get a weak signal... which leads me to ask the inevitable, anyone watching channel 4 OTA digital tonight?

I don't seem to be able to get any signal on WUNC OTA tonight. I can't even get a weak signal... which leads me to ask the inevitable, anyone watching channel 4 OTA digital tonight?

I wasn't watching it, but I just checked now around 8:58pm and I am picking up 4 OTA just fine. North Carolina Weekend just started at 9pm.

This ticked me off last night two. Seriously, no HD for the Canes playoffs? What's the point then? I loved not seeing the puck at all as it went under Ward's legs for one of the goals...

Looks like none of the games are currently scheduled be shown in HD but they are trying to get one or two of them in HD...



http://blogs.newsobserver.com/sportsmedia/more-on-canes-hd-issue-dish

I don't seem to be able to get any signal on WUNC OTA tonight. I can't even get a weak signal... which leads me to ask the inevitable, anyone watching channel 4 OTA digital tonight?

A recording of "Our State" made from 8pm -> 8:30pm last night seems fine (modulo WUNC-TV's generally awful HD quality).

Drew

It's not like the channel was busy either. The Devils crowd got to see it in HD. What a crock.:mad:


From the News and Observer:

Just a quick note to pass along from the Hurricanes' P.R. staff. Game Three and Game Six of the Canes-Devils playoff series, if the series goes to six games, will be shown in HD by Fox Sports Carolinas.

Game Three and Game Six are set for the RBC Center.

Still out for me today... so either they have been doing some pre-cutover work that changed things, or something new is in between me and the tower that wasn't before, or I've really goofed up my antenna setup.

^Thats good news...although, no Game 4 in HD? Thats basically the same as doing the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament in HD, but broadcasting the semifinals in SD only. The equipments in place, use it! :) I cant imagine they are switching out trucks between games.

Still out for me today... so either they have been doing some pre-cutover work that changed things, or something new is in between me and the tower that wasn't before, or I've really goofed up my antenna setup.
I am also seeing the same problem. I called on Monday and left a message with
engineering, still waiting for a reply. I am in Auburn near the tower farm, where are you?

I'm in North Raleigh.

Interestingly, I discovered today that I can watch channel 4 OTA through my HDTV tuner, but not through my Dish receiver. So now I'm stumped. I suppose it could be a receiver issue, but the timing of it is rather curious.

I recently dropped down my TWC to the basic package, and only to get local QAM channels while I await my antenna and OTA setup. I do have TWC internet service and I've heard conflicting things, but if I only have internet (hence, cancel my basic cable) will I still get the local QAM channels?

Thanks!
NitDawg

I do have TWC internet service and I've heard conflicting things, but if I only have internet (hence, cancel my basic cable) will I still get the local QAM channels?
You will unless a TWC technician drives out there and installs a trap at the junction box.

I'm in North Raleigh.

Interestingly, I discovered today that I can watch channel 4 OTA through my HDTV tuner, but not through my Dish receiver. So now I'm stumped. I suppose it could be a receiver issue, but the timing of it is rather curious.

I am also using a Dish 722, I will try a standalone tuner.

Someone forgot to flip the HD switch at WLFL. Smallville is a repeat, but I wanted to check it out with my new TV and surprise no HD tonight :(

I recorded Reaper on Tuesday, watched it tonight and that was SD too.

According to TitanTV the WLFL HD signal is now on 22.2. If so that's a problem for TWC users since they only carry 22.1 and have that as their HD channel. I can't get a signal on 22.2 over TWC basic either.

http://titantvguide.titantv.com/apg/basic.aspx?siteid=51727

I don't watch enough CW during the week to notice if any shows have been in HD since the previous week.

I recorded Reaper on Tuesday, watched it tonight and that was SD too.

According to TitanTV the WLFL HD signal is now on 22.2. If so that's a problem for TWC users since they only carry 22.1 and have that as their HD channel. I can't get a signal on 22.2 over TWC basic either.

http://titantvguide.titantv.com/apg/basic.aspx?siteid=51727

I don't watch enough CW during the week to notice if any shows have been in HD since the previous week.

I recorded Reaper Tuesday night via TWC and it was in HD.

I recorded Reaper Tuesday night via TWC and it was in HD.

Now that's weird. I have it set to series record on WLFL HD channel 222 and I got SD. Does your box pull in 22.1 as that channel on TWC or 22.2?

Now that's weird. I have it set to series record on WLFL HD channel 222 and I got SD. Does your box pull in 22.1 as that channel on TWC or 22.2?

I also have the series recording on 222. The box says it's pulling 22.1 but who knows if that's what it is really pulling. I will try to flip over on Monday night to see if anything is in HD.

According to TitanTV the WLFL HD signal is now on 22.2. If so that's a problem for TWC users since they only carry 22.1 and have that as their HD channel. I can't get a signal on 22.2 over TWC basic either.

TitanTV must be incorrect as I just checked and WLFL HD is on 22.1 OTA.

Does anyone else have issues with TWC HD channels listing "[Channel Name] is currently unavailable Please try again later" while using their HD DVR? I see it often and now often enough that it is bothering me because I can't tune to the show I want to watch.

Does anyone else have issues with TWC HD channels listing "[Channel Name] is currently unavailable Please try again later" while using their HD DVR? I see it often and now often enough that it is bothering me because I can't tune to the show I want to watch.


yes and its quite annoying...:mad:

and its not confined to the DVR but also non-DVD set top boxes...

I would love input from this forum. I sent this same question to the engineer at WRAL. I live near Southpoint. I dropped cable and got a Terk HDTVa. Now I have 18 local digital channels including 6 HD channels. For the most part, reception is wonderful. I would like to install an outside antenna and connect it to my existing cabling so that I can also use my upstairs TV.

I actually got a Winegard Omnidirectional Indoor/ Outdoor HDTV antenna and hooked it to the cable junction. When I connected it to the existing splitter, I got no signal. I finally connected it directly to the cable going to my downstairs TV. I got a signal but not nearly as good at the Terk which is point SW towards large picture windows. Note that I had not mounted it on the roof yet but had it slightly elevated on a ladder.
- Will mounting it on the roof boost the signal enough to provide a better signal than the Terk even if a splitter is used?
- Can I just install it on my roof over the eaves or do I need to elevate it higher on a pole?.. How high?
- Any recs on the need for a preamp?

Ray

P.S. - I do have trees in the backyard but it has not bothered the Terk.

I would love input from this forum. I sent this same question to the engineer at WRAL. I live near Southpoint. I dropped cable and got a Terk HDTVa. Now I have 18 local digital channels including 6 HD channels. For the most part, reception is wonderful. I would like to install an outside antenna and connect it to my existing cabling so that I can also use my upstairs TV.

I actually got a Winegard Omnidirectional Indoor/ Outdoor HDTV antenna and hooked it to the cable junction. When I connected it to the existing splitter, I got no signal. I finally connected it directly to the cable going to my downstairs TV. I got a signal but not nearly as good at the Terk which is point SW towards large picture windows. Note that I had not mounted it on the roof yet but had it slightly elevated on a ladder.
- Will mounting it on the roof boost the signal enough to provide a better signal than the Terk even if a splitter is used?
- Can I just install it on my roof over the eaves or do I need to elevate it higher on a pole?.. How high?
- Any recs on the need for a preamp?

Ray

P.S. - I do have trees in the backyard but it has not bothered the Terk.

You need to realize where the stations are transmitting from -

MOST of the Raleigh stations (5,11,17,22,28,50) are out at the antenna farm just east of Garner. PBS for you will come from Chapel Hill. If you want an Ion station, probably south-southwest of you. You'll probably have better luck using a directional antenna aimed towards Garner and one towards Chapel Hill - maybe even the same one can do both jobs without a rotator. Digital and those "flying saucer" type antennas don't usually mix too well.

Does anyone else have issues with TWC HD channels listing "[Channel Name] is currently unavailable Please try again later" while using their HD DVR? I see it often and now often enough that it is bothering me because I can't tune to the show I want to watch.

Yup, get that all the time.

Anyone here have Road Runner only and pick up the QAM channels for free?

Does anyone else have issues with TWC HD channels listing "[Channel Name] is currently unavailable Please try again later" while using their HD DVR? I see it often and now often enough that it is bothering me because I can't tune to the show I want to watch.

Yes. Most of the time, I can change the channel and then come back and the signal is there..sometimes not. This is very annoying to me also.

Thanks I was aware that most of the channels are Southwest towards Raleigh. Actually with the Terk, I have no trouble picking up WUNC in Chapel Hill. It sounds like you are just recommending against a saucer style. The question is whether a more directional antenna pointed towards Raleigh would pickup in the Chapel Hill direction

Anyone the Durham/ Raleigh area have any concrete experience? Someone in Morrisville or perhaps Cary would probably face a similar dilemma.

Ray

The question is whether a more directional antenna pointed towards Raleigh would pickup in the Chapel Hill direction

Anyone the Durham/ Raleigh area have any concrete experience? Someone in Morrisville or perhaps Cary would probably face a similar dilemma.

Ray

I'm in Apex and I have a Channel Master 4221 directional antenna to pick up the stations out of Garner and it does not get WUNC from Chapel Hill. The wire mesh on the 4221 is there specifically to block signals from the back side. (See here (http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4221.html) for a picture of how a this directional antenna focuses its reception.) I have a second antenna pointed at Chapel Hill just for WUNC, and combine the two signals to feed the receivers in my house. Also, both antennas are mounted on a pole inside my attic.

Thanks I was aware that most of the channels are Southwest towards Raleigh. Actually with the Terk, I have no trouble picking up WUNC in Chapel Hill. It sounds like you are just recommending against a saucer style. The question is whether a more directional antenna pointed towards Raleigh would pickup in the Chapel Hill direction

Anyone the Durham/ Raleigh area have any concrete experience? Someone in Morrisville or perhaps Cary would probably face a similar dilemma.

Ray

I live in Morrisville (Addison Park). This weekend I installed the channel master 4228 (from WRAL) in my attic. I have it facing due East and I get good signals from the Garner Farm as well as the WUNC channels.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Yx3Hy9cz9-La3m6OwgHRyg?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOu4cH5m5SGtwE&feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Yx3Hy9cz9-La3m6OwgHRyg?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOu4cH5m5SGtwE&feat=directlink

According to TitanTV the WLFL HD signal is now on 22.2. If so that's a problem for TWC users since they only carry 22.1 and have that as their HD channel. I can't get a signal on 22.2 over TWC basic either.

Unless something has changed in the last couple of days, there is no 22.2 OTA channel so TitanTV can't be right about that. There is only 22.1 OTA.

Could be Time Warner gets a different feed than the OTA one and it could be working HD when OTA is not... but that doesn't explain what happened OTA, just that it happened :)

Thanks for the info. I wonder if it might be a little easier for me. Chapel Hill is west and slightly South of me and the other stations SE of me (I mispoke.. I point my Terk slightly SE). In Apex I believe you are more split.

Did you consider one antenna with a rotator?.. I guess the disadvantage there is that you limit your concurrent viewing (meaning one person watching WUNC and the other watching WRAL..).

Ray

That is very encouraging. Certainly our position is very similar. I get 18 feeds (12 digital and 6 HD) with my inside antenna. Do you get something similar with the 4228 in the attic?... also do you route this to one room or use a splitter for two?

Ray

That is very encouraging. Certainly our position is very similar. I get 18 feeds (12 digital and 6 HD) with my inside antenna. Do you get something similar with the 4228 in the attic?... also do you route this to one room or use a splitter for two?

Ray

I've kept the following channels OTA:
4 (.1, .2, .3)
5 (.1, .2)
11 (.1, .2, .3)
17 (.1, .2, .3)
22.1
28.1
50 (.1, .2, .3)

So that's 7 'HD' channels (all the .1 channels @ 720p or 1080i) and an additional 9 digital subchannels that I kept on the tuner.

I have an amp up in the attic http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EKCGT8/ref=cm_rdp_product/187-5566065-4627208 and currently have it split once...one feed going to my HTPC and the other to a TV.

Thanks for the channel list. That is a great reference on the amplifier. By the way, I noticed you did not list 40 .1, .2.. I assume that is because it is in Spanish?

Also how good is your picture on the channels? I find WUNC amazing, WRAL and WTVD to be very good. The others are generally good but 50 was giving funny sort periodic free frame.. jerkiness yesterday when I was testing the other antenna.

Also I assume you ran your own RJ6 cable from the attic? I was planning on using the existing RJ6 now unused from when I had cable service... I own my own home. I don't have any meters to test their quality but TWC had been out to check them in the past, so I assume they are good quality.

Ray

Thanks for the channel list. That is a great reference on the amplifier.
This is a new realm to me but the way I understand amp needs basically falls into 2 realms. Please chime in if this is not correct...
Preamps help boost the signal reception that your antenna is receiving and piping in to your house. If you have line-of-sight problems, distance, sub-optimal directionality, preamps can help with the caveat being you can boost the signal too much (e.g. if you live <5 miles from one set of towers and you use a preamp to pick up distant towers, you can overwhelm your tuner. Some preamps have adjustable gains so you give it what it needs.
Drop amplifiers or amplified splitters (like I'm using now) compensate for the signal loss caused by wiring distance/splits/etc. So if you are getting good signal on your TV where your antenna currently is and it gets crappy when you add more TVs via splitter, then a drop amplifier may help out...your antenna reception is fine, you just need a boost throughout the house. This assumes you have a good reception (signal), if not you will be amplifying your poor reception (noise)

By the way, I noticed you did not list 40 .1, .2.. I assume that is because it is in Spanish?
Yup...there were a few others...it's grabbed the CBS or ABC signal from Gboro, but I just wanted the big networks plus PBS, CW, myRDC.
Also how good is your picture on the channels? I find WUNC amazing, WRAL and WTVD to be very good. The others are generally good but 50 was giving funny sort periodic free frame.. jerkiness yesterday when I was testing the other antenna.
PQ is great, although i'm just getting into OTA, but so far it looks at least as good as the QAM signal I have been using. I had some judder on 50.1 without the drop amplifier.
Also I assume you ran your own RJ6 cable from the attic? I was planning on using the existing RJ6 now unused from when I had cable service... I own my own home. I don't have any meters to test their quality but TWC had been out to check them in the past, so I assume they are good quality.
This is a new house...i put the drop amp up in the attic dropped a RJ6 from the attic down to a walk-in storage area where I spliced into a RJ6 that goes down to the media closet (where all my connectors end at). Seems to do the trick. I have a signal strength indicator that puts all my channels in the green...I may get a preamp and play with it just to see how it works.

Best,
NitDawg

Yes. Most of the time, I can change the channel and then come back and the signal is there..sometimes not. This is very annoying to me also.

Thanks to those that responded with similar problems. I hoped it wasn't just me. I'll call them tomorrow. I could not tune to Discovery HD today for quite a long while. Pressing A to retry never helped, but flipping through channels did eventually tune the channel in.

Thanks for the great summary. Yes actually the signal was fine but weak coming through the cable. I will wait for the specific recs from the guy at WRAL, but it does sound like I need a drop amp as my splitter. Looks like the one your suggested gets great reviews. I assume it needs a power supply (DC), so I need to figure out a way to get power to that outside box... and shield it from the weather at little better as the box is not necessarily water tight.

Ray

Unless something has changed in the last couple of days, there is no 22.2 OTA channel so TitanTV can't be right about that. There is only 22.1 OTA.

Could be Time Warner gets a different feed than the OTA one and it could be working HD when OTA is not... but that doesn't explain what happened OTA, just that it happened :)

Whatever weirdness occurred last week I flipped over and saw One Tree Hill in HD as usual.

The WLFL site is terrible and the only information I could find relating to their broadcast was the TitanTV listing which they link to. So what is 22.2?

Once upon a time, WLFL had an SD sub and an HD sub, both carrying the same programming. Then they realized the SD sub was redundant and killed it.

- Trip

Thanks for the great summary. Yes actually the signal was fine but weak coming through the cable. I will wait for the specific recs from the guy at WRAL, but it does sound like I need a drop amp as my splitter. Looks like the one your suggested gets great reviews. I assume it needs a power supply (DC), so I need to figure out a way to get power to that outside box... and shield it from the weather at little better as the box is not necessarily water tight.

Ray

It comes with a power inserter that allows you to get power to the splitter wherever you can plug in at (I think the one from amazon includes this, part#MPI-1G)...so if you don't have a power outlet in your attic, you can still put the drop amp up there and then downstairs where you have power, you stick the power inserter there. If you have a light socket in the attic, you can also get a screw-in that gives you a power outlet as well.

Its ceramic, so I think it should do well outside, just put terminal caps on the outputs not used.

Also how good is your picture on the channels? I find WUNC amazing, WRAL and WTVD to be very good. The others are generally good but 50 was giving funny sort periodic free frame.. jerkiness yesterday when I was testing the other antenna.


Are you talking about the picture quality, or the signal strength? With digital TV, they are two very different things. In my location, all the locals come in well, with the exception of WRAZ on my older tuners. However, IMHO, the WUNC-HD picture quality is by far the worst. Whenever there is any motion at all, the picture quality degrades horribly. It is like NBC-17 was 5 years ago. They have as much or more bandwidth as the other channels I get which don't have this problem. I guess it must be something about their encoder settings.

In addition to antenna selection and positioning, your reception will be a function of your tuner quality (and age). I have an HTPC setup, and 4 tuners. In order of quality (and also age) from worst (oldest) to best (newest):

Air2PC (Infineon TUA6034T / nxt2002 )
Dvico FusionHDTV5 Gold (Philips SA5523 / gdt3303)
AirStar HD5000 (Infineon TUA6034 / lgdt3303)
Pinnacle 800i (Xceive XC5000 / Samsung S5H1409)


I live near Evans & Maynard in Cary, and now have 2 CM4228s in the attic, one pointed at Chapel hill, and one pointed at the tower farm (almost 180 degrees apart). I have 2 runs of about 50' of new RG6 from my attic to my home office. The "tower" pointed RG6 goes into a 4-way amplified splitter, and then into 3 tuner cards. The WUNC RG6 goes right into the HD5000.

Before I got the second two tuners, and the second antenna, I tried to use the Dvico to pickup WUNC off the back of the tower-farm pointed CM4228. That worked reasonably well. Nearly all shows recorded on WUNC had minor breakups, but only 10% were totally unwatchable. Now that I have HD5000, and the CM4228 pointed at WUNC, 99% of the recordings are perfect, and none are unwatchable.

The 800i is totally amazing. I haven't put it into my primary HTPC yet (since I'd need to patch the OS to install the drivers). In a test machine, it has insanely good reception. Not only can the 800i get WUNC perfectly off the back of the tower-pointed CM4228, it can also get WFMY perfectly, and WXLV pretty well.

Good luck!

Drew

Thanks to those that responded with similar problems. I hoped it wasn't just me. I'll call them tomorrow. I could not tune to Discovery HD today for quite a long while. Pressing A to retry never helped, but flipping through channels did eventually tune the channel in.

So I was dumb enough to change channels during the HD broadcast of the Canes playoff game Sunday night. Would not let me back in to the HD channel. Pressing "A", changing channels, etc. didn't work. Power cycled the DVR and got right back in. Maybe a coincidence, maybe the crappy DVR that TWC uses.
Wanna vote?

Frank

So I was dumb enough to change channels during the HD broadcast of the Canes playoff game Sunday night. Would not let me back in to the HD channel. Pressing "A", changing channels, etc. didn't work. Power cycled the DVR and got right back in. Maybe a coincidence, maybe the crappy DVR that TWC uses.
Wanna vote?

Frank

The channel not available message has nothing to do with the DVR. Has to do with Time Warner's use of SDV. SDV is the only reason we've gotten so many channels added over the past few months. Someone here with more knowledge of how SDV works can explain the exact reasons for the message but either it's a problem with your signal or the "nodes" in your neighborhood were all being used. If you scroll back a few pages you will see a couple of discussions of the same problem. I've been lucky enough that my neighborhood is configured correctly enough that I have been able to avoid the dreaded channel unavailable message. Of course these means I will see it tonight....

Once upon a time, WLFL had an SD sub and an HD sub, both carrying the same programming. Then they realized the SD sub was redundant and killed it.

- Trip

Good to know, I was not aware. I've been watching for a few years now and never knew they had a different configuration at one time.

I live in Morrisville (Addison Park). This weekend I installed the channel master 4228 (from WRAL) in my attic. I have it facing due East and I get good signals from the Garner Farm as well as the WUNC channels.


This got me thinking that maybe I could get WUNC with just one antenna so I did some experimenting. I disconnected the antenna pointed towards Chapel Hill, leaving just the CM 4221 pointed towards Garner. Sure enough, my converter boxes with newer tuners locked in on WUNC with around 65 on the signal meter. My old Samsung HDTV receiver with a 1st generation tuner got no signal what so ever for WUNC. I guess the WUNC signal is strong enough to overcome the directional design of the CM4221 antenna, given that you are using newer tuners. Once I upgrade my HDTV receiver or TV then I can point the second antenna towards Rocky Mount to get ION. For now, I need WUNC on the HDTV for my kids.

Thanks for the info. It was just the kick in the but I needed to do some experimenting.

I think I've figured out what is going on with the Road Runner speed increases here. PowerBoost now comes with standard Road Runner, so you will see those speed increases on bandwidth tests.

Road Runner Standard with PowerBoost™

Our most popular service that is way faster than DSL and gives you the right amount of speed to do just about anything. PowerBoost is an exclusive technology that may give you an extra burst of speed when downloading big files.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/Carolinas/learn/hso/roadrunner/speedpricing.html

This got me thinking that maybe I could get WUNC with just one antenna so I did some experimenting. I disconnected the antenna pointed towards Chapel Hill, leaving just the CM 4221 pointed towards Garner. Sure enough, my converter boxes with newer tuners locked in on WUNC with around 65 on the signal meter. My old Samsung HDTV receiver with a 1st generation tuner got no signal what so ever for WUNC. I guess the WUNC signal is strong enough to overcome the directional design of the CM4221 antenna, given that you are using newer tuners. Once I upgrade my HDTV receiver or TV then I can point the second antenna towards Rocky Mount to get ION. For now, I need WUNC on the HDTV for my kids.

Thanks for the info. It was just the kick in the but I needed to do some experimenting.

I'd bet that if you took the screen off the 4221 - that backside would work better.

Is someone in this area besides me using BeyondTV and a HDHR? I seem to recall there was.

I can't for the life of me get the guide data working for UNC-HD anymore. I'm using the sort-of old setup for the HDHR channels and it sees the UNC HD feed (on time warner) as WUNCDT, but always comes up now with guide data unavailable. I tried changing the call letters to TWUNCHD (as per the way snapstream seems to think it should be on the lineup page), still nothing. This was working fine till the changes a few months ago. The rest of my QAM digital locals are fine.

I see there's also a QAM option in the sources now for BTV setup wizard, but when I put in my zipcode I get Houston providers. Sigh.

short version: how do I get BTV with a HDHomeRun to get the EPG data for the QAM feed of UNC-HD?

Is someone in this area besides me using BeyondTV and a HDHR? I seem to recall there was.
...
short version: how do I get BTV with a HDHomeRun to get the EPG data for the QAM feed of UNC-HD?

Yep, that would be me.

Are you using BTV 4.9.x? If not, you might want to upgrade to get better QAM support including some automatic line-up change detection. Beware that it also requires updating the HDHR firmware if you haven't kept up with that, and may have special considerations if you also have an HVR-2250 QAM tuner (i.e. don't use the 2250 tuner to detect the QAM lineup--use the HDHR).

The WUNC-DT and TWUNCHD channels that show up in my guide data are pretty much all sync'd up now, i.e. the two channels are the same program-listing-wise, with WUNC-DT showing SD versions and TWUNCHD showing HD versions (even for 4:3 content).

A few weeks ago, I think I saw WRAL stuff show up on an additional set of channel numbers, then a few days later they all disappeared while the old ones remained. So the line-up change detection works well, at least for certain types of changes--I'm not sure it'll automatically pick up new digital channels and give me guide data for them (not that TWC will be opening up new clear QAM channels any time soon???).

vidiot, thanks again (I remember you now!). I'll read it more carefully at home, but briefly I think I'm in the 4.9.x series, but did not upgrade HDHR firmware because the last time I tried it--granted a few years ago--it seemed to kill the tuners entirely. I did try to use BTV's intrinsic QAM scanning but BTV setup wizard was insisting zipcode 27713 was in Houston TX, so I gave up and went and cried in the corner for a while.

Obviously I need to just get everything updated and start from scratch. Thanks, I may come back and whine some more after the next attempt.

Has something happened to WNCN's and WLFL's signal power? I'm suddenly having a lot more trouble getting these stations reliably in Cary even with my rooftop UHF Yagi on a rotor.

I know the leaves just came out, but I receive the other stations from the same antenna farm (WRAL, WRAZ, WTVD) just fine. I have verified my WNCN and WLFL signal problem with multiple tuners and a second antenna in my attic. Are their transmit antennas much lower than the other stations? I'm getting Greensboro stations at near 90% quality but these two nearby stations are unwatchable.

Assuming it's just this morning and goes away during the day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation

WACH-57 analog and WMYT-55 analog, most likely.

- Trip

vidiot, thanks again (I remember you now!). I'll read it more carefully at home, but briefly I think I'm in the 4.9.x series, but did not upgrade HDHR firmware because the last time I tried it--granted a few years ago--it seemed to kill the tuners entirely. I did try to use BTV's intrinsic QAM scanning but BTV setup wizard was insisting zipcode 27713 was in Houston TX, so I gave up and went and cried in the corner for a while.

Obviously I need to just get everything updated and start from scratch. Thanks, I may come back and whine some more after the next attempt.

The "Houston TX" issue is an 4.9.x FAQ, I think. It's not really doing what you think it is. The stuff showing up as Houston is really just an example screen.

If you use the new QAM support, you'll get channel numbers that match the normal TWC channel numbers, e.g. WTVDDT is 211, WNCNDT is 217, etc. rather than the manual remap numbers (like 1800 stuff IIRC??).

Is anybody else OTA seeing WTVD 11.1 and 11.2 at 1280x720 while 11.3 is 704x480? Are they trying to do 2 HD streams plus one SD? I noticed yesterday the quality of 11.3 seems to have gone down a bit but didn't notice the change in 11.2 until today.

Yep. All the ABC O&O stations are doing it.

"Live Well HD" launches on 11-2 starting Monday...

- Trip

Yep. All the ABC O&O stations are doing it.

"Live Well HD" launches on 11-2 starting Monday...

- Trip

I must admit 11.1 looks AWFUL now compared to 12.1 WCTI. I saw one of ABC 11's HD spots on 11.2 just a while ago and it was macro-blocking like crazy. 11.1 is doing it too. Ick!

You folks from Raleigh east might want to find an alternative ABC like WCTI to watch if that keeps up. I saw that terrible picture too while out that way over the weekend. It was a mess in my opinion.

I've been seeing signal fluctuation on 11 OTA all weekend, and on Dish it sometimes drops out (yellow screen) for the SAT version for a second or two.

That leads me to believe someone is tweaking things at WTVD this weekend? Hopefully they will settle on something better if they are!

I'm seeing a lot of reports via twitter of people upset that FSN SD (50) is out during the Canes game. I've been watching on FSN HD without an issue..but that would really suck!

The Canes game was on both channels when I checked yesterday (I thought). Glad to finally see a game actually BE on FSN HD. Two-for-Six so far.

The Canes game was on both channels when I checked yesterday (I thought). Glad to finally see a game actually BE on FSN HD. Two-for-Six so far.


Unless something changes today you are going to be 2 for 7. There are currently no plans for game 7 to be in HD. As for the TWC outage... http://www.newsobserver.com/796/story/1502768.html

RALEIGH -- Time Warner Cable customers missed the final few minutes of the first period of Sunday's Game 6 between the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils after the standard-definition FS Carolinas broadcast was replaced by color bars.

At approximately 8:10 p.m., the FS Carolinas standard-definition feed on Channel 50 went out for about 20 minutes. The high-definition feed on Channel 272 was uninterrupted.

The broadcast was restored late in the first intermission, there were no further interruptions.

"It looks to be a Time Warner-specific issue," Hurricanes spokesman Kyle Hanlin said.

The Canes game was on both channels when I checked yesterday (I thought). Glad to finally see a game actually BE on FSN HD. Two-for-Six so far.

Just after I posted, I checked the SD station and sure enough, it was color bars. Minutes later it came back though. HD Feed never had an issue though.

Unless something changes today you are going to be 2 for 7. There are currently no plans for game 7 to be in HD.

Well it looks like something changed today. Game 7 will be shown in HD on FS Carolinas.

I've been seeing signal fluctuation on 11 OTA all weekend, and on Dish it sometimes drops out (yellow screen) for the SAT version for a second or two.

That leads me to believe someone is tweaking things at WTVD this weekend? Hopefully they will settle on something better if they are!

I saw the same thing last night while watching my recording of Desperate Housewives via Directv. The screen would go black for about 15 seconds with no sound. But it has been happening for the last two weeks or so b/c the same thing happened on my previous recordings of Brothers and Sisters.

Assuming it's just this morning and goes away during the day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation

WACH-57 analog and WMYT-55 analog, most likely.


No, WNCN 17 DTV stays bad most of the day now. The other digital stations in the real channel 50-55 range coming from the same antenna farm are fine, though, so that's why I resist blaming the leaves.

WNCN is slated to drop from 55 to real channel 17 in June. I'm hoping that either the transmitter equipment changes or signal propagation chracteristics will improve things then.

No, WNCN 17 DTV stays bad most of the day now. The other digital stations in the real channel 50-55 range coming from the same antenna farm are fine, though, so that's why I resist blaming the leaves.

WNCN is slated to drop from 55 to real channel 17 in June. I'm hoping that either the transmitter equipment changes or signal propagation chracteristics will improve things then.


WNCN -DT is at half power right now so they could convert their 17 from analog to digital in June. They will be at half power for a while afterwards while they convert the rest of the transmitter as well.

WNCN -DT is at half power right now so they could convert their 17 from analog to digital in June. They will be at half power for a while afterwards while they convert the rest of the transmitter as well.

I believe it is their ANALOG that is at half power... WNCN-TV. Half of the analog transmitter was taken offline and converted for DTV service. I dont believe the power level for WNCN-DT has changed at all. When they move down to 17 from 55, they will be at half power until the other half of the existing 17 analog transmitter is converted from analog to digital.

WUNC-DT has filed for two fill-in translators. One is channel 30 from the central Garner tower site, and the other is channel 46 from the Oxford area.

I just ran plots, which I'll leave up for a few days. Note the files are huge, several MB each.

http://www.rabbitears.info/screencaps/1-temp/W30IF-D.png
http://www.rabbitears.info/screencaps/1-temp/W46EK-D.png

Note that the channel 30 one is directional, but I didn't factor it into the plot. Coverage in some directions may be exaggerated.

- Trip

WUNC-DT has filed for two fill-in translators. One is channel 30 from the central Garner tower site, and the other is channel 46 from the Oxford area.


What's a "fill in translator"? Is this a temporary thing to boost their power while they work on their tower?

Maybe we should try to convince them to just use the Garner tower for their permanent signal. Having them be in a totally different direction than everybody else is a huge PITA for those of us in the triangle.

Drew

No, it's a translator to fill in places where analog signals covered but digitals don't. Unlike a regular translator, the license is bound to the primary station and thus can't be sold off or split from it.

They're not going to move to the Garner tower. They've chosen the transmitter sites they have because they own most of them, and because it gives them full coverage of the state. (Moving WUNC-DT east would leave white areas between WUNL and WUNC, I suspect.)

While I agree having them co-located would definitely make life a lot easier, them owning the transmitter sites makes everything cheaper for them and thus allows them to put more money into new equipment and programming.

- Trip

No, it's a translator to fill in places where analog signals covered but digitals don't. Unlike a regular translator, the license is bound to the primary station and thus can't be sold off or split from it.


So which direction will the Garner tower translator be aimed in, and how powerful will it be?

Drew

So which direction will the Garner tower translator be aimed in, and how powerful will it be?

Drew

0.75 kW, aimed basically right at Raleigh. Here's the FCC's mostly useless plot:

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=LD1308268.html

- Trip

0.75 kW, aimed basically right at Raleigh. Here's the FCC's mostly useless plot

Ugh. Looks like the signal is supposed to peter out about 3 miles from me (in Cary). So I guess I'll be keeping my second antenna.

Drew

Doesn't cover me in Youngsville either - I'll be keeping my Roanoke Rapids antenna....

I'll be interested to see how that helps in N. Raleigh. I have troubles sometimes (right now my TV is barely able to lock in on WUNC, and my Dish receiver can't lock at all)... and my father can't get WUNC OTA unless he puts something up outside well above the roofline.

Is anyone receiving the schedule on their TVGOS systems? I have not been able to get the guide to show the listings for about a month now. I have TWC, but no Set Top Box, just straight into a Pioneer PDP-5010.

Thanks,
Brian

I did try to use BTV's intrinsic QAM scanning but BTV setup wizard was insisting zipcode 27713 was in Houston TX, so I gave up and went and cried in the corner for a while.


This confused me too at first, but that screen with the Houston options is just an example, telling you to choose the Digital version of your zip's listings (see the text in red). If you hit Next, it will give you the correct drop-down for your area.

I'm having the same problem with TVGoS. According to RabbitEars.info (http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=tvgos), WRAL is carying the TVGoS signal. I don't think TimeWarner Cable has adjusted their equipment for the change in carrier (it used to be WUNC). See the post #2290 in http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=510125 for suggestions. I haven't had any luck yet.

Is anyone receiving the schedule on their TVGOS systems? I have not been able to get the guide to show the listings for about a month now. I have TWC, but no Set Top Box, just straight into a Pioneer PDP-5010.

Thanks,
Brian

In the analog days of TVGOS, it was carried by WUNC. The digital TVGOS data is being carried by WRAL, and they were carrying ok when I left town a week ago.

If you have a TV that can receive the analog TVGOS, but you can't get the digital TVGOS data - you will need a digital TVGOS device that can convert it. So far as I know - that limits you to the Echostar DTVPAL converter boxes.

My TV has no problem receiving the clear QAM channels from TWC, including WRAL. The TVGoS system in the set will process both NTSC and ATSC signals, I don't know about QAM. I strongly suspect that TWC is not propagating the TVGoS data. TWC is still sending out WRAL in analog, so even if you have only analog devices you should still be able to get TVGoS data from TWC.

Is anyone receiving the schedule on their TVGOS systems?
For the past several weeks, my Sony DVR has been receiving TVGOS data from WRAL-HD over-the-air. It used to receive data from the analog WUNC channel on TWC.

Hey, WRAL!

ple-se fix your si-nal so that I do not con--nue to miss parts of the dia---!

It is very frustrating.

Here's an interesting little tidbit from TWC Raleigh's channel change page. I wonder what this is all about? Is it a TWC thing or a WTVD thing?

We are currently taking steps to ensure that all of our customers, regardless of equipment, will continue to be able to view WTVD-TV after the end of the broadcasters’ DTV transition on June 12th. However, it is possible that we may be required to cease carriage of WTVD-TV in analog format on channel 6 (for Durham, Chapel Hill), channel 9 (for Raleigh, Wake Forest, Youngsville, Knightdale, Wendell, Zebulon), channel 11 (for Farmville, Goldsboro, Henderson, Wilson, Bailey, Lake Gaston, Littleton, Spring Hope), channel 13 (for Carrboro, Cary, Garner) and channel 213. Regardless, WTVD-TV’s HD signal will remain available on channel 211 and channel 212 to customers with HD converters and will continue to be accessible on direct-connect digital televisions and other devices that include a QAM tuner.

Hey, WRAL!

ple-se fix your si-nal so that I do not con--nue to miss parts of the dia---!

It is very frustrating.

They can't fix anything until WCTI-DT transitions from channel 48 back to channel 12. Then WRAL-DT can go back to full power, omni directional, on channel 48.

WRAL is just another victim of the transition delay.

- Trip

They can't fix anything until WCTI-DT transitions from channel 48 back to channel 12. Then WRAL-DT can go back to full power, omni directional, on channel 48.

WRAL is just another victim of the transition delay.

- Trip

I think he meant the issue they are having with the Dolby Digital dropping out every time they post a station ID? Although you may be right too if he is seeing weak signals.:)

Here's an interesting little tidbit from TWC Raleigh's channel change page. I wonder what this is all about? Is it a TWC thing or a WTVD thing?

We are currently taking steps to ensure that all of our customers, regardless of equipment, will continue to be able to view WTVD-TV after the end of the broadcasters’ DTV transition on June 12th. However, it is possible that we may be required to cease carriage of WTVD-TV in analog format on channel 6 (for Durham, Chapel Hill), channel 9 (for Raleigh, Wake Forest, Youngsville, Knightdale, Wendell, Zebulon), channel 11 (for Farmville, Goldsboro, Henderson, Wilson, Bailey, Lake Gaston, Littleton, Spring Hope), channel 13 (for Carrboro, Cary, Garner) and channel 213. Regardless, WTVD-TV’s HD signal will remain available on channel 211 and channel 212 to customers with HD converters and will continue to be accessible on direct-connect digital televisions and other devices that include a QAM tuner.

This is a significant enough development that I started it's own thread. Definitely WTVD or ABC trying to spoon feed Live Well to all viewers.

Posg,

Can you explain? Do you mean that you think WTVD wants TWC to carry 11.2 on basic,
and TWC does not want to, so WTVD won't let them carry 11 either?

Drew

Posg,

Can you explain? Do you mean that you think WTVD wants TWC to carry 11.2 on basic,
and TWC does not want to, so WTVD won't let them carry 11 either?

Drew

Sort of. The digital carriage passes all the subchannels through to all the subscribers, either with clear QAM or on a dedicated virtual channel on the box (212/213). By denying simple analog access, they hope to drive viewers to digital solutions. I wonder what third grader came up with this idea.:rolleyes:

link to posg's thread: So much for "cable/sat viewers" not affected by analog cut-off (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1144687)

Has anyone noticed problems with closed captioning over the past couple of weeks. It has always worked just fine, but recently the captioning has been intermittent at best. I have not made any changes to my setup.

I use this feature all the time in the evenings (allows me to keep the volume low) and it's pretty much useless right now.

Just curious if others are having issues....

With the most recent shifting of channels on QAM, does anyone have the current channel assignments? I lost WTVD.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

I think he meant the issue they are having with the Dolby Digital dropping out every time they post a station ID? Although you may be right too if he is seeing weak signals.:)

You are correct. I was just whining about the fact that after 3 or 4 months, WRAL seems to be OK with every time their station ID pops up, there is a sound glitch. I just wish we could get somethign out of them. I called and left a message and someone actually called me back, which was real nice, but he would only say they are working on it. No indication of what is wrong or if it is a 2 day, 2 week, 2 moth or 2 year fix. WRAL is a good station, but it is pretty bush league to have a problem like this going on for so long.

With the most recent shifting of channels on QAM, does anyone have the current channel assignments? I lost WTVD.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

Anyone?

When TWC rebroadcasts local HD channels over clear QAM channels, do they carry the identical bitstream as the OTA HD broadcast? If not, what processing do they do? Please don't say reduce the bitrate...

Same question for carriage of digital SD OTA after June.

When TWC rebroadcasts local HD channels over clear QAM channels, do they carry the identical bitstream as the OTA HD broadcast? If not, what processing do they do? Please don't say reduce the bitrate...

Same question for carriage of digital SD OTA after June.

TWC Raleigh Engineering told me that they did very little processing on the stream. I have recorded shows from both sources and found the filesizes to be essentially identical.

Could you please tell your contact at TWC Raleigh Engineering to switch the TVGoS signal from PBS to WRAL? TWC Greensboro has it correct, but it's been missing for over a month in Raleigh/Durham. The TVGoS signal is being sent OTA on WRAL, so since it is missing from TWC Clear QAM (and SD analog) that means TWC is doing some processing/filtering.

I'm very close to ordering a Dish DTVPal DVR but people around the country are complaining about the clock jumping around when TVGOS is sent in the OTA data stream by the local CBS affiliate. (The Dish DTVPal DVR sets its clock by TVGOS when available or by PSIP when it's not.) I know of a few posters from the Raleigh/Durham area that have these boxes. Could they please post their experiences with these devices and the TVGOS signal sent by WRAL? Thanks.

WRAL is actually VERY stable on their time keeping.

DST continues to be a vexing problem for just about any box / broadcaster combination you can think of.

So I am watching LOST last night and the only time they have the Weather crawler is during the show. Right before and after the commercials it's on but not during the commercials.
If it is really necessary to interrupt a show for weather isn't it important enough to interrupt commercials? I expect this from WRAL as they are known for promoting panic at a summer breeze, but come on now all the stations are doing it.
Again, if it were a necessary warning it would continue during commercials. This is purely keeping up with the Joneses, who no one should want to be like anyway (when it comes to weather).
:mad::mad:
:end of rant:

So I am watching LOST last night and the only time they have the Weather crawler is during the show. Right before and after the commercials it's on but not during the commercials.
If it is really necessary to interrupt a show for weather isn't it important enough to interrupt commercials? I expect this from WRAL as they are known for promoting panic at a summer breeze, but come on now all the stations are doing it.
Again, if it were a necessary warning it would continue during commercials. This is purely keeping up with the Joneses, who no one should want to be like anyway (when it comes to weather).
:mad::mad:
:end of rant:

I wouldn't have minded if it had appeared every ten minutes and then vanished. It was just ridiculous to having it running constantly. I watched the entire episode in zoom mode to avoid seeing it.

I wouldn't have minded if it had appeared every ten minutes and then vanished. It was just ridiculous to having it running constantly. I watched the entire episode in zoom mode to avoid seeing it.

Was saving it on DVR for the weekend.. maybe I'll watch the Hulu HD version instead...

Actually the other night when there was weather, WRAL ran their crawls at all times, even commercials. I have to hand it to them on that as stopping the crawl during commercials is a big pet peeve of mine also.

I've noticed the past few things I've recorded on the DVR haven't been in 5.1.


Well it turns out my box decided to turn off 5.1 again. Going into the audio settings and disabling and re-enabling fixed it. Not the first time I've had to do that.

I have TWC Broadcast (used to be called Basic) in Cary and I lost the sound on WRAL HD channel 5.1 sometime after 10:00p Thursday. When I turn on the receiver for surround, it says no signal coming from the TV.

Sound, including Dolby 5.1 thru the receiver, is fine on 11.1, 17.1, 50.1, and 4.2.

Oddly, my Philips 3576 is able to receive, record and playback sound from WRAL 5.1 albeit PCM 48, not Dolby.

Anybody else having this problem?

Anyone aware of TWC and/or WRAL changes in the past 48 hours that might be causing this?

I have TWC Broadcast (used to be called Basic) in Cary and I lost the sound on WRAL HD channel 5.1 sometime after 10:00p Thursday. When I turn on the receiver for surround, it says no signal coming from the TV.


I didn't check on Thursday but 5.1 over TWC is fine here.

Have you tried a rescan?

Hi there. Is anyone else having trouble with FS Carolinas HD feed on TWC? For the past few Canes games, the HD feed for me comes in letterbox, not full screen, and its clearly not HD. My Explorer 8300HDC doesn't even show 720p on the green front display. It shows 480i. The really weird thing is that for one game that I was watching and recording, the third period was in HD when I watched it live, but in 480i when I watched the recording. All other HD channels are fine. Does anyone have any idea what might be the problem, or the fix?

The only "fix" I've tried is rebooting the box. Didn't help.

Thanks

Anyone else having issues with WTVD's sound quality (via TWC)? For whatever reason, they've been mixing up the left and right channels incredibly high over the center channel in the 5.1 feed. It's at the point where music drowns out most dialog. The other stations seem to not have this (even WRAL seems to have fixed their idiotic sound issues lately). Really annoying that these stations are having these sort of problems at this point.

I have TWC Standard with no set-top-box in Durham and I no longer have sound on WRAL 5.1. I do have sound on the other WRAL sub channels such as 5.2, and on the analog version (3). This started sometime Thursday night.

I gained TVGoS information -- Over a month ago Gemstar's agreement with PBS ended and CBS started carying the TVGoS info. TWC wasn't aware of the change until recently. The TVGos information is now carried by WRAL instead of WUNC.

I also gained sound on 22.1 (CW). I rarely watch CW and the analog version has been OK all along.

Hi there. Is anyone else having trouble with FS Carolinas HD feed on TWC? For the past few Canes games, the HD feed for me comes in letterbox, not full screen, and its clearly not HD. My Explorer 8300HDC doesn't even show 720p on the green front display. It shows 480i. The really weird thing is that for one game that I was watching and recording, the third period was in HD when I watched it live, but in 480i when I watched the recording. All other HD channels are fine. Does anyone have any idea what might be the problem, or the fix?

The only "fix" I've tried is rebooting the box. Didn't help.

Thanks

No issues here, sorry >< I'm still on the 8300HD model, no cable card.. not sure if that matters.

Anyone else having issues with WTVD's sound quality (via TWC)? For whatever reason, they've been mixing up the left and right channels incredibly high over the center channel in the 5.1 feed. It's at the point where music drowns out most dialog. The other stations seem to not have this (even WRAL seems to have fixed their idiotic sound issues lately). Really annoying that these stations are having these sort of problems at this point.

Yes. But it isn't a TWC thing, it's a channel 11 thing. A few shows I've watched recently OTA on ABC have been this way, the most recent one I watched was Cupid - I had to put on closed captioning because the dialog was so overpowered by the music track you couldn't make it out. I don't watch many ABC shows though so not sure how prevalent this is.

Yes. But it isn't a TWC thing, it's a channel 11 thing. A few shows I've watched recently OTA on ABC have been this way, the most recent one I watched was Cupid - I had to put on closed captioning because the dialog was so overpowered by the music track you couldn't make it out. I don't watch many ABC shows though so not sure how prevalent this is.

I had the same problem with Castle Monday. After a a few minutes of the center channel dropping in and out, they dropped to SD with sidebars. The funny thing is that I rearranged some season pass priorities on my TiVo to get Castle recorded (3 things in that slot) because the alternative downloads had so many audio sync problems, and I could get CSI:Miami from Amazon On Demand on the TiVo.

I had the same problem with Castle Monday. After a a few minutes of the center channel dropping in and out, they dropped to SD with sidebars. The funny thing is that I rearranged some season pass priorities on my TiVo to get Castle recorded (3 things in that slot) because the alternative downloads had so many audio sync problems, and I could get CSI:Miami from Amazon On Demand on the TiVo.

Yeah, Castle had explicit problems like you mentioned. Cupid had the problems the person above mentioned. They didn't have the drops like Castle had, but the music was way overpowering. Personally, I set adjusted my receiver's balance (set center to +10 instead of its typical -2 that I have it at). This was fine for Cupid, but blew it for any other show we watch. Be nice if WTVD would monitor their output quality.

Have you tried a rescan?

Rescan did not fix it.

At this point I'm stumped.

Is there a way to send complaints to WRAL so they might actually get seen by someone with technical knowledge?

Any ideas on how to approach problem determination?

I was able to restore sound to WRAL 5.1 on TWC by pressing the 'Secondary Audio Program' button on my TV multiple times. The first press selected 'Audio 2 of 2' which had no sound, the second press selected 'Audio 1 of 2' and the sound came back. The sound remained even after a power cycle.

Previously I had tried both a rescan and a power cycle but had no sound on WRAL 5.1. Now if it goes missing again I can try the SAP trick.

WRAL has definitely been doing things to their sound, presumably in an effort to fix the dropouts. Now, on my TVs that are hooked directly to the box using the TVs speakers, I get no glitch at all. On my system with a Denon 1909 av receiver and seperate speakers using HDMI, I now am getting the image pulling to the right whenever the bug or crawl comes up, but I am no loger getting the dropout. Thanks for working on it WRAL.

I too have noticed the wackiness on ABC lately. Dacing with the Stars is a pretty consistent problem, though I am not sure if that is WTVD or the feed from ABC. I know a couple of years ago, the bass on DWTS was super high but they fixed that. This year I have noticed several times that the center was 10 or more dB lower than the other channels. I also noticed the Castle issues. Very frustrating.

This is from the Charlotte Channel Change page which means we likely will see it here as well.

May 28, 2009: HD Net will be moved from the HD Tier to the Free HD service which requires Digital Cable service with an HD Converter and an HDTV. Smithsonian HD will be added.

Interestingly, this has changed now - there's no mention of HD Net; just Smithsonian.

Further poking online shows that in many of TWC's markets they are dropping HDNet/HDNet Movies due to carriage disputes.

I was able to restore sound to WRAL 5.1 on TWC by pressing the 'Secondary Audio Program' button on my TV multiple times. The first press selected 'Audio 2 of 2' which had no sound, the second press selected 'Audio 1 of 2' and the sound came back. The sound remained even after a power cycle.

BINGO!!!

Cycling thru SAP fixed my sound too.

Many thanks. :)

Verizon has announced property sales in 14 states including all North Carolina locations. Frontier Communications is the new owner.
So those of you hoping for FiOS (including me) can hope no more.
Today Frontier provides video service via a Dish resale agreement. They do inherit some FiOS assets in the deal which they have pledged to continue to operate.

Frank

Verizon has announced property sales in 14 states including all North Carolina locations. Frontier Communications is the new owner.


Link please?

Sure, this one covers most of it ...

http://investor.verizon.com/news/view.aspx?NewsID=987

Frank

Sure, this one covers most of it ...http://investor.verizon.com/news/view.aspx?NewsID=987


Wow. From this I thought you might have mis-read it:


Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) today announced plans to divest its local wireline operations serving residential and small-business customers in predominantly rural areas in 14 states and that these operations will be acquired by Frontier Communications.


I know NC isn't metropolitan, but the RDU, Charlotte, and Triad areas aren't what I would call rural. But further down it said:


The operations Frontier will acquire include all of Verizon’s local wireline operating territories in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. (emphasis added)


Again with wow. I guess Detroit has really gone down hill if it's now defined as rural. So now our high speed broadband competition in this area is down to one and seems guaranteed to bring TWC caps to this area sooner rather than later and no wired competition for TV or telephone.

I guess we'll see. We've been pondering dropping our land line anyway, and if we can figure out our alarm system sans land line we probably will.

I should note the asset sale is VzT only. Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless assets are not included. VzT finally reached the conclusion that if FiOS didn't work in an area then that territory was "available" due to continued landline losses. Hawaii and parts of the Northeast (Vermont and Maine) have been sold over the last few years.

Frank

Verizon has announced property sales in 14 states including all North Carolina locations. Frontier Communications is the new owner.
So those of you hoping for FiOS (including me) can hope no more.
Today Frontier provides video service via a Dish resale agreement. They do inherit some FiOS assets in the deal which they have pledged to continue to operate.

Frank

Interesting. What makes you think, however, that FIOS won't be available in areas where they've already laid the groundwork for it such as Raleigh? It did say in there that they would continue to focus on FIOS service.

Verizon has announced property sales in 14 states including all North Carolina locations. Frontier Communications is the new owner.
So those of you hoping for FiOS (including me) can hope no more.
Today Frontier provides video service via a Dish resale agreement. They do inherit some FiOS assets in the deal which they have pledged to continue to operate.

Frank

So much for hoping that FiOS will come to my neck of the woods in Western NC. :mad:

Interesting. What makes you think, however, that FIOS won't be available in areas where they've already laid the groundwork for it such as Raleigh? It did say in there that they would continue to focus on FIOS service.

Raleigh is AT&T territory mostly, not Verizon. I've been poking around, and Frontier serves a population that barely gets online (according to their own metrics), so 3mb DSL is there max offering. Places that currently have FIOS will continue to have it as part of the sale deal, but I doubt the footprint will ever expand.

Frontier partners with Dish for their triple play, so TWC will continue to have a monopoly on land-line based TV services with no hope of competition in this market any time in the near (or probably distant) future. I expect to see a slow down in HD rollout as well as another attempt to put caps on their internet services. We'll see I guess. We can only hope that some WiMax or LTE solution will shake things up, but for the next 3 - 5 years it looks pretty bleak for the consumer, at least in my opinion.

Raleigh is AT&T territory mostly, not Verizon. I've been poking around, and Frontier serves a population that barely gets online (according to their own metrics), so 3mb DSL is there max offering. Places that currently have FIOS will continue to have it as part of the sale deal, but I doubt the footprint will ever expand.

Frontier partners with Dish for their triple play, so TWC will continue to have a monopoly on land-line based TV services with no hope of competition in this market any time in the near (or probably distant) future. I expect to see a slow down in HD rollout as well as another attempt to put caps on their internet services. We'll see I guess. We can only hope that some WiMax or LTE solution will shake things up, but for the next 3 - 5 years it looks pretty bleak for the consumer, at least in my opinion.

Actually, I was getting myself confused. For some reason when I wrote that earlier, I was thinking AT&T FIOS and Verizon U-Verse. Ooops. Long day.

Wow, this sucks for Durham people. Read around, Frontier is a crappy company. I can;t believe I now feel lucky to have ATT. ;)

Where is the list of channels with and without 5c encryption for Durham?

Yet another reason TWC Sucks.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/232772-Updated_Time_Warner_Cable_Dropping_HDNet_Channels_Nationwide _May_31.php

Yet another reason TWC Sucks.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/232772-Updated_Time_Warner_Cable_Dropping_HDNet_Channels_Nationwide _May_31.php

Because in the race to have the most HD channels available to your subscribers, it's always best to drop some! :rolleyes:

Sorry everyone I'm just a "drive by" poster but saw that others here were looking for info about the TVGOS in the Raleigh area. I emailed the engineering department at WRAL (April 09) about when I'll get back / why I no longer received the guide info and they replied:

WRAL started transmitting the digital TVGOS signal on June 8th of last
year on over-the-air channel 5.1. Many A/V devices are not able to
decode and/or display digital TVGOS information, though. The following
webpage has information on compatible TVGOS devices:

[----Macrovision URL removed - low post count----]

We are still working with Time Warner Cable to enable the display of the
TVGOS information embedded within our signal over their system.

This feature was a huge selling point when I bought my plasma two years ago so I'm anxiously awaiting the return of this service.

Please post the url...I'm curious. Thanks.

Jeff

Because in the race to have the most HD channels available to your subscribers, it's always best to drop some! :rolleyes:
:) I think TWC has always been the slow kid that makes excuses on why he doesn't want to race. My issue is this is just dumb from the content perspective. I love me some HDNET and it is easily on my shortlist of favorite channels. HDNET movies for me is not watched much at all but some love the free movies. I could do without TBS, TNT and any other canceled sitcom channels before I would want to lose new original content, but none the less it shows that TWC is the worst of the worst when it comes to HD.

:) I think TWC has always been the slow kid that makes excuses on why he doesn't want to race. My issue is this is just dumb from the content perspective. I love me some HDNET and it is easily on my shortlist of favorite channels. HDNET movies for me is not watched much at all but some love the free movies. I could do without TBS, TNT and any other canceled sitcom channels before I would want to lose new original content, but none the less it shows that TWC is the worst of the worst when it comes to HD.

I'd agree with you on TBS/TNT if it wasn't for the sports =\

Yet another reason TWC Sucks.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/232772-Updated_Time_Warner_Cable_Dropping_HDNet_Channels_Nationwide _May_31.php

So the question is, will they continue to charge $6.95/month for the HD Plus package, drop the price, or put something else in its place?

I am receiving TVGoS data from TWC in Durham, digital only. I do not have a set-top-box, only "Standard" cable. I receive the local CBS, PBS, ABC, NBC, FOX in HD over clear QAM on the cable.

I do have another TV that is analog only. It is not receiving the TVGoS data.

So the question is, will they continue to charge $6.95/month for the HD Plus package, drop the price, or put something else in its place?

Already did (put something in it's place). Smithsonian HD on ch. 243-- launching 5/28 for those who fork out the $6.95/mo. Not worth it IMO.

I am receiving TVGoS data from TWC in Durham, digital only.
Thanks for the heads up. It's working for me, too.