This is an indoor antenna. I tweaked it a little last night, and now everything is coming in pretty good, except for nbc. I'll look for an outdoor antenna this week.

Originally posted by cbordman
This is an indoor antenna. I tweaked it a little last night, and now everything is coming in pretty good, except for nbc. I'll look for an outdoor antenna this week.

If you're interested in an outdoor antenna, I can help.

I run a home theater company - Carolina Home Theater - and I've installed a few antennas for other folks in this forum.

Send me a PM if you're interested.

Originally posted by Eidolon
Sooke,

Im having the same sorts of problems you describe. The problems come and go though, so it is hard to diagnose what is causing them. One day there will be no issues and the next day the TV is truly unwatchable (stutters and drop outs literally every 10 seconds). I keep hoping that there will be some magical firmware upgrade that fixes the problems, but if it keeps up too long I will happily go back to my SD Tivo (which never had any problems) and give TimeWarner back the HD DVR--which has been unreliable and a source of frustration from day one.

Im extremely interested to hear whether there is anyone out there who IS NOT having problems with the HD DVR.

Same here. Have HD-DVR and some programs are unwatchable. Also, I only have to record one night of shows a week for my wife, Thursdays NBC, and 3 weeks in a row JOEY did not record, it says it was recorded but as soon as you press play either nothing is there, or the box resets. I guess it is so bad that you can't even record it. Oh well.

Re: HD DVR

I haven't had any issues with the HD DVR itself. It seems that NBC has been having difficulties recently w/ their HD signal. Joey has had some issues - lots of pixelating. But I'm chalking that up to NBC who's had some problems in the past.

All of the stuff I record plays back perfectly. I have not experienced the audio dropouts as much as some folks note on this board. It happens but not enough that it's a problem.

All and all - I've very satisfied w/ my HD DVR. In my opinion, the wait was well worth it - plus the addition of ESPN HD to the HD package is great. Can't wait for the upcoming bball season.

OK, this has nothing to do with HDTV per se. Sorry for that. But it does have to do with our cable company.

Two months ago I started paying my TWC bill using BB&T's online bill payment service. It seems to take TWC 27 days from when the bank sends the check to when TWC processes it. As a result I'm now past due with a late fee. My last payment (which the bank says was sent Nov 1) has not been "processed" yet by TWC. So I expect it will be late too.

Every other bill I pay online has no problems, just TWC.

My questions:

Does anyone reading this forum pay your TWC bill with BB&T online bill pay service?
Does it work for you?
Had any troubles?

I don't care about one late fee. I just want the process to work.

Thanks, and sorry again it is not HDTV related.

Sooke

Originally posted by edvedd
Re: HD DVR

I haven't had any issues with the HD DVR itself. It seems that NBC has been having difficulties recently w/ their HD signal. Joey has had some issues - lots of pixelating. But I'm chalking that up to NBC who's had some problems in the past.

I think the issue is actually with TWC. My NBC feed via OTA has been working just fine - no pixelation on the Joey episodes that I've HDTivoed.

When I had TWC (over a year ago), I had major issues with NBC - especially late night, as the channel would just be a blank screen. I saw this same problem when I went to a friend's house the other day.

I did have one night of glitches on my OTA recorded Joey but mostly they have been OK.

Also, I must admit that the show is a little more funny that I thought it would be.

Originally posted by pkscout
I'm not familiar with the Jenson antenna. Is that an indoor one? You'll almost always get better reception with an outdoor antenna, and since these things work "line of sight" the higher the better (i.e. roof mount). However, folks are having success with indoor antennas as well. I had a Silver Sensor for awhile (before I put up a roof mount) and I'd say my experience was about the same. WRAL was great, FOX and ABC were pretty good, and NBC depended on the weather. With the roof mount their all great now. All the stations we get in this area (except WUNC-DT) are clustered in the same area (a couple are even on the same tower), so you shouldn't need to tweak the antenna much if at all, unless you are particularly far from the towers or the antenna is very sensitive to direction.

What kind of outdoor antenna are you using? I'm rather impressed with the $25 jensen. It works great at night, but seems to be spotty in the morning. I'd like to get something that is always reliable.

Do the outdoor antennas outperform the indoor amplified ones? The (knowledgable?) folks at Best Buy were using this one http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0006G12LE/ref=wl_it_dp/002-4684497-5944051?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I13PA4RPF3IZ21&v=glance&colid=TYRB8ZH903IX to show football on sunday afternoon and i never saw it go out. And that was in the middle of the Best Buy store.

Originally posted by cbordman
What kind of outdoor antenna are you using? I'm rather impressed with the $25 jensen. It works great at night, but seems to be spotty in the morning. I'd like get something that is always reliable.

Do the outdoor antennas outperform the indoor amplified ones? The (knowledgable?) folks at Best Buy were using this one http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0006G12LE/ref=wl_it_dp/002-4684497-5944051?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I13PA4RPF3IZ21&v=glance&colid=TYRB8ZH903IX to show football on sunday afternoon and i never saw it go out. And that was in the middle of the Best Buy store.

Outdoor antennas will ALWAYS outperform indoor ones, provided they're properly mounted and wired.

I've had almost zero reception issues with my antenna since I roof-mounted it over a year ago. That's in snow, thunderstorms, hurricane remnants. My satellite dish will lose reception well before my antenna does.

Keep in mind that just because the game you saw at Best Buy didn't go out, it doesn't mean that the other channels were coming in or that the game still would have some in under different conditions (weather, your house location, etc).

As always, I'll be glad to offer my services if you're interested in an outdoor antenna. Just send me a PM. I've installed antennas for a few other folks in this forum.

I'm pretty much a do-it-yourselfer. What kind of externals do you sell and how much are they? Are they unobtrusive?

Originally posted by cbordman
What kind of outdoor antenna are you using? I'm rather impressed with the $25 jensen. It works great at night, but seems to be spotty in the morning. I'd like to get something that is always reliable.

As was already mentioned. Outdoor is always better. All the metal, wood, shingles, etc. of your house cause reception issues. It's just a matter of degree. I have a Channel Master two bay antenna that works great on my roof. It was about $25 as well, but I spent the better part of a day getting it mounted and getting the wiring run. I learned more about grounding codes than I ever really want to know, and because of the way I had to run the grounding wire from the roof, I even had the privilege of driving an 8 foot rod of copper into the ground as well (I actually drove a total of 12 feet of rod, as the first try I hit a rock 4 feet down).

What's all this leading to? If you are getting good indoor reception (at 85% to 90% in good weather you should be OK in all but the worst storms), then I'd probably just keep it. If you're not really handy and fearless when it comes to heights, have someone put up a roof antenna. Just be aware that the expertise for the install will probably cost you three to five times what the actual antenna costs. But if I had to do it again, I might just pay someone to do it. I'm not saying the view from my roof wasn't nice, but after the 6th trip up there to test something, I was tired of it. :D

I would definatley do it myself. I already have several runs of coax running to the outside which i could use for the antenna. I've seen people talk about signal being 80% or 90% but i've never seen a signal rating anywhere on my equipment.

Originally posted by cbordman
I would definatley do it myself. I already have several runs of coax running to the outside which i could use for the antenna. I've seen people talk about signal being 80% or 90% but i've never seen a signal rating anywhere on my equipment.

It's usually in a test menu somewhere. Look for something about signal strength or signal meter in your manual (you know, that paper thing that came in the box with the receiver). :D

Originally posted by sooke
OK, this has nothing to do with HDTV per se. Sorry for that. But it does have to do with our cable company.

Two months ago I started paying my TWC bill using BB&T's online bill payment service. It seems to take TWC 27 days from when the bank sends the check to when TWC processes it. As a result I'm now past due with a late fee. My last payment (which the bank says was sent Nov 1) has not been "processed" yet by TWC. So I expect it will be late too.

Every other bill I pay online has no problems, just TWC.

My questions:

Does anyone reading this forum pay your TWC bill with BB&T online bill pay service?
Does it work for you?
Had any troubles?

I don't care about one late fee. I just want the process to work.

Thanks, and sorry again it is not HDTV related.

Sooke

If the system works like ours (SECU), its probably because TWC is confused by what BB&T is sending them. When one of our members makes a payment, we basically just print out a check made out to TWC with the account number and put it in an envelope. Since it doesn't include that precious slip that you would normally include when making your payment manually, TWC gets confused as your bill differs from all the others they receive. Hopefully, BB&T is like SECU where they are working to automate payments between more companies and members/ customers where the financial institution serves as the middle man.

I would suggest paying Time Warner directly. They automatically charge my credit card every month, which I set up at their website.

-Doug

Originally posted by doug0723

I would suggest paying Time Warner directly. They automatically charge my credit card every month, which I set up at their website.

-Doug

Thanks Doug. I like the automatic charge idea. Even less effort than paying online.

Sooke

Originally posted by doug0723
If the system works like ours (SECU), its probably because TWC is confused by what BB&T is sending them. When one of our members makes a payment, we basically just print out a check made out to TWC with the account number and put it in an envelope. Since it doesn't include that precious slip that you would normally include when making your payment manually, TWC gets confused as your bill differs from all the others they receive. Hopefully, BB&T is like SECU where they are working to automate payments between more companies and members/ customers where the financial institution serves as the middle man.

I would suggest paying Time Warner directly. They automatically charge my credit card every month, which I set up at their website.

-Doug

I also have had problems paying TWC from my Centura online banking.
Same exact issue. Would pay bill and credit wouldn't show up for two months.

Originally posted by cbordman
I'm pretty much a do-it-yourselfer. What kind of externals do you sell and how much are they? Are they unobtrusive?

I sent you a PM ...

Did anybody hear the DD5.1 feed on WNCN-DT on LAX lastsnight? Now not only do we get dialog bleeding over into the surrounds (gotta be a local issue) but now there's an echo (think the echo is national because they turned the HD dd5.1 signal off).

I noticed on LOST last night, that the last act was not in widescreen. Did anyone else see that?

Originally posted by cbordman
I noticed on LOST last night, that the last act was not in widescreen. Did anyone else see that?

Yep, I noticed the last 5 mins or so were not in widescreen. Same thing happened in ER a few weeks ago, I believe.

Originally posted by Daryl L
Did anybody hear the DD5.1 feed on WNCN-DT on LAX lastsnight? Now not only do we get dialog bleeding over into the surrounds (gotta be a local issue) but now there's an echo (think the echo is national because they turned the HD dd5.1 signal off).

I think the dialog echo is local too, as I switched to recording West Wing from the NBC-HD feed on DTV and it sounds much better.

I don't watch LAX, so I don't know about that. Daryl, if you'd like to list a few of the shows you watch on West Wing, I'll record that stuff so we can compare notes on OTA NBC versus the national feed from DTV. At least then we'll have some data points with which to pressure WNCN.

Originally posted by pkscout
I think the dialog echo is local too, as I switched to recording West Wing from the NBC-HD feed on DTV and it sounds much better.

I don't watch LAX, so I don't know about that. Daryl, if you'd like to list a few of the shows you watch on West Wing, I'll record that stuff so we can compare notes on OTA NBC versus the national feed from DTV. At least then we'll have some data points with which to pressure WNCN.

It was also there on Leno last night (OTA). Hopefully, it will go away.

Does UPN, or the WB broadcast a digital signal? I'm not picking them up.. Nor am i picking up PBS.. in north raleigh.

Is this listing of channels on AntennaWeb.org accurate?

Originally posted by cbordman
Does UPN, or the WB broadcast a digital signal? I'm not picking them up.. Nor am i picking up PBS.. in north raleigh.

Is this listing of channels on AntennaWeb.org accurate?

AntennaWeb is accurate provided you gave it accurate info (your address, zip code, and surrounding buildings).

As for the WB and UPN. Yes, they are both broadcasting digital. I get WB here but not UPN. UPN doesn't matter to me as they aren't broadcasting in HD (or even widecreen). I *think* WB is broadcasting in HD, but I don't watch anything on the WB, and when I just checked it was a Friends re-run, which obviously wasn't in HD (although the WB had inserted grey bars on both sides so the broadcast was 16:9 even though the content isn't).

Well, On WNCN-DT the Dialog bleeding into the surrounds on their DD5.1 feed has been their since WNCN-DT started passing the 5.1 feed. I even check primetime DD5.1 shows I don't watch and they all have the dialog bleeding into the surrounds. I mentioned it first hear and the WNCN17 engineer that posts here said he didn't hear a problem. At that time I was the only one who commented on it.

Here's (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4508572#post4508572) my first comment.

Here's (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4525867#post4525867) his reply.

The echo is something new I heard for the first time lastnight. You could hear every word and sound repeated a second or two after is was said.

I watch:
Joey
LAX
ER
Medical Investigations
Crossing Jordan
Las Vegas

For all you Tarheel fans (and TWC HD folks) - The UNC vs Santa Clara game will be available on INHD.

Also, according to their website, they are opening up this game to all of their hd customers whether you have the hd package or not.

Originally posted by cbordman
I noticed on LOST last night, that the last act was not in widescreen. Did anyone else see that? Yep, I saw the same thing. After the last commercial the show came back on with the 4x3 upconverted signal.

As for the WNCN-DT audio. Last night (thursday night) on Joey the echo was gone but the dialog bleeding is still pressent. I sure hope they fix it soon.

Originally posted by Daryl L

Scrubs

Scrubs is HD this season? I need to start watching it live in HD then.

No Scrubs is not HD. I was just listing all the NBC shows I watch. I removed it to eliminate anymore confusion. :)

My wife reported the echo on Law & Order: SVU. I also noticed that the entire episode of West Wing was not in HD. We too caught the strange non-HD last act of LOST...

Bad week for HD in the triangle :(

Yes very bad - the WB was also showing HD in 4X3 this week for some reason - only Fox doesn't seem to have been affected this week.

Is it possible to get the local Raleigh, HDTV channels on either Direct or Dish or even Voom?

No.

Originally posted by vb713
Is it possible to get the local Raleigh, HDTV channels on either Direct or Dish or even Voom?

I know Voom is advertising an over-the-air antenna integrated with their dish. I suspect you can get the same from Dish & Direct.

Direct is saying they are going to have HD in 30-50 of the top markets by the end of 2005. Also, I believe Direct has a national feed for NBC and since RDU is an owned-and-operated NBC market, you can get the New York feed of NBC. Somebody correct me if I"ve got my facts wrong on this.

Originally posted by vb713
Is it possible to get the local Raleigh, HDTV channels on either Direct or Dish or even Voom?

No is the short answer. The longer answer is that you can get the national NBC feed in HD from DirecTV because our NBC affiliate is owned and operated by NBC. I've actually started recording my HD stuff from NBC from the national feed because the sound is right.

DirecTV has been talking about the bagillion (OK not that many) HD channels they are going to be adding in the next couple of years. The only way many of us can get the count that high is if you count HD locals for the "top" markets. If DirecTV decides to do the top 20 markets, RDU won't make it. But if they do the top 50, we will (we're listed as 29 in terms of market size).

Can you not get the HD locals with an OTA antenna at all? I can get everything except UPN in digital with a small roof antenna. Oh, and I can't get UNC-DT because I would have to either get a rotator or get a second antenna just for UNC-DT.

I'm a DTV customer, but Time Warner has a good deal to lure you over. All the digital channels with a HIDEF cable box, + all HBO and Cinemax channels, for $49.99/month for 18 months. Includes the Local HD channels, HBO HD, TNT, and DiscoveryHD.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let everyone know of my success down here in Fuquay, as I spent a lot of time researching the feasibility of OTA reception where I live and maybe some of my details may help someone else at some point. I don't mind being specific if it helps someone else who may happen to come across my thread. My Sony KV-32HS420 was delivered today, so I've been busy. ;)

I'm about .5 mile from downtown Fuquay. I'm surrounded by tall pines and the primary towers over near Clayton are to my NNE with the trees blocking the line of "sight". As most of the Raleigh people know, the towers are about 15 miles away in Fuquay and the UNC-TV tower is about 25 miles away in Chapel Hill.

I figured it would be silly to begin anywhere but with an indoor antenna. I immediately assumed the Silver Sensor (available at Sears for easy return, Amazon is cheapest) would be my best bet, but I picked up a Radio Shack (#15-1880) amplified indoor antenna to compare. I also picked up the USDTV Receiver from Wal-Mart as my test receiver.

My living room is a peculiar shape, with windows facing ESE only. Any signal from Clayton has to go through my master bedroom and bathroom to get to the living room. Nevertheless, I set up the SS and aiming in the direction of Clayton, I was stunned to noticed I got every channel available from Clayton with near full strength. I've watched three-four full hours (won't be the norm!) of TV so far (sampling from most of the channels) with no audio/video dropouts. The quality is stunning.

I decided to try to point the antenna toward Chapel Hill to try to get PBS. To my amazement, I got a good lock, not as strong as the Clayton channels, but still without suffering dropouts. (I got Univision too, not that I speak Spanish.) To experiment, now that the receiver stored all channels, I rotated the antenna to that it faced NNW or so, and after a couple tweaks of a degree or two, I was able to successfully capture all channels but UPN, which I believe is in Durham, but I never watch UPN, so that's a mere formality. I couldn't believe it. Oh yeah, and the killer was that this was all with the Silver Sensor on the FLOOR of a one-story home. In fact, the living room floor is recessed 8 inches from the floors of the rest of the house. If I raised it up a few feet or more, the strength of signal dropped off considerably.

The Radio Shack antenna was fairly poor, despite multiple settings, it couldn't maintain a signal and certainly couldn't capture both Chapel Hill and Clayton stations at the same time. I admit I only spent a half an hour with it, the Silver Sensor was 55-60% of the price and a huge success.

The USDTV receiver is efficient, channels change in about a second, the menu is fairly easy to navigate and without a DVI output or front display, among other things, it is definitely the bargain basement receiver but it gets the job done and would certainly be a budget buy. However, given the praise of the LG LST-4200A around here and elsewhere, for another 70 dollars or so, its a no-brainer (for me) to make that extra step for the LG, so the USDTV receiver is going back.

Anyway, the Sony is a excellent television (knock on wood) and my first few hours of HDTV have been incredible! I really can't get over the sound quality and I don't have a 5.1 system. Unfortunately, it's a little addicting, so my willpower will be tested. Oh yeah, the DVD quality with my JVC XV-N412S is very impressive, some of my TV on DVD is a little grainy (varies from DVD to DVD), but it is greatly reduced with some tweaking of the sharpness settings. I suppose I should grab an AVIA disc.

Off to watch Leno. . .(:D) The moral of the story is that no matter how bad you may think your location seems, you've got to start with a Silver Sensor before doing anything more drastic. Amazing little antenna and I consider myself very fortunate.

Not sure if this tale will help anyone, but I shared it nonetheless. Sorry for the length.
Josh

Is ANYBODY able to get UPN anymore? (air chan 27.1 i think) I used to get them just fine, but now my sasem tuner doesn't even see a whisper of them. It's like they stopped broadcasting. I can still get all the other channels that I used to get, just not UPN. And I can get UPN on SD, so I konw they're trying to broadcast something. This is getting to be very weird. :)


Anyone have any info about UPN? ....

Hi All,

I have a quick question about the video signal on TWC. I'm not sure if the problem I'm having is with my TV (Samsung HLN567W) or it is with the signal from TWC. Has anyone noticed some white static on the very first row of pixels? It only appears on HD channels when a standard definition (4:3) show is being shown. It is particularly bad on ABC. I never see it on a full HD show and very rarely on standard definition channels. It's almost as if the border of the TV (it does have the very thin bezel) in not covering up the overscan as it should.

Thanks,
Druze

Originally posted by cbordman
I'm a DTV customer, but Time Warner has a good deal to lure you over. All the digital channels with a HIDEF cable box, + all HBO and Cinemax channels, for $49.99/month for 18 months. Includes the Local HD channels, HBO HD, TNT, and DiscoveryHD.

Thats $20/month cheaper than what Im paying them now...is this because you signed a contract? Where can I get more info on this deal, I dont see anything about it on their website.

Originally posted by ENDContra
Thats $20/month cheaper than what Im paying them now...is this because you signed a contract? Where can I get more info on this deal, I dont see anything about it on their website.

It's probably a deal for new customers, or a deal for satellite customers. Remember, cable and satellite TV are all about growth. So they'll offer great deals to get you as a customer, but once they have you they won't care nearly as much.

Originally posted by druze
Hi All,

I have a quick question about the video signal on TWC. I'm not sure if the problem I'm having is with my TV (Samsung HLN567W) or it is with the signal from TWC. Has anyone noticed some white static on the very first row of pixels? It only appears on HD channels when a standard definition (4:3) show is being shown. It is particularly bad on ABC. I never see it on a full HD show and very rarely on standard definition channels. It's almost as if the border of the TV (it does have the very thin bezel) in not covering up the overscan as it should.

Thanks,
Druze

Hi Druze,

I have an HLN467 and get TWC. I've never seen the problem you describe. I can think of two possibilities:

1) Something may be wrong with your cable box. You could try to swap in a new one.

2) Not enough overscan (like you suggested). To check this, you can buy a DVD called Digital Video Essentials, or a DVD called AVIA, or just use the test patterns broadcast by HDNet on tuesdays (8 am - 8:10 am). It is possible that your TV image is not centered. These test patterns will reveal this. If your TV's image is not centered, you can enter the service menu and adjust it. I had to adjust mine when I first got it. If your not familiar with entering the service menu on your TV, let me know and I'll give you more details.

Good luck,

Sooke

Originally posted by druze

I have a quick question about the video signal on TWC. I'm not sure if the problem I'm having is with my TV (Samsung HLN567W) or it is with the signal from TWC. Has anyone noticed some white static on the very first row of pixels? It only appears on HD channels when a standard definition (4:3) show is being shown. It is particularly bad on ABC. I never see it on a full HD show and very rarely on standard definition channels. It's almost as if the border of the TV (it does have the very thin bezel) in not covering up the overscan as it should.

This is almost certainly not enough overscan. When I'm adjusting my projector's image around I can make this appear pretty easily by showing the extreme top of the frame.

Erik

So... Any good rumors out there on whether TWC will be adding more HD channels in the near future?

Sooke

Originally posted by sooke
So... Any good rumors out there on whether TWC will be adding more HD channels in the near future?

Sooke


I recently wrote them an email and asked about BravoHD+ which is being relaunched as UniversalHD on December 1st. I got an email back and instead of the standard form "thank you for your input we are constantly reviewing our programming, etc." I got a more direct response that said "we are currently in negotiations to add BravoHD+" to our lineup.

I thought at least that was a little encouraging. Also, I'm _guessing_ that the ESPN-HD deal included ESPN2-HD which goes live after the new year so maybe that's when we'll see something.

As an aside, to cure my insatiable desire for HD content, I just scheduled my install for Voom who has a $1 install special going through March 1st. I'll be keep in TWC for locals but dropping Dish which I had for ESPN-HD before TWC added it.

Jarrett

^ Another thread mentioned that TWC stated that ESPN2HD was in another set of negotiations...yeah that baffles me too.

Originally posted by SoonerCaniac
Not sure if this tale will help anyone, but I shared it nonetheless. Sorry for the length.
Josh [/B]

You saved me a trip to the roof, thanks!

doug

Originally posted by ENDContra
Thats $20/month cheaper than what Im paying them now...is this because you signed a contract? Where can I get more info on this deal, I dont see anything about it on their website.

I think this deal was only good for existing DirecTV customers.

Originally posted by cbordman
I think this deal was only good for existing DirecTV customers.

Deal is good for ANY satellite customer that is converting. They asked me for a copy of my DISH bill when they did the install. The way I found out about it was to call sales and say, "I'm currently and DISH customer and I was thinking about switching but I have some questions." They immediately offered me the special rate.

Im interested in using the "split screen" PIP feature on my samsung DLP. Is the best method splitting cable out of the wall and putting one directly into the tv and one going through my cable box?? I'm worried about signal loss from this...the cable going into the house is already split a lot by time warner and we already have a couple amps hooked up.

I also thought about hooking an antenna up as the other input, but wouldn't this be pricey as I would have to get another reciever too?

Originally posted by phishbfm
Im interested in using the "split screen" PIP feature on my samsung DLP. Is the best method splitting cable out of the wall and putting one directly into the tv and one going through my cable box?? I'm worried about signal loss from this...the cable going into the house is already split a lot by time warner and we already have a couple amps hooked up.

I also thought about hooking an antenna up as the other input, but wouldn't this be pricey as I would have to get another reciever too?

I had TWC install two coaxial lines for me, one to the box and one to the TV. I think some of the boxes have a "Bypass" feature on it that allows the raw signal to be passed through too but I don't really understand how "bypass" works or if it's available on HD boxes or just SD.

Hi phishbfm,

I have a Samsung DLP and here's how I did it: Coax from wall to TV's Antenna A IN, coax from TV's Antenna A OUT to cable box. Your TV has a built in splitter. As for signal loss, I've had no problems.

I've heard of the "bypass" feature on some cable boxes too, but never investigated it. Seems like it would just be a splitter in the cable box.

You could hook an antenna to TV's Antenna A or B input to get standard TV broadcasts without needing a receiver (Samsung DLPs have 2 built in NTSC tuners). But why not just use Cable instead of an antenna, that way you get a lot more channels for your PiP (2-99).

You would need an external receiver only if you wanted Over-The-Air HD broadcasts. But in that case you would be connecting the HD receiver to your TV through either a Component, DVI, or HDMI input, not Antenna.

The PiP feature on these Samsungs only uses a standard def input (antenna, composite, or S-video).

I assume at some point Samsung will start selling DLPs with built in HD tuners (ATSC/QAM tuners). But I don't think they are out yet. If you have one, please let me know.

Hope that wasn't too much information all at once,

Sooke


Originally posted by phishbfm
Im interested in using the "split screen" PIP feature on my samsung DLP. Is the best method splitting cable out of the wall and putting one directly into the tv and one going through my cable box?? I'm worried about signal loss from this...the cable going into the house is already split a lot by time warner and we already have a couple amps hooked up.

I also thought about hooking an antenna up as the other input, but wouldn't this be pricey as I would have to get another reciever too?

awesome...im looking forward to getting home and trying this...i didnt even think about using the tv as a splitter.

Question for anyone that has the Time Warner HD DVR:

Is there a way to remove channels from the on screen guide? Channels i don't receive, channels i don't want to see, etc.. ?

The HD DVR has PIP builtin, so you only need the 1 cable run to the box and it can handle PIP.

This works out better for me because i run my audio thru a receiver. If i use the TV's pip, then i have to use the TV speaker for one screen, and the stereo for the other. Or i can output the TV audio to the receiver, but then i would have to switch audio inputs on the receiver.

Tonight I sat down to watch Law and Order, and the top half of the HD picture was missing! Its even missing on the commercials. This is both OTA and with Time Warner cable (integrated LG tuner, no TWC box).

Is the NBC17 screwing up the HD feed in a creative way, or is it yet another strange quirk of my LG tuner (Zenith C32V37)? NBC17 has looked OK in the past..

BTW, the local weather is back on 17.3. It looks very nice.

Thanks,

Drew

Agreed, I'm stoked about Weather Plus being up and running even if it might just be in a test mode. Looks very nice! I've been waiting to see it since I caught a few glimpses a month or two ago. Can't wait to see the local cut in's, etc. that are coming. Nice product in my opinion.

Originally posted by drewwho
[B]Tonight I sat down to watch Law and Order, and the top half of the HD picture was missing! Its even missing on the commercials. This is both OTA and with Time Warner cable (integrated LG tuner, no TWC box).

Is the NBC17 screwing up the HD feed in a creative way, or is it yet another strange quirk of my LG tuner (Zenith C32V37)? NBC17 has looked OK in the past..


Probably related... my TWC DVR recorded The West Wing on Wednesday night. Sat down to watch it - the top half of the HD picture was missing. :(

I'm wondering when I'll finally be able to sit down and watch TWW without there being some sort of hiccup... a couple weeks ago the first twenty minutes were SD, then an entire episode went out in SD... but I have to admit, the show being broadcast minus half the picture has been the most creative problem I've seen yet. :)

- J

Originally posted by cbordman
Question for anyone that has the Time Warner HD DVR:

Is there a way to remove channels from the on screen guide? Channels i don't receive, channels i don't want to see, etc.. ?

Not that I know of, sorry.

- J

I noticed the top half of NBC17 was missing last night. I have Time Warner.

Originally posted by drewwho
Tonight I sat down to watch Law and Order, and the top half of the HD picture was missing! Its even missing on the commercials. This is both OTA and with Time Warner cable (integrated LG tuner, no TWC box).

Whatever the issue is/was, it's DEFINITELY a local issue. I have an HDTiVo and record the NBC stuff from the national NBC HD feed. I just checked, and I got both the top and bottom halves of the screen.

FWIW, they seem to have fixed it. At least in the last 20 minutes of Law and Order (it could have been earlier), the full picture was back. Thanks everybody for confirming that it wasn't just me.

Drew

Here in Washington NC the NBC17 HD was in half, so its a station issue, as I pull it in OTA.

Announcement due out today...

NBC will broadcast all of its 13 Nextel cup and 5 Busch Series races in 1080i HD and 5.1 surround sound. Starting July 2 2004 .

I have a Samsung DLP and here's how I did it: Coax from wall to TV's Antenna A IN, coax from TV's Antenna A OUT to cable box. Your TV has a built in splitter. As for signal loss, I've had no problems.

I tried this last night...

Cable from the wall into ANT A, and then ANT A OUT to cable box. The cable box wasn't getting a signal. I figure this is because of the split and now there's not enough juice to push through??

Another thing, on anyone's Samsung DLP, on the ANT OUT, is there a gray plastic piece around half of it that makes it hard to put the cable on?? That is the only input/output that has that piece...I wonder if my ANT OUT is disabled.

Originally posted by phishbfm
I tried this last night...

Cable from the wall into ANT A, and then ANT A OUT to cable box. The cable box wasn't getting a signal. I figure this is because of the split and now there's not enough juice to push through??

Another thing, on anyone's Samsung DLP, on the ANT OUT, is there a gray plastic piece around half of it that makes it hard to put the cable on?? That is the only input/output that has that piece...I wonder if my ANT OUT is disabled.

Bummer phishbfm. I don't remember any funny plastic piece on my ANT OUT. I have an HLN467. Bought it a year ago. I don't remember having to enable the ANT OUT, but maybe the newer ones are different.

Wish it had worked for you.

Sooke

yeah...i have the HLP...but the plastic piece isn't all the way around...but it definitely constricts. I don't know why they would disable the out. I guess I could try a normal split out of the wall...

Originally posted by jamielee
Announcement due out today...

NBC will broadcast all of its 13 Nextel cup and 5 Busch Series races in 1080i HD and 5.1 surround sound. Starting July 2 2004 .

nice. Does FOX broadcast the races in HD widescreen?

A coworker here recently got an LCD HDTV. He got a little silver sensor knockoff (Terk) I believe. He's got basic cable through Time Warner and tried moving his antenna into the attic. He is wanting to diplex the antenna and cable signal, but says any time he diplexes, the cable signal seems to overpower the digital OTA signal. He says he can still get the analog OTA stuff when diplexed, but not the digital. Any ideas or suggestions?

Did anybody have trouble with West Wing on NBC last night? I taped it on my HD-DVR over TWC. Upon replay, I had exactly 1 half of the picture (the lower half). The upper half of the screen was black.

Luckily I also taped it on my TiVo upstairs so I didn't miss the episode. I've seen this problem once before, also on NBC, during one of their horseraces (Belmont Stakes I believe) but it only lasted for a few minutes that time. This was the whole episode for me last night.

yes here in washington nc I get 17 ota hd and had 1/2 screen as well. On my nbc witn 7.1 no issues

For me, Wednesdays seem to be _the_ day when the HD-DVR will have the most trouble. Last night I recorded CSI NY and American Chopper (on at the same time). Both had sound drop outs and funny picture stutter and pixelation problems. I even stopped the recording of CSI, American Chopper was still messed up.

Just venting...

Originally posted by keefer37
A coworker here recently got an LCD HDTV. He got a little silver sensor knockoff (Terk) I believe. He's got basic cable through Time Warner and tried moving his antenna into the attic. He is wanting to diplex the antenna and cable signal, but says any time he diplexes, the cable signal seems to overpower the digital OTA signal. He says he can still get the analog OTA stuff when diplexed, but not the digital. Any ideas or suggestions?

No can do - the frequencies overlap. Your friend will haVE TO USE AN a/b switch between cable the the antenna. Better would be to use antenna on the TV and use cable through a VCR / cable box.

Yes folks, our Sat receiver messed up causing the half picture reported earlier. We switched to SD and re-booted it, then back to HD. Been fine since then.

Sidebar on why it is 16:9 sometimes, etc. Miami has been doing well putting the switches in. When we have trouble on the satellite feed, we manually switch to 4:3 to keep something on the air. We don't have a 16:9 "trouble slide" to go to. Otherwise, there would be nothing there as the problem is fixed, and who would sit there watching a slide anyway?

Our new HD encoder is on the air since Wednesday. We had a issue where older STB's locked up, but several software upgrades later fixed that. (at least on the older RCA dct-100 boxes we have around the station)

I have a report of the Samsung SIR T-150 boxes not seeing us after the above install. We're waiting for the reporting customer to report back if re-booting and re-searching the channels will take care of it. Give us a post or e-mail if you are experiencing loss of our DTV signals with brand and model of the STB with a problem.

Yes, Weather Plus is on the air as 17-3 and will appear on Time-Warner as 219 sometime next Monday. (12/6)

Yes, we are squeezing the life out of the bandwidth with 3 channels. 17-2 or TWC 218 looks pretty bad to me. There are some people that watch it on 4:3 sets, but we have no clue how many. Its' fate is being debated.

Finally, but not to be final, we have shut off the DD5.1 until we can get a handle on those pesky surround channel delays. We will attack that issue again later, but it is not worth making everyone mad in the preocess. And I'm a bit tired of my staff and I being called idiots by people that should know better.

Thanks for keeping us updated, and I will try my best to do the same for you.

I am noticing quite a bit more "stutter" watching WRAL HD on my TWC HD-DVR box compared to the other HD channels . . . anyone else?

NBC17ENG,

Thanks for the update. I hope you didn't take offence at my posts about the DD5.1 audio. I did my best to be polite and respectful in my post by not making any negative comments about WNCN or anybody there. Thanks for switching back to DD2.0 untill it's resolved. I did notice you had done so. I saw the weather channel on 17.3. It has a nice look to it. Actually Weather Plus is on TWC 219 now in diagnostic mode.

Originally posted by CCH
I am noticing quite a bit more "stutter" watching WRAL HD on my TWC HD-DVR box compared to the other HD channels . . . anyone else?

I noticed the sound was dropping out for about 1 second at a time during the Price is Right this morning.

Yup... Thats exactly my experience. Watching RALHD stuff that I have recorded i see stutters/breaks ups/pixilations. The rate of occurance varies all over. It can be as little as 5 seconds between events. Rarely more than 10 mins between events. RAL is much worse than the other HD source. Other sources do it too but much less frequently than CBS.

Originally posted by CCH
I am noticing quite a bit more "stutter" watching WRAL HD on my TWC HD-DVR box compared to the other HD channels . . . anyone else?

Originally posted by scsiraid
Yup... Thats exactly my experience. Watching RALHD stuff that I have recorded i see stutters/breaks ups/pixilations. The rate of occurance varies all over. It can be as little as 5 seconds between events. Rarely more than 10 mins between events. RAL is much worse than the other HD source. Other sources do it too but much less frequently than CBS.

Sorry to be a me-too'er, but in hopes that a WRAL engineer is watching this thread ....

Me too! Sometimes RALHD is acceptable, sometimes it isn't (like last night [Sunday 5Dec] during the 11:00 news).

Me too!

I've been meaning to post this to the forum for a few weeks but WRAL is by far my worst offender when it comes to breakups/pixellation. I have almost completely stopped watching CSI because of this fact.

I was curious if this has something to do with relative bitrate being used by each of the networks for their HD channel. Is there any chance that WRAL is passing a higher bitrate signal than our other locals and the box just can't deal with the load? Does anybody have definitive figures on how the digital stream from WRAL is segmented?

Speaking of the HD-DVR having problems. Here's an interesting one. I was watching and simultaneously recording "Super Speedway" on INHD2 last night. The show was in Dolby 5.1 so I was listening through my home theater sound system and was getting audio dropouts every 2-5 seconds. It was mind numbingly frustrating.

I stopped the DVR from recording and went back to just watching the program live, through the DVR box. Once I made that change, I think I had 3 more dropouts in the remaining 50 minutes or so of the program. I'm starting to get very suspicious that they did not correctly specify their hardware requirements because everytime I have a problem, it seems to deal with the machine being overloaded to do the task I'm asking it to do.

Originally posted by ddi
Sorry to be a me-too'er, but in hopes that a WRAL engineer is watching this thread ....

Me too! Sometimes RALHD is acceptable, sometimes it isn't (like last night [Sunday 5Dec] during the 11:00 news).

Well, as another data point, recording WRAL-DT programs OTA with an HD TiVo works fine. So it sounds like either a transmission issue for Time Warner or a problem that the TWC HD DVR can't handle recording of an actual HD program.

Originally posted by pkscout
Well, as another data point, recording WRAL-DT programs OTA with an HD TiVo works fine. So it sounds like either a transmission issue for Time Warner or a problem that the TWC HD DVR can't handle recording of an actual HD program.

This reflects my experience with WRAL OTA using the HDTivo as well.

8000HD thru Time Warner has not caused me any problems with WRAL.

Perfect Storm was jumping all over the place on NBC17 last friday night. There would be a few horizontal lines of static about every 5 minutes.

Anybody have any idea what's going on with WB22. Something is horribly wrong with their sound!

Originally posted by cbordman
8000HD thru Time Warner has not caused me any problems with WRAL.

Perfect Storm was jumping all over the place on NBC17 last friday night. There would be a few horizontal lines of static about every 5 minutes.

I didn't watch, and I got a real mad lady in Cary about Law & Order last night. I know it was raining, and I know the satellite fades when it rains, so I know there will be breakups during the rain. (picture freezes, blocks, etc)

Can you describe what Perfect Storm was doing or how the picture was jumping?

Thanks for your help!

Hard to describe, I just kept seeing a thin horizontal line of static about every 5 minutes. Usually about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the screen. And then what would look like an out of place frame, just enough to cause a flicker.

NBC17ENG,

Las Vegas had a lot of problems last night (both via TWC & OTA). The picture would often freeze up for a few seconds and there was some pixelization. It was worse in the 1st half hour.
Regards,

I saw the same thing as gillcup on Las Vegas lastnight. Watched on TWC and 8000HD DVR.

I'm pretty sure last night's Las Vegas was a rain fade issue. That's what keeps TWC in business! LOL!

Is anybody experiencing a problem with the sound from WLFL HD over the air. I am hearing nothing but garbled ticking. I've sent an e-mail to engineering but as yet the problem has not been corrected. Anybody else experiencing a similar problem? I'm afraid tomorrow night's Smallville is going to be a bust if this problem keeps up. It's happening during local and network programming.

Originally posted by easternncnewswat
Is anybody experiencing a problem with the sound from WLFL HD over the air. I am hearing nothing but garbled ticking. I've sent an e-mail to engineering but as yet the problem has not been corrected. Anybody else experiencing a similar problem? I'm afraid tomorrow night's Smallville is going to be a bust if this problem keeps up. It's happening during local and network programming.


I'm getting the same thing here in cary with OTA. It's been this way for at least a day and is ongoing.....anybody know when they will fix it?

Thanx for letting me know I'm not the only one having this problem. I first noticed it early yesterday afternoon. Hope it is fixed soon!

Raleigh OTA- What's going on? Today I had to rotate my antenna about 50 degrees away from my usual "sweet spot" to get a decent signal on 5-1, 11-1, 17-1 and can't get a solid signal from FOX 50-1 at all! I normally get all these signals solid as a rock. Anyone know what's going on?!

Fox 50.1 signal is still fluctuating wildly here. Anyone have any information?

Looks like I picked the wrong time to have my OTA antenna installed. Yesterday, we were seeing the same behavior you are describing. We could get decent locks on 11 and 17 but couldn't pull in 5 or 50! We finally got an acceptable signal from all four after changing antennae, thinking we had a defective product. But I wasn't very pleased with what I've seen so far, from a robustness standpoint.

Hopefully, this is not an issue with my equipment but a larger problem. Maybe I'll just wait a few days before messing with anything else.

FYI, I'm in Cary, towards the airport. The towers are at about 123-125 degrees from my location.

As of 1:30 P.M. today I'm getting 5, 11, 17 and 22 just fine with my previous antenna "sweet spot". Go figure!? Fox 50-1 is still a mess. Anybody know how much weather affects OTA digital signals? The weather was kind of funky yesterday.

Originally posted by robnalex
As of 1:30 P.M. today I'm getting 5, 11, 17 and 22 just fine with my previous antenna "sweet spot". Go figure!? Fox 50-1 is still a mess. Anybody know how much weather affects OTA digital signals? The weather was kind of funky yesterday.

The medium the signal travels though certainly has an impact on reception, whether it be "clear" air, water or electrical charge. Clouds can also, in theory, affect things by reflecting signals to some degree.

However, my experience has been that even in very heavy rains my OTA signal has been fine where I am, even at times when my satellite service has dropped out. I have an HDTiVo and haven't watched anything from the timeframe you're describing yet, except for last nights NCIS on WRAL which was fine for me.

pksout-

Thanks for the report from Durham. I also have the HR10-250. My antenna is a roof mounted Channel Master 4221 with amp and rotator. Until yesterday I haven't had problems, especially with 5.1 and 11.1 which are usually rock solid. I had to adjust my antenna position to get NYPD Blue and had to cancel my scheduled recording of "House" on Fox. 17.1 has been flaky in the past but seems to have improved. I've had no problems with my recordings from Fox 50.1 until yesterday and their signal continues to be very unstable. Today all but Fox 50.1 are coming in strong & solid.

Update on WRAL problems. I emailed Jimmy Goodman, the programming guy. Here's my email and his response:

From: Brian Dupuis
Subject: WRAL HD and dropouts reported over TWC

Hello,

Didn't know if you guys were even aware, but WRAL's HD feed seems to have a lot of problems over TWC. My wife and I record a lot of CBS shows
on our HD-DVR -- all the CSIs, The Amazing Race, etc. -- and almost without fail they are horribly choppy. Pixelization, audio dropouts... sometimes it's enough to where we want to stop watching, coming multiple times every 3 or 4 seconds. Other times it's slightly better, other times it's perfect. Note that this isn't only when watching a recorded program, but also when watching live. Generally we don't experience this on any other TWC digital channel, high-def or not.

The AVS Forum has reports from several local people that say the same thing. See this post and further in for details:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4754222#post4754222
.
Any way your engineers could get with TWC engineers and see if a resolution can be found? It's unfortunate that such enjoyable programming is marred by technical problems like that!


... The guys are working on it...we appreciate you taking the time to let us know...we couldn't do it without folks like you letting us know what is going on in the field.

Take care and please let me know if you see anymore problems.

Jimmy

Hopefully we'll see some improvements.

Jimmy is a good guy. He helped me with a Tivo lineup problem a while back. Glad to hear that they are working on the issue. Its driving me nuts. Wasnt sure if it was the DVR or something else just that it was much more prevalent on CBS.

Did anyone here watch Will & Grace last night in HD? It was their first episode in HD, and one viewer has written in that the audio and video were out of sync. Can anyone here confirm this and tell me how far off it was, and was it the only show last night with this problem, or did everything on 17-1 (217) have the same problem last night?

We watched NBC all night in HD thru time warner last night.. Never noticed a problem.

Sorry, I didn't watch Will & Grace but I did watched Joey and ER on TWC 217 and I didn't experience any A/V sync problems on them.

I watched Joey, Will & Grace, and ER on 217 via the Explorer 8000HD DVR (mostly live, although I didn't start watching ER until about 20 minutes after it started), and I only remember one or two glitches in the picture, and no audio problems to speak of (although I think there was one commercial where the audio may have been out of sync, but I wasn't really paying attention, and I don't even know during which show it was on).

I am a newbie jumping into the world of HDTV. I live near Fuquay-Varina and have purchased a Dell W4200HD Plasma that should be arriving in late January. I am researching what type of HD programming I want to receive.

I am leaning towards Direct-TV because my sons and I have been itching to get NFL Sunday Ticket for a long time. Direct TV has the Sunday Ticket contract wrapped up through 2010. I have been using TWC cable for quite a few years at my home so that is also an option. I will only need HD capability in one room, but receiving local HD channels is a must. So I have some questions:

1. DTV says that OTA local HD channels can be integrated into their receiver with a separate antenna. Does DTV provide this OTA antenna?

2. Any DTV HD users care to share their opinions on the DTV HD experience?

3. I am not a Do-It-Yourself'er. Anyone had any installation experiences or tips to share?

Thanks for the responses about last night. You guys keep watching, and I'll go on vacation next week. Keep helping and be excellent to each other!

Originally posted by marrkestef
I am a newbie jumping into the world of HDTV. I live near Fuquay-Varina and have purchased a Dell W4200HD Plasma that should be arriving in late January. I am researching what type of HD programming I want to receive.

I am leaning towards Direct-TV because my sons and I have been itching to get NFL Sunday Ticket for a long time. Direct TV has the Sunday Ticket contract wrapped up through 2010. I have been using TWC cable for quite a few years at my home so that is also an option. I will only need HD capability in one room, but receiving local HD channels is a must. So I have some questions:

1. DTV says that OTA local HD channels can be integrated into their receiver with a separate antenna. Does DTV provide this OTA antenna?

2. Any DTV HD users care to share their opinions on the DTV HD experience?

3. I am not a Do-It-Yourself'er. Anyone had any installation experiences or tips to share?

Welcome aboard.

1. I think in some cases D* will provide you with an HDTV antenna. However, it has been my experience ( I run a local Home Theater company) that the antenna they provide can often be problematic. I've replaced several D* provided antennas.

2. I am also a D* subscriber - and I love it. I've subscribed to TWC, Voom, and D* - and while they all have their strengths and weaknesses, I've settled on D* because of the HDTivo. Sunday Ticket has also appealed to me, but I haven't subscribed yet - so I can't really comment on that.

3. If you'd like me to install an antenna for you - send me a PM. I'll be glad to do it. I've installed antennas for several other forum members.

Hope that helps.

I don't watch Will and Grace, but everything I watch on NBC17 in HD (Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, Medical Investagations) has an audio sync problem. Its very marginal; just enough to be mildly annoying. The audio is so close that you know there is a problem, but its hard to say if the audio is ahead or behind. This audio sync problem does not happen for me on other channels, just NBC17. It does not happen on analog. The SD feed is so pixelized that i can't stand watching it, so I can't say if it happens there. I don't get other NBC HD feeds, so I can't tell if its a local or network problem.

My television is a Zenith c32v37 with integrated OTA and QAM tuners. The problem appears both over the air and on cable. I just use the integrated speakers on the TV. Its a very basic setup.

BTW, I'm not the one who complained, but I'm glad somebody did..
I hope this helps!

Drew

Does anyone know if TWC will carry UPN 28 HD? We have a good number of HD channels, but UPN is noticeably missing.

Originally posted by bjdupuis
Update on WRAL problems. I emailed Jimmy Goodman, the programming guy.

Hopefully we'll see some improvements.

WRAL on Thursday was MUCH better than we are used to. I have no idea if they have actually done anything to fix the problem or if was pure coincidence but there was a dramatic decrease in the number of breakups/pixellations on the Thursday night CBS shows this week than what we've been seeing in the past

Originally posted by JasonCDavis
Does anyone know if TWC will carry UPN 28 HD? We have a good number of HD channels, but UPN is noticeably missing.

UPN28 isn't in HD yet anyway, so there's nothing for them TO carry.

- Trip

WRDC in the Raleigh/Durham area is offered in HD as WRDC-DT digital channel 28.1. I'm wondering when TWC will carry it over cable in our area.

We currently get:
201 UNC (PBS) HD
211 WTVD (ABC) HD
217 WNCN (NBC) HD
250 WRAZ (FOX) HD
255 WRAL (CBS) HD
280 Discovery HD Theater
281 TNT HD

Originally posted by JasonCDavis
[B]WRDC in the Raleigh/Durham area is offered in HD as WRDC-DT digital channel 28.1. I'm wondering when TWC will carry it over cable in our area.

Unless something has changed in the last month, 28-1 is SD digital, not HD.

- Trip

Originally posted by Trip in VA
Unless something has changed in the last month, 28-1 is SD digital, not HD.

- Trip Well....then something must have changed, since I've been getting 28-1 in HD for the last 2-3 weeks. I've recorded a couple episodes of the program "Evergreen" in HD. Check your facts before you post, Trip. :) (NOT! Oops...by bad...Trip is correct)

Originally posted by robnalex
Well....then something must have changed, since I've been getting 28-1 in HD for the last 2-3 weeks. I've recorded a couple episodes of the program "Evergreen" in HD. Check your facts before you post, Trip. :)

Hey, if anyone had said anything about it, I'd have known. I have seen no posts on this forum indicating that Sinclair has started HD on WRDC-DT or WUPN-DT (over in Greensboro).

Evergreen? What is that? I watch quite a bit of UPN programming but don't recall ever hearing about that program. In fact, I just checked the local primetime grid for UPN all this week and there is no "Evergreen" or anything like it.

There IS, however, a program called "Everwood" on WB22 WLFL, which IS doing HD. Perhaps it is you who needs to check your facts.

- Trip

You are correct, Mr. Trip! I was confusing 22.1 with 28.1. And 28.1, as you stated, appears to be just SD digital.

I really ought to check the facts before posting! Sincere apologies- I bow before you in contrite humility.

Originally posted by robnalex
You are correct, Mr. Trip! I was confusing 22.1 with 28.1. And 28.1, as you stated, appears to be just SD digital.

I really ought to check the facts before posting! Sincere apologies- I bow before you in contrite humility.

LOL, it's ok. I guess we all want Enterprise in HD so bad, we dream that it is so!

- Trip

So when will Time Warner offer WB22 WLFL, which IS doing HD?

My OTA signal on 11.1 was flakey again tonight. 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Boston Legal were both almost unwatchable. Anybody know what's going on? 11.1 has always bee solid here until last Monday, then it was fine for the next few days and now it's "here we go again.....".

Originally posted by cbordman
So when will Time Warner offer WB22 WLFL, which IS doing HD?

When Sinclair decides not to demand payment for its free, over-the-air signal to be carried on cable.

- Trip

Originally posted by robnalex
My OTA signal on 11.1 was flakey again tonight. 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Boston Legal were both almost unwatchable. Anybody know what's going on? 11.1 has always bee solid here until last Monday, then it was fine for the next few days and now it's "here we go again.....".


I have the external Radio Shack Yagi, but my signal for 11.1 was great last night. I live in Mebane.

Originally posted by Trip in VA
When Sinclair decides not to demand payment for its free, over-the-air signal to be carried on cable.

- Trip

So THAT's the reason I can't watch Veronica Mars in HD. :(

Originally posted by Trip in VA
When Sinclair decides not to demand payment for its free, over-the-air signal to be carried on cable.

- Trip

oh well.. i'm sure Time Warner will raise the price a few bucks when they do finally add the WB, so Sinclair might as well get some of it.

I especially liked when they raised RoadRunner prices because of the 'enhanced roadrunner homepage'

Originally posted by sooke
So THAT's the reason I can't watch Veronica Mars in HD. :(

No, UPN28 hasn't even invested in the HD equipment yet. Sinclair has upgraded most of their ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and WB stations, however. UPN I believe should be coming some time next year.

- Trip

I bought a RCA 50" DLP a couple of months ago with the builtin tuner. I think it is the HD50LPW162. Everything was fine until about 2 weeks ago when 17-1 stopped working. I get a signal strength in 70s-80 but the screen says "unusable signal". I have emailed someone at NBC17 and they say they changed some hardware about that time but have few complaints.

Is anyone else having trouble with 17-1 on an RCA set? Should I get it looked at under warranty? I've noticed that 22-1 does the same thing.

I am about 12.5 miles from the tower.

Thanks,
Bobby

I'm looking for a small size outdoor ant, any suggestions?

I currently tried and silver sensor and the RS indoor ant, but I'm getting too many break ups.

I have a HD Tivo, so I'm not looking for a perm solution since I'll be getting locals when D* launches their sat's next year

I was thinking of the square shooter, any others? I live in the Cary area near lochmere

Thanks,
Vanelin

Originally posted by vanelin
I'm looking for a small size outdoor ant, any suggestions?

I currently tried and silver sensor and the RS indoor ant, but I'm getting too many break ups.

I have a HD Tivo, so I'm not looking for a perm solution since I'll be getting locals when D* launches their sat's next year

I was thinking of the square shooter, any others? I live in the Cary area near lochmere


I've heard good things about the square shooter. It is apparently *very* directional, but given that most of our towers are in the same location, that should be OK. I have a ChannelMaster 4221 which isn't really "small" but it's not that big either, and it works great.

BTW, do you know something nobody else knows about DirecTV's plans for HD locals? To my knowledge, they haven't announced exactly what they're going to do with the new birds, but everyone is assuming HD locals must be in the mix to get them to the number of HD channels they say they're going to have. *If* they do HD locals, and *if* they do the top 50 markets first, then we *might* see HD locals here next year. But if they do the top 25 markets first, or don't do any, then next year would be extremely optimistic.

I don't know anything in particular about D* plans for HD locals, just news and rumors that are picked up here and there.

Thanks for the info about the channelMaster, I'll check it out too.

Vanelin

Originally posted by vanelin
I'm looking for a small size outdoor ant, any suggestions?

I currently tried and silver sensor and the RS indoor ant, but I'm getting too many break ups.

I have a HD Tivo, so I'm not looking for a perm solution since I'll be getting locals when D* launches their sat's next year

I was thinking of the square shooter, any others? I live in the Cary area near lochmere

Thanks,
Vanelin

Vanelin -

We carry an antenna that will work for you - it's a custom-modified channel master (we do the custom modifications ourselves). Of course, we'll gladly install it for you as well, if you want. Send me a PM if you're interested.

Wow! That antenna comes with a Basketball hoop attached! Cool!

Originally posted by JasonCDavis
Wow! That antenna comes with a Basketball hoop attached! Cool!

Well, I guess I did say "custom-modified." ;)

Hi, this maybe slightly off topic, but I could not find a definite answer in the official SA8000HD thread.
I have a front projector hooked up to my SA8000HD via component. During daytime I would like to watch TV with my SDTV via composite. I tried this today via the VCR archive connectors as well as with RF via Cable Out. All I got was a black screen on my SDTV for live shows as well as recorded material.
Has TWC disabled this feature in the RTP area?
Thanks in advance,
Thomas

Originally posted by burkheart
Hi, this maybe slightly off topic, but I could not find a definite answer in the official SA8000HD thread.
I have a front projector hooked up to my SA8000HD via component. During daytime I would like to watch TV with my SDTV via composite. I tried this today via the VCR archive connectors as well as with RF via Cable Out. All I got was a black screen on my SDTV for live shows as well as recorded material.
Has TWC disabled this feature in the RTP area?
Thanks in advance,
Thomas


Yes. The only active outputs on the TWC box is the component video. :(

If I'm not mistaken, I believe you can get the composite/s-video outputs to work if you activate the PIP function.

Maybe that will work for you.

watching the Cowboys/Eagles game and the sound is dropping out every 10-15 secs.

I am setting up a Fusion QAM card on TW cable in Raleigh.

I have added the channels that were listed earlier and have not been able to find WRAL-HD. When I tune to the channel that is listed it is WRAL but not in HD.

Can anybody out there that is using a QAM tuner tell me what channel they are using to tune to WRAL-HD.

Thanks

There's a lot of excitement here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=484915) about DirecTV's adding Fox HD. Anyone know if we're O&O and/or eligible? I used to be able to get WRAZ Fox HD solid OTA, but not lately. I would love to be able to get the DirecTV feed and not have to deal with WRAZ's (50-1) currently lousy signal.

No.. Fox 50 is owned by Capital Broadcasting.. the same company that owns WRAL.... so no it is not an O & O.

George

I know that NBC 17 is an O&O station. What about local ABC (11) ?

Originally posted by wjarrettc
I know that NBC 17 is an O&O station. What about local ABC (11) ?

Our local ABC affiliate is O&O as well. NBC and ABC are the only two network O&O stations we have in RDU.

Originally posted by gfsiii
No.. Fox 50 is owned by Capital Broadcasting.. the same company that owns WRAL.... so no it is not an O & O.

George Rats! :mad: That's what I thought. I guess I'll just have to start a harassment campaign against WRAZ for their crappy signal!

Originally posted by robnalex
Rats! :mad: That's what I thought. I guess I'll just have to start a harassment campaign against WRAZ for their crappy signal!

What? I'd take WRAL and WRAZ over any other CBS or FOX stations in the US, what with the local news in HD, the local HD, and the near-continuous HD from HDNet.

Their signal isn't all that bad, 200 kW is FAR better than WRDC-DT's 9.1 kW or WLFL-DT's 9.2 kW.

- Trip

Trip- What I mean is that 50.1 WRAZ's signal is currently a problem at my location. It didn't used to be- this just started about 3 weeks ago- primarily signal drop-outs that make their broadcast unwatchable for me.

Originally posted by robnalex
Trip- What I mean is that 50.1 WRAZ's signal is currently a problem at my location. It didn't used to be- this just started about 3 weeks ago- primarily signal drop-outs that make their broadcast unwatchable for me.

I doubt this is WRAZ's fault.

It sounds like your antenna was not peaked correctly - and probably mounted during a different time of year. Now, that the leaves have fallen, etc - your signal has changed. You're probably getting some interference that you weren't before.

Same thing happened to me with PBS. Until the leaves fell, I couldn't get a lock on the signal (my antenna is oriented for the other stations, not PBS) - but when the leaves fall, I must get a favorable multipath signal from PBS and can pick it up with regularity.

Try re-peaking your antenna.

BTW - are WRAL and WRAZ still broadcasting HD programming separate from their SD counterparts during the day or have they changed strictly to an upconverted simulcast of their SD channel? I haven't seen any of the usual footage during the day recently.

I am trying to decide between TWC and D* as the signal provider for my new HD plasma. I live in Fuquay and feel like I can get HD locals easily with an OTA antenna if I go with D*. I currently use TWC for my analog TV and high speed Internet.

I plan to use an HDMI connection for my DVD player. My HD set also has DVI input. Do the TWC STB's from Cary have an active DVI output port?
Should I even be worried about connecting the STB to my TV with DVI?
Is there an appreciable PQ difference on the analog channels between D* and TWC Digital ?

Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

Originally posted by marrkestef
I am trying to decide between TWC and D* as the signal provider for my new HD plasma. I live in Fuquay and feel like I can get HD locals easily with an OTA antenna if I go with D*. I currently use TWC for my analog TV and high speed Internet.

I plan to use an HDMI connection for my DVD player. My HD set also has DVI input. Do the TWC STB's from Cary have an active DVI output port?
Should I even be worried about connecting the STB to my TV with DVI?
Is there an appreciable PQ difference on the analog channels between D* and TWC Digital ?

Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

Man, this is an argument about as fun as Mac vs. PC. ;)

DirecTV has a better quality picture overall that TWC, mainly because *all* the channels are digital, where as even with the TWC digital package, channels below 99 are still analog. I have DirecTV and love it. I've never compared the quality of the OTA HD with the HD signals from TWC, so I'll defer to someone else on that. If you want to time shift HD (i.e. an HD PVR), I think the HDTiVo is great, but it is expensive ($1000) and there have been problems with the HDMI ports not working all the time (I have component, so I haven't had that problem), but at 30 hours of HD, it will store twice what the TWC one will. I think some folks here can comment on the HD PVR from TWC, but if the standard PVR is any indication, it won't be that reliable. A colleague of mine had the standard PVR from TWC and returned it because he was never sure if it would record, and if it did he was never sure whether it would get the whole show. He was constantly setting his VCR as a backup.

Ive been quite pleased with TWC's HD portfolio and the DVR. My DVR has performed fine. Its not a Tivo though.... the UI works but not nearly a friendly and featured as Tivo. The DVI port is currently not active but a SW upgrade is supposedly coming soon to enable it. The DVR should store around 20 hours of HD programming.

I have an SD Tivo which I use for non HD programming and the TWC DVR for HD stuff.

I'm a big fan of TWC particularly their HD channels and HD DVR -- I've had no issues.
they have more hd channels, I like the convenience - no need for a dish, I like the on demand programming (Movies, HBO, etc) - it's only a matter of time before there are on demand movies available.

In the long run, TWC is the way to go. more channels, interactivity, more options, etc.

Originally posted by edvedd
I'm a big fan of TWC particularly their HD channels and HD DVR -- I've had no issues.
they have more hd channels, I like the convenience - no need for a dish, I like the on demand programming (Movies, HBO, etc) - it's only a matter of time before there are on demand movies available.

I'm going to dispute the more HD channels claim. Not counting the local channels (since the OP said he could get them all for free OTA), the only thing you can't get on DirecTV is TNT HD, and that is balanced by the fact that DirecTV offers Universal HD, whereas TWC does not. There is a slight advantage to TWC in the sense that the two PPV HD movie channels are on demand, where as the DirecTV ones are standard PPV, but if you don't watch a bunch of movies, that won't mater.

DirecTV is also cheaper, at least where I am:

TWC:
DigiPic 1000 (basic, standard, digital) $59.25
HD package $6.95
DVR service $6.95
TOTAL $73.15/month

DirecTV
Total Choice plus with locals $42.99
HD package $10.99
DVR service $4.99
TOTAL $58.97/month

To be fair, if you're recording HD, the $1,000 you spend on the HD TiVo will take 5.8 years to pay for itself, but if you require HDMI now, it is your only option. I've learned the hardware to do comparisons based on what is available when you want it, not what *might* come later (i.e. software upgrade to TWC HD-DVR for DVI).

And before the cable folks whine about the extra cost of additional drops, I'll add this. Yes, you can have "unlimited" additional drops with cable, but only for the analog channels. If you want digital for all your sets, it'll cost you an additional $16.90 per drop (or maybe only $8.95, the TWC site makes it hard to tell what is bundled and what isn't). With DirecTV, the additional per drop cost (i.e. mirroring fee) is $4.99 per drop. So, as the saying goes, the more TVs you have, the more you save with DirecTV.

When all is said and done though, I think either TWC or DirecTV are capable of meeting folks needs. If you do not like the idea of having to setup a dish and an OTA antenna and are willing to wait for the possibility of DVI at a later date, go with TWC. If you don't mind the dish/antenna, want the best DVR experience around (IMHO), and want HDMI *now* DirecTV is going to be a better choice for you.

And in case you *don't* want a DVR, DirecTV offers an HD STB with DVI out. I'm pretty sure TWC does too.

I'll second the opinion for D*.

I've had someone come out from TWC offer me a special satellite deal, and he couldn't come close to what I pay now for D*. I have 3 D* Tivos, 1 of them HD, and I'm still only paying about $60 or so a month for all digital channels. The dish and an external ant are only a drawback when you first have to deal with them. After that, I enjoy all digital channels all the time.

Does anyone know where they sell channel master ants around here? I've been lookin at BB, CC, lowes and HD online, to no avail.

I've found one huge one a lowes that can pick up signals from russia, but I'm just looking for a small outdoor one that I can use since I'm about 15-20 miles from the towers.

I live in the lochmere area of cary if that makes any difference.

Originally posted by vanelin
Does anyone know where they sell channel master ants around here? I've been lookin at BB, CC, lowes and HD online, to no avail. If you're able to find one locally you will probably have to pay through the nose. You can get a good price online at places such as Solid Signal (http://www.solidsignal.com/). My installer couldn't even beat the price I got from them for a 4221 and rotator.

You might try these guys.... They sell channel master...
http://www.consumer-direct.com/list.cfm?code=ANT&csp=Antennas/Accessories

Originally posted by deArgila
BTW - are WRAL and WRAZ still broadcasting HD programming separate from their SD counterparts during the day or have they changed strictly to an upconverted simulcast of their SD channel? I haven't seen any of the usual footage during the day recently.

FOX50 was carrying the "HDNet Lite" programming, but HDNet dropped that service on November 1st I believe. That stuff did repeat about every 2 weeks, so we arent missing anything really, plus now we get FOX News Sunday in widescreen. WRAL also discontinued the various HD programming during the day in favor of a better digital broadcast of SD content. This was also pretty repetative admittedly, but I do wish the ~1min HD spots that they showed during the local break in primetime would return...sure beats watching commercials.

Originally posted by robnalex
There's a lot of excitement here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=484915) about DirecTV's adding Fox HD. Anyone know if we're O&O and/or eligible? I used to be able to get WRAZ Fox HD solid OTA, but not lately. I would love to be able to get the DirecTV feed and not have to deal with WRAZ's (50-1) currently lousy signal.

Well... I know we are not O&O but we can still get it. When I called becuase I wasn't getting NBC feed they asked me if i wanted any other. At the time I was having issues with my antennae and fox and they said they could provide that by the time the wiaver went through. And I noticed last night that I got Fox HD on channel 88 and 80. Of course now i got a better antenna and don't need it but still nice to have the different markets for sports like baseball and if hockey ever comes back since Fox handles most of those and I like the NY teams.

Corey- I'm glad you're getting it, but this runs contrary to everything else I've read regarding our eligibility. Could you give more detail regarding whom you spoke with at D* and what they said? I currently cannot get a decent OTA signal on 50-1, and would love to have the D* Fox HD channel.

I don't really know who i talked do but it wasn't anyone special i just called them to actually get NBC and explaned that I live in Raleigh and that is on your list of people who should get NBC and they said yes that is true and turned it on right away and said they would ahve to get me a waiver Fox but it would take about 45 days or so. And now I have it....Sorry I can't be more help but just ask for a waiver to get Fox.

I too have had many sync problems on nbc 17.1

its to the point where i turn the channel to something else. i am using a directv Samsung ts-360 receiver using its ota tuner.

also having problems pulling in 50.1 consistently and I'm only about 8 miles from the towers just south of garner.

Originally posted by robnalex
Corey- I'm glad you're getting it, but this runs contrary to everything else I've read regarding our eligibility. Could you give more detail regarding whom you spoke with at D* and what they said? I currently cannot get a decent OTA signal on 50-1, and would love to have the D* Fox HD channel.

I wonder if Murdoch inc. has anything to do with this. Force Fox affiliates to grant waivers in local markets to draw more customers from cable to DirecTV...hmmmm.

I actually called up DirecTV last night to get my NBC HD feed turned on and asked about getting a waiver for fox and they said that they no longer offered waivers due to the law changing... however the person did let me know that i was already qualified for ABC once it hits the air and that i would be receiving that as soon as they started broadcasting it.

I know theres been a number of posts here regarding NBC17s issues with 5.1. However last nights problem was a bit different. I started watching my recording of the Father of the Pride burnoff-a-thon and noticed that there was no dialog at all. Im not sure if this was 5.1 though since my receiver did not indicate a 5.1 track, but it did sound like my center channel had been unplugged (yes, I did check that). All SD content sounded fine. Any NBC17 engineers know when this might be resolved? Regardless, thank God for ********** :).

Originally posted by ENDContra
it did sound like my center channel had been unplugged

Same here on Law & Order: SVU. My wife said she could here cars and cell phones but no dialogue.

Originally posted by ENDContra
Regardless, thank God for ********** :).

Greatest invention since TiVo!

Originally posted by ncsu4life
I actually called up DirecTV last night to get my NBC HD feed turned on and asked about getting a waiver for fox and they said that they no longer offered waivers due to the law changing... however the person did let me know that i was already qualified for ABC once it hits the air and that i would be receiving that as soon as they started broadcasting it.

So in this local area, we can get distant feeds for NBC and ABC but have to pull down FOX and CBS over the air? Here's hoping that Voom has got distant feeds on the near term agenda.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by wjarrettc
[B]Same here on Law & Order: SVU. My wife said she could here cars and cell phones but no dialogue.


I turned the 5.1 back on today after finding several settings wrong on the sat receiver. I am not sure what happened with last night's Father of the Pride, but it was in 2.0 stereo like we've been passing the last few weeks. I am listening to L&O:SVU at 10:00 and it sounds fine here at my house. What are you guys hearing?

Originally posted by wjarrettc
So in this local area, we can get distant feeds for NBC and ABC but have to pull down FOX and CBS over the air? Here's hoping that Voom has got distant feeds on the near term agenda.

About the only thing Voom is likely to have on the near term agenda is getting themselves prepped to be sold. They're hemorrhaging money so fast they probably won't make it another 6 months.

As for distant networks, that is not something the satellite folks can control. If it was up to DirecTV and Dish, they would provide *only* the national network feeds to *everybody* It's much cheaper to broadcast the same signal from 6 or so networks than to have to rebroadcast locals in 200 markets (or 1200 channels) Your local station gets to decide if you're allowed to get the national feed, and they rarely if ever grant waivers unless you get what is called a Grade C signal (at least for the analog signal) or no signal at all. We get NBC and ABC from satellite because in our area those two stations are owned and operated by the respective networks, so the network doesn't care if we don't see local commercials. The locally owned stations care a great deal if we see local ads, as that is their revenue stream.

And to make matters more complicated, a recent change in federal law regarding local rebroadcast (SHIRVA I think is what it's called) means that there doesn't appear to be any final guidelines on digital locals and waivers, so DirecTV CSRs (not the most reliable bunch, I know) are telling folks they can't ask for waivers anymore. Who knows when that will get figured out.

If you aren't happy about not being able to get FOX and CBS HD from DirecTV, complain to WRAL and WRAZ (both owned by Capital Broadcasting). I don't think it'll get you anywhere, but at least you'll be yelling at the right folks. :D

Understood all of that. I should have re-phrased my question as to "Are NBC and ABC the only O&O networks in our area" Thanks for answering that question in your explanation. :)

Since ABC/NBC are the two networks I have the most problem with OTA, I could be satisfied with a OTA/distant feed solution that gave me only those two networks.

As for Voom, I'm hopefully optimistic that somehow they'll pull through. If not, I'll hop on the DirecTV bandwagon when my 6 month commitment is up. For now, I'll continue to enjoy their exclusive HD content while continuing to get the other HD that I'm missing from Time Warner (TWC really needs to add Universal HD and Bravo to their lineup!)

Jarrett

NBC17ENG,

Sorry, I did't watch any local tv lastnight since everything was repeats, I only watched DVD's. I'll be sure to check out WNCN-DT's audio tonight if you'll be sending a 5.1 signal.

While we're on the subject of audio, what's up with Wral's audio during Y&R today? It's very scratchy. I've heard this happens when the guys don't watch their audio record levels. Very annoying.

Has anyone heard when TWC will be adding ESPN2-HD? The launch date is 1/6/05. Since we just got ESPN-HD a few months ago I'm not expecting much. Hopefully, they negotiated for both at the same time.

Also, any word on when they will be deploying the SA 8300HD? Other TWC markets have them already.

Originally posted by NBC17ENG
I am listening to L&O:SVU at 10:00 and it sounds fine here at my house. What are you guys hearing?

I flipped over there Wednesday night long enough to see if the problem had been resolved. I cant remember what it was, maybe SVU, but the audio did sound fine. Of course it wont matter to me that much now since Scrubs is the only show I watch on NBC :) (though I have seen it on once with the 5.1 flag on).

Just getting started here and glad to see there is a place to go where others likely have the same or similar HW to compare my output to.

I've just unwrapped a new HDTV (Sony 55XS955) for xmas and hooked into the newly delivered SA8000HD from TWC.

I've experimented with allowing the 8000HD upconvert to 1080i, or feeding 480i (or p) and letting the Sony handle it. Likewise I'm testing resolution by leaving SD 480p as is when fed to the Sony. My gut feel is the 8000 (on v 1.5.159) is doing a good job, using its "stretch" screen and all.

Also, watched HBO HD last night and experienced pixelation, which I believe was from the feed side and 8000HD handling it (and not a Sony issue). Otherwise HD has been flawless. Curious if others have experienced this.

Lastly, am I correct that we don't have the 8300HD here in Raleigh, yet?

Thanks!
E

Originally posted by IamtheWolf

Also, watched HBO HD last night and experienced pixelation, which I believe was from the feed side and 8000HD handling it (and not a Sony issue). Otherwise HD has been flawless. Curious if others have experienced this?

Thanks!
E
I had a lot of problems with dropouts and breakups with my 8000HD until I got TWC to come out and replace the cable from the street to my house. Once they adjusted the signal strength properly, I've had very few problems. The exception is when trying to record or watch using both tuners at the same time. This seems to cause some breakups, but overall things are much better.
Good luck.

Originally posted by gillcup
I had a lot of problems with dropouts and breakups with my 8000HD until I got TWC to come out and replace the cable from the street to my house. ....Good luck.

Thx. All has been going so well that I forgot about the cable running across my lawn, since I also just moved in :p

I got to see two episodes of Joey thursday night and the audio sounded fine. Dialog was from the center channel as it should be and music and the audiance from the left and right speakers. My receiver was detecting 3 channels, left, center and right. This changed to Left and Right speaker detection and playback during comercials. No surround signals were detected. I was able to try out Dolby's new Dolby Virtual Speaker playback which adds faux surround speaer playback. It actually sounded like the surrounds were really playing when activated and I was setting left off center from the sweet spot.

Hi,
I have been trying to feed my SDTV and HDTV with my SA8000HD, but encountered some problems because:

Originally posted by wjarrettc
The only active outputs on the TWC box is the component video.

Well, you may all know this already, but keeping "channel up" pressed and clicking "volume down" once toggles nicely between the SD and HD mode of the SA8000HD. In the SD mode all outputs in the back are active: S-Video, Composite and RF/Coax. Unfortunately I have to get up to do the switch, but owning a front projector I have to get up anyway to turn off the lights and pull down the screen. Now I can return my SA SD Explorer next week and reduce by cable bill :)

Slightly OT: Connecting all the pieces made me realize that I miss my two Fry's stores from Dallas. Where is the best place to buy cheap cable and connectors, excluding Radioshack, Compusa, BB, CC, etc?

Thanks, Thomas

Originally posted by burkheart
Slightly OT: Connecting all the pieces made me realize that I miss my two Fry's stores from Dallas. Where is the best place to buy cheap cable and connectors, excluding Radioshack, Compusa, BB, CC, etc?

You might try Tweeter (they bought a local AV store who's name totally escapes me now). There are folks over in the TiVo community forum who love Tweeter (and probably an equal number that don't). :D

You might think about looking online. I've used a place called Blue Jeans Cable (http://www.bluejeanscable.com) with some good success. I don't know if they qualify as cheap, but they are a great value (i.e. great quality for the price). The only potential drawback is that they only take PayPal or checks. I've also used HomeTech (http://www.hometech.com) for stuff like Snap and Seal coax connectors and bulk RG6 cable.

Tweeter (aka NOW Audio Video) is a Monster Cable retailer.

Tweeter bought out Ann Schatman (sp), NOW! A/V. I really liked NOW!.

Originally posted by scsiraid
Tweeter (aka NOW Audio Video) is a Monster Cable retailer.

Please don't spend money on Monster cables. They are decent quality, but not better then significantly less expensive cables. The only difference is that Monster is better marketed. In fact, they make enough money on over priced cables that they can now afford to sue any company that uses Monster in their name, regardless of whether the company has anything to do with AV gear. That's not the kind of corporate behavior I want to support.

^ Does this mean no more Monster Burger? :( ;)

Originally posted by ENDContra
^ Does this mean no more Monster Burger? :( ;)

It might, given that they have already gone after Monster House (TV show), Monster Garage (TV show), and Monster.com (job searching web site).

Actually, Monster cables can sometimes damage hardware components because their fittings do not conform to industry standards. For instance, the fittings on Monster component cables are entirely too tight and can rip the housing right of the component connection on your devices.

Originally posted by Daryl L
I got to see two episodes of Joey thursday night and the audio sounded fine. Dialog was from the center channel as it should be and music and the audiance from the left and right speakers. My receiver was detecting 3 channels, left, center and right. This changed to Left and Right speaker detection and playback during comercials. No surround signals were detected. I was able to try out Dolby's new Dolby Virtual Speaker playback which adds faux surround speaer playback. It actually sounded like the surrounds were really playing when activated and I was setting left off center from the sweet spot.

Thanks for the report. I did not get any complaints all weekend about audio, but I am concerned the meta data did not kick on the full 5.1, so I'll do a little more checking on that issue. At least it sounds like a step in the right direction.

Heads up! Manufacturer is coming Wednesday to upgrade software for my encoder, that promises to increase picture quality across the three channels.

I watched Law & Order at 8 PM and Crossing Jordan at 10pm on WNCN-DT 217 TWC monday night and audio was same as last Thursday. Dialog from the center, music and audience from the left & right fronts. No surround channel/signal detected. :D Still much better than having dialog bleeding into the surrounds.

Originally posted by burkheart
Hi,


Slightly OT: Connecting all the pieces made me realize that I miss my two Fry's stores from Dallas. Where is the best place to buy cheap cable and connectors, excluding Radioshack, Compusa, BB, CC, etc?

Thanks, Thomas


Sear's

Hey folks -- I'm hoping this is the right location for an area-specific HD question....

I live in Cary, near the Crossroads Mall area. I recently picked up a Sylvania SRZ3000 STB from Sears, on clearance, to use for OTA HD reception. I otherwise just hooked up with Dish, but don't want to pay for their HD package, considering how few channels they offer.

Really, all I want to do is get a couple of the locals, like WRAL, in HD.

For the sake of simplicity, I'd like to try putting an antenna in the attic. Are there any suggestions, or local sources? I see Terk all over the place, but I'm told they're junk. I've heard good things about "Silver Sensor," but can't find one locally....

Thx, all

Steve

Originally posted by feralcat
For the sake of simplicity, I'd like to try putting an antenna in the attic. Are there any suggestions, or local sources? I see Terk all over the place, but I'm told they're junk. I've heard good things about "Silver Sensor," but can't find one locally....

Radio Shack sells pretty good directional antennas in various sizes that will go in the attic or on the roof. Biggest issue with putting one in the attic is getting around the roof trusses if you need to point the antenna off at an angle.

Thanks, Greg....

I'll check out Radio Shack on my way home....Hopefully I can diplex the signal into/out of the existing coax infrastructure, because I don't want to have to do a wall fish, if I can help it. :(

Originally posted by feralcat
For the sake of simplicity, I'd like to try putting an antenna in the attic. Are there any suggestions, or local sources? I see Terk all over the place, but I'm told they're junk. I've heard good things about "Silver Sensor," but can't find one locally....

If you haven't yet, check out antennaweb.org (http://www.antennaweb.org). You can put in your address and get a list of stations you can receive, their direction from your house, and the kind of antenna you will need to get a decent signal.

Originally posted by burkheart


Slightly OT: Connecting all the pieces made me realize that I miss my two Fry's stores from Dallas. Where is the best place to buy cheap cable and connectors, excluding Radioshack, Compusa, BB, CC, etc?

Thanks, Thomas

I bought my Dayton component cables and Sound King speaker wire at Parts Express:

http://www.partsexpress.com

My DVI cable came with a Dell computer at work. My TOSLINK cable and currently unused S-Video / Composite cables are inexpensive Acoustic Research models from Best Buy, though they're also available from Parts Express.

Originally posted by pkscout
If you haven't yet, check out antennaweb.org (http://www.antennaweb.org). You can put in your address and get a list of stations you can receive, their direction from your house, and the kind of antenna you will need to get a decent signal.

Thx, pkscout -- I have checked out that site, and it was somewhat helpful, but they don't discuss indoor antennas.

Is anyone in the E. Cary/W. Raleigh area using an indoor antenna for HD feed with success?

Originally posted by feralcat
Thx, pkscout -- I have checked out that site, and it was somewhat helpful, but they don't discuss indoor antennas.

True, mostly because the variables are too complex. But, if you put in you have a single story house with trees/buildings around and then shift everything one color down the scale, that will give you an idea of what kind of indoor antenna you might need. At least that was my experience when I had an indoor antenna.

I've had some good success in getting cables from Pacific Cable: http://www.pacificcable.com/

I needed an extra long DVI cable and they had what I needed at a reasonable price and their service was good.

Originally posted by feralcat
Hey folks -- I'm hoping this is the right location for an area-specific HD question....

I live in Cary, near the Crossroads Mall area. I recently picked up a Sylvania SRZ3000 STB from Sears, on clearance, to use for OTA HD reception. I otherwise just hooked up with Dish, but don't want to pay for their HD package, considering how few channels they offer.

Really, all I want to do is get a couple of the locals, like WRAL, in HD.

For the sake of simplicity, I'd like to try putting an antenna in the attic. Are there any suggestions, or local sources? I see Terk all over the place, but I'm told they're junk. I've heard good things about "Silver Sensor," but can't find one locally....

Thx, all

Steve

I got my silver sensor at Sears in Traingle town center...much better than the terk i had and the Radio shack one.

I believe both of these stations are at relatively low power. How far out are people picking these up and with what antennas? I'm near Greenville, but there isn't an HD option for either network in our area.

Originally posted by agregjones
I believe both of these stations are at relatively low power. How far out are people picking these up and with what antennas? I'm near Greenville, but there isn't an HD option for either network in our area.

I'm about 27 miles from the tower and get FOX and WB at above 90% with a roof top ChannelMaster 4221 antenna. Greenville is an awfully long way from here. I see that you can get WRAL using a large directional antenna with a pre-amp, and WRAL is about the strongest signal on that tower (WB and FOX are on the same tower). If it takes all that to get WRAL, I don't see how you're going to get WB or FOX from here.

According to Antennaweb.org, you only have to wait another year for WYDO (FOX) to go live in your area. ;)

Originally posted by pkscout
According to Antennaweb.org, you only have to wait another year for WYDO (FOX) to go live in your area. ;)

As if that's worth anything. From what I'm told, the station is worthless--can't even put out a decent ANALOG signal let alone anything else. They STILL don't have anything remotely digital on the air (and from what I hear, it won't happen any time soon if they have anything to do with it).

And plus, WRAZ is probably one of the greatest non-O&O stations anyway, much like WRAL is to CBS.

- Trip

Originally posted by Trip in VA
And plus, WRAZ is probably one of the greatest non-O&O stations anyway, much like WRAL is to CBS.

Yea, that's true. Capitol Broadcasting has really spoiled us in this area. I'm usually wary of companies who own multiple broadcast stations (in this case 2 TV and 1 radio), but the folks over there have, to me at least, proved themselves a class act who care about the community and do cutting edge stuff. I don't think I've heard of another station who does their local news in HD like WRAL.

Yeah, WRAL and WRAZ are great. I even HDTivo the local news every morning!

But they're especially good come NCAA tournament time when they broadcast all the games AND the HD feed.

I hope they continue to do that again this year.

Originally posted by pkscout
I'm about 27 miles from the tower and get FOX and WB at above 90% with a roof top ChannelMaster 4221 antenna. Greenville is an awfully long way from here. I see that you can get WRAL using a large directional antenna with a pre-amp, and WRAL is about the strongest signal on that tower (WB and FOX are on the same tower). If it takes all that to get WRAL, I don't see how you're going to get WB or FOX from here.

Not nescessarily, I receive WRAL, WTVD, WNCN, WRAZ, and WLFL (although WB 22 has been rather sketchy lately) with a simple indoor antennna. WRAL, WTVD, WNCN, and WRAZ are all at 80% signal strength or above 24 hours a day. Maybe I lucked out and have a really, really sweet spot in my house. Receiving the signals ota is possible here in Greenville.

I'll second the vote for the ChannelMaster 4221.

I tried the silver sensor and the radio shack $40 ants and had lots of problems with my D* hd tivo OTA tuners. My TV's internal HD receiver picked up fairly well with the 2 forementioned indoor ants.

I got really lazy though, after I bought the 4221, I was dreading have to run a new line and mount the ant outside, so for the hell of it, I plugged it up and placed it right behind my TV I was off to the races. Almost all the channels that I care about 5, 11, 17, and 50 are all up, and stay up around the 85+ area. I even receive the PBS channels which are about in the opposite direction.

Even better, the wife didn't even notice that the 4221 was behind my my TV since I placed it to where you really have to look behind the TV to see the ant.

Grant it, I live near lochmere in cary (15 or so miles from towers), but I got lucky and once we get local HD's of D*, I can just unplug my ant and turn it into a new grill for my BBQ (take a look at a 4221 picture and you'll see what I mean) :)

NBC17ENG,

Just an update on WNCN-DT 17.1 audio just incase your curious. Las Vegas and Medium Monday night and Commited on Tuesday night all exibited the same audio reception as my two previous reports. Front Left, Center and Right channels/signals were detected. No Left Surround, Right Surround or LFE channels/signals were detected. :)

Originally posted by Daryl L
NBC17ENG,

Just an update on WNCN-DT 17.1 audio just incase your curious. Las Vegas and Medium Monday night and Commited on Tuesday night all exibited the same audio reception as my two previous reports. Front Left, Center and Right channels/signals were detected. No Left Surround, Right Surround or LFE channels/signals were detected. :)

And just to eliminate the feed as the issue, I watched Medium via the DirecTV satellite feed (which I believe is the New York station) and Medium was in full 5.1 surround. Not that I think NBC17ENG would point fingers, I just thought I'd help eliminate possibilities. :D

Has anybody noticed that NBC17 has started feeding psip information into their programming guide. Right now, it is only Regularly Scheduled Programming, but still pretty cool nonetheless.

Also, NBC17ENG, has the station made any decisions as to whether or not to dump 17.2 since it is SD only and not the greatest quality. Do not mean that as an insult. Just wondering if there is still a need for it since it suffers from a lot of pixelation, etc.

By the way, does anybody know why WB22 has reverted back to 57.1 with no psip data at all? It's been like that for a week and it seems that nobody at the station has taken any notice of it whatsoever.

Here's three pieces of info posted buy NBC17ENG.

I turned the 5.1 back on today after finding several settings wrong on the sat receiver. I am not sure what happened with last night's Father of the Pride, but it was in 2.0 stereo like we've been passing the last few weeks. I am listening to L&O:SVU at 10:00 and it sounds fine here at my house. What are you guys hearing?I did not get any complaints all weekend about audio, but I am concerned the meta data did not kick on the full 5.1, so I'll do a little more checking on that issue. At least it sounds like a step in the right direction.
So he's aware it's WNCN's setup and not national. Aparently he's tweaking things on his end for us. :D

Heads up! Manufacturer is coming Wednesday to upgrade software for my encoder, that promises to increase picture quality across the three channels.This may answer your question about PSIP and their multicasting.

Originally posted by pkscout
Yea, that's true. Capitol Broadcasting has really spoiled us in this area. I'm usually wary of companies who own multiple broadcast stations (in this case 2 TV and 1 radio), but the folks over there have, to me at least, proved themselves a class act who care about the community and do cutting edge stuff. I don't think I've heard of another station who does their local news in HD like WRAL.

I agree. I wish Capitol were one of the big owners--I'd gladly welcome them as a multi-station owner into my market. (The only owner in my market that I have any respect for is Schurz, owner of WDBJ-7, also a CBS affiliate ironically. I wouldn't mind Schurz putting our Pax station out of its misery and moving UPN or WB to it.)

Not just for their committment to HD (which wouldn't make sense in a smaller market like Roanoke), but for the quality of their news. Back when I used to care enough to watch the morning news, I wouldn't watch the local news from 7, 10, or 13 except for weather. I'd hope the weather was right to get WRAL or WVIR (NBC in Charlottesville, VA). I'm not sure what it was, but I just loved those newscasts. I still like both, but I no longer watch local news, so it doesn't matter.

- Trip

Thanx for the info Daryl L.

I agree about Wral's newscast, Trip. When my family moved to New Bern, I mounted an outdoor antenna just so I could watch the Big 5! It's my station of choice for just about everything.

Here's what were doing:
I'm phasing the 5.1 audio back in slowly in steps. The only way to test it is on the air with a 5.1 show coming in from NBC. We are running a 3.0 setup with left/center/right. Lipsync seems good so far, no complaints and name calling, so we will phase in the rear channels soon, if not already.

Why do SD? Well, there's lots more SD digital cable boxes than HD cable boxes out there, and most people are phasing into the digital age with a STB on a 4:3 TV. Standard TV's are so cheap, it makes sense to buy them now. We have a huge number of viewers that watch it instead of the analog on channel 6.

Pixellation on the SD was significantly reduced yesterday with the encoder software upgrade. It freed up almost 2 Mbs in the stream. It still has a problem with fast motion, but that's MPEG doing its' thing. We are still tweaking the rates on the SD and trying to leave the HD alone.

PSIP is being phased in, and will be in full swing shortly. What you are seeing now is from the encoder software upgrade.

Certain RCA and Samsung receivers are having problems seeing the HD channel, and our sister stations reported the same thing with the new encoder. We're waiting to see if the software changes that, or if there's something in the tables those sets can't deal with.

Weather Plus has had a few beta test "issues" they are working on, but the biggest issue right now is it skips events in the play list causing it to sit in black at times.

More software upgrades to come! I'll let you know what I know as soon as I know it.

Thanx for the info NBC17ENG!

I am one of those people using a STB with a 4:3 analog tv so I get where you're coming from. You're right too; 17.2 looks a lot better today than the day before yesterday.

Let me say again, I love WeatherPlus and what you guys are doing! I've been waiting for an alternative to The Weather Channel for years. I think WeatherPlus is a step in the right direction. :D

Glad to see PSIP making it's way in as well. I've noticed some of the sound issues as well. I know you guys do everything you can to resolve those issues as they come up. Thanx for the hard work you put into your broadcasts!

Thanx again for responding.

NBC17ENG,

Thanks alot for the update. I have not noticed any lip sync errors on 17.1 since you turned the DD5.1 back on. I don't mind the temp 3.0 at all. Atleast the dialog is coming from the proper direction. ;)

Since I have a HD widescreen tv I watch 17.1 and rarely every turn to 17.2 so I'm sorry but I can't honestly comment on it's picture quality before and after the software upgrade.

Hello,

I'm looking at getting started with hdtv on my standard tv so I'm looking for any and all advice for a good set top box. I'd seen the Morotola HDT101 at circuit city and reviews I've read online are generally positive (plus it's within my price range) but I'm open to all suggestions.

At home I currently run FTA satellite and normal analog OTA broadcast channels with a mythtv recording system (a linux based pvr)

My searches on the subject lead me to this site and wanted to thank everyone in advance for all the knowledge I've gained over the past two days reading the site. You people really know what you're doing!

Cheers,

Ralph in Raleigh

Thanks Daryl, you've been a great help, and we appreciate the feedback and this site. Ed and I have gone through the menus several times each trying to catch what we may have missed causing our AC-3 encoder to miss the 5.1 data signal. We are suspecting a serial cable with adapters and extensions may be causing the problem.

Time for a quick trip to Connect-it on Millbrook, where we get all our cables, BTW. My last visit for DVI cables wiped them out and they were waiting for another shipment. I have a project going on that requires two different types of DVI connectors, and they have been inundated with all the various variations of DVI cables. (Good sign tho, that lots of people are making new installations!)

I need to run a DVI-D cable 25 feet, which is beyond what the manufactures recommend. Anyone here had any experience or problems extending DVI signals?

Originally posted by bjdupuis
Update on WRAL problems. I emailed Jimmy Goodman, the programming guy.

Hopefully we'll see some improvements.

I wanted to revisit this topic after a month had passed. I don't know what TWC and WRAL did but at least at my location, the HD-DVR recordings off of WRAL have been majorly improved over the last month.

In fact, I would so far as to say that I think I've seen improvement on ALL of TWC's HD channels. Now I'm not sure if this has to do with it being the close season for new programming so I wasn't recording a lot of HD but I've perceived a huge improvement in the breakup/pixellation problem since bjdupuis posted this.

With new shows back this week I'll be keeping a close eye on things but I'm optimistic that whatever they've done at TWC has gone a long way to solving this chronic issue.

What are others seeing?

[i]I need to run a DVI-D cable 25 feet, which is beyond what the manufactures recommend. Anyone here had any experience or problems extending DVI signals? [/B]

Try dvigear.com - I have good success with them. The longest DVI cable I've had to use so far is 10m (33 ft or so), but they have longer ones that they sell.

Ask for Chris and tell them I sent you. :)

Originally posted by wjarrettc
I wanted to revisit this topic after a month had passed. I don't know what TWC and WRAL did but at least at my location, the HD-DVR recordings off of WRAL have been majorly improved over the last month.

In fact, I would so far as to say that I think I've seen improvement on ALL of TWC's HD channels. Now I'm not sure if this has to do with it being the close season for new programming so I wasn't recording a lot of HD but I've perceived a huge improvement in the breakup/pixellation problem since bjdupuis posted this.

With new shows back this week I'll be keeping a close eye on things but I'm optimistic that whatever they've done at TWC has gone a long way to solving this chronic issue.

What are others seeing?

My experience mirrors yours with WRAL. Still seeing glitches on ESPN-HD.

has anyone heard anything about TWC adding ESPN2-HD? It started last night and I noticed i didn't have it.

Originally posted by phishbfm
has anyone heard anything about TWC adding ESPN2-HD? It started last night and I noticed i didn't have it.

No word yet.

However, don't feel bad - even though Directv and Adelphia apparently have contracts to carry ESPN2HD, neither is actually broadcasting it yet.

NBC17ENG,

I hate to deliver bad news but during Joey and Commited lastnight, my receivers detecting front L/C/R channels and no back channels or LFE just like the past few nights but this time the dialog was coming from the L/R speakers and not the center. I did not watch Will & Grace nor Medium lastnight but I did keep turning to them often to check the audio and they were the same as Joey and Commited.

Sorry, I have no experience with DVI cables.

NBC17ENG,

This may be good news or bad. I noticed lastnight that all the channels (L/C/R/LS/RS/LFE) of the 5.1 signal was being detected by my receiver. But the dialog was coming from the surround speakers but this may not be local. A couple people on the Charlotte NC thread (here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4946247#post4946247)) said they noticed the same thing lastnight and on Joey Thursday night. So unless their picking up WNCN-DT it could be a national problem this time.

If I'm not mistaken TWC does not currently offer the SA8300HD in the Raleigh area, yet. Am I correct? If so, does anyone have info on when they will make it available. Is there a waiting list I should get on?

Thanks,

E

I've never seen this mentioned before. I just plugged time warner cable straight into my Sony tv with the builtin tuner and it receives the local HD channels without any settop box needed. All in all, i think it detected about 30 digital channels that are viewable out of about 190.

^ I assume you have a QAM tuner in your Sony? I have the Fusion HDTV/QAM PC tuner card that I can use to tune in unencrypted HD channels and the corresponding digital channels (Newschannel, ABC News Now, etc). Anyhow, could you possibly post a channel list? If I do a search for channels with the Fusion, itll crash and Ill have to reinstall the drivers (yeah I know, but its the only real bug Ive found so far).

0.0 (blank)
5.1
5.2
5.3
11.1
11.2
11.3
17.1
17.2
17.3
50.1
50.2
50.3
84.2 DiscoveryHD
84.3 TNTHD
102.7
103.10 ESPN Classic
104.1
105.60
106.3
106.9
112.1 (24hr view of the tower?)
112.11
121.1 (blank)

Dain.........I just tried that on our "Charter Cable" here in the Roxboro area and We don't have anything in HD! Oh well maybe one day when they come out of the stone ages.

Originally posted by Daryl L
NBC17ENG,

This may be good news or bad. I noticed lastnight that all the channels (L/C/R/LS/RS/LFE) of the 5.1 signal was being detected by my receiver. But the dialog was coming from the surround speakers but this may not be local. A couple people on the Charlotte NC thread (here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4946247#post4946247)) said they noticed the same thing lastnight and on Joey Thursday night. So unless their picking up WNCN-DT it could be a national problem this time.

American Dreams sounded funny last night. I checked the receiver, and it had defaulted back to stereo on all 6 channels. I re-saved the configuration, and re-booted, and it came back up normally. I'm not sure why it changed itself, but it could have been a software update from NBC that caused it since other markets report the same thing. Tonight's Medium should be in 5.1, but . . . .

NBC17ENG,

Thanks for the info. That explains why Crossing Jordan sounded odd lastnight and BattleStar Galactica Saturday Night. I'll be watching Las Vegas and Medium tonight. I'll post what I hear on my end. :)

NBC17ENG,

Thanks alot. The audio was perfect lastnight. I declare though If I didn't know Medium was DD5.1 I'd swear it was mono. They didn't bother mixing in hardly any sounds beyond dialog in this show. Even Las Vegas's Dolby Surround fed through 5.1 channels had more Left, Right and Surround effects. :)

I finally managed to get some HDTV goodness at my place. Let me start with a quick equipment run down:

Samsung SIR TS360 DirecTV / HDTV tuner
Radio Shack VU-120 XR mounted in attic
100ft RG9 cable

A picture of the antenna mounted is here: http://donpoo.net/gallery/HDTV

I'm located in Durham in the Audubon Park subdivision which is about 2mi from the 55/54 junction. I don't have DirecTV HD, just the OTA antenna I installed tonight. I used the antennaweb.org map to point the antenna at 129 deg however I noticed I need to adjust this to be 131 - 132 deg. (That's tomorrows task!) Here's a run down of what antennaweb says I should get:

WTVD-DT 11.1 ABC
WRAZ-DT 50.1 FOX
WRAL-DT 5.1 CBS
WNCN-DT 17.1 NBC
WRDC-DT 28.1 UPN
WLFL-DT 22.1 WB

I noticed the tuner picked up several more "sub-channels" than those listed here. I assume that is normal? What do stations do with the different sub-channels?

NBC17 had the best signal. CBS was looking good but was breaking up often for me. UPN showed some signal but never was able to lock on to a picture. WB looked as good as NBC17 but wasn't showing any HD content by the time I had everything setup. :)

I would expect to be able to get all these stations as there all 25-26 miles from my location. Because I wasn't getting them all I'm assuming that they all may not be up to "full power"? Does UPN have any actual HD content yet?

Any advice and info would be great. I RTFM pretty well so pointers to different threads or sites would be helpful too. :)

Originally posted by BlueCamel
I noticed the tuner picked up several more "sub-channels" than those listed here. I assume that is normal? What do stations do with the different sub-channels?

<snip>

I would expect to be able to get all these stations as there all 25-26 miles from my location. Because I wasn't getting them all I'm assuming that they all may not be up to "full power"? Does UPN have any actual HD content yet?

Antennaweb only lists stations, not all the sub-channels they may broadcast, so yes, you will see sub-channels for many of the listed stations. Neither UPN nor WB are broadcasting in HD, so while you'll be able to get their digital signal, it won't be HD. I can't get UPN to lock here either (about 25 miles away), but the rest come in fine. UPN is either broadcasting low power or there is some multipath problem causing interference. Since the only thing I watch on UPN is Enterprise, and since they aren't broadcasting in HD anyway, I haven't worried about it.

Thank you so much Daryl for your feedback. I've found the Tonight Show is the best test for 5.1 since the audience sounds are behind you, but even then a show with just dialog is difficult to judge with. I'll check those settings one more time to see if something has shifted, but I'm temporarily happy. LOL!

Welcome to the club, Scott! I'm Chief Engineer for NBC-17, and you'll find all the stations and TWC cable engineers read and post to this forum. It's a great tool and a lot of good information.

Antennas are not an exact science. I've held one in my hands many times walking from end to end on a roof trying to find that sweet spot that gets all stations best. It's mostly "trial and error" that gets the best results. I have a rotor on my antenna that has proved to be extremely useful. As an example, CBS, FOX, NBC,(analog & digital) UPN, and WB-DT are all mounted on the same tower off US 70 East near the Johnston County Line. WTVD-DT is just a few hundred yards away. If you get one, you should get us all. But, if you like PBS, then you need to turn toward Chapel Hill or PAX turn toward Louisburg. If you want Univision, a slight tweak toward Broadway near Fayetteville is required. As the season's change, and leaves disappear and reappear, you may need to tweak the antenna direction again.

Not sure if you guys are aware, or can even get it; but WUPN out of Greensboro is passing HD for UPN now. I think they are pretty high power, they are transmitting from Randleman, NC.
I caught about 10 minutes of "Veronia Wars" last night.

Originally posted by NBC17ENG
Thank you so much Daryl for your feedback. I've found the Tonight Show is the best test for 5.1 since the audience sounds are behind you, but even then a show with just dialog is difficult to judge with.

Was last nights Jay Leno in 5.1? My receiver said DD 2.0. Of course, big grain of salt here. I've had my HDTV setup for all of 10 hours so far! I have yet to find any HD content broadcasting in 5.1 however I'm looking forward to West Wing tonight.


Welcome to the club, Scott! I'm Chief Engineer for NBC-17, and you'll find all the stations and TWC cable engineers read and post to this forum. It's a great tool and a lot of good information.


Thanks and thank you and the other engineers for being here. When I realized who was participating in this thread I went back and skimmed the previous 25 pages. Lots of good detail that has been a big help already.


Antennas are not an exact science. I've held one in my hands many times walking from end to end on a roof trying to find that sweet spot that gets all stations best. It's mostly "trial and error" that gets the best results. I have a rotor on my antenna that has proved to be extremely useful. As an example, CBS, FOX, NBC,(analog & digital) UPN, and WB-DT are all mounted on the same tower off US 70 East near the Johnston County Line. WTVD-DT is just a few hundred yards away. If you get one, you should get us all. But, if you like PBS, then you need to turn toward Chapel Hill or PAX turn toward Louisburg. If you want Univision, a slight tweak toward Broadway near Fayetteville is required. As the season's change, and leaves disappear and reappear, you may need to tweak the antenna direction again.

Sitting down last night my wife and I agreed we didn't need HD PAX, PBS, or UNI. When planning for HD we decided on OTA instead of DirecTV HD mainly because of the shows we enjoy (24, ER, Smallville, West Wing, etc) being broad cast in HD.

I'm glad to hear others have problems locking on to UPN WRDC-DT. I think I'll try a slight rotation today from my current 128 deg to 132 deg and hope that will lock down ABC WTVD-DT which was breaking up on me last night. WRAZ-DT, WRAL-DT, WNCN-DT, WLFL-DT all seemed to come in well, though so far we've only seen WRAL news and Jay Leno in HD.

Of course, with enough trips up into the attic to adjust the antenna I'll eventually put my foot through he ceiling and THEN decide that the rotor would have been worth it after all. :)

Originally posted by Greg T
Not sure if you guys are aware, or can even get it; but WUPN out of Greensboro is passing HD for UPN now. I think they are pretty high power, they are transmitting from Randleman, NC.
I caught about 10 minutes of "Veronia Wars" last night.

I like Veronica Mars and wish it was in HD over TWC here in Raleigh. Since it is not, any of you OTA/antenna experts out there think I could receive WUPN out of Greensboro all the way over here in Raleigh if I bought the equipment?

Sooke

Welcome Scott. I'm in Pembroke NC waaaaaay down South just 30 miles from the South Carolina state line so I'm unable to advise you on antenna pointing but congrats on the new HD setup.

Glad to help anytime I can NBC17ENG. :)Antennas are not an exact science. I've held one in my hands many times walking from end to end on a roof trying to find that sweet spot that gets all stations best. It's mostly "trial and error" that gets the best results.I'm my experience I've found putting foil on one rabbit ear, stand behind the tv hold the other rabbit ear, stand on your big right toe, bend over, stick the big left toe up behind you, close your left eye, squint with the right and turn your head to the left give the best clearest reception. :D

Originally posted by BlueCamel

I would expect to be able to get all these stations as there all 25-26 miles from my location. Because I wasn't getting them all I'm assuming that they all may not be up to "full power"? Does UPN have any actual HD content yet?


I'm in Morrisville and probably about 22 miles away from the towers. I have a Samsung DirecTV box and a Hughes DirecTV HD-Tivo box. My first antenna was a Radio Shack VU-90 XR installed in the attic. It worked fairly well with signal stengths in the 60 - 75 range (via the HD-Tivo meter) for the 6 stations you reference (I could also get UNC if I re-oriented the antenna but that dropped the strength of the other stations and was not worth it for me considering how little HD content there is on UNC). During bad wheather, however, the signal strength would go down to 50 or lower and I'd get some break-ups. I replaced it with a Channel Master CM4228 antenna with a CM7775 preamp. Now I'm getting 80-95. Investment was $115 shipped from SolidSignal.

Thanks for the info Keven. I've heard bad things about the signal strength meter on the SIR TS360 but not *why* it is bad. I need to figure out what people are saying and see if I see it that way as well.

I'm seeing a lot more breaksups across multiple stations than I think I should. Could be my box but despite of the OTR meter complaints I don't recall seeing anyone complain about OTA reception. Could be my antenna. :) That's something else I'll have to figure out over time.

Scott, Not sure if this is applicable but comparing the signal meter on the Samsung (I have a 160) and the Hughes, the Samsung doesn' fluctuate much. E.g. it will show "75" but will only jump b/w say 70 & 78. But if i flip to the Hughes, it will jump b/w 30 & 76. If I leave the antenna oriented as such, I certainly get intermittent break-ups. So, I use the Hughes for orienting the antenna with the goal of getting not only the highest reading but also the one that stays closest within a given margin.

Originally posted by sooke
I like Veronica Mars and wish it was in HD over TWC here in Raleigh. Since it is not, any of you OTA/antenna experts out there think I could receive WUPN out of Greensboro all the way over here in Raleigh if I bought the equipment?

Sooke

Probably - send me a PM if you want to investigate.

Originally posted by BlueCamel
Of course, with enough trips up into the attic to adjust the antenna I'll eventually put my foot through he ceiling and THEN decide that the rotor would have been worth it after all. :)

If you're antenna is in your attic, the problem could be multi-path developing due to the roof shingles and other construction material. Mind you, I can't get UPN even with a roof mounted Channel Master 4221, but if you're having problems with other stations, that could be the problem.

Originally posted by pkscout
If you're antenna is in your attic, the problem could be multi-path developing due to the roof shingles and other construction material. Mind you, I can't get UPN even with a roof mounted Channel Master 4221, but if you're having problems with other stations, that could be the problem.


I called WUPN today. Apperantly they aren't full power now, but they are going full power within a week.

Yup, it's in the attic. I actually prefer it there for the same reasons I'm a Mac user. (In my defense I also am a Linux system admin.)

So tonight we watched West Wing on NBC and Lost on ABC. This of course required trips up into the attic to adjust the antenna by about 3 deg. The shows were great. No breakups, clear sound, great picture. But adjusting the antenna is going to get old real quick. (If I didn't adjust the antenna one of the two stations would break up about once a minute while the other station would come in clear.)

Thinking about the problem, there are three things I could try:

1) Move it from the attic to the roof
2) Get a rotator and leave it in the attic
3) Get a preamp and leave it in the attic

I like the preamp idea because it's easy to do and I think doing the easy thing first is always a good idea when trying to solve a problem. I'm not sure if a preamp will help with a multi-path problem, anyone know?. It seems to me that if my signal is so weak as to require moving the antenna 2-3 degrees to lock on to two different stations that are on the same tower a preamp just might have a chance of working.

The rotator is a sure bet but seems like a pain to install. Moving the antenna out to the roof seems like a good idea but that could just make it harder to adjust. :) I think I'll try that last.

Advice and thoughts? Is my thinking way off?

Originally posted by BlueCamel
Thinking about the problem, there are three things I could try:

1) Move it from the attic to the roof
2) Get a rotator and leave it in the attic
3) Get a preamp and leave it in the attic

I like the preamp idea because it's easy to do and I think doing the easy thing first is always a good idea when trying to solve a problem. I'm not sure if a preamp will help with a multi-path problem, anyone know?. It seems to me that if my signal is so weak as to require moving the antenna 2-3 degrees to lock on to two different stations that are on the same tower a preamp just might have a chance of working.

The rotator is a sure bet but seems like a pain to install. Moving the antenna out to the roof seems like a good idea but that could just make it harder to adjust. :) I think I'll try that last.

Advice and thoughts? Is my thinking way off?

Garbage In, Garbage Out! A preamp will make it worse amplifying the multipath. As I said, ABC is on their own tower, and the rest of us are literally a few hunfred yards away from them. I bet you have a roof truss or beam in the way. Move your antenna a few feet in one direction or the other, it won't take much, but I bet there's a tree or something simple causing it. (Trial & Error Time!) You also have to think small, because the wavelength of a UHF channel like 17, is about 12 inches, and even smaller at the channels we are operating at now (mid 50's). By comparison, channel 5's VHF wavelength is measured in feet, so UHF does not bend around trees and beams as easily as VHF.

Try moving it a few feet (or even inches) left, right, forward, and back, then try the outside. Exhaust the cheap alternatives first.

Whenever somebody tells me they want to get OTA with an antenna in the attic - "Fine, if it works". I ALWAYS reccomend that you get your OTA antennas outside where they were designed to work.

As far as aiming - I'd say if you're more than about 10 miles from the antenna farm, they are all (except WUNC) essentially in the same location (WLFL 22 analog is off on their own antenna also). Trying to receive WUNC and the rest of the digital stations - almost requires a rotor.

Originally posted by wjarrettc
I wanted to revisit this topic after a month had passed. I don't know what TWC and WRAL did but at least at my location, the HD-DVR recordings off of WRAL have been majorly improved over the last month.
I recently completed a move, so I really haven't been able to hit my shows as much as I like. Couple that with a TWC problem with not picking up certain channels (everything between UNC digital and WRAL digital), and the fact that the technician convinced my wife that he had to switch out our DVR -- meaning all saved programming gone instantly -- means that I haven't seen much programming at all lately.

That said, it's very heartening to hear that some of you noticed an improvement! I look forward to getting back into the swing of things and seeing if I notice it as well. That would be a great boon.

There's a website that shows antenna gain plots for commons types of antennas better then I could hope to describe but I've just learned that I can't post urls yet. I'll try another method:

it's at hdtvprimer dot com /ANTENNAS/types dot html

My main antenna is a winegard pr-4400, which is fairly selective. I aimed it via antennaweb and I've been pretty happy with it (it's mounted outside btw)
There's a plot of my antenna's pattern (on the same site)

Notice the blue trace, that's it's gain at channel 20 (507.25 Mhz) If the antenna is pointing at the transmitter it's got a good chance of being picked up, but it it's +/- 90 off axis it's best chance of bleeding in is -35db below your main signal. You want to try to point your antenna such that the large area is aimed at the transmitter and the reflections are arriving in the null regions. Remember that rf doesn't behave like light waves, so the best place to point it isn't always the most logical.

You should also realize that you're installing your antenna at the best possible time of the year. Low moisture, extended darkness hours that reduce atmospheric noise, and all the trees are bare. Come spring everything will sprout and you'll wonder what happened to your signal.

Thanks for the link Ralph. Here's a clickable version.

http://hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/types.html

Professional Antenna installers in Cary area?

Aaaggh....I've dicked around for a week now with three seperate antennas, including the Silver Sensor, putting them in various windows, duct-taping to the outside window sill, etc., and I think I need to bite the bullet, and put up a decent outdoor antenna. I'm sick of the signal fading in and out, and degrading, and choppy audio.

I've read some of the stuff on grounding, and it makes my head ache. I'm willing to pay a pro to install a roof-top antenna, make sure it's grounded properly, etc, and do a nice, neat wall-fish of the coax, and all that mess....Who's a good person in the Cary area to call?

Many thanks.

Steve

Originally posted by feralcat
Professional Antenna installers in Cary area?

Aaaggh....I've dicked around for a week now with three seperate antennas, including the Silver Sensor, putting them in various windows, duct-taping to the outside window sill, etc., and I think I need to bite the bullet, and put up a decent outdoor antenna. I'm sick of the signal fading in and out, and degrading, and choppy audio.

I've read some of the stuff on grounding, and it makes my head ache. I'm willing to pay a pro to install a roof-top antenna, make sure it's grounded properly, etc, and do a nice, neat wall-fish of the coax, and all that mess....Who's a good person in the Cary area to call?

Many thanks.

Steve

Hey, Steve. I've installed antennas for several forum members - send me a PM and we'll talk.

I tried to search the thread for recent pertinent posts, didn't turn up anything.

Has anyone else had problems with WRAZ Fox 50 during the NFL Playoff broadcasts? The sound drops out for a second or two very frequently (every minute or so, often several times a minute), and the picture seems 'jerky' at times (like there is a very bried loss of signal).

Happened last week, yesterday, and now again today. No problems on other channels.

In case it helps, I'm on TWC in Durham, using the built-in QAM tuner in my Hitachi 57S715 (no STB).

Thanks,

Jake