Official in that is the first and only one. Anyway, if you are around Topeka, KS, I will try to give updates on the local there.

KTWU: Channel 23 (PBS)- I put them first because they are first rate. I sent an email off inquiring about their pictures on their website of their new tower. I got a very detailed response from the Head Engineer. Nice guy, and here is what he said:
1. New tower is for both analog and digital
2. Tower should be done by September
3. Are shooting for on air digitally for April, 2003
4. Will be broadcasting at 815 kW
5. Will multicast
6. Will mulitcast JUST during the day, and PASS PBS HD at night!!!:D
7. Will continue to update tower pictures at KTWU Website (http://ktwu.wuacc.edu/)

Good guys, send them a donation as they can take on for just the digital transition.

====================================================

KSNT: Channel 28 (NBC)- Nice response from them too. Nice enough to let me know when they get on the air. Here you go:
1. Are shooting to be on the air by end of summer.
2. Will not be full power at first
3. Will broadcast at 1000 watts
4. Will pass NBC HD
5. NBC HD receiver install, so once ready no wait for HD
6. Not sure about Cox re-transmitting the digital signal
7. Said the signal should cover Topeka, but probably will not reach Manhattan

=====================================================

WIBW: Channel 44 (CBS)- No response, but here is what I know from a phone call recently:
1. New facility
2. Will be on at full power
3. Will upconvert everything to 1080i
4. Will pass CBS HD
5. I think waiting on transmitter?
6. Should be fairly soon (September?)

====================================================

KTKA: Channel 48 (ABC)- The head guy there is pretty good. Exchanged email with him several times. Here is what I know:
1. Most everything is ready, line and antenna in place
2. Will pass ABC HD
3. Everything else will be 480p
4. Will be on at 25 kW
5. I think they are waiting to turn everything on

====================================================

KTMJ: Channel (unknown) (FOX)- Nice people, but a Low Power station with several towers around. When does low power stations have to be on anyway?? Here are a few things I am fairly sure about:
1. No channel assignment yet
2. All towers will pass digital
3. I believe they will multicast FOX and UPN programming
4. Fox does no HD, so no HD from them

====================================================

UPN- O wait, we don't have a UPN

WB- Nope, no WB either

If anyone knows anything else, please add to this thread. If I get any updates, I will use this thread.


Thanks!!!!

The crazy guy at Radio Shack last night told me WIBW was on the air at very low power. I do not think that is right, so can anyone tell me for sure???

Timmy,

It loolks like KTWU's new towar is the same height of the old one. Do you know why they had to replace it? Rumor has it that FOX will also be using this tower.

I am not sure about Fox, but in an email I got from the Chief Engineer Duane Loyd, he said the main reason was the old tower couldn't handle the load of a new DTV antenna and transmission line.

The good news from them is they will be full power at 815 kW. They hope to be on by April of next year. If you want the guys email, I can send you a PM with it. I will go ahead and ask him about the Fox deal, but I am not too sure. They are a Low Power station so I am kinda wondering if they will even go digital. They might just do analog untill they turn that off and then just shut the TV part down. They are owned by they guy that runs the newspaper in Junction City.

Have you heard any other news for Topeka?? Last I talked to WIBW, they were waiting on their antenna, I think. KTKA is sucky low power and I honestly think they are done, but will wait their extension out and try to get another.

Are you the one that works at Best Buy or CC??

tim

BJS188,
I just got an email back from Duane Loyd and he confirmed that Fox 43 will have a spot on the KTWU tower, up 550 feet. They said it should be ready by mid September. He also said he has the DTV antenna installed, but might be as late as April. I take that as good news when he says "might be as late as April"

He also send along this picture of the tower crew installing the antenna.

tim

I heard from KSNT today that they should be on with low-power sometime in October.

Also no answer from WIBW.

Darn that low power.

I did happen to talk to the engineering department today and he told me they had hoped to be up by now, but the tower crew had delays, thus they had no antenna. He said they are hoping by first of October, but when I asked about full power, he said lower power, whatever that means.

KTKA is lame, and I hope they read this. I honestly think they are done, but will not turn it on. KTWU is the best about telling you what they are doing, probably because they rely on people like us.

It's looking pretty bleak that I will get any of the low powers from Topeka. I am just going to have to hope for good tropo ducting from Wichita.

Hey timmy,

Some of your locals and semi-locals were floating in here tonight.Had NBC Jay Leno in on a DT-36 due west with no channel ID.Is KMCI on the air yet? The DTC-100 showed only 36-1.If not,it had to be KOMU from Jefferson City,Mo.

Thanks for any help,

GregB

Greg,
I do believe you were watching KOMU. There is no NBC affiliate on the air in Kansas. Last I heard about KMCI was they would be on about their deadline time.
Let me ask you a question: Some of the stations I want to try to pick up are in Wichita and Kansas City. Wichita stations are about 201-207 degrees at about 115 miles. The KC stations are all at 95 degrees and 107 miles. I am pretty sure no KC, with a pretty tall hill a half mile away in between KC and me, but Wichita might be possible. There are hills, but about 10 miles away. I had thought about the Winegard HD-7084 be OK for me? I can only put it up about 25 feet. Or should I go with one of the foriegn models??

This bites:
http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=86328

KTKA is now saying next May or June to be on air.

Sad.

That is SAD. I guess I won't be watching much ABC programming this fall. I stopped watching their news programs after their ex-sport guy bad mouthed the local hockey team last year. I think things at KTKA went down hill after the Kent Cornish left as station manager.

I can understand Fox not having a news show since they are low power, but for KTKA to drop their news was lame. BTW, if you are talking about Jason Lamb, I saw him on NBC 41 out of KC this past weekend.

Timmy,

Thanks for helping me determine which DT-36 I was receiving last night.I'm logging it as KOMU DT-36 @356mi,a new long distance record,for me anyway.On the analog side,I bested my old record with your local KSNT-27 @552mi.Also had KC's 19,29,41,50 and 62 @485mi.

Now,to your situation.I would recommend going with seperate V/U antennas for two reasons.One,they always work better (IMHO) and two,I saw a lot of "seperate" installs when I visited your area this summer.Most were on 30-50ft towers and some were on those unique-looking double pipe swing-up masts(these would be great for experimenting!).The UHF antenna of choice that I noticed the most was the CM 4bay and 8bay.

The only stations that might give you a preamp overload problem looking towards KC would be 27,43, and 49.Any other direction,you could amp the UHF to the hilt.I'd go with the CM7777.It would probably work ok.

Initially,if I were you,I'd put up a UHF antenna of some sort,as high as you can get it,using a preamp,and just see what you can get.And,leave it up for 2-3 weeks,as reception will change from day-to-day,week-to-week,even hour-to-hour,and especially day/nite.

Thanks again for the "aircheck",

GregB

so help me out here. if we get an antena and tuner, will we be able to watch march madness in wide screen?
if we are in topeka how much antena will we need?
it seems to me that the purpose of the gov requireing the stations to use brodcast hdtv signals was to bring it to the masses. if you have to put up a 40 foot antena and it costs thousands of bucks they sure failed in bringing it to the masses.

jonas

Jonas,
Do you have the TV? If so and you are in Topeka, all you would need is a STB, (set top box) that would receive the signal, and perhaps just a pair of rabbit ears, depending on where you are in Topeka. WIBW will more than likely be the first on, and their tower sets about 13 miles west of Topeka, almost due south of St. Marys. KSNT will be second on, their tower is located up near Silver Lake. KTWU will probably be third, with their tower being on the NW side of Topeka. KTKA will be last of the full power stations, stating they will be on next summer. Their tower is about 5-10 miles west of Topeka. I would suggest you try the Radio Shack double bow tie when WIBW goes live. You can also get the STB for around $350 (RCA DTC-100) I think, try looking at open boxes at Best Buy or Circuit City, or if you are into computers, you can get a MYHD card and record, which for me with a 3 year old, and a new baby, is very important.

And yes, by the time march madness rolls around, you most definatly will be watching it in widescreen. Plus you will get to see College Football in HDTV later on this fall.

Let me know if you need more help.

tim

I heard from WIBW today and they said that their transmitter has been installed and now they are waiting for their antenna. Should be on in December.

how much space does it take to record a ballgame in HD? I mean a real ballgame (basketball) at 2 hrs not one of those long slow smallball games hehe!
jonas

kseyedoc:

Think about 9 GB per hour. Are you picking anything up there in Topeka??


BJS188:

December??? I talked to them last week and they said by October? Was that the tower crew delay they were talking about?

When will cox be running with HD. will it require a STB or will I be able to use MyHD in the computer? their web site has no specifics on date or cost.

jonas

Jonas,
I think it will be awhile on Cox. And no, I am 99.99% sure they will use the QAM modulation, meaning you will need one of their boxes like they use for digital cable. the MyHD card will only take the OTA signal, not the QAM.

Have you tried to pick up any KC stations yet??

It was announced at the Topeka AD Federation meeting on Sept. 24th that KSNT (NBC) would begin broadcasting HD on Oct.15th. He also said that it would be half power (low power?). Another comment I heard was that they were paying $300,000 to go online. I wonder if he meant that they have spent $300,000. This information was from a co-worker that was at the meeting.

BJS188,
You beat me to it. I just today(like an hour ago) talked to Doug Overla from KSNT and he told me the same thing. I said his roadmap said Oct. 15th. Yes they will be low power, 4kw to be exact. 500 feet up on their existing tower. I asked about coverage and he said they would just barely hit Wamego, which is EAST of here, so I will most likely not get it. Nice guy to talk to, took my name and email and said he would keep me updated. Said they had the antenna, but not the transmitter.

Also in the good news department, I talked with Jeff Groves from WIBW. He said TWO WEEKS. He was really excited about getting the signal up. He said all local will be upconverted, and 4X3 not stretched. If CBS send him HD, he will pass it. He actually told me to call him in a week and a half and I would probably see him testing. I am pumped, as CBS HD college football is only a few week away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just received the following from WIBW!

Chris,
We will be Broadcasting OTA in HDTV in about 3 weeks. We are currently waiting on the antenna manufacture. All CBS prime time will be Transmitted @ 1080i. Local programing will
be upconverted, but not streched to 1080i due to the picture distortion. I really can't speak for the cable compnys timeline.

Thank you for your intrest, If you don't already know we will be on HDTV channel 44

Jeff Groves
WIBW TV

This is much better than Kansas City! KCTV5 in KC said they will not be transmitting in 1080i in the foreseeable future!!!! So much for Big City Stations....

Now I have to figure out how to get the signal from WIBW in Lawrence!

Chris,
Great huh?? Do you know where the WIBW tower is?? If not, it is 20 miles WEST of Topeka. We did not get into actual numbers, but he said I should be fine here in Manhattan. I don't know what that means for Lawrence.

Good luck with it. BTW: Are you pulling in KMBC, KCWE, or KSMO from KC??

I am just not getting my ducks in a row to see what equipment I will need to receive local HD content.

I have been Bugging SunflowerBroadband and they keep promising me that they will have 4-6 channels up by the first of the year. HBO,Showtime, Discovery and locals....

Just told them about WIBW and they said they are talking to them.... they are still debating what equipment they will be using.

If they don't come thru I will be going a Satellite and try to pull it in myself. But did not want to do that until the merger smoke cleared.... ha ha...

cclaterb,
Do you happen to have an email for Jeff Groves?? He told me last Thursday to give him a call to see if he was testing yet, but I would rather email since I am at work.

Thanks!

This is what I have:

Jeff Groves [jeff@wibw.com]

cclaterb,
I live at 13th and Louisiana Street here in Lawrence. I am just using an indoor amp antenna from Wal-Mart RCA ANT1250. I am at the bottom of a three story apartment building, on the side away from KC. I can pick up DT-7 (ABC), DT-31 (UPN) really well. I get DT-18 (PBS) pretty well and if I really try DT-47. I don't get DT-34 (but from what I've read no body does, even when you 2 miles away). I am using MyHD receiver and an old computer.

I am really looking forward to CBS HDTV. Don't get me wrong, ABC is good, but I really like CBS shows much more. I am excited about it, and hope they broadcast soon.

Originally posted by cclaterb

Now I have to figure out how to get the signal from WIBW in Lawrence!

Chris - You shouldn't have any trouble getting WIBW-44 from Lawrence. I'm REALLY going to try hard to get it in western Shawnee. My house is 63 miles due east of the transmitter. I currently have a dedicated UHF yagi (amplified) that I have pointed toward Lawrence for KMCI-38. I'm going to try pointing it due west toward Topeka and see what happens.

Any late word, Timmy, on the on-air date? If our wonderful KCTV insists on low power 480i, I'm not above watching Topeka advertisers and news!

Brad

I am checking now Brad. I have an email to Jeff to see if they might be on by the end of the week. I will report when I hear.

tim

Got a note from the engineer at the low power Fox affiliate, KTMJ Fox 43, which is 15 for those of us in and around Manhattan. He said no digital for a while anyway. The next year would be spent upgrading their core operations. I now know that LP stations do not have a deadline for being digital thanks to "foxeng". But I wonder if they will be forced off the air once the analog is shut down??

WIBW-DT is on the air. Thursday night I was watching Survivor on TIVO and saw a commercial saying that they are on the air. I connected my 30 year old cheap UHF antenna to my Sony HD100 and did a search. After an adjustment to the antenna, I found 13.1. They were showing David Letterman in stretched mode. I will need to watch HACK on Friday night to see how good the picture is going to be.

Thanks to Jeff Groves and his staff at WIBW for getting HDTV on the air in NE Kansas.

Tim let us know if you can get the signal in Manhattan.

BJS188,

Cant. Tried for several hours before I left for my softball game. But it very ironic that I was pulling in Wichita analog stations at 110 miles and they were very watchable! I am so bummed right now. Jeff said they would not stretch, so I will have to check it out tomorrow.

They use 44 as the chanel right?? The guy I talked to today said they were at half power. What signal strength did you get??

On my receiver it came in as 13.1. I am in the 29th and Wanamaker area and am getting a signal of 79 with my cheap little antenna setting on top of my TV. On the antenna maps, my area is in red so we must be in a slight valley. I can't pick up FOX 43 with the same antenna.

The picture is diffidently stretched. There bug is a little large and red. I hope it does not cause burn-in. It is nice to see that they are running a lot of commercials to get the word out.

Any updated info on KSNT?

Brad,
They must be sending PSIP if it came in as 13.1. I just talked to engineering at WIBW at 3:45 and they said just this afternoon they bumped up to full power so I am going to try it tonight to see if I can get Hack. I told him you said it was stretched and he said he didn't think they were supposed to but he would check. Your box is not stretching is it?? I am getting more excited by the day.

BTW I had a nice talk with Dale Morell at KAKE in Wichita. We talked about his stations since I was picking up his analog channel last night and he was excited that I was getting it at 110 miles pretty clear. He told me in a voice mail last week that a guy East of Topeka was getting the signal reliably and I assumed he meant analog, but corrected me today to say the guy was getting the digital signal. Do you have an outdoor antenna?? The said the guy has a funky dish antenna thing so it might be a stretch. I am going to try anyway.

I will let you know if I can pick it up tonight. Unfortunately I don't have any updates on KSNT, but if you call and ask for Doug, he is a really nice guy and will answer most questions



HOLD THE PHONE: Jeff just called me back. He will be stretching for another week or so untill he can program the switching for unconverted to the CBS stuff. So yes, they are stretching.

tim


Jeff, if you read this, you are the man!

Timmy - Thanks for the info. I had just emailed Jeff when I saw your post. That's great news from T-town. I probably won't have time to re-aim my antenna until Sunday (I'll be in Manhattan for the game tomorrow), but I'll be trying it then for sure. I've got a really good feeling about this, for some reason. I'll let you know how it works out.

(different) Brad

Hi Tim, I am the corporate VP of Engineering for the company that owns WIBW as well as KAKE, Wichita and WOWT, Omaha (and 24 others). I just wanted you and the other active participants in this forum to know that we solicit and appreciate feedback from viewers like yourself.

In these earliest stages of real-world evaluations of our DTV operations it is very important that we get a good assessment of quality and ease of reception from actual consumers so that we may serve the public more fully.

I will monitor the AVS Local HDTV Info and Reception topic as time allows and will respond to any questions that are addressed specifically to me.

Please note however that I am involved with the television origination and transmission side of this business and am emphatically NOT an expert in the consumer equipment issues.

Thanks for watching and being an early adopter.

We have been trying to pick up WIBW-DT here in the store in downtown Topeka. We were using a small set top antenna and the signal was jumping from 0-50 and would not lock on. Were are using a DISH 6000 receiver. Our sat. installer is coming out next week to put up a new UHF antenna on top of our four story building. Jayhawk tower is to the south of us so we might have a hard time getting Wichita but maybe we will get KC.

I live in a condo, so I won't have much luck putting up an outdoor antenna, but we do have a high attic. I will need to run cable so it might be awhile before I can get an antenna installed up there.

VP/Engineering -

Bravo to you, my friend! I wish all the broadcasters had your attitude. We, as early adopters, really appreciate those on the broadcasting side who are willing to stick their necks out (and dig into their pocketbooks) to meet the intent, as well as the letter of the law, for the digital transition.

Now, I know of a couple of stations in DMA #31 that need a new owner........any takers?

Brad

Tim,

We have found that intermittent reception as you described is most commonly as a result of multipath interference ('ghosting' in the analog world). Multipath is caused by the signal being received at the antenna by reflected signals (off of wall, roofs, people walking aroung etc.).

The easiest solution is to obtain a highly directional antenna and try that. You want an antenna with a very high front-to-back ratio with good rejection of signals in any direction other that the one it is pointing. The ability to reject multipath is generally more important than the gain of the antenna (although by definition, higher gain indicates higher directionality). Usually impairments such as multipath or impulse noise will cause a decoder to fail to achieve lock long before a low signal strength will.

Another note is that if the fundamental problem is due to multipath, placing the same antenna outside and higher will not cure the problem if the multipath condition still exists at the new location. In fact the problem can be exacerbated due to the loss introduced by the longer coax run. For example at the WIBW frequency, 150 feet of RG6 coax will reduce the signal available by almost 6 times (7.5 dB). Often you can get better results by using a directional antenna at the same location. Of course, the best of all worlds is a directional antenna outside at a high elevation.

The ultimate solution to all of these issues, is to let your cable company know that you expect it to make available the local DTV channels without degradation. Same resolution, same multiplex of programs. Let them deal with the antenna issues.

Here in northern Illinois at my house I use an antenna called a 'Silver Sensor' <www.silversensor.com> which is an indoor antenna that is highly directional, but with modest gain. It is 6 feet off the ground, on top of the TV, in an interior room. I have a solid lock on all stations in Madison, WI (58 miles) without any trouble. The stations there are between 100kW and 380kW ERP.

BTW
Brad, thanks for the kind words.

VP/Engineering,
I agree with Brad. I think it's great you are willing to come here and listen to us. You have very good people at WIBW and KAKE. Mr. Groves and Mr. Morell have been great when I call and bug them. Jeff even wanted me to call and let him know if I got the signal tonight.
I am about to give up. I tried putting a preamp up, it made WIBW analog worse, and made the Wichita stations much better and watchable. I cannot get the Wichita digital stations but I will keep trying. Jeff said they were at 5kw and I wonder if that is enought to get to my house, which is approximately 35 miles. Perhaps a better antenna will do it. I will continue to try tomorrow, but I really don't know what else to do.
I have a MyHD card, and scanned several times, got nothing, scanned again, finally one time, it listed digital 44 but would not tune. Perhaps I will move the antenna around my yard to see if the multipath is killing the signal. I really wish the myhd card had a better signal meter, as those bars are hard to use. I have the antenna up about 18 feet, I will try lowering it and moving it around, does anyone else have any suggestions??

tim

VP/Engineering,
I should have also mentioned that Cox Cable here in Kansas has no plans for HDTV this year. "maybe next year" was what I was told. That is too bad.

Tim, I should have mentioned that WIBW is using a temporary transmission line at the moment. It is very lossy and consequently we are operating at only abour 25kW. We are waiting on a component that will allow us to use the correct line and will bring the power up to 95kW or so. This should be done in the next couple of weeks, so don't give up yet.

Thanks for your support.

As Brad mentioned, earlier our store at 7th and Kansas, downtown Topeka was unable to receive signal 10-11 p.m. While we're waiting to have a UHF antenna mounted, i connected an old VHF antenna that is hanging half off the west end of our roof. WIBW will not come in with the scan on the Dish 6000, but assigning 44 picks up a locked mid 60s% signal. Thanks for all you efforts at WIBW. i will take the 6000 home tonight and test it while the power is still low, east of lake Shawnee, i think that's about 30 miles east of your tower. The store is also in antenna CEA code red area, about 20 miles east of your transmission tower, and the programming at 9:00 a.m. appears to be in the stretch mode

I am pretty bummed right now. I tried again today but got nothing. I cannot even get the analog without ghosting and snow. I am giving up untill they up the power on the digital ina few weeks. I also lost the Wichita stations I was getting so the tropo is over.



VP/Engineering:
Can you keep me updated on when they are using that new line and I will try again then. Any other suggestions??

Saturday afternoon. I am having a hard problem getting the receiver to lock onto the signal. The meter will jump form 0 to 80 then back down to 20 and keeps locking and unlocking. The picture is unwatchable. It is very winding so that might be the problem. My antenna is indoors and has not been moved. I am not sure what the problem is. We had a simalar problem at our store earlier in the afternoon.

bjs188,
Is reception getting any better for you?

At the store, when the cloud cover left, we experienced the same effect. I thought it was the cloud cover, wind and or 30 year old VHF antenna/150' cable. At home, Sunday, no signal, but don't have 61.5 set up. One note -the concerns about multipathing, seem unwarranted, as that is the problem with analog in downtowns, but didn't seem to be a problem with digital, here at least.

Originally posted by timmy1376
bjs188,
Is reception getting any better for you?

On Saturday, after the wind settled down, I was receiving a good signal again. It was in the 78 to 82 range.

Sunday I had no signal at all. At first I thought they might of shut it off to make people watch the NFL on the SD channel along with their local commercials. But it did not come back on later that night. My system did not change over night.

Jeff or VP/Engineering:

Any update on what Brad is saying?? I am going to take my setup to another location that gets your analog very well to see if I am just in a bad location. I will update.

tim

I didn't get my antenna re-aimed until Sunday, and didn't have any luck at all getting 44. Tried around noon, and a couple of times in the evening. I had an email from Jeff on Friday, and he said they had gone to full power at 5:00 pm that day. Maybe he meant the best "full power" they could do with the current transmission line. Anyway, I'm not going to give up yet!

Brad

Hi guys, my first post. On Saturday I got signal from wibw and the
signal strength was in the 70s to 90s and would peak at 100 at
times. My amtenna is pointed towards KC. On Sunday I got no
signal at all. Today as of 1:00 pm I'm getting no signal. Has wibw
shut off the digital signal?

Craig,
Welcome!! It's good to see new people on the board and I am sure WIBW is happy to know there are some digital viewers. I do not know the status right now as I have not yet got the signal at all. I would call the station and ask for engineering or for Jeff. I really wish he would join here, I think he read these.

Jeff, join up!

Monday night still no WIBW-DT. I was hoping to see CSI-Miami in HD. It would be nice if they could list the status of their digital signal on their webpage.

Tuesday at 1:00 pm I have signal again, at first it was going
up and down like crazy, after a while it seemed to stay around
86 to 93. Picture still stretched but at least the big red 44
logo is gone, I really dont want that burned into my picture
tubes of my 73 inch Mitsubishi. I am in the Highland Park
area, with antenna pointed towards KC( this might help VP/Engineering )

I tried again last night to get WIBW-44. Still no luck. Anybody know if they're running full power yet? Still waiting on a new transmission line?

Brad

I was able to receive them on Tuesday night. Still getting a peak signal of 82. That is the same as it was last week.

It did seem that they were only upconverting their NTSC signal even during the CBS HD shows. The picture was stretch and better than the analog signal on cable but not quite the crispness of their picture last week. During HD shows last week, they were passing the "CBS It's All Here" commercials. Last night they had their regular commericals and 10:00 news teasers.

I don't think there are any HD shows on tonight but I hope they get it fixed for CSI on Thursday.

I have not had time to try the last couple of days but will either tonight or tomorrow.

FWIW, I sent an email to the editor of the Capitol Journal about WIBW getting their digital signal on the air and he replied that they would do a story on it. Hopefully it will get some more viewers for the digital channel.

Also, I got a reply from Doug Overla about KSNT:

We still don't have the transmitter or the conversion equipment in
house yet. The antenna and feedline are run. The conversion equipment
was suppose to ship last week. I am expecting it any day. Transmitter
should be about ready to make a partial shipment andy day with the last
parts to ship the last week of October. We're getting close and probably
going to be burning the midnight oil to make deadline.


So there you go, probably near the end of the month.

Originally posted by timmy1376
Also, I got a reply from Doug Overla about KSNT:

We still don't have the transmitter or the conversion equipment in
house yet. The antenna and feedline are run. The conversion equipment
was suppose to ship last week. I am expecting it any day. Transmitter
should be about ready to make a partial shipment andy day with the last
parts to ship the last week of October. We're getting close and probably
going to be burning the midnight oil to make deadline.

So there you go, probably near the end of the month.

Disappointing! :rolleyes:

I would assume that those things are not just "Plug and Play". My guess is the earliest we would see them is mid November.

Good idea about the letter to the editor. I just hope that WIBW gets their picture fixed before the artical runs.

Ok.
Here it goes.
We were off the air Sunday and Monday due to a problem. New parts cam in on tuesday, on the air again. Transmitter is putting out 5 KW with an ERP of 25 KW. Currently WIBW is running on a temp line with a lot of loss.
When it gets switched to the main line , ERP will be 95 KW.

Yes, NTSC is being streched. I have some programing to due to make it auto change from NTSC upconverted to HDTV during prime time.

I am currently extremly busy, I have no time line to give you as to when the
change to the other line will take place. ( I am waiting on the manufacture)

I also have no time line as to when we will pass true HDTV. This equiptment is a tad complicated to say the least. In the mean time I'am trying to get a new live truck put together. So please be patient I am doing the best I can...

Thankyou
Jeff Groves
WIBW TV

Thanks for coming on the board and keeping us updated. That is all we can ask for and we all know you are very busy.

Thanks!

Welcome to the boards, Jeff. Keep up the good work. Any chance the new Live Truck will be HD?

I just got an email from titantv.com saying they are updating their charts to list WIBW-DT as live so us with computer cards can record with one touch.

WIBW is once again broadcasting in HD. The red 44 bug is back in top right corner. It looks like they also got the stretch problem fixed. I was watching Survivor (non HD) and it was not stretched. The CBS- It's All Here commercial was in wide screen and then switched back to 4x3.

Good work Jeff!

Well,
Theres a little taste of what you can expect.
CBS prime time shows are in HD but most of the commercials are not,
so as you can see CBS sends the commercials in 16x9 with the sides blacked out.

Right now its not switching between local and network it is staying on network. I can't leave it this way because none of our local commercials are not airing.... and of course this is how we pay for all the new hd gear.

When I get it to switch automatically I will send our local news and commercials in 4x3 instead of streched. so you will watch all the time in 16x9 with black on the sides. unless its in true HD.

(this way it will be like CBSs commercials) so you will see all regular programming in 16x9 with black on the sides and HD in fullscreen.)


Does this make since.... I will also make it where the HD 44 logo just pops on the screen every 1/2 hour then goes away. Its hard to place the 44 on the screen were its visible during both 4x3 and 16x9 because viewers have there systems set up differently.


And in time I will make the logo smaller.....

Make since ?

oh by the way the New live truck will not be HD...

HD cost a fortune... just to pass CBS not to mention trying to originate it yourself....

see ya

Great news Jeff. I have a free night tomorrow and will try once again to pick up the signal.

Again, thanks for all the hard work.

Jeff:

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

I was ready to give up on CBS HD when I heard that KCTV was not going to pass HD. Then I tried to get WIBW not expecting to yet since your still at low power. Much to my surprise I get you on 13-01 with a signal of 50-60. CSI was great tonight in High Def. BTW I live in Paola KS. I think it's close to 80 miles from your tower (100 miles to Topeka by highway). I get KMBC DT 7 with a signal around 80 and have drop outs all the time. You guys never dropped out once all night. Keep up the good work. And Thanks again.

Now If I could only find an NBC HDTV signal.

Welcome to the board Gleyser. KSNT should be on by the end of this month, but at 1 kW, so I would think you would have a hard time getting that one. Just subscribe to this thread and I am sure you will see it here when KSNT goes live.

tim

Thanks Tim

I guess KSNT will start the same way WDAF in KC did. They started out at 1.1KW last spring and are still there. Not that FOX has HD anyway.

I tried to get the NBC station out of Jeff City MO but it's too far away. The same for Omaha NE. I can get the Analog station from Omaha so it might be that they are also at low power. Haven't tried Wichita. I figure the hills between here and there would block the signal.

I contacted Jim Moore of WDAF about HDTV, here is his response...

Hi Gordon. Thanks for your interest in WDAF-TV and Fox. HDTV, digital TV, DTV, SDTV, 108-i, 720p, 480i, 480p, all mean diffent things to different people, and most stations are treating these differently. But, keep in mind, at least for now, that most of the programming, content information, is still NTSC analog in a 3x4 format. So, whatever the digital format we select for transmission, it is still an analog formatted picture. To do anything else with NTSC produced content simply distorts the picture and the program providers did not like that one bit. Fox has chosen as their digital standard 480p (16x9) widescreen, but again the content is still analog 4x3, ie., the black wings on the picture (if you have a wide screen set) fills out the scree. This, also goes for the FOX network. They, are also sending analog 4x3 at this time . In summary, for now at least, it is the production
format of the analog programs that is driving the digital tv wagon. Hope this helps.

At least he responded in a timely manner (one day..) Can't say the same fr those people at KCTV or KSHB

WDAF in KC has weak answers. That response was total BS.


Also, I tried to get WIBW-DT again tonight and nothing. I am going to try to give it a shot at a different location this weekend.

Jeff, do you have any advice for me?? Or just wait untill you get the new line in?

Friday night it looks like WIBW is back to up converting it NTSC signal on their digital channel. Stretched.

Saturday NCAA football looked great, looked like true 1080 and no stretch.
Later when I came back at about 8:00pm, back to the good old stretch
mode. Does anybody know the plans for 5.1 audio? Also I cant get
my Mcintosh preamp to go into pro logic on WIBW. Is there a flag
that they need to put in the signal so you can use pro logic? I can use
pro logic when I watch KMBC but not when I watch WIBW.

Craig

From what I've read and seen the only network that's doing 5.1 DD for now is ABC. Most of the movie services (Showtime, Starz, HBO ect) also have 5.1. Haven't heard anything on CBS or any of the others yet.

Glenn

Craig,
Glenn is right. Right now the only OTA that does DD 5.1 is ABC. I think CBS is going to eventually get 5.1 but I don't know when. Glad to see the SEC football looked good.

I wasn't sure about CBS thats why I asked. KMBC told me that they
would try for 5.1 by end of the year. I know HBO and Showtime do
5.1 because I have Directv and get both in HD. But I was still
wondering about Dolby Pro Logic, I can get my preamp to
output pro logic on KMBC but it wont output it on WIBW.
I have the same problem HDnet on directv, it goes in pro logic
but it only outputs the signal in stereo. Have you heard of this
before and is there a flag that needs to be in the Dolby Digital
signal to turn on pro logic. I seem to remember reading somewhere
that there is a flag in the signal.

I need help.

I would like to try to band together and get enought people to call Cox and ask them to carry WIBW-DT as a 8VSB signal that those of us who cannot pick up the signal can still enjoy it. I will call Monday and ask the guy here in Manhattan.

Has KSNT started testing yet? I thought I got a slight signal last night on 28. It was a signal strength of around 30, and only there for a few seconds. Never did lock on. Might have been a distant signal but I can't find anything that would be on the air in that direction at channel 28.
I even got a signal on 34 WDOG (aka WDAF) last night but never could get it to lock on. Might need to upgrade my amp. I using a rat shack one that I've had for about 5 years. WIBW was good even if I don't watch CBS on Sunday night (looked like a chick flick was on.)

Has anyone heard anything definitive about Sunflower in Lawrence carrying shows in HDTV?? Seems like everyone I talk to has a different answer.

Thanks in advance......
JHawk

JHawk,

I have been in contact with Sunflower for 9 months now... pushing them very hard!!! There have been numerous promises about having HDTV on Sunflower but nothing has been firmed up.

The latest word that I have is they are planning on having 3-6 channels up in early 2003. It should include a mix of Premium and local channels. They plan on finalizing the hardware choice in the next 30 days and then settle on the infrastructure in 60 days and then they will start testing.

Chris

Chris-- Thanks for the info--looks like we we'll have to wait and see if they mean it.

Any news on the new line for WIBW so they can move up to a higher ERP??

No news on the line, but they DID get their stretched problem fixed. However they still are NOT passing the HD signal through. They were in HD briefly on Thursday 10/17 but I have not seen HD since.

I talked with Elmer, guy in engineering who answered the phone, just a few minutes ago, and he said about a month on the new line.

Anyone able to get KSNT or know if they are up and running??

KSNT and WIBW both asked for extensions.

KSNT becasue their equipment has not arrived. They asked for a 6 month extension but thought that they would be on by Nov. 30.

WIBW asked for an extention because they did not think that their STA would be issued in time.

I went back and checked my emails from April and the GM at KSNT said at that time they would make the May 2002 deadline, now they are asking for May 2003, Go figure. I bet that they have no plans to get on the air by Nov. 30th. I think they will drag it out till the FCC takes away their NTSC license. At least WIBW tried!

I have not watched KTKA since they asked for an extension, maybe its time to boycott KSNT also.

Well, I really think KSNT is trying harder than KTKA did. I just really hate the low power option. I mean, it's nice that Topeka will be covered, but I would like to see the signals get into Manhattan, Lawrence, and north. The FCC by allowing this is going to slow down the process instead of accelerating it.

WIBW I think just filed the extension incase the STA was not in time, which it probably wasnt, but they will still be on the air at least.

WIBW is running their HDTV commercial again. Unfortunately there is no HD on tonight (Wednesday) to see if it is coming through. We will have to wait for CSI on Thursday.

The Young and the Restless is not in HDTV, today. Also have not seen the 44 logo. The official FCC anouncement, for WIBW, was today. Could it be possible that the auto switching mechanism that, timmy mentioned, is not working?

What official FCC announcement are you talking about?

Sorry, NAB announcement--

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
November 5 , 2002 Dennis Wharton
(202) 429-5350



27 NEW STATIONS MAKE DTV TRANSITION

--562 Stations in 158 Markets--
--Over-the-Air DTV Signals in Markets that Include Over 92% of TV Homes--

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Association of Broadcasters announced today that 27 more television stations have begun transmitting a digital signal.

Of the 27 new DTV stations (listed below), four are the first in their markets on air with DTV (marked with a *).

WCLF-TV Tampa, FL (Market Rank #13), Christian Television Network-owned independent
WPXB-TV Boston, MA (Market Rank #6), NBC-owned independent
WACX-TV Orlando, FL (Market Rank #20), singly-owned independent
KCTV-TV Kansas City, MO (Market Rank #33), Meredith-owned CBS affiliate
WLVI-TV Boston, MA (Market Rank #6), Tribune-owned WB affiliate
KEYC-TV* Mankato, MN (Market Rank #199), United Communications-owned CBS affiliate
WIBW-TV* Topeka, KS (Market Rank #138), Gray Television-owned CBS affiliate
WNDY-TV Indianapolis, IN (Market Rank #25), Viacom-owned UPN affiliate
WTTV-TV Indianapolis, IN (Market Rank #25), Tribune-owned WB affiliate
WVTM-TV Birmingham, AL (Market Rank #40), NBC owned and operated station
WCTX-TV Hartford, CT (Market Rank #27), LIN-owned UPN affiliate
WZTV-TV Nashville, TN (Market Rank #30), Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate
WUXP-TV Nashville, TN (Market Rank #30), singly-owned UPN affiliate
WNAB-TV Nashville, TN (Market Rank #30), Lambert-owned WB affiliate
WHTN-TV Nashville, TN (Market Rank #30), Christian Television Network-owned independent
WAPT-TV Jackson, MS (Market Rank #89), Hearst-Argyle-owned ABC affiliate
KUVS-TV Sacramento, CA (Market Rank #19), Univision owned and operated station
KMAX-TV Sacramento, CA (Market Rank #19), Viacom-owned UPN affiliate
KDTV-TV San Francisco, CA (Market Rank #5), Univision owned and operated station
WCBI-TV* Columbus, MS (Market Rank #131), Imes-owned CBS affiliate
WFPX-TV Fayetteville, NC (Market Rank #29), Paxson owned and operated station
WPXU-TV Jacksonville, NC (Market Rank #103), Paxson owned and operated station
KOKI-TV Tulsa, OK (Market Rank #60), Clear Channel-owned Fox affiliate
WPSG-TV Philadelphia, PA (Market Rank #4), Viacom-owned UPN affiliate
WPHL-TV Philadelphia, PA (Market Rank #4), Tribune-owned WB affiliate
KCBD-TV* Lubbock, TX (Market Rank #147), Liberty-owned NBC affiliate
KSTR-TV Dallas, TX (Market Rank #7), Univision-owned Telefutura affiliate
This brings to 562 the number of stations broadcasting in digital. DTV signals are now being transmitted in 158 markets that include 92.49% of U.S. TV households. In addition, 46% of U.S. TV households are in markets where broadcasters are delivering four or more DTV signals.

The National Association of Broadcasters is a full-service trade association that promotes and protects free, over-the-air local radio and television stations' interests in Washington and around the world. NAB is the broadcaster's voice before Congress, federal agencies and the courts. NAB also serves a growing number of associate and international broadcaster members. Information about NAB can be found on its Web site at www.nab.org.

###

I got an email from Jeff at WIBW today. I was disappointed to learn that they apparently have no plans to increase their power beyond the 95 kW ERP they will have after the new feed line is installed. I doubt that I will ever be able to receive them at that power, so I guess I'd better start sending "pain" KCTV's way!

Brad

Well Brad, they will have to once they decide to shut the analog off in like, say, 5 years.

Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.
Did he happen to say when the new line would be installed?

I am going to wait and see if I can possibly get the WIBW signal once they do go to 95 kW. If I can't then I will be sending some "pain" KCTV's way as well. If I can get the signal, then I will simply stop watching KCTV all together. This really sucks. I just hope that I can get the KU-UCLA game on December 21st.

Tim-

Jeff said there were some "problems" with the manufacturer of the transmission line. He didn't go out on a limb as to how long it would be (understandable!).

Brad

Tennessee-Miami is not in HDTV on WIBW. Wonder if the kinks still aren't work out? Anyone know.

I dont think they even know!!! It sure would be nice if they would
put some HD on the air!!!

The CBS movie started out in HD, but when I checked back at 10 pm it was back to SD. I don't know if they were having a problem or if their switcher switched for the news even though the movie was running late. Tonight the entire CBS prime time is in HD, so we should find out.

This morning no Young and Restless in HD, in fact no picture on channel 44. Showing 90+% signal.????

We have been off and on HDTV because I have been working on the programing. I even got some help from our sister station in Mo.
You guys are not very patient... cut me a little slack.


Oh and thanks craig for the nice comments.

Jeff Groves
WIBW

Not very patient? You were suppose to be on the air in May. You had one extention and now have asked for another. It's not like you haven't had FIVE years to figure things out.

CSI:Miami was in HD on WIBW Monday night. The switching from network to local news breaks and commerials were all smooth and clean. Better then I have seen on other stations.

Jeff, you have done a good job on the switching program.

Sorry about that Jeff. Been waiting a long time to get some HD
and sometimes get a little frustrated. Just want to get some use
out of these expensive toys and be treated to some eye candy.

It is interesting that WIBW-DT lights up the Dolby Digital 5.1 light on my JVC receiver even though CBS only transmits in DD 2.0. WIBW will be ready for the future when CBS starts doing 5.1.

The football game on Saturday looked great. I didn't get to watch much
of it but what I saw was pure eye candy. On the football game my
5.1 indicator came on and I had sound coming from the center and
front speakers. Later on the District even had some sound coming from the back speakers also, but it wasn't very loud but there was sound coming
from them. Did CBS start doing 5.1 or is this some sort of fake 5.1?

On Sunday night there was no widesreen programing on WIBW, thats because the central football game ran late. So CBS did not have a HDTV feed for the central region... but that did not stop them (CBS) from putting up the Hdtv Zeneth logo... nice huhh ...

The change in transmission line to increase power has been delayed for another few weeks.. When the line is changed, the HDTV transmitter will be shut off for a few days and the analog transmitter will have to decrease power to around 20% output... The delay is because WIBW is in a rating period and reducing power to 20 % will definitely take its toll on viewership..

Thanks
Jeff Groves

Thanks for the update Jeff.

Originally posted by Jeff groves
On Sunday night there was no widesreen programing on WIBW, thats because the central football game ran late. So CBS did not have a HDTV feed for the central region... but that did not stop them (CBS) from putting up the Hdtv Zeneth logo... nice huhh ...

The change in transmission line to increase power has been delayed for another few weeks.. When the line is changed, the HDTV transmitter will be shut off for a few days and the analog transmitter will have to decrease power to around 20% output... The delay is because WIBW is in a rating period and reducing power to 20 % will definitely take its toll on viewership..

Thanks
Jeff Groves

Thanks for the update. I hope things are going by Dec. 21 though. Need my KU basketball in high deff. ;)

Thanks for actually caring, unlike some other KC CBS station.

KSNT is on the air!

We are getting a stronger signal in downtown Topeka then we are with WIBW-DT. I haven't seen any HD yet but will check from home tonight.

Thanks - Gary and the staff at KSNT.

I believe KSNT is only at 1 kW, is that right?

What channel are they? 28??

The signal this morning is bouncing between 75-85 for WIBW channel 44 and 85-99 for KSNT channel 28. We're about 23 miles east of 44 and 7 miles southeast of 28. Our UHF antenna is pointed west.

Originally posted by timmy1376
I believe KSNT is only at 1 kW, is that right?

What channel are they? 28??

28 is correct. It shows up as 27.1 on my Sony HD100. Leno was not in hi def on Friday night. The digital channel does not look as good as the regular channel does on cable. I would bet that they are still working on it.

I had a heck of a time getting a signal from WIBW and KSNT at the same time on my cheap antenna in the house. I ended up mounting it to a old camera tripod and stuck it in the corner. Hopefully I can find something that is a little more pleasant looking.

Brad means a blond with nice headlights

Received channel 44 in Emporia last night
with a signal strength of 89
could not receive any other stations
Topeka or KC.

Got my HDTV card back up and running yesterday and still cannot get WIBW. I even tried from my second story office at work.

Jeff,
Any update on when the new line will be installed??

BTW: Everyone have a good and safe Thanksgiving!

tim

WIBW 44 will be off for hopefully no longer then sunday night.
We are changing transmission line. I'll turn the DT TX off about 12:30am
or so..

Time to go to work.
Thanks
Jeff Groves

Thanks for the insight, Jeff. The channel just went down 5 minutes ago.

Great news Jeff. I must say I appreciate every time a engineer or rep from a station comes here to let us know what is going on.

I had an idea for you Jeff, but it's too late now. How hard would it have been for you to multicast the regular CBS lineup with the basketball game?? That would have been pretty cool.

tim

Just checking to see if you got the DT back up and running Jeff.

Thanks again!

Brad, anyone:

Is anyone getting KSNT-DT very well?? I am pretty sure they are at 1kW so that rules them out for me. I still and waiting to get my first hit on a digital signal. Perhaps when WIBW get back up I can get them.

Anyone else with anything going on???

No WIBW for me yet. I live in Lawrence though, so I may never see it.

I recieve the KC CBS station at almost 100%, but they don't pass the HD content.

No WIBW yet. Can't pick up KSNT, my antenna pointed at KC but
I can pick up WIBW with decent signal strength but breaks up
and pixels a lot. Hoping new line fixes that problem. I tried
putting up a small uhf antenna pointing towards ksnt and was able to
get WIBW and KSNT with strong signal but lost KC stations. Not sure what
I'm going to do so I can pick up signals from both directions? Might
end up running another cable and use a switcher for both directions.

We are receiving about the same signal strength from KSNT as we were from WIBW before that went down (same at our store as at home). I get high 70's at home on my Sony HD100 and high 80's at work on a DISH 6000. KSNT is still not passing any HDTV. I think I'll email Gary.

Craig,
How about a rotator? I have one on my antenna and was watching 4 or 5 (analog) stations out of Wichita last night using one antenna with a rotator I got from Radio Shack. Or you could get a combiner and combine the two antennas, which would be cheaper, I think. My parents has a setup with two antennas pointed at Tulsa and Joplin, MO, and they just use a box to put the two together so they only have one run of cable down the pole.

tim

I just heard from KSNT and they are waiting the completion of installation of their switching equipment. They hope to have it completed this week.

Hi guys,
Here's where WIBW stands as of 3:30 today...we took the DTV off air so that we could run the main (analog) signal on the temporary line that was being used to feed the DTV. We have installed the channel combiner/splitter in the main line. As of now, we are running the interconnecting line from the DTV transmitter to the channel combiner and the line from the splitter (at the top of the tower) to the DTV antenna. The preliminary testing of the line for VSWR will be done this afternoon and assuming we find no problems on ch 13 we will cut the analog transmitter back to the main line late tonight and WIBW analog will be back at full power tomorrow AM. Tomorrow night we will take the system down again for full performance testing (VSWR, return loss, frequency response etc.) across both the analog and DTV channels. If all is well then, we will fire the DTV up into the main line and both stations will be at their final power operation by Friday morning.
Thanks for your continued interest in and feedback on our DTV operations and thanks for watching.

PS
I don't even want to THINK about how cold it is going to be tonight at the top of that 1000' tower while they are working!

Originally posted by VP/Engineering


PS
I don't even want to THINK about how cold it is going to be tonight at the top of that 1000' tower while they are working!

I thought of that too. While I find the technical part of HD transmission fascinating, I am glad I am not joining you. Keep warm.

Thanks for the info.

Once again, thanks guys for keeping us updated. Cold?? Just be glad you guys are doing it before it REALLY gets cold! Have fun!

I don't think I should need a combiner. I run a separate vhf and my
uhf has a input and output. The small uhf I added also has a input
and output. I should only have to take the lead from other antennas
into the small uhf and out from it to my tuner, that was what I was
told from the guy I bought my antennas from. I may have to talk to
him again and see what he says. I know he's been selling antennas
for Topeka area a long long time.

Doug Overla, Chief Engineer form KSNT-TV would like to encourage folks to contact him via email and let him know how the reception is and where they are located. His email address is DOverla@ksnt.com.

He would also like to know if MAX HD got a picture or video of the reception of analog 27 since he is 550 miles away.

Well, I would email him but I am sure he knows that probably nobody in Manhattan can get the signal. He at one time told me he thought it might get to the East side of Wamego, but probably not Manhattan.

That is pretty cool to get a station floating in from a distance away. I know 110 miles is not that far, but still to be able to watch Wichita stations is cool at times.

I have one suggestion for the local stations, how about something on their website that says, hey, our digital channle is up if you want to watch that. I know that might hurt analog ratings, which are the ones counted, but it would be nice to see.

tim

I feel the same way Tim, I would love to e-mail him, but there is no way I am going to get 1 KW in Olathe. KC's NBC station won't even be on the air until next spring/summer/fall (you know how that goes). It's possible that they may not even do any HD.

I'm still waiting VERY patiently for WIBW at 95 KW. Fingers AND toes are crossed!!

-Other Tim

Hi Guys, if all goes according to plan, the DTV should be up at 95kW tomorrow morning.

Thanks for your support

hdtimmy,
I may email him anyway just incase I am able to get it once I move next year. You might have a shot at WIBW depending on your location. Jeff told me he had a guy in Clay Center watching, which is probably about the same or more than Olathe.

Good luck and keep us updated!!!!!!!!

Thanks again VP/Engineering, I will get up and try it before work or at lunch!

Hi: I'm a new member to the forum and this thread. I live about half way between Topeka and Lawrence. I'm using a Samsung SIR T165. I can receive DT channels 44 and 28 from Topeka at about half strength on the sig meter. I receive DT chans 31,24,7, and 18 form KC. 31,24, and 7 register about a third on the sig scale. I'm using a deep fringe (uhf, vhf) ant for KC and a small uhf/vhf ant pointed back towards Topeka that are combined just below the antennas. At this time I'm not running a amplifier on the KC antenna. Reception form KC is good with channel 19 being weaker but very watchable. I've only been up about two weeks so I don't know how the weather will affect reception. From reading other posts I see chan 13 will up their power. Does anybody know if and or when any of the other stations will up their output. Also, what is DT chan 47? I cannot get it. Thanks

Timmy,

Just talked to Jeff from the transmitter site. WIBW-DT is now running at 95kW as of 8:05 PM. Good luck with your reception and let us know if you have any better luck now.

Again, thanks for your feedback. It helps more than you know.

Thanks,
Keith Bland
VP/Engineering

I absolutely without a doubt must be in the black hole of digital signal hell. I tried about 9:45 and rotated my antenna 360 degrees and got not even a blip. I will continue to try and may even take it to work again.

I will report if I get anything.

tim


PS Good work guys!!

Dang, I get absolutely no WIBW reception here in Lawrence, but there is a big building just West of my antenna (about 30 feet west and 40 feet higher). That is probably a big problem. May I'll try running an antenna to the roof of my building.

Just checked and I have WIBW DT coming in with a signal strength of 74 here in Paola. The highest I ever saw it before was 60.

To bad Letterman isn't High Def, that would make him almost worth watching.

Thanks Guys, your hard work is much appreciated.

Tim, have you got any HD signals at all? It's a shame you can't get 44 now that the power is up.

Glenn

Just checked my signal strength on WIBW and it is exactly the
same as it was before. CH. number 47 is 62 analog(KSMO) in KC.
I used to be able to get it about half the time but I usually can't
pick it up anymore. I always get ch 7, 31 and sometimes get
24. The other day when playing around with antenna I put
amp on and my signal strength went way up on ch 24 and I
thought cool, but I couldn't't get a picture and then finally I
got a picture and I was getting ch 27 analog on ch 24 digital , but
I guess it could of been the digital signal I don't know for sure
but I know it was ch 27 because it had the ch 27 logo in the corner.
I thought that was very strange so I took it back off. I think it almost had to be the analog signal because I usually cant even get anything
on KSNT 28 digital.

SNM66

Where did you get your Samsung T165? Been thinking about
getting one. How do you like it, had any problems with it? I
haven't decided weather to get the 165 or the Mitsubishi
promise module thats will be out in the near future. Need
something so I can record HD over the air on my JVC HD VCR.

Gleyser,
No I cannot get any digital signal at all where I am now. I have had my MyHD card for two months now and not even a blip on the signal bar from any of the channels. Kinda frustrating, but I cannot move the hills that block Topeka. I am going to try here at work in a bit and will let you guys know if I get anything here.

tim

Bought my Samsung from J&R in New York for $599. If you check the HDTV Hardware forum there is a thread on the 165. Some members found 165s a little cheaper. I like it so far. I also have the JVC HD recorder and the Samsung analog tuner is better than the JVC or the Mitsu wide screen I feed into. I checked chan 13/44 this morning and had the same sig reading as before. I also looked at 27/28 and had the same sig level as 13 (half way up the scale) but I had quite a bit of "tiling". So I don't know whether to believe the sig level or not. I checked these chans about 7:30 am. Also have you had any problems with your JVC HD recorder. Thanks.

Here in Olathe I am getting an unstable 44 out of 100 on WIBW. I still have much tweaking to do. WEEKEND PROJECT!!

I think I also need to get a channel trap to get rid of analog channel 41 in KC. Their tower is only 15 miles away and with my preamp it is bleeding into 42, 43, 44, and 45.

With a little tweaking and that trap, I hope to kiss KCTV and Meredith Corp. GOODBYE!!

No I haven't had any problems with JVC vcr. I noticed that I have
had audio drop outs a few times when watching the Motley Crue
video for a split second but thats about it. Besides the 2 free concert
videos I have U-571, End of Days and The Peacemaker. U-571 has
the best picture of the three and I think that Peacemaker looks
like crap. Been a little dissapointed in the picture quality so far. The
Motley Crew looks pretty good, the best of all 5 videos. Been thinking
of trying some new ones but can't decide which one of the ones available
would have a sharp picture .

WIBW-DT was coming in for most of this evening in Columbia, MO. There was some atmospheric assistance, as I was also pulling in 49 and 27 analog. The HD football was fantastic. I think that this is around 180-190 air miles, but I don't expect this kind of reception every night. By the way, the closed captioning was working well, and I also show a 5.1 audio signal here. The line replacement must have went VERY well!

I am starting to think I may have a bad tuner here. If that guy is getting the signal in columbia, and me 32 miles away doesn't even get a blip!!! Maybe I need to get a different tuner to try here at my house.

hey timmy,

I have a MyHD card as well. I get the KC channels just fine, but don't get the Topeka channels. Anway, i am going to purchase an outdoor antenna and try that on top of my apartment complex soon. That should help.

I finally got to see some HD programming on KSNT Sunday night. I saw a little bit of some motion artifacts but other than that it looked good. I don't remember seeing any local inserts. Either they didn't do any or they were good enough that I didn't notice them.

bshockley,
I am seriously beginning to think I have a problem with my MyHD card. I am wondering if you can do me a favor?? If I send you my card, can you see if it picks up the digitals you receive from KC and then at least I would know it is not broken on the digital side?? I would send some cash for the return postage?? Would you mind??

tim

Sure. email me at shockley@ku.edu and I will send you my address and phone number. Yeah, if you just want to add money for return shipping then I will check it out.

I will be here at school (KU) until about Dec. 20th. After that I am going to be out of town until Jan 6th. It should only take an hour or so to actually test the card, so as long as it gets here before the 20th I can test it and send it back the same day.

I hope it works.

I live on the west side of Lawrence and managed to start picking up WIBW-DT on Wednesday with average signal strength as measured on the SAT-HD200. It looks great...no dropouts at all.

I am excited, as I read in another thread that the KU vs. UCLA game next Saturday will be an HD Broadcast!

i had pictures on ktka-49 signal of 33
ksnt-28 signal of 30
wibw-44 signal of 88
at about 8.00am, now i only receive 44 at 12:20
roy t

i did not receive ktka-49
it was ksmo 47 from K.C
roy t

KTKA isn't broadcasting in digital yet as far as I know. They have asked for an extention to May '03. When they do, they will broadcast on channel 48.

Originally posted by bocktar
I live on the west side of Lawrence and managed to start picking up WIBW-DT on Wednesday with average signal strength as measured on the SAT-HD200. It looks great...no dropouts at all.

I am excited, as I read in another thread that the KU vs. UCLA game next Saturday will be an HD Broadcast!

I really want to see that game as well. I am in the East/Middle area, at the top of the hill close to the Kansas Union. I have an indoor antenna as we speak, so reception may be limited I keep trying WIBW at different times to see, but I don't even get a blip on the screen.

First off, I want to thank bshockley for testing my card to see if it got the channels he got with his MyHD card.

Next, is ANYONE getting WIBW-DT with a MyHD card??? Perhaps it is something with the signal why I cannot get it?? If someone is using a MyHD card and receiving WIBW-DT, please post.

Thanks,

tim

Originally posted by timmy1376
First off, I want to thank bshockley for testing my card to see if it got the channels he got with his MyHD card.

Next, is ANYONE getting WIBW-DT with a MyHD card??? Perhaps it is something with the signal why I cannot get it?? If someone is using a MyHD card and receiving WIBW-DT, please post.

Thanks,

tim

I am going to try an outdoor antenna asap and will reply here with my results. Right now I have finals, so I won't be messin' with it until this weekend at the earliest.

Ok, I spent all afternoon and missed part of the game, I am filianly pulling in WIBW but the game isn't hdtv what the hey?

Darn it all to hell. That means I am sol with WIBW as I am now.

Does anyone in the Topeka are want to be able to record HDTV on their computer? I now have a card for sale.

tim

This sucks. I know I saw a schedule that showed the game was in HD!
Been waiting over a month to watch this game.

Yeah guys. Didn't you see in the programming forum that the game was changed from the UCLA KU game to another??

I just saw that a little while ago. Anyway, yeah I pick up WIBW at about 50% which is good enough for almost perfect reception. But, I didn't have time to actually setup the antenna, so it was tied to my telescope tri-pod (telescope removed) and just setup there. The whole thing fell twice, but no damage just a loud thump. This was on the top of my apartment building and I am on the first floor so i wonder what the neighbors thought?

Tim i assume you've tried big antennas? I bought the radio shack UHF only 22 dollar one.

I also found two radio shack bowtie antennas for 2 bucks each. Pretty good day.

Yeah, I have a smallish radio shack vu90. I "may" try a televes next if a guy here in town is interested. We shall see.

BTW: How many miles are you??

It was mentioned that all CBS HD stations had access to the Kentucky game in HD even if they were carrying the KU game. WIBW showed the KU game on their digital feed.

Originally posted by timmy1376
Yeah, I have a smallish radio shack vu90. I "may" try a televes next if a guy here in town is interested. We shall see.

BTW: How many miles are you??

According to the map, about 45 miles away. I stuck the antenna up of the roof af a 4 story apartment complex. I have some power lines and a building right next door that the antenna just peeps over.

I replaced the west-pointing UHF yagi in my attic with a CM 4228A bowtie yesterday. Still no WIBW-44------RATS! Ironically, though, I DO pick up the analog side (Channel 13), and PBS-11, even though they're VHF. I don't, however, get 27 or 49 analog from Topeka.

I still have one more thing to try: Mounting the 4228 on the side of my house, under the eave. I think there may be too many trees in the way, though. Not giving up yet!

Hope everyone had a nice holiday. Timmy, was that you they interviewed in the STAR the other day about the Royals TV deal?

Brad

Yes, indeed that was me. Kinda cool. I had no idea he was going to write the story that way. I thought he was talking to several fans and might quote me a line or two but not start out talking about me. I was pretty excited, and happy that the word is getting out so perhaps I will be able to watch them this coming summer.

Good luck with WIBW. 49 ABC is a directional antenna so you might have trouble with it. KSNT is not too far from the PBS so you have a shot at the analog, but the digital is only at 1kW.

OMG, I was actually able to pick WIBW-DT up today!!




but wait, I was at someone else's house. I still cannot get it here, so I took my antenna, rotator, and computer to his house right off I70 on a hill and we were able to get WIBW-DT and KAAS-DT. He was very excited, as was I for him. But alas, I am still HD-less.

Seriously, if anyone want to buy a MyHD card, I will sell the one I got with cable, remote, and card for $225. It sure does me no good.

tim

Anybody having any luck getting WIBW-DT 44 from Olathe?

I built a 15 element yagi designed for channel 44 today, and was unable to get even a blip on my signal strength meter (no preamp). I figure if I can't even get a blip, the preamp probably won't help. (The antenna works fine when I point to toward KC for other UHF stations).

Anybody know if WIBW is broadcasting omnidirectional? If not, are the aimed at all toward KC, or away?

I'm getting all the KC DT stations just fine with an attic antenna, but KCTV-DT doesn't pass the CBS HD content, and apparently has no plans to do so :mad:

I tried my CM 4248 outside yesterday (under the eave of my house, about 15' up), with a preamp. Still nothing from WIBW. Was able to get VERY snowy pictures on analog 27 and 49, however. I guess my only hope is for them to power up to licensed power, which I guess they have no timetable on. Bummer!

PaulRose, yes, they are broadcasting omidirectional.

BTW, I later turned the 4248 around toward KC (in my attic) and still couldn't get WDAF-34 to lock in (not that it matters!).

Too bad St. Joe doesn't have a CBS station; I think I could get it with no problems.

Happy New Year!

Brad

I too am getting ready to give up in Olathe.

I now have:
a CM 4228 antenna about 40 feet up
a CM 7775 Amp
a channel trap for 38 (because of amp/tuner overload)
a channel trap for 41 (because of amp/tuner overload)
a Samsung SIR-T165 (3rd generation, sensitive DTV tuner)

I can recieve WIBW-DT 44 after about 7PM every night. So at least I get to see primetime. During the day, the signal breaks up too much to watch. It comes in MUCH better at night.

But you see, I am not satisfied because I want to see the NFL AFC Playoffs in HD and they are during the day!! Oh Well, I give up.

Also, when the leaves come back on the trees, I will probably lose it all together.

BTW, I do recieve 27 and 49 very well, with just a little bit of overload interference from 29 and 50 respectively.

Have you tried without the amp??

hdtimmy,

I custom made a 15 element chan 44 antenna. Since I can't put it very high (or outdoors) because of the homeowners association, the antenna isn't doing me any good.

You are welcome to it ( i.e. free stuff ) if you'd like to give it a try. If you are interested shoot me an e-mail ( pdrose@comcast.net ) and I'll reply with driving directions and a photo of the antenna.

Timmy1376, I have tried this exact setup without the amp at night. I don't get 44 at all and 27/49 are very snowy.

PaulRose, Thanks very much for the offer, but I am done crawling up on my roof and in the attic for awhile.

Is there any new info on KTWU? They will be full power FOR SURE, correct? Are they still shooting for April?

They have always maintained they were proud of the fact that they WOULD be full power. I think they are shooting for April, but I wouldn't be suprised with the state budget, that they wait untill May 1.

The only time I seem to be able to watch WIBW without it
breaking up is on Saturday afternoons when there is original
HD signal and not a upconverted signal. I get a strong 93
on the meter on Sat. afternoons with true HD, but any other
time I get a bouncing signal level of 65 to 72 and lots pixelizing
and break up.

I talked to someone at Kiefs that said he talked to the engineer at
WIBW and that they turn down the signal when they don't think
anybody is watching. Maybe some more people would be watching
if they would leave the power up so you could watch it without
it breaking up all the time.

Hmmmm,

I wish someone would have told me we "turn down the signal" when we think no one is watching.. I could save a few bucks on the power bill..

HD reception is without a doubt a little strange. Multipath has a lot to do with reception problem. with just a bit of multipath the bit error rate goes up and the reception goes away, even though you may have a strong signal.. What I have noticed is quite a few "signal meters" that are built into receivers are actually bit error meters. This is something to keep in mind
when playing with antennas and such for reception.. You sometime can move your antenna off direction a little to lesson multipath and decrease bit error problems..

Its a strange bird..
Jeff G
WIBW TV

Tim,
Don't give up on yet.. give me a call, I want to send you something.
I would like you to try one thing for me, If it don't work then you can give up...... or move... :)

Jeff G

Originally posted by Jeff groves


HD reception is without a doubt a little strange. Multipath has a lot to do with reception problem. with just a bit of multipath the bit error rate goes up and the reception goes away, even though you may have a strong signal.. What I have noticed is quite a few "signal meters" that are built into receivers are actually bit error meters. This is something to keep in mind
when playing with antennas and such for reception.. You sometime can move your antenna off direction a little to lesson multipath and decrease bit error problems..

Its a strange bird..


That's for sure. If anyone moves in my house, I loose KSNT-DT!

Jeff,
Well, I don't have my antenna up anymore, do I need that?? I might get it back sometime from the guy that borrowed it. I think he plans on watching the AFC championships this weekend on your station. If you still want me to call you, do I use the number you emailed me a while back or just call the station?

timmy,

Sorry to hear you're still having problems.I think definitely multipath and not enough antenna gain/height are possible causes of your poor reception.

As far as equipment is concerned,when trying to receive low-powered DT stations,well designed high gain antennas can make a marginal signal much more dependable.And,of course,every location is unique,and like they say-ymmv.

But,at my location,I've done extensive comparisons using high gain antennas such as the Televes Pro 75,and Triax Unix 100 in stacked configurations against other more common antennas such as the CM 4228,4248,and a RS U120R long yagi.

I have five very low power stations,now on the air,that are quite reliable with the stacked antennas.The other antennas usually won't even produce a lock.Two are 46mi,two are 54mi,and one is 70mi.The terrain here is flat to gently rolling.Am also able to use high gain preamps,which helps a lot, as the nearest high powered TV station is 36mi distant.Without the preamps,the reliability factor diminishes greatly.

If I were in your area,and was intent on trying to pick up a certain Ch44,I would use a Triax Unix 100 Group B in a vertical,or horizontal(best for multipath) stack.These Quad-X type yagis are the best for multipath,even used singularly.

Just thought I'd throw out my personal experiences on weak signal reception in case you,or anyone else in East KS,wants to go to the 'nth degree to see some CBS HD.

Tim,
Go ahead and give me a ring. you can reach me at the number I E-mail you or a t the station. Don't worry about getting your antenna back...

Jeff G

It looks like that WIBW got their Dolby Digital straightened out with the help of Mike from Dolby Labs. They are now broadcasting in 2.0 like they should be. I just hope that they are able to go back to 5.1 when CBS starts sending it to them.

I'd like to thank WIBW for their forward-thinking approach to the DTV transition

I watched the AFC Championship in HD on Sunday and enjoyed several hours of WIBW's programming, commercials, and news afterwards.

Even though I live in Lawrence and get a better signal from KCTV, I WILL NOT be tuning into their station even after they get with the program and start passing an HD signal.

KCTV's attitude sucks, and I want them in my life less than Sunflower Cablevision here in Lawrence (which I dropped two years ago for DirecTV).

Thanks again, WIBW!

Anyone else having trouble with WIBW's sound tonight?

I just have an analog 2 channel system hooked up to my STB. It sounds like the surrounds are coming out of the left and right channels. I am barely hearing any vocals at all, mostly background noise. Hmmmm...

All of the analog Topeka channels sound fine, as well as KC analog and digital.

I watch WIBW as much as I can, when I can get it in. Forget KCTV!!

Yeah,
Thanks to Mike at Dolby Lab your audio was messed up. I noticed it when
I got home tonight. I put it back in 5.1 a little after 9...

Jeff Groves
WIBW

Jeff,

I guess that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Mike PM'd me on Wednesday and asked if you were set to 2.0. I checked Wednesday night during the KU game and it was coming through and the sound was fine. Even on Thursday your local stuff was right, it just was the CBS stuff that was missed up.

I connected my equipment for the first time last night. I was able to get a strong WIBW signal from almost 50 miles away. I live south of Manhattan, a mile south of 1-70 on top of hill. I did notice the audio problems and feared it was my configuration. I do not have a digital audio amp and I noticed the CSI broadcast was in DD. I initially thought my audio problems were due to the lack of DD equipment but I guess that is not the case. Will I receive clear audio through my 2-channel amp like all the other analog channels?

Currently I have the Dolby encoder set for 5.1, The problem is on my end.
During local programming , we just run stereo, CBS will soon be passing 5.1
I need to interface the Dolby encoder with my master control switcher to also switch the audio between 5.1 and stereo when we switch from local programming to CBS. Dolby Labs also has some sort of upgrade I need to install on my Dolby encoder to do 5.1 that CBS will be sending. I am currently going to continue to run in 5.1 until I get the time to work on the interface and upgrade. And get it to operate correctly on a full time...

You can please some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time... :)

So if I understand correctly, I will be unable to decode the audio properly unless I have a DD decoder. Thanks for your response.

Jeff,

I think you are doing an awesome job with this. I also think it's excellent that you are on this forum.

And Hey, this is all new technology, things are bound to be screwed up from time to time. I am an IT Systems Administrator so I can totally relate!!

-Tim (from Olathe, not Manhattan) :D

Jeff, I just wanted to take a moment and say thanks for being apart of this board. It is nice to see that people at WIBW care. I will NOT be watching KCTV anytime soon due to their attitude towards DTV.

Good work!!!

You should be able to get the audio fine..
Later when CBS starts passing true 5.1 you will need a dolby ss unit to really get the full audio and all the channels... Also Tim, I have not forgot about you.. I am waiting on an order I put in...
TNX

Anyone have any news on KTKA or KTWU?

Jeff:

I am in no hurry, but I do have a question. Does it take more equipment to multicast? If not, have you guys thought about doing that during the NCAA basketball tournament when they are not showing a HDTV game? That would be pretty neat to see.

thanks!

Actually I have some news on KTKA and KTWU. KTKA should be on the air within 90 days. Now the kicker(s), at low power, and just upconverting analog to 480p. And they will be at low power for several years, meaning no ABC HD for me or really anyone outside of the topeka viewing area, for that matter. The guy even acknowleged that all I would probably get in HD was CBS. Thank god for Jeff and WIBW.

Here is a quote:
Unfortunately, the FCC only requires us to serve our city of
license(Topeka), so thats all we will be doing for a few years. As a
consumer, I am a huge proponent of HDTV(I've seen it,and it's
outstanding), but as a broadcaster I am truely dissappointed in the amount
of apathy towards it(Still costs too much).

quite telling in that he want to do more, but cannot.

Now on to KTWU and PBS. Tower is done, antenna for digital 23 is up, just waiting on the transmitter. They should be on end of April. Duane at KTWU seems excited when he gets contacted about this kind of stuff. I am pretty sure they will mulitcast during the day and *maybe* HD at night, if there is any from PBS.



Comments?? Jeff, I would love to hear what you think about the FCC city of license thing.



tim

Originally posted by timmy1376
just upconverting analog to 480p.

Wouldn't that also mean no ABC-HD for even the people in Topeka that can receive the digital signal?

Yeah brad, my bad. No ABC HD for anyone! That kinda bites, seeing as how Monday Night Football will be in HD. Even if Cox get off their behinds and does cable HD here, no ABC HD that way either, if KTKA doesn't pass it.

http://www.digitaltelevision.com/2002/february/expert_williams.shtml
Low power is ultimately a poor choice. Is 49 offering wavers?

Waivers for what?? Nobody offers ABC HD around. The only thing you guys can try is to pick up KAKE channel 21 out of Wichita. Tropo might be right for it this summer, but doubtful during the winter.

The guy at KTKA also emailed me back as I asked more questions. I asked about Cox and he said they had had very early talks and he thought they wanted to get something going by this summer. Unless KTKA passed HD on cable and not OTA, no chance of MNF in HD. He also said they would be at 1kW just like KSNT. You guys down at the store should be able to get them, but I just hate very low power.

Talking about Cox makes me wonder, since we do not have a WB affiliate near, if they would take the digital WB out of Wichita and put it on there? Also, would they take the KAAS fox out of Wichita and use it instead of Fox 43? I am sure that would peave them off. I also hope if they do it, ESPN HD is one of the first stations on there.

Also, KTKA since they are only going to do 480p would have no problem multicasting a WB channel(unless there are legals I dont know about) since they partner with Cox on the WB on cable here. Sound good??

Hey guys, sorry if this is a little off post, but
My mother lives in Ozawkie, right on the lake.
Last year she ditched cable and got Dish
Network. I installed a RS V190 ant and CM
9521A rotator so she could get locals. My
question is, she gets ESPN on chanel 3
analog and sometimes Discovery Chanel
on Analog 8. I disconnected Dish thinking
it might be some kind of feedback but it
is still there. The closest chanel 3 is NBC
in Wichita. Anyone else see this happining?
Thanks,
Marc

Is a cable line still attached?? that's wierd. I have heard of cable channels coming through I think by leaking out of the cable line and being picked up by an antenna.

at least I think I heard that

No, cable is detached from pole outside.
My sister and brother-in -law have the
same thing and they live about 10 miles
away. Chanel 3 (ESPN) seems to be
coming from SW. If I rotate antenna
any other direction signal degrades.
Marc

Might check Topeka's PBS engineer. He's getting Wichita, Omaha, KC regularly. He's also getting some digital feeds from a loooong way away, with perfect conditions. I think he's running a 30' tower.

Tim,
Currently we can not run another channel, If I spent around $30,000 I could add another channel. That brings on another problem, I still need more gear for operating the second channel. The second channel would only be in 480. You could drop about $200,000 for additional hardware to run 2 independent DTV signals.... Its very hard for small TV stations to pay for the HDTV hardware to start with not to mention adding channels and other things.. PBS stations do get some Federal money for the HDTV conversions
but the rest of us have to shell out the bucks on our own. I am sure KTKA will move to high power after a few years, but right now a lot of stations are struggling to just meet FCC requirements. I understand we all want to see all the HD programming we can but who's paying for it ? Its hard to sell TV advertising when there is about 35 or 40 viewers.

just something to think about...

You guys getting 5.1 on the grammys on WIBW??

No 5.1 here. I don't think it got passed through.

That said, even without 5.1, it was AWESOME! Thank you again, WIBW, for bringing HDTV to our area. I usually wouldn't even watch The Grammys, but it was so visually stunning, I couldn't stop! I can hardly contain my excitement over what's to come. Especially the NCAA Basketball Tournament!

Hopefully KU will make it into an HD game or two.

Jeff,

The Grammy's last night did look stuning but I was getting audio dropouts. I seemed to get the signal just fine. I have an anolog audio setup. Would I lose the audio dropouts if I went digital?

Thanks!

I got some audio dropouts as well, but I attributed it to atmospheric disturbance and weird effects of the snow. Dropouts started for me at about midway through the KU game (4:15?) and continued throughout the evening.

My setup is all digital.

Thanks for the reply bocktar! I ended up watching the Grammys on anolog 13 because the dropouts were so bad on the HD channel. I don't understand why audio would be such an issue when I seem to be receiving such a good signal.

The dropouts were bad. I ended up watching NBC. The dropout seemed to be only on the CBS stuff. Local commercials and news breaks seemed to be okay.

Will you guys do me a favor??

I need everyone who is in Cox cable's area to call and tell them you want them to pick up the Royals television network. I love the Royals, and the way it stands now, I will be getting NO games.

thanks guys!

PS tell them you want HDTV too!!!!!!!

I am looking into the audio problem... I'll let you know when I find out what the cause is or could be...

JEFF

I'm in KC, and would like to attempt to receive WIBW's signal (because KCTV is an embarrassment to CBS). I'm thinking about doing a quad stack of corner reflectors. The Triax antennas look good, but I don't want to invest a large amount of money in antennas before I know if they will work. So, I'm figuring I can pick up 4 of the biggest Radio Shack UHF corner reflectors (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F002%5F004%5F002%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D2160), at only $21.99 each.

Some questions for the TV DX'ers reading this thread:

The location will be 103rd and Holmes, and I think I can get clear shot all the way west. I don't know if a diamond or horizontal stack makes the most sense in this case.

Also, should I use three splitters to combine the 4 antennas (one per pair, and one to combine those two splitters) or one 4 way splitter?

Also, I read about making a Yagi for channel 44 - could I use some tin snips and cut the elements of the reflectors down? And what is the length of a channel 44 element?

What should I make the mounting brackets for the array out of? I'm thinking of normal galvanized pipe, or do I need to avoid iron and steel?

Originally posted by Jeff groves
I am looking into the audio problem... I'll let you know when I find out what the cause is or could be...

JEFF

Jeff,

I have not noticed the problem since Sunday.

hmmmm no luck finding audio problem.. has it been doing it again ?
Good news is NCAA BASKETBALL in HD brought to you by WIBW :)

yeah

does HD lag on the audo compared to regular ota broadcast?
mine seem to lag 3-4 words behind regular tv.
royt

Yes,
Due to the amount of processing the audio and video are
delayed compared with analog.

Originally posted by Jeff groves
hmmmm no luck finding audio problem.. has it been doing it again ?
Good news is NCAA BASKETBALL in HD brought to you by WIBW :)

yeah

Jeff,
No sound problems since the Grammy's.

Will you be carrying all of the HD games or only the ones that you carry on your SD channel?

Now how do we get KU into the south region (Birmingham, Ala)?

Well, CBS has sent the word down that all the NCAA tournament games will be in HD.. Lets put it this way.. Lets put it this was WIBW will pass all HD games they receive on to the viewers... If I get it , you will get it...

On another note... I have been getting quite abit of e-mail on reception changes from viewers. I did reduce power by 10 % for 48 hours due to a
blown power amp. But most of the complaint's are a direct result of the weather changing... pretty strange.. I guess we learn as we go, and I am real sure the HDTV experts don't have it all figured out yet.. I got a real kick from hearing two broadcaster sit and chat away about how much they were the experts on HDTV.. After hearing this and keeping my mouth shut
for awhile, I got bored and could not help but ask how long they had been transmitting in HD....... pause....... both replied well we haven't got our transmitters in yet but are getting them soon... :)



In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king !

I knew the Final Four was going to be broadcasted in HDTV but all Tourney Games in HDTV is just icing on the cake. I'm taking 20th and 21st off to sit on butt in HD March Maddness Heaven. Thanks for the update Jeff. I hope there aren't any audio problems during the tourney.

I really dought that all the games will be in HD. There are 16 sites in the first two rounds and I don't think there are 16 mobile HD trucks in the country. ESPN has/will have at least two of them tied up already. CBS's press release said that the first round from the south region (Birmingham, Ala) will have HD coverage.

If we go to war next week, it won't matter anyway.

If we go to war, I will run CBS war coverage on analog and Basketball on
HD. I have been working with the CBS affilate PR person and they will still be feeding the games down on the HD satelite recivers..... If I get, you get it...... If all goes well...

Jeff,

That would be great if you can make it work!

Does anyone know of a sports bar in Topeka that has HDTVs? Living in the KC area, I'm stuck with our lame CBS affiliate that refuses to implement HD. I'd really like to catch a game or two in HD, so if you know of a place in Topeka or thereabouts, please let me know. Thanks.

I'm not sure about bars in Topeka, but you may actually be able to catch them in one of the bars in KC that has HD. Another thread indicated that DirecTV announced yesterday that they would be carrying the applicable first and second round games in HD.

I think most bars get their sports from DirecTV, and I would have to assume that if they do, they're subscribed the NCAA March Madness package. The only questions then are:

* What bars actually have HD capability?
* Do they have a DirecTV HD capable receiver?
* Do the HD games conflict with Big XII games?

I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that only two bars in KC had HD, and that one of them was Scoreboards (I think).

All that said, if there is a bar in Topeka that is going to show a WIBW HD feed, I'd go watch it there out of principle.

Hooters in Overland Park has HD according to HdNet.

so does:
Coach's Bar & Grill
414 W 103rd St
Kansas City, MO
Phone: 913 941-2286

This article is going to be in the Kansas City Star on Wednesday:

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/columnists/aaron_barnhart/5421864.htm

Thought you guys in Topeka might be interested. It's very accurate.

Jeff, your station is mentioned, congrats!! Even though I can't get your signal, I think you are doing an awesome job. Both with your station's HD capabilities and your willingness to talk to us here.

BTW, which one of you guys in Topeka can get WDAF's 25W light bulb signal? :D
(this is a quote from WDAF in the article)

Originally posted by timmy1376
Coach's Bar & Grill
414 W 103rd St
Kansas City, MO
Phone: 913 941-2286
I can attest to Coach's, as I installed the projectors and HD receivers. I've worked with Coach's ever since they opened, and sold them their first video projector (a Panasonic PT-101).

Currently, they have two Sony LCD projectors (1000 lumens), an older Mitsubishi projector (500 lumens) and an SD Sharp (250 lumens). And 24 (I think) 27" SD sets. Each of the three HD projectors has it's own HD cable box from Time-Warner, as well as a signal from a RCA DTC-100 HD DirecTV receiver and an SD input.

This summer, I'm going to be completely rebuilding the signal path, which has quite a bit of cruft in the SD path - 20 years of various people working on it and adding to it will do that. But the HD system is very clean and solid.

Mike Darby of Coach's had the wonderful idea of putting up a collection box to help poor, poor KCTV buy the HD encoder they can't afford. Mike's a great guy and very excited about HD. I will probably be headed down there this week to try to pull in WIBW-DT. Coach's is a great place, but it is at a very low altitude, so I might have to locate a tower.

CBS hoses the HD Viewers.
The word come down from CBS that due to a third party agreement
with cable companies. CBS affilates can not run the NCAA games on their
HD channels instead of war coverage. So if the game gets interrupted or
covered up with war coverage the CBS HD recievers will go black.. Basically CBS affilates must only air what the network wants..

Re: the NCAA games in HD. I realize CBS is between a rock and a hard place, but why did they sacrifice the HD channels to placate the cable companies to carry the 1st round games? What better way to showcase HD than the NCAA tournament. Cable dosen't serve the rural area (probably never will) I live in, so I am watching the games on ESPN satellite instead of OTA Ch.13 HD. Jeff: thank you for keeping us informed.

Jeff,

Ken H over on the programming board is reporting the CBS stations WILL be able to offer the HD games on their HD channels. All O & O's will be doing this and any digital affilates that want to.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2009743#post2009743

Good Job WIBW.

They carried the Texas game on their digital channel and the Oklahoma game on their analog channel. They were unable or didn't insert their local commercials. Hopefully someday day they will be able to. They just as well get some revenue from it. It was nice to see the CBS "It's all here" spot.

Jeff,

flawress reception of WIBW-DT today in Lawrence!

please please please please please tell us that the 5.1 audio is going to work on Saturday!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Because CBS started on the Texas game then switched to the Oklahoma
on the analog, they switched the analog game but not the digital thats the scoop on that, So I just continued to run the Texas, No local insertion
of commercials was due to the fact, the timings on the two games did not match, and I didn't want to hack up the Texas game.. On Saturday CBS won't be switching games so I can run commercials on both at the same time..... The 5.1 is working now.... It switches from stereo on local stuff
ie.. news and commercials but goes into 5.1 when running network....
Check it out tonight during prime time.....

As far as the programming board, They changes their mind on a daily basis !

You're the Greatest, Jeff!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

At home I use a Samsung set top box and a sony Wega TV , I can change the aspect ratio to 16 by 9. So I get the full picture.. If I change channels to 28 the low power Topeka DT NBC (Not Broadcasting Clearly) or (Not Broadcasting Color) locks up my reciever.. I actually have to recycle power to the reciever to get things back to normal.. this does not happen when I change to KC stations.. It has to be a thing with KSNT.. I think it has to do with the PCIP data. I have a friend running a Samsung set top with the same problem. Anyone else having these problems ? I am intrested to know if its a KSNT or a Samsung thing... Don't get me wrong I don't want anyone watching them, after all the are low power. But for "educational purposes only I would like to know....

later guys.

Hi -

There are some known issues with the Samsung DirecTV ( SIR TS-160 ) box and the PSIP info, lockups and such. I did not look through the threads to see if they also occur with the OTA box, but it sounds suspicious.

Here's a summary post of the issues:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=1692550#post1692550

Here's the big thread itself:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=179200

Jeff,
I have mits big screen with what appears to be some kind of psip
problem. I get you guys and KSNT, when I flip back and forth several
times the channel info stays on WIBW-DT as if it can't find 28's data.
I kind of just figured it was a software problem with the tv but could be
related to your problem. I've only had it about 2 months so I don't Know
if these mits tv's are all good units or if mines special.
btw- it doesn't always do it.

Jeff:

Do you guys have any plans to send Electronic Programming Guide information in your PSIP data? I've noticed that none of the OTA-DT channels in the area are doing this yet, but it would be an awesome addition! (Especially when the HD OTA/DirecTivo comes out later this year, which is highly dependent on EPG data).

PS: The automatic switching in and out of 5.1 is working great!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Jeff:

Just wanted to express thanks again on behalf of KU fans in Lawrence to WIBW-DT for bringing us KU Basketball in HD.

The season may not have ended how we all wished, but it was great to experience the games in HD and 5.1.

You guys have really stepped up to the plate in the HD transition.

Thanks again!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!

Jeff,

Any chance of WIBW picking up the Royals? Sucks that no one is carring the games out here.

couchrack,
Supposedly Fox 43 out of topeka, channel 15 for us, picked up the Royals 14 game package of Sundays games. I tuned in Sunday, but got a race.

Also guys,
I think KTWU is getting close.

tim

KTWU: Channel 23 (PBS) is broadcasting as of Sunday afternoon 4/27. I am getting a stronger signal from them then I do from WIBW. The wind doesn't effect it as much as 44 or 28. At this time, they are just passing their regular programming.

Nothing form KTKA yet.

KTKA has said they will not be on untill the middle of summer. And then only 480i and 4kW.

Now you guys in Topeka have three choices. And I think they are the best three options. I rarely watch ABC or Fox anyway.

My prediction:
Fox 43 ceases to exist when analog shuts down. (whenever that may be)

Here is what I got from Duane at KTWU.

The transmitter installation has been
completed. I had the transmitter on today from about 1:30 PM to
2 PM for a short test. It may be another week or so before we get on the
air on a regular schedule. We haven't yet received our digital satelite
receivers and we want to have them installed and operating before we
begin.

When we do go on, we may have a limited daily schedule. Our tentative
plan
is to be on from 12 noon to midnight with a multi-cast program stream
consisting of our upconverted analog channel and a childrens channel
from
PBS. At prime time there will be some
High Definition programing. The HD programing will include a 2 hour loop
of HD programing and four or five new High Definition programs a month.
Some of the programs will be in widescreen Standard Definition.

Ok, here is the latest on KTWU:
They will fire up shortly before noon on Monday, May 5th. Don't forget, digital channel 23 and they will multicast, but will have HD along with a subchannel.