Originally posted by BDHost
Does anyone now where the Biloxi Transmission tower is for their ABC?

From: http://www.flash.net/~mcgomez/television/mississippitv.txt

39 WLOX-DT Biloxi power:1000kW DA;tower:1240' 3 miles E of McHenry (WLOX-TV's digital channel)

Steve

http://www.100000watts.com/cgi-bin/tvtl.pl?calls=WLOX-DT&lat=30-43-23&lon=89-5-28&rad=0

Links to their web page:

http://www.100000watts.com/cgi-bin/call.pl?target=wlox

Their transmitter sites are just off of U.S. Highway 49, north of Orange Grove, MS.

Originally posted by BDHost
Does anyone now where the Biloxi Transmission tower is for their ABC?

Never mind :D

I called WLOX Biloxi and talked to an engineer over there. Their ABC tower is putting out 720 KW. The tower is located on HWY 49 due north of Gulfport, MS. Its is approximately 15 miles south of Wiggins, MS and 23 miles north of Gulfport, MS.

I am really wanting to get this station but I am 50 miles away from the tower 'line of sight' or as a crow flies.

With a very good antenna and preamp, do you guys think its possible to get stable reception from this distance? I would do anything to get ABC HDTV and we all know that WEAR is a lost cause.

Not sure if anyone can answer these, but here goes:

I thought the digital wb was going to show the widescreen version of all its hd shows. I knew they wouldn't be hd, but each week i keep hoping to see smallville in widescreen and each week i get thos fun grey bars on the sides. Did they only mean taking shows like angel that are already letterboxed for analog and have them fill the screen in wide ( i haven't watched angel live, so for all i know it has bars on the top/bottom and sides.)

Also does anyone know that status on cbs's transition to dolby digital?

Daniel, Joe told me that anything in HD on WB, we would get it in 16:9.
e-mail him.



addalia@wb18.com

Originally posted by BDHost
I called WLOX Biloxi and talked to an engineer over there. Their ABC tower is putting out 720 KW. The tower is located on HWY 49 due north of Gulfport, MS. Its is approximately 15 miles south of Wiggins, MS and 23 miles north of Gulfport, MS.

I am really wanting to get this station but I am 50 miles away from the tower 'line of sight' or as a crow flies.

With a very good antenna and preamp, do you guys think its possible to get stable reception from this distance? I would do anything to get ABC HDTV and we all know that WEAR is a lost cause.

BD, I would certainly give it a try if I were you. What's your current antenna setup, anyway?

Back to WLOX, the tower is 1200 ft., which puts the "radio horizon" or curve of the earth, at 48 miles. A 20 ft mast at your end adds 6 miles to the distance. They're on channel 39 with over 700kilowatts, which is a respectable power level. The only thing that may be a negative, they have a directional antenna with the major lobe aimed south. You can check the pattern from the FCC website here http://www.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/polarplot?temp=44572&rotate=220.&p0=.893&p10=.896&p20=.904&p30=.919&p40=.940&p50=.963&p60=.984&p70=.998&p80=.998&p90=.981&p100=.944&p110=.889&p120=.819&p130=.741&p140=.663&p150=.592&p160=.536&p170=.500&p180=.488&p190=.500&p200=.536&p210=.592&p220=.663&p230=.741&p240=.819&p250=.889&p260=.944&p270=.981&p280=.998&p290=.998&p300=.984&p310=.963&p320=.940&p330=.919&p340=.904&p350=.896&p74=1.00&p284=1.00 Still looks good even if you were in the NE quad from the antenna.

I'm not going to say its a cakewalk, but I think you're close enough to have a pretty good chance. Here in Ft. Walton, FL the good channels (WMPI, WSRE) are about 60-62 miles from me, with towers that put the "radio horizon" at about 60 miles plus another 6 for the mast. Signals are very stable.

Originally posted by raj119
Hi all! Just wanted to post my experience of receiving OTA hdtv in the area. I found this site when I was researching tvs and this thead motivated me to try my hand at pulling in some hdtv. Right now I'm getting WMPI-NBC, WSRE-PBS, and WJTC-UPN with a zenith 420 receiver, a silver sensor antenna, and a 7777 channel master preamp if you can believe it. Signal strength hovers around the top of normal and the bottom of good with a few occasional dropouts.

Hey raj119! Welcome to the club.

I’m thinking the Silver Sensor one of those small antennas with built-in amplifiers, right? The use of it seems amazing for Ft. Walton. If you are getting drop out on that setup, would suggest you move up to a regular large antenna like the Radio Shack VU-190XR. It should work just fine without an amplifier for WPMI, WSRE, and WJTC and adding that CM7777 preamp sure wouldn’t harm reception. Wait for it to go on sale, typically for about $50. With that you should also so get WEAR, but it wouldn’t be HD. You should get solid reception with something like that.

The problem channels would be WALA-FOX, WKRG-CBS, WMBB-ABC and WTVY-CBS.

The two CBS channels and the ABC channel are all running low power right now, so they are hard to get. WALA is actually running at full power, but I haven’t had any luck, nor has Bob in Shalimar had any luck with them. And WMBB is not HD yet, but maybe some day. When and if these boys step up their power, they should give rock solid reception (at least, I hope, WKRG is -12.5 dB, WTVY is -13.4 dB, and WMBB is -14.2 dB below their approved power).

If you go to the larger antenna, some nights these channels (WKRG, WTVY) might lock in for a short time. Don't expect to get them with any regularity, they will show up just to tease you a little before dropping out.

On the DX'ing front: WMOR, channel 32/19 out of Tampa showed uplast night. Found it while searching for WMBB-ABC in Panama City. It was just on for about 2 minutes before I lost it. Longest DX on DTV I received so far.

Originally posted by RickRS
BD, I would certainly give it a try if I were you. What's your current antenna setup, anyway?

Back to WLOX, the tower is 1200 ft., which puts the "radio horizon" or curve of the earth, at 48 miles. A 20 ft mast at your end adds 6 miles to the distance. They're on channel 39 with over 700kilowatts, which is a respectable power level. The only thing that may be a negative, they have a directional antenna with the major lobe aimed south. You can check the pattern from the FCC website here http://www.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/polarplot?temp=44572&rotate=220.&p0=.893&p10=.896&p20=.904&p30=.919&p40=.940&p50=.963&p60=.984&p70=.998&p80=.998&p90=.981&p100=.944&p110=.889&p120=.819&p130=.741&p140=.663&p150=.592&p160=.536&p170=.500&p180=.488&p190=.500&p200=.536&p210=.592&p220=.663&p230=.741&p240=.819&p250=.889&p260=.944&p270=.981&p280=.998&p290=.998&p300=.984&p310=.963&p320=.940&p330=.919&p340=.904&p350=.896&p74=1.00&p284=1.00 Still looks good even if you were in the NE quad from the antenna.

I'm not going to say its a cakewalk, but I think you're close enough to have a pretty good chance. Here in Ft. Walton, FL the good channels (WMPI, WSRE) are about 60-62 miles from me, with towers that put the "radio horizon" at about 60 miles plus another 6 for the mast. Signals are very stable.

Rick, currently I do not have a current OTA setup. I did about 3 weeks ago but took everything back. I had a 10 foot mast with a large (144") channelmaster antenna on it. I am very new to this OTA stuff. I quickly found out that this is more difficult that I predicted. So, after playing around with that stuff, I took everything back after only being mildly successful in getting some stations. I am going to try once again in the next month or 2 but do it right this time after I gather enough knowledge.

I am wanting to most likely use the 30 foot telescopic mast (Lowe's for 44.99$) and after reading alot here probably go with the RS 190 unless you guys have any better suggestions. I am on N. Snow Rd in Mobile. I am 35 miles away from the towers on I-10 as a crow flies (107 degrees)and 48 miles away from Biloxi's WLOX tower at 266 degrees the other direction.

I want to do this right this time and go with the 30 foot mast, a rotor, a 7777 preamp, and the RS190. I am assuming this setup will set me back around $300.00 after all done. Hopefully with this setup I will be able to get Mobile's NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, WB and Biloxi's WLOX ABC. I am so disgusted with WEAR I don't even want to think about tuning into to them since they refuse to pass thru HDTV.

I think my big hurdle with getting WLOX is like you stated. They are using a directional antenna lobed S. I am almost directly east from the tower (its 266 degrees from my house). Maybe with some luck I can get a stable lock but I am not gonna hold my breath.

Any other suggestions or ideas you guys can give PLEASE feel free to give advice. Like I said, I am going to to this again in about 2 months and gonna do it right this time. In the mean time, I got HDNet, HBO, and Showtime keeping me preoccupied. Now if only DirecTV would add ESPNHD, Discovery Theater HD, and HDNet Movies I'd be golden :cool:

BDHost

If your setup was 10 feet off the ground, its possible that you were just too low for any reception at a distance. I remember when I was changing from a big Radio Shack antenna to a big Winegard with a pre-amp, years ago. Because of the gain of the pre-amp I thought I would see signal at ground level. Nothing. Got the antenna up at 20 feet and then things came to life. Just goes to show.

Just a few opinions: Channel Master is generally regarded as being a better antenna than RS. I would guess you got the CM antenna from Lowe’s? If so, that $99 antenna was the CM 3020. On paper, it’s slightly better performance-wise than the RS VU-190 and it’s supposed to have better quality, build-wise. In the real world, I don’t have a clue if the difference would be noticed.

If you were going to go for a better VHF/UHF antenna, the Winegard HD8200 would be a step up. You could check around and see if you can find one. It may be available at about $150-$200. Do you need it? Can’t tell, its one of those things that somebody in your area, or you, would have find out for themselves.

If you didn’t need FOX, you could get better UHF reception than either CM3020 or RS VU-190 with the CM4228. And it should be cheaper than the CM3020, if you can find it. But that means giving up on FOX on ch 9, VHF.

For the rotor, get the Channel Master with the remote control. That at Lowe’s, too. Having had the Radio Shack rotor, which is actually the old manual controlled Channel Master, and then getting the new old with remote, I can say the remote control version is quieter and better overall. The actual rotor unit on the antenna appears to be the same for both, the difference is just the control unit.

And don't forget to include a ground rod to ground the antenna mast and the co-ax lightening arrester. I don't think I have ever have lightening strike, but why risk it.

Rick, thanks for the welcome. Actually, the silver sensor is the indoor antenna that looks like a miniture UHF outdoor antenna on a plastic stand with no amp. I got it for only $20 so I wasn't too concerned if it didn't workout for me and was pleasently surprised at the results. After using it now on and off for the last few weeks it's results are a little irratic. Some nights nbc, upn, and pbs are week, other nights all three are strong with no breakups. I knew going in that from this distance outdoor and elevated was the way to go but I'm not sure I can do that right now. I'm renting a one story townhouse with no yard in a little eight unit cul-d-sac and am unsure if I can put up an outdoor antenna here. So far I've only used it for a few nbc shows and the pbs hdtv demo which looks great. Hopefully a few more stations around here will "power up" in the near future and I'll look into going the outdoor route. Later.

Roger

BDHost, check out spectravox.com. Channel master 9521 rotor $66, winegard 8200 $121, they also have very good prices on the winegard preamps.

Bob H.

A reminder for anyone else getting HDnet movies, Body Heat Friday 5pm, should be even hotter in HD.

Anyone else watch ER? Noticed it didn't go to HD tonight.

Also i talked to the engineer for wb and he said smallville should be in widescreen, which its not, and will look into it.

ER was indeed not in HD tonight. That wasn't a local thing, it was national. It was because of the split screen thing they did with Carter/Pratt. And there ya have it. :)

Originally posted by ROBERT HUNZEKER
BDHost, check out spectravox.com. Channel master 9521 rotor $66, winegard 8200 $121, they also have very good prices on the winegard preamps.

Bob H.

A reminder for anyone else getting HDnet movies, Body Heat Friday 5pm, should be even hotter in HD.

Thanks Robert & Rick. Input is greatly appreciated. I will definately ground everything and do it right this time. I'll give updates here when I begin round 2 :D

Will probably be in June/July timeframe.

BDHost: That 9521 rotor is the one I was talking about.

Roger (raj119): It may be quite easy to pull in the two main HD stations (WMPI-NBC and WSRE-PBS) without going to the large fringe antennas. I think Rob Hunzeker said once that he's using a Radio Shack VU-190 without any preamp and getting the locals just fine. So a medium size antenna and a preamp may work out ok, just don't expect any of the CBS HD stations, they are all low power right now. The FCC said that if you want to put up a TV antenna on property you control (aka own or rent) no one can stop you. Bob posted a link to the FCC regs a sometime ago in this thread.

Was wonder what happened on ER last nignt. I saw Crossing Jordon on NBC this Monday and the first 15-20 minutes were SD, too. Don't know what happened there. WPMI has been doing a great job so far, every mess-up with SD shown instead of HD has been the national peoples fault.

Is it just me or did anyone else loose 44-1 and 23-1 this weekend?

J C

Originally posted by JC West
Is it just me or did anyone else loose 44-1 and 23-1 this weekend?

J C

Last I checked, UPN was not working this weekend and their analog and cable signals had a very annoying Buzz in it. Didn't check PBS.

Steve

Yes i lost upn and pbs this weekend. My signal for both has been degrading quite a bit the last couple of weeks, but went completely away this weekend.

Has anyone been able to pick up WEIQ-DT? I see they've gone live but I haven't been able to pick up a signal yet. They may be using a weak transmitter. Just trying to find out if anyone's picking them up yet.

Thanks,
Steve

Did anyone else lose Ch 5 . Did the storm do something to there stuff ?

Its on right now.

I can't pick up WKRG DT here in South Mobile . Had no problems last week .

I just checked my signal-strength on 5.1 and it is lower than usual but still coming in good.
KRG is already on low power, I hope they didn't go lower.

Steve, I'm not anywhere in the WEIQ area so I have no info on it.

Did want to mention that at the Alabama Public TV site they have a sign-up for "DTV Testers". Appears they want to get feedback on signal coverage when they go live across the state. Looks like a chance to get DTV sign-on info and maybe influence some program decisions. Sign-up at http://www.aptv.org/Digital/index.asp

Has anyone been in contact with Tim Reid to find out what's up with 44-1?? I e-mailed him but he hasn't responded yet.

Originally posted by JC West
Has anyone been in contact with Tim Reid to find out what's up with 44-1?? I e-mailed him but he hasn't responded yet.

I've been keeping quiet hoping that it's down because they're fixing the pixelation problem with the Samsung receivers....

Steve

Is anyone able to receive UPN 44-1? If so what type of STB are you using?

Thanks J C

I Have not been able to receive 44-1 for more than a week (using a Mits SRDR5 (Hughes E86). No response for 45 when doing a digital signal strength scan so I doubt that it is a case of failure to properly interpret a signal, but the fact that no signal is being transmitting. No response from Tim Reid, either. It would be nice if they, or other stations, would post a notice on their website if they are really off the air.

A response from Tim Reid concerning WJTC-DT, digital 45.

"We had a failure with the WJTC analog exciter on Saturday morning the 17th and the older unit we had to switch back to is not as tight frequency-wise for the 44/45 digital combiner to accept so we had to switch off the WJTC digital transmitter because of the instability to the analog channel. The manufacturer has shipped us the wrong replacement module twice but we are hoping the third time is the charm this week."


Tim Reid
Director of Engineering
WPMI-TV NBC 15/DT47
WJTC-TV UPN 44/DT45
661 Azalea Road
Mobile, Al 36609
timreid@clearchannel.com

Originally posted by beachrez
A response from Tim Reid concerning WJTC-DT, digital 45.




Thanks for the post.
I knew about the repairs at WJTC but thought they were completed. On 5/20/03 Samsung broadcast a S/W upgrade VIA DirecTV to fix the problem of the "Lock-ups" the receiver was having.

Originally the Samsung TS 160 would not get UPN then after the Dec. upgrade it would and I was afraid that the fix had killed the channel again.

J C

I just got my surround Sound set up and was wondering if any of the stations broadcast in Dolby 5.1. My AV receiver is picking up the audio as Dolby digital from all of the channels but all it's showing is stereo not the 5.1.

Thanks,
Steve

Does anyone in the Pensacola area have a Sony RPTV? If so, have you had it repaired for the known Sony Flicker problem and which service center did your work?

Mine started acting up last Thursday. I called Sony yesterday and they're suppose to be turning it over to the local authorized service center.

Thanks,
Steve

deleted: double post

Latest from Lowell Beckner at WMBB-ABC in Panama City on their attempts to get HD:
After several attempts to come up with a solution, I have gotten corporate to allow me to purchase needed equipment to solve our problem. I expect the equipment to arrive the first of next week. Once installed, I have to schedule a visit of a Harris technician. If everything goes as planned, we should have HD on the air by the end of June. Sorry for the delay.

So yet another delay before more HD is available in Ft. Walton and Panama City area. Let the bitching and moaning begin!:D

I had a problem with a projector about six months ago. Get with me if they give you the "its going to be three weeks before we can come out" I will put you in touch with authorized warranty repair.

Well, I noticed UPN 45-1 is back on the air. It looks like they still have the pixelation problem with the Samsung receivers, though.

Steve

Originally posted by GW Montee
I had a problem with a projector about six months ago. Get with me if they give you the "its going to be three weeks before we can come out" I will put you in touch with authorized warranty repair.

I talked with the person at the shop that Sony contacted, Omega TV Repair. They had just gotten off the phone with Sony turning down the job. Now I'm waiting to see if the only other Sony Authorized Service center in Pensacola, Barberi Radio and TV, is going to take the work.

Steve

Originally posted by rute
Well, I noticed UPN 45-1 is back on the air. It looks like they still have the pixelation problem with the Samsung receivers, though.

Steve

Can't remember if you have said before but what model of the Samsung do you have?

I have the TS-160 and after the S/W update on 5/20 it's working much better.

J C

Originally posted by JC West
Can't remember if you have said before but what model of the Samsung do you have?

I have the TS-160 and after the S/W update on 5/20 it's working much better.

J C

I have the TS-151 OTA only receiver. If there's a way for me to update it, I'd appreciate any help.

Steve

Beginning yesterday I am now receiving a PBS channel 53-1. They are broadcasting in HD but never give station ID or call letters.
Anybody know who they are and where they are?

J C

JC, bet that's the Mobile PBS station. Check the listing at www.100000watts.com to see.

On the UPN station and Samsung, I too get no audio/video from the signal with my Samsung SIR-T150 box. In fact the channel wouldn't remap to 44 so I sure this is a PSIP problem altho station denies it.

Still More Delays in PC FWB Area

Received this response concerning their June 1 projected on-air date.

"We are tentatively scheduled to begin broadcasting a digital signal
September of this year. We're later than everyone else due to our
request of the FCC for a DTV channel re-allotment. We plan on passing
through HDTV signals as provided from NBC and we plan on broadcasting
with a minimum of 50% of our allotted power, increasing as demand for
the digital signal increases or the FCC mandates (whichever is earlier)."

Regards,
Mark Gilland
Chief Engineer
WJHG TV

My equipment will be worn out before these people get their act together.

"BUD" is the answer. Relieves all the stress of worrying about the locals.


Bob H.

Anyone having any trouble with WLOX DT39 ?


I had a great signal 2 days ago and today is gone :(


on anouther note it looks like CH 3 SD 17 has boosted it's power cause I can get it no matter what way I point my antenna .

Originally posted by ROBERT HUNZEKER
"BUD" is the answer. Relieves all the stress of worrying about the locals.


Bob H.

Yes, Bob, I find a cool six pack of St. Louis finest brew to take away all my worries. Then I turn on the big useful device (the OTHER BUD) and watch tv as it was intended.

See my post RE: the latest goings on with Sinclair and their plans for local news with all of their stations. It's on a separate thread in this forum. Here's a hint, a few of our local news and weather folks will be hitting the bricks looking for work, as the national news and weather will be coming from Baltimore. All the sets at all the Sinclair stations will look the same. Call it McTV.

Cheap bastages!

So that thread would be http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=265602

Looks like they are using the radio programming model, where one central programming center and your local station becomes nothing more than remote repeater transmitter.

Exactly.

"We are Sinclair Broadcasting. We are a collective of broadcast stations that spends little and serves less. We will assimilate your local affiliates. You will receive no high definition television, as HDTV does not serve the needs of the collective at large. Resistance is futile...."

cute!!! I am impressed with your Borg dialog!

Where can I get a Winegard HD-8200P in the Mobile Pensacola area ?

see my previous post on page 25 dated 4/19. that is the antenna we have and we are thrilled with it

Thanks Linda.

Guys and Gals,

I haven't followed the thread in a while so if this is old news forgive me.
But what is WB55?
I got a movie on it in primetime last night that was exceptional PQ. Was I watching 480p?

Bob

WBPG is channel 55, which is owned by Emmis along with WALA 10, the Fox affiliate in Mobile. This was the only way that WBPG could have gone digital, as they did not have the resources to have their own gear. They are on a sub-channel of the Fox signal.

http://www.wb55tv.com/

Happy anniversary to this thread! Just noticed that it was started one year ago yesterday. :)

Graham

This is the second thread. The first one started two years ago. It just got too long like this one. We need to start a new one.
Daniel, Joe told me yesterday that WB will have 5 hours per week of 16:9 this fall.

Very cool. I wish we would hear something from wear, but that's asking too much.

Cinder What kind of signal do you get from WLOX DT ?

I can't pick up wlox at all, i just rescanned to see if i get anything today but nothing at all, not even a blip :)

I did pickup 53-1 which i get very strong, but it is having dropouts which i assume aren't related to my reception since i have almost 95% signal on them. Is 53-1 alabama pbs?

I'm in 85-95% for all the other stations i pick up. UPN has been real solid since they repaired whatever went wrong, so far i have had no dropouts like i used to get.

Also, how do i put a message underneath my messages?

Daniel can you get Mobiles PBS station now that they are HD? [ I think they are] I can't.

I am picking up 53-1. It seems to be a loop of a lot of HD stuff similar to wsre at night, there is no call station listed next to the 53-1 number like the rest of the stations. That said i'm pretty confident its mobile pbs and it looks great. I have near 90% signal, however i do get breakups on the picture.

I sent an email to Alabama PBS and ask when WEIQ would be on the air in HD. They said they are testing now and are on the air from time to time. They will be on full time by September. Their tower is in Spanish Fort and not too high. I have not been able to pick them up, but they might not be on the air when I try. Does anyone know who we could contact at the station that could let us know when they are on the air doing testing.

Tower in Spanish Fort, wow. Daniel you should be able to get it with a coat
hanger.

HDTV Galaxy says "Smallville" on WB (tonight from 7-9 PM) is 1080i.
Does anyone know if WBPG is giving us 1080i?

Bob

They were definately doing tests today, spanish fort explains why my signal was so strong, only wkrg is stronger.

WBPG is only broadcasting in 480i i think (it might be 480p, i haven't watched it yet to judge, would love to know which.) Since they share bandwith with fox they don't have room for HD.

No HD here for Smallville but it should be in 16:9. Joe said that if WB was in HD we would get it in SD 16:9. If it is not I'll e-mail him.

Occasionally, WBPG (WB55) manages to get it right and give us 16:9 SD. They can not do 16:9 HD as a sub-channel with WALA-DT. However, more often than not in the past few weeks, they have not been able to get the widescreen picture out to us. At least that has been my experience.

I have just sent Joe a e-mail about Smalville [no 16:9]. I'll let you know what he has to say.

Here is his reply.

It’ll be there for the next segment.

I wish that they would leave WEIQ DT on 24-7 . It has one of the best HD pictures I have ever seen .

Not enough power [199kw] to get it over here. wrkh99, how far do you live from Daphne-Spanish Fort? How about you Daniel, of all people you should get it good.

I am 16.3 air miles from Daphne. I get a 5 on my Samsung when the channel is on the air .

Originally posted by wrkh99
I am 16.3 air miles from Daphne. I get a 5 on my Samsung when the channel is on the air .

Is that a 5 out of 100 on signal power.

When its on i have nearly 95% lock on WEIQ, very good signal to me. But as you said i may could use just a coat hanger :)

On the other hand i've seen a significant drop in Wear and Wkrg (used to be my strongest signal) in the last couple weeks. I originally thought it was the weather, but as things clear up i'm getting concerned. WKRG has leveled off at abotu 75% (Used to be 90%) and Wear fluctuates between 40% and 50% (used to be 80%). Any ideas on this, my antenna setup is in my attic and has not been disturbed, and all other channels come in great.

I get a signal strength of 68% on WKRG and 80% on WEAR. All the rest get in the 90's, but I have never received WEIQ. I checked the signal strength on WEAR, but I refuse to watch it, until they pass thru the ABC HD signal.

WKRG signal strength has gone down for me too. Sometimes when its raning it goes off. I'm going to e-mail Jim and ask him, I"ll let you know.

5 bars on my Sir 151 for WEIQ HD 53


Big drop in Ch 5 over the last 2 weeks . Does anyone know whats going on with them ?

Here is Jims answer to WKRG signal strength.
___________________________________

Must be vegetation growth or weather. We are at full power with a EVM of
2.2%, which is very good. I'm not having problems with our signal for a
change. Sorry and I do hope things improve for you guys.

Tell Jim that the weather is fine and and that all of his viewers are having signal strength problems. WKRG is the problem and THEY need to fix it.

Let me say this about the WKRG "problem";

As for the weather, it's true. With high levels of humity, rain-fall, etc. that this area has experienced for several weeks now signal levels will drop. Moisture in the air and moisture in plant leaves (aka trees between your antenna and WKRG) will attenuate UHF signals. Fact of life. Things have not really "cleared up", as atmospheric conditions are still somewhat abnormal even with the fact that its not raining right now. Jim maybe on the level that things are going great at the transmitter.

Then why is the other 6 digital channels better than WKRG. All are above 68%, 5 above 90% on my receiver. Weather should effect all signals from similar tower location.

Is anyone using the Winegard GS-2000? How do you like it?

http://www.winegard.com/products/vhfuhf_tv_products/sensar2_for_home.html#sensar

Bob

This would just be a guess on my part, but is what i'm thinking since i have good signals with everyone except wkrg and wear, both of which transmit at low power. It could be that the other stations broadcasting at full power are able to penetrate the weather better, and the lower power of wkrg and that other one i'm tired of talking about, just can't penetrate the weather. Just a guess on my part, would be curious to know if this is possible.

Originally posted by trich
Here is Jims answer to WKRG signal strength.
___________________________________

Must be vegetation growth or weather. We are at full power with a EVM of
2.2%, which is very good. I'm not having problems with our signal for a
change. Sorry and I do hope things improve for you guys.

Jim says WKRG is at full power.

Cinder has a point. WKRG's "full power" is the full 55 kilowatts that they are broadcasting with under their STA. The other channels are running a lot more power (1 megawatt for WPMI). Basically WKRG is a marginal station and has been from day one.

I can't wait for the day that WKRG goes to their approved 1 megawatt as the signal will finally reach Ft. Walton. When they do you guys getting them right now can use a coat hanger to pull them in then.

And, WKRG-DT is broadcasting from a relatively "short" tower. If I remember correctly it is about 1000' compared to others near 2000'. Many months ago, Jim Richardson replied to an email and said that it would be several years before they spent the $3M to relocate to a taller tower with a more powerful transmitter.

I normally get WKRG at 50-60 while all others are at 100 (except WHBR which is about 75). Occasionally, I lose WKRG completely. (He also siad that they would have their audio problem solved by now-- they haven't, however. They had to buy a unit for about $3K to pass along the DD5.1. Right now, their audio is much lower than any other station and I constantly have to play with volume controls.)

I'm in downtown P'cola with a 120" Radio Shack antenna.
It's been about 1-2 feet above the roof line and at that height I've been unable to get either WEAR or KRG. Today I raised it 6'. Now I'm getting 62 on WEAR and 28 on WKRG. But that still doesn't give me a picture on WKRG. What I'm wondering is if I raise it even higher maybe I can get a strong enough signal. How high a reading do I need?
beachrez, you're getting a picture with as low as 50. Is that about the minimum strength needed?

Bob

Usually, I find that a station is "watchable" with a signal strength in the 45-50 region but below that, the breakups are so frequent that you will want to switch to a different station. My antenna is just above the roof line of a single story house built up on pilings-- the equivalent of a two story house. But, no tall obstructions in the way! I do lose WKRG under certan weather conditions.

There's a chance that I may be relocating to Pensecola Fort Wlaton Beach area and was wondering what networks are available and what type of antenna is needed. I currently use an indoor antenna here in Manhattan, NY on my SIR-T165.

Thanks
Joe

Daniel for the first time I saw W/B in W/S. [Reba] It look good too.

joev, if you move to FWB Rick can help you there. If you move to Pensacola
you will get

ABC digital no HD [Sinclair]
CBS HD
NBC HD
FOX 480p
PBS HD
W/B digital, some times W/S
UPN digital
and some religious chs: in HD
The PQ is very good on all of them.

Bobby,

Thats very cool that we finally got wb in w/s. Have you been able to pick up mobile's pbs yet?

joev, check this out.

http://100kwatts.tmi.net/tv/MOB.html

No Moble PBS but I get Pensacolas good. Do you know if they have same programing?

Whenever the test signal for mobile's pbs has been on their programming was different, but i bet they're just testing stored hd programs they have, so when they go live in september they might have the same schedule.

My antenna is pointed to the antenna farm on I-10. To get Mobile PBS I would have to turn it more west and I would louse a lot of chs: What I would like to know is how some people are getting ABC HD from Miss.
I tried it more than once and got nothing.

If I was understanding 100kwatts, I should be able to get ABC, PBS, Fox and CBS in at least DTV from FWB. Is it possible to pull in the Mobile, AL stations using a good antenna and pre-amp?

Thanks Again
Joe

All of the towers for Mobile/Pensacola are at the Wilcox exit area about half way between Mobile/Pensacola. So you should be able to get ABC, Fox, NBC,CBS, UPN & WB all in digital, but only NBC, PBS, & CBS are HD in Prime time.

joev,

Your "for sure" reception in Ft. Walton Beach will be NBC and PBS in HDTV. ABC from Pensacola is good, but is not HDTV.

If you're on the east side of this area such as Shalimar, Niceville, Destin, etc. ABC from Panama City will possibly be good and they are talking about going to HD in July. Of course Panama City's ABC station has been talking that for a year, so don't bet the farm.

FOX/WB are broadcastfrom the same antenna/transmitter and reports are mixed. I don't get them at all but one other FWB resident reports some reception of this station.

CBS is another non-starter for FWB. There are two stations, both about 60 miles from Ft. Walton in almost opposite directions. Can't get either with any real sucess. Both are currently low power, but have no plans in the near future to upgrade to full power.

UPN is a strong station, but I'm having problems with it and can't get anything on my Samsung SIR-T150. Station engineer doesn't believe that its a PSIP issue, which I sure it is, so nothing going to get fix on that.

Our cable company for this area is COX. The local people don't have any idea what HDTV is, let alone when we're going to get it.

Bob Hunzeker will advise you to get a BUD for all networks except FOX. We are in a "grade B" reception area, so CBS waivers for CBS-HD on Dish aren't granted (not that I have Dish or Directv, that's just the word straight from their customer service department).

So, if HD is very important to you, move somewhere else:)

WB55-DT gets it right! As promised, this evenings network HD broadcast (Everwood?) came through as 16:9 SD on 55-1 (9-2). This is the second time that I have seen them actually do this although they have said on a number of occasions that this is their intention. Let's hope they have solved the problems and this will be consistent. Maybe some day they will get their own broadcast frequency and be able to show it in 16:9 HD.

News for you lucky dawgs in Mobile and Pensacola: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=273720 FOX goes HD this fall! And if I remember correctly our local FOX station is already capable of transmitting HD.

YES!! thanks for the great news Rick !

I would think that for FOX (10-1, actually 9-1) to broadcast in HD, they would have to stop broadcasting WB55 (55-1, actually 9-2)! Would they boot WB55 off the air to offer an HD version of FOX? I doubt it!

Originally posted by beachrez
I would think that for FOX (10-1, actually 9-1) to broadcast in HD, they would have to stop broadcasting WB55 (55-1, actually 9-2)! Would they boot WB55 off the air to offer an HD version of FOX? I doubt it!

WKRG is broadcasting 5-1 HD and 5-2 SD local weather radar continuously. Don't see why FOX couldn't do the same.

J C

Rick

Thanks for the detailed info on FWB. My work possibility is in Pensacola, but FWB looked like a nicer place to live and surf (waves). Just trying to do all my research.

Joe

JC, I guess the question is can FOX handle the bit rate needed to do two channels. I'm wondering if WKRG uses a very low bit-rate for its second sub-channel because as a weather map, it's a relativity static image.

Sounds like somebody should email the engineer at WALA-FOX for some input.

Joev, where ever you go, hope it works out. I may be in a hole reception-wise for all I know, so I'm alway hoping for more reports in FWB. So far, it been me, Bob Hunzeker, and a lady named Linda, I think. FWB has alway been a fringe reception area, with most transmission towers 60-75 miles away.

Daniel, WB is in WS now. 8:00pm

And, WB stayed in WS until about 8:40 PM. The final 20 minutes of the program was not WS! They aren't quite consistent yet.

Did any one else lose sound on WPMI HD ?

I finally got my preamp installed and I will post the shocking results tomorrow .


WLOX HD13 gets 7 Bars on my samsung 151 :)

Super! The numbers suggest that you would be able to lock on WLOX, but the only way to know was to set up an antenna. Glad to hear it worked out for you.

So how does it feel to be the first in this group to get local ABC in HD?:) And Bob Hunzeker, having ABC-HC on your BUD don't count, it cheating (very effective cheating, I might add :))

By the way, on a programming note, PBS is suppose to have a new HD series called Soundstage on this week. Starts Thursday at 9:00. It's an hour long concert series, with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first two shows. Sounds more interesting than summer re-runs.

The only weird thing is that WLOX HD has a few little white sparkles on the screen . I am not sure what is causing this :(
Before preamp after Preamp

Wear 17SD 5 - 7
Wkrg HD 2 - 5
WALA 9 - 10
WPMI 4 - 9
WLOX 0 to 3 - 7
WJTC 5 - 7
WSRE 2 - 5
WB 55 9 - 10

Not bad for only haveing it up about 25 feet :)

wrkh99,

Where exactly are you in South Mobile county? I am in Mobile (Semmes actually) on North Snow Rd up by hwy 98. I will be setting up my antenna and mast in about a month and would love to share info with you. I also am going to be trying for WLOX too. I have extimated with a map program that their tower is 53
miles away from me (as a crow flies).

Is your WKRG Stable? What kind of mast are you using and where did you get it from? What antenna are you using?


Side note-

Subscribed to DirecTV's new HD package. I am now getting these channels from DirecTV in HD:

ESPN HD
HBO HD
SHOWTIME HD
Discovery Theater HD
HDNET
HDNET Movies
1 Pay per View HD
1 Special events HD channel (not used often)

Can't wait to add my local HD channels. : )

I'm useing a Radioshack 36 foot mast and radioshack vu 190 with a CM 7778 preamp .I also have the channel master rotator that comes in very handy.

Wkrg is very stable now and it is raining really hard now .


I can't wait for dish to come out with more HD channels and the 921 :)


Feel free to email me wrkh99@yahoo.com

bdhost,

What is the monthly subscription cost for that new DirecTV HD package?
And can it be subscribed without paying for further programming?

Bob

RobertWood-

The new package is 10.99 a month and that does not include HBO/Showtime HD. You have to subscribe to their respective packages to get them. I don't know this for a fact, but I have heard that yes, you can only subscribe to the HD package. I read in the High Definition forum here on AVS of someone doing that. He said the CSR up at DirecTV tried to give him a hard time but he make her ask her supervisor and yes it was allowed.

ESPN HD is a mirror for regular ESPN except when they are showing HD programming ever few days. They have trucks that they move from one venue to another to film HD material. For instance, the next HD broadcast is tomorrow afternoon (baseball game). Otherwise, they upconvert SD material to 1080i. ESPN is building a new studio in Bristol and will be ready in 2004 and that's when alot more of their stuff like Sportcenter will be in true HD instead of upconvert.

Let me know if you need any more info.

News for Panama City area: FCC has WPGX-FOX listed as operating STA on channel 9 now. Their power is 1.3 kW vs. 130 kW approved, and tower height is 95 meters vs. 264 m.

I don't expect to get them in Ft. Walton, so I can't verify.

I just got an email from Tim at WJTC. He says they think they have the UPN problem with the Pixelation on the Samsung receivers fixed.

Unfortunately my TV is in the shop being destroyed/fixed. If anyone has had problems with UPN in the past and is using a Samsung receiver, how about posting here and letting us know if the problem is fixed or not.

Thanks,
Steve

Got an email from Tim Reid at WJTC. I had problems with them on my Samsung T150. Lost all audio/video for the past month or more. The box tuned in and remap 45 to 44-1. finally. Some break-up occurs, but it may be signal related with the 65 mile distance and the current weather conditions.

Originally posted by rute
I just got an email from Tim at WJTC. He says they think they have the UPN problem with the Pixelation on the Samsung receivers fixed.



Got the same notification from Mr. Reid.
I have the TS-160 Samsung DirecTV STB and unfortunately the fix did not correct whatever the box needs to properly decode WJTC-DT, still pixelates badly.

J C

WEAR-DT

I've noticed that they (Channel 17) have been off the air almost every day this week, but on the air at night. Anyone know what is going on? I know that they plan to (or planned to) move the WEAR-TV antenna to the same tower as the DT antenna, but I thought they had already done that.

Of course, being a Sinclair station, they may be trying to save money on the power bill by going off the air as much as possible.

Response from Mr. Smith.

J. C.,

We're in the process of doing a "proof" on our digital transmitter, so
we'll be on & off for the next few days. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Joe

Originally posted by JC West
Got the same notification from Mr. Reid.
I have the TS-160 Samsung DirecTV STB and unfortunately the fix did not correct whatever the box needs to properly decode WJTC-DT, still pixelates badly.

J C

I got my TV back and tried it with my T151. The problem remains. Emailed him back and he said they are continueing to look into it.

Steve

Digital Channel 47 (NBC, 15-1) appears to be off the air (22-23 July 2003). Can anyone in the area confirm, or is this a problem at my end?

Originally posted by beachrez
Digital Channel 47 (NBC, 15-1) appears to be off the air (22-23 July 2003). Can anyone in the area confirm, or is this a problem at my end?

Yes they are off the air.

Steve

They must be off air, I can't get them. Last night 55.1 should have been
in 16:9 full screen [for two shows] but was not. I've e-mail Joe my last time about this.
He tells me ever time it will be on. ......not.........
I was in N.C. last week and there CBS makes ours look like analog. My wife
even told me how much better it looked up there. This 5.2 weather ch: is robbing band-width from 5.1. You could take the best picture you have ever seen on HDnet and that is what there CBS looks like.
Jerry, does E* CBS look like ours or is it better?

From Tim REid:

We took a very large lightning hit on both digital transmitters yesterday. We were able to get 45 back on
but 47 is going to need some major repair work. We are hoping to get one of the two 47 transmitters
back up tomorrow which would bring us up to half power. But it's parallel brother is probably not going
to be back in service for a while as it took the brunt of the lightning strike.


Tim Reid
Director of Engineering
WPMI-TV/DT NBC 15
WJTC-TV/DT UPN 44
661 Azalea Road
Mobile, Alabama 36609
TimReid@Clearchannel.com <mailto:TimReid@Clearchannel.com>

Well cbs 5-1 just went off the air for me, has this happened for anyone else?

Its 9:05pm and its on here.

Great News WLOX HD has lost those Sparkles they had in the picture and there signal is stronger than CH 5 :)

Originally posted by wrkh99
Great News WLOX HD has lost those Sparkles they had in the picture and there signal is stronger than CH 5 :)

Where exactly are you located? I'm in Theodore just off Rangeline Road and I tried WLOX several weeks ago but could not get them.

Thanks J C

Originally posted by trich
They must be off air, I can't get them. Last night 55.1 should have been
in 16:9 full screen [for two shows] but was not. I've e-mail Joe my last time about this.
He tells me ever time it will be on. ......not.........
I was in N.C. last week and there CBS makes ours look like analog. My wife
even told me how much better it looked up there. This 5.2 weather ch: is robbing band-width from 5.1. You could take the best picture you have ever seen on HDnet and that is what there CBS looks like.
Jerry, does E* CBS look like ours or is it better?

I wouldn't jump and blame the weather radar. CBS Raleigh has a NEWS channel on 5-2 (scrolling ticker and all, in 480i), and it still looks wonderful. Who owns WKRG? Media-General? (I wish they'd put a weather radar up here on 10) I'd blame it on crappy equipment. I mean, you have to realize that WRAL-DT does their NEWS on 5-1 in 1080i, plus all other non-network programming, and they have a commitment to doing the best they can with Hi-Def. A lot of companies are doing it because they have to and don't want to spend massive amounts of money on it.

And because FOX will be 720p, a 480i subchannel should be workable on WALA-DT, although it'd be nice if they would work out a deal with one of the infomercial stations in your area and use THEIR digital signal for 1080i and put the analog of that station on a 480i subchannel compressed way down.

- Trip

Well WKRG's reception came back for me, however its about 60% when i used to receive about 90%. I can look up at the sky for a potential explanation though. Was just surprised i lost it altogether yesterday.

I cant get 5.1 or 5.2. Its 11:05

11:08......now its back on. Low signal-strength.

Bobby, I do not watch reruns, even in HD. So, I have not watched WKRG or CBS NY, since the season ended. But in May, both had excellent pictures. You all do know that WKRG is not HD except for the CBS feed in primetime. Local and network news is uopgraded to HD and not very good. You have to remember that WRAL is a leader in HD. The probably have a lot better equipment than other CBS stations. But, WKRG primetime was an excellent picture in May. Has it got worse.

No Jerry it has not got worse. I always though it look good until I saw
CSI at my sons house. He has TW HD cable and the PQ of ever thing but CBS looked about like ours. Like I said before, it looked as good as the best of HDnet. He has something I would like to have. You can watch any movie on HBO when you want to. Thats neat....No cost....if you have HBO.

NBC from Mobile

I received this follow-up message from Tim Reid concerning the outage of Channel 47 (NBC) as a result of lightning.

"If there aren't too many objections, we are considering running NBC's primetime schedule on the
WJTC DT45 transmitter until we can get the WPMI DT47 transmitter back on the air. Do you think
your fellow watchers would mind?



Tim Reid
Director of Engineering
WPMI-TV/DT NBC 15
WJTC-TV/DT UPN 44
661 Azalea Road
Mobile, Alabama 36609
TimReid@Clearchannel.com <mailto:TimReid@Clearchannel.com> "

My response was that I would prefer to have NBC digital in Primetime rather than the UPN upconvert. I imagine that Mr. Reid would appreciate receiving emails from you with your opinion. He did mention that they do not have the equipment at this point to multicast both networks as is being done with Fox10 and WB55 as 9-1 and 9-2.

I just sent Tim a e-mail about NBC and here is his reply

Thanks, with the PSIP in place when you tune in 45 it will remap to 15-1.

Tim Reid
Director of Engineering
WPMI-TV/DT NBC 15
WJTC-TV/DT UPN 44
661 Azalea Road
Mobile, Alabama 36609
TimReid@Clearchannel.com

NBC back on 47

I just received this message from Mr. Reid:

"We were able to get one of the WPMI-DT transmitters back on the air making half of total power (500kw),
so all NBC prime will be back on DT47 tonight. Please spread the word..."

And, I can report that I am receiving the station with a reading of 100 here on Pensacola Beach.

On another matter, I noted recently that our wonderful local ABC station, which refuses to pass along network HD, now features some wide-screen TVs on their news set during the weather, sports, etc. How ironic!

Send an email to the sponsor and tell them what you think of WEAR.

I just sent this to ABC Program Relations. I know national can't do a lot with locals, but i had to start somewhere.

Hi,

I love watching abc shows and i applauded your network for going HD and especially bringing HD to alias and MNF. I was very excited to see these this year in HD.

I am in the mobile, Al area and get service from ABC WEAR in Pensacola, FL. They refuse to make the transition to HD. I currently receive CBS, NBC, Discover, HBO, Showtime, HDNet, HDNet Movies all in HD, Fox in Digital (soon HD) and UPN and the WB in digital widescreen (like fox is now.) However the local ABC will not even pass the widescreen digital of your HD shows. There are a growing number of HD viewers in my area and no matter how good a show is we can't justify watching it unless its in widescreen HD. Its just not worth it when i can watch other shows in HD.

I don't know if anything can be done, but I really just wanted ABC national to know that despite their best efforts to embrace HD, they could lose the race due to local affiliates dragging their feet.

Thank you for your time,

Daniel Henderson
HD viewer in Mobile.

Let us know, if you get an answer.

will do

I checked CBS HD NY against CBS WKRG Mobile last night. I watched a portion of a HD show and compared they quality of each. The CBS HD NY was a little bit clearer, but not by much. Two women were talking and I could see the zits and moles under there makeup much clearer on the CBS NY feed. WOW! Just what I always wanted to see. Really, both were great pictures. Maybe those that are not happy with the CBS WKRG picture should have there TV ISF'd tuned. MY 65" TV shows more detail than I want to see.

Maybe those that are not happy with the CBS WKRG picture should have there TV ISF'd tuned.
_____________________________________________

Jerry, it looks like your post was meant for me. I never said that I was not happy with the PQ of WKRG. You need to read my post again, and I stand by my statement. WRAL is much better, for what ever reason. And both of my HDTVs are just fine.

WRAL is much better because they have made sizable investments in HDTV--filming their LOCAL NEWS in HD--while other companies, such as Media General (WKRG), have not.

- Trip

"I was in N.C. last week and there CBS makes ours look like analog. My wife
even told me how much better it looked up there. This 5.2 weather ch: is robbing band-width from 5.1. "

Please do not take it personal. Here is your statement and all I said was that WKRG does not look analog to me. It is not quite the quality of CBS NY, but very close. And as the next poster pointed out WRAL has much better equipment that most other broadcasters. If it looks analog to you, I was suggesting that you may have a technical problem. Sorry for my wording.

Originally posted by jerryez
Maybe those that are not happy with the CBS WKRG picture should have there TV ISF'd tuned. MY 65" TV shows more detail than I want to see.

Is there anyone in the Pensacola Area that is ISF Certified? I looked on the ISF Foundation web site and there weren't any Certified dealers listed in the Pensacola area. Also, what should I expect to pay to get my 51" TV ISF Calibrated?

Thanks,
Steve

The nearest one that I know of is in Atlanta. He wants several hundred plus expenses. If you can get several people together, that would reduce expenses.

You really need to check some references of whoever you use. All ISF calibrations are not the same.

WMBB UPDATE

Just received the following reply from Lowell concerning their HDTV network pass-thru.

I just got off the telephone with Harris Corporation scheduling a final install of our ability to broadcast ABC's HDTV signal. They will be completing this the week of August 18th. This will not help you with the Hall of Fame game, but it will allow you to view anything that ABC will be offering in HD in the very near future.

Thanks for your concern and I look forward to hearing your comments regarding our HDTV signal after it is activated.


LOWELL G. BECKNER, JR., CE

Hey, Bob,

I started checking WMBB again three week ago to see if they would have HD in July. Thanks for the update. Lets see, "completing the week of August 18th", maybe by Dec. 1, you think? Well. at least its coming, abet slowly with lots of missed dates. At least you got CBS now.

Rick, I hope WMBB get it together soon so you can quit jonesing over ABC HD. It was great to see MNF back in HD tonight, well until they called the game anyway.

Bob H.

BUD is great..... BUD is great...... "my HD mantra"

Does anyone in the Mob/Pens area have the Toshiba 3000 HD receiver??
Need to compare notes on local reception.

Thanks J C

Well, I've sent two email to WEAR asking when they plan on passing the HD ABC feed on to their audience. I sent one to the DTV engineer and the other to the station manager. I'll let you all know what I hear.

Steve

Wow that was quick. Here is his response:

Stephen,

We will likely be unable to pass through ABC's HDTV programming anytime
this year. We are working on acquiring the necessary equipment to allow
HDTV broadcasting, but it's an expensive venture, and our company has
over 60 stations to convert...so it's VERY expensive. It could be as
late as fall 2004 before we have HDTV capability.

I'll put your e-mail address in our database, and we'll notify our DTV
viewers when we get close to making the conversion to HDTV.

By the way, what other DTV signals are you receiving, and which ones
broadcast HDTV programming?

Thanks for your interest in WEAR-DT17.

Joe Smith
Operations Manager


I replied with the list for this area.

Steve

Originally posted by wrkh99
Great News WLOX HD has lost those Sparkles they had in the picture and there signal is stronger than CH 5 :)

Does anyone else in Mobile get WLOX-HD and if so what type of antenna system do you use?

Thanks J C

Was anyone watching channel 10 last night around 8pm ? What in the world were they doing ?

Wasn't watching 10, what were they doing?

Since Steve was nice enough to get an update on WEAR, I email WKRG-CBS Mobile and WTVY-CBS Dothan to get an update of two other low-power stations is see when Ft. Walton may finally get a CBS HDTV signal

The question was "when will your station increase to full power"

from WKRG's Jim Richardson:
We hope it will be mid 2005. Not sure yet. Corporate may go sooner.

from WTVY's Wade Thomastom:
It will be several years before we are full power. There are several
studies being done to see if digital will work on channel 4. If the studies are positive, we will go digital on channel 4 instead of 36. This would save us a lot of money if we could use channel 4. Also, the FCC is considering raising the minimum signal levels for digital and if this happens, we will be forced to increase the signal level. If the set manufacturers would stop selling analog sets, the transition to digital would proceed at a much faster pace.

Wade's comment about FCC setting a minimum level is interesting, I haven't heard that before. And we all know he's right with that manufacturers comment. Anyway, Bob Hunzeker can rub my nose in it again, if you want ABC, CBS in Ft. Walton ....BUD is right ......BUD is right ,,,,,.BUD is right....

Originally posted by RickRS



Wade's comment about FCC setting a minimum level is interesting, I haven't heard that before. And we all know he's right with that manufacturers comment. Anyway, Bob Hunzeker can rub my nose in it again, if you want ABC, CBS in Ft. Walton ....BUD is right ......BUD is right ,,,,,.BUD is right....

Here (http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=108) is a link to information on the House Bill that would require the power levels be raised.

I saw this the other day. If folks aren't aware, a good place to keep up on what's going on in the DTV/HDTV world is right here. (http://pub1.ezboard.com/bdigitaltelevisionhdtvforum)
Then click on "HDTV-Digital Television News Forum"

Steve

Ch 10 Was useing there Digital channel to grab news feeds .

The screen said roll recorder now .

I emailed Joe Addalia about their transition to 720p and this is what he said, albeit brief.

"We have no timetable from FOX yet but we are expecting it to be fall 2004. When FOX starts providing 720P we will pass it through as 720P.



Joe

Originally posted by wrkh99
Ch 10 Was useing there Digital channel to grab news feeds .

The screen said roll recorder now .

And it was a crystal clear Digital picture too.............. HA

J C

Re: "WEAR-HD"

I am startled by the recent email (posted by Rute) from WEAR saying that they might have HD pass through by Fall 2004. But, I am more startled by the question posed by Joe Smith, Operations Manager for WEAR-DT:

"By the way, what other DTV signals are you receiving, and which ones
broadcast HDTV programming?"

Does anyone else find it hard to believe that WEAR-DT does NOT know what the competition is doing?

Hello again guys! Oh yeah, I believe they don't know what their competition is doing.....or what their own signal is even looking like out here, etc etc....

Ask them if they watch their own signal at the house....I bet they don't even have a HDTV there. They are probably relying on your feedback to tell them what is going on. Not trying to slam them but the station should provide them with the resources to monitor their own signal as well as their competitors.

I got a good dose of this in the "early days" up in DC, way back in '99 when I was contracting to assist building and installing the Maryland Public Broadcasting HDTV facility. The engineers didn't have a clue what this "new fangled stuff" was or what their compitition was doing. I was making calls to the other stations myself to find out what they were up to and passing it on to the engineers.

Sorry to have dropped off the face of the planet but installs on the coast of Mississippi have kept me from playing much on this side of the gulf since February! I keep checking in on your posts though and applaud everyones involvement.

Gotta hand the engineers one thing though. They are answering your questions and taking you seriously. That count's for alot!

Personally I'm in HDTV hell. I went from 5 OTA HD stations when I left DC in 2001 and have yet to get one of them back in Santa Rosa .........(heavy sigh)

Michaelrosato, I thought you were getting WTVY's HD from Dothan. Am I mistaken?

Originally posted by beachrez
Re: "WEAR-HD"
I am more startled by the question posed by Joe Smith, Operations Manager for WEAR-DT:

"By the way, what other DTV signals are you receiving, and which ones
broadcast HDTV programming?"

Does anyone else find it hard to believe that WEAR-DT does NOT know what the competition is doing?

Doesn't surprise me in the least. The low and mid level minions at Channel 3 get the mushroom treatment like the rest of us re: HDTV. You would THINK that a simple look at Broadcasting yearbook or 10000W.com would tell Joe Smith everything he needed to know. But Joe probably doesn't get a budget line item for that from Sinclair corporate. Sinclair still has their head in the sand and hopes this will all go away if the appropriate palms are greased. My beef isn't with the local folks, they're doing what they can with what they get. But I still remember the talking paper on digital television spouting the corporate line, posted on the employee bulletin board for all to see. My thought is serve the community with the best, quit playing "poor mouth" or get out of broadcasting and start selling used cars. Their CEO seems to think that's a good strategy.

RickRS

I've been out of town for a while so I didn't know that they had gone HD. Last I checked (= weeks/months ago) they were digital but not HD.

Tell me the are broadcasting HD now and I'll crank it up when I get to town later tonight!

"Tell me the are broadcasting HD now and I'll crank it up when I get to town later tonight!"

Nope! Just plain old upconverted NTSC. Remember, if it looks like s***, and sounds like s***, you can reasonably assume it's upconverted NTSC.

Joe Smith, or anyone else at WEAR, could log on to this forum at no cost and find out what is going on if they were really interested. I do understand that the decisions are not being made locally. And, actually, I am pleased to hear that "pass through" may be in the (relative) near future-- Fall 2004. That is the most promising thing I have heard from them yet.

Richard, I take it that you have got your antenna set up to cover points east and are receiving WTVY? I have had no success with them except two very brief signal locks (less than 5 minutes) since they got on the air. I can only repeat what Wade Thomaston told me some time ago, that they would have HD pass thru from CBS as soon as they got on the air.

So Michaelrosato, if it is just upconverted NTSC, write Wade Thomaston at wade@wtvynews4.com for an explanation.

Beachrez, Fall 2004 will like stretch into Spring 2005, which will stretch into ... When they talk about things 14 months away, its a little hard to get excited. But at least there is a possible date.

Rick,
No joy on WTVY-DT. I imagine it's due to their not operating at full authorized power. I'm on the fringe of just about every digital station's Grade B service area. Since summer set in, I'm going to move the mast and change it to a 40 footer since the trees have all filled in.

At least my wife works for a DirecTV subsidiary and I can get a really good break on HD Net.

Richard, your's and my problem with CBS is most definitely low power transmissions. Hope the antenna changes are worth it. If not, you got to wait for some time before they're going to ramp up to full power.

Michaelrosato, looking back I see that Bob Hondo in Santa Rosa Beach reported HD from WTVY when they when on the air in April. Could you be confusing WTVY with WMBB-ABC from Panama City? WTVY-DT is on channel 36 and suppose to be HD. WMBB is channel 19 and still 4x3. Or maybe Hondo mistook a widescreen up-convert for HD?

WTVY - WMBB

I have been receiving both of these stations since they went on the air with DTV. WMBB is 4X3, supposed to pass HDTV week of August 18th. I received WTVY in High DEfinition when they pass thru CBS programming. Got them the day they fired it up and have received them with a signal level of 89 most of the time on my Sony HD200.

I am waiting on ABC High Def and supposedly WJHG will turn on the NBC offerings in September.

WTVY is rock solid here in Santa Rosa Beach.

Thanks, Hondo, for the update and the heads up on WMBB showing HD next week.

I'm trying to remember when I checked into WTVY last, but I know it was when they first fired up. Maybe it was the Masters or something that I checked in on. At any rate, it was definitely upconverted at that time but I'm glad to hear they have gone HD. I was in this past weekend but didn't have time to reinstall the antennae (short but boring story) and check in on it.

Maybe by the end of this week I'll be back in town.

I emailed Tim Reid at WPMI about American Dreams not being in HD for the last two weeks (anybody else notice?). While I was asking questions I asked what was the plans for NBC HD this fall season. His reply;

Below is the fall schedule for NBC.


DAY & PROGRAM HD NEW/RETURNING LETTERBOX

MONDAY
8 FEAR FACTOR NO R NO
9 LAS VEGAS YES N NO
10 THIRD WATCH YES R NO

TUESDAY
8 WHOOPI YES N NO
8:30HAPPY FAMILY YES N NO
9 FRASIER YES R NO
9:30GMM NO R NO
10 L/O SVU YES R NO

WEDNESDAY
8 ED YES R NO
9 THE WEST WING YES R YES
10 LAW & ORDER YES R NO

THURSDAY
8 FRIENDS NO R NO
8:30 SCRUBS NO R NO
9 WILL & GRACE NO R NO
9:30COUPLING. YES N NO
10 ER YES R YES

FRIDAY
8 MISS MATCH YES N NO
9 DATELINE NBC NO R NO
10 BOOMTOWN YES R YES

SATURDAY
8 NBC SAT.MOVIE Contractual only
SUNDAY
7 DATELINE NBC NO R NO
8 AMERICAN DREAMS YES R NO
9 LAW & ORDER: CI YES R NO
10 LYONS DEN YES N NO

MID SEASON
Tracy Morgan Show YES N NO
Crossing Jordan YES R YES
Stuck in the Middle- YES N NO

Regards,

Tim Reid

Originally posted by wrkh99
Great News WLOX HD has lost those Sparkles they had in the picture and there signal is stronger than CH 5 :)

Couldn't stand it any longer. My current antenna doesn't have a clear line of sight to Biloxi but I do have one small spot between the trees about 80 feet from the house so I added the CM4228 deep fringe UHF antenna and I'm getting 63-69% signal without a pre-amp.

Needless to say now I don't have to wait a year for WEAR HD.

J C

Way to go JC :)

Is your signal stronger on Ch 13 or Ch 5 ?

APT HD

Getting a very strong signal for 53-1 (digital 41-1) here on Pensacola Beach! That's Alabama Public TV-- so we now have an alternate to WSRE it seems.

JC, glad you got a good signal and welcome to the small band of Gulf Coast ABC HD viewers. You will not be disappointed.

Bob H.

Originally posted by wrkh99

Is your signal stronger on Ch 13 or Ch 5 ?

Channel 5 is stronger but I don't have a pre-amp on 13 yet but I probably will get one. On a couple of occasions throughout the day for no apparent reason like rain fade the Ch 13 signal will drop from 63-69 to 20-30. Most of the time this 20-30% signal will maintain a lock but it will ocassionally drop out.

J C

NBC on Sunday Night (8/17)

I'm getting audio but no video on WPMI-DT (15-1) around 8:30 PM. Anyone else?

Same here.

Mediacom Cable

I received a mailing from Mediacom which serves parts of Santa Rosa County and Pensacola Beach, FL. They announced, without details, that on or about October 13, 2003 they will be offering VOD and HDTV on their cable systems. Again, no details are offered.

Just got my amplified Channel Master 4248 And Watchin Monday Nite Football in High Def on WMBB. This is GREAT !!! Signal on my Toshiba 3000 is 96...WOW !!

Yeah, skeeterss140 got it first. WMBB-ABC in Panama City when to HD last night!

Caught just a little, myself. I'm on the hairy edge of WMBB's coverage and can't get a semi-relieable signal until the winter months. No problem with my Toshiba 57H82/Samsung T150 combo with converting 760p to a 1080i display for the few seconds I got to view MNF.

skeeter, what area in Crestview are you at? Can you get WKRG-CBS from Mobile or WTVY-CBS from Dothan with your antenna?

Well i'm getting my samsung dlp upgraded today, shall be interesting. If anyone in the area has a colorfacts and some experience would be happy to treat you to drinks, food, whatever if you'd want to come tinker on my tv a bit :)

Or, if anyone else is looking for a DSF i'd be happy to throw in on bringing someone down here. We'd probably have to pay for some travel expenses but mgiht get a break on the guy doing a number of tv's.

(also, i'm very jealous you guys are getting abc HD, not fair :) )

RickRS,
I live south of I10 behind Anitoch Elementry....Kinda up on a hill...I get 100 signal on the KTVY and WKRG-CBS also getting real strong WSRE from P-cola.
I`m really looking forward to football season now !!......Only thing left is my ISF calibration on my Toshiba 65H81 this friday. Chuck Williams is flying in to do calibration's on several sets here on the panhandle....1030 Friday "woohoo"......:D

Cool, is there anyway i can get in touch with him about possibly calibrating my set after you guys? I'm sure he has the right equipment for a dlp...

I can't wait for football season either, bama and the raiders in HD, nice :)

Here is Chuck Williams e-mail add:
cmwtek@aol.com

Cinder,
You can Contact Chuck at Cmwtek@aol.com or phone 202-328-1380, press 1 for his mailbox .

Gee, skeeter, sounds like you got a sweet spot of HD reception in the Panhandle. You're getting every network available in HD here. If you had a VHF antenna you could possible get WALA-FOX on channel 9, too, if your not getting it already.

WSRE-PBS and WPMI-NBC are no surprise, they have a lot of power behind them. WPMI is at 1 megawatt, WSRE is about 280 kilowatts.

WKRG-CBS is low power at 55 kilowatts, WTVY-CBS is ~40 kilowatts, and WMBB is 38 kilowatts. All three are approved for 1 megawatts operation, so if they would transmit full power things would improve a lot. They are hard to pull in at FWB with WMBB being the most reliable, followed by WKRG, and then WTVY, which I almost never get. You have a fellow "Crestburg-ian" who reports little sucess with these weaker channels so it great to hear some positive reports in our general area.

If you haven't tried, you may want to get a VHF antenna to get the WALA-FOX/WB multicast on channel 9. Not in HD but it is 16:9 widescreen.

Originally posted by skeeterss140
Just got my amplified Channel Master 4248 And Watchin Monday Nite Football in High Def on WMBB. This is GREAT !!! Signal on my Toshiba 3000 is 96...WOW !!

Hi Skeeter!

Richard here. I'm up on the hill north of Bob Sikes Airport at Auburn Road. Your post has given me the reason to get back up on the roof and put a rotator on the mast. Right now I have a weather vane problem with the antenna, and I can't trace it down to the antenna or the mast.

Lots of work to do.

Welcome. I'm glad to see we have another source for ABC. I hope I can get it!

Thank you,

Daniel

Yeah, pretty fortunate, I have a clear line of site over the horizon....I`m using a channel master amp 7778, without it I get mid 60`s to mid 70`s and with it I get Mid 90`s to 100 on the signal power reading. Haven't really even tweaked it yet.
Just Keep the Football coming in High Def...!!!

Used to have DirectV HDNET and HD HBO but I'm lovin this !!

My wife works for the DirecTV call center "somewhere in the Florida panhandle", so we get the basic programming and receivers free. I've been holding out on buying a hi-def box for DTV, if I can get everything from Panama City and Dothan (actually near Chipley, Florida), I'm set!

I tried Skeeter's trick and viola! CBS, ABC, and PBS now come in from the east! I can now watch Monday Night Football!
Now I just have to get another mast to put up to get Fox etc. from the west and I'm set. And the wife doesn't know it yet, but I've saved two commercial grade 12 foot satellite dishes from the scrap heap. They'll make great additions to my dish farm. After all, the big dish isn't dead, you just have to know where to look for the signals and how to legally receive them.

Are you folks in P'cola gettin WPMI digital now? For the last two days I haven't been able to even get my DTC100 to find it in a channel search.
That's though every other channel I usually get is fine and I have strong signals.

Bob

I can't even get WPMI here in South Mobile . I don't think they are on the air :(

Same here, no WPMI. I'm guessing there something they are working on right now.

No WPMI here either, also i switched to WB last night and there was no sound, but they did have smallville in widescreen :)

I just got this email from WPMI when I asked if they were off the air

Yes it is. We had one of our transmitters blow up a few weeks back and
while we were working on that one
the other one stopped working. We are working diligently as we can get
parts in to get one of the two of them
back on the air and ultimately both of them. Thanks for your inquiry.

Tim Reid
Director of Engineering
WPMI-TV/DT NBC 15
WJTC-TV/DT UPN 44
661 Azalea Road
Mobile, Alabama 36609
251-602-1500
251-602-1547 Fax
TimReid@Clearchannel.com <mailto:TimReid@Clearchannel.com>

Are any of the preseason football games in HD ?

Like the Saints at 49ers ?


Can you believe that I have yet to watch a football game in HD ?

Have you ever seen a non digital channel off the air. Isn't it kind of funny how some of the stations are having trouble keeping their expensive digital channels that no one is watching on the air. I wonder how much money they save when they are off the air.

Originally posted by jerryez
Have you ever seen a non digital channel off the air. Isn't it kind of funny how some of the stations are having trouble keeping their expensive digital channels that no one is watching on the air. I wonder how much money they save when they are off the air.

Yes, actually. WPXR and W60BM (a translator, but still) are off a lot, actually, and WBRA was off for 3 days last year when their transmitter blew.

A lot. It costs a bit of money running a UHF transmitter... it's why many stations are only on the air from 12:30p-12:30a, because it's the law.

- Trip

Anyone getting MNF WMBB in High Def? Not gettin it here in Crestview yet !! Colts/Denver game ...Bummer

WMBB HD signal just came up 40 minutes into game. Bad Storms in the area might be causing the degrade..not sure..

I added the CM7777 pre-amp to my 4228 UHF antenna and I now have a solid 93% signal on WLOX-DT.

Without the pre-amp the signal would drift from 0-20% to 30-63% and drop out completely too frequently to watch a program. Am very satyisfied witrh my new setup.

Did have to set it up on an A/B switch though because the pre-amp would wipe out the digital signal completely from the other antenna using a combiner.

J C

In preparation for installing an OTA setup at my home in Walton County, I contacted WJHG to inquire as to their DT progress (antennaweb.org listed their "live" date as Sep 1, 2003). The response was that they are experiencing trouble with the tower (i.e., it is taking longer than expected) and expect to be live Q1 2004.

I'll be trying an antenna setup in the Seagrove Beach area this weekend. I'll post back my experience in trying to get Dothan and Panama City digital reception. If there is anyone in that area with advice (e.g., antenna recommendations, etc.), please post ASAP.

WPMI-DT (15-1)

NBC (Digital 47-1) is back on the air this evening.

Originally posted by JasonATL
I'll be trying an antenna setup in the Seagrove Beach area this weekend. I'll post back my experience in trying to get Dothan and Panama City digital reception.

Just FYI and so there is a record for anyone searching for reception of Panama City and Dothan stations from anywhere between Panama City and Destin, Florida (including Panama City Beach, Rosemary Beach, Seagrove Beach, Seaside, South Walton, and Walton County Beaches -- any of these names would have helped me in my search):

I used a modest-sized 20" UHF Yagi (from Radio Shack) this past weekend in zip code 32413 (Seagrove Beach) to get solid reception of Panama City and Dothan digital stations: WMBB-DT (13), WFSG-DT (38), and WTVY-DT (36). Obviously, I had to aim different directions for the Dothan vs. Panama City stations, but both directions were quite easy to receve from a 10' mast set at ground level (with the nearest structure in the line-of-sight being at least 50 yards away). As expected, reception was significantly better as we raised the antenna above the roofline, but better here simply means a stronger signal meter showing (picture was rock solid at the lower signal level with zero dropouts).

I attempted reception of WPMI-DT (Pensecola), but at 70-100 miles away, I didn't expect much and could get no lock (no picture), but did get some indication of a signal on my Zenith HD-PVR230 receiver (the strongest and most robust receiver I have used) -- the signal nearly reached "normal" on several ocassions. It was very hot and I tired quickly of trying playing around with it up on the roof.

This was a test for an eventual permanent install. Next test will be later this fall. I plan on trying to add a pre-amp and a better and higher Yagi (perhaps a Channel Master 4248) to get Pensecola, unless I get delayed and WJHG-DT is nearly live at the time I try next. I would also like to try the Channel Master bow tie-style antenna with less directionality to see if I can hit Panama City and Dothan with one antenna. WFSG is so strong that I was getting it off the back of the antenna (when aimed a bit west of Dothan), but could not get WMBB at that aim.

I hope that any others in this area will post their experience in the meantime.

I don't know if skeeterss140, who lives on the south end of Crestview, is having my success. I've got the garden variety Rat Shack VHF/UHF fringe antenna and was trying to pull in Mobile without consistent success.

I decided to turn the antenna around, I now get PBS and ABC from Panama City, and CBS from Dothan (Miller's Crossroads, FL) rock solid on my Zenith digital tuner. No rotator required.

I may get another Yagi and point it at the PC area and reorient this antenna back to the west when Fox gets serious about high def. At least now I'm no longer at the whims of Sinclair corporate! (Isn't it funny that the name of the company that that wants to stay in the broadcasting stone age shares a name with an oil company whose corporate symbol was a dinosaur?)

The NFL opening night game was awesome in HD.
I am totally satisfied with the money I spent to be able to receive WLOX-DT.

J C

I got lucky and WMBB-ABC in Panama City was watchable last night at my place. Not a big football fan anymore, but I agree, it was awesome HD. Too bad the Pensacola guys won't get ABC-HD for couple of years.

Looking forward to adding ABC-HD to the NBC-HD I can get here in Ft. Walton this fall.

argh no bama hd, and wear sucks. what can a football fan do :)

Watch WLOX :)

WKRG-DT

I've been away for awhile and just noticed that our CBS station is now broadcasting in DD5.1. Now, if they could just fix the WKRG-SD sub-channel. I'm still getting the weather map compressed at the top of the screen with a bunch of garbage filling the rest of the screen. Anyone else?

Sunday, 09/07/2003

No audio on WALA-DT, and WKRG-DT is not sending out the HD version of the US Open Tennis Men's Finals. No one is on duty in the engineering department at WKRG. (I was informed that this is the weekend when I called WKRG!) And none of the 3 NFL games in our area were in HDTV or even Fox WS. It's hard to be a proponent of HD in this area!

That is what happens when you live in a sports dead zone.

My WKRG, sub 2 is bad also. They need to fix it for all or quit wasting the bandwidth.

Yeh i sure am glad i have sunday ticket. Would have been pissed to have no audio on fox.

Thankfully i got to watch all the games i wanted :) though the choice of cowboys/falcons as the fox wide game is weird.

there is always monday night football :)

Which CBS game was in HD.

chargers/chiefs, being a raider fan i hate both teams, but gotta admit it was the right choice for the hd game.

i want my hd mnf :) oh well, watching me raiders tonight in hd , i hope :)

Did anyone notice that Cox now offers HD.

Here's the lowdown:

$9.95/Month for HD receiver ($499 to purchase)
$49.95 Installation

HBO HD and Showtime HD included with respective digital packages.

ESPN HD $4.95/Month
Discovery HD $4.95/Month

PBS HD Free

ABC/NBC/FOX/CBS Not available

I had to laugh at this, especially since I know they've been working on getting all of this setup since before February.

One question I had was that I heard you have to subscribe to Cox digital to get HD, but nowhere on the site can I find this.

Steve

The digital package is required to get HD. Also, the locals are not carried because they all wanted Cox to carry their full bandwidth, which would include the sub channels. I hear that Cox refused.

Dish will offer HDnet, HDnet movies, ESPNHD and Discovery HD for $9.95 per month starting on Sept 16th. D already offers a HD package for $10.95 per month. Why would anyone sign up with Cox. Their digital packages contain half the channels of the Dish or D packages. :D

Got a report from a fellow FWB resident that Cox is rolling out HD on cable here. Yes, digital cable is required. He said there is a small charge, like 3.95, to get the digital to his analog cable package in order to add HD if you don't have digital cable already. Only local channel is WSRE-PBS which is include in the deal. Pricing and channels appears to be same as Steve reports in Penacola.


I'm inviting him to join in here with his first hand information.

Originally posted by Cinder

i want my hd mnf :) oh well, watching me raiders tonight in hd , i hope :)

If you have a clear line of sight to the West you probably could get ABC on WLOX-DT with a CM 4228 and a CM 7775 or 7777 pre-amp. I have an itty bitty crack between the trees and I get it @ 100% signal. Your line of sight to where I live is about the Dog River bridge.

Since I got WLOX I even watch George Lopez and MNF is super.........

J C

i have a 4228 and a 7777 preamp , i pull in everything extremely well except wlox, but i have to aim east in order to pull them in. i'd need a rotor (not possible in its current attic installation) or more likely a second uhf antenna pointing west, i'll have to ponder that as i'm sure that would create havok with my current installation.

i may have to do some study, alias and mnf would be sweet in hd.

not possible in its current attic installation


There is your problem ! Put it outside and up at least 20 feet and you will have no problems geting WLOX HD and MNF :)

I'm sure that would fix everything, except WAF would take a nosedive :)

The 7777 pre-amp killed the signal on all digital coming from my standard antenna, 3, 5 10 etc using a combiner so I installed a RS remote A/B swithh and ta da............... Smooth sailing.

J C

interesting idea if i decide to go that route. Currently i am combining a vhf stealthtenna outside (wife friendly) with the cm 4228 inside via teh cm 7777 preamp. I could have them set as one antenna, then the 3rd antenna, maybe just a simple uhf antenna always off except when i want to watch abc hd, may play around with this... i just don't want to touch my attic 4228, was a bitch to get it setup right and pull in everything strong.

Originally posted by jerryez
Also, the locals are not carried because they all wanted Cox to carry their full bandwidth, which would include the sub channels. I hear that Cox refused.

Why would they carry WSRE then? Its the only one of two stations that really is using their subchannels, with WALA-FOX and its WB subchannel being the other. Cox is carrying all three WSRE sub-channels. WMPI doesn't do subchannels, and WKRG weather subchannel is not that important, really. Something else is going on, IMHO.

One of the stations tech people told me that a few months back. If there is no problem and the stations offer HD, then why are they not carried by Cox.

How do you know that they have the WSRE sub channels?

Originally posted by jerryez
If there is no problem and the stations offer HD, then why are they not carried by Cox.



Just a guess but a couple of reasons come to mind.

1. The stations have exclusive HD contracts with the satellite providers.

2. The stations want too much money for the HD feed.

3. The stations don't currently have the equipment to provide the HD feed to Cox. (I'm not sure if this would be any different than how we pick it up via antenna but I assume so.)

Steve

Well Daniel I have tried for three days to get WLOX and no go. Up as hi as 30', three different antennas and two amps. I give up. Too many trees. Five feet above sea-level don't help either.

Bobby,

wow that must have been a lot of work and still no success. I may try something with a 3rd antenna but may hold up.

Anyone have any idea when digital 44 and digital 55 will start transmitting program info?

Originally posted by jerryez
How do you know that they have the WSRE sub channels?

Here is the Cox "currently available" HD list: http://www.cox.com/gulfcoast/digitalTV/hdtv/HD_Channels.asp

I don't know why Cox wouldn't have NBC and CBS from either Mobile or Dothan on their list. All three currently have an antenna pointed rignt at them on Cox's tower here in FWB. It maybe possible that Cox uses single channel yagi's, antennas turned to a single channel to have maximum gain, and they don't have anything for the "new" DTV channels broadcasting HD (we all know those "new" DTV stations have been on the air for some time now, but that's beside the point to Cox, right?) Just guessing.

Cox is in negotiations with all the local OTA's. WSRE is the only one at this time to agree to be carried on Cox.

Is it just me or did anyone else hear any audio distortion last light during Law & Order?

J C

Audio Distortion

NBC or WPMI-DT seems to have had both audio and video problems for the past two nights. I did notice the distortion during several NBC programs last night.

beachrez, it looks like a lot of people have had trouble with NBC.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=305522

Originally posted by mtchd
Cox is in negotiations with all the local OTA's. WSRE is the only one at this time to agree to be carried on Cox.

Cox is unable to get Sinclair (WEAR-3 ABC) permission to import a second out of market signal to any of it systems except Niceville.The Niceville cable system is the only system that does have WMBB-13 ABC Panama City as an alternative to the upconverted stuff. I think the reason that happended is the previous owners made it a condition of the sale.

I don't get WMBB on cable, either, but with a fringe antenna and an amplifier, Monday Night Football and the Tonight show are killer. And with all of the high resolution signals I get with my big dish, it makes the experience just like the theatre, without the sticky floors!

Originally posted by beachrez
Audio Distortion

NBC or WPMI-DT seems to have had both audio and video problems for the past two nights. I did notice the distortion during several NBC programs last night.

Thanks

The modem has failed on my TS-160 and I was tuning up the replacement box from Samsung last night and thought the noise was in the referb unit glad to hear it's not just me.

J C

I'm near downtown Pensacola and I have pretty heavy tree cover in the yard. Ever since WKRG digital took to the air I've been struggling to receive it. I had the big Radio Shack antenna about 18' above the ground and couldn't get 27 to save my life. I bought a preamp and put it in the line and still no go.
Recently someone gave me one of those little amplified Winegard antennas. I replaced the mast with 30 feet of interlocking chain link fence post. Once I got it aimed I'm getting an 82 signal strength. Eureka!
So if you're in Pensacola and you have tree cover and you're having trouble getting WKRG then try adding some height to your antenna. Might do the trick.

p.s boy either this antenna is super directional or aiming is crucial. If I rotate it just 3 or 4 degrees the signal drops to 28-30.

Bob

Alabama Game:
On WKRG-DT I am not receiving any audio from the announcers, only getting crowd noise and background noise. When I switch to analog they're talking away.

Is anyone else having this problem or is it just me??
I'm just a few days into breaking in a warranty replacement Samsung STB and need to know if it's defective..

Thanks J C

Sunday A.M.:
After the weather delay ended and they did the restart when the HDTV banner scrolled across the bottom of the screen the sound popped on and didn't bobble throughout the game. Don't guess they flipped the switch for the pre-game stuff.

This is the 3rd week that this had happened. It is not just us, it's all over the country. Something to do with 5.1.

Why complain? Do you think the folks filling the seats at the stadium can hear the announcers? For me, hearing the event sans narration is almost a blessing!

Didn't anybody have a problem with NBC last night? All I got was a dark screen (its gray when no signal is available on my Samsung) and some distorted audio. PBS was also off the air, at least for me. UPN was fine, WEAR-ABC was fine, and WMBB-ABC was spotty on reception, but it was there. There was no complains about NBC on the national level, so it seems to be a local problem. Maybe local to my STB?

Yes Rick, I have been having trouble for a while with NBC. You never know if will be in HD or not. Last night no picture.........Tim needs some help......

Same here..........

Black screen with Donald Duck audio.
I e-mailed Tim This morning and got a reply right back saying he'll be out of the office til Oct. 6th.

J C