Are you turning your antenna to get it?

Is it normal for the OTA receivers to take a while to lock on to signals? Some channels like ABC and NBC it locks on to immediately. Others like CBS take a few seconds to get a lock. And still others like FOX and UPN can take minutes before they lock on. Once the signal is locked, the strength meter shows a strong signal. I also don't lose the signal or get any breakup once it's locked on. Is this my receiver or is it normal? BTW, I have a Samsung SIRT151.

Steve

My hd tivo takes awhile to lock onto cbs and fox/wb the first time i move the antenna or do anything with the preamp. Nearly 5 minutes for cbs. But now that it has the signal it locks instantly when i change channels.

Man say some prayers if any of you guys are religious, if you're not no offense meant. I hired a young kid this past week to work with me that was very sharp and knew a lot about electronics. He complained about heartburn on friday when we had lunch. I just got a message from his dad and he passed away last night. They don't know why yet. I've only known him for 2 weeks but instantly had a great rapport with him and could tell he was a great kid. I was going to introduce him to you guys on this thread in the next week and was going to build a computer for him to stay in touch on avs forum. Doesn't seem real.

Daniel

No change in antenna for this reception of WLOX-DT for the past several days. Just the same general direction of all the Molbile-Pensacola towers from Pensacola Beach (about 302 degrees, I think). And, it's not a particularly tall antenna. I've been getting this station at least as well, if not better than WKRG.

Kind of OT but have any of you had your Tv's calibrated by an ISF Person ? Who is the best at doing this in this market or would it be better to catch Greg Lowen end of may when he comes to the gulfcoast ?

Cinder, sorry to hear of your loss

Cinder,

I'm sorry for your loss, this type of news makes so many things seem trivial.

Last summer I worked with a new associate, within 2 weeks he was diagnosed with cancer and passed away 2 months later, that was "unreal", seemed impossible that this vibrant person could slip away so quickly.

Hello. I am new to the Destin area (located between Destin and Sandestin right of Hwy 98) and wanted to know what channels I can get with an OTA antenna. I am considering ordering Voom, since I have an Infocus 5700 on the way and would like to delve into HDTV for the first time. I am very new at all of this. The local channels don't have to be in HDTV necessarily, but, of course, the more the better. However, I MUST be able to receive the WB with an antenna, as that is my wife's favorite network. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Dave

I'll throw out my experience with voom. My brother got it and it has been a great disappointment. The signal strength varies, teh equipment is 2 years old and the 10 movie channels are not very high quality hd. That said there is no contract so you don't lose anything by giving them a try.

For my money i'd go with directv and get the new hd tivo. My hd tivo is liking have tons of extra hd movie channels since i can record all the good movies that come on at very odd times.

just my 2 cents. some people on this board in your area can help you more with reception issues.

Dave,

The Pensacola/Mobile antenna farm maybe a little too far for your location in Destin and Fox-15/WB are the ones farther from you. That said, you are closer to Panama City, so you've got signal from there.

I expect you will get Dothan's CBS-HDTV (ch. 4 std, ch. 36 DTV) just fine (the antenna is just north of Bonifay, FL). Also Panama's ABC-HDTV should be strong (ch. 13 std, ch. 19 DTV). Panama City also have NBC and FOX but I don't think they are HD or even DTV yet. I know that Panama's NBC station (ch. 7) reaches Ft. Walton but is weak. You have a PBS station's tower just east of Choctawhatchee Bay, so that good, but they don't seem to broadcast PBS-HD as they are more into multicasting. And on top of that, they zoom 4:3 to fill the 16:9 screen.

Not sure if there's a WB station in Panama as none reach into Ft. Walton, so check titantv.com or hope one of the guys from the Santa Rosa Beach area log in soon and post with more info.

And when you're thinking of an antenna, do KNOW that Dothan's HDTV on channel 36 will be switched to channel 4 when the day comes to switch off their analog transmitter. This is their plan all along. Anyone that advises you to get only a UHF antenna for HDTV is wrong, wrong. You need either a combo VHF/UHF or two seperate antennas to cover both.


Daniel, sorry to hear about your friend. Its a sad reminder that our time here is short, and some shorter than what seems right.

Rick in FWB

(Just found this thread...)

Not sure why, but I've been getting a very strong signal from WLOX-DT (13-1, 13-2 and 13-3) for the last several days. Any one else in the Pensacola area getting this station (broadcasting on channel 39).

Beachrez,

I live in NE P'cola near the airport. Not a peep on 13-1. Nor is it listed on antennaweb.org. I tried a new channel scan on the updated Hughes HTL-HD and I also tried manual channel selection. Nothing. And, I use a fairly high gain UHF array on the roof (dual Channel Master 4228s combined for a 16 bay bowtie array). If it was there, I'd get it. WKRG (5-1) and WALA (10-1) are my weakest digitals and I get a signal strength of around 50-60% on the signal meter most of the time.

To Cinder and others in the area, I have something of a history with WKRG. I have called them numerous times, and even have gotten to the chief engineer a couple of times. Most will notice WKRG is among the weakest digitals in the area. The reason is, the company spent just enough to get the digital on the air but not enough to do it right. Although they have plenty of power, their transmitter tower for the digital is too low and the company will not spend the money to raise it. While I get a 50-60% signal much of the time, their signal strength is very erratic sometimes with weak enough signal for enough digital break-up to make the channel unwatchable, usually only when there is something on that I really want to watch;).

Conversely, WEAR (3-1) is only running on low power for the digital feed as of the last time I talked to them yet because their tower is higher, their signal is one of the strongest I receive. Their tower is only a few miles away from WKRG's by the way.

WEAR's problem is not transmission, but that corporate will not spend the money for HD. Last I heard, they were talking about having HD in time for the Monday Night Football schedule later this year. Maybe.

Incidently, I requested a wavier from WKRG through DirecTv several months ago so I could receive the CBS HD feed on DirecTv. WKRG denied the wavier. I plan to persue a complaint with the FCC this coming week contending that because WKRG cannot provide a reliable digital feed to their stated service area that I should be granted a wavier to receive CBS HD from DirecTv until WKRG upgrades their equipment to be able to provide the same level of service as the other network affiliates in the area. If anyone else in the area is interested in the outcome of this for yourself, let me know.

Robert I also requested a wavier and was denied. Jim Richardson told me that they will not [up-the power] until 06.

I also requested a waiver and was denied. I'd be very interested in your outcome.

Robert, I'd be interested in your outcome and would be willing to participate. I'm getting tired of WKRG's sub-par performance as well. LMK what I can do.
Joe

I have only minor problems with WKRG. My system locks on within 30 seconds at the most. Usually it's within 5 seconds. I have more problems locking on to FOX, UPN and WB.

ABC locks right away, although I refuse to watch it until they go HD.

Steve

Mobile Comcast HD update:
It appears Comcast out of Mobile is finally offering HDTV. I just talked to a very helpful representative and this is what he told me.

Basic Digital Cable w/HD: 57.95
ESPN
WPMI-NBC

Premium HD Channels Offered:
HBO
Showtime
Cinemax
Starz

Current HD Boxes offered:
Rental Fee: $5.00
Motorolla DCT6200/2005
Scientific Atlantic Explorer 3250
Pace

HD-DVR Boxes coming 1-3 weeks
Rental Fee: 9.95
Motorolla 6208
Scientific Atlantic Explorer 8000

He mentioned they are in contract negotiations with CBS, they are going to try their best to get CBS before football season.

crimsonblake,

Thanks for the update. I have been trying to get info from Comcast, they are very sketchy with actual programming info.

Seems that only NBC is supported at this time? Why not CBS, or PBS as these have pretty full featured HD lineups, confused.

Also would like to know if perhaps an "NFL Lineup" would be available with multiple games, rather than 1 local feed.

In other areas basic cable can be carried, say channels 2-13, then the HD box is rented for $5.00 enabeling HDTV. Not here, again, wonder why?


Tom

Originally posted by TS45
crimsonblake,

Thanks for the update. I have been trying to get info from Comcast, they are very sketchy with actual programming info.

Seems that only NBC is supported at this time? Why not CBS, or PBS as these have pretty full featured HD lineups, confused.

Also would like to know if perhaps an "NFL Lineup" would be available with multiple games, rather than 1 local feed.

In other areas basic cable can be carried, say channels 2-13, then the HD box is rented for $5.00 enabeling HDTV. Not here, again, wonder why?


Tom

It might have something to do with Comcast being the only people in town. Their only competitor is satellite. Rather sad, Comcast has milked Mobilians for years.

Is it just me or is anyone else in the Mobile area having a problem getting a lock on WKRG 5-1 & 5-2?

The problem seems to be intermittant but getting worse.

Thanks J C

Same here, no lock.

I think that the power output of all the digital stations stinks, except NBC. THe FCC should make them all up their power output to acceptable levels. If you cannot get a signal at 30 miles from the tower, how can they claim a 100 mile broadcast area.

the power output really sucks. I've always had random problems with cbs. Most of the time i get a lock, but out of nowhere it will drop like crazy. I firmly believe that anytime we have a big storm their tower does something crazy. After every storm just about i need to move my antenna a little bit to pick them up strong again.

On a side note.

I upgraded my speakers to some James speakers recently and now have some old speakers if anyone is interested. They're not stellar but not bad. Just some old Infinity RS5 front towers and the cs5 center. Just looking for maybe $200 for all of them. Cost around $1300 4 years ago. I'm going to put them in a baby showroom for liquidation real soon but thought i'd throw it out here first. I'm also pondering selling my pio elite 49tx and my NHT SubOne subwoofer if anyone is interested.

The last problem I have had with the Sammy is apparently been corrected.

Since Wednesday evening I have been able to receive both WB-55 and Fox-10 channels from the DirecTv menu guide.

Prior to Wed. I could only get Fox-10 from the guide and no WB.
When I wanted to watch WB I had to select "no Dish", reboot, and I could get WB-55 and no Fox.

Fortunately I don't watch that much WB but it has really been a hassel to do so until now. Really glad to see the DTV glitch corrected.

J C

That's great. I talked to the wb/fox engineer and he said they were doing another fix on their program data. Doesn't look like it helped me at all, still have to scan for it then can't get any guide info which sucks real bad for an hd tivo. glad they fixed it for someone, sounds like your setup was quite a headache.

Anyone else popping corks on september 1st and kissing pegasus goodbye :) i'm very excited about leaving those guys behind.

Originally posted by Cinder
That's great. I talked to the wb/fox engineer and he said they were doing another fix on their program data. Doesn't look like it helped me at all, still have to scan for it then can't get any guide info which sucks real bad for an hd tivo. glad they fixed it for someone, sounds like your setup was quite a headache.

Anyone else popping corks on september 1st and kissing pegasus goodbye :) i'm very excited about leaving those guys behind.

My good friend who lives in Spanish Fort will finally "move" back to Spanish Fort soon :) he's been living in Birmingham ever since he joined D*

There has been some discussion here about the talks between Broadcasters and Cable companies regarding the carriage of local HD content. Here is a press release from the recent NAB show stating the stance that Emmis is taking.

http://www.imaspub.com/nabdaily/wed_pm/TV_Launches_Battle.shtml

I can "move" to Mobile but D* tells me that I have to have a phone line
with two HDTVs. One is ok. If you know how to get around that please let me know. This Pegasus thing could drag on for a long time.

I ran across this and though you might like to know the size of our market. Also Joe told me that WALA will have there splicer before the end of June. (720P) so we will be ready when Fox goes HD.



WALA-TV FOX 10
Fox Network Affiliate

Market:
Mobile, AL - Pensacola, FL
Market Rank: 62
Market Population: 1,214,000
www.fox10tv.com

Hey people, for all the complains about power, lets set the record straight:

CBS and PBS are the only STA in Mobile/Pensacola area. FOX/WB, NBC, and UPN are all transmitting at full power as established by the FCC. They are finished with that as far as the FCC is concerned. WSRE-PBS is operating at 287kW (5.9db lower than authorized) but at approved tower height. WKRG is operating 55kW (9db lower than authorized) with a short tower of 833 feet instead of their approved height of 1827 ft. No idea what Mobile's PBS station at Spanish Fort is doing.

And in other matters -
No one's commented on it yet, but WSRE was boardcasting HD all day yesterday, as well as multicasting their regular analog station and PBSyou. My eyes are aging (I'm 49) so the HD experience is "filtered" somewhat for me :) but I didn't notice bad signal degradation.

I added a preamp to my antrenna and now receive Mobile's PBS station in glorious HD. But, I lost WEAR digital signal. No loss, since they have a crumy picture anyway.

i can't hold onto mobile or pensacola pbs anymore, not sure what happened. I would love to get into the new colonial house in hd but oh well.

Some news from WTVY-CBS Dothan. Wade Thomaston tells me that they are doubling their DTV transmitter power. They are currently radiating at 45.5 kW, so that will still be way short of full power (FCC approved for 995 kW), but any improvement is certain welcome.

Signed-up with Dish yesterday. The zero-dollar for equipment, no-committment deal tipped the scales over for me to finally try something other than OTA. After hearing over and over that CBS-HD waivers were impossible to come by was suprised to hear from Jim Richardson at WKRG that he has no problem with waivers for Ft. Walton Beach. He recognizes that we are already far fringe for the analog transmission, and near impossible to catch the DTV transmission. I try every night and caught maybe a total of 10 hours of WKRG-DTV so far this year.

[edit] Word from Wade was they were doubling their DTV power in the next month.

We got all our locals today on D* and they look very, very good.

i thought the same thing! I was very surprised at how good the locals look!

Has anyone had a problem getting a lock on 55-1 & 10-1?
First noticed it last evening. Really bad pixellation on both channels.
Since day one I've been getting Fox 10 at a solid 100% signal.

Since last night I'm getting a real jumpy signal between 35% and 45%.

One good thing the D* local channels are really good.

J C

I've consistently for the last 2 months had trouble getting 10-1, but for whatever reason get 55-1 in fine, i know they're the same signal just very strange that 10-1 is jumpy and 55-1 is great. Checked my signal and still pretty much the same.

Odd thing about the locals on satellite, they have the guide info for 55, but my guide info for 55-1 still says "digital programming" which won't allow me to use the hd tivo to record shows. very annoying.

A quick question re local stations on the Dish.

Are these in HD or just digital?

Thanks

Digital, not HD but it looks amazingly good.

Originally posted by trich
I can "move" to Mobile but D* tells me that I have to have a phone line
with two HDTVs. One is ok. If you know how to get around that please let me know. This Pegasus thing could drag on for a long time.

Trich-

I have DirecTV also. I reside in Mobile, but "moved" to New York City last year. I did this to get CBS-HD via DirecTV :D

Never, ever had any problems with the phone line issue. I keep all of my receivers (3) plugged in at all times. DirecTV does not care, nor check, where the receivers dial in from. Furthermore, if they ever did question your area code, there's something called local number portability that allows you to take your local residental number with you when you move. So, in theory, you could live in NYC but have a 251-xxx-xxxx phone number.

BTW- CBS-HD from DirecTV is beautiful. I am looking foward to DTV adding the NYC HD feeds of ABC, FOX, & NBC shortly also. I got tired of the shoddy performance of our local OTA channels around here.... :/

PS- Forgot to mention that I get the national standard definition feeds of ABC, FOX, CBS & NBC too from NYC. DirecTV knows that 'moving' goes on all of the time but turns a blind eye. Why? As long as their records appear legit & they are getting their money why should they care.

Originally posted by crimsonblake
i thought the same thing! I was very surprised at how good the locals look!

Try watching them on a bigger tv and then tell me how they look.


Direct tv Mobile locals do look better than Dish networks.

15-1 Audio?

Anyone getting audio on 15-1 this afternoon (Tuesday, 22 June 04)?

No audio here either.

I have sound at 5:45PM.

I guess my email to Tim Reid alerted them to the problem! I also have audio now.

I'd check but i had a severe surge two days ago that not only got through my nice panamax surge protector and ate my hd tivo, it also took out all 3 lnb's on my satellite. So now i'm in the replacement waiting list for hd tivo's and will have a new dish in a cpl days, argh. oh well.

Originally posted by Cinder
I'd check but i had a severe surge two days ago that not only got through my nice panamax surge protector and ate my hd tivo, it also took out all 3 lnb's on my satellite. So now i'm in the replacement waiting list for hd tivo's and will have a new dish in a cpl days, argh. oh well.

Wow thats awful! Who is paying for it? Tivo or Panamax?

Directv is sending me a replacement as techincally the hard drive did die ) panamax would have covered it had they not, but going through directv is a lot quicker. Granted it's been 2 days and still no word on the hd tivo.

I live between Destin and Sandestin and, from what I understand, there is little chance of me receiving OTA HD broadcasts out of either Mobile or Panama City, FL. Someone recently posted about getting waivers or "moving" to another city to get the HD channels. If I "move," is there a city that offers the most HD signals that I could pick up with my HD receiver via Directv? Also, if I change my mind and decide to continue living at the beach, can I get waivers for some HD broadcasts that I can receive over Directv, while at the same time still receiving all other local broadcasts (out of Mobile) via Directv?

Thanks!
Dave

Dave,

I had been told by DirecTV customer service that if I got waiver for CBS, they would provide CBS-HD. But when the locals (in SD) from Mobile were started, I could only have one or the other, Mobile locals or CBS-HD. This was like the day before they started showing Mobile locals.

Dish, which already had Mobile locals, said that it didn't make any differences to them, if I got a waiver, I could have CBS-HD along with Mobile locals. However, I'm still waiting for that to happen. The waiver from WKRG-CBS didn't state "HD" and Dish refuses to setup CBS-HD.

But I think you're getting ahead of yourself. You are closer to WBMM-ABC in Panama City than me and should be able to get their ABC-HD ok. Currently, you can't get ABC on Direct or Dish. You may be closer to WTVY-CBS in Dothan than me and could get them in HD. I remember posts from the Seagrove Beach area that were getting WTVY ok. Maybe you should give OTA with an outside antenna a try.

Rick:

Are you able to pick up ABC out of Dothan in HD living in FWB?

No, can't get ABC station out of Dothan. What is that, Ch 18?

I'm on the west side of FWB, near the mall. I get Mobile's NBC, UPN, and Pensacola's PBS just fine. Can't get FOX/WB from Mobile at all. Once in a while can get CBS from Mobile, but we're talking maybe a few minutes to a couple of hours maybe once a month. Nothing from CBS in Dothan. ABC from Panama is pretty good in the winter, when I can get it almost every night, but spotty summer and fall, dropping to an few hours most weeks.

Reports from Crestview is good reception of Dothan-CBS and Seagrove Beach is good, so I think it a case of me being just over the line of good reception. I think ABC from Panama is good in Shalimar, so Destin/Sandestin should be fine.

Rick:
I actually meant to ask you about ABC out of PC, not out of Dothan. I am trying to decide what setup to use. Would you mind sharing with me your setup, particularly your antenna? I just want to know how high up I'll need to put the antenna, what type to use, and whether I can just mount it to the outside of my house. I also want to avoid upsetting my neighbors and, more importantly, my wife! I've got the HD Directv Tivo on the way, so that's what I'll use as my receiver.

Thanks,
Dave

Hello all,
I'm in NorthWest Pensacola and until recently, I have had great reception from Fox. Now it pixalates a lot and the signal jumps from the low 30's to the mid 50's. Anyone having similar problems the last few weeks.
Russell

Same problem on WALA. I sent an email to the WALA engineer about an hour ago. I'll post if I get a response.

Good news on Fox; no info on power level...

From Joe Addalia of WALA

I really don't know what to tell you about your receive level more than we haven't changed anything.

WALA is running in 720p as of this afternoon and we will be passing full HD in the fall as well as continuing to broadcast WB55 in 16:9 SD.

It is all falling into place for me. I'm getting HD at the end of August (buying my set from Cinder :) ). Looks like i'm getting it at exactly the right time, Fox and ABC in HD!!!

Guys i have a client that has cband and has a very old toshiba receiver with no optical or component output. Anyway just finished updating everything else (the dish installer had her dish 6000 hooked to her 70" grand wega via composite audio and video :) )

Anyway, any recommendations on a good cband tuner i can recommend to her or help her get. I'm really not knowledgable with cband.

On the flip side i'm getting sencore certified and will be isf and haa certifed sometime this fall so i'll be looking for guinea pigs :)

Daniel

Is there any firm news (or at least good rumors) on ABC-HD from WEAR?

I talked to the engineer a few weeks ago and he said no new news but they still hope to be setup in hd by football season. So call that a good rumor with the word "hope" as a huge disclaimer.

Originally posted by Cinder
Guys i have a client that has cband and has a very old toshiba receiver with no optical or component output. Anyway just finished updating everything else (the dish installer had her dish 6000 hooked to her 70" grand wega via composite audio and video :) )

Anyway, any recommendations on a good cband tuner i can recommend to her or help her get. I'm really not knowledgable with cband.

On the flip side i'm getting sencore certified and will be isf and haa certifed sometime this fall so i'll be looking for guinea pigs :)

Daniel

<----------- Guinea pig!!!

Originally posted by flanole
Hello all,
I'm in NorthWest Pensacola and until recently, I have had great reception from Fox. Now it pixalates a lot and the signal jumps from the low 30's to the mid 50's. Anyone having similar problems the last few weeks.
Russell

I have the exact same problem beginning 6/2/04 and when I complain to Joe he says I'm the only one with this problem.

What brand and model STB are you using?

Do you have Joe Addalia's e-mail address?

J C

Joe Addalia does not live here. He is in Orlando. He is a engineer for about 11 Fox and WB stations, two are in Mobile.
Try this.



rfields@wala.emmis.com

Cox is now offering WPMI as part of its HD offering

WALA

Here is a follow-up message received from Joe Addalia (addalia@emmis.com) last night regarding reception on digital 9 (and a clairification of the FOX HD startup).

"I'll ask our Chief Engineer to look in to it, you never know, but we monitor our systems very closely.


Joe


PS: The first real HD Broadcast will be the NFL, but you will still see the widescreen upconverted until then."

Just how many stations are available OTA down in this area. My wife and I are starting to look for a place to retire to.

Thanks,

abc....dig. only
cbs.....HD
fox....dig..sept HD
nbs...HD
pbs...we got two HD
upn...HD
wb....dig. w/s 16:9

So you basically get everything that I get in Atlanta except for WTBS (digital and sometimes HD). Actually you are getting more being we do not get any PBS stations OTA. We do however get PAX, but there is nothing on it to watch.

Now being this thread is labelled "Mobile/Pensacola" will able to these
stations anywhere between these two Cities?

Will these stations reach over to the Mississippi (Biloxi) side of Mobile?

Originally posted by uaswimmer1995
Rick:
I actually meant to ask you about ABC out of PC, not out of Dothan. I am trying to decide what setup to use. Would you mind sharing with me your setup, particularly your antenna? I just want to know how high up I'll need to put the antenna, what type to use, and whether I can just mount it to the outside of my house. I also want to avoid upsetting my neighbors and, more importantly, my wife! I've got the HD Directv Tivo on the way, so that's what I'll use as my receiver.

Thanks,
Dave

Dave, I'm currently using a Channel Master 8-bowtie UHF only antenna (CM 4228) and the CM7777 VHF/UHF pre-amp. Antenna is ~30 feet from ground.

If you were considering a new setup for locals, I would consider a VHF/UHF combo antenna. WTVY will change from ch 36 back to ch 4 when the time comes to change over to all DTV. I think Panama City's NBC station is DTV ch 9 now. Don't know the deal there, but it's a low power, short tower setup that has NON-HD written all over it. I might be wrong.

You could see if Lowe's or Radio Shack would allow returns and try a CM 3020 from Lowe's or whatever's RS best. I have a Channel Master Spartan amp laying around somewhere that you could try. Antennas are one of those thing you just have to try to find what works. I always try to get stuff design for deep fringe reception because FWB is basically at the fringe of both Mobile's and Panama's transmit coverage.

Oh, and I meant Santa Rosa Beach, not Sea Grove Beach, was were I heard of good reception of Panama's WMBB-ABC.

Florical More Partner than Vendor


By Joe Addalia
Director of Engineering
Emmis Communications Centralcasting

Orlando, FL


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emmis Communications Centralcasting Facility 1 located in Orlando Florida is a full service Master Control Facility for 5 Emmis Television Stations. For two years the facility has been serving as Master Control for WKCF WB18 Orlando, WFTX FOX4 Fort Myers, FL, WVUE FOX8 New Orleans, WALA FOX10 Mobile AL, and WBPG The WB in Moblie-Pennsacola.

Joe is a busy man.


We needed to automate Tuscon, Omaha and Topeka quickly because of the rising cost to maintain their aging cart machines,” commented Joe Addalia, Director of Engineering for Emmis Centralcasting. “Going server based with automation was the best solution and Florical is our choice for automation. Florical understands the future of television broadcasting. They have a software driven IT centric system that is easy to expand.”

I just noticed that Cox HD Cable now has WPMI on channel 715.

One down five to go.....

(I also just noticed this is a repost of a prvious message. Sorry guys...)

Steve

Still having problems with Fox (DT9). None of the three tuners I have seem to be able to reveive it. (HdTivo, Misubishi built-in tunner, and a Sammy 151) Had the antenna checked yesterday and it pulls everything except Fox at over 70%. It is a CM2030 with a spartan preamp (for Channel 27). I'm within 18 to 30 miles of the towers.

I have 3 HD set-top boxes. They all get Fox. [2 Sonys and a Hughes HTL]

flanole, if you live in Baldwin co. south of I-10 I'll bring one of mine over to you to try.
I live in Magnolia Springs.

I'm in Pensacola. Thanks for the offer though.

Daniel,

I don't think there has ever been a c-band receiver with component outputs, best your going to get is svideo. If you get a 4dtv receiver you will get a coax digital output, but I am pretty sure it only works for the digital channels the analog ones still use L/R audio. What model toshiba is it? I have used a trx-80, 1800 and 2200 and they all had good video. If you want the best analog video find a used monterey 50,55,90 or 95. A monterey showing a full bandwidth analog signal will make you puke the next time you watch your pizza pan.

Bob H.




Originally posted by Cinder
Guys i have a client that has cband and has a very old toshiba receiver with no optical or component output. Anyway just finished updating everything else (the dish installer had her dish 6000 hooked to her 70" grand wega via composite audio and video :) )

Anyway, any recommendations on a good cband tuner i can recommend to her or help her get. I'm really not knowledgable with cband.

On the flip side i'm getting sencore certified and will be isf and haa certifed sometime this fall so i'll be looking for guinea pigs :)

Daniel

Thanks for the info. I was trying to find a way for her to get hdtv via cband. I didn't realize you couldn't do it.

She has a toshiba trx-1600.

thanks again,
Daniel

Daniel,

You never mentioned that you wanted c-band HD. If you want commercial channels you will need a 920/922 4DTV receiver along with the HDD-200 HDTV decoder. If you want to keep the toshiba receiver you can add a 905 4DTV sidecar and the HDD-200. For FTA HD you will need a UM/Integra receiver.

Bob H.


Originally posted by Cinder
Thanks for the info. I was trying to find a way for her to get hdtv via cband. I didn't realize you couldn't do it.

She has a toshiba trx-1600.

thanks again,
Daniel

I too began having problems with wala dtv 10.1 & 55.1 last month.
I have two hd receivers pan tu-hds20 & sony hd-300.
The hd-300 will pull in both chanels but the the signal strength is 49%.
The pan tu-hds20 will not lock on at all.
I had good reception all fall and winter but as of last month i have had problems. if i remember correctly my signal strength use to be around
70%.

I've had intermittent problems with fox/wb for the last cpl months as well. I get them but with breakups. Strangely i get wb better than fox.

Robert,

I'm just trying to find a good setup for a client who wants to upgrade her cband so she can get hd. She has the toshiba box which she has no problem upgrading, as well as a voom and dish hd setup. She just wants the most options possible. I know very little about cband but am trying to learn more for my clients. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Help.............

For those of you that are having problems with reception of Fox and or WB please e-mail Joe Addalia and complain.

I have NEVER recieved Fox and WB properly since they began broadcasting both on channel 9. The total loss of reception began the first week of June.

All that time Joe has been telling me that "I am the only one" having problems.......

Please take a minute and e-mail him..

JAddalia@emmis.com

Thanks J C

Daniel, what HD channels do you want to add to her present setup?

Bob H.


Originally posted by Cinder
Robert,

I'm just trying to find a good setup for a client who wants to upgrade her cband so she can get hd. She has the toshiba box which she has no problem upgrading, as well as a voom and dish hd setup. She just wants the most options possible. I know very little about cband but am trying to learn more for my clients. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I talked to her and she's decided she's alright with analog cband for now. She has dish and voom as well so lots of hd choices. Plus she gets all the locals via antenna so she's probably pretty set. Thanks for the help.

Daniel

Greetings:

Is it just me or is WSRE Digital off the air?

Thanks J C

Don't know the reason, but WSRE was dead last night from 6:00pm on. Confirm that with two different receivers at my location. Have no idea if they ever got their signal up today.

Their (WSRE) signal was 'wild' on Thursday morning (7/8/2004)-- bouncing between 0 and 100. then they went off the air completely, and are not back as of Friday at 5 PM. My guess is that something went out in their transmitter facility.

And, I still have Fox (WALA) hovering at the 51 mark-- usually good enough for watching but with breakups. Before the 4th, Joe Addalia said (in an email) that he would have the engineer in Mobile check it out, but I haven't heard anything further. And, of course, WKRG is the weakest signal in the area.

My wala has completely fallen apart. It's my bimonthly ritual of repointing my vhf attic antenna at fox. Fox/Wb is the only station it aims at and yet consistently i have to readjust it to fox's signal regardless of the fact that my antenna has not moved. Their tower is very strange.

WSRE-DT was off the air due to microwave studio transmitter link problems. Both the primary and back up modulators failed within an hour or so of each other, apparently with different causes. The manufacturer did not have a loaner and had to put together some equipment to get us back up and running. Hopefully we won't be this unlucky again. We'll be working on a better back-up. The transmitter itself was O.K., just no way to get program material to it. Thanks for the interest in our programs and any replies to the forum to to me personally regarding technical issues and signal/program quality are welcome.
Regards,
Roland Phillips
Dir of Engineering, WSRE, Pensacola

I find it highly frustrating that we have to use OTA to receive HD for locals... Why the broadcasters and Cable/satellite sit their and bicker about who is going to get paid. I am sure their is enough money to fill everyone pocket and then some. Instead with have to put up with OTA that for the majority of us does not work period and the rest of the people in our area it is a crap shot if they get the service or not.

Has anyone had any differences with CBS HD in Mobile? We were receiving 5.1, 5.2 fine until last week, now they appear as 27.1,27.2 which would be fine except they go to a black screen intermittantly, even though the signal strength remains strong.


Thanks,

same here but mine is ok today 2:30pm, no 5.2 though.

Originally posted by trich
same here but mine is ok today 2:30pm, no 5.2 though.

Just spoke with the nice engineer at 5, they had a problem with their PSIP Generator, put in the fix about 1 hour ago!

Our Sony 57WS550 at home would not display 5.1,2 but per our "home engineer", we are good to go!

The 5 engineer said they had 2 of 3 receivers working properly, not all were effected. At our store, the 65ws550 was fine?!? Go figure.

WKRG-DT

At 10 PM on Monday (7/12), I have an unusually strong signal on 27, but no picture/sound on 5-1 or 27-1. I have my usual 5-2 which means the weather map compressed in the upper third of the screen, and gibberish in the bottom two-thirds. So, my conclusion is that they haven't entirely solved the PSIP problem! (I have a Hughes receiver.)

Anyone else have only "digital Programming" listed as the guide date for WB's digital station. I've talked to the station engineer and they said they're sending the right info. I've also talked to directv and they're no help. Annoys me b/c i can't set any season passes with my hd tivo with it the way it is.

I get the correct program info on analog wb and on my satellite feed wb. very annoying.

WB55 (55-1)

I have never had any program information for this station other than "Regular Scheduling" since they came on the air (with my Hughes receiver).

This is really a problem for me. I never had info on my zenith 520 but it didn't matter, but now that i can record it it's quite annoying. Maybe if we all contacted the engineer he'd look at it again. I've also heard if zap2it doesn't show digital programming info for the channel that they're a good source to contact.

Beachrez,

what kind of antenna are you using ? I am using the silver sensor in the attic. 15-1 comes in excellent !! Does anybody know if mediacom made made anymore additions ?

Jrfsu1,

Where do you live at that the Silver Sensor works? Do you get other stations other than15-1? I am not aware of any additional channels added by Mediacom.

WKRG-DT and WEAR-DT

To Jrfsu1: My problem was with WKRG 5-1 (not 15-1), and that problem has been fixed by a rescanning. Mr. Richardson of WKRG pointed out that they had updated their PSIP software, and this had caused some problems. Rescanning the local channels picked up the new information correctly.

For all: BIG NEWS!
the following is from the (in)famous "Mr DTV" at Sinclair Broadcasting:

"WEAR-DT is awaiting delivery/installation of its "ABC HD Lite Pkg w/Dolby 564 Decoder" from the network. It is my understanding that the station will be providing pass-thru HD by some date in September. I believe that this date fits inside of your definition of "reasonably near future".


(FYI...a majority of the stations owned/operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group will be providing HD pass-thru within the same timeframe...pass it on!)"

I just moved to Pace and I also recently picked up a Samsung 26" Widescreen HDTV with built in tuner. I have Dish Network with SD programming only for the time being, and I was wondering what I can expect from OTA up in Pace.

For those of you familiar with Pace, I live *just* west of Woodbine road, in Woodbine Springs Plantation. I went to antennaweb and it looks like most of the channels are UHF and are in the 22-35 mile range from me.

I'm looking to mount some kind of antenna on the roof or eave of my house, but I really don't want a 30' mast above the house. Does anyone who lives in Pace, or had experience pulling in DTV signals up here have any suggestions. I have a feeling I'll have to get either a pretty good size bowtie or yagi, but nothing beats the advice of someone who's actually installed this stuff up here.

Also, where's a good place to buy this stuff in the Pensacola area (Radio Shack and Lowes I guess?)

Thanks for the advice.

--Matt

Originally posted by pacenewbie
For those of you familiar with Pace, I live *just* west of Woodbine road, in Woodbine Springs Plantation. I went to antennaweb and it looks like most of the channels are UHF and are in the 22-35 mile range from me.

I'm looking to mount some kind of antenna on the roof or eave of my house, but I really don't want a 30' mast above the house. Does anyone who lives in Pace, or had experience pulling in DTV signals up here have any suggestions. I have a feeling I'll have to get either a pretty good size bowtie or yagi, but nothing beats the advice of someone who's actually installed this stuff up here.

Also, where's a good place to buy this stuff in the Pensacola area (Radio Shack and Lowes I guess?)

Thanks for the advice.

--Matt

For the recommended antenna you can try going here (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Welcome.aspx). It will also give you an idea of what you can expect to pickup and where to point your antenna.

I live just West of Blue Angel in Pensacola and have a 20' mast antenna on the back of the house. It was very easy to put up and cost less than $100 in materials. I pickup all of the local area channels including ABC, NBC, FOX, UPN, WB, CBS, and PBS.

Of course out in Pace you may need a pre-amp or better antenna, I'm not sure.

Steve

Pacenewbie,
ABC and NBC should be easy for you to get. FOX and CBS present a few problems. CBS(ch27, DT 5) broadcasts a fairly weak signal which is not easy for those of us in Pensacola to pull down. Pace is that much further down the road from the tower which is located between P'cola and Mobile. FOX (ch 10, DT 9) is VHF so you need a VHF antenna. Some of us have had spotty reception of FOX recently. I have good signal strength, but it drops in and out most evenings. FOX also seems to require a directional antenna pointed directly at it.

Advanced Digital Satellite and Entertainment Systems in Pensacola has any antenna combination you can imagine.

Good Luck. Let us know what works. I have some property up your way that I will be building on in the next year. Need to know what works. :)

I don't remember if this has been posted earlier or not, so...

In response to my question about our local NBC station's plan on the Olympics:
Our current plans are to broadcast the NBC HD Olympics loop on a primary channel (15-1) and our regular programming in SD on a secondary channel (15-2) provided that our SD encoder returns from repair at Tandberg in time to set this system up. We tested the process and equipment out on our sister station WJTC-DT a couple of weeks back and everything worked fine until lightning struck. The other issues we haven't worked out are an independent Program Guide and Closed Captioning for both channels.

Regards,

Tim Reid
Director of Engineering

For those that haven't heard, NBC network is talking about a continuous 24 hr/day HD boardcast of the Olympics that's completely seperate from the regular network SD boardcast, i.e. different events, different commentators, etc.. We missed the Winter Games in HD cause WMPI wasn't on the air then, so this will be our first look at how its done.

Any members in the Holley by the Sea area, that has had reasonable results? If so, what equipment do you have... Any help will be greatly appreciated, the web site pointed me to a Large Multi-Directional. Trying to avoid something that large. Thanks

I live in Gulf Breeze (Villa Venice) and can receive abc, cbs , nbc, upn, and pbs very well.

77% and above !! I am using the stealth antenna mounted in the attic with a power amp hooked to it. Without the power amp I cannot receive CBS (wkrg) . I have never had any luck with fox.

Just to let everyone know, if you go into your profile, there's a place to enter your location. You can be as descriptive as you'd like. This will help others find people in their local area with or without the same problems.

It also helps people reading your posts get an idea of your location and whether it may or may not pertain to them.

You can also list your equipment setup in your profile.

Thanks,
Steve

Jrfsu1: Thanks for responding... particular model # of your stealth? Thanks in Advance....

Cinder: have you had any more luck with the Square Shooter from Winegard?

Rick, both D* and E* had the winter Olympics [HDNet]. The PQ was unbelievable.

i've done a total of 10 installs with the square shooter. all but one required a preamp. all of them are great. This is east mobile to fairhope so not a large area. the only area i really have trouble with is my own install. Being in daphne i'm right between a lot of transmitters. The sqs picks up all the uhf stations great but not fox worth a damn. So i have a 2nd antenna just laying in the attic pointing at fox that got fox/wb in real good up until about 3 weeks ago when fox's signal fell apart. (for what it's worth i use an old stealthtenna in my attic for vhf) i also don't pick up the pbs stations at all.

the most recent install i did was in fairhope and he got wlox no problem as well as both pbs's etc, pissed me off :) but hey, better for me to have problems than a client.

winter olympics on hd net was unreal.

that is the problem with the Navarre area I'm right in the middle of no man land... So I just need to quit fighting it and get a large directional... Thanks for the info Cinder...... Regards...

Correction, "I" missed the Winter Games in HD. Do have Dish now, with HDNet and, yeah, PQ is super. Find myself watching some of the Champ Car series just for the PQ, as I'm not a racing fan.

The point of the post was a heads-up on WPMI's plan. I had a second question to Tim Reid: Could they drop the SD sub-channel to give us the max bandwidth for NBC's 24/7 HD feed? His words:
Unfortunately no. To stay legal with the FCC we have to simulcast our analog signal on our digital channel. You shouldn't see any difference than what you are seeing now since we cranked the bandwidth down to the new level a few months back when we tested the system. FYI, there is only a 6-8 hour "Live" feed in HD. NBC is replaying that loop until the next "Live" feed. That being said, during that "Live" feed we will probably turn of the SD channel since the programming will be the same, although the SD and HD feeds will have different commentators.


So Tim intends to cut the SD subchannel to the bare minimum to get as much PQ in the main HD as he can.

Rick, my son lives in N.C. and his locals give the "FULL BANDWITH" 19.2mb The PQ is so much better than ours especialy CBS. We took my wifes HD16:9 lcd up there and you could see a big difference.

Anyone lost 56.1 - PBS out of Panama City - Have no signal for past few days.

Well, I went ahead and ordered a DB4 from Antennas Direct, hopefully I'll be able to pull in a decent amount of channels with that antenna.

Can't wait to try it out when it gets here.

--Matt

pacenewbie, I would be interested in knowing if your DB4 will also pick up the VHF channels as well.. I am interested in that very unit as well.

once I get it and set it up, I'll definitely post on my results.

I'm curious myself, as I've never tried to pick up DTV signals before.

--Matt

alrighty, got my DB4 today, and I didn't have time to properly install it on the roof, so I just have it leaning up against the window facing in more or less the right direction, and I'm picking up NBC, ABC, UPN, and PBS with no artifacting.

Can't wait to install this puppy on the roof to see if I can pull in CBS or FOX.

--Matt

Originally posted by pacenewbie
Can't wait to install this puppy on the roof to see if I can pull in CBS or FOX.

--Matt

That antenna looks like it's a UHF antenna. I don't think it's designed to pull in FOX as they are broadcasting VHF.

Steve

It's high enough in the VHF band where I might get lucky, I know it's a long shot, but I'm hoping.


Man, I hope WEAR decides to get their act together and start broadcasting HD before Monday Night Football starts this year.

--Matt

Originally posted by pacenewbie
It's high enough in the VHF band where I might get lucky, I know it's a long shot, but I'm hoping.
--Matt

Let me know how it works. I may replace my Home Depot Pole Mounted Standard House Antenna. I get all of the channles it just takes my receiver a while to lock in on them and a couple have pixelation. I'm close enough to the transmitters that the DB4 should bring in a really strong signal. Right now all of my channels are sitting at about 50% - 60% on my Samsung SIRT-151 receiver.

Steve

Hopefully this weekend I'll get to actually install it on the roof, but this antenna must be great, because with it leaned against the window, I get the NBC, PBS, UPN and ABC with no pixelization at all. The signal strength isn't that high, but I don't have a problem locking the channels.

I know the strength is going to go up dramatically once I get it on the roof.

--Matt

WALA-DT

I'm pulling in digital 9 at 100 (instead of 51) for the first time in 1-2 months. Anyone else seeing an improvement? Perhaps, they finally figured out their transmitter problem.

More on WALA-DT

From the station engineer:

"We found a bad component in the transmitter that caused the Signal to
Noise Ratio to be low. Parts replaced and STBs show much higher signal.
Our DTV Transmitter remains at 100% power. We will continue to monitor
SNR and signal level on STBs.
Please let us know if you have any more problems,"

Originally posted by beachrez
WALA-DT

I'm pulling in digital 9 at 100 (instead of 51) for the first time in 1-2 months. Anyone else seeing an improvement? Perhaps, they finally figured out their transmitter problem.

Same here, both channels at 100% and perfect reception on both.

J C

Wow, looking great for the first time in awhile :) glad i put off playing with the vhf antenna.

Originally posted by Cinder
Guys i have a client that has cband and has a very old toshiba receiver with no optical or component output. Anyway just finished updating everything else (the dish installer had her dish 6000 hooked to her 70" grand wega via composite audio and video :) )

Anyway, any recommendations on a good cband tuner i can recommend to her or help her get. I'm really not knowledgable with cband.

On the flip side i'm getting sencore certified and will be isf and haa certifed sometime this fall so i'll be looking for guinea pigs :)

Daniel

I've got a brand new Sony KF-50WE610 Grand Wega III if you havn't played with one yet .:D

Lenbo,

Sorry i already have someone's projector to work on. That said PM me and i'll be happy to give you a nice discount. That goes for anyone else interested in sound or video calibration.

Daniel

I live just outside Gulf Breeze in Villa Venice and I also noticed yesterday that I have 77% signal strength on 10-1. I am using a Channelmaster stealth antenna 3010 in the attic with the model 0747 amplifier. I needed the amp to pull in WKRG TV 5-1. I am picking up all channels with above 69% strength. 15-1 is the strongest with 93%.

Cold Case looked great tonight but WPMI 15-1 hasn't switched the switch to HDTV for Law and Order tonight. It is not in Widescreen HDTV. They have done this before a few times when they were switching over from a SD program to an HD program. Is there a number we can call to tell them to flip the switch ????

The only game in town for new C-band receivers is Motorola and their DSR-922 4DTV receiver. It receives Digicypher II with authorization, Videocypher II with authorization, in the clear C and Ku band transmissions as well. The receivers are available used on eBay, or you can go to the big dish programming center www.callnps.com for a deal that includes a year of HBO and the receiver. You can also purchase a separate decoder HDD-200 on eBay for high definition programming that interfaces with the receiver to provide the component output. Analog transmissions are becoming fewer and fewer, but are still there if you know where to look. I recommend a visit to www.4dtvrocks.com for some good advice from long time users, newbies, and installers.

BTW, if you don't have a big dish yet, scrounge around for one, especially when you see a small dish on the property. You can usually get them for free this way.

With apologies to Mark Twain, the reports of the death of the big dish are somewhat exaggerated.

Glad Fox finally found the problem. I have gone through two complete antenna installs to resolve my signal bounce problem with them. I should have waited. I guess patience is a virtue with HDTV. :)

Can someone tell me from their own findings what stations they're getting in Crestview ? Also what antenna your using. Are you using a pre-amp ? I just put up a Channel Master 4228 outside and would like to know if a pre-amp would help .BTW zip is 32539 Thanks

Is it just me or is WKRG 5.1 having problems showing High Def. Yesterday and today the golf tournament, tonight Cold Case and now the movie The Pilots Wife. These were all supposed to be in HD and they are being shown in 4:3. Does anybody have the number to wkrg to notify them about this ???

Originally posted by jrfsu1
Is it just me or is WKRG 5.1 having problems showing High Def. Yesterday and today the golf tournament, tonight Cold Case and now the movie The Pilots Wife. These were all supposed to be in HD and they are being shown in 4:3. Does anybody have the number to wkrg to notify them about this ???

I'm not sure about the Golf or the movie but I've found that alot of times the reruns are not aired in HD. It depends on where the originating broadcast is from. If it's from the local station, reboradcasting a rerun, then it's normally in 4x3 format.

Steve

This was a reply email from Jim Richardson at WKRG.


Good morning,

Yes I call the studio Sunday when I noticed. First time we have had this failure. I'll have it going in a few minutes, I hope. Sorry you and missed the HDTV programming.

Jim Richardson, CE
WKRG-TV 5, WKRG-DT 27
555 Broadcast Dr.
Mobile, AL 36606

Has anyone had any luck installing the OTA in the attic? If so, how far from the source? What device are you using? All recommendations are greatly appreciated. I wish I could install it outside, but that it is not going to work for my particular situation. Thanks in advance.

I have pretty good luck depending on location installing the Windegard SS antenna in attics combined with a winegard preamp. These installs were in east mobile and fairhope. I've had zero luck in daphne as each install required being put outside, probably due to the positions of the towers in relation to daphne.

Probably not much help for your location, but the SS is extremely good at rejecting multipath wheras my old cm 4248 really did a lot worse in the attic in my situation.

Cinder, it looks as if the SS2000 will only pick up the low freq VHF upto 15 miles, has that been your experience? Which that would not work for picking up CBS and FOX in my area... How far would you say east mobile and fairhope are from the towers?

I've picked up from about 25 miles away, but that was outside and probably still won't help you. You're going to cut the strength of any antenna down by putting it in the attic. Though i've done it and seen it done where it works.

I have a Winegard ghost antenna that i bought for a customer and then got left with as he changed his mind that might work in your situtation. I think you'll probably need a preamp no matter what, though i'd definately try without a preamp first.

Hopefully someone on this board from around you will let you know what they've used and what works to pick up everything. I honestly have trouble with fox from my location.

As a side note i talked to WKRG about a promotion they are running and they mentioned that they plan to go to full power in time for football season. That said i think they said it more because i complained that their charts weren't accurate b/c i wanted to reach HD customers and they were showing their Analog OTA reach. So who knows, maybe they'll increase their signal after all.

Daniel

Daniel, if you heard that WKRG is going full power (from 55kilowatts to 1 megawatt), are they also going to raise antenna height? They are sitting at 833 feet but approved for 1827 feet.

If so, that would be great. I'm still without CBS-HD. Dishnet was a mistake in that reqards. I got the waiver approved only to be told that I would have to have a second dish with a DP44 switch to get NY's CBS feed and the DP44 were in very limited production and not available.

Originally posted by mill3704
Has anyone had any luck installing the OTA in the attic? If so, how far from the source? What device are you using? All recommendations are greatly appreciated. I wish I could install it outside, but that it is not going to work for my particular situation. Thanks in advance.

mill3704,

Check out my post above , i'm using the small stealth antenna.

Improvement at WEAR-DT?

Perhaps they really are on their way to improvement! The audio is no longer many decibels higher than other stations, and the picture looks better although it is still up-converted SD. In the past, it looked more like digitized SD. Supposedly, they will do HD-pass through from ABC some time in September.

I have an unopened BenQ 8700 that i may be looking to liquidate. It's unopened and brand new, also fully warrantied. Anyway i'm going a different direction with a current job and would be happy to work with someone on this unit if you PM me.

jrfsu1,

Are you able to pick up the CBS channel as well? How far from Holley by the Sea are you? Are you using a pre-amp with it?

Thanks

I am about 10 miles west of you in Villa Venice. Yes I do get CBS but with using the model 0747 amplifier by channel master. This also helps me get Fox and WB better also. I have the Samsung Directv/HDTV receiver.
Hope this helps.

Still no CBS here in Pace for me.

I am running a DB8 with a ChannelMaster 7777 preamp and I just can't get a lock on WKRG. I know I'm way up in Pace, but jeez it seems like with this setup I should be able to at least get it occasionally.

I am receiving ABC, NBC, 2 PBS's, UPN, WB, and whatever that religious channel is. All of those are solid as a rock, but still no WKRG.

--Matt

PS, Forgot to say that I'm also getting a solid signal from the FOX station too.

jrfsu1,

Yes, that was a great help... hopefully, similar solution will work for me.

Regards....

Pacenewbie,

Isn't that db8 a "multidirectional" antenna? You may have better luck with a directional antenna like one of the larger channel masters. With a pre-amp you should get WKRG if you get fox. The towers are very close to one another. Just a thought.

They *call* it a multidirectional, but it's an 8-bay bowtie antenna which isn't really multidirectional. I think I may just need to re-aim it a little. I guess I'll have to get up on the roof again this weekend.

--Matt

Matt, I have the Channel Master 8 bow UHF and it is directional. Since you don't have a rotor, tune for CBS and then check if the others are ok. You may find that a rotor in in your future, too.

Since you're in the Mobile PBS station's range, I'm guessing FOX would be a lock if you had a VHF antenna.

Oh, I have FOX, I get great reception on WALA. It was in and out until I got the preamp, now it's solid.

The only major player I'm missing is CBS, and I think if I get up on the roof, I might be able to get it.

--Matt

Just to see what the locals are using . Post you're stb, antenna, amp , location and what stations you're getting.

For me it's a Samsung 360, Channel Master 4228 w/ 7775 amp on the roof, in Crestview, stations : WEAR , WSRE , WJTC, WKRG sometimes, never get WALA ( what I really want ) for the Saints games. Got WLOX out of Biloxi last night .

BTW: Talked to engineer @ WALA to find out why I did not pick them up. He said they where at full power and that anyone that had a Samsung stb had a hard time getting the station.:confused:

can you run vhf/uhf antenna over the same rg-6 cable that your cable company is using? I know that you can with cable/sat or vhf/uhf/sat, but i'm not sure about vhf/uhf/cable combinations. I realize that I will need a diplexers for sure to split the signal out. Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by lenbo


BTW: Talked to engineer @ WALA to find out why I did not pick them up. He said they where at full power and that anyone that had a Samsung stb had a hard time getting the station.:confused:

That is not totally true...........
I have had the Samsung TS-160 since Nov 02 and it would never separate Fox and WB until 6/02/04 when a S/W update was sent down from DirecTV. Now the 160 will receive both channels perfectly.

So, I go and get a new 360 and it will get Fox-10 but not WB-55.
Confused yet?

J C

Prep for Olympics?

At the moment (10:38 AM, Monday), 47-1 (15-1) is SD and 47-2 is the HD channel for WPMI (NBC). 47-2 is not remapping to 15-2 at this time. Things will probably keep changing between now and Friday.

Was anyone else getting staticy background noise on WPMI when they were broadcasting in HD over the past few days?

I was getting a slight crackling in the sound when there were loud sounds during HD broadcasts on WPMI since late last week....The picture never wavered at all, it was just the sound. Could this have something to do with my preamp or is this something else? I'm going to check tonight when the next true HD stuff comes on NBC to see if it's still happening.

--Matt

Just got the following reply fro Joe @ WEAR Channel 17/3 regarding WEAR passing thru the HD signal.:
"We're waiting on equipment from a supplier. We still think we can be on in HD by the first regular season game, on September 13.

Joe"

We have waited a long time, but this is great news, if they make it.

Originally posted by pacenewbie
Was anyone else getting staticy background noise on WPMI when they were broadcasting in HD over the past few days?

I was getting a slight crackling in the sound when there were loud sounds during HD broadcasts on WPMI since late last week....The picture never wavered at all, it was just the sound. Could this have something to do with my preamp or is this something else? I'm going to check tonight when the next true HD stuff comes on NBC to see if it's still happening.

--Matt

I called the master control room this eve, told them of the problem, 5 seconds later all better . :D :D :D

Not only is WEAR NOT in HD but the sound seems to be mono . Could this station be any worse ? I've e-mailed them at least 1/2 a dozen times with questions and complaints with absolutely no response.:mad:

Thanks, I'm glad it wasn't me. The static seemed to start right when I installed my new 7777, so I was hoping it wasn't just me.

--Matt

As of 11:30 PM, the static sound is back on WPMI, I was watching Leno, and it was great for most of the show, then I noticed the sound back during the final musical performance.

Oh well. I hope they get this fixed before Friday.

--Matt

Hey Lenbo,

Have you tried our HD stations to the east? You might get a lock on WMBB-ABC in Panama. They are already HD. I have them drop in and out in FWB. They are on channel 19 and will remap to 13. The tower is north of the city.

Dothan WTVY-CBS is also HD on channel 36. The tower is north of Bonifay, FL so it may be due east from you.

WPMI-DT

With my Hughes receiver, I am now (Wed, 8/11, 2 PM) receiving 15-1 and 15-2. However, both are SD. Checking I find that 47-1 is SD (gray sidebars) and 47-2 is HD (black sidebars).

I contacted Tim Reid by email and he reports the following:

As of Friday night when the Olympics start, 15-1 will be the NBC-HD feed
and 15-2 will be the upconverted SD feed of our normal analog NBC signal (albeit highly compressed to give as much bandwidth as possible to the HD stream). Right now you should not be seeing any difference on 15-1 from you were previously receiving, we just added the 15-2 SD stream to the signal.
You may possibly have to re-scan because we did change the program
number in the PSIP data. (i.e. SD is on 47-2 and HD is on 47-3).


I don't find 47-3, and my 47-1 and 47-2 are not remapping correctly according to Mr. Reid ("Reid, Tim" <TimReid@clearchannel.com>).
.

What are others experiencing?

Beach, 15.1 is the same as always here, 15.2 has no bars [full screen]. This is with a sony hd200 and a new Hughes receiver. FWIW I like the PQ of the Sony better than the Hughes. I have tried it with rgb, dvi and component, the Sony will win every time. My wife is using it on her LCD now, ok for her but no good on my plasma.

Does anyone have sound on PBS HD 42?

I have sound, its 5:10pm.

My STB is LG LST-3100A with cheapo UHF/VHF antenna at about 10' above ground with post amplifier splitter to drive 4 devices. I had to put a quarter wave trap in front of the amp to attenuate ch21. I get all the stations. Without the attenuator I don't get WKRG and had trouble with WEAR. I get WEIQ most of the time.

Roland

So, you're in Pace and you can get WKRG?

I haven't been able to get it yet, and I have an AntennasDirect DB8 with a ChannelMaster 7777 Preamp. You said you couldn't get it without an attenuator? What part # is that? And from where?

Thanks.

--Matt

WPMI looks very good. Switching back & forth between directv ch 84 and WPMI, I think the over the air looks better. No dropout in video or audio. Dtv has had a few audio dropouts.

Audio for Olympics

Channel 84 has 5.1 sound; WPMI-DT does not (or at least, it isn't coming through as 5.1 on my system).

Yesterday my grandmother finally went with Directv and got an OTA antenna installed. The opening ceremony was her first HDTV experience and she said it was "beautiful".

Our awesome Cinder here, owner of Absolute Home Theatre did the OTA install in West Mobile. Everything comes in crystal clear.

I highly recommend going through Cinder for all your home threatre needs. Not only is he local and a member of AVS, but he has great prices and does great work.

Thanks again Daniel.

After years of wanting, next week i'll finally be going HD myself :)

I live in Gulf Breeze (Grande Point subdivision to be exact) and Mediacom is soaking me for about 65 bucks per month for their pale programming. I have 3 rooms i want to install Direct-Tv in with HDTV in the main room and the game room. I have a surround system in my main living room installed by All Pro sound and i'm not very happy with them as a customer only because they sent some inexperienced kids to do the install and they screwed up the remote and did a half azz job of setting up the outdoor speakers with an amp running through a channel in my Rotel receiver.


Anyway, my question is, where do i order Direct-TV from to get the 2 room HD setup with regular directv in the bedroom (3rd site) ?? I don't mind getting the system and package from an experienced reputable outfit that will configure all of my components and install the entire system. I live in a brand new Rutenburg house and want the install to be as clean as possible, and am willing to pay to have it done right.


I am a physician, so i know about as much about the installation of these items as most of you would know about how to fix a bad back or neck after a car accident.........very little. I am willing to pay well for a good job, because i would inevitably do a half azz job and be worse off for trying to save a few bucks and install it myself, only to find that it looks and performs like crap.


Any help would be appreciated. I would like some input before ordering from a place like RadioShack, Bestbuy, or Walmart where i only get the basic items.


Thanks!

I don't know if it's 5.1 or not, but WPMI-DT is coming in as some form of Dolby Digital according to my Tuner and my Onkyo Receiver's 'Dolby Digital' indicator is coming on whenever I tune to WPMI-DT.

--Matt

WKRG 5-1 HAS NOT SWITCHED THE SWITCH FOR HDTV COVERAGE IN THE PGA. WHO DO WE CALL ?

Its HD here.

ITS BACK

A Friend of mine stopped by this morning to let me know that when he switched to 10.1 this weekend to watch FOX he was receiving WB. He tried 55.1 and got nothing. Anybody else seeing this? Any ideas?

Thanks,
Steve

Originally posted by rute
A Friend of mine stopped by this morning to let me know that when he switched to 10.1 this weekend to watch FOX he was receiving WB. He tried 55.1 and got nothing. Anybody else seeing this? Any ideas?

Thanks,
Steve

What type of STB does he have?
The Samsung TS-360 can not separete FOX and WB.
The TS-160 finally got fixed on 6/2/04 S/W update and it will get them both now.

J C

Is anyone having problems getting WEAR ? I get a signal but no picture :confused: Who knows maybe the HD card came in and they're doing the upgrade . I know don't hold my breath .

My grandmother was getting nothing on WEAR tonight.

What seems to be the hardest channel for you guys to pull in? Oddly for me it is CBS, i thought that would be the easiest.

Originally posted by JC West
What type of STB does he have?
The Samsung TS-360 can not separete FOX and WB.
The TS-160 finally got fixed on 6/2/04 S/W update and it will get them both now.

J C

My grandmother has this unit and is not able to get 55 digital either, is there going to be a fix on this anytime soon? She can pick up 55 with DTV's locals, and i don't see this as a major problem, but it would be nice to have this working properly.

Yea I have the TS360 and can't pick up digital WB but can get it analog. FOX and CBS are also impossible to get. But then again I'm in Crestview.

Blake i got your message about cbs. That's the most difficult station to pull in from where you're at. They really need to increase their power, when they do that all will be golden but i even have trouble with them sometimes and i'm real close to their tower.

I didn't notice the 55-1 problem, that sucks.

Originally posted by crimsonblake
My grandmother has this unit and is not able to get 55 digital either, is there going to be a fix on this anytime soon? She can pick up 55 with DTV's locals, and i don't see this as a major problem, but it would be nice to have this working properly.

E-mail Joe Addalia addalia@wb18.com and Roland Fields rfields@wala.emmis.com and complaim. If enough of us give them a hard time they will get it fixed.

J C

Originally posted by JC West
E-mail Joe Addalia addalia@wb18.com and Roland Fields rfields@wala.emmis.com and complaim. If enough of us give them a hard time they will get it fixed.

J C

Who can we email at CBS?

Originally posted by JC West
E-mail Joe Addalia addalia@wb18.com and Roland Fields rfields@wala.emmis.com and complaim. If enough of us give them a hard time they will get it fixed.

J C

Here's a copy of the email my friend sent to addalia@wb18.com and rfields@wala.emmis.com :

Gentlemen,

I am having a problem with your HD transmissions in that I receive Channel 55.1 (WB) on the Frequency of FOX 10.1. I do not receive anything on 55.1, nor can I find the Fox HDTV transmission anywhere else. . I am using a Samsung TS-360 HDTV Receiver, and was, until recently receiving the Fox transmission, where it belonged.

Is there anything that can be done? No offense, but I would much prefer to watch Fox NFL football in HDTV than WB.

Thank you.

WKRG CBS


E-mail Address
JRichardson@wkrg.com

I only get sound on PBS 42-1 randomly, usually it doesnt come in but the picture is crystal clear, any ideas? Samsung TS-360. Thanks

Originally posted by wkp1
I only get sound on PBS 42-1 randomly, usually it doesnt come in but the picture is crystal clear, any ideas? Samsung TS-360. Thanks

I have the exact same problem. Perfect picture, but rarely sound.

Good Morning Len,

No I'm sorry but we are running low power, 55 KW. We will go full power 1 July, 2005.

Regards,

Jim Richardson, CE
WKRG-TV 5, WKRG-DT 27
555 Broadcast Dr.
Mobile, AL 36606
(251)662-2975
(251)662-2911 FAX
jrichardson@wkrg.com
ARS K4VW
-----Original Message-----
From: Len
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:09 PM
To: Richardson, James R .
Subject: ? on DT signal


Hello Mr Richardson
I live in Crestview FL. and I cannot receive the DT 27 signal on a consistent basis, once maybe twice a month . I've put up a UHF antenna outside . Is the signal being broadcast at full power ? I would like to watch football in HD this year .Thank you for your time.


Len

I encourage everyone on this thread to tell you're friends and family to contact our local stations that are not serving us. The only way these tight wads will go full power is thru calls and emails.

Originally posted by lenbo
I encourage everyone on this thread to tell you're friends and family to contact our local stations that are not serving us. The only way these tight wads will go full power is thru calls and emails.

If I was you I would email him back and ask why 1 July 2005. It's strange if they are just trying to save money to quote such a firm date so far in the future. I'm not an expert but it may be an FCC thing. Maybe it has to do with cutting back power on their analog feed in order to legally boost the power on their digital feed. Like I said, I'm not an expert, just taking a shot in the dark.

If I was you, I'd definitely email him back and ask why that date before getting everyone in an uproar...

Steve

Friday,20 August

Been away for a few days, and returned to find:

WEAR Better up-convert but no HD yet (not unexpected!)
WALA Strong signal on digital 9 but pixelation, audio breakups and no
widescreen.
WPMI no 15-2, just 15-1 and the HD Olympic programming
WJTC OK!No problems
WB55 same results as with WALA-- no WS, but pixels and breakups

Anyone else?

(I've sent an email to the WALA folks suggesting that they have a problem, and a complaint to WKRG [once again] about the lack of power. I know, the answwer from richardson will be that they will go full power when they are required by the FCC to do so on July 1, 2005.)

lenbo, have you tried WTVY-CBS in Dothan? DTV Channel 36 broadcasting from 10 mile north of Bonifay. FL

Yea I can pick them up when I turn the antenna 180 degrees. Like everyone else I'd like to set and forget .

Understand the "set and forget". If WKRG was full power, and if WEAR was HD you and I wouldn't have any need for a rotor. At least Channel Master's remote controlled rotor is nicer than the older version as that you can set up rotor position by channel number. But it still takes time to turn 180 degrees.

How do you fare with WMBB-ABC in Panama City? Can you get them?

The only DTV channel I get is WTVY . I was wondering if I took the screen off the antenna, it's a channel master 4228 , would I be able to get WTVY without affecting the other stations. WTVY is 180 degrees of my main DTV. I'm not concerned about analog stations so I don't think ghosting and multi-path would be a problem. Anybody have any thoughts on that ? :confused:

Took the screen off the channel master 4228 to try and get a additional channel . Well I had success. WTVY comes in just great .The other channels don't appear to have suffered any , in fact they all seem to come in a few points better. So now I receive : WJTC , WTVY, WEAR , WPMI , and WSRE .
Still no WKRG = NOT full power :mad: , WALA and WBPG are transmitted on VHF so no luck there. Might break down and get a high band VHF antenna to get FOX now that they're going HD.

Lenbo

I'm surprised! I would have thought the screen was necessary for good reception. I guess it has something to do with the antenna's directivity from what your experience has been. Multipath can mess up DTV, just as it can STV and directivity helps multipath rejection, but can't argue with success.

Let me know what your VHF antenna does if you get one. I have given up on FOX at my place, but I may try again.

And to warn you, WTVY at some future point will shut down its analog broadcast and move the digital broadcast down to channel 4. That's why it wouldn't go to full power now. They plan to use channel 4, with its lower power requirements, for the permanment DTV setup and abandon the current channel 36. I got this straight from the chief engineer.

Now this will be a ways off, but I would how many people going to UHF antennas for their DTV stations around the country may find their local stations changing to VHF when they have to shutdown their analog broadcast?

Talked to head of programing at WEAR today, he said they will be going full power on DTV 17 this week. Also said HDTV will be on line before first regular season Monday Night Football game. :D :D :D

FOX/WB Widescreen

Anyone know what has happened to widescreen on WALA and WB55? Is this part of the transition to Fox HD? (Or, is there just something wrong with my system?)

Originally posted by lenbo
Talked to head of programing at WEAR today, he said they will be going full power on DTV 17 this week. Also said HDTV will be on line before first regular season Monday Night Football game. :D :D :D

Excellent news!

I just installed a CM 4228 with NO preamp at my grandmothers house and she is getting everything crystal clear.

I took down the squareshooter she had up and will install it my house this week, i'm farily certain that i will have no problems at all with the squareshooter. I live 1 mile from downtown Mobile.

I installed the Squareshooter at my duplex with much success. I'm on the second floor of a historic duplex in Oakleigh. The house has 11 foot ceillings down stairs and 12 foot ceillings upstairs, and an attic that has a roof 7 foot higher.

I placed the squareshooter up there w/o the pre-amp and was only able to receive 42-1 and 5-1.

After removing the preamp, i was receiving EVERY channel with at least 85 power, and some with upwards of 94.

I simply cannot wait for SEC football on CBS!

The Hitachi arrives tomorrow morning.

I noticed that the HR10-250 did not find WB 55-1 nor did it locate 5-2 the doppler radar channels. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Good news: TV has arrived :)

Bad news: found out the HDMI port on my HD TIVO was DOA.

My replacement HR-250 Tivo came in and it had a dead HDMI port too. This is fricken unbelievable.

Having HD football on Sept 4th is starting to look rather bleak.

WALA

No Widescreen for the Washingtion/Sait Louis game tonight (Friday, Aug 27th at 8:20 PM)?

I checked the program forum and every body has it but us.
Did WALA get there splicer installed for 720P?
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=438262&perpage=30&pagenumber=2

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=439520

I haven't seen any WS on either Fox or WB in the past two weeks. I've sent emails to Addalia and to Fields but no response from either.

After hearing some of the scuttlebutt about WEAR and HDTV I emailed Joe Smith and here is the reply I got.


Roger,

Some good news ... and some iffy news. WEAR-DT17 is indeed going to raise power to 1 million Kw, and begin offering HDTV. The PLAN is to accomplish this prior to the first regular season Monday Night Football game (on September 13).

We are awaiting a crew to arrive to install the ABC HD reception equipment (scheduled for next week), and arrival of our full-power tubes for our transmitter (any day now). If all stays on-schedule, we should make our deadline. HOWEVER, there's a hurricane that may change everyone's schedule this weekend.

Also, the Dolby 5.1 audio equipment is on back-order, and probably will not arrive with the other HD equipment, so our first few weeks of HDTV broadcasts may have only standard stereo audio.

So, let's hope Hurricane Frances heads up the East Coast, and everyone else stays on schedule.

Keep watching!

Joe

I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch but I have to admit I'm surprised that WEAR is getting close to broadcasting HD. We just might get some Monday night football in high-def this year!

Roger

Thanks for the update.

Can anyone recommend a small unobtrusive antenna to put outside next to my SqS to pick up fox/wb. I've lost my vhf channels again and i've been using a second vhf antenna in the attic, but for some reason i've gone from 70% to 20%, no change in setup at all. I"m going to give up and put a second vhf antenna outside but my wife needs it to be something that doesn't stand out. I would assume since i only need those two channels i can get away with something cheap (build quality not price) like a terk wand antenna or something like that. Any suggestions?

NBC

Tim Reid of WPMI has told me in an email that they made some changes in their PSIP data stream. I am now receiving SD broadcasts when I key-in either 15-1 or 15-2. although 15-1 identifies itself as WPMI-DT and 15-2 as WPMI-SD. If I key-in 47-1, it remaps to 15-1. If I key-in 47-2, I do get the WPMI HD service but with no identification (other than Local Channel) and no program information. I have a Hughes STB. Is anyone else experiencing these results or anything similar, or are you getting the intended behavior- HD on 15-1 and SD on 15-2?

I have been having trouble locking in WKRG for about a month. It used to come in great, and I'm still getting 68%-71%, but it blinks out every 1-8 seconds. This started happening at the same time DISH added "HD" and "SD" on-screen prompts. I'm getting everything else in pretty well. I contacted both WKRG and DISH, but they had not heard of this particular problem before.

I am using a Radio Shack antenna in my attic (my wife won't let me put it on the roof. ) The DISH installer guy rigged it up with a diplexer so my antenna feed and satellite feed come through one cable. Would it help if I ran a separate cable?

Originally posted by cnagel5
I am using a Radio Shack antenna in my attic (my wife won't let me put it on the roof. )

The radio shack antenna is your problem. Upgrade to a Channel Master 4228 and you probably won't have any problems at all.

Forbes Electronics in Mobile sells them.


Originally posted by beachrez
I have a Hughes STB. Is anyone else experiencing these results or anything similar, or are you getting the intended behavior- HD on 15-1 and SD on 15-2?

I'm receiving 15-1 in HD and 15-2 in SD as normal.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by crimsonblake
[B]The radio shack antenna is your problem. Upgrade to a Channel Master 4228 and you probably won't have any problems at all.




Will it work in the attic?

Just be aware, cnagel5, a CM4228 is a UHF. It's not designed to get channels below 14. As in, no FOX on channel 9.

Originally posted by RickRS
Just be aware, cnagel5, a CM4228 is a UHF. It's not designed to get channels below 14. As in, no FOX on channel 9.

You will probably get FOX even though this is only a UHF antenna. My grandmother has this antenna installed near tillman's corner and receives FOX just fine, with no preamp.

Originally posted by cnagel5
[QUOTE]Originally posted by crimsonblake
[B]The radio shack antenna is your problem. Upgrade to a Channel Master 4228 and you probably won't have any problems at all.




Will it work in the attic?

May not be the antenna. I have had the same problem for about the same time after receiving CBS HD program for over a year. I too am using Dish and I have the Channel Master antenna installed outside with a clear view here on Dauphin Island. Is anyone in the group able to get CBS 5 (digital 27) using the Dish 6000 receiver?

has anyone tried the DB8 from Atennas direct? I am only picking up UPN and PBS in HD... Nothing else is coming in, I have a Zenith Directv receiver and I also purchased their PA16 pre-amp.... Any help would be greatly appreciated. Regards

Mill3704,

Your antenna is the equivilent of the CM4228 8 bowtie UHF. If you can get UPN-44 (act. ch45) and PBS-23 (ch 31), you should also get NBC-15 (ch. 47) and ABC-3 (ch. 17). What's your antenna details, height, outdoor location?

How far away does the signals from the Mobile stations go to the West of Mobile? Will they reach the Biloxi/Gulfport area?

Rick,

It will be mounted in Attic and height around 18 foot... Before I placed it in tha attic I was trying to fine tune the direction... Does not seem like I will be able to accomplish that without putting it in the attic. ALso, it is my understanding that CBS out of Mobile WKRG is broadcasting on Channel 27... Is that correct? Thanks...

Yes, CBS is on 27.

For sure, if you are just checking out the antenna near the ground, move it up to its higher location before making any judgements.

And if you can, check the antenna outside the attic. You give up several dB because the signal is absorbed by the roofing materials. A preamp is not a cure-all, it is always better to get as much signal at the antenna before you try amplifying it, otherwise you have a weak signal amid the ever present background noise, with the preamp amplifying both. And it amplifies them equally, so if a signal doesn't stick out of the noise before amplication, it won't stick out after.

That said, if it works in your attic, more power to you.

Also, if you have room, you can experimental with vertical placement. A couple feet up or down may change thing a bit. Try a few inches at a time, after you have the antenna pointed in the right directions.

NBC, UPN, PBS are all close to each other, so if you get two, I would expect all three.

FOX, NBC, and UPN are the only stations at full FCC approved power. CBS on the other hand is a lower powered, so your mileage will vary. It is lucky day if I get it in FWB.

I'm having weird signals with upn, i get everything in strong now but lots of breakups on upn, if i turn my antenna a minute amount i get upn strong and everything else (except nbc) falls apart.

oh well

Has anyone had any audio sync problems with our local NBC? Today Jeopardy and yesterday Hawaii both had audio sync problems.

Also, i have been getting alot of breakups on PBS 42-1 even though i have a strong signal.

Originally posted by crimsonblake
Has anyone had any audio sync problems with our local NBC? Today Jeopardy and yesterday Hawaii both had audio sync problems.

NBC no problem. PBS 42-1 depends on the day. Great yesterday, breakups today.

Also, i have been getting alot of breakups on PBS 42-1 even though i have a strong signal.

Well guys i'm off to cedia, i'll checck this board so if anyone wants me to check something out i will.

Daniel

Originally posted by lenbo
Talked to head of programing at WEAR today, he said they will be going full power on DTV 17 this week. Also said HDTV will be on line before first regular season Monday Night Football game.



So the big question is, Will WEAR be broadcasting in HD tonight for the first NFL game, even though its not on monday it is the first monday night football telecast. Based on history, i would bet they dont have it up tonight? Anyone in the know? WKP

All we can do is wait and see ??? The game will start in 30 min's. :eek:

i cannot seem to get wear go lock in....

Originally posted by lenbo
All we can do is wait and see ??? The game will start in 30 min's. :eek:

Was the game HD?

The game was not in HD last night on WEAR

Is anyone in Pensacola not receiving ESPNHD on Cox?

Well guys i've pretty much finished my first Cedia. Some really cool stuff here. I'd be happy to go into anything i've seen or anything anyone is looking into. Few things that impressed me.

James Loudspeakers. These guys have some new speakers that are incredible, especially in their inwall design. Very musical great sounding speakers. The coolest were two 6' tall in wall speakers that have the center built in as well so no true center is required. Remarkable soundstage and really great speakers.

LG:
They have a 71" plasma on display. While it wasn't the best looking plasma i've seen for the size and the price point it's quite nice.

Samsung:
I watched a demo of their new single chip dlp front projector designed by joe kane and the demo was done by joe kane. Unreal for the money. Best single chip projector i've seen at their price point.

Digital Projection:
Truly the best projectors i've ever seen to my eyes. Watched a presentation of I Robot by Texas Instruments using their 170k projector in a true movie theater. Picture quality was unreal.

Their 3 chip 35k projector was also quite nice. I'll definately be signing up with these guys, great stuff and extremely high quality.

Denon:
Their new denon 5805 flagship is sick. It's 1.5 ft tall and is just fricking huge. It has hdmi inputs and outputs. Their hdmi dvd player will hook up via hdmi and it sounds really nice.

Lexicon:
Their rv8 receiver is really good. Smaller than the crazy sized denon and no hdmi (has an upgrade slot for it though) but it blew away the denon as it should. Granted it's more expensive too.

Directv:
Their hd tivo is selling strong but couldn't find out anything about discounts or any new hd tivo's in the pipeline.

CAT:
These speakers are simply insane. Will be getting set up with them for the ultra high end, not sure they can be beat, but at their price they shouldn't be. That said james at a much cheaper price can give them a real run.

Well that's about all i know today, pretty tired.

Daniel

Anyone know if our local FOX 10-1 is going to show the Saints game tomorrow in HD?

Saints should be in HD today on our Fox 10.1 because D* has it on ST in HD.
______________________________________

http://www.directvsports.com/Schedules/Packages/NFLSundayTicket/

Anyone getting frequent video/audio drops and pixelation on Fox 10-1?

The Saints look great in HD :)

Yep--- lots of very annoying audio/visual breakups on WALA during this game.

Its not WALA, its a national problem from FOX. There is a thread on this on the programming forum.

Is anyone else having trouble just picking up WALA altogether recently?

A few months ago, I was getting it rock solid, but for the past few weeks, if I check my signal strength, it's going from 0 to ~60% all the time. I am having no other problems with any other channels, just FOX.

--Matt

WEAR fails again! Although they had indicated that they probably could meet their deadline if Hurricane Francis stayed away last week, they still don't have the ABC HD feed. Now, they will have a hurricane as an excuse. maybe we'll get ABC HD in 2005!

Anyone else a little freaked out about this hurricane? I went through Andrew living in lafayette, la at the time, but this one looks very big. I don't believe anyone really knows where it's going to land but it's crazy strong. I'm boarding up my house tomorrow (i couldn't get any clips so will be screwing plyboard into my walls which should be fun) but i'll ride it out i think.

good luck to everyone.

Originally posted by Cinder
Anyone else a little freaked out about this hurricane? I went through Andrew living in lafayette, la at the time, but this one looks very big. I don't believe anyone really knows where it's going to land but it's crazy strong. I'm boarding up my house tomorrow (i couldn't get any clips so will be screwing plyboard into my walls which should be fun) but i'll ride it out i think.

good luck to everyone.

I went through Opal in Enterprise. The eye of the storm went right over Enterprise. We didn't have power for 6 days. I'm getting the heck out of town, i'm going to stay with my parents in Dothan. I have to be able to watch some football on Saturday and Sunday :)

I wish everybody good luck in this forum. pray it turns around and goes the other way.

Good luck everybody, hope everyone makes it without too much damage. Looks like everyone in Mobile area is in for a rough day. I got a new roof from Opal, dont need another one so if Ivan wants to give Fort Walton area a miss thats OK by me :)

Bob H.

Does anyone know which radio stations (by frequency) will simulcast WKRG TV's audio? They have by far the best coverage of any media in the area.

Bob in Pensacola.

Originally posted by Cinder
Anyone else a little freaked out about this hurricane? I went through Andrew living in lafayette, la at the time, but this one looks very big. I don't believe anyone really knows where it's going to land but it's crazy strong. I'm boarding up my house tomorrow (i couldn't get any clips so will be screwing plyboard into my walls which should be fun) but i'll ride it out i think.

good luck to everyone.

Cinder, looks like you're going to be in the core of the hurricane. If you have big trees close to your house (especially pines) try to pick a room in the house now that will be least likely to have a tree punch the roof above it. A room which is not on an exterior wall is also the place to be (like an interior bathroom).
And when the eye approaches you'll want to get to that room.
If things get dicey and If you have children, put them in the tub. And have a foam mattress or air mattress or sofa cushions close by to cover their heads with.

Bob (in Pensacola)

Just checking in, power and cable restored to parts of Shalimar and Fort Walton area. Got pretty lucky here lost a satellite dish and am trying to figure out how to get a very large part of a maple tree off my roof, apart from that just need to fix some of my fencing. I hope everyone else is OK and that they will leave info when able to.

Bob H.

Well things turned out alright here. We attempted sleep in an interior hallway. goodluck to you guys that got hit by the east wall of ivan, i've seen the pictures and know some people who got hit pretty hard.

Daniel

As expected, no Monday Night Football in HD. :rolleyes: