I am in south Tipton County and am using the Winegard Sensar III bi-directional furnished with my VoOM system when it was installed. It is mounted below the eave of a 1 story section of my home, about 9' off the ground. I get "wow" reception on every OTA channel in Memphis. Fortunately, I am pretty much on a line with all the transmitters. I agree with the start cheap and no amplification plan. It doesn't take much of an antenna, but outdoors makes all the difference.

Thanks to all. 62" Toshiba sitting in the den all dark--->just ain't right. I'll be taking of business toward correcting that issue soon. A friend of mine has done custom cabinet work for many years and we pretty much finished up building one today for my new HDTV set. Have to build a couple drawers and a couple of doors, and I'll be set.
He does some great paint work also, and depending on a lot of factors hopefully it will be finished soon. I'm kinda' like a child on Christmas morning right now.

Again, thanks for the replies.--Bud

I'm getting my taxes done at Mo' Money Taxes

:D

I am in south Tipton County and am using the Winegard Sensar III bi-directional furnished with my VoOM system when it was installed. It is mounted below the eave of a 1 story section of my home, about 9' off the ground. I get "wow" reception on every OTA channel in Memphis. Fortunately, I am pretty much on a line with all the transmitters. I agree with the start cheap and no amplification plan. It doesn't take much of an antenna, but outdoors makes all the difference.


I'm probably within 2 or 3 miles of your location and I am considering getting the same antenna that you have. I just upgraded to D* HD Locals but Channel 3 (SUPER BOWL) is not a part of it yet. According to your post you get all the channels without any problems so this sounds like I can't go wrong with the Winegard. I'll be mounting mine on the 2nd floor.

One question though. Is yours underneath the eave mounted on the horizontal part or is it mounted on the vertical part. In other words is it pointed at the ground or at the transmitter site?

I just upgraded to D* HD Locals but Channel 3 (SUPER BOWL) is not a part of it yet.
In the last few days I've had a few people at work, ones who I didn't know had HD, come see me and ask about WREG being on D* in HD by the Super Bowl. I told them all to go buy an antenna. :D Someone on the FU line on Rock 103 was cussing D* and WREG for not being in HD yet. It was funny.

I'm probably within 2 or 3 miles of your location and I am considering getting the same antenna that you have. I just upgraded to D* HD Locals but Channel 3 (SUPER BOWL) is not a part of it yet. According to your post you get all the channels without any problems so this sounds like I can't go wrong with the Winegard. I'll be mounting mine on the 2nd floor.

One question though. Is yours underneath the eave mounted on the horizontal part or is it mounted on the vertical part. In other words is it pointed at the ground or at the transmitter site?
The Winegard antenna looks like an airplane. Mine is mounted on a mast screwed to the wall. It looks like it is flying toward the transmitters. I took a couple of pictures but I can't figure out how to post them here. Maybe someone will help me out and I'll post them.

Per your advice I went to WalMart yesterday and bought a $13 RCA combo VHF/UHF/HDTV antenna. It has a 6 ft cable attached. Plugged into my TV, and after eliminating all the channels I didn't want I'll have to say it was quite a surprise to get such a clear screen. All signals are between the mid-80s and mid-90s. I get a good signal on WMC, but a better one by rotating it slightly to the west. That's the only adjustment I have to make. I'm good to go.

Last night I thought that maybe Letterman or Leno were going to walk out of the screen into my den.

That's not to say one day I won't cut a length of cable and go to the top of my two story house and see what happens signal wise. Let's see--"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," or "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." I lean toward, "Curiosity killed the cat."

Thanks again.

The Winegard antenna looks like an airplane. Mine is mounted on a mast screwed to the wall. It looks like it is flying toward the transmitters. I took a couple of pictures but I can't figure out how to post them here. Maybe someone will help me out and I'll post them.
You can upload them to imageshack.us and it will create a code for forums you could just cut/paste. That's what I use for mine.

In the last few days I've had a few people at work, ones who I didn't know had HD, come see me and ask about WREG being on D* in HD by the Super Bowl. I told them all to go buy an antenna. :D Someone on the FU line on Rock 103 was cussing D* and WREG for not being in HD yet. It was funny.


Neighbor across street upgraded to D* HD with locals a couple of weeks ago and apparently no one told him that D* HD locals did not include channels 3, 10, 30, & 50. I was looking at his install last week (during CHI-NO game) before mine was installed and asking some questions and he thought that he was getting HD on all his stations because the station said broadcasting in HD. I had to explain to him that D* was only broadcasting the SD signal to him. That he had to get an antenna to get the others. He was so pissed I thought he was going to hit me. Now he is waiting to see what antenna I put up.

Anyway I bought a cheap Rat Shak and hooked it up. I could get 90's from WREGdt-3.1 but could not get anything from 10 and 30. 50 was freezing up so I ordered the Winegard like dogpoobob has. Ordered today. I'm going to return the Rat Shak when I get the Winegard put up. At least I'm guaranteed a good signal for the Super Bowl unless something else happens

Anyway I bought a cheap Rat Shak and hooked it up. I could get 90's from WREGdt-3.1 but could not get anything from 10 and 30. 50 was freezing up so I ordered the Winegard like dogpoobob has. Ordered today. I'm going to return the Rat Shak when I get the Winegard put up. At least I'm guaranteed a good signal for the Super Bowl unless something else happens
Did you have a solid signal on 50? I don't think it is an antenna issue if you do have a strong signal.

50-2 is Qubo which has children's programming on it. I have a nearly 18 month old and I've been checking it out to see if it would appeal to him but the cartoons seem a little too old for him. (Man, thought I could get rid of BabyFirstTV and save $10 a month.) Anyways the last couple of days the audio has been freezing up like I am having audio dropouts, but the video is usually fine. Now that I'm thinking about it I'm going to contact them to have them look at it. Probably the only viewer email they get :p

You can upload them to imageshack.us and it will create a code for forums you could just cut/paste. That's what I use for mine.
OK, let's try this:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/9282/dcp37839pe.th.jpg (http://img254.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dcp37839pe.jpg)

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2248/dcp37822sp.th.jpg (http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dcp37822sp.jpg)

Neighbor across street upgraded to D* HD with locals a couple of weeks ago and apparently no one told him that D* HD locals did not include channels 3, 10, 30, & 50.

Wow I didn't know that either! They're due to install mine on 1/29. :mad:

I found this on wreg.com and it's got me fired up. They need to post an article about why they are not on D* yet.

Posted by Omari Fleming
High definition in high demand

Jan 24, 2007 05:35 PM CST


MEMPHIS, TN -- Whether your talking 42 or 60-inches, Nick Bardo will tell you the only way to enjoy the upcoming Superbowl is by watching it on a high definition, wide screen, flat panel television.

"This is the Superbowl of television and this is the ultimate way to view it," says Bardo.

But if you recently bought a high definition television or plan to for the big game, harnessing the power and clarity of high definition, better known as HD, may be tough. That's because Comcast cable is having a hard time keeping HD set top boxes in stock.

"Is this Comcast specific? No it's everyone whether Time Warner, Charter or Comcast," says Brandon.

In fact, we called around and found that Time Warner properties in Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, California are experiencing shortages. We also found that Comcast in Nashville, Jackson, Mississippi and Little Rock, Arkansas don't have enough boxes.

Comcast spokesman Otha Brandon says the problem is a matter of supply, demand and reduced pricing.

"HD television sets have gone down in price. When you combine programming with cheaper television sets, then you get a greater demand."

Nick Brando at Dilday says if you can't get your hands on an HD box, he says they can help you hook up an off-line antenna that can pick up the HD signal.

Per your advice I went to WalMart yesterday and bought a $13 RCA combo VHF/UHF/HDTV antenna. It has a 6 ft cable attached. Plugged into my TV, and after eliminating all the channels I didn't want I'll have to say it was quite a surprise to get such a clear screen. All signals are between the mid-80s and mid-90s. I get a good signal on WMC, but a better one by rotating it slightly to the west. That's the only adjustment I have to make. I'm good to go.

Last night I thought that maybe Letterman or Leno were going to walk out of the screen into my den.

That's not to say one day I won't cut a length of cable and go to the top of my two story house and see what happens signal wise. Let's see--"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," or "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." I lean toward, "Curiosity killed the cat."

Thanks again.

I live in midtown and had a quad UHF bowtie antenna on the roof until this WHBQ problem popped up. After doing some testing I found all I needed was an antenna at the TV. I went to an estate sale a couple weeks back and picked up some 60's era UHF double bowtie antennas made to sit on top of a TV set for $2 each. I've got one on the set upstairs sitting in the back of my cabinet and one on the downstairs TV in my component closet. They both recieve as well as the one on the roof. I no longer have an antenna on the roof.

Wow I didn't know that either! They're due to install mine on 1/29. :mad:
I've got a feeling we will be seeing a lot of these type posts popping up in the next 2 weeks.

I found this on wreg.com and it's got me fired up. They need to post an article about why they are not on D* yet.
I agree. But them not mentioning anything about D* saves them from the backlash they could get if people think they can get WREG-DT on D*.

btw...I emailed Ron Walter at WREG Tuesday about giving us more bandwidth for the Super Bowl. I haven't recieved a response from him yet. This was my email:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Ron,
This past weekend I finally watched more than 10 minutes of a sporting event on WREG-DT due to the blocking on all HD programs. Since the Super Bowl is on CBS in 2 weeks can something please be done to give us a pristine HD PQ? Can the bit rate on 3-2 be turned down tremendously so we can see shots without massive amounts of blocking in them? Even WMC drops down 5-3 down to below 750kbps, so I’m sure 3-2 could manage that and even less. Dropping 3-2 down a lot, or turning off the mux, and also decreasing the amount of null packets sent will make the HD PQ look amazing, like it did before multicasting started.

Please take this into consideration for all those people that have HD. It will only be a couple of hours.

Thanks,
Dennis
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If I get a response I'll let ya'll know. I think we should flood his inbox with these type requests to show that we do place a premium on HD, not on their subchannel. ron.walter@wreg.com

[/QUOTE]"Is this Comcast specific? No it's everyone whether Time Warner, Charter or Comcast," says Brandon.
[QUOTE]

No wonder D* upped the ante when I called about the HR20+ installation today as opposed to last week. Supply and demand at work.

I am new to HDTV in the memphis area and couldn't find a listing of the pros and cons of cable versus DirectTV versus DISH network in the memphis area. Could anyone give some input into the matter? Thanks in advance.

First off welcome. I can give you my view on D*. It is just ok, the HD lineup is slim. You get HBO and Cinemax (if you subscribe). The HD Subscription includes ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD, Universal HD, TNT-HD, HDnet, HDnet Movies, and Discovery HD Theater. The Memphis Locals in HD are, WMC (which by the way is terrible through the HR20), WHBQ, and WPTY. WREG is NOT broadcast by DirecTV over the satellite, but you may be where you can get it and the other locals via antenna. DirecTv is supposed to be launching new satellites that will expand their HD capability by Q3 this year. I'm happy with my D*. Have no experience with Comcast or Dish. I know there are others here that do have experience.

Mike

Since Bellsouth is now AT&T, I wonder if we will see AT&T U-verse?

Did you have a solid signal on 50? I don't think it is an antenna issue if you do have a strong signal.

:p

I am getting about 30% on 50. It looks like you are watching it in stop motion.

I get nothing on 10 or 30 which is why I ordered the Winegard. It is scheduled to deliver Tuesday so I hope i can get it installed before I have to go to work on WED at 1:30. I'll let you know then.

OK, let's try this:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/9282/dcp37839pe.th.jpg (http://img254.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dcp37839pe.jpg)

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2248/dcp37822sp.th.jpg (http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dcp37822sp.jpg)


Thanks for the photos. I'm going to try mounting mine upside down hanging under the eve. It'll be on the 2nd floor eve.

Larry

mx6bfast

I just sent Ron @ WREG an e-mail. Hopefully they will comply.

mx6bfast

I just sent Ron @ WREG an e-mail. Hopefully they will comply.
Sweet. Let us know if you get a repsonse.

I checked 50-2 and it appears to be fixed.

I found out today that the OTA must be connected straight to the HR20, no diplexor.

I have had problems since the installation in September. So for, this seems to have corrected the problem.

Since Bellsouth is now AT&T, I wonder if we will see AT&T U-verse?
There's probably a better chance on us getting that than Fios. It'd be cool if we did get it.

fwiw...I asked the guy (he no longer deserves a name) about all the blocking on his channel and this is what he replied with:

Regarding your question on blocking, the signal that we send out generally
has no blocking. Nevertheless, we do plan to upgrade our equipment later
this year and this should minimize this possibility even more. We
appreciate your patience, and once again, thank you for watching WREG-TV.

Good luck with him turning down the subchannel for the biggest sporting event in the US.

I guess since WREG sends out a signal with generally no blocking I guess it is all of our sets then. :rolleyes:

After spending many hours trying to figure this out I finally got it. I've recorded some shows on my pc using watchHDTV. I have the new Nero and have been able to burn the shows onto dvd. The first few times I tried to burn them to dvd it didn't work correctly for some reason. Anyways in Nero I transcode the file down to 720x480 and then burn it to dvd. I burned both the original file and the transcodedmpeg-2 file on the same dvd. I'm going to try to do mpeg-4 if I can figure it out.

The PQ is surprisingly still pretty good. I did an episode of Bones and NCAA basketball from this past weekend. Bones looked best because it only went down from 720p to 480p. Basketball looked not as good because it came down from 1080i.

There was more blocking in the BB game than from Bones. With Bones it was harder to see, but the blocking was somewhat masked in the BB game since there wasn't the pop that you usually see with HD. I wasn't able to get 5.1 though, only 2.0.

480p is 640x480 so I wonder if I am really seeing 720x480 or 640x480 on my tv. I wonder if I burn at higher resolutions will it really burn at those resolutions? Or will they still output at 640x480? Anyone know?

480p is 640x480 so I wonder if I am really seeing 720x480 or 640x480 on my tv. I wonder if I burn at higher resolutions will it really burn at those resolutions? Or will they still output at 640x480? Anyone know?
DVD players use 720 X 480 for 480i or 480p (rectangular pixels), while computers and DTV sets use 640 X 480 (square pixels).

When you transcode from 720p for use on a DVD player, you want to use DV or D1 standard resolutions (720 X 480) instead of the square pixel version.

If you wanted to use the disk on a computer (and if the player software recognized it as a square pixel format and knows not to resize it), you would want to use 640 X 480 to avoid the conversion.

If you wanted to use it to make a ATSC video stream, you would also use 640 X 480 since this is one of the ATSC standard formats (again avoiding conversion).

Just to complicate things, there is a 704 X 480 format in ATSC.

Hope that makes more sense to you than it does to me!

By the way, I archive all of my home movies on MPEG-4 using Nero. It takes forever to render, but the quality is great!

If I buy rabbit ears and i just plug it into my tv, shouldn't it just automatically pick up the HD signals? I have a pio 5070...and i am getting fuzzy images on the antenna setting.

If I buy rabbit ears and i just plug it into my tv, shouldn't it just automatically pick up the HD signals? I have a pio 5070...and i am getting fuzzy images on the antenna setting.
It might be that simple. ;)

You might have to enter in your zip code and then do a search so it will find them. Go to antennaweb.org, enter in the info, and then you can see what kind of antenna you need due to your distance from the towers. If you are fairly close you could just use some rabbit ears.

Someone on here (can't find the post) mentioned Comcast doesn't have any HD boxes. A friend up at work tried to get one yesterday but the lady said they are all out still.

Has anyone had any luck getting an HD box from Comcast lately? I bought a new tv about a week ago and haven't been able to get a box, and they say they don't know when they'll get them. It's frustrating.

I have been able to get good reception on OTA stations although I can't really pick up WMC at all for some reason.

Has anyone had any luck getting an HD box from Comcast lately? I bought a new tv about a week ago and haven't been able to get a box, and they say they don't know when they'll get them. It's frustrating.

I have been able to get good reception on OTA stations although I can't really pick up WMC at all for some reason.

I STILL can't get Comcast to turn my HD Tier back on...... 2 weeks now.

Good luck with getting them to do anything..

Anyone getting ABC in? 24.1? thanks would love to watch LOST.

Anyone getting ABC in? 24.1? thanks would love to watch LOST.
Not sure of your question. I get 24-1 5x5. Great signal and Lost is in HD and 5.1.

hmmm...i get everthing else in great...but my tv won't even let me pick 24.1 i get 24 just fine except it is fuzzy because it is analog

WPTY-DT is really broadcasting on channel, 28?, I think. It's been a while since I used OTA. It's somewhere around there. Try running a channel scan and see if that pulls it up.

WPTY-DT is really broadcasting on channel, 28?, I think. It's 25. WREG is 28.

hmmm...i get everthing else in great...but my tv won't even let me pick 24.1 i get 24 just fine except it is fuzzy because it is analogCan you pick up 30-1 and 5-1 with good signals? What do you get if you type in 25-1?

Is everyone ready?

Is everyone ready?
I have to be. I've gotta go pick up some medicine at Walgreens right now for my wife.

Early morning weather report...Been a mix of ice/snow in my area (70/G-town). Streets were wet but not too bad. I was able to go speed limit heading into Bartlett. Coming back from Summer/Stage to 70/G-town was much much worse. Apparently people are heading into Bartlett but not out. So really nothing to report right now, sorry. If you drive to work tomorrow be careful.

But why did Walgreens say at 5:30 that medicine would be ready by 11:30 and it wasn't ready until 12:15????

I have been able to get good reception on OTA stations although I can't really pick up WMC at all for some reason.

hmmm...i get everthing else in great...but my tv won't even let me pick 24.1 i get 24 just fine except it is fuzzy because it is analog Guys. General statements/questions like this don't give us enough information to help out. As you can see from our locations, we have people as far as 70 miles away getting OTA HD. If you take the time to read this entire thread (or the last 20 or so pages), you will see that different antennas work better in different neighborhoods. At least post what section of town you live in if you really want someone to help.

-Robert

I finally got a response back from WREG.
-------------------------------------------------
We hope to have the best display possible. Our senior engineer will be on duty that evening, as well as one of our most experienced technicians, who will be monitoring the HD signal the entire period. We hope you enjoy the game.
-------------------------------------------------
I hope he is serious they will give the best display possible. Or I wonder if that means they will add an extra .250 mbps to the feed? I guess we will see.

Has anyone had any luck getting an HD box from Comcast lately? I bought a new tv about a week ago and haven't been able to get a box, and they say they don't know when they'll get them. It's frustrating.

I have been able to get good reception on OTA stations although I can't really pick up WMC at all for some reason.

Don't feel bad man. I am sooo pissed. :mad: :mad: :mad: I bought a Mitsubishi 65732 65" 1080P HDTV planing on using it for PS3, Blu-Ray Movies, and HDTV. I have been waiting for over a MONTH AND A HALF for an HD Box from Comcast. You are right, NOBODY knows, or will say, when they will be getting more boxes. I have talked to the customer service people by phone, and the people at their Bartlett, Poplar, and Germantown offices and nobody knows anything.

I would to back to DirecTV but I am still sore from DirecTV F-ing me over badly when I sold my house and had to move into an apartment while the new house was being built.

I really don't know what to do. I want HDTV, but am getting nothing from Comcast. :(

How about Dish Network? They have a great HD DVR, and more HD channel choices than Comcast or DTV. (I have DTV, but was just offering another choice.)

How about Dish Network? They have a great HD DVR, and more HD channel choices than Comcast or DTV. (I have DTV, but was just offering another choice.)

Well, I hadn't considered them. Honestly, I always thought of them as a "second rate" service, but I never really looked into them.
After I moved into the new house, I got several calls from Dish as soon as my phone was connected. It was pretty dang annoying.

Anybody here had all three, or two of them, to give a good comparison.

Well, I hadn't considered them. Honestly, I always thought of them as a "second rate" service, but I never really looked into them.
After I moved into the new house, I got several calls from Dish as soon as my phone was connected. It was pretty dang annoying.

Anybody here had all three, or two of them, to give a good comparison.

Yeah, as a follow up to that, can anyone comment on the quality of a Comcast HD picture vs. that of DISH HD or DirecTV HD?

Don't feel bad man. I am sooo pissed. :mad: :mad: :mad: I bought a Mitsubishi 65732 65" 1080P HDTV planing on using it for PS3, Blu-Ray Movies, and HDTV. I have been waiting for over a MONTH AND A HALF for an HD Box from Comcast. You are right, NOBODY knows, or will say, when they will be getting more boxes. I have talked to the customer service people by phone, and the people at their Bartlett, Poplar, and Germantown offices and nobody knows anything.

I would to back to DirecTV but I am still sore from DirecTV F-ing me over badly when I sold my house and had to move into an apartment while the new house was being built.

I really don't know what to do. I want HDTV, but am getting nothing from Comcast. :(
That TV has a built in HDTV tuner so you could get the locals in HD at least with an antenna.

If the TV has a QAM tuner (I think mine does, Mitsu 57732), can you get the local HD channels with cable plugged directly into the TV and no antenna? Or do you have to have an antenna?

If the TV has a QAM tuner (I think mine does, Mitsu 57732), can you get the local HD channels with cable plugged directly into the TV and no antenna? Or do you have to have an antenna?
I think the QAM would act as a the cable box. Not sure though.

Well, I hadn't considered them. Honestly, I always thought of them as a "second rate" service, but I never really looked into them.
After I moved into the new house, I got several calls from Dish as soon as my phone was connected. It was pretty dang annoying.

Anybody here had all three, or two of them, to give a good comparison.
I have Dish and am pretty happy with them. I do not have one of the new MPEG-4 boxes, so I don't get all the HD available, but a new subscriber would. They just added Nat. Geographics HD and A&E HD. There are 30 other HD channels available in their HD package. This includes the movie channels (2) You can see a list of available channels here. (http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/dish_hd/programming/index.shtml)

I have a qoupon that will get you free activation, free installation, a DVR upgrade at no additional up front cost, and a $49.99 credit on your first bill. PM me and I;ll get you a number for this if you decide to subscribe.

I have the 622 HD DVR and I absolutely love it. I can record two programs off the dish, one off the OTA tuner and watch a fourth at the same time.

For those of you who want a Comcast HD DVR...I will be turning mine in around February 11. Rather than taking it back to Comcast, I suppose I could give it to one of you instead. We'd just have to make sure it gets off my account.

Let me know if you're interested.

Chase

For those of you who want a Comcast HD DVR...I will be turning mine in around February 11. Rather than taking it back to Comcast, I suppose I could give it to one of you instead. We'd just have to make sure it gets off my account.

Let me know if you're interested.

Chase

I'd be interested. Apparently, I have a better chance of winning powerball than getting a box in Memphis. Let me know what's easiest for you.

Tim

I STILL can't get Comcast to turn my HD Tier back on...... 2 weeks now.

Good luck with getting them to do anything..

I had the same problem. They finally were able to re-authorize my HD tier after almost 2 weeks. Two days later, the lose Center Ice for 4 days with no explaination. Comcast has been a joke so far.

A funny thing happened while ago when I typed in 3 on my remote for my HR20. It went to 3 WREG, like it is an HD Channel. It is displaying a message right now that says. "DirecTv does not have the rights to broadcast the Super Bowl in HD in your area. Please tune to your local CBS station to see the game" Are you about to get WREG in HD, or is Direct doing this in markets where the CBS stations are hold outs? I hope it's the former.

A funny thing happened while ago when I typed in 3 on my remote for my HR20. It went to 3 WREG, like it is an HD Channel. It is displaying a message right now that says. "DirecTv does not have the rights to broadcast the Super Bowl in HD in your area. Please tune to your local CBS station to see the game" Are you about to get WREG in HD, or is Direct doing this in markets where the CBS stations are hold outs? I hope it's the former.
While I hope for those with HDLIL's from D* the answer is the first, it could be a safeguard the D* is putting on the CBS stations that aren't carried yet so they don't get bombarded with calls tomorrow.

I'm sure if WREG-DT was really gonna be on D* they would've said something about it in the news, website, or in the paper.

I think you're right because Indy is getting the same message. I am about sick of this. It doesn't matter to me that I get 100% signal strength OTA it's the point of the matter. I think it is time to step up my actions. I think now I will make note of all their local advertisers and let them know how I feel and to stress to them as long as this goes on I will not use their products, or shop at their stores or whatever they are advertising for, and I plan to tell everyone who will listen about what is going on. I will also stress that the internet is a beautiful thing when it comes to this. I may also have to call WREG and tell them the same and that I will no longer be watching their station.

I have Dish and am pretty happy with them. I do not have one of the new MPEG-4 boxes, so I don't get all the HD available, but a new subscriber would. They just added Nat. Geographics HD and A&E HD. There are 30 other HD channels available in their HD package. This includes the movie channels (2) You can see a list of available channels here. (http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/dish_hd/programming/index.shtml)

I have a qoupon that will get you free activation, free installation, a DVR upgrade at no additional up front cost, and a $49.99 credit on your first bill. PM me and I;ll get you a number for this if you decide to subscribe.

I have the 622 HD DVR and I absolutely love it. I can record two programs off the dish, one off the OTA tuner and watch a fourth at the same time.


isnt 622 mpeg4, I get all the channels with a 622

I have Dish and am pretty happy with them. I do not have one of the new MPEG-4 boxes, so I don't get all the HD available, but a new subscriber would. They just added Nat. Geographics HD and A&E HD. There are 30 other HD channels available in their HD package. This includes the movie channels (2) You can see a list of available channels here. (http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/dish_hd/programming/index.shtml)

I have a qoupon that will get you free activation, free installation, a DVR upgrade at no additional up front cost, and a $49.99 credit on your first bill. PM me and I;ll get you a number for this if you decide to subscribe.

I have the 622 HD DVR and I absolutely love it. I can record two programs off the dish, one off the OTA tuner and watch a fourth at the same time.


isnt 622 mpeg4, I get all the channels with a 622

I finally got a response back from WREG.
-------------------------------------------------
We hope to have the best display possible. Our senior engineer will be on duty that evening, as well as one of our most experienced technicians, who will be monitoring the HD signal the entire period. We hope you enjoy the game.
-------------------------------------------------
I hope he is serious they will give the best display possible. Or I wonder if that means they will add an extra .250 mbps to the feed? I guess we will see.


Sorry It took so long, been out of pocket. Anyway I got the exact same e-mail. He must have mass mailed it.

Got my Winegard antenna up but instead of outdoor mounting it I put it in the attic. It is about 33' above the ground sittng on a couple of my roof rafter ties. I'm getting 100% signal on WREG 3.1 & 3.2, 80's on 5.1.2.3, 90's on 10.1.2.3, 100% on 13.1, 90's on 24.1, & 90's on 30.1. I'm going to stick with this for awhile and see how it goes.

Thanks to dogpoobob

LMcCullugh

Does anyone else here have the tools to capture bit rates? I'm planning on recording the game to my pc. If no one else can capture the bit rates I'll stop recording for a few minutes to grab it if ya'll are interested to see if WREG really did provide us the best possible picture.

I am still fired up over no WREG in HD over DirecTv. I have emailed WREG, CBS, FCC, Sen. Lamar Alexander, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn. I have informed them all how I feel and also that I will be taking notes of the advertisers on WREG and letting them know and starting a boycott of their advertisers. I will let it run about a month locally and then I will go with a national boycott of CBS advertisers. I have also informed them that I will use any means at my disposal to spread the word. Please if this concerns you also join the fight. It will take numbers to get anything done. Remember March Madness is just around the corner.

Thanks,

Mike

I am still fired up over no WREG in HD over DirecTv. I have emailed WREG, CBS, FCC, Sen. Lamar Alexander, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn. I have informed them all how I feel and also that I will be taking notes of the advertisers on WREG and letting them know and starting a boycott of their advertisers. I will let it run about a month locally and then I will go with a national boycott of CBS advertisers. I have also informed them that I will use any means at my disposal to spread the word. Please if this concerns you also join the fight. It will take numbers to get anything done. Remember March Madness is just around the corner.

Thanks,

Mike
Although it currently doesn't affect me I'll support you. I'd write a letter to the Commercial Appeal.

I am still fired up over no WREG in HD over DirecTv. I have emailed WREG, CBS, FCC, Sen. Lamar Alexander, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn. I have informed them all how I feel and also that I will be taking notes of the advertisers on WREG and letting them know and starting a boycott of their advertisers. I will let it run about a month locally and then I will go with a national boycott of CBS advertisers. I have also informed them that I will use any means at my disposal to spread the word. Please if this concerns you also join the fight. It will take numbers to get anything done. Remember March Madness is just around the corner.

Thanks,

Mike

I'm confused. Can't you get WREG OTA through your Directv receiver which is just about the same thing?

I was thinking about writing to "The Commercial Appeal". I think I will go ahead and do that.

I'm confused. Can't you get WREG OTA through your Directv receiver which is just about the same thing?
Yes, but the whole principle of D* with HDLIL's is that you wont need an antenna to get WREG-DT. Of the big 4 that D* has said they will start carrying WREG is the one they currently aren't yet.

Personally I think this is due to WREG being sold by the NY Times, but why couldn't a contract carry over to the next owner? But I'm probably wrong. :)

Here is a chart of what WREG-DT is sending right now. Hopefully this will get better, much better. I've seen many instances of blocking during the pre-game stuff. I didn't get the earlier stuff because I was watching the MU game.

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/2341/sbsunday1zo6.th.jpg (http://img473.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sbsunday1zo6.jpg)

pfitzgerald just posted on dbstalk that he spoke with a CSR at D* that said we will start seeing programming at midnight. I hope this CSR knows what they are talking about.

Mike

pfitzgerald just posted on dbstalk that he spoke with a CSR at D* that said we will start seeing programming at midnight. I hope this CSR knows what they are talking about.

Mike
Midnight last night or tonight? Why wait until after the SB? :confused:

It appears WREG has 3-2 currently capped at 2 mbps. But they are still leaving close to 1 mbps of null data. Taken at 1:40

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/5746/sbsunday2sp5.th.jpg (http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sbsunday2sp5.jpg)

If you have a QAM tuner in your HDTV, and Comcast cable, you can tune in the local HD channels without a cable box. I've been doing it for months. The only issue you will have is the channel numbers are very screwy.

If it helps, on my TV, plugged into cable, WREG is on HD channel 94-1. PQ is excellent (bearing in mind my TV is 32 inch)

isnt 622 mpeg4, I get all the channels with a 622
You probably have the vip622. I signed up about 18 months ago prior to the MPEG4 roll out and mine is a MPEG2 unit. Costs $200 bucks to upgrade and I don't have $200 worth of desire. :D

Sorry It took so long, been out of pocket. Anyway I got the exact same e-mail. He must have mass mailed it.

Got my Winegard antenna up but instead of outdoor mounting it I put it in the attic. It is about 33' above the ground sittng on a couple of my roof rafter ties. I'm getting 100% signal on WREG 3.1 & 3.2, 80's on 5.1.2.3, 90's on 10.1.2.3, 100% on 13.1, 90's on 24.1, & 90's on 30.1. I'm going to stick with this for awhile and see how it goes.

Thanks to dogpoobob

LMcCullugh
Happy that I could be of service. That's why were here. Right? :)

Well, no change so far. Looks like 3-2 has won out over quality HD unless they do something drastic in the next 15 minutes.

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/2237/sbsunday3dr5.th.jpg (http://img250.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sbsunday3dr5.jpg)

Pics from game tonight:

You got us beat here in Memphis by 3.6 mbps. WREG, OTA, 1 sub. Pictures as promised.

Bitrate:
http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/1955/sbbitrate4pw5.th.jpg (http://img462.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sbbitrate4pw5.jpg)

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/7441/wregsb0716hw5.th.jpg (http://img294.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb0716hw5.jpg)http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8828/wregsb071uw8.th.jpg (http://img187.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb071uw8.jpg)http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/6011/wregsb076bk0.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb076bk0.jpg)http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/914/wregsb0711wb5.th.jpg (http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb0711wb5.jpg)http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/2757/wregsb0715qb2.th.jpg (http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb0715qb2.jpg)http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/9629/wregsb0710wp3.th.jpg (http://img459.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb0710wp3.jpg)http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/4772/wregsb075ej7.th.jpg (http://img252.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb075ej7.jpg)http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/6761/wregsb074ca7.th.jpg (http://img78.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb074ca7.jpg)

More:

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/2016/wregsb079ny6.th.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb079ny6.jpg)http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/4179/wregsb0714ha5.th.jpg (http://img375.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb0714ha5.jpg)http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/7275/wregsb0713ky5.th.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb0713ky5.jpg)http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/1184/wregsb078mf6.th.jpg (http://img78.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb078mf6.jpg)http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/5863/wregsb073ip5.th.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb073ip5.jpg)http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/6532/wregsb072tc0.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb072tc0.jpg)http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/5540/wregsb077xp9.th.jpg (http://img252.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb077xp9.jpg)http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/9305/wregsb0712bl6.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wregsb0712bl6.jpg)

:mad: Well, no change so far. Looks like 3-2 has won out over quality HD unless they do something drastic in the next 15 minutes.

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/2237/sbsunday3dr5.th.jpg (http://img250.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sbsunday3dr5.jpg)

Were we expecting something else? Really? Those channels are never going to get turned off for any reason...at least not anytime soon. They just don't care about PQ and the relatively few of us who do. We're lucky they don't add more subs. Uggh! Very frustrating. :mad:

Midnight last night or tonight? Why wait until after the SB? :confused:

It appears WREG has 3-2 currently capped at 2 mbps. But they are still leaving close to 1 mbps of null data. Taken at 1:40

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/5746/sbsunday2sp5.th.jpg (http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sbsunday2sp5.jpg)

I was told midnight tonight. 12:00AM February 5th. We'll see. :D

Update: The channel is now missing from the guide...

Paul

You probably have the vip622. I signed up about 18 months ago prior to the MPEG4 roll out and mine is a MPEG2 unit. Costs $200 bucks to upgrade and I don't have $200 worth of desire. :D


do you own or lease your unit?

If you own it you can sell it on ebay for the $200 and use that to upgrade. You will then be paying 6$ month lease though. I would not worry too much about not owning because all the boxes are obsolete quickly.

thats what I did and all the extra channels have been worth it

:mad:

Were we expecting something else? Really? Those channels are never going to get turned off for any reason...at least not anytime soon. They just don't care about PQ and the relatively few of us who do. We're lucky they don't add more subs. Uggh! Very frustrating. :mad:
I was thinking maybe since it was the SB. We should all email WREG and complain, and have our friends who don't post on here but do have HD complain also.

Why can't all championship games be on FOX or ABC, even CW. Our affiliates all give us high quality HD PQ.

:mad:

Just found this in the SB thread: All I know is I am very very glad that "The Gold Standard" in HD sports does not have another Superbowl until 2010.

do you own or lease your unit?

If you own it you can sell it on ebay for the $200 and use that to upgrade. You will then be paying 6$ month lease though. I would not worry too much about not owning because all the boxes are obsolete quickly.

thats what I did and all the extra channels have been worth it
I lease and my two years is not up yet. I was hoping that E* would want to call in or upgrade all the old MPEG 2 boxes and they would just send me a new one.

Speaking of ebay, I still have 3 of the old VoOM STBs and I have been watching them on ebay. They are going for $70 to $80 apiece plus freight for OTA tuners only. Think I'll sell mine and maybe I'll use that to upgrade to the vip622. (or something else) ;)

I lost the guide last night. Seems real dumb to put the guide out and the channel if they were not going to be carrying it. their own message said they did not have rights to the Super Bowl, not the channel, and did not direct you to call WREG and when I called the CSRs they were clueless about the message so all it did was get people mad at Directv for no reason. it's not like we all didn't know WREG is not on Directv.

I wrote a letter to the editor of The Commercial Appeal about the whole WREG and D* thing. They called today to verify I wrote it and intended it for publication. Maybe it will get published and light a fire under WREG.

Let us know if it makes the paper so we can read it.

Which section of the paper are readers comments in?

main A section, towards the back but not always the back page.

I will read it first to make sure I don't look like too big an idiot. I was on a email rampage yesterday. It was a form on the CA website. I really meant to save a copy. I emailed Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Sen. Lamar Alexander, the CA, CBS, WREG, the FCC, I tried to email Bob Corker but couldn't find his email. I would've emailed the NFL too but I couldn't find thiers either.

Congress are a bunch of bought tools, no reason I shuold not be able to automatically get the west and east coast feeds, or at least automatically be able to recieve their HD signal until WREG and DTV reach an agreement. it's total horsecrap.

My letter wasn't published today but if it ever is I will let everyone know.

Ok my letter was published. Edited somewhat but published

You have a link? Or just paste it here?

Cheep,

I found the link. Not from the area, but I follow this thread daily and wanted to see what the paper published about this topic.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/letter_to_the_editor/article/0,2845,MCA_25349_5332811,00.html

The letter about WREG is towards the bottom :)

Cheep,

I found the link. Not from the area, but I follow this thread daily and wanted to see what the paper published about this topic.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/letter_to_the_editor/article/0,2845,MCA_25349_5332811,00.html

The letter about WREG is towards the bottom :)

Nice, someone should send this link to WREG management. They may be able to shrug off individual emails, but they will not like the attention received by this public complaint.

Ok my letter was published. Edited somewhat but published
I read it this morning before I left for work but haven't had the chance to get here until now. If it was edited what did your original email look like?

Good letter by the way.

A couple of questions about bitrates... my local NBC affiliate went HD about a month ago, and I started noticing plenty of blocking and pixelation, especially during the opening of Leno... well I checked out their bitrate with TSReader, and they are only sending out 14.3 mps for their HD channel! They are sending out over 3mps for their SD radar image, and over 1mps of null data. What would cause them to be so wasteful? I thought about emailing the chief engineer, but would it help any? I couldn't believe it when I saw the numbers. No wonder the picture doesn't look all that great! WNBC-HD on D* looks better, and that's kind of sad :eek: :mad:

I read the letter again, that may be all I wrote. I wrote so many on Sunday, they all started to run together. I thought I had mentioned my plan of action (boycotting their advertisers) but maybe I didn't. Hopefully we can get somekind of response with maybe a reason (I always assumed it was the change of ownership) and a time frame when it may be available. Like I have said I get a 100% signal OTA, but if they were on D* then I could move the antenna to get WKNO which i don't get a signal on most days. Really I would just like to know something. I have written to WREG several times a never gotten a response. I don't like being ignored I guess :D

they have ignored my requests for waivers, phone calls, e-mails and letters. It's a travesty and totally ridiculous and an abuse of the law to not grant a waiver for the HD national feed. I can't get a consistent signal. The law needs to be changed.

A couple of questions about bitrates... my local NBC affiliate went HD about a month ago, and I started noticing plenty of blocking and pixelation, especially during the opening of Leno... well I checked out their bitrate with TSReader, and they are only sending out 14.3 mps for their HD channel! They are sending out over 3mps for their SD radar image, and over 1mps of null data. What would cause them to be so wasteful? I thought about emailing the chief engineer, but would it help any? I couldn't believe it when I saw the numbers. No wonder the picture doesn't look all that great! WNBC-HD on D* looks better, and that's kind of sad :eek: :mad:
14.3 mbps for HD, almost sounds almost as bad as WMC. :eek: There really is no reason they are sending the radar at 3 mbps. 1 mpbs of null is a little excessive. Locally WREG sends out no less than 900 kbps, WMC closer to the 500 range I think, WHBQ not sure since I don't pay attention to that from them, WPTY 1.3 mbps, and WLMT sends I think in the 700 kbps range. Why send so much null data if the main HD channel is going to be capped? Up the cap on the HD channel. What are they saving that space for? It makes no sense.

To be quite honest, the engineer at your local affiliate must not have a clue as to what they are doing. I would contact them or the station vp to see if something can be done to make the HD PQ better. The SD radar could be less than 750 kbps and be absolutely fine. I'm basing this on what I have seen WMC do to Weather crap. There has been very little change in pq terms with them sending that at such a low bitrate compared to 1.2 mbps. However it sucks that it takes an HD sporting event for them to do that. Not only that, but the HD PQ is still so bad it wouldn't even matter what they changed it to.

Good luck in contacting your local NBC. We have had luck with 1 station locally, WLMT, that increased the bit rate on their station to just over 17 mpbs after we were complaining. They had it capped at 15 mbps and it looked like crap. On the flip side 1 channel tried to make the HD PQ better and the other is blowing us off. For both of those stations multicasting won out and they pretty much said screw you to us HD viewers. Let us know what your outcome is.

Well, I took a screenshot of the bitrate info for KTVE-HD that TSReader provided, as of a few minutes ago:

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/4012/ktvempspy8.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktvempspy8.jpg)

I don't know what their problem is. I almost peed my pants when I saw the data a couple days ago. They've been having so many technical problems since they came online, I just attributed it to "working out the bugs", but it's getting to the point where I can't even watch them. Tonight, for example, notice there is no video on the HD channel. There is sound, but no video. Last week it was no sound, but video. It stayed like that for a week. Audio, in NBC primetime, sounds like it's coming from an oil drum. Sure, the engineering staff might be new to digital technology, but come on! They worked on this project for 8 months before finally going online. This station has always been known for "half-baked" projects. It's like getting a shiny new mansion, and moving in a bunch of homeless slobs. I'm going to email this screenshot to the chief engineer, but the email will probably go unanswered (as they always do). It's sad when the HD-Lite version of WNBC on D* looks better than an OTA signal :mad: I'll let you know if the problem gets fixed. Stations down here don't give a rat's behind about HD/digital viewership, either.

For Comcast HD customers,

ESPN-HD and ESPN 2-HD are offered in two seperate packages, is that correct? And if so, how much is the premium tier with ESPN-HD on top of the basic HD package?

I'm asking because I think I received some wrong info from a rep. yesterday. I called twice to find out about getting an HD DVR box. The guy told me it would be $7.95 for the box and $6.95 for DVR functionality. From looking on the Comcast website and a channel lineup I received in the mail, I noticed ESPN 2-HD is in the regular tier and ESPN-HD in the premium tier. When I asked about pricing for these, the guy kept telling me I would already receive ESPN-HD and there was only one package available. So I told him to put my name on the waiting list for an HD DVR because the only channel I really want is ESPN-HD. But now after searching this forum, I see that it may in fact be seperate packages for both. So if anyone could shed some light on this I'd appreciate it. All of my experiences with Comcast over the phone have been nightmares (called before with internet problems, too). Thanks.

Well, I took a screenshot of the bitrate info for KTVE-HD that TSReader provided, as of a few minutes ago:

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/4012/ktvempspy8.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktvempspy8.jpg)

I don't know what their problem is. I almost peed my pants when I saw the data a couple days ago. They've been having so many technical problems since they came online, I just attributed it to "working out the bugs", but it's getting to the point where I can't even watch them. Tonight, for example, notice there is no video on the HD channel. There is sound, but no video. Last week it was no sound, but video. It stayed like that for a week. Audio, in NBC primetime, sounds like it's coming from an oil drum. Sure, the engineering staff might be new to digital technology, but come on! They worked on this project for 8 months before finally going online. This station has always been known for "half-baked" projects. It's like getting a shiny new mansion, and moving in a bunch of homeless slobs. I'm going to email this screenshot to the chief engineer, but the email will probably go unanswered (as they always do). It's sad when the HD-Lite version of WNBC on D* looks better than an OTA signal :mad: I'll let you know if the problem gets fixed. Stations down here don't give a rat's behind about HD/digital viewership, either.
Does the radar have sound?

You mention the audio issues, oil drum. WMC-DT had that issue when they were first implementing 5.1.

[QUOTE=mx6bfast]WHBQ not sure since I don't pay attention to that from them

Right now, we're running about 155kb/s of null packets (or as our stream analyzer calls them, stuffing). That tends to vary with the transmission of PSIP packets since they have a low repition rate. I'm not sure what it looks like when we are on Fox, but since the splicer just passes through the satellite stream for the particular feed that we air, the nulls are probably a good deal higher than when we just upconvert NTSC. Their encoders, since they feed the whole country, are probably more efficient than ours is, and they don't need the extra bandwidth (usually!) to get 720p through.

As always, if you see any artifacts during Fox network programming, let me know so I can pass it along to Fox Digital Transmission. They are pushing the envelope on satellite capacity vs. signal quality, and the more information they get from us the better they can balance it out!

Thanks,

For Comcast HD customers,

ESPN-HD and ESPN 2-HD are offered in two seperate packages, is that correct? And if so, how much is the premium tier with ESPN-HD on top of the basic HD package?


When my HD Tier was off for two weeks (it finally came back on, all by itself...), I lost ESPN-HD, but not ESPN2-HD. I found that kind of odd.

I pay 7.95 per month extra for the HD-Tier. That includes ESPN-HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies and Universal HD. (It might include one or two more, I'm not really sure.) It's worth the extra money, IMO.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/02/08/nbc-nightly-news-to-go-hd-in-march/

NBC is going to run Nightly News in HD starting in March. Most of the stuff will probably be Upconverted to start, but still, it's FINALLY happening.

Looks like I started something in the CA. Someone had a letter to the editor published today about WREG, Comcast, and DirecTV HD.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/letter_to_the_editor/article/0,2845,MCA_25349_5335602,00.html

Again in the letters to the editor today. This time it's someone from the opposite point of view. I guess they missed my point.

Hoping someone can help out a HDTV newbie here in Memphis. I'm preparing to buy my first HDTV, and it has a QAM tuner. I am an analog cable subscriber, so what HD channels can I expect to receive when I connect the coax cable from the wall directly to the tv? Any help or insight is appreciated!

Cheers....

Again in the letters to the editor today. This time it's someone from the opposite point of view. I guess they missed my point.
It's not posted on-line yet and I left my paper at home. WAs afraid it would turn into brittle since it was a bag of ice. Whenever someone sees today's opinion's posted let us know.

I think I'll send them one about the HD PQ issues. :D

Here's the letter link.....its like the 3rd and 4th letter.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/letter_to_the_editor/article/0,2845,MCA_25349_5338461,00.html

Hoping someone can help out a HDTV newbie here in Memphis. I'm preparing to buy my first HDTV, and it has a QAM tuner. I am an analog cable subscriber, so what HD channels can I expect to receive when I connect the coax cable from the wall directly to the tv? Any help or insight is appreciated!

Cheers....

You can pretty much get all the local channels--FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, CW, and WKNO from what I remember.

I received a letter today from a J. Clay Cole who saw my letter to the editor in the CA. He has communicated with Station Manager Maureen O'Connor. He hasn't gotten any good news but he has gotten a response. Which is more than I have gotten from GM Ron Walter. He suggests that everyone who is concerned contact Ms O'Conner and voice how you feel. That may be my next step to let her know of my plans to start a boycott of their advertisers.

I received a letter today from a J. Clay Cole who saw my letter to the editor in the CA. He has communicated with Station Manager Maureen O'Connor. He hasn't gotten any good news but he has gotten a response. Which is more than I have gotten from GM Ron Walter. He suggests that everyone who is concerned contact Ms O'Conner and voice how you feel. That may be my next step to let her know of my plans to start a boycott of their advertisers.

Do you know the details of the response he received?

Paul

He sent me a copy of his email so I will quote them

From a letter on Jan 26. He noticed he didn't get WREG in HD thru D* and called up D* they told him that WREG doesn't send out a signal for D* to retransmit and suggested he contact WREG. Her response

"Dear Mr. Cole:
WREG is eager to see the HD programming it already broadcasts on a free, over-the-air basis also available through DirecTV.
WREG and its parent company continue to work in good faith to reach an agreement with DirecTV. In the meanwhile, please know that our HD service is available to consumers via an over-the-air antenna and on cable systems in the DMA. Thank you for you inquiry."

From a letter on Jan 29. He asked was there something he could do to coax D* along?

"Thanks for your patience. The agreement is actively being worked on at this time, so you needn't do anything. Retransmission agreements traditionally take time to come to fruition. Thank you for watching News Channel 3"



After reading her responses maybe my first letter to her won't mention a boycott.

I have tried and tried to get in touch with them and they won't return my calls or e-mails. As far as reaching Miss O'Conner, WREG coincidetally is the only station in Memphis that does not have e-mail addresses posted for these folks, thus leaving her a message isa waste of time. DTV has agreements with all the others here in River City, so obviously they are offering market rates. Do not be fooled, 99% sure the one to blame is WREG. I would boycott their advertisers, but since I boycott them due to this crap, I would never know who they are. I want a waiver for HD national only or a signal, period. I cannot get a good signal with my antenna and none through my HR20, the tuner sucks. DTV customer service is far from perfect, but on this one I am convinced WREG are the idiots.

Does the radar have sound?

You mention the audio issues, oil drum. WMC-DT had that issue when they were first implementing 5.1.


mx6bfast,

No, the radar doesn't have sound, it's just a 16:9 image of their radar.

Still haven't received anything back from the chief engineer... :rolleyes:

Here's the letter link.....its like the 3rd and 4th letter.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/letter_to_the_editor/article/0,2845,MCA_25349_5338461,00.html
Yeah no kidding they did miss your point. I'm just curious to know which Comcast systems have ST considering it's exclusive to D*.

I sent in a letter yesterday about the PQ on WREG and WMC and confirmed last night. Lets see if that gets posted.

I have tried and tried to get in touch with them and they won't return my calls or e-mails. As far as reaching Miss O'Conner, WREG coincidetally is the only station in Memphis that does not have e-mail addresses posted for these folks, thus leaving her a message isa waste of time. DTV has agreements with all the others here in River City, so obviously they are offering market rates. Do not be fooled, 99% sure the one to blame is WREG. I would boycott their advertisers, but since I boycott them due to this crap, I would never know who they are. I want a waiver for HD national only or a signal, period. I cannot get a good signal with my antenna and none through my HR20, the tuner sucks. DTV customer service is far from perfect, but on this one I am convinced WREG are the idiots.
I agree.

Things like this want me to get a job at Best Buy just so I can correctly inform the public.

I was wasting time at BB on Winchester and walked into the Magnolia area. Some guy named Joel asked me if I needed any help. I told him no that I was just looking. He asked if I had hd and I said yes. He then asked me about my setup and I told him about it. I asked him how they were getting their HD feed and he said D*, which I said I could tell.

He then provided to drop me this wisdom:
1) 1080i is the lowest HD
2) if you have 1080i is almost like (shrugged shoulders as if embarrassed)
3) You can get 3, 5, 13, and 24 in HD from D*
4) They also broadcast the subchannels. As he said the .2, .3, .4, and so on.

I then did what I could to get away from him as fast as possible.

It would be interesting to know just what your BB guy meant by those first two statements. Or at least ask him where his information came from. My guess would be that for the first one he may have read that 1080i requires the lowest bandwidth from a display device, which is true. That is why most of the early CRT HD-RPTV could only display 1080i. But it is still the highest resolution of the HDTV formats. Both 1080p and 1080i are the same 1920x1080 resolution. Only difference is p is 60 frames (or is it fields?, always mix those up) per second and i is 30. Very few (if any) can see a difference.

Number two must have been from sales training to get people with CRT displays to think they must now get a new LCD device. They are nice, but not better in every way.

Three and four, must be from misinformation or ignorance.

When my HD Tier was off for two weeks (it finally came back on, all by itself...), I lost ESPN-HD, but not ESPN2-HD. I found that kind of odd.

I pay 7.95 per month extra for the HD-Tier. That includes ESPN-HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies and Universal HD. (It might include one or two more, I'm not really sure.) It's worth the extra money, IMO.

Same here. When Comcast screwed up my HD Tier package, I lost ESPN-HD but not ESPN2-HD. Kind of weird that they would be in two different packages.

The premium tier also includes INHD or Mojo or whatever they're calling it these days. It's definitely worth the money, just for the two HDNet channels alone. Although, we might not want to get too comfortable with HDNet. If Comcast and Marc Cuban don't get their differences resolved, we may not have it anymore when the Time Warner-HDNet contact for our area runs out. I have no idea when that might be, though.

Same here. When Comcast screwed up my HD Tier package, I lost ESPN-HD but not ESPN2-HD. Kind of weird that they would be in two different packages.

The premium tier also includes INHD or Mojo or whatever they're calling it these days. It's definitely worth the money, just for the two HDNet channels alone. Although, we might not want to get too comfortable with HDNet. If Comcast and Marc Cuban don't get their differences resolved, we may not have it anymore when the Time Warner-HDNet contact for our area runs out. I have no idea when that might be, though.

What kind of stuff is shown on the HDNet channels?

I called last week to get an HD DVR and was put on a waiting list. Now after reading some of these comments, it seems like it's going to be quite a long time. :( Has anyone else been told how backed up Comcast is in supplying HD DVRs?

What kind of stuff is shown on the HDNet channels?

I called last week to get an HD DVR and was put on a waiting list. Now after reading some of these comments, it seems like it's going to be quite a long time. :( Has anyone else been told how backed up Comcast is in supplying HD DVRs?

There's HDNet and HDNet Movies. HDNet Movies is the one that's the best out of the two. They do a eclectic blend of movies with high-quality HD transfers. Yesterday they were showing Back to the Future III. It wasn't OAR, but the picture quality was fantastic. This week they're doing some John Wayne movies and Empire of the Sun. The thing I like about them, is they tend to show a variety of movies from different eras and genres.

HDNet has some repeat shows like Enterprise and Smallville. They do two NHL games a week in fantastic quality, including a segment where they turn up the audio feeds from the arena and turn off the commentators' mics so you can watch the game in 5.1 and it sounds like you're sitting in the stands. They've also got some good concerts.

I know the DVR issue is a national one, with anyone who uses the Scientific Atlanta boxes, so it's not specific to Comcast or Memphis. It appears SA was totally unprepared for the influx of new HD subscribers this Christmas season. I got mine almost a year ago from Giant TV when I bought my TV from them.

To add to Aro's post:
MLS, Nothing but Trailers (30 minutes of sneak peeks) Dan Rather Reports, Space Shuttle launches and landings, good concerts (U2 yeaterday and 311 in Memphis a few weeks ago) HDNet World Report, Industry Insiders (from CEA)

Great channel. It's keeping me wiht D* right now since I'm not sure about Comcast here keeping HDNet. However I'm in a big issue with D* right now and am going to look at Comcast this week.

To add to mx6bfast's post:
Bikini Destinations - more eye candy that you can shake a stick at.
Art Mann Presents - Art and his HD camera travel all over the county and tape segments that are "interesting". From the swamp buggy races in FL to the Adult Enterainment Expo in LV.
I also like the music series like True Music, Sound-Off with Matt Pinfield and Live at the World Cafe.

-Robert

Ok, new to the forum guys and i have a question.

1. I live in Cordova and I am receiving the following channels through the antenna plug in the wall. CBS, PBS. I want NBC, ABC, and FOX without having to pay for it through comcast. What antenna to you suggest I get with my TV? I live on the third floor of the apartments so reception shoudn't be a problem.

Ok, new to the forum guys and i have a question.

1. I live in Cordova and I am receiving the following channels through the antenna plug in the wall. CBS, PBS. I want NBC, ABC, and FOX without having to pay for it through comcast. What antenna to you suggest I get with my TV? I live on the third floor of the apartments so reception shoudn't be a problem.
Welcome.

If you live in Cordova you are pretty close to the antenna farm. As far as an antenna to use you could probably buy a lower priced one. You wouldn't need a large mounted antenna. Go to antennaweb.org, enter in your address and see which directions the antennas are to where you live. Depending where you live in Cordova it could be a fairly straight shot, or a ~100 degree difference. To be safe I'd probably get a multi-directional antenna.

If you can get your hands on a Zenith Silver Sensor that would probably be your best bet, but most antennas will be ok. It just depends on your tastes, how it looks in your room, etc. Buy a couple and test them, then keep the one that works the best for you.

Does Comcast have an SD DVR? If so does anyone have one?

Does Comcast have an SD DVR? If so does anyone have one?

I've got the SA 8000 that I've had for almost 4 years now. I got it through in the Time Warner days, obviously. It's SD, and compared to the 8300HD, it's amazingly SLOW to do anything.

I don't know if that's still the SD model they use. They may do the 8300 (non-HD) now.

Does Comcast have an SD DVR? If so does anyone have one?

I've had an SD 8300 for over a year. It's not as good as my former DirecTV Tivo, but it does its job. I'll be trading in the SD DVR for an HD DVR when my new Samsung finally ships. I need to get on the waiting list now.

Ok, new to the forum guys and i have a question.

1. I live in Cordova and I am receiving the following channels through the antenna plug in the wall. CBS, PBS. I want NBC, ABC, and FOX without having to pay for it through comcast. What antenna to you suggest I get with my TV? I live on the third floor of the apartments so reception shoudn't be a problem.
I live in Cordova near Germantown and Dexter and get good signal off an in-house ANT. I get 3, 5, 13, 24, 30 and some others. I paid 19.99 for a basic sotre brand one from Circuit City.

Well it looks like I will be staying with D* for the time being. If you want to see what I was going thru with them go to this link, http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74622

Ok, new to the forum guys and i have a question.

1. I live in Cordova and I am receiving the following channels through the antenna plug in the wall. CBS, PBS. I want NBC, ABC, and FOX without having to pay for it through comcast. What antenna to you suggest I get with my TV? I live on the third floor of the apartments so reception shoudn't be a problem.

I live in Cordova Club and purchased a $19.95(I think) non amplified antennae at Best Buy. It was a RCA 301 and I just sat it behind the tv and removed the rabbit ears. It works great but is very sensitive and the small rotator has to be positioned just right. Once adjusted, I have never moved it.

Well it looks like I will be staying with D* for the time being. If you want to see what I was going thru with them go to this link, http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74622

IMO DTV has the best reception, channel selection, etc. IOW best product but their customer service sucks. they used to be the best but when they outsourced customer calls to Rawalpindi it went downhill and has gotten worse. I cannot imagine your problems but I bet they were similar to mine made way worse by the dumbasses who work for them. I can't read what you posted because the DTV employees who run that site banned me after I beocthed them out for blasting me for pointing out their problems. Wish I ahd not done it because otherwise it is a great website, but I was atmy wits end on technical number 20, losty recordings and lies told to me by their reps on the phone (maybe lie is a strong word as I think they are just dumba nd poorly trained). They used to have a special number for "A list" folks like me but when they started sucking so bad that number got overloaded and they got rid of it.

Unfortunately, none of us are without problems. The Comcrap folks aren't happy, the D*service stinks and those of us on E* have issues, too. Meanwhile, it could be worse. When you are as old as I am, you can remember studying the snowy picture to see who could find the cowboy first. It'll all continue to improve and someday we'll be complaining about 1280 x 1024 and how lousy it looks. :D

I can sympathize with you guys, although I haven't had anything like the amount of trouble mx has. :eek: I finally got so dissatisfied with the PQ and service from D* and TWC/C* that I terminated both of them. Fortunately, I'm not an avid TV-watcher, so the loss wasn't that great. Now all I get is NFL Sunday Ticket Superfan from D* -- and I'm seriously thinking about dropping it. The only thing stopping me is that my NFL ST SF is grandfathered in from the old days, so I don't have to subscribe to anything but it. If I were to drop it and pick it up again, I would have to get a base package. :rolleyes:

There is simply too much high quality HD material around for me to pay D* and C* for their offerings. :D Just my $0.02.

Chase

so much for watching the office and still no WREG.

so much for watching the office and still no WREG.
Earl and ER right now are on OTA.

Was it just me, I could not pick up NBC via D* last night, but I could OTA?

I can sympathize with you guys, although I haven't had anything like the amount of trouble mx has. :eek: I finally got so dissatisfied with the PQ and service from D* and TWC/C* that I terminated both of them. Fortunately, I'm not an avid TV-watcher, so the loss wasn't that great. Now all I get is NFL Sunday Ticket Superfan from D* -- and I'm seriously thinking about dropping it. The only thing stopping me is that my NFL ST SF is grandfathered in from the old days, so I don't have to subscribe to anything but it. If I were to drop it and pick it up again, I would have to get a base package. :rolleyes:

There is simply too much high quality HD material around for me to pay D* and C* for their offerings. :D Just my $0.02.

Chase

I would do the same except for ESPN HD and ESPN 2 HD. Are you not into sports? Or do you have an alternative method for sourcing these channels?

Was it just me, I could not pick up NBC via D* last night, but I could OTA?
It looks like geux1 couldn't 5-1 on D* last night either.

Ok I've put a new poll out there for everyone to fill out. It's located at http://www.sugarplumgals.com/hd/2007/poll_welcome.asp Please fill it out and forward the link to anyone else you know who watching locals in HD from D*, Comcast, or OTA. If more than 1 person in your household watches HD to get the full effect please have them fill it out too.

I'll leave it up until about the end of June and then close the responses and then modify if needed to get a 2nd half 2007 poll, just in case anything changes.

Any questions let me know. My signature will be updated to point to the new poll.

I would do the same except for ESPN HD and ESPN 2 HD. Are you not into sports?Only the NFL, fortunately. If there's a particularly good MNF game next season, I may connect back to C* for a month or so. To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed by ESPN's take on MNF last year.

Or do you have an alternative method for sourcing these channels?Nope, no alternative.

Chase

HDNet Movies is the one that's the best out of the two. They do a eclectic blend of movies with high-quality HD transfers. Yesterday they were showing Back to the Future III. It wasn't OAR, but the picture quality was fantastic.

ALL movies on HDNet Movies are shown in their OAR. They make a big point about it in their ads.

BTTF 1, 2, and 3 are 1.85:1, and that's what I saw when I watched them.

Don't forget Deadline! That show is always really weird... The industry insiders series is always entertaining. HDNet was at a couple of events I went to at CES, including Keynotes and a session with the biggest names in the Cable, Satellite and Broadcasting industries. Hopefully, they'll show some of them.

Had the same problem with WMC dropping out on the on the HR20 - after 10 minutes D* tech support figured out that it was a problem with the satellite uplink from WMC.

Is it just me or is anyone else having a problem with OTA WMC reception lately? I live 20 miles from the tower and have a mid-sized unidirectional antenna from Radio Shack. I get 3, 13, 24, etc. all at 88db or higher, but WMC ranges from 20-50db. It's unwatchable on my HR10-250.

Any suggestions?

I'm 24.5 miles from the WMC broadcast tower using a Radio Shack UHF antenna and I have no problems at all getting a good signal on my HR10-250. Have you tried bypassing the receiver's internal antenna splitter?

-Robert

I'm 24.5 miles from the WMC broadcast tower using a Radio Shack UHF antenna and I have no problems at all getting a good signal on my HR10-250. Have you tried bypassing the receiver's internal antenna splitter?

-Robert

Not sure what you mean here... is the signal split inside the box to two different tuners? If I did this, would I be limited to OTA reception on only one tuner?

Am I anywhere near the right track?

Not sure what you mean here... is the signal split inside the box to two different tuners? If I did this, would I be limited to OTA reception on only one tuner?

Am I anywhere near the right track?
The signal is split inside the box, but it wont cut your signal in half.

I think what he meant is do you have another way of testing the signal? Does your tv have a digital tuner built in? If that isn;t what he meant it's what I would suggest.

I can try hooking the signal direct to my television and bypassing the HR10-250 - but I'm not sure what this gets me. If it doesn't work, I haven't learned anything; if I get a picture, I still won't be able to use the info to fix the Tivo.

Not trying to be argumentative here, just trying to understand how this will help - thanks for the help everyone.

The internal splitter in the HR10-250 is not a high quality model. A lot of people at the Tivo Community have bypassed it and used a high quality passive splitter. It has improved OTA reception for a lot of people. It's a very simple modification.

-Robert

Has anyone here received 6.3c yet? Any issues yet?

I have received it but can't tell you anything about it. I hardly ever use that receiver. It's just storing some of the movies I've recorded off HDNet Movies. My main is the HR20 haven't had a problem out of it in a long time.

I forced a call this morning and got it. I won't be able to check it out until tonight.

I have received it but can't tell you anything about it. I hardly ever use that receiver. It's just storing some of the movies I've recorded off HDNet Movies. My main is the HR20 haven't had a problem out of it in a long time.
I have it on the HDTivo in the bedroom but haven't watched WHBQ-DT yet so I haven't been able to confirm the audio fix yet. I've been watching those shows from our main HDTivo. It's still on 3.1.5f and want to make sure there are no issues before I plug in back in to get 6.3c.

Anyone watch Heroes last night? The OTA feed had "snow" all throughout the show. "Snow? On a digital signal?" you say? Me too-- I haven't seen a "snowy" picture in years! But that's exactly what it was-- white sparkly things popping up all over the picture. I checked the national Heroes thread, and no one mentioned it. So, was it WMC? Or worse-- my TV? (I haven't seen it any other time.)

I'll check tonight when I get home.

I have seen ghosting on WMC-DT before when other stations nationally haven't seen it.

Anyone watch Heroes last night? The OTA feed had "snow" all throughout the show. "Snow? On a digital signal?" you say? Me too-- I haven't seen a "snowy" picture in years! But that's exactly what it was-- white sparkly things popping up all over the picture. I checked the national Heroes thread, and no one mentioned it. So, was it WMC? Or worse-- my TV? (I haven't seen it any other time.)

We saw it too over on the Vizio thread. Think it was the signal, probably not your TV.

I'll check tonight when I get home.

I have seen ghosting on WMC-DT before when other stations nationally haven't seen it.

I had ghosting and snow on WMC-DT last night. Not to mention the two other locals looked like junk.

Anyone watch Heroes last night? The OTA feed had "snow" all throughout the show. "Snow? On a digital signal?" you say? Me too-- I haven't seen a "snowy" picture in years! But that's exactly what it was-- white sparkly things popping up all over the picture. I checked the national Heroes thread, and no one mentioned it. So, was it WMC? Or worse-- my TV? (I haven't seen it any other time.)

I've seen the sparkles/snow on WMC since I bought my TV in August. I thought it was just me.

I've seem them using the OTA tuner in my Samsung HL-S5687 and the OTA tuner in my DIRECTV HR-20; I cannot remember if I have seen them in the MPEG4 feed from DirecTV.

I've never seen it on any other station in Memphis.

Paul

Has anyone here received 6.3c yet? Any issues yet?

I've had it for a few days now. I have not noticed any changes (I did not have the audio issue after b).

I've seen the sparkles/snow on WMC since I bought my TV in August. I thought it was just me.

I've seem them using the OTA tuner in my Samsung HL-S5687 and the OTA tuner in my DIRECTV HR-20; I cannot remember if I have seen them in the MPEG4 feed from DirecTV.

I've never seen it on any other station in Memphis.

Paul
I've never had an issue with snow or sparkles on 5. I don't watch it much, but when I do it is clean. I have a Sammy and E* OTA tuner.

I checked last night on Heros and didn't see any sparkling. I checked again this morning and still didn't see it. That was on our RPTV.

Last week I saw a D* store about to open at the corner of Stage/Summer next to the soon to reopen BP station. I've never seen one of those before.

It's official- NBC's HD programming is the pits. If it's not "snowing", its Ghosting. I've checked the channel via my D* and OTA antenna and they both are horrid. Everything else seems to come across great. I'm guessing its just our affiliate.

Granted, I've only had HD for a few weeks, but nothing on NBC looks "good"

It's official- NBC's HD programming is the pits. If it's not "snowing", its Ghosting. I've checked the channel via my D* and OTA antenna and they both are horrid. Everything else seems to come across great. I'm guessing its just our affiliate.

Granted, I've only had HD for a few weeks, but nothing on NBC looks "good"
Funny, it only took you a few weeks to figure this out. Most people think after months WMC still looks good.

I'm watching Heros right now and even though I don;t see any sparkling, I am hearing some snaps in the rear speakers.

Looks like WHBQ-DT is down. Was only gonna see who got cut and only Tivo'd the first 20 minutes.

It's official- NBC's HD programming is the pits. If it's not "snowing", its Ghosting. I've checked the channel via my D* and OTA antenna and they both are horrid. Everything else seems to come across great. I'm guessing its just our affiliate.

Granted, I've only had HD for a few weeks, but nothing on NBC looks "good"

It's actually a combination of WMC and NBC. NBC makes their affiliates carry Weather+ as a subchannel. WMC carries "The Tube" as a second subchannel, which kills their bandwidth even further.

The only thing we can hope is that WMC gets sold and the new owner drops The Tube.

It's actually a combination of WMC and NBC. NBC makes their affiliates carry Weather+ as a subchannel. WMC carries "The Tube" as a second subchannel, which kills their bandwidth even further.

The only thing we can hope is that WMC gets sold and the new owner drops The Tube.
That makes sense (why the feed sucks).

And 13 went out last night (HD feed) about 7:30.

It's actually a combination of WMC and NBC. NBC makes their affiliates carry Weather+ as a subchannel. WMC carries "The Tube" as a second subchannel, which kills their bandwidth even further.

The only thing we can hope is that WMC gets sold and the new owner drops The Tube.
I thought it was the NBC O&O's had to carry Weather + and it was optional for affiliates.

I think the only way for WMC to fix their picture is to turn off the subs. Starving the subs during HD programs doesn't even do it. I don't know why their PQ looks so much worse than the other stations but it does. Even WREG doesn't have the smearing effect on programs that WMC shows. Maybe it's an equipment issue. I only watch 4, now 3 programs on WMC because of this. I hate watching ER or Heros and whenever the person is talking their face goes blurry. You can't even tell where the cheek bones are until they stop talking or moving. Not to mention I have seen blocking during SD programs. I can't say if it's still there because I have downloaded Scrubs off the net for the past month. So actually that makes 2 programs on WMC I watch.

And 13 went out last night (HD feed) about 7:30.
WHBQ-DT was back up this morning during GMM

Looks like WHBQ-DT is down. Was only gonna see who got cut and only Tivo'd the first 20 minutes.
It's the old exciter software again! When we put it back in to fix the Dish Network receiver issues, we got the original problem back. It doesn't happen often, but the exciter sometimes locks up and someone has to go out to the transmitter and reset it. We are getting a new version of the software today that we hope will fix this without breaking the Dish receivers again.

Sorry for croaking last night!

My HDTivo is really crapping the bed the last few days-- recordings stop in the middle of shows, and I have to "babysit" it to make sure I get all of my shows. (This is on multiple channels.) I've got 6.3c.

I know if I call DTV about it, they'll offer me an HR20. I have loved my HDTivo, but maybe it's time to make the move. Can somebody give me an update on the Memphis HD locals? Still no CBS? What about the CW shows?

No change in HD via satellite. But you can use the same antenna you had for the HR10 and connect it to the HR20 and record them that way.

I had to re-boot my HR10-250 last night because I lost all of my channels. First time in about 5 months. I'm still running software version 3.???.

-Robert

I plugged my main HDTivo in for the 3rd time in the past 840 days and I got 6.3c from 3.1.5f. My other HDTivo has been stable on 6.3c so far.

I watched Studio 60 tonight and did see the sparkling. It was quite evident against a dark background.

Maybe one of you local guys can help me out w/ my question.

I currently have the standard comcast analog package, and I get the local HD channels via my QAM tuner (all come through great BTW). Because of our 3-month old, we've been having to tape our shows via the VCR.

Here's my question. If I rent a DVR from Comcast w/o upgrading to digital, will I have any issues tuning into my HD channels? I see the HD-DVR is hard to come by right now, and I'm fine w/ getting a standard DVR.

Any insight would be appreciated. I'm also considering just getting Tivo for $13/mo, pretty much the same price as getting one from Comcast ($14.90). The only difference is that there's a 1-yr commitment w/ Tivo.

Cheers...

I'm pretty (almost 100%) sure digital Cable is required to get Comcast's DVR.

I'm pretty (almost 100%) sure digital Cable is required to get Comcast's DVR.
That's what I expected to hear when I called them, but she said I could receive it w/ my current analog package, even the budget $13 analog package.

that's surprising! I know it (Obviously) won't record your HD stuff, but I'm surprised a Digital Video recorder can record Anolog shows..

that's surprising! I know it (Obviously) won't record your HD stuff, but I'm surprised a Digital Video recorder can record Anolog shows..
I'm guessing it would only tune into and record the unencrypted digital stations (local ones and cspan), which would be fine because we're looking at doing the $13 package anyways. I'm thinking I could connect the DVR via the s-video input and use that for recordings, and continue to watch HD via the coax.

???

that's surprising! I know it (Obviously) won't record your HD stuff, but I'm surprised a Digital Video recorder can record Anolog shows..

Actually, a good deal of the stuff on "digital" cable is nothing more than analog being passed straight to the box. You really only get into the actual pure digital channels somewhere in the 100's, I believe. The most obvious examples of this are Spike and Sci-Fi. You can actually see bleed-throughs from other analog channels.

The DVR has two built-in MPEG-2 encoders for recording the analog feeds. When it records pure digital feeds, it simply spools the stream to disk.

Is it just me or is Comcast HD picture quality really taking a dive lately? Frames freezing up and then breaking up. Go over to their regular channels and you don't see the same problems.

Geesh its just hard to watch something lately on Comcrap.

Is it just me or is Comcast HD picture quality really taking a dive lately? Frames freezing up and then breaking up. Go over to their regular channels and you don't see the same problems.

Geesh its just hard to watch something lately on Comcrap.

Could be the signal strength on your line. HD channels are more sensitive to signal issues than SD ones. There's a pretty easy way to tell. Tune to one of the HD channels that's having issues. Leave the box on and hold the Select button down on the box (won't work on the remote) until the little "mail" indicator starts flashing. Let go of select and press Info. That will get you into the diagnostic screen.

Under "RF PARAMETERS" you'll see "Tuner 1". The second value (the one that has dBmV next to it) is your signal strength on that particular frequency. Multiple channels reside on a single frequency.

I've found optimum signal strength for HD to be around +3 or so. If the value is in red, that indicates serious signal issues. you can press Exit to leave the diagnostic menu. If there's a signal issue, have Comcast come out to test the line themselves. Just tell them your channels are freezing and breaking up, and they'll send someone.

Once, all the guy had to do was replace a poorly-terminated coax cable, and it worked fine again. Another time, it was a bad tap out at the street.

Geesh its just hard to watch something lately on Comcrap.
While not related to Comcast, but it sure sucks to turn to an HD program on WREG or WMC and see blocking all over the place. They have pretty much ruined weekend sports for me. My tv is staying on FSC more often.

Does anyone else think that WREG-DT has gotten worse since the SB, or is it just me?

I watched a couple of minutes of the golf tourney Saturday afternoon on WMC. I was able to see the ghosting effect when the NBC logo went slowly across the screen.

Does anyone else think that WREG-DT has gotten worse since the SB, or is it just me?On the few occasions I've tuned in over the past weeks, I've thought that WREG looked unusually soft and a bit noisy. They've definitely broadcast better pictures in the past, but it may just be what I was watching.

Let's see how The Masters looks.

Chase

[QUOTE=Aro]Could be the signal strength on your line. HD channels are more sensitive to signal issues than SD ones. There's a pretty easy way to tell. Tune to one of the HD channels that's having issues. Leave the box on and hold the Select button down on the box (won't work on the remote) until the little "mail" indicator starts flashing. Let go of select and press Info. That will get you into the diagnostic screen.

Under "RF PARAMETERS" you'll see "Tuner 1". The second value (the one that has dBmV next to it) is your signal strength on that particular frequency. Multiple channels reside on a single frequency.

I've found optimum signal strength for HD to be around +3 or so.

after taking readings on different channels i came up with -9 to -12. i have to wait until some kind of sports comes on (like nascar on espn) to really see the crappy stuff.

Is it just me or is Comcast HD picture quality really taking a dive lately? Frames freezing up and then breaking up. Go over to their regular channels and you don't see the same problems.

Geesh its just hard to watch something lately on Comcrap.

For the first time since I've had TW/Comcast's HD DVR service (which is basically as long as it has been available on the west side of the river), I experienced poor picture and sound quality on recordings made the past couple of weeks. There were a couple of shows, Heroes, I think, that the audio was strangely out-of-sync with the pictures. Sometimes rewinding would resync it. There were also jumps in the video, not the blocking that a lot of you OTA folks talk about all the time on here, but enough to be annoying.

I'm not having a great feeling about Comcast. My bill already went up about $9 from the last TW bill. After two trips to the local office, this was because Comcast would not include the "digital movie tier" in my base package like TW did. (It got removed from my service on the last trip.). The really sad thing is that the clerks at the office were as equally exhausted with Comcast as I was. One of them even said that Comcast's billing system is like the one that TW upgraded from over two years ago and they felt like all of this was a big step backwards.

My gut feeling is that I'm going to switch to DirecTV as soon as all of the locals with HD are available in HD (not OTA) unless Comcast actually does produce a TIVO-based DVR. I've also been tempted to spend my tax return on a TIVO Series 3, but I put that thought at the back of my head when the folks at the local Comcast office said something along the lines of "Cable Card? What's that? I don't think you can use your own equipment with the digital stuff."

Finally... I got my Comcast feeling off my chest.

Timbeaux

after taking readings on different channels i came up with -9 to -12. i have to wait until some kind of sports comes on (like nascar on espn) to really see the crappy stuff.

Yeah, that's definitely way too low. They should be able to do something about it. I'd give Comcast a call and tell them the problems that you're having, and ask them to send someone out to check and fix signal strength.

I'm pretty (almost 100%) sure digital Cable is required to get Comcast's DVR.

I have digital service (SA 8300HD DVR) and am still able to get the basic channels in HD on cable-ready (QAM) on Memphis Comcast.

Anyone notice the WMC-HD logo this morning during the Today show? The WMC segments were not in HD though....wonder why they doing the logo...

Anyone notice the WMC-HD logo this morning during the Today show? The WMC segments were not in HD though....wonder why they doing the logo...
I've seen it before on other programs. I think last time was during Leno months ago. It's huge and stayed on the screen for almost an eternity, ie less than 2 minutes.

usually I get a good picture.

Hi everyone,

It’s that time of the year again. Time for the NCAA bracket challenge.

The site has been setup at http://www.sugarplumgals.com/ncaa/home.asp. There you should find all the info that you need to play. If you have any questions there are email addresses to ask a question.

Please forward the link on to all of your friends who you think might be interested in playing.

Was wondering if I could get any recommendations on what kind of HDMI cable to buy for my XBR2 in Memphis .. I need one tomorrow...
Amazon has them cheap but I need one on Saturday...any suggestions.

i wouldn't worry about brands, other folks would argue to the contrary, but I wouldn't. If you need it tomorrow, then you really can't order one. I would suggest walmart, home depot may have a good price too not sure, or target. I forgot what I gave for mine but it wasn't more than.......wait I got mine free from directv.....nevermind, go to those stores, I would stay away from BB or CC, just get the length you need.

Sounds good to me. I know the price of cables at BB and CC are really high. I heard that they were no better than the cheaper priced hdmi cables on Amazon for $14.99 (6.5')... I just hope Walmart etc has some of the cheaper cables. One person stated that the cheaper cables were easier to break because they were thinner. Makes sense but I will be careful not to rough them up too much, I was just asking to make sure the quality of the picture would not be diminished. I'm heading to Giant TV tomorrow to get my Sony. Will be a last min decision between the xbr2 and the kds-602020....

Anyone else have this problem?

I get our local HD channels through a QAM tuner through standard analog cable. Right now my CW channel is blank, and my ABC channel has the CW video but ABC audio. Make sense? It's been like this for a couple days.

Any idea if it's my TV or the cable co?

Sounds good to me. I know the price of cables at BB and CC are really high. I heard that they were no better than the cheaper priced hdmi cables on Amazon for $14.99 (6.5')... I just hope Walmart etc has some of the cheaper cables. One person stated that the cheaper cables were easier to break because they were thinner. Makes sense but I will be careful not to rough them up too much, I was just asking to make sure the quality of the picture would not be diminished. I'm heading to Giant TV tomorrow to get my Sony. Will be a last min decision between the xbr2 and the kds-602020....

The picture quality will be just fine. HDMI is a pure digital signal, so it's not like speaker wire or coax where passing a greater range of frequencies can affect signal quality. As long all the data in the signal is being passed down the cable, the picture will be the same on any HDMI cable, whether you paid $7 or $70. Unless you're putting your TV on the other side of the room from the playback device and need some really long cable, cheap ones will work just fine.

The myth that more expensive HDMI cables somehow increase your picture quality is a scam perpetrated by the big retail chains who make HUGE profit margins on overpriced cables. Their pricing is the electronic equivalent of soda and candy at a movie theater.

Bitrates from today's HD programs.

WREG - college b-ball http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5812/wreg031107xr2.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg031107xr2.jpg) WMC - golf http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/8063/wmc031107gz5.th.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wmc031107gz5.jpg) WPTY - NBA http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/9928/wpty031107gh2.th.jpg (http://img406.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wpty031107gh2.jpg) WHBQ - NASCAR http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/1672/whbq031107qb6.th.jpg (http://img373.imageshack.us/my.php?image=whbq031107qb6.jpg)

Pretty sad for the 2 1080i channels.

Hello, I am new to this forum and I must day it has been very helpful. Within the next few weeks I will be setting up a HD antenna to pick up Memphis Channels and some other from around here.

I am located in Senath, Missouri in the Bootheel. Right now I am watching WMC-5 with a digital lock and a signal strength of 72%. I am using bunny ears! I can't wait to see how many more stations I can watch when I set up a outdoor antenna. I can pick up every Memphis channel now but FOX with by bunny ears. However I can get Fox out of Cape. Pretty cool stuff......

Anymore pointers or tips you have for me, feel free to post them. I am hoping I should do pretty good with a outdoor antenna since I am doing so good with the bunny ears. Just to many free HDTV channels out there now not to take advantage of them....no sense in paying someone else to get them....Plus I am kind of addicted to this stuff now to.

Anyways, I will let you know how it goes!

Ndeck83

Welcome to the forum Ndeck83. Looks like you are in a good location for OTA. We used to have Cape and Paducah stations on our cable system here, but not any more. I miss having a choice of CBS and NBC channels during NFL season. Memphis and J'boro are all I can get. Cape and Paducah are over 100 miles away from me, and Little Rock is 150.

I can't wait to see how many more stations I can watch when I set up a outdoor antenna. I can pick up every Memphis channel now but FOX with by bunny ears. However I can get Fox out of Cape. Pretty cool stuff......
Ndeck83
WHBQ-DT has been down to 1/2 power since around 2 PM on Sunday. There is a crowbar issue that is keeping one of the two amplifiers off. We're working on it today. I'll let you know when it's back up so you can try us again.
Thanks,

WHBQ-DT has been down to 1/2 power since around 2 PM on Sunday. There is a crowbar issue that is keeping one of the two amplifiers off. We're working on it today. I'll let you know when it's back up so you can try us again.
Thanks,
Would that explain why a couple of times yesterday the picture/audio would freeze for a minute or so and then pick right back up?

WHBQ-DT has been down to 1/2 power since around 2 PM on Sunday. There is a crowbar issue that is keeping one of the two amplifiers off. We're working on it today. I'll let you know when it's back up so you can try us again.
Thanks,

Cool & Interesting job you have there. I worked as a Master Control Operator for awhile late last year for KAIT-8 in Jonesboro. So, I know how much behind the seens hard work goes into making a TV station function....I loved the job especially during severe weather lots of screaming going on lol. But due to the long drive and poor pay(they were way below the national average for MCOs) I had to find another job closer to home.

I will be looking for WHBQ. It will be very helpful to get your broadcast from Memphis...That would keep me from having to rotate to the North to pick up the feed from Cape.

Hi everyone,

It’s that time of the year again. Time for the NCAA bracket challenge.

The site has been setup at http://www.sugarplumgals.com/ncaa/home.asp. There you should find all the info that you need to play. If you have any questions there are email addresses to ask a question.

Please forward the link on to all of your friends who you think might be interested in playing.

And still no WREG in HD on DTV. What a bunch of assmuchers at that station.

Pretty sad for the 2 1080i channels.The saddest thing is that the two 1080i channels are the ones multi-casting.

Chase

The saddest thing is that the two 1080i channels are the ones multi-casting.
I completely agree. I really wish that more sports programming would show up on the CW since they don't mulitcast and their HD PQ is beautiful. Since they upped the bitrate I've only seen blocking during the beginning of Reba. (I'll never see that again :( ) I see it all the time on both WREG and WMC.

I honestly think both channels have gotten worse since the new year. WREG has capped 3-2 at almost 2 mbps and 3-1 has suffered because of it. Many times during the games yesterday I would see over 1.5 mbps of null data during the games. So that's removing 3.5 mbps of data from 3-1. And they wonder why their PQ looks like crap. Oh wait, the clown engineer at WREG doesn't think there is a problem. But as we all remember, WREG doesn't care about viewers comments of their HD PQ, they keep that all in-house. :rolleyes:

WMC is so far gone it's almost useless. They are using more than WREG is to steal from the HD PQ. I haven't see good HD from WMC in an awful long time. That could be because the PQ looks so bad I barely even watch that channel anymore. They even manage to make golf look terrible. And I'm not talking about the SD shots. Given a chance of HD soccer on WMC, and SD soccer on FSC or GolTV, I'd pick the later.

Speaking of which, has anyone seen any children's programming on Weather +? Aren't ALL subs supposed to have children's programming on it? How is WMC getting away with it?

It is pretty sad when even FOX, who dictates national programming bitrates, is more than our locals.

:mad:

Would that explain why a couple of times yesterday the picture/audio would freeze for a minute or so and then pick right back up?
That would be me pushing the wrong button. I wanted to shut off the bad amplifier cabinet, but ended up shutting off the water supply to the whole thing, which automatically killed the other (working) amplifier. The button was labeled "A Standby", but it ended up killing "B" as well. Not particularly intuitive, and I'm not used to the controls. Our normal guys weren't available so I went to the site to check it when it went to half power. Never let the boss touch the good stuff!

We're back to full power now, but we're checking with the manufacturer about this since it seems to happen more often than it should.

WMC is so far gone it's almost useless. They are using more than WREG is to steal from the HD PQ. I haven't see good HD from WMC in an awful long time. That could be because the PQ looks so bad I barely even watch that channel anymore. They even manage to make golf look terrible. And I'm not talking about the SD shots. Given a chance of HD soccer on WMC, and SD soccer on FSC or GolTV, I'd pick the later.


The only thing I've seen that looks half-way decent on WMC is the NHL. That's probably because a good portion of the screen is taken up by subtle shades of white, which should compress pretty well.

The only thing I've seen that looks half-way decent on WMC is the NHL. That's probably because a good portion of the screen is taken up by subtle shades of white, which should compress pretty well.
Do you ever see the blue and red ghosting effect from the lines when the camera moves? I see it all the time.

Do you ever see the blue and red ghosting effect from the lines when the camera moves? I see it all the time.

Occasionally, but I guess to me it's not as noticeable. I'm just happy to see ANY NHL games in HD, usually.

Whenever the game goes to commercial and they fly their logo across the screen, however, the insane level of macroblocking appears and is painfully obvious.

I know this forum is for Memphis HD disscusions only but I have a fast question.

I am currently buying everything I need to do my install here at my house.

Can you use the same coax you use for the antenna for the rotor wire to? Or do you have to use a special kind of cable for the rotor....Would be cool if I could use the same because I already have 2 lines prewired up to the roof.

Thanks alot guys for the help!

Nat.

Nat,
You cannot use the same coax for the rotor. A rotor needs a three or four conductor cable, which of course the coax is not. You can get a 100' roll of rotor cable at a home improvement store for ~ $5.00

WREG has their schedule for tomorrow on the Sports section of the website. It's an image instead of some kind of text that can be copied. Are they worried of some copyright protection?

Thanks Neil L!

Oh man, got home from work and turned the NCAA game on, ouch. Took me 5 seconds to get mad at the PQ.

Cool...I just re-scanned my channels (I just have NON-digital cable and a QAM-equipped tv) and I found I pick up A&E HD, National Geographic HD, and all the NBA League Pass channels, in additioni to all the local HD channels I already knew I got. All the channels have great pq.

Cool...I just re-scanned my channels (I just have NON-digital cable and a QAM-equipped tv) and I found I pick up A&E HD, National Geographic HD, and all the NBA League Pass channels, in additioni to all the local HD channels I already knew I got. All the channels have great pq.

I know Comcast just added A&E HD and NatGeo HD this week, but I didn't know you could get them over analog... that's pretty cool.

I know Comcast just added A&E HD and NatGeo HD this week, but I didn't know you could get them over analog... that's pretty cool.
Maybe they just haven't gotten around to encrypting them. I'm also getting all the NBA League Pass games...odd.

Is anyone having problem getting CW (channel 30-1) OTA in HD? I got a weak signal screen just the other day and now the channel no longer comes up.

Is anyone having problem getting CW (channel 30-1) OTA in HD? I got a weak signal screen just the other day and now the channel no longer comes up.
Are you still having problems with it today? I'm curently getting it.

Pics of one of today's games.
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2064/wreg3170713pr6.th.jpg (http://img135.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg3170713pr6.jpg)http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2568/wreg3170712yc4.th.jpg (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg3170712yc4.jpg)http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6798/wreg3170711yo8.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg3170711yo8.jpg)http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/601/wreg3170710if4.th.jpg (http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg3170710if4.jpg)http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1252/wreg317079ui2.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317079ui2.jpg)http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/3586/wreg317074wc0.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317074wc0.jpg)http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/7552/wreg317075hc4.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317075hc4.jpg)

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/3012/wreg317076pp5.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317076pp5.jpg)http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8429/wreg317077wn4.th.jpg (http://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317077wn4.jpg)http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9848/wreg317078rd0.th.jpg (http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317078rd0.jpg)http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6894/wreg317073ko7.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317073ko7.jpg)http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/8136/wreg317072sa4.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317072sa4.jpg)http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/2687/wreg317071yb2.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg317071yb2.jpg)http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4650/wreg3170714cb2.th.jpg (http://img187.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg3170714cb2.jpg)

Bitrate:
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/102/wreg31707gz0.th.jpg (http://img260.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg31707gz0.jpg)

Is anyone having problem getting CW (channel 30-1) OTA in HD? I got a weak signal screen just the other day and now the channel no longer comes up.

I am now noticing that there is a 30-2 subchannel... no info in the guide as to what is on...

Jerry

CBS' PQ is pitiful for these games...

I am now noticing that there is a 30-2 subchannel... no info in the guide as to what is on...
Yep, your right.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/8485/wlmtbh5.th.jpg (http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wlmtbh5.jpg)
Now we will have to see what they do during HD programming.

No subs on WPTY.

Cool...I just re-scanned my channels (I just have NON-digital cable and a QAM-equipped tv) and I found I pick up A&E HD, National Geographic HD, and all the NBA League Pass channels, in additioni to all the local HD channels I already knew I got. All the channels have great pq.


I did the same thing. Is there any information on what each channel is? The reason I have a analog line connected to the back of the TV is multiple issues with Comcast and the SA 8300HD. If I can get this to work reasonably well I will just take the box back and save on the monthly rental fee.

I did the same thing. Is there any information on what each channel is? The reason I have a analog line connected to the back of the TV is multiple issues with Comcast and the SA 8300HD. If I can get this to work reasonably well I will just take the box back and save on the monthly rental fee.
Unfortunately no...you have to manually figure out what each channel is. But since I only have the local channels (and now A&Ehd, NGhd and NBA league pass), I can remember very easily what channel is what. Oh, and I also get the pointless 25 music channels.

Thanks for the reply. With trial and error I have figured out the channels. I will miss the HD DVR functions of the SA 8300HD. I have a MCE2005 computer but its tuner is only analog.

Do you use DVR functions?

Well WLMT kept the subchannel on during HD programming and man did it show.

I'm kind of new to the forum.. I live out in Cordova and subscribe to Comcast using the newer HD DVR. I keep having problems with NBC HD and FOX HD through the cable box both the channels are blacked out but show up every now and then. I set the DVR to record SNL last week and when I went to watch it live I had no pic, but when I went back Sunday to check the recording, it actually played 30 minutes of it. Is it my box?

and on another note, is their something I can sign to tell comcast I want to keep HDNET and HDNET Movies. They have a note out saying the will be taking it away soon. They already took INHD2 off the air. I'd HATE to lose the HDNet channels.

and on another note, is their something I can sign to tell comcast I want to keep HDNET and HDNET Movies. They have a note out saying the will be taking it away soon. They already took INHD2 off the air. I'd HATE to lose the HDNet channels.
Where does it say that Comcast is going to take away HDNet? Is it on the channel or somewhere else? INHD2 is nationally going away soon, if it hasn't already, and INHD is going to be remaned Mojo.

I noticed this morning that the local SD channels were out for all of Memphis. Were the HD's out too?

Where does it say that Comcast is going to take away HDNet? Is it on the channel or somewhere else? INHD2 is nationally going away soon, if it hasn't already, and INHD is going to be remaned Mojo.

I noticed this morning that the local SD channels were out for all of Memphis. Were the HD's out too?

Channel 001, the Announcements channel, has a page about it. They're adding A&E HD and NatGeo HD, and removing HDNet and HDNet movies April 5th. I'm NOT happy about this. This is likely to drive me to Dish Network.

Thanks for the reply. With trial and error I have figured out the channels. I will miss the HD DVR functions of the SA 8300HD. I have a MCE2005 computer but its tuner is only analog.

Do you use DVR functions?
Not for HD. I use Tivo connected via s-cable, but it only records analog. I don't even watch live tv w/ it...only my recorded shows.

But overall, HD through a QAM tuner is a super deal, especially if they don't encrypt A&Ehd and NGhd.

Channel 001, the Announcements channel, has a page about it. They're adding A&E HD and NatGeo HD, and removing HDNet and HDNet movies April 5th. I'm NOT happy about this. This is likely to drive me to Dish Network.
HDNet is pretty much the only channel keeping me with D*, well that and BabyFirstTV. Looks like Comcast is no longer an option for me even if it does have better HD PQ.

Channel 001, the Announcements channel, has a page about it. They're adding A&E HD and NatGeo HD, and removing HDNet and HDNet movies April 5th. I'm NOT happy about this. This is likely to drive me to Dish Network.

I just spoke with Comcast. and I can confirm that they're dropping these two stations from their lineup. :mad:

I also asked to speak to someone about this change so that I could register my extreme disappointment in this decision (these are two of my favorite HD channels). After getting forwarded two or three times, I finally got someone to give me the name and number of the person who handles the HD lineup. Her name is Sharon Kyser, and the number to call is 365-1770 ext4019. I tried to call her a couple of minutes ago, but all I got was her answering message. I'll try again later and let you know what I find out.

Maybe if enough people call and complain they'll reverse this awful decision.

Ken

I'm kind of new to the forum.. I live out in Cordova and subscribe to Comcast using the newer HD DVR. I keep having problems with NBC HD and FOX HD through the cable box both the channels are blacked out but show up every now and then. I set the DVR to record SNL last week and when I went to watch it live I had no pic, but when I went back Sunday to check the recording, it actually played 30 minutes of it. Is it my box?

and on another note, is their something I can sign to tell comcast I want to keep HDNET and HDNET Movies. They have a note out saying the will be taking it away soon. They already took INHD2 off the air. I'd HATE to lose the HDNet channels.

I've always had trouble with NBC HD and FOX HD through my cable box. I get much better reception of those channels over the air. I have a set of rabbit ears with a round UHF antenna setting behind my TV. I've found that if I turn the UHF antenna toward the general direction of Whitten Rd. and I-40 most local HD channels come in perfect. I live close to Sam Cooper and Perkins in the city. I've had Comcast out to my house a number of times looking at it and they have never been able to "fix" it. Although it never seems to be a problem when they are there. I seem to notice it more in the evening time.

I just spoke with Comcast. and I can confirm that they're dropping these two stations from their lineup. :mad:

I also asked to speak to someone about this change so that I could register my extreme disappointment in this decision (these are two of my favorite HD channels). After getting forwarded two or three times, I finally got someone to give me the name and number of the person who handles the HD lineup. Her name is Sharon Kyser, and the number to call is 365-1770 ext4019. I tried to call her a couple of minutes ago, but all I got was her answering message. I'll try again later and let you know what I find out.

Maybe if enough people call and complain they'll reverse this awful decision.

Ken

Here's some info about Comcast and HDNet you might be interested in. As well as a link to a petition.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/comcasthdnet092406.htm

http://www.**************.com/comcast1/petition.html

I still haven't spoken with Ms. Kyser, but I'm willing to bet that the decision to drop the HDNet channels has everything to do with the continuuing wrangling between HDNet and Comcast. It's not a local decision. I guess we've been able to continue to receive those stations even after the switchover from Time Warner to Comcast, but now that the license agreement for carrying HDNet has expired, Comcast will no longer carry it here locally.

I also found a dormant AVS thread on this very topic: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=615816&page=5&pp=30.

Finally, thanks Don, for those links. The tvpredictions article was interesting. Maybe we need to start complaining to people like Comcast VP Matt Bond to let them know how many people are going to be as upset about this as I am. I don't have his email address, but I believe the email address for Comcast's president is Steve_Burke@cable.comcast.com.

Channel 001, the Announcements channel, has a page about it. They're adding A&E HD and NatGeo HD, and removing HDNet and HDNet movies April 5th. I'm NOT happy about this. This is likely to drive me to Dish Network.

PM me if you want a Dish Club card to get the service at a discount. I'm pretty happy with the HD and the DVR service.

Dorsey slamming last night

http://img156.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img156/1847/1174662367vyz.smil

Is anyone else on Comcast getting a message which appears to be the Emergency Alert System? It says to turn to channel 15, but that is C-Span... It even came up when I was watching a program from the DVR.

Wow, I've been gone a while. HDNet is being dropped? I knew it was coming. This is why cable monopolies are bad.
Has anyone else seen the Anti-AT&T ads? Yeah, like having competition in Memphis could make things worse...

This sucks, seriously.

So I went to Comcast stood in line for over an hour, swapped out my HD DVR box (8300) and NBCHD 805 and FOXHD 813 worked..... for a day,, they are blacked out again. Any ideas?

So I went to Comcast stood in line for over an hour, swapped out my HD DVR box (8300) and NBCHD 805 and FOXHD 813 worked..... for a day,, they are blacked out again. Any ideas?

Sounds to me like a signal or cabling issue. I'd have to check and see what frequency 805 and 813 are on, but if they're on the same one, that would indicate to me that something is causing occasional interference on certain frequencies. I had a similar issue several months back, where a number of channels wouldn't come in on the weekends, but for the most part would be fine during the week. Something was happening over the weekends that was putting out some kind of RF interference above what was around during the week. The tech came out and found a poorly-terminated cable out at the tap, replaced it, and it worked fine.

The digital channels are being sent to your house over various frequencies through the coax cable. One frequency holds multiple digital channels. Improperly terminated connectors or poorly-shielded cable can cause added interference on some frequencies, but not others, which can result in what appears to be random channels on your cable box not tuning in.

Has anyone else seen the Anti-AT&T ads? Yeah, like having competition in Memphis could make things worse...

This sucks, seriously.
I haven’t seen any anti-AT&T commercials. Or if I have it just didn’t register.

I did see on the news last week, this caught my eye, that there was some open forum somewhere in Germantown where they were talking about cable and the news, I think it was WHBQ, was interviewing someone from AT&T. it got me thinking if AT&T is thinking about coming here? If so I would be very interested in looking at that. I’ve heard it’s like FiOS. So I would guess we would get high quality HD channels, and at a competitive price.

I have a feeling that where I live wouldn't be one of the first places to get it. :(

I guess Comcast would realize that if another player jumped in their transition woes would look much worse. :eek:

Did WMC flip the switch for Nightly News in HD?

Could be the signal strength on your line. HD channels are more sensitive to signal issues than SD ones. There's a pretty easy way to tell. Tune to one of the HD channels that's having issues. Leave the box on and hold the Select button down on the box (won't work on the remote) until the little "mail" indicator starts flashing. Let go of select and press Info. That will get you into the diagnostic screen.

Under "RF PARAMETERS" you'll see "Tuner 1". The second value (the one that has dBmV next to it) is your signal strength on that particular frequency. Multiple channels reside on a single frequency.

I've found optimum signal strength for HD to be around +3 or so. If the value is in red, that indicates serious signal issues. you can press Exit to leave the diagnostic menu. If there's a signal issue, have Comcast come out to test the line themselves. Just tell them your channels are freezing and breaking up, and they'll send someone.

Once, all the guy had to do was replace a poorly-terminated coax cable, and it worked fine again. Another time, it was a bad tap out at the street.

Thanks for the tip. I checked my signal strength because lately I have been seeing a vertical blue line in the middle of my TV screen on SD channels. My setting on HD channels is 15 and the value is red. That seems like that's a big problem. What should it be for non-HD channels? I get "analog". This might be a stupid question/comment but if I pay for digital cable should it not be all digital?

Anyway, my problem started a couple of weeks ago when I noticed that my cable box was reset and the vertical line started to appear. Does anyone else have this vertical line issue?

Thanks for the tip. I checked my signal strength because lately I have been seeing a vertical blue line in the middle of my TV screen on SD channels. My setting on HD channels is 15 and the value is red. That seems like that's a big problem. What should it be for non-HD channels?

Anywhere between -7 and +3 seems to be just fine for most SD channels. If it's red, I'd call Comcast and tell them you're having signal problems and that you need a tech to come out. They should be able to repair it.

I get "analog". This might be a stupid question/comment but if I pay for digital cable should it not be all digital?

Actually, that's part of the big deception with "digital cable". Not all the channels are actually digital. In fact, I believe of the channels from 2 - 70-something, very few are. Mainly just the local broadcast channels (03, 05, 07, 09, 010 and 013). If you go up to 103, 105, 107, etc., you'll find the local channels again, but these ones are actually in analog. Most of the basic cable channels (your USA's and Comedy Centrals - stuff that you can still get with analog-only service) are just being picked up in analog by the digital box. For the most part, the true digital stuff is in the 200+ range.

Anyway, my problem started a couple of weeks ago when I noticed that my cable box was reset and the vertical line started to appear. Does anyone else have this vertical line issue?

I've never seen an issue like that before, and it doesn't sound like any kind of signal or interference problem I've ever heard of, either digital or analog. Could be a problem with the box.

Iceman... I just checked, and 805 and 813 are indeed on the same frequency (561 MHz). Your issue definitely sounds like an interference/cabling problem.

Did WMC flip the switch for Nightly News in HD?

Yes they did. Looked OK, but with all of the remotes (which is 80% of the news) in SD, didn't have much wow factor.

Brian Williams looks better in HD than Dan Rather.

Thursday April 5 and Friday April 6:

The Masters Golf Tournament will air on WREG's HD channel only (3.1 or 803 on Comcast cable) on Thursday April 5th and Friday April 6th from 3pm til conclusion around 6pm.

The Masters Golf Tournament will air on WREG's HD channel only (3.1 or 803 on Comcast cable) on Thursday April 5th and Friday April 6th from 3pm til conclusion around 6pm.Thanks, mx. I had been planning to inquire about air times, but you've saved me the trouble! :D

Now, if we only had a decent signal... :( The other day I switched between an NBA game on WPTY and the NCAA tourney on WREG. You know something be wrong somewhere when 720p blows away 1080i on a 1920x1080 display. ;)

Chase

Now, if we only had a decent signal... :( The other day I switched between an NBA game on WPTY and the NCAA tourney on WREG. You know something be wrong somewhere when 720p blows away 1080i on a 1920x1080 display. ;)
Yeah I sent them an email saying the HD PQ looked like crap and asking if they could fix the out of focus blur. It was forwarded to some new guy I've never heard of. As usual he said we are trying to give the best picture possible, blah blah. I then replied to him twice and haven't recieved an email back.

When they made 3-2 a constant mbps it screwed up 3-1 which looks even worse now. :confused:

Dumbasses.