HDNet and HDNet Movies are gone from Comcast..... :(
I just sent an email to Mark Cuban. I'm really going to miss those channels, and I can't go with D* or E*...

Wow, Mark Cuban actually replied to my email. He said to keep pestering them about it.

With HDNET gone I will likely be leaving Comcast behind as a bad memory. Can anyone comment on the benefits of Direct TV over Dish Network (or vice-versa) so far as available HD programming goes?

Thanks, Bill

With HDNET gone I will likely be leaving Comcast behind as a bad memory. Can anyone comment on the benefits of Direct TV over Dish Network (or vice-versa) so far as available HD programming goes?

Thanks, Bill
I can comment on D*. The cost for HD Access is 9.99/month. They are the reason HD-Lite came to fruition. They dumb down 1080i to 1280x1080. I've been with them since before they had the HD pack and I can tell a huge difference in HD PQ. Channels available are ESPN2HD, ESPNHD, Discovery HD Theater, HDNet, HDNet Movies, TNTHD, Universial HD, Showtime and HBO HD's when you sub to those packages, a HD special events channel which shows some HD sports and National Geographic sneak peaks, and an HD PPV channel.

I'm assuming you will be a new sub, and channels WMC, WPTY, and WHBQ are available in HD from D* using the new mpeg-4 codec. The other local HD channels you will have to get with an antenna.

D* has announced an expansion of 100 HD channels by the end of the year, there is a thread in the HDTV Programming forum about it. D* is launching 2 sats later this year in which they will have the capacity to broadcast that many.

Hardware wise, unless you can find one on ebay, you will get an HD-DVR instead of an HDTivo. I don't have one of them so I can't comment. But those are $199 up front to lease the unit, and I don;t know how much the regualr HD stb, H20, would be. They are both mpeg-4 recievers but can still see the mpeg-2 channels.

If you sub you will be locked into a 2 year agreement.

Hope that helps.

With HDNET gone I will likely be leaving Comcast behind as a bad memory. Can anyone comment on the benefits of Direct TV over Dish Network (or vice-versa) so far as available HD programming goes?

Thanks, Bill
Browse around SatelliteGuys (http://www.satelliteguys.us/forumdisplay.php?f=10&styleid=13) to get some ideas of the DishNetwork reputation. I am personally happy with them, I have a 622 which is an MPEG-2 device, but new subs get the vip622 which is an MPEG-4 device and there is more programming available in MPEG-4. Their website has a lot of info on the HD packages. If you decide you want Dish, PM me and I'll send you a DishClub card that gets you some discounts upon subscription.

I'd try Dish. No committment with MPEG-4 DVR. $50 a month the first 2 months for all their HD channels and top 50 crap. $40/mo for the next 10 months, going rate after. They have the most National HD but no Memphis locals except via antenna. Get the the Dish Club card off dogpoobob for free install. You have to call, can't do thru their website. They have a thread at Fat Wallet dot commie.

I'm watching the game on WREG tonight and it looks like utter s--t. I was over 30 feet away from my TV and could still see interlacing. Un-freaken-believable.

I'm watching the game on WREG tonight and it looks like utter s--t. I was over 30 feet away from my TV and could still see interlacing. Un-freaken-believable.Agreed. I switched over for a few minutes after 24. The picture didn't even look like HD...just upscaled SD with a 1.78 aspect. I have very low expectations for The Masters.

A few years back, I did some volunteer work with one of the personalities at WREG. I may see if that person would be willing to help us get to the bottom of these PQ issues.

Chase

I played back a HD recording last night on an DVHS tape I recorded from D* a couple of years back and it looked fantastic and the sound was also very good. About a year ago I changed to cable(Time Warner) and before switching over I kept the D* and compared different HD channels with the same programming. At that time there was no doubt in my mind the D* was going downhill for HD and I cancelled.

I hated when Comcast bought out TW and one of their first moves is to cancel HDNetMovies & HDNet and give us a couple of crap channels. Picture quality is still good on cable most of the time but I expect as time passes they will need more bandwidth and downrez.

I agree about the NCAA Championship game last night. Just awful picture quality. The white balance was horribly off-- Florida's uniforms looked very blue instead of white-- but only in the main shots-- some close-ups showed them to have a distinct red tone. Also, there was a general blurriness that really made it look like SD.

I agree about the NCAA Championship game last night. Just awful picture quality. The white balance was horribly off-- Florida's uniforms looked very blue instead of white-- but only in the main shots-- some close-ups showed them to have a distinct red tone. Also, there was a general blurriness that really made it look like SD.
Yeah I agree with all points.

With HDNET gone I will likely be leaving Comcast behind as a bad memory. Can anyone comment on the benefits of Direct TV over Dish Network (or vice-versa) so far as available HD programming goes?

Thanks, Bill

Thanks for the Input guys - I still haven't came to a decision. I am wondering about the "HD-Lite" that was mentioned. I do have a few more questions:

Does both E* and D* downrez 1920x1080i to 1280x1080i?

Is there any 720p HD programming on E* or D*?

For my main LCD Projection TV (Sony KDF70XBR950) it probably won't make much difference because the native resolution is keyed to the WXGA panels at 1280x768 and everything is up or down converted to that. However my other HDTV is a 37" plasma and I believe it supports the full 1920x1080i.

For those of you getting the (MPEG4?) HD-Lite can you tell a difference on sets that support the full 1080i or 1080p specification?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------5523
<rant>
By the way, for those of you that have Sony LCD projection TVs; there seems to be a common problem with a component known as the "Optical Block." For an out of warranty repair the estimate was $1,300 - 1,600 to fix! Being somewhat of a do-it-yourselfer I was able to obtain a service manual ($25) from manualsparadise.com, and the new Optical block component ($552 after returning core and shipping charges) from andrewselectronics.com and fix it myself. The rant comes in becauses there is a KNOWN PROBLEM with the optical block assembly that exhibits slightly different symptoms than I was experiencing. Sony is, after numerous complaints, warrantying repairs to the optical block for users experiencing a very limited type of symptom while denying the warranty service to others with the same underlying cause. If any of you have the optical block problem I would encourage you to complain loudly to Sony!
</rant>

Thanks for the Input guys - I still haven't came to a decision. I am wondering about the "HD-Lite" that was mentioned. I do have a few more questions:

Does both E* and D* downrez 1920x1080i to 1280x1080i?

Is there any 720p HD programming on E* or D*?

For my main LCD Projection TV (Sony KDF70XBR950) it probably won't make much difference because the native resolution is keyed to the WXGA panels at 1280x768 and everything is up or down converted to that. However my other HDTV is a 37" plasma and I believe it supports the full 1920x1080i.

For those of you getting the (MPEG4?) HD-Lite can you tell a difference on sets that support the full 1080i or 1080p specification?

1) D* does 1280x1080. E* just recently starting downrezzing to 1440x1080
2) Both has ESPNHD and ESPN2HD. All other's, other than FSN on D* are 1080i. Not sure about E*
3) So far only the local's are available in mepg-4 from D*. Nationals are hoped to be up shortly after the sat is launched. Some people in other cities say they can tell very little difference in PQ from OTA and D*, while other's say it's a big difference. There is a thread that said they are downrezzing HD-LIL's (local-into-local) to 1280x1080. Whether this stays this ways no one knows.
E* does do national mpeg-4 and is downrezzing those to the numbers above. Someone who has E* will have to comment on the PQ since I don't have them.

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.It's 3:45 PM and no Masters on 3-1. What was your source for this information? WREG claims to know nothing about it... :rolleyes:

Chase

It's 3:45 PM and no Masters on 3-1. What was your source for this information? WREG claims to know nothing about it... :rolleyes:

Chase
I got it from their RSS feed. I emptied the recycle bin yesterday so I don't have it anymore. :o

That's BS, they know about it. They've been doing it the past 2 or 3 years. Who did you speak with? Call Ron Walter at 543-2103 and have his secretary (I'm sure he wont answer) ask him to check into it.

I got it from their RSS feed. I emptied the recycle bin yesterday so I don't have it anymore. :o

That's BS, they know about it. They've been doing it the past 2 or 3 years. Who did you speak with? Call Ron Walter at 543-2103 and have his secretary (I'm sure he wont answer) ask him to check into it.

The master is also on UHD channel 74 on D*.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=830418

Of course WREG gets it wrong... then again what do you expect!

Jerry

Of course WREG gets it wrong... then again what do you expect!

AMEN.

I hope to be off work in time to watch some of it today. For those that will be home when it's time for it to be on, 3 pm, use the numbers below to call to have them flip it on if it isn't. Ask for master control or engineering.

Main Phone Number
901-543-2333
News Tip Line
901-543-2111


Also this is a link to the post with station contact names and numbers on them. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8475053&&#post8475053

I've been watching National Geographic HD on Comcast... wow. The picture quality gives WREG a run for the bottom of the barrel. Even without any motion on the screen you can see terrible macroblocking. It's my understanding that Comcast is supposed to pass bit rates straight through from the provider. Is NatGeoHD really putting out that bad of a picture?

I've been watching National Geographic HD on Comcast... wow. The picture quality gives WREG a run for the bottom of the barrel. Even without any motion on the screen you can see terrible macroblocking. It's my understanding that Comcast is supposed to pass bit rates straight through from the provider. Is NatGeoHD really putting out that bad of a picture?
Haha. D* is showing "sneak peaks" at like 2 am but I don't care to tivo it and watch it. Plus D* wouldn't be that good of a reference point. I figured Comcast would be a better reference. Guess not.

I know this is a HDTV forum but I have a question about DTV and The MLB E.I. package. If anyone has this and could check and comment I would appriciate it. Up until last year the Cin Reds were a home team for The Memphis market. Last year even though MLB.TV and Time Warner cable kept the Reds as a Home team DTV removed Memphis as a home team for the Reds. They even sent me a post card letting me know. I had always just paid the 12.00 per month for the sports pack and was able to get the Reds games on 638 FSN Cinn. Last year I had to buy the E.I. package to get the Reds games since they were now an out of market team. That leads me to my question. This year now it seems the Reds games are again blacked out except when they play on 638. The game Thursday on the Cubs network was blacked out but should not have been. I told DTV to not renew the E.I. package until I knew for sure the Reds games would be shown.
So tonight after the free preview has ended I do indeed get the Reds on 638. The DTV web sight however still shows the Reds as an out of market team. Sorry to be so long winded here but I was hoping to find out if I had to get it again this year while they still offered the early bird price
Thx for listening

I wish I had some definate answers for you.

I don't have EI but I do remember getting some Reds games with the Sports Pak. I'd watch them mainly when they played the Cubs. :) I remember the Reds changed from FSN Ohio to FSN Cincy or vise versa a couple of seasons ago. I went to the FSN Ohio website http://msn.foxsports.com/regional/ohio and it looks like Ohio is the home of the Reds. And the Reds team site only shows FSN for their games so that's no help.

I'm guessing they are switching back and forth? Your best bet would be to post in the local Cincy thread to see if they might know.

Regarding the reds or for me the cardinals with my zip code. From what I can tell if the team is in your region and on a local fsn channel, if the reds were say on fsn local channel and espn then the espn telecast would be blacked out but you could watch it on the local fsn in your region. Last year with the Cardinals fsn midwest was the main channel which was a part of my region but only if I subscribed to the sports pack other wise I only got fsn south. Everytime the cards played on espn or any other channel if the game was simulcast on fsn midwest it would be blacked out on every other channel. When we had the mld ei free preview this weekend, I could not watch the cardinals game because I was not a sports pack subscriber which was simulcasting the games on fsn midwest. I don't think having the ie package will help you receive all the reds games unless you have the sports pack.

I've been watching National Geographic HD on Comcast... wow. The picture quality gives WREG a run for the bottom of the barrel. Even without any motion on the screen you can see terrible macroblocking. It's my understanding that Comcast is supposed to pass bit rates straight through from the provider. Is NatGeoHD really putting out that bad of a picture?

Well. I can tell you it looks prettY good in HD on Cox cable in New orleans!

Don H.

Well. I can tell you it looks prettY good in HD on Cox cable in New orleans!

Don H.

It's more than likely Comcast... Let's face it, Memphis isn't the place for good HD.

I'm trying to watch the NASCAR race on Fox 13 through D*, and am getting a lot of pixelation. Do Comcast subscribers experience this? I can't watch OTA because the way my antenna is aimed to pick up WREG.

I'm trying to watch the NASCAR race on Fox 13 through D*, and am getting a lot of pixelation. Do Comcast subscribers experience this? I can't watch OTA because the way my antenna is aimed to pick up WREG.

I'm trying to watch NASCAR also via OTA... I am losing it's signal a lot which is causing a lot of pixelation. I rarely have any troubles with WHBQ. Maybe it is a WHBQ problem.

Jerry

I stopped watching about an hour ago but I wasn't having any issues at all with the signal.

PQ on WHBQ and WPTY looked great. NHL on NBC looked like crap. PGA looked pretty bad also.

I'm trying to watch the NASCAR race on Fox 13 through D*, and am getting a lot of pixelation. Do Comcast subscribers experience this? I can't watch OTA because the way my antenna is aimed to pick up WREG.
I have Comcast and didn't have any pixelation during the race.

To me Fox 13 has always seemed to have the better PQ than the other local stations on Comcast.

I changed over to the NY Fox feed and it was fine. No pixelation. Ch 13 was awful I don't know what was going on and who to complain to. It seems as though it may be a D* problem

I just called Comcast to put in my vote for them to add HDNet & HDNet Movies back to the lineup. I was informed that HD Net doesn't no longer exist. I had to tell her that HD Net is still around and wanted them added back since I had them when we were Time Warner. She said she'll have her supervisor call me. I asked her do they have a suggestion line or someone that I could talk to about adding HD Net back. She said they don't have such a thing. I would just have to talk to her supervisor.

Hopefully he'll know who I can call to put in my 2 cents worth.

I just called Comcast to put in my vote for them to add HDNet & HDNet Movies back to the lineup. I was informed that HD Net doesn't no longer exist.
:D

Is anyone else having problems with their D* signal? Mine started happening last night and is sitll acting up today. It's sporadic and happening to all my recievers. I'm still getting a high signal strength when I test the signals on my H10. It's happening again right now. And of course there isn't a cloud in the sky.

I can't miss the ManU game!!!! I found it on p2p but it's in Chinese and can't quite understand that.

I just called Comcast to put in my vote for them to add HDNet & HDNet Movies back to the lineup. I was informed that HD Net doesn't no longer exist. I had to tell her that HD Net is still around and wanted them added back since I had them when we were Time Warner. She said she'll have her supervisor call me. I asked her do they have a suggestion line or someone that I could talk to about adding HD Net back. She said they don't have such a thing. I would just have to talk to her supervisor.

Hopefully he'll know who I can call to put in my 2 cents worth.

See my previous posts on this topic (#4483 and especially #4486) in this thread. It's not a local issue. It's a disagreement about the cost of HDNet for Comcast. Comcast is unwilling to pay what they're asking, whereas other cable companies, such as Time Warner, apparently have no problems with their pricing structure. It's been an ongoing issue for several years now with no resolution in sight. My advice would be to email Comcast's president and vice-president and register your concerns. Don't hold your breath waiting for a quick fix.

Ken

I've been lurking in the thread for a few months and this is my first post. Thanks for the previous advice. Much appreciated.

I was wondering if Comcast Digital is broadcasting WMC (CBS) and WHBQ (Fox) in HD by unencrypted QAM. If so, can anyone provide the physical channel and subchannel.

I would like to get this going at home and also post the complete list to the unencrypted QAM wiki. I can't provide the URL until I make 5 posts but I can provide this later if people need it.

Here is my work-in-progress list. If anyone has any more channels or sees any false info, could you please let me know. Thanks!


Logical Cable Channel, Physical Channel-Subchannel, Station
--- ----- --------------
824 74-1 AETVHD (A&E HD)
825 74-9 NGCHD (National Geographic HD)

803 84-2 WREGDT CBS HD
810 84-3 WKNODT PBS HD
xxx 84-4 WKNODT2 PBS
xxx 84-5 WREGDT2 CBS news SD

807 85-4 WPTYDT ABC HD
809 85-8 WLMTDT CW HD

003 86-100 WREG CBS SD
005 86-101 WMC NBC SD
013 86-102 WHBQ Fox SD
007 86-103 WPTY ABC SD
009 86-104 WLMT CW SD

003 89-2 WREG CBS SD

016 93-2 C-SPAN2


Are the following available on unencrypted QAM?
Which Physical Channel-Subchannel?

805 xx-x WMCDT NBC HD
813 xx-x WHBQDT Fox HD
830 xx-x WHBQDT Fox HD

Did anyone else notice that WREG cut into CSI:Miami Monday night before the episode was over to plug their upcoming new cast?

Did anyone else notice that WREG cut into CSI:Miami Monday night before the episode was over to plug their upcoming new cast?
Yeah I saw that tonight. But at the end of CSI: NY they waited until the last commercial break to give the teaser.

Is WPTY always having audio problems now? Lost last week and Grey's Anatomy is having all these sparkling sounds during it. Anyone else?

Is WPTY always having audio problems now? Lost last week and Grey's Anatomy is having all these sparkling sounds during it. Anyone else?

Lost is the only show I watch on WPTY, but the only sound issues I remember were a couple weeks ago, and it was an issue with the national feed...

Lost is the only show I watch on WPTY, but the only sound issues I remember were a couple weeks ago, and it was an issue with the national feed...
Yeah I used to be a part of that tremendous thread until I had a son and ran out of time to get caught up in it. I haven't watched this weeks LOST but did anyone notice any audio issues?

Yeah I used to be a part of that tremendous thread until I had a son and ran out of time to get caught up in it. I haven't watched this weeks LOST but did anyone notice any audio issues?

Congrats.

No, I don't remember any audio issues with the last Lost. I didn't really have it cranked or anything, but nothing stood out.

Congrats.

No, I don't remember any audio issues with the last Lost. I didn't really have it cranked or anything, but nothing stood out.
Thanks.

I didn't notice any audio issues when I watched it last night. Good thing because my wife was asleep on the couch and it probably would've woken her up.

I've been lurking in the thread for a few months and this is my first post. Thanks for the previous advice. Much appreciated.

I was wondering if Comcast Digital is broadcasting WMC (CBS) and WHBQ (Fox) in HD by unencrypted QAM. If so, can anyone provide the physical channel and subchannel.

I would like to get this going at home and also post the complete list to the unencrypted QAM wiki. I can't provide the URL until I make 5 posts but I can provide this later if people need it.

Here is my work-in-progress list. If anyone has any more channels or sees any false info, could you please let me know. Thanks!


Logical Cable Channel, Physical Channel-Subchannel, Station
--- ----- --------------
824 74-1 AETVHD (A&E HD)
825 74-9 NGCHD (National Geographic HD)

803 84-2 WREGDT CBS HD
810 84-3 WKNODT PBS HD
xxx 84-4 WKNODT2 PBS
xxx 84-5 WREGDT2 CBS news SD

807 85-4 WPTYDT ABC HD
809 85-8 WLMTDT CW HD

003 86-100 WREG CBS SD
005 86-101 WMC NBC SD
013 86-102 WHBQ Fox SD
007 86-103 WPTY ABC SD
009 86-104 WLMT CW SD

003 89-2 WREG CBS SD

016 93-2 C-SPAN2


Are the following available on unencrypted QAM?
Which Physical Channel-Subchannel?

805 xx-x WMCDT NBC HD
813 xx-x WHBQDT Fox HD
830 xx-x WHBQDT Fox HD
I don't know what QAM is, but here are my stations that I can remember:
ABC = 24.1
CWS = 30.1
Fox = 80.1
NBC = 80.2
My Natl Geographic is slightly different, 74.2 I think
All this is from memory (I'm not at home).

Are looking at the same page here?

I don't know what QAM is, but here are my stations that I can remember:
ABC = 24.1
CWS = 30.1
Fox = 80.1
NBC = 80.2
My Natl Geographic is slightly different, 74.2 I think
All this is from memory (I'm not at home).

Are looking at the same page here?

Thanks for the info on the Fox and NBC HD channels. I'll see if I've got them on those stations when I get home. If you find your physical channels don't match mine at all, please let me know and I won't post the lineup on some wiki that I found on the web--no sense in providing irrelevant info.

I don't know much about this but I think QAM is some form of modulation that the cable companies do to their digital TV signals. So, one needs a QAM-compatibile tuner to decode (watch/hear) the signal. Then, of course, the digital broadcast over the cable can either be unencrypted or encrypted. If it's encrypted, then one needs one of their cable boxes to see/hear the channel. If it's unecrypted, one shouldn't need a box from the cable company.

I'm a little concerned if your Natl Geographic is on a different channel than mine--maybe not everyone will have the same channel lineup. That'll make it hard to post this info and help each other figure it out.

As far as being on the same page goes, my setup may be different that what most people on the forum have. I don't have a digital tuner in my TV, I just have an HD-ready TV. I have a homemade computer I built and I'm using SageTV software to record/watch TV. So, my setup with an HD-ready TV and a computer might be quite a bit different than those whom have HD-tuners in their TV's (pretty much any TV for sale these days). Also, to get the digital cable that's unencrypted, I'm using a little box called a HDHomerun from Silicon Dust. It's a box that has two ports to connect to cable and one RJ-45 port to hook up to a switch/router on one's home network. This HDHomerun tuner can be used for either over-the-air digital TV when you connect to an antenna or the unencrypted QAM digital TV through cable. I'm trying to get it working well with cable TV, but if I don't get enough channels I'll probably just switch those two tuners in the HDHomerun to over-the-air.

By the way, I live in the north part of Barlett and I'm able to get over-the-air reception quite good these days with a Terk TV5 antenna (it's multidirectional). It worked fairly well atop my TV on the ground floor, but I recently wired my whole house for Cat6 cable and RG-6 cable and now have the antenna in the 2nd story attic and the digital TV works really well now--not too many dropouts. I've got the over-the-air going into the computer into a PCI card from ATI that receives digital TV. I got the HDHomerun to add more tuners so I could record 3 HD shows at once...then I saw that I might be able to get digital cable on it...so now I'm fiddling with that...

I don't know what QAM is.Quadrature Amplitude Modulation. It's just the modulation format used for digital cable in the USA.

Did they change anything on channel 5-1 recently.
On Monday I tried to watch Heroes with my Samsung Sir-T165.
It kept rebooting on that channel only.
Other channels like 3-1, 24-1 and even 5-2 did not present this problem.

Does anyone have any information on AT&T launching U-Verse in Memphis? I've been seeing ads on TV for and against them coming here, and some billboards around town, but I can't find any solid info.

The anti-AT&T ads are kind of laughable, actually. They are talking about how AT&T will raise rates, when they haven't even set a BASE PRICE in our market (because they aren't IN our market yet). It's so funny to hear them talk about price hikes. We have COMCAST for cryin' out loud, competition couldn't make it any worse!

Did they change anything on channel 5-1 recently.
On Monday I tried to watch Heroes with my Samsung Sir-T165.
It kept rebooting on that channel only.
Other channels like 3-1, 24-1 and even 5-2 did not present this problem.
I didn't have any issues with my HDTivo.

Thanks mx
I found out with my tuner if there's even a hint of the broadcast flag,
the unit goes into reboot mode. Time for a firmware change.

I don't know what QAM is, but here are my stations that I can remember:
ABC = 24.1
CWS = 30.1
Fox = 80.1
NBC = 80.2
My Natl Geographic is slightly different, 74.2 I think
All this is from memory (I'm not at home).

Are looking at the same page here?
Here are my QAM stations:
ABC - 24.1
CW - 30.1
A&E HD - 74.1
NG HD - 74.9
Fox - 80.2
NBC - 80.3
CBS – 84.2
WKNO – 84.3
WKNO2 – 84.4
ESPN Full Court (ppv college b-ball) – 109.4-13…though obviously season is over.
NBA League Pass – 113.3-19…same as above; season is over.

And of course all the SD locals + the stupid music channels, all 50+ of them.

Any idea how I am getting select ppv/subscription channels?

new to board, just moved to Hernando MS. got channel master antenna from crutchfield to get OTA hd channels....am getting CBS, ABC, FOX, all clear....not getting NBC though....any thoughts?

thanks

new to board, just moved to Hernando MS. got channel master antenna from crutchfield to get OTA hd channels....am getting CBS, ABC, FOX, all clear....not getting NBC though....any thoughts?

thanks

I find antennaweb "dot" org very helpful for identifying OTA distances, angles, etc. Plugging in a generic Hernando MS zip code into that site, it doesn't list the WMC DT station--very odd. I think the channel 5 station in the Memphis area is in the same location of that for ABC and CW. I live about 3-5 miles from the Memphis towers (half to the south of me and the other half to the east). Maybe someone from near Hernando can help you out more.

Did they change anything on channel 5-1 recently.
On Monday I tried to watch Heroes with my Samsung Sir-T165.
It kept rebooting on that channel only.
Other channels like 3-1, 24-1 and even 5-2 did not present this problem.

My SageTV computer crashed during last nights broadcast of that new improv comedy show. It didn't crash later when I replayed Monday night's 24 episode. I don't know if it's a problem with my system or if something in the NBC broadcast crashed the program.

I was getting 5-1 last night, but the other night with Heroes, was the first time I had a problem with this box.

new to board, just moved to Hernando MS. got channel master antenna from crutchfield to get OTA hd channels....am getting CBS, ABC, FOX, all clear....not getting NBC though....any thoughts?

thanks
Welcome!

I live in Hernando as well, and I've been using a simple bowtie loop antenna (the kind that used to come with TV sets) hanging on the blinds in a North-facing window on the second floor of my house. I use a VBox USB DTV receiver box to feed my computer, and can receive all of the Memphis channels, an Oxford channel and the new Fox affiliate in Jackson, TN (not that I would watch that one, just for comparison purposes!).

Your antenna should be plenty for where you live. You may have to experiment with the aiming to avoid reflections from things around your house, and many times the strongest signal is not the best quality one. It is a trial and error kind of thing, but you definitely have enough antenna. Of course, you could just be a victim of bad timing and the station could be having a problem that kills their signal just when you're trying to find them. That can waste a lot of time. Usually, if a station is having a problem, there will be reports of it here. Keep at it, and it should work.

Good Luck!

thanks dave,...

btw, i orignially started with a terk indoor antenna (also from crutchfield) same problem, no NBC...took it to a friend of mine's house and he gets NBC w/ same antenna. may be a location problem (many trees around my house)
what is your opinion on the signal boosters for antennas? could this help?

thanks dave,...

btw, i orignially started with a terk indoor antenna (also from crutchfield) same problem, no NBC...took it to a friend of mine's house and he gets NBC w/ same antenna. may be a location problem (many trees around my house)
what is your opinion on the signal boosters for antennas? could this help?
I would avoid amplifiers in favor of experimenting with the antenna placement and aiming. Amplifiers are useful if you are at the extreme edge of the station's coverage area, but closer in you run the risk of having one or more of the signals getting so high that the receiver is overloaded. This results in problems in all of the stations since the receiver loses the ability to distinguish between the real signal and the false ones caused by the overload. It probably won't damage the receiver, so if you have an amplifier you could try it, but it probably won't help much, either. I would try it as a last resort.

Without going through all 150 pages- has WREG been contacted top see why they won't broadcast CBS in HD via D*? CW?

Without going through all 150 pages- has WREG been contacted top see why they won't broadcast CBS in HD via D*? CW?
A few people here have asked and the answer that I got back, including some other and friends of mine was they were in negotiations and hope to have it on D* soon. Of course that was coming up on the Super Bowl.

WREG was (currently is) owned by the NY Times. They are in the process of being sold to another group along with I think 8 other stations. The sale should complete sometime this summer. I would expect after then is the best chance to see WREG and those other stations start showing up on D*.

As far as the CW, D* said once their other 2 sats go up that they will eventually carry the other non-big 4 stations. So that would leave My Network (WPXX), CW (WLMT), and PBS (WKNO). I don't know what they are going to do about WKNO though, since their HD channel is not a simulcast of their regular programming.

Don't get rid of your antenna yet.

Here are my QAM stations:
ABC - 24.1
CW - 30.1
A&E HD - 74.1
NG HD - 74.9
Fox - 80.2
NBC - 80.3
CBS – 84.2
WKNO – 84.3
WKNO2 – 84.4
ESPN Full Court (ppv college b-ball) – 109.4-13…though obviously season is over.
NBA League Pass – 113.3-19…same as above; season is over.

And of course all the SD locals + the stupid music channels, all 50+ of them.

Any idea how I am getting select ppv/subscription channels?

My in-the-clear QAM channels match the above with the addition of these that were there when I rescanned this past weekend...

30.2 WLMT-DT (VTV)
93.2 C-SPAN2
102.11 Comcast Announcements
104.9 OnDemand Previews
115.2 ClubJenna (This is an "adult movie channel." I'm sure the FCC would not be happy to know it is being transmitted in-the-clear.)

115.2 ClubJenna (This is an "adult movie channel." I'm sure the FCC would not be happy to know it is being transmitted in-the-clear.)
Whoa, I gotta get QAM! ;)

So QAM is Quality Adult Movies.

Hey guys, I bought a QAM equiped TV today and set it up and I am unable to access any of the HD channels. I have the most basic analog comcast package. I have TiVo and have tried running the cable through the Tivo and just straight to the TV. The tv is a Vizio VW37L with integrated NTSC/ATSC/QAM HDTV Tuner so I can't go and specifically select the QAM tuner. I have tried entering the channels as both the logical cable channel (803) and channel-subchannel (84-2). Any suggestions as the how the access the HD channels?

Nevermind... I played around somemore with the settings and it finally found the HD channels when I did another search. I actually get several of the channels twice and even WREG-DT on three different channels. New issue though.... Are any of you that get your HD through QAM also using Tivo?? The reason I ask is because I can't figure out how to get my TiVo (Series 2) to recognize the HD channels. I have tried setting the Tivo back up and re-doing the channel scan.

Series 2 doesn't support HD (NTSC only, no ATSC). You need a Series 3.

Series 2 doesn't support HD (NTSC only, no ATSC). You need a Series 3.

That's kinda what I figured. Would this work... Split my cable and have one going into Tivo, and one going into TV. Connect TiVo to TV through AV1 or another means. This way I wouldnt have to keep switching the cables between the TV and the TiVo to go back and forth between HD channels and letting TiVo have cable so it can record. That way I would be able to switch b/w HD and Tivo by simply changing imputs. Hope this makes since. Right now none of the HD channels show up when I change off of ch. 4 (where TiVo is) when cable goes through TiVo to TV.

My in-the-clear QAM channels match the above with the addition of these that were there when I rescanned this past weekend...

30.2 WLMT-DT (VTV)
93.2 C-SPAN2
102.11 Comcast Announcements
104.9 OnDemand Previews
115.2 ClubJenna (This is an "adult movie channel." I'm sure the FCC would not be happy to know it is being transmitted in-the-clear.)

I still can't figure out how to get NBC and Fox in HD through QAM. Glad to trade it for ClubJenna in SD, though!

I wonder what my wife and daughter will think if I spend Mother's Day watching 115.2?

I wonder how long until that channel gets encrypted? I'm also wondering if it's permanently in-the-clear or if someone in my neighborhood is just paying for it this weekend. Do you know if that's a channel that people pay per view or pay per day? Or is it a monthly subscription channel? Maybe I'll just have to tune in a little every day to see if it's permanently in-the-clear. Just for research purposes, of course.

I still can't figure out how to get NBC and Fox in HD through QAM. Glad to trade it for ClubJenna in SD, though!

I wonder what my wife and daughter will think if I spend Mother's Day watching 115.2?

I wonder how long until that channel gets encrypted? I'm also wondering if it's permanently in-the-clear or if someone in my neighborhood is just paying for it this weekend. Do you know if that's a channel that people pay per view or pay per day? Or is it a monthly subscription channel? Maybe I'll just have to tune in a little every day to see if it's permanently in-the-clear. Just for research purposes, of course.

I also could not pull in these stations through QAM. I went to buy an up-converting DVD player yesterday and ended up also buying a cheap antenna and now I get all locals in HD. All of them were very clear without interuption. It was also nice to the the programming information with them. This info wasn't showing up when I was using QAM. I think everyone with Comcast can get Jenna. I live downtown and was getting that channel.

what is QAM??

what is QAM??You will find the answer several times in the last 25 posts. :)

I just recieved an HR20 to replace my HDTivo and it won't pick up the subchannel 30-2. Ehh, no big loss. :)

What prompted that? I've been hanging onto my beloved HDTivo as long as possible. It crapped out on me in April, and DTV sent me another one to replace it (NOT an HR20, which surprised me).

Anyhoo, how you like it? PQ any better? OTA better in general?

I use component and the red would every now and then go out. I could either let it turn itself back on or turn off/on the HDTivo and it would fix. I have an H20 in the room (replaced an E86) also. I would swap cables, change inputs in the main A/V receiver and the color issue would follow the HDTivo. I called a few months ago about it and told the person on the phone what was happening and she offered to send a replacement then. I said I have some shows to watch and I'll call back later that I'll deal with it, plus I didn't want to change with sweeps coming up. It started happening more often and I called D* and told them what was going on and the lady said she would replace it with a comparable receiver.

When my other HDTivo was acting up in December I strongly asked for another HDTivo because OTA wasn't available yet on the HR20. I got an HDTivo back then and I didn't press it this time. Especially since it would save me money when I do decide to upgrade. So if you got an HDTivo last month that's incredible.

Now I've got to call D* and tell them to remove the HDTivo from my account (showing on website) and make sure the HR20 is owned by me. I'll be selling the HDTivo soon.

My first impressions, it's pretty cool. It has a lot of features that the HDTivo doesn't have. For example I can view the 5 days forecast of Memphis, can view/hear audio from the mix channels, when in the menu screens you can still hear audio and the top right hand corner of the screen is the video, and is quieter than the HDTivo.

Things I don't like are having to press Guide twice (don't like that on H20 either), figuring out the FF/skip forward options, bright blue LED's on the front, and navigating some of the menus, incorrect recording (meaning not setup to record new episodes only, also called wrong info bug) and the series link functions (hard to maneuver them), and NO DUAL BUFFERS. Going back to the LED's, my 21 month old son a few months ago decided he liked to push the blue light off and on many times. So whenever that would happen we would just swap to the HDTivo since he didn't know what to push. Now he has 2 blue's to push. :)

I was able to figure most things out using the Tips and Tricks at http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=72648 and also the HDTivo to HR20 survival guide at http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=69404.

I've had some experience with the menus and stuff because I do have an H20, plus my parents have a D15, I think that's the SD-DVR name. Overall it's not too bad, but I'm still learning the finer points of it.

The hardest part I had afterwards was setting up my 880 to control the H20 and HR20 independent of each other. But I was finally able to get that done with the help of Logitech Support.

The HD PQ looks brighter, but that's about it. I still can see all the blocking during SD and HD programs from D*, and also from our local OTA channels.

I'm in-between the digital towers so I already get decent OTA reception. The levels on the HR20 are about the same if not a couple of numbers higher than the H20. For WKNO-DT, the H20, and only the H20 of all the boxes in my house, it will drop out every now and then. But on the HR20 I tested it for a while and it didn't drop out at all.

When I ran thru the setup the OTA channels it didn't pull for my zip was 30-2, 40-2, -3, -4. Like I said no biggie, and especially for 40 since I can't pick it up at all with my antenna. I can with the Silver Sensor on my desk connected to my pc. It also picked up 10-1 and 10-3. I guess WKNO is still sending some type of data on 10-3? I don't know, it shouldn't be showing up.

I loved the HDTivo, and just as much the Hughes E86. If Hughes could make an E86/HDTivo/HR20 hybrid, I'd be in heaven. :)

Interesting. Losing dual live buffers IS a hard pill to swallow. Otherwise, it sounds decent.

I still have to fuss with my Silver Sensor pretty often-- I can't get all the OTA locals perfectly from one position. Of course, with an HR20, I'd just be able to aim at WREG and leave it-- the rest come in on the sat. Well, except for the CW-- but with Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars gone, who cares?

I lost my HDTivo in April-- classic hard drive failure. They didn't make me return it, though, so I may try to fix it and sell or keep as a backup.

Interesting. Losing dual live buffers IS a hard pill to swallow. Otherwise, it sounds decent.
Yeah, DLB is a bitch to lose. There is a workaround, but it's too much to do.
I still have to fuss with my Silver Sensor pretty often-- I can't get all the OTA locals perfectly from one position. Of course, with an HR20, I'd just be able to aim at WREG and leave it-- the rest come in on the sat. Well, except for the CW-- but with Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars gone, who cares?
Even when I do upgrade to mpeg-4 I'm planning to still use OTA for my main viewing. I want to watch the best PQ possible, which here in Memphis isn't saying much. With the CW dropping VM and Reba I agree with you about watching WLMT-DT. Not to mention the quick decline in HD PQ when they started multicasting has really turned me off.

I just can't wait for this time next year, ER and Scrubs will have ended, and I will be down to 1 show from NBC. And WMC will still be multicasting putting out crap giving me a reason to not watch that channel. Even when they have some great Ophelia Ford video playing. :D

Too bad the CSI's and Heros can't move to FOX or ABC. Yeah I know, wont happen.

Any E# subscribers have problems with 24 on Fox last night. It was unwatchable for me. Same dropouts as las December. What has changed?

While not directly HDTV, my question is related. I'm on Memphis (actually Southaven) Comcast using a SA 2200. Channel 910 used to be 10.1, the national HD feed that I got SD with the SA 2200. Now it is 10.2. I don't remember when it changed. I switched my service to HD and then back to SD and wonder if that did it.

Any ideas on how to get 10.1 back on my SA 2200 box? 1-800-Comcast was no help.

Any E# subscribers have problems with 24 on Fox last night. It was unwatchable for me. Same dropouts as las December. What has changed?

E* locals are in SD only. I use OTA for my HD locals. The E* DVR will record the OTA programs.

That's kinda what I figured. Would this work... Split my cable and have one going into Tivo, and one going into TV. Connect TiVo to TV through AV1 or another means. This way I wouldnt have to keep switching the cables between the TV and the TiVo to go back and forth between HD channels and letting TiVo have cable so it can record. That way I would be able to switch b/w HD and Tivo by simply changing imputs. Hope this makes since. Right now none of the HD channels show up when I change off of ch. 4 (where TiVo is) when cable goes through TiVo to TV.
That's exactly how I'm set up...works fine.

I have standard digital Comcast service in Memphis. They have been carrying NGC HD for several months on the standard digital tier on 847.

Last night, 847 comes up with the 'not authorized' box. I called Comcast support. It doesn't come up on their in-house TVs. Not sure why. They reset my DVR box. No help. Promised to send a email to the head-end people.

Does anyone know if they have dropped NGC HD, or moved to HD Tier?

Either way, it's not a great loss. It's been HD channel on Comcast that has the absolute worst picture. Screen door effect almost all the time.

Dave,

Just wanted to say thanks to you and the guys at FOX for broadcasting Tomb Raider at 2.35. I didn't catch much of it, but what I saw looked good.

I haven't been watching broadcast HD much since HD DVD and BD came out, but it's nice to flip on the TV and see an HD movie in the original aspect ratio.

Chase

Does anyone know of any reputable shop/person around town that works on A/V recievers? My Yamaha HT-5550 has an issue with the red part of RGB going out. (Turns out my HDTivo was fine after all). I'd rather not have to buy a new A/V reciever right now even tho they now seem to have 3 component inputs, which is what I need.

I have (Memphis) Comcast, but not digital. Until recently I could get Nat'l Geographic and A&E in HD, but now I can't, perhpaps they've moved. Can anyone help?
(They used to be79.1 and 79.2 I think it was)

I have (Memphis) Comcast, but not digital. Until recently I could get Nat'l Geographic and A&E in HD, but now I can't, perhpaps they've moved. Can anyone help?
(They used to be79.1 and 79.2 I think it was)

Recently, I was also able to get Nat'l Geographic and A&E in HD. Also, the Golf Channel and Club Jenna in SD. They don't come in any more--I'm guessing they're encrypted.

A few days ago, I gave up on the QAM and am just picking up the 7 locals over-the-air free digital broadcast TV. At the time I switch, Universal HD was in the clear on QAM.

It seems to me that the QAM channels in Memphis by Comcast keep changing. Like I said, I've given up on that and have just switched all my tuners to the free over-the-air broadcast channels.

If I remember, after I get home I'll post the last channel lineup for Comcast QAM that was working for me a few days ago.

Does anyone know what kind of system Comcast is on? Meaning the mhz?

I believe they're still 552-750 MHz. I can't recall ever seeing a channel above 750.

Dave,

You guys haven't changed anything about your DTV transmission in the last two months or so, have you?

The DTV channel has come in rock solid for me ever since you went on the air, but it's started breaking up recently. The signal will sit at 93-100% most of the time, then periodically drop down to zero (sound/picture freeze) for a second before returning to 93-100%.

I have a feeling it's either (A) leaves or (B) a new problem with my DTV tuner, but I thought I would ask before troubleshooting. Unfortunately, the only other DTV tuner I have is in a display that is miles from the nearest antenna drop.

Regards,

Chase

Dave,

You guys haven't changed anything about your DTV transmission in the last two months or so, have you?

The DTV channel has come in rock solid for me ever since you went on the air, but it's started breaking up recently. The signal will sit at 93-100% most of the time, then periodically drop down to zero (sound/picture freeze) for a second before returning to 93-100%.

I have a feeling it's either (A) leaves or (B) a new problem with my DTV tuner, but I thought I would ask before troubleshooting. Unfortunately, the only other DTV tuner I have is in a display that is miles from the nearest antenna drop.

Regards,

Chase
Nothing has changed that I can recall, but we did have some problem with one of the amplifier cabinets on Friday and into Saturday. I'll find out what that was when I talk to the transmitter guy in the next hour or so. Also, we usually change exciters on Friday as part of our weekly inspection, and that will cause a couple of disruptions while switching. That is only during normal business hours unless something bad is happening with the transmitter.

I'll check with everyone else here to see if there have been any changes lately that I can't recall. There have been some Fox stations with an issue with DirecTV that has something to do with the "PCR Jitter" from the splicer, but I haven't seen any problem with ours. I'll take another look and let you know.

Thanks,

Nothing has changed that I can recall, but we did have some problem with one of the amplifier cabinets on Friday and into Saturday. I'll find out what that was when I talk to the transmitter guy in the next hour or so. Also, we usually change exciters on Friday as part of our weekly inspection, and that will cause a couple of disruptions while switching. That is only during normal business hours unless something bad is happening with the transmitter.

I'll check with everyone else here to see if there have been any changes lately that I can't recall. There have been some Fox stations with an issue with DirecTV that has something to do with the "PCR Jitter" from the splicer, but I haven't seen any problem with ours. I'll take another look and let you know.Thanks, Dave.

I hauled out of bunch of coax last night and tried the Sony KDL-46XBR2 LCD panel. Its tuner is newer and has a lot more stream information than the DirecTV H10 I normally use. The signal was doing the same thing with the Sony's tuner. Some of the time, the signal is fine. It stays locked at 98% with no increases or decreases at all. S/N is 31dB with no errors. At other times, it will remain at 98% most of the time (for a couple of minutes straight), then randomly lose lock and drop down to 0% (huge error count) for a few seconds before returning to 98%.

I'm certainly no RF engineer. Does anyone have any thoughts on why this would have started happening only in the last two months? The signal has been rock solid ever since WHBQ-DT went on the air.

Chase

I've had D* here in Memphis for the last two or three years (Hd since January), and may be swapping to Comcast in the fall because it will be built into the place I'm paying Rent.

Are the Comcast lineups in HD national or regional? Anyone have any experience locally with Comcast's Hd service? What type of HD DVR do they use? Didn't they just resign a deal with Tivo? Any comments on Comcast since they merger CS wise?

Are the Comcast lineups in HD national or regional?

Regional. They carry all the locals.

Anyone have any experience locally with Comcast's Hd service? What type of HD DVR do they use?

I've had their HD service for over a year now. They typically put out the SA 8300HD DVR. The menu is pretty basic. Features are enough to get by with, but if you're used to Tivo, it'll feel like you've gone back to the stone age.

Didn't they just resign a deal with Tivo?

Comcast equipment varies by region. We may or may not get the Tivo units here someday. It's hard to say.

Any comments on Comcast since they merger CS wise?

Their customer service has definitely gone downhill since the Comcast takeover. As bad as TW could be, Comcast is worse. I would suggest calling the local number for service, as opposed to the toll-free. Supposedly before 5:00 PM, calls to the local number are handled by the Memphis call center. After that, it gets routed to corporate, and the quality gets much worse. I've found that if you can get a local person, they're usually a lot more helpful.

Regional. They carry all the locals.

So they could carry National Geographic in HD over in, say, Charlotte, but not here?



I've had their HD service for over a year now. They typically put out the SA 8300HD DVR. The menu is pretty basic. Features are enough to get by with, but if you're used to Tivo, it'll feel like you've gone back to the stone age.

The HR-20 (d*) isn't a Tivo, but I used to have one of those boxes and loved it


Comcast equipment varies by region. We may or may not get the Tivo units here someday. It's hard to say.

Their customer service has definitely gone downhill since the Comcast takeover. As bad as TW could be, Comcast is worse. I would suggest calling the local number for service, as opposed to the toll-free. Supposedly before 5:00 PM, calls to the local number are handled by the Memphis call center. After that, it gets routed to corporate, and the quality gets much worse. I've found that if you can get a local person, they're usually a lot more helpful.


This is all disheartening. Time Warner was bad-I had them prior to 2003. But, their equipment and tech seemed to be moving at a pretty good pace- we had On Demand before a lot of places did. I'd hoped they could stay towards the forefront of the tech and service. The SA box I hear is the worst thing ever made though.

So they could carry National Geographic in HD over in, say, Charlotte, but not here?

Pretty much. We have both A&E-HD and NatGeo-HD here, but a lot of Comcast areas still don't. Other areas are getting FoodHD and HGTV-HD, but we aren't yet. Comcast seems to keep a bit tighter control over their regions than Time Warner did, and tries to enforce a standard, but channel lineups still vary greatly per region.

The HR-20 (d*) isn't a Tivo, but I used to have one of those boxes and loved it

This is all disheartening. Time Warner was bad-I had them prior to 2003. But, their equipment and tech seemed to be moving at a pretty good pace- we had On Demand before a lot of places did. I'd hoped they could stay towards the forefront of the tech and service. The SA box I hear is the worst thing ever made though.

The SA 8300 isn't that bad. Decent storage for a rented box (I believe the 8300HD has a 120GB drive, so ~20 hours of HD and ~60 of SD) It's just very... sparse. Lacks advanced features. It has no search function, for example. Now, I've had an SA DVR (the 8000 non-HD) here for over 4 years now, and stability is 1000x better than it was back then. When I first got one, it crashed almost daily. I can't recall my new 8300 crashing since I got it.

OnDemand, especially HD OnDemand, is WAY behind in Memphis compared to other Comcast areas. HDOD doesn't have much more than a handful of movies, and that's about it. With Time Warner, Memphis was more of a testbed for a lot of new stuff. With Comcast, we're just a drop in a very large bucket.

Sounds like I'll be better off sticking wiht my d*, regardless of saving money. Thanks for the input.

Hi ya folks,
I'm gonna be moving from Nashville/ Murfreesboro to Memphis in July. We will be living in Midtown and was just wondering what the HD channel line up on Comcast looks like and what other (if any) cable options are out there. Also just wanted to say hi.

Is the HD OnDemand content really that bad?

Hi ya folks,
I'm gonna be moving from Nashville/ Murfreesboro to Memphis in July. We will be living in Midtown and was just wondering what the HD channel line up on Comcast looks like and what other (if any) cable options are out there. Also just wanted to say hi.

Is the HD OnDemand content really that bad?
I don't have Comcast but can provide some info as one who looked at it.

Here is the channel lineup. Just enter in a generic address and use zip 38133, for example. http://www.comcast.com/customers/clu/channelLineup.ashx

The only other cable option that I know of is if you live in Millington. If you live in mid-town then Comcast would be your only cable option.

Thanks!

The only diffrences I saw were:
Nashville has 1 HBOHD & CinemaxHD - Memphis Mid-Town has HBOEast & WestHD but no CinemaxHD

Nashville has (just got a month or so ago) 1 Sports & Events HD channel used for CSS coverage of SEC baseball tourney & Predators/Grizzlies games. Memphis has a Comcast Sports channel and a Fox Sports channel that Nashville doesn't.

If we stick with Comcast We'd lose CinemaxHD and gain an extra sports channel not a horrible trade off except we do watch a LOT of movies.

Thanks!

The only diffrences I saw were:
Nashville has 1 HBOHD & CinemaxHD - Memphis Mid-Town has HBOEast & WestHD but no CinemaxHD

Nashville has (just got a month or so ago) 1 Sports & Events HD channel used for CSS coverage of SEC baseball tourney & Predators/Grizzlies games. Memphis has a Comcast Sports channel and a Fox Sports channel that Nashville doesn't.

If we stick with Comcast We'd lose CinemaxHD and gain an extra sports channel not a horrible trade off except we do watch a LOT of movies.
At this time D* does not carry CinemaxHD. They are supposed to carry it when the new sats is ready for use. Of course it has to go up first. July 7th is the date I've seen.

I had one of the slimline's installed yesterday. Man that thing is big!

I had one of the slimline's installed yesterday. Man that thing is big!


mx,

Did you specifically request the slimline or is that what they are installing now? Did the install go smoothly?

Thanks!

The only diffrences I saw were:
Nashville has 1 HBOHD & CinemaxHD - Memphis Mid-Town has HBOEast & WestHD but no CinemaxHD

Nashville has (just got a month or so ago) 1 Sports & Events HD channel used for CSS coverage of SEC baseball tourney & Predators/Grizzlies games. Memphis has a Comcast Sports channel and a Fox Sports channel that Nashville doesn't.

If we stick with Comcast We'd lose CinemaxHD and gain an extra sports channel not a horrible trade off except we do watch a LOT of movies.

I know you didn't ask, but OTA signals are fairly easy to pull-in in Midtown, obviously depending on location.

Ron

Recently, I have been picking up Memphis OTA - and I am 160 miles away. Must be tropo or something.

Did you specifically request the slimline or is that what they are installing now? Did the install go smoothly?
It must be what they are installing now since I didn't ask specifially for it. I read over on dbstalk a few months ao that they were going to start installing the slimelines only, and that was quite a few months ago.

The installation of the dish went smoothly. They actaully beat me to my house and didn't really take him all that long to take down the 3 lnb and put up the new one.

The other stuff, well that's different. Since I am already maxed out on my Terk 5x8 multiswitch they have to come back with a 6x16, they didn't have the HD-DVR (I guess he got confused since I said I already have another one).

And since I had to reschedule 3 times due to various reasons the installer promised me a custom install to run a 2nd wire for the HD-DVR. So I chose the bedroom where the HD-DVR is going.

If you remember a few months ago I was asking about running wires and cutting thru 2x4's, well, they said they can do it. It would be a 2 man job but they said they could do it. I'm looking forward to seeing how they can.

Even though they do have to come back I'm fine with it, mostly because of the free custom wiring. ;) The guys were nice.

Recently, I have been picking up Memphis OTA - and I am 160 miles away. Must be tropo or something.
Impressive, where are you located? Do you get them all day or at certain times of the day?

There is someone on this board who has been able to pick up a station from somewhere is Alabama at times.

My local NBC station on Comcast HD (channel 805) is unwatchable; I pick it up fine on my Directv HR-20. Is anyone else having the same problem with their Comcast HD box?

It must be what they are installing now since I didn't ask specifially for it. I read over on dbstalk a few months ao that they were going to start installing the slimelines only, and that was quite a few months ago.

The installation of the dish went smoothly. They actaully beat me to my house and didn't really take him all that long to take down the 3 lnb and put up the new one.

The other stuff, well that's different. Since I am already maxed out on my Terk 5x8 multiswitch they have to come back with a 6x16, they didn't have the HD-DVR (I guess he got confused since I said I already have another one).

And since I had to reschedule 3 times due to various reasons the installer promised me a custom install to run a 2nd wire for the HD-DVR. So I chose the bedroom where the HD-DVR is going.

If you remember a few months ago I was asking about running wires and cutting thru 2x4's, well, they said they can do it. It would be a 2 man job but they said they could do it. I'm looking forward to seeing how they can.

Even though they do have to come back I'm fine with it, mostly because of the free custom wiring. ;) The guys were nice.


Thanks for the info. I am about to upgrade as well, I've put it off about as long as I can, and the last attempt went very poorly - I actually sent the installer away and canceled the whole thing! D* really didn't give a care when I called to complain. I seriously considered switching to cable, but have decided to give them one more try.

Ron

Thanks for the info. I am about to upgrade as well, I've put it off about as long as I can, and the last attempt went very poorly - I actually sent the installer away and canceled the whole thing! D* really didn't give a care when I called to complain. I seriously considered switching to cable, but have decided to give them one more try.
The company they used to use, Broadway from West Memphis, I didn't really care for them 3 years ago. But now they are using DirecTech or something like that out of Oakland. The 2 guys that came out were Rezia and Tim. I'd ask for them since it didn't take them long to do what they did. Now if they tear up my bedroom wall I'll change my mind. :)

When I was at my parents house Saturday morning they had a D* repair guy come and he was in his own truck. I heard him mention Oakland so I'm not sure if he was from the same company, but he said they were contractors.

Impressive, where are you located? Do you get them all day or at certain times of the day?

There is someone on this board who has been able to pick up a station from somewhere is Alabama at times.

I am about 160 miles east of the Memphis towers. And yes, it has been after sundown that I can pick up both WKNO and WREG.

I have read that June and July are good months for tropo here in the southeast.

Does anyone know anything about Flinn Broadcasting TV 14. It looks like it's going up next to Ch 50 at Brother Blvd and Yale Rd. There is a sign up on Yale. Wondering what they might show

I saw that the other day. My parents live in the subdivision right there but I usually don't drive that far down Yale. I was wondering if they are going to buy channel 50, whoever owns it right now. Since the tower is already built they'd be smart to just piggy back off of that one.

Good question. Flinn Broadcasting already owns WPXX 50, aka PAX/Ion. Their website (which is very sparse on details) doesn't say anything about a channel 14.

Question for you DISH HD guys.

I upgraded to the SilverHD or the top 100+ to try and get Fox Sports South HD.

The first three guys at tech support knew nothing about fox sports HD but upgraded my plan with false promises. Of course when my channels reset, no Fox Sports HD. Not surprising.

The last guy at tech support tells me that he looked back at my installation notes and that I was set up with satellite 69.5 instead of 129 because 129 was not getting reception at my place in Cordova. Not sure if I beleive him about "looking at my installation notes." To get Fox Sports South HD I would need 129. But if I add on the sports multi pack I can get Fox Sports Florida HD.

So I add on the multipack and now I have a new HD sports channel that only carries Marlins games and every one of them is blacked out. I will keep it if they show college football in HD.

Anyone in Memphis getting Fox Sports south HD with Dish? Are any basketball and baseball games on and not blacked out? Do you know if you have 129? If I get a newer dish will it make a difference?

And to anyone considering Dish , don't let poor customer service stand in the way of great HD lineup and the dream box that is the vip622.

I have just called Dish to switch from Direct tv after over 10 years. I didn't order the sports channels you have , but got everything else. It will be installed late July. DVR quality of Dish is way better than Direct tv. Tired of multiple owners of Direct tv & poor equipment.

Anyone wanting to sign up for DishNetwork, PM me and I'll send you a DishClub form that will save you some bucks.

Is anyone getting signal on the 103 sat on the HR20's? When my 2 installers were over that sat said Failed.

Hello Memphians....

I am at a crossroads here... I am about to take the plunge and delve into the world of HDTV.

Here's what it boils down to for me. The tv will mainly see Xbox duty with occasional HD movies (thru DVD format that is).

However, my main sports love is the St.Louis Cardinals. With the extra innings package, of course we are in the home team black out area. Yet, Comcast/TWC worked out some agreement to air Cardinal games on Fox Sports South or Sports South as I am sure you guys know. I am assuming this is not the case for either satellite service?

So I am assuming my only option is Comcast, is their HD lineup going to improve? I typed in my zip code, and saw the channels listed. Wasn't overly impressed... Looks like I only get the Cards on HD when they are on FSN, but they are on Sports South more often!

Grrr!

Noticed that I am able to get channel 3 in HD off the Sat. Nice surprise!! :)

I have Directv with total choice plus, my zip code is 38053 I get about 100-130 cardinal games a year through Fox Sports south and Sports South( formally turner south). The Fox Sports south telecast is a simulcast of Fox Sports Midwest but it does not come on the midwest channel. I only get blacked out of espn games because of the simulcast on Fox Sports Midwest. No hd Fox sports south at this moment that I know of. My understanding if I ordered the sports pack I would get all the cardinal games that fox sports midwest shows which is about all of them.
So far I am very happy getting to watch the games I don't get all of them but it does not cost extra either. Hopefully next year we will be able to see the games in hd once directv puts up the new satellites. Hope this helps you make your decision. I don't know anything about Comcast since I live in Millington and they have there own cable service.

cbs in HD on Directv

I just checked my HR20-700 and I am only showing ME3, and 3-1, 3-2 off OTA.
Did you reset your receiver?

No reset it just showed up this morning. I am using the "cutting edge" firmware on my HR20-700.

cbs in HD on Directv

I just checked my HR20-700 and I am only showing ME3, and 3-1, 3-2 off OTA.
Did you reset your receiver?
I didn't reset and it came up on both my H20 and HR20.

I'm getting WREG in HD on D* as well. It's about dang time. :D

Paul

Ok, so it looks like I can get the St. Louis Cardinals in SD with Comcast and Directv. Through Directv, will I get FSNMW in HD if I add the sports package? Or is that a no-go?

Ok, so it looks like I can get the St. Louis Cardinals in SD with Comcast and Directv. Through Directv, will I get FSNMW in HD if I add the sports package? Or is that a no-go?

According to directv's guide on hd, if you have a channel subscribed too in sd if there is an hd version you should get it. I do know that fsnmw is available in hd.
? is the channel available now or do you have to wait until the new sats go up.

I'm getting WREG in HD on D* as well. It's about dang time. :D

Paul

I live in Millington and get 3,5,10,13,24,30,50 as my locals but I still don't have WREC 3 through the satellite. I restarted my hr20-700 and I still don't have it.
My neighbor has h20 and hd package I will ck with him tonight to see if he has it.

According to directv's guide on hd, if you have a channel subscribed too in sd if there is an hd version you should get it. I do know that fsnmw is available in hd.
? is the channel available now or do you have to wait until the new sats go up.

Would have to wait. I currently have comcast, so I wouldnt know until I pulled the trigger and would have them out there.

According to directv's guide on hd, if you have a channel subscribed too in sd if there is an hd version you should get it. I do know that fsnmw is available in hd.
? is the channel available now or do you have to wait until the new sats go up.
When D* does carry the feed now it's on either 94 or 95. You'd have to check the guide daily since they don't carry all available feeds right now. Once the new sats are up when the game is available in HD D* will show it if you are in the RSN. And it also depends on if you do/don't have the sports pack.

I live in Millington and get 3,5,10,13,24,30,50 as my locals but I still don't have WREC 3 through the satellite. I restarted my hr20-700 and I still don't have it.
My neighbor has h20 and hd package I will ck with him tonight to see if he has it.
Huh, that's wierd that it isn't showing up for you. This might be a stupid question but did you check the All Channels to see if it shows up there? If so I'd call D* and see if there is something they can do.

On another note, did everyone lose 88 when you upgraded? I still get it.

When D* does carry the feed now it's on either 94 or 95. You'd have to check the guide daily since they don't carry all available feeds right now. Once the new sats are up when the game is available in HD D* will show it if you are in the RSN. And it also depends on if you do/don't have the sports pack.

So the answer is sometimes then :) If I were to get it, i would get the sports pack.

So the answer is sometimes then :) If I were to get it, i would get the sports pack.
For FSMW yes. For FS South since we are automatically in the dma we would get that regardless.

I live in Millington and get 3,5,10,13,24,30,50 as my locals but I still don't have WREC 3 through the satellite. I restarted my hr20-700 and I still don't have it.
My neighbor has h20 and hd package I will ck with him tonight to see if he has it.

It's showing up as available on D*'s site as well. You might have them resend authorizations to your hr20. I think someone said you could even do that yourself from their web site.

Paul

Any of you guys get HD from Comcast using TiVo Series 3 w/ cable cards? I bought a S3 and I just called to schedule a cable card install, but the CSR told me that I wouldn't be getting all of the HD channels offered through the cable cards and I would have to lease their HD box. Seeing as how this goes against everything else that I've read on other forums, I was wondering if any of you had this setup and knew if this was true. Thanks.

I have wreg 3 in hd over satellite, I forgot I changed from "all channels" to "custom". I checked it and now I get it. Sorry for the trouble.

Any of you guys get HD from Comcast using TiVo Series 3 w/ cable cards? I bought a S3 and I just called to schedule a cable card install, but the CSR told me that I wouldn't be getting all of the HD channels offered through the cable cards and I would have to lease their HD box. Seeing as how this goes against everything else that I've read on other forums, I was wondering if any of you had this setup and knew if this was true. Thanks.

I think what they are saying is you can't get the hd ppv channels or something like that. This has been mandated by the government that they provide cable cards for service. I think they are saying anything to keep that fee income coming in from cable boxes. I would call back and ask what channels do not come through the cable cards, I think this is very questionable.

I have wreg 3 in hd over satellite, I forgot I changed from "all channels" to "custom". I checked it and now I get it. Sorry for the trouble.
Thinking ahead to July 4th? hehe. Don't worry about it.

I just upgraded my E* 942 for a Vip622 (MPEG-2 to MPEG-4) In the upgrade, I no longer get WHBQ (53) or the PAX channels. I get 52 (WMC-DT) ok, but have lost the others. Don't care about PAX but I sure want 24 (the program) in HD this fall. Talked to DTV Dave and he tells me that the signal is going out at full power. Has anyone else with a Vip 622 had any problems with reception OTA?

Hey Bob,

You gave me the club card for my Dish install. All of my OTA channels come in great through the VIP here in Lakeland. I receive WHBQ-DT on 13-1 though, not 53. My WMC-DT is 5-1.

Hey Bob,

You gave me the club card for my Dish install. All of my OTA channels come in great through the VIP here in Lakeland. I receive WHBQ-DT on 13-1 though, not 53. My WMC-DT is 5-1.
The physical channel (frequency) is 53, but most receivers will display the "logical" channel as "13-1". That number comes from the data carried on the signal, so until it locks up, it may display "53".

WOW! Just for kicks, I hooked up my 40 year old HUGE Channel Master 5 or 6 element antenna that I have in the attic and I now get everything. I even get a 56 signal strength on channel 16 in Jackson, even though it is on the backside of the antenna. I only get a green screen there, but that's not important. I get a 97 signal strength on channel 13 on this antenna, so all I need is a splitter, I guess to feed the STB and the TV. (For those stormy days) :)

Don't ya just love OTA? :)

I know you guys are tired of this, but I just want to double and triple check.

If i jump ship to Directv and get Total Choice Plus + sports pack, I will be able to watch the Cardinals WITHOUT extra innings...through some combo of FSN Midwest, FSN South, and Turner South.

I am about ready to switch over to Direct...

If i jump ship to Directv and get Total Choice Plus + sports pack, I will be able to watch the Cardinals WITHOUT extra innings...through some combo of FSN Midwest, FSN South, and Turner South.
No problem asking. Correct-amundo. Actually if you get the highest package they have the sport pack is included in that package. Our local zips are claimed by the Braves (FS South and Turner South) Cardinals (FSMW) and Reds (FS Cincy or Ohio, or both). That is info as of 2 months ago, and I doubt it woulda changed.

Check your pm.

Do you get the WKNO HD channels without dropouts? After changing my antenna, I have a 97 signal strength on both channels, but they both drop out every few seconds. Impossible to watch.

Does anyone have any experience with the Dish over the air antennas in east Memphis to pick up the local channels in HD. I believe I am getting a Dish 1000 dish, and is it necessary to pay for local channels when you have the over the air antenna?

I am going to subscribe to Dish, could I get the card you were writing about?

I am going to subscribe to Dish, could I get the card you were writing about?

I sent you a PM on how to get one.

Does anyone have any experience with the Dish over the air antennas in east Memphis to pick up the local channels in HD. I believe I am getting a Dish 1000 dish, and is it necessary to pay for local channels when you have the over the air antenna?

There is no additional charge to pick up OTA channels with a Dish STB, however, you will have to subscribe to their locals in order to get Program Guide information. You will need an antenna, but a small one will work great in east Memphis. I have been using the Winegard Sensar III with good results.

Does this mean I will nedd to subscribe to use the DVR vip622 with the over the air?

Does this mean I will nedd to subscribe to use the DVR vip622 with the over the air?

You can use it for OTA, meaning that you will get a picture, but your program guide, which downloads from Dish each night, will not show the programs that are playing unless you subscribe to locals from Dish. Just a way to get an additional $5/month from you. You will want to do this, though, because then you can just highlight a program in the guide and press the record button to save it to your DVR.

PM me your mailing address and I'll send you a DishClub card.

Do you get the WKNO HD channels without dropouts? After changing my antenna, I have a 97 signal strength on both channels, but they both drop out every few seconds. Impossible to watch.
I have this problem on my H20, but not any other HD stb's in the house. Since will be strong and then all of the sudden tank. But on the other stb's the signal will stay strong and not dip more than 5 decibels.

Bob,

Tonight my VIP 622 was not picking up any OTA content consistently. It failed to record 2 programs off of 5 and 13. I was watching the All Star game and when I went to record it during the show, it dropped out. I couldn't pick up any OTA channels after that. I moved my antenna from the VIP to the TV's tuner, and I picked up all the OTA's without a problem.

EDIT: I reset the VIP and all of the OTA's come in fine now.

Bob,

Tonight my VIP 622 was not picking up any OTA content consistently. It failed to record 2 programs off of 5 and 13. I was watching the All Star game and when I went to record it during the show, it dropped out. I couldn't pick up any OTA channels after that. I moved my antenna from the VIP to the TV's tuner, and I picked up all the OTA's without a problem. I think I may have a problem with my VIP.

I was grandson sitting tonight so we were mostly on Boomerang :p I did turn over to the All Star game for a little while about 9:30 and it was coming in good in HD. Both 5 and 13 look good at 11:00. If the problem persists, give them a call.

Has anyone had any luck getting a new HD DVR box from Comcast recently, they don't seem to want my business.

My dad waited one month for the box, then another month for the techs to figure out what was wrong at the box outside. He still couldn't receive service after 2 months, so he switched to Dish upon my recommendation.

Does anyone know if any store in the area can make an ac adapter to coax cable? I finally got my Wineguard 6x16 switch yesterday and still had my Terk 5x8 plugged up for OTA only. The current WG 6x8 didn't need a power cable but the 16 does. They unplugged the power to the Terk and plugged that into the WG. Now I can't use the Terk!!! I went to RS, Wal-mart, and BB and none of them had it and only recommended each other.

I tried calling the installer but got his vm asking to bring the power cable if he didn't leave it. My only other option is to call D* and ask to send another cable to me.

Does anyone know if any store in the area can make an ac adapter to coax cable? I finally got my Wineguard 6x16 switch yesterday and still had my Terk 5x8 plugged up for OTA only. The current WG 6x8 didn't need a power cable but the 16 does. They unplugged the power to the Terk and plugged that into the WG. Now I can't use the Terk!!! I went to RS, Wal-mart, and BB and none of them had it and only recommended each other.

I tried calling the installer but got his vm asking to bring the power cable if he didn't leave it. My only other option is to call D* and ask to send another cable to me.
What kind of voltage do you need to send to the Terk and do you need the center wire to be + ?

What kind of voltage do you need to send to the Terk and do you need the center wire to be + ?
Here is the same switch that I was using. Let me know if this answers your question. I'm sorry I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to stuff like this. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?main_cat=02&CAT=&PROD=SPBMS58

Here is the same switch that I was using. Let me know if this answers your question. I'm sorry I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to stuff like this. http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?main_cat=02&CAT=&PROD=SPBMS58

Sorry, I can't help. It takes a 24 VDC 1000ma power supply and I don't have one that large. I thought I could maake one up for you, but 18v is as large as I have. :(

Sorry, I can't help. It takes a 24 VDC 1000ma power supply and I don't have one that large. I thought I could maake one up for you, but 18v is as large as I have. :(
Thank you for offering.

Does anyone know if any store in the area can make an ac adapter to coax cable? I finally got my Wineguard 6x16 switch yesterday and still had my Terk 5x8 plugged up for OTA only. The current WG 6x8 didn't need a power cable but the 16 does. They unplugged the power to the Terk and plugged that into the WG. Now I can't use the Terk!!! I went to RS, Wal-mart, and BB and none of them had it and only recommended each other.

I tried calling the installer but got his vm asking to bring the power cable if he didn't leave it. My only other option is to call D* and ask to send another cable to me.
You can probably find a 24 VDC @ 1 A power supply at Bluff City Electronics at 3339 Fontaine (just south of Brooks Road). Their phone number is: 345-9500. That's where we buy our electronics stuff, and we use lots of those for control equipment. You may have to buy or build the connection that plugs into the equipment, so you might want to bring whatever it connects to with you to match the connections up.

Hope this helps!

I've been lurking in the thread for a few months and this is my first post. Thanks for the previous advice. Much appreciated.

I was wondering if Comcast Digital is broadcasting WMC (CBS) and WHBQ (Fox) in HD by unencrypted QAM. If so, can anyone provide the physical channel and subchannel.

I would like to get this going at home and also post the complete list to the unencrypted QAM wiki. I can't provide the URL until I make 5 posts but I can provide this later if people need it.

Here is my work-in-progress list. If anyone has any more channels or sees any false info, could you please let me know. Thanks!


Logical Cable Channel, Physical Channel-Subchannel, Station
--- ----- --------------
824 74-1 AETVHD (A&E HD)
825 74-9 NGCHD (National Geographic HD)

803 84-2 WREGDT CBS HD
810 84-3 WKNODT PBS HD
xxx 84-4 WKNODT2 PBS
xxx 84-5 WREGDT2 CBS news SD

807 85-4 WPTYDT ABC HD
809 85-8 WLMTDT CW HD

003 86-100 WREG CBS SD
005 86-101 WMC NBC SD
013 86-102 WHBQ Fox SD
007 86-103 WPTY ABC SD
009 86-104 WLMT CW SD

003 89-2 WREG CBS SD

016 93-2 C-SPAN2


Are the following available on unencrypted QAM?
Which Physical Channel-Subchannel?

805 xx-x WMCDT NBC HD
813 xx-x WHBQDT Fox HD
830 xx-x WHBQDT Fox HD


Might be a dumb question but do you type 74-1 on a remote?

When DISH does a new install, does the installer usually put in an OTA antenna if you request it, and what are the limitations on where they will usually put the Dish? I had an install set up, the CSR told me the installer would put up the antenna, when the installer came he said it wasn't on the workorder, and I would have to call Dish to get it authorized, when I called, the CSR told me I could go to a local retailer and get one myself. I cancelled the installation.I felt like telling them where they could put the antenna.

When DISH does a new install, does the installer usually put in an OTA antenna if you request it, and what are the limitations on where they will usually put the Dish? I had an install set up, the CSR told me the installer would put up the antenna, when the installer came he said it wasn't on the workorder, and I would have to call Dish to get it authorized, when I called, the CSR told me I could go to a local retailer and get one myself. I cancelled the installation.I felt like telling them where they could put the antenna.
An OTA antenna is not included in the package from Dish. My installer did the install on my antenna, but I already had it. At one time Dish had a special on OTA antennae, but I'm not sure it is still in effect, see this link (http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-hd-discussions/80797-dish-network-discount-ota-antennas-hd.html). If you have a UHF antenna that you have been using for analog, it will work ok to get the digital signal.

Has there been any word on The WB being added to D* HD lineup. I am getting the HR20 sat and was wondering. Also anyone that has it how are the locals that they offer. Do they look and come in as good as OTA. NBC has always given me fits, but lately NBC comes in great and now WB on OTA goes in and out. And has the receiver become more stable.

Thx

I don't think WB/CW is on any d* market's list. But, the HR-20 has an input for your OTA, so I added it to my menu that way

The ones off the d* sat look good. had a few issues with 5 lately, but that was OTA and off the dish

Receiver is fine. I've locked mine up twice in the past week, but only because I was trying to tell it to do two things at one, and when we had a power surge like two weeks ago. Much more stable than I heard it was going to be.

Thx Nick I feel a bit better. It is always scarry to change recievers, but I figured it was now or later when the demand will be out of sight.

Has there been any word on The WB being added to D* HD lineup. I am getting the HR20 sat and was wondering. Also anyone that has it how are the locals that they offer. Do they look and come in as good as OTA. NBC has always given me fits, but lately NBC comes in great and now WB on OTA goes in and out. And has the receiver become more stable.
D* has stated they will carry more than the big 4 HD-LIL's eventually, but with D* using D10 mostly for national HD I don't know if we will see WLMT in HD from D* until D11 is up.

As far as the HD PQ for the locals they do look pretty good. I've only checked a few times, but I still do nearly all of my viewing OTA.

As far as the HD-DVR's, I have an HR20-700 and -100. I haven't had any issues with the 700 since I got it but have had the 100 for 3 weeks and it has stopped responding to the remote 4 times, missed recordings, and the only way to fix that is to do a rbr. D* is sending a tech out, which I don't know will do any good if it doesn't mess up when he is here.

Is everyone too busy watching TV to post? I don't have anything to say, but I enjoy seeing what is on your minds. :D

Well, I finally got my powered multiswitch over this weekend. It's in this post that I posted over on dbstalk in a thread riduculous things installers have told customers.

I got a gem of a tech this weekend.

A little backstory, when I upgraded my boxes I had ordered a 6x16 multiswitch. Each time somehow, somewhere the order always got changed to a 6x8 for my 9 runs. On the 5th visit a 6x16 was finally installed to replace my non-powered 6x8. I told the guy I had 9 cable runs and when he came back down he said he found 2 other ones. Confused I said ok. So I go up there and he removed the lines going into the Terk 5x8 (I purchased) and put those in the new multiswitch. Even worse he used the power connection from the Terk and didn't leave the power cable for the new Wineguard. I called him and left a few messages no response. And those things aren't easy to find.

So this weekend for the 6th visit I'm trying to get this resolved. Luckily he has a 25 volt power cable, which all I need is a 21 but it's working on the Terk, not the Wineguard. He then tells me that D* just launched 4 new birds in the past 2 months and new HD programming should be turned on in the middle of November. I just nod and act surprised.

Then he asks about my antenna. I told him that I've been using OTA for over 4 years and I did have problems at first but got that fixed. He then tells me that I can do an OTA upgrade with him where they will install and tweak it so I can get all the local channels. I was just about to kick him in the nuts for being so stupid. To get rid of him I lied and said we do all of our local viewing from D*.

Don't you wonder where they find these guys? :rolleyes:

Is everyone too busy watching TV to post? I don't have anything to say, but I enjoy seeing what is on your minds. :DNope, not watching TV. Not only is there little on during the summer that I want to watch, but I'm too busy doing other things anyway (yard work, pool cleaning, laundry, etc.). Oh! And my current project preparing to install a 50' tower for my antenna. Hopefully, this fall, I will have improved HDTV reception way over here. :D

Nope, not watching TV. Not only is there little on during the summer that I want to watch, but I'm too busy doing other things anyway (yard work, pool cleaning, laundry, etc.). Oh! And my current project preparing to install a 50' tower for my antenna. Hopefully, this fall, I will have improved HDTV reception way over here. :D
That reminds me of the early days of TV over in Little Rock. If you didn't have a humongous tower (which we didn't) so you could get WMC, there was no reason to have a TV (which we didn't) I saw a lot of fuzzy westerns on neighbor's set, though. :p

Is everyone too busy watching TV to post? I don't have anything to say, but I enjoy seeing what is on your minds. :DFunny. :D

I've been busy watching BD and HD DVD. HD without broadcast compression artifacts is very nice.

I'm sure I'll be back once the NFL season starts, raving about the exceptional PQ from NBC/WMC for Sunday Night Football. ;)

Chase

Funny. :D

I've been busy watching BD and HD DVD. HD without broadcast compression artifacts is very nice.

I'm sure I'll be back once the NFL season starts, raving about the exceptional PQ from NBC/WMC for Sunday Night Football. ;)
From which city will you be doing that from? haha

Is everyone too busy watching TV to post? I don't have anything to say, but I enjoy seeing what is on your minds. :D

Watching TV but not that much. I just moved to town I went with D* ,now I'm OTA antenna shopping any suggestions?

I'm in Midtown, Evergreen area.

Watching TV but not that much. I just moved to town I went with D* ,now I'm OTA antenna shopping any suggestions?

I'm in Midtown, Evergreen area.

Go to radioshack. They have just a uhf model that you should be able to put in your attic for about $25.00( this is an outdoor antenna model) That should pick up all your locals. I live in Atoka and I am about 20 miles and I get everything OTA that Memphis offers.
Good luck.

If you don't want to run cable to your attic, I've always had good luck with the Zenith Silver Sensor, about $30. Looks cool too.

I'm OTA antenna shopping any suggestions?While all the Memphis DTV stations are UHF now, after the analog shutoff, WMC is expected to move back to channel 5 and WHBQ to 13. So unless you want to be shopping for another antenna in a year or two, choose one now that will pick up both UHF and VHF.

I just had the HR20 installed yesterday and have a problem, imagine that. When I record a show on a SD local station the FF will only work in FF1. When I press the FF button twice it skips back to the start of the show. I does this on all 4 SD locals. It also does this on The WB which is not in HD. This is horrible and was wondering if anyone else has this issue. If you don't own another type DVR you would be SOL if you want to record The WB. I just got the lastest update yesterday as well. Thx

I just had the HR20 installed yesterday and have a problem, imagine that. When I record a show on a SD local station the FF will only work in FF1. When I press the FF button twice it skips back to the start of the show. I does this on all 4 SD locals. It also does this on The WB which is not in HD. This is horrible and was wondering if anyone else has this issue. If you don't own another type DVR you would be SOL if you want to record The WB. I just got the lastest update yesterday as well. Thx
My installer (not DTV) said it takes 48 hours or more for for the HR20 to work properly because of downloads from DTV. I found from other blogs that if you push the reset button it gets rid of the problems you see. Over 3 days I did it 3 times & everything eventually smoothed out.

Watching TV but not that much. I just moved to town I went with D* ,now I'm OTA antenna shopping any suggestions?

I'm in Midtown, Evergreen area.

Gary,

I'm in Evergreen and use a RadioShack DoubleTie in the attic with good results. I'm told you can still order these from their catalog.

My son is in Cooper Young and uses one of their powered antennas with good results.

Good luck.

Ron

My installer (not DTV) said it takes 48 hours or more for for the HR20 to work properly because of downloads from DTV. I found from other blogs that if you push the reset button it gets rid of the problems you see. Over 3 days I did it 3 times & everything eventually smoothed out.


Have you tried recording anything on one of the SD locals on the HR20. It seems to be a memphis problem. Others at DBS talk are talking about it as well, and they have had theirs quite awhile. One of the posters said the problem went away but just ca,e back after this past upgrade. Again it only happens on SD locals not OTA or HD locals, and I have hit the reset button many times since I have has this thing.

Have you tried recording anything on one of the SD locals on the HR20. It seems to be a memphis problem. Others at DBS talk are talking about it as well, and they have had theirs quite awhile. One of the posters said the problem went away but just ca,e back after this past upgrade. Again it only happens on SD locals not OTA or HD locals, and I have hit the reset button many times since I have has this thing.
I have only recorded the sat locals , not my ota locals. Early on , I had lip sync & jerky playback issues. All my recordings have been HD. If others are having the same problems with the sat Memphis sd locals , it may not be the HR20 , but may be DTV transmitting problems. I'll record a sat sd local this morning & let you know how it plays back.

Gary,

I'm in Evergreen and use a RadioShack DoubleTie in the attic with good results. I'm told you can still order these from their catalog. If you make it down to Southaven, you can have me Double Bow Tie. I'm using the 40" UHF outdoor antenna mounted in my attic.

-Robert

I just had the HR20 installed yesterday and have a problem, imagine that. When I record a show on a SD local station the FF will only work in FF1. When I press the FF button twice it skips back to the start of the show. I does this on all 4 SD locals. It also does this on The WB which is not in HD. This is horrible and was wondering if anyone else has this issue. If you don't own another type DVR you would be SOL if you want to record The WB. I just got the lastest update yesterday as well. Thx

How much did they charge you for the HR20? I have the HR10 Tivo right now and called about upgrading and they offered me $299 to do it... :-(

I got it for the shipping only. I had to pay 129.00 on my credit card and they credited my account the 99.00 plus tax for the HR20. They also gave me a 10.00 off a mth credit for a year which I did not ask for. That makes up for the extra 9.99 HD access fee. I had a Bad install. The installer took the 2 lines that fed my HR10 from the 3 LNB dish and moved it to the 5 LNB dish, so I could not use the HR10 unless I ran 2 more lines. He also kept the 3 LNB dish up and just added the 5 LNB dish. He should have ran 2 more lines from the new dish to the HR20. They did it the fastest and sloppiest way possible. The Zinwell multi-switch is outside just hanging free from the 3 lnb dish. They did not attach it to anything. Just the wires are holding it up and they did not explain one thing to me about the new HR20. They also had my TV set to the worst possible setting so I had to get it all set up right after they left. (and they looked at me like they expected a tip, which I would have done had they gave a crap) I called DTV about this and they told me it was a protection plan issue so I left work yet again the next day, only to be told by the tech that he could not do anything because it was a poor install issue. Oh and I forgot to mention that the first day they were supposed to come out and install the HR20, after waiting all day Sat for him, he gets there at about 5pm only to tell me he did not have a 5 LNB dish with him and would have to reschedule. So after this Sunday it will make a total of 4 diff times they have been out just to install the Hr20 and 5 lnb dish. I did get about 60.00 credit for the trouble, but I would have rather be done with it than have the credit. I am hoping that Sunday they will finally get finished. If you make the switch, here's hoping your experience is better than mine.

How much did they charge you for the HR20? I have the HR10 Tivo right now and called about upgrading and they offered me $299 to do it... :-(

Oh and one thing that has worked for some. When they answer tell them you were talking to retention and got cut off. They will then hook you up to retention. I told them that last year when I got the HR10 they told me I could upgrade to the HR20 for no cost and when I tried about 3 mths earlier they tried to charge me 99.00, which is all true. I think if you have had the HR10 for at least a year they will hook you up. Also I have been with them since 1996, and had the Sunday Ticket, and NBA package for all those years.

How much did they charge you for the HR20? I have the HR10 Tivo right now and called about upgrading and they offered me $299 to do it... :-(
I got one for $22 total. I'd send an email thru their website and say you don't think you should pay that much to rent.

I just had the HR20 installed yesterday and have a problem, imagine that. When I record a show on a SD local station the FF will only work in FF1. When I press the FF button twice it skips back to the start of the show. I does this on all 4 SD locals. It also does this on The WB which is not in HD. This is horrible and was wondering if anyone else has this issue. If you don't own another type DVR you would be SOL if you want to record The WB. I just got the lastest update yesterday as well. Thx
Recorded a sd program on DTV CH 3 & CH3ME & was able to FF or REW 1 to 4 speed.

I got it for the shipping only. I had to pay 129.00 on my credit card and they credited my account the 99.00 plus tax for the HR20. They also gave me a 10.00 off a mth credit for a year which I did not ask for. That makes up for the extra 9.99 HD access fee. I had a Bad install. The installer took the 2 lines that fed my HR10 from the 3 LNB dish and moved it to the 5 LNB dish, so I could not use the HR10 unless I ran 2 more lines. He also kept the 3 LNB dish up and just added the 5 LNB dish. He should have ran 2 more lines from the new dish to the HR20. They did it the fastest and sloppiest way possible. The Zinwell multi-switch is outside just hanging free from the 3 lnb dish. They did not attach it to anything. Just the wires are holding it up and they did not explain one thing to me about the new HR20. They also had my TV set to the worst possible setting so I had to get it all set up right after they left. (and they looked at me like they expected a tip, which I would have done had they gave a crap) I called DTV about this and they told me it was a protection plan issue so I left work yet again the next day, only to be told by the tech that he could not do anything because it was a poor install issue. Oh and I forgot to mention that the first day they were supposed to come out and install the HR20, after waiting all day Sat for him, he gets there at about 5pm only to tell me he did not have a 5 LNB dish with him and would have to reschedule. So after this Sunday it will make a total of 4 diff times they have been out just to install the Hr20 and 5 lnb dish. I did get about 60.00 credit for the trouble, but I would have rather be done with it than have the credit. I am hoping that Sunday they will finally get finished. If you make the switch, here's hoping your experience is better than mine.
I found out from blogs that DTV is the LAST company to install their equipment.

I just wanted to stop by and give all of you that complain about WREG's PQ something to be thankful about.

How would you like viewing 1080i content at a whopping 8.3 mps?!

Take a look at this bitrate screencap of KALB-DT, a dual NBC/CBS affiliate in Alexandria, LA.


http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/1989/kalbbitratenx4.th.jpg (http://img111.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kalbbitratenx4.jpg)

I think the photo speaks for itself. Think about all the macroblocking that goes on during sports on those channels! :eek:

Again, just thought I'd share my finding from this evening with y'all... because I remembered how much WREG's PQ was complained about in this thread..lol. Here I was, thinking 14.3 mps was bad, then I happen upon this channel while DXing tonight, and count my lucky stars for my 14.3 mps on NBC-HD :)

OMG!!!!!

As bad as both WREG and WMC looks I can't even imagine how bad both of those would look. All I have to say is I'm glad I don't live in Alexandria.

If you make it down to Southaven, you can have me Double Bow Tie. I'm using the 40" UHF outdoor antenna mounted in my attic.

-Robert

Thanks for the offer, I may do that....

Ron

OMG!!!!!

As bad as both WREG and WMC looks I can't even imagine how bad both of those would look. All I have to say is I'm glad I don't live in Alexandria.

Oh believe me, I took some screencaps of how "crisp" and "clear" their HD looked while airing Leno and Letterman. The sad part is, that Alexandria isn't a very big market, and they most likely don't have very many HD viewers, so no one will complain :(

Oh believe me, I took some screencaps of how "crisp" and "clear" their HD looked while airing Leno and Letterman. The sad part is, that Alexandria isn't a very big market, and they most likely don't have very many HD viewers, so no one will complain :(
I need to get my ATI software back working again so I can grab some screen caps. I had to unistall it since it was REALLY acting up but I can't find the CD to reinstall the software. You have to have the CD to install it.

On another note I had a little bit of time to compare the PQ or HD-LIL to OTA. I only did WHBQ for the Cubs game but did notice some blocking on the D* feed. I went back and replayed the OTA feed and it wasn't there. I checked I think the Indy 500 on WPTY a few weeks ago and saw the same things.

I haven't checked WMC and WREG because it would be like comparing crap to crap.

I noticed yesterday that the tower for channel 14 has begun construction.

I need to get my ATI software back working again so I can grab some screen caps. I had to unistall it since it was REALLY acting up but I can't find the CD to reinstall the software. You have to have the CD to install it.

On another note I had a little bit of time to compare the PQ or HD-LIL to OTA. I only did WHBQ for the Cubs game but did notice some blocking on the D* feed. I went back and replayed the OTA feed and it wasn't there. I checked I think the Indy 500 on WPTY a few weeks ago and saw the same things.

I haven't checked WMC and WREG because it would be like comparing crap to crap.
My recording of WPTY ch24 on D* HD feed & OTA sometimes has blocking & is the only ch where the video sometimes has a skip to it --with normal audio.

I noticed yesterday that the tower for channel 14 has begun construction.
What's the scoop on channel 14? This is the first I've heard or seen of it.

What's the scoop on channel 14? This is the first I've heard or seen of it.
It's a Flinn station. They are building it right next to the tower for channel 50 at Yale/Brother. I've tried emailing them to get some info about the channel but no response.

According to FCC website the channel 14 Licensee/Permittee is CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Well, I am pretty disappointed, well sorta... I went with Directv and got their HD package. Got the deal where I got Sunday Ticket plus 4 months premium package.

Anyways, I get the Cardinals game on channel 647 and 664. The game is being broadcast in HD tonight, but it does not appear in HD on either channel. So I called Directv and asked them what the deal was. Apparently, I would have to get MLB Extra Innings to get the games in HD???? What the heck....that doesnt really make any sense

The game isnt in the local suite of channels either..

At least I still get to watch the game though

Well, I am pretty disappointed, well sorta... I went with Directv and got their HD package. Got the deal where I got Sunday Ticket plus 4 months premium package.

Anyways, I get the Cardinals game on channel 647 and 664. The game is being broadcast in HD tonight, but it does not appear in HD on either channel. So I called Directv and asked them what the deal was. Apparently, I would have to get MLB Extra Innings to get the games in HD???? What the heck....that doesnt really make any sense

The game isnt in the local suite of channels either..

At least I still get to watch the game though
There is a good chance the game wasn't broadcasted in HD by D* even if you had EI. If the game was available in HD it woulda been on one of the channels above or in the mid 90's.

Apparently FSMW hasn't signed yet with D*. Both FS South and Sports South have so when games are available in HD from those nets we will get them.

There is a good chance the game wasn't broadcasted in HD by D* even if you had EI. If the game was available in HD it woulda been on one of the channels above or in the mid 90's.

Apparently FSMW hasn't signed yet with D*. Both FS South and Sports South have so when games are available in HD from those nets we will get them.

Thanks for the info!

Digging a little deeper, it looks like the game was suppose to be on Fox Sports South tonight, but isnt. Ya know, this crap is too confusing for me!! hahaha

Thanks for the info!

Digging a little deeper, it looks like the game was suppose to be on Fox Sports South tonight, but isnt. Ya know, this crap is too confusing for me!! hahaha
Maybe this will help, http://msn.foxsports.com/name/HD

According to FCC website the channel 14 Licensee/Permittee is CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW BROADCASTING CORPORATION
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=81692

Strange... maybe D* is getting the FSN Midwest HD feed.

To my surprise, I turned it over to channel 94 just to check, and sure enough the Cardinals game is in HD. Guess it will be hit and miss.

Strange... maybe D* is getting the FSN Midwest HD feed.

To my surprise, I turned it over to channel 94 just to check, and sure enough the Cardinals game is in HD. Guess it will be hit and miss.
D* has shown the FSNMW feed before. To my knowledge they haven't signed for it to be on full time as an HD RSN. I'm basing that info on the thread that has the channels D* has signed with. Since I will be getting the Sports Pack again once college football and ManU start playing (this weekend) I'll hope that D* does sign FSNMW full time.

Bitrate for tonights game on WHBQ.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3180/snap1uj4.th.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snap1uj4.jpg)

Was flipping back and forth between OTA and the D* feed of WREG tonight for the football game. D* definately had more blocking.

Kinda sad when the channel that needs more bandwidth uses less that the channel that doesn't need as much.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6205/snap2pp9.th.jpg (http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snap2pp9.jpg)

Looks like you've got the same chart posted for WHBQ and WREG.

Looks like you've got the same chart posted for WHBQ and WREG.
My bad. I guess the cut/paste didn't actually cut. Fixed.

My bad. I guess the cut/paste didn't actually cut. Fixed.

Much better. Please explain the difference in waveform. I gather that the approx. 1 MB difference in signal is the difference in the picture quality. What is the significance of the sloped(?) line in the WHBQ signal?

Much better. Please explain the difference in waveform. I gather that the approx. 1 MB difference in signal is the difference in the picture quality. What is the significance of the sloped(?) line in the WHBQ signal?
You are correct in that the difference effects PQ.

I'll break down each chart for those that might have questions.

WHBQ (FOX):
The green signifies how much mbps (mega bites per second) they are sending for the game. For national programming FOX dictates how much they are sending out via the splicer system. So what you see on here is what FOX is sending thru. Since WHBQ doesn't multicast (thanks Dave!!!) they aren't taking any more of that feed to use for anything else.

On the left side of the picture under Active PID's you will see lines in the format of 0x##AA. 0x0031 is the video feed and 0x0034 is the audio feed. Including any error correction and other stuff they might send it all adds up to the Video Bitrate Area Chart on the right. The numbers you see there are all parts of the feed they are sending for the game.

So at the time I took the screen shot FOX was sending 14.86 mbps video and 450kbps audio. Add all of the other smaller pieces and the null data at 0x1fff of 3.52 mbps you will come close to the 19.39 mbps bandwidth affiliates have been given per station.

There is null data because it was left over and not being used. During local programming, news, local shows, etc, you will see very little null data and video will be up around 18 mbps.

The reason why there is such a slope on WHBQ's chart because they had very little change in the bitrate used. I started recording it dring gameplay but a commercial came on right after I started the chart.

Now with WREG, they multicast and this chart has both 3-1 and 3-2. Green is 3-1 and blue is 3-2.

To see how much each one is using you look at where the color tops out.

3-2, pid 0x0041 has been set to 2.36 mbps video and 229 kbps for audio. Any subchannels decrease bandwidth from the main HD signal. So as a start WREG is taking away roughly 2.5 mbps that could be added back to the HD feed.

3-1, pid 0x0031 was at 13.76 mbps video and 413 kbps audio. So roughly we are getting locally a 1080i feed which really needs all bandwidth to get the best picture possible at roughly 2/3rds what it could be.

At the time the graph was stopped, which was still during game play, WREG had 1.6 mbps of null data, 0x1fff. Why? WHo know's. They could add that back into the main HD feed.

If they added that back into the feed there would be a slight increase in HD PQ. How much is unknown. The motion blocking wouldn't be near as bad.

1080i requires more bandwidth than 720p does. However here in Memphis the 1080i stations multicast which makes the HD PQ worse.

I hope that covered everything. If not let me know.

Very infomitive. Thanks

Tonight's game on WMC. I turned it on and was like ugh!. All but the beginning and ending 30 seconds was during gameplay.

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/3158/snap1ry5.th.jpg (http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snap1ry5.jpg)

Is anyone receiving CH 3-1 ota?

I am, on all tuners.

Thanks Wiggo. Just checked & it's back on my DTV HR-20. Could be update gremlins at work.

Hi all -

I'm brand new to HDTV and am looking for a good, relatively inexpensive indoor antenna for OTA HD. I'm in the Arlington area, and my antennaweb results are as follows:


DTV Antenna Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Compass Miles Frequency Assignment
* yellow - uhf WPTY-DT 24.1 ABC MEMPHIS TN 274° 4.7 25
* yellow - uhf WLMT-DT 30.1 CW MEMPHIS TN 274° 4.7 31
* yellow - uhf WREG-DT 3.1 CBS MEMPHIS TN 231° 10.0 28
* yellow - uhf WKNO-DT 10.1 PBS MEMPHIS TN 222° 10.9 29
* yellow - uhf WPXX-DT 50.1 MNT MEMPHIS TN 239° 8.0 51
* yellow - uhf WMC-DT 5.1 NBC MEMPHIS TN 274° 4.7 52
* yellow - uhf WHBQ-DT 13.1 FOX MEMPHIS TN 232° 10.9 53


Does anyone have any recommendations for a good antenna that would meet my needs?

Thanks,

-- phil --

Phil,

As close as you are, almost anything will do. Just don't get an amplified antenna, you don't need it, and it would probably overload and ruin your reception. :( One of those UHF loop antennas that come with TVs would probably work. Or, just a piece of wire, or a wire cloths hanger even...seriously, try it before you spend any money. If it doesn't work, you don't loose anything. :)

Of course, other forum members that are more familiar with the terrain and buildings in your area can (and likely will) give better advise than can I. ;)

Neil -

Thanks for the info. I was thinking that might be true, but I wasn't sure. I dug around last night thinking that I had rabbit ears someplace from my TV that died, but no luck. I may see if I can find a cheap $5 antenna someplace before my Comcast HD cable box is delivered.

Have you or anyone else here had any success with a QAM tuner? I messed around a bit last night with that with no luck.

Thanks again,

-- phil --

I dug around last night thinking that I had rabbit ears someplace Rabbit ears are VHF. You need a UHF antenna. Radio Shack has dozens of them. Heck, I'm trying to give away my Double Bow Tie but no one wants it.

-Robert

Rabbit ears are VHF. You need a UHF antenna. Radio Shack has dozens of them.

My wife picked up a no-name UHF/VHF "HDTV-Ready" antenna today at Big Lots for $10. I'm going to connect it tonight to see how it works.

Heck, I'm trying to give away my Double Bow Tie but no one wants it.

If this one doesn't work, I may take it off your hands. :)

-- phil --

I can hear my yard going "aaaaahhhhhhhh" right now.

I was surprised, with all the lightning and everything I never lost signal on my local ka signals. I was checking them every now and then.

I can hear my yard going "aaaaahhhhhhhh" right now.That's so true. I was afraid we wouldn't get any of that, and didn't yesterday. But today, we finally got a shower. First rainfall in three weeks here.

Have you or anyone else here had any success with a QAM tuner?Yes, I have been able to get some clear QAM in the past. But, right now everything, and I mean everything, on my local cable is encrypted. Even the local channels (this is just not right IMHO). Of course, you are on a different system, so I don't know, but, seems like some on this forum have been successful with clear QAM in Memphis.

Rabbit ears are VHF. You need a UHF antenna. Radio Shack has dozens of them. Heck, I'm trying to give away my Double Bow Tie but no one wants it.

-Robert

Robert,

You know we midtowners seldom get that far south :-)http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/icons/icon10.gif
Big Grin

Ron

Have you or anyone else here had any success with a QAM tuner? I messed around a bit last night with that with no luck.Yes, I have been able to get some clear QAM in the past. But, right now everything, and I mean everything, on my local cable is encrypted. Even the local channels (this is just not right IMHO). Of course, you are on a different system, so I don't know, but, seems like some on this forum have been successful with clear QAM in Memphis.

When I scanned my QAM channels Friday with a cable directly from the wall (no splits from the cable into the house), I got all of the local channels, but nothing above 80. I have since figured out that the autoscan is hanging on 80 and then the TV "reboots" itself. Something on that channel is killing it.

But yesterday when I split the cable 3 ways -- 1 to cable box, 1 to cable modem, 1 to TV -- and autoscanned, I got only the HD channels below 80. If I start scanning at channel 81, I get all of the music channels at 83 and some HD channels near 100, but they all either have a weak signal or are scrambled.

I'm guessing that either my 3-way splitter is degrading the signal enough that it's affecting the QAM autoscan or something has changed with the feed. At any rate, I'm just about to give up on QAM and rely on OTA antenna and my HD cable box coming tomorrow. I probably wouldn't miss anything anyway.

My wife picked up a no-name UHF/VHF "HDTV-Ready" antenna today at Big Lots for $10. I'm going to connect it tonight to see how it works.

By the way, this thing works like a charm. It's just a loop + rabbit ears, and I have it sitting in my over-the-fireplace TV cavity behind the TV, and I am getting all of the local OTA signals great.

I was wondering if Comcast Digital is broadcasting WMC (CBS) and WHBQ (Fox) in HD by unencrypted QAM. If so, can anyone provide the physical channel and subchannel.


Here is my work-in-progress list. If anyone has any more channels or sees any false info, could you please let me know. Thanks!

Logical Cable Channel, Physical Channel-Subchannel, Station
--- ----- --------------
824 74-1 AETVHD (A&E HD)
825 74-9 NGCHD (National Geographic HD)

803 84-2 WREGDT CBS HD
810 84-3 WKNODT PBS HD
xxx 84-4 WKNODT2 PBS
xxx 84-5 WREGDT2 CBS news SD

807 85-4 WPTYDT ABC HD
809 85-8 WLMTDT CW HD

003 86-100 WREG CBS SD
005 86-101 WMC NBC SD
013 86-102 WHBQ Fox SD
007 86-103 WPTY ABC SD
009 86-104 WLMT CW SD

003 89-2 WREG CBS SD

016 93-2 C-SPAN2

Are the following available on unencrypted QAM?
Which Physical Channel-Subchannel?

805 xx-x WMCDT NBC HD
813 xx-x WHBQDT Fox HD
830 xx-x WHBQDT Fox HD

I bought a new Vizio 37" yesterday which has NTSC, ATSC and QAM tuners. I let it autoscan Comcast cable-ready, but as far as I can tell nothing is coming in in HD.

Is Comcast still sending out any HD in unencrypted QAM that I can pick up without a CableCard or converter?

have not watched it OTA since last football season (I like to turn down the Tv and listen to the Titans on the radio and due to Sat. delay I can only do it OTA, geeting an XM for the house, hope they and the DTV are on the same delayor close enough). 5-1 used to be my best OTA channel, almost always crystal clear. Now it sucks, freezes, loss the signal for 5 minutes, almost unwatchable. I have not moved my OTA at all. Any ideas as to why or anyone else having this problem? Thanks

have not watched it OTA since last football season (I like to turn down the Tv and listen to the Titans on the radio and due to Sat. delay I can only do it OTA, geeting an XM for the house, hope they and the DTV are on the same delayor close enough). 5-1 used to be my best OTA channel, almost always crystal clear. Now it sucks, freezes, loss the signal for 5 minutes, almost unwatchable. I have not moved my OTA at all. Any ideas as to why or anyone else having this problem? Thanks

Don't know about the 5-1 trouble. The NFL is only availible on Sirius (Unless the merger with XM goes through) and the Titans radio broadcasts are rarely availible. Shame too, because I also really like Mike Keith.

You are gonna have a lot of trouble getting audio to sync up because the sat radios have a real long buffer time to allow for driving under bridges and whatnot when they are mobile. I have both XM & Sirius radios and both buffer a few seconds at least. Even the delay settings on my HTR are not much help.

the DTV signal that's great because I can use my DVR to pause the TV for 3-5 or whatever additional seconds. LSu sometimes intentionally delays it for those with satellites, but their delay is also very long so when I get it I can pause the TV for about 5 second and it syncs up enough. But obviously if the radio is ever ahead of the Tv you are hosed.

the DTV signal that's great because I can use my DVR to pause the TV for 3-5 or whatever additional seconds. LSu sometimes intentionally delays it for those with satellites, but their delay is also very long so when I get it I can pause the TV for about 5 second and it syncs up enough. But obviously if the radio is ever ahead of the Tv you are hosed.


Oh, I never thought of that, I tried to to listen to a Raiders game on sirius and watch it on TV before I had a DVR! I've also tried to listen to hockey on XM while watching center ice on TV. If the Radio gets ahead of the Video that's where delay settings on a good HTR would help.

5-1 OTA signal started sucking for me, too, a week or three ago. My Samsung tuner can't get it at all, just shows "searching for signal" (signal fluctuates constantly from 0 to 60) and my HR10 get's a horrible signal (a one hour recording ends up being somewhere between 5 and 45 minutes with all the dropouts; signal fluctuates from 22 to 50). But for some reason, my S3 Tivo gets it fine (signal holds solid at about 66). The weird thing is that they're all attached to the same rooftop antenna (two-story house, 9 miles from transmitter, no obstructions in between).

So I just use the S3 to watch 5-1. But if I didn't have it, I'd be SOL.

I just noticed today, channel 3 is now available in hd over satellite. (dtv) When did that happen?

Within the past 2 months. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10924729&postcount=4616

I was finally able to re-install my ATI software and play with it a little bit. Here are some pretty nasty screen caps from WREG today.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/58/wreg825071en4.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg825071en4.jpg)http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6446/wreg825072eb3.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg825072eb3.jpg)http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/4264/wreg825073lu5.th.jpg (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg825073lu5.jpg)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5410/wreg825074rw7.th.jpg (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg825074rw7.jpg)http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/5215/wreg825075te5.th.jpg (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg825075te5.jpg)http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6827/wreg825076dm2.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg825076dm2.jpg)
Bitrate:
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8061/wreg82507bitratefz6.th.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreg82507bitratefz6.jpg)

I was finally able to re-install my ATI software and play with it a little bit. Here are some pretty nasty screen caps from WREG today.Hey, it's about time! :D;) I was afraid I wasn't going to have any hard evidence to substantiate my rants against PQ for football in a couple of weeks.

Incidentally, I decided against picking up C* for MNF this year. The PQ is not worth the money. OTA and D* NFLST SuperFan are bad enough.

Chase

Is anyone getting TNTH, UHD or DSHD from D*? I keep getting 'Searching for Signal: Satellite Ln 1'. This in on my HDTivo.

It appears I get all of the other channels fine.

Hey, it's about time! :D;) I was afraid I wasn't going to have any hard evidence to substantiate my rants against PQ for football in a couple of weeks.

Incidentally, I decided against picking up C* for MNF this year. The PQ is not worth the money. OTA and D* NFLST SuperFan are bad enough.
Do you not have HD thru D*?

Is anyone getting TNTH, UHD or DSHD from D*? I keep getting 'Searching for Signal: Satellite Ln 1'. This in on my HDTivo.

It appears I get all of the other channels fine.
They are all coming in fine on my HR20. Have you rebooted your HDTivo?

I've got 1 spot left in my fantasy football league and I need to fill it before our live on-line draft at 8:30 tomorrow night. If anyone is interested in playing here is the info. First come first serve.

http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/register/tos?league_id=297654&password=fusion
League ID#: 297654
Password: fusion

I just noticed a new channel on Comcast - Variety Channel (VTV) - Channel 756. The station ID says that it is 30-2, WLMT-DT. I did a quick search, but nothing came up in the thread.
When did WLMT start multicasting? Has the picture taken a hit?

They are showing Dragnet right now. It seems like a public domain episode. There's nothing really interesting on the channel, as far as I can see, and the picture keeps having pixelation issues. It's good enough to watch, but I really hope it doesn't effect the PQ on 30-1...

They are all coming in fine on my HR20. Have you rebooted your HDTivo?


I checked signal strength on the 3 sats and it seems that my dish has moved. I'll 'wiggled' it a little and now I get those channels. I guess I'll have to do a realignment.

I just noticed a new channel on Comcast - Variety Channel (VTV) - Channel 756. The station ID says that it is 30-2, WLMT-DT. I did a quick search, but nothing came up in the thread.
When did WLMT start multicasting? Has the picture taken a hit?

They are showing Dragnet right now. It seems like a public domain episode. There's nothing really interesting on the channel, as far as I can see, and the picture keeps having pixelation issues. It's good enough to watch, but I really hope it doesn't effect the PQ on 30-1...
This channel has been around since sometime in March. And yes, the HD PQ has taken a hit. I've checked a few times and WLMT-DT now has motion blocking when before they didn't. I think last time I checked the video bitrate was cut by 2 - 3 mbps for this channel.

I asked Scott at WPTY about it but in March and he said it will be on 24/7, various DIY and info programming, Clear Channel station called Variety TV, Memphis is one of the markets they launched it, and WLMT has the best mutiplexer which is why it's not on WPTY.

I have it in my guide, but like you, nothing interests me on it.

Will a Tivo hr20-250 pick up Hi-def OTA stations after I de-activate the receiver. It is an extra one I used at home and I wanted to use it at my office for OTA stations only with an extrenal antenna.

Will a Tivo hr20-250 pick up Hi-def OTA stations after I de-activate the receiver. It is an extra one I used at home and I wanted to use it at my office for OTA stations only with an extrenal antenna.
Yes it will. You just will not be able to use the Tivo functions.

Will a Tivo hr20-250 pick up Hi-def OTA stations after I de-activate the receiver. It is an extra one I used at home and I wanted to use it at my office for OTA stations only with an extrenal antenna.

Yes it will. You just will not be able to use the Tivo functions.

If you disconnect the dish (and phoneline, if connected) before deactivating, will Tivo work?

If you disconnect the dish (and phoneline, if connected) before deactivating, will Tivo work?
I've heard it does, but I cannot confirm it.

I wish D* would get this channel.

Ole Miss opens up their season against Conference USA opponent Memphis this Saturday, September 1st from the Liberty Bowl in Memphis

3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT

Simulcast in HD!
Atlanta, GA (Comcast) Ch 801
Atlanta, GA (Charter) TBD
Birmingham, AL (Charter) Ch 860
Charleston, SC (Comcast) Ch 401
Chattanooga, TN (Comcast) Ch 719
Elizabethtown/Paducah (Comcast) Ch 401
Jacksonville, FL (Comcast) Ch 401
Jackson, MS (Comcast) Ch 400
Mobile, AL (Comcast) Ch 212
Memphis, TN (Comcast) Ch 866
Nashville, TN (Comcast) Ch 201
Savannah, GA (Comcast) Ch 401
Tupelo, MS (Comcast) Ch 711
West Palm, FL (Comcast) Ch 402

Anyone know anything about Direct Patch cable? They are the only cable option in the Colonnade apartments I'm moving into. I have D* now, but use Comcast for cable internet

Never heard of Direct Patch cable. Must be an in-house type thing.

Ok I just got back from the Collierville Comcast office and the lady told me I have basic cable on my account. I currently use RR and am getting a credit to bump the price down to 19.95 for the next about 9 or 10 months. I asked her if anything else needs to be done other than unplug the cable from the modem and plug it into a tv or use a splitter. She said no.

Does anyone know if she is correct?