Your are obviously on the backside lobe...I used to work in Franklin township for Merck....it disappeared around 3 pm...thanks.

The Eagles-Saints preseason game is on ESPN-HD tonight. It is also being broadcast on the local ABC station, Channel 6. Do you think it will also be in HD on 6ABC?

I would imagine its the same feed

Originally posted by Bolo601
The Eagles-Saints preseason game is on ESPN-HD tonight. It is also being broadcast on the local ABC station, Channel 6. Do you think it will also be in HD on 6ABC?

I doubt it. Because it is the local ABC (wpvi) that is simply providing the standard ESPN feed. I doubt they will receive the HD feed. It is not ABC national doing this game.

This coverage is a rule for your local football team, when on cable, an over the air station must also provide coverage. So that you don't have to have cable to see the Eagles (ever), when they are on ESPN.

So unless you have comcast HD (which I don't) you won't see this game in HD. I only have over the air HD.

The WPVI website has a tie in to TitanTV which lists it as being in HD. I know that's pretty slim evidence, but it would be nice to see the Birds in High Definition the first time their on TV this year.
If it is HD tonight, that'll mean the Dec 27th Saturday night game against Washington should be in HD. Party time

Originally posted by Bolo601
The WPVI website has a tie in to TitanTV which lists it as being in HD. I know that's pretty slim evidence, but it would be nice to see the Birds in High Definition the first time their on TV this year.
If it is HD tonight, that'll mean the Dec 27th Saturday night game against Washington should be in HD. Party time

Wow, that is encouraging. Anyone have an email address of a wpvi engineer so that this can be confirmed?

If true, no reason to get comcast HD -- over the air will be fine. As I only really care about Eagles in HD (not other Sunday night football games).

Well I would think that the Eagles game will be HD just like the Hall of Fame game. I thought ALL MNF this year (even pre-season) was supposed to be in HD. If WPVI got the HD feed last week, I see no reason why they wouldn't get it this week. This is a MNF game not an exclusive ESPN game. If anything, ESPN is carrying the MNF feed.

Of course that's just my opinion- I could be wrong. :D

Originally posted by DigitHead
Well I would think that the Eagles game will be HD just like the Hall of Fame game. I thought ALL MNF this year (even pre-season) was supposed to be in HD. If WPVI got the HD feed last week, I see no reason why they wouldn't get it this week. This is a MNF game not an exclusive ESPN game. If anything, ESPN is carrying the MNF feed.

Of course that's just my opinion- I could be wrong. :D

Technically, I don't think this is a "Monday Night football" broadcast, but an ESPN broadcast (like their Sunday night games during the season).

Otherwise, it would only be on ABC, not ESPN.

Here is the 2003 MNF pre-seasonn schedule (they don't list tonight's game):


http://espn.go.com/abcsports/mnf/s/2003/0226/1514736.html

I believe A local station MUST carry the game (in the local city), when it is on cable. It just happens to be WPVI, but it does not have to be. Perhaps WPVI gets first dibs though.

This would not be on ABC anywhere but possibly Philly and New Orleans.

Originally posted by caesar1
Technically, I don't think this is a "Monday Night football" broadcast, but an ESPN broadcast (like their Sunday night games during the season).

Otherwise, it would only be on ABC, not ESPN.

Here is the 2003 MNF pre-seasonn schedule (they don't list tonight's game):


http://espn.go.com/abcsports/mnf/s/2003/0226/1514736.html



caesar1,

That's really weird (so, what else is new?) that there is no MNF game listed for tonight. I wonder if there are more games (other than the Eggles) tonight.

Oh well. . . .

David

this is a monday night game just preseason. exactly like lasts weeks game.
it will be hd as advertised during sunday night baseball.

not a local feed but a espn feed, ported over to channel 6

Originally posted by whotony
this is a monday night game just preseason. exactly like lasts weeks game.
it will be hd as advertised during sunday night baseball.

not a local feed but a espn feed, ported over to channel 6

If this is Monday Night Football (with Al Michaels and the crew), why does ABC (the national site) list something else on tonight on their website (Stephen King's Storm of the Century):

http://abc.go.com/movies/stormofthecentury2.html

AUGUST 11


8/7c That's Incredible - The Reunion II

9/8c ABC Premiere Event: Stephen King's Storm of the Century, Part 2

12:05/11:05c Jimmy Kimmel Live



To further confuse things, ESPN's site, lists ABC for the football game tonight:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tvlistings/index

I think this is the ESPN broadcast team for the NFL -- but it happens to be broadcast on a Monday night (as it is preseason). But it certainly is not clear.

I think this is what happens when these networks all have the same ownership.

I think Madden and Michaels will not be broadcasting -- hence it is an ESPN event.

Perhaps, and hopefully, it will still be broadcast as HD on wpvi-dt. But I'm not super confident on that.

There is regular ESPN and ESPN-HD. How do we know that the regular ESPN broadcast won't be ported to both wpvi and wpvi-dt. Although it would make sense to port the HD to the digital wpvi.

that is a concern, (if 6 will broadcast the hd feed).

maybe someone who knows how could get in touch with 6 to see what they say.

The MNF press release specifically mentioned this game in it's list of MNF games that are in HD (all of them).

Originally posted by jesup
The MNF press release specifically mentioned this game in it's list of MNF games that are in HD (all of them).

Link? I hope you're right, but I thought I remember it saying all Monday Night Football preseason games and the regular season. Not mentioning the Eagles' pre-season game at all.

Remember the term "Monday Night Football" refers to the ABC show with a particular broadcast team (usually Michaels and Madden). It does not mean if a game is broadcast on a Monday Night it is "Monday Night Football."

Granted the dual ownership of ABC/ESPN makes this more confusing.

The ESPN web site has this game on the schedule labelled HDTV.

Originally posted by CKarras
The ESPN web site has this game on the schedule labelled HDTV.

Weirdly, it they have it scheduled as ESPN-HD here:

http://espn.go.com/espnhd/schedule.html


But on ABC here, under the ESPN listings (look at 8:00 pm)?

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tvlistings/index

But then here it appears listed properly (I think) as ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tvlistings/story?id=1586370


Perhaps it is a combination broadcast. It really is ABPN.

this is an espn game nationally.

it is to be simulcast on channel 6 in philly.
whether it will simulcast the hd feed is another story.

Well, the jerks did not pass the HD feed on to wpvi-dt.

It was SD.

And it was ESPN -- not Monday Night Football.

Oh well, have to wait till an away EAgles game that is HD -- as I go to all the home games.

The ESPN-HD picture was gorgeous, and good 5.1 audio.

I was surprised to see the OTA feed in SD but Comcast broadcast both ESPN and WPVI in HD.

Originally posted by gboot
I was surprised to see the OTA feed in SD but Comcast broadcast both ESPN and WPVI in HD.

Could you clarify that? I have Comcast cable (but not digital -- so no HD via Comcast). I watched the game via normal Comcast WPVI.

How could it be HD on the WPVI channel on Comcast (channel 5 in my area)? Wouldn't it have to be on one of the triple digit HD stations?

i forgot to check but i would guess that is exactly what he was saying. the hd feed was on the triple digit comcast channels, and espn.

it certainly wouldnt be on the channel 5 feed.

CKarras

I didint notice the game being in 5.1 I watched via DirecTv and it was broadcast in circle surround.

Originally posted by whotony
i forgot to check but i would guess that is exactly what he was saying. the hd feed was on the triple digit comcast channels, and espn.

it certainly wouldnt be on the channel 5 feed.

All,

Channel 5 (ABC) and Channel 180 (ABC-DT) both had the SD feed. The HD feed was only on Channel 173 (ESPN-HD)

David

Originally posted by caesar1
Well, the jerks did not pass the HD feed on to wpvi-dt.

It was SD.

And it was ESPN -- not Monday Night Football.

Oh well, have to wait till an away Eagles game that is HD -- as I go to all the home games.

I was really disappointed about that. I wonder why Channel 6 did not pass it on in HD ?

I, too, was surprised that 6-1 didn't carry the HD game. The ESPN-HD feed (thanks DirecTV!) was possibly the best HD event I've seen. The picture was so stunning that my wife stopped and watched a bit of the game. Now that's HD!

Does anyone have contact information for the engineers at WPVI-DT (ABC) in Philadelphia.

I would like an explanation as to why DD 5.1 is not being passed for Monday Night football -- or at least wake up the person who flips the switch?

For the last two Monday Night preseason broadcasts -- DD 5.1 has been missing in Philadelphia (yet they have it for other ABC broadcasts).

Anyone know a number (or an email) -- the only number at night is the office that says they are closed.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/features/contactactionnews.html

Originally posted by caesar1
Does anyone have contact information for the engineers at WPVI-DT (ABC) in Philadelphia.

I would like an explanation as to why DD 5.1 is not being passed for Monday Night football -- or at least wake up the person who flips the switch?

For the last two Monday Night preseason broadcasts -- DD 5.1 has been missing in Philadelphia (yet they have it for other ABC broadcasts).

Anyone know a number (or an email) -- the only number at night is the office that says they are closed.

Jim Gilbert is the head engineer at WPVI. Call the main phone # at WPVI and ask for engineering.

Joe

Can anyone tell us when WCAU (NBC 10) will be moving to the new antenna and increasing their power? This was originally supposed to happen last fall. What are the reasons for the delay?
I've been wondering the same thing. Lately, I've not been getting WCAU-DT at all. I'm in southern Jersey (straight east of Philly). All other OTA HD channels come in fine.

Originally posted by Brajesh
I've been wondering the same thing. Lately, I've not been getting WCAU-DT at all. I'm in southern Jersey (straight east of Philly). All other OTA HD channels come in fine.

I've sent e-mails to both the engineering Dept. as well as the main guy, Tim O'Sullivan, but have not gotten any response. This has been going on for months now. This is the only station I can't get at all, except when the tropo affects kick in. Sure would be nice to get WCAU! At this rate, WNBC will be back up sooner. :eek:

Originally posted by Calabs
I've sent e-mails to both the engineering Dept. as well as the main guy, Tim O'Sullivan, but have not gotten any response. This has been going on for months now. This is the only station I can't get at all, except when the tropo affects kick in. Sure would be nice to get WCAU! At this rate, WNBC will be back up sooner. :eek:

Hi Calabs,

I called WCAU and spoke to Tim about 2 weeks ago. Last time I spoke to Tim (4-5 months ago) he said that the new antenna needed to be swept by the manufacturer before the new site goes live. Due to other commitments and some poor weather, the manufacturer still has not swept the antenna. It's out of WCAU's hands at this point and Tim will not estimate a turn on date since all of the others fell through. One bright note is that work is being done on the PAX antenna now and hopefully both antennas can be swept at the same time when the antenna manufacturer returns.

Joe

I live in Feasterville, near Exit 28 off PA Turnpike, I've been using a roof mounted Radio Shack Antenna, nothing fancy. I would say that in the past 6 months I have been catching all local stations pretty good, yeah drop outs here and there, but over all pretty good. A year ago, it wasn't too good, but sounds like it's even going to get better with the new planned hardware.

Originally posted by jcardani
I called WCAU and spoke to Tim about 2 weeks ago. Last time I spoke to Tim (4-5 months ago) he said that the new antenna needed to be swept by the manufacturer before the new site goes live. Joe

Joe:
What does getting "swept" mean??

Originally posted by jcardani
Hi Calabs,

I called WCAU and spoke to Tim about 2 weeks ago. Last time I spoke to Tim (4-5 months ago) he said that the new antenna needed to be swept by the manufacturer before the new site goes live. Due to other commitments and some poor weather, the manufacturer still has not swept the antenna. It's out of WCAU's hands at this point and Tim will not estimate a turn on date since all of the others fell through. One bright note is that work is being done on the PAX antenna now and hopefully both antennas can be swept at the same time when the antenna manufacturer returns.

Joe

Thanks Joe - I actually remember that conversation someone had (probably you!) a while back. It's too bad we (and WCAU) are at the mercy of the manufacturer. Nice to hear PAX is hard at work. Is PAX going to be on the same tower as WCAU??

Hi Brent - Not sure what getting swept means - Tim told me this and I did not question him.

Hi Calabs - yes PAX will be on the new tower along with WCAU and some others. PAX supposed to be live on or around year end, per Tim.

Joe

Originally posted by jcardani
Hi Brent - Not sure what getting swept means - Tim told me this and I did not question him.

Hi Calabs - yes PAX will be on the new tower along with WCAU and some others. PAX supposed to be live on or around year end, per Tim.

Joe

Has anyone heard anything about PAX doing any HD shows once they go live? They have a couple of original shows that would fit the bill. Although I'm not sure their budget would allow it! ;)

Just thinking,

We all want WCAU on the new tower so why don't we call or write (not email) to WCAU and ask why things are taking so long? If enough of us write or call, then WCAU will put pressure on the manufacturer to do what they need to do sooner. It appears that it is not WCAU enginnering's fault so let's not blame them.

The main WCAU number is 610-668-5700

Please reply if you plan to call or write.

thanks,

Joe

Yes, it may help. I sent them an e-mail via this form (http://www.nbc10.com/News/1433300/detail.html). If enough of us do it, they may take notice.

Originally posted by Brajesh
Yes, it may help. I sent them an e-mail via this form (http://www.nbc10.com/News/1433300/detail.html). If enough of us do it, they may take notice.

Hi Brajesh,

I believe that email is definately more convenient but also easy to ignore (on their end). Written letters and telephone calls cary more weight in my opinion.

Joe

Hello all,

Must be the Tropo, because I'm getting 10-1 at about 77 SS. Most of the time it's at zero. I live in Roxborough, using a Samsung TS160 and a CM 4228.

Originally posted by MJR0309
Hello all,

Must be the Tropo, because I'm getting 10-1 at about 77 SS. Most of the time it's at zero. I live in Roxborough, using a Samsung TS160 and a CM 4228.

Are you getting that SS right now? Typically the tropo affect is intensified later in the evening into early morning.

At work right now....but I checked it Sunday in the AM and it was pretty solid. I was shocked that it even locked onto the signal. I get 10-1 on the Guide but when I tune to that channel it just "Searches for Signal".

Originally posted by jcardani


The main WCAU number is 610-668-5700

Please reply if you plan to call or write.

thanks,

Joe


I will call every day a 10:01 every day until it is moved. Anyone else want to join me?

Was anyone else getting sporadic lines on CBS last night? I was watching Raymond and was getting these lines all over the screen. ABC was fine. It was not pixelization. It was very annoying.

Originally posted by GKOFRON
Was anyone else getting sporadic lines on CBS last night? I was watching Raymond and was getting these lines all over the screen. ABC was fine. It was not pixelization. It was very annoying.

I had issues with CBS last night out of Philly....I actually posted the same type question on the Central NJ thread a few minutes ago. Occured on BOTH of my HD sets....utilzing TWO different D* STB's for OTA viewing...via TWO different rooftop CM4228's.

Was starting to wonder if all the Alpha-Males were watching WPVI's MNF broadcast....:p

Were you getting KYW OTA ?

Saw the same thing.

Likewise...very annoying. MNF was exceptional on ABC 6-1 in Philly. Can't wait till Eagles Vs Tampa Bay.

Originally posted by GKOFRON
Was anyone else getting sporadic lines on CBS last night? I was watching Raymond and was getting these lines all over the screen. ABC was fine. It was not pixelization. It was very annoying.

Yep -- saw the green lines. Typically they are on ABC HD broadcasts. First time I saw that on CBS in Philly.

The line on CBS last night was different from the green lines on ABC. Last night on CBS (WKYW) there was a single solid yellow line. That line was easily 10 times larger than 1 single green line on ABC (WPVI) would be. The green lines on ABC normally cover the whole screen or a large portion of one side of the screen.

Franzius

Originally posted by Franzius
The line on CBS last night was different from the green lines on ABC. Last night on CBS (WKYW) there was a single solid yellow line. That line was easily 10 times larger than 1 single green line on ABC (WPVI) would be. The green lines on ABC normally cover the whole screen or a large portion of one side of the screen.

Franzius

Yes, and normally the WPVI green lines appear only when switch between SD and HD and back again. The KYW problems appeared during actual programming, constantly! Very annoying! Just about as annoying as the new grey bars on SD programs on WCBS! :eek:

Can ANYONE get ANY information about WCAU on when they are going to get the transmitter moved to the new tower and operating at full power? Weather could have been an excuse back in FEBRUARY, but not now! I'm so frustrated with them I can't even see straight. I really want to see the fall season in HD. Are there any lawyers out there that can suggest any legal stand whereby WCAU is in violation of FCC regulations by not broadcasting a strong DT signal to its entire DMA?

Originally posted by Randy Boecker
Can ANYONE get ANY information about WCAU on when they are going to get the transmitter moved to the new tower and operating at full power? Weather could have been an excuse back in FEBRUARY, but not now! I'm so frustrated with them I can't even see straight. I really want to see the fall season in HD. Are there any lawyers out there that can suggest any legal stand whereby WCAU is in violation of FCC regulations by not broadcasting a strong DT signal to its entire DMA?

Randy - I've been e-mailing them on a regular basis, and not one response. Frustrating is a good word to describe this situation! :mad: I'm not a lawyer, but from a legal standpoint, they may have fullfilled their obligation to the FCC by broadcasting a digital signal, regardless of what power they transmit at. I could be wrong (I hope I am!). This has been a hot topic both here and in the Central NJ OTA thread, so there are a lot of us out there that are feeling your pain. And with WNBC projections now being pushed back to Dec, 31 2003, that light at the end of the tunnel looks more and more like a train as each day passes. :eek:

The call-a-day to WCAU sounds like a good way to get the point across.

Originally posted by jaypb
I had issues with CBS last night out of Philly....I actually posted the same type question on the Central NJ thread a few minutes ago. Occured on BOTH of my HD sets....utilzing TWO different D* STB's for OTA viewing...via TWO different rooftop CM4228's.

Was starting to wonder if all the Alpha-Males were watching WPVI's MNF broadcast....:p

Were you getting KYW OTA ?


Yes, it was KYW OTA. Glad I wasn't the only one! Thanks for all the replies.

On a whim, I decided to make the phone call to WCAU. While it's 8:55 pm, I figure it couldn't hurt. The person I spoke to suggested I speak to Jim Barger. He's the head of the engineering department at WCAU. I'll follow up with a call tomorrow. I suggest we all do the same. It would be nice to get some kind on answer besides "Any time now!". :)

Rob

I emailed Jim Barger once, and got a curt reply with a timeframe that passed over a year ago. I didn't find him to be very responsive. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find his email address.

But YES!! If everyone called or emailed him every day, maybe he'd get the idea that we want that new transmitter up and running and we're tired of feeling like we don't matter if we don't live within 15 miles of Philadelphia. We've been promised this new transmitter for OVER 1 YEAR!

We need a concerted effort to get WCAU's attention. Please, everyone call every day. If I find Jim's email address, I'll post it. If anyone else does, please post it as well. Phone calls and emails are the way to go at this point. Make your voices heard!

You may also want to try Tim O'Sullivan, who is in the enginerring dept.

tim.osullivan@nbc.com

Anyone else notice this AM that 6-1 was showing stretched material with NO black bars on the side? Noticed it at 6:45 during the news when I turned the TV on. 6-2 looked the same.

I'm at work now, so I don't know if it still looks like this.

Can anyone in Chester county get WGAL (NBC) out of Lancaster?

I am located just West of Rt10 off of Rt30. I'm still in Chester Co. but close to Lancaster Co. I receive WGAL out of Lancaster but normally don't need to point the antenna in that direction. I can get Philadelphia most of the time and Baltimore is usually my back up.

anyone catch the WHYY transmission of Tori Amos concert.. STUNNING.. sound was very good as well...

Wow, everyone who contributes to this thread knows their stuff. Could a confused newbe like me have it explained what is the new tower? Is there a name and/or location to the new tower (1 mile east of the old tower or candelabra????) and what stations so far are there and what stations are rumored to join.

I would appreciate it so much.

Thank you.

Anyone watching the loop on INHD preview channel right now? I have chills. I can't wait. Preview tonight of actual programming. From 7-11, I think. Also, I got a message on my STB saying that on 9/1 -9/4 they would be showing HD footage of the US Open. I don't know if that is what they are showing tonight, but I'll even watch tennis to get my HD fix.

BTW.. from 7-9 the program guide says that they are going to be showing:
That Was Then.. This Is Now (1985), Emilio Estevez, Craig Scheffer. E.E. stars in the S.E. Hinton story of friendship between tough and troubled teens....
Then, it says it's going to play again, and again... it's acutually in the program guide until 1AM, when the "INHD Preview" aka the loop I was watching will return...Until 2:30AM Sunday. To return at 9am, then there will be a showing of "The Lesser Evil". On Monday at 7pm, they will be showing the U.S. Open. Yadda yadda yadda.

Enjoy!

;)

Originally posted by dvbass
I receive WGAL out of Lancaster but normally don't need to point the antenna in that direction. I can get Philadelphia most of the time and Baltimore is usually my back up.

Very nice, WGAL must be very strong. What antenna are you using at what height. It seems that people closer in to Philly are having a hard time getting CAU.

Maybe they are using small indoor antennas.

William,

If you go to http://www.antennaweb.org and put in your location it will tell you what you should be able to get depending on the antenna used.

I would guess that it is in the Roxboro tower farm.

Dawn,

Are you getting INHD OTA?

Originally posted by Barrybud
Dawn,

Are you getting INHD OTA?

Barrybud,

The big cable co's are major shareholders in the INHD venture. I would doubt that it would be made available OTA.

David

Originally posted by bronowyn
Anyone watching the loop on INHD preview channel right now? I have chills. I can't wait. Preview tonight of actual programming. From 7-11, I think. Also, I got a message on my STB saying that on 9/1 -9/4 they would be showing HD footage of the US Open. I don't know if that is what they are showing tonight, but I'll even watch tennis to get my HD fix.


;)

Hi Dawn,

As far as I know, INHD will have the US Open Tennis on 9/1-9/4 from 7:00-11:00, and on 9/2-9/4 most of the day up until 6 or 7 PM. I wish I could be more specific, but I can't remember the exact times.

Sound like some great programming coming down the pike on INHD.

ENJOY!

David

Originally posted by faceoff
Hi Dawn,

As far as I know, INHD will have the US Open Tennis on 9/1-9/4 from 7:00-11:00, and on 9/2-9/4 most of the day up until 6 or 7 PM. I wish I could be more specific, but I can't remember the exact times.

Sound like some great programming coming down the pike on INHD.

ENJOY!

David

Hello,

Here is a link to the press release. (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030828/phth020_1.html) This has the INHD US Open schedule.

Very nice, WGAL must be very strong. What antenna are you using at what height. It seems that people closer in to Philly are having a hard time getting CAU.

I have a Channel Master 3671. I'm not sure the exact height but my elevation is close to the highest in Chester Co.. I think that's what helps me out. The only station that I cannot get is FOX. I don't think the tower is high enough, from what I've read.

I can't get Fox either in Chester County due to a rather large hill blocking out the signal. Good news is that Comcast should have Fox-29 DT on hopefully by the end of the week. They really want to get it on in time for the start of the NFL season. Look for it on channel 183.

Jwhip,

That is good news. I plan on having both Comcast and OTA for HD. I was glad to learn that you can get the HD content from comcast without having to get the digital service too. Basic/basic+ and HD for about $5 extra (for the Moto 5100).

Yes Barrybud. but you will not get the two INHD channels or Comcast Sportsnet HD.

Originally posted by JWhip
Yes Barrybud. but you will not get the two INHD channels or Comcast Sportsnet HD.

Or ESPN-HD.

David

Anyone able to get the US Open Tennis comcast/InHD on tonight? I am not getting 174 and don't see it anywhere else.

Thanks,
Adam

Despite the promise of the press release (above), no 174 InHD in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia.

U.S. Open - I guess it got rained out, cause I see the ball boys wiping down the lines right now, with the players sitting on the sidelines.

I'm outta bensalem, PA...

Even the wiping looks crystal clear. ;)

So, JWhip... if FOX is coming by next week... what about this?:

http://www.bravotv.com/HDPlus/

I have no news on Bravo HD yet. If I hear anything, I will post it here.

It must have been amateur night at WPVI 6.1 last night.

The digital channel showed a black screen and Dolby 5.1 silence for all of "8 Things" and the start of "Life with Bonnie".

Originally posted by MSmith
It must have been amateur night at WPVI 6.1 last night.

The digital channel showed a black screen and Dolby 5.1 silence for all of "8 Things" and the start of "Life with Bonnie".

I had numerous dropouts last night which I attributed to the rain/wet conditions....but didn't notice the 2 issues you describe above.

Just hope the weather is decent tomorrow night for NFL opening game on WPVI.....and there are no silly mistakes by the techs at the board ALA last night.

Originally posted by jaypb
I had numerous dropouts last night which I attributed to the rain/wet conditions....but didn't notice the 2 issues you describe above.

Just hope the weather is decent tomorrow night for NFL opening game on WPVI.....and there are no silly mistakes by the techs at the board ALA last night.



I am in Lower Merion PA and use Comcast. I also had no HD 8 Simple Rules -- just a blank screen.

Andy

Barrybud said:

William,
If you go to antennaweb.org and put in your location it will tell you what you should be able to get depending on the antenna used.

Thanks Barrybud! My problem is that when I go to 2150.com/broadcast/default.asp
I get different compass directions (accounted for the different ways the two site account for magnetic deviation) than antennaweb.org

My thinking is that antenna.org improperly gives only ONE direction for BOTH digital and analog stations, but 2150.com is smart enough to give separate directions for both.

Can anyone confirm the use of 2150 for the Phila digital by eyeball. I mean, you look the direction 2150.com reports and using a telescope you see the tower?

TIA

FYI, in the 5200 Forum of AVS, the following was posted:

"BTW in Philly, Fox EDTV is up on channel 183, Starting Today. InHD & InHD2 will be up permanently on 9/15."

Andy

Fox 29 is indeed up in the entire Philly market on Comcast, channel 183. Now on to KYW-DT on 182!

When did it go up? When I looked this morning (at 8am), it wasn't on in Bensalem, PA...

Originally posted by HDidiot
My problem is that when I go to 2150.com/broadcast/default.asp
I get different compass directions (accounted for the different ways the two site account for magnetic deviation) than antennaweb.org

My thinking is that antenna.org improperly gives only ONE direction for BOTH digital and analog stations, but 2150.com is smart enough to give separate directions for both.

TIA

I just ran my location on 2150 and found that the difference on lets say ABC WPVI 64 is 102.1 than WPVI 6 is 101.9. Three tenths of a degree is splitting hairs even with a 60 element antenna (tighter pattern) you will still have at least 10-15 degree pattern off the front end with no attenuation in the lobe.

My guess is that the digital antenna is on the same tower as analog, maybe just lower for now. If not a another tower in the same farm I think that 99% of Philla stations transmit out of Roxboro.

I used to know a guy who worked for a company that did the maintenance for WCAU's tower and antenna's. But he is no longer with them. He could have helped with info on when they are placing their stick in the tower. :(

If you do not have it by now Dawn, it will be up by Sunday.

Originally posted by JWhip
If you do not have it by now Dawn, it will be up by Sunday.

Woo Hoo! I have Fox, I guess they didn't turn it on at 8am.. but it's on now!

JWhip - you know anything about Comcast and KYW-DT or was it wishful thinking??

I have heard that the talsk are moving forward for a change. I am hopeful that a deal will finally be struck. Not sure when but I am hopeful by the end of the year.

Fox 29's 480p widescreen looks pretty good upconverted to 720p by the 5200, then on to my Sharp 9000 DLP.
Not HD, but surely a huge improvement over 480i / 4:3 AR.
Especially for today's NFL games.
PQ looks equal to my OTA Samsung 165.
Now, where's their deal with KYW-3 (CBS owned affiliate here in Philly)?
Are Comcast and CBS even DISCUSSING anything at this point?
Terry M.

Yes they are in discussions.

And what is the current status of the WCAU - DT antenna?

Originally posted by tmpsu
Fox 29's 480p widescreen looks pretty good upconverted to 720p by the 5200, then on to my Sharp 9000 DLP.
Not HD, but surely a huge improvement over 480i / 4:3 AR.
Especially for today's NFL games.
PQ looks equal to my OTA Samsung 165.
Now, where's their deal with KYW-3 (CBS owned affiliate here in Philly)?
Are Comcast and CBS even DISCUSSING anything at this point?
Terry M.


But did you notice the stupendous volume differential between the FOX national broadcast and then any local commercials via FOX digital over the air?

I had to turn my volume substantially higher to hear the football game, but then when any local FOX TV (WTXF) commercials came on, it blasted you out of the room.

The local volume is set too high AND the national volume was set too low. Both are bad.

How can this be fixed? Anyone have a contact at WTXF-DT?

Originally posted by caesar1
But did you notice the stupendous volume differential between the FOX national broadcast and then any local commercials via FOX digital over the air?

I had to turn my volume substantially higher to hear the football game, but then when any local FOX TV (WTXF) commercials came on, it blasted you out of the room.

The local volume is set too high AND the national volume was set too low. Both are bad.

How can this be fixed? Anyone have a contact at WTXF-DT?

cAN it be a national issue.?

well not a national issue.

on directv channel 72 it is dolby digital. and very loud.
on channel 716 it is pro logic.

on wtxf it is pro logic. and very low

Barrybud

Thank you so much for your responses to my prior two posts. Based on your information and more test data, I have determined a more probable cause for antenna.org vs. 2150.com antenna pointing differences.

I now speculate that the cause of the 45 degree difference in my case is NOT the digital vs. analog antenna locations. Instead it is input rounding at 2150.com

I live one half-block from the Art Museum steps in Philadelphia (+39.965377, -075.177384). For WPVI, Antenna.org indicates 342 degrees, but 2150.com indicates 296 degrees – that is a 44 degree difference. The difference is significant to me in that 342 degrees is dead behind a building, but a tower near 296 degrees can be eyeballed with a telescope by me. [I have ignored the -12 degrees 23 minute east magnetic deviation at my location in this post so that I do not lose everyone. That deviation was carefully noted and considered.]

2150.com requires you to round your input to whole number latitude and longitude. However, the rounded latitude and longitude of 40 degrees, -75 degrees is located in Jersey near Pennsauken. Because that location is further north and because I live only 12 miles from the tower, the angle is lower (simplifying the geometry and triangle thing). That is my best guess.

In all fairness, I will E-mail 2150.com and invite them to post a response in this thread.

Thanks again everyone, I will post any additional info if I get it personally and it is not posted.

is the fox-dt on comcast showing the foxwidescreen version of the football game?

i just turned it on to check it out and it appears to be a digital feed of the standard broadcast.

It was the digital widescreen broadcast all afternoon, the same as the OTA WXTF-DT broadcast.

hmm maybe my settings on the mtis box are wrong then.

Originally posted by HDidiot
Barrybud

Thank you so much for your responses to my prior two posts. Based on your information and more test data, I have determined a more probable cause for antenna.org vs. 2150.com antenna pointing differences.

I now speculate that the cause of the 45 degree difference in my case is NOT the digital vs. analog antenna locations. Instead it is input rounding at 2150.com

I live one half-block from the Art Museum steps in Philadelphia (+39.965377, -075.177384). For WPVI, Antenna.org indicates 342 degrees, but 2150.com indicates 296 degrees – that is a 44 degree difference. The difference is significant to me in that 342 degrees is dead behind a building, but a tower near 296 degrees can be eyeballed with a telescope by me. [I have ignored the -12 degrees 23 minute east magnetic deviation at my location in this post so that I do not lose everyone. That deviation was carefully noted and considered.]

2150.com requires you to round your input to whole number latitude and longitude. However, the rounded latitude and longitude of 40 degrees, -75 degrees is located in Jersey near Pennsauken. Because that location is further north and because I live only 12 miles from the tower, the angle is lower (simplifying the geometry and triangle thing). That is my best guess.

William, I ran a listing using your location (39.965377,-75.177384) leaving 0 for magnetic deviation and WPVI (digital) shows 327.1 degrees and a distance of 6.35 miles.

This seems to conflict with your saying you got a 296 degree direction and 12 miles away from it.

WPVI (digital) is located at 40deg 2min 33sec, 75deg 14min 33sec, which is 40.0425, -75.2425.

To confirm, I looked at some satellite photos:

Tower:
http://www.2150.com/files/tower_40.0425_-75.2425.jpg

Your location:
http://www.2150.com/files/location_39.965366_-75.177384.jpg

There's no rounding involved. The form just needs locations input as decimal, which would be H + M/60 + S/3600.

WOW Doug, do you work for the government?


;)

Anyone watching INHD, "Further Than" (or Farther than, I don't know)...

It looks GORGEOUS.

It's HD footage of a team reaching the top of mt. Everest.

1. The first blind climber to reach the summit
2. The oldest person to reach the summit (64)
3. The first father/son team to reach the summit.
4. The most people to reach the summit (19)
And... the best thing of all...
5. The first HD filming of climbers to the top of Mt. Everest! Spectacular!

:)

P.S. So far, I'm pleased with INHD... we'll see what happens on the 15th.. ;)

dswallow:

Thank you so much for checking my data dswallow, I really appreciate it. The reason I provided all the details was exactly that reason.

I now know the cause of the disparity I encountered, I am an HDidiot.

When I initially input +39,965377, the 2150.com edit indicated “Please enter only digit characters in the latitude field." So I unnecessarily edited it back to +39, still receiving the edit error, I edited to 39 which worked. I then rerounded to 40. I did the same thing to the longitude (truncated).

What I should have done was simply change +39,965377 to 39,965377.

My mess-up in entering the data was the cause of the differences in compass direction and differences in distance. I live 6.35 miles away from the tower, blocked by a building.

In short, 2150.com gives, as it always has, the best website information on what digital and analog signals you can receive (and each signal’s direction).

I want to now thank dswallow who not only double checked my data, but provided great aerial photos.

William

Thanks again.

Originally posted by bronowyn
Anyone watching INHD, "Further Than" (or Farther than, I don't know)...

It looks GORGEOUS.

It's HD footage of a team reaching the top of mt. Everest.

1. The first blind climber to reach the summit
2. The oldest person to reach the summit (64)
3. The first father/son team to reach the summit.
4. The most people to reach the summit (19)
And... the best thing of all...
5. The first HD filming of climbers to the top of Mt. Everest! Spectacular!

:)

P.S. So far, I'm pleased with INHD... we'll see what happens on the 15th.. ;)

Dawn,

My first "serious HD Experiance" :-) to me, at least so far, INHD looks btter than anything I have seen.

David

Eagle opener ABC in all its 720p bliss!

Is anyone getting a picture for UPN 57? I'm getting a signal strength of 82 on my DTC-100 for 57-1, but it is saying "week signal" and "accessing channel" when I try to tune to it. When I try to imput 32-1, it just hangs at "accesssing channel" and says "week signal." Any tips from anyone out there?

With the talk of UPN going HD with Enterprise at somepoint this season (I'm hoping to be surprised tonight), I was hoping that I'd be able to tune to WPSG. I redid my channel search and WPSG is coming in nice and clear for me now on both 32-1 and 57-1.

I can't get a picture either. I only get a signal strength of 13 on my md120. Usually I get a 60.

Last night, WPSG kept popping out on me during Enterprise. I would get a freeze-frame, then no signal. I had to tune my Sony HD200 to another channel and then back to 32.1 to receive it again.

UPN's Enterprise transmission was still letterboxed and I also had several dropouts along with a 5 mimute loss of audio sync. about halfway thru. Anyone know why this program isn't being transmitted in HD - 16-9? I thought UPN was delivering it in HD this season.

Originally posted by JWhip
I have heard that the talsk are moving forward for a change. I am hopeful that a deal will finally be struck. Not sure when but I am hopeful by the end of the year.


A deal might convince me to "add" the HD ability to my cable bill

Just as long as Comcast agrees not to compress CBS - have seen what compression does to SAT and those signals already on Comcast

Anyway - looking forward to Eagles vs Pats in HD via OTA (uncompressed) !!!!!

Comcast doesn't compress HD signals.

The Fall 2003 season is here, but WCAU's signal is still pathetic. What to do? Who knows when they'll move to the new tower! I figure I need to try for a better signal however I can.

I decided to spend an afternoon re-positioning my attic antenna, re-cabling w/a thicker coaxial cable (RG6) & getting rid of unnecessary splitters (I have two between the antenna & my STB).

Well, I did the latter two & re-scanned my local digitals. Success! I didn't even have to try re-positioning my antenna. I'm now picking up WCAU 10-1. The signal is still weak of course, but my Zenith 520 now locks onto it fine. In fact, re-cabling & removing an unnecessary splitter improved my reception across the board. Just as a test, I added a splitter & got "no signal" for 10-1. I had no idea a splitter affected the signal this much.

Originally posted by drhill
Comcast doesn't compress HD signals.

Really?

I thought that was one of the "negotiating points" between Comcast and CBS...

Let's go over the rumors.

1. CBS doesn't want to give comcast their signal unless Comcast pays CBS. And Comcast doesn't want to pay.
2. CBS doesn't want to give comcast their signal because Comcast compresses every HD signal into a 12 Bandwidth (I'm not sure of the terminology here 12 Mg Signal, I don't know), and CBS requires that the signal be 18 (edit: 19). Here's the source:
Originally posted by sat_uplinker
I think the debate concerns, among other things, CBS not wanting their bandwidth reduced on cable. They are insisting cable companies pass through the full 19 Mbps carrier, and most cable companies only want to give an average of 12 Mbps with the use of adaptive compression. Personally, I would like to see CBS hold out and force the cable companies to carry the PROPER signal. I can get CBS over an antenna, and it looks better than other 1080i sources on cable.

3. CBS wants Comcast to carry something else (UPN?), and they don't want to give their signal to Comcast until they agree to do so.

Dawn's theory:
CBS loves torturing us "HD Addicts" and they sit around and snicker about the comments we make on the board about lack of CBS on Comcast. Everyone is having a big laugh at our expense. ;)

Actually, I believe it is an 18 mbps channel. OTA signals (19.2 or 19.4, can't remember which) has some "extra" information that cable and DBS does not need.

1. and 3. are probably the answer. I know comcast sent a letter to the FCC complaining about the CBS situation, but I can't remember exactly what it said. Most people who have watched programs on cable and ota at the same time say the picture is identical.

I wouldn't be suprised if CBS wanted comcast to add another crappy shopping network before carriage.

Well, I wouldn't mind having WB, but I don't know who they are owned by. But Angel is in HD this season. :)

Anyone have a link that has an all-inclusive list of HD shows for the new Fall season?

There is a listing of the HD schedule in the current issue of Sound & Vision. Anyone having trouble getting a signal from WCAU-DT10 today? My signal strength recently had been rock steady using a Silver Sensor, today 'nada'. All my other OTA channels are,like always, strong.

Anyone have a link that has an all-inclusive list of HD shows for the new Fall season?

I made a list half-way down this page. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=294102&pagenumber=3) (The thread starter has a nice grid-type guide, but mine's easier to print).

Originally posted by Brajesh
I made a list half-way down this page. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=294102&pagenumber=3) (The thread starter has a nice grid-type guide, but mine's easier to print).

Great grid! Thanks.

Was 10-1 off the air last night? I got no reception at all :(

Originally posted by Brajesh
Was 10-1 off the air last night? I got no reception at all :(

I typically get reliable reception from WCAU 10-1 but had no signal last night either.

Ditto here on the 10-1 signal problem. My signal from this channel has been out since yesterday morning. Anyone have some info on what happened? I ended up watching a show on the SD 10 last night. That, kind of sucked!

same here on 2 STBs

Same thing here. Never know what your gonna get with that station.

Anyone know why the Phillies were not in HD last night? I have a feeling we got pimped by comcast because the they showed the Balt./NYY game in HD on InHD last night. Could it be that they can only do one HD sports broadcast at a time?

I thought there was one truck with HD equipment that shuttled back and forth, at least until the new Phillies ballpark opens next year.

I think you'll notice that there are never two HD games on two different comcast systems (balt/dc vs. Philly) on the same night. Obviously the Yankees/Balt. game will bring in more viewers than the Phillies/Florida game when you're making the schedule in February. Of course we know now that its not true, but who knew then?

Originally posted by CKarras
I thought there was one truck with HD equipment that shuttled back and forth, at least until the new Phillies ballpark opens next year.

That is correct.


There are 2 more games scheduled for hdtv this season:

September 19 Cincinnati Reds 7 p.m.
September 26 Atlanta Braves 7 p.m.


David

Here's the reply I got from WCAU. The guy didn't say anything about the new tower, just that my reception problem was "fixed by now":

Dear Brajesh,
Thank you for writing NBC 10. Your problem should be fixed by now. If not,
e-mail us back
Keep watching NBC 10

Michael Green

-----Original Message-----
From: bupadhyay@NO-SPAM.com
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 2:08 PM
To: chris.blackman@nbc.com
Cc: wcau.viewermail@nbc.com; michelle.pak@nbc.com;
wcauviewermailrr@nbc.com
Subject: GENERAL FEEDBACK: 143330420030822130806


NAME: Brajesh
E-MAIL: bupadhyay@NO-SPAM.com
PHONE: n/a
ZIP: 08016
COUNTY: Burlington, NJ

Hi. I barely pick up your digital reception on 10-1, most times never. I can
easily pick up every other Philly digital channel fine. I've read you'll be
broadcasting from a new tower. Please do all you can to make this happen
ASAP--the wait is killing many area HDTV viewers like me. I hate watching SD content, so I switch to CBS or ABC to watch their hi-def programming
instead. Thanks! ~Frustrated HDTV Viewer

Originally posted by Brajesh
Here's the reply I got from WCAU. The guy didn't say anything about the new tower, just that my reception problem was "fixed by now":

Sounds like you'll be e-mailing him back!?

NBC-10 seems to be "out" the past day or two. Just checked and no signal.
Had solid signal for the past week or two prior.

I just e-mailed them again. Who knows if it'll help.

You might try a re-scan; perhaps the PIDs changed (on my Unity Motion receiver I need to rescan if they do)

I'm not getting NBC 10 at all, even after re-scanning channel 67.

its definitely out...I am waiting for an e-mail reply. anyone know if they answer their phone? new primetime shows soon.....

Yeah 10 is out again tonight.. lame..

Good to hear all you guys are having the same experience with 10. I thought my new HD520 was on the fritz.

10 is the only station in this area that I have repeated problems receiving with any consistency. What is up with this station? I have a signal meter on the Zenith and it's in the bad to barely normal range. Other OTA stations are in the good range consistently.

10 needs to get it's act together.

OK, I've ranted....

Best local news station though!

Bob

Originally posted by BobP
10 is the only station in this area that I have repeated problems receiving with any consistency. What is up with this station? I have a signal meter on the Zenith and it's in the bad to barely normal range. Other OTA stations are in the good range consistently.

10 needs to get it's act together.

OK, I've ranted....

Best local news station though!

Bob 10 will be down until the first week in Oct. I talked to Tim Osullivan, the Engineering manager over there. The reason why most people had problems before is because they were only operating at 1/4th power. They are really making the move to the new tower this time.

Hi,

I also spoke to Tim yesterday and can echo what Darth said. The downtime is for a good reason this time. I would have let the group know yesterday but Tim asked me to keep this quiet - he has been burned in the past with missed go-live dates that were not in his control. But since the cat is out of the bag, I guess it's OK to second Darth's reply.

But unfortunately it looks like we will be missing the first few weeks of the new NBC season in HD :(

Hopefully the next time we receive the signal it would be from the new tower booming in!!!!

Joe

Cool! Good news.

Wonder why it's taken so long to catch up with 3 & 6?

Glad they are working on it! No more drop outs during bad weather.

Bob

I just wanted to make a gratuituous, ironic comment about channel 10-1 (and the antenna contractor who was evidently holding back for so long).

You waited through months and months of mostly decent weather and decided to complete work on your new antenna . . . just as a major hurricane is about to blow through?

Good timing!

Just joking. I am very glad this will finally happen. I, too, would watch more NBC if I could receive the digital signal.

--Philly Tim

That's great news!

Philly has to be one of the better cities to live in for HD.

Great news! Thanks for the update Philly Tim. Can't wait!

Originally posted by jcardani
Hi,

I also spoke to Tim yesterday and can echo what Darth said. The downtime is for a good reason this time. I would have let the group know yesterday but Tim asked me to keep this quiet - he has been burned in the past with missed go-live dates that were not in his control. But since the cat is out of the bag, I guess it's OK to second Darth's reply.

But unfortunately it looks like we will be missing the first few weeks of the new NBC season in HD :(

Hopefully the next time we receive the signal it would be from the new tower booming in!!!!

Joe


Umm, why would they NOT install and test the new transmitter on the new tower and THEN turn off the old one on the old tower (or install a temporary one on the old tower -- if moving the current one to the new tower)?

This doesn't seem like a big market, owned and operated station's way of doing such a move.

Could you imagine if they did this with the analog station?

It is good that reception should be better when this is done, but to have two weeks down-time is very unprofessional and showing a lack of consideration for the HD viewers. I have not heard of any other station having down-time when moving their HD transmitters to another tower.

Didn't FOX move not long ago? No downtime there.

Does the parent corporation know that they are handling it this way? This seems quite odd for a number 4 market HD station, owned and operated by NBC itself.

I first got a "what problem?" response from NBC HQ in NY when I asked. I was then referred to the Opeations Director of WCAU in Philly who echoed previous posts...

"Thank you for your e-mail. We are replacing our HD digital transmitter.
The process should take about 10 days.

Jim Barger
Director of Operations
NBC-10/WCAU-TV
610-668-5576 office
610-668-7058 fax.............."

I am amazed as well if they are replacing xmttr as well why they don't work in parallel and then cut over.. 10 days should be the 25th, which is earlier than the 1st and in the middle of the first week of new programming.






should take about 10 days.

Please correct me if I am wrong but since both transmitters are using the same frequency, how can a parallel test be performed since both transmitters would need to be on at the same time? They would interfere with each other and cause alot of multipath at minimum! NBC-10 plans to test the new transmitter/antenna to get the kinks out before going totally live, per Tim O'Sullivan. Maybe that's the time difference between the 10 days and beginning of October timeframe Tim quoted?

Joe

I could have written this! I'm in CC Phila.

Originally posted by BobP
Good to hear all you guys are having the same experience with 10. I thought my new HD520 was on the fritz.

10 is the only station in this area that I have repeated problems receiving with any consistency. What is up with this station? I have a signal meter on the Zenith and it's in the bad to barely normal range. Other OTA stations are in the good range consistently.

10 needs to get it's act together.

OK, I've ranted....

Best local news station though!

Bob

Anyone else having problems with WTXF Digital ?
I was getting at least 75% signal and now there is nothing at all, and all my other Philadelphia channels work great ( except for 10-1).

Originally posted by supercomando
Anyone else having problems with WTXF Digital ?
I was getting at least 75% signal and now there is nothing at all, and all my other Philadelphia channels work great ( except for 10-1).

Both WCAU-DT and WXTF-DT are down for me.

Yup. Zippo for me too on WCAU and WTXF... Wonder if fox is making their move too...

I am happy to see some posts. I had taken my antenna down because of "Isabel" and placed it back up today. I thought I had mis-aimed it.

They better get it fixed before tomorrow for the NFL, but some how i don't think thats gonna happen.

Fox wasn't working via Comcast last night either. Not sure what that points to, but it wasn't just over the air.

Well now WPVI-DT 6 has no picture, I have good signal strength. I hope its not just me.

WPVI-DT 6 is working fine here

i wonder why channel 10 didnt start the move to the new tower to be ready for the new tv season.

Thank God for this thread. I thought Isabel screwed me up too. After reading 10 was down, I then lost 29 and thought the storm screwed it up.

Also, does anyone know if 57 is every going to move from the unintuitive 32.1 to 57.1?

WPVI-DT is working perfect for me in south Jersey 65 - 70 siganl strength.

What a miserable weekend for DTV in Philly: first WCAU-DT & WTXF-DT disappear without a trace, and now KYW-DT apparently forgot to throw the HD switch for the Browns@49ers :mad:

Hah!.....

Only consulation is...after Isabel passed through, at least most of us have electricity back to watch tv!

Bob

Originally posted by Drew_N
Fox wasn't working via Comcast last night either. Not sure what that points to, but it wasn't just over the air.

i'm getting the fox digital feed on comcast 183 mow.

Still not working via Comcast in S. Jersey. Analog feed on 183.

Originally posted by whotony
i'm getting the fox digital feed on comcast 183 mow.

Don't know where they are getting it from: definitely isn't OTA from WTXF-DT

maybe it's the sd feed movd over to 183.

anyone in the lansdale area?

I cant get 32-1 or 12-1 !!!

ofcourse i couldnt get 10-1 hopefully when it comes back we all will!!!!

I got a Channel master 4221... I do get

3-1 - CBS
6-1, 6-2 - ABC
17-1 - WB

mitch

I'm also getting no OTA signal for FOX. Is it the station? Are they ALSO moving to the new tower with WCAU?

I recall someone mentioning that FOX will be moving to a new tower at some point, but can't remember when and what new tower. Anyone have any info on this?

I'm seriously thinking about switching to Comcast digital cable now that they support most HDTV stations except CBS. This may or may not be either newsworthy or accurate, but I spoke to a technician at Comcast this morning who indicated that they may have CBS on-line as early as next month.

When I asked why he said that from what he knew the contractural problems that have kept WCAU off this service are finally being resolved.

Has anyone else heard anything similar or is this just more bogus news from Comcast?

Brian.

JWhip (who has some sort of mysterious inside info at Comcast with the higher ups) has hinted to such a thing. He's hinted at other things, and said things that have come true in the past, so I'm thinking you are correct, briandx! And getting a CSR at Comcast who might actually KNOW something, that's pretty amazing, I'm impressed.

Before you make the switch, consider the ineptitude of the help at Comcast. Last night we called to turn on Showtime, cause that was all we are missing (besides CBS, obviously) in the tier of channels. The first CSR said, okay, leave the box on for 5 minutes, and it will be there, and that will be $15 added to your cable bill. We waited 30... nothing. We called again, the CSR said, I don't know why that first CSR said it would be 5, it will take 20, and "it's probably not going to be as easy because you have the box plugged into a 'surge protector'," (Ummm... electricity is electricity, genius...). They sent the signal, and we left the boxes on and went to sleep. Next morning, woke up, checked for showtime, guess what, nothing. We called again... the CSR said there was no record of us ordering showtime, and btw, it only costs 10 bucks cause we have digital cable. When inquiring about (and putting in a complaint to a manager, the excuse was, basically, we have a lot of ineptitude here because the turn-over is so high. We explained that that isn't our problem.

However, we have showtime now, it just took 12 hours of our cable boxes being on. ;)

I know that ALL places have CSRs that are idiots, but Comcast always seems to take the cake.

Originally posted by bronowyn
JWhip (who has some sort of mysterious inside info at Comcast with the higher ups) has hinted to such a thing. He's hinted at other things, and said things that have come true in the past, so I'm thinking you are correct, briandx! And getting a CSR at Comcast who might actually KNOW something, that's pretty amazing, I'm impressed.

Before you make the switch, consider the ineptitude of the help at Comcast. Last night we called to turn on Showtime, cause that was all we are missing (besides CBS, obviously) in the tier of channels. The first CSR said, okay, leave the box on for 5 minutes, and it will be there, and that will be $15 added to your cable bill. We waited 30... nothing. We called again, the CSR said, I don't know why that first CSR said it would be 5, it will take 20, and "it's probably not going to be as easy because you have the box plugged into a 'surge protector'," (Ummm... electricity is electricity, genius...). They sent the signal, and we left the boxes on and went to sleep. Next morning, woke up, checked for showtime, guess what, nothing. We called again... the CSR said there was no record of us ordering showtime, and btw, it only costs 10 bucks cause we have digital cable. When inquiring about (and putting in a complaint to a manager, the excuse was, basically, we have a lot of ineptitude here because the turn-over is so high. We explained that that isn't our problem.

However, we have showtime now, it just took 12 hours of our cable boxes being on. ;)

I know that ALL places have CSRs that are idiots, but Comcast always seems to take the cake.

I called Comcast Online supoprt because the link/active light for my cable modem was out (meaning no signal from comcast at all) and the tech support person told me "ohh, if the light is off that means everything is working ok, you only need to call us of the light goes on, thats when there is a problem. reboot your computer and u will be fine"

Originally posted by clouser
I called Comcast Online supoprt because the link/active light for my cable modem was out (meaning no signal from comcast at all) and the tech support person told me "ohh, if the light is off that means everything is working ok, you only need to call us of the light goes on, thats when there is a problem. reboot your computer and u will be fine"

LOL and im the one out of work...

(Anyone else having problems with WTXF Digital ?
I was getting at least 75% signal and now there is nothing at all, and all my other Philadelphia channels work great ( except for 10-1).)


Whew...,I thought it was my CM4221. Had to re-position after Isabel and
now I cant get a burp from WTFX 29-1. WCAU 10-1 went for about two weeks and also is out. I really missed that HD on 29-1 yesterday. Hopefully
this will be straightened out soon. Anyone know of at Amp. I could use
to pick up the Princeton/Trenton/Allentown OTA Digital stations. I live right in Roxborough and have them in the Guide when I do Scan.

What I found most confusing is that during the Emmy's last night, WTFX ran a bug on the screen pushing the digital channel. Why would you do that if the station is down???

ok i just got a letter from comcast.

dear HDTV customer:

it starts off saying thank you for being a subscriber to the HDTV service, ....blah blah, lot's of channels to watch, blah blah, new channels are here now, including ESPN.

then in the 5th paragraph it says....

"$5 equipment charge starting in November 2003

in addition to these 3 great new programming choices, we want to inform you that effective November1, 2003 there will be a $5.00 monthly rental charge for the hdtv-cable converter that you currently use to receive HDTV service from comcast. however, the monthly charge for HDTV cable converter is waived when you subscribe to digital cable and any one of our digital silver, gold or platinum service packages.
these packages can include HBO and or showtime, which are also great sources of HDTV programming. this price adjustment helps us to continue investing in the latest HDTV technology as we strive to bring you the very best in HDTV choices."

of course at the bottom it says.
"thanks again for choosing comcast.
sincerely,
comcast cable"


what a load of crap.
so they are now extorting an extra $5 out of everyone to force you to order an upgrade package.

I refuse to pay 10.99 for Directv's HD package. ESPNHD is a JOKE. I have OTA HD for all my locals and it doesn't cost ANYTHING. People should hold off on subscribing to these services, maybe the price will come down. HD Net is the only channel that is crystal clear.

Originally posted by whotony
however, the monthly charge for HDTV cable converter is waived when you subscribe to digital cable and any one of our digital silver, gold or platinum service packages.

Eh, although I'm sorry for everyone else, but I have one of those packages, so it doesn't effect me too much, I think that HBO HD looks really great (Carnivale is really a weird, but pretty, show!), and I have showtime, too, although, we just signed up, so I can't comment on it.

We just decided that it bothers us not to recieve ALL of the HD stations, so we got the showtime added, also.

I'm looking forward to HP - Chamber of Secrets in HD later this fall.

I refuse to pay 10.99 for Directv's HD package. ESPNHD is a JOKE. I have OTA HD for all my locals and it doesn't cost ANYTHING. People should hold off on subscribing to these services, maybe the price will come down. HD Net is the only channel that is crystal clear.
To each his own I guess. Providers shouldn't be charging for HD channels when we're already paying for SD channels (Total Choice). But, we're early adopters & they know they can charge us & we'll bite. We crave anything HD (at least I do). Eventually, when most channels are HD, it'll be a moot point. Right now, $10.99 for 4 24-hr HD channels doesn't seem so bad when just HBO-HD costs $12. Re: picture quality, I think ESPN, HDNet Movies & Discovery HD are just as clear as HDNet. Plus, HDNet Movies shows everything OAR & 5.1. Try getting OAR on HBO-HD.

Originally posted by mitchjs
anyone in the lansdale area?

I cant get 32-1 or 12-1 !!!

ofcourse i couldnt get 10-1 hopefully when it comes back we all will!!!!

I got a Channel master 4221... I do get

3-1 - CBS
6-1, 6-2 - ABC
17-1 - WB

mitch

Mitch,
I'm in Harleysville and I'm getting the following DTV signals right now: 3-1, 6-1, 6-2, 12-1, 12-2, 17-1 & 57-1. I don't get 32 with my indoor antenna. I hope that helps.

Dave

Originally posted by DigitHead
Mitch,
I'm in Harleysville and I'm getting the following DTV signals right now: 3-1, 6-1, 6-2, 12-1, 12-2, 17-1 & 57-1. I don't get 32 with my indoor antenna. I hope that helps.

Dave

Anyone get any confirmation on what the deal is with FOX? No signal!?!

I spoke with an engineer at Fox-29 today. Their tower location was hit in the storm and their digital signal was knocked off the air. Since they do their processing at the tower rather than inside their plant, it cannot be sent out on Comcast either. I was told that it would be up and running by some time Wednesday.

Got this e-mail from Pete Putman today:


Just an update that WCAU-DT (NBC) is finally moving its antenna and xmtr
to the new candleabra tower in Roxborough (Philadelphia). If work goes
to schedule, they should be back on CH 67 running full power by next
Monday 9/29 from the new location. The last FCC allocation table showed
WCAU licensed for over 750 kW ERP, and I am not sure if that has changed.

WTXF-DT has also shut down operations during the move. My understanding
from American Tower folks was that WTXF was moving its DTV "stick" back
to its analog tower. The spot had been occupied by another tenant.
WTXF-DT has been broadcasting since 1998 from the old and much lower
WFLN communications tower in Andorra, just north of Roxborough.

It's kind of like a big game of musical chairs. Once completed, WTXF-DT
(CH42) and WCAU-DT should be somewhat stronger as both will be
operating from their final tower locations. The PAX digital station in
Philly is also close to getting OTA. No word on current WGTW-TV (UHF 48,
DTV 27) status.

Pete Putman
Roam Consulting Inc.

http://www.projectorexpert.com/

Hope this clears up some confusion

DigitHead, what type of antenna? preamp?

Im using the channel master 4221

I cant get squat on 12-1 or 12-2

the 57-1 isnt that 32-1, for some reason that channel doesnt map to 57-1?

How about issues with diplexers? Im i loosing enough signal through em?

or should i run another antenna cable....??

anyone have any thoughts on that?

mitch

Originally posted by mitchjs
DigitHead, what type of antenna? preamp?

Im using the channel master 4221

I cant get squat on 12-1 or 12-2

the 57-1 isnt that 32-1, for some reason that channel doesnt map to 57-1?

How about issues with diplexers? Im i loosing enough signal through em?

or should i run another antenna cable....??

anyone have any thoughts on that?

mitch

Mitch I'm using a Silver Sensor indoor directional UHF antenna. It's hooked directly to my Mistubishi WS-65511 w/ internal HD tuner. I've been lucky in that all I've had to do since day one is point it at the antenna farm in Philly and I pull everything in.

Dave

dang... i got that antenna (not much to it)

and it was worse then the crappy terk tv42

mitch

Originally posted by bronowyn
Eh, although I'm sorry for everyone else, but I have one of those packages, so it doesn't effect me too much, I think that HBO HD looks really great (Carnivale is really a weird, but pretty, show!), and I have showtime, too, although, we just signed up, so I can't comment on it.

We just decided that it bothers us not to recieve ALL of the HD stations, so we got the showtime added, also.

I'm looking forward to HP - Chamber of Secrets in HD later this fall.

1) I would guess that MOST people (like you) would already have 1 or more Premiums, and will NOT have to pay the $5.00.

2) I'm watching Carnavale (actually missed it last night - working). I think that the intro with the taro cards in 3-D is awsome.

3) Also looking forward to HP - Chamber of Secrets.

4) HBO/MAX On-Demand are here - I wish in HD.

ENJOY!

David

IMPORTANT FINDINGS....

I disconnected the dish connection to the diplexer and my OTA signals doubled....

I now read 100% on 3-1,6-1,6-2,17-1
I now get 15-20% on 32-1 (57) but cant keep it tuned
I now get 0 - 10% on 12-1 (cant tune it ofcourse)

waiting on 29-1 and 10-1....

so, i ran a second cable, and conclude diplexers sux
i tried two different ones... a terk and a ASKA

both, when the sat is connected... i lose 50% of OTA

anyone can do a test?

IRD = Hughes E86

mitch

So... the rumors are true... at least one of three...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2706766#post2706766 look at the last thread here, to see the STARZ HD/Comcast Story.

Rumor has it that THREE new stations are coming to Comcast (yippee!) by October 16th. Starz seems to be one of three. There is a theory that one is Discovery HD... as for the third, ya got me swingin.

Another Rumor is that we'll get CBS by the end of the year, but a CSR that someone talked to mentioned "the end of the month", although, given my experience with CSRs, I doubt it. Yet, that could be the third station.

Needless, this happening would make me very pleased. Although, I am 1/2 hoping that one of the three would be UPN, so I can watch Angel in HD... and another 1/2 hoping that I get CBS, too, just so I can watch CSI in HD. I dunno, I'm happy with whatever they give me at this point.

You'll have to search through the threads to find out where I heard the rumors, as I don't have the links on me, but that's where I got them from. I just thought they should be here, as this is the place that all the philly ppl hang out. ;)

Well, Starz has two HD channels (3 if you count west coast, but we won't get that). The other is Sharper Movies HD. But there is no date yet for Starz (or Cinemax).

If you check the programming forum you'll see new rumors speculating on HDNET/Movies being the other two chanels.

Fox (WTXF) is back up on 29-1

NBC (WCAU-DT) is back up on 10-1

UPN is now coming in on 57-1 - used to have to tune 32-1 to get it before.

I'm getting all of them at 100 signal strength on my E86, but I am less than ten miles from the antenna farm with clear line of sight.

Here in Central NJ, 10-1 is showing 69% signal, but 29-1 is not locking. Signal for 29-1 is fluctuating between 0-30%

is comcast philly channel 172 broadcasting a stretched image?

usually on a game when they are not hd or any non hd it has bars on the sides. not right now tho'.

YIPPIE!!!!


I now get 10-1
and getting 29-1 again (ofcourse)

I get 100% on:
3-1,6-1,6-2,10-1,29-1,17-1

i just need 32-1 (upn57) and 12-1


anyone know where 12-1's tower is?

prob with 32-1... which would explain why i dont get either one

again

disconnect that dish!!! dont use a diplexer!!! what a difference

mitch

whotony
Comcast has been stretching its picture since early Sept. Dont like it but thats what they have been doing

pete

Well same crappy signal from 10-1, at least 29-1 is back to where it was.

MitchJS and DigitHead, I'm also in Harleysville and rushes to check out Leno this evening. Unfortunately, I'm only getting a 35 - 44% signal. Since I've not tried to tune my Channel Master 4228 antenna to get WCAU, I wanted to see if you were watching this evening and what your signal strength was/is.

I'm getting:

3-1 - 100%
6-1 - 86% (no problems)
10-1 - 37%
12-1 - 0%
17-1 - 93%
29-1 - 100%
57-1 - 93%

Are you guys receiving 10-1 this evening?

Thank,

Rob

Originally posted by RTrueman
Are you guys receiving 10-1 this evening?

Actually, I was getting them at 93-100 on my DST-3000. More typical is 60's to 70's, though I Have seen 100 before. I wasn't particularly watching NBC last night, so I don't know if it was strong all night or not. I did notice (at least around 10PM or so) that they had TWO subchannels, both looking like they were showing HD feeds of the same thing. I didn't particularly see a quality degradation, though it was only fraiser (probably not THAT bit-rate challenging...) Maybe it's just a PSIP problem. (They weren't mapping to 10-1 either, but that may just be my DST-3000, not always that consistent in remapping...)

- Mike

Originally posted by RTrueman
MitchJS and DigitHead, I'm also in Harleysville and rushes to check out Leno this evening. Unfortunately, I'm only getting a 35 - 44% signal. Since I've not tried to tune my Channel Master 4228 antenna to get WCAU, I wanted to see if you were watching this evening and what your signal strength was/is.

....

Are you guys receiving 10-1 this evening?

Thank,

Rob

I went to bed early last night, so I can't comment on Leno, but as of this morning I'm getting all the Philly DTV stations clear and strong. My Mitsu's built-in tuner doesn't give me signal strength, though so I can't tell you how strong.

Dave

Thanks for the info, guys. Hopefully, they were tuning things last night. If not, I'll have to move my antenna a bit. I'll check again this evening.

Dave, I'm surprised you have such good luck with the Silver Sensor. Where are you (vaguely of course!) in Harleysville? We're in a new development off of 113 and should have a clear shot to Roxboro. I may have to pick one of the antennas up to give it a try!

Thanks!

Rob

Last night was great. Hope it stays that way (or better). 10-1 was back & the signal (although still not very strong) is the best I've ever gotten. 29-1 was also back & it too came in better than ever before. 57-1 was back to the correct mapping where it belongs. Add to all this, there were lots of HD shows to watch last night across the board. Very cool!

Is Philadelphia the coolest TV city?

Check out this article for the evidence:

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/living/6837783.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

--Philly Tim

10.1 for me is still coming in strong this morning. I lost 29.1 (Fox). Anybody else have it last night and lose it again?

Checked 29-1 SS last night, it's at 77%. Same for 10-1. Although it was pixalating some. UPN is now mapped to 57-1 not 32-1 anymore. Still no Gide info for UPN. I'm happy (for now). enjoy everyone !!!

well... somthings not right

42-1 goes to 100% for 5 seconds, then drops down to the 20s hovers all over, then at times back to 100%

ofcourse when i watch 29-1 i get pixelation!

32-1 (57-1) i cant get over 20, and its not consistent...

i jumps from 40-50- 0, 0-20

could it be multipath? i doubt it... i have no other isssues with cannels
except 32-1, and now 29-1...

are all the philly DTV transmitters in same general area? manyunk?

mitch

Well, I tried again this evening and I'm getting the same results on channel 10-1 of 37 - 44%. Since I'm getting a great signal from the other stations, I'm hesitant to move th antenna. Since it sounds like they're still working on the antenna, I'll hold off a little while before trying to re-tune my antenna. Do you think the signal will be getting any stronger?

Thanks!

Rob

Originally posted by RTrueman
Well, I tried again this evening and I'm getting the same results on channel 10-1 of 37 - 44%. Since I'm getting a great signal from the other stations, I'm hesitant to move th antenna. Since it sounds like they're still working on the antenna, I'll hold off a little while before trying to re-tune my antenna. Do you think the signal will be getting any stronger?

Thanks!

Rob

If I had to guess, WCAU has not fired up their new antenna yet. I certainly hope they haven't! I get the same signal strength as I did from their original site. I have heard that their signal strength will be anywhere from 750 to 1000 kwatts, so you (we) should see a huge improvement over the 100+ they're broadcasting at right now. Just a gut feeling of mine. :cool:

I used to get 30 or less from WCAU. I now get 65-70, so it's a big improvement for me. They must be on the new tower.

I live in Yardley, by the river.

Originally posted by YardleyBill
I used to get 30 or less from WCAU. I now get 65-70, so it's a big improvement for me. They must be on the new tower.

I live in Yardley, by the river.

Oh NO!! Please say it isn't true! That would definitely ruin my day. :(

Anyone else seeing CONSISTENT improvements in WCAU that could not be attributed to Tropo affects?

Who has the contacts at WCAU? Can someone call the engineer and see whether they are:

A) Still on the old antenna at the old power level
B) On the new antenna at a reduced power level
or
C) On the new antenna at their full authorized power - (fcc database says 560kW ERP)

Incidentally, I'm receiving them perfectly two nights in a row now... My guess based on what people are saying, and my own experience is that they are at option B and may or may not have to do further qualification/testing before turning the transmitter up to full power but this is PURE SPECULATION...

- Mike

Originally posted by mjr
Who has the contacts at WCAU? Can someone call the engineer and see whether they are:

A) Still on the old antenna at the old power level
B) On the new antenna at a reduced power level
or
C) On the new antenna at their full authorized power - (fcc database says 560kW ERP)

Incidentally, I'm receiving them perfectly two nights in a row now... My guess based on what people are saying, and my own experience is that they are at option B and may or may not have to do further qualification/testing before turning the transmitter up to full power but this is PURE SPECULATION...

- Mike

I asked the same question... (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2717294#post2717294) and got this reply

Originally posted by jaypb
I asked the same question... (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2717294#post2717294) and got this reply

Boy that was a close one. :o

Sounds like it COULD be that they are working on the new tower at lower power until it's up and running. The end of the month still IS 5 days away.

:rolleyes:

Well, that's good information! I wasn't looking forward to a trip into my attic. I guess I'll wait for a few days. Hopefully, we'll see a drastically improved signal.

Rob

WEll...

10-1 is 100% for me , last week it was 0

so I call that major improvement


I hope 29-1 is still tweaking... i get 100% at times... but i have seen it drop
down

and for 12-1 6%
and for 32-1 10%

so i dont get them in

man, i wish comcast would just get the rest of the DT's for philly
this antenna sh*t is for the birds...

mitch

this antenna sh*t is for the birds...

If everything we get was offered free (aside from the cost of hardware) I'd be out there putting up an antenna array to get everything and wouldn't say a word about it. I couldn't be happier that I have an alternate solution to satellite and cable and one that I can split to my hearts content when the time comes.

Frankly, I wish someone could come up with a technology solution that would make it feasible to give us all our HD channels over the air and then just provide that from as many of the top cities as possible and spread out from there. I'd forgotten how nice it is to get so many channels entirely for free.

Originally posted by mitchjs
WEll...

10-1 is 100% for me , last week it was 0

so I call that major improvement

mitch

Where are you located geographically from the antenna farm?

And if you didn't notice UPN is no longer 32-1 but now 57-1

Just curious -- am I the only one that uses the "real" channels? i.e. UPN will always be 32, nbc=67, cbs=26, fox=42, abc=64, wb=54, pbs=55

(My receiver lets me choose between "real" or "fake" channel numbering, I'm assuming this is a standard setup option on most or all receivers).

I WOULD use the "fake" channels but its just too annoying, with my equipment I can type in any of the above digital channels and get there in 3 button presses (3,2,enter for UPN for example). If I wanted to use the "fake" channel 57-1 for UPN it would take an annoying 5 button presses (5,7,rightarrow,1,enter OR 0,5,7,1,enter). I also have macros to pick any favorite channel from a menu, but that's more of a cheesy thing for the wife who refuses to memorize the new channel numbers :) and is even more annoying (because of the button placement on my remote) to use than the "fake" channel numbers.... The other really annoying thing about using the "fake" channels, at least with my reciver, is that you can't remove the analog channel without wiping out the digial one (I HOPE this is just a stupid software limitation with my receiver only). That means when "surfing" by going up or down channel, you aways "run over" the analog channel AND its digital equivalent. That gets really annoying too. For me, it just makes sense to only use the "real" channels and delete the analog ones.


-Gordo

I don't understand what you mean by "fake" UPN is 57 - it seems to me that the 32-1 was the fake - this move was a good move by UPN

well...
i still dont got enough signal i guess to have the Hughes E86
scan it in as 57-1

i whish there was a way to manually add a Digital Station in the E86


mitch

Originally posted by Professor Dave
I don't understand what you mean by "fake" UPN is 57 - it seems to me that the 32-1 was the fake - this move was a good move by UPN


I understand your perspective, but its kind of warped [disclaimer:I'm not an engineer]. As part of the digital signal they can broadcast a fake channel number. This was intended to help consumers who are already used to the old analog channel numbering system. People like me have their equipment setup so as not to use the fake channels (this makes it easier/faster to change channels and prevents me from having to rescan channels everytime the network screws up the fake channeling info).

The old analog UPN is on 57, they can't physically use the same channel for their digital broadcast (same UHF frequency). The real UPN digital is channel 32. When analog goes away, it will probably remain as 32 (I don't know the intricacies of broadcasting, or how much effort or expense it would take to "switch") but they will probably always keep broadcasting the fake 57 numbering. Nothing wrong with using the old analog channel numbering, I just find it more annoying (with my hardware anyway) than memorizing the new numbers.

Originally posted by mitchjs
well...
i still dont got enough signal i guess to have the Hughes E86
scan it in as 57-1

i whish there was a way to manually add a Digital Station in the E86


mitch

As a fellow E-86'er (albeit in NJ) I'm curious as to HOW your STB responds to certain channel inputs:

For me, if I input "67-1" I get Channel 50 analog....that's right....it doesn't even go to a black screen (since I can't even get a sniff of WCAU-DT). Similar issue for "55-1"...If I input that I get analog 57...go figure. I am not able to get a usable signal out of WHYY at all.

Also, I can not get the HD loop for PBS 52 out of Trenton (or Camden???) by inputting 52-5 (which is what my on screen guide says is the HD loop channel). I have to input 43-2, which remaps to 52-2...which gives me the actual video/audio for the HD loop.

Anyone else out there suffering through this (I know of at least one person on the NJ thread with an E86 who has similar issues). Is it a PSIP thing? A DirecTV download issue?

For me, WCAU-DT and WHYY-DT have been dogs pretty much since I hooked my stuff up about 8 months ago. WTXF-DT is better in recent days...mostly stable. WPHL-DT is hit or miss. KYW and WPVI-DT and UPN57 are pretty much rock solid (KYW is ALWAYS at 100%...but I assume that's a combo of it's tower height, channel placement (26) and effective power).

I already know I'm in a "bad spot" geographically and topographically to glean ALL the Philly digital signals. My STB doesn't help me much either. But I was truly hoping that by WCAU moving to the new tower, things would improve.

Hopefully they will...sooner rather than later.:rolleyes:

Because NYC doesn't seem to be in a rush to get the rest of their digital signals back up....:mad:

Those on Comcast in the Philly area, give them a call and request Discovery HD. We need our Trading Spaces in HD on cable!

Thanks
Barry

As a fellow E-86'er (albeit in NJ) I'm curious as to HOW your STB responds to certain channel inputs:

For me, if I input "67-1" I get Channel 50 analog....that's right....it doesn't even go to a black screen (since I can't even get a sniff of WCAU-DT). Similar issue for "55-1"...If I input that I get analog 57...go figure. I am not able to get a usable signal out of WHYY at all.



well... as far as i can see 67-1 doesnt exist
its 10-1

aka 55-1 doesnt exist its 12-1

mitch

Originally posted by mitchjs
well... as far as i can see 67-1 doesnt exist
its 10-1

aka 55-1 doesnt exist its 12-1

mitch

If you type in 67-1 your box doesn't remap to 10-1? Or even tune in WCAU-DT? If I hit "26-1" KYW-DT comes in. Sames goes for "57-1", "44-1", "54-1" and all the NYC locals.

:confused:

it goes to 67-1 for a sec, then quickly tunes to 10-1

so it figured it out

mitch

Is 29.1 on the air and broadcasting? I cannot receive the station......are they still down from Isabella? WCAU coming in fune

Originally posted by LarryGMarrow
Is 29.1 on the air and broadcasting? I cannot receive the station......are they still down from Isabella? WCAU coming in fune

WXTF-DT (29-1) Coming in @ 100% here.

Originally posted by AVonaBudget
WXTF-DT (29-1) Coming in @ 100% here.

Coming in strong for me too (20 miles west of the tower). NBC/67 still weak though (32%) and WHYY55 unviewable (22%).

NEW UPDATE!!

OK, I moved antenna (CM4221) 6" away from house!!! bingo!
(house side is screen side of course)

now ALL PHILLY, except 55 (12-1) is 100%, 12-1 is 24% (unviewable)

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no dropouts!!!

i get other stations too 65-1,65-1 (not my language)

I'm now happy


p.s. whats with 29-1 's picture offset... i don't think i see it orbiting...
p.s. whats up with 35-1, picture looks like 480i

now to clean up my excess rg6, and seal holes in wall :)

mitch

65 and 35 aren't digital (at least not for me). 65 is the spanish channel, and 35 is the "world" channel (they sometimes show very entertaining indian movies and music videos). Are you sure you are seeing these as digital?

....mitchjs is seeing what i've been seeing since I set up my HD in March....

65-1 and 65-2 are digital (though not hi-def) and they are both spanish networks (out of millville, nj, i think). 35-1 is indeed digital also (WHYE if memory serves correctly)...its a PBS independent with what I consider to be lousy programming (at least it doesn't suit my tasts). As with 65-1 and 65-2, 35-1 is digital but certainly not HD.

Ravens Chiefs supposed to be in HD no? this is the second week in a row... is it KYW??

No - Patriots@Redskins was the CBS HD game this week - not carried by KYW because the Eagles were playing at 1pm

does comcast channel 183 provide the fox wide feed for the football games?

i get the wide feed for the cowboys / jets on directv, or i should say the ota feed. but when i switch over to comcast dig 183 it is not the wide feed.

i tried all the adjustments of the dif setting, 1080i/480p, etc but it doesnt do anything.

Did Fox completely drop their "Digital Widescreen" presentation of football? I had expected 16x9 for the Eagles game even if it was only 480p. I didn't get it that way OTA. Other experiences or comments?

HDTVGalaxy had the 4 pm game...what about last week? Echo digitheads observatnios about eagles as well..

then dallas was widescreen.....aaaaaaarghhhh

DONT COMPLAIN!!

THE Friggin EAGLES WON

thats all we can ask for!


now the eagles and phillies have something else in common

the both LOSE their last game at VET

there better not be a curse on the Linc.!

mitch

p.s digital tv is so nice...

Last night during Everwood, WPHL 17.1 had no sound on the English sound track. They had 1.0 English on the "Spanish" SAP soundtrack.

M-

I obersved the same thing while surfing. this is the second time I noticed it on local WB.

Originally posted by DigitHead
Did Fox completely drop their "Digital Widescreen" presentation of football? I had expected 16x9 for the Eagles game even if it was only 480p. I didn't get it that way OTA. Other experiences or comments?

I believe only two FOX games per week our widescreen. The Eagles Bills was not one of them. I think the 1 PM widescreen game was the Vikings.

Then the 4:00 was the Dallas game, I think.

You can tell by the announcers. If it is the Troy Aikmen team -- yes. I forget the 2nd team. The Eagles' announcers were the 3rd string announcers.

There was a press release by FOX a while back (I think in tandem with their 2004 720p primetime one) that said in all sporting events (e.g., NASCAR, NFL) they were committed to the widescreen 480p format.

Its disappointing to see the reality of it...

More of a promise ring then a commitment.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love how many channels I get with Comcast now. But last night, I turned on Angel, and it said, "In HD where available."... I hope that they make it available someday. Angel doesn't do syndication.

Bronowyn,

Angel was in HD last night. I watched it on channel 17 out of Philly.

Yes, Franzius... I don't have a decoder, nor does Comcast offer the channel. *sigh*

Hey,
JWhip-
You've been a constant wealth of OTA info for this thread, and always seem to get info when no one else can. :)

Anyway of you finding out from you're connections what the status of the WCAU antenna is? I recall you saying the beginning of the month. So far I haven't seen anything in the way of improved reception. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks! :cool:

From WHYY:
Back in May WPHL TV 17 discovered their transmission line was damaged and could no longer handle full power. Since then they have been operating at low power. They have purchased new transmission line and are now ready to install it. This is a fairly major project that may take several weeks for the tower workers to complete. (weather permitting) This will impact WHYY in various ways for a few nights when the workers are actually close to our antennas.

Starting Tuesday Oct 7, 2003 between the hours of 12:00 AM {midnight} and 5AM (Mon night, Tue morning) and continuing for the next two-three nights WHYY will be off the air while the tower workers are in close proximity to our transmitting antennas.

Originally posted by Calabs
Hey,
JWhip-
You've been a constant wealth of OTA info for this thread, and always seem to get info when no one else can. :)

Anyway of you finding out from you're connections what the status of the WCAU antenna is? I recall you saying the beginning of the month. So far I haven't seen anything in the way of improved reception. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks! :cool:

Yes, the rain affected my non reception Friday night [10/3/03].
Thanks,
mprh

I just checked my HiPix recording from last night and it appeared to be in SD. others experiences? its in Titan and on abc.com as being in HD..I only reviewed the first few minutes...