I have Insight here in Fishers. Does anybody else hae a problem with Tiling and Audio cutting out while watching in particularly Fox. I was getting really ticked last night watching 24, I also noticed the same thing on ABC and CBS.

Our policy is evolving somewhat, in that we just found out about the whole Constant/Flex thing. In some ways, that is exactly the opposite of what one would want.

What we're trying to figure out is if we can air the Constant feeds of games that are of extreme interest to us, and have someone dedicated to watching the Flex HD feed, and switch WISH-HD in and out of upconvert, as the true HD feed comes available. But would the upconvert/HD switch drive people absolutely nuts, or would people just hope for as much true HD as possible?

Trying to please all of the people all of the time... (I know, I know ! ).

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, etc.

Our policy is evolving somewhat, in that we just found out about the whole Constant/Flex thing. In some ways, that is exactly the opposite of what one would want.

What we're trying to figure out is if we can air the Constant feeds of games that are of extreme interest to us, and have someone dedicated to watching the Flex HD feed, and switch WISH-HD in and out of upconvert, as the true HD feed comes available. But would the upconvert/HD switch drive people absolutely nuts, or would people just hope for as much true HD as possible?

Trying to please all of the people all of the time... (I know, I know ! ).

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, etc.

Tom,

My vote would be for as much HD as possible. Based on coverage maps over in the HDTV Programming forum the IU and Butler games are constant feeds, did not see a map for the Purdue game but I assume it would be constant and the Notre Dame was a flex feed for Indy. CBS really blew it with this policy but at least we know about it ahead of time and cannot blame WISH for this.

Ed

Our policy is evolving somewhat, in that we just found out about the whole Constant/Flex thing. In some ways, that is exactly the opposite of what one would want.

What we're trying to figure out is if we can air the Constant feeds of games that are of extreme interest to us, and have someone dedicated to watching the Flex HD feed, and switch WISH-HD in and out of upconvert, as the true HD feed comes available. But would the upconvert/HD switch drive people absolutely nuts, or would people just hope for as much true HD as possible?

Trying to please all of the people all of the time... (I know, I know ! ).

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, etc.

I trust your judgment, Tom. CBS has put you all in a terrible position. At least I can continue my job as the family's digital TV expert, and can explain to them what is going on in this mess (especially if HDTV bounces in and out during a given game). People really won't understand why that happens...

This has probably been asked before..But I can't seem to find it in the forums. I live in Veedersburg, Indiana and I have Dish Network. I just got a new TV and want to upgrade to a HD Reciever. Do the local channels broadcast to Dish in HD? I went to Dish's site and it says they don't, but others say they do, so I am in need of some clarification.

I am in the Indianapolis Market for my local channels. So, WISH, WTHR, WXIN, etc....

Thanks

No, Indy locals are NOT available in HD from Dish. They probably won't be for a long time. Last I heard 2 of the local affilates here in Indy refused to let Dish have the signal for free. Which 2 I don't recall. At one time the big 4 were uplinked to Dish but they were removed.

Luckily for me I can use an outdoor antenna. I don't have a clue where Veedersburg is but maybe an antenna will work for you.

This has probably been asked before..But I can't seem to find it in the forums. I live in Veedersburg, Indiana and I have Dish Network. I just got a new TV and want to upgrade to a HD Reciever. Do the local channels broadcast to Dish in HD? I went to Dish's site and it says they don't, but others say they do, so I am in need of some clarification.

I am in the Indianapolis Market for my local channels. So, WISH, WTHR, WXIN, etc....

Thanks

Hey a shout out to Veedersburg, I lived there for the 1st eight years of my life 30 years ago. Still love to stop by Hershey's drive in when I can.

No, Indy locals are NOT available in HD from Dish. They probably won't be for a long time. Last I heard 2 of the local affilates here in Indy refused to let Dish have the signal for free. Which 2 I don't recall. At one time the big 4 were uplinked to Dish but they were removed.

Luckily for me I can use an outdoor antenna. I don't have a clue where Veedersburg is but maybe an antenna will work for you.

Bummer.

I am 60 miles west of Indy off of I74. Back in the day when we had an antenna, we got decent signal, but I couldn't tell you about today.
That sounds like the peeing contest some of the channels had with Cable. I understand both sides, but if they charged dish to get the channels and they passed that on to me..I wouldn't mind it.

Veedersburgdude...

Have you looked into DirecTV? They carry NBC, ABC, and Fox. The lone holdout is CBS. But if you are 68 miles west of Indy, you might be able to pick up WTHI for your HD-CBS. They are the only channel in Terre Haute in HD.

Veedersburgdude...

Have you looked into DirecTV? They carry NBC, ABC, and Fox. The lone holdout is CBS. But if you are 68 miles west of Indy, you might be able to pick up WTHI for your HD-CBS. They are the only channel in Terre Haute in HD.

Veedersburgdude,

It appears that DirecTV might be a better option for your area. In addition to WTHI-DT for CBS, it should be fairly easy, with a good VHF antenna, to receive WLFI-DT 11, Lafayette or possibly, with a good UHF antenna, WCIA-DT 48, Champaign, which as of last Sunday, cranked its power up to 500 kW and by this weekend it should be up to 1000 kW, its full power. And, yes, WCIA is a Nexstar station, now passing CBS-HD along with DD 5.1 and at full power.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT988218.html
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1069146.html

Steve

If anyone from WISH is reading this... no HD for the NCAA tournament for the last 15 minutes.

If anyone from WISH is reading this... no HD for the NCAA tournament for the last 15 minutes.

You've probably been switched over to the "constant" feed.

Take a look at the programming thread for the ugly details...

[Edit - looks like HD is back ! The MC in NY must be like an airport control tower during a snowstorm right about now...]

[Edit Edit - Programming thread said it was a backhaul problem]

Well, not quite sure why they had me do it, but it's now been thought better of, and we're not going to do the stretch any more.

(Some victories are the small ones....)

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, etc.

Well, not quite sure why they had me do it, but it's now been thought better of, and we're not going to do the stretch any more.

(Some victories are the small ones....)

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, etc.


YEAH!!! The Butler game was AWFUL from a PQ standpoint. I still don't get why CBS is doing this to the markets where the schools are from. The good news is Butler won, the bad news CBS subjecting us to more SD.

So Tom, does this mean tonights IU-Gonzaga game will be in SD?

Thanks for your help. They are charging me $12.95/mo for 1 card and it is also listed as a digital reciever with remote on statemant. They are the worst!

I was close, but not quite right. I just checked my statement, and it is $6.95/mo and I have 2 cable cards. The line item is "Digital A/O - Includes Digital Receiver and Remote for $4.15". Yet it's $6.95. For a cable card, not a receiver or remote. Oy!

I've read in the TiVO forum that many people get their cable cards for free from Comcast. And others pay $2.95/each. So who knows!?!

Jeff

CBS says IU in HD, why are we seeing SD on WANE in Fort Wayne???

CBS says IU in HD, why are we seeing SD on WANE in Fort Wayne???
It has do to with the feed that the network is sending to the local affilate. SD in Indy too. Scroll up and read out the constant vs. flex feeds.

Crappy SD in Terre Haute. I'm too lazy to read what flex vs. constant means - but the only game I want to watch isn't in HD. Great job CBS.

Everytime, CBS switches from game to game, (I dont' mean a live look-in) it switches to SD.

Absolute BS, you can almost set you clock by this one. the 2nd half will be in HD just bet ya.

GET IT STRAIGHT AND DON'T TEASE.

I guess it is better than WTWO and WFXW, they DON'T EVEN OFFER HD YET!!! and their DT signal has SUCKED lately!!!

True, I wouldn't give WTWO and WFXW any credit - or ever for that matter. This is completely a CBS network decision and WTHI is at their mercy.

Things may be taking brighter turn for Saturday - keep your fingers crossed!

Tom

Tom,

Could you post a list of what games WISH will be covering for Sat?

Thanks!

WISH: (no change requests of any sort)

1:10 PM – Ohio State vs. Xavier (national game) (HD)

3:20 PM – MD vs. Butler (constant /SD only)

5:50 PM – Georgetown vs. BC (FLEX/HD)

8:10 PM – IN vs. UCLA (constant /HD )

Note that last line, all you Hoosier fans!

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, etc.

WISH: (no change requests of any sort)

1:10 PM – Ohio State vs. Xavier (national game) (HD)

3:20 PM – MD vs. Butler (constant /SD only)

5:50 PM – Georgetown vs. BC (FLEX/HD)

8:10 PM – IN vs. UCLA (constant /HD )

Note that last line, all you Hoosier fans!

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, etc.

Tom,

Thanks for the good news. This ought to reduce those phone calls to the control room. ;)

Ed

Last weekend's clock change has resulted in the NBC Nightly News showing as 7:30-8:00 PM in the OTA electronic program guide. Same one-hour later schedule for WFYI (Newshour with Jim Lehrer on 20-3 from 7-8 PM.)

Could someone alert those stations?

While the EPG for each of those two stations is one hour late, it's curious that the time showing when I press my remote's "i(nformation)" button is correct for WTHR, but an hour late for WFYI. (Why a station's EPG info isn't synched with the clock in the station's signal is beyond me.)

Example: It's currently 10:15 PM Friday and "Raines" is on WTHR. Pressing the "i" button, the time shows as 10:15 PM, but the EPG for WTHR shows "Raines" begins at 11:00 PM!!

Thanks, Tom!

I was just about to start a blizzard of nast-e-grams about the HD setup. Then it dawned on me to check in here. I was terribly disappointed to see some of the afternoon yawner games in HD, only to have the big evening games in SD. Booo, CBS!

(I won't even go into why CBS should can Billy Packer and Seth Davis...)

Jason

P.S. Tom, do you know what WLFI will broadcast OTA? HD or SD? Are they in the same boat as you?

WLFI has the same schedule/configuration we do today.

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH

We have the same crappy SD picture in DC (lots of complaints there). This constant feed line from CBS, which spent billions on the NCAA TV rights, doesn't fly. And we will likely be stuck in that mode with Georgetown playing next.

Us Terp and Bulldog fans deserve better.

Why isn't Louisville vs Texas A&M in HD? Butler is over, and we're supposed to get Georgetown in HD so I assume we're flex until IU.

WISH: (no change requests of any sort)

1:10 PM – Ohio State vs. Xavier (national game) (HD)

3:20 PM – MD vs. Butler (constant /SD only)

5:50 PM – Georgetown vs. BC (FLEX/HD)

8:10 PM – IN vs. UCLA (constant /HD )

Note that last line, all you Hoosier fans!

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, etc.

Good luck with that! (11:54 left in 1st half of IU game.)

Ask and you shall receive. HD as it comes back from commercial.

Ask and you shall receive. HD as it comes back from commercial.


Question is will we keep it? We only got HD when Mich State-UNC went to halftime. Despite what Tom Weber said earlier I bet the constant was SD.

Update 10:00 - I stand corrected. We have stayed HD since they switched with about 11:00 minutes to go in 1st half. Glad they fixed whatever the problem was.

IU game on WTHI is still in SD.

What a shame, got this nice TV, and forced to watch a game in SD. I'm not even an IU fan, just want to watch A Game in HD.

Sounds like a CBS Monopoly that needs to be dealt with

IU game on WTHI is still in SD.

What a shame, got this nice TV, and forced to watch a game in SD. I'm not even an IU fan, just want to watch A Game in HD.

Sounds like a CBS Monopoly that needs to be dealt withI'm not too happy with WTHI/CBS either. Friday they decided to show the Illinois game and didn't even show the Purdue game at all. Hey WTHI, what state are we located in again??? Oh yea, NOT F***ING Illinois!!!

Then lastnight the IU game wasn't in HD. We called and complained and WTHI said they were working on the problem....which never got fixed.

Finally today, 99% of the Purdue game wasn't in HD. About two or three times it switched to HD for less than 1 minute....then switched right back.

Somebody at WTHI needs to get off their ass and do their job......I hate this town.

At least the Butler game was in HD yesterday, which looked awesome.

Good luck with that! (11:54 left in 1st half of IU game.)

I hope there is a meeting today at WISH. The HD feed being off/on/off/on/off/on/off/off/off/off/on was more than an irritant since Thursday.


From: http://wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5993929&nav=menu35_19_10

<SNIP>

Finally:

Enjoy the incredible pictures and rich audio sound on WISH-HD!

<SNIP>


LOL!

What is the farthest away anyone is receiving Digital signal from WTHI?

What is the farthest away anyone is receiving Digital signal from WTHI?

When I turn my antenna West, I get WTHI's digital signal just fine.
It is 45 miles from my antenna.
Next bid?

Someone at Fox 59 hates me... I can't get an HD signal OTA this week for 24, and last week's was pretty sketchy.

I'm not too happy with WTHI/CBS either. Friday they decided to show the Illinois game and didn't even show the Purdue game at all. Hey WTHI, what state are we located in again??? Oh yea, NOT F***ING Illinois!!!

Then lastnight the IU game wasn't in HD. We called and complained and WTHI said they were working on the problem....which never got fixed.

Finally today, 99% of the Purdue game wasn't in HD. About two or three times it switched to HD for less than 1 minute....then switched right back.

Somebody at WTHI needs to get off their ass and do their job......I hate this town.

At least the Butler game was in HD yesterday, which looked awesome.

Not to pile on WTHI too much, but what is with this partial stretch they do. What is this 14:9? Why not leave it at 4:3. I would think most TV's have to option to stretch the screen if you want a 16:9 ratio. However WTHI chooses to take this option out of our hands and forces us to watch a blurred strech-o-vision.

I have not heard of any other TV station doing a partial strecth like this. Please, if anyone from WTHI reads this, consider broadcasting in 4:3 and giving us the option to use the strecth on our own TVs

Someone at Fox 59 hates me... I can't get an HD signal OTA this week for 24, and last week's was pretty sketchy.


Good to know it wasn't just me. I tried watching NASCAR in HD this weekend and had no luck. Deleted the channel and rescanned. I could not lock the signal.

Here's a question for Comcast subscribers.

Check your guide for tomorrow for Discovery HD and ESPNHD. Is anything listed for you? I had two Chicago Bulls games set to record on ESPNHD over the weekend, and noticed they were no longer listed. For both of these channels, the guide says "To be announced". Does anyone know why?
Here's a late reply to your question, just checking forum messages for the first time in a couple of months! :o

If the power is interupted to your box, or at certain links in the chain to your box, you will get the "to be announced" message. I've noticed that the program guide info for the channels don't all re-populate at the same time. It may take some time for some to come back.

Ken

Last weekend's clock change has resulted in the NBC Nightly News showing as 7:30-8:00 PM in the OTA electronic program guide.

Example: It's currently 10:15 PM Friday and "Raines" is on WTHR. Pressing the "i" button, the time shows as 10:15 PM, but the EPG for WTHR shows "Raines" begins at 11:00 PM!!

I just got the following reply from Al G at WTHR:

We regularly monitor PSIP and guide information so I've been aware that the EPG table has been off by one hour since the early change to DST on
the 11th.

Automatically creating the EPG table is not as simple a process as one
might think and here's why the EPG table is off an hour from the clock:

At WTHR the EPG table is separately generated by the Programming
Department. The Programming Department uses a software program they
purchased to generate an in-house program grid, which also generates a
PSIP compatible table using GMT. (I imagine that the vendor uses GMT so
that a network could generate one table that could be translated to
several time zones) The PSIP computer uses this table to fill the EPG
using a GMT to local offset. Our IT folks dutifully installed early DST
patches on all computers so the PSIP computer and the Programming
computer properly switched to DST on the 11th. However, the rest of the
world, including GMT will not go to DST for another two weeks so the EPG
table from Programming did not yet switch to DST. The Programming
software vendor has been alerted and is working on a patch but I'd bet
that in less than two weeks the software's GMT based table will simply
jump to DST and all will be correct again - long before the vendor gets
a software patch done.

My IT folks are trying several interim fixes, but the best solution
appears to be writing our own software using our updated local time
based air log information rather than the programming department
schedule software and getting away from that commercial program entirely
- which IT is working on, among other things.

In the interim we had two choices for a "quick fix" - either take the
PSIP computer back to EST so the clock would be an hour behind and the
EPG correct, or run PSIP correctly on DST showing correct time, but the
EPG is one hour off. We figured that correct clock time is most
important for viewer's use and most viewers, such as yourself, know the
correct program times and for the next two weeks will make the mental
adjustment.

Please feel free to share this information with the AVS Forum group.

Al Grossniklaus
Director of Engineering & Operations
WTHR NBC 13
Indianapolis


Interesting to read. But I wonder how this error hasn't effected ABC, CBS (and maybe Fox and CW for all I know). I've only seen problems with NBC and PBS.

Also, my web-browser's info (from Zap2It) on Indy programming doesn't display a DST-related schedule error.

I'll grant Al that it's not a simple thing. But the practical effect is a disabling of the EPG's use as an interface by which viewers can select, in advance, programs to be tuned into. That isn't a very viewer-friendly thing.

I don't blame the guys in engineering on this matter, however. I blame the f*g Congress for forcing us to move our clocks forward three weeks early -- in effect forcing us to repeat the (dark) morning experience of mid-January through February all over again (aiiigh!!), just when we were starting to get some morning sunshine as Spring approached.

(If we changed our clocks with the rest of the world in April, we'd only have to repeat the experience of March, a far less depressing prospect than repeating January-February.)

The energy-savings argument Congress offered as justification for the three-week early clock change is now widely-acknowledged, even by government agencies, as likely without merit. There must have been a different reason, one that has been kept from us.

So why do we --especially in Indiana-- have to suffer dark winter mornings and unnaturally late sunrises again? Those bozos. We should stage our own Groundhog's Day, where we drag our local congressman out of his hole on the morning we have to "Spring forward" and determine whether he can see his shadow at the very minute in the (pre-dawn) morning our kids have to be in their school room. If he can see his shadow, he's set free. If he can't see his shadow, then...(well, the picture's not pretty.)

Sorry to go off-topic, but is it really?

Good to know it wasn't just me. I tried watching NASCAR in HD this weekend and had no luck. Deleted the channel and rescanned. I could not lock the signal.

No problems here (Keystone at the Crossing area)!

Any idea why Wishtv channel 8 in Indy is not available on the D* HD schedule (MPEG4)? Am upgrading to the D* HD DVR and 6, 13 and 59 are available in HD but Wishtv Channel 8 is not.

Any idea why Wishtv channel 8 in Indy is not available on the D* HD schedule (MPEG4)? Am upgrading to the D* HD DVR and 6, 13 and 59 are available in HD but Wishtv Channel 8 is not.


Money. WISH wants it, D* won't pay for what they view as a free signal. Negotiations have been ongoing but if they could not resolve this for the Super Bowl I would not expect WISH-DT on D* anytime soon.

Not to pile on WTHI too much, but what is with this partial stretch they do. What is this 14:9? Why not leave it at 4:3. I would think most TV's have to option to stretch the screen if you want a 16:9 ratio. However WTHI chooses to take this option out of our hands and forces us to watch a blurred strech-o-vision.

I have not heard of any other TV station doing a partial strecth like this. Please, if anyone from WTHI reads this, consider broadcasting in 4:3 and giving us the option to use the strecth on our own TVs

Probably because everything that is broadcast in HD by WTHI is shown in it's proper ratio.

The only stretch I've seen is when they are showing their SD programming. I might be the exception because it really hasn't bothered me and in some respects may have helped my older CRT prevent burn-in

Probably because everything that is broadcast in HD by WTHI is shown in it's proper ratio.

The only stretch I've seen is when they are showing their SD programming. I might be the exception because it really hasn't bothered me and in some respects may have helped my older CRT prevent burn-in


I agree, the HD picture on WTHI is great. It is the SD stretch that i have a beef with.

I agree, the HD picture on WTHI is great. It is the SD stretch that i have a beef with.
A year or so ago, the Indy DTV stations were all doing the stretch thing on the upconverted SD content. I guess the marketing folks thought it looked better to fill the screen. It always bothered me, seeing folks a lot wider than they really were supposed to be. Finally, after lots of grumblings here, and probably other places, they knocked it off. Now I always opt for the DTV version of a channel, since the stretch is gone.

Ken

Tom Weber,

Criminal Minds, right now has no audio! This problem of no audio is getting VERY ANNOYING. Whatever the cause of this issue is it needs to be fixed ASAP.

Surround audio is fine as usual.

Please! Fix this recurring problem!

Tom Weber,

Criminal Minds, right now has no audio! This problem of no audio is getting VERY ANNOYING. Whatever the cause of this issue is it needs to be fixed ASAP.

Surround audio is fine as usual.

Please! Fix this recurring problem!

Ditto...............

Also, I've recently noticed some occasional CBS network commercials with no voice audio, music tracks only.

UPDATE: At 9:18 p.m., the Circuit City commercial during the break in Criminal Minds had no voice audio.

Steve

Now that I think about it more it seems every time it's the first 15 minutes of a show that has no voice audio.

Get this, an HD Circuit City ad has no voice audio!

I just bought a 37" Sharp Aquos LCD. It has a QAM tuner, but I am not picking up any HD channels except Fox, CW(4), and The Tube music channel. These channels come in on 83.1, 83.2, 83.3.

I do not get any other digital channels except music channels in the 110 range.

I have read elsewhere that cbs, nbc, and abc should be coming in on 6.1, 8.1, and 13.1, but they are not showing up.

Can anyone help with troubleshooting? I have tried taking the rg6 coax straight to the tv (without going through the splitter).

I also called insight's customer service....they are worthless and did not even know what a QAM tuner was.

Please help.

Thanks,
Ryan

No cable company will be of any help to you on getting HD locals via a QAM tuner. They will have no idea what you are talking about. They will tell you that you have to have an HD box and an HD subscription. Are cable companies required to have the locals unencrypted? Yes. But do they always? No.

Your set may be sensitive. Make sure you scan all 3 cable tv types, IRC, Standard and such. What I have found is that some sets with QAM tuners will pick up all channels, some dont. Every tuner is different.

My recommendation? Get an outdoor antenna. If that won't work well then subscribe to cable/satellite.

Mea maxima culpa, I had diddled earlier today and didn't un-diddle.

FWIW, we've discovered that altho CBS used to be able to control our HD receivers, they can't right now. They sent the commands, but the receivers didn't respond. Hoping for a re-configure in the morning before games crank up.

Starts to explain last week's confusion.

Tom

No cable company will be of any help to you on getting HD locals via a QAM tuner. They will have no idea what you are talking about. They will tell you that you have to have an HD box and an HD subscription. Are cable companies required to have the locals unencrypted? Yes. But do they always? No.

Your set may be sensitive. Make sure you scan all 3 cable tv types, IRC, Standard and such. What I have found is that some sets with QAM tuners will pick up all channels, some dont. Every tuner is different.

My recommendation? Get an outdoor antenna. If that won't work well then subscribe to cable/satellite.

I have a cable subscription. The tv only has an input for one coax line since it is a QAM tuner. If I got an antenna, I would have to put a A/B slider which is a pain and hard to do with the tv mounted on the wall.

Does anyone else on here have insight cable with a QAM tuner?

Guess I will switch over the Channel 13 for my local news.

I have a cable subscription. The tv only has an input for one coax line since it is a QAM tuner. If I got an antenna, I would have to put a A/B slider which is a pain and hard to do with the tv mounted on the wall.

Does anyone else on here have insight cable with a QAM tuner?

I have Insight in Bloomington, and get a lot of QAM signals in the clear. (I have an LG tuner and a Sony HDTV with QAM.)
Both receive the unencrypted digital signals of 4, 6, 8, 13, 20, 30, and 59. I get some sort of kids cartoon channel as well. I used to get a lot of stuff, including video on demand going to other people's house, but that went away.
Scanning should pick most of these up, I would think. In Bloomington, they come in on fairly high frequency channels, 85-1 for channel 4, 85-5 for the tube, ending with 59 at 116-3. Those higher frequencies are harder to receive it seems to me. I would question Insight's setup at your house.
From Fishers, I would bet you can get the Indy channels with an indoor antenna. Channel 8's digital signal is channel 9, the only VHF channel. You might get it with a UHF antenna anyway.

I have Insight in Bloomington, and get a lot of QAM signals in the clear. (I have an LG tuner and a Sony HDTV with QAM.)
Both receive the unencrypted digital signals of 4, 6, 8, 13, 20, 30, and 59. I get some sort of kids cartoon channel as well. I used to get a lot of stuff, including video on demand going to other people's house, but that went away.
Scanning should pick most of these up, I would think. In Bloomington, they come in on fairly high frequency channels, 85-1 for channel 4, 85-5 for the tube, ending with 59 at 116-3. Those higher frequencies are harder to receive it seems to me. I would question Insight's setup at your house.
From Fishers, I would bet you can get the Indy channels with an indoor antenna. Channel 8's digital signal is channel 9, the only VHF channel. You might get it with a UHF antenna anyway.

Thanks for the reply. I am able to get the HD channel with a OTA antenna, but the flat panel on the wall just doesn't look right with a pair of rabbit ears hooked up to it. Plus, the tv does not have an input switch feature because it only has one coax input since it is QAM. Therefore, if I switch over to the antenna, I have to do a total rescan of channels (then another scan when i switch back to cable).

I get Fox on 83.1, CW on 83.2, and The Tube on 83.3. I also get disney toon on channel 108.4. I believe the music channels are on the 110.xx range. I am missing NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, and any other OTA digital signal.

I did read an avsforum with detriot users having the same type of problem with Comcast. (I can't post links yet, so you will have to google "qam avsforum detroit" - click on "Last" page, then go to page 123.

Insight is sending out a tech on monday, I will give an update then. If anyone has any suggestions before then, please let me know.

Thanks.

First, I apologize if I did this wrong. Old lurker - but newbie at posting.

I hope to build a new house in the next 2-3 years, and I am wondering if installing a tower and antenna at the new location (I have a 36' now, and the new location will be same general area geographically) will be worth the time and money. I am curious what opinion or fact is on the future of OTA broadcasting. Will it remain in the VHF/UHF band as we now know it, or will things all go satellite or other delivery means in the near/distant years?

I love my HD OTA now, and don't want to give it up, nor do I want to pay "D-Net" for locals.

Any guidance will be much appreciated.

Keith

Insight is sending out a tech on monday, I will give an update then. If anyone has any suggestions before then, please let me know.

Insight will likely not be of any help to you. The service you pay for is analog cable. The tech will probably not even have a clue what a QAM tuner is anyway. He'll probably say he can't help with HD since you don't subscribe to HD programming.

You see, the cable companies don't want you to get HD stations from them without paying monthly fees for a new HD box and HD package.

You said rabbit ears don't look right? Oh man, I think that is the best! If I could just use plain rabbit ears I would be happy. I can't get all the stations I want without an outside antenna. I used to use rabbit ears. I would get comments about them. People have no clue you can get free HD with just a simple set of $10 rabbit ears. Now you might not be able to get all the channels in your area but at least you can get a few. It just shocks people to know these things.\

If you get all the channels you want with just those rabbit ears but don't want the antenna next to your new HD set then get a longer coax cable and hide the antenna somewhere else.

You also never mentioned if you scanned all 3 cable bands. There is STD, IRC and HRC.

I get a few channels here in Indy via clear QAM. But I would never rely on it. For one, my set with the built in tuner and the external boxes I have with QAM tuners don't get the free program guide info thru QAM. With an antenna you do.

I thought I read recently about a cable company that moves those clear QAM channels every few weeks just to upset the few folks that get their locals that way. This forces you to rescan.

I am curious what opinion or fact is on the future of OTA broadcasting. Will it remain in the VHF/UHF band as we now know it, or will things all go satellite or other delivery means in the near/distant years?

I love my HD OTA now, and don't want to give it up, nor do I want to pay "D-Net" for locals.

I believe at some point VHF will go away. I just wish it were now. I wish here in Indy all stations would be UHF and stay that way. I could have a smaller antenna. WISH here in Indy is still on VHF. I can't remember which other Indy station it is but one of them intends to go back to VHF after that 2009 transition.

I love OTA HD as well. Local HD stations should always be free.

I believe at some point VHF will go away. I just wish it were now. I wish here in Indy all stations would be UHF and stay that way. I could have a smaller antenna. WISH here in Indy is still on VHF. I can't remember which other Indy station it is but one of them intends to go back to VHF after that 2009 transition.

I love OTA HD as well. Local HD stations should always be free.

I don't think VHF will go away unless the FCC makes it go away. The stations like VHF because it will reach a lot further with fewer watts. WISH-9 reaches out with much less power than the UHF digital signals, all towers being located in roughly the same place. I don't think they will change to UHF unless forced to.
I wish they would go to UHF, because VHF has more drop outs and problems in bad weather, at least that's what it seems like to me here in Bloomington.

Keith,

Although a majority of Americans receive their TV channels via cable or satellite, there are certainly no present plans to do away with OTA TV stations. Local TV stations across the country have or are spending millions of dollars for new digital equipment, including DTV transmitters and antennas.

As Nat mentioned above, it does take a lot less power to operate a VHF transmitter than it does a UHF transmitter to radiate a signal over the same coverage area. But because low band VHF channels (2-6) are so prone to interference (lightning, electrical, etc.), most broadcasters are staying away from those channels. That's why area stations like WTWO-2, WTTV-4 and WRTV-6 have no plans to return to their analog channels as of Feb. 2009. Currently, as of last count, only 46 DTV stations across the country plan to use channels 2-6 after the analog cut off in 2009. This recent post includes a list of those stations...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10093546&&#post10093546

Meanwhile, most TV stations currently operating an analog or digital station on a high band VHF channel (7-13) plan to use that channel for their DTV effective Feb. 2009. If nothing else, the stations operating on channels 7-13 will have much lower electric bills since the transmitters have lighter appetites as opposed to the hungrier UHF transmitters.

In this area, as of Feb. 2009 (according to current information), WISH-DT will remain on channel 9. WTHI-DT will switch from channel 24 back to channel 10. WLFI-DT will remain on channel 11. WTHR-DT will switch from channel 46 back to channel 13. And because channel 8 will become an open channel here in Feb. 2009 when WISH-TV analog signs off, WISH-TV's low power sister station, WIIH-CA 17 (Univision) filed with the FCC and received approval to move WIIH-CA 17 (analog) to channel 8 as a low power digital (LD) station. http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=LD1147524.html

If nothing else changes in the meantime, all other area DTV stations as of Feb. 2009 will be on UHF channels (14-51). Current UHF channels 52-69 occupy the frequencies that will be auctioned off for other wireless communications. This means that a few current DTV stations in the area will have to move as of Feb. 2009. This would include WIPB-DT (Muncie) from channel 52 to channel 23, since WNDY-DT will stay on channel 32 and its analog channel will be off the air. WTTK-DT (Kokomo), WTTV's translator station, will move from channel 54 to its analog channel 29. And WCLJ-DT (Bloomington/Indy) will move from channel 56 to its analog channel 42. I believe this includes most of the changes in this area.

Steve

You also never mentioned if you scanned all 3 cable bands. There is STD, IRC and HRC.

I get a few channels here in Indy via clear QAM. But I would never rely on it. For one, my set with the built in tuner and the external boxes I have with QAM tuners don't get the free program guide info thru QAM. With an antenna you do.

I thought I read recently about a cable company that moves those clear QAM channels every few weeks just to upset the few folks that get their locals that way. This forces you to rescan.

I have gone through my menus on the sharp aquos and I do not see any setting changes for STD, IRC, and HRC. Are these standard options usually? I have the OTA antenna hooked up currently and the NCAA games look great!

As for the cable companies moving the channels around, I'm not sure. I have only had the tv for a week. If they do, I will post a reply.

I don't get it.
My HD picture of the Butler game is basically horrible. It has all sorts of (periodic) flashing distortion at the top of the picture. Ads are fine, of course.
I just don't understand......

The picture disturbances seem to be all on the wide-angle (main) camera. Other cameras seem fine.

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH-TV, etc.

The picture disturbances seem to be all on the wide-angle (main) camera. Other cameras seem fine.

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH-TV, etc.

That sounds right Tom. I couldn't figure out where the problems were coming from. That's why you're the engineer and I'm the resident critic!
Thanks.

The picture disturbances seem to be all on the wide-angle (main) camera. Other cameras seem fine.

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH-TV, etc.

Other people are reporting the same problem in the HDTV programming forum. Obviously a CBS issue not local. Hopefully they will fix it for UNLV-Oregon.

Hey guys, I'm new here.

I am in Lafayette, IN and trying to pull in Indy locals. Problem is, I'm in an apartment. I have the Terk TV32 right now (got it for dirt cheap) and it pulls in WLFI and WRTV from Indy with no problem. Last night I had WTHR, but this morning its gone. I was considering the AntennasDirect DB8. Do you guys have any recommendations? Thanks, Scott

Money. WISH wants it, D* won't pay for what they view as a free signal. Negotiations have been ongoing but if they could not resolve this for the Super Bowl I would not expect WISH-DT on D* anytime soon.

Actually this is a big, hairy lie. :) From what I've seen it has little to do with WISH and more to do with their parent company LIN. Zero LIN-owned TV stations are carried in HD by DirecTV. It's not that D* won't pay for a free signal (they pay plenty of other stations for rights to carry the stations), it's that LIN probably wants more money than their channels are worth. I have a sticky about this and a wall of shame over at dbstalk.com.

I've pretty much given up on the cause, because there is absolutely nothing, outside of NFL football that CBS airs that I care about. And NFL football isn't a big deal because D* will still give you your local games in HD via Sunday Ticket...so as far as I'm concerned there isn't really any NEED to have WISH in HD. :)

I wouldn't pin it all on WISH though, it appears as though their parent company is the one to blame. Their contact info is on that sticky in dbstalk.com. I'd suggest you call and complain. Maybe LIN will eventually own up to that 'community service' aspect of broadcasting, but I doubt it.

Maybe LIN will eventually own up to that 'community service' aspect of broadcasting, but I doubt it.

Community service?!! Huh? Under the FCC, that's been dead and buried for so long I thought it must have been an urban legend.

Anyone notice that NBC Nightly News is now in HD? I'm not sure when it started (maybe this is old news to everyone) but I had been watching CBS News for awhile and just saw it tonight.

It's about time one of the networks made the switch. I was wondering who would be first.

Monday was the first day for NBC News in HD ... Brian mentioned it in his signoff last Friday that it would start Monday.

Tom Weber,

I noticed some more missing voice tracks tonight during CSI and Shark. No problems noticed with the programs themselves, but rather with some of the HD commercials within these programs. Voice tracks were missing at 9:33 p.m. in a Visa spot, at 9:44 during a Neutrogena spot and at 10:06 during a UPS spot. This is very reminiscent of what occurred to some of the Super Bowl commercials, which I believe turned out to be a technical issue with a playback unit at CBS, New York.

Steve

Monday was the first day for NBC News in HD ... Brian mentioned it in his signoff last Friday that it would start Monday.

It's great to see that WTHR is being so progressive -- local news in HD, showing NBC News in HD, as well as the syndated Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD. I'm guessing there aren't that many stations in the U.S. that are embracing HD so fully!

I'm just curious if anyone in Anderson, Bloomington, Indy (Carmel, Fishers, etc.) or Muncie is currently subscribing to AT&T U-verse? Currently the service in these cities is quite limited but it is available in certain neighborhoods. U-verse is not available in my small neighborhood but it is available in a small area less than a mile away. You can check availability through this site........
https://uverse1.att.com/lsloadLandingPageAction.do
Also, you can demo the system at Castleton Square Mall and at Meijer on E. 96th St., just east of I-69.

According to their channel lineup, there are some additional channels not available through my cable provider (Bright House), but then there are a few channels I do receive from cable that are not currently available from U-verse.

BTW, WISH-DT is available through U-verse.

Steve

Steve,

I keep checking to see if U-verse is available for me in Bloomington, but nothing yet.

Have you found the uverseusers.com website? There is an Indiana forum there... not a lot of activity but it is better than nothing for info.

Bill

Tom Weber,

I noticed some more missing voice tracks tonight during CSI and Shark. No problems noticed with the programs themselves, but rather with some of the HD commercials within these programs. Voice tracks were missing at 9:33 p.m. in a Visa spot, at 9:44 during a Neutrogena spot and at 10:06 during a UPS spot. This is very reminiscent of what occurred to some of the Super Bowl commercials, which I believe turned out to be a technical issue with a playback unit at CBS, New York.

Steve

Also of note to Tom Weber. Tonight during Numb3ers a Circuit City ad aired. This ad is in HD. I have seen this ad 4 times now during various shows and it has never had center channel audio. This ad is for March Madness.

This is ridiculous...all day long, both CBSHD and HBOHD have been EXTREMELY choppy for me. I'm in Muncie with Comcast...it's awful. Making the NCAA tournament games almost unbearable to watch...and this isn't the first time this has happened.

EDIT: Of course, within minutes of posting this, it cleared up.

I've (finally!) installed, configured, and cut over to some gear which should help with the WISH-HD audio. We're now up-mixing anything that says it's in 2-channel mode. We're leaving alone anything that says that it's already 5.1 surround. We will now be leaving alone anything that doesn't know or doesn't say what it is (some of those commercials mentioned above).

The 5.1 light should be "ON" all the time now for WISH-HD.

The unit also has some AGC (automatic gain control) which should help smooth out drastic level changes, while still allowing the viewer some control over dynamic range.

I'll be doing some fine-tuning, but things should already be better.

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH / WNDY / WIIH / LWS / and more

The choppiness hasn't gotten better. It seems to happen on both HD and non-HD programming.

The choppiness hasn't gotten better. It seems to happen on both HD and non-HD programming.

That must be an issue with Comcast in Muncie. I haven't noticed anything like that here in Indy, and recently I've watched several hours of WISH-DT.

Steve

That wouldn't surprise me.

Man, I wish another cable company would come here, so we had another alternative. :)

Bill,

Thanks for the info on the U-verse website!

Steve

OK, well maybe that's overkill, but...

http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_ge.jsp?news_id=cmt-092b6415&feed=cmt&date=20070402

If you have Insight communications...interesting news. Comcast is taking them over in Illinois and parts of Indiana. Specifically, the Lafayette/Kokomo area and around Anderson and Bloomington...by the end of this year.

OK, well maybe that's overkill, but...

http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_ge.jsp?news_id=cmt-092b6415&feed=cmt&date=20070402

If you have Insight communications...interesting news. Comcast is taking them over in Illinois and parts of Indiana. Specifically, the Lafayette/Kokomo area and around Anderson and Bloomington...by the end of this year.

<sarcasm on> That's really great news for those of us in Bloomington <sarcasm off>

OK, well maybe that's overkill, but...

http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_ge.jsp?news_id=cmt-092b6415&feed=cmt&date=20070402

If you have Insight communications...interesting news. Comcast is taking them over in Illinois and parts of Indiana. Specifically, the Lafayette/Kokomo area and around Anderson and Bloomington...by the end of this year.


HA! My friend who lives in Anderson who brags he pays 10% less for cable than I do in Muncie has a rude surprise in store!

Seriously, I wonder if I'll get ESPN Classic and ESPNU or he will lose them. I'll bet the latter.

Hey everyone - quick question from a Coloradaon who will be in Terre Haute tomorrow night with a HD USB box for my laptop and wants to record LOST - is there really no HDABC affiliate anywhere near Terre Haute? There was none on antennaweb.org. I have a Radio Shack portable antenna packed away that receives signals within 20-30 miles, but not much more than that. (Didn't want to scan through 3800 posts.) Thanks in advance.

Sorry. No ABC affiliate in Terre Haute.

Sorry. No ABC affiliate in Terre Haute.
Thanks. That's wonderful for my LOST addiction...

Do you all have a chance to receive it OTA with a huge antenna from Illinois or Indy?

Some viewers in the area, especially just north of Terre Haute, have reported success in receiving WICD-DT 41 (15-1), Champaign, IL (ABC). Due to distance and terrain issues, I don't believe you'll have much luck in receiving WRTV-DT 25 (6-1), Indianapolis (ABC).

Steve

If it is an addiction you can always drive closer to Indy to get the signal. :)

I live southeast of Indianapolis. According to D* website, I should receive

Comcast SportsNet (Chicago) (Ch. 640)
Chicago Cubs (HD Available)
Chicago Cubs (HD Available)
Chicago White Sox (HD Available)

Does anyone know why today's White Sox game is blacked out for me in HD? The SD feed worked, but the HD feed did not (727 error). I have received some Bulls games in HD and Monday's Sox game was in HD too.

Has anyone been experiencing stutter on WRTV while watching Lost?

For the last two weeks I get stuttering. I have not noticed it on the other networks so I do not believe it is my box.

Has anyone been experiencing stutter on WRTV while watching Lost?

For the last two weeks I get stuttering. I have not noticed it on the other networks so I do not believe it is my box.

Sorry, but I have not noticed any stuttering on WRTV-DT via Bright House (cable).

The only thing I've noticed lately on WRTV-DT is the return of the occasional horizontal green line that was noticed quite often a few months ago. The problem then was linked to a new encoder at WRTV.

Steve

Bright House Networks appears to be adding ESPN2-HD. It is now listed as channel 761 on the program guide. This will be a nice addition to their lineup.

Steve

Has anyone been experiencing stutter on WRTV while watching Lost?

For the last two weeks I get stuttering. I have not noticed it on the other networks so I do not believe it is my box.

No problems with Lost on WRTV-HD here. I use an outdoor antenna hooked up to a Dish Network VIP 622

I know this probably isn't the best place to ask this question but whatever...

When I first got my HDTV and HD box through time warner cable I had to get a DVI to HDMI cable because the hd box only had a DVI output and my TV has HDMI.

So today I decided to upgrade to the DVR HD box and with my luck it has an HDMI output so I'm stuck with this $80 DVI - HDMI cable that I can't use.

My question is where are some good places to order a cheap HDMI cable or DVI to HDMI adapter online?

I looked on amazon, but I didn't know if anyone on here has had any luck elsewhere.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

www.monoprice.com. I only buy my cables there.

Something I just noticed on junky Brighthouse (Indianapolis) while watching the Cavs game on ESPNhd. We FINALLY get ESPN2hd!!!
Thank the lord

Something I just noticed on junky Brighthouse (Indianapolis) while watching the Cavs game on ESPNhd. We FINALLY get ESPN2hd!!!
Thank the lord

Yeah...I hate Brighthouse. When I heard that Comcast was taking over Insight around Indy I because extremely jealous. Oh well...

Yeah...I hate Brighthouse. When I heard that Comcast was taking over Insight around Indy I because extremely jealous. Oh well...

You shouldn't be. Comcast is the worst company, in every aspect, I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with.

After having delt with several cable companies over the years including darkhouse and it's prior incarnations as american cabletwits and time weinie I've concluded they're all cut from the same cloth. Dealing with any of them over several states I find is an endevor only designed to help the sales of valium.

Probably the best ever is when I called in to report an outage to darkhouse. When I told the CSR that my cable was out and all I seen was snow the response was classic. The CSR responded, "Is your TV plugged in Sir?" Knowing when to cut my losses I simply thanked them, hung up and called back to get someone who (hopefully) was more able to cope with this brave new technology.

Just saw that Comcast Indy added 5 new HD on Demand channels, 211-215

....The CSR responded, "Is your TV plugged in Sir?" Knowing when to cut my losses I simply thanked them, hung up and called back to get someone who (hopefully) was more able to cope with this brave new technology.

The sad part of the story, Les, is the CRS asked the right question for the majority of today's cable subscribers. :eek:

I guess it is better than WTWO and WFXW, they DON'T EVEN OFFER HD YET!!! and their DT signal has SUCKED lately!!!

Actually, WTWO and WFXW have a weak, ugly DT signal all the time. I'm just north of TH with a rooftop currently pointed south, and I pickup WICD's HD signal better than I do the terrible WTWO/WFXW signals. It is a shame they won't at least give HD waivers.

Does anyone have a list of the QAM channels for Brighthouse? My uncle just picked up a HD set and he is only receiving CBS and NBC on QAM. He is near Brownsburg if that makes a difference on which channels they are broadcasted on.

I'm on the Carmel feed of Bright House. The channel numbers vary a lot depending on the brand/type of QAM tuner. Last weekend I tested a new 14" Toshiba TV/DVD combo unit with built-in NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuner. Several of the local stations popped up several times with this tuner. With my Sony HDTV's QAM tuner, they show up as listed on the Bright House channel list (704, 706, 708, 713, etc.)

Besides a couple of promo channels (Video on Demand, etc.), I receive Turner Classic Movies (TCM), WRTV's News Channel 64, WTTV-DT, WRTV-DT, WISH-DT, WTHR-DT, WXIN-DT and WFYI-DT.

Steve

So it sounds like they are remapping the channels and it depends on the TV if it decodes the remapping correctly. It is a Panasonic TV if it makes any difference.

Has anyone heard any sort of update or technical explanation for the fact that the Muncie Comcast market STILL does not receive the OnDemand services?

I call Comcast and of course the CSR says oh we expect that "soon".

I point out that we are still paying the same service fees as the rest of the Indy market that DOES get OnDemand and could I at least get a price break until the service is provided. CSRs respond, "oh but OnDemand is a FREE service". To which I respond, "oh so you just choose to provide Muncie with inferior service for the same price". What a crock. (rant mode:off)

Anyone hear anything?

Has anyone heard any sort of update or technical explanation for the fact that the Muncie Comcast market STILL does not receive the OnDemand services?

I call Comcast and of course the CSR says oh we expect that "soon".

I point out that we are still paying the same service fees as the rest of the Indy market that DOES get OnDemand and could I at least get a price break until the service is provided. CSRs respond, "oh but OnDemand is a FREE service". To which I respond, "oh so you just choose to provide Muncie with inferior service for the same price". What a crock. (rant mode:off)

Anyone hear anything?

Nice to see I"m not the only one furious about this.

I send them an email about once a month asking about it. When I sent the email in March, the woman replied back and said that it is scheduled to roll out sometime this year, but she hadn't been given details more specific than that. That's the first time I received an answer other than "I don't know" or "soon".

While we're on the Comcast/Muncie subject, does anyone else ever have the problem where the HD channels are choppy? It's usually constant with 1-2 channels, but ever since Thursday morning, every single HD channel has been that way.

Has anyone who is currently with Insight in Fishers heard anything directly from Insight or Comcast about the change?

While we're on the Comcast/Muncie subject, does anyone else ever have the problem where the HD channels are choppy? It's usually constant with 1-2 channels, but ever since Thursday morning, every single HD channel has been that way.


Chibul, that's usually a key sign of some signal quality issues. You'd notice it on the HD channels first because they take more bandwidth to work properly. I'd call Comcast and get them out to fix it!

Chibul, that's usually a key sign of some signal quality issues. You'd notice it on the HD channels first because they take more bandwidth to work properly. I'd call Comcast and get them out to fix it!

Odd...I came home today, and everything's working better now. No clue why. It seems to come and go.

I sent their tech support an email this morning...not that I expect it to resolve anything. :) Thanks for the heads-up.

Anyone know why the NHL game (PENS! vs Senators) was SD on WTHR? I was really excited to see it in HD, but it never happened. At least E* put up a channel to broadcast the Versus HD feed for the playoffs. Sad when Versus does a better job than NBC.

Has anyone else had a rash of Dolby Digital problems while watching the HD feed from WTHR (Channel 13)? We receive the HD channel through Insight Cable here in Lebanon. It was really noticeable Thursday 12-April; I copied "The Office" on my Tivo Series 3 and when I played it back the sound cut out of the center speaker (but continued in the other channels) while the program was in HD and DD 5.1. The station switched back to SD and the sound switched to Dolby Pro Logic. It seems as if they can broadcast HD with Pro Logic, but not DD 5.1.....

Mike

Has anyone else had a rash of Dolby Digital problems while watching the HD feed from WTHR (Channel 13)? We receive the HD channel through Insight Cable here in Lebanon. It was really noticeable Thursday 12-April; I copied "The Office" on my Tivo Series 3 and when I played it back the sound cut out of the center speaker (but continued in the other channels) while the program was in HD and DD 5.1. The station switched back to SD and the sound switched to Dolby Pro Logic. It seems as if they can broadcast HD with Pro Logic, but not DD 5.1.....

Mike

Same here... I was watching The Office live via OTA and about two minutes of the dialogue during the middle of the show disappeared. I jumped over to SD via my Dish Network DVR receiver afterward (I taped it) and the audio was fine.

I was also watching OTA and there was no sound at all at the beginning of My Name is Earl. I tried to reach the engineering department but their switchboard is closed at this time so I was left with email. Their response follows. Kinda makes you wonder if the stations are really ready for HD. With the sound problems on Earl and Office I found them unwatchable. Instead I downloaded the HD versions off the internet and will watch them on my HTPC.

________________________________________
From: Alg [mailto:alg@wthr.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 11:00 PM
Subject: RE: Contact WTHR

Thank you for your e-mail.
A new 5.1 surround audio processor we just put on line developed a failure this evening losing the dialog track so we had to drop back to Standard Definition video and audio while working the fix the surround sound processor. We’ve been able to make a temporary repair of the problem so will have HD and surround sound back on air for “ER” at 10 PM.
Al Grossniklaus
Director of Engineering & Operations
WTHR NBC 13/WTHR-DT 13.1/13.2



--------- Original message --------
To: "Albert Grossniklaus" <alg@wthr.com>
Subject: Contact WTHR
Date: 04-12-07 19:42
Its 8:40PM and you’re not broadcasting on your HD channel in 1080i, its letterboxed and the top and bottom. Isn’t there a way to contact engineering in the evening to correct these problems?




Same here... I was watching The Office live via OTA and about two minutes of the dialogue during the middle of the show disappeared. I jumped over to SD via my Dish Network DVR receiver afterward (I taped it) and the audio was fine.

I was just checking in to see if it was only me going crazy the other week during The Office and Earl. Thanks for posting the details of the email to WTHR.

Instead I downloaded the HD versions off the internet and will watch them on my HTPC.

Understanding this is somewhat off topic, could you comment briefly on how/where you're getting these and/or email me dabl@hotmail.com?

I presume you're using a peer to peer system and these aren't simply available for download in HD from NBC etc.

I'm a computer programmer, so I don't need hand holding, just pointers to the software and sources you're using.

I have several .ts file captures from the firewire out of my tv from off the air antenna source I play on my htpc etc.

thanks!

--Don

'Just a quick update for those waiting on WISH-TV and DirecTV to come together to provide the HD feed via satellite:

I received a note this week from Lance in Programming (extremely nice guy) who informed me that the stalemate continues and suggested I try him again this Summer for an update.

For those holding off on the HR-20, because of this situation, may need to wait longer. Otherwise, cut bait, get the HR-20 and rely on the OTA for WISH and the MPEG4 satellite feed for the other local networks. This receiver apparently allows you to cherry pick which feed to use for your HD programming.

'Just a quick update for those waiting on WISH-TV and DirecTV to come together to provide the HD feed via satellite:

I received a note this week from Lance in Programming (extremely nice guy) who informed me that the stalemate continues and suggested I try him again this Summer for an update.

For those holding off on the HR-20, because of this situation, may need to wait longer. Otherwise, cut bait, get the HR-20 and rely on the OTA for WISH and the MPEG4 satellite feed for the other local networks. This receiver apparently allows you to cherry pick which feed to use for your HD programming.

If you have the option, why would you NOT want to get your locals OTA? A direct, uncompressed signal from your antenna would be far better than DirecTV's aggressive compression, right?

'Just a quick update for those waiting on WISH-TV and DirecTV to come together to provide the HD feed via satellite:

I received a note this week from Lance in Programming (extremely nice guy) who informed me that the stalemate continues and suggested I try him again this Summer for an update.

For those holding off on the HR-20, because of this situation, may need to wait longer. Otherwise, cut bait, get the HR-20 and rely on the OTA for WISH and the MPEG4 satellite feed for the other local networks. This receiver apparently allows you to cherry pick which feed to use for your HD programming.

What exactly is the stalemate? I can't imagine Ch. 8 (and its advertisers) wouldn't want its feed available to as many viewers as possible.

Its a known fact that LIN-TV (owners of Indianapolis' WISH TV 8, and Lafayette's WLFI TV 18) does not play well with DirecTV. Basically, LIN TV wants money for something they shouldn't get money for...

Sent an email to channel 8 programming about their lack of HD on D*. No response whatsoever. Oh well, I am now watching Channel 13 news via Mpeg4 which is now broadcasting in HD. Doesn't make good business sense.

OK, at the risk of incurring the wrath of my employer, here's approximately the way we feel about it. I say that because I am not an official company spokesperson, and there are undoubtedly fine points and subtleties to each party's argumenst, but here goes.

Since my best friend owns a hardware store, I use this as an analogy:

If my friend decides to give away a hammer to any customer who comes in, he can do that. If some enterprising person in his town decides to provide a service, wherein he will, for $1, go and get the free hammer for anyone who agrees, that MAY be possible. But my friend, as the business owner, has the right to set the terms of the transaction. The delivery person is not an individual customer, so he doesn't qualify for the free hammer (except for himself.).

The terms might be that the customer must come in and pick up the hammer himself. Or, my friend might negotiate with the delivery person and realize that both can profit from the delivery service. But, the chance to interact directly with the customer is lost in this case. So, the cost of the lost opportunity is, maybe 10 cents of the dollar, and so that is the price my friend charges the delivery service for the hammer.

I cannot suggest that this is an accurate analogy, but it does contain some useful elements. I don't know what we are asking from the satellite services, but it is well less than they're collecting from customers.

Thoughts?

Tom Weber
Engineering

OK, at the risk of incurring the wrath of my employer, here's approximately the way we feel about it. I don't know what we are asking from the satellite services, but it is well less than they're collecting from customers.

Thoughts?

Tom Weber
Engineering

Tom,

I hope they aren't mad at you, because this is generally spot-on. My $.02 follows.

The FCC says that over-the-air TV must remain free. But, when a third-party comes along to rebroadcast your signal, those rules go out the window.

I find it interesting that over the last 20 years that I have been watching all of this, that broadcasters didn't charge cable companies at the outset. Initially, cable and TV worked in harmony, because they worked to improve the quality of the reception to homes. BUT...

That all changed when cable started carrying competition to the over-the-air channels. HBO, ESPN, etc. Suddenly, broadcasters found themselves competing with cable companies that were making them lose viewers by providing alternative programming. Nothing wrong with that, but...

The alternative programmers (IE, ESPN, etc) demanded money to be carried. And these days, it is SERIOUS money. All the while, broadcasters didn't take advantage of the retransmission agreements to charge the stations, which they are free to do.

Well...now ESPN, Discovery, etc etc etc have all taken big bites out of broadcast television ratings and revenues. And, while they have had the opportunity to charge cable companies, now they realize that, especially in small-medium markets, it's going to be a matter of survival to charge. In large markets, it's going to improve the bottom line.

Furthermore, these cable/satcos have had a tendency to compress the signals, especially the sat folks, as many are painfully aware...even on local channels. This makes the station looks bad. Sure, AVSers know why the local broadcast HD channels are "HD-lite", but the general public doesn't. So now, the broadcasters have had enough.

If you want a pristine, wonderful signal, grab an antenna and turn your attic or rooftop into a head-end. Otherwise, for the convenience of grabbing it via cable or sat, stations will charge you a "convenience fee" to do so, with a markup by the vendor. You get a decent snow-free picture; and we get revenue from it to continue our programming and to make a profit. It's like the folks who deliver milk (showing my age here) or do your grocery shopping for you when you give them a list. It's amazing, actually, that OTA broadcasters didn't charge for so long.

But Tom didn't tell you of a wrench in that works coming in the future. D* and E* already let you hook up an antenna to get digital signals. Now, the cable cos are looking at a new box coming out which also delivers OTA signals and bypasses the cable company completely. They give you an antenna, you still pay a monthly fee, they make out like a bandit, and the station gets nothing. Well, I smell a court fight coming on the latter, and there's already finger-pointing and screaming starting already. This should be fun to watch...as the satco's are going to see cable do that and try the same thing.

If cable delivered an HD signal while OTA did not, I could see that as an issue. But on this one, Tom and friends have every right to charge vendors to deliver a signal to you, at whatever resolution the vendors want, and however much they think you'll pay for. In the meantime, I selfishly hope this fosters a retro comeback of antennas on roofs and in attics. With the 6th generation LG tuners out, and many people having 5th gen tuners, it's a lot easier to lock stations than just 3 years ago.

Thoughts?

As a consumer of many items, TV being just one I will make a decision as to what product or products suit me best. If a competitor offers me a superior product, in this case visually, then as a consumer I have the right to make that choice. In a medium size market like Indianapolis when 3 local networks (in this case ABC, NBC and Fox ARE available in HD via D* Mpeg4) I will lean toward viewing those stations 1st and then CBS (channel 8 last). In my case I CAN get channel 8 HD OTA but 99% of the time it is for Network HD broadcasts e.g. CSI(s) and other prime time viewing. Concerning local news broadcasts I have switched to Channel 13 (NBC) since they are in HD (local studio) and feel that they have made the effort (and investment) in providing HD broadcasts (as has the 6:30PM Nightly news with BW, WOF and Jeopardy).

I'm sure the guy paying the annual fees to the FCC will not like the word "given" so let me stick with the word "granted".

The FCC has granted a broadcast frequency to each OTA broadcaster. To get that frequency the broadcaster must agree to the terms of the license, pay any regulatory fees and follow all technical and programming rules that apply to their license. Television licenses are intended to provide free OTA distribution of the station's signal ... although stations ARE permitted to have subscription feeds on their DT station, as long as there is at least one free OTA signal for public consumption.

Where it gets sticky is controlling what happens to that signal AFTER it leaves the broadcaster's antenna. At the moment it is completely legitimate to use any OTA tuner to tune any available OTA signal. If the FCC or congress suddenly decides that the OTA tuner in a receiver provided by a satellite company or cable system is somehow different than an OTA tuner purchased separately or built into a monitor it will be a sad day. Why should who gave you an OTA tuner change whether or not you can use it to receive a station OTA?

Congress has already done a lot to restrict the rebroadcast of free OTA TV ... much of it I do not agree with. As long as signals are being delivered to people within the protected Grade B contour of the OTA station I feel there should be NO compensation for the station. Perhaps some profit sharing based on the cost (not price) of lifeline cable or locals added to the satellite package. There is an expense to get local stations on the system ... an expense that cable and satellite providers spend that ends up benefiting the local stations.

So back to the hardware store .... where your friend is giving out free hammers and, BTW, has no other products in the store to sell - so this isn't a loss leader that gets people to see that new mower when they come in for their free hammer. Each individual can figure out how to get to the hardware store and pick up the hammer ... for TV that would be buying a tuner and setting up an antenna.

Then someone comes along and says "I have 1000 friends who want hammers, so I'll take 1000" and your friend refuses to give him 1000 hammers. Even though those 1000 hammers are guaranteed to go to 1000 different people, and the guy requesting them has paid for the truck and his time picking them up for his 1000 friends your hardware store friend wants money? Now the hammer delivery service has to pay for the cost of buying "free hammers" as well as the cost of hauling around hammers and delivering them to the central site where they can be sent out to the 1000 people along with "free saws" from other stores and other tools from national providers.

It would make sense to limit the hammers to those who came in to the store if there were other products ... but not when it is THE product. To that level, it would make sense to say that if someone comes to your friend's store and could pick up a free hammer and a free ruler (the main HDTV channel and a sub channel) that you might complain if that guy wants to bring the truck over for 1000 hammers for his friends but refuses to deliver the rulers.

It would be nice if stations worked with the cable and satellite companies and saw them for what they are ... helping to get their advertising message (where the real money is) into thousands of homes that either cannot receive (due to local issues) or do not wish to spend money on setting up their own antenna farm ... separate from their neighbor's antenna farm.

It seems like the next thing will be stations wanting a cut of the sale of OTA antennas and tuners ... after all, those companies are making money selling devices to make seeing your signal possible. If it is all about money stations should be at Meijer and WalMart charging a fee.

It is a shame that congress allowed stations to charge under the consent to carry laws. Free TV should be Free TV ... not yet another profit center. IMHO: Stations who refuse to allow people to watch their free OTA feeds should lose their licenses ... regardless of their standing in the community. It is a matter of law that one feed on a DT must be available free ... any action to restrict this to certain OTA boxes should be punished.

As a consumer of many items, TV being just one I will make a decision as to what product or products suit me best. If a competitor offers me a superior product, in this case visually, then as a consumer I have the right to make that choice. In a medium size market like Indianapolis when 3 local networks (in this case ABC, NBC and Fox ARE available in HD via D* Mpeg4) I will lean toward viewing those stations 1st and then CBS (channel 8 last). In my case I CAN get channel 8 HD OTA but 99% of the time it is for Network HD broadcasts e.g. CSI(s) and other prime time viewing. Concerning local news broadcasts I have switched to Channel 13 (NBC) since they are in HD (local studio) and feel that they have made the effort (and investment) in providing HD broadcasts (as has the 6:30PM Nightly news with BW, WOF and Jeopardy).

And that's what makes competition great. Instead of yelling at the engineer, I hope the people above Tom who approve of capital purchases and business decisions read this. This, not regulation or anything else, will literally force a station to go HD---or to lose their audience.

The FCC has granted a broadcast frequency to each OTA broadcaster. To get that frequency the broadcaster must agree to the terms of the license, pay any regulatory fees and follow all technical and programming rules that apply to their license. Television licenses are intended to provide free OTA distribution of the station's signal ... although stations ARE permitted to have subscription feeds on their DT station, as long as there is at least one free OTA signal for public consumption.

Where it gets sticky is controlling what happens to that signal AFTER it leaves the broadcaster's antenna. It seems like the next thing will be stations wanting a cut of the sale of OTA antennas and tuners ... after all, those companies are making money selling devices to make seeing your signal possible. If it is all about money stations should be at Meijer and WalMart charging a fee.

It is a shame that congress allowed stations to charge under the consent to carry laws. Free TV should be Free TV ... not yet another profit center. IMHO: Stations who refuse to allow people to watch their free OTA feeds should lose their licenses ... regardless of their standing in the community. It is a matter of law that one feed on a DT must be available free ... any action to restrict this to certain OTA boxes should be punished.

I agree with your first paragraph and first sentence of your second paragraph wholeheartedly. As for the antenna aspect, I am actually surprised that a few enterprising stations didn't have a little outlet with antennas at their studios in the bygone era when OTA was the only way to get TV.

But the point: once the signal is not OTA, that is, going through a cable or satellite provider, then it is not OTA anymore, period. It is a commodity. That's what Congress and the FCC have said, and I agree with that. Our local Comcast system refuses to carry a PBS station from Chicago (analog or digital). If they wanted to, they could, for free---but the station hasn't requested carriage! I still am scratching my head at that one. And yes, I can pick it up easily (analog and digital) from my antenna.

If people did one of two things:

1. Complained to the cable/satco's to carry the signals, analog/DTV and subchannels, and

2. Didn't think, in most cases, that an antenna is ugly or even know the basics of how a TV antenna works and plucked their signals OTA from a tuner

Then we would have a lot fewer problems. As it is, the general populus is lazy and just wants to plug 'n play, not do a little homework, not do a little research...this isn't rocket science. Look at all the newbies on here who are just stunned by what happens when you hook up some metal rods on your roof or in your attic. They do basic research, voila! They're happy. And then they learn about the fun stuff we're talking about here. And then they realize, between picture quality and choices, both over-the-air and pay TV, how they were (and probably are) being shafted by their ignorant decisions. And once they get "smart", it's tough for them to get a good deal because everyone is just taking whatever they're given.

OK, I went way off on a tangent, sorry. Bottom line is: if people would learn about OTA broadcasting, I don't think things would change via FCC/Congress, but by the cable/satco's themselves who would have to tailor their products to informed consumers, instead of those who look at a channel guide for 60 seconds and go, "OK, sign me up". We have a lot of recovering cable/sataholics on here.
But IMO, don't blame the FCC and Congress for limited or expensive choices on OTA via pay TV; we have dug our own graves here.

Concerning local news broadcasts I have switched to Channel 13 (NBC) since they are in HD (local studio) and feel that they have made the effort (and investment) in providing HD broadcasts (as has the 6:30PM Nightly news with BW, WOF and Jeopardy).

I have done the same as well for the reasons mentioned...and suspect many former Channel 8 news viewers have noticed the superiority of the Channel 13 HD newscast and have also jumped. It is sad the on-air personalities at Channel 8 will lose viewership due to shortsighted business decisions by "management" and due to technological deficiencies compared to their competition.

1. Complained to the cable/satco's to carry the signals, analog/DTV and subchannels, and

2. Didn't think, in most cases, that an antenna is ugly or even know the basics of how a TV antenna works and plucked their signals OTA from a tunerThanks to Congress, #1 doesn't get you too far. The satellite carriers WANT to carry the signals, primarily because their customers expect locals to be there. No amount of complaining to a satellite carrier will want them to carry the signals more ... that complaining does give more power to the local station that wants to charge extraordinary fees for their programming. What cable and satellite providers need are reasonable rates for having the privilege of extending a station's reach and advertising into new viewer's homes. Some stations act like cable/satellite carriage is losing them viewers ... do they really believe that people will entirely give up cable/satellite and go OTA if THEIR station isn't on the cable/satellite system?

For the first couple of years I had satellite my locals were not on the system. I missed them for about a month (moving from a cable fed apartment). Then I found something else to watch. At the time my satellite receiver couldn't tune OTA so it was harder to find and watch local channels. A local channel's refusal to go on cable/satellite cuts it's own viewership.

#2 works nice when you have a good place for an antenna and you're properly served by the stations. All of my OTAs are in the same general direction and close without being too close, so I could find an antenna that worked. I had one station that was giving too much signal. Closer in an omni might work ... Reports from closer viewers have problems with multipath and for them the OTAs are more spread out ... people want simplicity ... just turn on the TV and watch. Hobbyists might enjoy turning a rotor and adjusting an attenuator when they change channels (hopefully not knocking out viewing in another room) ... most people just want to watch TV.

Also, with a more satellite background, I have run in to the problems of mounting antennas. I have a house with some land. No one is going to stop me from putting up dishes or antennas whether or not they are ugly (wife approval factor aside). But there are many who can't put up the antenna they need, regardless of OTARD protections ... that includes antennas needed for receiving OTA DT. I lived for 8 years with no access to an attic or ability to roof mount an antenna ... pretty or not.

I agree that stations have the right to charge ... thanks to congress ... what I was saying was that they shouldn't have the right to hold secondary transmission hostage. It is in their best interest to get on as many sets as possible.

... It is in their best interest to get on as many sets as possible.

Bingo! 3 networks in Indianapolis are on D* in HD, thereby increasing their viewership. These stations have seen the benefit and have worked out an agreement with D*.

Wonder how much this will change when HD becomes part of the Nielsen ratings (it is my understanding that there is no way currently to track viewership of HD).

Thanks to Congress, #1 doesn't get you too far. The satellite carriers WANT to carry the signals, primarily because their customers expect locals to be there. No amount of complaining to a satellite carrier will want them to carry the signals more ... that complaining does give more power to the local station that wants to charge extraordinary fees for their programming. What cable and satellite providers need are reasonable rates for having the privilege of extending a station's reach and advertising into new viewer's homes. Some stations act like cable/satellite carriage is losing them viewers ... do they really believe that people will entirely give up cable/satellite and go OTA if THEIR station isn't on the cable/satellite system?

Not entirely, but they will supplement their cable/sat with an OTA. Let's look at great example: WLUK-TV, the FOX affiliate, in Green Bay, WI.

They are not on cable...or satellite! Head to the Green Bay board for complaints. Does it hurt their viewership? Oh, a little, I am sure. BUT...as a result, you have antennas all over the place, with digital and analog tuners providing the supplemental coverage. And they still make the bucks. And since the Packers
play on there, the ratings on game days is massive. They aren't suffering.


Also, with a more satellite background, I have run in to the problems of mounting antennas. I have a house with some land. No one is going to stop me from putting up dishes or antennas whether or not they are ugly (wife approval factor aside). But there are many who can't put up the antenna they need, regardless of OTARD protections ... that includes antennas needed for receiving OTA DT. I lived for 8 years with no access to an attic or ability to roof mount an antenna ... pretty or not.

Now here is where you talk to the landlord and petition to get an antenna system. There are still those that have them...and more should be put into place.
Quite frankly, if I were building and owning apartments, I'd have a MATV system in place.

I agree that stations have the right to charge ... thanks to congress ... what I was saying was that they shouldn't have the right to hold secondary transmission hostage. It is in their best interest to get on as many sets as possible.

No. It is in their best interest to make money and make a good profit, and believe it or not, the amount of viewers and profit are not necessarily directly related. Having less viewers but the ones you have paying $.50/month can easily dwarf what you'd make with more viewers and advertisements as your main revenue stream. We're talking potential for hundreds of millions of dollars at the network level. And oddly enough, the local affils may not even see much of the money, as it goes to the network.

I have done the same as well for the reasons mentioned...and suspect many former Channel 8 news viewers have noticed the superiority of the Channel 13 HD newscast and have also jumped. It is sad the on-air personalities at Channel 8 will lose viewership due to shortsighted business decisions by "management" and due to technological deficiencies compared to their competition.

All things equal, I'd be watching Martha Weaver on RTV, but both myself and my wife watch WTHR now just because of their HD newscast. If I find myself watching any local news, I will deliberately change the channel to 13-1 to watch in HD.

Not entirely, but they will supplement their cable/sat with an OTA. Let's look at great example: WLUK-TV, the FOX affiliate, in Green Bay, WI.

They are not on cable...or satellite! Head to the Green Bay board for complaints. Does it hurt their viewership? Oh, a little, I am sure. BUT...as a result, you have antennas all over the place, with digital and analog tuners providing the supplemental coverage. And they still make the bucks. And since the Packers
play on there, the ratings on game days is massive. They aren't suffering.

Is that really a good example, though? What happens to WLUK when the NFL and the networks come to the table again in a few years and ABC or NBC buys the rights to NFC games? You're talking about the smallest market remaining in the NFL... of course they're going to buy antennas if that's the only way to see their Packers. They are arguably the most loyal fanbase in American professional sports and would do almost anything for their team. What happens if they don't have that incentive? And is this situation really applicable if this is such an extreme case?

BTW, I'm just trying to further the discussion here... I'm not suggesting that I know the answers to any of those questions. ;)

Is that really a good example, though? What happens to WLUK when the NFL and the networks come to the table again in a few years and ABC or NBC buys the rights to NFC games? You're talking about the smallest market remaining in the NFL... of course they're going to buy antennas if that's the only way to see their Packers. They are arguably the most loyal fanbase in American professional sports and would do almost anything for their team. What happens if they don't have that incentive? And is this situation really applicable if this is such an extreme case?

BTW, I'm just trying to further the discussion here... I'm not suggesting that I know the answers to any of those questions. ;)

Yo Alan, :D (like the username!)

I don't know if it's the best example, but I think it is valid. Now, when I gave my example, I am talking past and present tense. You are correct in speculating that ratings could go down if the NFL disappears off the air there. But even so, the antennas largely won't be coming down if that happens. They're used to it. FOX has Idol, Simpsons, etc...and people will still want to watch that.

And BTW, I don't have the answers to those, either. I'm just presenting my opinions on these. Oh, I did want to say that in my previous post that stations don't explicitly want higher revenues at the expense of fewer viewers. That's how it might turn out, and the stations would win financially, but really, I would prefer a larger audience. Each station's management thinks differently. And I also want to say that a station's decision to go HD locally may not be a local one.

That requires major capital to do, suffice it to say...and that may be a decision made above the heads of the local station management. It is not the local stations in Terre Haute, for example, problem that they are on low power digitally...that decision came from the parent company on how to best spend their capital improvement money.

Anyone else notice the new set on Channel 8 news? Any word on an upgrade to HD- hard to imagine in this day and age making such a significant change to a set without an eye to making it HD-ready.

I'm curious if anyone else notices the bad sound settings on WRTV-DT. I describe it as muffled. Not sharp and crisp like the other stations in town. If you switch over to the analog, it is fine. I don't watch the channel as much as the others, but do have a few shows I watch regularly and its the same on all of them. Watching the Bulls last weekend again set me off. A few weeks ago I sent an e-mail to their engineering and they said they had just installed a new OCTiMax system and were still playing with the settings, but seemed to think the sound was fine and they appreciated my feedback. Just wondering if anyone else notices this? Maybe I'm too fussy.

Actually its the other way around for me. The analog feed from WRTV thru WRTV-DT is muffled. HDTV content is great. I don't watch much on ABC (Lost and Ugly Betty) but there have been audi problems lately. Watching last night Ugly Betty and there was crackling every few minutes for a while.

It's funny you mention the audio problems. Last nights Ugly Betty was being shown in SD for about the first 10 minutes then switched to HD. The muffled analog audio was so bad, then when someone realized they forgot to switch to the HD feed the audo was so much more improved.

And THANK YOU ABC for removing that green line on the right side of the screen that's been there for ages. Guess that since so many new HD owners complained about that line made them do something about it. Now if we could get NBC to remove their yellow line on the left.

Actually its the other way around for me. The analog feed from WRTV thru WRTV-DT is muffled. HDTV content is great. .

Now that you mention it, your correct. It is not the analog or the digital. It is the analog THRU the digital that sounds bad. Mainy the only show I watch is AFV. That is an analog show being shown on the dt station. You would think they would use the dt feed from the network and just pass it on. Something is getting lost in the conversion it seems. I'll have to sample some of the full blown 5.1 shows and see.

I re-emailed WRTV's engineering and explained that it only seemed to be a probelm on upconverts. Here is what he said.

"the issue last night was ABC was having trouble in HD. They were
sending the SD upconverted. They finally fixed the problem about 20:08
With AFV they also send it upconverted to us. We do not process the
audio that ABC sends us only what we produce here in upconvert. Thanks
for you feedback"

So I guess I need to write ABC. Only show I watch there tho is AFV. Not sure if it is worth the trouble.

Yeah, analog audio thru the digital signal is fairly bad. I have the true analog signal thru Dish Network but can't even recall when I tuned to it last. Audio may be better there. I'll record something that is genuinely SD sometime on both feeds to look.

Anything that is analog shown on the digital station doesn't have that great of a picture anyway if you ask me. It would be wonderful if everything would go HD. But could you imagine Oprah or trash talk shows like Jerry Springer in HD? I doubt those would ever to HD. Not that I watch those shows but what would all those, well, strange people look like in HD on Jerry Springer?

Over 90% of what I watch and record is on CBS. My news has always been WTHR and thank goodness that is HD now. At least what is shown in the studio. On the rare occasion I want to watch news at 10pm and have to go to 8 for news and have to see that SD news. Ouch.

Get with the program Indy stations. Get your local newscasts in HD. (Tom Weber any comments about WISH news going HD?)

If people didn't think that an antenna is ugly or even know the basics of how a TV antenna works and plucked their signals OTA from a tuner then we would have a lot fewer problems. Bottom line: if people would learn about OTA broadcasting

I don't know how an antenna 'works' -- all I know is *that* it works! Very, very well indeed.


Spotted the below in an Indianapolis Star article today, "Rabbit ears find new life in HDTV age"

Many people aren't aware that they can get HD over the airwaves, Wilson said. He estimates there are 10 million households with HDTVs and that fewer than 2 million of them use antennas. Including homes with analog sets, 15 million of the 110 million households in the United States use antennas.

Those really interested in saving a buck and who have a little MacGyver in them could make their own antenna. Steve Mezick of Portland, Ore., created one out of cardboard and tinfoil.

"I decided to build it because the design looked exceedingly simple. I scrounged up stuff around the house and put one together," said Mezick, a bowling alley mechanic who repairs pin spotters.

The 30-year-old has since upgraded his original design using a wire baking sheet, clothes hanger and wood. He mounted it to the side of his house and gets all of his local stations.

"It works brilliantly," he said.

Get with the program Indy stations. Get your local newscasts in HD.
As much as all of us would love to see more stations go the HD route with their local news broadcasts, it's important to keep in mind that technically and financially speaking, this is no small task. In addition to purchasing HD cameras, which in and of themselves are a massive expense, stations also have to buy HD switchers, routers, video servers, and much, much more in order to achieve a complete switchover to HD production. This can be a huge expense, and so budgeting for and approving these kinds of projects can take a while.

Granted, just because of the cost associated with a project like this doesn't necessarily mean that it's not worth doing, but I'm sure that sooner or later, WISH and WRTV will follow suit and go the HD route with local news. However, these kinds of projects don't get approved and implemented overnight, so patience is the key.

While I think it's great that WTHR is producing the studio portions of their news broadcasts in HD, I think their "first local news in HD" claim, while true in some respects, isn't completely accurate. Personally, I'm reserving that bragging right for the first station that employs HD cameras for both studio and field production.

Tom Weber any comments about WISH news going HD?

I'd have to think with the recent unveiling of the new studio they are least heading that way. I would like to get an idea of when, though.

The GM of WTVF-DT, Nashville, TN recently told a newspaper reporter that the station spent $10,000,000 to go HD with local broadcasts. That's a HUGE expense for one station!

Steve

I'd have to think with the recent unveiling of the new studio they are least heading that way. I would like to get an idea of when, though.

It appears that WISH has been broadcasting their local news OTA on 8-1. However, it is not letterbox (yet), but the picture is sharper (unless my eyes are playing tricks!).

The audio is also in 5.1, however, (unless it's me) I hear a background noise throughout the broadcast that almost sounds like wind blowing - kinda faint though.

The audio is also in 5.1, however, (unless it's me) I hear a background noise throughout the broadcast that almost sounds like wind blowing - kinda faint though.

Posted by Tom Weber on 4/2/07..........................


I've (finally!) installed, configured, and cut over to some gear which should help with the WISH-HD audio. We're now up-mixing anything that says it's in 2-channel mode. We're leaving alone anything that says that it's already 5.1 surround. We will now be leaving alone anything that doesn't know or doesn't say what it is (some of those commercials mentioned above).

The 5.1 light should be "ON" all the time now for WISH-HD.

The unit also has some AGC (automatic gain control) which should help smooth out drastic level changes, while still allowing the viewer some control over dynamic range.

I'll be doing some fine-tuning, but things should already be better.

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH / WNDY / WIIH / LWS / and more
............................................................ ...................................................

Tom, lately I've found the audio levels much more uniform, and without the drastic level changes that I used to notice. Thanks for the adjustments.

Steve

Was it just my equipment, or did the center channel volume almost disappear during the running of yesterday's Kentucky Derby? I had to max it out (an insufficient 6dB increase) to try to overcome the crowd noises in the main channels.

Was it just my equipment, or did the center channel volume almost disappear during the running of yesterday's Kentucky Derby? I had to max it out (an insufficient 6dB increase) to try to overcome the crowd noises in the main channels.

Mine did as well. However, I noticed it was only the two guys in the booth doing the play-by-play, not Bob Costas on the sidelines. ??

Posted by Tom Weber on 4/2/07..........................


I've (finally!) installed, configured, and cut over to some gear which should help with the WISH-HD audio. We're now up-mixing anything that says it's in 2-channel mode. We're leaving alone anything that says that it's already 5.1 surround.

I'll be doing some fine-tuning, but things should already be better.

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH / WNDY / WIIH / LWS / and more
............................................................ ...................................................

Tom, lately I've found the audio levels much more uniform, and without the drastic level changes that I used to notice. Thanks for the adjustments.

Steve


Steve, Tom:

Might these recent changes be behind the frequent audio 'skipping' I've been witnessing on WISH with my OTA setup? (the longer-duration skips accompanied by video freezes) The timing correlates well with this phenomenon; it's been quite noticeable these past few weeks.

I don't notice the audio problems on any other channel. The occurrence of the skipping (like a phono needle skipping on an LP playing on a turntable), a momentary cutting-out or clipping, can be as frequent it seems as every 20 seconds or so. It's annoying and drops whole spoken words, even multi-word phrases.

The Samsung set top box (H260F) reports a "7-bar" signal strength when I encounter this, as I am currently with "60 Minutes".

Steve, Tom:

Might these recent changes be behind the frequent audio 'skipping' I've been witnessing on WISH with my OTA setup? (the longer-duration skips accompanied by video freezes) The timing correlates well with this phenomenon; it's been quite noticeable these past few weeks.

I don't notice the audio problems on any other channel. The occurrence of the skipping (like a phono needle skipping on an LP playing on a turntable), a momentary cutting-out or clipping, can be as frequent it seems as every 20 seconds or so. It's annoying and drops whole spoken words, even multi-word phrases.

The Samsung set top box (H260F) reports a "7-bar" signal strength when I encounter this, as I am currently with "60 Minutes".

No, I haven't noticed any issues like that, and I watched WISH-DT several different times this past week. I'm not sure what would be causing the skipping.

Steve

No, I haven't noticed any issues like that, and I watched WISH-DT several different times this past week. I'm not sure what would be causing the skipping.


It was really annoying last night on "60 Minutes", but when local content came across (promos for WISH Newscasts), the clipping disappeared entirely. Maybe it was an artifact related to the network's transmission path.

Our premier local event will finally be in HD this year:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070508/SPORTS0101/70508039

Of course I doubt we will get to see it locally in HD even on the tape delay. My guess is WRTV-6 has no way to record HD.

I'm confused. Why are you thinking that WRTV won't be showing it live in HD?

I'm confused. Why are you thinking that WRTV won't be showing it live in HD?

The race has NEVER been shown live in Indianapolis. IMS will not allow the race to be shown live in Indianapolis. It is on tape delay and shown Sunday night.

Good news about the HD broadcast (nationally). I'm checking with an engineer at WRTV-DT about their ability to replay the race, hopefully, in HD.

Steve

I wouldn't be surprised that audio skipping would correlate with video freezing, they are transmitted together, unlike analog signals. Late last week I think I fixed a little bug whereby we were getting some little boxes across the screen for a second or two maybe every minute or so. But nothing so severe as full freezes.

Signal strength of 7 bars out of how many possible? And is that a normal and usual signal for you?

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, WNDY, WIIH, LWS, etc.

The race has NEVER been shown live in Indianapolis. IMS will not allow the race to be shown live in Indianapolis. It is on tape delay and shown Sunday night.
It seems like I recall a few years back where IMS allowed live broadcast of one of the races. Seems like it was in recognition of WRTV's 25th anniversary or something. Does anyone else recall that, or am I full of hooey?

Ken

Sorry to be semi off topic, but does that mean no one in Indianapolis sees the race live, while the rest of the country sees it live? I'm never in Indy for the race weekend (college) so I'm not sure...

Yes. WRTV is not allowed to televise the race live. Locally the race is seen later that evening. To see it live, you have to receive another ABC station.

Steve

Yes. WRTV is not allowed to televise the race live. Locally the race is seen later that evening. To see it live, you have to receive another ABC station.

Steve
The Indy 500 and BY 400 are the only reasons I still have a 10 foot dish in my yard. Of course, if they're going HD this year, I may be out of luck, too :(

That would be too bad, it's great to never have a commercial break. Did you ever notice how lots of times, incidents happen during a commercial break?

Ken

WRTV-DT's HD delay server got sent to its sister station in Denver when Indiana started observing DST. Discussions are underway at the station regarding other possible options of replaying the race in HD.

Steve

It seems like I recall a few years back where IMS allowed live broadcast of one of the races. Seems like it was in recognition of WRTV's 25th anniversary or something. Does anyone else recall that, or am I full of hooey?

Ken


Just to clarify. Only the Indianapolis 500 is not allowed to be shown live. Both the Brickyard 400(ESPN this year) and the US Grand Prix(Speed Channel) are shown live.

Originally posted by KBandy
The Indy 500 and BY 400 are the only reasons I still have a 10 foot dish in my yard. Of course, if they're going HD this year, I may be out of luck, too

Me, too. But I couldn't find a wild feed of it last year. Maybe it was on MPEG FTA? I do know that the Denver 5 quit broadcasting in analog so I would have needed a Motorola sidecar for my Uniden receiver. But a MPEG FTA receiver might be just the ticket. Better make sure that positioning arm on the dish still works first.

It seems like I recall a few years back where IMS allowed live broadcast of one of the races. Seems like it was in recognition of WRTV's 25th anniversary or something. Does anyone else recall that, or am I full of hooey?

Ken

You are not full of hooey. I remember it also. Everyone I've mentioned it to here think I'm crazy. I've been bitching about it every year since they haven't shown it live again.

I used to go to my parents and catch a wild satellite feed to watch it live. One year they switch the wild feed mid-race. Panic set in for a few minutes trying to find another feed. The one I found was for a Japanese broadcast. I had to use a radio for audio.

One year I decided not to listen to any broadcasts and watch the tape delay as if it were live. At 7:00pm I was good to go not knowing who won the race. I made the mistake switching to the NASCAR pre-race of the Coca-Cola 600 during a commercial. About ten seconds into the Nascar broadcast they said "Congratulations to Helio Castroneves, winner of the Indianapolis 500". If they had said "Congratulations to the Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves" I would have turned the channel without hearing the winner.

Now that I've gotten my parents an HD tuner, I watch the race live ota from the Fort Wayne station. Maybe WTHR could buy a Sony DHG-HDD500 and have my parents record the race for later broadcast...

T Heller:

I don't know what your setup is, but I fixed an audio cut-out problem (no vid freezes) in my system a few weeks ago. I had an el-cheapo coaxial-to-optical converter (due to my hodge-podge of A/V ins and outs). I eventually put a VOM on the power supply for it, which was supposed to be 6V. It was supplying 12V. I snagged an extra cellphone charger from my wife's phone (6V, similar amperage, plug fit), and have had zero problems with it since. Just a possibility, albeit a low-probability one.

Jason

Ok.........showing my age......Years ago WBAK (Channel 38 in Terre Haute) was one time an ABC affiliate and did broadcast the race live. And one year WTHI (Channel 10 and a cbs affiliate then owned by the Hulman family) broadcast the race live (1997 - 2000 time frame). You are stuck trying to get either Louisville Ky, Champaign IL or another ABC affiliate from a distance to watch the race live.

I will be having fun trying to get to my store race day which is 4 blocks n of the track....lucky me.


Randy

In my pre- C-Band days we used to turn the rooftop antenna to Terre Haute for the 38 broadcast. Conspiracy theory suggests that Terre Haute now has no ABC affiliate because too many Indy area folks could receive the 500 broadcast. :)

ROFL, it would be completely assanine for ABC to drop an affiliate anywhere for a one-time event. You have got to be kidding me.....

I'm still in shock that nobody in Indiana except Fort Wayne gets to watch the race live! Good thing I'll be in Cincinnati for the race.

I'm still in shock that nobody in Indiana except Fort Wayne gets to watch the race live! Good thing I'll be in Cincinnati for the race.

Southern Indiana (as far north as Bloomington) can get it from Louisville, KY.
Go Sarah! :D

Being on ABC puts it on an LP station, but it should also be available in the South Bend market. In HD via Comcast (OTA HD coming later this year to South Bend). Dayton, Cincy and Evansville markets also cover portions of Indiana.

I wouldn't be surprised that audio skipping would correlate with video freezing, they are transmitted together, unlike analog signals. Late last week I think I fixed a little bug whereby we were getting some little boxes across the screen for a second or two maybe every minute or so. But nothing so severe as full freezes.

Signal strength of 7 bars out of how many possible? And is that a normal and usual signal for you?

Tom Weber
Engineering
WISH, WNDY, WIIH, LWS, etc.


Hopefully, you'll find this reply in the torrent of comments about WRTV, the 500 and HD. :-)


No little boxes across the screen. The video freezes are split-second in duration. Maybe the same duration as the audio 'skipping', but the audio skips are (were?) far more frequent. I haven't been watching much WISH/CBS the last few days; I'll do so and report back here if the problem is still there.

Seven (of ten) bars for WISH is my normal and usual. I don't think I've seen it any higher. I checked the signal strength for other stations and they were all in normal & usual ranges, eight to ten.

Again, it was particularly bad during '60 Minutes' last Sunday, but not present on local-sourced content. I thought it might have been a problem with the network feed/pass-through.

UPDATE: watched just a few minutes of CBS last night (Thurs) and encountered the audio skipping again. Checked the signal strength and it was 8 bars of ten, probably the best I've seen for WISH.

You are not full of hooey. I remember it also. Everyone I've mentioned it to here think I'm crazy. I've been bitching about it every year since they haven't shown it live again.


Not full of hooey. I think it was for the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 or something. It's actually the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life. Do they REALLY think people are going to NOT show up to the race because they can watch it at home? I mean, I'm not really a fan of left-hand turns, but...seriously you guys....

Oh well, I might watch it on delay if WRTV can get it worked out....

A radio station from Indy (WFBQ) reported this morning that WRTV 6 does in fact have it worked out to record the broadcast in HD for the tape delay. I'm still going to my parents though.

I'm still in shock that nobody in Indiana except Fort Wayne gets to watch the race live! Good thing I'll be in Cincinnati for the race.

What about Terre Haute and South Bend? I know SB's ABC affiliate is a low-power, non-HD (yet) affiliate...

And BTW, this is one of the worst business decisions I can think of. It's one of many reasons IRL is in the dumper, of course. Up in my Chicago-land, our professional hockey team is owned by a guy who believes we shouldn't see the home games on TV. As a result of that lack of promotion, we have, by far, the lowest attendance of any team in the NHL. And, one of the worst teams in the NHL. Our minor hockey league team, the Chicago Wolves, outdraw them on attendance AND TV, even though the games are shown on a Comcast public access channel!

Note to the president of IMS: exposure. Think about it. The more, the merrier. Really!

(Sorry for venting.)

Terre Haute does not have an ABC affiliate and South Bend's ABC will not be OTA HD until later this summer ("before August 1st" was the last estimate) although South Bend's ABC is HD via Comcast.

It would be more accurate to say that the race is not live in the Indianapolis market than to say "nobody in Indiana except Fort Wayne". :)

Hello everybody.

I grew up only a mile from the IN-MI border. We always watched the live 500 broadcast on channel 41 (WUHQ at that time, I believe) out of Battle Creek and then watched it again that night on WSJV 28 (ABC at the time) from South Bend. Later on I went to work for a TV station here in Fort Wayne and after the station installed a satellite receiver started watching the ABC feed until they allowed live broadcasts.

Does anyone know what happened to channel 13'sa analog signal at 4:30 yesterday morning? I felt like I had moved to February, 2009 with only HDTV and no analog. Their digital signal was fine for the early morning local news, but there was nothing but static on our older TVs.
I know that this is an HDTV forum and that this is an analog issue, but I'm not sure where else to ask this kind of question.

billmarc

Does anyone know what happened to channel 13'sa analog signal at 4:30 yesterday morning?
billmarc
Seems like I remember hearing the talent say that they were having a problem at their transmitter site. I didn't hear any more.

Ken

Has anybody else had problems with WTHR reception in HD? I used to get it great ,but now my signal strength is low to none while the rest of the channels are strong. I even get PBS from Muncie even though I am pointed at Indy.I am on antenna in Noblesville.

The past couple days I've had severe ghosting on the analog WTHR 13 which is odd since I have cable. I've had the QAM digital signal drop a few times. The digital ota signal dropped several times as well. I'm sure it is a station issue.

Does anyone know if our FSNHD station via Comcast (channel 201 for me) actually works? All I've ever seen out of it is a testing pattern, but a little investigation shows it is FSN Midwest HD and should carry a lot of Cardinal games. However, the only time I turned it on while a game was supposed to be on I still got the testing pattern.

I noticed on the guide tomorrow night (Saturday) a Cardinals vs. Tigers game is listed. I would really like to be able to watch this world series rematch in HD, but has anybody actually had any success seeing games on this station? If not, then let's go Comcast, get your act together...

If not, then let's go Comcast, get your act together...
You say that as if Comcast reads this, and if they do, they would care :rolleyes:

Ken

You say that as if Comcast reads this, and if they do, they would care :rolleyes:

Ken

Well, I do know what they care about....earlier in the year, I was getting several unencrypted HD channels via QAM (non-locals, including ESPN, Discover, INHD, etc). Now, they have apparently encrypted everything but the local HD channels and that pisses me off!

To answer the earlier question.....on the TV that I have a STB with, channel 201 is indeed showing as FSHND....however, the guide shows it as "off air" all day When I turn to that channel, I get a frozen picture of the channel I was previously on.

Does anyone know if our FSNHD station via Comcast (channel 201 for me) actually works? All I've ever seen out of it is a testing pattern, but a little investigation shows it is FSN Midwest HD and should carry a lot of Cardinal games. However, the only time I turned it on while a game was supposed to be on I still got the testing pattern.

I noticed on the guide tomorrow night (Saturday) a Cardinals vs. Tigers game is listed. I would really like to be able to watch this world series rematch in HD, but has anybody actually had any success seeing games on this station? If not, then let's go Comcast, get your act together...


Even if the Cardinals game is listed on that channel you won't see it. Indianapolis is not considered a home market for the Cardinals, therefore you would have to have MLB Extra Innnings package to see it.

Haha that makes perfect MLB sense. If you're in somebody's market more often than not you get hosed by blackouts, then if you're not in their market you can't watch their games either.

So my next question is why the hell does Comcast waste our time with that station if it is only on-air with Cardinal games that we can't watch anyways?

So they can say they offer more HD channels than D*.

Yep, so the game was definitely listed on the guide last night but nothing was on. This just seems like a foolish mistake on Comcast's part.

Since it appears the MLB's rules with RSNs are coming into play here, why don't we get FSN Cincinnatti HD (reds games) or Comcast SportsNet HD (white sox)? It seems to me like we're being cheated out of a functional HD station.

Has anybody else had problems with WTHR reception in HD? I used to get it great ,but now my signal strength is low to none while the rest of the channels are strong. I even get PBS from Muncie even though I am pointed at Indy.I am on antenna in Noblesville.

Probably too late, but you might want to re-scan for channels. Every so often I lose decent signal on one of the locals, and it's always fixed by rebooting my receiver and re-scanning. Could just be a quirk of my receiver, but if you're still having problems, give it a try. I have not otherwise seen a problem with WTHR-DT reception.

I have seen WTHR-DT's signal strength drop from 99 per cent to 88 per cent in recent days. All others have stayed at 99-100 per cent. Although this hasn't affected reception it may have some relationship to your situation.

The FCC has approved a request from WTTV-DT 48 (4.1) and issued a CP (construction permit) to move the transmit antenna (now side-mounted on the tower at approx. 1044 ft.- HAAT), to the top of the tower (approx. 1172 ft.- HAAT) after Feb. 17, 2009. The top-mounted analog antenna will be replaced with the digital antenna. At that time, due to the increased line of sight signal, the ERP will be reduced from 870kW to 750kW.

WTHR-DT is currently working with the FCC to iron out a power and non-directional antenna issue relating to its planned move to channel 13 on Feb. 17, 2009. If the FCC does not authorize WTHR-DT its full 13.5 kW ERP with a non-directional antenna on channel 13, WTHR-DT has requested that the station remain on channel 46 (with 1000 kW ERP) post-transition.

Steve

Engineers have made it very clear in this forum that VHF covers a lot more area per watt than UHF.
But does 13.5K VHF = a million watts UHF?
Wow.

Engineers have made it very clear in this forum that VHF covers a lot more area per watt than UHF.
But does 13.5K VHF = a million watts UHF?
Wow.

Nat, yes, according to field strength readings and other tests relating to coverage areas. Actually, the correct power according to FCC files for WTHR-DT-13 is 13.1kW, not 13.5kW....My mistake. Comparing VHF to UHF is like comparing an apple to an orange. Or like comparing the ERP of AM radio to FM radio. Here's a coverage map comparing WTHR-DT-13 vs. WTHR-DT-46. They are very similar.
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6519410854

Even comparing the power needed for a VHF analog station to a VHF digital station is very different. WISH-8 transmits with an ERP of 316kW while WISH-DT-9 can basically replicate that same coverage area with an ERP of 19.5kW. And as far as UHF, to cover virtually the same area, WXIN-59 is operating with an ERP of 4470kW while WXIN-DT-45 is operating with an ERP of 700kW.

Actually, on a UHF digital station, the signal strength, at the receiver, between a station operating at 1000kW vs. 500kW is very marginal. In figuring digital coverage areas, the FCC assumes the viewer is receiving that signal with a high-gain antenna mounted outdoors at 30 feet AGL (above ground level). With this in mind, I noticed very little change in the signal strength of WTTV-DT at my location (36 miles from the Trafalgar tower) when it went from 4kW to 870kW last year. Of course, YMMV (your mileage may vary). Line of sight reception between the transmit antenna and the receive antenna seems to be more important.

My 2 cents.

Steve

Anyone else notice that the WISH-DT Indianapolis logo keeps appearing and disappearing randomly during programming? On for a second, off for a second, and that can repeat 10 times in a 1 minute period.

This logo used to appear only at the beginning of a program. Now it appears seemingly whenever it wants to during a program.

Tom Weber any comments?

Anyone else notice that the WISH-DT Indianapolis logo keeps appearing and disappearing randomly during programming? On for a second, off for a second, and that can repeat 10 times in a 1 minute period.

This logo used to appear only at the beginning of a program. Now it appears seemingly whenever it wants to during a program.

Tom Weber any comments?

Very annoying...

I saw the logo go crazy during Pirate Master. It was more entertaining than the show itself. ;)

Oh, I almost forgot...

Does anyone know of a good ISF calibrator in the area? I have a Toshiba 57H84 that I'd love to replace, but my wife won't let me, so I've been thinking about getting it calibrated. I'd like to see more sharpness and better color out of it over HDMI and component. Know of anyone?

Oh, I almost forgot...

Does anyone know of a good ISF calibrator in the area? I have a Toshiba 57H84 that I'd love to replace, but my wife won't let me, so I've been thinking about getting it calibrated. I'd like to see more sharpness and better color out of it over HDMI and component. Know of anyone?

Ken Whitcomb is one of the best. He calibrated my plasma about 3 years ago, and it looks beautiful. His website is www.calibrationsinc.com

bakem

I apologize in advance if this is a silly question, but if you don't ask you'll never know.

I've noticed on the tv query site there are several LP (low power) television stations listed. Is it possible to receive these stations with just a OTA antenna or are these part of a cable/satellite service only?

When looking at service area maps the LP range seems to be very limited to around 5 to 10 miles. Living north of Terre Haute there seems to be a number of them in the making near the Farmersburg towers.

On a side note.........Once again from a location 9 miles north/west of TH and 5 miles from the Illinois border it's been fun seeing what can be locked in lately. All Louisville stations seem to come in with relative ease every few nights. Picked up WTVW and WEVV out of Evansville for the first time. Yet at the same time the local FOX station 12 miles away wouldn't lock in.

Seems at my location WTTV is a little more hit and miss this summer as compared to last. Maybe a few additional leaves on the trees this year messing with the signal, who knows. WRTV channel 6 has been the easiest to lock on as far as signals coming out of Indy. One irritating thing is the Bloomington signal for WTIU has broken up sometimes this summer and I've never experienced that before (leaves again?). On that same note the ION and Worship channels that were pretty consistent before are now pretty much gone.

Guess I need to get out there and see if some limb has grown during that time and causing problems.

RWB,

Yes, the new low power digital (LD) stations will be available OTA. The ones on VHF will be limited to around .3 kW (300 watts) ERP and the ones on UHF will be limited to a maximum ERP of 15 kW. According to what I've heard and seen via FCC files, most of these LD stations will have their transmit antenna mounted at heights very similar to full power stations, so line of sight reception should be quite good. Before last July, I was able to receive WTTV-DT-48, with just 4 kW ERP @ over 900 ft., at over 90% signal strength @ 36 miles distant.

WISH-TV's sister station WIIH-17, low power analog, already has FCC approval to move to ch. 8 after the analog sign off Feb. 17, 2009. WIIH-LD-8 will operate with an ERP of .3 kW and according to the FCC coverage map it should cover the entire metro area and then some.

Your recent issue receiving WTTV-DT-48 could be related to new tree limbs/leaves or it could be related, at least partially, to interference from WCIA-DT-48, Champaign, which recently increased its ERP to 1000 kW. With your location on the fringe of both stations, aiming your antenna is going to be much more critical.

After the analog sign off in Feb. 2009, some of the digital stations should be easier to receive due to less interference from analog stations on the same channel, and even from some digital stations, as some of the current DTVs will change to another channel on Feb. 17, 2009.

Steve

We've re-booted the logo box twice during the past 10 days or so. Checking on firmware updates....

Tom Weber
Engineering, WISH, etc.

I'm moving to Cicero in a few weeks and I was wondering how the Indianapolis HD situation is--is every network in HD? Is every station full power?

I live in the Traverse City, Michigan area currently, and our HD situation isn't the best. Hopefully things are a bit better down there.

I'm moving to Cicero in a few weeks and I was wondering how the Indianapolis HD situation is--is every network in HD? Is every station full power?

I live in the Traverse City, Michigan area currently, and our HD situation isn't the best. Hopefully things are a bit better down there.

Every local network station (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, PBS & MyNetworkTV) passes HD broadcasts. Also, local NBC affiliate, WTHR-DT, has upgraded to HD cameras in the studio to present local newscasts in HD. It is currently in the process of installing a new HD master control center, along with HD cameras for field reporting and soon will have HD cameras installed in its helicopter.

Every local DTV/HDTV station is full power. The one exception that will affect your location is the translator station for WTTV-DT (CW), WTTK-DT. WTTV's tower is south of Indy (Trafalgar, IN), so most viewers north of Indy watch WTTK-DT which covers areas north of the city, but WTTK-DT is currently at low power but it does broadcast HD programming.

Good luck with your move and welcome to Indiana.

Steve

Thanks for the info and reply on my question Steve.

RWB

Thanks for the info and reply on my question Steve.

RWB

Steve's good about that!

This isn't HD related, per se, but I have noticed for the past few weeks that any video that is played during a WTHR newscast is "jittery". By that, I mean it looks as if the sampling rate of the A/D is really low, so we don't see smooth "fluid" motion. I have noticed this on several different sets, on two different cable systems.

This only affects recorded video, the live, in studio stuff looks great.

Any thoughts or info?

Thanks,
Ken

Every local network station (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, PBS & MyNetworkTV) passes HD broadcasts. Also, local NBC affiliate, WTHR-DT, has upgraded to HD cameras in the studio to present local newscasts in HD. It is currently in the process of installing a new HD master control center, along with HD cameras for field reporting and soon will have HD cameras installed in its helicopter.

Every local DTV/HDTV station is full power. The one exception that will affect your location is the translator station for WTTV-DT (CW), WTTK-DT. WTTV's tower is south of Indy (Trafalgar, IN), so most viewers north of Indy watch WTTK-DT which covers areas north of the city, but WTTK-DT is currently at low power but it does broadcast HD programming.

Good luck with your move and welcome to Indiana.

Steve

Wow--thanks for the timely and detailed response. Sounds like a great area for HD broadcasting.

Ken Whitcomb is one of the best. He calibrated my plasma about 3 years ago, and it looks beautiful. His website is www.calibrationsinc.com

bakem

Thanks... when I did a Google search, his name came up over and over again, and always in a very positive manner. I wonder what kind of magic he could work on a RP CRT.

For the last day or so WFYI digital channels 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 have shown no picture or sound. I still have the analog station. Anyone else have this problem or have any information?

This isn't HD related, per se, but I have noticed for the past few weeks that any video that is played during a WTHR newscast is "jittery". By that, I mean it looks as if the sampling rate of the A/D is really low, so we don't see smooth "fluid" motion. I have noticed this on several different sets, on two different cable systems.

This only affects recorded video, the live, in studio stuff looks great.

Any thoughts or info?

Thanks,
Ken

Ken,

Several times this week I've seen parts of Eyewitness News on WTHR-DT via OTA, Bright House and U-verse, and I haven't noticed any issues with the newscast. If there was an issue earlier, it could be that it's been corrected.

Steve

For the last day or so WFYI digital channels 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 have shown no picture or sound. I still have the analog station. Anyone else have this problem or have any information?

I just punched in WFYI-DT on one of my OTA STBs and I'm receiving all three channels (20-1, 20-2 and 20-3) just fine. You might try rebooting your receiver or rescanning the stations.

Steve

Ken,

Several times this week I've seen parts of Eyewitness News on WTHR-DT via OTA, Bright House and U-verse, and I haven't noticed any issues with the newscast. If there was an issue earlier, it could be that it's been corrected.

Steve

How do you like U-Verse? There was a flyer on my door the other day saying it was available. I just switched to Dish Network (and I'm enjoying it quite a lot), but new technology like that intrigues me.

The reviews of U-Verse I've found on "geek" web sites are pretty negative, but the reviews in the mainstream press are all positive.

Jeff

How do you like U-Verse? There was a flyer on my door the other day saying it was available. I just switched to Dish Network (and I'm enjoying it quite a lot), but new technology like that intrigues me.

The reviews of U-Verse I've found on "geek" web sites are pretty negative, but the reviews in the mainstream press are all positive.

Jeff

Jeff,

AT&T's new U-verse is not yet available in my neighborhood but I am doing some marketing work for U-verse. I haven't been able to compare cable and/or satellite HD service on the same HD monitor with U-verse but I would like to. IMO, it's very difficult to compare various HD sources unless you watch them on the same monitor. But I have seen some good HD broadcasts via U-verse on a couple of Sony Bravia 40" monitors.

Steve

Anyone in the Terre Haute area having trouble pulling in the WTWO signal lately?

I know their signal strength sucks to say the least but, I haven't even been able to get the analog WTWO this past week.

Hopefully they have their "issues" solved by Football season this fall

Anyone in the Terre Haute area having trouble pulling in the WTWO signal lately?

I know their signal strength sucks to say the least but, I haven't even been able to get the analog WTWO this past week.

Hopefully they have their "issues" solved by Football season this fall

Just my 2 cents relating to your post. WTWO-2 might have a transmission problem, but on the other hand, your reception issue may actually be related to Mother Nature, especially this time of year. It is known as Sporadic E propagation, or E-skip.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV-FM_DX#Sporadic_E_propagation_.28E-skip.29
It affects the frequencies associated with the low band VHF channels (2-6) and then if the E-skip is strong enough, it will climb into the frequencies used for FM radio, which are just above TV channel 6.

During the past few weeks I've seen WPBT-2, Miami; KPRC-2, Houston; WMAR-2, Baltimore; WCBS-2, New York; WGBH-2, Boston; KWGN-2, Denver; KTWO-2, Casper and some unidentified stations on channel 2 from Canada and even Cuba. These E-skip stations can have strong signals at times and affect the signal and reception of local stations. On a few occasions, I've seen WFOR-4, Miami, almost completely wipe out WTTV-4.

This is one of the reasons most DTV stations will not be using VHF channels 2-6. And, yes, if a DTV station IS transmitting on one of these low VHF channels, it can also skip hundreds of miles. I've received KOTA-DT-2, Rapid City, SD and WTWC-DT-2, Tallahassee, FL.

Steve

Im getting a new TV for the bedroom and want to know what HD channels i can get without paying for another cable box. The TV has an ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuner built in and I have Brighthouse in Indianapolis.

Thanks guys
John

MStepp99,

Update on WTWO-2.....The station does have a problem with its transmission line. I found this on their website...........

WTWO Signal Update: The staff at WTWO is awaiting delivery of parts necessary to repair our transmission line, which was damaged by weather. We hope to be back on the air on channel 2 on Thursday afternoon. We are still broadcasting on digital channel 36 and Dish Network. Some cable companies have been able to utilize our digital feed for their customers. We will continue to broadcast some WTWO programming, including all newscasts on our sister station, WFXW. We apologize for the inconvenience and invite you to visit this website for updates as they become available.

Hey, question from someone who isn't from around these parts. :)

My son just bought a house in Bringhurst, which as near as I can tell is ~20 miles east of Lafayette (zip 46931). It's a two-story house in a pretty rural area.

What are my possibilities? Antennaweb sez there's WLFI-DT (CBS) in Lafayette and WRTV-DT and WTHR-DT (ABC/NBC) in Indianapolis. Is that really it for OTA DTV?

Saturday morning-- is anyone else having difficulty pulling in the HD signal from Fox 59? I couldn't get it late last night and the problem persists this AM. I am not having issues with any other channels and normally don't have issues with the Fox signal. I am west of Indy out in the Avon area.

Thanks.

Saturday morning-- is anyone else having difficulty pulling in the HD signal from Fox 59? I couldn't get it late last night and the problem persists this AM. I am not having issues with any other channels and normally don't have issues with the Fox signal. I am west of Indy out in the Avon area.

Thanks.

I'm just south of Carmel and I'm getting it just fine, both OTA and via cable (@ 11:52 a.m.) Also, I had it on around 7:30 for Seinfeld last evening and it was
fine. Not sure what your problem might be. There's always rebooting your receiver and/or rescanning or re-entering the channel number after a reboot.

Steve

Im getting a new TV for the bedroom and want to know what HD channels i can get without paying for another cable box. The TV has an ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuner built in and I have Brighthouse in Indianapolis.

Thanks guys
John

I'm on the Carmel feed of BH and lately the QAM channels have been flaking out and changing to various channels on my Sony SXRD set. Several months ago they were very stable and the line up was very predictable: WTTV-DT on ch. 704.1, WRTV-DT on ch. 706.1, etc. Then a few weeks ago I had to rescan them and this time they showed up as 704.0, 706.0, etc. Then this morning I did another rescan, which on this set (using the QAM tuner) takes a LONG time. This morning's scan brought up channel numbers all over the place. For example, WTHR-DT on ch. 90.1, WISH-DT on ch. 90.4, WTTV-DT on ch. 704.0 and WXIN-DT on ch. 59.1. The scan also found WFYI-DT on 710.0, WRTV-DT on 706.0, WRTV-DT's News Channel on 91.1, along with TCM (Turner Classic Movies) on 102.3.

It seems very strange why these stations keep moving around to various channels.

Steve

Hey, question from someone who isn't from around these parts. :)

My son just bought a house in Bringhurst, which as near as I can tell is ~20 miles east of Lafayette (zip 46931). It's a two-story house in a pretty rural area.

What are my possibilities? Antennaweb sez there's WLFI-DT (CBS) in Lafayette and WRTV-DT and WTHR-DT (ABC/NBC) in Indianapolis. Is that really it for OTA DTV?

Bringhurst, being in Carroll County, is a little farther north from the Indy stations than Lafayette or Kokomo, but much of that area around Bringhurst is wide open, so reception could be quite good. I've been able to receive WTHR-DT 46, WRTV-DT and WXIN-DT 45 (Fox) on the south side of Kokomo using a little Zenith Silver Sensor (indoor) antenna. A few weeks ago, a friend on the southeast side of Kokomo, using his UHF antenna with preamp on top of a 40' tower, was able to receive WNDU-DT 42 and WSBT-DT 30 from South Bend, as well as a couple from Fort Wayne during the middle of the day, usually the worst time of the day for TV reception.

WLFI-DT 11, Lafayette has its tower just south of Rossville, so Bringhurst is very close to it. WLFI-DT does pass HD broadcasts from CBS.

WFYI-DT 21 (PBS), Indy, might be a stretch, as it is one of the weakest Indy stations and has one of the shortest towers.

A good high gain antenna, with a preamp, and as much height as possible should bring in most of these stations. Hopefully someone in that area can add some more info for you.

Steve

I'm just south of Carmel and I'm getting it just fine, both OTA and via cable (@ 11:52 a.m.) Also, I had it on around 7:30 for Seinfeld last evening and it was
fine. Not sure what your problem might be. There's always rebooting your receiver and/or rescanning or re-entering the channel number after a reboot.

Steve

Thanks for the input. I should have indicated I am pulling it in via OTA. I've attempted rescanning and occasionally it will pick it back up (Fox actually uses channel 45 in the UHF spectrum). At any rate, when the channel is returned to my lineup, if I select it, it immediately disappears and I am taken to the last channel I viewed and the Fox channel is no longer present. Weird.

Pretty weird. I am having the exact same problem (re-scan, it shows up but when I try to select it, it disappears). Interestingly it only happens on one of my TV's (the other 2 OTA receivers pick it up just fine).

BTW, the one with the problem is the newest TV (only 2 weeks old) and it is a Vizio. The 2 that seem to work OK are an HR-10 and E-86 Direct TV receivers with OTA tuners.

I wonder what could be causing this?

P.S., I live in Kokomo

Given the fact there is at least one other experiencing the same issue, I have almost ruled out hardware failure or operator error. :-)

I have an Element 32" HDTV and my OTA antenna is connected directly to it. I wonder if their signal has been reduced/degraded this weekend for some reason and is just strong enough currently for those of us on the periphery of the normal signal range to cause the TV to barely recognize during a channel scan, but not strong enough to initially "lock-in" when the channel is selected. Without a successful initial "lock-in", the TV disregards it as a valid channel. Just a theory at this point.

Does anyone else have any ideas and/or dealing with the same issue?

Saturday morning-- is anyone else having difficulty pulling in the HD signal from Fox 59? I couldn't get it late last night and the problem persists this AM. I am not having issues with any other channels and normally don't have issues with the Fox signal. I am west of Indy out in the Avon area.

Briefly noticed a "weak or non-existent signal" message OTA on Fox yesterday around noon (I think) while channel-surfing. Thought it might be atmospheric-related, as rain had just come through the Columbus area. Didn't stick around to monitor the condition.

Briefly noticed a "weak or non-existent signal" message OTA on Fox yesterday around noon (I think) while channel-surfing. Thought it might be atmospheric-related, as rain had just come through the Columbus area. Didn't stick around to monitor the condition.

It appears the issue plaguing some customers was resolved this morning. I spoke with a very helpful and concerned engineer at Ch. 59 earlier this afternoon and he indicated signal strength was not the culprit. Rather, something changed Friday night in the signal itself and how the tuner was interpreting a portion of the datastream related to identifying the station and signal information. I think he mentioned "CPIP" or something like that, but it only impacted some tuners in some HDTV sets (OTA). At any rate, it appears Ch. 59 is back online for those of us impacted by this glitch.

It appears the issue plaguing some customers was resolved this morning. I spoke with a very helpful and concerned engineer at Ch. 59 earlier this afternoon and he indicated signal strength was not the culprit. Rather, something changed Friday night in the signal itself and how the tuner was interpreting a portion of the datastream related to identifying the station and signal information. I think he mentioned "CPIP" or something like that, but it only impacted some tuners in some HDTV sets (OTA). At any rate, it appears Ch. 59 is back online for those of us impacted by this glitch.

Thanks for the update!

Mine is working ok now too

Hey all!

I'm in the dark when it comes to "who is best". I've read a lot of posts here about picture quality, and channel lineup but I get conflicting stores from most everyone. Some say DirecTV, some say Dish, some say strange things that don't make sense!

I currently have Comcast with their Motorola HD/DVR box and all HD channels. I pay $160 a month for hardly ANY programming with high speed internet. I have no premium channels, and no expanded digital channels minus The Science Channel and the like. (channels 111-198 are not subscribed to). I've been looking a lot at DirecTV since they claim they will over over 150 HD channels "soon". I also have looked at Dish however they don't seem to have the channel lineup as the others.

I also just called and found that Verizon has FiOS availible in my area, and I'm looking to switch my internet and phone over to them! Has anyone heard bad/good about their HD service?

I'm all about quality here (avid blu-ray/HD-DVD movie watcher!) but would like to stick with someone that is going to pioneer a huge rollout of HD channels. Anyone want to shed their thoughts on "who is best"? I'm looking to switch within the next few days, I can't handle anymore $160 cable bills! Thanks in advance!

Threads merged.

Here's an example of what I wrote about last week. Just after 11:00 a.m. today, E-skip from South Dakota was quite strong into Indiana. I caught KOTA-3, Rapid City, SD plus its digital, KOTA-DT-2 @ 922 miles. Just minutes later, a DXer in Greensburg was able to receive KDLO-DT-2, Florence, SD.

Steve

Hey all!

I'm in the dark when it comes to "who is best". I've read a lot of posts here about picture quality, and channel lineup but I get conflicting stores from most everyone. Some say DirecTV, some say Dish, some say strange things that don't make sense!

I currently have Comcast with their Motorola HD/DVR box and all HD channels. I pay $160 a month for hardly ANY programming with high speed internet. I have no premium channels, and no expanded digital channels minus The Science Channel and the like. (channels 111-198 are not subscribed to). I've been looking a lot at DirecTV since they claim they will over over 150 HD channels "soon". I also have looked at Dish however they don't seem to have the channel lineup as the others.

I also just called and found that Verizon has FiOS availible in my area, and I'm looking to switch my internet and phone over to them! Has anyone heard bad/good about their HD service?

I'm all about quality here (avid blu-ray/HD-DVD movie watcher!) but would like to stick with someone that is going to pioneer a huge rollout of HD channels. Anyone want to shed their thoughts on "who is best"? I'm looking to switch within the next few days, I can't handle anymore $160 cable bills! Thanks in advance!

FIOS is supposed to be the best picture quality and Internet speed, but their DVR reportedly sucks (I think a TiVO S3 can work with FIOS, however). What part of Indy are you in that has FIOS available?

I had Comcast for a long time but switched to Dish a few months ago. The DVR is excellent, and having 30+ HD channels is great.

Jeff

Hey, question from someone who isn't from around these parts. :)

My son just bought a house in Bringhurst, which as near as I can tell is ~20 miles east of Lafayette (zip 46931). It's a two-story house in a pretty rural area.

What are my possibilities? Antennaweb sez there's WLFI-DT (CBS) in Lafayette and WRTV-DT and WTHR-DT (ABC/NBC) in Indianapolis. Is that really it for OTA DTV?
Did you transpose the ZIP? Antennaweb says 931 is Fulton, IN, while googling for Bringhurst Indiana post office gives me 913.

I notice that, if you just plug 46931 into Antennaweb, it centers you in Fulton, IN, which is well northeast of Logansport, probably 30-plus miles from Bringhurst. This was still true even when I gave it city, state, and ZIP. From there it says WTHR is 72 miles away. If you use the 46913 ZIP, it shows WTHR as 42.8 miles.


All of that said, it puts him roughly the same distance as I am (5 miles due south of Lafayette) from the Indy towers. Our terrain issues may be quite different. And I have large trees at about 200 yards directly in my path. Still, I can always get WTHR, WISH and WRTV. Most of the time I can get WXIN. The Gods must be smiling for me to get WFYI. That is in part due to their directional antenna, and my meager tripod-on-roof setup.

It seems that 13-1 audio is not calibrated correctly during most of the prime time shows. I receive them via an HR10-250 but it seems the same on OTA direct to TV/AVR. One problem is that the sound is too low compared to the commercials by an enormous amount. I just finished watching a few "Office" reruns and my wife said you shouldn't have to walk around with the remote waiting to pounce on the commercials. It has gotten worse over time and can't be right or acceptable and isn't that bad on the other networks. On "Studio 60" and "30 Rock" the audio has been too low compared to the background music/sounds, as if the center channel is missing or too low. Am I the only one noticing this as my search didn't find anything.

It seems that 13-1 audio is not calibrated correctly during most of the prime time shows. I receive them via an HR10-250 but it seems the same on OTA direct to TV/AVR. One problem is that the sound is too low compared to the commercials by an enormous amount. I just finished watching a few "Office" reruns and my wife said you shouldn't have to walk around with the remote waiting to pounce on the commercials. It has gotten worse over time and can't be right or acceptable and isn't that bad on the other networks. On "Studio 60" and "30 Rock" the audio has been too low compared to the background music/sounds, as if the center channel is missing or too low. Am I the only one noticing this as my search didn't find anything.

Same here (OTA Dish Network ViP 622 receiver). It's horrible! And it's the reverse when NBC Nightly News finishes and Wheel of Fortune begins.

I am located in Lafayette, IN, and I have a Insight cable subscription. I am wondering whether anybody noticed that the quality of HD locals which you can watch via a QAM tuner became really BAD a few days ago? I am curious - is this my local problem, or other people in town have this issue too.

Judging from the opinions on this forum it is not even worth to call the Insight customer service because that don't even know what the QAM is...

E.

FIOS is supposed to be the best picture quality and Internet speed, but their DVR reportedly sucks (I think a TiVO S3 can work with FIOS, however). What part of Indy are you in that has FIOS available?

I had Comcast for a long time but switched to Dish a few months ago. The DVR is excellent, and having 30+ HD channels is great.

Jeff

Jeff,

Well bad news about FIOS. I called at around 10pm that evening and spoke with someone who told me it was availible in Indy, but I would have to call back in the morning to schedule the order. Well, I did and now they tell me it is for sure NOT availible. Only in Ft Wayne!

So that brings me back to Dish or DirecTV. How are you liking the Dish so far? Dropouts? Compared to Comcast's HD channels how does it look?

I am located in Lafayette, IN, and I have a Insight cable subscription. I am wondering whether anybody noticed that the quality of HD locals which you can watch via a QAM tuner became really BAD a few days ago? I am curious - is this my local problem, or other people in town have this issue too.

Judging from the opinions on this forum it is not even worth to call the Insight customer service because that don't even know what the QAM is...

E.


Mine has always been bad in Greenwood. The cable run from the pole to my house is ~ 225ft., so I figured that was the reason why the HD Locals are choppy at best. ( Except Channel 4 -- crystal clear ).

- dk

Jeff,

Well bad news about FIOS. I called at around 10pm that evening and spoke with someone who told me it was availible in Indy, but I would have to call back in the morning to schedule the order. Well, I did and now they tell me it is for sure NOT availible. Only in Ft Wayne!

So that brings me back to Dish or DirecTV. How are you liking the Dish so far? Dropouts? Compared to Comcast's HD channels how does it look?

Too bad about FIOS!

Dish has been great so far. I wasn't able to have both Comcast and Dish hooked up to compare, but the HD quality on most channels seems just as good (at least the ones that are available on both Comcast and Dish). I've had no dropouts or other problems, even in last week's storms.

About ten days ago I read in The Indianapolis Star that so far DirecTV and AT&T (U-verse) are the only area TV service providers that have signed a contract to carry the new Big 10 Network. Has anyone heard whether this channel will also provide an HD feed, too?

The AT&T Dish Satellite package with Homezone now provides HD service, with close to 30 HD channels. The Homezone portion, among other features, allows for web and cell phone access to the DVR, just like U-verse and I believe Verizon's FiOS.

Steve

About ten days ago I read in The Indianapolis Star that so far DirecTV and AT&T (U-verse) are the only area TV service providers that have signed a contract to carry the new Big 10 Network. Has anyone heard whether this channel will also provide an HD feed, too?

The AT&T Dish Satellite package with Homezone now provides HD service, with close to 30 HD channels. The Homezone portion, among other features, allows for web and cell phone access to the DVR, just like U-verse and I believe Verizon's FiOS.

Steve

Homezone (with the HD package) uses the same hardware as Dish Network, but it has different firmware written by a different company (2Wire, I believe). It's a bit more advanced at this point than the Dish firmware, which hasn't yet activated the Ethernet port on the box. The channel lineup is the same.

The AT&T Homezone Internet and cell features, however, only work with AT&T DSL and AT&T wireless phones (from what I've read). When (if?) Dish enables the Ethernet port on their box, I'd expect it to work with any broadband provider.

Homezone (with the HD package) uses the same hardware as Dish Network, but it has different firmware written by a different company (2Wire, I believe). It's a bit more advanced at this point than the Dish firmware, which hasn't yet activated the Ethernet port on the box. The channel lineup is the same.The 2WIRE box is not the same as E*'s hardware. E* is working on a "622HZ" which will be more of a crossover, but the hardware for the current 622 is not the same as the current HomeZone receiver.

It seems that 13-1 audio is not calibrated correctly during most of the prime time shows. I receive them via an HR10-250 but it seems the same on OTA direct to TV/AVR. One problem is that the sound is too low compared to the commercials by an enormous amount. I just finished watching a few "Office" reruns and my wife said you shouldn't have to walk around with the remote waiting to pounce on the commercials. It has gotten worse over time and can't be right or acceptable and isn't that bad on the other networks. On "Studio 60" and "30 Rock" the audio has been too low compared to the background music/sounds, as if the center channel is missing or too low. Am I the only one noticing this as my search didn't find anything.


You are not alone; I've noticed the same thing. I get my digital TV over the air, exclusively.

A few weeks ago, I was watching the Stanley Cup playoffs on NBC and the play-by-play commentary was near unintelligible (probably something of a mixed blessing, I suppose.) But I had to strain my ear to hear the player's names and remarks of the commentators -- their audio was virtuallly wiped out by the level of the on-ice noise, from the skates and the crowd!!

I haven't contacted anyone about it, but it should be brought to WTHR's attention especially if others have noticed this, too. (BTW: 'Studio 60' is dark enough without straining to hear the audio!) Could Steve Goldrich or someone confirm this problem & advise the responsible parties?

The 2WIRE box is not the same as E*'s hardware. E* is working on a "622HZ" which will be more of a crossover, but the hardware for the current 622 is not the same as the current HomeZone receiver.

I thought the HD version of their Homezone receiver was the same hardware with different software. The non-HD Homezone is completely different hardware. I could be wrong though!

Sorry, T Heller, but I haven't watched anything on NBC via WTHR-DT in months. Nothing against WTHR, but there is nothing on NBC that I care to watch. According to the recent programming schedules, NBC has had very few HD programs on the air, too.

I believe WTHR has resumed installing its new HD MC center following several weeks of delays due to the supplier shipping equipment with the wrong software, but I have no idea if these audio issues might be related to this.

Steve