WTAE or ABC has had delay problems for years. :( Once in a while it will be correct but not that often.

WTAE has definitely got problems. In addition to their sync issues (which seem to never get better but sometimes get worse), they also have some sort of "focus" issue going on with the video. I notice this when I watch Monday Night Football-- The whole image (graphics included) appears to go "fuzzy" or "out of focus" every few minutes, and then slowly correct itself over the course of about five to ten seconds. It's really, really annoying. I mentioned this issue on another board and someone responded that it was a problem ABC was having with all of its affiliates but issued a correction for, which should have been implemented months ago. Furthermore, there's just no excuse for having such obnoxious sync problems. Is there an engineering department email address or phone number we can use to annoy them about this until they fix it?


Dan

I just came on here to complain about WTAE sound delay issues, but see its already been discussed. Was trying to watch Karen Sisco last night and the sound was delayed by what seemed a full second. Felt like I was watching a dubbed kung-fu movie.

Hello,
This might be OT, so I apologize in advance, however, I'm trying to find out if the issue is station-related, or setup-related.
I just installed an MDP-120 (MyHD) card. I live in Seven Fields (a tad north of Cranberry), and with a Radio Shack indoor antenna, I can get PXI, KDKA, and PGH just fine. QED signal is weak (reported about 25% at best). It comes in fine when I view in a windowed mode on my PC, but freezes up when I put it in full screen. I think this is most likely setup-related. However, my main question is, given my antenna setup and location, is it reasonable to expect to get QED, if I can get the others? Based on the (very helpful) signal contours that were posted here, I would expect to receive it at high strength.

I'm going to put in an attic antenna this weekend, so hopefully this will all be moot soon. But, thanks for any info or insights in advance...

Parag Batavia

I was able to get WQED in Cranberry at 90% using an indoor antenna in a window. Granted I had a great location back then and was able to get WTAE as well... An attic antenna should help a lot.

Thanks much for the info...

Right now, I've got a ~15dB amplified indoor antenna from RS... Any chance that a silver sensor, or other indoor antenna will perform better? (BestBuy web site has one that they claim is 45dB??) Or should I just bite the bullet and put in the attic antenna?

Hoping to avoid snaking cables this weekend,
Parag

Silver Sensor is supposed to be good but I've never used one, and I had good results with an Xium antenna. I also had a Radio Shack signal amp on the line which enabled me to get WTAE without any breakups (I can't find the link to it right now). If you notice I'm speaking in past tense because all of this was at my old apartment with a clear path to the southeast and an east-facing window where my antenna was mounted. My new house has aluminum siding and a massive tree in the front yard blocking anything south-south-east. I know I'm only in for a huge headache if I try to install a rooftop antenna, so Armstrong cable HD was the right solution for me.

It's so hard to know what will work because everyone's location is different. It is basically a game of trial and error finding what works and in what part of your house. Just be sure to save all your receipts for stuff that ends up not working. :)

I noticed they have a signal up tonight on 46-3 and 46-4.

titantv.com said that the steeler's / seahawks game in KDKA was supposed to be in HDTV (OTA). Looks like it isn't... Any idea why? Or am I the only one not getting it in HD?

Parag

This week's CBS HD game was the Colts @ Dolphins. Next time we'll see the Steelers in HD is 11/17 on MNF.

grumble grumble. :) Any idea why titantv got our hopes up, only to dash them? :) It still has a little red "HD" on its guide for the game. My wife and I were all psyched up to see our first HDTV football game (well, w/ a team we actually care about.. )

Parag

The place to look for this info is this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=300612).

Looking good for next Saturday...

Mike Patrick just mentioned that the College Football Saturday trucks are coming to Pittsburgh for Saturday night's game! Another chance for us to see Pittsburgh in all of its' HD glory... well, most of us... I'll be at the game.

The DVD recorder will be running, even though the quality won't nearly be as good. It will still be nice to see the way this crew presents the HD production from Heinz Field.

7:45 PM kickoff.

I got some more good news about Armstrong HD today!


We will be adding HDNet and HDNet Movies within the next couple of weeks. We feel HDNet has the best HD product currently available. Expect a free preview of the HDNet services over the days around Thanksgiving. These two services will join ESPNHD as the initial core of an HD tier of programming that will start in early December. You will be receiving information on this in a couple of weeks and will have the choice of opting in for these channels or not.

We expect to introduce a PVR (personal video recorder) product shortly, which is pretty cool. It is integrated into our digital box, contains an 80gig hard drive and can even record HD! We're completing testing at present.


He mentioned that VOD is cost-prohibitive at the moment and the only way to really make money is with adult channels, which they don't want to offer (but I think they already have some adult channels, so I don't get it). Oh well, with an HD PVR, who needs VOD? :)

Originally posted by agtiny
I got some more good news about Armstrong HD today!

Let's see....Armstrong HD channels:
102 - KDKA-DT
104 - WTAE-DT
111 - WPXI-DT
113 - WQED-DT
185 - ESPN-HD
190 - SHO-HD
199 - HBO-HD
HDNet, HDNet Movies, HDPVR

You gotta love Armstrong. Congratulations!

HDNet and HDNet Movies are now up on Armstrong, channels 186 and 187! Woo!

ag....Please check your PM. Thanks.

YEY!!!

Hello,
Pretty often, I notice "motion blur", or interlacing artifacts on Fox 53. I *only* notice it on this channel. Is this a known issue? I've got a Samsung DLP and a myHD card. Before trying to figure out if it's a hardware/software/configuration issue, I wanted to know if others had seen this. Thanks,

Parag

I noticed the same thing watching the football game yesterday. I use the Tosh receiver & only notice it on Fox. Figures.

My Comcast signal of WTAE HD is breaking up badly. Several times a minute it deteriorates into noise that makes watching it very annoying. So much so that MNF was far more enjoyable in SD!

My question is the source of the problem. Do all of you other Comcast people have the same problem or is it in my area?

Even more important, do you OTA people also have this problem, or can we pinpoint Comcast as the culprit? I want to start complaining to someone very soon, but I will get passed around on the "blaming merry-go-round" until I have an understanding of whom is really to blame.

Please help me out.

Sorry for the cross posting. I'm not the brightest star in the sky.
:o

wstanko,

I watched most of the first half OTA. I can't remember a single breakup. I guess it could be a Comcast problem??

--Clint--

The game was perfect on Armstrong. What you describe sounds like Comcast is using a very weak OTA signal as their source. ;) You should definitely complain to them.

While the broadcast quality of the game was fine for me OTA, the game *itself* was hardly perfect. :)

Parag

I had constant break-up on my comcast channel......switching to my ota box was fine, never one break-up......also noticed some of the same type of breakup but not nearly as frequent on the comcast espn-hd sunday game

I had the same picture breakups/noise on Comcast out of Greensburg. A co-worker said he saw the same thing on his Comcast near Churchill. So it looks to be an issue with Comcast in this whole area. I think I'll call to complain.

On the positive side, the sound seemed to be pretty well in sync last night when Al Michaels and John Madden were shown in the booth. Most of the time WTAE-DT has sound behind the picture by about a half second.

Originally posted by hondo21

On the positive side, the sound seemed to be pretty well in sync last night when Al Michaels and John Madden were shown in the booth. Most of the time WTAE-DT has sound behind the picture by about a half second.

I sent a second plea for help to WTAE Consumer "Call For Action" last week. Within 24 hours it was fixed. Thanks Susan, now if only I could stand to watch a program due to breakups.

Tech is coming on Saturday and I plan on insisting that I get what I paid for when I was seduced into leaving Dish.

I hope all of you also call to complain for the original phone call I made had a CSR tell me that there is nothing wrong with their signal and it must be in my neighborhood. He based this on the fact that "no one else is complaining!!!!!!!!"

Anyone know what the status of a digital UPN broadcast is? I sent them an email a long time ago and never got a response. Titantv has had them listed as awaiting FCC approval for as long as I can remember.

According to the FCC, on August 25, 1999, WNPA (UPN/Ch. 19), filed a petition for its digital channel assignment to be changed from 30 to 49 (http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/dtvchan.html). As far as I know, there's been no action on that petition.

Back in June, I wrote to the FCC asking why there had been no action so far. I got this reply:

"Thanks for contacting the FCC. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.The FCC is reviewing this application, but the application raises many technical and other issues that must be resolved. For example, due to the station's proximity to the Canadian border, the application also must be approved by Canada. Please be assured that the FCC will issue a decision on this matter as expeditiously as possible."

Writing back, I asked if it was likely that there would be any action in the near future. This was the response:

"Unfortunately, the timing for a decision on this petition cannot be predicted. The FCC, however, will issue a decision as expeditiously as possible."

Four years and counting! Now that's really what I call expeditious!

I have no idea why WNPA (engineered by Viacom's KDKA) applied for the channel reassignment ... but it sure seems its unlikely that there will be a digital signal from WNPA anytime soon. Even if the FCC finally acted on the petition, it would probably take a year to actually get the station on the air.

I, too, have written to KDKA/WNPA, but their "contact us" email addresses only seem to flow in one direction.

I seem to remember something about another signal at 30 might step on them, as their transmitter is over in Jeannette. I might be wrong about this, if someone knows something different, please post.

When is Armstrong going to start charging for da HD and how much?

The info I have is they will charge more in early December. I'll let everyone know when I hear more.

ok, thanks

According to my friend who is getting installed Tuesday, Armstrong will begin charging December 1.
When will the HDPVR be available?

The only thing I was told about the HDPVR is that they are still testing it. I asked if they needed any more testers but I'm not going to get my hopes up. ;)

You were not told anything.

Everyone the cost will be $9.99 but you can get it for $4.99 until 4/1/04

Where did you get that info? Is it $9.99 replacing the current $5 charge, or on top of the $5? Are the local OTA channels included on a lower tier somehow?

I got it in the mail.

I know the local channels will be free still.

It will be an extra $4.99 until April 2004. There is this free stuff you get like $25 gc to NFL Team Shop and crap.

Ah, haven't checked my mail yet so maybe I got one too. Locals are currently $5 along with everything else, so it sounds like they don't really make things clear.

It is pretty clear they just have alot about ESPN HD, HDNET, HDNET MOVIES, they also said they will be adding more soon.

Yep I got it too:

As of December 1st, HDNet and HDNet Movies will combine with ESPNHD in our new HD Advantage package...

The cost for the HD Advantage package will ultimately be $9.95 per month. However we are making it available to you for only $5.00 per month until April 1, 2004. Sign up for the HD Advantage by 12/31/03 and you will automatically be entered for a chance to win a trip for two to Hawaii to join ESPN at the biggest football all-star game of the season! Plus, Armstrong will send you a $25 Gift Certificate to the ESPN.com Team Store.

...Call 1-877-277-5711...

Unless we hear from you, ESPNHD, HDNet and HDNet Movies will not be available to your home after November 30, 2003. All other HD services will continue to be available, just as they are today.


So eventually we will be paying $15/mo I guess, but for a few months it will only be $10. It isn't clear what's happening to the existing $5 charge so I will ask when I call them tomorrow.

We are not paying $15 we are paying $10.

I will ask, but from what I can tell it will be $5 for the box + local HD, then $9.95 on top of that for ESPN/HDNets, and then premium HD is extra of course.

Asking does not do anything when they are worthless questions. Companies HATE that. Read what it says. There is $5 for the BOX and then $5 for the HD pack until 4/1/04. PLUS I ORDERED IT TODAY!!!! They said discovery costs $10 a MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So they are going back to ask them about it again to get it cheaper.

Originally posted by agtiny
I will ask, but from what I can tell it will be $5 for the box + local HD, then $9.95 on top of that for ESPN/HDNets, and then premium HD is extra of course.

And... If you mean HBO HDTV and Showtime HDTV that is free, you have to be a HBO or Showtime subscriber.

OK we're on the same page... it's $10 until 4/1, after that it will be $15. That's all I was saying. :)

Yes, but come to think of it that is APRIL 2004. By then there will be most likley more channels: today we are missing
In-HD 1
In-HD 2
Discovery HD
Few others that are not big ones.

Did anyone else lose their off air signal for KDKA-DT (2-1) around 4:10 pm today during the start of the Dallas Miami football game?

Sure did!! What a disappointment...I had some relatives over to watch the game and no HD. Hope that its not an equipment failure that we keep them off the air

Kevin

I sent agtiny a PM on this but am hoping for info from others as well. Its been quite a while since I've been on the Forum. The last time I was a regular on here, it seemed as though this local thread was taking on more of a focus toward cable rather than HD in general or its association with DirecTV. If I'm wrong, humble apologies, especially to Clisenet who appears easily upset. Oops...guess I'm in for it now, LOL.

Bottom line, I need to know if Armstrong cable is every bit as good as DirecTV in terms of content, quality and sound. The reason being is I'm having a new home built...still in Cranberry...over in Preserve East. If I can avoid a dish, extra wiring, the receivers, rooftop antenna and HOPE the local digital channels come in...well, then that would be great.

I realize I'd have to sell my HD Samsung TS160 reciever (excellent) and DirecTivo (excellent) but, if Armstrong is providing PVR's now and all the same programming as DirecTV then it would be worth it...or would it?

You folks tell me...and thanks in advance for your help.

PS Right now I'm paying like $120 per month for DirecTV which includes their premium choice package, HBO, Showtime and HD bundle of ESPN, Discovery, HDNet. I also continue to enjoy the east/west coast network package. I think I pay like $5 per additional reciever (4, includes Tivo).

So how much would Armstrong be charging me for programming and equipment? I realize I would lose the east/west coast networks and I'd miss those for sure but it would still be worth it if I can just have Armstrong come to the new house, connect it all up and have no rooftop antenna.

Look forward to your help...

Don't do it. Friends don't let friends get cable.

Cable works good for me, even though it is slightly more expensive.

As of December, I am paying $79.86 which includes basic, digital cable, a 2nd digital cable receiver, $5 HD locals, $5 HD Advantage, and HBO. No Showtime yet.

The only channels you will lose will be Discovery-HD and an HDPPV channel. We also don't get NBA-HD or that new NFL channel yet. I suspect we will be seeing Discovery within several months, as $9.95 (HD Advantage fee in April) seems high for only 3 channels. InHD...who knows, but I will take HDNet over that any day.

Quality is excellent of course, there is no extra compression going on like people sometimes see on DirecTV. Quality of analog cable channels (2-70) is poor on my HDTV, but my wife (the only one who really watches them) hasn't complained. Digital cable channels (400+) are equal to or better than DirecTV. Sound is no different than DirecTV: 5.1 where it's available, etc. The Moto 5100 receiver sucks pretty bad though, I would guess all DirecTV receivers are better. HD-PVR is reportedly in the testing phase, but so is HD-Tivo, so I don't think you can make a decision based on this factor yet.

Bottom line I think is really whether or not you can receive WTAE-DT OTA from your new house. If you can, there's no need to change your setup, if not... you'll need to go cable if you want that channel.

First things first...

At present, I rarely get WTAE51 where I live presently on Woodbine Drive, off of Powell. Again, while its been a while since I've been on here, sooner or later, I have to believe WTAE is going to beef up its power and I'd get it.

Point is, at my new address, I don't know if I'd get it though I think my chances would be better then where I'm at now because now, I live in a valley with a big hill in the direction of the Pittsburgh towers. My new home sits on top of a hill...but, one never knows.

Anyhow, I spoke to an Armstrong rep today...not very knowledgeable. She wasn't aware they offered PVR's or the HD channels. I went to their website and was able to see what they do offer. OnDemand looks pretty cool though I've got to believe DirecTV will soon be doing that as well.

In the end, I guess it boils down to this...if the picture/sound quality is essentially the same...and so is the cost, then why would I want to put up another rooftop antenna, bring in additional wires for it, for the dish, the cost of installation, blah, blah, blah. With cable, it sounds like all I do is call them up and they come out and hook everything up...plus, I don't have to be concerned whether WTAE is going to be "on" or "off" for MNF.

Please, someone...give me a good reason why I should stick with my dish. After all, I'm a first generation customer of theres from back in late '93. I left Armstrong then because they only had like 35 channels, no pay per view, crappy service, etc. They may still have the crappy service, that I don't know, but...if they have, essentially, all that DirecTV has to offer, then I just don't know why I should go through all the DirecTV hassle...but, again, please...feel free to give me a different perspective.

As far as I know, Armstrong has no OnDemand currently and no plans to offer it any time soon. Their website is pretty terrible and never updated so I'm not sure where you got that info.

When I was speaking to their rep, she said they had InDemand and advised me to go to:

http://www.armstrongonewire.com/channel.asp

It shows InDemand on Channels 600 through 630. So you're saying it's not true then?

Thanks...

I think InDemand (Pay-Per-View) is a different beast than OnDemand (Video-on-Demand). Unfortunate that all these have such similar names.

Blitzburgh, why don't you just shelve your DirecTV for awhile and try out Armstrong cable for a few months to see how it is. If you don't like it you can go back to satellite and set it up later. Just hold off selling that equipment until you're sure.

I just wish we had Armstrong's channel offerings here in Comcast land. (CBS, mainly)

My friend in Cranberry told me there is no guide info for the HD channels. Is this true? Blitz, I don't know how much something like this would effect your decision.

There is guide info for all channels except 113 (WQED-HD).

Thanks Andy....Another early riser or is it night owl?

As always, we can count on each other for sound advice and info. Thanks to one and all.

Hondo21, your suggestion is a good one though, admittedly, I'm the type that likes to do whatever it takes to set it up, right, the first time and then enjoy it. A tinkerer or a project guy I am NOT.

Can't pound a nail in straight :D ...or at least that's what my wife thinks!

I believe I was the first person to get the HD package from Armstrong and have had it for over a year and a half now.

What I can tell you is that there is guide information for all HD channels except (PBS) which show as "local programming".

I am upset at Armstrong for now offering HDnet, HDnet Movie, and ESPN HD as $5 for a few months then $10 in April. I signed up for it, but ESPN HD is horrible. I'd say 90% if upconverts and HDnet movie is...well...can the guy spring from some decent movies. I only like HDnet. The picture is stunning.

My cousin just got the SIRt-151 and I will be setting that up for him in the next week. I'll see what that goes, but I pay $82 right now for everything except Starz. To me that is starting to get steep.

I keep calling them and telling them all I want are the HD channels but they won't do that for me.

Anyone else have success at just getting HD channels from Armstrong?

//doug

Here's one for you Doug et al...

Just got a mailer today for Voom HD...anyone else get this yet? Apparently it's a new satellite service and their forte' is HD as they have 39 HD channels with 21 of them their own.

Cost is like $40 per month PLUS you have to buy their equipment which cost close to $800. The equipment includes an HD receiver and an antenna for locals, the latter of which I'm dubious about given all the problems I had with rooftop antenna's and incompetent installers prior to Greg's rescue. :p

I must admit...it intriques me yet what I really want is picture quality, great sound, variety, expandability and the least amount of hassle. Will I get that from cable?...from DirecTV?...or now Voom?

Check out any of the numerous Voom threads. :)

Caught it after I made the post...lots to rummage through. Seems like VOOm is pretty cool, but...while the HD is nice, the content sounds fairly old...and the sports seems like things most generally wouldn't have a high interest in.

Still, I'll check it out more when time permits. At this point, still seems like I need to go with either cable (can't believe I'm saying that) or DirecTV.

Any other input from others would be appreciated.

that is funny. i just found this voom yesterday and i have been researching it a little. the key is going to be content and that looks a little sketchy right now.

does anyone here have any luck with attic (indoor antenna) from cranberry? i live in a community with an association that will not allow a roof top antenna.

the more i think about it HDnet is now letting me down. i'll keep it, but those three channels seems not up to par. for me, the PBS demo loop has some of the best pictures i use to showcase the theatre.

You are allowed to put up antennas regardless of HOA or landlord rules as long as you have exclusive use of the area where it will go. If it's your own house you will have no problems. http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

That's how I got away with putting a satellite dish on my back porch in my old apt building which ran their own horrible cable service. :)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by agtiny


"That's how I got away with putting a satellite dish on my back porch in my old apt building which ran their own horrible cable service."

I say: You mean the Villages of Laurelwood (West) is STILL running his own cable in those apartments? Must be crap...

I live in Clearbrook which is no more than 1 1/2 from village of laurelwoods.

Did you guys get:

CBS
ABC
NBC
PBS

with an indoor antenna or small outdoor without having to go to the skagi style?

I am considering going with dish now and getting OTA rather than continue paying Armstrong 90/month.

What do you guys recommend?

I was lucky enough to have an east-facing window in Laurelwood and was able to get all OTA channels except WCWB with a small Xium antenna mounted in it. Now I can't even receive one channel when the antenna is indoors (aluminum siding, big trees). I could have tried a large rooftop but there would still be the tree issue. Cable was just less of a hassle for me.

So east facing is key? I would be thinking south would be the way to point towards pittsburgh?

Do you think an antenna mounted inside of the dish would pull in if i had a clear view east/south?

Yeah south or east, either should be OK. Inside the dish...you mean mounted to the back? I guess it would work as long as it has a clear view.

The satellite dish needs to point towards the southwest, and the off-air antenas point towards the south-southeast if you are in Cranberry. Like everywhere in the burgh, what you will receive in off-air will be due to location, location, location!

I set up my home theater last year with a Sony HD200 using a small UHF antenna and preamp, both from Radio Shack. I mounted my antenna in the attic, pointed it carefully, and reliably received NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and PBS for about 6 to 8 months. The signal meter on the Sony was in the high normal range or better for all of the channels. Then, a few months ago, it all disappeared. I still get KDKA, but the other channels give me "No Signal."

Recently, I crawled back into the attic, remounted the antenna in essentially the same location, and pointed it as before. There was no improvement at all.

To my knowledge, nothing has changed with the hardware, the cabling, or the antenna environment. The loss of signal is independent of time-of-day and has persisted for many months now. The antenna is in good repair. So, basically, what the heck should I try?

I am tempted replace the preamp with something better than radio shack, though I know that the amp is working to some degree, because the signal for KDKA is significantly worse with it removed.

I am also considering moving the UHF antenna outside with my satellite dish. I suspect that I will need to run a separate coax run because the LNBs needs DC just like the preamp and trying to piggyback them will probably blow up something expensive. That requires work...so I am avoiding it.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Mike

Message to all...and to agtiny...

All of these issues regarding antennas, location, hardware, trees, mountains, direction, etc. seem to be overcome IF, key word "IF", one switches from satellite dish, like DirecTV to cable. I had so many hassles with OTA and though Greg did a terrific job for me, no one can get signals if your pointing at the station towers with trees and a hill blocking your antenna's view. All of which is to say I felt fortunate to get KDKA/WPXI with no problem...and while I WAS getting WTAE at one time...no more! Which is why it just seems to me that when I move I should just go cable...and, have it all sans the above issues and need for antennas.

Or...am I seeing this all too simplistic?

And Dale...I do recall your saying a few days back that digital cable's stations were as good as DirecTV's but that the lower end channels were not. Help me to better understand what you mean.

On my Pioneer Elite 610 HDTV, those stations that come to me via DirecTV are ok, at best, though a bit blurry...unless they're the OTA channels (whether in HD or not), and the dish offered HD channels like ESPN (when they ever show HD programs), HBOHD, SHOWHD, Discovery, etc. Those channels are all terrific.

So, are you saying that cable's non-digital channels are WORSE than DirecTV's inferior channels as described above?

Thanks in advance for your replies...

Originally posted by svtdougie

I am considering going with dish now and getting OTA rather than continue paying Armstrong 90/month.

What do you guys recommend? [/B]

What is it you're paying $90 a month for?

Right now I'm paying like $120 per month for DirecTV which includes their premium choice package, HBO, Showtime and HD bundle of ESPN, Discovery, HDNet. I also continue to enjoy the east/west coast network package. I think I pay like $5 per additional reciever (4, includes Tivo).

The way I figured it, if I got the roughly the same from cable, the cost would be about the same to a bit cheaper.

Can anyone confirm/differ with this?

The more I have been thinking about it, I am going to stay with Armstrong due to all the problems you guys have had with OTA. I think I am going to bail on Showtime since nothing is ever that good on HD and I'll hang on to HBO for the Soprano's which who knows when it is starting.

I am still going to check out voom to see what that is about and i'll report my findings here.

I'll also let you know how the OTA install at my cousins goes next weekend.

Originally posted by svtdougie
The more I have been thinking about it, I am going to stay with Armstrong due to all the problems you guys have had with OTA. I think I am going to bail on Showtime since nothing is ever that good on HD and I'll hang on to HBO for the Soprano's which who knows when it is starting.

I am still going to check out voom to see what that is about and i'll report my findings here.

I'll also let you know how the OTA install at my cousins goes next weekend.

Yeah...let us know about Voom. From what I saw/read, it looks good for old movies, sports and/or off beat sports...but nothing like NFL.

When I went to the AVS thread on Voom, it seemed that those that liked it were those that just love HD for being HD...you know, the types that'll watch, say the Discovery HD Channel just because it looks really good whereas before, they'd never watch Discovery.

Nothing against that...just not me. I want current programming, new release movies, NFL and the "twins"! :D

But do let us know if your impressions of Voom are different. Thanks...

Originally posted by agtiny


The only channels you will lose will be Discovery-HD and an HDPPV channel. We also don't get NBA-HD or that new NFL channel yet. I suspect we will be seeing Discovery within several months, as $9.95 (HD Advantage fee in April) seems high for only 3 channels. InHD...who knows, but I will take HDNet over that any day.



$9.95 alot of the 3 channels???????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???. Wake up
Discovery wanted to charge Armstrong $14.99 for the one channel. Yeah but $9.99 is alot for all three? What ever.

Originally posted by svtdougie
I believe I was the first person to get the HD package from Armstrong and have had it for over a year and a half now.

What I can tell you is that there is guide information for all HD channels except (PBS) which show as "local programming".

I am upset at Armstrong for now offering HDnet, HDnet Movie, and ESPN HD as $5 for a few months then $10 in April. I signed up for it, but ESPN HD is horrible. I'd say 90% if upconverts and HDnet movie is...well...can the guy spring from some decent movies. I only like HDnet. The picture is stunning.

My cousin just got the SIRt-151 and I will be setting that up for him in the next week. I'll see what that goes, but I pay $82 right now for everything except Starz. To me that is starting to get steep.

I keep calling them and telling them all I want are the HD channels but they won't do that for me.

Anyone else have success at just getting HD channels from Armstrong?

//doug

You were not the first customer sorry. Also the PBS is not PBS it is the national feed which is not local programming. It says that because Armstrong just gets it and sends it to us.

Originally posted by Blitzburgh
Here's one for you Doug et al...

Just got a mailer today for Voom HD...anyone else get this yet? Apparently it's a new satellite service and their forte' is HD as they have 39 HD channels with 21 of them their own.

Cost is like $40 per month PLUS you have to buy their equipment which cost close to $800. The equipment includes an HD receiver and an antenna for locals, the latter of which I'm dubious about given all the problems I had with rooftop antenna's and incompetent installers prior to Greg's rescue. :p

I must admit...it intriques me yet what I really want is picture quality, great sound, variety, expandability and the least amount of hassle. Will I get that from cable?...from DirecTV?...or now Voom?

Correction it is not $40 a month it is $99.99. From what you posted is that you said that it cost $40 for 39 channels. It costs $40 to get about 15 channels. The rest is extra.

i just got off the phone with armstrong and here is what they are telling me.

the second week of january will mark the arrival of the HD PVR box, the Motoroloa 5200 i guess.

also, available will be discovery, inhd1, and inhd2. but as usual the person i talked to had no idea she kept confusing showtime and inhd. i have no idea how you can do that.

but we'll have to wait and see but dishnetworks package for 40/month to get 5 HD channels and i can just put up an antenna to get nbc

//doug

Originally posted by TV21CHIEF
I noticed they have a signal up tonight on 46-3 and 46-4.

I am also receiving WNEO, it is now on 46-1 & 46-2. They are running the the PBS standard system which runs HDTV and an SDTV simultaniously.

I am having weird reception on ch.46 though. Every evening around primetime WWHO-Columbus comes in on ch.46. No other Columbus stations have ever come in.

rpeduzzi & Mark Vidonic

The problem with WNPA is technical. They have asked to change their DTV from Ch.30 to Ch.49. This isn't all that strange as many stations have asked for and been granted channel changes.

The problem is that WNPA has asked that their transmitter site be moved to an area that is 10 miles NE of WQED. Although DTV rules allow 2 adjacent channels to be broadcast in the same area (within 23 miles of each other) where interference between the two stations will be very small such as 42-WCWB & 43-WPGH, and 25-KDKA & 26-WQEX, WNPA's proposed channel change creates additional technical problems because the proposal calls for:

48-WPXI
49-WNPA
50-WPCB
51-WTAE

The problem with this is that altough interference between 2 adjacent channels is very small the interference to a station in the middle of 3 adjacent channels may experience a small amount of interference from both adjacent channels and impact the stations coverage area. For instance WPCB would receive a very small amount of interference from both WTAE and WNPA which may impact it's coverage area.

As far as I know WNPA's request is the first of it's kind and the FCC is throughly studying the request. The last thing the FCC wants to do is create an interference problem between 4 parties.

The Canadian approval is probably BS. All new stations in the Canadian Border Zone has to be approved by Canada. Our FM station was approved nearly instantly by the Canadian Government.

Originally posted by bryan27
The Canadian approval is probably BS. All new stations in the Canadian Border Zone has to be approved by Canada. Our FM station was approved nearly instantly by the Canadian Government.


Canadian approvals are not BS. It took 2 years to get mine and WKBN, the CBS affiliate here in Youngstown is still waiting for Canadian approval after resolving an MX issue with Pittsburgh. Canada and Mexico are very slow at turning them loose. There are still many stations in border zones across the country that had their CP's accepted for filing in November 1999 that don't have them granted yet.

bryan 27 & TV21Chief,

Thanks for the additional info on WNPA. I hadn't thought about what the resulting channel allocations would mean (channels on 48 through 51). But now I'm curious as to whether channel 49 was the only other viable option for WNPA (as well as the exact problem WNPA had with its original assignment on Channel 30).

I guess I'm mildly surprised that Viacom would not be doing more to get its digital UPN signal on the air in Pittsburgh ... although I can think of reasons why it might not be a top priority for KDKA's management and engineers (the additional expense and operational headaches come to mind immediately).

No matter what, I can't see how WNPA could get its digital signal on the air before 2005/2006. Is this too pessimistic an assessment?

Originally posted by svtdougie
i just got off the phone with armstrong and here is what they are telling me.

the second week of january will mark the arrival of the HD PVR box, the Motoroloa 5200 i guess.

also, available will be discovery, inhd1, and inhd2. but as usual the person i talked to had no idea she kept confusing showtime and inhd. i have no idea how you can do that.

but we'll have to wait and see but dishnetworks package for 40/month to get 5 HD channels and i can just put up an antenna to get nbc

//doug

they know about discovery but have no clue what INHD is.

I would double, triple, and quadruple check on Discovery HD. I'm not so sure it's going to happen.

Originally posted by svtdougie
i just got off the phone with armstrong and here is what they are telling me.

the second week of january will mark the arrival of the HD PVR box, the Motoroloa 5200 i guess.


1 month away?! That's gotta be a mistake... how can Armstrong roll out something before any other provider has been able to? :) At least I'm pretty sure no one else has HDPVR yet (unless you buy it retail and use it for OTA only).

I knew we'd see Discovery in the $9.95 package! Awesome.

I'm going to email my contact.

Yep, it's true! Here's a more official word:

PVR's are in the final stages of internal testing. We will use the Motorola 6208 initially. The 6208's have HD capability. Pricing is being finalized this week. We plan to start advertising next week with customer installs starting approximately 1/6/04.

Additional HD programming is always being worked on, however, no new channel agreements have been reached at this time.

Taken from http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/product_documents/6200data_060403.pdf
"DCT6208
Personal Video Recording (PVR) and High-Definition TV (HDTV) - in one
easy-to-use set-top! The Motorola DCT6208 offers time-conscious customers
on-demand viewing control combined with HDTV support. Motorola's
DCT6208 comes fully equipped with an integrated 80 GB hard-drive for
hours of PVR functionality including the capability of recording high definition
programs. In addition to the built-in hard drive storage capacity it features
a 1394 Firewire digital interface to enable external hard-drive expansion for
increased storage or connection to future networked video devices."

This would be really cool if it is available on Armstrong.

Originally posted by rpeduzzi
No matter what, I can't see how WNPA could get its digital signal on the air before 2005/2006. Is this too pessimistic an assessment?

Well, it could go up rather fast. To protect their Digital Service Contour the station will need to go up fast. Since most of the new DTV Towers, antennas, etc... have been installed there isn't as much of a rush on construction like there was. A new tower can go up in a day or two.

There really wasn't a problem with Ch.30 if WNPA would have stayed where it is. But by moving the transmitter to Pittsburgh ch.30 couldn't be used because the separation between 29-WWCP Johnstown and a Ch.30 in Pittsburgh would have been too great. The rules are something like adjacent channels are permitted if their seperation is 0-23 miles or greater that 56 miles. Any adjacent channels between 24-55 miles wouldn't be permitted.

Ever since Ch.19 moved into the Pittsburgh TV Market, moving the station closer to Pittsburgh has always been the goal, and the DTV transition is making this possible. Ch.49 wasn't the only possible move, but it probably was the easiest to attempt (Chs.39 & 47 are possibly available). The could have moved to channels higher than 51, but the FCC won't permit a channel move from a "Core Channel" to a "Non-Core Channel"

Ch.14-20 Not possible due to Land Mobile use
Ch.21-WFMJ (A)
Ch.22-WCWB (A)
Ch.23-WATM (A)
Ch.24-WNPB (A) & WATM(D)
Ch.25-KDKA (D)
Ch.26-WQEX (D)
Ch.27-WKBN (A)
Ch.28-WQVC (A) Class-A protection required
Ch.29-WWCP (D)
Ch.30-Several Class-A stations moving due to displacement
Ch.31-WWBP (A) Class-A Displacement move
Ch.32-WTAJ (D) & WTRF (D)
Ch.33-WYTV (A) & WNPB (A)
Ch.34-WJAC (D)
Ch.35-There are 5 Class-A stations in the region
Ch.36-WYTV (D)
Ch.37-Radio Astronomy Use
Ch.38-WQED (D)
Ch.39-Possibly Available
Ch.40-WPCB (A)
Ch.41-WKBN (D)
Ch.42-WCWB (D)
Ch.43-WPGH (D)
Ch.44-WOUC (A)
Ch.45-WNEO (A)
Ch.46-WNEO (D) & WKBS (D)
Ch.47-Possibly Available
Ch.48-WPXI (D)
Ch.49-Possibly Available
Ch.50-WPCB (D)
Ch.51-WTAE (D)

I agree.

VOOM UPDATE:

ok, i finally made it to sears to check out voom for you guys (been busy finishing basement) and the verdict is....SUCKS!!

don't even waste your time looking at it. almost all the voom 'exclusive' hd channels were upconverts. looked horrible for so called HD. maybe in a few months after they get more channels it may be worth a look, but in my opinion, if this is what they have, they are going to go under real fast.

as far as armstrong goes, i will wait for the new HD PVR box and see what that is like. i will call and try to get on the wait list for first week in january tomorrow.

//doug

Voom is worth it. There channels are not upconverts and most of them are showing the dish network feed not vooms.

**** only has 4 asterisks you moron.

Thanks for telling me.... Like i did not know.

clisenet you better calm down. we are all here trying to learn and be informative here. it seems like you know a lot about stuff, how about just presenting in a more friendly manor? sound reasonable?

//doug

Wow, Armstrong's HDPVR is only $3.95/mo extra. I have seen other cable companies charging like $12-15/mo for the service!

I know. They called me last night and I am all setup for Jan. 6 install date which is the first day they are rolling them out.

I can't wait.

I cancelled Showtime but still have HBO and my bill is coming to 79.81 she said.

I'll let everyone know. She also said that deals with Discovery are still moving forward as discovery has lowered there price down, however, nothing on the inhd channels.

//doug

Originally posted by svtdougie
clisenet you better calm down. we are all here trying to learn and be informative here. it seems like you know a lot about stuff, how about just presenting in a more friendly manor? sound reasonable?

//doug

ok, i will try to.

IS it going to be like Tivo or not. I have seen both sides. One side just PVR other side TIVO.

Here's a link to to some manuals for a 6208 PVR from RCN. They look to be running standard TV Guide software so ours should be more or less the same. In particular, look at 'How to use the DVR'.

http://www.rcn.com/cabletv/dvr/usermanuals.php

Bottom line, it's not a Tivo, but it's better than nothing. I hope Tivo comes to some sort of agreement where they can license their software to cable companies like they do with D*.

thanks

Now that Viacom(CBS) and COMCAST have signed their new agreements, can anyone fill in which HD channels we may get on Comcast and when? Does anyone know how much capacity there is in the digital cable system left for HD channels without getting into nasty compression?

Thanks!

It's on in my Area of Pittsburgh!!

Channel 782 !

Just in time for playoffs and the Superbowl. Too bad our Steelers will be sitting at home.

Nice! Where in Pittsburgh are you?

I can't wait to get home and check it out...but seeing as how I don't get InHD1 or 2 yet (North Hills), I'm not holding my breath.

South Hills / Carnegie area.

782 on here but says not authorized....need to order it?

Not if you've got the other HD channels, Burghman

It's up in Oakland but only reads "not authorized" when I go to it. Also, has anyone else noticed there's been a lot of breakups in audio and periodic pixellations in video on a lot of the HD channels recently? Showtime HD, HBO HD, Starz HD, and ESPN HD have all been unwatchably jumpy. ABC HD, PBS HD, and both INHD1 and 2 have not shown this problem. Perhaps it has to do with the addition of CBS HD?


Dan

I can't believe what was secretly broken in the Post-Gazette this morning. I read in total misbelief that KDKA HD is in my menu and did not even know it. What a Christmas present to all of us from Comcast.

According to a CSR I just talked to, CBS-HD is not citywide yet. Those of us getting "not authorized" have not had the channel go live on our node, apparently. I was told that Oakland should have it on monday. Gee, I can't imagine why they wouldn't make the toxic waste part of town a high priority for HD... haha.

Guess there will be no Chiefs-Vikings for me. And I was really looking forward to it, too...

:( ,
Dan

The Chiefs - Vikes game is being broadcast in HD. Great picture.

One problem, I can hear the crowd and the stadium sound effects. But no announcers are being heard at all.

Tuned to regular KDKA and the announcers are on. what the heck?

I'm not watching it but that will happen if they forget to turn on 5.1 sound. The announcers are in the center channel and L/R only has stadium sound.

Originally posted by bochamps
The Chiefs - Vikes game is being broadcast in HD. Great picture.


We have got a problem!!!!! I had Dish CBS HD and know how startling it was. This Comcast broadcast is so soft I thought I was watching "The King of Queens." In fact, I thought, "This is an upconvert."

If Comcast is going to peddle this as HD, I am more disappointed than the kid who got the ashes. :mad:

Originally posted by agtiny
The announcers are in the center channel and L/R only has stadium sound.

Should it always be like that?

Yeah that's how they mix football. I flipped it on for a sec and was getting 5.1 just fine.

ok, thats how it has always been for me. Just checking.

Originally posted by wstanko
We have got a problem!!!!! I had Dish CBS HD and know how startling it was. This Comcast broadcast is so soft I thought I was watching "The King of Queens." In fact, I thought, "This is an upconvert."

If Comcast is going to peddle this as HD, I am more disappointed than the kid who got the ashes. :mad:

You know, now that I'm watching the Pats/Jets game on ESPN HD, I think you're right. The game on ESPN has a much better picture.

I've not yet seen the Comcast KDKA-DT feed, but I've watched CBS frequenty for about a year and have found their sitcoms, particularly "King of Queens" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" to be so soft that they might as well be 480p. I always attributed it to the cheap film stock usually used for low-budget sitcoms.

CSI and sports, on the other hand, have always looked fantastic. I'd suggest those as a better barometer for comparison.

We've all heard repeatedly that Comcast in no way alters their HD signals except to remodulate them into 256QAM as opposed to 8VSB. I've compared WQED-DT between my Comcast DCT-5100 picture and my computer's Win-TV HD picture over VGA (both going into the same display) and I have to say that while I had a lot of trouble getting them to the point where the pictures were calibrated the same (the adjustments in the Win-TV HD program are a bitch), and never quite got them to look the same, I never once thought that the Comcast signal was missing any detail or purity other than the generally noisy component video signal characteristic of the Motorola box. YMMV.


Dan

I'd agree, Dan...I have Comcast and am using my HD-200 for OTA of WPXI until they and Comcast agree to put their signal on. I cannot see any discernible difference in any of the HD content between cable and OTA.

Having KDKA HD for one week now, I have noticed that the DD sound is so full of drop-offs and some time there is not even sound, only murmurs. At first I thought they were just having a bad night, then I thought Comcast had not gotten the original setup correct, but now after a whole week, I think someone had better rethink what they are transmitting.

Do you people with Comcast hear the same problem?

Do you people with Armstong hear this problem?

Do you OTA have it also?

I am looking to find out who gets the blame before I begin lambasting the culprit.

We had Without A Trace on last night even though it was a rerun and I didn't notice any audio problems. I think ever since they finally removed the orange KDKA-DT bug, the audio has been fine. This is on Armstrong.

I have Armstrong and rarely get dropouts but i get them once in a while.

I'm using an OTA receiver, and have noticed audio dropouts on KDKA as well. My biggest problem with KDKA is that they can't seem to get the channels right - Center channel is absent most of the time, and the surround channels are too loud. This really messes up the dialogue.....

I've only had the equipment for a couple of weeks now, and so I'm not sure if this is a "new" problem with KDKA?

I sent an email to the station to ask about the audio but haven't gotten a reply.....

I only got the HD cable box on the 26th, so early impressions (Comcast). There was frequent dropouts during the HD football game broadcast on Saturday. Enough to be quite annoying. During the Sunday game I did note some dropouts, but not nearly as often.

I'm not noticing the issue on other channels, so I'm pretty confident the issue is indeed with KDKA and not cabling/equipment. Hopefully they are getting it sorted out.

svtdougie, did you get your 6208 today from Armstrong? My install is set for next Tuesday. I think they dropped the ball and never called me to set up a date because I had to call a 2nd time and am probably far down the list.

Originally posted by Zyll
I'm using an OTA receiver, and have noticed audio dropouts on KDKA as well. My biggest problem with KDKA is that they can't seem to get the channels right - Center channel is absent most of the time, and the surround channels are too loud. This really messes up the dialogue.....

Zyll - no, this isn't new for KDKA ... unfortunately the station seems to be turning a deaf ear toward anyone who tries to talk to them about it. I had a conversation with the engineer who installed the upgraded Dolby equipment last summer. He emphatically insisted that KD's audio settings are correct. So, I'm guessing we all hear what you do. KD's signal fires up Dolby Digital 5.1 decoders on home receivers, but the source audio from CBS is not in Dolby 5.1 (it's usually Prologic 2.0 or simply stereo)... so the center channel is absent and the left and right channels are heard on both the front and rear speakers. I haven't seen it mentioned in awhile, but I believe there was some discussion a while ago that CBS was moving to Dolby 5.1. However, it hasn't happened yet (except for special broadcasts like the Grammy's and the Super Bowl/AFC Playoffs). (I was kinda hoping that CBS would start the Dolby 5.1. feeds, maybe "fixing" KDKA's problem :) ).

I hear the dropouts, too ...

Of course, on *some* nights, KDKA dosen't flip the "Dolby 5.1 switch" (like last night) ... and then there's sound pretty much where its supposed to be! :)

I agree that was better, except that the audio/video sync was off!

I've sent some emails to KDKA (I even tried a reporter on the "investigative team!) to try to persuade them that this is a problem. Maybe if we just keep reminding them about it..... My next step is to try to find out how to complain to the FCC - they might at least take note if a complaint is recorded there.

I am trying to watch the Chiefs-Colts game and the audio drop outs are so bad that I had no choice but to turn the receiver off and watch it with no sound. I hope this gets fixed before the super bowl. Is it a majority vote that KDKA is the source of the problem or does anybody think this is a Comcast or CBS feed problem?

The problem for the game yesterday was do to CBS.

Nice to see a Pittsburgh thread!

I live about 30 miles west of Pittsburgh in Steubenville, OH. Antennaweb says I need a huge antenna. Anyone have any suggestions for me on an antenna?

I agree, you will need a big one but i am not the one to answer for suggestions.

sorry guys for the late post i've been busting my ass at work lately and have been beat.

yes i did get the install last tuesday and the installer said i was #4, he said one person got on dec 29 and 3 people before that day.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

box looks identical to the 5100. the remote is very different and i am still not that comfortable with it. does not feel intuitive at all.

Picture quality: here is my biggest problem. on EVERY analog channel (2 - 70) the picture quality is SUB par. I mean it looks horrible. it looks worse that the compression that my replay 5040 used no question. on digital cable channels it is much better, but still not as good as with the 5100.

with HDTV the picture is VERY close to having no compression at all. i still think it is not quite as clear but you would be nit picking for sure.

Features: the DVR function is not working exactly right yet. i setup friday and csi because i was out thursday and it only recorded 15 minutes of friends but got all of csi, likewise, a few other recordings have stopped halfway through. armstrong said not to complain because so little people have it i'd be better off trouble shooting myself.

i love having it playback a movie off of hdnet movie or hdnet and seeing 5.1 audio locked in and be able to move back slow mo or even instant replay and keep that. very novel.

let me know what you think about yours.

as a side note, does anyone get fox OTA, is it progressive 480p, because the eagles/packers game was terrible on analog.

//doug

Sounds cool.. I know there will be bugs but that's ok. I am just about done setting up a MythTV box so I might start using that for all analog channels which should improve the PQ.

WPGH doesn't broadcast the Fox Widescreen content. Hopefully they will go to Fox HD 720p when that comes online. Whenever it does we should get it on channel 153.

I got this reply from KDKA today on the audio drop outs.

"Thank you for your input concerning the HDTV problem. We have been working with the manufacturer of our upconverter, device used to format programming for HD, and because of the recent surge of newer HD receivers there has been some improvements and drawbacks to the new technology. The audio issue should be resolved . I would appreciate your feedback if you are still experiencing problems.
Mark Etzi
KDKA-TV"

Originally posted by jsling
I got this reply from KDKA today on the audio drop outs.

The audio issue should be resolved . I would appreciate your feedback if you are still experiencing problems.
Mark Etzi
KDKA-TV"

Did Mr. Etzi leave an email address? Unless they fixed it today, I still had drop-offs last night and would like to tell him all about it.

Did Mr. Etzi leave an email address? Unless they fixed it today, I still had drop-offs last night and would like to tell him all about it.

Yep,
It's

etzi@kdka.com
Mark Etzi
KDKA-TV
One Gateway Center
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222

Got my 6208 today and I LOVE it! Haven't had a single bug hit me yet and we tested it pretty hard. We recorded 24 on analog directly followed by L&O in HD, and we started watching the 24 recording after about 20 minutes, and kept on watching it while it switched channels to begin recording L&O. It was seamless! PQ is good, I think analog looks the same as the 5100. HD is perfect. It looks like analog channels are now output in Dolby Digital instead of PCM, so that's a change. Best $3.95 I ever spent. Highly recommended. (I have no Tivo experience so for a Tivo user it is probably a step down)

The only gripe so far is that the fan in the box is louder than my Athlon HTPC next to it. Granted, it's in a quiet Sonata case with a quiet CPU fan, but still... Also got MythTV up and running today at 960x540p and it looks fantastic.. but that's off-topic a bit. :) Oh also, when you pause TV, the audio signal cuts out so my receiver kicks off the surround mode back to stereo. That's a bit annoying, but I really blame my receiver here.

I just ordered an install of digital + HDTV PVR... Set up for the 23rd. Hopefully people will keep posting good experiences with it. :)

Originally posted by jsling
I got this reply from KDKA today on the audio drop outs.

"Thank you for your input concerning the HDTV problem. We have been working with the manufacturer of our upconverter, device used to format programming for HD, and because of the recent surge of newer HD receivers there has been some improvements and drawbacks to the new technology. The audio issue should be resolved . I would appreciate your feedback if you are still experiencing problems.
Mark Etzi
KDKA-TV" Any update on this problem? I'm still having dropout issues with a zenith HD420 (ota).

Also, a comment on CBS football broadcasts.

My denon 3803 will detect the number of channels and default to either prologic or 5.1. Most of the time with football on CBS, someone forgets to 'flip a switch' or something. This results in broadcasting only the L and R channels of an 5.1 program. My receiver recognizes this as a dolby digital 2.0 signal. This is far worse than the original two channel signal as most dialog is lost and the prologic decoder puts too much into the rear channels. Then all of a sudden... blammo they flip the switch and the rest of the game is in 5.1.

Originally posted by jsling
I got this reply from KDKA today on the audio drop outs.

"Thank you for your input concerning the HDTV problem. We have been working with the manufacturer of our upconverter, device used to format programming for HD, and because of the recent surge of newer HD receivers there has been some improvements and drawbacks to the new technology. The audio issue should be resolved . I would appreciate your feedback if you are still experiencing problems.
Mark Etzi
KDKA-TV" Any update on this problem? I'm still having dropout issues with a zenith HD420 (ota).

Also, a comment on CBS football broadcasts.

My denon 3803 will detect the number of channels and default to either prologic or 5.1. Most of the time with football on CBS, someone forgets to 'flip a switch' or something. This results in broadcasting only the L and R channels of an 5.1 program. This is far worse than the original two channel signal as most dialog is lost and the prologic decoder puts too much into the rear channels. Then all of a sudden... blammo they flip the switch and the rest of the game is in 5.1.

Any update on this problem? I'm still having dropout issues with a zenith HD420 (ota).

I haven't had much time this week to watch much of KDKA's feed to see if the audio drop outs have stopped but of the few shows I did tune into since I got their email it seems as if they turned off the 5.1 DD all together. Has anyone else noticed this? I am going to email them again....

Yes, I noticed that the "DD 5.1" is totally abandoned. Replacing it with far more stable signal is satisfactory. I watched 3 hours of KDKA on Thursday evening and there was barely a glitch. Comparing this to the disaster they had going, yes the problem is solved for now.

Since it is my understanding that none of the CBS shows is in 5.1 anyways, why send that phantom signal to us anyways? Save it for the real deal when it arrives.

Since it is my understanding that none of the CBS shows is in 5.1 anyways, why send that phantom signal to us anyways? Save it for the real deal when it arrives.


Since I have only had HDTV a few weeks now I did not know that none of the CBS shows are in 5.1. Thats interesting that the whole time they were sending us a phantom signal. No wonder it sounded so bad. Since that's the case then I totally agree that it sounds a thousand times better even though its only 2.0.
I am just thankful that I at least get CBS in HD. Hopefully soon WPXI & WPGH are added to Comcast. I emailed WPXI recently and I got a reply from them saying that their Corporate Office (Cox) was still negotiating with Comcast.

I had Dish Network previously and was fortunate enough to get the CBS NYC signal. It was a DD 2.0 sound and very stable. There was a lot of talk that CBS would change their prime time lineup to 5.1 but equipment did not get purchased and put in place. So it is still 2.0

Last year CBS broadcast the Grammy's in HD and the real deal DD 5.1 live. I sat totally mesmerized for 3 hours. The sound was top quality and Simon and Garfunkel sounded like they were ready for a new recording contract! This year CBS is reprising the awards on Feb. 8, but I am not sure what will happen to that great sound when KDKA gets to help process it.

6208 update:

agtiny..i am glad you are happy with yours as well. i am coming up on week 2 and now it seems like my bugs are worked out now.

it definately works better than my replaytv. i still think analog channels aren't nearly as good as the 5100 but it could be also my hdtv being too good (lcd rear projection).

as far as functionality i haven't played around with the setting up daily/weekly recordings have you done this yet? if so, how does it work?

fan noise: this is insanely loud but might just be noticable because my h/k equipment is fanless and tv fan is deadly silent. it seems like the hard drive continues to spin constantly.

i also wonder how this thing remembers.. if i have 10 shows up and watch 5 minutes of each one, when i go back in it picks up right where it left off.

just finished watching wild things off and that was 2 hours plus some other misc. content and i was still showing 50% free. pretty good.

//doug

I have a few weekly recordings set up but won't know if they work till next week. :) I haven't tried watching partial recordings yet but remembering your spot is a pretty cool feature. It is very loud... I tried turning the box off but everything stays on and it will even record shows while it's 'off'. The drive in mine is a Seagate ST380012ACE which should be pretty reliable.. but 24/7 heavy read/write is eventually going to wear the drive down. Oh well that's why it's a rental. ;)

For what it's worth...but, as for me,

I'm stickin' with DirecTV!!

If any of you have been following my posts, as you know, I'm building a new house and, an Home Theatre Room...24' x 15'. I was seriously considering going back to cable...after all, you all have been a big help with the info and Armstrong has made great progress in the past 10 years since I used them last. Most think, and I agree, they're ahead of Comcast.

That said...

Yeah, to get rid of the dish, the OTA rooftop antenna, extra wiring, blah, blah, blah and spending a little less was something I was looking forward to and was convinced my dish was gettin' the heav-ho...UNTIL...

Yes, until my neighbor, whose had a SONY HDTV for some time but never got an HD tuner took my recommendation and upgraded his cable to digital and Armstrongs new HD Tuner with PVR.

He got his installed January 9th and I was at his house immediately after the install. Man, was I shocked.

His picture sucked no matter what channel. HD, other than HDNet didn't look very good at all, and not much better than what he had before.

Naturally, I was a bit chagrined but the kicker for me was in learning that the PVR only has one tuner...unlike my DirecTiVo that has two. In other words, with Armstrong, I would not be able to record another channel while watching another. Right now I can record two different programs while watching a third through my HD tuner.

To top it all off, given all the bucks I'm spending, needless to say when it comes to my HT room, I'm dealing with the "wife factor" yet even she said "ain't no way I'm givin' up the TiVo and the option to record something different than what I'm watching".

Not knockin' Armstrong or those that have it and like it...different strokes for different folks but, as for me, I'm stayin' with DirecTV...albeit reluctantly but I am.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Hope it helps others who are trying to decide between cable vs. dish. Remember, I have no predetermined loyalties that I'm blind to...nope, just wanted the best picture/sound for the best price. For me, it's the dish.

Let me just add that 'the wife factor' is quite a large variable in the HT equation. :)

Anyone else not getting WQED-DT? It's gone OTA and on Comcast for me.

It's been dead for days now I think.

I've also noticed that WQED-DT has been off the air OTA. Not sure if this means anything, but WQEX 16 analog has been off also. They might be getting ready to startup WQEX-DT. I think they share the same tower...not sure though..

--Clint--

The Post Gazette reported that QED-DT has transmission line problems and would be back on ASAP.
I live in Penn Hills and the other day I did a scan with my dish 811 while pointed south and Ch 24 -1,2,and 3 showed up with a 70 signaL,this was the first time I got a signal from them. The Morgantown WV station carries 3 PBS feeds and is great to have when QED is off air.

----Walt---

Walt:
Is their tower really in Morgantown or Parkersburg? If it's Parkersburg, that's pretty good to get it at 70. You must have had some serious skip going on.

I am not sure which city it is in but the call letters are WNPB.
The strange part is the receiver mapped it as 24 but the guide shows 33-1,2 and 3. I doubt it is a skip signal because I have been getting it everyday for at least a week.

-----Walt-----

WNEO in Alliance, OH (channel 46) is another alternative while WQED is down. It may be hard to pull in for you folks further south, but here in Chippewa it's rock solid.

Walt, I looked it up today...WNPB is actually in Morgantown, their analog channel is 24, but their digital channel is 33. For familiarity, they will just map it to 24.

Alright what gives??!!!!!!

I live in Morgantown and I can't get WNPB, but I get all of the Pittsburgh stations with ease.

Is WNPB active now??

Jim

Hey guys, just wanted to know if anyone else in the Pittsburgh/Greensburg area are losing some of your HD channels over the last couple of nights. I have no signals from the STARZ, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX, ESPN or WTAE HD channels three times in the last 4 days. The INHD, HBO and KDKA HD channels were o.k., but the others were displaying "this channel will be available shortly" (or whatever those words are). They do display during the day, but get "lost" at night. I am using 2 5100 boxes from COMCAST, and both are losing the HD channels listed. They sent a tech out yesterday to check the boxes, but as I stated, they do work during the day and of course the tech sees NO problem. And all of a sudden tonight, they were off again!!!

Is this happening to anyone else??? Thanks in advance for any responses.

Hey everyone, the firewire on Armstrong's 6208's does seem to be active. I have it hooked up to my Linux box right now but I'm not having much luck. Some people were able to get their Comcast 6200's recording to a Mac. See this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=353608) if you're interested.

Huh.. Any luck at all? Does gscanbus show anything? I will try this from a WinXP laptop.. Got my 6208 installed this morning, and it seems to work well, although I haven't played much with it. The interface leaves a lot to be desired compared to Tivo, but that's ok.

Yeah gscanbus finds the 6208, and I am able to read some info from it, but no actual data. See the above thread where I posted a bit more.

Oh, the Armstrong install guy (who seemed pretty knowledgeable and helpful) told me that it was unlikely that Armstrong would be carrying UPN and WB in HD due to cost, and are considering dropping ESPN-HD for the same reason. He also strenuously objected to using the DVI output (vs. component) because of future potential broadcast flag issues with PVR.

He told me not to use DVI too and also said firewire was not active. UPN/WB aren't even available in HD here yet, but I imagine when they are they will be available, as will Fox HD if we ever get it.

I bet your installer probably didn't know what he was talking about. They won't drop ESPN-HD because they already have their contract with whatever price/subscriber and they pass along the cost to us with the new $5/$10 fee, so they aren't losing money. I expect to see Discovery HD soon too.

Wow, I finally got KDKA locked in. The very, old rotor has finally broken away from the ice that held it. I just got my HTL-HD and, without a signal meter by the way, was able to lock in KDKA from about 54.5 miles away with my roof-top antenna (I'm located close to Youngstown, OH). Being that this is the closest CBS affiliate to me, I am pumped because now sunday will definetly be SUPER SUNDAY!!

BTW, I just got done watching CSI on my Z1 front projector and it looked amazing. I'll bet that with a HD RPTV it would probably look every better. What do any of you think?

Any others using a Z1 and watching OTA HD material? Anything else I can do to maybe increase PQ even more? I'm using component cables and the HTL-HD is set at Variable 2.

Don'y worry... The Super Bowl won't look like CSI. Live events on CBS usually have the wow.

I sent the following letter to Mr. Mark Etzi a KDKA representative who is working on the sound problems:

Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 9:52 AM
To: etzi@kdka.com
Subject: KDKA Digital Sound


Dear Mr. Etzi,

A HD newsgroup posted information about your role in reducing the audio breakups of KDKA when broadcasting in Dolby Digital 5.1. There is certainly an improvement since you have stopped sending the false 5.1 signal. Very few breakups occur and for that I am grateful.

However there is a definite synchronization problem with the sound on the digital channel. There is a small lapse, but it is certainly present. While watching KDKA HD, I am forever watching the mouths of the speakers, for my brain realizes that there is a small, but annoying lack of correlation between what is heard and seen. CBS is by far the most watched channel in our house and if this sound synchronization problem were to be repaired, it would greatly improve the HD experience.

He replied today with the following:

Thank you for the information.
We are testing various aspects of our HD transmission.
I would appreciate if you could tell me if you receive our signal off air, channel 25 or via a cable system.
Thanks for your help.

So fellow HDTV Enthusiasts, here is your chance to help things get better. If you have valuable input, let him hear about it.

I watched Without a Trace last night (on cable) and didn't have any audio issues at all. Maybe it's your receiver or something?

Now here was a pleasant surprise...

I flipped up my channel guide on my Sammy TS160 and on DirecTV's channel lineup for the HD Channels...all of a sudden I had channel 80 CBSE out of New York...and Ch. 81 CBSW out of LA.

Both broadcast the CBS HD shows in...HD!

Unfortunately, it's only CBS and not NBC or ABC...particularly the latter since I can't pull in the weak WTAE signal.

Anyhow...I am happy for those football fans who, in their area, might not get the OTA digital channel for CBS but now can see the Super Bowl if they have DirecTV's HD package. I definite plus...

Blitz,
I think that you were lucky to have these stations activated. My guide showed the "call extension 721" message. When I called and finally talked to the D* rep, I was told that CBS affiliates, WTRF from Wheeling and WKBN from Youngstown, have both claimed to be offering me a Grade A or B signal and that a waiver must be obtained from these stations to receive the East coast CBS-HD feed. I live in the mountains of Eastern Westmoreland county, near Donegal, have a Channelmaster 4228 UHF antennae and there is NO WAY that I can receive these signals. I get a great signal from KDKA, so its not a big deal, but it would have been nice to have it as a back up and to see the additional New York programming.

While I was talking to the rep, I asked her to go ahead and file a waiver request for FOX 53WPGH in advance of the upcoming addition of the FOX ED national feed on D*. I realize that the chances of this being granted are next to ZERO and that really bites. Sinclair owned WPGH has no desire to upgrade their power or pass the the national ED feed because "its not worth the money for the few HD receivers that are out there", but they will not allow us to get this signal elsewhere.

Kevin

If the FCC makes these ridiculous signal access rules apply to this situation than they should require DirecTV to carry these stations as part of your "local" package. Wouldn't that get DirecTV's attention?

New guidelines need to be set up to coincide with the new technology.

kkc,

My guide also showed "call extension 721" message. When I called they said I was not elgible because did not subscribe to the local package. Told them that the press release said "or" HD package. She did some more checking and said I was approved so hit my card and activated CBSE. If I were you I'd call back. DTV is notorious for giving different responses dependent on CSR you happen to talk to. I am south of Greensburg near New Stanton!

I didn't really need it since I get 25.1 good. However, it will come in handy when KDKA starts altering their programing which they tend to do now and then.

Jim

Jim,

Right you are!!! I called D *again and the rep asked me if I was a Super Bowl fan...I said "ABSOLUTELY". He activated Channel 81.

Kevin

I live near Bridgeville in South Fayette Township (Morgan, PA precisely) and just purchased an HDTV monitor and tuner this week. I setup the HD tuner and it quicikly locked in 5 local HD stations: KDKA, WPXI, WPGH, WTAE, and some Greensburg channel. I have an indoor antenna which is powered so I can't complain that I'm getting the BIG FOUR networks OTA for free. But my question is why can't I get PBS or WPTT or Steubenville WTOV, Johnstown, or Wheeling WTRF? I can get all these station's analog signals OTA, but not the HD channels. Is anybody else in my area getting more channels than I am getting? If so, what is your setup?

Guins,

The digital WQED has been off the air for a few days...not sure what the problem is. When it comes back on air, you should be able to receive it.

I'm not sure about WTOV, but WTRF and the Johnstown Fox affiliate are not passing their networks HD signal, so even if you were able to receive them, it would not look any different than the standard definition analog channel. No big loss. Consider yourself fortunate to be able to receive the major four from Pittsburgh.

Kevin

Here's the story about the antenna problem knocking WQED-DT offline over two weeks ago (along with WQEX analog). Seems like it's taking awhile to fix, maybe because of the bad weather all month.

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/20040114wqex0114fnp6.asp

Comcast channel 790 (WQED-DT) now has a blue screen with a note about technical difficulties instead of the "this channel will be available shortly" screen.

Anyone noticing audio problems w/ the Super Bowl pregame on armstrong HD? When they're on the field/announcer shots, there's no voice - only crowd noise (looks like center channel not coming in). When they switch to taped interviews w/ players, commercials, etc, it's fine...

Parag

They are working on it, Parag...I think once the game starts, we'll get a true read if it's fixed or not.

Originally posted by roemerj
kkc,

My guide also showed "call extension 721" message. When I called they said I was not elgible because did not subscribe to the local package. Told them that the press release said "or" HD package. She did some more checking and said I was approved so hit my card and activated CBSE. If I were you I'd call back. DTV is notorious for giving different responses dependent on CSR you happen to talk to. I am south of Greensburg near New Stanton!

I didn't really need it since I get 25.1 good. However, it will come in handy when KDKA starts altering their programing which they tend to do now and then.

Jim

That was good advice Jim. In my case, years ago, I wanted to keep the East Coast/West Coast network channels...even though the locals were "fired" up, so to speak.

I eventually found a "rep" that turned them on. I wanted them because, as I like football, having the locals, the east/west coast channels pretty much gave me most of the NFL Ticket and a next to nothing cost. Plus, in the event I missed a show at 8 p.m....I could catch it at 11 on the West Coast channel.

Now that I have TiVo, that makes the latter a bit irrelevant but my wife still likes the east/west coast channels for flexibility.

As to channels 80 and 81...let me ask one and all this...

I was watching the Super Bowl last night on KDKA 25.1 yet, in the beginning, as usual for them, they forgot to turn on the "center" speaker. So, just flipped to Channel 80 (New York) and had my sound.

Anyhow, I flipped back to KDKA about a half hour later and the sound was there so I stuck with them...until, I began to get some drop outs (video) that left a green screen. It was long mind you but, after several times, it was a bit annoying.

So, again I switched to Channnel 80 which had no problems.

All of which is to say that Channels 80/81 are nice to have when KDKA is having some of its usual problems. And, since they're free, having that flexible option is a good thing.

I also watched the Super Bowl on KDKA and only had the 'green screen' twice, each time for about 2 secs. I thought KDKA did a great job and I only had audio dropouts a few times (but that could be due to the HTL-HD receiver.)

My experience was the same as these last two reports. In Squirrel Hill, using a silversensor (indoor uhf antenna) I was able to pick up 25.1 OTA throughout the entire game. There were about a half dozen occurances when the picture broke up, followed by a second or two of green screen before returning to normal. As reported earlier, the first part of the broadcast was missing 3.1 of the 5.1 channels.

I may have also experienced the audio dropouts but I'm not sure. During the halftime show it was noticeable that sound would decrease slightly in volume for less than a second. This happened every 10 seconds or and many listeners didn't even notice. I'm unsure whether this was my fault or somewhere farther up the signal path.

I checked this board to see if I was the only one who had dropouts, green screen and audio problems on KDKA OTA 25.1. I see I was not.

I saw the green screen twice. I also had to turn up the sound more than normal to hear the announcers and when the commercials came on they were way too loud.

I live in the North Hills near Ross Park Mall and have had trouble getting WTAE DTV consistantly. Does anyone know what their current power is and if they plan to increase it? I get it about 80% of the time.

Thanks,
Rock

Blitz,

My experience was the same as yours...I needed to switch a couple of times during the course of the game as either KDKA or D* had audio or video problems. It was really great to have the D* feed as a backup. I was noticing more problems over he weekend with KDKA...macro-blocking and freezes. A check of the signal strength showed me at 38 to 40, which is way below my normal reading of 85 to 90.

Kevin

I was really surprised at how much atmospherics come into play with digital TV. KDKA just makes it to my house in Youngstown with my antenna setup. Late Saturday afternoon I had a watchable signal that occassionally broke up. Saturday night it was rock solid and the signal quality meter on my tuner went up a couple notches at night. Sunday morning I couldn't even get a lock. As the day went on it slowly started to come in until by kickoff it was solid again and I had the same signal quality as the night before.

The green screens must have happened before the transmitter since my tuner never unlocked - the signal light stayed on the whole time the screen was green.

I did notice that when commericals came on, the volume went way loud. And that when the game came back on, I had to turn the volume back up to hear it.

I, being from close to Youngstown too, experienced very close to what TV21Chief did, in that Sunday morning, I had no signal and that by Sunday afternoon, it was rock solid. I don't have an OTA signal meter (Hughes HTL-HD) so I don't know what my signal strength was. But damn, the game looked amazing on my Z1, simply amazing.

Originally posted by RockScaler
I checked this board to see if I was the only one who had dropouts, green screen and audio problems on KDKA OTA 25.1. I see I was not.

I saw the green screen twice. I also had to turn up the sound more than normal to hear the announcers and when the commercials came on they were way too loud.

I live in the North Hills near Ross Park Mall and have had trouble getting WTAE DTV consistantly. Does anyone know what their current power is and if they plan to increase it? I get it about 80% of the time.

Thanks,
Rock

When will WTAE increase power? Hey, I think WTAE stinks for not doing it long ago and I don't buy any rationale that they can't do it.

If you get WTAE 80% of the time, consider yourself one of the lucky few.

While I cheer D* for putting on Channels 80 and 81 out of New York/LA...I'm looking forward to when they might provide the ABC feed thereby neutering WTAE. If they do, I'd probably not watch WTAE ever again...and certainly not for it's network content.

They need to remember it's 2004...not 1984 or earlier.

In Squirrel Hill, I have never been able to pick up WTAE. :-(

i'm getting it 100% with a radio shack bow tie in my attic. .

Oh sure... just rub it in. ;-)

Unfortunately, I rent the first floor of a brick building with no roof or attic access. I have considered a plan involving a grappling hook and a chimney... with all the cable lines snaked across the exterior already, perhaps nobody would notice. (not seriously considering this)

For my residence, WTAE produces as much signal strength as any 'empty' channel.

Translation: I watch KDKA programming instead.

Hopefully, WTAE will increase their wattage soon since we're both loosers in the current situation.

Originally posted by dfiler
Oh sure... just rub it in. ;-)

Unfortunately, I rent the first floor of a brick building with no roof or attic access. I have considered a plan involving a grappling hook and a chimney... with all the cable lines snaked across the exterior already, perhaps nobody would notice. (not seriously considering this)

For my residence, WTAE produces as much signal strength as any 'empty' channel.

Translation: I watch KDKA programming instead.

Hopefully, WTAE will increase their wattage soon since we're both loosers in the current situation.

Hope springs eternal...NOT! NOT, that is in the case of WTAE. I believe they're clueless and will only change my mind when they pro-actively have someone post on here or put something in the paper or on their regular channel that they "get it"...and, as such, will increase power.

Again, I think it's horse hockey to accept any statements from them that "they can't do it because of FCC rules" or other menutia.

Ya think?

Looks like Cinemax-HD is now on Armstrong channel 198. I don't think I'll be subscribing but it's good to see another channel. Now where is Discovery...

Thats what i am waiting for too. :)

I am about 52 miles away from KDKA. I noticed something that is kinda weird. I was able to get KDKA's digital signal no problem on Super Bowl Sunday and now also too, with the Grammy's on. But between the 2 events, I couldn't get a reliable, constant signal. Is it possible that KDKA is boosting the signal for special events and then lowering it again?

Did anyone else get a really screwed up "HD" broadcast for the NHL game today on WTAE? I made sure an hour before the game started that I had WTAE tuned well. The signal was good right up to the instant the game started -- as soon as it went widescreen, the breakups started. It was so unwatchable that I gave up and switched to Dish. The signal strength was still good on my receiver's strength bar, but the game was unwatchable.

Towards the end of the game, I decided to go back to OTA to see how it was doing, and noticed that the broadcast was now in 4:3 (seemed to be an upconverted SD feed. Badly converted, at that -- it looked better on Dish!)

So anyone else even try? So far from what I've seen WTAE is a pathetic joke for HD content. Good thing I don't like much on ABC outside of MNF and the occasional hockey games...

It appears that the local feed had substantial problems maintaining HD yesterday. They tried again in the third period but for the most part it was unwatchable. They finished the game in SD. Apparently other cities were also having problems...but not all.

I tried calling WTAE yesterday, but nobody was in in Engineering. Big surprise since their OTA signal was totally screwed up. I was HIGHLY disappointed. IMHO, the HD broadcast was the ONLY reason to watch the NHL All Star Game; no HD so I bailed.

Thank God the Super Bowl was on CBS. Btw, major kudos to KDKA for their terrifice signal for the Super Bowl and last night's Grammy Awards. They've got their act together.

What is WPXI/NBC's reputation for HD broadcasts? Are they going to screw up the Daytona 500 this Sunday??? I realize it is the first HD 500 so I can cut them some slack.

So far after three weeks of HDTV ownership, I've learned that KDKA DT rocks which is GREAT since almost ALL CBS primetime shows broadcast in HD, WTAE sucks for sporting events (broadcast shows seem ok, although I don't watch just flip through), and WPXI does well with regular programming (Ed and the Tonight Show look great in HD). I have not seen a live sporting HD broadcast on WPXI/NBC.

Should we make a call to the station this week to let them know their are fans looking forward to watching the 500 in HD? Anyone know the number to dial Engineering or the Station Manager at PXI directly?

I can't think of the last time NBC did a live HD event, maybe some horse racing using HDNet's feed? In general though, NBC has a good HD track record. They've only screwed up Law & Order (the only NBC show I regularly watch) a few times.

In all fairness to WTAE...(excluding lip sync & antenna strength) they have been dependable. IMO Sunday's game was the exception not the rule. Call Kurt Hoss at WTAE & let him know we are out here. They tend to dismiss HD eyeballs as insignificant.

Jay Leno is live; if you consider that an event.

Note to "GUINS"...yeah, go ahead and call WTAE as, eventually, they "might"...key word "MIGHT"...get it. In some ways I envy you because you can even pick up their weak signal.

And sorry, kaa1954...I COMPLETELY disagree with your statement of: "In all fairness to WTAE...(excluding lip sync & antenna strength) they have been dependable."

Why???? Because, in part, as you yourself say..."They tend to dismiss HD eyeballs as insignificant."

C'mon folks...let's all stop living in denial and call a spade a spade...or, in this case, WTAE cares less about us so why should we support them?

What HD events in the past did WTAE not deliver besides Sunday's hockey debacle?

Originally posted by kaa1954
What HD events in the past did WTAE not deliver besides Sunday's hockey debacle?

"HD events"? Oh how I wish that were the real problem...it's not. In effect, it's not their HD content that comes into question, rather...a picture that shows on the HDTV...period!

Ya think?

Originally posted by kaa1954
What HD events in the past did WTAE not deliver besides Sunday's hockey debacle?

I don't know. I just got my HDTV. How was MNF? I assume that was HD..:confused:

I get the WTAE signal at 77% not like 100% KDKA and WPXI, so they probably won't be as good for me because of the slightly weaker signal.

Originally posted by Clisenet
Jay Leno is live; if you consider that an event.

Leno is recorded live, but it is not a 'live' broadcast like a sporting event.

Originally posted by kaa1954
What HD events in the past did WTAE not deliver besides Sunday's hockey debacle?

That I can't really answer, since I just got the HD tuner, but the sad weak signal compared to KDKA, WPXI, and even WPGH is rather disappointing... I'm in Squirrel Hill, and from what I've gathered talking to my neighbors I'm lucky I can even FIND WTAE, let alone see it.

Originally posted by gregleg
I'm lucky I can even FIND WTAE, let alone see it.

That, my friend, would be understatement!

Originally posted by guins
Leno is recorded live, but it is not a 'live' broadcast like a sporting event.

Well then just a while ago it was "live" then because i heard him say "its 11:35" and stuff like that.

It's never live...he can say what he wants, it airs the same time every night, how could he be wrong? Also, when they tape the show, all the clocks that Leno sees are set to 11:35PM.

Leno tapes at approximately 5:30 pm (PST) in Los Angeles (8:30 pm (EST)in Pittsburgh) Letterman tapes at about 5:30 pm (EST) the same way. The set the stage clocks to start at 11:35 so that they get the feel for being a live show, but there are time that the show has to be edited. The try to keep the commercial breaks,etc.. in sync with what will be broadcast, but both shows are definitely taped.
I think the last live late night show was when Johnny Carson was in New York, since then they have almost all been taped as if it were live.

Originally posted by Mark Vidonic
It's never live...he can say what he wants, it airs the same time every night, how could he be wrong? Also, when they tape the show, all the clocks that Leno sees are set to 11:35PM.

ITS LIVE ON NEW YEARS EVE, so watch what you say.

What's up with KDKA-DT and their audio transmitions? It has been in Dolby 5.1 all weekend, but all dialogue is from the front left and right speakers and nothing from the center channel. I'm glad I can get the D* feed of CBS HD, at least they can get it right.

Originally posted by Clisenet
ITS LIVE ON NEW YEARS EVE, so watch what you say.

Well, no offense, but one night hardly makes it a live show.

I have a 4 bay Channel Master bow-tie as well as a 8 bay Channel Master bow-tie for sale cheap. Buy one or both but hurry because they will only be available for a few days. PM me for details if interested.

Originally posted by Mark Vidonic
Well, no offense, but one night hardly makes it a live show.

IT STILL COUNTS

oooooook....not to get off track, but does anyone know if the DVI output is enabled on the Comcast boxes?

I think only the 62xx series has DVI enabled. My old 5100 didn't even have a DVI port although I'm on Armstrong.

Was anyone able to watch Smallville on the digital (42.1) channel last night? My Dish 6000 showed a signal strength of about 83% but locked at that % and showed a blank screen.
I was just wondering if it was the station or my receiver. All the other channels were fine.

Except for WQED DT 13 of course. Any word on when that station might be back on the air? I miss their HD loop and the occasional HD regular programming.

Rock

I also experienced something similar, but on all stations for a brief period last night. I assumed this was a simple hardware failure with my STB but maybe not...

(cue twighlight zone theme)

I talked to their engineer last week. H said that QED will not be back up until mid April at the soonest.

Wow, whatever came blowing through Oakland that morning must have done some serious damage.

Originally posted by RockScaler
Was anyone able to watch Smallville on the digital (42.1) channel last night? My Dish 6000 showed a signal strength of about 83% but locked at that % and showed a blank screen.
I was just wondering if it was the station or my receiver. All the other channels were fine.


It turns out this is a known bug in the Dish 6000 receiver. For whatever reason (perhaps due to bad PSIP information) the receiver locks up on one channel. You have to delete it and the analog channel then add the digital channel back in. After it is working re-add the analog too.

There is a good list of known 6000 bugs and workarounds on the dbstalk forum.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=19385&highlight=6000+bug
Rock

Originally posted by Greg C
I talked to their engineer last week. H said that QED will not be back up until mid April at the soonest.

WQED-DT (with PBS-HD) has been back on Comcast channel 790 for at least a couple weeks now, after being out for awhile after that storm. Perhaps they are broadcasting, but not at a sufficient power for OTA?

Originally posted by hondo21
WQED-DT (with PBS-HD) has been back on Comcast channel 790 for at least a couple weeks now, after being out for awhile after that storm. Perhaps they are broadcasting, but not at a sufficient power for OTA?

Really? That's interesting...I always assumed the cable feeds came from OTA antennas to save on costs. Do you think they run fiber or have some kind of sat linkup with QED? I can't imagine they would do that. We are still missing QED on Armstrong. :( Maybe Comcast got hooked into the national feed until the local comes back?

Well what do you know... QED-HD is back on Armstrong. :)

Cable gets a direct feed from the stations, as does satellite. The engineer said it's available via cable, but since most of my client's have a combo of sat and off-air, it doesn't help me.

KUDOS TO WTAE!

The Oscars looked and sounded FANTASTIC last night OTA! :cool: Their signal was uncharacteristically strong. Very few dropouts. A+++++

Hi. I live in Pittsburgh zip 15224 and just installed a dish 811. I purchased a silver sensor and can receive most local channels but have one problem I am trying to solve. My main channels of interest are KDKA (310), WPXI (278), WPGH (318), WCWB (318). I have the antenna on a 6 foot bookcase next to my home theater setup pointed at roughly 300 degrees. In this position with the antenna elements in a horizontal position (parallel to the floor I receive WPXI, WPGH, and WCWB with signals all measuring between 80 and 90 on the meeter but cannot receive KDKA. If I turn the elements horizontal (perpendicular to the floor) while keeping the antenna in the same location and pointing the same direction I receive KDKA with readings close to 90 but lose the other 3 stations. Any ideas or help would be appreciated as my watching spans all 4 channels and I'd hate to have to make this change to the antenna all the time. Should I get a different antenna as I bought this from best buy and can return it but I have read such positive experiences here that I thought I'd give the Silver Sensor a try. Really trying to avoid outside antenna if possible. Thanks.

Bill

Originally posted by guins
KUDOS TO WTAE!

The Oscars looked and sounded FANTASTIC last night OTA! :cool: Their signal was uncharacteristically strong. Very few dropouts. A+++++

That's nice...I got my usual NO SIGNAL strength or picture from WTAE.

I would take the antenna back and buy a antenna preamplifier combo for the same price and then put it on your roof or in your attic.

zmn668

I live about 8 miles North of the city. I tried several antennas including a Rat Shack "HDTV" antenna, but nothing beat a 60's technology 4 bay bowtie in front of a wire mesh screen. I blew the dust off it at Trader Horn's. I have it mounted on the pole under my Dish and use a 10db preamp. I heard Channel Master makes a 15db preamp but I haven't found one yet. But since WTAE DT has been coming in pretty well the last few weeks I haven't looked.

Since all of Pittsburgh's HDTV stations are in the UHF band (at least for now) a UHF antenna works fine. The wider antenna's like the Radio Shack HDTV (that looked like a swept wing fighter jet) don't help much and are overkill.

BTW - WQED DT OTA is still at 0%

Rock

I had great luck with a Radio Shack antenna preamp, it improved my WTAE signal in Cranberry about 20% back when I was using OTA.

Can anyone recommend a good professional installer in the Pittsburgh area? I already have a DirecTV dish installed, and am currently using a set top antenna for HD reception.

However, I'm interested in hiring someone to install a rooftop antenna, and run some additional RG-6 cable from the built-in multiswitch on the dish to my TiVo. The new RG-6 would probably have to be run on the exterior of the house, then need to go through about 12 feet of drywall.

If anyone has a recommendation for a professional installer, or have a general idea as to how much an installation like this might run, I'd appreciate a reply.

Thanks,
tzest

Originally posted by Mark Vidonic
oooooook....not to get off track, but does anyone know if the DVI output is enabled on the Comcast boxes?

We are in Shadyside (15232) and DVI IS enabled. Check the firmware version -- if it is 7.07 or greater DVI should work.

mds

Originally posted by tzest
Can anyone recommend a good professional installer in the Pittsburgh area? I already have a DirecTV dish installed, and am currently using a set top antenna for HD reception.

However, I'm interested in hiring someone to install a rooftop antenna, and run some additional RG-6 cable from the built-in multiswitch on the dish to my TiVo. The new RG-6 would probably have to be run on the exterior of the house, then need to go through about 12 feet of drywall.

If anyone has a recommendation for a professional installer, or have a general idea as to how much an installation like this might run, I'd appreciate a reply.

Thanks,
tzest

Yes...with pleasure. Contact Greg Calvimontes of Pittsburgh Custom Home Theater at (412) 362-1273. From my experience, he's the best and his rates are reasonable...certainly far better than that of Digital Visions.

Long story short, as a first generation DirecTV customer, when I wanted to upgrade and install my new Pioneer Elite 610, DirecTiVo and Sammy TS160, I first had Radio Shack come out. Those knuckleheads couldn't pick up one of the satellites and said, "you don't want that anyhow because it's for HDTV"...to which I said: "Duhh...what do you think this TV is and why do you think you're here? Now, please...GO AWAY!!"

I then got Digital Visions out and they were much better but they still lacked the OTA experience necessary and could only pull in KDKA for me.

Somehow, I just happened upon Greg and immediately I could tell he knew what he was doing. He also got WPXI for me and even WTAE though that went away about a year ago...which is why I don't like management at WTAE.

Anyhow, all told...I spent about 2+ years on here and searching everywhere throughout Pittsburgh for someone that truly knew what they were doing before finding Greg.

Right now, I'm building a new home and Greg is doing all the Home Theater work for me. Working with DirecTV hasn't been fun because they insist on using their installers which I refuse to let them do though I did compromise by letting them put up the dish and individual receivers in other rooms. No way do I want them messing with my H/T room and my other HDTV in my new great room!

So, there you have it...call Greg and in so doing you've just saved yourself 2+ years of the aggravation I went through. But then, that's one of the purposes of AVS Forum.

Good luck...(I'll also send this to you via PM)

Anybody besides myself have difficulty getting 53.1 tonight? I am in Greensburg.

Did WTAE boost their signal today? I live in Uniontown and I never could pull it in before, now it comes in like a champ :-)

Originally posted by traganoo
Did WTAE boost their signal today? I live in Uniontown and I never could pull it in before, now it comes in like a champ :-)

Mine still sucks..."0" strength. Yours will soon go out too. Every blue moon when the stars align right and the clouds are just so over your house, you'll pull it in.

But...don't be fooled. It's just a teaser... ;)

Upcoming NCAA tournament....

Wouldn't it be nice if KDKA would braodcast ONLY the HD games on their digital transmission and show the analog games (which unfortuanately includes Pitt) on channel 2? Does anyone know someone at KDKA that can make this happen?

They have done this in the past. I don't know about last year, but 2 years ago, KDKA analog showed the Pitt game, and KDKA-DT showed a game involving an ACC team(can't remember which)

Originally posted by traganoo
Did WTAE boost their signal today? I live in Uniontown and I never could pull it in before, now it comes in like a champ :-)


I live in Uniontown too, so I have some questions for you.

I was holding out for Charter to begin offering HDTV in our area.

Also I was thinking about OTA by purchasing my own tuner and antenna
and getting my locals for free. If I could get locals in Hd, I would be happy
enough and drop Charter in a heartbeat, most of my tv viewing are the
locals.

Have you ever tried the Silver Sensor antenna?

What HD stations are you able to get with your antenna?

What SD stations are you able to get with your antenna?

I've had these questions since buying an HDTV, but I didn't want to sink
alot of money buying a tuner and antenna plus installation to find out
that I couldn't receive much.

According to antennaweb's location map I would need the biggest antenna,
also according to their stations location on the map, my neighbors house
is directly in front of the path for most of the Pittsburgh Stations. I've also
read at avs that the silver sensor solved alot of reception problems.

Originally posted by guins
Upcoming NCAA tournament....

Wouldn't it be nice if KDKA would braodcast ONLY the HD games on their digital transmission and show the analog games (which unfortuanately includes Pitt) on channel 2? Does anyone know someone at KDKA that can make this happen?

That would be a great idea. Then we could watch whichever game was most exciting or split the screen and watch both.

Is there a website that gives which games will be in HD? I checked the CBS and KDKA sites and couldn't find anything.
Rock

Originally posted by RockScaler
That would be a great idea. Then we could watch whichever game was most exciting or split the screen and watch both.

Is there a website that gives which games will be in HD? I checked the CBS and KDKA sites and couldn't find anything.
Rock

FYI - The HDTV sites are
St. Louis (1st round)
KC (Second Weekend)
SA (Final Four)


All games from just these sites will be HDTV. No Pitt unless they make it to FF.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Angelo M
[B]I live in Uniontown too, so I have some questions for you.

I was holding out for Charter to begin offering HDTV in our area.

Also I was thinking about OTA by purchasing my own tuner and antenna
and getting my locals for free. If I could get locals in Hd, I would be happy
enough and drop Charter in a heartbeat, most of my tv viewing are the
locals.

Have you ever tried the Silver Sensor antenna?

What HD stations are you able to get with your antenna?

What SD stations are you able to get with your antenna?

I have a channel master 4228 and the 7777 preamp. I cannot pull any pgh digital stations currently... My day of digital WTAE was short lived :-( I can get digital NBC and FOX from johnstown. and PBS from morgantown. I use VOOM for the majority of my HD viewings. Once I get another nice day and my brave friend comes over we are going to move my 4228 from my chimney to a telephone pole in my yard that doesnt have any power, cable, or phone lines on it, in hopes that it will enable me to get the pgh digital stations. Since uniontown is ~45 miles from the pgh towers I dont think that a silver sensor will do much

Traganoo,

Thanks for the reply. Your reception of locals is pretty confirms what I
suspected. Thats why I'm pretty much holding out for Charter to roll
out HD in our area.

Lack of local HD availability provided by Voom, Dish and Direct is what is
keeping me from jumping to them, because of lousy reception.

Sooner or later all the providers will carry local HD, I'll just have to wait
for it to happen.

Originally posted by traganoo
My day of digital WTAE was short lived :-(

I hate to say "I told you so...", but...I TOLD YOU SO! Don't take that personally, instead, take it as yet another slam dunk on WTAE who need to get their power boosted.

Originally posted by guins
FYI - The HDTV sites are
St. Louis (1st round)
KC (2nd round site)
SA (Final Four)


All games from just these sites will be HDTV. No Pitt unless they make it to FF.

Thanks. I just hope KDKA DT 25 shows the HD games.
BTW - I checked my brackets and the 1st & Second round games (this weekend) are in KC and the third and 4th (sweet 16 and elite 8) are in St. Louis.
Rock

MAJOR PROPS TO KDKA FOR MULTICASTING THE GAMES!!! I LOVE CBS!!!

WOO HOOO!!

Who needs the DTV NCAA package???