Part of the game had to be aired today in SD due to Sun Outages (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=456129)

Yes we have an automatic switching sytem in place, which is working fine. The one time before when we aired the beginning portion of the game in SD was because our splicer from FOX had switched into bypass mode.

Thanks for the link and the explanation, Ken. I hadn't made it over to the HD programming forum today, so I missed it.

Ken,

Any news on the missing link to getting WCCU HD? If I recall correctly, you were waiting for an equipment supplier to squash some software bugs.

Thanks,

MIKE

We are getting close but there's still a couple loose ends to tie up. Stay tuned and we should have news for you soon... very soon.

Story on Digital broadcasts in central Illinois in todays (Monday 10/11/04) News-Gazette.
Station manager Carl Caldwell states; "I'm going with the assumption that we'll throw the switch in mid-October, although it's still tentative "

Good read in this story, it talks about the WICD & WAND switch also.

Also ktFOX55/27 gets his name in print, and by the way Ken, we're going to hold you to that quote!!!!

Ken Who?:D

I still can't pick up Fox55 from Bloomington with the Radio Shack Yagi. I can pick up the analog signal with some snow, but it looks like I either just have too many trees or I'm just too far away without throwing up a gigantic antenna to snag the digital.

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Ken Who?:D

the "We're hoping to start broadcasting our digital signal by early November. That's our target." Ken

I hope WILL gives up on any multicasting ideas and just sends out good HD. WB23's plans seem a bit vague, but at least they realize that HD exists. I wish the article had twigged WCIA for having no HD plans at all.

All in all, we're not doing too badly for HD here in a relatively small market. As a 40+ year Cardinal fan, I'm really looking forward to a lot of great MLB on FOX-HD, with the Cards whipping the Red Sox in the World Series.

MIKE

I believe that WILL does have the HD equipment, but that PBS is
very low on real HDTV programming. Apparently we will not be getting
the PBS HD demo loop.

Hey Fox .... .....

Last night I noticed that I was watching (during baseball)
"WRSP/WRSP-DT WCCU/WCCU-DT" even though there
seemed to be no WCCU-DT. Maybe they really are close.

(I tried Ch. 26 with three antennas I was so excited.)

Doug McDonald

No quite Doug.. I have one of the needed mw links here in test, and am awaiting the second. Can't put WCCU-DT on until we have all the parts and are confident they're stabel, as the WCCU-DT transport will actually carry
the WCCU analog signal..

I know this is now Champaign only, but I have a question. Anyone experience any new issues with WYZZ up in Bloomington. I was locking them in rock solid for the last several months and then yesterday the signal strength dropped to completely 0.

This is one of those things where I'll eventually find out just by watching but will the Cardinal vs Strokes game be in HD as opposed to ED tonight or are only the teams from the Northeast HD worthy?

I assume Springfield Fox will be a market getting the Cardinal game instead of having to watch on FSMW.

I also realize that the Fox engineers who post here don't control this, I am just curious if they know.

Directv Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, IL Locals have been available since 10/12

CBS WCIA 3
PBS WILL 12
PBS WSEC 14
ABC WAND 17
NBC WICS 20
WB WBUI 23
UPN WCFN 49
FOX WRSP 55

Where is WICD?

WRSP and WCCU are the same, but WICS and WICD are not.

Doug McDonald

Well, I'm speechless, here's the response from the station manager
---------------------------------------

We are temporarily down as we are putting in a new digital HD transmitter.
We are on the analog transmitter, though.

Kevin L. Harlan
WMBD-TV / WYZZ-TV
Peoria, IL
(309) 686-9400

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-kevinh@mail.wmbd.com [mailtowner-kevinh@mail.wmbd.com] On
Behalf Of Curtis Nohl
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 11:56 AM
To: kevinh@wmbd.com
Subject: WYZZ DT down?


What's the deal with WYZZ-DT? All of a sudden the signal strength has
dropped completely to 0 over the last two nights. Everyone in the area is
experiencing it as well.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?
s=&threadid=412347&pagenumber=3

I'm missing the ALCS and NLCS, do you have any idea when the station will
be back up? Thanks.

Curtis Nohl

I am without words. Wow.

The nerve of them! taking the transmitter off-air to put a new one in!
Sheesh! Especially since there is no other way of seeing the games!
What are they thinking?

Someone from WYZZ posted in the Peoria, IL thread. Evidentally the transmitter may be down until December. The project is requiring more than they thought. They only have the analog broadcasting from a temporary location right now.

Hi,
My wife got a phone message today offering the local channels on D**.
A couple of hours on their phone and internet left more questions than answers. Can anyone shed some light?

1. D** says it will require an extra 18" dish... but cannot tell be how it will wire in. I currently have a 3LNB dish.... that have the outputs (switching device) to support 4 recievers. Does this extra dish tie in at the existing one, or does it require EXTRA wires running to the set top boxes?
2. The phone message and one rep said that if the local stations have HD, that the DSS locals would be HD. This conflicts with what I have heard elsewhere. Anyone have the facts?

I tried to do the online signup, and it kicked me out saying I was a Pegasus customer! lol After it logged me in to my D** account!

It is very dissappointing how poor their employees access to good information is!

Help me out!
Migman (In Mahomet)

1) I believe it all ties together with a special multiswitch. Shouldn't require any extra wires to the set top boxes, however.

2) DSS locals will NOT be in HD. You'll still need an antenna or cable for local HD.

I'll have more concrete details this weekend. Installers are coming over Friday to hook me up. (Now I'll be able to Tivo the locals...) :)

Found some info here... IF D** uses the same technique.
http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/localmarket_01.asp
I guess this 6x8 switch can mount outside near the dish??
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=SAM-6802&xzoom=zoom#xview

Looks like some HD local will start rolling out in mid 2005.
Let us know how the locals go!
Migman

Originally posted by thomastchen
Directv Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, IL Locals have been available since 10/12

CBS WCIA 3
PBS WILL 12
PBS WSEC 14
ABC WAND 17
NBC WICS 20
WB WBUI 23
UPN WCFN 49
FOX WRSP 55

This is kind of crock IMHO. Yes they have been available since then but you have to put up an *additional* dish to reach them because our locals are on a different spot beam and of course these are *not* High-Def. To me I will never get locals from D* because of this.

T

People should call Directv for local channels. They will replace at no cost any receivers (up to five total, 1 HD, 1 Tivo) that are not compatible with the 72.5 satellite. They will install the required 6x8 switch (4 from the triple LNB, 1 from 72.5, 1 reserved for 95) for those that have the 4x4 switch; or 4x4 switch for those that have only 101 satellite. They will also install a 18" dish for the 72.5. I think the second disk is a temporary arrangement for them to meet the agreement with FCC when they transferred the management to News Corp. (130 local markets by the end of this year!) For next year (may time frame), Directv has announced that they will have the capacity for 1500 HD locals from two new satellites. Perhaps, the 72.5 will be eliminated at that time. I am having my locals installed today.

Spoke to a DirecTV rep the other day when I was transferring from Danville to Urbana, and was told that they are getting rid of Pegasus and doing to all themselves. By going with DirecTV from P it was $4 cheaper as Dtv do not charge royalty fees.

Glad to hear Peg is going as their attitude on the phone was really bad and had not interest in customer service only their monthly billing.

cheers,

Geoffrey

I have a stupid question for Ken, aka ktFOX55/27:

Is it possible, or even legal, for you to broadcast 2 different things on channels 55-1 and 55-2? More specifically, could you have shown the Cards/Astros game on 55-1 and the Yankee/Red Sox game on 55-2? I realize that is not the purpose of 55-2, but can you utilize that channel in different ways?

Just wondering.

HI HD..
WRSP can't broadcast different feeds on -1 and -2, as they are actually the same encoder. 55-2 is a virtual channel created via PSIP. We actually tell your receiver to put the video from 55-1 with the second audio pid from
55-1 and make it appear as a seperate channel. You can do the same thing by going to 55-1 and toggling the audio selection. The audio on 55-2
is the same as analog SAP...

For those that are unawares, the 3rd audio on 55-1 is weather..

regards-

Thanks for the info on the weather audio. I'd not experimented to find it.

yea, we probably should make it a bit more visible.It's easily done. Let us know what you think.

Bob,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm glad we have a "real" Fox affiliate in Central Illinois. I am closer to Bloomington, but refuse to watch WYZZ. I am currently watching the Cards/Astros game in beautiful HD. Let me flip over to WYZZ and compare HD to SD. Oops, I can't do that....they are in the black right now.

Thanks again.

Not being picky Thomas but calling D* for your locals will only get you SD quality. This forum is on HD.

T

Anyone else have signal strength issues last night with 55-1 during the baseball game?

I got Game One on Wednesday just fine but last night I could not get it at all. I am wondering if this affected anyone besides me.

I am trying to determine if tropo ducting on Wednesday gave me the signal when I normally shouldn't get it based on my location in Bloomington.

The whole game came through fine to Champaign. Looked especially good when Pujols and Rolen hit back-to-back home runs:cool:

MIKE

WRSP was indeed weak last night in Champaign. I noticed
a very weak signal on 55 (analog) while tuning around analog, and
checked the digital signal level, which was somewhat weak compared
to usual. However, the digital picture was still perfect.

Doug McDonald

Nothing to do with HD but nice work with 55 programming. They are increasing their Simpsons reruns. Can never go wrong there.

Dump that Will and Grace crap for something good like Fraiser or 3rd Rock and I'd erase YZZ from my memory banks.

I was pixelating during the rain game in STL but the tower is 60 miles from my house and that is common when there is bad weather between here and Springfield. For me at least.

Originally posted by rrrick8
Story on Digital broadcasts in central Illinois in todays (Monday 10/11/04) News-Gazette.
Station manager Carl Caldwell states; "I'm going with the assumption that we'll throw the switch in mid-October, although it's still tentative "

Good read in this story, it talks about the WICD & WAND switch also.

Also ktFOX55/27 gets his name in print, and by the way Ken, we're going to hold you to that quote!!!!


Seeing how it's now getting past "mid-October", we're going with the assumption that again you've lied and have no intentions of going digital until the FCC forces you to. :mad:

Insight offers HD through their cable and even offers simple tivo features in the box that records HD but for some reason won't carry the local HD channels. I called them up but they really seemed to have no clue at all. Anyone know why they aren't carrying our local HD channels? I mean we have 2 currently available and another one soon to come on?

Insight has to negotiate separate contracts for carriage of each station's digital signal. WICD is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting who has yet to allow any of their digital signals to be carried on any cable system. I don't what holds up the rest of the local digital stations.

MIKE

Insight in Springfield carries WRSP-DT and WICS-DT

Hi Geoffrey

I had my D* locals and I connected a rabbit ear antenna on one of my HD receivers. Now I got both WCID and WAND HD through that antenna for that HD receiver. Until Fox and WILL HD are available, this setup is good enough for me. My other HD receiver is still connected to a TERK indoor/out door antenna.

I note that WILL now says on their web site that their
air conditioning upgrade "will be completed by November 1" and
that "after additional .... work ..." blah blah blah etc. they will
turn on their digital signal.

Doug McDonald

yea..and hopefully WCCU will be on air by next weekend..blah,blah,blah..
If all goes well, that is!

air conditioning upgrade


What a load of crap. If I remember rightly that was the spin they were giving several months ago???

Excuse after excuse.

Some one needs to really press these people to get their finger out.

GELS

As to WILL, you must understand University bureaucracy. They are
having O&M (operations and maintainance) do the AC upgrade.
They people are very good but very bureaucratic and tend
to be understaffed. They do things in the order a work
order is received ... unless a 500 pound gorilla intervenes.

My department is a 1000 pound gorilla (a Nobel Prize adds
500 pounds to a top ten department, which is 500 pounds) and
we can get things done out of line if we scream ... but WILL
has no pull.

Still .... since they had years to stand in line, there is something
rotten there in any case. Perhaps they are just clowns and didn't
turn in the AC request promptly.

Doug McDonald

For those that are unawares, the 3rd audio on 55-1 is weather.. Very cool! Did not know that.

While on the subject, I just tried flipping to the 3rd audio feed while watching the World Series. All I got was silence. (1st and 2nd audio were fine.) Is the 3rd audio on 24 hours? Only during bad weather? Some other schedule? :confused:

How does one access this third feed? I have a Mototola box.

Doug McDonald

Ok.. the 3rd audio feed is not present during fox network time due to
a software issue withe the splicer. Hopefully, we will be able to work that out with fox in the future once all this settles down.
As to how you access this on the Motorola box, since I'm not familiar with that box I don't know. Once things settle down for us, we will probably make the WX audio have its own channel via PSIP.

Headed your way on Wednesday for WCCU-DT.!

Was it just me or was the Bear football game upconverted today??? When Fox switched to the Green Bay/Dallas game at 3 pm there was a noticeable difference.

On a sidenote Fox needs to get rid of their horrible SD cameras during the World Series. Come on there is no need to have that many camera views anyway.

T

Originally posted by bdfox18doe

Headed your way on Wednesday for WCCU-DT.!

I'll believe it when I see it! :cool:

Hold your breath, ok?:D

Originally posted by thumperxr69
Was it just me or was the Bear football game upconverted today??? When Fox switched to the Green Bay/Dallas game at 3 pm there was a noticeable difference.

On a sidenote Fox needs to get rid of their horrible SD cameras during the World Series. Come on there is no need to have that many camera views anyway.The difference was noticeable on WFLD-DT Chicago, too. My guess is that the network feed from Tampa Bay was that "slightly better than NTSC" widescreen-anamorphic analog mode, upconverted to 720p at some point before broadcast. The Green Bay game was most certainly at higher resolution.

Any particular reason I can't get WRSP-DT tonight? I wanted to watch the World Series...

I've been getting WRSP-DT great for months... occasional low signal (a few breakups during the ALCS last week) but usually no problem. Then tonight nothing. My Dish 811 is showing 49% signal and no picture. I'm West of Champaign (right near the WCIA tower).

Weird... I didn't notice any problems tonight.... The game turned out pretty well also :D

(Closet Red Sox fan - Still remember the ball going between the legs of Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series)

T

krush02. You, like me, have some distance between your antenna and the WRSP tower.

I find that, as a result, I'm subject to weather conditions and those weren't good last night. I didn't get the game either but wasn't surprised.

As far as the WS goes it won't matter because I refuse to watch that crap anymore (refering to quality of baseball NOT quality of picture which was great over the weekend).

Originally posted by krush02
Any particular reason I can't get WRSP-DT tonight? I wanted to watch the World Series...

I've been getting WRSP-DT great for months... occasional low signal (a few breakups during the ALCS last week) but usually no problem. Then tonight nothing. My Dish 811 is showing 49% signal and no picture. I'm West of Champaign (right near the WCIA tower).

I live in SW Champaign and WRSP was fine all through last night's game. The engineer was planning on turning on WCCU's HD today. I hope he'll post here if that happens.

Like most Cardinal fans, I'm sulking today. If you've got to get beat, better the Red Sox than the Yankees. And, there's always next year (or at least friends who are Cubs fans always say that).

MIKE

I live on the Champaign-Urbana border and WRSP-DT was
solid for me too all night.

We shall see today about WCCU. I may have more trouble
getting it than WRSP if their analog reception is any clue.

Doug McDonald

ok, thanks guys. So maybe I just need a better antenna to get WRSP when the weather's not so good.

So tonight I had trouble with wrsp. It was perfect all the way through the game, then cut out completely right after the game. I tried rescanning - but no signal detected. Here in SW Champaign, it's usually rock solid with my attic mounted antenna.

jtv

Originally posted by mraub
The engineer was planning on turning on WCCU's HD today. I hope he'll post here if that happens.MIKE

We're here, If all goes well we MAY get WCCU on late today, but I'm not overly optimistic due to the amount of work to do both at the studio end
and then a 2 hour trip to the transmitter. KTFOX55/27 has been really
working hard to get WCCU on, so one of us will let you know here once we
light it up. If you would, please post or PM one of us with detailed reception reports, that would help us tremendously.

Thanks, Bob & Ken..

I too had the rare ... very rare for me ... WRSP-DT glitches last
night. There was was one two-second total loss of signal and
perhaps 6 1/2 second pixelization episodes. The total loss
occurred only 1/2 second after an important Cards out: sometimes
Murphy's Law is disobeyed!

My antenna (I'm in Champaign) is indoors behind a second
floow window, but I use a preamp with a 0.6 dB noise figure,
which does help a lot.

Doug McDonald

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Hold your breath, ok?:D

I'm still holding!
Good thing I've got good lungs and don't smoke!
:rolleyes:

No sign of a Channel 26 last night.

Doug

Well Then Doug..I see you haven't looked this morning! While we're
still working, and will be up and down, reception reports are welcome.:D

And rrrrick can breathe now!

Well, WCCU-DT is on, barely.

I could only get it here in Champaign using my cut-to-channel
11 element Yagi pointed at it (through a wall and another apartment),
though a few blips came in on my regular (WRSP Yagi) antenna.
Absolutely nothing on my 4-bowtie without reflector.

A fuller report will follow tomorrow.

Doug McDonald

Pleae, forgive the off topic. But this is too convienent since I was thinking about this today.

Does removing the reflectors give true 360 or something short of that.

I ask because I have everything in one direction with the exception of one station that is a direct 180 fromthe rest.

Multiple-bowtie antennas will work fine if the reflector is removed.

They do not become omni-directional, but bi-directional. That is,
they receive best from directly in front or back. The gain will go down
by at least a factor of two.

This only applies to this sort of antenna.

Doug

Ah. Not an option then.

You've saved me a lot of time. Thank you.

I have a friend who just got an HD reciever and he wants to get an antenna installed to recieve local digital and HD content. He has a 2 story house out by savoy 16 theater area. He wants one low profile... maybe one of those suacer shaped antennas or such, but not sure.. are they any good? If not what would be a good option to be able to receive all the local digital content (including WAND out of decatur, WCIA, WCCU and WICD here in town)

Saucer shaped antennas are junk, they don't even make good frisbees!

The Winegard Squareshooter is probably my favorite antenna currently. Good performance, not overly directional, good front to back ratio and an attractive design.

Well, I didn't get home til after midnight, but I thought I'd give wccu 26 a try. Fired up the htpc with MYHD card and was able to pull in a strong steady signal for wccu.

I am located in SW Champaign, just south of Windsor Rd. I have two attic mounted antenna, one points due east toward wicd while the other points just north of due west toward wcia. The east antenna has a cheesy high noise Radio Shack pre-amp while the west antenna has a decent quality low noise Channel Master pre-amp. Both antenna are the small $20 Radio Shack UHF only Yagis.

WCCU 26 came in on the east antenna with a reported signal strength of "50%" which is usually stable enough for a steady picture with no dropouts over an extended period. By comparison, WRSP on the west antenna was coming in at 44% - again a strong enough signal to avoid any drop-outs.

So both stations came in at similar strengths with little to choose between them. Note that more recent versions of the MyHD as well as set top boxes like the Motorola HDT 100/101 give slightly better reception performance than my MyHD card.

jtv

Excellent reception here in Danville. Rotated my monster Radio Shack antenna about 20 degrees to the northwest and can now get WCIA, WICD, WBUI, along with WCCU. Unfortunately, though I can no longer get WAND, which has always been very difficult to bring in consistantly. With this new angle I'm sure it's lost to me now. I wish they, WAND, would raise their transmitter to WBUI's heighth, or increase their strength just a little, then I'd be able to get all the networks OTA. :(

Here's my WCCU report. I live on First Street south of the Assembly Hall,
at Windsor. There is a 25 foot hill between me and the station about
a mile away. My antennas are indoors 23 feet off the ground.

I have three antennas. One is an 11 element Yagi tuned to WCCU,
pointed at it, but through a wall and another apartment. It's gain
is about 15 dB and there is a 5 dB S/N preamp on it. Here are
the figures for signal margin (measured with a step attenuator
in the coax before the preamp). This antenna and the second one
have a bandwidth to -3 dB of 7 channels, and a small (5-7 dB)
gain below that. These were measures at 9 aM this morning.

Ch. Margin dB
18 18
23 --
26 14
41 18
44 --
48 --

Second antenna is similar, but tuned and pointed at
WRSP directly out a window. It has a tuned to ch. 44 preamp
(20 ch. 3 dB bandwidth) with a 0.6 [sic] dB S/N. There is a building in the way,
same height as mine, 100 feet away, and then a clear shot
to the horizon.

ch dB
18 16
23 25
26 --
41 31
44 12
48 12

WBUI is normally weaker than WAND, but today there is a small
tropo bending, which always increases WBUI and WRSP, which
is usually 8 dB.

The third antenna is a quad bowtie with no reflector (a 2x2 rather than
a stack of 4) in a west window, gain is a flat 8 dB. Same preamp as
first antenna (4.5 dB S/N).

Ch dB
18 41
23 28
26 ---
41 24
44 --
48 25

I tried moving this antenna around and only got teensy
blips of WCCU-DT.

All my antennas get bad to abysmally horrible pictures
of WCCU-27. The quad bowtie gets a very snowy picture with
a ghost at 5 microseconds that varies from -3 to 0 dB. The
antenna pointing west gets a snowy picture with that same ghost
at -10 to -5 dB. The cut to channel 27 antenna facing WCCU gets
a moderately snowy picture (better than WRSP ever gets as far
as snow goes) with an annoying but not major ghost at that
same 5 microseconds. Even pointing at WCCU (45 degrees from
WICD) WICD-15 gets a very good picture.

It's clear that the hill is bad news for WCCU.

Is WCCU at full power? What power, what tower height?

Doug McDonald

Originally posted by jdmcdonald
WBUI is normally weaker than WAND, but today there is a small
tropo bending, which always increases WBUI and WRSP, which
is usually 8 dB.


For me since day 1, I've always been able to get WBUI steady, but WAND has been a constant struggle. I've got an adjustable attenuator in my input line that I have to increase (to reduce the signal strength from WICD) to bring in WAND. Then it's only a 50/50 shot. I wish they could pass their digital signal to their repeater here in Danville, (31).

The last information I have states that WAND is at 350K watts at a heighth of 375'. WBUI is a lower power 253K watts at a heighth of 401'. So guys, this proves it. Length (heighth) does matter. :D The extra 26' of WBUI makes all the difference to my reception vs what i receive from WAND.

Danville:

Rescanned my Voom Box last night and got Fox with strong signal. Did not have to move my antenna from the position I get 15, wand 17 and 23 -- Great.

Any news from WILL???

Geoffrey

Originally posted by jdmcdonald Is WCCU at full power? What power, what tower height?
WCCU-DT is broadcasting at 507KW. The antenna is mounted right below the analog antenna, roughly 470 ft.

I have not been able to get WCCU all afternoon. Got it this AM just fine. Are you still doing some fine tuning or what's up?

Same here in Danville.

Originally posted by gels
Same here in Danville.

That's where I'm at. :)

I get the analog signal fine but tried to get the digital one in this afternoon and couldn't get it at all.. it is 27.1 right? Is it not on right now? I get all the other local Digital channels just fine and even WRSP digital once in awhile.

I've sent reset commands to the WCCU-DT transmitter earlier tonight and the telemetry tells me that it has responded OK.

Thanks for the info guys and keep the reports coming in.

The reception this morning has been terrible here in Danville. Constant freezing and the reception meter looks like a yo-yo. :confused:

Thanks for the report rrrick8. I'll be heading over to the WCCU Tx site soon to get a first hand look at what's going on.

Rrrick8..
what receiver are you using??

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Rrrick8..
what receiver are you using??

Hughes HTL-HD
Tried rescanning box, but now it won't even find the channel anymore. Others (3-1,15-1,23-1,17-1) are coming in fine. Even tried turning antenna directly at tower- zilch!

Receiving nothing on my voom box in Danville at 2.08pm

I have a Dish 811... I'm showing pretty constant 66% signal but it won't tune it. For comparison, I'm getting WAND just fine at 67%.

At about 1 oclock this afternoon I was getting a strong WCCU signal
but there was no data.


Doug McDonald

Originally posted by jdmcdonald
At about 1 oclock this afternoon I was getting a strong WCCU signal
but there was no data.


Doug McDonald

That's what I had earlier too, but after trying to re-scan It won't pick up anything now.

For the Fox people: I rechecked my terrain. Both with GPS and Topozone
I am in fact at the bottom of a 48 foot hill, and my antenna
is 23 feet off the ground. The hill turns out to be the
exact highest spot in C-U itself, right by the tennis courts. Thus
I am well shielded from direct view of the transmitter.

Doug McDonald

Thanks Doug. You couldn't ask for it to be any better..that is if you DIDN'T
want to pick it up..
Ken is looking into the problem with WCCU-DT. Thanks for the reports!

I'm out at the WCCU-DT transmitter right now. All looks good currently but we are having an intermittent problem with the transport stream being delivered to the site. That's why many of you are seeing good RF signal but no data at times.

It seems the stream is down more often than up but I'll leave the transmitter on air for those of you that want to work on tweaking up antennas in the meantime. We are working diligently on getting the transport stream problem cleared up as soon as possible. I expect to have the problem corrected by Tuesday evening at the latest.

Once again I'd like to thank everyone for the great reports coming in and bearing with us while we get the bugs worked out of the system.

When I get my RS double bowtie back (a friend is trying it
in SW Champaign for you people ... if he gets WCCU in his
basement it will be a miracle) I suspect it will work on WCCU
just hanging on the appropriate wall, since I would still have
a 6 dB margin.

Doug McDonald

WAND-DT's antenna is at 375 meters, not 375 feet as stated yesterday

Originally posted by doplar17
WAND-DT's antenna is at 375 meters, not 375 feet as stated yesterday

You are absolutely correct. I rechecked my chart, and it does list the heighths in meters not feet. My apologies.

But, I still can't get a consistant signal here in Danville at 375 meters either.
Where as I do with WBUI at a lower power but 26 meters higher.

Quick report about WCCU from the east side of Bloomington IL (outside antenna with rotor). When pointing towards Champaign, at first (around 9p) I was getting a signal indicator but no picture. As of now (9:45p), I am getting WCCU solid. Even though it is an SD rerun, I see the fox bug framed properly for 16x9.

"But, I still can't get a consistant signal here in Danville at 375 meters either.
Where as I do with WBUI at a lower power but 26 meters higher."

I have no trouble getting wand17.1 and 17.2 in Danville and get wbui with no problems.

I live on the flat of vermilion and voorhees.

Geoffrey

Originally posted by rrrick8
You are absolutely correct. I rechecked my chart, and it does list the heighths in meters not feet. My apologies.

But, I still can't get a consistant signal here in Danville at 375 meters either.
Where as I do with WBUI at a lower power but 26 meters higher.

It could be signal attenuation on the lower portion of the UHF band on your antenna. Unfortunately the only way to check for that is with a network analyzer. That kind of equipment starts at 20 grand. What kind of antenna are you using? Maybe the manufacture has specs on its performance. Also make sure you don't have any water getting into the line. Try a better pre-amp tuned for that portion of the band. Since WICD, and WCIA are closer in, you don't need as much gain on them as you do for 18 and 22. Same thing can be said for the antennas. I lot of antenna manufactures have performance and signal patterns for the various portions of the band. It's hard to pinpoint these odd variations, with terrain and signal patterns not perfectly predicted. However, both WBUI and WAND have the same exact signal pattern. So they probably bought the same antenna, since they match so exactly. Maybe WBUI put their antenna on the east side of the tower, and WAND on the west. Partially attenuating its signal to the east or changing its pattern enough to affect you.

How is your analog reception of both channels? Mind you, WAND is doing 5MW while WBUI is doing 2MW.

Originally posted by mdamberger
Try a better pre-amp tuned for that portion of the band. Since WICD, and WCIA are closer in, you don't need as much gain on them as you do for 18 and 22. Same thing can be said for the antennas.
How is your analog reception of both channels? Mind you, WAND is doing 5MW while WBUI is doing 2MW.

mdamberger,
here's my set-up: I have a Radio Shack VU-190XR (huge sucker) mounted on a 12' high mast on my roof, which makes it appr. 35-40' above ground with a clear view to the west. I use a Channel Master 7778 pre-amp and also an adjustable attenuator that I use when I want to watch WBUI or WAND. (WICD is so strong). If I use the attenuator though, I lose WCIA. (If they would ever go to full power this problem may be eliminated). Analog reception seems to be equal.
Any assistance would be appreciated.

GELS,
What is your antenna set-up?

Also for Ken & Bob, WCCU seems to be much better this AM. :)

I am in Stonecreek subdivision (Winsor and HWY 130). I have a rabbit ear antenna on my master bedroom LG Directv HD receiver and am getting excellent signal from WCCU (70 on the signal meter). This is similar to WAND.

Thanks Rick And Thomas. We're working on getting WCCU straight. Especially Ken, who has really been putting in a LOT of hours on this.
Appreciate the reception reports, they really do help.

For you people in Danville, you might want to spend
the $116 for an Advanced Receiver Research GaAsFet
preamp with a 0.6 dB noise figure and a very large
overload margin, tuned to channel 20. Unfortunately
these need a separate power lead and are not waterproof.
(power with a 12 V DC wall wart)


Doug McDonald

Had good signal strength and reception early. Since 10 am or so though, back to the good signal strength- but no data as was the case Sunday.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update Tuesday 11/2 >> Reception and programs both coming in great this morning. Hopefully problem is solved.

Last night I had the worst Fox reception I have ever had. This was the
first time in a year WRSP was unwatchable. WRAP and WRSP-DT
faded into and out of receiveability, and there was no correllation.
That is, sometime both would be gone, sometimes one but not the
other would be gone. And by gone, for WRSP-55 I mean actually
nothing, not even the slightest sync bars.

WCCU analog was also very snowy. At first I could not get
WCCU-DT at all, though the STB box light that shows a carrier
was blinking. I then moved the preamp for its antenna from the receiver
end of its cable to withing 5 feet of the antenna, and it appeared and
remained reliable. This is old RG58 cable, but has never been outdoors.

Doug McDonald

Me too on WRSP in the peoria area. Usually solid. I assumed it was the weather.

Finally was able to get WCCU DT in today. I get about a 50-60 signal strength with a very occasion break up in picture. When will the power output be upped? I am in urbana out by the interstate and get all the other local DT Stations in fine... it is nice to have most of the big 4 stations in HD now.. if only CBS would get its act together (and UPN i assume would be HD at the same time) Any news on when WB might go HD in our area? Luckily I get CBS in HD through Directv.

Originally posted by EAW
Me too on WRSP in the peoria area. Usually solid. I assumed it was the weather.

Last day before the election--way too much hot air let loose at one time:D

Getting signal really well

1.03 pm.



Have you voted???? Just did:)

cheers,

Geoffrey

Have you voted???? Just did

HUGE turnout at my polling place in SW Champaign, the line was almost out the door. Democracy, though messy, seems to be working.

I'm still having trouble getting a solid lock on WCCU from SW Champaign on a DISH 921. I have a small yagi pointed due east to get WICD and I thought it would do for WCCU as well, but not so far. I may pull out my little Silver Sensor tonight and see if more precise aiming might help.

MIKE

We are still working on problem with the transport stream to the WCCU-DT transmitter. I had hoped to have the problem cleared up by today, unfortunately, it looks like that will not happen. Hopefully things will be cleared up before the weekend.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Transport stream delivery problems have been cleared up and we're looking forward to hearing everyones reception reports now that the good stuff is being delivered.

Translated for bfox18doe "It's more better now!" :D

Cool! That should up the ratings!

Would appreciate help in finding what power WICD-DT Channel 15 are broadcasting at.

Thanks so much,


Geoffrey

Originally posted by gels
Would appreciate help in finding what power WICD-DT Channel 15 are broadcasting at.

Thanks so much,


Geoffrey


Here's a list of antenna heighths and power and locations for the state of Illinois.
http://home.earthlink.net/~wb9nme/tvdb/states/il.htm

According to this they are broadcasting at 895Kw.

Originally posted by rrrick8
Here's a list of antenna heighths and power and locations for the state of Illinois.
http://home.earthlink.net/~wb9nme/tvdb/states/il.htm

According to this they are broadcasting at 895Kw.

Probably Not. That is their CP. Not what they are broadcasting. They have an STA. According to the FCC:

WICD-DT 2kW ERP at 88 meters above average terrain. Give or take 300 feet above ground level. Low Power.

WICD IL CHAMPAIGN USA (Digital)

Licensee: WICD LICENSEE, LLC
Service Designation: DS Special Temporary Authority (digital)

Channel: 41 632 - 638 MHz
File No.: BDSTA-20021018ACI Facility ID number: 25684
CDBS Application ID No.: 617447

40° 04' 11.00" N Latitude 87° 54' 45.00" W Longitude (NAD 27)

Polarization: Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 2. kW ERP Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 88. meters HAAT Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 292.5 meters AMSL

Just FYI

Today around 2:30pm : wccu 26 coming in strong at 49-53% reported signal. Anything 40% or higher is usually stable. wrsp is around 40%.

Edit: to add location info:

I am located in SW Champaign, just west of Prospect and south of Windsor Rd. I have two attic mounted antenna in a 2 storey house; one points due east toward wicd while the other points just north of due west toward wcia. The east antenna has a cheesy high noise Radio Shack pre-amp while the west antenna has a decent quality low noise Channel Master pre-amp. Both antenna are the small $20 Radio Shack UHF only Yagis. Receiver is a MyHD card, mine is original version mdp-100 - later version has a better tuner.

WCCU 26 comes in on the east antenna , while I get WRSP on the west antenna.

jtv

Originally posted by jtv
Today around 2:30pm : wccu 26 coming in strong at 49-53% reported signal. Anything 40% or higher is usually stable. wrsp is around 40%.

jtv

Sure would like as an exact location as you feel you could provide re the WCCU-DT reception. It is very helpfull. :)

Thanks very much.

Thanks for the edit jtv

That type of info is just what we are looking for. When combined with the information we gather ourselves, it gives us a great baseline to measure future signal checks and system improvements against. Even more importantly, it provides other forum visitors information as to what may work best for them.

Just a reminder...
Try to include the following information when possible.
1. Location
2. Antenna type and setup
3. Preamp (if used)
4. Receiver model

With a squareshooter in savoy would directionality be a problem? My friend wants to get in all the major stations digitally. Also thinking about the omnidirectional antenna from radioshack.

Originally posted by ktFOX55/27
Thanks for the edit jtv

That type of info is just what we are looking for. When combined with the information we gather ourselves, it gives us a great baseline to measure future signal checks and system improvements against. Even more importantly, it provides other forum visitors information as to what may work best for them.

Just a reminder...
Try to include the following information when possible.
1. Location
2. Antenna type and setup
3. Preamp (if used)
4. Receiver model


If you're getting out equally as well on the front side of that directional this morning,you're probably giving KPLR fits in St Louis :›)

Greensburg,In___118°E___146mi
Stacked Triax Band A's @30ft
CM7777 preamp
RCA ATSC11 receiver

http://community-2.webtv.net/GregBarker/DXPHOTOS/

Originally posted by GamerHD
With a squareshooter in savoy would directionality be a problem? My friend wants to get in all the major stations digitally. Also thinking about the omnidirectional antenna from radioshack.

If you are trying for Fox directionality is a problem. To get Fox44
from Springfield you need a fairly large directional anetnna
pointing west. To get Fox26 from near Danville you need a modest antenna
pointing NW. WICD is probably strong enough to pick up on anything.
How hard Fox 26 will be depends on how far south you are in Savoy.
If you are near me, near Windsor, you will need a bigger antenna than
if you are even a half mile farther south.

The ideal antenna for Champaign would be a vertically stacked
4 bowtie antenna with no reflector, making it bi-directional,
aimed ENE and WSW. If you live in a high place anything
nondirectional will probably do.

Doug MCDonald

He lives out by 1st and Curtis (a little south of that) I was hoping to get a multidirectional antenna with a pre amp and have that be enough. He mainly wants to get in the HD capable stuff (WCCU, WICD, WAND) with his location do you think it will work out?

Thanks!

I get 100% reliable reception of WRSP with a Squareshooter mounted in the attic along with a CM pre-amp. I have a 2 story house, so my attic is pretty high. I have problems with stations to the east, WICD and WCCU. Must be a mountain range between them and me in SW Champaign :)

When the Springfield NBC affiliate goes to full power on the digital side, that may be my source for that network.

MIKE

To mraub and GamerHD ... you need bidirectional antennas.
Note that if you get WCCU you don't need WRSP.

A Squareshooter is pretty much equivalent to a Radio Shack Double
Bowtie.

1st and Curtis .. actually I used the already-existing data for a
friend that lives at the north end of that old subdivision south of the new apartments ... does in fact have a mountain between it and WCCU,
called Yankee Ridge. An antenna 25 feet above ground level would
be a few feet above the ridge and WCCU would be line of sight,
which it is not for me a mile north. I can find no antenna
that gets all of WCCU, WICD, WAND, WBUI, and WCIA, but
I'm all-indoors, not attic. I can get all of WRSP, WICD, WAND, WBUI, and
WCIA on one antenna.

I recommend somebody try a 4-bowtie antenna with the
reflector removed. Does anybody sell these?

Doug McDonald

I have a Radio Shack UHF Yagi pointed east, but I still get somewhat spotty reception of WICD and no solid lock on WCCU. At first I thought having 2 antennae connected together on one feed line might be the problem, but disconnecting the SquareShooter did not improve the situation. I've never thought of Yankee Ridge as much of a mountain range, but apparently it is high enough to hide the signals. Of course, WICD is still very low power (I had 2KW back long ago when I was a Ham!), and that problem may go away when they go to full power.

Though not local, I've found www.solidsignal.com a good place to buy antenna gear. They're a forum supporter and give good service. Since they're located up in Michigan, it only takes a day or so for UPS to get your order to you.

MIKE

There is something very fishy if you can't get WICD with 100.00%
reliability from Savoy. WICD is probably line of sight from
everywhere in CU if your antenna is 25 feet off the ground,
big buildings in the way excepted. 2 kilowatts is plenty ... really
plenty ... line of sight at their distance. Even where I live I
actually have on rare clear winter nights seen their tower
from my balcony.

If you have a preamp it may be overloaded by WICD's analog,
however.

What STB do you have? Does it have a real power meter?
Both my boxes have real power meters, and WICD is powerful.

Doug McDonald

I mainly use a DISH 921. It has some sort of signal strength meter, but I'm not sure what it measures. WICD's analog picture has quite a bit of snow in it, so I'm doubting signal overload. For a while, the 921 would take a while to lock on WICD-DT, but once it locked it stayed locked. I recorded a show the other night and had picture and sound dropouts galore. I may just be in a dead spot for them. A DISH 811 seems to pick up their signal better, even though it has another ~50 feet of RG6 between it and the antenna.

Now that it has cooled off and working in the attic is more comfortable I may try pointing the Squareshooter to the east to see if it will let me lock on WICD and WCCU. If so, I'll just get another one and put them more or less back to back. I'm not sure I have enough room in this attic space for a large screen type antenna.

MIKE

If WICD has analog snow, you have a terrible problem somewhere,
like a bad cable, a bad preamp, or tinfoil in your roof or attic.

Doug McDonald

Originally posted by jdmcdonald
If WICD has analog snow, you have a terrible problem somewhere,
like a bad cable, a bad preamp, or tinfoil in your roof or attic.



Nope, same cable, pre-amp and roof structure that permits reliable reception of WRSP. If I had access to sophisticated measurement equipment I might be able to figure out what's going on, but I don't. Moving the antenna to different areas of the attic has not helped.

MIKE

mraub ... sounds bizarre, but things like that can
happen indoors, especially if you are looking through
another house.

Doug

Just to let you know, Sunday (11/7) the Bears / Giants football game was great. I had no problems what so ever here in Danville. I think you've gotten the bugs out for now. Good work!!! :D

Thanks Rick..
we're still tweaking, and made a few more today. We really do appreciate
the patience and the feedback.:cool:

Monday Night Football had rear channel audio problems tonight. It was cutting in and out and you could hear center channel audio in it from time-to-time. ABC admitted to having the problem.

Last night I tried a smaller antenna for WCCU-DT. It was a double bowtie
without reflector, gain of only 5 dB.

Stuck in the right place, near my old large antenna, it works fine
and the difference in signal margin is nowhere near as great
as the 8 dB in the free-space gain of the big antenna, perhaps
4 dB difference. This means that the signal indoors where the antenna
is is not a uniform plane wave over the larger antenna size.

It's still a pathetically weak signal for a 500 kW transmitter,
due to the low tower and the hill. But at least you get Danville.

Doug McDonald

Originally posted by jdmcdonald
But at least you get Danville.

Doug McDonald

He says looking down his nose!


:mad: :mad: :mad:

If we didn't get to Danville I'd really be worried..

Originally posted by jdmcdonald
It's still a pathetically weak signal for a 500 kW transmitter,
due to the low tower and the hill. But at least you get Danville.

Doug McDonald

This is what's so disappointing about 27 when they came on the air. For some reason the choice was made to do everything on the crazing edge. Maybe the idea was we can do this on the cheap because they were going to rely on cable companies to fill in the holes, since most cable companies had at least a 50-100ft tower to pick them up.. Why not do what WBUI did after becoming a WB, and build to a maximized service. Since WBUI had to deal with a flight path, they built to nearly identical specs as WAND. Wait tell spring when all the leaves come out. You may not get the same reception as in winter.

I would say this and praise them for building out a digital microwave link (Expensive!) with HD programming and putting out a blow torch rather then the candles that WICD and WCIA have. Anything less then 50kW is rather pathetic. Yeah, your putting a signal over your city of license but it's barely enough over the noise for the receiver to get a good lock. Put it this way, if you can't pick up the station with a loop antenna to the city of license then your not covering it. It should be that easy. Just this weekend I was in the Denver metro area, Longmont to be exact on the north end. A city some 35 miles north of Denver. I used a Samsung 151 1st gen receiver with a non amplified loop inside a condo on the first floor and was able to pick up the FOX, WB, and PBS out of Denver and some local shopping channel. (Ugh, what a waist) I did have to tweak the antenna between the PBS and WB/FOX stations. I was impressed, considering the receiver and marginal antenna used. Plus the other networks are not on Lookout Mt. yet due to NIMBY tower issues. I would love to check the same location with a 5th gen receiver when all the affiliates are up and running.

Maybe a 5th gen receiver will clear up any issues with 27's digital if you don't have a clear shot to the tower, ie in Champaign.

If I guess correctly, the only current problem with WCCU is tower height.
At 1300 feet, they would be a major force. At 900 feet, they
would be a very strong signal everywhere in C-U.

In any case, I am in just about as bad a place as can be, behind
the highest part of Yankee Ridge, on the second floor indoors,
and it DOES work fine with a simple dipole antenna, but barely.
A double dipole or dipole-reflector is a big help, as is a respectable
preamp. With the dipole the position is exceedingly critical. Even
with a double dipole-reflector, it is somewhat critical.

The problem is not multipath, however, it is just signal level.
There is a clear ghost at 5 microseconds, but it is low
enough to be no problem even with a first generation receiver.

Doug McDonald

Well my friend out in savoy got is set up installed yesterday. He got the multi directional saucer shaped Radio shack antenna and it seems to work great. He gets in all the major stations in with 70-80 signal strength except for WB which he gets in about 50-60 (it breaks up once in awhile).

Originally posted by Savageone79
Well my friend out in savoy got is set up installed yesterday. He got the multi directional saucer shaped Radio shack antenna and it seems to work great. He gets in all the major stations in with 70-80 signal strength except for WB which he gets in about 50-60 (it breaks up once in awhile).

That's interesting. Those onmidirectional antennas have a reputation of not working very well. Is it mounted outside or in the attic? About how high above the ground is it?

MIKE

Anyone know of a retail place in the area that stocks the HD directivo boxes? Circuit city and Best buy can order them but don't keep them in stock.

No, but...

I ordered one at Circuit City and had it two days later. At least there was the option of returning it within 14 days if there were problems. The HDTivo is not exactly bug free, so you want to be sure you have some time to try it out in your home...

Cool what price did you pay and are you happy with it so far? Anything I should be aware of?

Anyone getting Saving Private Ryan in HD on WAND? Because Im not and Its supposed to be. This is as of 7:05 pm.

Well as of 7:35 and the first commercial break it is finally HD and DD 5.1. Better late than never I guess...but too bad they dropped the ball on the most dramatic/action/intense....makes the best use of the technology... part of the film...the storming of the beach.

You're going to have to do better to get HD a mainstream acceptance.

Originally posted by GamerHD
Anyone know of a retail place in the area that stocks the HD directivo boxes? Circuit city and Best buy can order them but don't keep them in stock.

If you're already a DirecTV customer you'll probably want to stick with them. If you're just signing up for satellite, DISH just dropped the price of their 921 HD PVR to $549 (I paid $1000 6 months ago). There's a report that there's a deal to get it for $249 if you are a new customer and make a commitment.

MIKE

GamerHD, You have a PM.

Originally posted by GamerHD
Cool what price did you pay and are you happy with it so far? Anything I should be aware of?

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Thanks Rick..
we're still tweaking, and made a few more today. We really do appreciate
the patience and the feedback.:cool:

Hi all, long time listener, first time caller (or something like that). I'm in West Champaign, corner of John and Mattis. This is mostly for the Fox guys, thought I'd report in. I have not been able to get the HD signal from the Fox 27 tower at all.

I use the Radio Shack UHF-only Yagi, and mount it about 20-25 feet off the ground. To be fair, the location I'm in is not the best. However, on good days, I can pick up the Fox 55 (springfield) signal with the antenna sitting in my first floor kitchen pointed WSW and get 40-50 on the signal strength.

Also, as additional information, I can usually get WAND HD and WBUI-DT between 60-80 sitting the antenna in my dining room pointing WSW and outside about 6 feet off the ground get WCIA-DT/UPN between 60-80. Also, point ENE at 25 feet, I can get WICD-DT between 45-55.

I have an RCA HD52W140 (built-in HD tuner) and no amplifier, in case that makes a difference.

I would give abc some credit here.. they were the first ( by many months) to go HD in the area and the first now to do dd5.1 so a few problems here and there are acceptable.. at least they are trying (unlike some staitions in town!)

WRSP-DT has been doing dd5.1 for over a year.

Does WCCU do 5.1 now as well? I haven't had a chance to test it out.. I can't get WRSP so for me ABC was the first to do 5.1

Yes. WCCU is the same audio& video signal as WRSP.

Yes, WCCU-DT is dd5.1 also.

I get WCCU DD5.1 ... but still no video on the second channel.

Somehow it does not go well with my Motorola box. I never did
get the purported "weather channel".

Doug McDonald

Is everyone else getting lip syncing problems on some NBC HD shows? Is that a problem with the local network or a national problem? If it is a local problem is it being worked on?

Thanks!

Originally posted by GamerHD
Is everyone else getting lip syncing problems on some NBC HD shows? Is that a problem with the local network or a national problem? If it is a local problem is it being worked on?

Thanks!

Good questions! We're still trying to figure out the answers to these questions with the NBC affiliate in Indy. This has been an ongoing problem for a couple of years over here. I've read other posts from various parts of the country, including New York (WNBC-DT), complaining about the same thing. The local engineers say it's a network problem.

Steve

GamerHD:

I think you will notice that there are lip sync problems in most DTV/HD (especially HD) programming because of the amount of data that is being sent down and decoding process to get it to the screen. I have seen it on NBC and it is prominent on ABC programs also. I tried to watch "Lost" on ABC when it debuted a few weeks and the lip sync drove me crazy. (besides the fact the show was boring). ***But.....I have been watching Leno a lot lately and I notice no lip sync issues here.*** Live vs. film I don't know. The more I learn about this the more I don't know. :D

I would be interested to hear if there is much lip sync problems on Satellite content say from E* or D*??? Discovery-HD or ESPN-HD e.g.

T

No i haven't noticed it on ABC or Fox or any directv channels.. I think it is a local or network NBC problem.

Originally posted by thumperxr69
GamerHD:

I think you will notice that there are lip sync problems in most DTV/HD (especially HD) programming because of the amount of data that is being sent down and decoding process to get it to the screen.


Nope. When proper engineering and operational procedures are used,
lip sync is seldom a problem. the networks OCCASIONALLY have a problem,
but it is rare and they are usually able to correct it fairly quickly.

Fox people:

My friend in SW Champaign, who lives exactly 3 miles west of me,
now has a good (bad) report on WCCU-DT.

He has his TV and antenna, a Radio Shack double bowtie
connected directly to a Samsung T-151, in his basement.
All the other local stations ... 17, 22, 41, 48 ... come in fine
almost all the time with the antenna in any of several places.
Very wet ground can cause signal loss. He has, on rare occasuions,
gotten Ch. 44 even with the antenna in the basement. But he
has to date never ever gotten Ch. 26 no matter where the antenna
is placed (in the basement.) He has no way to get it out of the basement.

Doug McDonald

Not to discard jdmcdonald's report, but I have a positive Fox story. Today I was fooling around with my antenna (RS Yagi), and put it up about four feet higher than usual. Apparently I broke the magic height barrier, because I was getting a signal of anywhere from 65-70 on my RCA HD52W140. Finally, a Bears game in HD (and they won!).

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Nope. When proper engineering and operational procedures are used,
lip sync is seldom a problem. the networks OCCASIONALLY have a problem,
but it is rare and they are usually able to correct it fairly quickly.

When TNTHD first came online during the basketball playoffs earlier this year, there were serious lipsync problems. It took them a week or so, but they finally got it squared away. I hardly ever see any sync issues on Monday Night Football. Today was the first time I watched HD football on WCCU, and saw no sync issues.


Qualitative question: I'm watching HDTV on a 1080i CRT RPTV (Mits). Fox HD is 720p so I assume it is upconverted to 1080i. To my eye the football on Fox HD is not as crisp as either Monday Night ABC (OTA) or Sunday Night ESPN (Dish). Is the upconversion the reason why?


So now that FOX, NBC, and ABC are broadcasting in HD, any idea if CBS is ever going to seek treatment for their recto-cranial inversion?


I'm over in far east Urbana, outside of city limits. For the longest time my reception was iffy, so I had Good Vibes come out and replace the antenna they had installed back in January, and also install a rotor. They also were able to raise the antenna about 3 feet. It now sits roughly 20 feet up.

My signal strengths this evening (using Dish 811 HD receiver as a tuner):

WCIA: 69%
WAND: 83%
WCCU: 85%
WICD: 77%
WCFN: 63%
WBUI: 63%

The 3 most important ones are the ones coming in the strongest (or maybe they've boosted signal strength in conjunction with going HD).

-Dan

Originally posted by heavyharmonies
When TNTHD first came online during the basketball playoffs earlier this year, there were serious lipsync problems. It took them a week or so, but they finally got it squared away. I hardly ever see any sync issues on Monday Night Football. Today was the first time I watched HD football on WCCU, and saw no sync issues.


Qualitative question: I'm watching HDTV on a 1080i CRT RPTV (Mits). Fox HD is 720p so I assume it is upconverted to 1080i. To my eye the football on Fox HD is not as crisp as either Monday Night ABC (OTA) or Sunday Night ESPN (Dish). Is the upconversion the reason why?


So now that FOX, NBC, and ABC are broadcasting in HD, any idea if CBS is ever going to seek treatment for their recto-cranial inversion?


I'm over in far east Urbana, outside of city limits. For the longest time my reception was iffy, so I had Good Vibes come out and replace the antenna they had installed back in January, and also install a rotor. They also were able to raise the antenna about 3 feet. It now sits roughly 20 feet up.

My signal strengths this evening (using Dish 811 HD receiver as a tuner):

WCIA: 69%
WAND: 83%
WCCU: 85%
WICD: 77%
WCFN: 63%
WBUI: 63%

The 3 most important ones are the ones coming in the strongest (or maybe they've boosted signal strength in conjunction with going HD).

-Dan


OK as far as the comparison between ABC/ESPN/FOX Football I would have to say ABC is by far the best. Today on FOX the Bears game seemed far superior than the Viking/Packer game later. IMHO it seems like one of the FOX games are upconverted and the other is "authentic" 720P.

T

WILL

I talked to the new WILL chief engineer ... I think that was who
it was ... today.

Last time I was told "December", meaning, without any qualification
from him, December 2004. I thought at the time ... hmmmm ....
they way they are behaving, it may mean Dec. 2005.

Well, today I called again and now he is talking "late winter,
early spring". But he didn't specify the year.

Something fishy is happening there. He was very unresponsive
to questions, unlike the previous guy. He mumbled about
"tower work". But he did admit that their new
antenna is in fact installed.

I will try to talk to the station manager to see if I can get
a straight answer. This seems unlikely, however.

Will WEIU beat them?

Doug McDonald

I hope WEIU does beat WILL to the punch. Maybe it will take competition to light a fire under the WILL people. I wish WILL would just be honest and say they are to dumb to figure it out. Heck, I got one eye and I can see that they are stalling.

My reciever gets guide data fine for WRSP DT (which i don't recieve) but won't get guide data for WCCU. WHy is this and is there anyway to fix this?

Because you have a DirecTV receiver, which does not read OTA PSIP/EPG.
You are getting it on WRSP, even tho you don't receive WRSP, because directv is inserting the guide data for WRSP. Since they don't carry WCCU,
they don't insert guide data for it. We are passing FULL PSIP with EPG on both, if your receiver would read it, you'd see it. From what I have been
told, it is a condition of the DirecTv liscense agreement.

This is an area where the DirecTV customer service reps and the higher level people they eventually refer one to have consitently misrepresented. Their claim to me on at least five occasions has been that they do NOT provide that data, that it comes with the FULL PSIP with EPG from the OTA signal and that therefore there is nothing DirecTV can do about getting the info in the program guide. I've given up on them.

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Because you have a DirecTV receiver, which does not read OTA PSIP/EPG.
You are getting it on WRSP, even tho you don't receive WRSP, because directv is inserting the guide data for WRSP. Since they don't carry WCCU,
they don't insert guide data for it. We are passing FULL PSIP with EPG on both, if your receiver would read it, you'd see it. From what I have been
told, it is a condition of the DirecTv liscense agreement.

I'm using the HD tivo model and I was under the impression that it did read guide data? Can anyone clarify this?

Using our Ktech commercial demod, as well as the Sylvania 3000 we have at the WCCU transmitter, the guide data was present last time I was there.
But Ken will verify that as well. I'm also showing it being present in the output stream when looking at it here..

What's not present, still, on WCCU, is the video of the second
(extra sound) channel.

Doug McDonald

Yea, aware of that little bug..there is also a change that needs to be made
in the fox splicer as well to make that work properly.

Anyone know if NBC 20-1 (42-1) out of springfield has boosted their signal? I now get that at 90 on the signal meter out side of Peoria. Assume it's not just the tropoducting thing since it's been this way for a few days now.

Not as if I need the channel because WEEK out of Peoria is solid but I was just wondering.

Anyone notice problems with color on WICD-DT tonight (11/18)? Checked WAND-HD, color seemed okay, but WICD-DT the color seemed to be shifted from the actual picture (kind of like if the guns in the TV were not aligned properly, except any other broadcast colors look fine).

Does anyone notice that there is program guide for WCCU analog channel on Directv? It is only missing on the digital channel.

Originally posted by EAW
Anyone know if NBC 20-1 (42-1) out of springfield has boosted their signal? I now get that at 90 on the signal meter out side of Peoria. Assume it's not just the tropoducting thing since it's been this way for a few days now.

Not as if I need the channel because WEEK out of Peoria is solid but I was just wondering.

They may have. I got a good lock on 42-1 last night from SW Champaign. I now get better signals for both Fox and NBC from Springfield than I do from our local stations. Go figure.

MIKE

I tried WCCU-DT last night and thius morning from my office.

This is at 600 S, Goodwin in Urbana, a first floor room that
faces east, directly at the transmitter. We are not at a low spot.
However, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is
in the way, as is metal coated glass windows.

No analog signal is watchable, though WICD-15 is syncable.
No WCCU-DT at all, only WICD-DT works, with a 4 dB signal margin.

This is what is expected with the windows.

Doug McDonald

This is a great thread but 59 pages is too much for me to comb thru. Could one (or more) of you give me a 101 course on what digital and HD stations are in the Champaign and Decatur areas?

I recently moved to Clinton, IN 47842, about five miles from the IL border. My closest market, Terre Haute, has two stations broadcasting in digital (WTWO-NBC and WBAK-Fox). It's got one (WTHI-CBS) that broadcasts in HD. So I'm looking for HD broadcasts for NBC, ABC, Fox and PBS. I'll take anything else that's at least digital. Fortunately, from here to Champaign and Decatur it's flat as a pancake. I have a 40' tower being erected with a CM 4242 antenna and CM 7777 pre-amp. I expect (hope) to be able then to get more from your area than WICD (Ch. 41).

So, what and where are the HD and digital broadcasts? Who's ramped up their power and who hasn't? Who's going to go HD in the near future. ANYTHING! I'll take anything!

Thanks in advance.

Call Letters Channel Network City DigitalChannel

WCCU-DT 27.1 FOX URBANA IL 26
WICD-DT 15.1 NBC CHAMPAIGN IL 41
WCIA-DT 3.1 CBS CHAMPAIGN IL 48
WBUI-DT 23.1 WB DECATUR IL 22
WAND-DT 17.1 ABC DECATUR IL 18
** WILL-DT 9 PBS URBANA IL FCC Ext 9

** Not on air.

WICD, WCIA are very low power.

Originally posted by dsinder
Call Letters Channel Network City DigitalChannel

WCCU-DT 27.1 FOX URBANA IL 26
WICD-DT 15.1 NBC CHAMPAIGN IL 41
WCIA-DT 3.1 CBS CHAMPAIGN IL 48
WBUI-DT 23.1 WB DECATUR IL 22
WAND-DT 17.1 ABC DECATUR IL 18
** WILL-DT 9 PBS URBANA IL FCC Ext 9

** Not on air.

WICD, WCIA are very low power.

Additionally,
FOX - HD (720p)
NBC - HD (1080i)
CBS - Digital (No plans to go HD)
WB - Digital
ABC - HD (720p)
PBS - Plans for HD repeatedly getting moved back

UPN 49.1 CHAMPAIGN IL 49 - Digital (No plans to go HD)

dsinder & nalesic:

Thanks. That's a great start for me.

At about 1:30 I saw an HD Tivo on the shelf at the champaign best buy. It looked like a return. No price posted.

Yeah actually i think that was my friend's doing.. when he ordered one in they said they were ordering 2 in to see which got there fastest for him and were going to put the other one out on the shelf for sale.

Having two active Tivo's, and one spare, I'd really like to have the HD Tivo,
but way too buggy and still too expensive IMHO..My wife uses her Tivo more than I do. Now If I could just get her hooked on HD............

My friend using the HDtivo he got from best buy has had no problems.. it works great. He got it there for $879 (they will deal a little on expensive items like that) also directv will often give you another $250 towards it if you have been with them longer then a year. so your looking at about $600-$700 which is isn't to bad for an HD tivo.

Yesterday on the morning show on WCIA, they had an interview with the station manager (I think they do this every few weeks). In the past, when asked about HD, he always gave the corporate line about the FCC not mandating HD, that they were complying with government mandates about digital broadcasting, blah, blah, blah. This time, however, he said that at a recent corporate meeting, they had set "sometime in 2005" as the date for switching over to HD. Did anyone else catch this?

The statement jives with stuff I've been reading about other Nextstar-owned stations where station managers have said something about switching to HD in 2005.

I'll believe it when I see it, but perhaps market pressure is finally getting to Nextstar.

John C.

Is WCIA now broadcasting in digital or still in analogue only?

Thanks,

Geoffrey

I posted this earlier but it did not show up so if you see two posts that are the same I apologize.

Here is an email I sent WCIA and their response about HD content.

Did I hear your general manager correctly, that sometime in 2005 you will be sending out content in HD? If so, outstanding!

That might have changed._ Nexstar had originally slated us for our high-power/high-def upgrade in '05, but now I hear they pushed us back to '06._ So I honestly don't know!_ If I hear any more about it I'll drop you an e-mail.

_

Darren Martin

Chief Engineer

WCIA-TV

Nexstar Sucks!

I'll be the first to admit that I've added nothing to the conversation. However, I feel much better.

Thank you.

And of course if they happen to be part of the same space-time continuum that WILL is, that means that they will begin broadcasting HD in 2009...

Both stations are about as useful as tits on a bull.

-Dan

With CU being a high-tech type community, I suspect we have a higher number of people with HD capable sets than many communities Nexstar serves, though that may not be one of the criteria in determining who gets it first. Its nice to see some movement, though, even if it's slow. Heck, they might end up beating WILL.

Does anyone have an e-mail address for any of the Nexstar management people? The last time I checked their website they had no links for sending e-mail to them. A few e-mails from CU people wanting HD might tip the balance in their deployment decisions.

MIKE

I talked to WILL and got some answers:

They have the digital antenna installed and are going to use the old transmission line. Apparently the air conditioning is not a problem.

They have an (uninstalled) transmitter.

They have no digital STL installed nor licensed, but have
an application for a license.

They have no encoder either SD or HD. Apparently it is not even ordered.

They have a new chief engineer.

They have excuses, the chief of which is a quote from him "nothing
much happened until I got here."

What they don't have is a clue.

Well, "maybe April".

Doug McDonald

The House of Representives passed a law, yesterday I think, which appears to allow satellite carriers to provide a digital signal if a local network does. I can't tell if that applies to PBS or not. The Senate still has to act on it and the President could veto it, though since the act is attached to next year's appropriation bill, that seems unlikely.

MIKE

WOW

What a sad list of excuses. If I had not followed this sad story over the past several months I'd truly think it was some school/college prank.

Seems that no one is accountable for the gross incompetence of the management - a very sad day for those of us who finance WILL with our taxes and with our annual contribution during pledge drive.

Maybe letters to the local paper might get someone to sit up and get this thing moving.


cheers,

Geoffrey

YEA - APRIL FOOL

Wednesday night and I'm completely zeroed out on 55-1.

We just had a big storm but I've never had zero on the signal meter& the storms over. I'm in Morton Illinois just under 60 miles from the tower. However, as I've mentioned about 100x's on this thread, I get 55-1 with high realiability.

Assume they are down?

I'm in Springfield and it is dropping out. My antenna is caked with snow! I bet theirs is too.

Originally posted by EAW
Wednesday night and I'm completely zeroed out on 55-1.

We just had a big storm but I've never had zero on the signal meter& the storms over. I'm in Morton Illinois just under 60 miles from the tower. However, as I've mentioned about 100x's on this thread, I get 55-1 with high realiability.

Assume they are down?

Good. My fear is always that my antenna has moved. I have a tall house and the roof is going to be slick for a few months so, in a strange way, I'm glad others are having troubles.

As of 8:00-9:00 pm tonight FOX WRSP 55-1 was clear here. Of course my antenna is in my attic. ;) I am located just north of Springfield. 17 miles from the 55-1 antenna.

Y

Ice and snow on an outdoor receive antenna tends to cause multipath thus inhibiting reception..Drove me nuts once thinking the transmitter
was off-air when it wasn't..

55.1 WRSP-DT is running fine. As mentioned by a few others, check your antenna for ice and snow if you are having reception problems. I even had to climb up on the roof of the studio and clean a couple inches of snow off of our off air antenna because we were having reception problems.

27.1 WCCU-DT is not so good. The strong winds knocked one of our microwave dishes that delivers our signal to the transmitter out of alignment. If the weather cooperates, we'll have things cleared up Friday.

55-1 Good last night in Washington, IL.


Anyone know a status on 43-1 WYZZ??

My first snow storm with an outdoor. Guess I've learned something.

The ol' signal meter is at 21 this morning, better but no pic. And, yes, the antenna has some snow on it. Going to have to rely on mother nature, I'm not getting up there. Might have to go set-top for the 3:00 Bears v Dallas game.

Believe 43-1 in HD when you see it and not a second before.

10:30am 55-1 No signal. Very odd. I have my anttena in the attic.

Originally posted by Stevenage
I'm in Springfield and it is dropping out. My antenna is caked with snow! I bet theirs is too.

I am 68 miles from them in Champaign and 44 (55) was stable as
a rock (indoor antenna at my end).

26 (27) was very very weak ... I had to remove my splitter to
get it reliably. It was also fluttering badly analog.

Doug McDonald

Originally posted by stick30
10:30am 55-1 No signal. Very odd. I have my anttena in the attic.

Me too stick... I am hoping it will come back before the game. All other stations are fine. Even WEEK which is 47 miles from me is coming in. I am only 17 miles from WRSP 55 and I even tried to swap in my indoor antenna which has never failed.

:(

Oh please my father-in-law will be here Thanksgiving. I'd love to show off the game

Y

WRSP-DT suffered a major problem this morning and is off air. No ETA at this time as to when it will be back as it will depend on availabilty of parts and delivery. When I have more info I'll pass it along.

Thanks for the update. The actual news is better than guessing even when the actual news means SD football. ;-)

WCCU-DT is back to normal, WRSP-DT will be back on Tuesday at the earliest.

Has anyone used the DVD from AVIA to calibrate their tv? If so, how did it work and would you recommend it? Also has anyone had a ISF certified person come over and calibrate their tv for them? If so, would you recommend it?

AVIA will definately help you get the most out of your TV, as will DVE. You might want to check over in the Display Devices Forums (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=9) to see which solution is best for you.

I use both DVE and Avia. I recommend them. I've also had my TV calibrated. I HIGHLY recommend that. I'd like to calibrate more frequently and do it myself but the equipment is a little expensive:

Milori ColorFacts Professional Purchase with Trichromat-1 sensor $2400.00

or

Milori ColorFacts Professional 30 Day Rental $299.00

Plus:

http://www.accupel.com/

Special Introductory Price
$ 1299.95

Totals about $3700.

If there was enough interest in the C-U area we could form a club and share the costs. Any interest out there?

Originally posted by Vitale'sFakeEye
Has anyone used the DVD from AVIA to calibrate their tv? If so, how did it work and would you recommend it? Also has anyone had a ISF certified person come over and calibrate their tv for them? If so, would you recommend it?

I would be interested, but I would not know what the hell to do with that equipment. I am pretty challenged when it comes to technology.

Originally posted by bdfox18doe
Ice and snow on an outdoor receive antenna tends to cause multipath thus inhibiting reception..Drove me nuts once thinking the transmitter
was off-air when it wasn't..

This leads me to ask both ktFOX55/27 and bdfox18doe about their end, the transmission side. How are the antennas for Fox 55 and 27 setup? Side mount or stacked top mount, or some combined antenna? Also, do you have de-icing ability on the digital side? I assume you do on the analog side. God knows you need it in Central Illinois. From all these reports of FOX HD and 50+ mile coverage makes me wish I was back in Central Illinois sometimes. In some ways you guys have it better then most markets. I never thought FOX would beat WCIA to the punch when it came to HD. The way that station has promoted itself as being a leader all these years.

WRSP-DT is back up and running.

Was a bit freaked when the signal meter on the sat receiver showed only 18. Then I looked outside. Guess we have another snow storm.

Anyhow, thanks!

Edit to add 75 on the e86 signal meter Wednesday morning.

Is WBUI-DT dead?

Doug McDonald

Appears to be. I'm not getting it either.

same here.

I was able to pick up WBUI-DT yesterday (12/5), so maybe it's back up?

I picked up WBUI-DT on Sunday night in Mahomet.... Pretty cool. Will they pass any HD feeds?

Migman

Migman I don't believe WBUI-DT is passing any HD feeds.

T

That's correct. WBUI is not passing any HD feeds. It's also doubtful that they will any time in the near future... :(

When I talked to one of their engineers a few weeks ago they said they will likely go HD sometime in 2005. Not sure how reliable that info is but it would be nice if it were sooner rather then later.

That's cool. I hadn't really heard them talk too much about going HD, and they've been very good at ignoring any e-mail inquiries regarding this subject, so I assumed it wasn't even on their radar. Let's hope the engineer was telling the truth!

The following appeared in the Peoria thread:

************************************


WYZZ-DT

We're working to get the new full power analog transmitter on the air by next Friday. Then the installation of the digital starts. We're trying very hard to get it on by the Super Bowl.
BTW our NBC DT stations in Springfield and Champaign are now at high power.
Jim


***************************************

The obvious part of interest here is the last sentence.

Has anybody else noticed any difference? I indeed had
noticed a much more common appearance of WICS-42 at my
abode. It's not reliable like WRSP, even though though both
are in the heart of the sweet spot of my antenna and preamp,
and are almost colocated.

I see no problems with the higher power of WICD-41, except
that perhaps it's high power is why I seldom get WICS-42.

I still cannot get WCCU except with my dedicated antenna
pointing right at it, so I'm still watching Fox on WRSP.

Has anybody found a place to purchase one of those "Join-Tenna"
things?

Doug McDonald

Doug: I definitely noticed significantly higher signal readings for wicd starting a week or so ago. It used to be just a bit flakey on a bad night on one of my receivers (myhd) but solid on the other (motorola hdt101). Now it's in the 80-90+% range and pretty much solid at all times.

For the Join-tenna, did you try Warren electronics?

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/Antennas/joiners.htm

I haven't looked for anywhere local. In the end I didn't go this route but rather have two separate antennas with two downleads running to the two antenna inputs on the myhd card.

jtv

I'm outside of Peoria. 42-1 (NBC Springfield) used to hit about 12 to 18 on the signal meter. It's now rock solid 70's.

WEEK out of Peoria is fine but it's nice to have the two options in case one is ever down for any reason.

Anybody running a ATI HDTV Wonder card??? Now that WICS is full power I get audio but no video. All others WRSP, WAND, others come in fine. On my LG 4200 STB I do get WICS OK.

Thanks
T

http://www.tvtechnology.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2574

Just in case you hadn't seen that. WCIA-3 and WCFN-49 are owned by Nexstar...

- Trip

Originally posted by Trip in VA
http://www.tvtechnology.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2574

Just in case you hadn't seen that. WCIA-3 and WCFN-49 are owned by Nexstar...

- Trip

Quote from the article: "Later next year, seven stations in the top 100 U.S. markets should be converted."

I don't think Champaign is a top 100 market area, so we may have to wait until 2006. At least they're finally moving.

MIKE

Champaign-Decatur-Springfield is the #82 market.

WCIA HD? Probably NOT in 2005

I posted this earlier but it did not show up so if you see two posts that are the same I apologize.

Here is an email I sent WCIA and their response about HD content.

Did I hear your general manager correctly, that sometime in 2005 you will be sending out content in HD? If so, outstanding!

That might have changed._ Nexstar had originally slated us for our high-power/high-def upgrade in '05, but now I hear they pushed us back to '06._ So I honestly don't know!_ If I hear any more about it I'll drop you an e-mail.

_

Darren Martin

Chief Engineer

WCIA-TV

Guys,

Hopefully Santa will allow me to get the Directv HD receiver and package for 2005. I was wondering what type of indoor antenna do you think will work to pick up the local HD signals. I checked the antennaweb site and found that I am about 30 or so miles from the stations I want to pull in. I live in Northwest Champaign in the Westlake Subdivision (Clayton/Duncan intersection). Any help would be appreciated and I would like only indoor antenna solutions. Also, if you have an idea on price please pass that along. Again thanks for the help and have a great holiday season.

Indoor in west champaign is doable. The only problem is
Fox, for which you may need a separate antenna pointing
northeast, to get WCCU (ch 26). On the other hand, you may
reliably get WRSP (44) on a westward pointing antenna
that will get all the rest of the stations, or you may not (its 66 miles
away).

A Radio Shack double bowtie will likely work, except maybe for
44. A "silver sensor" may work for all except WILL (9) when it
comes on, but then again, that one will very strong so even it may work.

All you can do is experiment. If all our stations were one
direction it would be less of an experiment. (Or if you have
two antenna inputs, then its guaranteed easy).

Doug McDonald

Hello all,

A colleague of mine and I came up with a Excel spreadsheet showing
the DTV stations around the northern and central Illinois, southern
Wisconsin, and northern and central Indiana areas. I live 60 miles west of
Chicago, so the local markets show the distance from my house to the
transmitters. Your mileage may vary. But in either case, click on this virus-
scanned copy of this Excel worksheet:

http://weather.niu.edu/dtvstations.xls

I will presume there are errors, but I have done my best to keep them
to zero! :-)

Enjoy. Comments/feedback welcomed. Oh, and yes, I am a system
administrator, so don't trust what I say...always scan any downloaded
document for viruses first, even though I know it is clean. Good net habit,
trust me. :-)

Here's a local station map for Champaign/Deactur.

jtv

Is anyone experiencing problems with digital UPN/CBS 49? The signal meter bounces all over the place, with an ocassional pixelated picture and a few seconds of sound. All of the other local channels (17-1, 17-2, 20-1, 23-1, 55-1, 55-2) show over 90% signal and the signal meter is solid and does not fluxuate.

Concerned about the high winds last night I looked at the antenna and everything looked good from the ground. All of the other stations I am used to seeing still seem just fine. When pointed north, 25-1, 25-2, 47-1, and 47-2 produce a solid signal (80%+ same as usual) as does 14-1 & 14-2 (90%+) with the antenna pointed SW.

Any ideas what might be causing this? Or is the just some technical problem over at the Channel 49 transmitter?

Originally posted by Northender
Is anyone experiencing problems with digital UPN/CBS 49?

If it helps: I have a Radio Shack U-120 Antenna, Channel Master 7777 amplifier, and a < 50' run of Echostar RG-6 cable. The antenna is about 5' above the roofline and from the roof there is a good view of the countryside in all directions.

Not having any trouble with the signal. 49-2 is coming in like it usually does. The picture is screwed up on 49-1, but I think it's due to station problems more than anything (analog is screwed up too).

For the last couple of weeks I cannot get 55-1 fox, I used to get it and had thought that the antenna had moved but after repositioning antenna on my roof still no 55-1. I get all other ota locals even 20-1. A friend less than 2 miles away from me gets 55-1 why not me? After aiming antenna directly at fox and doing a channel scan 55-1 does not even show up in the guide !With tv on 55-1 message says channel not available. Can someone please help? THANKS Using RCA DTC-200 stb.

Yeah, I tried helping traderrich over the weekend but wasn't really able to. He had received WRSP digital in the past and after some Direct TV guys went to work (installing the second dish for peoria locals for his several nonHD tv's) it seems to be gone. Don't know if there is a connection.

It won't even show up on the guide as a channel for him and I pointed his roof mounted DB4 right at it. I suggested putting in a Springfield zip as the secondary on his receiver. He did and stil no go but Springfield NBC is there with full guide and solid signal.

We realize that WRSP is working fine (since I watched it all weekend at my house 2miles away) but was just wondering if anyone had any ideas of what his problem might be, since I obviously don't. ;-) Again, he has received WRSP digital with regularity up until recently.

Thanks in advance for any input.

One thing to try is try channel 44-1 (the actual location of 55-1). I've had similar issues with my RCAHD52W140 (TV with built-in tuner), where if I go to 55-1, it just tunes to 55 analog, but going to 44-1 tunes to 55-1.

Does anybody get HD through the Insight HD pack in Champaign? I am thinking of getting it, but I'm not sure about the content/quality of the package.
I am very excited about ESPN HD and I hope that they will have ESPN2 HD pretty soon. What are the other channels like? The price is just a little mroe than Direct TV wants, and I would prefer not to deal with a dish. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
I think we all hope that they will add local channels in HD in the future, but this will work for now...

What is so bad about a "dish"??? I have had one (from E* to now D*) for 3 years and I love it. The quality on regular SD channels is heads and shoulders about cable IMHO. I have seen Insight in Springfield and it is horrible.

Try a DirecTiVo and you will never want anything else. :D

T

Slightly off-topic, but I too will be looking for something other than Dish in about 3 weeks, so I wouldn't mind some opinions about other providers' HD here in C-U.

Here's a little rantlet I just posted on another board. I'm majorly pissed about not being able to watch the Illini play tonight.

My one-year contract with Dish will be up on January 18. I haven't decided if I will go with D*, Voom, or cable (Insight), but I *will* be leaving Dish.

1. Lovely new Christmas present of upcoming price increases.

2. No new HD content in sight.

3. I wanted to watch Illinois basketball tonight and tomorrow night. Normally they've been playing on ESPN, ESPN2, or our local CBS affiliate. For some reason, these two games are being shown on the Fox Sports Network. Well that's ok. According to Dish, as a T120 subscriber, I get FSN... I spent forever trying to find a FSN channel on my Dish guide. I doublecheck the TV listings at tvguide.com, yahoo.com, etc. Yeah, the game is being shown on FSN. I call up Dish. After 20 minutes on hold I finally get a human who proceeds to inform me that FSN won't be active in my area on Dish until April 1 due to contract negotiations. WTF!

Listening to the game on radio just isn't the same...

Byebye Dish!

Reading at www.dbstalk.com and www.satelliteguys.us, it appears that the biggest complaint against Voom is horribly inept installers, depending on where you live. Has anyone here had voom installed in the C-U area? What were your experiences? Voom is offering a $1 install deal at the moment, and since I can now get my local HD (with the exception of CBS *spit*) OTA, I'm thinking of going that route...

I feel your pain heavyharmonies.

Dish is bad, cable is worse. I have Directv-probably not much better--no Illini....

Remember, we are only customers who pay the bills, who cares what we want?

VOOM is probably not a good bet at this point. If it costs nothing you would be loosing nothing but it probably won't be long until it folds if they can't find a buyer.

Radio isn't all that bad.

Originally posted by heavyharmonies
Slightly off-topic, but I too will be looking for something other than Dish in about 3 weeks, so I wouldn't mind some opinions about other providers' HD here in C-U.



I have DirecTV. Their HD lineup right now is Showtime, HBO, DiscoveryHD, UniversalHD (formerly Bravo - now running a mix of Universal entertainment stuff like Law and Order reruns in HD), HDNet, and HDNet movies. If you are willing to bend your ethics somewhat and lie about your location, you can tell them you live in Chicago and also get CBS-HD, Fox-HD, NBC-HD, and soon ABC-HD (but you couldn't get the Champaign locals via the dish that way).

DirecTV is known to be in negotiations to carry TNT-HD (if you're into pro basketball in HD). In the spring (2005) DirecTV will launch two new satellites that will give it the capacity to dramatically increase its HD services, including carrying local HD channels. And DirecTV also has a very good HD-Tivo unit for timeshifting HD (including off-air content).

The last time I checked on Insight Cable, its HD offerings were pretty meager, but it's been a year since I did that. They too have an HD-DVR for timeshifting (but I don't think you can use it for off-air HD).

Voom's future is up in the air. The service has been put up for sale by its parent company (Cablevision) and its subscriber base is tiny (about 25,000 at last report). Of course, if you can get the equipment for free and simply pay a monthly service charge, then there's little risk in trying it, and it does have the largest selection of HD programming among the satellite services. Voom has been promising an HD-DVR for over a year, but it is still not available. Given the current uncertainty with the company's future, if an HD-DVR is important to you, I wouldn't hold my breath for Voom to come through.

John C.

Anyone seen the WRSP Superbowl commercial? They were advertising that the game would be broadcast in glorious 720i high definition. Gave me a pretty good chuckle.

Guess Engineering didn't get a chance to review the commercial before it was released... :p

Oh My.. I'll have to see what the folks at FOX have to say about that!
Must have been done by Dilbert's marketing department..

Regarding insight, their offerings are pretty slim in C/U. They are currently using the really crappy Motorolla box with single tuner. It's buggy, a pain to use, and doesn't do OTA reception. The only offer ESPNHD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, Discovery and the premium channels if you pay extra (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax). Not a single local channel gets any HD content (at least of 2 months ago). In addition, there is a problem with the box that makes the lower numbered channels come in really poor (even worse than usual cable quality). On the upside though, they should be getting the dual tuner Motorolla (6412 I believe) which addresses most of the issues minus the poor HD selection at some point. I had the setup when they were offering the free 3 month trial and ended up cancelling at the end.

For those of you with HD satellite (Dish/DirecTv)...
Does anyone local to C/U have a spare D*/E* dish I could borrow or that they would be willing to sell for cheap? I have been trying to get satellite at my apartment but the installers tell me I don't have a line of sight. That's entirely possible but the 2 min. visual check they did (no tools - not even a compass) to determine this didn't exactly make me confident that was the case - especially considering a lot of other people around here have dishes with similiar obstacles.

Or if anyone knows of some good installers around here, I would love to talk to them!

I just upgraded to Directv's HD package and with it came the Samsung TS360 receiver. I found and old set top antenna that gets both UHF and VHF so I hooked it up. To my disbelief, this old $5 antenna actually picked up WAND and WICD HD channels. I could not get 3-1 very well if at all. When I did get channel 3-1 to come in the picture I was seeing said it was UPN. What gives? Also, would hooking up an amp to this old antenna allow me to pull in 3-1? All I want is ABC,NBC,FOX and CBS. I am pretty sure FOX 27-1 is out of the question.