At the moment, I'm getting:
WCCU-SD (pretty useless.. always just says Fox SAP)27.2 WCCU-SD provides alternate audio programs (when available) on FOX network programming. The video is 720p, the same as 27.1. As a reminder that this channel provides alternative audio, the EPG is fixed to say "FOX SAP Descriptive Video Service (FOX Network Shows Only When Available)" all the time.
For full EPG data and DD5.1 audio, tune to 27.1 WCCU-DT.


Ken & Bob (our resident FOX guys). Though they said they didn't have anything to do with it, it just showed up on day and has stuck around ever since.

By the way, I'm talking about my D** on-screen guide.We are providing the same EPG data we always have to D** and other providers, they just finally got their act together and provided it to you :D

We are providing the same EPG data we always have to D** and other providers, they just finally got their act together and provided it to you :D

Ken is correct.. We haven't changed the configuration on the WRSP-WCCU PSIP & multiplexor since they were installed.. :)

If WILL is HD what do I tune? 12.1? thanks for any assistance

Lately my Dish 921 has been remapping WCFL to 3-1 rather than WCIA. I've had to tune to the analog version of WCIA several times to watch basketball games.

It's not just you; my DirecTV H10 receiver also remaps WCFN to 3.1, but when it does I can get WCIA on 3.2. Very weird, because my H10-250 HD-Tivo doesn't do this (WCIA is on 3.1 always, as far as I can tell).

This problem has to be caused by WCIA, not our equipment, but I've sort of given up hope on WCIA for now. Maybe eventually when the new tower is done they'll get serious about their digital service. Right now, however, they are on the air in digital only because they have to be per the FCC; no one over there seems to give a hoot about digital in general, and even less of a hoot (can you have negative hoot???) about HD.

John C.

The CBS affiliate in Terre Haute, IN is (according to their website) going to full power at full antenna height in July of this year. Since I get Fox55 out of Springfield reliably that may be a possible CBS option until WCIA gets their sh . . . uh . . .stuff together.


This problem has to be caused by WCIA, not our equipment, but I've sort of given up hope on WCIA for now. Maybe eventually when the new tower is done they'll get serious about their digital service. Right now, however, they are on the air in digital only because they have to be per the FCC; no one over there seems to give a hoot about digital in general, and even less of a hoot (can you have negative hoot???) about HD.

John C.

If WILL is HD what do I tune? 12.1? thanks for any assistance


12-1 Is the national PBS HD feed. A lot of the shows there sound boring when you read their description in the guide, but a lot of them really are fascinating. I've watched this channel much more than I thought I would.

12-2 is the WILL-DT feed. Shows the same as analog WILL-TV except in digital SD.

12-1 Is the national PBS HD feed. A lot of the shows there sound boring when you read their description in the guide, but a lot of them really are fascinating. I've watched this channel much more than I thought I would.

12-2 is the WILL-DT feed. Shows the same as analog WILL-TV except in digital SD.

Just last night I went through and added pretty well every single nature show on will-HD to my record list. That channel rocks. Don't underestimate the beauty of seeing nature in HD. (granted, some might think it is better to see it in person, and I would agree. But, without driving a ways, it's hard to find mountains, hills or elevation change in general around here, so HD makes for a nice substitute on those days when we can't get away) Last night I watched Walking Through The Bible or whatever the name of it is, and the vistas in the show are simply fascinating. Sinai really looks a lot to me like Zion Canyon NP, without the green.

OK….About 6-7 months ago I had no problem receiving 3-1 (Springfield Broadcast of WCIA) and then all of a sudden I get 0 signal strength on this station. In general this is not a big deal because I receive CBS from D* and my CBS programs are TiVoed from this national feed…..but the day before yesterday I was in a pickle. The Illini were only on locally and I could not receive a signal. I know I used to receive 49-2 also which I believe was 3-1 mapped virtually. OK ...this has always been confusing when CBS "exited" but it seems to be worse lately since I cannot pick up 3-1. Anyone else have similar problems???

Ideas???

T


FYI - OK…I did fix my OTA problem receiving 49-2 (3-1). As soon as I did a rescan of the TiVo it found 49-2 which is 3-1. No schedule for this channel yet (Hopefully it will come down). At least I can get "local" CBS now. Thank goodness I still have my D* CBS national feed.

T

Does anyone else have issues with WBUI HD? I turned on smallville last night OTA, and the Picture was sharp, but had lots of sparkles, also the audio was breaking up and seemed to HEAVILY favor the rear channels. This is my first attempt at watch WBUI, i was only getting about 65 signal strength, but it wasnt breaking up like a normal weak signal does. Was it me? or was it the station?

Dr.

Dr. ... WB 23 looks OK during "King of Queens" - No sparkles for me. I can't tell you about audio because I am still 2.1 for now :mad:

Were the sparkles on *every* program or just during Smallville???

T

Dr. ... WB 23 looks OK during "King of Queens" - No sparkles for me. I can't tell you about audio because I am still 2.1 for now :mad:

Were the sparkles on *every* program or just during Smallville???

T
honestly Im not sure, the audio was super annoying so i flipped back to SD cable after about 20 mins.. I guess i should turn it on and see how the other stuff is, could have just been that show i suppose.

Dr.

honestly Im not sure, the audio was super annoying so i flipped back to SD cable after about 20 mins.. I guess i should turn it on and see how the other stuff is, could have just been that show i suppose.

Dr.


I see what you mean Dr. I just flipped it to WB23 and watched a snippet of Reba. The sparkles are there and there is an audio annoyance also. So the problem is just HD content???? I will try and send a mail to the WB23 engineers.

T

I see what you mean Dr. I just flipped it to WB23 and watched a snippet of Reba. The sparkles are there and there is an audio annoyance also. So the problem is just HD content???? I will try and send a mail to the WB23 engineers.

T


The audio has been screwed up for a while now. There is no center channel and the dialog is coming from the left surround channel. Annoying to say the least. I sent an email a couple of weeks ago and just got a reply from an engineer there who said that they think it is a problem with some of their equipment. They are looking into it.

Just to let you guys know, WICS HD is now Channel 772 on insight. The program on now has some tiling in it which i dont see off air, So it looks like insight has some bugs to work out, But atleast its there before the super bowl!!

Dr.

Last night CBS came to Champaign ... free over the air!

Yes folks, I actually saw some CBS programming in HD!

Only about ten minutes, though. It looked no different from NBC.

This was from Rockford, via strange atmospheric conditions,
which also occasionally caused WRSP to disappear, which is why
I went looking for DX.

Also visible were two unknown Fox stations and one other unknown.

Doug McDonald

I did not see wics on 772 so I called insight . I was told tuesday it would be on. I guess that is better than nothing. by the way I am cris. I have been lurking for some time now. Figured I better register.

How about WICD? Is it the same deal as WICS??

What local HD channels are currently available in the clear (QAM) with Insight basic cable service?

Noob,
It is supposed to be. I emailed insight about 3 weeks ago when I first heard of the Insight/Sinclair deal. He told me that WICD HD would be on Insight probably within 10 days and definitely by the time of the Super Bowl. Three weeks later and we are still waiting. I have heard that WICS was going to start in Springfield on the 24th. Which is tomorrow. I am hoping for the same for WICD. But I am not holding my breath. As long as we have it before the SuperBowl I will be fine with it.

Noob,
It is supposed to be. I emailed insight about 3 weeks ago when I first heard of the Insight/Sinclair deal. He told me that WICD HD would be on Insight probably within 10 days and definitely by the time of the Super Bowl. Three weeks later and we are still waiting. I have heard that WICS was going to start in Springfield on the 24th. Which is tomorrow. I am hoping for the same for WICD. But I am not holding my breath. As long as we have it before the SuperBowl I will be fine with it.
the WICD Was the same as WICS. should be on soon. 20 came on last night, taken off air. They wont have the fiber installed before the SB, but thats ok. Insight in Springfield had to get some parts, maybe the champaign one is waiting on them too.

Dr.

If Insight doesnt get this done before the SB, there are gonna be some pretty pissed off people. They do have two weeks though, and they came through last year with FOX. Lets hope.

I get FOX and NBC in the clear (QAM) using my FusionHDTV 5 Lite tuner over Insight, it found a lot of channels and I haven't really checked for anything else. Does anyone else get more?

I get FOX, NBC (Peoria), ABC (Peoria) and PBS (Peoria) in the clear with Mediacom in Mahomet.

I read somewhere that the FCC requires cablecos to "eventually" provide in the clear any local channel that is broadcasting HD OTA. If this is true, Insight should be providing NBC, FOX, WB and PBS in the clear....and soon ABC, as noted above. Thanks for the confirmation on FOX and NBC. Can anyone confirm that PBS and WB are available unscrambled on Insight basic?

I wonder what will happen to WBUI in September when CW starts broadcasting. It would be a shame if they decided to broadcast on WCFN and we lose a station broadcasting HD programming.

I get FOX, NBC (Peoria), ABC (Peoria) and PBS (Peoria) in the clear with Mediacom in Mahomet.
JMonsour - I also live in Mahomet and have Mediacom, but I haven't bought an HDTV because I wasn't sure of the services available. I have their DVR which says it is "HDTV Capable", but do I need anything else from Mediacom? Also, do I understand that you get HD channels from Peoria? Finally, does Mediacom allow you to rent more than one DVR HDTV receiver? Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Melanotheron- The DVR is HDTV capable but isn't that good, I had it and got rid of it because the only HD channels it offered worth watching were ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD I couldn't justify the extra $25.00 after fees. That said, my Sony has a built in HD tuner so I can receive OTA signals but when you get a TV with a built in tuner all you need to do is run the auto program scan and it picks up all the channels on the system, most are encrypted but the locals are not, the locals are the Peoria locals plus Champaign FOX. Kind of weird but it works. I believe Mediacom only allows one HD Converter per household due to demand. Through the cable box the only HD local received is FOX on Ch. 707. The QAM channels are 103.1 WEEK NBC, 103.2 WCCU FOX, 104.1 WTVP PBS and 104.2 WHOI ABC. Hope this helps.

Melanotheron- The DVR is HDTV capable but isn't that good, I had it and got rid of it because the only HD channels it offered worth watching were ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD I couldn't justify the extra $25.00 after fees. That said, my Sony has a built in HD tuner so I can receive OTA signals but when you get a TV with a built in tuner all you need to do is run the auto program scan and it picks up all the channels on the system, most are encrypted but the locals are not, the locals are the Peoria locals plus Champaign FOX. Kind of weird but it works. I believe Mediacom only allows one HD Converter per household due to demand. Through the cable box the only HD local received is FOX on Ch. 707. The QAM channels are 103.1 WEEK NBC, 103.2 WCCU FOX, 104.1 WTVP PBS and 104.2 WHOI ABC. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the quick response. I kind of thought that was the case, but didn't know about the QAM channels. The guy at Good Vibes told me that people in Mahomet were picking up HDTV through Mediacom, but wasn't all that specific. I appreciate the info....I can pick up 707 (Fox) with my current box and the Showtime, Starz and Movie Channel digital feeds. Not in HD, yet, but I hope to change that soon.

Thanks again.

As of Tuesday, no ABC HD on Insight. meh.

As of Tuesday, no ABC HD on Insight. meh.
interesting.. Both WICS and WICD were part of the same deal. I havent spoke with the engineers at 15 so i couldnt tell you what the hold up is, or what channel it will be. I DO know though that as of late last sat night WICS HD is on cable. I assume WICD will follow soon.

Dr.

From what I understood, its not 15's doing at all. I thought it was all on Insight and whatever "parts" they needed to arrive and then to install. Perhaps its on now, I've not been home to check.

still no abc on insight. I called insight and the guy tried to tell me that 771 is the abc hd channel. 771 is wand. I told him that and then he told me they were waiting on equipment. This was today just a few min ago.

What a name ... "CW Network" ... they can't be serious! Its agonna change
before they are on the air!

But what happens here? It would seem that WBUI would get the new network
and WCFN-WCIA would both once again become plain all-CBS. That's
logical, but this business does not run on logic.

Doug McDonald

still no abc on insight. I called insight and the guy tried to tell me that 771 is the abc hd channel. 771 is wand. I told him that and then he told me they were waiting on equipment. This was today just a few min ago.

Well they have a little more than a week to get their collective @$$es in gear.

What a name ... "CW Network" ... they can't be serious! Its agonna change
before they are on the air!

But what happens here? It would seem that WBUI would get the new network
and WCFN-WCIA would both once again become plain all-CBS. That's
logical, but this business does not run on logic.

Doug McDonald

From what I've read, the CW will be broadcast from Tribune owned stations. The affiliates which carried the WB and UPN will be no more...

From what I've read, the CW will be broadcast from Tribune owned stations. The affiliates which carried the WB and UPN will be no more...

I don't believe this is correct. The Tribune Company WB stations and the CBS-owned UPN stations will be the initial backbone of the CW network, but they also will be signing affiliates in areas that don't already have a Tribune or CBS-owned station. See the following thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=635448

John C.

For those who watched March Madness last year, was it broadcasted in HD in Champaign? I read from an old post that CBS hosted it, and WCIA here dosen't broadcast in HD yet...

For those who watched March Madness last year, was it broadcasted in HD in Champaign? I read from an old post that CBS hosted it, and WCIA here dosen't broadcast in HD yet...

Nope no HD local through Champaign last year nor now for that matter now......but CBS -HD through D* ...yes :D

T

If the old WB23 is the station that survives this merger it might make it much easier and cheaper for WCIA to complete their HD conversion. Only one new tower, antenna and transmiter would be required. Whether this will speed up the process remains to be seen, though past performance is not such as to give one much hope.


I don't believe this is correct. The Tribune Company WB stations and the CBS-owned UPN stations will be the initial backbone of the CW network, but they also will be signing affiliates in areas that don't already have a Tribune or CBS-owned station. See the following thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=635448

John C.

I work for WICS... what i have been told is that the deals HAVE been signed, and Insight was to take us off the air for a week or so and then Install a Fibre Connection to the headend. The engineers have been contacted about it and have told me they are just waiting on insight. We should be showing up on cable Anyday now. I actually expected it before now.. I will have one of the engineers call em and find out what the hold up is. Insight told us everything should be done BEFORE the superbowl.

Dr.

were you speaking of a deal with mediacom or the deal with insight?
thanks :)

OK...with all this chatter on when will this Cable provider and will that cable provider bring certain broadcast to their system it sure makes me sit back and laugh. My OTA not relying on the inept cable company sure makes me feel grand.. :D

T

Thumper,
I think you may be putting a little to much emphasis on the importance of television to some of us. The only HD channel that I am guessing that you get that us on Insight don't get is WICD ABC which we will have soon. I am not going to pay 200 bucks for an HD Box and more money on an antennae and that doesnt take into account the work of putting the antennae on top of the house just to get one extra channel. I don't think that makes your life that much more "Grand" does it? Of course if I don't get WICD by next sunday for the SUper Bowl, I may be singing a different tune
PS. This email was intended to be light hearted

Thumper,
I think you may be putting a little to much emphasis on the importance of television to some of us. The only HD channel that I am guessing that you get that us on Insight don't get is WICD ABC which we will have soon. I am not going to pay 200 bucks for an HD Box and more money on an antennae and that doesnt take into account the work of putting the antennae on top of the house just to get one extra channel. I don't think that makes your life that much more "Grand" does it? Of course if I don't get WICD by next sunday for the SUper Bowl, I may be singing a different tune
PS. This email was intended to be light hearted

Wait a minute...Who is posting on a forum about audio/visual where we all to one degree or another pushing technology??? :p I think you are fooling yourself. You are trying to talk out both sides of your mouth. OK ...kidding aside. Well.... I do get CBS in HD (thru D*) which I consider myself very lucky. Well I paid about $100 dollars for my antenna setup (including antenna and preamp) which I have in my attic. WAF was pleasing ;) I guess my bottom line is I am very irritated with my cable Co. in general. They have no idea what a DVR is let alone what HD is. :mad: I have been on satellite for over 5 years.

T

Thumper,
Now I really do hate you since you get CBS in HD :)
Lucky bastard

I do get CBS in HD (thru D*) which I consider myself very lucky.

I assume that you're getting distant locals (NY/LA)? Did you apply before Chicago got MPEG4 locals and stopped accepting waivers? Or something else?

Thumper,
Now I really do hate you since you get CBS in HD :)
Lucky bastard

There are at least three ways to get CBS-HD if you're willing to do a bit of work yourself. The first two are to have either DISH or DirecTV installed at your house with HD service, then after the install call them and tell them you have moved to an address in Chicago. I have been told by a little bird that the Chicago MPEG4 signals reach nicely down to Champaign County and I think that all new DirecTV HD installs are using the new AT9 MPEG4-compatible dish. So what you do is get an AT9 dish, an H20 HD receiver (this is the only HD receiver that currently does MPEG4), and then find a friend in Chicago who will "loan" you their address. After you're installed and up and running locally, you just call them and tell the CSR that you've moved and installed your own equipment, give them the address and ask for HD-local service. You can pull a similar trick with DISH, though I'm less familiar with DISH equipment. I know that DISH uplinks CBS-HD for markets with CBS-owned stations (Chicago again) and that they also have announced that they will be carrying HD-locals in the top 50 markets (e.g., Chicago). Of course, you can't get both Champaign and Chicago locals via the dish this way, but you can still use an antenna to get local news and such.

The third way is to get a StarChoice system and subscribe via a Canadian address broker. I have had excellent luck with KuSat (www.kusat.com). The advantage of the Canadian system is that you get both East and West HD channels (east from Detroit, west from Seattle); you can also get a Starchoice HD-DVR, but it's made by Motorola so buyer beware. The downside is that you'll have to install your own dish and run the cables.

Neither of these solutions is perfect, and you shouldn't try them unless you are comfortable troubleshooting your equipment yourself (you obviously can't call DISH or DirecTV after you've "moved" to get service) but I have used both methods in order to get CBS-HD until WCIA gets its act together.

John C.

There are at least three ways to get CBS-HD if you're willing to do a bit of work yourself. The first two are to have either DISH or DirecTV installed at your house with HD service, then after the install call them and tell them you have moved to an address in Chicago. I have been told by a little bird that the Chicago MPEG4 signals reach nicely down to Champaign County and I think that all new DirecTV HD installs are using the new AT9 MPEG4-compatible dish. So what you do is get an AT9 dish, an H20 HD receiver (this is the only HD receiver that currently does MPEG4), and then find a friend in Chicago who will "loan" you their address. After you're installed and up and running locally, you just call them and tell the CSR that you've moved and installed your own equipment, give them the address and ask for HD-local service. You can pull a similar trick with DISH, though I'm less familiar with DISH equipment. I know that DISH uplinks CBS-HD for markets with CBS-owned stations (Chicago again) and that they also have announced that they will be carrying HD-locals in the top 50 markets (e.g., Chicago). Of course, you can't get both Champaign and Chicago locals via the dish this way, but you can still use an antenna to get local news and such.

Neither of these solutions is perfect, and you shouldn't try them unless you are comfortable troubleshooting your equipment yourself (you obviously can't call DISH or DirecTV after you've "moved" to get service) but I have used both methods in order to get CBS-HD until WCIA gets its act together.

John C.

;)

D** is still working out a few little bugs with their new MPEG-4 equipment.

The HD picture quality of the 4 major networks via the Chicago locals (2-5-7-32) is very comparable to OTA. It's a major step up from the regular MPEG-2 Network HD Channels (80-82-86-88), IMO.

The key is though, as John said, you must be able to handle your own installation/set-up and maintenance.

The key for me is options. Between my antenna and D**, I present myself more options to select what I would rather watch. Especially during regional sports broadcasts and local news. That is important to me, but it may not be for you.

There are at least three ways to get CBS-HD if you're willing to do a bit of work yourself. The first two are to have either DISH or DirecTV installed at your house with HD service, then after the install call them and tell them you have moved to an address in Chicago. I have been told by a little bird that the Chicago MPEG4 signals reach nicely down to Champaign County and I think that all new DirecTV HD installs are using the new AT9 MPEG4-compatible dish. So what you do is get an AT9 dish, an H20 HD receiver (this is the only HD receiver that currently does MPEG4), and then find a friend in Chicago who will "loan" you their address. After you're installed and up and running locally, you just call them and tell the CSR that you've moved and installed your own equipment, give them the address and ask for HD-local service. You can pull a similar trick with DISH, though I'm less familiar with DISH equipment. I know that DISH uplinks CBS-HD for markets with CBS-owned stations (Chicago again) and that they also have announced that they will be carrying HD-locals in the top 50 markets (e.g., Chicago). Of course, you can't get both Champaign and Chicago locals via the dish this way, but you can still use an antenna to get local news and such.

The third way is to get a StarChoice system and subscribe via a Canadian address broker. I have had excellent luck with KuSat (www.kusat.com). The advantage of the Canadian system is that you get both East and West HD channels (east from Detroit, west from Seattle); you can also get a Starchoice HD-DVR, but it's made by Motorola so buyer beware. The downside is that you'll have to install your own dish and run the cables.

Neither of these solutions is perfect, and you shouldn't try them unless you are comfortable troubleshooting your equipment yourself (you obviously can't call DISH or DirecTV after you've "moved" to get service) but I have used both methods in order to get CBS-HD until WCIA gets its act together.

John C.

As John stated yes these are ways but....I have had a waiver for 4-5 years now. I did not need to change my service address. I don't believe they grant waivers any longer. (Up until last August I received Easy and West feeds for the SD and HD CBS channels(4). Now I only get the East HD and SD channels.)

T

We are in the process of building a completely new HD Tower at a cost of over 2,000,000 Dollars for WCIA and also a HD Tower for WCFN at 1,900,000 Dollars. Let me know what you think of the HD from WBUI and how you receive HD in your home. We have two stations to transfer over to Full Power Digital and HD and after almost a year of study three different firms have finally agreed that new towers are the answer in lieu of reinforcing current structures. When we finish we will put our digital signal and HD up against anyone. Also we currently signed a contract with cable for our digital and HD signal (unlike some of the stations in this market) so we are moving on our schedule and will be completed next year. There is no resistance to HD nor has there been but with the government changing dates every month we finally have a hard date and time so we can invest over 4,000,000 Dollars.

Russ Hamilton
Vice President & General Manager
WCIA/WCFN
509 S. Neil Street
Champaign, IL 61820

__________________
Rick

Any word on when the new CBS tower will be operational?
Any chance of it being before this weekend...
Ok maybe I am setting my sites a little high...
How about for march madness?
I am in Urbana but my 3.1 (48) signal is marginal @ best not really good enough to invite people over to watch. I guess ill be stuck @ SD for this years SB.
Maybe next year

Any word on when the new CBS tower will be operational?
Any chance of it being before this weekend...
Ok maybe I am setting my sites a little high...
How about for march madness?
I am in Urbana but my 3.1 (48) signal is marginal @ best not really good enough to invite people over to watch. I guess ill be stuck @ SD for this years SB.
Maybe next year

Last I heard, they were giving an estimate of nine months. I'm going to start looking for it in the September timeframe.

Under the newest version of the law regulating satellite providers, I don't think general waivers to receive distant networks are permitted, at least when the satellite carrier provides the local networks in their service. However, an HD only waiver may still be allowed. You might try posting an inquiry over on dbstalk.com. Several people there seem to understand the laws and regulations in this area.



As John stated yes these are ways but....I have had a waiver for 4-5 years now. I did not need to change my service address. I don't believe they grant waivers any longer. (Up until last August I received Easy and West feeds for the SD and HD CBS channels(4). Now I only get the East HD and SD channels.)

T

Under the newest version of the law regulating satellite providers, I don't think general waivers to receive distant networks are permitted, at least when the satellite carrier provides the local networks in their service. However, an HD only waiver may still be allowed. You might try posting an inquiry over on dbstalk.com. Several people there seem to understand the laws and regulations in this area.

I recently obtained an HD waiver for CBS HD, and now receive the NY feed of HD from D*. Can't wait for March Madness...

Just out of curiosity. did you just have D* apply for the waiver or did you talk with Russ Hamilton at WCIA. I got a waiver a few years ago via someone who works at the station. At that time WCIA routinely denied waiver requests submitted by satellite companies.

The NCAA's in HD really showcase how good HD is. Last year I passed up the chance to go to St. Louis to try and watch the game from some very pricey seats in the far corner of the upper level of the dome to watch it in great clarity from the comfort of my couch. Surprisingly, the Illini could have another Final Four run this year, though it will take more luck than they needed last year. This week's game at Wisconsin (ESPN-HD) ought to tell a little how the team is coming together.



I recently obtained an HD waiver for CBS HD, and now receive the NY feed of HD from D*. Can't wait for March Madness...

Any word on when the new CBS tower will be operational?
Any chance of it being before this weekend...
Ok maybe I am setting my sites a little high...
How about for march madness?
I am in Urbana but my 3.1 (48) signal is marginal @ best not really good enough to invite people over to watch. I guess ill be stuck @ SD for this years SB.
Maybe next year

The Super bowl will be on ABC this year not CBS.

Under the newest version of the law regulating satellite providers, I don't think general waivers to receive distant networks are permitted, at least when the satellite carrier provides the local networks in their service. However, an HD only waiver may still be allowed. You might try posting an inquiry over on dbstalk.com. Several people there seem to understand the laws and regulations in this area.

You are right Mike the "Lilo" "distant networks" and those FCC laws I will not claim to be able to recite. I just lay low and keep that prized possession of CBS in HD. I did not have to "beg" Russ at all. If Andy could obtain his and he is located in Champaign there is hope for all satellite customers to get the waiver.

:D

T

So I am "testing" a Samsung T451 from Circuit City. I have Insight cable in Urbana/Champaign.

First, I noticed that there are three choices for channel searching: STD, HRC, and IRC. So far I have tried IRC and STD. This is confusing enough (and the manual is worthless).

With STD, I am able to get Fox and NBC it looks like. Strangely enough though, I also get all the movie channels unencrypted and Ten (porn) as well. However, these channels sometimes cut out or even do weird things like rewind and then play back. I'm not sure yet how to interpret this.

Anyone else try this? I really hope to be able to watch the Superbowl in HD (assuming Insight hurries up with ABC). :)

edit: after a little checking, I think I'm getting all the on demand stuff being played at that time.

Isn't this an OTA HD receiver? Do you have an antenna connected to it or just your cable feed? If don't don't plan to connect it to an antenna why don't you just call Insight and get an HD box from them. You'll likely find a better explanation of the cryptic terms in the useless manual on the HD Hardware forum here at AVS.


So I am "testing" a Samsung T451 from Circuit City. I have Insight cable in Urbana/Champaign

Isn't this an OTA HD receiver? Do you have an antenna connected to it or just your cable feed? If don't don't plan to connect it to an antenna why don't you just call Insight and get an HD box from them. You'll likely find a better explanation of the cryptic terms in the useless manual on the HD Hardware forum here at AVS.

Just the cable feed.

I do not want to pay for digital cable plus one of the digital packs plus their DVR/HD box plus potentially paying extra for a couple more HD channels.

I have no intentions of keeping it anyway; $250 is way too much right now. And I know those terms have to do with how a cable company transmits the channels. But apparently it can be unique to the company so there's always the off-chance someone here would suggest one is better for Insight in Champaign than another. It doesn't really matter though if I can get Fox and ABC for the next week.

So I am "testing" a Samsung T451 from Circuit City. I have Insight cable in Urbana/Champaign.

First, I noticed that there are three choices for channel searching: STD, HRC, and IRC. So far I have tried IRC and STD. This is confusing enough (and the manual is worthless).

With STD, I am able to get Fox and NBC it looks like. Strangely enough though, I also get all the movie channels unencrypted and Ten (porn) as well. However, these channels sometimes cut out or even do weird things like rewind and then play back. I'm not sure yet how to interpret this.

Anyone else try this? I really hope to be able to watch the Superbowl in HD (assuming Insight hurries up with ABC). :)

edit: after a little checking, I think I'm getting all the on demand stuff being played at that time.

I believe you are getting all the on demand ordered by *other* people (probably on your headend???). That is why you see rewinding and strange things like that. Someone else is controlling the playback. I can't believe a cable system like Insight aren't smart enough to control this a little better. :rolleyes:

T

I believe you are getting all the on demand ordered by *other* people (probably on your headend???). That is why you see rewinding and strange things like that. Someone else is controlling the playback. I can't believe a cable system like Insight aren't smart enough to control this a little better. :rolleyes:

T

It reminds me of that Friends episode: (paraphrased) "We can't change the channel and risk losing the free porn!" :D

Ah well, still going back in a week anyway...thank goodness for no question returns.

Just out of curiosity. did you just have D* apply for the waiver or did you talk with Russ Hamilton at WCIA. I got a waiver a few years ago via someone who works at the station. At that time WCIA routinely denied waiver requests submitted by satellite companies.

The NCAA's in HD really showcase how good HD is. Last year I passed up the chance to go to St. Louis to try and watch the game from some very pricey seats in the far corner of the upper level of the dome to watch it in great clarity from the comfort of my couch. Surprisingly, the Illini could have another Final Four run this year, though it will take more luck than they needed last year. This week's game at Wisconsin (ESPN-HD) ought to tell a little how the team is coming together.

I had D* submit the waiver. At the same time, I e-mailed Mr. Hamilton with a polite request that he approve the waiver for HD. Went through with very no issues at all.

well, three days to the big game and still no WICD on Insight... looks like I'm going to have to hook my antenna and tuner back up.....Doh! Whats the deal insight?

Nada,
I'm thinking that Insight customers are screwed. Last month I was told by email that it would DEFINITELY be up by Super Bowl time. I emailed again last week and have not gotten a response. Insight usually always responds to my emails. Makes me think that it is bad news . Oh well, I guess I have watched the last 20 Super Bowls in SD, so what is one more. I know I don't know all that goes into putting an HD channel on Cable, but they have supposedly been waiting on some equipment for about 2 months now. Sounds like they need to get a new epuipment dealer. I am just a big believer that if they WANTED to get it done bad enough that they would be able to.

What they do, I think, is get a fiber optic connection from the station to their headend. This gives them a pristine quality signal, free from the vagaries of OTA reception. Once they get that pristine quality signal they, of course, then compress the devil out of it before passing it along to their customers. OTA HD (possible in CU, except for CBS) can provide remarkable clarity, especially with events captured with video cameras, like sporting events.


Nada,
I'm thinking that Insight customers are screwed. Last month I was told by email that it would DEFINITELY be up by Super Bowl time. I emailed again last week and have not gotten a response. Insight usually always responds to my emails. Makes me think that it is bad news . Oh well, I guess I have watched the last 20 Super Bowls in SD, so what is one more. I know I don't know all that goes into putting an HD channel on Cable, but they have supposedly been waiting on some equipment for about 2 months now. Sounds like they need to get a new epuipment dealer. I am just a big believer that if they WANTED to get it done bad enough that they would be able to.

last i heard its a holdup at insight. The engineers @ 15 and 20 have been calling and still no luck. It might still come in time, Insight wants it to happen before the superbowl. As for the Fiber, they add that after the channel is already up, Insight is Taking 20 OTA for now and sometimes toward the end of the month they will install the fiber. To the best of my knowledge there is NO recompression of the signal on cable.

Dr.

yah, I was getting OTA signals until about two weeks ago when I made the switch to Insight, I was worried about them recompressing the hell out of it, but the picture looks just as pristine as the OTA signal, (I have an eye for compression artifacts, part of what I do for a living) and now I dont have to worry about drop-outs. I really wish they would figure this out soon, the ad they sent me two months ago said "make sure you get the big game in HD" with a picture of a football player, I suppose thats vague enough for them not to be held to it, but it is shady..... I can still get my OTA signal, but it's not always reliable depending on the conditions outside and around my apartment....

I wrote Insight this the other day:
Will we get ABCHD on Insight before Sunday? I'm sure you're aware that this
Sunday is the Super Bowl. Im just curious if Insight will be able to get the
ABCHD feed before then. Thank you.

I got this response from Art Svymbersky the next day:
I have been told yes by our tech department, somewhere around channel
770-780
thank you

Thats great news if true. Art is the guy who always responds to my emails but I didn't get a response from him on this issue. Keep our fingers crossed.

If I recall, WAND went up on a Thursday, so, heres to hopin!

Well I guess insight came through. I see the 772 on my box right now! :)

Yep, I got to give them credit. I am glad I was wrong on this one. On Channel 772 here in Champaign. A question for you guys. Why is it that Channel 771 WAND HD has such bad problems with lip sync issues. I was watching My Name is Earl and The Office last night and it was almost unwatchable. I have never had this problem with the FOX HD channel on Insight. Is this something that can be fixed? Does this also happen to those that get these stations OTA or is it just a cable issue? Thanks

gators,

Last night, OTA was really bad for those two shows as well, although for ER, the feed seemed to be corrected. I think it was a problem with the HD stream WAND was getting from the network.

It seems like sound syncronization is always a problem for a station that has just started HD broadcasts. Send e-mail to the engineering department at the station.
Also, some receivers have a menu function to adjust sound delays.


Yep, I got to give them credit. I am glad I was wrong on this one. On Channel 772 here in Champaign. A question for you guys. Why is it that Channel 771 WAND HD has such bad problems with lip sync issues. I was watching My Name is Earl and The Office last night and it was almost unwatchable. I have never had this problem with the FOX HD channel on Insight. Is this something that can be fixed? Does this also happen to those that get these stations OTA or is it just a cable issue? Thanks

Melanotheron- The DVR is HDTV capable but isn't that good, I had it and got rid of it because the only HD channels it offered worth watching were ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD I couldn't justify the extra $25.00 after fees. That said, my Sony has a built in HD tuner so I can receive OTA signals but when you get a TV with a built in tuner all you need to do is run the auto program scan and it picks up all the channels on the system, most are encrypted but the locals are not, the locals are the Peoria locals plus Champaign FOX. Kind of weird but it works. I believe Mediacom only allows one HD Converter per household due to demand. Through the cable box the only HD local received is FOX on Ch. 707. The QAM channels are 103.1 WEEK NBC, 103.2 WCCU FOX, 104.1 WTVP PBS and 104.2 WHOI ABC. Hope this helps.

JMonsour - Did you lose the NBC HD feed (103.1) last night? I watched Conan and then switched away for about half an hour. So, when I went back to the station around 1:00 AM the signal was no longer available. When I checked this morning, still no signal and I got a "Not Authorized" message on the display of the TV. Just wondering if you knew what was up. Thanks.

Didn't watch the channel, don't know about 103.1.

It's back this morning.

Well I guess insight came through. I see the 772 on my box right now! :)
I just can't believe that Insight finally did this! :D I called them in November, and requested them to carry ABC in time for the super bowl. From the response I got, I thought that they had no plans to carry it in hd.

I'm watching Harry Potter right now on 772, and noticed that the audio is slightly out of sync. I just bought a HD receiver from best buy tonight (not knowing that NBC would be on my cable box when I got home). The sound is slightly off from the over-the-air signal too.

I feel bad that I'm taking back the receiver. There's about 5 Sylvanias 9600DKU (open box) at BB. I got a good deal, so I'd keep it, if I could get confirmation that WCIA (CBS) could get their act together before the NCAAB tournament.

Edit: during the commercial for Bambi II, they apparantly tried to re-sync the audio. I heard "Don't know if he can ris--ee can rise to the challenge", but now, after the commercial, the audio is even further behind.

I've never had problems with other hd channels on my Motorola box (from insight), and I've watched a lot of ESPNHD and DiscoveryHD over the last year..

I feel bad that I'm taking back the receiver. There's about 5 Sylvanias 9600DKU (open box) at BB. I got a good deal, so I'd keep it, if I could get confirmation that WCIA (CBS) could get their act together before the NCAAB tournament.

If you hold your breath for WCIA, you'll die.

John C.

I'm watching the Superbowl on WICS OTA HD and several times the signal has broken up (dropped frames, audio dropped for a bit). I'm getting a signal strength of 70 for WICS and the weather is fine, so I doubt that it's a signal problem. The problems seemed to happen early in the broadcast, and I don't think I've seen any issues in a while. Did anyone else see this, or do I need to look into moving my antenna to the attic?

Incidentally, WICS is the only channel that I have trouble fine tuning without disrupting other channels. Are there plans to increase the height or power for it?

Thanks,
Rob

WICD through Insight was dropping the HD all throughout the SB. I understand they just started the HD feed on Friday, but come on. Thats pretty weak.

one thing that I've never understood about WICD, is why they are constantly switching from digital to analog during Commercial breaks. It wasn't as apparent during SB XL, since they kept it mostly digital for the HD advertising, but why keep switching it back and forth, my signal is not disrupted in any way when I get my commercials in digital form, only when it is switched to I get disruptions, it seems like a lot of extra work on their part, i.e. having the master control operater constantly switching back and forth, for something that is a non-issue. Maybe someone can enlighten me on why they do this....

I live in Mahomet and we we can pick up the signal from WHOI in Peoria. This is through the tuner in the television, digital channel 104.2 We also experienced some audio drops during the SB, but I never did see any video dropouts. Maybe it had to do with ABC's feed to the local stations. They also switched from digital to analog for the local commercials and I noticed signal disruption when they did it. Thought you'd like to know that the same things were happening with another station than WICS in Champaign. Our cable company doesn't have the WICS HD feed.

If you hold your breath for WCIA, you'll die.

John C.

Ok, because of your post, I went back and looked through this thread, and found some interesting stuff. I'm sure the regulars know what I'm talking about.

So, I printed out the 30 posts from page 3, and also the 30 posts from page 10. I quickly highlighted all the WCIA references, all of them negative, many of them scathing, and stopped by the WCIA offices today during my lunch break. :cool:

I talked with Russ at WCIA. He really seemed to be helpful. He said that they have spent $9.1M on equipment to bring WCIA and the Springfield CBS channel up to HD. He said it should be completed in October.

I showed him the pages that I had printed out, and didn't really have a chance to go through them with him, but he asked if he could keep the copy. I of course, handed them over. I warned him that the WCIA comments in it were very negative. I realize that page 3 was from 2002, so I highlighted the date. I think it is still relevant, since the complaints made at that time are still all relevant today. Hopefully, he'll understand that their customers have been waiting this long for HD.

Russ did mention that many of the people on the forums were probably misinformed. I, of course, agreed with him, and mentioned that it would be really useful for the people here received official information, to cut down on speculation! I'm glad I thought of that response quickly :p

Russ did say that even if WCIA was broadcasting today in HD, half of the Illini games would still be SD, since that is how ESPN+ delivers the feed. I wasn't sure if "half" meant half of all Illini games, or half of all Illini games that WCIA covers. Obviously all the games that ESPN covers are HD.

I was impressed by Russ. He spoke clearly, and was clearly trying to be helpful. It's my first time that I've tried contacting them. Have any of you gotten responses to the emails that you sent?

My dealings with Russ have been great. He signed and faxed a HD waiver to Directv no prob.

I think the 9 mil is a big number that was made worse because of the previous owners lack of upkeep.

One problem with any dollar argument is that they have had 4 years to budget any improvements that could of been done ahead of time, but instead they chose to wait until this last cutoff date was given to start.

one thing that I've never understood about WICD, is why they are constantly switching from digital to analog during Commercial breaks. It wasn't as apparent during SB XL, since they kept it mostly digital for the HD advertising, but why keep switching it back and forth, my signal is not disrupted in any way when I get my commercials in digital form, only when it is switched to I get disruptions, it seems like a lot of extra work on their part, i.e. having the master control operater constantly switching back and forth, for something that is a non-issue. Maybe someone can enlighten me on why they do this....

Nada,

This is what I've heard second-hand, so take it for what it's worth, but the situation is this. The station receives the programming information from NBC ahead of time, and pre-programs a routine into a computer for a given show to switch to SD at certain times and switch back to HD at certain times for a show. This allows them to inject the local commercials into the network stream (either they don't want to or can't inject the locals in HD). So it's not that someone sits there toggling a switch all the time. This is also why occasionally the "switch" won't be thrown, if there is an error in the programming of the switch-throwing. Hope this helps.

Now that WCIA is moving in the right direction, maybe we need to get on ESPN+ to upgrade their capabilities to HD. I suspect the cost of HD production equipment is falling rapidly now that it is becoming more commonplace and even expected by consumers. Does anyone have any ESPN+ contact information?

I hope the printout ends up at Nexstar corporate headquarters to let them know there is significant interest in HD programming in this community so that nothing slows down the conversion process. I've read that WCIA's HD programming should be available on cable soon after the equipment begins operation.

I pretty much blame the FCC (and Congress) for this whole mess. In an attempt to keep everyone happy they've made almost no one happy and have created a significant amount of confusion in the process.



Russ did say that even if WCIA was broadcasting today in HD, half of the Illini games would still be SD, since that is how ESPN+ delivers the feed. I wasn't sure if "half" meant half of all Illini games, or half of all Illini games that WCIA covers. Obviously all the games that ESPN covers are HD.

I was impressed by Russ. He spoke clearly, and was clearly trying to be helpful. It's my first time that I've tried contacting them. Have any of you gotten responses to the emails that you sent?

I have, in fact, gotten e-mail responses from Russ, and I have posted those responses on occasion here, when relevant to this discussion.

It's certainly NOT my complaint that Russ is unhelpful or that he is unresponsive. In my brief dealings with him he certainly has come across as a nice guy. My complaint is that WCIA, which represents the network with perhaps the highest percentage of HD programming (don't know if this is still true today, but it was in previous years) has been the very last station in this market to put up an HD signal. A new transmission tower is NOT necessary for WCIA to be broadcasting in HD, which Russ appears to think is the case. If WCIA is doing digital from their current tower, as they clearly are, they could be doing HD without a new tower. It's not the tower that is the problem. Also, Russ seems not to have a clue about the FCC legal mandates. Even when the analog shutoff occurs in 2009, there is no law mandating HDTV broadcasting. Every time I've heard him discuss this subject on air (on the Morning Show on WCIA), he has justified the delay in HDTV because there wasn't a firm transition date from the FCC or else because of tower work. Sorry, neither is true. WCIA could have been passing an HD signal from the very first day they turned on their digital transmitter if they had chosen do make the investment to do so, but they have not. That was the station's choice (or more accurately, the station's owners' choice), not one forced on them by the FCC or lack of adequate tower facilities.

Last year folks without a satellite system (and a waiver from WCIA) could not watch the Illini in HDTV for the NCAA regional semifinals, regional finals, Final Four and National Championship game, all of which were carried by CBS in HD. That's a disgrace, particularly for the station that historically has been the leader in television technology in our market. If you had told me when the whole digital transition started that WICD (a Sinclair station) and WILL (a PBS station that relies on government handouts and donations to stay on the air) would beat WCIA to HDTV, I would have keeled over laughing. Well, I admit, the laugh is on me.

Frankly, though, I don't much care any more. I still watch WCIA's news (still a far more professional organization than any of its competitors, though the gap is less than it once was) and the Illini games when they are unavailable from other sources. Everything else CBS I get off my dishes. When (if??) WCIA does do an HD signal, then I'll probably start watching them again for other programs. That's the way the market should work - if WCIA doesn't provide what I want, then I should get it elsewhere, not complain about them. Of course, since our government has mandated local monopolies for broadcasting, I guess gray market and complaining will have to do for now.

John C.

Anyone in Champaign near North Prospect. I have been experiencing trouble getting any OTA signals. FOX and the WB use to come in pretty decent (I was happy) and with a slight adjustment of the antenna WAND came in fine.

The antenna that I am using is a $30 powered indoor antenna, which appears to be working. The HD tuner in the HD box from dish gets WAND barely (50-55%) but the tv tuner on WS55515 (mitsubishi) doesn't do anything anymore.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Nada,

This is what I've heard second-hand, so take it for what it's worth, but the situation is this. The station receives the programming information from NBC ahead of time, and pre-programs a routine into a computer for a given show to switch to SD at certain times and switch back to HD at certain times for a show. This allows them to inject the local commercials into the network stream (either they don't want to or can't inject the locals in HD). So it's not that someone sits there toggling a switch all the time. This is also why occasionally the "switch" won't be thrown, if there is an error in the programming of the switch-throwing. Hope this helps.
i wish it did work like that, but it doesnt. I work for WICS, and WICD has the same setup we do. Its a manual push button, we (WICS) only switch it when the Commerical break has a Local spot in it, If its all a net break, then we leave it alone, But someone at WICD was probably told to switch it for commercials, so they switch it for ALL commercials, which isnt really nessisary. When it doesnt switch back right away, its because the Master control operator is either busy logging spots, or simply forgot. The SD feed will automatically switch back to net at the end of the break, The HD however is totally manual.

Dr.

Thanks for the info Dr., that's good to know.

Has anyone else noticed that the audio on WICD HD is not in sync with what's going on, on screen? I'm having this problem on the insight feed as well as OTA feed. Is anyone else having this problem or am i just imagining it?

Thanks,
Mel

Has anyone else noticed that the audio on WICD HD is not in sync with what's going on, on screen? I'm having this problem on the insight feed as well as OTA feed. Is anyone else having this problem or am i just imagining it?

Thanks,
Mel

Mel,

Long running problem for WICD, you are not the first to have it.

It has been a persistent problem ever since the change in network affiliations. I'd suggest sending them e-mail complaining about the problem. If enough people gripe maybe something will get done. It is a problem that can be solved.

Has anyone else noticed that the audio on WICD HD is not in sync with what's going on, on screen? I'm having this problem on the insight feed as well as OTA feed. Is anyone else having this problem or am i just imagining it?

Thanks,
Mel

It has been a persistent problem ever since the change in network affiliations. I'd suggest sending them e-mail complaining about the problem. If enough people gripe maybe something will get done. It is a problem that can be solved.

We are well aware of the lip sync problems. We are working to resolve it at all our stations that are in 5.1 audio. It's only through the Dolby equipment where we have the problem...also it's not consistent....you get it correct and it's off later.
Jim
Regional Manager

Jim,

Thanks for the update. It may not seem like a lot, but it's quite refreshing to know that people are actually aware of and working to correct issues for those of us who actually value HD programming. Thanks! :)

I was curious as to why its necessary to "switch" between HD and SD during progams. I may be new to HD programming, but I've watched the local NBC, FOX, and ESPN and the other HD programming offered from Insight and have never seen nor noticed any "switching" going on. Yet, the first week of watching WICD (ABC) I see all sorts of switching. During the Super Bowl, there was a ton. Fortuantely it was "switched" back when the game came back on but there were a lot of HD commercials (which I don't usually see) that were "switched" to SD. Also, on Wednesday, during Lost and Invasion, there was a noticable "switch" at every commercial break. There were a lot of instances where it wasn't "switched" back until well into the show when it came back from break. This was very frustrating as I had been looking forward to watching these shows in their HD glory. Now, as I said earlier, I watch a lot of FOX HD programming and have never noticed any switching. Why does WICD do this?

Also posted in the Olympics thread in the HD Programming forum

Picture good. Sound BAD. Horribly BAD.

Oh my God, the sound during the opening ceremonies is absolutely dismal... when they could have done so much more with the 5.1.

Seeing lots of macroblocking during quick movement passages.

Cows on slingshots... different.

HH,

The macroblocking was brutal, I wouldn't describe the picture as good. Certainly better than SD for the still scenes, but there was so much motion, the macroblocking was all over the place.

I searched and searched for a technical explanation why the macroblocking is happening. Here seems to be a good one from the HDTV programming thread on the Grammy's:
=======================================
The strobes and smoke tax encoders set for OTA bit rates (around 15Mb). Video that changes alot frame to frame will exhaust the redundancy encoding abilities of the encoder, and force the encoder to compress more. The visible effect is the image turning into a grid of blocks, which is referred to as macroblocking.

The backhaul feed (from the event to CBS NY) is just under 40Mb, which is much higher than OTA rates. The actual network feed is a tad higher at around 45 Mb. This higher bit rate make these feeds much more immune to macroblocking.
=======================================
I only watched a little of the Olympics last night and I agree the picture was horrendous with all of the macroblocking. Still looking forward to the events though....

T

Is WILL HD carried on Insight? If so, what channel? I'm not seeing it.

Thanks

WILLHD is not on Insight. There are plenty of HD channels that are available that Inisght isnt giving us.

Thanks. I guess the information I was given -- that cablecos are required by FCC to carry in the clear the HD feed for any local station that is broadcasting HD OTA in their service area -- was incorrect. Or, the cablecos are given some kind of grace period to comply with this and are just stalling.

Thanks. I guess the information I was given -- that cablecos are required by FCC to carry in the clear the HD feed for any local station that is broadcasting HD OTA in their service area -- was incorrect. Or, the cablecos are given some kind of grace period to comply with this and are just stalling.

Bigsmith,

I believe the law is that they are required to provide the HD feeds of any local channel for which they carry the HD feed in the clear. Meaning ones they carry they have to provide, but ones that they don't, they don't. Since they don't carry PBS or the WB at the present time, there are no requirements on them for those channels.

WILL is carried by Insight basic ($13) cable - channel 13. Are you making a distinction between the national PBS network and the local WILL affiliate?

I thought that the idea was that any local networks that are available OTA should be available in the clear on cable as well. I am not sure why WILL HD should not be carried by Insight.

WILL is carried by Insight basic ($13) cable - channel 13. Are you making a distinction between the national PBS network and the local WILL affiliate?

I thought that the idea was that any local networks that are available OTA should be available in the clear on cable as well. I am not sure why WILL HD should not be carried by Insight.


Yes, Insight carries WILL, but only in SD, so the prime time PBS shows that are broadcast in HD (and available in HD OTA) are still only SD.

My understanding of the cablecos obligation to carry HD for stations that are broadcasting HD OTA was the same as yours. But nalesic's interpretation is different -- and apparently correct, if one assumes that Insight wouldn't deliberately violate FCC regs. OTOH, sometimes I wonder how valid that assumption is...

Given my previous experiences with Insight, I'd say it's about a 50-50 chance that Insight is knowingly violating FCC regulations... :mad:

Scanning some other info sources on the Web, it appears that the must-carry regs that require cablecos to provide all local broadcast stations on the basic tier say nothing (yet) about HD. So, if a local station broadcasts both SD and HD the cableco is not required to provide the HD. Presumably that will change when local stations stop broadcasting SD over the air, but we are a ways off from that.

It sounds like for now, cablecos are free to put any local HD station on a premium (scrambled) tier, and not provide it in the clear, as long as they are providing the channel in SD on the basic tier. There seem to be many other cable systems on which all HD, including locals, is scrambled premium content. So, apparently we are "lucky" that Insight offers any clear QAM HD channels at all.

Guess I'll be playing around with the antenna in my attic to get WILL and WBUI in HD......fortunately, both transmit from about the same direction.


Edit: Here's another AVS thread that provides some information on this issue.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6946080&&#post6946080

I would really like to see the WILL digital HD channel on Insight, its the only station that I don't get now with insight, that I did get when I was going OTA, and I'm starting to miss it. I wonder why we aren't getting it, I know they have to run a fiber-optic line to WILL, but I wonder if it has anything to do with insight's bandwidth. Any "insight" from anyone more in the know on this subject? Seems like they should be getting the WB up too, who do we need to contact at Insight about this, and other planned additions to the Insight HD line-up?

p.s. I know this is probably the wrong section, but I'd like to keep it local, I will soon be selling a Samsung SIR-T451 HD reciever and a terk indoor antenna, both barely used (the samsung still has all original packaging and the clear tape cover for the front display on it) let me know if anyone is interested.....

It may be about technical issues, but more likely it's about money. More and more broadcasting stations are demanding that cablecos pay them retransmission fees to use their HD signals. Cablecos are balking at paying these fees. They don't see any way to recoup these charges, as few people currently are willing to pay the cablecos for HD versions of channels they can get for free OTA. In essence, cablecos see a viable revenue stream with "premium" channels in HD but not with local channels.

See http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA628932.html

Nada,
About a month ago, before the super bowl, I emailed insight to find out if WICD ABC HD would be up and running in time for the Super Bowl. I also asked if there was any updates on any other HD stations coming to Insight. The guy who always responds, I believe his name is Art, said that we should also be getting WILL HD very soon. So take it for what its worth. I got the sense that a deal had already been worked out but it would take some time to get it up and running. I could be wrong but that was the feeling I got from his response.

I wonder if any other HD channels are on the horizon. Like ESPN2, TNT, etc. When watching Justice League last Saturday, it looked as if it was in HD, but broadcast in SD. (looked widescreen with black bars on all sides). Id like to know if theyre planning on adding more HD channels.

Watching WICD. Why cant we watch the commercials that are in HD, in HD? I dont like how they switch from SD to HD. Its quite frustrating.

Double post.

It is irritating when ABC switches from HD to SD before the show is even over. Why can't they just wait until the show actually ends before switching off HD?

It is irritating when ABC switches from HD to SD before the show is even over. Why can't they just wait until the show actually ends before switching off HD?


It may be because more and more often they are running commercials over the final scene/credits of the shows. The commercials are in SD.

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the HD arena and live here in Champaign. Just to set the stage of my interests, I'm a long-time non-cable tv subscriber (and continue to enjoy that) and now wish to pull in the HD local station over the air. So a digital tv purchase is in my near future. Right now, I have a friend's projector and with the help of Best Buy's 30-day return policy, I'm trying some different combinations of Antennas and Tuners to try to see what I like the best.

I live in southwest Champaign and right now I'm using a Terk TV5 which I have positioned near the ceiling on the second floor of my house. For my tuner, I'm trying out Sony's discontinued HD DVR (DHG-HDD250). I really like the DVR idea because of the programming guide (something I've never had before).

As far as what I'm pulling in, I'm pretty pleased. The DVR goes through a process and attempts to "find" as many stations as it can. In the digital realm, I was able to pick up:

3.1 CBS (WCIA), DT
3.2 UPN (WCFN), DT
12.1 PBS (WILL), HD
12.2 PBS (WILL), SD
15.1 ABC (WICD), DT
17.1 NBC (WAND), DT
17.2 NBC (WAND), SD
20.1 ABC (WICS), DT
23.1 WB (WBUI), HD
23.2 WB (WBUI), DT
27.1 FOX (WCCU), DT
27.2 FOX (WCCU), SD
55.1 FOX (WRSP), DT
55.2 FOX (WRSP), SD

Here's a few questions/observations so far:

In only a couple days of trying it out, channel 15.1 seems to be the toughest channel to get clear and I'm not sure why. Why would 20.1 and 55.1/55.2 come in clearer than 15.1 when the tower for 15.1 I assume is closer?

Is this a pretty common lineup in the area for folks who don't have an antenna on the roof? What in addition do people receive with an antenna on the roof (maybe FOX ch 43.1 DT out of Bloomington)? Not a big deal of course, but the whole subject is definitely interesting to see what people are picking up.

What is the deal with two digital channels for some of the networks? Why are they broadcasting both of them? Will they eventually each have different programs/lineups? The only one that seems to be different is 17.1 vs. 17.2 (the weather station). The weather station is quite cool actually.

My final question may just be answered as a fault of my DVR programming limitations but I'm noticing that even though the DVR can pick up a station it doesn't necessarily show up in the program listings (so you can see the lineup and click on a show to record it). Actually, of the 14 digital stations I'm picking up, only 2 of them show up in the listings (17.1 and 20.1) and that sort of makes the program listing much less usable. But I'd like to know whether it's the fault of the DVR to interpret the information correctly or the fault of the station not broadcasting the information correctly.

Thanks,
Joe

I also live in southwest Champaign and have found I get more reliable signals for both Fox (55.1) and ABC (20.1) from Springfield as opposed to the closer transmitters east of Urbana. It must be something about the topography of the area. In any event the programming from Springfield is essentially the same so I just go with it.

I would like to thank Russ at WCIA for agreeing to my HD waiver, he went the extra mile when I needed him to. For all those WCIA bashers, and I was one of them, bash on the ownership of WCIA and not those who work there. Although it says this is my first post, it is not. I have decided to change to Illini Fan from VitalesFakeEye. Thanks again Russ from this Directv subscriber.

More good news about WCIA. My contact there tells me the plans for HD adoption are moving even quicker than expected and they now hope to be sending out 1080i in July of this year. Whether WCIA will keep UPN or whether WB23 will be the surviving station is still up in the air (no pun intended--OK maybe a little).

It looks like CU will soon be a market where all the networks are in HD with stations putting out decent powered signals. It has been a little frustrating at times for us early adopters, but there are a lot of bigger markets than ours that are still awaiting on one or more networks to make the change.

jstefan,

You are getting all those channels using a terk tv5 antenna? All of these channels are clear with the exception of the ones you noted? I think that is incredible especially for that antenna. Outstanding!

HD antennas (which are UHF antennas) tend to be pretty directional, so an antenna that is oriented west/southwest will give good results with ABC, WILL, CBS, FOX, etc whose towers are all in that general direction, but won't do nearly as well with stations whose towers are located in the opposite direction, even if they are closer. If you point the business end of the antenna directly east, 15.1 should come in much better (but the others will be worse).

If you go to antennaweb.org you can input your address and get a map showing where all the local station towers are located relative to your location.

More good news about WCIA. My contact there tells me the plans for HD adoption are moving even quicker than expected and they now hope to be sending out 1080i in July of this year. Whether WCIA will keep UPN or whether WB23 will be the surviving station is still up in the air (no pun intended--OK maybe a little).

It looks like CU will soon be a market where all the networks are in HD with stations putting out decent powered signals. It has been a little frustrating at times for us early adopters, but there are a lot of bigger markets than ours that are still awaiting on one or more networks to make the change.

That indeed would be very good news - meaning the fall NFL games would be in HD. I wonder if the reason things are moving faster is that WCIA ownership now realizes that it is way behind the other stations on this front. Or maybe CBS is putting pressure on the affiliates? Whatever the reason, this would be great.

John C.

I've found this website handy also for mapping all the transimtter locations.
http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/programming/broadcast-market.php?dma_name[]=Champaign%26Sprngfld-Decatur

Anyone with Insight noticing that since Wednesday ABC HD (ch. 772 for me) is having sound issues? The sound is cutting out every few seconds. It makes this channel unwatchable. I noticed that it doesn't happen during local commercials which maybe means it's a problem with the feed being sent by the network. One would think they could fix this after 3 days.

The news about CBS is much appreciated. Thanks to everyone that has looked into it.

Here's what I've got:

I live on the North edge of Gifford. I have a Recoton TV3000, in the attic and don't have a problem receiving, 15.1, 17.1, 17.2, 27.1, and 27.2 I am using the built-in tuner on a Panasonic plasma.

I can't receive a signal at all form WCIA-DT, Or WILL-DT. The last I heard, WCIA is still only about 20% power, so don't expect to receive their signal until the new tower is up. I am guessing my problem with WILL is their tower in Monticello, and the signal needs to come over Champaign/Urbana, to get to my location.

I am planning on putting an antenna on the peak of the gable end of my house. This would get me about 6 ft. higher, and out of the attic.

Here's my question:

Both 3 and 12 are VHS signals, but I read somewhere that the digital signal they are broadcasting is really a UHS signal. So, can I get buy with a bow-tie UHS antenna, or do I need one that also receives the VHS signal.

I would hate to go to all the trouble, only to find out I've put up the wrong antenna,
Any help appreciated,
Terry
PS I have a Dishnetwork 811 HD tuner, I tried running the OTA stations through, but the TV tuner seems to do a much better job.

Hey T-
I have a couple of the TV3000's..the best thing to do with that antenna is to use it for skeet shooting, it will perform far better at that than it will for an OTA antenna..

read back in this forum a bit, there are several good recommendations for antennas for this area.. and good luck!

Here's what I've got:

I live on the North edge of Gifford. I have a Recoton TV3000, in the attic and don't have a problem receiving, 15.1, 17.1, 17.2, 27.1, and 27.2 I am using the built-in tuner on a Panasonic plasma.

I can't receive a signal at all form WCIA-DT, Or WILL-DT. The last I heard, WCIA is still only about 20% power, so don't expect to receive their signal until the new tower is up. I am guessing my problem with WILL is their tower in Monticello, and the signal needs to come over Champaign/Urbana, to get to my location.


Both 3 and 12 are VHS signals, but I read somewhere that the digital signal they are broadcasting is really a UHS signal. So, can I get buy with a bow-tie UHS antenna, or do I need one that also receives the VHS signal.


Hello Terry,

WCIA is actually at...yikes o rama...1.28% power. That is to say, 1,280 watts
(full power is 1 million). I'd actually recommend a ChannelMaster 4228
UHF antenna, so that you can also get WILL-DT. Even though the CM 4228
is designed to be a UHF-only antenna, it picks up channels 7-13 decently.
It is a 39"x41" rectangular antenna. A friend of mine lives 7 miles west of you,
roughly, and he has a monster amplifier and a rotor on his 4228 so that he can lock Peoria stations (more on that below). What I would do is put that antenna on a rotor WITHOUT an amplifier, in your case. If you don't care if you can't get Peoria or Chicago, you still may want to get Springfield stations, and for that, just to be safe, use a rotor. If not, no promises you'll get everything pointed in one direction since it is a quite directional (and thus very powerful) antenna. But in this market, the stations are literally all over the place. Also, this antenna may seem too big for your location, but in bad weather (ice, snow, wind), you'll have a solid lock on your signals while others struggle.

My friend has the following setup which I designed for him: CM 4228 UHF antenna on a 30' tower, ChannelMaster 7777 preamplifier (which overloads the analogs but not the digitals, which is all he cares about), RG-6 quad shielded cable to avoid extra interference from a nearby FM tower, Dish Network HD tuner (not the one they just started to circulate with MPEG-4). On the first week he had it set up, he got the PBS station from SIU, several St. Louis stations, a couple from the Quad Cities, everything (including 2,300 watt WMBD(!)) from Peoria, NBC and FOX from Chicago, and I can't remember what else he got with that smoking setup. He has parents up in Peoria, so he likes to watch their newcasts frequently. This setup allows him to. And he gets all the analog stations from Peoria
consistently. When WMBD powers up in July, he should get it.
(And yes, cool Bdfoxguy, your Springfield FOX pegs his signal meter. :D )

(And yes, cool Bdfoxguy, your Springfield FOX pegs his signal meter. :D )

yea..ktFOX55/27 has that puppy walking the dog!! :)

All, thanks for the advice on local antenna info. I guess my Terk TV5 is doing a pretty bang-up job. Unfortunately, the one thing I didn't mention is that my Terk TV5 is sitting near the ceiling of our second floor so it's only a couple feet below attic level and it's very unconveniently located for fine tuning when the tv is on the first floor! Thus, it's not really a "tv top" antenna and if I keep this antenna I'll eventually have to run the cable through the walls (I have a very long cable running down my stairs right now for the evaluation phase).

My question: I've seen so many reviews where one person swears by an antenna and another swears at it, so it's very confusing to try to decide which is the best without lots of trial and error. My question is if anyone knows of another antenna option (maybe a non-directional antenna I could put in my attic) which would guarantee me similar results to the Terk TV5? I'm a little unsure about the whole rotor idea since I don't hear of many people using them and I'm not sure how it would work with having the rotor "auto" move if we set a recording up.

It is nice to be able to fine tune the Terk TV5 but it's not nice that I have to get up, go upstairs, yell down to my wife and have her tell me when it's a good picture. But ultimately, I will definitely lose flexibility by putting an antenna in the attic so I'd want to make sure I don't lose out compared to what I have now.

I had the Good Vibes antenna guy come out last week with the idea of putting up an outdoor antenna. I was very windy the day he came and he didn't want to be up on my very steep roof (and I didn't want him there--TV is not worth dying for).
He ended up putting this antenna in the attic (2 story house):

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?CAT=&PROD=SPR4400

So far it seems to work. I get Fox and ABC from Springfield rather than the local stations, but since the programming is the same, who cares.

I'm currently testing out a Sony DHG-HDD250 and I've had a few issues with the TV Guide On Screen service that it uses for the program listings.

Does anyone in the area own the Sony or any other product that uses the TV Guide On Screen service? From what I've gathered it's a Gemstar guided product and the Gemstar service can be better or worse depending on the locality? And I guess one of the stations in town is our local TV Guide Host Station but I'm not sure which it is anyway. At this point I only know enough to know how to word my question so hopefully someone can shed some light on the subject for me.

Thanks!

I'll second the 4400. We installed a HDTV at a customer's home in the Chicagoland area, and without any sort of calibration, just sticking the 4400 in the attic, they pulled 12 different digital stations with very high signal level. Chicago's situation is certainly different from the one here in Champaign area, but it seemed to be a pretty solid antenna without a lot of cost (like most of them).

Cool. Thanks for the 4400 recommendations.

Does the size of the antenna circumvent the need for an amplifier? Sebenste posted about his friend having his antenna with an amplifier and I wonder when the need (or desire) for an amplifier ("pre-amplfier"?) enters the picture. In the end, do I need to wonder about this?

The way I have understood it from others, the big difference between here and Chicago is that up in Chicago your towers are usually in one direction from your house where as here in Champaign the towers are in almost every direction. I guess that's why I have to fine-tune my Terk TV5 to get perfect reception depending on the station I want to watch.

If you have sufficient heighth in your attic you could try the 2 bay version of this antenna, which will give you more signal:

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?CAT=&PROD=SPR8800

This type of antenna is semi-bidirectional, which is good since for most viewers our towers are to the east and west. You may have to fiddle with it a bit to find the best position but you can probably make it work.

I spent a whole bunch of quality time this past week with some of the tech folks at Good Vibes (I did an upgrade from my Dish 811 to one of the new MPEG4 HD boxes, the 211). As we were talking, their take on the WCIA deal was that the pressure to be up and running at full power was external... potential fines involved. They said that WCIA is now supposed to be broadcasting in HD as of sometime in June.

On a side note, I'm not really seeing any quality difference between HD on the 811 and the 211. I like having back the additional channels that I once had with VOOM, and the overall "feel" of the interface is a bit speedier. The look of the interface is a bit more polished as well.

On the downside, E* is now implementing a "because we can" screw-you "lease fee" on ALL receivers, unless you purchase outright. Also the commitment is longer... 18 months. :(

That and while the commitment is 18 months, the equipment is only warranteed for 3 unless you pay $6 per month extra for their "Protection Plan".

Seems to me that the satellite companies are now taking a page from the behavior of the cable companies in the days prior to E* and D*: "We'll charge you whatever we want whenever we want."

Did they have to install any new dishes for the 211? I have an 811 and a 921 which I'll have to upgrade before long, though I think I'll wait for the promised 621>921 rebate on April 1 before doing so. I now have a Dish 500 for most of the programming and a Dish 300 pointed at 61.5 for CBS-HD. I think all the HD is mirrored on 61.5 for now, so I hope I can just keep my current dish setup.

I spent a whole bunch of quality time this past week with some of the tech folks at Good Vibes (I did an upgrade from my Dish 811 to one of the new MPEG4 HD boxes, the 211).

mraub,

I recently switched from the MPEG2 box to the MPEG 4. Previously, I had a SuperDish for 105/110/119, so the had to install a second dish to pick up 129. If you've already got two dishes up, you should either be able to use your current setup or swing the 61.5 dish to the 129 sat. You shouldn't need another dish set up either way. The only possible change is that they may need to switch out your 500 with a 1000. Either way, you'll still only have the two. And you don't have to pay for the new dish, just the $49 upgrade fee (or $99 if you're going to the 622).

Heavy, you shouldn't get charged the lease fee for your primary receiver (presumably the 211). You'll get charged $5/mo for each additional box, but that's always been the case. And even if you owned your own boxes, they'd charge you a $4.98 "access" fee for those boxes, so that benefit of ownership is non-existant. However, they've clearly raised rates (have to get $20 HD pack instead of $10 with choice of VOOM), and raised their basic rates as well. So es, they do appear to be getting more like cable companies in that respect.

For me, HD is important, and Dish provides me with more channels (for me, ESPN2 is HUGE, as is TNT-HD), so it's still worth it, even if the cost was similar. Plus, now that I've "moved" to Chicago, I get CBS in HD. ;)

Can you pick up the spot beam that has the Chicago locals in HD?


Plus, now that I've "moved" to Chicago, I get CBS in HD. ;)

Heavy, you shouldn't get charged the lease fee for your primary receiver (presumably the 211). You'll get charged $5/mo for each additional box, but that's always been the case. And even if you owned your own boxes, they'd charge you a $4.98 "access" fee for those boxes, so that benefit of ownership is non-existant. However, they've clearly raised rates (have to get $20 HD pack instead of $10 with choice of VOOM), and raised their basic rates as well. So es, they do appear to be getting more like cable companies in that respect.

For me, HD is important, and Dish provides me with more channels (for me, ESPN2 is HUGE, as is TNT-HD), so it's still worth it, even if the cost was similar. Plus, now that I've "moved" to Chicago, I get CBS in HD. ;)

Under the "Dishin' It UP" upgrade, *all* receivers are hit with the lease fee, including the first. Only way to avoid it is to buy the equipment outright.

I had a waiver on file from WCIA, so I'm getting CBSHD out of New York. Chicago CBSHD is not obtainable ala carte; you can only get it as part of the Chicago locals package.

Unfortunately, E* is the only option out there right now if you really want HD. D* is running a distant second, and Insight isn't even worth considering from a HD perspective.

Can you pick up the spot beam that has the Chicago locals in HD?


Yep, the Chicago spotbeam covers all of Illinois and parts of southern Wisconsin and Michigan.

Heavy, if you're getting hit with a lease fee for ALL you receivers, call back, because you shouldn't be. I specifically asked when I upgraded and was told the primary receiver does not have a lease fee.

Is the Insight dual tuner box an MPEG-4? Also, what does that mean exactly?

Is the Insight dual tuner box an MPEG-4? Also, what does that mean exactly?

MPEG-4 is a compression scheme. Because satellites have limited bandwidth (globally), they can only send out a finite amount of raw data (unlike cable, due to the physical connections). So in an effort to get more channels out of the same space, they're beginning to switch from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4. The idea is that if the data can be compressed better, more data can be send in the same amount of space. Hence, they don't have to launch new satellites to launch new channels.

mraub,

I recently switched from the MPEG2 box to the MPEG 4. Previously, I had a SuperDish for 105/110/119, so the had to install a second dish to pick up 129. If you've already got two dishes up, you should either be able to use your current setup or swing the 61.5 dish to the 129 sat. You shouldn't need another dish set up either way. The only possible change is that they may need to switch out your 500 with a 1000. Either way, you'll still only have the two. And you don't have to pay for the new dish, just the $49 upgrade fee (or $99 if you're going to the 622).

Heavy, you shouldn't get charged the lease fee for your primary receiver (presumably the 211). You'll get charged $5/mo for each additional box, but that's always been the case. And even if you owned your own boxes, they'd charge you a $4.98 "access" fee for those boxes, so that benefit of ownership is non-existant. However, they've clearly raised rates (have to get $20 HD pack instead of $10 with choice of VOOM), and raised their basic rates as well. So es, they do appear to be getting more like cable companies in that respect.

For me, HD is important, and Dish provides me with more channels (for me, ESPN2 is HUGE, as is TNT-HD), so it's still worth it, even if the cost was similar. Plus, now that I've "moved" to Chicago, I get CBS in HD. ;)

I am in a similar situation (811 want to go to 622 and have 105 superdish)...I was wanting to know if they included a DPP44 switch as part of the upgrade since you now get 4 orbital locations (105, 110, 119, 129). I know the upgrade includes the round dish for 129, the reciever, and installation...but i know my current DP34 switch wont work for more than 4 oribital locations and 3 recievers, plus i want to run only one cable to my new dual tuner reciever which requires a dpp switch.... The DPP44 switch is like $200 and I've had a hard time getting a confirmation on whether they will actually pay for that.

Thanks,

Z

Z,

I can confirm that they will, in fact, upgrade your DP34 to a DP44 as part of the upgrade.

I had the Good Vibes antenna guy come out last week with the idea of putting up an outdoor antenna. I was very windy the day he came and he didn't want to be up on my very steep roof (and I didn't want him there--TV is not worth dying for).
He ended up putting this antenna in the attic (2 story house):

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?CAT=&PROD=SPR4400

So far it seems to work. I get Fox and ABC from Springfield rather than the local stations, but since the programming is the same, who cares.

Well, I'm still doing my research on antennas. There's really a lot of options out there. But it seems like you can do all the research in the world but until you get someone up on the roof doing a little "trial and error" it's hard to know what antenna will work the best for your area/house.

Did the gentleman from Good Vibes try multiple antennas in your attic to see what worked the best?

Are you able to pick up FOX digital out of Bloomington (43.1)? I'd also like to be able to pick up WEIU (PBS Charleston channel 51) once they finish their digital antenna (http://www.weiu.net/digital/).

Thanks

No, they had done a number of antenna installs since OTA HD began and told me the one they used almost always worked in Champaign.

Did the gentleman from Good Vibes try multiple antennas in your attic to see what worked the best?

I am having good luck with a Wingard MS-2000. I pick up the locals that are HD no problem. I had it installed by Satlinq. They did a GREAT job!

WBUI chosen to carry the new "CW" this fall. FOr those that missed it, WB and UPN networks are merging into the "CW".

Russ Hamilton said that he is leaning toward carrrying "MyNetwork" TV programming on WCFN (49) this fall. That decision will be made next week. "MyNetwork" is a new network being launched by FOX.

He (Russ) is also considering making WCFN an independant channel that would be centered on sports coverage.

Is WILL HD carried on Insight? If so, what channel?

I'm NOT in Champaign, but Insight IS definately carrying it here on the Springfield/Lincoln/Decatur systems on 779. (I just hooked up an HD set for a client with an Insight DVR, as well as a straight cable feed & it works both ways) I did check on their website for Champagin/Urbana & it is NOT listed for you guys - I'd think you guys would have had it BEFORE us, but oh wel... :confused:

I am in a similar situation (811 want to go to 622 and have 105 superdish)...I was wanting to know if they included a DPP44 switch as part of the upgrade since you now get 4 orbital locations (105, 110, 119, 129). I know the upgrade includes the round dish for 129, the reciever, and installation...but i know my current DP34 switch wont work for more than 4 oribital locations and 3 recievers, plus i want to run only one cable to my new dual tuner reciever which requires a dpp switch.... The DPP44 switch is like $200 and I've had a hard time getting a confirmation on whether they will actually pay for that.

Just an FYI you might want to know - you WON'T need the 105 anymore in a few months. DISH dealers were just informed that when they get the new E*X fired up, they are moving ALL SD local markets off of 105 AND 121 to either 110 or 119, which obviously includes us. So, if you wait, you could have them replace your separate dishes w/a D1000 & still get everything.

Yep, the Chicago spotbeam covers all of Illinois and parts of southern Wisconsin and Michigan.

Actually, there are NO spotbeams on the E* bird at 129, (E* is NOT a spotbeam bird) so there would be NO reason you couldn't get it anywhere the 129 has coverage. (it does have signal issues in some parts of the country, which is not related to having/not having spotbeams.

WEIU-DT exists as actual waves in the ether. It was on last night, Ch. 50.

Not HDTV.

It's hard to tell how hard it is going to be to get normally in Champaign,
as though it was really easy last night, WRSP-DT, WICS-DT and ch. 28
in Bloomington (Fox) were about 10 dB stronger than usual. I was getting
a S/N of 28 dB on WEIU on a Radio Shack double-bowtie antenna and
a cheapie preamp, indoors looking through a wall and a window.

Doug McDonald

WEIU-DT exists as actual waves in the ether. It was on last night, Ch. 50.



I'm not familiar with your terminology of saying that WEIU-DT "exists as actual waves in the ether". Please educate me.

I don't know why they haven't updated their website if the digital tower is already built? (http://www.weiu.net/digital/)

Joe

It's hard to tell how hard it is going to be to get normally in Champaign,
as though it was really easy last night, WRSP-DT, WICS-DT and ch. 28
in Bloomington (Fox) were about 10 dB stronger than usual. I was getting
a S/N of 28 dB on WEIU on a Radio Shack double-bowtie antenna and
a cheapie preamp, indoors looking through a wall and a window.

Doug McDonald

How can I get WCIA-DT? I also have an indoor antenna with pre-amp, but have yet to get a signal for CBS. I think it is Channel 3.1, but so far I have had no luck. According to Antenna Web, I am only 6 miles from their transmitter. I am picking up channels from Springfield (60 miles), so a signal from 6 miles away shouldn't be a problem. Any information you can give me would be appreciated.

Thanks

"Actual waves in the ether" was an example of "humor".

As you probably are aware, at the time Maxwell developed his mathematical theory of electricity and magnetism, radio had not been invented. But his theory predicted that electricity and magnetism combined to generate waves. At that time waves were thought tto require something to move "in" ... like water waves. Since it was soon evident that light fitted Maxwell's theory, it was called the "luminiferous ether".

Later a man named Michaelson showed that the "ether" does not exist, at least as it was then understood.

So I was just being funny. "Actual waves" is accurate, "ether" is not. The implication is that they are actually broadcasting in the "air", rather than, for example, sending digital signals over fibers to cable TV companies.

There is another implication. They are not broadcasting, as are so many
stations, digital signals in the "vapor". "Vapor" as in "vaporware" in the computer business: something that exists only as hype in the mind of a PR agent. This paragraph is also intended as "humor".

As to WCIA: I have no idea. They are broadcasting a pathetic 1 kilowatt, but at 6 miles that is plenty of power. You do know that they are channel 48, I hope? You want a UHF antenna, not VHF. Do a rescan on your TV or STB, or punch in 48.

Doug McDonald

Darn, tomorrow night's NCAA tournament game of Illinois vs. Air Force is in HD and WCIA here still isn't HD :(

Thanks, Doug. But, alas, still no luck. Guess it isn't meant to be.

And it's not on WCBS for those with a waiver. Maybe they'll carry the 2d game if Illinois can beat Air Force.

Darn, tomorrow night's NCAA tournament game of Illinois vs. Air Force is in HD and WCIA here still isn't HD :(

And it's not on WCBS for those with a waiver. Maybe they'll carry the 2d game if Illinois can beat Air Force.

Fack! And I just had my CBSHD hooked up this morning. :(

Also, while it's better than SD, WCBS on E* is definitely HD-Lite...

This could change since the start of the IL-AF game will be delayed at least 90 minutes (and probably more) due to Cox Arena being evacuated because of a bomb scare. Fortunately, a false alarm.


Fack! And I just had my CBSHD hooked up this morning. :(

Also, while it's better than SD, WCBS on E* is definitely HD-Lite...

Is everyone getting guide data for 49-2 (WCIA)??? I get no picture on 3-1 and of course a guide here. I have D*.

T

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=68045

W34DL, the Trinity Broadcasting Network affiliate in Champaign, has applied to flash-cut to digital. At 15 kw, their signal would go into southern Ford county.
It would have quite a range...

Could someone explain to me why the news ticker would prevent WICS from being in HD? All this week WICS has been running a news ticker, which is a good idea especially this week, but none of their regular HD programming has been in HD. Does anyone know why?

Could someone explain to me why the news ticker would prevent WICS from being in HD? All this week WICS has been running a news ticker, which is a good idea especially this week, but none of their regular HD programming has been in HD. Does anyone know why?

At this point in the HD buildout most stations don't have a way to put on warnings...crawls etc in HD. During those times stations have to just send out the upconverted feed.
Jim Wright
Regional Manager

At this point in the HD buildout most stations don't have a way to put on warnings...crawls etc in HD. During those times stations have to just send out the upconverted feed.
Jim Wright
Regional Manager
yup, and we have been having issues with the HD Sat Reciever and with the crawl we havent been running hd.. hopefully it will be back tonight. But i dont have much input into it.

Dr.

yup, and we have been having issues with the HD Sat Reciever and with the crawl we havent been running hd.. hopefully it will be back tonight. But i dont have much input into it.

Dr.

I hope so too. It would be nice to catch a new episode of Lost in HD tonight. Thanks to both of you for answering my question.

According to today's SJR, WCIA AND WCFN (the actual UPN station that's switching to My TV when UPN dies) are BOTH going HD the week of 7/24:

http://www.sj-r.com/sections/ane/stories/81760.asp

WCIA Channel 3 will be clear choice this fall

By NICK ROGERS
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Published Thursday, March 23, 2006

It wouldn't have soothed the sting of Illinois' second-round loss to Washington in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

But it would have been nice to see that pretty Dee Brown-Brian Randle alley-oop in high definition on WCIA Channel 3. (Even prettier to see Bradley knock out Kansas, if you ask me.)

After all, we saw ice crystals kick up behind Apollo Anton Ohno on his way to 500-meter gold during the Winter Olympics on WAND Channel 17. Antwaan Randle-El's trick-pass play to help the Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowl XL had immaculate reception on WICS Channel 20. Even Cubs fans couldn't avoid the shimmer of green grass during the World Series on WRSP Channel 55.

Rest easy, Illini nation. Though you might be watching them as a 12-seed come March 2007, Jamar Smith and the rest of the Illini's future stars will be in high definition on WCIA. (As will this year's Illinois football season.)

Russ Hamilton, general manager for Champaign's NexStar Broadcasting-owned station, announced WCIA would begin broadcasting a high-def signal starting the week of July 24 across all platforms - satellite and cable services, as well as those receiving WCIA over-the-air.

It's about time, as WCIA is the last of the four major networks (NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox) to offer high definition in Springfield. The crystal-clear picture isn't just beneficial for sports events. If you think "CSI" and its offspring have icky gore scenes now, wait until you see them in summer reruns.

WCFN Channel 49, WCIA's Springfield sister station, also will boast a high-def signal some time near the end of September, not long after its programming switches to My Network TV. That new network is targeted at affiliates who will lose UPN programming, as WCFN will, when it merges with The WB to create The CW. My Network TV's programming also would be in high definition.

It's the result of more than $4 million in equipment upgrades, pleas from Hamilton to his corporate company to move WCIA farther up the list of high-def upgrades and, yes, calls from high-def capable viewers, especially around tournament time.

"We had to reinforce one tower, and we're building a completely new tower in Springfield for WCFN," Hamilton said. "It took some calls from me to get us moved up the ladder. Where we may have been scheduled for next year, we got it moved to this year. The week of July 24 is the date they've given me, and they've held firm on that date. Unless there would be some unique problem, that would be the date."

Now, MY question - just how is WCIA going to put out TWO HD signals on one digital station, if they are planning on making BOTH CBS AND My TV HD???

According to today's SJR, WCIA AND WCFN (the actual UPN station that's switching to My TV when UPN dies) are BOTH going HD the week of 7/24:

http://www.sj-r.com/sections/ane/stories/81760.asp



Now, MY question - just how is WCIA going to put out TWO HD signals on one digital station, if they are planning on making BOTH CBS AND My TV HD???
well, Its about freaking time... But i hope they dont multicast both My TV and WCIA on the same Channel, 2 1080i subchannels on the same channel is gonna choke the bandwidth, and we will end up with crappy HD.

Dr.

well, Its about freaking time... But i hope they dont multicast both My TV and WCIA on the same Channel, 2 1080i subchannels on the same channel is gonna choke the bandwidth, and we will end up with crappy HD.



The article seemed to imply to me that WCIA will be broadcast from the Champaign transmitter and WCFN (MyTV) will be broadcast from the Springfield transmitter. Once these go to full power, people in Springfield should be able to pick up WCIA and vice-versa without much trouble - and anyway, the station has already negotiated cable carriage (and I suspect also has negotiated carriage on DirecTV when it gets to our market for HD Locals).

John C.

I'm finally picking up the digital OTA signal for both WCFN-UPN (48.2) and WCIA-CBS (48.3). It just showed up tonight. I live in Mahomet. Check it out!

The article seemed to imply to me that WCIA will be broadcast from the Champaign transmitter and WCFN (MyTV) will be broadcast from the Springfield transmitter.

John C.

They will probably transmit CBS in HD from WCIA and MyTV from WCFN in HD, and the opposite one in SD, so everybody at least gets both, one in HD and one in SD.

At the height in their CP for WCFN-DT, it will not be useable in Champaign.
They will need 1300 feet, like WRSP and WICS, to get here, and also be
east of town. There is no CP or, as far as I see, application, for a new tower.

Also ... a look at the fcc database implies that their application to use Channel 49 for digital after analog is turned off was disapproved. They seem to be applying for 13 (or alternatively, 11) instead. (They can't, of course, keep 53.)

This makes things interesting, because 13 on a tall tower would reach nicely into Champaign, at top allowed power of course.

Doug McDonald

All I have to say is I better be able to get CBS-HD OTA in Springfield.

It still irks me to this day that they think people in springfield would rather watch UPN instead of CBS.

If for some stupid reason the new WCIA tower isnt tall or strong enough to get to Springfield...they better put CBS-HD on the WCFN tower near springfield instead of that crappy new hd channel....or there will be hell to pay.

It wouldn't have soothed the sting of Illinois' second-round loss to Washington in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

But it would have been nice to see that pretty Dee Brown-Brian Randle alley-oop in high definition on WCIA Channel 3. (Even prettier to see Bradley knock out Kansas, if you ask me.)


Yes the Illini game was great in HD here in Champaign. Thanks to Russ, I was given a waiver to get the NY CBS-HD feed and the Illini game was played on there. The tournament in HD is definitely awesome. I look forward to the WCIA HD but thankfully I have the NY CBS-HD for my backup. Thanks Russ for helping me out with Directv.

I am new to this forum. I am very late to the HDTV party. I am very old to satellite as I had C-band from 1982 to 1997. I have had D* since 1997. Although I live in Central Illinois, I "moved" to New York because I had a disease for which there is no known cure. I was diagnosed as a die-hard Yankee fan at an early age. I do not have any HD displays or receiving equipment. I know that HD in New York is presently MPG 2 and moving toward MPEG 4. I get YES as one of my RSNs on 622 but I believe although I am not sure that YES HD is spot beamed. I presently get and pay for locals and get the big four which are national and not spot beamed as the other NYC locals are. My question concerns HD on D*. Are the MPEG 4 signals spot beamed? If not, it seems like it might be worth my while to get the new 5 LNB dish to receive the NYC locals in HD, obviously I know I need a HD receiver and display. Of course, I undestand that I would have to obtain the dish and get it installed without going through DTV corporate channels. I am not sure about the big four from NYC in MPEG 2. My present receiver which is not HD does not show them as an option but it is my understanding that they are in HD and not spot beamed. Whatever information and advice anyone could provide, would be greatly appreciated.

I am new to this forum. I am very late to the HDTV party. I am very old to satellite as I had C-band from 1982 to 1997. I have had D* since 1997. Although I live in Central Illinois, I "moved" to New York because I had a disease for which there is no known cure. I was diagnosed as a die-hard Yankee fan at an early age. I do not have any HD displays or receiving equipment. I know that HD in New York is presently MPG 2 and moving toward MPEG 4. I get YES as one of my RSNs on 622 but I believe although I am not sure that YES HD is spot beamed. I presently get and pay for locals and get the big four which are national and not spot beamed as the other NYC locals are. My question concerns HD on D*. Are the MPEG 4 signals spot beamed? If not, it seems like it might be worth my while to get the new 5 LNB dish to receive the NYC locals in HD, obviously I know I need a HD receiver and display. Of course, I undestand that I would have to obtain the dish and get it installed without going through DTV corporate channels. I am not sure about the big four from NYC in MPEG 2. My present receiver which is not HD does not show them as an option but it is my understanding that they are in HD and not spot beamed. Whatever information and advice anyone could provide, would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum.

The HD locals are, in fact, spot-beamed. I think that the plan for D* is to eliminate all national HD network feeds after it brings both Spaceway and the two new sats going up this year on line. So I'd suspect that the life span of the national HD feeds probably won't be more than a couple of years. But you should definitely keep what you have now, because I don't think you'll get the NY MPEG4 HD feeds here.

John C.

Does anyone have any idea why for the past two nights The Tonight Show has not been shown in HD by WAND-DT?

Just noticed WCCU-HD is now active on MediaCom channel 708 in the Marshall, IL area.

Just watched some NASCAR...pretty good looking picture.

Doug

Well, that didn't last long. WCCU-DT is now GONE from MediaCom in the Marshall, IL area. Not sure what's up. It was there one day and gone the next. It's even been removed from the guide.

I'm going to call MediaCom tomorrow and start the hell raising process, though they usually have no clue what's going on.

Doug

Good Luck! Talking to MediaCom is like talking to a brick wall. I bet they will tell you that they will send a signal to reset your cable box and that should fix the problem. They just do that to get you off the phone!

Last Saturday I watched the Cards-Cubs game in SD on one of the Dish sports channels. The announcer mentioned a couple of times the game was also in HD. The logo on the broadcast said it was a Comcast production. Anyone know of a way to get Comcast baseball games in HD in the CU area? Maybe the old UPN affiliate could pick them up when they get their HD conversion completed.

Ten COmmandments on ABC appears to be in SD rather than HD, which is just [CENSORED] stupid. Is that a local affil brain fart or ABC central?

What a disappointment!

Ten COmmandments on ABC appears to be in SD rather than HD, which is just [CENSORED] stupid. Is that a local affil brain fart or ABC central?

What a disappointment!


That I can recall it has never been shown in HD....

T

Ten COmmandments on ABC appears to be in SD rather than HD, which is just [CENSORED] stupid. Is that a local affil brain fart or ABC central?

What a disappointment!


Hmmm..someone who says "censored" cares about watching the Ten Commandments? ;)

I just noticed that WCIA (ABC Channel 20) was broadcasting on digital 42. Is that its new home?

That I can recall it has never been shown in HD....

T

It was for part 1. Its a remake.

I just noticed that WCIA (ABC Channel 20) was broadcasting on digital 42. Is that its new home?

WCIA is CBS.

It was for part 1. Its a remake.
He was refering to the original with Charlton Heston.

WCIA is CBS.

Right. I meant WICS in Springfield was on digital 42. I've been gone for 4 months but I swear when I left it was on 20 and AntennaWeb still lists channel 20.

Laddy, thanks for the information. Right now I can get WICS on both channnel 20.1 and channel 42.3....but channel 42 has a better signal strength, so I'm glad you let us know about it. Now, do you know about WCIA (CBS)? I get a very unreliable signal on 48.3 but atennaweb has it listed as 3.1 (it's not there).

Melanotheron, I'm between Decatur and Lincoln and cannot detect any WCIA HD signal at all. I suspect they're still broadcasting at low power for the time being as they aren't expecting to be fully online until July. WICS is no longer available to me on 20-1, just 42-1.

Please keep in mind that WCIA actually transmits on channel 48 and WICS on channel 42. Your receiver then remaps those channels to 3-1 and 20-1. Sometimes reception problems can be fixed by forcing the receiver to tune the actual transmission channel, rather than the remapped channel.

Melanotheron, I'm between Decatur and Lincoln and cannot detect any WCIA HD signal at all. I suspect they're still broadcasting at low power for the time being as they aren't expecting to be fully online until July. WICS is no longer available to me on 20-1, just 42-1.
The Computer (guidebuilder) that does the Remapping And the Guide Temporarily crashed so it was not Remapping. It should be back to normal now. (20.1) The guide is still messed up, but atleast its showing up on the right channel.

Dr.

Yesterday's and today's Cards-Cubs games on WB23 were stretched 480i, not HD. Was this stretched for everyone on just a hiccup from my receiver?

No, it was stretched starting on Friday night and has remained so since then. They are broadcasting "Raymond" right now it stretched mode. YUK!

Did anyone else see West Wing freak out about 29 minutes into the broadcast on WAND? Whatever happened, it caused my HD TiVo to freeze up repeatedly and stop responding to commands. It repeated in the same spot after I rebooted the machine, and it cleared up about 31 minutes in.

It's possible that it's the hard drive, but it passes the SMART test.

Rob

Yesterday's and today's Cards-Cubs games on WB23 were stretched 480i, not HD. Was this stretched for everyone on just a hiccup from my receiver?

I noticed last night that WB23 was no lonnger stretching the 480i programs.

Slightly OT, since it wasn't HD, but does anyone know why last night's (4/27) Cardinals - Nationals game was blacked out by Fox Sports? I called Insight when they started showing some poker match and there was a recorded message saying "The Cardinals game on ch 26 has been blacked out for our Champaign and Danville customers."

Haven't most of the other Cardinals games been shown on FSMW? What was different about this game?

Edit: The game was listed on Zap2it and on the my digital cable box guide, not the poker thing.

I just talked to the WB23 engineer over in Decatur. He told me they had ordered the gear needed to broadcast the Cardinals games in HD, though not all the games are originated in HD by KPLR from St. Louis. He hoped to have everything in place in a month or so.

With the ubiquitous bad weather during primetime (especially during Sunday, it seems :)), can we expect the graphic overlays to eventually not force the stations to upconvert the SD feed? I'm currently watching The West Wing and there's a persistent "Thunderstorm Watch" bug, along with a periodic map and crawl. I don't really care about a thunderstorm watch (which colors my opinion of the bug, itself), but the broadcast has only been in HD for about 2 minutes so far (half way through).

Is this upconverting strictly a consequence of being in a small market, or a lack of available hardware?

Thanks,
Rob

With the ubiquitous bad weather during primetime (especially during Sunday, it seems :)), can we expect the graphic overlays to eventually not force the stations to upconvert the SD feed? I'm currently watching The West Wing and there's a persistent "Thunderstorm Watch" bug, along with a periodic map and crawl. I don't really care about a thunderstorm watch (which colors my opinion of the bug, itself), but the broadcast has only been in HD for about 2 minutes so far (half way through).

Is this upconverting strictly a consequence of being in a small market, or a lack of available hardware?

Thanks,
Rob
Lack of inexpensive hardware. Even in Chicago, it is like this. You'd need a separate "keyer", hardware and software, for the HD feed. And that doesn't come cheap.

I wish stations wouldn't call it a "thunderstorm watch", it is really a SEVERE thunderstorm watch for storms capable of producing 70 MPH wind, hail up to golfball size, and flooding rain. It really downplays what it really means.

Anyone else lose their Distant Local CBS from D* today??? I lost only my HD channel. The SD channel was fine. I was on the phone for an hour. They thankfully turned it back on.

T

WRSP and WCCU are expected to be sold to GOCOM Media. The previous owners, Springfield Television which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bahakel Communications, said it wants to concentrate on the Southeast United States.

GOCOM said "you are going to see a WCCU more reflective of Champaign." They would like to expand the station's involvement in local news, "if the timing is right."

They also said they " They are excited about the current employees and their talents."

WRSP and WCCU are expected to be sold to GOCOM Media. The previous owners, Springfield Television which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bahakel Communications, said it wants to concentrate on the Southeast United States.

GOCOM said "you are going to see a WCCU more reflective of Champaign." They would like to expand the station's involvement in local news, "if the timing is right."

They also said they " They are excited about the current employees and their talents."

Let's hope they leave well enough alone as far as WRSP is concerned. I think they have their act together as far Digital is concerned.

T

Couldn't agree more. WRSP has the best HD around. NFL football, 24, etc, are done in perfect HD with Dolby Digital. Sure hope WRSP can still stay a leader in HD in our area with the talent that they have in engineering. Keep it up, WRSP!

flyingfan

Hi, I'm new to this forum and HGTV. I live in Covington, Indiana, about 45 miles east of the Champaign area. I thinking of putting up an antenna on my chimney for receiving signals from Champaign. I've been told that the elevation of this area is low as it is near the Wabash River. Do you think I can successfully receive HDTV here and if so what would be a good antenna?
Thanks
Mike

Have you used www.antennaweb.org? It'll tell you how far away the stations are and what sort of antenna you'd need to receive them.

Rob

None of the NBC content is in HD tonight. Anyone else seeing this (or not seeing this)?

Same here. They picked a crappy night to be asleep at the wheel. The West Wing Finale clearly said that it was being broadcast in HD.

Rob

It must be a problem with WAND-TV. The NBC station from Peoria is broadcasting in HD.

Ditto, The problem was only WAND's. WEEK was HD.

Rant deleted. Apparently 10.5 was not being broadcast in HD tonight, so it wasn't WAND's fault...

I currently am using a Silver Sensor placed in my attic, and can get ABC 17-1 and NBC 15-1 without any problems. With CBS going to begin broadcasting soon, I would like to be able to get CBS and Fox as well. I am in SW Champaign just south of Kirby and West of Mattis. Has anybody had any experience having good vibes mount a roof top antenna? Or does anybody have a suggestion on who I should have mount and what type of antenna I should put on my roof. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Good Vibes has antenna which they've had good luck with in Champaign. They ended up putting it in my attic, since it was too slick to safely work on the roof the day they came out. It works well, except for WB23. I'm to have a new DISH receiver installed next week which has a bit greater sensitivity and I hope that clears up the 23 reception problems.

Good Vibes has antenna which they've had good luck with in Champaign. They ended up putting it in my attic, since it was too slick to safely work on the roof the day they came out. It works well, except for WB23. I'm to have a new DISH receiver installed next week which has a bit greater sensitivity and I hope that clears up the 23 reception problems.

Hey Mike which Dish receiver are you getting next week????

Bob

I currently am using a Silver Sensor placed in my attic, and can get ABC 17-1 and NBC 15-1 without any problems. With CBS going to begin broadcasting soon, I would like to be able to get CBS and Fox as well. I am in SW Champaign just south of Kirby and West of Mattis. Has anybody had any experience having good vibes mount a roof top antenna? Or does anybody have a suggestion on who I should have mount and what type of antenna I should put on my roof. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

I live in Mahomet and bought an amplified indoor antenna from Radio Shack (RS 15-1880) and have it hooked up out in my garage. I can pick up 12.1 (PBS), 15.1 (ABC), 17.1 (NBC), 20.1(ABC, Springfield), 23.1 (WB), 27.1 (Fox, Urbana) and 55.1 (Fox, Springfield) with good signal strength on all. Once in a while I can get 48.2 (WCFN) and 48.3 (CBS), but it is spotty, at best. I don't know what Good Vibes charges to install an antenna, but you may save some money if you try the Radio Shack antenna.

Mel

A ViP 622. Actually I've had it for a couple of weeks. I was tempted to self install, but I may need a new Dish antenna. I'll need an antenna pointed at the 61.5 bird until WCIA turns on HD, but may need a 1000 for the rest of the programming. I took advantage of the Dish offer to give you $200 for a 921, for which I paid $1000 about 2 years ago. Such is technology. Most people report the 622 is relatively bug free, unlike the 921 for which I was an unpaid beta tester for about the first 6 months I owned it, though it has worked great after that. I could not live without DVR after having it for a while.

Hey Mike which Dish receiver are you getting next week????

Bob

I am getting no signal at all from wand 17 this morning. It usually is no problem picking it up. I hope they get it straightened out before the golf coverage.

I am getting no signal at all from wand 17 this morning. It usually is no problem picking it up. I hope they get it straightened out before the golf coverage.

Yep Jeff...No 17... :(

T

Just got the Dish 622 installed and 17-1 locked with its usual fine signal. So far I'm very impressed with the 622, once I found out the default HDMI output was 480i and changed it to 1080i. Unlike the 921, which usually took a second or two before executing any command, the 622 responds immediately. It also gets an immediate lock on WB23, my weakest local station; the 921 would eventually lock on, though sometimes it took 5-10 minutes to do so.

Both 23-1 23-2 showed zero signal this afternoon. Anyone else notice this?
MIKE

Both 23-1 23-2 showed zero signal this afternoon. Anyone else notice this?
MIKE

I noticed this yesterday afternoon, but haven't tried it today.

I'm glad to hear my new receiver isn't the problem. Fortunately, the Cards-Cubs game was also on WGN.


I noticed this yesterday afternoon, but haven't tried it today.

Both 23-1 23-2 showed zero signal this afternoon. Anyone else notice this?
MIKE

Same for me also 23-1 and 23-2 seemed to be offline...

T

Saturday also. Upgrading ?

We hope so. A few months back their engineer told me WB23 planned an upgrade to allow them to retransmit the KPLR HD Cardinals games in HD locally.

Of course, something may have just gone kaplooee.

Saturday also. Upgrading ?

Both 23-1 23-2 showed zero signal this afternoon. Anyone else notice this?
MIKE


I've had trouble getting them in for the last few days. Very uncommon. :(

Looks like 23-1 and 23-2 are back. It appears that they _might_ be showing a stronger signal, so maybe a modest upgrade was put in place. Not sure, but anyway they're back.

jtv

But their broadcast of today's baseball game was in stretched 480i-- :mad:



Looks like 23-1 and 23-2 are back. It appears that they _might_ be showing a stronger signal, so maybe a modest upgrade was put in place. Not sure, but anyway they're back.

jtv

Good tropo ducting today. Picked up WILL-12 (analog) in STL. WAND, WICS, and WBUI (all analog) also recieved.

Hi folks.

Don't know if you heard Russ's comment yesterday on the Ask the Station Manager segment of the early news, but he said that because of difficuly in booking a tower crew, WCIA is now looking at September for the HD upgrade. He did say that all the equipment has been ordered and "all the checks have been signed." Early September would still be ahead of the fall TV season, though they might miss a couple of HD football weekends.

John C.

Why am I not surprised?

WCIA are a bunch of friggin' morons. One delay after another. Any bets on whether we see any CBSHD before Thanksgiving? I wouldn't take the bet...

Why am I not surprised?

WCIA are a bunch of friggin' morons. One delay after another. Any bets on whether we see any CBSHD before Thanksgiving? I wouldn't take the bet...
Heavy,

After assessing the situation, I can't find much fault with local management.
The parent company had put WCIA on the bottom of the barrel to do these upgrades and build a tower.

Now, every small and medium (and still some large) market stations are doing their last minute tower builds, upgrades, etc. Problem is...there aren't enough tower climbers. WWTO-DT 10 in LaSalle (TBN affiliate) wanted to go full power this spring, but weather stopped 'em. Now, they can't get anyone up there, even though everything at ground level has been waiting to go for months. Heck, TBN hasn't been able to get a station to go high power in two months. A big problem is that several crews, including one in California this month, died due to tower collapses. Let's just say it takes a certain person to hang 1800' in the air by a rope and then fasten an unsteady, massive antenna to a tower. A certain person like that could be described as anything from brave to a total nut job. I'm convinced it's a combination of both. :D

A bunch of stations will be late. WCIA is one of many. Management above WCIA waited until the last minute (and would have waited even longer if people didn't scream about it by writing letters to management which were no doubt passed upwind). So, there's nothing you can do at this point.

You might be correct in this particular instance, but WCIA has a long history of being extremely resistant to HD, and suffering (or arranging) one delay after another. It's a case of crying wolf... after a series of boneheaded delays and willful avoidance of HD, this just seems to be another in a sequence, regardless of legitimacy.

*shrug*

Sorry, but WCIA has made their bed with respect to public goodwill, even if we HD viewers are just a speck in the overall consumer landscape...

Also remember that WCIA intentionally lagged far behind in getting lowly stereo sound!

I must admit, however, as expected, I am finding content trumping HD.

Come on, I want FoodHD, SpeedHD (720p!) and (admittedly a silly use of HD) poker in HD.
I heard rumors that Food in fact has HD somewhere.

Doug McDonald

Heavy,

After assessing the situation, I can't find much fault with local management.
The parent company had put WCIA on the bottom of the barrel to do these upgrades and build a tower.

Now, every small and medium (and still some large) market stations are doing their last minute tower builds, upgrades, etc. Problem is...there aren't enough tower climbers. WWTO-DT 10 in LaSalle (TBN affiliate) wanted to go full power this spring, but weather stopped 'em. Now, they can't get anyone up there, even though everything at ground level has been waiting to go for months. Heck, TBN hasn't been able to get a station to go high power in two months. A big problem is that several crews, including one in California this month, died due to tower collapses. Let's just say it takes a certain person to hang 1800' in the air by a rope and then fasten an unsteady, massive antenna to a tower. A certain person like that could be described as anything from brave to a total nut job. I'm convinced it's a combination of both. :D

A bunch of stations will be late. WCIA is one of many. Management above WCIA waited until the last minute (and would have waited even longer if people didn't scream about it by writing letters to management which were no doubt passed upwind). So, there's nothing you can do at this point.


As someone who has been up on towers all too often in my career, Gilbert is all too correct. :eek:

If we can accept an excuse with building the tower and installing a new antenna. What excuse do they use for transmitting at such a low power?

I would think that CBS must be pretty disgusted with their central Illinois affiliates.

I know I am !

If July is not possible, then Mr. Hamilton should update his projection. Since he has not, and July is only a couple of weeks away, I expect CBS HD in 6 weeks.

If we can accept an excuse with building the tower and installing a new antenna. What excuse do they use for transmitting at such a low power?

I would think that CBS must be pretty disgusted with their central Illinois affiliates.

I know I am !

If July is not possible, then Mr. Hamilton should update his projection. Since he has not, and July is only a couple of weeks away, I expect CBS HD in 6 weeks.

The excuse is this: management ABOVE WCIA's control dictates what upgrades they get, not WCIA. And read carefully in his lines: you guys were "bumped up" the priority list and not even slated to get it until WAY into the future, according to Mr. Hamilton. That was him tap-dancing around what he wanted to say: unless you complain, our station gets crap for money for upgrades for more limited numbers of viewers. Now, am I totally absolving him of all responsibility to adequately communicate what the station
needs based on viewer response/complaints? No. But I am sure he does talk to them continually and assesses what is happening on an ongoing basis.

The truth is that all WCIA is required to do is provide a digital 4:3 signal to 80% of their viewer coverage area, as compared with their analog signal reach. Do they do that? According to the standards set by the FCC, they do. Is WCIA, or more accurately, their parent company shooting itself in the foot by not going HD
and full power earlier? Apparently not, as HD viewers are few in C-U (I'd like to see some hard numbers, though), and the digital signal makes NO money for them. Not a dime, even to recover their investment. That said, I'm not maing nicey-nicey to WCIA. This sucks, and I feel for you guys...Peoria is in the same boat with WMBD. But look at FOX...the stations sold WAY under what the sellers wanted. Central Illinois is not a money-making machine for these stations, so it is easy to see why they're putting this off. And, 1 mw of power is a LOT of juice (actually, 50,000 watts actual electrical power, or something like that). Their power bill is going to go WAY up...again, with no revenue to show for it in return. At least you get the latest generation of equipment when it's installed,
so it should look really nice once all the bugs are worked out.

If July is not possible, then Mr. Hamilton should update his projection. Since he has not, and July is only a couple of weeks away, I expect CBS HD in 6 weeks.
What's so special about getting CBS HD in July? There's nothing on CBS worthy of an HD feed during July is there? I'd say as long as it's ready by NFL season and CSI in the fall, who cares? ;) Now if it's not done by that time, then I'd be complaining. All the sports HD stuff during the summer is on the other stations. (Nascar: Fox/NBC, NBA Finals: ABC, World Cup: ABC) Hang in there man, it'll be done before you know it. :)

(Gilbert: Where's all the darn storms at man!!) ;)

Stan

(Gilbert: Where's all the darn storms at man!!) ;)

Stan

On your door right now as I type this ! :D

What's so special about getting CBS HD in July? There's nothing on CBS worthy of an HD feed during July is there? I'd say as long as it's ready by NFL season and CSI in the fall, who cares? ;) Now if it's not done by that time, then I'd be complaining. All the sports HD stuff during the summer is on the other stations. (Nascar: Fox/NBC, NBA Finals: ABC, World Cup: ABC) Hang in there man, it'll be done before you know it. :)

(Gilbert: Where's all the darn storms at man!!) ;)

Stan

While that's true, I'd prefer to have some time to work out any bugs in the production system before all of the fall shows start. In other words, screw around with the reruns, not with the real shows.

Rob

While that's true, I'd prefer to have some time to work out any bugs in the production system before all of the fall shows start. In other words, screw around with the reruns, not with the real shows.

Rob

That's what the remainder of 2006 is for... ;)

and '07.

Well I guess we don't have to worry about HD Illini games on WCIA anymore...

Big Ten Sports to Have Their Own Channel By Next Fall
Starting next fall, Illini fans across the country will be able to watch Big Ten Sports on its own channel. This morning, the conference announced the creation of the Big Ten Channel in conjuction with the Fox Cable Network. The channel will carry games from every conference school and will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Big Ten Channel will be available to all carriers and distributors nationwide, but right now Direct TV is the only carrier signed up to carry the channel.
Russ was on the news at 6 talking about it. Kinda sad but it's out of WCIA's hands. Illini sports have been a staple on WCIA all my life. I wonder if Altenberger will still be a broadcaster with the new network?

Stan

I'd be happier if they announced the formation of the Big Ten Channel HD :rolleyes:

Rupert Murdock owns the Fox channels and DirecTV and I hope that doesn't mean Dish won't get the channel as well.

I'd be happier if they announced the formation of the Big Ten Channel HD :rolleyes:
Well according to this article, it sounds like some of it will be in HD...

The Big Ten Channel is dedicated to covering both the athletic and academic content of the Big Ten member institutions on a national level. Showcasing a wide array of sports as well as original programming produced by the conference's 11 institutions, the Big Ten Channel will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It will be available to all carriers and distributors nationwide. The Big Ten Channel's first affiliate, DIRECTV, will deliver the Channel to its Total Choice Package subscribers at launch. Many events will be produced in High-Definition television (HDTV). In addition to traditional distribution through cable and satellite, select Big Ten Channel content will also be available through alternative media platforms such as the Internet, iPods, cell phones and/or other emerging technologies.

http://bigten.cstv.com/genrel/062106aad.html

Stan

Ill admit i dont watch them often, But it seems like every time i turn on Leno or Conan on WAND, it is NOT in hd.. Has anyone else noticed this? Do i just pick bad days to watch, or is WAND having troubles with HD?

Dr.

[QUOTE=Jokinjer1]This is official news I've heard straight from their newscast.
For anyone who Watched WMBD news yesterday @ 6 or 10, you'll already know this.

Also, WMBD has became the first nation in the area, and one of the first nationwide to debut an all-digital newsroom. They've been testing the new equippment since January before switching over about a week ago.

News editing will be much, much slicker. No more video tape, all memory cards. This will work quite nicely with thier upcoming Hi-Definition conversion come the first part of August. Now this is just a target date, it could be sooner or later depending on how smooth everything goes. But at last, an official announcment from WMBD on this issue.

How about this WCIA? Can you beat this?

[QUOTE=Jokinjer1]This is official news I've heard straight from their newscast.
For anyone who Watched WMBD news yesterday @ 6 or 10, you'll already know this.

Also, WMBD has became the first nation in the area, and one of the first nationwide to debut an all-digital newsroom. They've been testing the new equippment since January before switching over about a week ago.

News editing will be much, much slicker. No more video tape, all memory cards. This will work quite nicely with thier upcoming Hi-Definition conversion come the first part of August. Now this is just a target date, it could be sooner or later depending on how smooth everything goes. But at last, an official announcment from WMBD on this issue.

How about this WCIA? Can you beat this?

OK..Does this sound strange that they are touting an all digital newsroom and they cannot even pass a network HD signal???

:rolleyes:

T

Ill admit i dont watch them often, But it seems like every time i turn on Leno or Conan on WAND, it is NOT in hd.. Has anyone else noticed this? Do i just pick bad days to watch, or is WAND having troubles with HD?

Dr.

Yes ...I believe Leno had some issues on Thursday... Only 1 of the segments were in HD. In general ....I haven't seen too many issues.

T

Remarkably clear reception of 17, 20, and 23 analogs this morning from down here in STL.