coorsleftfield - Yep - like you I almost went to SD. but this has been true of Cheyenne Channel 5 all the time. I can not remember a show that was pristine the whole time

I'm in huntington hills - by Southridge golf course - I just have two attic antennas (a Wineguard VHF and a UHF) with a amp and no rotors. I get the same signals as you but never 9. Just was not worth the hassle of putting up a antenna and rotor outside the house - and then start the poliferation of antennas in the neighborhood - as I am the only one who knows that they can not be stopped (and I am on the HOA)

Reggie

coors and a4short,

Is KGWN actually passing an HD feed now? I recently got the CBSW feed from D* and haven't looked at KGWN since. Last I checked they weren't able to pass the HD feed for any primetime shows, but could pass for live events (the superbowl for example).

Bryan,

That must be the issue, because CSI did not look good at all, not compared to ER that I'm watching on 9 in HD right now.. night and day difference.. no dropouts either, even though I am getting a very weak signal from them.

bryankaiser - could be 480p - but I thought it was HD.

I did not check them out for the superbowl since I had CBS-HD on Directv.

So the Avs are on tomorrow on HDNet - but I am sure we will be blacked out :(
Of course if they play like last night who will care

Reggie

I didn't catch CSI on KGWN, but I did flip over for Without a Trace for a look -- and it definitely was NOT in HD. Lots of pixelation and stretched SD, not a good combination.

coorsleftfield,

Where, if I may ask, did you get the CM 4228 for only $15??

I take it the 4228 may be more powerful than the Winegard, or is the Winegard yagi better, but just far more expensive?

Who's a good antenna installer who knows the tricks of placement, mounting, correct mast length, and grounding (besides everything else)? Any suggestions?

Dan

Dan,

The shipping was $15.00 , the antenna was more like $50.. My point was that
starkelectronics quoted me $40 to ship the same antenna.. So I went
shopping for a better shipping price.

As for antenna installs, I think TheaterWizard does installs.. That or you can do it yourself, it's not rocket science. Maybe we should have an antenna party.. If you do it yourself, I have the snap-n-seal compression tool which installs high quality, weatherproof F-connectors on RG-6 cable.. I would recommend an 8' ground stake from Wintronics, they run about $13.00.

And where did you find the better shipping price? :D

Oh, I'm sure I could figure out the installation, but I suffer from vertigo and it would be installed on a steep second story roofline (actually, two different installs on similarly shaped roofs). If someone else feels up to being a billy goat, then more power to them!

Is that the Parts Express compression/crimp tool pack, by any chance, or something else? I've been looking for a good tool and weatherproof terminators.

Have you had any trouble with ground loops since you've grounded to a separate stake? I was under the impression you needed to ground antennas and satellite dishes to the main house ground so as not to get two different ground potentials. Am I wrong in assuming that?

Thanks!

Dan

Heres a place to get the 4228 for 50.00 plus 13.75 for shipping:

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/4228.htm

Prolly as good a deal as you'll find for getting that antenna short of finding someone else that ordered one but ended up going in a different direction and never sent the 4228 back.

I ended up buying from Soildsignal.com. Sounds like Warrenelectronics has a good price as well. I think stark just misquoted or something.

I'm using the it1000 tool and SNS6 connectors.. Bought it from here..
http://www.mjsales.net/thomasbetts659.htm

If you go on ebay, you can find the connectors cheaper, the it1000 tool
is also available from there.. If you just need some connectors put on, don't
buy a $60.00 tool, I can just come do them for you, only takes a minute.


I know nothing about grounding to two different locations.. My main house
ground stake was not in a good location or I would have used it.

Thanks!

Dan

Okay, so I tried combining two UHF antennas to pick up KGWN, but it causes me to lose ch 9 (too much loss with a CM 0538 joiner). Plus I've yet to see anything near a HD picture on KGWN.

Can anyone point me to the addresses/people for getting waivers so I can have D* activate the CBS-W HD feed? I watch CBS shows so infrequently anyway that it seems a better way to go.

BTW: a hint to those having problems with preamps - channel 25 out of Longmont is *way* stronger than the other UHF channels (short of the local Fox repeater). When I pulled the ch 25 notch filter off my CM 4228, channel 9 dropped off the planet. Putting the filter back in restored KUSA. I've got a friend who is going to try the same thing (his filter is on order) to see if it helps him.

Paul,

You can find the phone number for KGWN on their website (www.kgwn.tv). Give them a call and ask them to submit a waiver for you. They will fax it to D* for you. I have CBS-HD on D* thanks to their help!

I'd rather watch KGWN, and when they broadcast full time in HD I will. In the meantime we can get CBS-HD out of LA. (I asked if it was possible to turn on the east coast feed instead, but they said CBS wouldn't let them).

**Edit**
From their website:

Main Numbers
Phone: 1-307-634-7755
Fax: 1-307-638-0182

Originally posted by Paul_D
When I pulled the ch 25 notch filter off my CM 4228, channel 9 dropped off the planet. Putting the filter back in restored KUSA. I've got a friend who is going to try the same thing (his filter is on order) to see if it helps him.

Where are you getting this filter from?

http://www.cefilter.com

FYI, I have a Channelmaster 3020 VHF/UHF antenna forsale..
$50.00 picked up in Fort Collins.

I as able to get all of the Denver analog channels with this antenna without snow, and 2,5,21,32 on digital, with 9 and 53 coming in some of the time.

Anyone heard anything about KTVD. I read sometime ago that they were either going live or maybe just getting approval on 03/04. Digitaltvzone had posted this date before, but the links have been down for a couple of days now.

Just wondering......

This is from antennaweb:

Call Sign Channel Network City State Live Date Compass Orientation Miles From Frequency Assignment

KTVD-DT 19 UPN Denver CO 07-04 198° 53.2 19

So, the "live date" is 07-04. I'm not sure if that means that 4th of July or the 7th of March??

Thanks Mike,

In Canada the day is posted before the month, but I would imagine that there was a delay of some sort as usual so July sounds more realistic, especially since we are not in Canada :D

Probably reads the 7th month of 2004

Stefan

So in my persistant quest to receive channel 9 in HD, I had a friend from work bring over his LG lst-3100a receiver and swapped out my Samsung SIR-t151

It instantly picked up channel 9, where my Samsung almos never could. So
I guess I'm going to upgrade to an LG..

Proof for me that these Samsung's are garbage.

I thought they were more sensitive about channels that don't send out fully speced signals and tend to ignore them. Perhaps the LG is more "lax" about looking for channels that don't meet FCC digital broadcast guidelines to a "T."

However, that's great you're getting 9 now.

Dan

So KGWN faxed D* a waiver (and me a copy), but D* has yet to turn on CBS-HD west. Is there some other step I need to do? It's been two days now. Call D*? Get a waiver from KCNC also?

Paul,

It actually took a couple of weeks after the fax for them to turn it on for me. They even sent me a postcard saying I had been denied the waiver (which I know I hadn't). So feel free to call them to check on the status, but don't be surprised if it takes a little while.

By the way, I see that the tournament is in HD on KGWN. It looks good - I just wish they would pass HD ALL THE TIME!!!

Anyone know if channel 9 raised their power recently or something? I seem to
get them all the time now, even on my junky samsung receiver.. Maybe I'll keep it after all.. I could never get them with reliability before, now they seem
to come in all the time, and I haven't changed anything on my end.

I think you are just getting favorable atmospheric conditions right now.

I can't get 9 (DT 16), but under good conditions it will wiggle the signal meter. Generally I get zero on my Echostar 6000.

Mark

Originally posted by mknoebel
This is from antennaweb:

Call Sign Channel Network City State Live Date Compass Orientation Miles From Frequency Assignment

KTVD-DT 19 UPN Denver CO 07-04 198° 53.2 19

So, the "live date" is 07-04. I'm not sure if that means that 4th of July or the 7th of March??


The latest :(

From Antennaweb

KTVD-DT 19 UPN Denver CO 01-05 176° 56.1 19

Well, that's too bad. Thanks for posting though.

Originally posted by Paul_D
So KGWN faxed D* a waiver (and me a copy), but D* has yet to turn on CBS-HD west. Is there some other step I need to do? It's been two days now. Call D*? Get a waiver from KCNC also?

Paul,

I had to get waivers from KCNC and KGWN before Dish would let me see CBSHD. Once I got the KGWN waiver, I had CBSHD that same day.

I was watching the tournament last night and flipped over to see how KGWN was looking in HD. I noticed that the picture was breaking up quite a bit and there was NO SOUND!!

I wish they would get things working so that we could trust that there will be an HD picture coming from Cheyenne. And will they ever get their prime-time lineup going in HD??

I need to have three posts to post a thread link. So, here is #3...

Read the next post!

Hi!

I meant to pose the following question:

Thread Link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=391213)

in this thread since it applies more to the Northern CO location. But, I accidentally started a new thread.

Anyone here have any thoughts on the subject?

Thanks!

Sounds like this is the question from that thread that you're referring to:
One thing that I'm wondering is what kind of signal reception I can expect to get if I install an OTA antenna in my attic. I will be about 50 miles NNW of Denver's DT towers. I'd like to "hide" the antenna under the roof (so as not to upset my new neighbors). But if the roof attenuates the signal too much, or I'd be required to rotate the antenna for different stations, installing the antenna in the attic may not work. Anyone have thoughts or experience with this kind of setup?
I installed an antenna in my attic, and can pull in several digital stations from Denver: WB(2-1), PBS(12-1,-2,-3), Fox(31-1), some shopping channel (dunno--deleted it), and occasionally NBC (9-1). I also receive CBS from Cheyenne (5-1) using a smaller UHF-only second antenna pointed north.

The antennas are located in the attic above our two-story house. I had the builder use box trusses in that area to make aiming easier. The shingles are asphalt, and the relevant section of roof is 12/12 pitch. I might be at a higher elevation than your new location, but I'm also further from Denver (Windsor exit off of I-25).

FWIW,

- digiphotonerd

Yes, that's the question I was referring to, digiphotonerd. Thanks for answering.

I have a fairly big directional antenna from Radioshack that I bought about 6 years ago. I'm not sure the brand, but it is a VHF/UHF model. I think that it's at least 6' long. I wonder what the gain is? I mainly used it for SD reception before locals were available via D*. Maybe it will work, hopefully it will fit.

If it does work in the attic, I'll have to make sure that I can rotate it when Lookout Mtn. comes on-line.

mikeaco,

I think you should consider your chances of getting the low-power Denver channels (KRMA-DT PBS, KCNC-DT CBS, KUSA-DT NBC) as small from Loveland/Berthoud, even with a rooftop antenna. That's not to say it is impossible, but more likely than not you won't get them or they will be intermittent. You have no chance at all for KMGH (ABC).

I think MalcolmG (in the other thread), who does get the three above from west of Loveland, lives in the foothills with good line-of-sight toward downtown Denver. Most of us in the plains don't have that. Correct me if I'm wrong, Malcolm!

Mark

Yeah, I guess I didn't consider that he could live in the foothills. I saw Windsor/I-25 and assumed that he was in the plains. But, he did say that he would probably be at a higher elevation. So, I guess that really implies that he is in the foothills, as far North as the Winsor/I-25 exit.

But, I've read that others in this thread have had success near where I live now (Shields/Harmony in FTC). So, moving further South to a more unobstructed view can't hurt, can it?

Mike -

Mark was referring to Malcolm, who apparently does live in the foothills. I (digiphotonerd) do not -- I'm actually east of I-25.

Have you checked antennaweb.org yet, to see what the compass headings will be from your new address to the various stations? Upon rereading your post, I noticed that you said you're NNW of the transmitters. If that's true, you may have "shadowing" issues with the foothills...

- digiphotonerd

Originally posted by mbuchana
mikeaco,

I think you should consider your chances of getting the low-power Denver channels (KRMA-DT PBS, KCNC-DT CBS, KUSA-DT NBC) as small from Loveland/Berthoud, even with a rooftop antenna. That's not to say it is impossible, but more likely than not you won't get them or they will be intermittent. You have no chance at all for KMGH (ABC).

I think MalcolmG (in the other thread), who does get the three above from west of Loveland, lives in the foothills with good line-of-sight toward downtown Denver. Most of us in the plains don't have that. Correct me if I'm wrong, Malcolm!

Mark

Yep, around 5500 feet with a long wide valley below me pointing at Denver. I never actually hauled a telescope up on the roof to see if I actually had line of sight, but hey, it works. The house is only one story, so Mikeaco, your two stories may help.

Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be moving south to Colorado Springs in a few weeks; one of the few places in worst shape for OTA HD than the Denver area.

digiphotonerd,

Right. For the low-power stations, I see you get KUSA intermittently, and none of the others.

Interestingly, I thought antennaweb used to be a lot more accurate, but now it doesn't seem to reflect my experience at all. Here is what it says for my address in SE Ft Collins (Horsetooth/Lemay area), compared to my actual experience with a medium directional antenna, pre-amp, and rotor. Actually, the UHF performance on this antenna should be better than most medium directionals. The results below reflect pointing the antenna correctly.

antennaweb actual
KFCT-DT 21.1 Fox lt green receive intermittently
KGWN-DT 5.1 CBS lt green receive reliably ~ 90 strength
KLWY-DT 28.1 Fox red receive rarely
KDEN-DT 29 (home shopping) blue receive intermittently
KWGN-DT 2.1 WB blue receive reliably ~ 84 strength
KBDI-DT 38.1 PBS violet receive reliably, 90+
KDVR-DT 32.1 No longer listed! receive reliably ~ 84 strength

I don't get any of the LP Denver stations, though one or two will wiggle the meter when conditions are just right. I find it odd that my strongest DTV station is listed as "violet" in the listings and that KDVR no longer even shows up.

Mark

Good data, mbuchana.

What kind of setup do you have? Antenna mounted on the roof or in the attic or other?

Where I will be in SW Loveland, I'm also worried about wind. Having the antenna in the attic will solve the (possible) wind problem. I can get really windy in valleys without protection from other houses or trees. Although, it doesn't seen to bother DBS dishes...

digiphotonerd - I did check AntennaWeb, but from my FTC location. I just checked it for my future location and most of the Denver major networks are at about 180 degrees. Cheyenne shows up close to 0 degrees. So, according to that, I won't really be NNW of Denver or SSW of Cheyenne...

mikeaco,

The antenna is on the roof. This page (http://www.spectravox.com/hd7080.html) seems to show both the antenna (actually mine is the previous year model, but I can't see any difference) and the pre-amp that I'm using. I'm really not sure how much difference the pre-amp makes for the digital channels.

Mark

Originally posted by mikeaco
most of the Denver major networks are at about 180 degrees. Cheyenne shows up close to 0 degrees. So, according to that, I won't really be NNW of Denver or SSW of Cheyenne...
Good -- maybe you won't have shadowing issues after all. I wish there were a resource that combined a 3D topo map with antennaweb-type data to give definitive answers (not to mention cool visualizations ;) ) to those along the front range.

Anyway, I just looked up the invoice for my antenna-related stuff, in case it helps:
Winegard HD-7082 (large directional VHF/UHF) pointed towards the middle of the Denver towers
Winegard AP-8700 preamp mounted on the above
Winegard "30 mile" UHF antenna (can't find part #) pointed north
ChannelPlus DA-500A preamp connected to that

I was flipping around the channels tonight, and it looks like KGWN is broadcasting their prime-time line up in HD!! Everything is tape delayed for the mountain time zone, so they must have received their TIVO. ;)

I'm noticing a few video breakups, but overall looks pretty good! It would be great if they are ready to do this full time now.

This would truly be good news if it stays that way, just in time for summer???? :(

Stefan

I just stumbled onto this thread while wondering if there were any other AVS folks in northern CO. I see we have a bunch! Sorry to hijack the HD thread but... Any interest in local meets? I'd like to meet some local HT enthusiasts! I can't offer my place yet (it ain't built yet :) ) but hopefully soon...

I see the Avs/Sharks game is on ESPNHD on the 26th and the 28th.

I've got a Channel Master 3010 Stealth antenna with amp for sale if anyone is in the market for one. New in the box. Make offer.

John
jme5@pvhs.org

Has there been any more HD from KGWN? I tuned in briefly last night, but they were just doing the stretched SD.

Mark

Isn't the Avs game going to be blacked out because it's on channel 20 as well?

I think it gets blacked out if its on UPN20 or on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain.

Unfortunalety you are right, if they are broadcast locally then we will be blacked out on ESPN. Something needs to change there as the signal provided to use by ESPNHD is not what UPN provides:(


guess we can just keep our fingers crossed that they dont black it out this time.

A couple of questions:

* Does anyone know what is happening with KGWN?? They were passing everything HD, but now they have stopped. I got my HD Tivo and told it to record CSI on Thursday, but it was stretched SD.

* Anyone know what's up with digital channel 11? I am getting 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 and 11-5. There is nothing on 1 through 4, and 5 looks like it is showing spanish music videos with no audio??

Looks like they decided to run five standard res signals instead of one HD in the allotted bandwidth...........Bad news for us. Hopefully its just for the summer.

That's what I was thinking also. I'm with you - hope it's just temporary.

I noticed KGWN-DT was doing true HD again last night. It looked great. Are they doing this consistently & reliably now?

I got a lot of breakups when they switched to local commercials, but not during the HD programming.

The DD 5.1 flags were set, even though it was only 2-channel audio. Not a problem when using the analog audio outputs from my HD receiver.

Mark

I'm glad to hear that KGWN was passing HD last night. But it's been real hit/miss lately. They didn't have HD for last Thursday's shows. They didn't have HD for the golf over the weekend. I've got the CBS-HD West feed from D* so I've got options in HD, but I'd rather know that I can watch a local station without wondering if it will be HD or stretched SD.

Hello all -

Here is the most up-to-date info on the Denver Home Theater Projector Expo we are holding at the Marriot Tech Center June 5th and 6th. Everyone is welcome:

Dates - June 5th and 6th

Location - The Marriott Tech Center
4900 South Syracuse Denver, CO 80237 USA
Phone: 1 303-779-1100 Fax: 1 303-740-2523

Toll free 1-800-444-2206, specify Tech Center Marriott

Room rate $69.00 single/double

Projectors:

Screenplay 777 (new 3 chip DLP from Infocus)
JVC HX1
Sharp XVZ12000
Screenplay 7205
Studio Experience 50HD
Optoma H76
NEC HT-1100 (with anamorphic lens)
Screenplay 5700
Studio Experience 2HD (Sanyo Z2 clone)
Screenplay 4805

We're still trying to get a SIM HD2+ for the show.

We will have screens and samples from Stewart, Dalite, Vutec, Carada, and Screen Research.

Infocus may have representatives in person for a presentation on the 777, 7205, and 4805 PLUS have given us free reign to use them INDEPENDENTLY in the shootout.

We will have a Bravo D1 DVD player as a giveaway on day one, a D2 as a giveaway on day 2.

Projectors will be shown sequentially with about an hour devoted to each - we are thinking 5 a day.

We hope to have all projectors ISF calibrated prior to the event.

Tentative schedule:

Day One: 10 am - 12 pm: General Front Projection/HDTV Presentation plus Q and A OR Infocus presentation

12 - 1 pm - Lunch Break

1 - 6 pm - Projector Shootout

After 6, we're all heading to the bar and restaurant. Inebriated Q and A session to follow, for anyone wanting to hang around!

Day Two: 10 am - 12 pm: Screens! Comparison between greys and whites

12 - 1 pm - Food!

1 - 6 pm - Projector Shootout part two

The actual schedule may be massaged a bit, but the dates and location are now LOCKED IN.

E-mail me or Brad at the addresses below for more. We hope to see many of you there!

John

Here is the schedule for our Home Theater Projector Expo this weekend. A quick reminder:

Where: The Denver Tech Center Marriott
When: June 5th and 6th (Saturday and Sunday)

Admission is free. In fact, we are giving away a Bravo D2 DVI enabled DVD player each day.

Please keep in mind that this could change if a projector doesn't show up, work, or we have a strong request from those present to change the order:

Saturday, June 5th

10-11 am: Front Projection basics, Q and A
11-12 am: Infocus presentation
12-1 pm: Break for Lunch
1-2 pm: Screenplay 777
2-3 pm: JVC HX-1
3-4 pm: Screenplay 7205
4-5 pm: Sharp XV-Z12000
5-6 pm: Studio Experience 50HD

Sunday June 6th

10-11 am: Screens
11-12 am: BenQ PE8700
12-1 pm: Break for Lunch
1-2 pm: Optoma H76
2-3 pm: Screenplay 4805
3-4 pm: Screenplay 5700
4-5 pm: NEC HT-1100
5-6 pm: Studio Experience 2HD (Sanyo Z-2 clone)

That's it! I have not heard from JVC today regarding the HD2K. As soon as I do, I will let everyone know.

Just to make things clear, we are not buying everyone lunch! There are plenty of places to eat in and around the Marriott, most of them chains (Colorado is chain crazy, for some reason).

We are excited to meet everyone and we will do our best to put on a good show!

John

It's nice to see that KGWN-DT is carrying the CBS HD lineup now. However, I am getting occasional breakups of picture and sound. It's almost like the signal briefly drops out.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

Mark

Mark,

I haven't watched KGWN-DT in quite a while because they have been so inconsistant with their HD signal. I'll try to check it out tonight between periods of the Stanley Cup finals.

Well I am a newbie here, but this is more info than I have seen in a while. I have been working on OTA and many providers as of late including DirecTV, Comcast and Voom. Obviously it will not happen with D* at the time being, when Voom came out I was able to get more OTA channels than before. I currently receive via DTV: WB, NBC, FOX and 11-3 (?), I also have the CBS waiver for the LA feed in HD via DirecTV. I have tried a lot of equipment but currently have a 55” RP Samsung (HD), HTL-HD, Tivo and waiting on my HD Tivo. The OTA antenna I have is a Winegard 8-bay, it was provided by Voom, previously they had given me a channel master 3010, that worked okay too.

I am in Loveland around 43rd & Taft so if you’re in that area and need help, feel free to e-mail. I spend most of my time at Satelliteguys.us same ID there. I have put a ton of time into this over the last year before I found the fourms.

Welcome, slacker9876! You get one more channel OTA than I do. I just can't get a lock on NBC (you do mean channel 9, right?). You should also be able to receive KGWN out of Cheyenne (CBS digital channel 30 - remapped to 5-1).

I notice KGWN-DT isn't stretching their SD anymore--now they are showing 4:3 with black bars. I think they use the HD feed from CBS all evening whether HD or SD, so maybe they decided the switching back and forth between stretched and non-stretched didn't make any sense. I agree!

They have been pretty reliable with HD lately, but I still get some dropouts. I don't think it is my setup since I don't have that problem with the Denver stations.

Mark

I agree about the stretching also, Mark.

Did anyone happen to notice KGWN on Thursday night? We were watching Without a Trace. When it finished, instead of going into the 10pm news, they started showing CSI Miami. They caught it at about 10:20 then flipped over to news. (all looked good in HD, BTW!)

The only thing I could think of was that they were catching a west coast feed. I didn't watch CBS early Thursday evening -- was CSI Miami even on??

The Fort Collins Coloradoan had an article yesterday saying that
Comcast has delayed their plans to offer HDTV in Fort Collins until 2005.

They blamed it on time required to make the upgrades.

The article doesn't seem to be in the online version. Mostly, the article was poor, not mentioning over-the-air at all, and implying that you could get everything on satellite.

Comcast is missing an opportunity here, since they would be the only game in town for most of the Denver HDTV channels. Instead, we continue to get nothing.

Strange that it's been available in Denver for a while now but we can't get it up north. Disapointing, sure. But not surprising. It'll probably be ready about the time the tower gets up.
:rolleyes:

OT: I pulled the names of all the posters to this thread for the last 6 months and sent everyone a PM to see who was interested in local HT meets. So far we have 5 people interested -- certainly enough for a start. If you or anyone else you know would be interested, drop me a PM or (preferably) an email to fritz at frii dot com.

Gary

Originally posted by mknoebel
Strange that it's been available in Denver for a while now but we can't get it up north. Disapointing, sure. But not surprising. It'll probably be ready about the time the tower gets up.
:rolleyes:

I wonder if Comcast is in the same boat we are, maybe they need to receive the HD locals via antenna as well, then re transmit them locally? They have been doing this with analog locals for years. This would explain the delay until the tower is available for there use as well.

Just a thought
Stefan

You would think it would make more sense to receive it in Denver and beam up a clean signal (via microwave/whatever) to FC. But that would cost money, so...

Obviously Comcast (or at least my local cable option, US Cable) has been receiving the analog signals locally. Otherwise I wouldn't have such crappy skip-riddled signals on channel 2.

Yup, it has everything to do with the local Comcast branch picking their locals up using a garden variety roof antenna instead of a direct commercial quality link with the Denver headquarters. It's as much a waiting game on the tower for them as it is for us.

The exact same analog glitches that occur with going that route show up plainly on their retransmitted signals such as ghosting, snow, microwave interference on the lower band channels, etc.

Looks like the best thing to do would be to put up a good UHF antenna once the tower is up, operational, and at full power for the locals. Otherwise, we may be getting an even crappier retransmitted OTA signals as who knows what further compression they'll do to it.

Comcast's cable quality in Fort Collins sucks and I doubt HDTV will be any better. Their local facility is soooo behind the times.

I guess it's an antenna and satellite in the future for me.

Originally posted by mknoebel
Strange that it's been available in Denver for a while now but we can't get it up north. Disapointing, sure. But not surprising. It'll probably be ready about the time the tower gets up.
:rolleyes:

Are you unable to pull the signal via OTA? I tweaked my antenna the other day (during our lightening storm) but I am now getting KCNC from Denver. Apparently they are not fulltime as I only get the prime time shows and the news. Anyway, the OTA picture quality with KCNC (CBS) if far better than what I am getting from DirecTV, the LA feed.

Is Comcast everyone’s only option? Because they are terrible and slow. A long time ago I was told HD would come with high speed Internet. Well I have HSI and no HD. Also the HD channels are mapped in the 600+ range, so unless you desire digital cable … you will need it to get the Denver locals in HD, which is BS. Once the Lake Cedar project is done, I know, it has to start first, then OTA from Lookout Mtn, should be no issue with a good antenna.

I'm in south Fort Collins, and I'm only able to receive Fox (22 & 31) and KWGN (2) in digital, along with 12. I've since faced my antenna north to receive CBS (5) from Cheyenne. In that direction I still get Fox (22), but gave up WB and PBS.

Is there an antenna solution that could bring me KCNC? I can't even register a blip at this time. KUSA seems the strongest, but I get nowhere near a lock.

I'm not surprised about the Comcast decision. I currently have DirecTV, and they may end up giving us HD locals before cable. Also, I'm confident that reception won't be a problem once the tower is constructed and broadcasting starts.

Anybody else have problems with 12-1 (mapped from 38-1, IIRC) lately? This morning, I had plenty of signal strength, but no image or sound...

jpco, If you could substitute KGWN for KCNC, you could do what I am currently doing. KGWN is giving me enough signal here in Longmont that I can use an amplified Silver Sensor (indoor) antenna to get the Cheyenne CBS station (which gives me a minor degree of breakups and freeze frames, which I attribute to the distance), and I have an amplified Square Shooter (outdoor) facing south for FOX, WB, and PBS channel 12-1,2,3. I also usually get NBC starting around 10PM and lasting until around 7AM. I have joined them using a Channel Master JoinTenna (about $30). I had them cut it for channel 29 instead of 30 to reduce the attenuation to channel 32. It works well, but since I installed it last Friday, I have lost sound and image on 12-1 through 12-3. Maybe it's them, though, as digiphotonerd is seeing the same thing? My signal strength is in the 70's (typically) for 30, 93 for 32, 100 for 34, and around 80 for 38. Without the JoinTenna, I was getting very near the same readings. This thing is great! (but I may have lost 12-x, not sure now). Not many have luck getting the downtown Denver stations from your distance unless they are very near the front range and have good line of sight to the south, but there's been reports that some do (at least from Loveland, not sure about further north). KGWN seems to be a good substitute currently, but not sure if it will continue since they were more sporatic for HD in the not too distant past.

From Denver I am able to receive KDVR (Fox) and KWGN (WB) with solid signals. The needle moves with KCNC and KUSA, but no signal. KMGH doesn't move it a bit. (antenna is in my attic)

Then, out of Cheyenne I can pull in KGWN (CBS) which is starting to be more reliable about a good HD broadcast.

Are you saying that the KCNC HD signal is better than the LA HD feed on DirecTv?? Because I find that a pretty good HD channel.

The 2-hour time delay for prime time is a problem for me with D*, although the PQ is great on both.

Originally posted by mknoebel
Are you saying that the KCNC HD signal is better than the LA HD feed on DirecTv?? Because I find that a pretty good HD channel.

Yes, it looks much cleaner. I'll edit this post and addd signal levels in a bit .. in a poker tourney :)

okay here we go, these are from Loveland with an 8-bowtie antenna. I am using the DTV ID's, not channel numbers:

DTV Signal Callsign
11 = 82 ? Nothing on anyway
15 = 79 ? I would like to know ...
16 = 59 KUSA
18 = 26 KRMA (This was faded during sample)
21 = 24 FOX Ft Collins (Don't get it)
32 = 87 FOX Denver
34 = 90 WB (it figures)
35 = 35 KCNC (Faded out too, was 56 last night)
38 = 62 KBDI (No video / audio ... weird)

I would also have to agree that the KCNC feed is far better than the D* one. For those of you trying to pull in KUSA and KCNC, it is very hit or miss once you get north of Longmont or thereabouts. Amplifiers seem to help a lot, I wouldn't get KRMA, KCNC or KUSA without one. Antenna placement is also crucial. I have found only one place where my antenna works for all channels, move it by 2 inches and I lose something. You really need to have someone watching the signal meter while you adjust your antenna, and just be really patient. Sometimes the best location is not where you think it is, try all avaiable places for your antenna. My antenna is up in some aspen trees in my back yard!

Is anyone receiving KGWN-DT 30 (Cheyenne) without breakups? These breakups seem to come in groups, so sometimes I get it fine for quite a while and then it will start breaking up, acting like the signal was lost momentarily.

Mark

I just looked right now and no problems are evident. But on the long term, I also see that pattern. It is like their encoder can't keep up and drops some of the stream, but then seems to recover in a few seconds. I haven't kept track, but seems to be several times per hour. During the time of their local ads, alot of red (like in a car commercial with a red car), the break ups seem severe, not sure what the red has to do wiith it, but I've noticed that has been the case for over a year now. Sound from local origin is still horribly messed up, and there's a loud high pitched click sound when they switch from local back to HD from the network. There seems also to be a slight greenish tinge to the HD that doesn't happen on the CBS-W feed, but hardly noticible but I'm picky (as you can tell!). On the positive side, the elimination of the SD strech is a big plus for me.

I have never received KGWN-DT with any scale of reliability and when I did get it (great picture) the audio was so bas it sounded mono.

Watching Raymond and CSI last night on KGWN, there were no breakups for me (!), and only once a freeze frame (beginning of Raymond). But, the double click/chirp when they switched from local ads back to CSI was loud enough to cause me concern of having damaged my speakers (not to mention our ears!).

I saw 2.5 Men last night, and there were only a couple of very minor glitches. The audio on local commercials was messed up, as always, but the CBS feed was OK. They had a big delay switching back to HD after one commercial break.

I know that many here already receive KBDI-DT OTA, but today I was flipping around and for the first time I was able to get a strong enough signal to lock on.

Seeing how I wasn't able to get it before, I wasn't paying attention - do they do anything in HD yet? I see they have 3 subchannels, but nothing is in HD??

As far as I have seen, they are running 480i on all three channels.

Tonight the second is not running and the third is showing a test pattern. Signal strength been varying lately at my location.

Ken

I was flipping around the channels recently and noticed a station that I haven't seen before. I see that KKTU-DT at 33-1. KKTU is the ABC station that their website says is located in Casper, Wyoming. As of right now, the signal strength is showing "good" on my Zenith receiver, but there is no programming on as of now.

That would be fantastic if we were able to get an ABC channel OTA! Monday Night Football! Does anyone know the status? Are they testing, getting ready to start broadcasting??

ABC MNF would be SWEET! I did want to check with some of you in here, with the hot weather my KUSA Ch 9-1 has been freaking out, I could not even watch the news this morning, anyone else seeing issues? Others are in and out for me, seem like I pull the best quality when it's cool & cloudy!

This is a real bummer because I just had the focus and convergence adjusted and now the set looks better than EVER. Better yet I have the service codes now to do it all and know how to adjust the guns (God Help Me) if I ever see the need.

As I have said Fox is my only bullet proof station , well WB too, but I never watch ... NFL Sunday Ticket will give me enough HD I think!!!! I do not have any Casper stations showing up but I'll rescan this evening!

Originally posted by mknoebel
I was flipping around the channels recently and noticed a station that I haven't seen before. I see that KKTU-DT at 33-1. KKTU is the ABC station that their website says is located in Casper, Wyoming...

I scanned for new stations and this popped up on my map too. I am getting a very strong signal; but alas, it appears this is channel 11, which I don't think any of us are receiving :( When I check signal strength on my HTL-HD it provides the digital channel number.

OT: A few of us are forming a Northern CO HT group, with the idea of meeting other local HT geeks, having occasional get-togethers, seeing each others' setups, etc.

Our first meet is scheduled for Thursday, Aug 12 at 7pm, in SE Ft. Collins. PM me if you'd like to join us!

Very disappointing that KGWN is not showing the PGA Tournament in HD. They didn't yesterday either. I hope they get things together before football season and the fall TV season start.

Glad to see that KGWN has flipped on HD for the PGA! Thanks KGWN!

Didn't bother to read but has anyone noticed that KKTU is online. I am only getting video but I will be checking for audio now that video is on. Anyone else getting it?

Actually I am not sure what I am getting but I can tune:

11-2
11-3
11-4
11-5
31.1
31.2

They are all showing up as channel 11 when I hit the signal strength on the HTL-HD

I'm on the far NE corner of Ft. Collins, with a hill between me & Denver, so getting Denver HD stations OTA is almost out of the question. I'm considering getting Dish, since DirecTV doesn't seem to have that great an offering. Dish says they have local channels included in the line-up. If you have the HD Dish package, does the local channel selection include local (Denver & Cheyenne?) HD channels, or only the standard SD channels?

Originally posted by slacker9876
Didn't bother to read but has anyone noticed that KKTU is online. I am only getting video but I will be checking for audio now that video is on. Anyone else getting it?

Actually I am not sure what I am getting but I can tune:

11-2
11-3
11-4
11-5
31.1
31.2

They are all showing up as channel 11 when I hit the signal strength on the HTL-HD

That's what I have too. No audio. It appears to be ABC programming on 11-4. No HD. Hopefully it's a sign of better things to come.

Hi gang,

So I picked up my HD Tivo about a month ago, and I'm bored
with the satellite HD channels now. (Well, Bravo HD was nice
when it started after the Olympics.) I want to tinker with OTA
HD now. All that's connected to my unit is rabbit ears in my
basement family room, and I'm surprised in a way that I can
get a glimmer of Cheyenne's CBS and our local Fox repeater,
but they're not useful signals. I started trying to get signals
when I moved here four years ago, and put a Radio Shack
VU-120R in the attic, but from experiments the other night it's
obviously not connected properly at the moment (dang).

Some questions:

I'm in the Landings, between Horsetooth and Harmony and
between College and Lemay. How close is anyone to me, and
what are you receiving? With what kind of antenna?

One of the only things I got on the wire I tried the other night
was channel 11 - they had five subchannels with no PSIP, no
sound, and really crappy video all around. I assume this is
ABC out of Cheyenne, KKTU. Is this sad performance the norm
for these guys, or did they just turn the transmitter on last
week?

I may rely on the attic antenna in the short term, but I'm also
considering just having a professional come in and put up a
new, known-working setup with a rotor. Any recommendations
on that?

Has anyone in the Landings talked to the architectural review
board about rooftop antennas and the FCC's override of HOA
covenants? Has anyone talked to their HOA committee about
it? I have a link to the FCC document, but I want to talk to the
ARB such that we still get approvals for other things in the
future :-)

Has anyone in FC recently been granted a waiver from KGWN
to get CBS-HD on Directv? How did you do this? Any tips?

Thanks,
Rob T

Originally posted by rthurlow
Some questions:

I'm in the Landings, between Horsetooth and Harmony and
between College and Lemay. How close is anyone to me, and
what are you receiving? With what kind of antenna?

I am located at just southeast of Harmony and College. I have a Winegard GS2000A (http://www.winegard.com/offair/sensar.htm) that came with my DirecTV HD receiver. I face it northeast and receive:

5-1 KGWN
22-1 KFCT (FOX)

If I face it south, I get the following:
2-1 KWGN
12-1,12-2, 12-3, but not consistent
31-1 KDVR, not consistent

So, basically I chose the solid Fox signal and gave up channel 2. This way I also get KGWN solidly.

I got an HD waiver from KGWN in April, before I got my antenna positioned and had consistent reception. I did it via e-mail on the web site, to the station manager. I specified that it was only for HD, and they sent me and D* a letter specifying as much.

I've got a Radio Shack antenna (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F002%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D2160) high in my garage.

I face it almost due north according to www.antennaweb.com to get

2-1 (KWGN --> WB)
5-1 (KGWN --> CBS)
31-1 ( ? --> Fox)

I tried pointing it south gained nothing. I lost 2-1.

I live on the border of Ft. Collins and Loveland between Lemay and College.

Originally posted by turt
I've got a Radio Shack antenna (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F002%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D2160) high in my garage.

I've tried that RS antenna, and I was unable to pull in as much as with the Winegard so it was returned. However, my antenna is mounted on my roof with an 8 ft. mast. Not sure how it would work in an attic or garage. As for FOX, when pointing toward the signal, it's more consistent for me with the Fort Collins station KFCT on 21-1.

Rob T,

I'm northeast of Horsetooth & Lemay near Lake Sherwood.

I have a rooftop Winegard antenna (similar to the current HD7080 model, about 90" long) with a rotator and Winegard preamp. I can get Denver's KDVR (32, 31-1), KBDI (38, 12-1,2,3), and KWGN (34, 2-1, 2-2) reliably. Curiously, even when rotating my antenna to the northeast, KFCT on 21-1 is weak and has breakups. Maybe it's multipath, pre-amp overload, or something else.

When pointed north, KGWN is fine, and I can also lock 11-x with a bit of effort. Sometimes there has been Spanish programming on 11-3, but I've never seen anything on the others.

As for your HOA/ARB, as you probably know, they can't require pre-approval for you to put up an antenna. If your covenants are in violation of the FCC rules, you would be doing them a favor to let them know that fact.

Mark

Nobody here has Dish? I'd really like to know if the Dish "local channels" option includes the local HD channels...

Dish does not carry HD locals due to a lack of bandwidth. DISH carries a CBS HD east coast and west coast feeds for people living in markets where the CBS affiliate is an O&O or for people who received a waiver.

What's an O&O? Hopefully I could get a waiver because I don't think I could get it OTA.

Unfortunately I don't think I'd get much else OTA either. Rats. I was hoping Dish would provide a simple solution.

Thanks -- Gary

Here's my understanding. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong.

O&O stands means the network is "owned and operated" by the network itself. In some cities, NBC is owned and operated by NBC. In others it may be owned/operated by a third party. Same for all the networks. Joe's NBC theoretically loses local advertising money if we are all watching the satellite broadcast of NBC instead of his. If you are in an area that is very remote and you can't get the local broadcast OTA (even analog), then you can apply for a waiver to get the satellite. I'm encouraged that jpco was able to get a waiver because I've heard they're hard to get.

I have DirecTV. They have CBS and will soon have Fox and NBC. They are in negotiations with ABC. But unless we can get waivers or the system changes, we're still stuck trying OTA.

See the HDTV programming forum. Lots of stickies at the top discussing these issues.

garyfritz,

If you live in Fort Collins, you are located in the Denver Designated Market Area (DMA). The CBS affiliate in Denver, KCNC, is owned by Viacom (o&o). Since you live in a market where CBS owns its affiliate, you will be eligible to receive the CBS-HD feed on DirecTV.

If you lived in one of the three counties that make up the Cheyenne DMA, you would have to rely on the over-the-air CBS HD signal from KGWN or petition for a waiver (not likely to be granted).

Originally posted by effseesee
If you live in Fort Collins, you are located in the Denver Designated Market Area (DMA). The CBS affiliate in Denver, KCNC, is owned by Viacom (o&o). Since you live in a market where CBS owns its affiliate, you will be eligible to receive the CBS-HD feed on DirecTV.

If you lived in one of the three counties that make up the Cheyenne DMA, you would have to rely on the over-the-air CBS HD signal from KGWN or petition for a waiver (not likely to be granted).

Fort Collins needs a waiver from KGWN (Grade A-Strong Signal). D* would not turn on the CBS-HD signal without a waiver from them, which I received by writing the following e-mail:

===========

Dear Ms. Turner,

I live in Fort Collins and have activated DirecTV HD services. I am requesting a waiver so that I will be able to view the CBS HD feed from DirecTV. I do have an outdoor antenna, but I get no signal when trying to tune to KGWN.

My information:

XXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXX XXXXXXX Drive
Fort Collins, CO 8052X
(970) ###-####
DirecTV Account Number: #######

Thank you,
XXXXX XXXXXXX

===========

Two days later I received this reply, followed by a letter sent to my home:

Hi XXXX,
We got your waiver request for CBS and I just faxed your waiver to Direct TV.
Enjoy.

Originally posted by effseesee

If you lived in one of the three counties that make up the Cheyenne DMA, you would have to rely on the over-the-air CBS HD signal from KGWN or petition for a waiver (not likely to be granted).

I called KGWN directly and was able to get the waiver for CBS-HD on DirecTv.

By the way, does anyone know what is going on with the 11-...... channels?? With Monday night football starting tonight, it would be great to have a local ABC station showing the games in HD! I certainly don't like the looks of all the subchannels though.

Channel 11 is a wierd bird. The station is owned by Equity Broadcasting in Little Rock. The FCC approved Equity's application to move Channel 11 from Cheyenne down to Fort Collins. The reason was to provide over the air coverage into Denver.

Some of you may wonder why an ABC station in Cheyenne would want coverage into Denver. That's because Channel 11 is not meant to be an ABC station. In fact, Equity signed a deal with a start-up network targeting Asian-American viewers. The network, ImaginAsian TV, has signed a deal with Equity to broadcast on Equity stations in a number of communities. The network began operations a few weeks ago. Channel 11 is being used to serve the Denver metropolitan area.

I assume one of the subchannels will contain ABC programming.

That is a weird scenario. I am picking up all the 11-X signals on the backside of my UHF antenna. Strength is around 60 on my DTC-100. Is this station being mapped to 11 or am I receiving a VHF dtv signal on my UHF rig?

From the looks of it we won't be receiving ABC-HD anytime soon from 11-4 but probably before KMGH. ;)

Hi all,

I have the Hughes HTL-HD box and I went ahead and purchased a CM 4228 with rotor and preamp that I want to put on my rooftop (one story ranch). I'm thinking about having a professional do the install.

Any recommendations for a NC (Fort Collins) installer? I looked in the yellow pages and all I could find was University TV on Mason. Any experience with them?

Mainly, I am concerned with avoiding any cold spots on my roof, along with making sure the antenna is grounded according to NEC guidelines.

If I had the time and a willing helper, I would just do the install myself. Any volunteers? ;)

Thanks,
Kent

Hi folks, thanks for the tips and info. I have CBS-HD from Directv now,
though it was a little frustrating to get there. The gist was that when
I'd talked to Directv on receipt of my HR10-250, they had requested a
general waiver, not an HD-only waiver, and that was gumming up the
works. When I contacted KGWN directly, a staffer got a waiver and
faxed it the same day, but it conflicted with the "no" on the general
waiver. Heck, even KCNC refused the general waiver, but when I
contacted them, they got a good Directv guy involved, and after he'd
got the waiver grant faxed to him, I had service inside of an hour.
I guess I got an inexperienced customer service person who didn't
know as much about distant networks as he thought he did (what a
surprise :-)

I noticed that NBC-HD started today on Directv, and I was able to get
almost the same HD-only waiver request off to KUSA in e-mail minutes
after (since they're an affiliate, not O&O) - we'll see what they want to
do. At least there's not another NBC in Cheyenne :-)

As for OTA, the only thing I've had time to do is tweak my rabbit
ears a bit - but for that effort, I've manged to snag several shows
from KFCT 21! It's pretty dependent on time of day and weather,
but I sometimes have a fine signal from them. I find this very funny,
given the difficulty some have with this. Wherabouts is their tower,
anyway?

My next real step is to see if the rat shack antenna in my attic is
giving a useful analog signal as pointed, before I even worry about
getting it hooked up - I can drag a portable TV to near the access.
I missed the HOA's ARB meeting this month, I know.

Rob T

I sent the e-mail waiver request for HD to KUSA on Monday night. Still haven't heard anything. I'll post once there's a response.

Originally posted by rthurlow
KFCT 21 ...snip... Wherabouts is their tower, anyway?

If you go to AntennaWeb (http://www.antennaweb.org), click on "Choose an antenna", and enter your address, you'll get a list of exact bearings and ranges to the transmit towers for TV stations in your area.

- digiphotonerd

Originally posted by rthurlow
I noticed that NBC-HD started today on Directv, and I was able to get
almost the same HD-only waiver request off to KUSA in e-mail minutes
after (since they're an affiliate, not O&O) - we'll see what they want to
do. At least there's not another NBC in Cheyenne :-)
Rob T

Well, I got my reply from KUSA. Here it is:

-----
Subject: RE: Request for HD-only waiver for Directv
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 16:20:04 -0600
From: "Montoya, Tina" <tina.montoya@9news.com> Add to Address Book
To: "Rob Thurlow" <rthurlow@yahoo.com>
CC: "KUSA-PF" <pf@9news.com>

Thank you for your e-mail requesting a waiver from our station to
receive distant network programming of our television network delivered to
you via satellite. We are not in a position to grant your request since
you are within our signal coverage.

As you may know Jefferson County recently approved our zoning request
to building our new high powered facility that will allow more of our
viewers to receive KUSA in high definition. However, due to prior
litigation brought by the City of Golden, we are now waiting for Judge
Jackson to review this approval. It will take eight to ten month for this
facility to be brought on line once we are allowed to break ground.

Comcast cable is now carrying local channels, including KUSA in HDTV.
We hope that both Dish and DirecTV will carry local HD programming
soon, but they both have some technical limitations that at the moment
limts this carriage.

Hope this explanation will be helpful.
-----

So there's no way I can get this signal for an unknown amount of
time, but I can't have NBC-HD anyway. Oh well, they're one of the
worst networks for messing with schedules and messing up Tivo's,
so I will probably get over it.

Rob T

Sounds like kusa is sending out "canned responses" to the waiver request. Guess you'll just have to call comcast in Ft. C to see if they can get you set up... Oh, wait, that isn't an option. Never mind. :rolleyes:

Thanks nbc

Yes, it's a canned response. I received two of the same responses because I sent a message to the station manager and engineer. I replied, but haven't heard back.

Basically, I haven't watched NBC for months, and that's a habit that I'll probably maintain for quite some time.

There are SDTV Color Bars labelled "KKTU-DT" on Equity's Galaxy-10R feed,
11720 MHz (V).

Is anyone getting sound on the KKTU digital channels? My Sammy 360 is mapping them as 11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 33-1, and 33-2, but there's no sound on any of them. I'm trying to figure out if it's another Sammy audio issue, or if the station just isn't sending any.

It's interesting that I wasn't getting KKTU with my huge DB-8, but now that I switched to Comcast and hooked up an indoor Silver Sensor it's coming in just fine.

Originally posted by garyfritz
Nobody here has Dish? I'd really like to know if the Dish "local channels" option includes the local HD channels...

Hi Gary,

In case you have not heard DirecTV will be offering HD LIL to our market around June of 2005. This will be about the same time that the LCG gets approval for construction of the new arrays on Lookout Mountain. This will be via the new SpaceWay birds they are putting up. Dish will not have the capacity for this for years to come. You may want to examine when your contract is up and maybe switch. The hardware provided by DirecTV is also universally accepted to be better than Dish.

Everyone Else,

Just as an OTA update from me, using my Hughes HTL-HD receiver I am able to pull 2.1, 2.2, 9.1, 31.1 with no failures and little interference. On occasion I can get the 12.x channels and I also receive the 11.x stations but alas with no audio as everyone else.

I use the Channel Master 4228 (http://www.channelmaster.com/images/4228.jpg) , my wife calls it the "giant fly swatter on the house." :)

I'll be working with Gary to get the HT meet at my house for October ... earlier is looking better than later.

slacker9876,

I must have been dozing; did I hear something about a H.T. meet? Where do I sign up?! :) I haven't been to one in a looooong time.

Dan

I've been trying to get a local group going, Dan. First one met at Reggie Short's house (AVS member A4short) in August. We tried to get a meet going for September but our host was in Longmont and nobody but me wanted to make the trek. Slacker is volunteering for October, and it looks like I'd better get my name in for November because I'm SURE my HT will be ready by then! :)

Send me email at "fritz at frii dot com" & tell me your location, and I'll add you to the email list.

Gary

Originally posted by slacker9876
Hi Gary,

In case you have not heard DirecTV will be offering HD LIL to our market around June of 2005.

Nope. Hadn't heard that. Where did you come by that tidbit?

Thanks,
Kent...putting up my 4228 this weekend! :)

Here is my email answer for a waiver request. It is short and to the point. I explained that I live in an area tucked away in the foothills and can't pick up their weak HD signal.

Here is Channel 7's reply:

We do not grant waivers to viewers within our designated market area.



Thank you for writing.



Mickey Petty

Assistant to the General Manager

KMGH-TV, Denver, Colorado

303-832-0221

KGWN (CBS Cheyenne) seems to be doing a much better job of HD recently, but they didn't switch to HD for the Denver/Tampa Bay game today. This wasn't just the slow switch following the double header. Anyway, after the 1st quarter I called and left a message at the engineering dept, and a few minutes later they switched to HD.

I don't know for sure that was the trick, but I encourage folks to call when something is wrong. Just call the main number (307-634-7755) and if it is after hours use the menu to connect to the engineering dept.

Mark

I've been picking up KKTU-DT's subchannels for the past few weeks, albeit with no sound. Tonight flipping through the channels I'm not getting them at all. Are they off the air (hopefully fixing the audio issues,) or is the atmosphere just not cooperating tonight? Anyone up North still getting them?

Originally posted by bikenski
I've been picking up KKTU-DT's subchannels for the past few weeks, albeit with no sound. Tonight flipping through the channels I'm not getting them at all. Are they off the air (hopefully fixing the audio issues,) or is the atmosphere just not cooperating tonight? Anyone up North still getting them?

I usually get them very strongly, but nothing right now.

Nothing on the 11-.... here either. Hopefully they are working on getting an HD signal out to us!

I have heard that KCHY in Cheyenne will be available on the DISH locals package today or tomorrow. If someone has locals in Cheyenne, could you let me know if you see it?

KGWN has been pretty good about passing their HD signal during prime-time. But today is the 2nd week lately that they aren't showing the SEC game in HD. Wonder what's up?

**EDIT**

I just checked again and they have flipped the switch! Looks great!!

Hi,

I'm wondering how easily any of you get KFCT-21? The following website shows that it's only broadcasting at a weak .88kW. My Plasma TV almost consumes that much power :)

www dot 2150 dot com -slash- broadcast -slash- default.asp (sorry the forum won't let me post urls...)

Here's my situation:

* I live in SE Fort Collins (Ziegler(CR9)/Horsetooth).

* I have a crappy radio shack antenna (no pre-amp, in the attic of a two-story house).

* I have a samsung TS360 DirecTV HD receiver. One dumb thing about this receiver is that it won't show you OTA signal strength until after it has successfully received a signal for that channel.

* When I point my antenna right at KFCT, the receiver really wants to pick up the channel (it takes a long time on 21 during its channel scan), but then it doesn't get the channel.

Is my only hope to get a pre-amp and/or a real antenna? Any antenna suggestions? (must fit in the attic, so big fly-swatters are out...)

Thanks!

I'm off College and Harmony, kind of in a basin, and I get KFCT consistently with the antenna pointed northeast. My antenna is on the rooftop, though, and based on signal strength (which is about 1/2 on the meter), I don't think I'd get a strong enough signal with the antenna in the attic.

you should be able to get it with an amplifier. My radio shack antenna is in my garage about 10 feet from ground level.

Lately I have been able to pick up 22-1 pretty regularily. I have my antenna pointed towards Cheyenne.

Even with an amplifier and the antenna on the roof I often have trouble with 22. I have to point the antenna very carefully. 32 works better for me. I'm northwest of Timberline & Horsetooth.

Does 22 map to 31-1 like 32 does? Last time I tried it that seemed to be the case, which makes it impossible (I think) to keep both of them "active" on my Echostar 6000 channel list.

Mark

Mark,

I have two separate channels. 31-1 and 22-1. I usually watch 31-1 just because it was more reliable in the past. 31-1 has a little better signal strength, but they are both watchable.

Originally posted by mknoebel
Mark,

I have two separate channels. 31-1 and 22-1. I usually watch 31-1 just because it was more reliable in the past. 31-1 has a little better signal strength, but they are both watchable.

Interesting...I tried it again and 21 still wants to map to 31-1 rather than 22-1. So whenever I add 21, it replaces 31-1 in the channel guide and I can't access the Denver 32/31-1 version.

I also get better results on both 21 and the 11-x channels if I unplug my antenna preamp. That doesn't bypass the amp as far as I know, but passing the signal through the unpowered amp seems to give better results. Maybe there is something in that direction (FM) that overpowers the amp, or multipath issues.

Someday I'm going to disconnect that preamp and see what happens. Unfortunately, it's a pain to get to (I put it up too high on the mast), and it works fine with the "main" digital channels (32/31-1, 34/2-1, 38/12-x, 30/5-1). But I'm not sure there would be much harm to those if I removed it, even though their analog versions would probably get a bit snowy.

Mark

KGWN isn't showing CSI in HD tonight. I called them to see if they forgot to flip the switch. They said it was a CSI issue:confused: but that it would be back to HD for Without a Trace.

This forum has been a bit quiet lately. Any news on the 11-.... channels?? ABC in HD sure would be nice.

Mike,

I have not seen 11 for a week or so now, not sure whats up there. Last time I had them they were all analog anyway, hopefully they are gearing up for the real thing. Fox out of FC is also a no show for me in Windsor anymore I have to use the Denver feed???

Stefan

Stefan,

Yup. That's what I've been noticing as well.

BTW, right after I called KGWN about CSI, it flipped over to HD. So I guess it wasn't a CSI issue. I'm glad they worked on it after I called, though!

Mike,

I cant imagine that they dont have automatic switching up there??? Seems strange that they would have to follow each show and make the appropriate change. At least someone is staying ahead of them, good job the only thing I follow is Football on CBS and they seem to have that under control.

Stefan

Anyone up here able to lock onto fox? I just replaced my 811 with a 921 and can no longer get a signal strong enough to mapeither channel into the guide. The 811 would pick up both Fort collins and denver fox at first then over the months I lost the fort collins feed and the denver feed was very hard to lock onto. Now I cant seem to get enough signal to lock either one??? Looks like the tuner in the 921 is not as good as the 811.

Please let me know wich signal you guys are using and were you are located.

Bummed in Windsor,

STefan

Stefan,

I can't lock into the FC Fox (which is now mapping to 31-1 for me also), but I've got a good strong signal for the Denver Fox.

thanks Mike,

I get a pretty consistant 60-70 from denver on the signal meter, but when I try to exit the Add DTV screen on my 921 there must not be enough signal to add it to my guide. Kind of wish I had my 811 back today as I would like to be able to watch the Vikings on HD today.

Guess I am in the market for a good OTA tuner only. Tried the samsung and it was worse than the 921. Seems the Dish 811 or 6000's have the best tuners in them.

Any advise? recomendations?

Stefan

Quick update to my last post here.

I took the latest update to the 921, seemed to solve all of my issues.

Fox was mapped to 21-1 even though the signal showed 82-87 there was no picture.

Solution was to delete all digital channels and scan with the Antenna pointing to Denver first then repoint and scan Cheyenne.

Fox is back-Too late for football today, but still nice to have it again.
CBS is strong- no HD Bronco's for some reason.
WB strong as always.
NBC weak, but watchable at night.
ABC or 11's from Wyo are gone completely for me.
PBS strong as usual.

Channels map to the guide with info, thats kewl!

Happy again for a while

Stefan

Hey Fellas,

I'm new to this so please excuse my elementary explanation of what I get.

I'm using a directional indoor antenna mounted on the back fence. I'm getting a nice outdoor directional to mount on the roof on a mast soon, this is just testing since I just got a new HD TV. I'm running the tuner that came w/my Mitsubishi WS65515 TV and am getting WB and Fox when I point it due South and Fox when I aim it north. I live on the SE side of Fort Collins (Near Trilby and Timberline).

I have a friend that lives in the west side of town on Harmony and Shields and he uses the $75 dollar antenna from Ratshack and with it aimed South picks up all three stations. I think I'll use the same set-up in hopes of getting the same channels and will re-visit if/when more channels are launched.

Thanks.

I've got a $25 ratshack (directional outdoor) antenna in my attic. I get CBS, WB and Fox. If I recall right, it's pointing north. I've tried it both ways but North seems to work better. I have an amplifier on it too - that can make a big difference.

I live between College and Lemay, south of Carpenter (almost Loveland).

Originally posted by turt
I've got a $25 ratshack (directional outdoor) antenna in my attic. I get CBS, WB and Fox. If I recall right, it's pointing north. I've tried it both ways but North seems to work better. I have an amplifier on it too - that can make a big difference.

I live between College and Lemay, south of Carpenter (almost Loveland).

I saw that one too and he said it would probably work about the same but that it was a little on the unattractive side... guess that wouldn't matter if I did in the attic. I'll check into that.

I'm near College and Harmony. I'm using a roof-mounted ChannelMaster 4228, which is pictured here (http://www.channelmaster.com/images/4228.jpg).

It was very directional, so I decided to remove the grid, and now it receives signals from both the north and south. I currently consistently receive:

2-1 KWGN WB
5-1 KGWN CBS Cheyenne
12-1 PBS
12-2 PBS Kids
12-3 PBS You? None of these are HD
31-1 KDVR FOX

Once there are real signals being broadcast from Denver, I expect to get excellent reception. It would be nice to see ABC KKTU in Wyoming sending HD. I get their digital signal when it's sent, but it's never had sound or been HD, but it does show in the guide.

Originally posted by jpco
I'm near College and Harmony. I'm using a roof-mounted ChannelMaster 4228, which is pictured here (http://www.channelmaster.com/images/4228.jpg).

It was very directional, so I decided to remove the grid, and now it receives signals from both the north and south. I currently consistently receive:

2-1 KWGN WB
5-1 KGWN CBS Cheyenne
12-1 PBS
12-2 PBS Kids
12-3 PBS You? None of these are HD
31-1 KDVR FOX

Once there are real signals being broadcast from Denver, I expect to get excellent reception. It would be nice to see ABC KKTU in Wyoming sending HD. I get their digital signal when it's sent, but it's never had sound or been HD, but it does show in the guide.

Out of curiosity, how much does that bad boy run?

Originally posted by jeremyhelling
Out of curiosity, how much does that bad boy run?

It's $48.99 plus shipping here. (http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?CAT=&PROD=ANC4228) I'm pretty sure that's where I ordered mine from. It was shipped very quickly.

jpco-

I get the same sigs as you with a antenna in my attic. No rotor. I'm in Huntington Hills Subdivision Near Skyway and College. Just got ABC turned on by D*

Originally posted by A4Short
jpco-

I get the same sigs as you with a antenna in my attic. No rotor. I'm in Huntington Hills Subdivision Near Skyway and College. Just got ABC turned on by D*

What do you mean, 'just got ABC turned on by D*'? Are you toying with my emotions? Please elaborate :eek:

Originally posted by A4Short
jpco-

I get the same sigs as you with a antenna in my attic. No rotor. I'm in Huntington Hills Subdivision Near Skyway and College. Just got ABC turned on by D*

I just called D*. They transferred me to HD/DNS eligibility, and the CSR there said that I cannot get ABC because of KMGH. Please elaborate on how you were successful.

Originally posted by turt
What do you mean, 'just got ABC turned on by D*'? Are you toying with my emotions? Please elaborate :eek:

Yes, do tell. ALL of the bowl games today were on abc so no HD for me.... pissed.

Originally posted by turt
I have an amplifier on it too - that can make a big difference.


I have a medium sized Winegard VHF/UHF on the roof. Previously, I was also using a Winegard amplifier. Removing the amplifier actually increased my digital signal strength somewhat. Some of the analog channels improved also (especially 6 & 9). I think the amplifier may have been overloaded by an FM station or something else (even though I had the FM trap switched on).

So, in my case, an amplifier hurt more than it helped.

Mark

Originally posted by jpco
I just called D*. They transferred me to HD/DNS eligibility, and the CSR there said that I cannot get ABC because of KMGH. Please elaborate on how you were successful.

The story is I am grandfathered in. I started with D* back in 96 when I moved here and asked for E&W Coast SD Feeds because my HOA did not allow antennas. (Did not know the new laws that allowed Sat Antennas also allowed roof antennas for OTA. Anyway I got them - including Fox and PBS. Over time my Fox and PBS were disallowed.) I continue to pay extra for these feeds. I went without the local channels on D* for a long time thinking they would cut me off of the E&W feeds. But others on this forum said it would not happen so I added them last year So because I get the SD feeds (being granfathered in) I assume I get ABC. It is noteworthy that I can not get the Fox HD feeds.

I really hate this - and I don't blame D* The thing is that these kind of laws are what encourage the hacking - it's not a matter that one is trying to steal for free - it's the fact that one is arbitrarily blocked from getting channels even if one wants to pay.

Has anybody heard any recent news on Comcast providing HDTV in northern Colorado?

Thanks,
Dave

I thought I read somewhere that they won't be carrying HD up here until our genius TV stations (Denver's CBS, NBC, ABC, etc) figure out how to get a tower built. But that was probably in the fall that I heard that. I haven't read much about it lately.

Comcast Fort Collins says June is the HDTV debut. Should be similar to what Denver's getting now.

Bill

Originally posted by bill-fc
Comcast Fort Collins says June is the HDTV debut. Should be similar to what Denver's getting now.

Bill

They also said mid to late 2004 a year ago. When the announcement was made that it wasn't coming, the implication was that it would happen when the Denver stations started broadcasting full power. There was mention of needing a way to get a signal up here.

I sure hope the June date is correct, but I'm skeptical.

I'm skeptical of June as well. I remember talking to someone at Comcast and being told that our HD channels would be available to us about a year ago. I guess if they actually started offering our locals in HD I would concider it. But I'm hoping that DirecTv comes through for us this summer with the HD locals. Even better would be to get them free, OTA, like most of the rest of the country. But that's another issue.

Right now I'm glad we can get KGWN. Any word on ABC out of Wyoming??

Things have evolved at Comcast here -- 6 months ago noone in the local office but the top techies knew there was something new and different from their digitally compressed 480i. Now the up front reception people have attended a meeting in which they were told about HDTV and the June date. They even have a little (hopefully incorrect) HD channel list.

Originally posted by bill-fc
Things have evolved at Comcast here -- 6 months ago noone in the local office but the top techies knew there was something new and different from their digitally compressed 480i. Now the up front reception people have attended a meeting in which they were told about HDTV and the June date. They even have a little (hopefully incorrect) HD channel list.

Why do you hope it's incorrect? What does the lineup look like?

Unfortunately I misplaced my copy -- also they may have an updated version by now; I saw it more than 3 weeks ago. But I think it was 4,6,9,31, InHD1, InHD2, ESPN and 3 pay movie channels. HBO for sure, maybe SHO & 1 other. 7 and 2 were missing, as well as ESPN2 HD & TNT HD.

I hate to bust into the middle of the thread like this, especially off topic. However, I just ot a new Mitsubishi WS-55515 and I would like to get the name an number of an ISF calibration shop that someone here has actually used.

Much obliged for the assist!

On topic, does anyone know when DirecTV is planning HD for the "Denver" market? I see that Comcast is looking at June, but with an HD TiVo ... cable is just not an option right now.

FYI, for those that care, I spent days pointing an antenna trying to get the OTA stations in NW Loveland. If only I had tried the Silver-sensor I would never have had to get on he roof.

I would hesitate to buy a DirecTV HD Tivo right now.

There are a bunch of threads on the HDTV Hardware Forum right now, but I'll summarize:

Basically, when DirecTV launches HD locals, they're going to be in a different compression codec (MPEG-4) that's going to be incompatible with current DirecTV HD receivers (including the HD Tivo).

Additionally, DirecTV is going to eventually move all HD programming to the new format, completely obsoleting older HD hardware.

So, for me, I'm waiting before I get an HD Tivo from DirecTV.

Here's the DirecTV press release from CES this year:
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/aboutus/headline.dsp?id=01-06-2005A

Additionally, Denver isn't on the first list of places getting HD locals.

Not great news for us yet. I wouldn't be surprised if we got OTA stuff from the new tower in Denver before we get something from DirecTV.

Denver is scheduled for the 2nd group of 15 stations for DirecTv. I'm not sure when that will happen, but I'm fairly sure it will be before we can get anything OTA.

Short notice, but: we're having an HT meet at my house tomorrow, Sunday the 23rd, 3pm. PM me or cal 484-6725 if you'd like to join us.

Gary

Originally posted by jcloudm
I would hesitate to buy a DirecTV HD Tivo right now.

There are a bunch of threads on the HDTV Hardware Forum right now, but I'll summarize:

Basically, when DirecTV launches HD locals, they're going to be in a different compression codec (MPEG-4) that's going to be incompatible with current DirecTV HD receivers (including the HD Tivo).

Additionally, DirecTV is going to eventually move all HD programming to the new format, completely obsoleting older HD hardware.

So, for me, I'm waiting before I get an HD Tivo from DirecTV.

I have had the HD TiVo for 6 months already. I was told by Robert at Vlaue Electronics, that we are probably 13-18 months out. He also mentioned that HD TiVo owners will getting free swap-out tot he MPEG4 boxes, NDS or UCentric. I knew about the top 12 markets ... I was just wondering if we had an insider. Denver is Market number 18, by the NAB.

Gary, can't make the meet today buddy, you know the NFL championship games are today right?

Again I need the name of an ISF guy if anyone out there has one! :)

Originally posted by garyfritz
Short notice, but: we're having an HT meet at my house tomorrow, Sunday the 23rd, 3pm. PM me or cal 484-6725 if you'd like to join us.

Gary


n00b question: What's an HT meet??

Originally posted by slacker9876
Gary, can't make the meet today buddy, you know the NFL championship games are today right?

That's what we're doing all day. My only disappointment with this new 65" Mitsu HD TV is that I didn't get it sooner in the football season. Oh well, next year. :cool:

Well, nobody complained about football, so I didn't move it...

Jer, "HT Meet" is an excuse for HT geeks to get together, drink a beer or three, and gawk at each others' setup. I've been trying to get a local group going so we can get to know each other, help out, etc. So far I have about 10 people interested, and we've had 3 people show up at 2 meets.

Gary

Hi all, I've posted a bit in the past but have been away for awhile. I'm an AV nut here in FtC. Near Harmony and Carpenter. I just got an Electrohome marquee 9500LC set up and the HD channels on it are incredible. I use an HTPC for DVDs and am trying to figure out the 9500LC memory settings so I can try that.

Getting ready for the SB I started fiddling with my rooftop antenna. I tried about a year ago to get locals from Denver but couldn't. This time I was able to get 2-1, 5-1, 12-1, 12-2, 12-3, 21-3, 31-1. So at least it looks like I'll get the SB in HD right??

Are all of those channels HD??

Would be interested in the next HT Meet...

Brian

Brian,

All those channels are digital, but 12-1, 12-2, 12-3 are standard definition only. The others show HD when the source program is in HD.

You will be able to get the SB in HD on either 31-1 or on the low power Fort Collins translator on transmit channel 21. I get breakups on 21, so I prefer 31-1 out of Denver. Last time I checked, 21 also maps to 31-1, but maybe your receiver maps it to 21-3 because 31-1 is "occupied."

Mark

Originally posted by garyfritz
Well, nobody complained about football, so I didn't move it...

Jer, "HT Meet" is an excuse for HT geeks to get together, drink a beer or three, and gawk at each others' setup. I've been trying to get a local group going so we can get to know each other, help out, etc. So far I have about 10 people interested, and we've had 3 people show up at 2 meets.

Gary

I see. That's what I thought it might be but I wasn't sure. I would like to attend one of those as I'm a n00b to this stuff so I could probably learn a great deal. I got a new Mitsu 65" HD CRT that I love and am slowly learning about HD and all that fun stuff. I'm already hooked on HD and ordered Dish which will be installed today. 180 channels, locals, and half a dozen or so HD channels plus a dual tuner DVR and an HD receiver.... I'm excited. Since I know the installers I'm also going to have them mount my new outside antenna for the OTA stuff. Up until now I've had this little $20 antenna on top of my set which works, but I have to turn it from South to North to get CBS out of Cheyenne. My buddy here in FtC has the same Ratshack outside antenna and he gets all of them w/o having the adjust it, so that'll be nice. So, to summarize, I'm getting hooked on this HD crap awfully fast. :D

Im going to jump in here with a puzzling observation which hasn't been mentioned in this forum, that I can find, anyway.

There seems to be a problem with the audio being transmitted by KGWN 5.1 on their DT transmission when in SD mode (most of the time). I have analyzed the left and right channel sound decoded by my 811 OTA receiver
and have found out that:

The right channel audio is "inverted" or 180 degrees out of phase with that of the left channel for content which is supposed to be spacially 'centered'. This means that stereo spacialization is completely corrupted.

Also, sometimes the left channel is 6 dB louder than the right, adding insult to injury.

During HD transmission, the sound is correct. This sounds like a technical problem with locally digitized content. It's as if they have interchanged the sum and difference audio feeds to the audio converter, and then upped the gain on one channel to get some sound out!

Can anyone else verify this? If you have a Dolby Pro Logic decoder, the effect is that the right and center channel audio is apparently missing. If you are listening through simple stereo speakers the left channel will sound louder than the right. I have no way of checking what a 5.1 decoder would sound like.

Dave

Originally posted by DigitalDave
Im going to jump in here with a puzzling observation which hasn't been mentioned in this forum, that I can find, anyway.

There seems to be a problem with the audio being transmitted by KGWN 5.1 on their DT transmission when in SD mode (most of the time). I have analyzed the left and right channel sound decoded by my 811 OTA receiver
and have found out that:

The right channel audio is "inverted" or 180 degrees out of phase with that of the left channel for content which is supposed to be spacially 'centered'. This means that stereo spacialization is completely corrupted.

Also, sometimes the left channel is 6 dB louder than the right, adding insult to injury.

During HD transmission, the sound is correct. This sounds like a technical problem with locally digitized content. It's as if they have interchanged the sum and difference audio feeds to the audio converter, and then upped the gain on one channel to get some sound out!

Can anyone else verify this? If you have a Dolby Pro Logic decoder, the effect is that the right and center channel audio is apparently missing. If you are listening through simple stereo speakers the left channel will sound louder than the right. I have no way of checking what a 5.1 decoder would sound like.

Dave

Yes, they have had variations of this problem for as long as they have been on the air. I reported it to them several times, but it was never fixed. I think they may just have their mono audio signal fed to their encoder as L & R, with the L & R out of phase and unbalanced. (I don't think their NTSC side does stereo.) It's mentioned early in this thread and in the Denver forum. As you said, this is only a problem with the locally digitized stuff.

I never actually got to talk to a live person about it...maybe someone would like to give it another try.

The HD audio isn't right either (the 5.1 flags are always set, but only L & R channels are active regardless of whether the source is 5.1 or not), but it sounds normal in 2-channel stereo and decodes OK in Pro Logic (i.e. at least the phase is right).

Mark

I'm a n00b so I'm not sure what the latest is but I currently get The WB, Fox & CBS (I'm located in South/East Fort Collins) and am wondering when we can expect to see NBC & ABC OTA HD style.

Any word? Thanks.

Originally posted by jeremyhelling
I'm a n00b so I'm not sure what the latest is but I currently get The WB, Fox & CBS (I'm located in South/East Fort Collins) and am wondering when we can expect to see NBC & ABC OTA HD style.

Any word? Thanks.

As you may know, the Denver NBC, CBS and ABC stations are all broadcasting using very low-power facilities from downtown Denver. The tower they need to build to provide full-power HD is stuck in court, with the next hearing in July. A NIMBY group (CARE, a.k.a. "sCARE") is the main organization opposing the tower, now being joined by the city of Golden which is really hard to understand.

If the judge removes the injunction in July, the facilities will take about a year to construct. So, it looks like it will be sometime in 2006 (at least) before we can get these networks in Fort Collins.

KKTU-DT (ABC Cheyenne) has been broadcasting from time to time, but I don't think they have any plans to provide HD--just SD.

The Denver OTA thread has a lot more information.

Mark

Originally posted by mbuchana


The Denver OTA thread has a lot more information.

Mark

In case you don't want to read the 10,000+ votes in the Denver thread, here's what it says:

As you may know, the Denver NBC, CBS and ABC stations are all broadcasting using very low-power facilities from downtown Denver. The tower they need to build to provide full-power HD is stuck in court, with the next hearing in July. A NIMBY group (CARE, a.k.a. "sCARE") is the main organization opposing the tower, now being joined by the city of Golden which is really hard to understand.

If the judge removes the injunction in July, the facilities will take about a year to construct. So, it looks like it will be sometime in 2006 (at least) before we can get these networks in Fort Collins.


:D

Originally posted by mbuchana
As you may know, the Denver NBC, CBS and ABC stations are all broadcasting using very low-power facilities from downtown Denver. The tower they need to build to provide full-power HD is stuck in court, with the next hearing in July. A NIMBY group (CARE, a.k.a. "sCARE") is the main organization opposing the tower, now being joined by the city of Golden which is really hard to understand.

If the judge removes the injunction in July, the facilities will take about a year to construct. So, it looks like it will be sometime in 2006 (at least) before we can get these networks in Fort Collins.

KKTU-DT (ABC Cheyenne) has been broadcasting from time to time, but I don't think they have any plans to provide HD--just SD.

The Denver OTA thread has a lot more information.

Mark

Bummer. Well, thanks for the news anyway. Guess I'll just think what it's like to have them. I think Dish has an option to add ABC for $1.50 a month but am concerned that since we are technically in the 'Denver Home area' that we may not be able to sign up for it as it may be blacked out in our area even though we can't get them via OTA antenna. I'll check into that.

Jer - it looks like Denver is on the second tier for D* to get local HD signals. This would be ~July 2005

Reggie

Originally posted by A4Short
Jer - it looks like Denver is on the second tier for D* to get local HD signals. This would be ~July 2005

Reggie

I've seen this mentioned and am not sure what 'D*' means. Thanks.

D* = DirecTv
E* = DishNetwork (EchoStar)

Originally posted by mknoebel
D* = DirecTv
E* = DishNetwork (EchoStar)

Ah... in that case I now have E*

Originally posted by jeremyhelling
Ah... in that case I now have E*

Jer - it's not clear what Egan is planning for Dish for HD (if not the local HDs). Maybe he is too concerned with the sexual harassment suit.

Reggie

Originally posted by A4Short
Jer - it's not clear what Egan is planning for Dish for HD (if not the local HDs). Maybe he is too concerned with the sexual harassment suit.

Reggie

Being a n00b to all this I'm not sure who that is or what his problem is with keeping his hands to himself but it sounds like it's affecting my programming. Not good. I want more HD channels and wish they would get it in gear.

Jer

Charley Egan is the CEO of Dish. Just keep your eyes on the news for what D* does - you may want to switch

Reggie

Originally posted by A4Short
Jer

Charley Egan is the CEO of Dish. Just keep your eyes on the news for what D* does - you may want to switch

Reggie

Well, the equipment is installed and my buddy is a Dish dealer and... well... we'll just say that I get a VERY good deal on the monthly service so I doubt I'll switch anytime soon but who knows. Thanks for the info though it helps to know more about these things. Now I'm a _little_ more in the loop. :)

To revive an older thread ...

What are the current channels from Cheyenne?
location of towers?
power?
prospects to receive from Longmont?

You should have no problem getting KGWN (5-1) in Longmont. It is the CBS affiliate. It is broadcasting with a strong signal.

I don't get any other Cheyenne stations.

Has anyone else noticed more breakups than normal lately on KGWN - The Masters had quite a few?? (Just wondering if it has been the weather issues or me)

I notice it frequently while watching CSI at night. It's been ongoing for a while and I live in Fort Collins. I even bought a second antenna thinking it was my antenna set-up.

Good. Well, not good, you know... I didn't figure it was my setup because it's registering like 80% signal strength. Hopefully they can get things fixed soon!

I've actually changed most of my HD Tivo settings to record off of Channel 81 (HD CBS out of LA) instead of KGWN because it has been so flaky lately.

Breakups here, too, with a strong signal.

I wish ABC from Cheyenne would go HD (their digital signal has been gone for a while, but the ABC DT never had sound or a good picture). And FOX from Cheyenne is keeping me from receiving the west coast feed from D* even though they don't broadcast in HD.

Has anyone else noticed that KFCT 21 (KDVR 32 repeater in Pierce) has changed something that makes it practically useless here in sw Ft Collins? For several weeks we enjoyed perfect reception from 21, about 15 miles ENE of here. Then about 5 days ago it just about disappeared. I see a signal, but my receiver can't lock on it. I can barely get 32 here although WB34 is fine.

Thanks, Bill

Last I heard, people were saying that Comcast would begin HDTV service in Northern Colorado in June. Does anybody know of any updates to this schedule?

-Dave

Comcast is a joke. We may NEVER see HD offered by Comcast in Northern Colorado. They've been saying next month for years now so I finally gave up and got Dish with the HD package and an antenna to pick up the locals.

I've heard a "rumor" of June also, but never any confirmation of it. Comcast has been terrible for us up nort. I wouldn't count on them any time soon. I still think we will see Denver HD locals on DirecTv before comast.

I'm a D* subsriber who would switch to Comcast in a second if they offered us HD locals, but I'm not holding my breath. They did say by the end of 2004 about a year ago.

My Samsung SIR-T151 may have gotten confused by something in the WB HDTV feed of Smallville tonight. The show's audio was fine, but the video was replaced by a static WB2 "Paid Programming" screen. The curious part is that it wouldn't tune *anything* else until I physically yanked power.

Two questions:
Has anybody else noticed problems with the WB feed recently?
Did anyone happen to tape the season finale of Smallville tonight? If so, and you'd be willing to let me borrow the tape, please send me a PM.


Thanks,

- digiphotonerd

Last I heard (a couple of months ago), Comcast was expecting to get the signals up here this summer and, no promises, have a product to offer some time this year. It's true they've missed a couple of targets in the past, but it is coming. I am mostly covered for Broncos games again this fall because the last couple of months I've been getting a reliable CBS signal from Cheyenne (30), Fox from 32 in Denver, and KWGN 34 from Denver. When KFCT Fox NE of Ft Collins (21) increases their power from 880 watts, it will cover almost all of NE CO.

Early HD is unreliable in general if you read the Denver posts on their threads of this forum -- sometimes stations forget to "flip the switch" or have other problems with their new digital equipment. And for the first time in a year, KGWN digital 30 in Cheyenne went missing this weekend.

Bill

I really never have good luck with the Cheyenne feed. We watch CSI and I find that more often than not I have choppy audio or the strobe light effect or pixelating on the video as well. I'm located in SE Fort Collins and even have twin Radio Shack antennas on my roof, one North and one South, and still have issues. I get mid 60% or higher (most the time I'm at 68%-70%) and am still having issues w/Cheyenne. I know it's their problem as well because usually they 'flip the switch' back and when they think they have it corrected try to flip it back again usually with it degrading again shortly thereafter.

Jer,

We have the same results with 5.1 Cheyenne too. I think everyone is struggling with the audio - watching 24 - on Fox 31.1 we have to have our hands on the remote to keep from getting blasted in the commericals.

Reggie

So I have had CBS Cheyenne drop off the map during several shows lately during prime time. Anyone else loose the signal?

Reggie

So I have had CBS Cheyenne drop off the map during several shows lately during prime time. Anyone else loose the signal?

Reggie

It dropped to zero for me Sunday AM, then returned late yesterday back to normal power. Seems fine now (excepting, of course, audio problems that never get fixed). I only saw a bit of prime time yesterday, and didn't see any problems then. I spent some time looking into my antenna setup, and it appears to have been working all along (only used for channel 30 via a JoinTenna). When I bypassed the JoinTenna, I could get other signals via the antenna, but not KGWN. Were they on the air Sunday or Monday evening?

Mgibosoj,

KGWN went off the air sometime on Saturday and did not return to the air until Tuesday. I emailed their engineer but received no reply. I thought that maybe they were increasing to their permanent, full power when they were down but my signal strength did not change, so they just must have had problems.

Thanks for the info milehighmike. The old problem of breakup when they put the blue/red graphic overlay during the newscast has returned, so I guess they took a step backwards for whatever reasons.

For what it is worth, I have been told by a very senior level Comcast emplyee that Fort Collins can expect to have the HD locals from Denver in the late third or early fourth quarter of 2005. This conversation took place about two weeks ago.

Has anyone noticed that you can tune in 116-6 through 116-12 as digital (SD) stations if you run your Comcast cable directly into an HD tuner ? All of the Denver locals are there (at least in Windsor). Now if they would just make the Moto 6412 see them so that I could stop watching poor quality analog on the analog impaired 6412.

Since they are consuming bandwidth with them why wouldn't they make their set top boxes be able to tune them in ? This make no sense what so ever.

I wonder if that would be all of Northern Colorado too? (Greeley).

My bet is that the Greeley, Fort Collins, and other surrounding areas would offer HD at the same time, but who knows ?

Don't get your hopes up on Comcast - it's always been within a couple of quarters of coming to NoCo

Reggie

OK - I'm a n00b to this forum, but I've read a couple years back. I have basic Comcast (not digital), but have a home theater projection system in the basement (Proxima 6850+, etc.).

My quick n00b question is: is there any way I can rig up something to catch the NBA finals on ABC in HD? Suggestions? Am I SOL?

BTW, I'm going to go to E* as soon as they get the Oxygen channel... yes, yes, talk to my wife about it!

Stephen

No way for ABC... SOL... Denver signal reaches a few blocks from transmitter and there's no Wyoming signal.

If the owners of the ABC in Cheyenne get their way you won't get any digital. The station just switched their call sign to KDEV and they have petitioned to give back their analog signal. The station will no longer be an ABC affiliate and will combine with the company's low power station in Denver (KDEV-LP).

ABC in Cheyenne will move to a new low power station.

That's bad news (KDEV)...but we're used to it in this area.

For what it is worth, I have been told by a very senior level Comcast emplyee that Fort Collins can expect to have the HD locals from Denver in the late third or early fourth quarter of 2005. This conversation took place about two weeks ago.

Has anyone noticed that you can tune in 116-6 through 116-12 as digital (SD) stations if you run your Comcast cable directly into an HD tuner ? All of the Denver locals are there (at least in Windsor). Now if they would just make the Moto 6412 see them so that I could stop watching poor quality analog on the analog impaired 6412.

Since they are consuming bandwidth with them why wouldn't they make their set top boxes be able to tune them in ? This make no sense what so ever.

Yes you are right, I was told the same thing by my contact. The move should incoprotate all Northern Colorado cities served by Comcast including Loveland, Greeley, Ft Collins and surrounding areas.

On 116-6 116-12 ... it is odd but I get these same channels with my Mistu ATSC tuners but they are 27-6 through 27-12 ... and they all look like crap.

Reggie you are right it was the same thing with cable modems for Loveland ... but the lil birdie i know is in operations so it is a vaild rumor.

Check out KFCT (Denver KDVR repeater) DT21 NE of Fort Collins. They're running more power now.

Yes you are right, I was told the same thing by my contact. The move should incoprotate all Northern Colorado cities served by Comcast including Loveland, Greeley, Ft Collins and surrounding areas.

A Comcast tech told me that they are missing a fiber-optic link between northern CO and Denver that will enable HD in the area.

A Comcast tech told me that they are missing a fiber-optic link between northern CO and Denver that will enable HD in the area.

Did that tech tell you if they would find/purchase/install that link, or have they given up on us? :)

Did that tech tell you if they would find/purchase/install that link, or have they given up on us? :)

He said that "they are working on it" but that they haven't even been telling the tech's about when that will be complete. The tech also said that he was waiting for HD for himself as well.

This is all very frustrating.

I had Voom while they were around. I'm not convinced that I want to go with E* if Comcast can deliver "soon" and I have heard enough bad feedback from D* customers that I don't want to go that route.

I'm a D* customer, waiting to see who delivers northern Colorado HD, including locals, first. D* quality/value isn't very good right now for HD, but I'm hopeful it will improve dramatically after the new satellites are on line. As for Comcast, their northern Colorado pricing and services are not competitive or modern at this time.

Our options should be a lot better in six months or so (although that's what I thought six months ago).

Our options should be a lot better in six months or so (although that's what I thought six months ago).

Let's hope so. It sucks being in an HD vacuum in F.C.

I just checked for KFCT and it appears they are, at least right at the moment, up and running on full power on DT21. I'm receiving a good signal from about 80 miles away in Highlands Ranch, CO. The signal is varying in strength for me right now, but I'm not losing the lock, and the remapping to 31 comes and goes, so some testing/fine tuning is apparently taking place.

I had a Comcast tech out a week ago to repair the line and his version of the story was that the HiDef locals would be available in October. I commented on the frequent delays and he said 'they didn't have the money before, but they have the money to make it happen now'.

I bought a MyHD MDP-130 in June because of its ability to display QAM signals. I've tried it out a couple times to see if the HD locals are being sent through (unencrypted). I can pick up the low-definition locals in subchannels off of 69 and 94, but I haven't seen anything in high definition yet. Since the low-def locals are being passed through unencrypted, I'm hopeful that the hi-def locals will be too ... eventually.

Robert

Hello,
I am new to the forum and thought I would post my HD reception and equipment. I am located near the intersection of (Laporte and Shields). I have a Samsung TX P3071WH Telivision with built-in HD Tuner. I am using a Radio Shack High-Definition Amplified Outdoor TV Antenna Catalog #: 15-2185.

I recieve the following HD CHannels

KWGN-DT WG 2.1 HD (1080 Signal)
KGWN-DT CBS 5.1 HD (1080 Signal)
KGWN-FC CBS 5.2 SD (sound is out of sync)
KDVR-DT FOX 31.1 HD (720 Signal)

Best overall reception is with antenna pointed with North/South alignment.
Channels 2.1 , 5.1

Mustbe pointed in East/West alignment for Fox 31.1

Channel 5.2 KGWN-FC just showed up last time I auto programed channels? A bit of a mystery.

Signals do vary from time to time. with most reliable viewing on 5.1. I do have sound clipping when going to and from commercial or local feed. Changing channel and the changing back seems to fix this issue. very annoying though. Hope this information is helpful. I have learned alot from this forum and wanted to contribute.

Jack

Hi HDJack, welcome! Good post. I'm sure the 31.1 signal is coming from the KDVR repeater, KFCT DT 21, about 10 miles east of you. KGWN 5/30 in Cheyenne has just split out some of their bandwidth for 5.2 in the last couple of days. I'm hoping they'll use it as a Fort Collins news/weather/sports outlet since we really don't have one (and get their sound in sync too!).

Bill

Hey bill-fc,
Thanks for the info! I am new to this , but having a good time adjusting my equipment. I have a question. Are channels 2.1 and 5.1 /5.2 VHF or UHF? I always thought lower channels were VHF. I was thinking about a larger channelmaster UHF antenna. Any Ideas?

Jack

Jack,

2 is 34 and 5.1 is on 30. They are UHF. I have a ChannelMaster 4228 that has served me pretty well.

John

Anyone else notice the horrible PQ for the Vikings Jets game last night? I think they split way too much BW off for their 5.2 channel that has about a 1 second sound sync problem. I thought I was watching the game on my PC with Windows Media Player. It was the first time I switched to my D* LA CBS feed and the PQ was 100% better.

I noticed the same issues last night. I knew that CBS out of Wyo was too good to last.
:(

Yeah, I ALWAYS have issues with HD programming with 5.2 and it's annoying.

I agree. It was the first time that D*'s feed was better than Cheyenne's for a sporting event (not counting sound issues).

Is channel 11 receivable in Loveland? I thought I saw it earlier and now I don't get anything at all.

Anyone know what happened to KGWN-DT 5.1 out of Cheyenne? I tried to tune in the station for the Bronco game (8/27/05) and its gone?

Jack

My signal amp was unpluged from the wall. . . DOH!

;-) Jack

Pixellation is really bad on some fast motion shots in tonight's Broncos game on KGWN 5-1. That worthless subchannel is really killing their HD image. 5.1 audio is, as usual, messed up with only 2-channel stereo occupying the L & R channels with the others silent.

Mark

I had to change to Ch 81 on *D. KGWN was terrible with the pixelation.

I had to change to Ch 81 on *D. KGWN was terrible with the pixelation.

Same here...that's two games in a row. KGWN used to be superior to 81. Must be the sub-channel.

Is there any HD for ABC coming from Cheyenne? I live in Loveland,CO and I have an antenna pointed that way but no luck yet. Anyone know?

Is there any HD for ABC coming from Cheyenne? I live in Loveland,CO and I have an antenna pointed that way but no luck yet. Anyone know?


My antenna is not optimized for Cheyenne - but I have not gotten anything but Channel 5 from there

Reggie

I'm still waiting to see if Comcast is going to have HD anytime soon. In the mean time, I make use of my old Voom STBs to pickup over-the-air HD and recently found that my south-facing antenna started to pickup CBS from Cheyenne. CBS, WB and Fox are about it though.

I sent an e-mail to Joan Turner (KGWN CBS-5) and also to their engineering dept. (cbs5tech@sisna.com) asking them to turn off their worthless sub-channel for this week's Broncos game. I don't know if it will do any good, but it seemed worth a try.

Mark

Let us know what you hear, Mark - but that sub-channel really needs to go!

I also shot an email off.

If the owners of the ABC in Cheyenne get their way you won't get any digital. The station just switched their call sign to KDEV and they have petitioned to give back their analog signal. The station will no longer be an ABC affiliate and will combine with the company's low power station in Denver (KDEV-LP).

ABC in Cheyenne will move to a new low power station.

I live in Windsor and just hooked up the HD receiver being cleared out by Radioshack. I'm getting the CBS station on 5.1 and the Fox station in Denver via their repeater in FC (comes in as channel 31.1). I have seen numerous listings of ABC in Cheyenne on 11.1 (including antennaweb) which say this is the closest station, but there is no signal at all on 11.1.

So is it true that no one in our area can pick up ABC via OTA? No purchase of better antenna, preamp, etc. will help? I'd like to know, since I was considering spending more on a better antenna just to pick up ABC.

Thanks,

HDD

ABC in Fort Collins is not going to happen no matter what you do. That 11 was coming in as digital ABC SD with no sound for a while, but that's been dead for months.

I just picked up NBC KUSA-DT 9.1 tonight on my ex-Voom OTA receiver. Is anyone else picking it up too? This is very unexpected. Has anyone heard news that they are now transmitting from a mountain-top transmitter?

Hmmmm. I've never been able to get anything out of 9.1. After reading your post I gave it a try and I got a picture for a little bit during L&0 tonight. It had a lot of breakups for me, but if I know I might have a shot I can do a little antenna tweaking. Oh, and this is with an HD Tivo.

Nothing has changed with KUSA, 9.1. They still transmit from downtown Denver on Republic Plaza and will be for some time to come since the Lookout Mt. site issue has not been resolved yet. If you are receiving KUSA now when you haven't before, I suspect it's a tropo effect due to the weather.

I can pickup 9.1 sometime. At 75% the video and sound is great.

It varies greatly on being able to pick it up or not. I do know that last winter was better for me than this summer. Mostly I believe that some trees a 1/2 mile away are affecting my ability to receive. I can't get 4.1 at all. I live south of loveland by about a mile.

Sure enough, 9.2 has disappeared.