FWIW, WKYT has the UofL game as being shown and in HD on 27-1...So it should be in HD, question is will WLKY be showing it...

What was up with the focus during the game. Anyone else notice the sideline camera going out of focus quite a bit?

Oh, and what about that game??? We're getting pretty good at the close ones. My nerves prefered the wins by >20 though!!!

CISCO for 3!
Dunk by CISCO!
Assist from CISCO
CISCO perfect 9/9 at the free throw line!

GO CISCO

GO CARDS

I see the focus issue too. Anyone also notice sometimes the blue network sidebars appear even when the pic is HD? It's either HD or the best SD I've ever seen.

Originally posted by PCS
Anyone also notice sometimes the blue network sidebars appear even when the pic is HD? It's either HD or the best SD I've ever seen.

It's still SD, it's just upconverted at CBS instead of at WLKY.

UK/Cincinnati game was not shown in HD as planned, but WLKY should have showed the 480i signal on digital 32-1. The analog signal on Insight of WLKY stinks, especially on the Moto box (ch. 5)!

Instead WLKY showed the Wake Forest and West Virginia game in HD. Which looked great until 4 minutes remaining in the game and WLKY switched to the CBS 480i feed on 32-1! The game was probably one of the best to date (double overtime) and WLKY screwed the ending.

I was so mad that they went 480 at the end of tht great game. WHY? Does WLKY turn off the HD at a particular time? It changed after the UK game went off and they went to WF/WV on analog. Wierd.

FOCUS ISSUES - This is not really a focus problem. If you notice, the scorebug will also get hazy. This is a problem with the settings on the Harris Flexicoder. The same thing was happening last year during the NBA finals. I emailed WHAS multiple times about the problem, and even had a CBS (edited: should be ABC) affiliate from Cali contact them with the solution. EDITED

You can see some of the original posts concerning this issue HERE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3900796#post3900796) and continuing on the following pages.

EDITED


UK Game- From what I understood, there were no HD trucks at the location of the UK game. I never saw that it was scheduled in HD. They were only set up in select cities during the first two rounds.

Originally posted by Buckett
FOCUS ISSUES - This is not really a focus problem. If you notice, the scorebug will also get hazy. This is a problem with the settings on the Harris Flexicoder. The same thing was happening last year during the NBA finals. I emailed WHAS multiple times about the problem, and even had a CBS affiliate from Cali contact them with the solution. Eventually they fixed the problem, but it seems that the device has reverted to the faulty settings.

You can see some of the original posts concerning this issue HERE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3900796#post3900796) and continuing on the following pages.

I will email WHAS again concerning the problem, and I would encourage everyone to do the same. His email is bill.brown@whas11.com. Please be respectful in all correspondences, as Mr. Brown has gone out of his way to try and make WHAS-DT better.


UK Game- From what I understood, there were no HD trucks at the location of the UK game. I never saw that it was scheduled in HD. They were only set up in select cities during the first two rounds.

CBS is WLKY

SO!

Just kidding, good eye.

Please disregard all information. I am an idiot. However, it does sound like a similar problem.

Anyone know who to contact at WLKY?

Originally posted by PCS
I was so mad that they went 480 at the end of tht great game. WHY? Does WLKY turn off the HD at a particular time? It changed after the UK game went off and they went to WF/WV on analog. Wierd.

Yep that was pretty annoying ... FWIW, WKYT didn't even attempt to switch to the HD feed on the WF/WV game. I noticed WLKY was having a recurrance of the old "garbled audio" problem on the HD feeds yesterday.

But, I suspect the really reason for the "goof" was that they were busy prepping for the "11pm" news and just didn't notice (or care since it wasn't UofL or UK.)

Originally posted by HDTVChallenged
Yep that was pretty annoying ... FWIW, WKYT didn't even attempt to switch to the HD feed on the WF/WV game. I noticed WLKY was having a recurrance of the old "garbled audio" problem on the HD feeds yesterday.

But, I suspect the really reason for the "goof" was that they were busy prepping for the "11pm" news and just didn't notice (or care since it wasn't UofL or UK.)

I've noticed WLKY dropping the HD ball several times on live sporting events in the past year or so. I'm not sure what the switching process involves at the station but it seems rather lax on their end to accidentally switch an HD game to SD 4 minutes from the (scheduled) end. Doesn't anybody check the results of their actions against a monitor?

I remember at least one Colts game that was broadcast in HD nationally that WLKY DT gave us in its entirety in glorious 4:3 SD. And a couple Colts games that finally switched to HD but deep into the game before it happened.

It does get frustrating because I would hope most of those type growing pains should be gone by now... not keep happening....

-AKH

Anyone else notice more pixelating on WLKY today? My WLKY on Insight 763 locked up a couple of times in the second half. I noticed both sub-channels were running the UofL/GT game. WHY? Who needs 3 digital feeds + 1 analog= 4 broadcasts of the same game at reduced bandwidth. STUPID!!!

However the Cards were spectacular.

CISCO for 3

CISCO for the assist

CISCO for the block

CISCO only 1 foul

GO CISCO

GO CARDS!!! BEAT WASHINGTON!!!

Originally posted by PCS
Anyone else notice more pixelating on WLKY today? My WLKY on Insight 763 locked up a couple of times in the second half. I noticed both sub-channels were running the UofL/GT game. WHY? Who needs 3 digital feeds + 1 analog= 4 broadcasts of the same game at reduced bandwidth. STUPID!!!


I watched the game OTA and had the same problem.. Must have been a CBS feed problem.

Noticed 32.1 listed on Titan during the game as "off the air". Maybe they did us a favor by airing the UofL feed.. :) If this is the case.. Thank you WLKY!

Lets hope the next games are in HD!

G.

Regarding the UL game on WLKY-DT, I thought the HD quality was average at best. I saw pixelation and the picture looked soft.

Not even close to the b-ball picture quality I've seen on ESPN-HD and HDNet.

Originally posted by PCS
Anyone else notice more pixelating on WLKY today?

Yep ... WKYT actually dropped out to SD for a few seconds until the HD feed got straightened out. I hate to say it, but I'm finding that I prefer WKYT's 720p to WLKY's 1080i when multicasting rears it's ugly head.

I have D* instead of Insight, so I am asking for help in answering a co-workers question:

He just bought a new HD tv, and currently has an insight digital box.
1. Is the existing cable wiring inside and outside the house the same for a digital box as it is for an HD box?
2. If insight is going to take too long (ie, past the Thursday U of L game) to come out and put in the HD box, can he just take his digital box down to insight and swap them out (and pay the difference) and hook it up himself? Will insight allow him to do this?
3. Does the insight HD box also have the ability to pick up OTA signals (similar to the way a satellite HD box works?) He's concerned that insight may be compressing the HD signal more than what the locals are sending out over the air.
4. His new HD capable TV has one of those slots for a cable card ... does this mean that he can get a card that will allow him to get the HD signals (and bypass the need for a HD box)? I'm now sure how the cards work. What about pay per view movies, insight on-demand, etc?

Thanks everyone!

Friar

1) Yes
2) No... this requires an on-site visit which must be scheduled ( usually $19.99)
3) No the box does not have the ability to receive OTA signals. The good news: Insight does not compress the networks. Bad news: Without OTA tuner, you will not receive PBS HD 24/7 (channel 68-1 is not available, only 15-4 which shows PBS HD only from 8pm - 11pm)
4) Yes, he can rent a cable card for $2/month which can receive all the HD channels. This card is one way, so pay per view, insight on demand is not available with the cable card.

Now we've got even more questions about Insight:

1. Does Insight take everything (720p and 1080i) and convert it all to 1080i, or do the 720p signals (fox and espn) arrive at the back of the box as 720p (which is how the Directv box works)?

2. Does the Insight HD box allow you to set the output signal resolution to either 720P or 1080i, or does it always output 1080i? If you can change it, is there a physical switch (like on the Directv box), or is it menu driven?

3. Has anyone noticed any degradation of signal by hooking up the insight box via component to your display, vs using the DVI output? I presume that this degradation is going to be dependent on how well the insight box converts the digital signal to analog (and also how well your display converts it back to digital). If you notice the degradation, how bad is it?
I'm trying to convince my co-worker that he'll get a better picture going with a dvi-hdmi cable (instead of the component cables) ... but I want to make sure that there is a visible difference before I get him to shell out more money.

Thanks again,
Friar

1) Not sure, but the set top box will convert everything to one setting. (see #2)
2) The Insight box can be set to output: 1080i, 720p, 480p, or 480i. All channels are converted to this setting. There is no setting for "native resolution" like some other output devices I've seen.
3) Personally I can't tell much difference between DVI and component. I would still recommend DVI if your display device handles it.

Originally posted by friar
Now we've got even more questions about Insight:

1. Does Insight take everything (720p and 1080i) and convert it all to 1080i, or do the 720p signals (fox and espn) arrive at the back of the box as 720p (which is how the Directv box works)?

-----------------
Friar

Insight transmits to the box in the same format as provided to them. So ESPN and FOX are both 720P while ABC is 1080i because the local affiliate (WHAS) converts it before broadcast.



Others answered above

Brian:

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize the box output 720p (Fox) when set on 1080i.

Also, I've confirmed the status has not changed regarding the firewire connectivity with the Moto 6208 PVR. The only channels available via firewire are the networks and Universal HD. All others are encrypted with 5C. Unfortunate for us who wish to time shift content on HBO-HD, SHOWTIME-HD, and HDNET Movies. I spoke with an Insight CSR today regarding this and he sang me the "implemented to prevent piracy" song. Huh? All I want is to time-shift and their 10 hour PVR doesn't cut it.

I can't wait for more devices to hit the market with cable card access (HD-Tivo?)

For more information on recording w/ Firewire, see this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403695&perpage=30&pagenumber=1

Steve

The whole DVI thing is a non-issue. If cost is the same then go ahead, but if the person is spending more $$$ for it then it is a waste. I've seen no difference. Could be that my display does a great job of converting as earlier post suggests.

Originally posted by cambus
Brian:

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize the box output 720p (Fox) when set on 1080i.

Also, I've confirmed the status has not changed regarding the firewire connectivity with the Moto 6208 PVR. The only channels available via firewire are the networks and Universal HD. All others are encrypted with 5C. Unfortunate for us who wish to time shift content on HBO-HD, SHOWTIME-HD, and HDNET Movies. I spoke with an Insight CSR today regarding this and he sang me the "implemented to prevent piracy" song. Huh? All I want is to time-shift and their 10 hour PVR doesn't cut it.

I can't wait for more devices to hit the market with cable card access (HD-Tivo?)

For more information on recording w/ Firewire, see this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403695&perpage=30&pagenumber=1

Steve

Sorry, I must have been unclear...I was providing information as to what was transmitted to the box by insight. The unit unfortunately only outputs in one mode at a time. You have to power it off, select the menu, change the setting to 720P (or 1080i) then power it back on to make the change. I wish it had a "native" setting, but it does not.

Originally posted by PCS
The whole DVI thing is a non-issue. If cost is the same then go ahead, but if the person is spending more $$$ for it then it is a waste. I've seen no difference. Could be that my display does a great job of converting as earlier post suggests.

On my E* 811 it made a huge difference going with DVI vs component... I didn't see the difference with my SIR-T165 but certainly with the 811 it does something different.. YMMV

You will probably also need DVI/HDMI inputs when HD-DVD/Blu-Ray rolls out in the relative near future. Which really sucks because my set only has component inputs.

Nice hat, Chuck. Go Cards!!!!!

WLKY is really amazing me... How hard is it to make sure they 'flip the switch'? It's not like the NCAA tourney is a surprise broadcast in HD. There's only 2 games today.

And the show even started with an HD logo and announcement....
If this was just a rare occurence it wouldn't bother me so much but at this point in the transition you'd think they be able to get it right with some accuracy.

So right now the NCAA tourney is in glorious SD on DT32-1.

-AKH

Are you saying that the NCAA this past weekend was not in HD? I have directv and I thought is was??? Also, should I have my box set on 720, 1080, or native(my box offers all 3 settings)? I'm new to HD and I'm just not clear on how the different resolutions work. Thanks- j

Originally posted by jharp07
Are you saying that the NCAA this past weekend was not in HD? I have directv and I thought is was??? Also, should I have my box set on 720, 1080, or native(my box offers all 3 settings)? I'm new to HD and I'm just not clear on how the different resolutions work. Thanks- j

The NCAA tournament games were broadcast in HD but WLKY DT, as they've been apt to do on live HD sports games, failed to broadcast the HD feed for some minutes. Thankfully, they finally 'flipped the switch' and broadcast the game using the HD feed. They have managed to miss the boat entirely and broadcast an entire game with the SD feed even tho there was an HD feed available that they should've been broadcasting.

If you have Directv and were watching the Lousiville channels via Sat then you were not getting the HD feed because the locals aren't HD on Directv as of yet. There is a natl network HD feed that is available to select people so you might have that. If you were watching OTA via the built in tuner and an antenna then you should've noticed the black bars going away and the picture improving when they 'flipped the switch' sometime in the first half.

I can't answer the question about your box since it would depend on your TV I assume.

-AKH

Jharp, if you want HD you have to have the HR10-250 box or other HD D* box and it has to be set on 720 or 1080. Both settings are HD. My Samsung's native resolution is 720 so that is where I set it.

Originally posted by Buckett
FOCUS ISSUES - This is not really a focus problem. If you notice, the scorebug will also get hazy. This is a problem with the settings on the Harris Flexicoder. The same thing was happening last year during the NBA finals. I emailed WHAS multiple times about the problem, and even had a CBS (edited: should be ABC) affiliate from Cali contact them with the solution. EDITED

You can see some of the original posts concerning this issue HERE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3900796#post3900796) and continuing on the following pages.

EDITED


UK Game- From what I understood, there were no HD trucks at the location of the UK game. I never saw that it was scheduled in HD. They were only set up in select cities during the first two rounds.
Watching the game on CBS-WLKY I did notice some blurry moments but it seemed to coincide with certain shots (a lower-angle shot toward the basket when the ball would hit the rim)

Odd.

Anyway, I was able to see it in ultimate resolution (LIVE!) I was in Nashville and Albuquerque for the games (Sat.'s game I was *7 rows behind the UofL bench*!!)

Can't make it to St. Louis, though, so I will be watching at home. I'm just glad that my MyHD software worked well and my antenna didn't get moved out of place (it's in a precarious perch right now on my apt. balcony) so the recordings all worked.

Still can't believe we came back from 20 down! :)

Was WAVE-DT off the air last night? Tried several times, but no signal. Is there always a lip sync problem with "LOST"? Seemed like it was out of sync again last night, especially the 1st segment.

Originally posted by bnewt
Was WAVE-DT off the air last night?

No problems for me before or after primetime last night ... I didn't check primetime due to the ABC juggernaut.

I have had trouble since Tuesday night with WAVE-DT. No picture but the signal meter on my D* receiver says 90-95%. Anyone with ideas?

Originally posted by MichaelZ
Anyone else have trouble with CSI last night; missing center channel? It worked during the commercials but not the show itself.

I had same problem for first 5 min or so and then it cleared up. I watch OTA and was using DD reciver.

Originally posted by J_Slimz
I have had trouble since Tuesday night with WAVE-DT. No picture but the signal meter on my D* receiver says 90-95%. Anyone with ideas?

Do a rescan of your local channels. They may have had a PSIP burp, apparently they made some changes on or about March 23-24.

Originally posted by STEVENSHS
I had same problem for first 5 min or so and then it cleared up. I watch OTA and was using DD reciver.

At least the CC was working.

Originally posted by HDTVChallenged
Do a rescan of your local channels. They may have had a PSIP burp, apparently they made some changes on or about March 23-24.

WOW!!! Thanks! Such an easy fix but so far from my first guess on how to fix the problem. Thanks again and this has always been a great, informative forum and I thank all who contribute.

Has anyone had experience with Insight's CableCard? Just got a Sharp Aquos LC-32D7U. Had Insight come out on Saturday and couldn't get it to work. Tech thought it might be a bad card (said he had seen other bad ones), so they sent someone out yesterday. Still couldn't get it to work, but at this point, we figured it might be the TV, so he just left the card. After talking to Sharp twice, found out that you have to do a "channel scan", and figured out how to do it (first Sharp tech told me wrong). Still no HD, although I am getting some SD stuff. I don't understand the channel numbers, either. They are not like OTA (32-1, 32-2, etc) or the PVR channels (763, 764, etc). For example, I'm getting things on channels like 84.1, 116.17, 116.18, etc. Anyone have an idea what's going on? I think I'm going to have a hard time finding someone at Insight that really knows what's going on, and I can see Sharp and Insight getting into a finger-pointing contest. I Googled the subject, and saw evidence of many problems people are having with the TV/CableCard/Provider combination.

Thanks!

My brother-in-law has a 60" Sony LCD and uses a Cable Card from Insight. His works fine. The channels are 760, 761, 762, etc.

Thanks, Scott. Did his first CableCard work on the first try? I can't even tune to 762, 763, etc. It's a little confusing, because Sharp tells me that you have to do a "channel search" before you can tune to any channels (analog or digital cable), but you have to do the channel search BEFORE you insert the CableCard. I guess the CableCard is simple authorizing you to see the incoming content (kind of like a DSS card).

I have a cable card in my Sony 60XS. I have only had it for about three weeks but Insight is the one who downloads what you are suppose to get to the card, there was no scan done. It took about 30 seconds to do. The card is so new to the industry I believe there are some growing pains.

I have Insight coming back today to figure why I am not receiving Discovery Theatre as I should be.

Good luck, I hope you get it working soon,

Norm

Originally posted by STEVENSHS
I had same problem for first 5 min or so and then it cleared up. I watch OTA and was using DD reciver.

I think WLKY is having some issues. Anyone else notice audio dropouts lasting as long as 15-20 seconds? It's happened several times lately in the last week. The picture is fine but the audio goes away completely.

I watch via OTA, btw.

There is ongoing transmitter work at the WKPC/WKMJ transmitter site for the next couple of weeks. There will be outages on WKMJ-DT but hopefully they will be brief..

Just thought you might want to know...

William

It looks like WLKY got their DD5.1 equipment installed. CSI:Miami lit up the 5.1 light tonight. I don't remember seeing it during the Masters (except on UHD.)

Please see THIS THREAD (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5475915#post5475915) and express your interest in participating in a local HT meet.

Originally posted by HDTVChallenged
It looks like WLKY got their DD5.1 equipment installed. CSI:Miami lit up the 5.1 light tonight. I don't remember seeing it during the Masters (except on UHD.)

Yep:) I noticed it also. Sounded great. Sitll having problems getting my Dish 811 to stay locked on to their signal..

VOOM leaves my house in Louisville on April 30th when they close permanently. Now what to do? I have a Panny AE700 with a 110" screen in the basement and a 65" Mitsubishi upstairs, and they both look great with HD sources. Insight, Directv, or Dish???

I am pulling all the locals fine OTA except WB (why they put their transmitter in the opposite direction of everybody else I will never know). I don't like any of my options right now; on top of that D* is supposed to be going to MPEG4 soon, making their equipment soon to be obsolete. And Dish bought the VOOM satellite, maybe they will pick up more HD real soon? What a decision - maybe I will just go OTA for a month or two to see how this things shakes out.

Does Insight have plans for any more HD channels in the near future? If not, I guess I look elsewhere. If so, they could be attractive.

Chris

Personally, I'm using Insight HD for now and it has been Ok. However, I'm still hanging on to my SD Tivo and primarily using it since it is far superior to the Insight HD DVR even without HD... I'm very interested in the DirecTV MPEG4 HD PVR system I've been reading about, even though the details are sketchy at this point. Also, I'm in a situation downtown where I can't get the locals with an antenna, so the HD LIL option DirecTV should be offering us appeals to me. I believe Louisville will barely make the cut to have HD LIL from DirecTV this year... I hope...

I too am losing IMO my best source of HD programming: VOOM :(

Here is my opinion of my local choices:

Insight
Pro:
- no equipment to buy, can lease DVR for $12.50 / month
- no contract (no investment, change provider any time)
- On Demand is nice (although not HD)
- HD channels not available OTA: HDNet, HDNet Movies, UHD, HBOHD, SHOHD, ESPNHD, DiscoveryHD
- Being able to time shift the above channels as well as the OTA HD local networks makes the DVR (although buggy) a MUST HAVE for me.

Con:
- Insight is extremely slow to add more HD channels so IMO you need to make your Insight decision on what they have NOW - not what they might get - no indication they are even trying.
- If you are used to Tivo (and even if you're not), this DVR may drive you nuts. It is very basic, no frills and can be extremely buggy: I've had it record programs I didn't set it to record, not record programs I set it to record, unable to delete recording set up in program planner, duplicate listings in program planner that you can't delete ... I could go on and on.
- 1 tuner, 80GB HD in DVR. This is why I have 2 of them. Rumor has it that the 2 tuner, 120 GB DVR may be availabe next month.
- expensive: For $108.95 / mo I have 2 DVR's, Basic cable only + HD pack, HBO & Cable modem.


DirecTV (a.k.a. D*)
Pro:
- NFL Sunday Ticket
- I already own a D* HD receiver (paid $hundreds for it)

Con:
- Over-compressed, bit-starved SD and HD PQ (if you can call it quality) as viewed on a big screen (a.k.a. HD-lite)
- DVR way too expensive (no rentals) and will be obsolete with MPEG4
- requires contract
- HD emphasis for new channels is LiL. I get OTA just fine.


Dishnetwork (a.k.a. E*)
I've not had E* so my opinions are from what I've read on AVS forum.
Pro:
- best HD PQ (but now reading about HD-lite coming to E*)
- no contract
- can lease HD DVR

Con:
- lots of talk but little action in the HD programming area
- buggy equipment
- HD-lite?

Chris, I think the easiest thing for you to do , and the least expensive in the short term (besides settle for OTA only) would be to have Insight's DVR installed and wait to see what D* and E* actually do - not what they promise.

Again, all my opinion .. YMMV

Originally posted by Rick214
I too am losing IMO my best source of HD programming: VOOM :(

Here is my opinion of my local choices:

Insight
Pro:
- no equipment to buy, can lease DVR for $12.50 / month
- no contract (no investment, change provider any time)
- On Demand is nice (although not HD)
- HD channels not available OTA: HDNet, HDNet Movies, UHD, HBOHD, SHOHD, ESPNHD, DiscoveryHD
- Being able to time shift the above channels as well as the OTA HD local networks makes the DVR (although buggy) a MUST HAVE for me.

Con:
- Insight is extremely slow to add more HD channels so IMO you need to make your Insight decision on what they have NOW - not what they might get - no indication they are even trying.
- If you are used to Tivo (and even if you're not), this DVR may drive you nuts. It is very basic, no frills and can be extremely buggy: I've had it record programs I didn't set it to record, not record programs I set it to record, unable to delete recording set up in program planner, duplicate listings in program planner that you can't delete ... I could go on and on.
- 1 tuner, 80GB HD in DVR. This is why I have 2 of them. Rumor has it that the 2 tuner, 120 GB DVR may be availabe next month.
- expensive: For $108.95 / mo I have 2 DVR's, Basic cable only + HD pack, HBO & Cable modem.


DirecTV (a.k.a. D*)
Pro:
- NFL Sunday Ticket
- I already own a D* HD receiver (paid $hundreds for it)

Con:
- Over-compressed, bit-starved SD and HD PQ (if you can call it quality) as viewed on a big screen (a.k.a. HD-lite)
- DVR way too expensive (no rentals) and will be obsolete with MPEG4
- requires contract
- HD emphasis for new channels is LiL. I get OTA just fine.


Dishnetwork (a.k.a. E*)
I've not had E* so my opinions are from what I've read on AVS forum.
Pro:
- best HD PQ (but now reading about HD-lite coming to E*)
- no contract
- can lease HD DVR

Con:
- lots of talk but little action in the HD programming area
- buggy equipment


lacquer, I think the easiest thing for you to do , and the least expensive in the short term (besides settle for OTA only) would be to have Insight's DVR installed and wait to see what D* and E* actually do - not what they promise.

Again, all my opinion .. YMMV

I am also a Voom customer who loves their service and am quite depressed about their demise. I evaluated my options for post-Voom life and agree with your points, but I decided to go with Dish over Insight.

I decided to go with Dish because they currently have TNT-HD. With the basketball playoffs starting soon, I did not want to go with any provider that didn't offer TNT-HD.

I will be leasing the 942 DVR from Dish which cost me a $250 upgrade fee but from reviews I have read about the 942, it is a very stable subtantial DVR. The only thing that it lacks is dual OTA tuners, but at least it has dual Satellite tuners whereas the Insight DVR only has one cable tuner. The 942 also has a 250GB hard drive which in my opinion is the minimum that a HD DVR should have. The only thing that worries me about the 942 is its lack of MPEG-4 support and I hope that Dish will offer me a free upgrade when it does transition to MPEG-4.

If Insight offered a worthy HD DVR and TNT-HD, I would have seriously considered them. I didn't consider Directv to be a viable option since current rumors have most if not all of their soon to be available bandwidth slated for HD locals - which I get perfectly OTA. I seriously doubt that satellite provided HD locals will even look like HD when directly compared to the OTA version due to compression.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the demise of Voom does not set back the HD transition of cable and DBS providers and will jump quickly from Dish if another option becomes available that offers more HD.

Each Voomer will have to evaluate the current offerings of the providers and make their choice. I also stress that you only consider what each provider is currently offering to keep from being disappointed when their promises aren't kept.

Insight seems to have a slight edge now in HD offerings and picture quality, but the landscape is changing. If all goes well later this year, D* will have plenty of bandwidth, providing better HD picture quality and more programming.

When D* adds new national HD channels like INHD and TNT-HD many subscribers (myself included) will drop slow moving cable providers like Insight. Insight seems comfortable with their current HD offerings and we've seen no new offerings in two years.

Insight is lacking:
1) PBS HD 24 x 7 (channel 68-1)
2) ESPN2-HD
3) TNT-HD
4) INHD and INHD2
5) Larger DVR

Originally posted by cambus
Insight seems to have a slight edge now in HD offerings and picture quality, but the landscape is changing. If all goes well later this year, D* will have plenty of bandwidth, providing better HD picture quality and more programming. I hope you are right about D*. If this actually happens, they will be seeing more of my money.

If all the satellites get up OK, I agree they will have lots of bandwidth. But what will they do with it? Unfortunately, if you look at what D* has a history of doing, they will increase the quantity of programming, no doubt... but so far both their SD and HD PQ has only gone one way: down.

I hope this is not what happens. But we'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for all your thoughts. I don't like any of my current options at all! Right now I am thinking Insight for the very short term - as no contract is required (I am running Insight Broadband now anyway, so it is an easy hookup). Then I will re-evaluate my options this Fall after the new D* satellites are flying and E* owns the VOOM satellite.

The reality is that I want anything that is halfway as good as VOOM! If D* adds more HD channels and gets rid of their lousy compression this Fall, I will switch. If E* uses the VOOM satellite for more HD, I will switch. If Chuck Dolan comes out with a new service with more HD, I will switch. I don't hold out much hope for Insight adding more HD. Maybe somebody out there will get the message.

Chris

I currently have HD through directv and would agree the best thing right now would be to wait if you can.

The first new bird goes up April 26th, but it is a KA band that will be using MPEG4 and apparantely will not work with current set of equipment.

I would wait and see the mechanics of how D* is going to allocate channels and upgrade customer equipment first before buying equipment that may be obsolete in the short term.

Long term it looks like D* will have a ton of capacity but I would wait and see the mechanics of how D* is going to allocate channels and upgrade customer equipment first before buying equipment that may be obsolete in the short term.

Station problems with OTA HD:

WAVE 3 - Keep mentioning problems with feed from NY and usually blame it on weather.... Sky clear in NY tonight and Las Vegas was 4:3 and no DD (Amp was in DD - sound was 2 channel)...

WLKY 32 - New Dobly equipment installed and so far DD is so - so.. I know I have heard CSI in DD but tonight - not.

WHAS 11 - OK...

WDRB 41 - The best of them all...

Jay Leno was also 4:3, 480i tonight on WAVE3.

In fact, most nights on Wave Leno has some parts shown in 4:3.

Originally posted by cambus
Jay Leno was also 4:3, 480i tonight on WAVE3.

I guess they got the network memo that said, 'no primetime HD tonight,' and decided to take the lazy route with Leno.

Any word on HD Thunder coverage this year???

Originally posted by Briands
Any word on HD Thunder coverage this year???

Yes - WAVE3

Originally posted by Briands
Any word on HD Thunder coverage this year???

Wow ... no post-mortem comments at all?

My only "complaint" is that the air-show coverage was quite spotty. Several times, WAVE cut away to a commercial just as a new "act" was getting underway - predicably leading to only SD "instant replays" after the commercial break.

The fireworks coverage was "more than adequate."

Overall grade B+

I was able to record the most of the air show, which looks fantastic! Unfortunately, myHD card stopped recording (unknown reason) an hour before the fireworks. Anyone with a .ts or .tp recording of the fireworks? Please PM me or send an e-mail to:
s t e v e "AT" c a m b u s "DOT" c o m

thanks

Originally posted by lacquer
Thanks for all your thoughts. I don't like any of my current options at all! Right now I am thinking Insight for the very short term - as no contract is required (I am running Insight Broadband now anyway, so it is an easy hookup). Then I will re-evaluate my options this Fall after the new D* satellites are flying and E* owns the VOOM satellite.

The reality is that I want anything that is halfway as good as VOOM! If D* adds more HD channels and gets rid of their lousy compression this Fall, I will switch. If E* uses the VOOM satellite for more HD, I will switch. If Chuck Dolan comes out with a new service with more HD, I will switch. I don't hold out much hope for Insight adding more HD. Maybe somebody out there will get the message.

Chris

lacquer,
Don't know if you have been to the satguys or dbstalk sites today, but Dish Network is going to start broadcasting 10 of the VOOM HD channels. They are suppose to be up Sunday. I believe other VOOM channels are coming later (21 total). Most VOOMERs are able to use the VOOM Antenna to pick up local HD.

Just a thought.
Larry

I just called to get my free dish pointed at 61.5... I'm gettin' ready!

Are the HD channels located @ 61.5?

Reading the forums it seens that is the sat they are going to use... Some say 110 will carry the load - others say 110 is already loeded up and will not be used...

Either way I thought I would get the extra dish and switch installed with the free local channels offer.

Originally posted by bnewt
Are the HD channels located @ 61.5?

Odds are the VOOM HD will be off the 61.5 bird.

Currently most HD is off 110, but some like the national CBSHD (good luck getting a wavier from WLKY), is off 61.5.

The good news is that if you are getting the Dish Louisville locals, one of the local channels comes off the 61.5. That means you can call Dish and they will install the 61.5 dish, switches and anything needed for free.

It will be Sunday, at the earliest, before we know for sure. The 110 bird is at capacity.

Call now and avoid the rush. :D

Originally posted by lapplegate


Call now and avoid the rush. :D

I called tonight and got a Monday install :)

Originally posted by gdarwin
I called tonight and got a Monday install :)


I believe getting a 61.5 is a good move. I did this when they first came out with the Louisville locals. So far it has paid off in that when they do something like this I am ready to go.

Speaking of WLKY, does anyone know why they've apparently given up on DD5.1? Were they just teasing us? :D

I called one night and the engineer on duty told me they are now waiting for the equipment to automatically switch the audio for the commercials...

Guess they don't want to take the extra effort to flip a switch.

Ten of the VOOM channels are up and live, at Dish. Cost an additional $5 a month. The basic HD package is $9.99 and you will have to have it to add the VOOM channels.

You will need to have a 61.5 dish up (CSR asked how many dishes I had) or get one to receiver the new HD channels.

Larry

Finally got the 61.5 dish installed today. The deal was the second dish for the must carry locals..

When the installer was done setting every thing up I ran the guide up to 9470 and said "There they are" Installer didn't have a clue what Voom was...

Called E* and had them on in about 5 minutes.:)

Anyone have problems with Lost last night? It didn't seem to be in sync, better than past weeks, but not totally in sync.

Yeah, just a little off.

Ok,

I just got back from Europe (work trip) and now I want my VOOM back ASAP, so I am ready to pull the trigger on DISH NETWORK. I want HDTV on two screens simultaneously, which the DISH 942 cannot do. Can I get a 942 and an 811 working simultaneously on two different TV's?

Also, I have a great OTA antenna. To get VOOM - DISH NETWORK and free OTA locals, it looks like I need two satellite dishes AND the OTA antenna. I have two sets of RG6 running to each HDTV, so I guess I could use a Diplexor or switch to get all three of these signals to the TV's. Is that correct? What would be the best way to go?

Finally, I DO NOT want to pay for the OTA locals. But as I understand things, if I subscribe to the locals, I will get a 61.5 dish for free so they can send me WBNA. (Terrible station) Can I subscribe to the locals, get the free dish, and then immediately change my subscription to delete the locals?

A bit confused,

Chris

Anyone here having trouble decoding KET 68-1 DT-38? Ever since their transmission went haywire a few days ago,one of my receivers will not decode regardless of signal strength.


Thanks,
Greg B

Channel 68 is ok, but still having a problem with channel 58 showing on my stb as 51-3. Have had this problem since February. Was having the same problem with channel 41 showing up as 49-3 until a few weeks ago. Called the station & asked for the engineering department, but can never talk to anyone, always get voice mail. I have left several messages but never any response.

Originally posted by MAX HD
Anyone here having trouble decoding KET 68-1 DT-38? Ever since their transmission went haywire a few days ago,one of my receivers will not decode regardless of signal strength.


Thanks,
Greg B

Still haing problems with the Sony and the Dish 811 locking on the signal. When I do have it lots of audio and video dropouts.

We've got a host and a date for the "First Louisville Area Home Theater Meet".


See the thread here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=498359)

A bump for the Louisville Area Home Theater meet.

blott has volunteered to host the June meet at 6:30 on Thursday June 16.

From the sound of it he has a pretty nice Xlobby, homeseer automation that he has set up. I'm definitly interested in this. Also, it sounds like he could use some convincing to upgrade his theater to something more state of the art (maybe front projection).

If you are interested, PM me with your name, email and phone and I will make sure you get an invitation.


And lastly to make this post On Topic... How have you replaced Voom???

Even more on topic:

Has anyone called/complained to WLKY about their SD->HD upconversion problem? I'm talking specifically about the (apparently) missing half-frames that result in wicked interlace artyfacts. WKYT had this very same problem many months ago. The problem cropped up about the same time that many stations were upgrading their (Harris) encoder software.

Anybody lose all of their UHF channels?

15, 32, 41, 58, 28 were all gone. WAVE 3-DT was still working and analog WAVE and WHAS were in.


Oh...seems the analogs are back. No WLKY-DT, though.


Weird.

Anybody lose all of their UHF channels?

15, 32, 41, 58, 28 were all gone. WAVE 3-DT was still working and analog WAVE and WHAS were in.


Oh...seems the analogs are back. No WLKY-DT, though.


Weird.

I also lost the following digital OTA channels:
11-1 & 11-2
31-1 & 32-2
41-1
58-1

Does anyone have any clue what is going on? What could explain these 4 feeds going dark today?

Just called CBS - they said they have a power outage which is also is affecting the other OTA channels that I am missing. They are not sure when it will be fixed.

Major power outage... WKMJ and WKPC analogs were also down.. the Digitals have backup power...

Are we talking equipment failure or do we have some crispy critters laying around up in New Albany? :)

I also lost the following digital OTA channels:
11-1 & 11-2
31-1 & 32-2
41-1
58-1

Does anyone have any clue what is going on? What could explain these 4 feeds going dark today?

Whew! I thought I was the only one having this problem. I use a Hughes E86 and thought this was one of the heat-related channel drop issues.

Glad to know it's not.

High tension power problem.

Is WDRB still having issues? Maybe running at lower power. Lately I've been able to get WHAS-DT and that has usually been pretty hard. WDRB isn't coming in well analog and I can't get the digital signal. Also, my mom called me last night and said her and others in the Brandenburg area have been having problems picking up WDRB.

Yes, according to WDRB engineer, they are upgrading to full power. He said that after the 1st week of July, everything should be back to normal. Even the analog signal is suffering due to this upgrade. I had called to ask about channel 58. Every since late February, my stb has been showing digital 58 as 51-3 instead of 58-1. He told me this problem should be corrected also.

Yes, according to WDRB engineer, they are upgrading to full power. He said that after the 1st week of July, everything should be back to normal.

Cool ... an alternate (non lo-VHF) FOX outlet for me - must be X-mas in July :D

What type of receiver are you using ?

I emailed insight and asks about the 6412 box


insight response:

Thank you for your sales inquiry. The new dual tuner DVRs are here, but
they're currently in our testing phase. Rest assured, we will keep our
customers posted when they're available for subscription.

First post here after lurking for a month or so. I have a few quesions.

Just got the Sony KDF 55WF655. I currently have the Insight Classic package. I'm thinking about upgrading to a cable card to get HD programs. Any updates on this technology, problems, etc? It's been a while since the last cable card discussion.

Another question: this new tv is picking up digital stations that I don't subscribe to. Why is this?

Thanks

Anybody else having audio problems on WAVE-DT on Law and Order?

There's interference and distortion.

Anybody else having audio problems on WAVE-DT on Law and Order? There's interference and distortion.

I didn't watch L&O, but a good portion of "Conan" had the digital warbley effect last night. The problem seemed to be limited to just the "Conan" show proper, local ads and other commercials seemed ok.

Don't know about Law & Order, but there always seem to be a audio lag in Lost (abc).
Is that just because of the newness or will this be a continual problem?

Even more on topic:

Has anyone called/complained to WLKY about their SD->HD upconversion problem? I'm talking specifically about the (apparently) missing half-frames that result in wicked interlace artyfacts. WKYT had this very same problem many months ago. The problem cropped up about the same time that many stations were upgrading their (Harris) encoder software.


What type of receiver are you using ?

Anybody else having audio problems on WAVE-DT on Law and Order?

There's interference and distortion.

What hardware is being used for your PCI card

I use a MyHD MDP-100 card and other channels were just fine the other night.

Hey guys,

I posted this in the regular part of the HDTV programming thread.

A D* CSR told me I could get select HD programming through them (not OTA) on the networks. Is this true? I was under the impression that it was only available OTA in the Louisville area. Does this CSR know what she is talking about? I had her confirm it before I said I believed her. I don't have D* yet, but I am trying to decide between them and E*. For the Louisville area, is D* or E* better for HD programming (if there is any difference). Thanks

David

The only way D* subscribers in the Louisville area can receive the national HD network feeds is to "move" to an area such as Chicago or New York. The CSR was misinformed.

Thousands of D* subscribers across the U.S. use a service address outside of their real location to receive the network HD feeds. D* does not strictly enforce this. (I believe the billing and service address can be different)

Personally I wish we had a choice of network HD feeds. Watching the NBA finals on WHAS ABC was a pixellated mess. They have older equipment and use a subchannel.

OK. I ordered Dish yesterday. I am getting the 942 receiver. I have been doing some reading about OTA antennas, and I think I am going with the Channel Master 4228 8-Bay. I live about 40 miles from the New Albany towers. I was planning on mounting this to the roof of my house (two stories and sits up on a hill somewhat).

My brother has a 50ft antenna tower that he would give me, but my wife doesn't want to have any part of that. Will the Channel Master 4228 8-Bay be good enough. Do I need an amp or some filtering device? Could I get a good enough HD signal to use a smaller antenna or put the 4228 in my attic? Thanks in advance for the advice. I am a novice!!!

Will the Channel Master 4228 8-Bay be good enough. Do I need an amp or some filtering device? Could I get a good enough HD signal to use a smaller antenna or put the 4228 in my attic? Thanks in advance for the advice. I am a novice!!!

The 4228 is a good place to start ... WFTE-DT and WDRB-DT (at least until the power-up) may be tricky @ 40mi. Try the 4228 on the roof without any pre-amp first.

OK. I ordered Dish yesterday. I am getting the 942 receiver. I have been doing some reading about OTA antennas, and I think I am going with the Channel Master 4228 8-Bay. I live about 40 miles from the New Albany towers. I was planning on mounting this to the roof of my house (two stories and sits up on a hill somewhat).

My brother has a 50ft antenna tower that he would give me, but my wife doesn't want to have any part of that. Will the Channel Master 4228 8-Bay be good enough. Do I need an amp or some filtering device? Could I get a good enough HD signal to use a smaller antenna or put the 4228 in my attic? Thanks in advance for the advice. I am a novice!!!

I have a Radio Shack RU-190 UHF-VHF antenna on the chimney of my 2 story house and I am west of E-town about 55 miles from the towers and I get WAVE, WHAS,WLKY and PBS HD from WKMJ. I would suggest the Channel Master 7777 pre-amp as it has the lowest noise of any I could find. I also have the 4228 8-bay but I have not put it up yet as I am looking for a tower to mount it on.

Would your brother like to sell the 50 foot tower, do you know what kind it is?

Mike W6MXV near Cecilia

Would your brother like to sell the 50 foot tower, do you know what kind it is?

Thanks for the info. I will ask my brother if he is interested in selling it and what kind it is. He lives about 35 miles from Louisville on US150.

Another thing I might add. My dad gets great analog reception from his home near me. He gets all the locals out of Louisville. I assume I can get similar quality. I live a little futher away but higher up than he does. How does required signal strength compare between analog and digital?

I just talked to my brother. He has a Rohn tower. There are 6 sections to it. Five are 10ft sections and one is 9ft and narrows at the top where you put your antenna. He bought it about 3-5 years ago. It is still standing, and he has never gotten a good signal because he lives in a valley (about a 1/2 mile from my dad who gets wonderful reception and isn't that much higher up; go figure). He paid $100 per section for it.

If you are interested, you could probably make an offer. It would be easy to pick up because it is right on US150, and his clinic (he's a veterinarian) is right next to his house, which means he is always around.

PM or email me if you are interested.


BTW- I would still like someone to explain to me signal strength requirements for a good picture with analog vs digital (i.e. if my dad gets a good analog picture now, would he get a good HD picture using an HD antenna?)

I live in Bullitt County & get fairly good analog reception. I bought the Motorola HDT101 receiver & am able to get 3,11,15,32,41,58, & 68. I can't get channel 21 in digital, but can in analog. I think that their towers are in different locations. Hopefully, your situation will be similar.

I've been out of town and tonight I turn in to 38-1 to watch the Capitol 4th of July show and I all get is a black screen with an occasional flash of the program. Network problems?

Well there was a minute or so of black screen on KET4 at 8pm ... and the darned station id card wiped out a minute or so of program @ ~8:57pm. The "premier" showing of "SoundStage" last week (6/30) on KET4 had the same symptoms as you saw on 38-1 tonight. I haven't tried to pull in WKMJ tonight due to electrical activity in the area.

While I'm at it, I've noticed that KET1/2 programming seems to be occasionally "hiccuping," but that could very well be reception issues.

Something is weird about Soundstage as the PBS HD receivers here had a fit with it and the HD encoder gave up and went to the ID and black.... I was able to clear it for a little while by resetting the receivers but the problem came back... July 1 was the deadline to begin running IDs on KET4... more to come..


William

Something is weird about Soundstage as the PBS HD receivers here had a fit with it and the HD encoder gave up and went to the ID and black....

Seems like this problem popped up last year too ... perhaps it's the DD5.1 stream causing the "panic" ???

Anyway, I've been been meaning to "tivo" some KET1 programming off the D* LiL feed to see if the KET1 "hiccups" are showing up there. So far it looks like the problem is just on my end.

Are there any AVSers in the Radcliff area that have had any success getting good OTA signals? Im looking to drop my cable box if I can get most of the HD content I watch OTA, but I dont know if its possible...

Any help?

Are there any AVSers in the Radcliff area that have had any success getting good OTA signals? Im looking to drop my cable box if I can get most of the HD content I watch OTA, but I dont know if its possible...

Any help?
I am located near Cecilia, west of E-Town and I have an antenna on the roof of a 2 story house and I get WAVE, WHAS, WLKY, WBKI, and WKMJ the digital channel of PBS HDTV channel 68. I use the tuner built in my RCA DLP HDTV and a Channel Master 7777 pre-amp mounted just below the antenna. The antenna is a Radio Shack RU-190 VHF\UHF with no rotator, just aimed at Louisville. I hope to get WDRB (FOX) when they go to high power.

Mike

I am located near Cecilia, west of E-Town and I have an antenna on the roof of a 2 story house and I get WAVE, WHAS, WLKY, WBKI, and WKMJ the digital channel of PBS HDTV channel 68. I use the tuner built in my RCA DLP HDTV and a Channel Master 7777 pre-amp mounted just below the antenna. The antenna is a Radio Shack RU-190 VHF\UHF with no rotator, just aimed at Louisville. I hope to get WDRB (FOX) when they go to high power.

Mike

I am located in Glendale 5 miles south of Etown. I have a yagi antenna with no rotor aimed at Louisville (I have to go through the KET tower in Etown) and pick up WAVE, WLKY, WHAS, WKPC, KET, WBKI, and as Mike states, waiting on WDRB- which should be full power anytime as the FCC deadline was July 1. I don't have an amp hooked up as of right now. If you need any help just "HOLLA".

Good Luck

I dont have the capability to mount an external antenna right now. My apartment would probably not appreciate it. Anyone have any luck with "internal" antennas either something silver sensor-esque? What about hiding an antenna in a closet? Is that doable?

I dont have the capability to mount an external antenna right now. My apartment would probably not appreciate it. Anyone have any luck with "internal" antennas either something silver sensor-esque? What about hiding an antenna in a closet? Is that doable?

You might try something like the silver sensor or even just rabbit ears but if you want to install an antenna:


As directed by Congress in Section 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the Over-the-Air Reception Device Rule concerning governmental and nongovernmental restrictions on viewers' ability to receive video programming signals from direct broadcast satellites ("DBS"), multichannel multipoint distribution (wireless cable) providers ("MMDS"), and television broadcast stations ("TVBS").

The rule is cited as 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000 and has been in effect since October 14, 1996. It prohibits restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance or use of antennas used to receive video programming. The rule applies to video antennas including direct-to-home satellite dishes that are less than one meter (39.37") in diameter (or of any size in Alaska), TV antennas, and wireless cable antennas. The rule prohibits most restrictions that: (1) unreasonably delay or prevent installation, maintenance or use; (2) unreasonably increase the cost of installation, maintenance or use; or (3) preclude reception of an acceptable quality signal.

The rule applies to viewers who place video antennas on property that they own and that is within their exclusive use or control, including condominium owners and cooperative owners who have an area where they have exclusive use, such as balcony or patio, in which to install the antenna. The rule applies to townhomes and manufactured homes, as well as to single-family homes.

The rule allows local governments, community associations and landlords to enforce restrictions that do not impair, as well as restrictions needed for safety or historic preservation. In addition, the rule does not apply to common areas that are owned by a landlord, a community association, or jointly by condominium or cooperative owners. Therefore, restrictions on antennas installed in common areas are enforceable.

On November 20, 1998, the Commission amended the rule so that it will apply to rental property where the renter has exclusive use, such as a balcony or patio. The effective date of the amended rule is January 22, 1999.

Good luck and you will enjoy OTA HD!

Before I mounted the big unit on my roof, I tried both a Silver Sensor and a Radio Shack amplified Indoor Antenna. Both worked (the Radio Shack was better for me), but they both had problems when somebody walked around in the house, etc.

In summary, it may not be perfect, but it should get the job done. Aim is very important; I had to move mine a little bit for different stations.

Chris

We had the 2nd meeting of the Louisville Home Theater enthusiasts last night. It's going to be a monthly meeting. For a recap of the meeting, go to this link.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5922919&&#post5922919

From: S a t e l l i t e g u y s . u s

WealthTV Inks Deal With Insight Communications
Top 10 MSO Signs Long-Term Affiliate Deal With Premier Lifestyle and Entertainment Network

SAN DIEGO, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- WealthTV, the premier lifestyle and entertainment network, today announced that it has completed a 10 year agreement with Insight Communications, one of the top ten MSOs in the United States, for distribution of WealthTV in standard digital, high definition and video on demand service.

"It is our goal to provide our customers with high-caliber entertainment options," said Melani Griffith, Vice President of Programming, Insight Communications. "By offering WealthTV in HD, Standard Digital and VOD, we're providing viewers with a wide range of entertainment and lifestyle programming that is both family-friendly and educational as well as entertaining."

Insight follows a number of successful WealthTV launches from a myriad of cities from Los Angeles, California to Stanford, Maine carried by numerous MSOs, including Charter Communications, Verizon, Armstrong, WOW, US Cable, Metrocast, Champion Broadband, and many others. WealthTV features a wide range of family-friendly, aspirational programming from exotic travel to entertaining and educational shows all designed to have broad appeal.

"We're excited to join the programming line-up at one of the most advanced and well-respected MSOs in the Nation," stated Charles Herring, President of WealthTV. "WealthTV's broad appeal and ability to allow viewers to live the American dream now by simply watching their TV, will deliver what viewers in the Midwest are seeking for and dreaming of."

Source: (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050725/lam049.html?.v=19)

Rick: thanks for the update. Anyone heard about INHD / INHD2 ? What about the new Moto boxes that were supposed to be ready in May? My Moto DCT6208 box sucks.

Anyone having electronic program guide problems? I connected a new ota hd receiver last night which has the program guide feature, but the only station that had any information was WAVE, but it was off by an hour. Any one else having this problem?

Channel 11.1 seems to have changed their audio. The voice does not only come out of the center speaker but also out of my left and right front speakers. It is so annoying that I change to Directv channel 11 - which of course is not HD but has better audio. Anyone else notice this problem?

Concerning internal antennas, I have the silver sensor with the Radio Shack amplifier and my signal strenght is 95+, of couse I am not far from the stations but I am somewhat hidden behind the Knobs. I have the antenna hidden in the upstairs guest room with a run of about 100 feet back to the TV.

Concerning channel info; my HD tivo with 2 OTA tuners lists program information for all the OTA digital channels that I receive.

Last night I was getting all of the channel information except for channel 21, but it was still off by an hour. I was able to play with the setup menu for daylight savings time and could get the correct epg info, but then the internal timers were off. I could be doing something wrong since I was hurriedly testing it out.

Is anybody else noticing a much stronger WDRB-DT signal this morning? :)

Is anybody else noticing a much stronger WDRB-DT signal this morning? :)

Earlier this morning (Sunday) with the help of some tropospheric enhancement in the area, WDRB-DT was booming to the northside of Indianapolis @ 111 miles. WLKY-DT used to be the most frequent visitor here, but from what I saw this morning WDRB-DT was much stronger.

Steve
Indy

I only use D* for NFL Sunday Ticket and the NFL channel. I discovered today that I'm not getting a D* signal. I checked the transponder signal strength meter and I'm only getting sporadic blips on 119 and 110 and nothing on 101. I tried repointing the dish myself but once again I've proven to myself just how inept I am with these things.

I have an E86 and am not under any kind of warranty with D*.

Can anyone refer me to a good local company that can fix this?

thanks ...................... Rick

I only use D* for NFL Sunday Ticket and the NFL channel. I discovered today that I'm not getting a D* signal. I checked the transponder signal strength meter and I'm only getting sporadic blips on 119 and 110 and nothing on 101. I tried repointing the dish myself but once again I've proven to myself just how inept I am with these things.

I have an E86 and am not under any kind of warranty with D*.

Can anyone refer me to a good local company that can fix this?

thanks ...................... Rick

Miller's in Georgetown, IN. Marty and crew are good.

Is anyone else not getting any picture or sound on wtvq? It says im getting 99% signal... and Im receiving the rest of my channels.... anyone know of anything going on?

Miller's in Georgetown, IN. Marty and crew are good.
Thanks!

Is anyone else not getting any picture or sound on wtvq? It says im getting 99% signal... and Im receiving the rest of my channels.... anyone know of anything going on?

See here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5960126#post5960126)

They've apparently had some type of failure, what I don't know. The digital xmiter has been down since Fri. ....

Well actually the transmitter is running but there's no program data going out.

Earlier this morning (Sunday) with the help of some tropospheric enhancement in the area, WDRB-DT was booming to the northside of Indianapolis @ 111 miles. WLKY-DT used to be the most frequent visitor here, but from what I saw this morning WDRB-DT was much stronger.

The tropo has actually been doing more harm than good here (@76mi). Yet WDRB is hanging in with WAVE and WLKY. It's nice to suddenly have an alternative FOX station - not to mention the odd UoL game now and then ;)

Garn! WDRB-DT went back to flea power. I hope they didn't blow out the new xmitter. :(

Anyone watch the CMA country music festival last night? Why the constant change in audio during the regular programming & the commercials? Is digital going to have the same problems as analog does with commercials being louder than regular programs?
Why doesn't WHAS send the electronic program guide in their signal?

Are the locals broadcasting in DD5.1? My Pioneer 45tx receiver shows the 5.1 signal, but it sure doesn't sound like it.

those commercials during the music festival last were so damn loud. They could easily blow a speaker if you had it turned up loud enough during the show. I feel like writing the FCC or somebody about these damn commercials! annoying

I agree............can we complain to WHAS locally

Ahh ... the plot thinkens .... I notice that there are freshly minted construction applications (dated 7/22/05) posted at the FCC for both WDRB and WFTE DT's. They were "received" on 8/1, the day the high power WDRB signal went away.

Anyway, it looks like they may be back to flea power while installing stuff (read xmitter) for WFTE. Both stations will be using the same antenna like WLEX and WTVQ are doing in Lexington.

Surely they didn't run the originally planned WDRB-DT antenna for three days, only to take it down and replace it with another one. That's just plain nuts :) :D

I agree............can we complain to WHAS locally

I noticed that Sunday night the prime-time broadcasts on 11.1 ota were EXTREMELY LOUD when compared to all other (ota or D*) channels. This morning I called the engineering dept at WHAS. They have informed me that they recently switched out some audio equipment, and that apparently it wasn't tested/calibrated/installed properly. They said it had something to do with the downlinked broadcasts (national feeds?), and that they have now re-calibrated it to be about equal to KET. Hope this helps ... I guess we'll see (or hear) tonight.

ps. They seemed to be very quick to respond back, and quite eager to fix the issue. Hopefully they will keep their positive attitude in the future when other issues arise.

Friar

I received the firmware upgrade on my DirecTV H10 HDTV receiver last night. Now WHAS 11-1 and 11-2 OTA signals are gone, even after rescanning.

Did anyone else receive the update and have problems with any of the locals? I know WHAS has been doing some work on their digital signal lately, and I'm wondering if they were coincidentally off the air this AM.

We lost all our local channels from DTV and the over the air channels I had set up in our H10. I noticed a software update from 4:00 AM this morning, and spent an hour resetting the entire dish set up and OTA for getting back some of them. I was on the phone to DTV, but no in person service techs were available. I still don't have FOX or 32, OTA, when I left. My wife was going to contact DTV this morning, and I have been on their web page but no information yet. My Ultima appears to be okay with all the locals, and the OTA works fine on a bypass I have set up for a satellite outage.

I received the firmware upgrade on my DirecTV H10 HDTV receiver last night. Now WHAS 11-1 and 11-2 OTA signals are gone, even after rescanning.

Did anyone else receive the update and have problems with any of the locals? I know WHAS has been doing some work on their digital signal lately, and I'm wondering if they were coincidentally off the air this AM.

The H10s were updated this morning for some hardware issues, see HDTV Program threads for details on the H10 upgrades. We had to reset everything. The DTV tech had to reset our "normal DTV Locals". By the way the tech/rep couldn't understand why we lost our Locals, but this is a major update for the HDMI cables and Picture Quality interface.

I am just about to sign up with Dish Network to get the most HD I can. I had VOOM and loved it before they went kaput.

The ideal situation for me would be Insight with lots of HD. But right now their channel lineup is meager at best - with Dish I get the VOOM channels, TNT HD, etc. Does Insight have any plans to add more HD? If so, I might get cable, but as things stand right now it looks like Dish Network for me. So if anybody has any ideas about Insight and HD, please let me know.

Chris

I received the firmware upgrade on my DirecTV H10 HDTV receiver last night. Now WHAS 11-1 and 11-2 OTA signals are gone, even after rescanning.

Did anyone else receive the update and have problems with any of the locals? I know WHAS has been doing some work on their digital signal lately, and I'm wondering if they were coincidentally off the air this AM.

All the local channels (D* feed and OTA) are back. The H10 is now actually a usable receiver since the menu bugs are fixed.

Dan

I haven't had time to look real good at it, my wife said the HD looked great on the DTV HD for the Shawshank Redemption, and for her that's a pretty big improvement, as she doesn't normally notice this stuff. I do not have all the OTA back, but I did find two more new ones that I didn't have from the last scan. I'll get some time this weekend to review it. I am curious if the H10 will make the MP4 conversion, if it ever gets finalized.

Don

New to AVS

I've been a long time DirecTivo subscriber -about 5 years. But when I got a new HD TV I wasn't willing to cough up $1000 for the HR10 (DirecTivo HD DVR) so I just kept my old setup. When I heard that Insight had a new dual tuner (Motorola) I decided to try that for a while. It got installed last pm and I must say the HD channels are amazing! However the interface is extremely cumbersome. I'm sure it will get better when I've used it some more but it is not even as close as nice as the Tivo. I'm going to keep trying the Insight product for the rest of the month but I would love to hear how people are doing that are getting HD locals OTA and using a HR10 from DirecTivo - are the antenna's that they install any good?

I have had the D* hr10 for about a year with a the silver sensor antenna (with radio shack booster) and it is really awesome. The price has finally come down to $499 and you might get some credit from the CS.

The OTA HD Is great (I am close to the stations) as well as the HD from D*. Almost ready to purchase a 2nd unit.

Looks like the HD boxes from Insight have a DVI output on the back. Does anyone know if those work? I'd try it out but I don't have a DVI cable, I don't want to spend the money on it if its not active. Thanks.

Looks like the HD boxes from Insight have a DVI output on the back. Does anyone know if those work? I'd try it out but I don't have a DVI cable, I don't want to spend the money on it if its not active. Thanks.

A co-worker of mine had (has?) the older Motorola box with the DVI which I'm assuming is what you have. When I was at his house for New Years he was using a DVI with his 61" DLP set (incredible picture). He indicated that when he first got it the DVI wasn't working, but apparently it had something to do with HDCP. I believe the fix was to pull the power on the STB, and then power it up with the TV already on and the DVI cable connected. So be sure your TV/projector supports HDCP, otherwise the DVI will not output to your set, same goes for disconnecting the cable once the STB is on.

Before you purchase your cable you need to decide if you will be upgrading to Insight's newer Motorola dual-tuner DCT6412 STB. It has no DVI port, but instead has HDMI output (even though Motorola's online info shows a DVI port, apparently Insight only offers the HDMI version). Therefore if your TV is DVI(HDCP) your DVI-DVI cable would require replacement or a converter to make it a HDMI-DVI cable in order to work with that STB.

That said, the dual-tuner STB can record overlapping shows, has improved electronics for better looking analog channels, and a larger hard drive for recording shows. I've read where many people are upgrading to this, however I believe there is a slight increase in the monthly rental cost. I sound like an advertisement for Insight, but many people don't know the newer boxes are available and it would be a shame to buy the wrong cable.

I'm a week away from having a HD set, and should have some first hand experience with Insight's new STB at that point. Hopefully others will chime in and correct me if any of the above is not 100% accurate. I'm interested in how Insight's HD quality compares to the OTA signal from a roof top antenna for receiving the network feeds. According to antennaweb<dot>org I'm 14 miles and 290 degrees from the towers. Is there a "yellow - uhf" antenna that is considered the best for this area? I plan to mount it on my chimney ... or am I going to be disappointed by the results?

... upgrading to Insight's newer Motorola dual-tuner DCT6412 STB. This is the first that I've heard that Insight was finally using the 6412. I've had two 6208's since Insight first got them. I have two because the 6208 only has 1 tuner. I'm now scheduled to swap my two 6208's with a 6412 this coming Saturday. The CSR said Insight is renting the 6412's for $11.95 /mo for 12 months as a special deal right now. So I'll cut my DVR bill in less than half :D. From what I've read, the 6412 is MUCH less buggy than the 6208 - I'm looking forward to that.

Thanks for making me aware of Insight offering the 6412 :)

I have the Insight Classic package. My new Sony KDF 55WF655 has a QAM tuner.
I'm able to pick up on-deman movies/shows from HBO, Showtime, Starz and others. I can also pick the digital channels for Sci Fi, Bravo and The Golf Channel but not others. Any one have any idea about this? Why those 3 channels and not the others?

Also does Insight carry the local HD channels in the clear over the lowest tiered service? I was reading instances where some people in other cities are getting the local HDs for free.

FYI, I have a Samsung 5.2 HDTV antenna connected to the TV. I get ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, 4 KET stations, 4 christian stations and WFTE. Signal strength usually in the 70%-80% range. I live at the bottom of Kenwood Hill in south Louisville about 14 miles from the towers.

I could use some help....

I recently had a D* HR10 installed (I got in on "the deal")with an OTA Antenna. It's a Winegard but I don't know which one - some airplane type - perhaps Winegard GS 1000 Sensar II ? I'm unsure if any sort of preamp was installed but I do know that the line is set up with a couple of diplexers and runs through my 4x8 Multiswitch

According to Antennaweb this is my situation: (I live near I-71/265 intersection)

* yellow - uhf WLKY-DT 32.1 CBS LOUISVILLE KY 290° 14.7 miles 26
* yellow - uhf WHAS-DT 11.1 ABC LOUISVILLE KY 285° 15.3 miles 55
* yellow - uhf WAVE-DT 3.1 NBC LOUISVILLE KY 290° 14.7 miles 47
* red - uhf WDRB-DT 41.1 FOX LOUISVILLE KY 284° 15.3 miles 49


I was encouraged by the fact that the towers are about 15 miles or less and that the compass orientations are roughly the same but I can only manage to get 2 of 4 with the setup I've got

CBS Signal 95+
ABC Signal 75+
NBC Signal 90+
PBS Signal 95+
Fox Signal - Basically 0 - occasional I'll get blip up to 10 or so

Should I be able to get all channels (with the right setup) using this antenna?
Ideas?

Thanks

NBC - seemed OK at first but off of the sudden is gone


WAVE-DT(NBC) had an equipment issue last night (PSIP generator) that may have prevented your receiver from decoding them. I noticed that it is now fixed.

For the rest, I'll leave it up to folks that are closer to you ...

I assume it was just the equipment as you said NBC is back...

Thanks for the speedy reply.

Also Re: some other posts:
I tried to the Motorola 6412 (dual tuner) for about a week. The picture via HDMI (not DVI) was wonderful but I missed my Tivo. The software provided by TV guide is just too clunky for me and when DirecTV offered me their HD DVR for free I couldn't say no!

Anybody want to take a swing at an answer. the question is picture quality of one versus the other. Don't consider analog cable i know the answer there. this would be Directv VS Digital cable. I'm getting ready to move one direction or the other. (believe it or not i have neither at this point). The basement is almost done and its time to purchase the JVC unit and get ready for U of L football and basketball season. One of my friends at WAVE says sat is the way to go because cable recompresses their signal and it just falls apart.

anyone have any thoughts?

the funny thing is is that it almost becomes a questions of compression. if both D* and Insight are digital then there shouldn't be any loss created due to the transmission. i mean that's the beauty of digital. its either there or not. no shades of gray like analog. With D* it would be a pure digital path from transmission to decoding to display (via HDMI) so you would think that D* would win. But with the limited bandwidth they have, they need to squeeze the crud out of the picture by compressing it down to 1-3Mbps. So the gain they having in a pure digital transmission path is lost to compression artifacts. Cable would (i think) have more transmission bandwidth but they i understand they have to recompress everything that is already compressed. more picture loss. Very confusing stuff just trying to get the best picture! Hey, i know. i'll just go to my neighbors house and watch his D* picture then go to my other neighbors house and watch cable.........this could take years!

Will Insight ever add more HD channels to the lineup? They are sooooo slow at doing anything......ESPN2 HD would be nice!

Will Insight ever add more HD channels to the lineup? They are sooooo slow at doing anything......ESPN2 HD would be nice!

I just saw that D* is adding ESPN2 HD on 9/8/05 ... you could always cross over to the dark side ;)

friar

Any word if THE game will be in HD? The Schedule at UofLsports.com has it on ESPN at 3:30, but Titan TV does not have it listed?

I looked over the schedule for ESPN HD on their website for Sept 4. They are showing another game....bummer

I looked over the schedule for ESPN HD on their website for Sept 4. They are showing another game....bummer

Did we really expect them to put an HD truck on a game that has almost zero national significance? ;)

It's Sunday afternoon, what else have they got to do???

ESPN's HD offerings for the weekend of Sept 4th are Georgia Tech vs Auburn on Saturday and Major League Baseball on Sunday Night.

Here's a great site for finding out what sports events will be shown in HD:

www.hdsportsguide.com

has anyone updated to this box yet......I'm thinking about calling and setting up an "appointment" to get it. Looks like it costs more per month(15.95). Just curious how anybody likes or dislikes it. Thanks

Got my 6412 last week. They have some promotion with it so it only costs something like 5 cents per month more than the 6208 during the first year. DVI is out, HDMI is in, so I had to buy an adapter. Both analog and digital channels look a bit better to my eyes. Seems to run a lot less hot than the 6208. Once the networks start the fall season we'll see how useful the dual tuners are. I figured better to get it early when there are nothing but reruns on so that I'm used to it by the time the good stuff starts!

JThree where did you buy adapter ?

My two boxes arrive tomorrow which will replace my existing Moto DVR boxes. Insight rep wanted to charge 9.99 "install" fee. I told her I'm not paying a dime as the existing DVRs don't preform as they should. She agreed and waived fee.

Pricing: $13 for first box, $15 for additional boxes

I was directed to go here with a question I posted on the Samsung HLR6168 calibration report thread.

Does anyone recommend a particular ISF Calibrator for Georgetown, Indiana area 47122. I know Indianapolis, Indiana has someone from ISF as well as Louisville, Lexington Kentucky. I would like to here from someone who knows someone in this area that they recommend.

Thanks!

Received Insight's Moto 6412 Friday. So Friday evening I scheduled the unit to record several movies over the weekend. Tonight I checked and the nothing existed in 'my recordings'! After some brief testing, the unit fails to record any programs. Nice! These boxes / software are crap. I'm hoping Tivo HD w/ Cable Card does ship in 2006, as these Moto boxes are aggravating. The only upside is the improved analog picture. The hard drive is 120mb vs 80mb (6208).

Has anyone in the LA been having pixellation/freezes on WLKY-DT over the past 2-3 days (8/27-8/30)? WAVE-DT has remained solid for me ... just wondering if they're having any equipment issues or if I'm getting interference from the NE-E.

... Edit: Nevermind, it looks like the problem has resolved itself ...

I have insight now and am thinking of switching to directv for the NFL sunday ticket. However, I don't want to sacrifice my local HD channels. How good do the off air antennas work? any suggestions?

The Louisville Area Home Theater meet for August will be on Thursday, Sept 1 at my house. If you are interested, PM me with your name, email and phone and I will send you an invitation by email.

More details HERE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6118735&&#post6118735)

JThree where did you buy adapter ?

Best Buy. They didn't have any on the shelf, even thought the website said they were in stock. Luckily I found one on a table of opened box stuff that was a marked down to $15 since it had been opend and resealed with tape!

Insight rep wanted to charge 9.99 "install" fee. I told her I'm not paying a dime as the existing DVRs don't preform as they should. She agreed and waived fee.

That's odd. They ever mentioned any kind of "install fee" to me. Anyone else calling should be on guard for that.

I have insight now and am thinking of switching to directv for the NFL sunday ticket. However, I don't want to sacrifice my local HD channels. How good do the off air antennas work? any suggestions?


Depends on where you live - I live by the Summit Mall and get great reception on ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS.

Check out antennaweb on the net for more info

Has anyone in the LA been having pixellation/freezes on WLKY-DT over the past 2-3 days (8/27-8/30)? WAVE-DT has remained solid for me ... just wondering if they're having any equipment issues or if I'm getting interference from the NE-E.

... Edit: Nevermind, it looks like the problem has resolved itself ...

Arrgh! I spoke too soon ... the WLKY problem seems to be getting worse. It doesn't appear to be a signal strength issue and there's no discernable correlation with tropo enhancement (compared with WAVE and WHAS DTs)

Anyone else???

Arrgh! I spoke too soon ... the WLKY problem seems to be getting worse. It doesn't appear to be a signal strength issue and there's no discernable correlation with tropo enhancement (compared with WAVE and WHAS DTs)

Anyone else???

Yes, thank gosh someone else posted. My OTA signal is at a solid 93% and WLKY is the only station I'm having issues with.

Seems like the issue is worse when the motion is fast or there is many colors, I'm not talking about motion artifacting, but instead whatever is moving quickly or has alot of color completely breaks up and pixelates.

Very annoying.

... Yep that sounds like what I'm seeing ... I'm thinking encoder troubles ...

I thought there was something wrong with my antenna, though all other channels are rock solid. But WLKY-DT has been horrible the past couple of days.

Any sort of motion seems to break up the image, and eventually I'll even lose the sound. Absolutely unwatchable.

I'm in Bloomington IN about 58 miles from the Louisville towers. I get good signals (90% - 100%) on WAVE, WHAS, and WLKY with a CM 4228 and CM 7777 about 35' off the ground. Unfortunately, no amount of tweaking gives me a good signal on WDRB (0% - 20%). The info I have shows nearly identical transmitter specs on WDRB and WAVE, around 1000KW on a 390m tower, so what gives? Reading through this thread, it looks like WDRB was late in going to full power, but it sounds like they should be there now. Can someone shed some light on my results?

Thanks.

Jerry

RE: WDRB ... they ran at "full" power for about three days around the end of July ... I'm reasonably sure they are back at STA (low) power for the moment. They submitted "changes" to their construction applications for WDRB and WFTE on 7/22. I suspect that it has something to do with the WFTE side of the plant ... that or they really are waiting for a new antenna.

In any case, as of my last check, both WKMJ and WKPC DT's are stronger at my location - which is a pretty good indicator that they are still at low power.

I thought there was something wrong with my antenna, though all other channels are rock solid. But WLKY-DT has been horrible the past couple of days.

Any sort of motion seems to break up the image, and eventually I'll even lose the sound. Absolutely unwatchable.


Same here using Silver Sensor antenna. Terrible break up of the image and sound. But, the signal strength is rock solid at 90+%.

Please fix it before NFL starts!

RE: WDRB ... they ran at "full" power for about three days around the end of July ... I'm reasonably sure they are back at STA (low) power for the moment. They submitted "changes" to their construction applications for WDRB and WFTE on 7/22. I suspect that it has something to do with the WFTE side of the plant ... that or they really are waiting for a new antenna.

In any case, as of my last check, both WKMJ and WKPC DT's are stronger at my location - which is a pretty good indicator that they are still at low power.


Is there any ETA on when the construction on WDRB HD antenna will be complete (back to full power)? With football season approaching, I'm getting tired of doing the reception dance with my antenna to get a lock on WDRB signal.

I'm just off of Gene Synder near Highway 146. WDRB signal via Silver Sensor goes from 0 to 50% and seldom will hold a signal lock for more than 5 minutes.

How hard can it be to boost the power? Seems the other Louisville majors have figured it out.

Is there any ETA on when the construction on WDRB HD antenna will be complete (back to full power)? .

I haven't pursued the matter with the powers-that-be ... I'm just inferring from the sequence of filings with the FCC. I do know that the current DT antenna specifications are different from the original CP. Perhaps an e-mail or call to the station would get some response?

As I understand it they are having to do a major retrofit to keep the structure in the black... including changing out the analog feed lines..

I noticed that they (WDRB) are dropping the analog power from 5000kW down to ~3300kW. I wonder if that's to save money or if it's total RF radiation limit thing ...

TV is horizontally polarized and for the most part if you stay below the baseplate its not an issue but I would bet they are atreduced powerdue to long term exposure limits.

Does anyone know if the 6412's that Insight are using have operational firewire ports? If so is there only one? I know the previous version does.

I haven't pursued the matter with the powers-that-be ... I'm just inferring from the sequence of filings with the FCC. I do know that the current DT antenna specifications are different from the original CP. Perhaps an e-mail or call to the station would get some response?

Easier said than done. I tried for a couple of weeks before I every got anything other than voice mail at WDRB back in February. I wish I had a email address to one of the engineers.

I noticed that they (WDRB) are dropping the analog power from 5000kW down to ~3300kW. I wonder if that's to save money or if it's total RF radiation limit thing ...

Is this just something that they have done recently............I have noticed for the last couple of months that I now do not get as good reception as I used too. Sometimes it is very good, other times I have white rolling diagonal lines, but nothing has changed on my end.

Re: WDRB

Yeah ... they were at a very low power on the analog side for awhile. There was an STA for the analog xmitter back in June(ish), IIRC. It does appear that the analog power is back up from the low point.

I've been following this forum for awhile now & this is my first post, so please forgive me if this has been asked already. Does anyone have any knowledge on when or if we can expect the local stations to begin stretching their non HD broadcasts to fill the screens on HD channels, like WKPC or the other PBS stations on Insight do, or will we just have to wait until all broadcasts are done in HD to have full wide screen for all programming? I have stretch modes on all of my SD and digital channels in 480i available of course, but on my set stretch modes are not available on my 1080i HD channels. I would be interested to know if anyone has had this discussion with any of the local TV station engineers and what their response was. Thanks in advance.

Let's hope never ... 4:3 stretched to 16:9 is migraine inducing. I'll trade WLEX's stretch for WAVE's OAR any time ... :)

Let's hope never ... 4:3 stretched to 16:9 is migraine inducing. I'll trade WLEX's stretch for WAVE's OAR any time ... :)

Well, I must disagree with you there; on my MITS the "stretching" is done very evenly on the sides and presents a very agreeable picture. I much prefer having the entire screen filled and dislike the bars on the sides; but that's just me. Of course, I look forward to the day when all programming is done in HD, won't that be a great day! :)

BTW, I think the KET channels you are referring to are 480i which is why you can stretch them with your cable box a/o TV. KET does *not* "stretch" or otherwise alter the aspect ratio of their programming.

HDTVChallenged: I don't "stretch" anything with my cable box; although I have the new (for us) 6412 dual tuner STB and it allows the user to do that via the 4:3 override setting, I prefer to use the stretch or standard mode of my TV to do that. The channels I'm referring to are the HD KET channels, not the SD channels 13 and 15. If KET does not stretch any of their programming at all, then that means they transmit and broadcast all of their progams in HD, because all of their programs fill my 16:9 screen on my HD channels, and I've mistakenly thought that some of their programming was not broadcast in high definition. My mistake.

If KET does not stretch any of their programming at all, then that means they transmit and broadcast all of their progams in HD, because all of their programs fill my 16:9 screen on my HD channels.

KET Digital services 1,2,3,5,6 are all 480i sub channels. KET digital service 4 is HD (720p) from 8pm to 11pm and 480i for the rest of the day. WKMJ is HD 24/7 on 68.1. The last I heard, Insight was not carrying WKMJ's digital signal.

When in HD mode, all programs on KET4 *are* 16:9 although many of them are "widescreen upconversions" from a 480i/p source. This is not the same as "stretching."

If your people are wide and fat it's your cable box or TV, not KET.

Edit: From Insight's web site:

Ch 764 = KET1 which is always 480i
Ch 765 = KET2 which is always 480i
Ch 766 = KET3 which is always 480i when active
Ch 767 = KET4 which is 720p from 8pm to 11pm, 480i the rest of the day.

Since these are the only 480i (SD) digital subchannels carried in "HD" tier, I can understand how one might get confused. :)

KET5 and KET6 are not listed on the Insight channel line up

There is no aspect ratio shifting from KET other than the upconverted material on KET4 during prime time.

Depends on where you live - I live by the Summit Mall and get great reception on ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS.

Check out antennaweb on the net for more info
I'm in Lyndon and I have a RatShack double-bowtie pointed through a thick and tall Oak tree and I get all the digitals (well, WHAS-DT is a bit flaky and WDRB has gotten flaky lately...I hope they bump back up for football and when '24' starts its new season)

KET Digital services 1,2,3,5,6 are all 480i sub channels. KET digital service 4 is HD (720p) from 8pm to 11pm and 480i for the rest of the day. WKMJ is HD 24/7 on 68.1. The last I heard, Insight was not carrying WKMJ's digital signal.

When in HD mode, all programs on KET4 *are* 16:9 although many of them are "widescreen upconversions" from a 480i/p source. This is not the same as "stretching."

If your people are wide and fat it's your cable box or TV, not KET.

Edit: From Insight's web site:

Ch 764 = KET1 which is always 480i
Ch 765 = KET2 which is always 480i
Ch 766 = KET3 which is always 480i when active
Ch 767 = KET4 which is 720p from 8pm to 11pm, 480i the rest of the day.

Since these are the only 480i (SD) digital subchannels carried in "HD" tier, I can understand how one might get confused. :)

KET5 and KET6 are not listed on the Insight channel line up

This information has allowed me to clear up my "confusion"; I checked Ch 764 and Ch 765 - both were in full widescreen as I had thought BUT I was able to change the screen format on those channels, because as you have pointed out to me they are in 480i. When I checked Ch 767, it of course was in HD and I was not able to change the screen format. I suppose I'm still confused as to why Insight puts non HD channels in the HD tier, but I guess they want to keep all of the KET network channels together in one location.

As for the "wide and fat" people, I'll state again that my set does an outstanding job of "stretching" the picture on my screen without that distortion, and I much prefer it to bars on the sides. I have seen sets that do a very poor job of that and it is ugly, I'll agree. It definitely influenced my decision when I purchased my set.

Thanks for your help and expertise in answering my questions and solving this "problem" for me. I appreciate it very much.

I suppose my original question should have been "How much longer will it be before our local stations begin to broadcast more programming such as the local news, for example, in HD?" I guess only time will solve that. Thanks again.

As for the "wide and fat" people, I'll state again that my set does an outstanding job of "stretching" the picture on my screen without that distortion, and I much prefer it to bars on the sides. I have seen sets that do a very poor job of that and it is ugly, I'll agree.

Since the other stations use 720p or 1080i on their main digital channels, it would be ugly (and headache inducing) all the time if they were to "stretch" their SD upconverts out to 16:9 with no side bars ... even worse, as you discovered, most folks have no way to un-stretch the picture once the damage is done ...

I suppose my original question should have been "How much longer will it be before our local stations begin to broadcast more programming such as the local news, for example, in HD?"

Don't hold your breath, other than a few isolated occurances (like "Thunder Over Louisville") most stations don't have the $$ to local origin HD - yet. Too much equipment would need to be replaced ...

Did anybody have OTA signal issues with WLKY today (sunday 9/18) about 3:30 or so. My signal kept cutting out. It's back now but is only sitting at 66% when it is usually 90%+

At my location, all of the Louisville stations are getting knocked down below "normal" levels this afternoon ... possibly due to the recent frontal boundery passage ...

...Speaking of reception...
I'm assuming WHAS and WDRB are not at full power... So when will they be running at full power?

-AKH

I'm in Bloomington IN about 58 miles from the Louisville towers. I get good signals (90% - 100%) on WAVE, WHAS, and WLKY with a CM 4228 and CM 7777 about 35' off the ground. Unfortunately, no amount of tweaking gives me a good signal on WDRB (0% - 20%). The info I have shows nearly identical transmitter specs on WDRB and WAVE, around 1000KW on a 390m tower, so what gives? Reading through this thread, it looks like WDRB was late in going to full power, but it sounds like they should be there now. Can someone shed some light on my results?

Thanks.

Jerry

You're able to get in WHAS in Bloomington on a regular basis? I'm south of you and can't. I assumed they weren't yet at full power (I do get the analog signal).

-Bball

From what I can tell, WHAS is probably at "full" power (or a significant portion thereof,) WDRB is not ...

From what I can tell, WHAS is probably at "full" power (or a significant portion thereof,) WDRB is not ...

Hmmm I have no problem with WLKY DT and WAVE DT but WHAS is pretty much a non-option for me.

-AKH

Me too. WHAS is very hit & miss.

I searched the thread and did not see anything addressing this, so I apologize if this has been asked before.

I am experiencing extremely bad lip synch issues with WHAS/ABC HD feeds (MNF, Lost, etc.). I am not an expert by any means, but I don't have the same issue with other local HD feeds (except for WDRB which I get no picture at all). Does everyone experience this? If not, can anyone provide any clues on how to fix it?

At 76mi SE of the towers, here is the relative rank of the Louisville digital stations strength:

1) WAVE, WLKY - tied and good 95% of the time
2) WHAS good about 50% of the time (fades out during afternoon)
3) WKPC - needs moderate tropo enhancement
4) WKMJ - needs more tropo enhancement
5) WFTE - a couple of dB stronger than ...
6) WDRB - which comes in suprisingly often right now (in evenings and late night)

During WDRB's brief "full power" event, the signal was much stronger than WFTE and was hanging in almost as well as WAVE, WLKY ...

Re: WHAS Lip-sync issues,
It has been noticed and discussed (many months ago.) The problem is not on your end.

I have not noticed any lip sync issues in quite some time with any of the local stations. What equipment are you using (HD setup box)? Does it do it as soon as you change to the channel or after a commercial or interference? If you flip to another HD station and then right back to WHAS is the lip-sync problem still there?

I have a Hughes HD D* (non Tivo) receiver. The video (serial cable) is connected directly to my Sony RProj monitor and the audio (optical cable) goes through my Yamaha home theater receiver. I notice it immediately switching to WHAS. Switching channels does not make a difference. The odd thing to me is that it is only WHAS/ABC.

I also have the same lip sync problem with WHAS. I have also noticed that during commercials, the lip sync problem is gone, but as soon as the regular program returns, so does the lip sync. I have checked all of the other locals, 3,32,15,21,41,58,68 do not exhibit these problems. Would it do any good to complain to the station? Anyone have email address'?

Make that three (if you didn't notice the post above) ;)

In the past few few weeks, WAVE-DT has grown some serious audio mix issues on 3-1 during local upconverts ... sounds like the field is rotated 90Deg to the right, most of the sound is coming from the right front and right rear speakers. There's some ugly clipping going on too (noticable during newscasts).

I seen on Titan TV that it will be shown on Whas-DT @ 7pm. Saturday.....looked it up because some co-workers scared me saying that it wasn't going to be on around here. Hopefully Titan is right.

AKH,

Yes, WHAS is not as strong as WAVE or WLKY, but I get a consistent 70%+ signal with no dropouts even during the day.

Jerry

Steve R:
I don't think ESPN will be giving WHAS permission to rebroadcast the UL game. See:
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050921/SPORTS02/509210490/1002/SPORTS

what a bunch of BS that is! We know insight won't be adding ESPNU thats for sure



Steve R:
I don't think ESPN will be giving WHAS permission to rebroadcast the UL game. See:
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050921/SPORTS02/509210490/1002/SPORTS

Why in the world does Lost consistently have sound sync issues on ABC HD via Insight Cable? It seems like virtually every other show on this channel syncs up fine but 'Lost' can't keep sound and picture in sync for anything.

Thoughts?

A lot of people need to give them a call. Maybe if they are swamped with complaints, maybe they will do something.

Did anyone watch the new show E-ring last night? I was getting some really strange color problems, looked at a dvr recording to make sure it wasn't my projector. Did anyone else see this?

A lot of people need to give them a call. Maybe if they are swamped with complaints, maybe they will do something.


I received a reply back from Bill Brown at WHAS saying they hoped to have this problem resolved this evening. I have no experience with this gentleman, so I do not know how reliable his commitment will be.

I also spoke to Bill Brown this afternoon. He said that someone was coming in tonight to check the problem. He said that ABC sends some kind of test signal to make sure everything is "ok". He did not know if the test signal was going through the same "routes" as the programming. Hopefully, it can be resolved tonight.

I also asked him about the analog signal. With the lip sync problem, (even the wife noticed) I switched to the analog feed. I noticed that it had some type of rolling lines on the national programming (Lost, Invasion), but when it switched to commercials or promos for the news, it was gone. Been noticing that the football games had some type of "screen" (can't think of a proper adjective) looking affect on close ups. He thought these problems were being caused by the change of the hi def signal to analog. Anyone else noticed this?

I also spoke to Bill Brown this afternoon. He said that someone was coming in tonight to check the problem. He said that ABC sends some kind of test signal to make sure everything is "ok". He did not know if the test signal was going through the same "routes" as the programming. Hopefully, it can be resolved tonight.

I also asked him about the analog signal. With the lip sync problem, (even the wife noticed) I switched to the analog feed. I noticed that it had some type of rolling lines on the national programming (Lost, Invasion), but when it switched to commercials or promos for the news, it was gone. Been noticing that the football games had some type of "screen" (can't think of a proper adjective) looking affect on close ups. He thought these problems were being caused by the change of the hi def signal to analog. Anyone else noticed this?

Yes, but I just assumed it was the inferior quality of analog vs. hd. Guess not.

[QUOTE=bnewt]I also spoke to Bill Brown this afternoon. He said that someone was coming in tonight to check the problem. He said that ABC sends some kind of test signal to make sure everything is "ok". He did not know if the test signal was going through the same "routes" as the programming. Hopefully, it can be resolved tonight.


Well they made it worse. This is just plain awful!

It seemed fine to me last night during Extreme Makeover, Housewives & Grey's. I was pleased except for the continual sound changes during commercials & programming.

Re: WHAS-DT on 9/25

Noticed the sync was much better, but the clipping distortion/volume jumps are still a problem. WTVQ managed to drop the HD ball completely last night so it's good that WHAS is around :)

Last night on Wave 3.1 all of the audio went out on their OTA HD signal. It happened about 30 minutes into "West Wing", and never came back on. I had to switch over to the analog feed from D*. I keep picturing a guy sitting there in the Wave 3 engineering office in front of a bunch of panels ... and he's dreaming about Duff beer and donuts and saying ... Doh!

Last night68-1 dropped PBS HD at midnight and reverted to KET-2 programming. When I called I was told that due to budget problems HD would not be carried overnight for the indefinite future.

Special note for Louisville-area viewers: KET has discontinued the 24-hour pass-through of the PBSHD Channel on WKMJ-DT in Louisville. PBS has dramatically increased our fee for carrying the direct network feed of that service, which offers relatively few new programs—especially high-definition programs—each month. So rather than continue to purchase the rights to the PBSHD service, we are investing in new equipment to begin local origination and time-delayed scheduling of high-definition programming sooner than originally anticipated. We also will continue to explore other options for WKMJ. In the meantime, you can look for a greater concentration of true HD programming in our prime-time service on KET4 (WKPC-DT in Louisville), which is now being scheduled by KET.

The handwritting was on the wall once PBS announced the fee increases and billing changes. The good news is that there will be more true HD on KET4, although perhaps not when expected. See the latest KET4 schedule here. (http://www.ket.org/dtv/programs.htm)

It must be a drastic increase in $$$, if HD-VTR's and local origin are more cost effective.

PS: William,
We are still missing accurate program guide data for KET4-HD on DirecTV ... The good news is that the KET3 program data looks like it's straightened out. So in theory, the KET4 data should be fixable :)

I didn't want to do it.. We pulled it Wed afternoon. ..

The plan is to get a local HD service up on KET4 ASAP and then restore one on WKMJ-DT...

I''ve been working on it for a little while but need additional hardware...

The KET4 HD feed will be local as of tomorrow night..


No HD-VTRs .. HD server...

and yes it is much less..

Can anyone in the south Louisville vicinity pick up WLEX-DT out of Lexington? If yes, what is your setup?

I'd like to watch the Notre Dame football games in HD. WAVE3 is only broadcasting the SC game on 10/5. The other games will be broadcast on WBKI.

Jedi,

I hate to be a wet blanket, but I have a feeling that getting WLEX reliably is going to be very difficult for you - especially during the afternoons. The antenna's radiation pattern is pretty skimpy towards the L.A. and the "predicted" coverage area is falls short of the Snyder by about 15 mi (as the crow flies.)

That having been said, at minimum you'd need a high gain UHF antenna (CM4228 for instance) and pre-amp along with a lot of elevation and luck. In the end, all you can really do is try and try again. :)

I am now receiving no OTA signal whatsoever from WHAS (11-1). Anyone else having this problem?

WHAS has been a problem for me for the last two weeks... Bill Brown replied to a email that they have seen no problems.

Right now WAVE has audio problems on OTA. Dropouts and echos.... :confused:

Reply from WAVE:

Steve Langford wrote:

> We are having problems that seem to move around at will. We are on it but have yet to find the bug. It is not for lack of effort. Steve


Wish we could get Dobly D from WLKY turned on.... :(

Disregard my post above. Fiddled around with the antenna and figured out that my wires were contacting the mast, causing a trap.

The lip sync problem with WHAS has now shifted to WAVE (3-2), the hd feed seems ok, but the sd feed is terrible. Also have noticed a couple of other problems with the local channels:

41-1 time shown on program guide is an hour slow, the same for all of channel 21's digital channels.

Why don't the locals have details on the program guide? My stb shows up the program guide, but when you try to get specific program information, it says no information available. This feature seems to change from week to week.

Why are all of the locals having so many problems? Is it the technology, lack of $, lack of properly trained personnel?

I have been getting promt replies from Gary Schroder at WDRB.

I live in LaGange, 24 miles from the digital transmitter. I was rarely getting anything on WDRB-DT even with a 38 element ourtdoor antenna. But lately I have been getting it. However I get quite a bit of pixelization and picture freeze. This seems to be worse during daylight hours (e.g NFL football on Sunday) than in the evening (e.g. MLB Tuesday night).

I wrote yesterday to ask if they were now at full power. He had told me that all construction was complete and they were waiting for FCC approval. His reply yesterday was " We are still waiting on the FCC for authorization. I'll let you know via e-mail when we "flip the switch".

RE: WDRB FCC authorization;

That would be a first. Seems like every other station has gone ahead and fired up while waiting for their official "License to cover" the "constrution permit" which has been officially approved for some time now.

Why are all of the locals having so many problems? Is it the technology, lack of $, lack of properly trained personnel?

I don't know, but to add to the list, WAVE-DT has been dropping the HD-ball often recently. It seems like Leno's been SD all week on WAVE.

Same here more trouble with WAVE sync than WHAS. :D

Today all of my Dish receivers (one 942 and two 811's) plus the Sony HD tv really had problems picking up WHAS... I played with the amp, antenna position, everyting I could think of.... None of the receivers will keep a lock on WHAS's signal. As of a few weeks ago it recepion was fine...

Anyone else having problems with WHAS?? :confused:

I too had probelms, up in LaGrange KY. with all network stations. Could this be weather related? It was quite windy and the trees were blowing. I thought this might me blocking my recption thru outdoor antenna.

WHAS-11 is choppy at my place as well (bardstown Road near the snyder), max signal seems a little lower than usual and it keeps breaking up which has not happened before.

Other station signals are where they should be.

Went and played with the antenna again. I was off more than I thought... WHAS is now solid again.

I'm in Highview.

WLKY -DT has dropped the ball again with an HD NFL game and are showing the Colts vs 49ers in 'glorious' SD even tho it is one of CBS' HD games this weekend.

-AKH

She said that they were waiting until the 1st game finished until they turned on the HD signal that CBS was sending them.

??????

I told her all the early games are way over with, and this game is in the 2nd quarter.


I paid $300 bucks for HD-Direct ticket w/ DirecTV.

They black out that so I can watch the game in crappy vision.

Here is a list of phone numbers for the local stations in Louisville.

Call WLKY and complain!!!!



Listed are the Louisville station phone numbers when this happens again (provided by StevenHSH):

WHAS (ABC) 582-7840
WHAS NEWS (for nights and weekends)582-7223

WAVE (NBC) 585-2201
WAVE NEWS (for nights and weekends)561-4150

WLKY (CBS) 893-3671
WLKY NEWS (for nights and weekends)891-4932

WDRB (FOX)
(502) 584-6441

Thanks for the #.

I called. She said they are getting a lot of calls and are 'working on it' and should be on 'shortly'.

-AKH

I'm glad they get a bunch of call's.

They shouldn't be napping on the job.

I'll harp on it again.... Get them to turn on DD... :confused:

Turn on the darn HD switch, or better yet leave it on all the time.

: (

:eek:

Turn on the darn HD switch, or better yet leave it on all the time.

: (

:eek:

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think CBS sends every program down the HD pipeline (I assume it is satellite delivered) unless it is an HD program. So we'd just get color bars whenever an SD program was supposed to be on CBS.

I am assuming when HD is involved WLKY has to switch to a different feed from where they normally get the program (which is an SD source).

And in the case of NFL games WLKY has to choose the proper feed/game that they are supposed to broadcast. But it still shouldn't be that difficult and a doublechecking should be required on their end. Surely they can monitor the other CBS HD feeds and if they see if their game is broadcast in HD, and if they are using the SD feed, they could switch it immediately. We shouldn't have to miss almost the entire first half of the HD broadcast waiting for them to do their job.

And this assumes they don't have a list sent to them of CBS' HD offering that they could reference... which I'd imagine they do have (or can get from the 'net).


-AKH