No one else besides kesslerm and myself noticing any problems with KSFY DT?

I am not able to pull in KSFY DT on any of my receivers. It was working fine last night but nothing today.

Britney

Scott - Don't waste too much time trying to pick up KTTW 17.1. FCC site lists them at only 5 kW ERP. I've heard of others in SF that cannot pickup this station with much better antenna systems. Eventually, I think the FCC rules will require them to be much higher power (Feb '09?? deadline).

A couple of months ago I was told that KTTW would have their digital channel at full power by the beginning of '08. I don't know what "full power" is for them but I hope that it is an improvement over what they currently have.

Britney

I am receiving ksfy at the moment. Whats your equipment?

I am receiving ksfy at the moment. Whats your equipment?

KSFY is back for me too. It came back for me late this afternoon. I have a Sylvania external tuner, a tuner in a Sony tv and a couple of Fusion5 PCI tuners in my HTPC.

Britney

I live outside of Norfolk, NE and with my Channel Master 4228 can receive KTIV, KMEG, and KPTM digital signals most of the time. My problem is that I can't get a strong enough signal for KCAU and I understand they are at full power now, but transmit from a different location than the others. The Channel Master 4228 is a UHF antenna, do I need a VHF antenna in order to receive the OTA signal from KCAU.

KCAU is now transmitting from the same location as the other Sioux City stations. All digital stations in this area are UHF so you don't need any other antenna. I think if you had a CM amplifier (7777 / 7775) that would take care of your problem.

I live outside of Norfolk, NE and with my Channel Master 4228 can receive KTIV, KMEG, and KPTM digital signals most of the time. My problem is that I can't get a strong enough signal for KCAU and I understand they are at full power now, but transmit from a different location than the others. The Channel Master 4228 is a UHF antenna, do I need a VHF antenna in order to receive the OTA signal from KCAU.

If KCAU is at full power, they seem to be lacking some serius power compared to the other guys. I still have not been able to lock in a signal from them.

I was working on an antenna in Okoboji this week. I am able to pull in KSFY and KDLT using an Antenna Direct DB4. The signal was very stable on an older Samsung 360. I have since ordered an Antennas Direct XG91 which should give me the needed gain to lock all of Sioux Falls in strong. Very exciting. That is well over 70 miles.

KCAU is at full power, albiet a toughie too pull in. I have been able to get a lock on it in the past way up here in the far NW corner of IA. And just to back up with what crcbsjh and cdieren are saying about KTTW; they are currently broadcasting with 22 watts of power (digital) off of their current KTTW analog (which, by contrast, is 175kW) tower in SW Sioux Falls. Right now they have a construction permit to broadcast at 5 kW on a tower near Rowena SD (where KDLT,KSFY, and KELO broadcast from). Who knows when that may be turned on.

KCAU is now transmitting from the same location as the other Sioux City stations. All digital stations in this area are UHF so you don't need any other antenna. I think if you had a CM amplifier (7777 / 7775) that would take care of your problem.
I failed to mention that I do have a CM amplifier on my antenna. It is the CM 7775 / 7777, but I forget which. I know here in Norfolk we are about reaching the maximum distance that an antenna can reach. Is there any other antenna that anyone would suggest that might make the difference in pulling in KCAU's signal.

I live in Sioux City - which is about 85 miles from the towers in Sioux Falls. When I purchased my HD set 3 years ago, Sioux Falls was the only nearby city with HD broadcasts. I purchased the same antenna and amp as yours, and after a LOT of tweaking the exact rotation of the antenna, I was able to reliably receive the Sioux Falls stations. My friend in the foothills outside of Denver had the same kind of experience - he said that aiming the antenna is a game of inches. Your antenna is HIGHLY directional, and a nudge of a degree or two can make a huge difference. Go up on the roof with your crescent wrench and a cell phone and call someone inside to watch the signal strength meter on your setup to see if you can nudge a better signal.

If there were substantial hills or buildings between us, I doubt that would have been possible. But where I live high in the hills in Sioux City, it was possible. Your mileage may vary.

I switched from CableOne in Sioux City to DirecTV, and re-aimed my antenna to pick up the local Sioux City channels. When I explained to the installer that I wanted my antenna fed to each TV in addition to the satellite signal, he said that was nuts, because the Sioux City stations were scheduled to be uploaded to the satellite, and would soon be available on DirecTV.

Has anyone else heard this -- or was my installer blowing smoke?

I switched from CableOne in Sioux City to DirecTV, and re-aimed my antenna to pick up the local Sioux City channels. When I explained to the installer that I wanted my antenna fed to each TV in addition to the satellite signal, he said that was nuts, because the Sioux City stations were scheduled to be uploaded to the satellite, and would soon be available on DirecTV.

Has anyone else heard this -- or was my installer blowing smoke?

I talked to a guy at KMEG last week and he said that they have had no talks b/w Directv and themselves on putting their signal onto Directv.

I think the installer did not want to do more work for himself. I hope he is right though!!!!

D* has no plans to add our locals anytime soon. The installer doesn't know what hes talking about. OTA is better picture anyways.

One thing to keep in mind, is that the new Directv HD receivers, H21 and HR21 will not have an over the air antenna input on it. I am not sure how long the H20 and HR20 will be around, but if you need to upgrade to MPEG4, I would do it sooner than later.

I'm sitll having problems with KSFY. The signal strength keeps dropping off, so I can not maintain a picture. Posts on the previous page about this subject, shows that KSFY is aware of this problem, but that was a month ago. Apparently this podunk station doesn't care and still has not fixed the problem. Time to write them to demand a waiver.

I'm sitll having problems with KSFY. The signal strength keeps dropping off, so I can not maintain a picture. Posts on the previous page about this subject, shows that KSFY is aware of this problem, but that was a month ago. Apparently this podunk station doesn't care and still has not fixed the problem. Time to write them to demand a waiver.

I am not sure it is them. Everybody I know 40 miles out is watching Florida with no problem. I have had 1 dropout and that was a while back. Have you tried to rescan your channels back in. I was having problems with 4-1. After resetting my locals a few times they have finally stuck.

Good luck with the waivers!!

I switched from CableOne in Sioux City to DirecTV, and re-aimed my antenna to pick up the local Sioux City channels. When I explained to the installer that I wanted my antenna fed to each TV in addition to the satellite signal, he said that was nuts, because the Sioux City stations were scheduled to be uploaded to the satellite, and would soon be available on DirecTV.

Has anyone else heard this -- or was my installer blowing smoke?


I would say that since they don't offer local channels in SD yet, that it will be a LONG time before they offer them in HD. Dish Network currently offers locals in SD and they were guessing it would be around 6 months before they switched them over to HD in our size of market, though they were pretty sure it would be available.

Does anyone know why KTTW is not broadcasting the NFL games in HD today? I'm getting their digital signal just fine, but no HD picture.

I am not sure it is them. Everybody I know 40 miles out is watching Florida with no problem. I have had 1 dropout and that was a while back. Have you tried to rescan your channels back in. I was having problems with 4-1. After resetting my locals a few times they have finally stuck.

Good luck with the waivers!!

I have re-scanned several times with no luck. I get all of the other digital channels fine, including some of the Sioux City stations. I live on the southeast side of Sioux Falls so I know I am close to the KSFY tower. KSFY use to be one of the strongest signals, now I can not get a continuous lock on it.

Husker on 9/21 posted this from KSFY: "I just wanted to get back in touch with you on this matter. We have discovered a power drop-off problem with our digital transmitter and are in the process of renting the necessary test equipment to help us resolve the issue. thank you for contacting us on this and for your patience in this matter."

So I doubt it is my reciever, and I started having at the same time as the above posts in September.

I'm sitll having problems with KSFY. The signal strength keeps dropping off, so I can not maintain a picture. Posts on the previous page about this subject, shows that KSFY is aware of this problem, but that was a month ago. Apparently this podunk station doesn't care and still has not fixed the problem. Time to write them to demand a waiver.

I emailed the engineer again this morning. He says they are having trouble tracking down the issue. This blows.

Husker, thanks for the info.

I also wrote him and this was the response:

"Our transmitter engineer has been having trouble tracking down the
issue. He tells me this morning that he believes he knows what may be
wrong and will be working on it this evening."

So it looks like the issue is being addressed, hopefully.

KSFY DT was back full strength for me last night. Hopefully the issue has been resolved.

What a strange issue with KSFY. I have not seen a down grade of signal quality from KSFY in quite some time. I had better count my blessings.

I have a CM4228 and it's doing the job for all the local channels, on all TV's in the house. I have purchased a pre-amp to assist in trying to somewhat consistently pick up Sioux Falls & Omaha stations, but I'm not strong in the area of installation. I'd like to hire someone to install the pre-amp (CM7777) to my antenna but don't have any idea who to contact to do that sort of thing. Any suggestions out there?

GT in M'Side

I have a CM4228 and it's doing the job for all the local channels, on all TV's in the house. I have purchased a pre-amp to assist in trying to somewhat consistently pick up Sioux Falls & Omaha stations, but I'm not strong in the area of installation. I'd like to hire someone to install the pre-amp (CM7777) to my antenna but don't have any idea who to contact to do that sort of thing. Any suggestions out there?

GT in M'Side

If you have any questions on installing it I would be more than happy to try to answer them. They are pretty simple devices to hook up. I have hooked up many preamps and it takes longer to get the ladder out, climb up the ladder than it does to hook it up.

The biggest deal, I feel in pulling in a digital signal, is the aiming of the antenna. There is a little tolerance, but nothing like an analog signal. I have a cheap compass from walmart that is the best tool to have. Go to antennaweb.org and put in your coordinates. It will tell you which degrees to have your antenna facing for your surround towers.

To answer your question, I am not aware of any installers in Sioux City.

Fear of heights is the problem. I know that hooking up the pre-amp isn't complicated. As a matter of fact, I have hooked it up down at my TV and while I realize that it can only work at it's best when placed as close to the antenna as possible, it still makes a minor (but noticeable) difference even down here....where I don't have to get up on my roof! :)

As for the compass, I'll have to consider that! No problems with the locals (alot of room to work with, being so close to the tower) but it may help in trying to lock in the SF and Omaha stations.

As for installing, I couldn't convince the DTV guy who set up the HD dish to hook up the pre-amp. He had some BS excuse. I'm wasn't much of a fan of the idiot that I hired to put up my CM (I hadn't purchased the pre-amp yet, not knowing if I'd need it or not) so I won't call him to do it. Gotta get it done before the weather turns. So once again, if anyone has a name/number (or if any of you wanna make a few extra bucks, ha), throw out the info if you have any. Thanks.

GT in M'Side


P.S. Anyone know enuff about TV's to explain the following? I can hook up my antenna direct to a 19 inch LCD TV (at any time of the day, w/o a pre-amp) and get Sioux Falls and Omaha stations (obviously not at the same time, but when I have the antenna facing the correct direction). But on my 40" & 52" LCD's (once again without a pre-amp helping at this point), I really only have been having occasional success some evenings and early mornings. Are the OTA tuners better in smaller TV's than in larger TV's?

I just got Dish Network and picked up an indoor off-air antenna as the satillite centrel installer told me this would be all i need to pick up all the locals in HDTV.

I can get ktiv, the wb, kmeg, kcau and ksin all come in with this antenna, i have to do alot of adjusting and moving of my antenna to pick up kcau and kmeg, but the others come in great. I cannot for the life of me get KPTH FOX 44...are they even broadcasting HD? I keep moving my antenna around and even took it outside and do a local channal scan on my Dish Network RECEIVER and cannot get this channel at all...its the only one i cannot get! HELP!

I live on the north side on the 36 hundred block of jones street..not sure how to get FOX 44 or the best reception from other channels..my signal strenght is usually in the 70's , sometimes the channels work great, but every now and then they will fade in and out.

I picked up a RCA Amplified indoor antenna from walmart, 55db, this one seems to work the best.. I have tried many different indorr antennas and most of them i have already taken back to the store because the RCA one seems to work the best so far. But i could not get FOX 44 HD with any of the antennas.

There is quite a hill between where you live at 36th & Jones and the towers that broadcast HD. But KMEG and KPTH are on the same tower, same equipment and probably the same power level, so in theory if you get 14.1 you should also get 44.1.

Sounds like you are on the edge of the signal needed for a steady picture - more likely than not, you will need an outdoor antenna to do the job.

well , know i finally got KPTH AND MYKPTH picked up with my antenna and i get pretty good reception, except now i have having audio problems. The KPTH's i keep getting this loud continuos beeeeep, the other HD channels i get no volume at all on KCAU, or THE WB, get audio with KTIV, and the KSIN channals i get audio on one of them , and then i goto the other one and there is a differnt show on , but i am getting the audio feed from the other ksin channel. This is frustrating, but once i can get the audio figured out I think I can manage this untill i move from here, i just need to remember how to position my antenna for each networks.

Its wierd, I'm getting a strong singal for the FOX CHANNELS, KCAU, AND BOTH KSINS all from the same postion...then i have to move it to get KMEG and KTIV.

The Audio is really frustrating me right now, i have been using this antenna for a month now, never got KPTH with this antenna untill today. I tried an differnt antenna today that i picked up to try and get fox and was unable to do it, and actually my origional RCA antenna worked better so i am taking the new one back again and keeping the RCA one. But now my audio is all screwed up. I tried to reset my reciever and it works my audio comes in on FOX , but then i change channels and go back to fox and i get the beep noise and no audio at all on the other HD Channels.

I think KMEGDT may still be having issues. Why I think that is because my Samsung HD receiver is now reporting 39.1 as 39.1 instead of 14. It used to report 39.1 as KMEGDT 14 before they went off line last week, and it was placed in the guide between 9.1 and 27.1. Now it is placed in between 27.1 and 49.1 Also I have a TV tuner card in my PC that is capable of HDTV (ATI 650 Wonder), it no longer tunes in KMEGDT even though I have a very strong antenna signal in Media Center. My Directv HR20-100 doesn’t seem to mind the issue because it seems to be working just fine. Any thoughts?

I know yesterday at one time I tuned to 14.1 and my TV automatically switched to 39.1, but not long afterward (30 seconds give or take) it switched back to 14.1 and never had a problem since. I am unaware as to what time that was, but I did think that was a little strange.

Anyone know when the local SC stations will be offering 5.1 audio on their HD channels?

Two stations in Sioux City already broadcast network HD programs in 5.1 sound:

KCAU 9.1 (ABC)
KPTH 44.1 (Fox)

Does anybody else have an ATI 650 TV wonder card installed in a pc and receiving Sioux City HD channels? I am having problems getting KMEG to work with that card.:mad:

Is anyone having trouble with KPTHD lately? I noticed my signal strength is in the mid 40's. I live in Morningside and have never had a problem with the KPTH signal. I'm having problems with watching shows lately (picture freezes, etc). I get signal strengths in the upper 70's with the other local channels.

Any insight?
Thanks
Nosok

Is anyone having trouble with KPTHD lately? I noticed my signal strength is in the mid 40's. I live in Morningside and have never had a problem with the KPTH signal. I'm having problems with watching shows lately (picture freezes, etc). I get signal strengths in the upper 70's with the other local channels.

Any insight?
Thanks
Nosok

I'm in Sioux Falls and have not seen a drop(about 70). I watch 44 instead of our FOX 17 because the signal is much stronger.

Scott - Don't waste too much time trying to pick up KTTW 17.1. FCC site lists them at only 5 kW ERP. I've heard of others in SF that cannot pickup this station with much better antenna systems. Eventually, I think the FCC rules will require them to be much higher power (Feb '09?? deadline).

I would suggest you try option 1. Try pointing your antenna (I assume it is a directional unit) at Sioux City and try Fox KPTH 44.1 (also 14.1, 4.1 and 9.1 - and 2.1). I can get these (similar distance as you) pretty solid (except 9.1) using just an indoor 'silver sensor' directional table top antenna pointed out the window. With this you should be able to still pick up the high power SF digitals 11.1, 13.1, 46.1 ( & 23.1?). That would give you all the major networks OTA then.

I have midco basic cable and get some HD channels, these channels are being pulled from the air.....correct??? I get 17.1 (FOX) and it comes in great. I live about 15 miles north of sioux falls. I have been having issues with KSFY 13-1, it worked the first day I got it...then didn't come in the 2nd day and just sorta comes in sometimes and sometimes not. The other ones I cannot get are 46-1 (KDLT) and 23-1 (SD public TV).....I'm going to try and buy and antenna soon if these channels are being pulled from the air.

Hi, all...

OK, I finally have an HD set! I get a great over-the-air picture from the local channels, but I have a question about HD from CableOne in Sioux City.

I have just regular cable, not digital cable. I understand you have to go to channel 20 first, then you can get some of the HD channels...KCAU is on 455, KTIV is on 465, etc. Does anybody know why can't I get KPTH that is supposed to be on 475, or ESPN on 491, etc? I've done a channel scan twice and the only channels that show up on the cable service are 455, 460, 465, and 470.

Any ideas for me? I haven't tried calling the cable service folks yet.

Dave,

Sorry I can't help you with your cable problem (I have DirecTv), but congratulations on your new set. Did you get LCD, plasma, or ?

Hi, all...

OK, I finally have an HD set! I get a great over-the-air picture from the local channels, but I have a question about HD from CableOne in Sioux City.

I have just regular cable, not digital cable. I understand you have to go to channel 20 first, then you can get some of the HD channels...KCAU is on 455, KTIV is on 465, etc. Does anybody know why can't I get KPTH that is supposed to be on 475, or ESPN on 491, etc? I've done a channel scan twice and the only channels that show up on the cable service are 455, 460, 465, and 470.

Any ideas for me? I haven't tried calling the cable service folks yet.

Dave, The Following are the free digital channels available with CableOne when you use a qam tuner on your tv:

Cable ONE – Free Digital Channel Lineup
Free High Definition Channels

Channel Network Description

20.455 ABC HDTV ABC in HDTV
66.460 CBS HDTV CBS in HDTV
20.465 NBC HDTV NBC in HDTV
20.470 PBS HDTV PBS in HDTV
66.475 Fox HDTV Fox in HDTV
78.476 My Netwrk My Network TV
67.490 UNIVERSAL Universal HD
67.491 ESPN HD ESPN in HDTV
75.492 ESPN2 HD ESPN2 in HDTV


Music Choice Channels

Channel Description

71.801 Showcase
71.802 Today's Country
71.803 Classic Country
71.804 Bluegrass
71.805 R&B and Hip-Hop
71.806 Classic R&B
71.807 Smooth R&B
71.808 R&B Hits
71.809 Rap
71.810 Metal
71.811 Rock
71.812 Arena Rock
71.813 Classic Rock
71.814 Alternative
71.815 Retro-Active
71.816 Electronica
71.817 Dance
71.818 Adult Alternative
71.819 Soft Rock
71.820 Hit List
71.821 Party Favorites
71.822 90s
71.823 80s
71.824 70s
72.825 Solid Gold Oldies
72.826 Singers & Standards
72.827 Big Band & Swing
72.828 Easy Listening
72.829 Smooth Jazz
72.830 Jazz
72.831 Blues
72.832 Reggae
72.833 Soundscapes
72.835 Opera
72.836 Light Classical
72.837 Show Tunes
72.838 Contemporary Christian
72.839 Gospel
72.840 Radio Disney
72.841 Sounds of the Seasons
72.842 Musica Urbana
72.843 Salsa y Merengue
72.844 Rock 'En Espanol
72.845 Pop Latino
72.846 Mexicana Mexicana
72.847 Americana

Thanks, temitch for the info. I did finally figure out the 20-, 67-, etc. Really confusing!

Hiltsy, I got a Mitsubishi 40" LCD, 1080p. Basically, I got it because it's the largest screen I could get that would fit in my existing entertainment center. Even though it has a 40" screen, the sides are really skinny, so the cabinet of the TV is only 37" across, which just fits in the space we have.

OK, here's another strange question for you all...

Because of the placement of the TV in our living room and the configuration of the entertainment center, there's a place in the room where the remote can't see the infrared sensor on the TV that's way down in the corner. Any suggestions on this dilemma?

I've heard about a separate infrared reader that can be placed somewhere else in the room, then it is wired to a "flasher" that attaches to the sensor on the TV. Or is there some kind of "wi-fi" type installation that anybody's heard of?

If I can't change channels while sitting on the couch, I'm not going to like it very much!

Dave Madsen

Because of the placement of the TV in our living room and the configuration of the entertainment center, there's a place in the room where the remote can't see the infrared sensor on the TV that's way down in the corner. Any suggestions on this dilemma?

I've heard about a separate infrared reader that can be placed somewhere else in the room, then it is wired to a "flasher" that attaches to the sensor on the TV. Or is there some kind of "wi-fi" type installation that anybody's heard of?

If I can't change channels while sitting on the couch, I'm not going to like it very much!

Dave Madsen

Dave, did you try just pointing the remote at the center of the ceiling or a wall that can be seen by both the TV and remote and bouncing the signal to the tv?

Remote extender... Radio shack has them, $30 something as I recall. Just a couple of cubes about 3"x3" with a 6" antenna on them. They work fine as long as both the receiver and transmitter have a plug in nearby for power. I use mine in an adjoining room to control a remote A/B switch. I have tv towers in two directions and an A/B switch beats an antenna rotor all to heck.... Point your remote at the transmitter and set the receiver next to the TV pointing at the IR eye.

Chan

Chan...thanks for the info.

Yes, we did try the "bounce off the ceiling or wall idea," but it didn't work., I'll check out the Radio Shack idea.

Dave

I called Radio Shack...they have such a device called a wireless remote extender...$39. But, we tried the bounce off the wall idea again...and it works! Saved myself $39!

Dave

Christmas evening, I noticed that KMEG in Sioux City was broadcasting Jeopardy in HD. This is the first time I have ever seen it in real HD - I've been watching their digital feed for many months but this is a first.

I know that the local stations record a satellite feed from the syndicators of this program, and the stated reason in the past of why they didn't broadcast any syndicated programming in HD was due to the fact that the local station didn't have a broadcast-quality HD recorder to record the program for later showings.

Guess this means that KMEG/KPTH now has the ability to record in HD. That's good for any syndicated programs they carry, and for any network program that they chose to time-shift to carry other programs during prime time.

CableOne has added a couple of new HD Channels and made some previously available scrambled channels available in the clear. The following is the updated
list of unscrambled HD channels:

CableOne Free High Definition Channels

Channel Network

73.452 TBS HD
73.454 TNT HD
20.455 ABC HDTV KCAU-DT
66.460 CBS HDTV KMEG-DT
20.465 NBC HDTV KTIV-DT
20.470 PBS HDTV KSIN-DT
66.475 Fox HDTV KPTH-DT
78.476 My Network KPTH-DT - 2
67.490 Universal HD
67.491 ESPN HD
65.492 ESPN2 HD
64.494 Discovery HD Theater
64.495 National Geographic HD
68.496 A&E HD

Well I have a HD antenna on my roof and able to pick up everything but fox 17-1 0 percent and PBS 23-1 23-2 even though it shows a pretty good signal strength of about 60-70 percent on my tv. I had direct TV install my off air antenna when they installed my system since I don't have line of site for the local dish due to a large tree. They credited my account the cost of doing that. I tried to have a HD waiver granted just for fox but they denied it twice. I live on the east side of Sioux Falls close to down town. I called the GM there and reached him the first time I tried and he said I should have no problem receiving 17-1 so that was his reason of not granting the waiver. Well I had direct tv come out and they adjusted the antenna and still 0% the analog signal comes in with a constant line coming from bottom to top. Luckily Direct TV was not blocking the HD football games on the HD NFL package but on the SD channels with NFL superfan they where blocked. Well now it's playoff time and now I am screwed if I want to see a game on fox. I tried to e-mail KTTW and even call and now they just ignore me after saying they gladly come out and check to see why I wasn't receiving 17-1 and call me back 3 months ago. Still waiting for that call. Anyone know why PBS and FOX are hard to receive? Anything else I can do?

Yeah, KTTW DT broadcasts with less power than a lightbulb from their tower in SW Sioux Falls not sure why PBS is hard to get they are in NE SF but I am also downtown Sioux Falls now (despite my username) and I cannot get PBS or FOX DT either... But I get Midco digital so I get HD with my box...

Does Midco broadcast any of the S.F. locals in HD in the clear with their Classic Cable package. I.E. if your T.V. had a Qam tuner?

I had MIdco actually still have there internet before I switched and you had to have there box for the HD locals. When they dropped NFL network I took the box back. I have one tv with HDTV built in the others are ready so when they send out ther digital converter box rebates I'll have HD on all my tv's except for fox and pbs until they get there act together if that happens. I really only watch fox for NFL but I was lucky since the games where on HD with superfan and not blocked even though they where on the locals. But now it's palyoff time and CBS HD baby, FOX 20 years ago LOL oh well.

Ireland...

just so you're not confused...it sounds like you're thinking the digital converter box "rebate" will give you HD programming. That's not true, if you're talking about the converter box that you can order coupons to help pay the cost. Those converter boxes actually convert digital signals to analog so you can watch on old TVs, but it DOESN'T give you programming in HD.

But, maybe that's not what you mean when you say converter box rebates...If not, just forget I said anything!

dmadsen, any updates or a timeframe on DD 5.1 for KTIV-DT?

no, sorry...I don't know when that will happen.

Hi,

I recently purchased a Dell XPS 420 with a ATI TV Theatre 650 Pro PCI-E. Dell didn't include the ATI cd, as they expect us to use Windows Media Center, so I purchased PowerCinema from Cyberlink. I can get analog channels just fine, but when I try to get the unscrambled QAM channels from the program, PowerCinema can find them and play them, but on some channels the signal is either corrupted or something because the video stutters and the audio sounds fine. This happens on most local HD stations, but on the Universal HD and the AE HD channel, it is fine. The ESPN HD channel also comes in fine.


We don't have this problem on our Vizio 37" TV. We've tried the same cable that goes into our TV on the computer, but again, it still does the same problem. Is it the software? The hardware? The signal strength from my cable?


I don't know what to do! Please help!

ireland12 ...

Colavsfan is correct. KTTW has a low power permit right now and is on the SW side of SF. Plus they are broadcasting on VHF channel 7. They are supposed to go full power on an antenna over by Rowena with the rest of the channels, but I do not know a date.

I get my FOX HD from Sioux City now. If you point your rooftop antenna to a little bit east of SC, you should be able to get all SC HD networks. If you are east of SF, you probably will still be able to get all the SF channels. If you have lots of trees in the way, you may have a harder time doing this.

PBS is north of you so you are trying to recieve it through the back of the antenna. Still should work at that power level. I have had issues with PBS remapping on my D* receivers. You may want to rescan digital channels. I also get the MN and IA PBS channels. With my antenna pointed more towards SC, I actually get SD PBS from vermillion on 2.1

No way you'll get a waiver from FOX.

Does Midco broadcast any of the S.F. locals in HD in the clear with their Classic Cable package. I.E. if your T.V. had a Qam tuner?

My understanding is they are supposed to keep in the clear. I have a friend who wants to know as well. I may have to take my computer with a QAM tuner in it over to his house to see. Sure would make the cable bill cheaper, HUH?

If you have not tried QAM tuning, I get the following directly into my Olevia with a QAM tuner. 11-1-2-3, 13-1, 17-1, 23-1-2, 46-1-2, 84-4-6-8-10, 109-1-2-3-4-5-7-8-9-10-11. But I do subscribe to digital tier 1.

I've been having troubles with KSFY-DT again. It's only been giving a 60-65% picture for the last week. Is anyone else seeing that too?

My understanding is they are supposed to keep in the clear. I have a friend who wants to know as well. I may have to take my computer with a QAM tuner in it over to his house to see. Sure would make the cable bill cheaper, HUH?

If you have not tried QAM tuning, I get the following directly into my Olevia with a QAM tuner. 11-1-2-3, 13-1, 17-1, 23-1-2, 46-1-2, 84-4-6-8-10, 109-1-2-3-4-5-7-8-9-10-11. But I do subscribe to digital tier 1.

Hmm well i have the same package as you (i think), but i put in a splitter from the wall, one into my tv input which says it has a QAM tuner, and the other into my HD DVR box but my T.V. does not recognize any digital channels ( i am specifically trying channels 84 and 109) it just switches back over to analog cable after trying for a digital signal...:confused:

Hmm well i have the same package as you (i think), but i put in a splitter from the wall, one into my tv input which says it has a QAM tuner, and the other into my HD DVR box but my T.V. does not recognize any digital channels ( i am specifically trying channels 84 and 109) it just switches back over to analog cable after trying for a digital signal...:confused:

I also have QAM on one of my computer tuners and I don't think it recognizes the 84 and 109 either. I wonder if maybe they block 109 subs sometimes as they must be NBA games. I don't watch so not much help there.

The computer does tune in all the local QAM channels though. Sometimes it maps them wrong and it a PITA to try to record stuff.

I've been having troubles with KSFY-DT again. It's only been giving a 60-65% picture for the last week. Is anyone else seeing that too?

KSFY seems to have a very unstable signal. Maybe we need to email them. I have used SC ABC alot lately if I want to record stuff like Boston Legal.

I've been having troubles with KSFY-DT again. It's only been giving a 60-65% picture for the last week. Is anyone else seeing that too?
Yes

I have my antenna pointed toward SC so I thought the KSFY thing was just me trying to recieve out of the side of my antenna. When I point straight at Rowena I am OK -- but I am only 6 miles away. Wondering if they are having power problems.

Hmm well i have the same package as you (i think), but i put in a splitter from the wall, one into my tv input which says it has a QAM tuner, and the other into my HD DVR box but my T.V. does not recognize any digital channels ( i am specifically trying channels 84 and 109) it just switches back over to analog cable after trying for a digital signal...:confused:

My friend pulled the trigger and bought a TV. He has basic cable and says he can only get 9 digital channels. That says to me he probably is not getting 84 and 109. He did not know for sure. I'm going over to see him maybe this week and I'll check it out. I also looked on my Fusion Tuner on the computer and I can get the NBA channel but no subs.

I even talked to Midco last week, and of course the "tech support" guy knew nothing about the QAM channels...

ireland12 ...

Colavsfan is correct. KTTW has a low power permit right now and is on the SW side of SF. Plus they are broadcasting on VHF channel 7. They are supposed to go full power on an antenna over by Rowena with the rest of the channels, but I do not know a date.

I get my FOX HD from Sioux City now. If you point your rooftop antenna to a little bit east of SC, you should be able to get all SC HD networks. If you are east of SF, you probably will still be able to get all the SF channels. If you have lots of trees in the way, you may have a harder time doing this.

PBS is north of you so you are trying to recieve it through the back of the antenna. Still should work at that power level. I have had issues with PBS remapping on my D* receivers. You may want to rescan digital channels. I also get the MN and IA PBS channels. With my antenna pointed more towards SC, I actually get SD PBS from vermillion on 2.1

No way you'll get a waiver from FOX.

Hi BVFan - glad to see there are a few Sioux Falls posts here!

How high is your rooftop antenna?? I'm 5 miles south of Brandon and have been debating a rooftop antenna - for FOX. I already have an existing mast with nothing on it.

I'm new to OTA - do the Sioux City stations come in clearly?? Are they all UHF??

Thanks,

Hi everyone. Just thought I would make a quick post, nothing really to contribute. I am living in Madison, SD. I am pulling in HD stations from Sioux Falls. I am using a channel master 4228 antenna that is currently just sitting in a big window facing due east. I just set it there for now. I am picking up CBS, ABC, NBC and PBS all in HD. (I think PBS is being pulled in from Brookings)

I was hoping that the Fox station in SF would upgrade to more power before the Superbowl, but alas. I guess there is always hoping for next year. Oh yeah, I am using a Pinnacle PCI HDTV tuner in my pc. Just thought I would post and see if anyone else around the Madison area was pulling in some more stations.

There is some discussion on the DBSTALK.COM website about having local HD channels delivered via DirecTV satellite.

Aparently yesterday Omaha started receiving 5 HD channels:

CBS (3) KMTV
NBC (6) WOWT
ABC (7) KETV
CW (15) KXVO
FOX (42) KPTM

Click here for the discussion (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=119654)

Someone from Onawa was quite upset that they can't get the Omaha HD via DirecTV due to the fact that Onawa is part of the Sioux City, IA DMA. They will have to wait (along with me) for Sioux City stations to have an agreement with DirecTV and for DirecTV to have the capacity to carry more HD channels.

Question for Dave Madsen: has KTIV had discussions with DirecTV for carriage rights, and do you have any idea if they will be beaming it down to us in Sioux City?

Question for Dave Madsen: has KTIV had discussions with DirecTV for carriage rights, and do you have any idea if they will be beaming it down to us in Sioux City?

Rick,

Actually we've had a written agreement in place for at least two years that says as soon as DirecTV starts offering local channels, they can offer KTIV-DT. So, we're just waiting for them to offer them.

KTPH just went black, about lap 3 of the Daytona 500. Anyone else with this problem???

Yeah, got a house full of people watching it on KTPH HD and it crashes! now switched back to cable. Tried calling there but there are no emergency voicemail options that I can find. What a joke.

I am getting the same thing. Glad that i got Directv as backup.

I just wrote Ed Bok down at KPTH about the issue. He's real good about responding. I have directv so I just turned it over the Nascar hotpass channel. I believe it's free this week. I also noticed my signal strength on KPTH is as high as it has ever been. It's reading at 96%. I hope they get it figured out, Family Guy and Prison Break are must see TV!

Nosok

Yeah, it would be great to have KTTW 17.1 out of Sioux Falls at full power so we had 2 Fox choices in NW Iowa.

They must of fixed the problem. The race is coming in loud and clear at 5:20 p.m.

Yep, just in time for the end.

I don't know how long they were out I watched golf
Riviera is beautiful in HD.

I have a question about QAM signals. I currently have an older model, Elgato Hybrid HDTV Tuner that doesn't have QAM capability. The new Hybrid does. Does this mean that if I upgrade my tuner to the one with QAM capability that I will be able to pull down Universal, ESPN and other stations?

Secondly, KTTW. I live in the southern part of Sioux Falls and I cannot get a KTTW HD signal. There are no trees or other obstructions. What a joke. Anyone have any news on whether or not KTTW is going to join the other stations?

We temporarily lost our microwave link between the studio facility and the transmitter. This only affected our KPTH-DT digital station and the cable companies that receive that signal for retransmission. Our analog channel and Cable One in Sioux City were unaffected.



It turned out to be a simple thing to fix, but locating the problem required us to mobilize engineers to three microwave sites so we could troubleshoot.

Glad they got it fixed in time for the exciting ending!

Secondly, KTTW. I live in the southern part of Sioux Falls and I cannot get a KTTW HD signal. There are no trees or other obstructions. What a joke. Anyone have any news on whether or not KTTW is going to join the other stations?

Can't help with anything other than agree that KTTW's HD signal is, unfortunately, the well-known joke around here....

Hi BVFan - glad to see there are a few Sioux Falls posts here!

How high is your rooftop antenna?? I'm 5 miles south of Brandon and have been debating a rooftop antenna - for FOX. I already have an existing mast with nothing on it.

I'm new to OTA - do the Sioux City stations come in clearly?? Are they all UHF??

Thanks,

Wyatt,

sorry about the slow response. Haven't been here for a while. I live 1 mile east of the east Walmart with good southern exposure (no trees) I have a 6 foot mast on top of a one story house.

SC stations are all UHF. I'm using a channel master 4428 I bought online. I get 65-75% signal on most stations. Older HD OTA tuners have more issues trying to tune stations than newer ones in my experience.

I have a question about QAM signals. I currently have an older model, Elgato Hybrid HDTV Tuner that doesn't have QAM capability. The new Hybrid does. Does this mean that if I upgrade my tuner to the one with QAM capability that I will be able to pull down Universal, ESPN and other stations?

Secondly, KTTW. I live in the southern part of Sioux Falls and I cannot get a KTTW HD signal. There are no trees or other obstructions. What a joke. Anyone have any news on whether or not KTTW is going to join the other stations?

Just speaking about Midco SF - Only QAM you can get is the locals that are in the clear. ESPN etc are encrypted and you would need some type of cable device to get them - box or smart card.

As for KTTW going full power - who knows - They have a construction permit and have a tower built over by the KDLT tower - just no transmitter on it.

Thanks BVFan.

I wrote an email to johnb@kttw.com, an engineer, about three days ago. I have yet to receive a response. I'll let everyone know if I hear anything from him.

2 things posted on the FCC website that may shed some light on KTTW DT. Posted Feb 14 2008 they did apply to modify their original constuction permit from 7.5 kW to 5kW however, raise the height from 217.6m to 327.6m on the same tower as KDLT. And just posted today Feb 21 2008 they expect to start constructing 05/01/2008 and (as of right now) the current constructed deadline (that can always be extended) is 05/18/2008.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THE STATION'S POST-TRANSITION FACILITIES WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND IN FULL OPERATION WELL BEFORE THE TRANSITION DATE. ON THE TRANSITION DATE, THE LICENSEE INTENDS TO CEASE OPERATION OF ITS ANALOG FACILITIES."

So when can we expect full power KTTW DT? If KTTW can only hope, I guess we can only hope. :rolleyes:

~ColAvsFan

2 things posted on the FCC website that may shed some light on KTTW DT posted Feb 14 2008 they did apply to modify their original constuction permit from 7.5 kW to 5kW however, raise the height from 217.6m to 327.6m on the same tower as KDLT. And just posted today Feb 21 2008 they expect to start constructing 05/01/2008 and (as of right now) the current constructed deadline (that can always be extended) is 05/18/2008.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THE STATION'S POST-TRANSITION FACILITIES WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND IN FULL OPERATION WELL BEFORE THE TRANSITION DATE. ON THE TRANSITION DATE, THE LICENSEE INTENDS TO CEASE OPERATION OF ITS ANALOG FACILITIES."

So when can we expect full power KTTW DT? If KTTW can only hope, I guess we can only hope. :rolleyes:

~ColAvsFan


Hey -- Great research ColAvsFan,

I wonder if there was a problem with the original tower site. There is a tower west of the KDLT tower with no transmitter on top. If I am remembering correctly there are three towers just east of Gitchimaniteau -- The taller of the three is KDLT - then two more just west of it - I think the other shorter tower is the channel 36 transmitter. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I have LongLines cable and a Philips HDTV with a QAM tuner built in. Does anyone know what all HD channels longlines cable is supposed to pass thru for free? Any music channels?

Does anyone know what happened to KSFY-HD? It disappeared a few days ago, and has been MIA since. I don't see any signal level from it at all.

Does anyone know what happened to KSFY-HD? It disappeared a few days ago, and has been MIA since. I don't see any signal level from it at all.

I noticed that it was gone this weekend as well and it is still gone this morning.

Britney

Does anyone know what happened to KSFY-HD? It disappeared a few days ago, and has been MIA since. I don't see any signal level from it at all.

Actually, another test engineer at my company emailed KSFY about their OTA digital signal, because we use it for testing our decoders. This was their reply:

"Our digital transmitter has developed a serious problem. We have people working on it, but it will probably be a couple of days or more before the problem can be repaired.

KSFY Television"

This was sent to us last Thursday.

Good Luck!

For everyone having problems with KSFY.... If you have a clear shot at the Hinton IA towers, you may be able to pick up KCAU Sioux City in the mean time. I can pick up all the SC stations with an indoor RCA antenna. Just east of SF and I have a clear horizon to SC. This solves the low power SF FOX problem also.

Hmm well i have the same package as you (i think), but i put in a splitter from the wall, one into my tv input which says it has a QAM tuner, and the other into my HD DVR box but my T.V. does not recognize any digital channels ( i am specifically trying channels 84 and 109) it just switches back over to analog cable after trying for a digital signal...:confused:

I read in another thread that you have to make sure your splitter will pass the higher frequencies that the digital signals are on. I guess you need a splitter that passes 1000 Mhz? not up to 900 like most old splitters do.

Maybe that is an issue?

I just looked at an old splitter I was going to use and it passes signals up to only 600 Mhz.

I live about 50 miles west of Sioux City, I get KTIV in HD just fine, about 70 on my dish network HD receiver, but I can't get KMEG in to watch the basketball tourney? What gives? I can't get the signal pointing my antenna in any direction, any help? Thanks

I live about 50 miles west of Sioux City, I get KTIV in HD just fine, about 70 on my dish network HD receiver, but I can't get KMEG in to watch the basketball tourney? What gives? I can't get the signal pointing my antenna in any direction, any help? Thanks

Maybe your receiver is not mapping it right. Try to scan manually -- if DISH does that. I am further out than you and my channel I have difficulties with is KPTH FOX. Have you looked at anntenaweb.org map to do a site survery?

I found the problems with PBS with having the amplified antenna. I unplugged it and the signal doesn't bounce. The only problem with that is if I unplug it I can't get 36-1 or distant feeds to come in. (Live in Sioux Falls) I also bought a HD 2 Analog converter at best buy for my 19 HTDV "ready" anyways the locals look sharp on it even though there not HD on that TV. So the only thing Sioux Falls needs is the Fox Station and I will be set. By the way the converter was 59.99 at best buy. I used a 10% off coupon for almost anything there (found on the internet) and also my 40.00 coupon from the goverment. It was very easy to use and the tuner works great. I have DTV with out locals and talked them on giving me a AM21 for my (HR21) when it is released for my big Plasma TV (HD built in Panasonic 42 in) to record locals. Hope that pulls in good HD channels with it's tuner.

Last but not least why does Fox not respond to e-mails here in Sioux Falls. They are pushing consumer education but anyone that goes out to by these Converter boxes would loose that station entirely unless they unplugged the box to get the analog signal. GET ON THE BALL KTTW. Football will be here soon and they will be loosing viewers if they don't get on the ball.

For everyone having trouble with Fox (KTTW) in Sioux Falls. They are currently running flea-sized power from the tower near 69th and Louise, and they are on Channel 7. If you only have a UHF antenna, you will not be able to pick them up. I live in the SW part of town, so I aimed my rooftop antenna a little south of Rowena, and I'm able to pick up Fox without a problem. Unfortunately, if you live in central or Eastern Sioux Falls, you would probably have to aim your antenna directly at the tower to pick it up, and you would loose other channels like PBS and the CW.

Based on their FCC filings, they are planning to move to the same tower as KWSD (CW). The good news is that antenna aiming will finally be in the same direction, except for PBS. Hopefully they will complete this sooner rather than later, but it will take a little while to construct a transmitter building and install the antenna and feedline.

I read in another thread that you have to make sure your splitter will pass the higher frequencies that the digital signals are on. I guess you need a splitter that passes 1000 Mhz? not up to 900 like most old splitters do.

Maybe that is an issue?

I just looked at an old splitter I was going to use and it passes signals up to only 600 Mhz.

If you are receiving OTA digital TV or Cable QAM signals, you do not need splitters above 900 MHz. OTA digital signals, channels 2-69, run 57 MHz- 803MHz. Cable QAM channels run 2-136 (57MHz-867MHz).

Satellite such as DirecTV or DISH use different modulation schemes are run in higher frequency ranges. But if you have either of those services, the tech that installed it used the right type of splitters.

Cable internet needs a higher frequency range I believe, but not sure the exact numbers there. The cable installer knows that though and would have fixed that problem.

Good Luck!

"Our digital transmitter has developed a serious problem. We have people working on it, but it will probably be a couple of days or more before the problem can be repaired.

KSFY Television"



Typical. "couple of days or more" has turned into 3 weeks. Hopefully it will be fixed by football season.

Typical. "couple of days or more" has turned into 3 weeks. Hopefully it will be fixed by football season.

:rolleyes:Actually, we had signal back last week. Pretty sure at least. :confused:I'll have to make sure, but I thought it was there. Now, I can't say right now, since it has been since probably thursday since I had it tuned in last.

:eek:wow, that's a lotta "since"s....:eek:

:D

If you are receiving OTA digital TV or Cable QAM signals, you do not need splitters above 900 MHz. OTA digital signals, channels 2-69, run 57 MHz- 803MHz. Cable QAM channels run 2-136 (57MHz-867MHz).

Satellite such as DirecTV or DISH use different modulation schemes are run in higher frequency ranges. But if you have either of those services, the tech that installed it used the right type of splitters.

Cable internet needs a higher frequency range I believe, but not sure the exact numbers there. The cable installer knows that though and would have fixed that problem.

Good Luck!

FoeHammer - Thanks for the info - Good for my brain database. I guess my old splitter that went to 600 was for OTA analog signal. I think most you buy today do go up to 1000. Maybe that is where they put the internet signal.

Guys,

I did some measurements last night on our OTA signal coming from KSFY-DT.

power level was fine in the 7-10 dBm, but the MER (like signal to noise ratio) was down around 16-17 dB. That's pretty low. As an example, on the same line I checked KELO-DT and it's MER was up around 37 dB.

Needless to say the picture was getting pixelated quite a bit and had macro-blocking as compared to KELO-DT. I would say they are still having some issues.

It looks like the same problem we reported in September.

"Is anyone else noticing a signal strength drop in KSFY-DT? It used to be the same strong signal as KELO and KDLT on my display...right at 90-100%. Now it bounces b/w 40-50-60% and there are noticeable glitches in the HD programming. "

It was "fixed" for awhile and the signal was back at full strength. Been bad for awhile again now.

Also, kudos to KMEG for no sub channels. Their NCAA games look much better than KELO...especially the slow-mo and replays that KELO's worthless sub channels turn into garbage. KMEG sound is not as good but I'll take the better picture anyday.

Also, kudos to KMEG for no sub channels. Their NCAA games look much better than KELO...especially the slow-mo and replays that KELO's worthless sub channels turn into garbage. KMEG sound is not as good but I'll take the better picture anyday.

You should send them a letter or comment regarding this. That way they see that people appreciate that.

TREVOR

Was flipping thru the channels and Wheel of Fortune was in HD on KMEG-DT. This was the first syndicated show I've seen in HD on either the Sioux City or Sioux Falls stations.

Was flipping thru the channels and Wheel of Fortune was in HD on KMEG-DT. This was the first syndicated show I've seen in HD on either the Sioux City or Sioux Falls stations.

And I believe someone reported Jeoprady on KMEG a few pages back. That is on like at 5:00 I think.

For everyone having trouble with Fox (KTTW) in Sioux Falls. They are currently running flea-sized power from the tower near 69th and Louise, and they are on Channel 7. If you only have a UHF antenna, you will not be able to pick them up. I live in the SW part of town, so I aimed my rooftop antenna a little south of Rowena, and I'm able to pick up Fox without a problem. Unfortunately, if you live in central or Eastern Sioux Falls, you would probably have to aim your antenna directly at the tower to pick it up, and you would loose other channels like PBS and the CW.

Based on their FCC filings, they are planning to move to the same tower as KWSD (CW). The good news is that antenna aiming will finally be in the same direction, except for PBS. Hopefully they will complete this sooner rather than later, but it will take a little while to construct a transmitter building and install the antenna and feedline.

I live near on the 3rd floor of an apartment building near 12th and Cliff and have a TERK amplified antenna that has an output impedance 75 ohms and an amplified gain of 11dB typical. My apartment pretty much faces the tower's location but even taking the antenna outside and pointing it directly at it doesn't work for me.

It seriously "TERK's" me off!! :mad: :D

Does anyone have any suggestions that would work for me until they get around to "fixing" this issue? Is there an antenna (preferably an indoor model) that is powerful enough to pick up their weak arse signal that anyone knows of?

What doesn't make sense to me, is why the company who's analog channel is the easiest to pick up in town, decided to go and do something craptacular like this and make their digital one the hardest!!

It's a buncha crap yo!

I live near on the 3rd floor of an apartment building near 12th and Cliff and have a TERK amplified antenna that has an output impedance 75 ohms and an amplified gain of 11dB typical. My apartment pretty much faces the tower's location but even taking the antenna outside and pointing it directly at it doesn't work for me.

It seriously "TERK's" me off!! :mad: :D

Does anyone have any suggestions that would work for me until they get around to "fixing" this issue? Is there an antenna (preferably an indoor model) that is powerful enough to pick up their weak arse signal that anyone knows of?

What doesn't make sense to me, is why the company who's analog channel is the easiest to pick up in town, decided to go and do something craptacular like this and make their digital one the hardest!!

It's a buncha crap yo!

If you live near 12th and Cliff, then you are pretty much in a hole, shadowed from the tower. I'm not really sure why 17 is the easiest for you to pickup, although your antenna most likely performs better at UHF than VHF. You may be having trouble with others due to multipath, even though the signal is strong. The fact that your antenna is amplified may also hurt you more than it helps, for a lot of reasons.

Unfortunately, I would say nothing short of an outdoor gain (with VHF) antenna pointed toward the KTTW tower will allow you to receive their digital signal until they get their new site up and operational. You could try other antennas, particularly ones that are not amplified. However, the issue is having good gain and sensitivity at VHF-HI frequencies. Although it is not as bad as VHF-LOW, this is still much more difficult than at UHF frequencies, particularly with space and indoor limitations.

I live near on the 3rd floor of an apartment building near 12th and Cliff and have a TERK amplified antenna that has an output impedance 75 ohms and an amplified gain of 11dB typical. My apartment pretty much faces the tower's location but even taking the antenna outside and pointing it directly at it doesn't work for me.

It seriously "TERK's" me off!! :mad: :D

Does anyone have any suggestions that would work for me until they get around to "fixing" this issue? Is there an antenna (preferably an indoor model) that is powerful enough to pick up their weak arse signal that anyone knows of?

What doesn't make sense to me, is why the company who's analog channel is the easiest to pick up in town, decided to go and do something craptacular like this and make their digital one the hardest!!

It's a buncha crap yo!

Here's something I pulled off the FCC website regarding KTTW out of Sioux Falls. There just isn't a way for almost ANYONE in Sioux Falls to pick up their signal. I know people that are 1/2 mile from the tower and they can't get it.
So stop trying. It won't work. It sucks. See the power level below. Full power at that frequency is 65KW, not 7.5KW.

KTTW SD SIOUX FALLS USA (Digital)

Licensee: INDEPENDENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Service Designation: DT Digital television station

Channel: 7 174 - 180 MHz Modification of Construction Permit
File No.: BMPCDT-20080213ACH Facility ID number: 28521
CDBS Application ID No.: 1230159

43° 30' 19.00" N Latitude
96° 34' 19.00" W Longitude (NAD 27)

Polarization: Horizontal (H)
Effective Radiated Power (ERP): :mad:7.5 kW ERP:mad:
Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 217.6 meters HAAT -- Calculate HAAT
Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 645.9 meters AMSL
Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 233.8 meters AGL

TV Zone: 2
Frequency Offset: 0 (zero)

Directional Antenna ID No.: 84679 Pattern Rotation: 280.00

Here's the website at the FCC if you want to do searches on any station in the US. I just use the call letters and hit submit. That's plenty to find the station you want.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html

Later
Foe

If you live near 12th and Cliff, then you are pretty much in a hole, shadowed from the tower. I'm not really sure why 17 is the easiest for you to pickup, although your antenna most likely performs better at UHF than VHF. You may be having trouble with others due to multipath, even though the signal is strong. The fact that your antenna is amplified may also hurt you more than it helps, for a lot of reasons.

Unfortunately, I would say nothing short of an outdoor gain (with VHF) antenna pointed toward the KTTW tower will allow you to receive their digital signal until they get their new site up and operational. You could try other antennas, particularly ones that are not amplified. However, the issue is having good gain and sensitivity at VHF-HI frequencies. Although it is not as bad as VHF-LOW, this is still much more difficult than at UHF frequencies, particularly with space and indoor limitations.

Yea, I was afraid of that. Man, my girl is gonna be pi$$ed that she's not gonna be able to get her American Idol in HD until sometime in May!! :eek:

Thanks for the good info btw. I really appreciate the reply and tips and will give em a shot...

I do have one more question and forgive me for sounding like a twit, but I was wondering if it was possible to use two different antennas - one pointed in one direction and the other in another and use a combiner of some sort to bring the signals together? I guess if I'm gonna have to go to all this trouble trying to get their signal, I would still like to be able to get the others as well...

Thanks again!!

Here's something I pulled off the FCC website regarding KTTW out of Sioux Falls. There just isn't a way for almost ANYONE in Sioux Falls to pick up their signal. I know people that are 1/2 mile from the tower and they can't get it.
So stop trying. It won't work. It sucks. See the power level below. Full power at that frequency is 65KW, not 7.5KW.

KTTW SD SIOUX FALLS USA (Digital)

Licensee: INDEPENDENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Service Designation: DT Digital television station

Channel: 7 174 - 180 MHz Modification of Construction Permit
File No.: BMPCDT-20080213ACH Facility ID number: 28521
CDBS Application ID No.: 1230159

43° 30' 19.00" N Latitude
96° 34' 19.00" W Longitude (NAD 27)

Polarization: Horizontal (H)
Effective Radiated Power (ERP): :mad:7.5 kW ERP:mad:
Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 217.6 meters HAAT -- Calculate HAAT
Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 645.9 meters AMSL
Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 233.8 meters AGL

TV Zone: 2
Frequency Offset: 0 (zero)

Directional Antenna ID No.: 84679 Pattern Rotation: 280.00

No, this is what KTTW is currently broadcasting at:

Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 0.022 kW ERP Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 96. meters HAAT -- Calculate HAAT Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 540. meters AMSL Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 0. meters AGL

Note the ERP: that would be 22 watts. lol

No, this is what KTTW is currently broadcasting at:

Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 0.022 kW ERP Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 96. meters HAAT -- Calculate HAAT Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 540. meters AMSL Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 0. meters AGL

Note the ERP: that would be 22 watts. lol

Yep, I saw that. But come next February they are supposed to be running the 7.5KW, and that isn't even close to full power.

the .022 KW is just laughable. That's less than a light bulb. :confused::confused:

Go Wild!:D How about that game last night?;);)

If the puck goes around the wall, its icing. Lucky bounce off the wall for the Wild, it happens. But all the games have been good ones, lets see what happens tonight. One thing I can't stand is that stupid KCPO station picking up the feed of the game, that forces Midco to black out the VS. feeds, including a beautiful HD feed... And KCPO's picture quality is less than SD IMHO. :mad:

If the puck goes around the wall, its icing. Lucky bounce off the wall for the Wild, it happens. But all the games have been good ones, lets see what happens tonight. One thing I can't stand is that stupid KCPO station picking up the feed of the game, that forces Midco to black out the VS. feeds, including a beautiful HD feed... And KCPO's picture quality is less than SD IMHO. :mad:

This will be my final response in this mini-thread-hijack you and I have had.

Last nights game was horrible, not only because the WILD lost, but the refs officiated it badly and lost control. Of course a game will get chippy like that when the score is lopsided, but they were calling some REALLY WEAK calls. Either way, the Wild played really bad:o. We'll see how they do Thursday.

Back on topic to stations in Sioux Falls/Sioux Empire though: KCPO does have a bad feed from 45 in MN. It sucks that Midco picks up KCPO during the playoffs when VS has the game. But during the regular season, we would miss a bunch of good games otherwise. Plus as a Wild fan, I like the broadcast guys from FSN on 45 on KCPO:p. Make sense?

Last night's game was on FSN-HD. Did anyone else with Midco Cable notice the HD channel being very jittery? :confused: I'm not sure if it was my TiVo or Midco.

Hey, weve been semi-ontopic this whole time... I will reply to your last comment first about jitteryness... I see it all the time on any channel regardless if its SD or HD intermitantly (it could be the DVR reciever, or midco's equipment)...

I dont mind FSN or the announcers at all , even the SD feed of FSN... Infact, I would be rooting for the Wild if they were playing any other team... I was lucky tonight to be able to watch the NHL Center Ice game, which was the Avs feed, it just looked better than KCPO/45 feed...

And to go back on topic... about KTTW HD, I posted on another forum once about our FOX-DT station having the power of less than a light bulb. Someone else had stated that their NBC station had an ERP of .015kW :p So we should be thankful. :D:D:D

Article about OTA KTTW in voices section today (argus leader). 4/18. Wonder if they (KTTW) will read it? It would be nice for them to address all the viewers who are left out and have no idea whats going on.

Article about OTA KTTW in voices section today (argus leader). 4/18. Wonder if they (KTTW) will read it? It would be nice for them to address all the viewers who are left out and have no idea whats going on.

yeah, I read that online. Just someone realizing what we have known for a while and have been discussing.

Problem being is the construction permit that has been provided to KTTW from the FCC is for the transmitter I posted info on in a previous post. The 7.5KW transmitter. That is supposedly what they are building/installing now for the future. That is STILL not full power:mad::mad:. But compared to its current "temprorary" signal at 22 watts:eek: (yes, that's watts), it will be 340x the power.

yeah, I read that online. Just someone realizing what we have known for a while and have been discussing.

Problem being is the construction permit that has been provided to KTTW from the FCC is for the transmitter I posted info on in a previous post. The 7.5KW transmitter. That is supposedly what they are building/installing now for the future. That is STILL not full power:mad::mad:. But compared to its current "temprorary" signal at 22 watts:eek: (yes, that's watts), it will be 340x the power.

7.5kW may not be full power for an ATSC transmission at VHF-HI frequencies, but it will still provide a greater coverage contour than the grade B coverage of KTTW's existing Analog signal on channel 17. The proposed channel 7 antenna location will be over 200 feet higher (HAAT) than their existing channel 17 antenna. You can see this difference in coverage by looking at the attachments to the KTTW application granted on 3/13/08 in the FCC database.

anyone know when directv will offer locals in hd?

It will probably be awhile before we get our locals in HD for DirecTV. There new D11 satellite should be parked by the end of the month, but I think Sioux Falls DMA is not going to be one of the first bunched picked up. I would guess in 2009 when the D12 sat goes up... so late 2009. However if you do have HD for DirecTV and and H20 or HR20 you can use the OTA to get the signal. The HR21 also can now get local OTA with the new AM21 that was released yesterday by DirectTV.

Now I want to know if KTTW is working on there new tower? Will I finally be able to get FOX in HD? PLEASE!!!!

Sioux City CBS and FOX need to work on the weather overlays so we can watch in HD. Last night I had to resort to watching KELO again. KELO has improved tremendously on their overlays. Now if KELO would just not cancel the whole program when there is a weather alert in the area. I know people need to know, but throw it onto the sub channel and the cable weather channel.

Hi, all...

If you're a CableOne subscriber in Sioux City, you may have noticed that the system moved KTIV, KCAU and KSIN to a new place on the basic system...the in the clear channels...all of us are now on channel 21: 21-455 for KCAU, 21-465 for KTIV and 21-470 for IPTV.

This was a problem this weekend...on Thursday last week they apparently found a problem with Ch. 20 where all of those stations were located, and moved us all to Ch. 81 (!) then on Monday they moved us to Ch. 21...which we're told is our new permanent home.

I haven't seen much discussion in this forum recently about Sioux City stations, but please remember if you have specific questions for KTIV, I'd love to hear from you.

Also, I've been out doing a presentation on the transition to digital TV. Obviously, most of the people reading in this forum don't need the information I give in that presentation, but if you know of a group (church group, service club, whatever) that would like the presentation, just have them give me a call.

Hi, all...

If you're a CableOne subscriber in Sioux City, you may have noticed that the system moved KTIV, KCAU and KSIN to a new place on the basic system...the in the clear channels...all of us are now on channel 21: 21-455 for KCAU, 21-465 for KTIV and 21-470 for IPTV.

Thanks for the update.

TNTHD and TBSHD seem to be MIA - moved too?

Getting 17-1 FOX OTA today on one of my HD setups. Anyone else have a sighting? They have to be at the new Rowena site or have turned up power.

I am not getting it?! :-( Live just on the north side of Sioux Falls. I am picking up the CW which I thought was going to be the spot of the new KTTW tower.

are you still getting it? or did they just power it up for a bit and then shut it back down?

I am not getting it?! :-( Live just on the north side of Sioux Falls. I am picking up the CW which I thought was going to be the spot of the new KTTW tower.

are you still getting it? or did they just power it up for a bit and then shut it back down?

This was a bit strange. The only HD receiver I could get it on was my PC with a Pinnacle USB HDTV Tuner. It does not tune in analog so it had to be digital. I have 2 other HD receivers hooked up to the same antenna and could not get a signal. Watched the Yankees game in HD from 3-4 and then had to go out. Not getting a signal this morning but yesterday Windows Media Center showed 4 out of 5 bars. I did not even have 17-1 in my channels, but was messing with Media Center and decided to rescan as I was trying to figure out how to get subchannels about 2:00 yesterday. Up until then it always showed no signal for 17-1.

I have a roof top UHF antenna and FOX is on VHF 7 for digital so that also seemed pretty strange. This antenna is pointed straight at the SC towers so it is not even pointed at Rowena or into SF at the old FOX tower I can't believe this was from the tower SE of SF. I have not gotten a signal from there for months as I took down my BIG VHF/UHF combo antenna last fall.

In a development which may be of interest to the Sioux City market, Pappas Telecasting has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy for 13 of its stations, including KPTH (which it owns) and KMEG (which it operates under a local marketing agreement), due to disputes with lenders.

Pappas, though, says it should be business as usual despite the filings.

The full story is posted at http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=8304809

So... there is a post above that says KTTW 17.1 has a work permit for May 1st to the 15th. I am guessing that has been extended or we would be getting a signal by now? Or am I wrong in my thinking, or are they just delaying moving the transmission from the tower south of SF to the new tower? Anyone have any good info on this since KTTW NEVER responds to e-mails.

Anyone in Aberdeen ever able to pick up anything other than 9.1 and 16.1?

Hey guys, I don't know what I did to get a quick response from KTTW, but this is what I received from them today....

"By the end of September 2008 the digital transmitter should be in place on
our Rowena tower."

John Bennett
Chief Engineer
KTTW & KTTM
2817 West 11th. Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57104

So I don't know what the deal was with the work permit in May, but according to them it won't be up and running until September.

I think my reception last Saturday of KTTW-DT must have been a fluke of the weather and some type of signal bounce from the present transmitter. I have not even received a low level signal since and have checked every night. Last winter I got Omaha WOW-DT one morning with a strong signal, but have not seen it back either. Sorry I got all our hopes up, including mine.

But, if I can get the baseball game again this Saturday, I'm thinking they might be testing. Last week KPTH was showing a different game than KTTW, so that would be a nice option to have.

Has anyone else lost KMEG and KPTH HD's signal? It happened around 3:00 p.m. All of my other locals are working fine. I will email the engineer to see what the problem is.

Up and running again. I guess they had a power hit which caused problems with there equipment.

I just got an e-mail from John Bennett the other day. He said they should have the KTTW and KTTM tower up the end of August; early September.

I hope they are up an running before the football season start... was thinking of dropping Sunday Ticket, Fox HD would help my decision! So I guess we wait another 3 to 4 months.

On another note, anyone know why only KDLT broadcast some show in DD 5.1? KELO has nothing, and KSFY just uses a ProLogic surround, not DD 5.1

On another note, anyone know why only KDLT broadcast some show in DD 5.1? KELO has nothing, and KSFY just uses a ProLogic surround, not DD 5.1

Not sure, It could be their sources. Meaning the shows they have do not have 5.1 tracks. They may only be 2.1 tracks, so the station doesn't bother with an encoder that does AC-3, and instead only encode it as stereo. Even if it is DD, doesn't mean that it is 5.1. Could be 2.0,2.1, 3.1, 4.0 or 4.1, etc.

This would be an excellent question for their engineers. If there are other station engineers from other stations on this forum that might have a comment as to why they "might" not want to be running 5.1 AC-3(DD), please chime in.

Possibly dmadsen? Not sure if he's an engineer or some other station rep.

On another note, anyone know why only KDLT broadcast some show in DD 5.1? KELO has nothing, and KSFY just uses a ProLogic surround, not DD 5.1


My understanding is - and I'm by no means an expert -

The national feed to the locals would be whatever the program is originally broadcast in. The locals then send it out through the encoder they employ for audio. I believe KELO and KSFY only do ProLogic and KDLT is DD 5.1.

On the NFL Sunday Ticket feeds - all are in DD 5.1 so it has to be a pass through equipment issue. KELO and KSFY have been around longer as digital stations so maybe the DD equipment was more expensive or not available when they went digital.

This would be an excellent question for their engineers. If there are other station engineers from other stations on this forum that might have a comment as to why they "might" not want to be running 5.1 AC-3(DD), please chime in.
Possibly dmadsen? Not sure if he's an engineer or some other station rep.

Hi, Dave Madsen here...no, I'm not an engineer, and I can't speak for any station other than ours (KTIV, NBC, Sioux City). But I can tell you that for us, it's a matter of not quite being ready to finance the equipment needed to pass through DD 5.1.

Hi, Dave Madsen here...no, I'm not an engineer, and I can't speak for any station other than ours (KTIV, NBC, Sioux City). But I can tell you that for us, it's a matter of not quite being ready to finance the equipment needed to pass through DD 5.1.

That's exactly the type of answer I was looking for in my post. That is also what I expected. Thanks.

TREVOR

We have been having a devil of a problem with the digital reception at our home with KCAU and KSIN in Sioux City. The signal breaks up intermittently - and I have noticed a DIRECT relationship with the automobile traffic going by my home and the breakups in the picture.

Sunday morning when there was very little traffic on Cheyenne Boulevard, my reception of KCAU-DT was perfect. Then when a car drove by the picture broke up for a moment, then was perfect. A couple of minutes later when another car drove by the same thing happened. Later in the day when traffic picked up to its normal level of busy, the picture broke up quite a bit. In the evening when there are fewer vehicles, there are fewer breakups. I can sit there with my front door open to hear and see the cars go by, and exactly when a car goes by the picture breaks up for a moment.

Perhaps I need a different antenna (I have a large Channel Master 4228 from when I had to get the signal from Sioux Falls) or crank down the amplifier. I have been thinking of changing antennas to a small omnidirectional antenna for local Sioux City stations. Ideas??

PS: My wife reminds me that we also tried a very highly-rated indoor non-amplified UHF antenna and had the same result. I tried the indoor antenna on two different digital receivers and watched the signal meter drop each time a vehicle passed our home.

I have recently moved to Sioux Falls and signed up for the standard cable service. I have a QAM tuner in my TV and pickup the local stations they pass through and a few others. On their website and channel line sheet they give you, it show that channels 98,99, 28,41 and 66 require a digital receiver to view them. I can get 98 and 99 but they are actually 98.1 and 98.4. I would expect to get 28,41 and 66 but do not. What are others experiencing?

I have recently moved to Sioux Falls and signed up for the standard cable service. I have a QAM tuner in my TV and pickup the local stations they pass through and a few others. On their website and channel line sheet they give you, it show that channels 98,99, 28,41 and 66 require a digital receiver to view them. I can get 98 and 99 but they are actually 98.1 and 98.4. I would expect to get 28,41 and 66 but do not. What are others experiencing?

The digital tuners I use in the lab do not follow Midco's channel re-mapping and such as seen on DTV's. Mine go by their frequency channel numbers which I included below. The only digital channels that I know of from Midco that are in the clear are:
KDLT-DT (NBC) (80-1)
PBS-SD (80-3)
KDLT-Weather Plus (80-4)
PBS-HD (80-2)
KSFY-DT (ABC) (81)
Midco PPV/OnDemand Ads channel (84)
KELO-DT (CBS) (116-1)
KELO-Weather Now (116-3)
MyUTV (116-2)
KTTW (FOX) (116-4)

We may have missed the other ones that Midco shows because we hit on these most often. Now the other caveat here is that Midco may be indicating you need THEIR digital receiver to receive those channels and they are encrypted. Not sure.

I have recently moved to Sioux Falls and signed up for the standard cable service. I have a QAM tuner in my TV and pickup the local stations they pass through and a few others. On their website and channel line sheet they give you, it show that channels 98,99, 28,41 and 66 require a digital receiver to view them. I can get 98 and 99 but they are actually 98.1 and 98.4. I would expect to get 28,41 and 66 but do not. What are others experiencing?

I checked with a standard DTV tuner here and I get the same results as you.

My tuner actually picked up a BUNCH of other digital channels, but when you tune to them it shows them as "unavailable". Since Midco remaps their channels, 28, 41 and 66 could be remapped to three of these other digital channels. I didn't want to go through all of them looking for a signal though.

We have been having a devil of a problem with the digital reception at our home with KCAU and KSIN in Sioux City. The signal breaks up intermittently - and I have noticed a DIRECT relationship with the automobile traffic going by my home and the breakups in the picture.

Sunday morning when there was very little traffic on Cheyenne Boulevard, my reception of KCAU-DT was perfect. Then when a car drove by the picture broke up for a moment, then was perfect. A couple of minutes later when another car drove by the same thing happened. Later in the day when traffic picked up to its normal level of busy, the picture broke up quite a bit. In the evening when there are fewer vehicles, there are fewer breakups. I can sit there with my front door open to hear and see the cars go by, and exactly when a car goes by the picture breaks up for a moment.

Perhaps I need a different antenna (I have a large Channel Master 4228 from when I had to get the signal from Sioux Falls) or crank down the amplifier. I have been thinking of changing antennas to a small omnidirectional antenna for local Sioux City stations. Ideas??

PS: My wife reminds me that we also tried a very highly-rated indoor non-amplified UHF antenna and had the same result. I tried the indoor antenna on two different digital receivers and watched the signal meter drop each time a vehicle passed our home.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1030933&highlight=traffic

I thought I saw something in the HDTV Technical forum back awhile about this issue so I searched on traffic and came up with this. Don't know if it will help.

On another note - as I have stated before - I am close to the Rowena towers. I have better luck tuning in Sioux City CBS 14-1 and ABC 9-1 than I do my SF stations. I'm using the same ChannelMaster antenna as you because I need to get FOX 44. I think multipath must be an issue when you are trying to receive the close channels on such a big antenna.

BVfan:

Excellent information - the first I have ever seen on my problem. There are several links on that thread that take me to even more depth. I think I know how to fix this now. Thank you for taking the time to find the link for me.

Anyone else having troubles with KSFY tonight (13.1). I am watching Game 4 of the NBA Finals and the picture is pixelating something terrible! Signal strength is fine, but major pixeling going on....

I was seeing the exact same problem with KSFY-DT, so they must have a problem somewhere. That's not a good problem to have during the NBA finals!

Incidentally, I was also having problems with Fox KTTW-DT. I appeared to be getting signal strength, but the TV would not decode it. I tried deleting and searching for the channel, but it was not able to decode it and add the channel either.

CableOne in Sioux City has added three new HD channels. 423 - History Channel HD, 425 - Discovery HD and 428 - The Learning Channel HD. I can get them on my TV's with a cable box and cablecard, but not with the sets with digital qam tuners. Has anyone been able to get them with their digital tuners?

I was seeing the exact same problem with KSFY-DT, so they must have a problem somewhere. That's not a good problem to have during the NBA finals!

Incidentally, I was also having problems with Fox KTTW-DT. I appeared to be getting signal strength, but the TV would not decode it. I tried deleting and searching for the channel, but it was not able to decode it and add the channel either.

If you have MIDCO cable, I have also been seeing more of this lately from the digital KELO, KSFY, and KTTW stations. Either pixelated, shuttering, or just no picture w/100% signal. KDLT and PBS never seem to have those problems.

I was looking at this site today - http://www.rabbitears.info/dtr.php

Sioux Falls is DMA#114 - Sioux City is #143

After the transition on 2/17/09, KELO and KSFY which are on UHF 29 & 32 now are reverting to 11 and 13 and FOX will still be on 7 (hopefully at full power by then). Looks like my UHF antenna won't be any good to receive those OTA after that date. Thinking I may want to plan ahead and not be on my roof in February.

Looks like in SC just KCAU which is on UHF -30 is going back to VHF - 9.

Does anyone have an idea of how high of a VHF channel a person might expect to receive with a UHF antenna?

Found this antenna, but sure don't want to buy another if I don't have to... http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=HD-1080#MORE

I was looking at this site today - http://www.rabbitears.info/dtr.php

Sioux Falls is DMA#114 - Sioux City is #143

After the transition on 2/17/09, KELO and KSFY which are on UHF 29 & 32 now are reverting to 11 and 13 and FOX will still be on 7 (hopefully at full power by then). Looks like my UHF antenna won't be any good to receive those OTA after that date. Thinking I may want to plan ahead and not be on my roof in February.

Looks like in SC just KCAU which is on UHF -30 is going back to VHF - 9.

Does anyone have an idea of how high of a VHF channel a person might expect to receive with a UHF antenna?

Found this antenna, but sure don't want to buy another if I don't have to... http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=HD-1080#MORE

With just a UHF antenna, you could expect to receive "no" VHF channels at all. Channel 13 stops at 216Mhz and Channel 14 starts at 470Mhz, so there is quite a spread. In reality though, it will depend on distance/signal strength and channel. The antenna may be somewhat resonant at certain VHF frequencies, but the bandwidth will be very narrow, and it will have dramatically less gain. If you are close enough to the towers however, you might receive them anyway with no problem at all.

A good experiment would be to see how well you can pick up the current analog signals on 9, 11, and 13. If they aren't at least watchable, then I would say you have no chance without a new antenna.

It's interesting that the antenna you referenced only covers down to channel 7, There are not many stations that will remain on channels 2-6 (none in SC & SF), but they are still valid channels. I wouldn't want to remain on 2-6 post-transition, if I was a TV station. The fact that antennas covering only 7-51/69 are being marketed only adds to that position, although this will vary by market.

CableOne in Sioux City has added three new HD channels. 423 - History Channel HD, 425 - Discovery HD and 428 - The Learning Channel HD. I can get them on my TV's with a cable box and cablecard, but not with the sets with digital qam tuners. Has anyone been able to get them with their digital tuners?

Those digital channels are most likely encrypted. The only digital channels they cannot legally encrypt are the locals. Cable boxes from the cable company obviously have the decryption keys built in. If your TV has Cable-Card slots, then you could get a Cable-Card from your cable company to allow those TV's to decode the extra channels.
Good Luck
Foe

Those digital channels are most likely encrypted. The only digital channels they cannot legally encrypt are the locals. Cable boxes from the cable company obviously have the decryption keys built in. If your TV has Cable-Card slots, then you could get a Cable-Card from your cable company to allow those TV's to decode the extra channels.
Good Luck
Foe
The new HD Channels are encrypted. They are at channels 74.423, 74.425 and 74.428. Cableone claims they are not supposed to be encrypted and it must be my tuner. Not likely since I receive all the other non-encrypted hd channels. Can someone with a digital tuner with CableOne service try the new channels?

The new HD Channels are encrypted. They are at channels 74.423, 74.425 and 74.428. Cableone claims they are not supposed to be encrypted and it must be my tuner. Not likely since I receive all the other non-encrypted hd channels. Can someone with a digital tuner with CableOne service try the new channels?

Hmmmmm.....I agree, they must be - I don't get these via the Cableone HDTV box ("not authorized") so I didn't even bother trying with my QAM tuner.

Hmmmmm.....I agree, they must be - I don't get these via the Cableone HDTV box ("not authorized") so I didn't even bother trying with my QAM tuner.
If what Cableone is telling me is correct you should be getting the new HD stations with your cable box. They have confirmed that the channels are encrypted but are part of the free HD tier. This will require a cable box or cable card to receive the channels. In my opinion free means not requiring extra equipment to receive the stations and using a qam tuner should pick them up. If you can't pick the stations up with your cable box I would call CableOne and see what the problem is.

At my location the leaves on the trees cause enough of a disturbance in the digital signal that it is unwatchable when the wind is blowing. The analog ghosting on the UHF frequencies was always bad but it seems that it is bad enough that the digital signal cannot correct and just locks up and jumps. Does anyone else have problems with trees?

At my location the leaves on the trees cause enough of a disturbance in the digital signal that it is unwatchable when the wind is blowing. The analog ghosting on the UHF frequencies was always bad but it seems that it is bad enough that the digital signal cannot correct and just locks up and jumps. Does anyone else have problems with trees?

I don't have any problems with trees, but whenever the neighbor drives by with his tractor I lose the signal momentarily.

At my location the leaves on the trees cause enough of a disturbance in the digital signal that it is unwatchable when the wind is blowing. The analog ghosting on the UHF frequencies was always bad but it seems that it is bad enough that the digital signal cannot correct and just locks up and jumps. Does anyone else have problems with trees?

I used to be able to get FOX Sioux Falls - even with the low digital signal - but tree growth has made it unwatchable so I took down my big ugly 150 inch VHF antenna. Digital seems much touchier to any outside influence. I can get the Sioux City stations better than SF most days. I have a clear view of the Hinton towers 60 miles away, but have trees, etc toward the Rowena towers, only 6 miles away.

Seems like the best solution is a rooftop antenna with no obstructions, which is almost impossible in older, wooded neighborhoods.

I can get KCAU, KTIV-1/2(CW), CBS and all 3 PBS and IPTV channels but I have a tough time getting the Fox Channels. What type of antenna will I need? I live in Sioux City. My TV is a Zenith Z50PX2D w/ a built in tuner.

Hey all well i guess i hope i make my 1st post a good one. I live in Carroll, Ia and am looking into an antenna for souix city, or omaha for OTA, so it's about 80 miles am i stuck with my Des Moines ocals on satellite or would a Large multi antenna get me them western cities? PLus nice to have something else if satellite ever goes out during storms again. Hope this makes enough sense.

My recommendation is a Channel Master 4228 with an antenna amplifier and a rotor. This antenna looks like an oven rack and is tuned for the UHF band. I was able to pull in the Sioux Falls HD signals for two years before we had HDTV ota from the Sioux City stations. Sioux Falls is 70 miles away.

If what Cableone is telling me is correct you should be getting the new HD stations with your cable box. They have confirmed that the channels are encrypted but are part of the free HD tier. This will require a cable box or cable card to receive the channels. In my opinion free means not requiring extra equipment to receive the stations and using a qam tuner should pick them up. If you can't pick the stations up with your cable box I would call CableOne and see what the problem is.

I see that now I get HISHD, DSCHD, and TLCHD via my box like you said but not on either of my QAM tuners so indeed its (still) encrypted. Btw, I also don't get A&EHD on either QAM tuner.

FYI..... DirecTV will be rolling out Sioux Falls local HD channels by the end of this year. Also, everything that is on the 72.5 satellite (reason for the second dish) will be moving and retransmitted in MPEG-4 (this will require a new receiver if you do not have one that supports MPEG-4). This will mean just one satellite on my house, YEAH! Just thought I would share this news.

FYI..... DirecTV will be rolling out Sioux Falls local HD channels by the end of this year. Also, everything that is on the 72.5 satellite (reason for the second dish) will be moving and retransmitted in MPEG-4 (this will require a new receiver if you do not have one that supports MPEG-4). This will mean just one satellite on my house, YEAH! Just thought I would share this news.

According to this page (http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/packProg/channelChart2.jsp?assetId=1100086) on DirectTV's site (click on the "View upcoming HD local market launches" link) it will be in November. Yeah indeed!

Just wanted to give everyone an update from KTTW. I asked when the Rowena tower will be broadcasting. Here is the message from their chief engineer:

I don't know for sure because our transmitter manufacture keeps changing the delivery dated
Now it is last week of September 2008. So first part of October 2008.

John Bennett
Chief Engineer
KTTW & KTTM
2817 West 11th. Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57104

Phone: 605-338-0017 ext. 120

According to this page (http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/packProg/channelChart2.jsp?assetId=1100086) on DirectTV's site (click on the "View upcoming HD local market launches" link) it will be in November. Yeah indeed!

Thanks for the info. I am having 3 old HD receivers switched out on Friday the 22nd. The new ones don't have OTA receivers built in so I was wondering how long I was going to have to try to do some type of work around or even buy their add on OTA tuner.

BTW, D* is swapping out my 2 HD receivers and 1 HD-DVR free, installing the 5 LNB dish free, plus I asked for NFL SuperFan for free and got that also.

No HD Olympics on KDLT again this Sunday AM. I called but do not have a number for the dept that could "flip the switch". Looks like KTIV wins again.

9:38 - went back to KDLT and was in HD.

I have noticed over the last week that KSFY has a problem with a sound lag time with the OTA signal. It is off by a few seconds. The picture is about 2 to 3 seconds behind the sound. Really annoying. I have tried rescanning the channels on my DTV box, but still the problem arises with the OTA signal. Doesn't do it on any other OTA HD channel. I have a Samsung SIR-TS160 DirecTV digital reciever.

I have an update after I wrote the station. This is what they sent me

"On Tuesday we replaced some of our older digital encoding equipment with
new. Since then we have received a handful of calls and emails stating
our picture is now black or audio problems. As we looked into each one,
we found the problems to this point have all been with RCA brand
converter boxes and 1 Visio television. For some reason they are unable
to relock to our signal on their own."

IF/when we get DirecTV HD locals in Sioux Falls, does anyone know if one will be able to receive them on the new Slimline dish or will an addon dish have to be installed like there is for Std Def locals?

I ran TSReader on KELO and KMEG during the US Open Tennis today. KMEG 14.1 is running at 18.64Mbps and KELO 11.1 is running at 15.43Mbps. So I was going to see if I could see a difference, but KMEG was not running in wide screen HD. Guess I'll wait until some football is on.

IF/when we get DirecTV HD locals in Sioux Falls, does anyone know if one will be able to receive them on the new Slimline dish or will an addon dish have to be installed like there is for Std Def locals?


DirecTV will carry Sioux Falls locals starting in November. The SD and HD channels will be moving from the 72.5 sat to the new D11 sat on 99c. The SD signal will also be changing to MPEG-4 which I believe will require the new receiver (not sure if they will still have MPEg-2) of not. The Slimline dish will work fine as it points to 99c. Until November the second dish is required to point at 72.5 (this satellite must be retired by DirecTV before the end of the year).

any news on KTTW going full power?

any news on KTTW going full power?
Drove by the tower today and no transmitter on top yet and nobody working out there. MLB League Championships are on FOX starting Oct 9th and World Series Oct 22nd.

Hopefully they will be transmitting soon. I really don't want to repoint/change my rooftop antenna - if I have to - when there is snow on the roof.

Drove by the tower today and no transmitter on top yet and nobody working out there. MLB League Championships are on FOX starting Oct 9th and World Series Oct 22nd.

Hopefully they will be transmitting soon. I really don't want to repoint/change my rooftop antenna - if I have to - when there is snow on the roof.

Taken from fcc.gov website on an application dated 09/24/2008 granting an extension on the construction permit that had expired on 08/18/2008.

"The antenna and transmission lines are scheduled to be installed at the new site on September 15, 2008, and the transmitter is scheduled to arrive between the last week of September and the first week of October. It is anticipated that KTTW-DT will be ready for operation by the middle of October.

Since grant of the Permit, Independent has worked diligently to construct the facilities at the new site, but requires an additional two months to complete construction. Although the station is expected to be operational by mid-October, out of an abundance of caution, Independent requests that the expiration of the Permit be extended until the end date of the transition, February 17, 2009."

KTTW not coming in again... Since Sunday (that's when I noticed) Fox is not coming in again. I have been getting a good signal for a couple months now point directly at the tower in Sioux Falls. Have they finally moved to there new location? Do I need to adjust my antenna?

KTTW not coming in again... Since Sunday (that's when I noticed) Fox is not coming in again. I have been getting a good signal for a couple months now point directly at the tower in Sioux Falls. Have they finally moved to there new location? Do I need to adjust my antenna?

I still can't get it. Maybe try to rescan for it.

I would assume we would see a transmitter on their tower and there was still not one last week.

I would assume we would see a transmitter on their tower and there was still not one last week.


I had forgetten that they have abandoned that west tower and are going to be on the KDLT tower. I'll have to look at that one when I go by. Should I see two antennas on it?

For those of us along the Nebraska border in the SW portion of the Sioux Falls DMA, KMNE-TV Channel 7, Basset NE PBS has dropped their analog transmissions and are now only digital on channel 7, digital was channel 15. Excellent signal. I an 59 miles from their transmitter and receive them off the back of a cut channel 13 antenna. For those of you in the SE corner of SD, I see Norfolk, NE PBS is also going digital only in November.

From Brookings...this afternoon, for the first time, I am able to acquire a signal for KTTW-DT out of Sioux Falls. Channel 7 mapping to 17. Unfortunately, the strength of the signal is marginal (frequent breakup, pixelation, and loss of signal). I am hopeful that this will improve and FOX matches the signal strength from KELO/KDLT/KSFY, which we can pick up without a problem. Those of you closer to the tower should have better luck. Thanks for keeping this thread going. It's been a long three years in the waiting. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the Vikings in HD this weekend!

From Brookings...this afternoon, for the first time, I am able to acquire a signal for KTTW-DT out of Sioux Falls. Channel 7 mapping to 17. Unfortunately, the strength of the signal is marginal (frequent breakup, pixelation, and loss of signal). I am hopeful that this will improve and FOX matches the signal strength from KELO/KDLT/KSFY, which we can pick up without a problem. Those of you closer to the tower should have better luck. Thanks for keeping this thread going. It's been a long three years in the waiting. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the Vikings in HD this weekend!


Not fair... a guy with his first post beats me to the punch.... Just kidding ..

I was setting up an old DirecTV receiver tonight to receive my HD channels and lo and behold .. Ch 7 popped up .. and I think no way .. KTTW is up .. for now .. I'm too close to the transmitter to give any good feedback

I cried wolf before so I am going to go set up all my receivers before I believe it.

I scanned it into all 5 of my receivers (2 PCs). It is definitely there. World Series on. I have UHF only antennas. A square ChannelMaster 4228 and a regular long UHF rated for longer range. Both are receiving channel 7. I am only about 5 miles from the transmitter though.

20 Miles north of Sioux Falls. Can't receive KTTW

I am 32 miles east of the KDLT tower and am picking up KTTW perfectly.

Here is their published coverage map at the FCC site.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1230159.html

This is channel 7 so some may need a VHF antenna to pick it up.

I also noticed that this channel was back, although worse than what it was. I am pointing straight south with my antenna, was hoping I would not have to change it when they moved, but appears that I might. I get the Sioux City locals with my antenna the way it is.. will probably lose those when I adjust. Maybe they are still tweaking and the signal will get better.

I also noticed that this channel was back, although worse than what it was. I am pointing straight south with my antenna, was hoping I would not have to change it when they moved, but appears that I might. I get the Sioux City locals with my antenna the way it is.. will probably lose those when I adjust. Maybe they are still tweaking and the signal will get better.

Maybe try some type of indoor antenna combined with your outdoor if you want to keep getting SC. I'm kind of in the same boat only I have a hard time getting KSFY with the way I point. Not sure why as KELO comes in good.

I like getting SC because KELO especially is notorious for knocking out prime time programming for a KELO weather show or full time tornado alert or healthshow or the other night the local US sentaor non-debate. Sometimes two different football games on Saturday or Sunday also.

Remember after the transition some stations are going to be transmitting in VHF anyway. KELO goes back to 11 and KSFY goes back to 13 and Brookings PBS goes back to 8. KCAU in SC is going back to 9.

BVfan or others...do you think KTTW is at full power now?

Off the air last night and this morning at my house. No HD OTA Vikes today. I was getting 100% on all receivers prior to that. I would have to speculate, but if you were getting a signal in Brookings, they must have been at full power.

KTTW states on their website the are full power now. So that's a good thing.

I had them pulled in for a day or two. However, now I can't get their signal. Maybe they're tweaking things.

I live 20 minutes north of Sioux Falls.

For those trying to get FOX 17 OTA. It was back on last night for the World Series. And I just checked and it is on now.

If you don't know where to aim.... the tower is on a line straight east of SF on the SD/IA border east of the Sioux River - straight south of Brandon - or about 2 miles SW of Rowena on the KDLT tower.

If what Cableone is telling me is correct you should be getting the new HD stations with your cable box. They have confirmed that the channels are encrypted but are part of the free HD tier. This will require a cable box or cable card to receive the channels. In my opinion free means not requiring extra equipment to receive the stations and using a qam tuner should pick them up. If you can't pick the stations up with your cable box I would call CableOne and see what the problem is.

I see today that CableOne is going to scramble all but local HD channels starting 11/11 :mad:

DirecTV will start carrying Sioux Falls HD Locals on November 6th!

But evidently not KTTW - the station that is hardest to get OTA.

This is a little late, since everybody seems to be receiving KTTW now, but I thought I would post anyways. Been away for a while.

Here is what the response was to a question of ours about KTTW from their Chief Engineer:

>>>We had to shut off the DTV transmitter Monday October 13 to move
our digital transmitter building. We moved it to the new tower site near
Rowena. And installed the new transmitter and equipment in the building
there. We had an issue with the STL MW. Fixed yesterday. And had
the new transmitter on the air today at 1:15 PM Oct. 21.
John Bennett
Chief Engineer
KTTW & KTTM
2817 West 11th. Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57104
Phone: 605-338-0017 ext. 120
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

But evidently not KTTW - the station that is hardest to get OTA.

Evidently not any of them. I upgraded my package to locals after reading here. I can get 20 and 23 but not 11, 13, 17, or 46. I get audio on those 4 but also a message about a multiswitch problem.

D* CS told me to put a z-band converter on so took one off my HDDVR and put it on the receiver but when we reset - the receiver told me to take it off. My DVR is hooked to a projector so I guess I'll see if locals work on it tonight.

I have the 2 HD receivers and both act the same.

Anyone actually getting local SF HD from D*?

But evidently not KTTW - the station that is hardest to get OTA.

Found this on satellite guys forum .... This poster is from Brookings and can't get a FOX OTA signal at all...

Called the Local Fox Affiliate in Sioux Falls and got an interesting answer. His version is that D* did not want to use the location available from the Fox affiliate for uplinking the HD singnal--that was BEFORE the Fox affiliate put up a new VHF tower near where the other networks broadcast their digital signals.

He doesn't think DIRECT TV has taken the time to re-evaluate the location of the uplink and their only option for the local Fox Affiliate was for them to pay $2000/month to have their signal uplinked at the location chosen by Direct.

When I called Direct they kept saying it was in the Fox affiliate's or the FCC's hands (this was a lowly CSR) and would not give me another department to speak with.

So, thanks DIRECT--for nothing. Can't you go back and re-evaluate a location for uplinking the signal now that they have a new tower near where the other network affiliates uplink their signal??? My goodness--what's the problem anyway?

I wish I knew who to talk to about this?

I have a very long VHF/UHF combo antenna, if anyone wants to come and get it and try to pick up FOX. Free - if you pick it up.

It is around 100 inches long and really ugly. Little bit bent up and might have a couple of elements missing. Don't have a mast for it. It is supposed to be a deep fringe model and I think I picked up from Menards a few years back. Probably have to disassemble to transport it.

I have no need for it unless I wanted to pick up Omaha. PM me if interested.

It does appear that DirecTV is only carrying KDLT, KELO, and KSFY. Although they have a duplicate channel for FOX and the Minnesota and SD PBS channel. Not sure what the plan is for DirecTV.. if they will be adding these or not. I can get FOX OTA fine, but my parents who live by Mitchell can not, this would be good for them if they can get FOX HD OTA.

Also, why can't DirecTV use the same location that they get the SD feed for FOX? Maybe I don't understand all the technology behind it.

I am receiving the following SF locals off of D* using the latest slimline 5 lnb dish (no supplemental small dish), HR20 receiver, and zipcode=51246 (Rock Rapids, IA): 11, 13, 17, 20, 23, 46

I can confirm all of these (except 23 since I do not receive OTA) are the same as the XX.1 OTA broadcast. Can't confirm until primetime that these are if fact in HD, but believe I saw at least some programming last nite off of at least one in HD.

Nope just 11, 13, and 46 are HD :(

Locals are coming in on my HR21-100 HDDVR, but not on my H23-600 HD receivers. Anyone got any advice? D* said they would come and reallign my dish. Not sure realligning is an issue. I haven't looked at my connections at the dish since I didn't not do the install, but I assume they are all 4 the same.

I'm having the same problem - getting a multiswitch error - with my H20 receiver. My HR20 DVR picks up the new channels just fine, so I know it's not really a multiswitch problem.

What D* package do you need to get the Sioux Falls locals? I got the 5 LNB dish and MPEG4 HDDVR and one of the HD packages. Also, chalk me up as another who cannot get Fox 17 digital.

Any DirecTV package will get you locals, but you will need the $10 HD package to get them in HD (11,13 and 46). For those that are getting HD on one receiver and not the other, you may need to go to the DirecTV website and reactivate that receiver... the push should allow the channels to show.

What channel #'s are they on D*? I have the box with the OTA tuner so I already have the Sioux Falls channels integrated into the program guide on the "proper" channels (11, 13, 46).

I found it odd that I haven't seen any posts lately about KTTW-DT.
I haven't been able to get the channel in very often lately. It seems like it's been down more often than up. Is that what the rest of you are seeing?

I live pretty close to the tower. When it's up, it comes in pretty strong (even if 90% of the programming is stretched out SD material.)

D* Locals update - now I am getting locals on the H23s except one of them doesn't get 46. The same one also quit receiving NFLHD and my 206 ESPN was pixelating today. I've got someone coming Monday, but I'm sure nothing will get resolved.

My old LNB had problems when it was below zero, but this shouldn't be a temperature problem.

What channel #'s are they on D*? I have the box with the OTA tuner so I already have the Sioux Falls channels integrated into the program guide on the "proper" channels (11, 13, 46).

I had to add the locals package on as I had not had them in the past. That is an extra $2.99. If you have that subscribtion, you should see them as 11,13,17,20,23,46. No HD 17,20 or 23 though. Your OTA locals should show as 11-1, etc.

The 23 you get is not the local PBS though so you can't see HS Football on that channel. You still have to go OTA.

D* Customer service thought I should be receiving both HD and SD locals including 36, but she is obviously misinformed.

Any DirecTV package will get you locals, but you will need the $10 HD package to get them in HD (11,13 and 46). For those that are getting HD on one receiver and not the other, you may need to go to the DirecTV website and reactivate that receiver... the push should allow the channels to show.

I've done this a couple of times and been on the phone with CS twice. I have also gone thorugh the setup a couple of times. This seems to be hard to pin down. Wondering if I have a faulty LNB or something.

I'm having the same problem - getting a multiswitch error - with my H20 receiver. My HR20 DVR picks up the new channels just fine, so I know it's not really a multiswitch problem.

My H23 with the issues seems to be working now. I powered down. Unplugged it. Unplugged my sat cable. Waited a minute. Plugged cable back in. Plugged power back in. Powered up. Now I get all locals.

Just before this, I went through the channels and besides not receiving 212 NFLHD, I was not receiving about 14 other of the new MPEG4 channels.

Hitting the red reset button or redoing the setup did not help this. So I did the above and now those channels work also. Go figure.

Hi, everybody. For people in the Sioux City area, with CableOne service, did you notice that CableOne suddenly dropped most of the "free" HD channels they had been providing with just basic service? They still have the local channels, but the others (like Universal HD, Discovery HD, ESPNHD, etc) were apparently just "free trials" to give us an example of what HD programming was out there.

The explanation we were given is that these other channels are now requiring the channels to be scrambled so they can get paid extra for each subscriber.

I guess it's true...there's no free lunch.

Hi, everybody. For people in the Sioux City area, with CableOne service, did you notice that CableOne suddenly dropped most of the "free" HD channels they had been providing with just basic service? They still have the local channels, but the others (like Universal HD, Discovery HD, ESPNHD, etc) were apparently just "free trials" to give us an example of what HD programming was out there.

The explanation we were given is that these other channels are now requiring the channels to be scrambled so they can get paid extra for each subscriber.

I guess it's true...there's no free lunch.

Yea, I mentioned this was coming about 2 weeks ago. The advantages of cable are becoming slim to none. If DTV would offer SC locals....

I also wonder if in Feb 2009 whether cable will finally drop all the analog channels via the box - what a wonderful day that would be.

The Iowa HS girls volleyball championships were in HD last Saturday. Any chance the HS football championships will be? I think it's a different broadcast outfit so I'd say probably not.

I live in the 26th & Sertoma area of Sioux Falls; I was getting KTTW-DT for a couple of days, albeit with occasional artifacts and audio drops. Now it hasn't come in again for a while. I'm using a DA-5200 HDTV Outdoor/Indoor Antenna from Radio Shack. I'd have put up the link except I have to have three posts first! :p Anyone know if KTTW's taken the transmitter offline again? The other three come in great, although as it's gotten colder, one or more of those will drop off at times. I'm scanning them in through a ViP722 HD receiver from Dish.
I'd rather Dish just hurry up and get the HD locals but I doubt it will happen anytime soon...

I live in the 26th & Sertoma area of Sioux Falls; I was getting KTTW-DT for a couple of days, albeit with occasional artifacts and audio drops. Now it hasn't come in again for a while. I'm using a DA-5200 HDTV Outdoor/Indoor Antenna from Radio Shack. I'd have put up the link except I have to have three posts first! :p Anyone know if KTTW's taken the transmitter offline again? The other three come in great, although as it's gotten colder, one or more of those will drop off at times. I'm scanning them in through a ViP722 HD receiver from Dish.
I'd rather Dish just hurry up and get the HD locals but I doubt it will happen anytime soon...

I don't watch FOX all the time, but whenever I do, it seems to be up and OK. I see the antenna you have comes with RG59U cable. Maybe if you tried RG6 quad-shielded, you may get better reception - less dropouts. Just a thought.

Does anyone have any idea if Sioux City will be getting Directv locals? Just deciding if I need to 'move' to a Sioux Falls area!!

Dave Madsen, Do you have any info on this?

No, I don't have any info. It would be nice if both DishNetwork and DirecTV would start carrying the Sioux City locals is digital channels, including the HD programming...but I'm not holding my breath.

By the way, as of this past Wednesday (12/ 3) I'm no longer with KTIV. They decided as a budget cutting measure to eliminate my position, and also laid off three other people.

Dave Madsen
formerly with KTIV-TV
Sioux City

Hi, everybody. For people in the Sioux City area, with CableOne service, did you notice that CableOne suddenly dropped most of the "free" HD channels they had been providing with just basic service? They still have the local channels, but the others (like Universal HD, Discovery HD, ESPNHD, etc) were apparently just "free trials" to give us an example of what HD programming was out there.

The explanation we were given is that these other channels are now requiring the channels to be scrambled so they can get paid extra for each subscriber.

I guess it's true...there's no free lunch.

Hi people. As far as HD TV is to go, dont look for for Cable ONE to give any free channels on cable. Local channels have 2 yrs to broadcast in anolg. Look For a charge for are local channels aso once they decide to broadcast in HD. I made sure when I purchased both of my Hd Tvs I bought them with twin tunners, and also bought 2 HDS anntennas. I watch our local channels with my anntennas alot and think its a better picture then Cable One has. Cable Ones price keep on increasing but with less channels Its going to be and ongoing war with HD channels just like Cable and sattelite still do. Dave I want you to know you were a great asset to Siouxland community. Im sorry to hear about your job loss i feel the pain with you Im unemployed myself. Sioux City is dryed up.

Hi Dave sorry to here about the job loss it happened to me also. Soon people will say wheres Sioux City? No growth or jobs in the fricken town and the city dont want any good paying jobs or growth in the Siouxland area. See it filters down from are great city leaders down to local bussinesses, if you get my drift.

Hi people. As far as HD TV is to go, dont look for for Cable ONE to give any free channels on cable. Local channels have 2 yrs to broadcast in anolg. Look For a charge for are local channels aso once they decide to broadcast in HD.

Its been my understanding that legally cable must provide the SD/HD locals for "free". I guess we'll find out if that's the case or not.

Cable is not required to provide HD signals for free. They are required to provide an analog version of the local stations for their customers who only have analog TV's, but it does NOT have to be the HD feed.

Dave Madsen

Cable is not required to provide HD signals for free. They are required to provide an analog version of the local stations for their customers who only have analog TV's, but it does NOT have to be the HD feed.

Dave Madsen

Dave,

There seems to be confusion and misinformation on this subject on the internet forums and technical articles. Is it FCC regulation that if cable carries HD locals at all, they must be unencrypted QAM and of the same quality as other HD channels offered?

My understanding from doing some reading is they do not have to offer locals in HD at all, but that if they do, they can't charge extra for them.

Right? Wrong?

Sounds like Young Broadcasting wants to get paid by DISH for rebroadcasting its signal.

DISH Network’s contract with KELO-TV/KCLO-TV expires on December 10, 2008 at midnight. KELO-TV/KCLO-TV offered to extend the contract in an attempt to reach an agreement with DISH. The extension was not accepted by DISH. For the past several months our company has attempted to reach a new agreement with DISH Network. Unfortunately DISH Network has elected not to accept our proposal.

More info at the KELO web site.

Hopefully, since we just got SF HD locals on D* that they have already worked something out with Young.

Dave,

There seems to be confusion and misinformation on this subject on the internet forums and technical articles. Is it FCC regulation that if cable carries HD locals at all, they must be unencrypted QAM and of the same quality as other HD channels offered?

My understanding from doing some reading is they do not have to offer locals in HD at all, but that if they do, they can't charge extra for them.

Right? Wrong?

I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that one. It's something I've never discussed with the local CableOne manager.

Does anyone have any idea if Sioux City will be getting Directv locals? Just deciding if I need to 'move' to a Sioux Falls area!!

Dave Madsen, Do you have any info on this?

Sioux Falls is ranked 113th with 260,000 households and Sioux City is ranked 149th with 155,000 households. It could be awhile before D* does something in Sioux City even though they say they are in 150 markets in SD.

If you are talking about moving to get HD channels, those are on a spotbeam to the local area and I have no idea how big that spot beam is. My Mom is 100 mi west of Sioux Falls and the D* site shows she could get HD locals. She doesn't have the equipment so I don't know for sure.

Hopefully, since we just got SF HD locals on D* that they have already worked something out with Young.
They haven't, according to www.keloland.com.

Quad Cities area E* subscribers are in a similar situation, except they lost the NBC station.

Does anyone know why SC 44 KPTH takes away so much screen real estate just to show weather related closings?

--- Beside the fact that Long Lines must give them money to let them take up a 1/3 of the screen.

My 40" screeen becomes an almost unwatchable 22" at the distance I watch most of the time.

OTS digitial stations

(is this accurate) cause I got this from:

http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/ia/tvmarkets.html

and:

http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/sd/tvmarkets.html



Sioux City Iowa

2.1 KUSD-DT PBS Vermillion, SD (34)
4.1 KTIV-DT NBC Sioux City (41)
4.2 KTIV-DT2 CW+ Sioux City (41)
4.3 KTIV-DT3 RTN Sioux City (41)
9.1 KCAU-DT ABC Sioux City (30)
14.1 KMEG-DT CBS Sioux City (39)
27.1 KSIN-DT PBS HD Sioux City (28)
27.2 KSIN-DT2 Create Sioux City (28)
44.1 KPTH-DT FOX Sioux City (49)
44.2 KPTH-DT2 My/A1 Sioux City (49)



Sioux falls SD

11.1 KELO-DT CBS Sioux Falls (32)
11.2 KELO-DT2 My Sioux Falls (32)
13.1 KSFY-DT ABC Sioux Falls (29)
17.1 KTTW-DT FOX Sioux Falls (7)
20.1 KSMN-DT PBS Worthington, MN (15)
20.2 KSMN-DT2 Create Worthington, MN (15)
20.3 KSMN-DT3 MN Channel Worthington, MN (15)
20.4 KSMN-DT4 PBS HD Worthington, MN (15)
23.1 KCSD-DT PBS Sioux Falls (24)
36.1 KWSD-DT CW+ Sioux Falls (51)
46.1 KDLT-DT NBC Sioux Falls (47)
46.2 KDLT-DT2 NBC WX+ Sioux Falls (47)

billiefan,

For a comparison I like: tvfool.com

Click on:

"TV Signal Locator"
Enter your address or coordinates
I just use "15" feet for antenna height
"Find local channels"

Choose "only digital" or "only digital - post transition"

This will give you a list of available stations, distance, signal strength from your location.

billiefan,

For a comparison I like: tvfool.com

Click on:

"TV Signal Locator"
Enter your address or coordinates
I just use "15" feet for antenna height
"Find local channels"

Choose "only digital" or "only digital - post transition"

This will give you a list of available stations, distance, signal strength from your location.


thanks


tvfool sorta reminds me of the http://www.radiolocator.com

website

I live in Sgt Bluff and have directtv, I will be adding an OTA to recieve local channels, do you have any suggestions for an OTA. I would cancel and switch to dishnetwork since they offer local channels but I have heard a lot of people complain about the pic quality and service

tmoney,

Do you currently have an HD receiver with DirecTV? If you have a HR20 or H20 you can just hook your OTA antenna up to the receiver and should be able to pull in the HD locals out of Sioux City. If you have an H21, HR21, HR22, or HR23 or even and R22 you would need to add an AM21 tuner sold by DirecTV to pull in the OTA signal ($50). The nice part is that DirecTV will provide your guide data and give you have the ability to record the locals OTA if you have a DVR. You might be required to have HD service, but I have heard of those with an R22 receiver (SD only) getting locals OTA. I am not sure if this is what you were asking, but it might help in any decision making you have to do.

KTTW FOX 17

Just wanted to see if anyone else if having issues with this channel still. My signal strength is in the 75 to 85% range, but I still continue to get a LOT of pixeling and artifacts when viewing most days. It this just KTTW great quality, or do I need to adjust my antenna (with my signal strength I would think it's fine). Anyone have any thoughts? The wife will be upset if it continues one American Idol starts!!

Thanks for the reply
I dont have a hdtv yet in the process, for now directv will just give me the basic satellite reciever which they say will accept an OTA and intergrate with the guide.
i was just wondering if anybody has any sugestions on OTA's

KTTW FOX 17

Just wanted to see if anyone else if having issues with this channel still. My signal strength is in the 75 to 85% range, but I still continue to get a LOT of pixeling and artifacts when viewing most days. It this just KTTW great quality, or do I need to adjust my antenna (with my signal strength I would think it's fine). Anyone have any thoughts? The wife will be upset if it continues one American Idol starts!!

Only insight I can provide is on Terminator on Monday, Fringe, and some football on Sunday as that is all I watch on FOX. I am getting none of what you are seeing. Almost sounds like you are getting a multipath issue. Like a strong signal is bouncing off something or trees.

I have similar problems with KELO and KSFY at times. Especially in high winds, which is an antenna swaying problem on my part.

Thanks for the reply
I dont have a hdtv yet in the process, for now directv will just give me the basic satellite reciever which they say will accept an OTA and intergrate with the guide.
i was just wondering if anybody has any sugestions on OTA's

To start with, see if you can borrow a cheap set top antenna from a friend. You may not have to spend more than $20 on a cheap indoor from where you are.

Do you know what model Directv receiver they are going to give you. I did not think a basic/non HD model had an OTA tuner.

Sioux City Iowa

2.1 KUSD-DT PBS Vermillion, SD (34)
4.1 KTIV-DT NBC Sioux City (41)
4.2 KTIV-DT2 CW+ Sioux City (41)
4.3 KTIV-DT3 RTN Sioux City (41)
9.1 KCAU-DT ABC Sioux City (30)
14.1 KMEG-DT CBS Sioux City (39)
27.1 KSIN-DT PBS HD Sioux City (28)
27.2 KSIN-DT2 Create Sioux City (28)
44.1 KPTH-DT FOX Sioux City (49)
44.2 KPTH-DT2 My/A1 Sioux City (49)



Sioux falls SD

11.1 KELO-DT CBS Sioux Falls (32)
11.2 KELO-DT2 My Sioux Falls (32)
13.1 KSFY-DT ABC Sioux Falls (29)
17.1 KTTW-DT FOX Sioux Falls (7)
20.1 KSMN-DT PBS Worthington, MN (15)
20.2 KSMN-DT2 Create Worthington, MN (15)
20.3 KSMN-DT3 MN Channel Worthington, MN (15)
20.4 KSMN-DT4 PBS HD Worthington, MN (15)
23.1 KCSD-DT PBS Sioux Falls (24)
36.1 KWSD-DT CW+ Sioux Falls (51)
46.1 KDLT-DT NBC Sioux Falls (47)
46.2 KDLT-DT2 NBC WX+ Sioux Falls (47)


Also 2.2, 9.2, 14.2 in SC I think there is a 27.3 also. I don't get a 4.3
Also 23.2 and 36.2 in SF.

For Sioux City digitals, yes there is a 9.2 (24x7 weather), 14.2 (TV Azteca) and 27.3. The 4.3 that is listed is a future possibility for KTIV. They have a contract with RTN (Retro TV) but the station doesn't yet have the equipment needed to carry the third sub channel. Last I heard, it was going to happen toward the end of next year.

Dave Madsen
formerly with KTIV

For Sioux City digitals, yes there is a 9.2 (24x7 weather), 14.2 (TV Azteca) and 27.3. The 4.3 that is listed is a future possibility for KTIV. They have a contract with RTN (Retro TV) but the station doesn't yet have the equipment needed to carry the third sub channel. Last I heard, it was going to happen toward the end of next year.

Dave Madsen
formerly with KTIV

Dave,

I can see public channels adding all those subs, but is it really a good marketing decision for private enterprise. How many weather channels do I need? Do these extra subs produce enough revenue to justify them?

I guess adding programming like Retro TV may be of interest to their audience. That is the same programming 36.2 has here. But how many times can you watch Quincy or Airwolf? Now Magnum PI and The Rockford Files I can see.:)

I just hate the signal degredation. If you go to http://rabbitears.info/index.php
click on listing and look at the bitrate info I provided to Trip you can see that KMEG is now transmitting their HD channel at a lower bit rate that KELO. It was just the opposite prior to their adding the .2 sub.

Maybe you all received the SDPBS flyer also ...

On January 5th SDPBS will be adding a .3 sub.

They are also changing the lineup around a bit.

The .1 channel will no longer broadcast the national HD PBS. It will broadcast South Dakota PBS in HD. That is the same programing we presently are seeing on .2 in SD

.2 channel will be PBS World - SD

.3 channel will be Create - SD

Maybe that means our DirecTV 23 that is in the HD menu will become true HD. Doubtful, but I can hope.

Also delete 46.2 from Sioux Falls. NBC no longer has their weather channel. Weather Plus I think it was called.

Also 2.2, 9.2, 14.2 in SC I think there is a 27.3 also. I don't get a 4.3
Also 23.2 and 36.2 in SF.

OTS digitial stations

(is this accurate) cause I got this from:

http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/ia/tvmarkets.html

and:

http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/sd/tvmarkets.html



Sioux City Iowa

2.1 KUSD-DT PBS Vermillion, SD (34)
4.1 KTIV-DT NBC Sioux City (41)
4.2 KTIV-DT2 CW+ Sioux City (41)
4.3 KTIV-DT3 RTN Sioux City (41)
9.1 KCAU-DT ABC Sioux City (30)
14.1 KMEG-DT CBS Sioux City (39)
27.1 KSIN-DT PBS HD Sioux City (28)
27.2 KSIN-DT2 Create Sioux City (28)
44.1 KPTH-DT FOX Sioux City (49)
44.2 KPTH-DT2 My/A1 Sioux City (49)



Sioux falls SD

11.1 KELO-DT CBS Sioux Falls (32)
11.2 KELO-DT2 My Sioux Falls (32)
13.1 KSFY-DT ABC Sioux Falls (29)
17.1 KTTW-DT FOX Sioux Falls (7)
20.1 KSMN-DT PBS Worthington, MN (15)
20.2 KSMN-DT2 Create Worthington, MN (15)
20.3 KSMN-DT3 MN Channel Worthington, MN (15)
20.4 KSMN-DT4 PBS HD Worthington, MN (15)
23.1 KCSD-DT PBS Sioux Falls (24)
36.1 KWSD-DT CW+ Sioux Falls (51)
46.1 KDLT-DT NBC Sioux Falls (47)
46.2 KDLT-DT2 NBC WX+ Sioux Falls (47)

P.S.
To Dave M in Sioux City. Sorry to hear about you and KTIV. Thanks for your continuation of knowledge to this forum and may that knowledge find you well.

Has anyone been able to pull in Nebraska PBS in Sioux Falls with some sort of deep fringe OTA set up? It looks like the closest antenna is in Norfolk, about 100-120 miles away.

According to what we have looked up we could pull SD, IA, MN PBS with a long range antenna but I can't find either a closer broadcast antenna for NE or a deep fringe that states it can get a signal from that far away.

We want to be able to get the multi channels from each state and NE happens to carry some content the others don't.

For Sioux City digitals, yes there is a 9.2 (24x7 weather), 14.2 (TV Azteca) and 27.3. The 4.3 that is listed is a future possibility for KTIV. They have a contract with RTN (Retro TV) but the station doesn't yet have the equipment needed to carry the third sub channel. Last I heard, it was going to happen toward the end of next year.

Dave Madsen
formerly with KTIVWhether RTN survives to that point is in question.

The network, which is carried on QNI-owned station KWWL-DT 7.3 out here (QNI also owns KTIV), is off the air right now. It has been replaced with a full-screen message:

"As of 5:00 AM on January 4, 2009, Equity Media Holdings Corp's contract to service the Retro Television Network has expired. EMHC attempted to coordinate a seamless transition, but despite repeated attempts to communicate with [new RTN owner] Luken Communications representatives, it received no response."

Then again, it could be just a matter of too many folks on the "top floor" taking a five-day holiday weekend and things could be back to normal by Monday. Who knows?

Interestingly, with NBC Weather Plus also kaput, KWWL is running full-screen stills on two subchannels today. The full-screen on Weather Plus indicates that "This TV" is coming soon to that channel. That could be another option for 4.3 if RTN falls through.

What's going on? No reception for KTTW-DT or KSFY-DT for a couple days.
Anyone seeing anything different?

KSFY-DT still not on the air. Seems like this happens every few months.

KTTW-DT has not been off the air that I have noticed. I'm watching the Vikes-Eagles game right now.

KSFY-DT still not on the air. Seems like this happens every few months.

KTTW-DT has not been off the air that I have noticed. I'm watching the Vikes-Eagles game right now.

KSFY-HD has been MIA for a while. I've not noticed KTTW-HD off the air at all. I have noticed on DirecTV, that the feed is broken and pixelates alot.

I see KDLT is broacasting the same programing on .1 and .2 now.

Has anyone been able to pull in Nebraska PBS in Sioux Falls with some sort of deep fringe OTA set up? It looks like the closest antenna is in Norfolk, about 100-120 miles away.

According to what we have looked up we could pull SD, IA, MN PBS with a long range antenna but I can't find either a closer broadcast antenna for NE or a deep fringe that states it can get a signal from that far away.

We want to be able to get the multi channels from each state and NE happens to carry some content the others don't.

Are you talking about the main channel, .1 or the sub channels .2 and .3. SD PBS as of today appears to have the same programming that NE PBS does on the .2 and .3 subchannels. I am in south central SD (Colome) and get KTSD as well as KMNE Basset, NE. KMNE puts a very good signal up my way, though of course out of your range.

Whether RTN survives to that point is in question.

The network, which is carried on QNI-owned station KWWL-DT 7.3 out here (QNI also owns KTIV), is off the air right now. It has been replaced with a full-screen message:

"As of 5:00 AM on January 4, 2009, Equity Media Holdings Corp's contract to service the Retro Television Network has expired. EMHC attempted to coordinate a seamless transition, but despite repeated attempts to communicate with [new RTN owner] Luken Communications representatives, it received no response."

Same message on KWSD 36.2 in Sioux Falls.

There's a new RTN national feed up until Luken gets everything sorted out. KWSD should move to it when they get the chance.

- Trip

I have Midco and recently recieved a HDTV for Christmas (720p). The problem is that KELO-DT (along with UTV & WX Now) go on and off the air. I called a relative (the one that gave me the TV) who has the same model when I had the trouble. When he tuned to 11.1 he was able to get it, I was not. We both have cable.

The guy from the cable co. told me that it was "bleed-thru" and it was not them putting out the HD KELO on 11.1

To get to the point, was he (the tech at the cable company) feeding me a line or does midco really offer over-the-air HD content that is mapped to their proper channel numbers ?