Little Rock, AR - HDTV [Text View] - Page 42

Davenlr

10-10-09, 12:36 AM

Speaking of crap on the screen...Ive found myself removing channels from my guide when they repeatedly show animated in your face adverts along the bottom. It is so totally annoying, Ill turn off the program in most cases.

At the current rate things are going, TV will be internet based, and local stations will go the way of dinosaurs, and in your face cable/sat channels will wither away and die.

I wish I could find statistics of movie channel subs 10 yrs ago, and compare it to todays netflix mail/online subs. Old shows are already available on Hulu. Its just a matter of time until we can sub to individual channels via internet. People are really tired of the ever increasing bill for 300 channel systems they might only watch 10 channels of. At some point those popular channels like ESPN will realize they could get $10 a month from an internet sub vs pennies per sub on a cable system.

Then those in your face, 30 commercials per hour TBS clones will fold.

haley-SEA

10-10-09, 09:15 AM

...
At the current rate things are going, TV will be internet based, and local stations will go the way of dinosaurs, and in your face cable/sat channels will wither away and die....

Honestly, I hope the 'net doesn't become "Television" in a way: the walled gardens (DMA's, territorial restrictions), etc. That's already happened though with some services, some websites block access if your IP address isn't "domestic".

Cable (and I'm including Sat) IMHO is a dinosaur. When true high-speed access becomes universal, the need for the damn tiering will go away and that customers will be able to buy only the channels they want and need.

Ala Carte is the future, but will the "cable" industry wake up and realize or just force feed its viewers the same "content" (God, I HATE that term) of reality shows, stale movies, sitcoms, over the same channels over, and over and more annoying popup promos.

ATSC is already outdated--its mpeg2 video encoding is going to result in a few years of revisiting the standard. I think this may be the last stand of local television as we know it. I don't think in 10-15 years that broadcasters will still be using the current ATSC standard, but something based on mpeg4 (or higher) or that OTA television will be phased out in stages. The CW and MyNetwork TV are on borrowed time, and NBC is on the ropes, perhaps a return of a new Big Three (through consolidation) is in the cards--Fox, ABC, CBS--as OTA winds down.

meathead76

10-10-09, 01:43 PM

How bout them hogs Dave:D Hope we beat Auburn.

Looking good so far

Petrino's offense > Malzan's offense so far
I hope the D keeps it up and we win going away :D

Davenlr

10-10-09, 04:35 PM

ATSC is already outdated--its mpeg2 video encoding is going to result in a few years of revisiting the standard. I think this may be the last stand of local television as we know it. I don't think in 10-15 years that broadcasters will still be using the current ATSC standard, but something based on mpeg4 (or higher) or that OTA television will be phased out in stages.

Actually, Mpeg4 (I believe H.264 w/AC3) was added to the ATSC spec about a year or so ago, but not early enough for the broadcasters or tv manufacturers to incorporate prior to the analog shutoff. Whether anyone will ever use it is going to be the question. It will now be the same problem Directv has, there are so many Mpeg2 systems out there, they cant make a total mpeg4 transition. Directv is in a better situation there, as at least, all thier HD offerings are mpeg4 only (with three exceptions which are still simulcast). As they add more channels, people will slowly convert over. I dont see OTA ever making use of Mpeg4. Viewers just wont tolerate having to buy yet another TV after just losing analog.

CorpITGuy

10-12-09, 01:49 PM

For those of you without DVRs or OTA rigs to pick up neighboring PBS affiliates, you didn't miss much on the Nova episode. I understand the PRINCIPAL of the thing - but man, LOL, it sucked. Boring, even for Nova.

We turned it off less than halfway in.... NOT due to politics.

Davenlr

10-12-09, 04:36 PM

It seemed to me more of a Masterpiece theatre episode, than Nova. I enjoyed it though. Well done.

arxaw

10-12-09, 05:35 PM

...I dont see OTA ever making use of Mpeg4...Isn't the new ATSC mobile standard mpeg4?

Trip in VA

10-12-09, 05:47 PM

Yes, but the maximum resolution is 480i or worse.

- Trip

haley-SEA

10-12-09, 08:42 PM

E"S all the way past channel 6 to 107.5FM from Mexico. Unusual off-season E's event underway....

(now back to our normal postings)

arxaw

10-12-09, 10:18 PM

Yes, but the maximum resolution is 480i or worse.True. But the point was (or is), it is mpeg4.

Davenlr

10-12-09, 11:45 PM

True. But the point was (or is), it is mpeg4.
Yes, Here is the scoop:
http://www.atsc.org/standards/candidate_standards.php

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 15, 2008 - The Advanced Television Systems Committee, Inc. has approved and published A/72 which details the methodology to utilize Advanced Video Coding (AVC) within an ATSC DTV transmission. AVC which was developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group together with the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group is also known as H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 10. The A/72 Standard defines constraints with respect to AVC, compression format restraints, low delay and still picture modes, and bit stream specifications. In addition it specifies how CEA-708 closed captions are to be carried in an AVC bitstream. The new standard is in two parts, Part 1 is titled “Video System and Characteristics of AVC in the ATSC Digital Television System," and "Part 2 “AVC Video Transport Subsystem Characteristics."

"AVC compression provides increased efficiency and flexibility", said ATSC President Mark Richer. "The new standard will be especially important for those countries which have not yet implemented digital television. AVC will also be used with standards in development such as ATSC-M/H for mobile and handheld applications and ATSC-NRT for non-real-time delivery of programming."
Source: http://www.atsc.org/communications/press/2008-09-15-A72-publication.php

haley-SEA

10-13-09, 10:31 AM

I was aware of a "mobile standard" being added to ATSC, but honestly unaware it was mpeg4.

Kinda like when all the cows are out of the barn before the gates are closed. Besides, with so many stations in love with VHF, I don't see many implementations of the mobile standard (outside of some cell-phones/ carriers and a new generation of portable TV's).

Davenlr

10-13-09, 09:10 PM

I just recorded Hubbles Amazing Rescue on NOVA, but have a question. PBS-HD uses a SR of 30000, divided into two 1920x1080i streams. My max encoding rate at that resolution is 13MB/s, or roughly 5.5GB/hour. I cant fit that onto a Data DVD, so I was curious, I have the option to turn on Variable Bit rate, and can adjust the capture max bitrate lower. Given a SR of 30000, assuming 15000 per program stream, how high a bitrate would I need to capture all the original, without adding unnessessary bits? The default recording bitrate I believe is 10MB/s. Anyone know how to convert Symbol Rate to bitrate?

I just noticed AETN was showing last weeks Darwin episode (in some weird aspect ratio to boot), instead of this weeks NEW Nova episode. Who runs that station? They need to implement drug testing, cuz it seems someone there is using.

steveken

10-14-09, 07:10 PM

Ok, just started watching 11-2 for news....I don't hear that annoying buzz, but now I DO hear that air conditioner return that Alison told me was the cause, so I know thats BS as far as the buzz is concerned.

arxaw

10-14-09, 07:47 PM

...I just noticed AETN was showing last weeks Darwin episode (in some weird aspect ratio to boot).... Who runs that station?
Lights are on - nobody home....

haley-SEA

10-15-09, 07:08 AM

I just noticed AETN was showing last weeks Darwin episode (in some weird aspect ratio to boot), instead of this weeks NEW Nova episode. Who runs that station? They need to implement drug testing, cuz it seems someone there is using.

I didn't even bother tuning in AETN on Tuesday, I attempted to pick up WMAO Greenwood MS for the "fresh" episode of Nova but of course the conditions made that fringe signal too weak to decode here. Watched a quarter and half of Arkansas State @ ULM on ESPN2 before that became a joke.

The next nearest non-AETN public broadcaster is KLTM Monroe LA, channel 13 (actual, not remapped) and its underpowered, and the transmitter is south of Monroe so its not an option for me.

Davenlr

10-15-09, 08:17 AM

Thought you had the capability of watching PBS on KU band. Dont you have a BUD receiver?

haley-SEA

10-16-09, 03:09 PM

Thought you had the capability of watching PBS on KU band. Dont you have a BUD receiver?

Not at the present...Most of my house, yard is surrounded by trees except for an large opening in the north side (great for LR OTA, useless for sat). I had get my E* dish installed very close to the road right-of-way because of the large trees.

Sorry for the late reply...its been nuts @ work last few days.

fly_daddy

10-17-09, 12:14 PM

Texas vs Oklahoma is on KARZ in HD with Dolby D.

fly

Edit: On second take the Dolby sounds all messed up. Missing center channel maybe?

Davenlr

10-17-09, 12:57 PM

PBS-HD on C Band
AMC1 4100-V-14028- 3/4

Now you big dish folks can watch Nova during a rainstorm.
(Source: Ricks Satellite forum)

Davenlr

10-17-09, 03:21 PM

Texas vs Oklahoma is on KARZ in HD with Dolby D.

fly

Edit: On second take the Dolby sounds all messed up. Missing center channel maybe?

I was going to comment on the terrible picture quality, and pixellation, thinking KARZ was doing some downrezzing or something, but I checked the ABC satellite feed, and it looks like crap too. Must be using some backup production trucks or something. The uplink has plenty of bandwidth for a full 720p signal. Dont know whats up with that.

meathead76

10-18-09, 09:48 AM

Sickening!!!!
that's all that can be said about the foul smell that came over my TV from Gainseville, Floriduh

Davenlr

10-18-09, 10:24 AM

Sickening!!!!
that's all that can be said about the foul smell that came over my TV from Gainseville, Floriduh

What part, the ref's who threw 15 yard penalty flags when no penalties occured, or the kicker that couldnt hit the broad side of a barn from 10 yards?

meathead76

10-18-09, 01:15 PM

What part, the ref's who threw 15 yard penalty flags when no penalties occured, or the kicker that couldnt hit the broad side of a barn from 10 yards?

both!!!
Tejada couldn't hit sand if he fell off a camel
plus Mallet's poor passes to wide open receivers
oh well I think we've just the last loss in 2009

steveken

10-19-09, 07:59 PM

Well, just turned on the TV and flipped past 11-2. Sad to say that the audio on the news I caught was jacked up another 15dB at least.....AGAIN. I thought they had fixed it, but I guess they haven't. Its sad when a "leader" in areas around here has their crap so screwed up like they do on the mic's and the general volume of newscasts. Guess they just don't give a flying rats ...

steveken

10-20-09, 09:35 AM

Just found this from a few days ago on TUAW.com

http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/17/the-future-of-tv-on-your-iphone-is-atsc-mobile-dtv/

Davenlr

10-21-09, 12:55 AM

NOVA - Lizard Kings (should be on AETN sometime before it snows) was awesome tonight. Excellent HD photography. Dont miss it, when/if they ever show it. I finessed the bitrate to get the H.264/AAC audio transport stream under 4.7GB, so the episodes would fit on a DVD, if anyone wants to come burn a copy on weekends, just hollar. The previous years episodes are all about 5.2GB, so would need a dual-layer DVD. I also have all the Nature episodes archived in HD.

steveken

10-21-09, 03:07 PM

Well, just set up my movers connection with DirecTV for Tuesday morning. Scored a free SD DVR from them for my son's room and a swap out of this H20 for hopefully something that is MRV compatible.

I asked them if there was any way to guarantee that I get a SWM and she said no, but she put a note on the order saying that I will need one. I told her that there wasn't any chance of putting in 3 more lines into the house. :) She understood, but could only put a note on there so the tech will have a SWM when he comes over.

Got 5 free months of Premier and the rest of the NFL package too. Just have to remember to get that taken off the account before we get charged for it. If they would just include DVR and HD fees in the $109 they charge for Premier, we would have that instead of the Plus HD DVR package. I was told by another rep today that there is a chance that new packages will be coming out next year and maybe they will bundle the DVR and HD fees into it later on. I hope thats going to happen.

Davenlr

10-21-09, 05:25 PM

steveken

10-21-09, 05:36 PM

I have free lifetime DVR service, so the HD fee is all I pay extra. Called to cancel HD Extras and Sports Pak for the winter, since nothing is on them in the winter time, and the CSR told me I could keep BOTH of em, and get Starz, Encore, and a couple other channels for $5 more a month :) Oh well, I was actually going to swap Sports Pak for Starz anyway, so that worked out. Amazing the deals you can get if you snag the right CSR. Im already getting free Showtime and TMC from a complaint I made last month about them cutting out the MLB Extra Innings preview channel to make space for Sunday Ticket, and they gave me 6 months of free Game Lounge for my anniversary. Almost Premier package, for $80.
There's all kinds of other stuff on the HD Extra's. Isn't Smithsonian and HD Theater and stuff like that on it? Oh yeah, MGM HD too. I don't know how you managed to got the free DVR. Must be nice. Never heard anything about that. I guess the free movie channels you got for $5 was a special deal for bitching. :)

Yeah, they already took off my sports pack. When they bumped me up to the "free" premier, they made my HD go away for some reason. I had to call back up to get the HD put back on. Now what I owe is $10 more than it should be. I don't know what to do about it. I guess just leave it alone. Probably isn't hurting anything. Might be only for this one month.

I wouldn't want the Game Lounge. I haven't seen anything on there that I would want to play. :)

Davenlr

10-21-09, 05:42 PM

Well, after baseball season is over, there is basically nothing on sports pak that isnt blacked out. So many people cancel it in the winter, they decided to offer a special "Sports Pak + Starz" package for $17.99, or $5 more than just the sports pak. Then he reminded me I would lose "ESPN Classic" since it was now in the sports pak. I reminded him I dont watch "SD" channels anyway :)

steveken

10-23-09, 10:48 AM

dmatch

10-25-09, 01:29 PM

snip .... Anyone know how to convert Symbol Rate to bitrate? ....snip

Been a while since this question but thought I would chime in just in case you still would like to know.

QPSK symbol rates are 2 bits per symbol while VSB and 8PSK are 3 bits per symbol.

dmatch

Davenlr

10-25-09, 01:36 PM

So, would this be accurate assuming they are not using statmuxing:

Example 1: PBSHD
Symbol Rate = 30000 for two channel = 15000 per channel / 2 (QPSK) = 7000 bits/sec? I would then need 7Kb/s record rate to capture all possible bits without any degredation?

Example 2: ESPN Feeds
Symbol Rate - 27270 for one channel = 27270 per channel /2 (QPSK) = 13635 bit/sec. I would then need 13.5 (my max) record rate to capture all possible bits?

dmatch

10-25-09, 10:50 PM

The factor of 2 for QPSK is multiplied X the symbol rate to get the bit rate. 15000 X 2 gives a bit rate of 30000.

BTW, KTWN-DT is back on the air with 3 channels of test patterns and 1 with actual programming.

dmatch

Davenlr

10-26-09, 12:11 AM

Ok, thanks. Then there is no way I can come close to recording the max bitrate of the transponder, since 13MB/s is my max. I get so confused between MB/S, Mb/S, Kb, KB... :)

arxaw

10-27-09, 08:33 AM

KSPR-DT 19 ("33-1"), Springfield's 1,000kW ABC affiliate, begins local news in HD from their new studio on Sunday, 11/1 at 10PM.

haley-SEA

10-27-09, 09:16 AM

KSPR-DT 19 ("33-1"), Springfield's 1,000kW ABC affiliate, begins local news broadcasts from their new studio on Sunday, 11/1 at 10PM.

Hopefully, there'll be good tropo from the NW that night :D

haley-SEA

10-27-09, 09:19 PM

Tonight's two week delayed Nova telecast about the mission to repair the Hubble Telescope was botched by AETN's morans.

Its a 4x3 SDTV recording of the show, which is cropped to display as "16x9".

Sorry AETN, I'm beyond frosted about this. Shouldn't the viewers that pay to support shows like Nova get all the value out of this? Kinda like paying for a ribeye and getting hamburger.

ps...the AETN VHF channel from El Dorado (KETZ) won't even decode here tonight, its pixelating badly. I tried them first, then went to KETS.

Davenlr

10-27-09, 10:02 PM

AETN is showing the current weeks Nova episodes in HD at midnight now, on the weekends... Go figure.

haley-SEA

10-27-09, 11:07 PM

AETN is showing the current weeks Nova episodes in HD at midnight now, on the weekends... Go figure.

*sigh*

I doubt though that in this economic climate that any pol would support breaking up AETN and allowing UALR, ASU, and UA-Fayetteville to take over Public broadcasting...but since this won't happen anyway and I'm thinking out loud, here is a scenario...

Let KAFT go to UAF or merge with Ozarks Public Television in Springfield MO.
Let KEMV and KTEJ go to ASU
Let KETS to UALR

The wildcards are KETG and KETZ. Perhaps they could be part of the KETS-UALR network or go as a seperate "South Arkansas Public Television" and be based out of El Dorado, or Magnolia. The later SAPT could be problemsome since there would be fundraising issues.

Davenlr

10-27-09, 11:13 PM

haley-SEA

10-27-09, 11:24 PM

Just because its "Public" television, does that mean a state entity MUST be the one to run it? Could a few rich philanthropists get hold of it? Id hate to see the University system run it. Look how long it took them to run Frank Broyles out, and he is still around everywhere UAF is. Its the good old boy they put in charge of it recently thats running it into the ground. I just hope PBS doesnt make their national feed go away. At least everyone in Pulaski Co with Comcast can watch PBS directly. Now if DirecTv would get off their ass and do the same...

KAFT or KETS *could* go under the WKNO model....the Memphis public TV station is operated as a non-profit foundation independent from the State Of Tennessee or a state university (although U of M has provided space for them previously). But many smaller states operate under the AETN/MPB/OETA/LPB model (some with a companion Public Radio Network) while others operate regional or statewide networks under the auspacies of the University systems (such as Ozarks Public TV, UNC-TV in North Carolina).

The good ol' boy system in AR is too widespread to allow independently operated public TV I'm afraid.

arxaw

10-28-09, 09:18 AM

...Let KAFT [snip] merge with Ozarks Public Television in Springfield MO.Hmm, good idea. A nice OPT translator for the parts of NWA that can't receive it.

They'd change the calls to KOZA (inline with KOZK/KOZJ), move it to UHF and fix the damned aspect ratio mess that aetn has managed to FUBAR for so many months.

Let 'em take over KEMV while they're at it and move it to a real UHF channel.

:)

Davenlr

10-28-09, 08:37 PM

haley-SEA

10-29-09, 12:10 AM

Sounds like you have it best up there in Eureka Springs Sam. At least you have a choice.
KETS (cant schedule, cant get aspect ratio right, totally piss poor operation) and VHF to boot
KARK Good technically, good news but has a totally religious slant. Ok if you like feel good stories.
KATV Good technically, news is geared toward oldsters, just cant get into it. Excellent sports coverage tho.
KTHV Good video, audio has low level hum, cant watch the news when my woofer is vibrating.
KLRT Good technically, news is first rate, but conflicts with prime time programming I want to watch
KASN Never watch it
KARZ Good technically, but what is its purpose? I expected them to carry NBCs sports channel, but so far, it just seems like KWBF with a few changes. Maybe it IS KWBF/ Hmmmm.

(okay my takes....just be warned ;) )

KARK: I pretty much agree for the most part, but they can get more out of less than most stations.

KTHV: there is a strong Bob Jones U connection with GM Larry Audas and reporter Ashley Blackstone being grads that uber-conservative college. Morning show has taken a dive post BJ Sams/Robyn Richardson. THV2 needs updated weather clips especially on weekends. News and weather are a perishable product and it doesn't need to be "turning green in the counter".

I seldom watch KARZ and even less of KASN. KARZ's saving grace is the 7pm newscast. Why not a 7am newscast? The CW's programming has been a huge joke. IMHO the WB and UPN were better as seperate networks. MY Network was a joke from day one---not sure of what original programming that outfit has on anymore.

As for KLRT, they really do need a morning local newscast (7-9am). That is a huge gap, and would be excellent counterprogramming. Most larger FOX affiliates and all the O&O stations have local news in the morning.

KATV has made huge technical strides this year (thanks Allenf) but are still a work in progress in the programming dept. I don't watch Oprah, but getting that show + WOF/Jeopardy shown locally in HD would be a huge step. Newscasts still dominated by crime blotter, unless during sweeps and its then silly stuff.

KVTN and KKAP are a waste of good RF and spectrum IMHO

KETS/AETN is hopeless. WWRHD. Time to clean house, but present Governor isn't going to make waves...too many appointments on AETC still from Huckabee era

JT2009

10-29-09, 01:12 AM

Example

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd141/johnt_bobcat/AntennaTrick.jpg

Setup

Step 1 Get a VHF Dipole Antenna. From Radio Shack! $10 or online!
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2159925w345.jpg
Step 2 Get a pole, or antenna mount, or anything else you can think of to use to mount it.
Step 3 Duck tape antenna to pole with antenna dipoles horizontal pulled out about 14 inches.
Step 4 Run a coaxial cable inside house to Digital TV or converter box.
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

Antenna Trick Facts / Tips

- Will pickup VHF up to 55 miles, no joke!!!!
- Will pickup UHF!
- Only works if you live inside a local TV stations coverage area under non Tropospheric Ducting Weather.
- No Amp Needed
- Depending on your location you may need to fully extend dipoles.
- Will pickup VHF & UHF outside normal coverage area during strong Tropospheric Ducting Weather.
- VHF will not work during lightning.
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

Tips For Viewers Best Reception

- Have a good VHF/UHF Outdoor Antenna
- Use RG 6 Quad Shield Coaxial Cable. Cable lenght as short as possible!!!!
- Use a HDTV, Digital TV or Dish DTV Pal Plus or Zenith Converter Box if you can live with lower quality TV! But not bad since analog signals are gone for full power TV.
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

Fringe Viewer Info

- Point Antenna in exact location facing transmitter. (Use Compass and TV Fool If No rotor)
- Fringe Viewers are pretty much screwed!!!
- Pray for Tropospheric Ducting Weather!!!
- If your reception is little to none try an AMP get one with high VHF/UHF gain, and a low noise figure.
- Install FM Trap in between Antenna and AMP. If AMP doesn't have FM Trap on it.
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

Recommended Tips / suggestions for TV broadcasters Not already doing so!!!

- Think about Over The Air Viewers!
- Do whats best for All Viewers!
- Avoid VHF!!!
- Pick a UHF channel in the range from 14-51. That is not used by a nearby station!
- 1000 kW power
- 2000 FT transmitter tower

These recommendations will increase their coverage areas to the fullest as possible!
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

Things That Screw Up VHF

- Lightning!
- Sometimes the city backhoe going up the street! (Depending on your location.)
- Certain Vehicles going Up the Street, Hwy, or road! (Depending on your location.)
- Running a vacuum, drill, or mixer!
- Turning on and off a light switch!
- Pulling the chain on a ceiling fan!
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

Digital vs. Analog

- Digital has better picture and sound than Analog.
- Digital UHF signal is stronger than Analog UHF signal.
- Analog VHF signal was better than Digital VHF signal.

____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

AMP Facts

- Amps amplify not just the signal but other unwanted garbage.
- If your plan to use an AMP get one with high VHF/UHF gain, and a low noise figure.
- Install FM Trap in between Antenna and AMP. If AMP doesn't have FM Trap on it.
- Old Radio Shack Amps only works for Analog which is Low Power Analog now!
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

Useful Websites

FCC TV Database
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state=AR&call=&arn=&city=Little+Rock&chan=&cha2=69&serv=&type=0&facid=&list=1&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&size=9

FCC Engineering Maps
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

TV Fool
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

REC Broadcast Query (Just Type In Callsign)
http://cdbs.recnet.com/fmq.php?facid=&call=KYTV&ccode=1&latd=&lond=&city=&state=&country=US&zip=&party=&party_type=LICEN&jaws=0

Rabbit Ears
http://rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=71

Tropospheric Weather Conditions
http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

UTC Time Converter
http://hurricanes.noaa.gov/zulu-utc.html

Meters to Feet
http://www.unitconversion.org/length/meters-to-foots-us-survey-conversion.html
KM to Miles
http://www.unitconversion.org/length/kilometers-to-miles-us-survey-conversion.html
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______

ad5kl

10-29-09, 11:54 AM

Duct tape really helps reception during tropospheric ducting conditions.

Davenlr

10-29-09, 06:16 PM

Duct tape really helps reception during tropospheric ducting conditions.

You had me laughing so hard, I almost choked!

modnar

10-29-09, 09:35 PM

We had no reception on KARK's HD and analog channels on Conway Corporation tonight.

arxaw

11-03-09, 06:17 PM

HD Local News & weather lookin' good up here in the hills, on KSPR.
http://i35.tinypic.com/2zq9bmd.jpg

Davenlr

11-03-09, 06:21 PM

Wow, arent we special. HD newscasts AND a PBS station that can show NOVA at 7pm. We cant even get the hum out of the audio down here in the sticks.

steveken

11-03-09, 08:40 PM

I wonder what the odds are of my getting an R22 when the DirecTV guy installs the new stuff. I am finding they might not be doing that anymore as the R22 was discontinued. I just am hoping for the R22 cause it can do the HD stuff. But anyway, if I get an R15 or 16, I guess it will be fine. My son doesn't HAVE to have HD. As long as it supports a SWM and will do MRV, I will be fine. :)

Well, just as an update to my DirecTV movers connection install. I am "borrowing" someones wifi to do this. My Comcrap Internet should be installed Thursday morning.

I got the SWM LNB with the new dish. The guy was nice as could be. Put in an 8-port splitter "just in case I wanted to add more IRD's in the future". :)

The DVR for my son's room is an R16-300 I believe. SD, NO ethernet port so NO MRV for me STILL, still has an RF port if you wanna hook it up to an old tv with just the coax connection.

My H20-100 swapout for an H21 or better didn't make it on the work order. Kinda expected that, so I didn't bitch too much about it. I kinda gave up on getting something done about that a long long time ago. Maybe I will just go out and buy the damn receivers myself in the future to get MRV like I want.

Oh, and the installer had NO idea what MRV is. I joked with him about playing dumb, but he really had no idea about it. All in all it took him about 3 1/2 hours to get it all done.....IN THE RAIN! He even got me pretty decent meter readings. Most of the numbers are in the low 90's. The SWM meter page (not really sure what good its for really) are all in the upper 90's. They are like 97 to 99 for the most part. So, I think I am good in most rain showers. If it gets bad enough so it goes out, I don't think I need to be watchin TV. :)

So, anyway, I am up and going with TV. It was installed last Tuesday I think even before we were officially closed on the house. In fact, if I remember right, we went and closed on it a couple hours after the install was done. For only being in here a week, we have done quite a bit of unpacking. Just have a few things here and there left to be done. Just need to get Internet going and finish setting up my equipment the way I want it and I'll be good.

Anyway, gonna get off this persons wifi now. Thought I would pop on here long enough to give an update.

arxaw

11-03-09, 09:19 PM

Wow, arent we special. HD newscasts AND a PBS station that can show NOVA at 7pm. We cant even get the hum out of the audio down here in the sticks.It's nice to have 24 OTA channels in the middle of BFE. :)

Davenlr

11-03-09, 10:01 PM

Yea, I used to live 30 miles southwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I can relate (Milwaukee, 4,6,10,12,18,24,36,42, Chicago 2,5,7,9,44, and a few more, Rockford 13, Madison 3,21,27, South Bend 22, Quad Cities 8. And that was in 1972 before there was FOX :)

steveken

11-03-09, 11:04 PM

It's nice to have 24 OTA channels in the middle of BFE. :)
And STILL nothing on. LOL

Davenlr

11-03-09, 11:24 PM

Davenlr

11-04-09, 09:34 PM

Just saw an advert for DirecTv touting 99.9% signal reliability, in response to cables claim of rain outages. Well, I ran 99.9% through the calculator, and that is 44 minutes per month of outage. Hopefully not during Prime Time :)

RockyF

11-05-09, 07:58 AM

I liked it better in the old days, before cable. There were the big 3 networks of course, with a lot more money to use to create real good programming, then there was PBS. But almost every large market (and I could pick up 3 of em) had several independent stations (WGN was a biggie) which usually transmitted on UHF (almost unheard of back then), and played LOTS of movies and off beat fare. I remember watching WSNS channel 44 from Chicago on Friday nights, they had a bogie man host, and showed horror flicks. The antennas back in the day had some serious metal, and it was a status symbol to have the biggest and baddest channel master or Winegard on the roof.

Well, I grew up in the sticks of southern Arkansas, and didn't have nearly that many channels (more like 3 :) ) but I actually agree with you. We've got more channels than we could possibly watch, and not really a lot worth watching on many of them. This is coming from someone who works in cable, too, well at least I will for the next month. I am seriously considering going back to OTA after that.

arxaw

11-05-09, 10:36 AM

And STILL nothing on. LOLNever said there was. :)

steveken

11-05-09, 03:51 PM

Well, I am back online now. Only problem is that the installer didn't put in a splitter that will allow me to power the other outlets in the house (if I ever decided to do so), so I only have the one outlet going now. Guess I will try to figure out a good splitter that will let the modem sync up and get the cable going into a TV that does ClearQAM. I did plug it into my TV real quick after install and apparently the national PBS HD that was there before is gone either that or the TV didn't grab it.

haley-SEA

11-07-09, 02:10 AM

KSPR decoding downstate AR with 12:35am replay of 10pm news...and it is in HD and looking good.

steveken

11-09-09, 09:39 PM

Ok, gotta a little problem I am hoping you guys know the answer to. In this new house I have Coleman 92003 cable run throughout. This is a link to the site... http://www.colemancable.com/CatalogProducts.asp?nProductsID=478. It's most of the way down and is in the RG6 Dual-Shield CATV Coax Cables area.

I am wanting to find some F connector compression ends for it, but monoprice.com only has "standard", Tri-shield, and Quad-shielded versions. I tried asking their technical support people if the standard is the same thing as dual shield and the guy said no. When I look at the end of a cut piece of coax, I see the same kinda cable I have always seen with the aluminum braid, the white dielectric, and the copper core.

Now, is that what would be considered "standard"? Or what kinda compression connector do I need to use on this kinda cable? The stupid electricians who put the cable through the house and put the ends on as well used those piece of crap twist on ones that you get from Radio Shack. I don't think they are doing a very good job and I want to replace them.

Hell, even the DirecTV and Comcast guys insisted on cutting those connectors off and putting their compression fittings on it. I figure, if those guys are willing to go through the extra work of taking off one guys crap to put on theirs, there must be something wrong with the twist on ones.

So, anyway, if you can give me some insight on this I would greatly appreciate it. Heh, and maybe if you have a compression tool and some fittings I can bum off of you, that would be even better. ;)

Davenlr

11-09-09, 10:15 PM

Go to the dbstalk.com DirecTv installation forum, and ask them what the DirecTv standard compression connector is, and where the installers get them, brand name, whatever. If DirecTv's spec connector fit on your cable, then thats the same one you want to order. Ive seen it mentioned several times, but dont remember, so maybe just a search would turn up the brand/part number.

I also seem to recall someone saying the quad connectors will fit any RG6 type coax, but not all other compression connectors will fit Quad Sheild.

Ive never used them, although I should, Ive always used the crimp on type, with the o-ring seal inside, and never had any problems, but compression is the way to go for sure, for a permanent installation.

steveken

11-09-09, 10:18 PM

steveken

11-09-09, 10:22 PM

Looks like this is the DirecTV approved ones http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Perfect/PPC-EX.htm

Davenlr

11-09-09, 10:23 PM

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2252513#post2252513

Davenlr

11-09-09, 10:27 PM

Ok, so you are in agreement with me about the twist on's being crap? :)

Yea, they are crap but I actually use them for temporary runs. My H21-200 actually has one on it right now cuz Im to lazy to pull everything away from the wall to get back there to install a good one. As long as its inside, and TIGHT, it will work fine. Problem is, they get loose as the receiver, cable, whatever is moved and gradually start having problems.

steveken

11-09-09, 10:33 PM

Does that mean you have a compression tool too? :) (I bet you see where I am going with this. hehehe)

Davenlr

11-09-09, 10:34 PM

No, I have a CRIMPING tool, Ive never used compression connectors. Ive always balked at buying the tool, since I never do that much coax work.

steveken

11-09-09, 10:35 PM

Oh, well, if its any consolation, I have found a bunch of the compression tools for around $19. Couple of them are on monoprice.com. Guess they work well.

Davenlr

11-09-09, 10:40 PM

Next summer I might just buy one, and a roll of coax, and rewire all my satellite dishes. I tree limb fell in the last wind front, and bent the last 4 VHF-LO elements on my Quantum down at a 45 degree angle. Pissed me off, since I had siliconed EVERY rivet and contact point on it, trying to make it last a long time, since they arent made anymore. Now, Im going to have to take it down, and try to fabricate 4 replacement elements for it, and since I dont have a rivet gun, Ill have to figure out how to use stainless steel bolts through the boom (which is actually part of the feed system). I dont even know where to find gold alodized aluminum tubing in the same weight as the bent ones.

arxaw

11-09-09, 10:44 PM

Harbor Freight has compression tools cheap. And they work well. They're certainly not on par with something cable sat guys use every day, but for occasional use, they are worth the small price.

Davenlr

11-09-09, 10:51 PM

Cool, Ill check that out. Home Depot wanted like $50 or $60 for a kit, and I wasnt gonna pay that.

steveken

11-10-09, 10:31 AM

Harbor Freight has compression tools cheap. And they work well. They're certainly not on par with something cable sat guys use every day, but for occasional use, they are worth the small price.
I looked at Harbor Freights website. It was like $2 cheaper than Monoprice.com was for pretty much the same thing. Given I know and trust Monoprice, I would recommend buying from them first.

steveken

11-10-09, 10:52 AM

The whole reason I started this F connector bit was because, since I am paying for it, I thought it might be nice to have connections on coax that won't hurt me if I want to split the signal once for Internet and at least once more for TV. Well, I have an older splitter that is supposedly 3.5dB on each of the two ports. It seemed to work fairly well in my wiring closet until this morning when I looked at my router next to me and see that it wasn't connected fully to the Internet. I guess my splitter might be old or something and I should get a new one. Do they degrade over time or something? I don't know if the ones Comcast will give you are decent enough for the job or not, but at least its free and I should try it. I don't know if anyone else here does any splitting like I am wanting to do or not, but I thought it might be worth a shot posting.

Davenlr

11-10-09, 12:59 PM

All 2 way splitters are 3.5, since thats the loss from halving the signal (3db) plus insertion loss (.5db). What you need to look at is the frequency range. You want 2 or 3 GHz splitters. The internet data is high up in the spectrum. Digital TV in the middle, analog channels at the lower frequencies. I Directv spec SWiM splitter would be OK for cable internet. Im using a Rat Shack gold 2 way high freq splitter with no loss as well.

steveken

11-10-09, 06:05 PM

Well, I don't know the exact frequency that the cable modems work on, but I do know that the splitter I was using is 5-1000MHz, so that might be part of the problem. It's funny how it worked fine for a little while, then lost sync. I wonder why it would do that. Seems odd.

I found a 4-way splitter on Monoprice (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10422&cs_id=1042206&p_id=2871&seq=1&format=2) that is 5-2400MHz and people report having success with a cable modem as well as digital cable boxes, so that may work for me. It's only like $3.54, so it might be worth the cost of shipping.

Davenlr

11-10-09, 08:39 PM

steveken

11-10-09, 10:29 PM

You would be better served using a two way splitter to cable modem on one leg, and a three way splitter on the other leg, as you dont want to lose that extra signal on the cable modem, but Im sure it would work. just might be a tad slower. Havent tested that configuration.
Ok, this then. :) http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10422&cs_id=1042206&p_id=2872&seq=1&format=2

Davenlr

11-11-09, 12:10 AM

Here is comcasts cable internet setup, may vary by location:

RF Parameters
Downstream
Freq/Power: 729.000 MHz 1 dBmV
Signal to Noise Ratio: 37 dB
Modulation: QAM256

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upstream
Freq/Power: 37.008 MHz 36 dBmV
Channel Type: DOCSIS 1.x (TDMA)

Symbol Rate: 2560 kSym/sec

Modulation: QAM16

-

So, It appears Comcast uses the channel(s) directly above the analog channels for its cable internet, and channels below channel 2, and puts its digital channels above that, so the 5-2GHz splitter should do you OK.

Also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_cable_television_frequencies

arxaw

11-11-09, 08:10 AM

I looked at Harbor Freights website. It was like $2 cheaper than Monoprice.com was for pretty much the same thing. Given I know and trust Monoprice, I would recommend buying from them first.
Yeah, but you can walk into Harbor Freight and buy locally.

steveken

11-11-09, 08:12 AM

Davenlr

11-11-09, 08:21 AM

Well, by that logic, given what you found, I could use the 5-1GHz splitter I am currently using and be fine as well. So, if thats the case, I don't know what the deal is. Do they go bad after a while? This one I have is several years old.

Never heard of it, but capacitors dry out over time and change value, so I guess its possible. The reason to use 2 GHz is just headroom, and the higher quality components to acheive it.

steveken

11-11-09, 08:23 AM

Yeah, but you can walk into Harbor Freight and buy locally.
Yeah, but I know Monoprice's quality on all their products and I know I can trust them. Plus, it's only a couple bucks more and I am almost guaranteed to find something else I need or want from them and can trust their customer service on top of the quality of the items.

Harbor Freight might be local, but they still carry a lot of low priced, low quality junk and the stores have a general flea market feel to them. There really has never seemed to be any real confidence placed behind what they sell when I go in there. It's just a bunch of crap they ordered and put out for sale and the people I have spoken to in there haven't known their ass from a hole in the ground generally. I don't know if you know what a Savers is (basically a garage sale store where the buyers go around to garage sales and salvation army stores and the sort, buy the crap from there, and put it all for sale in their stores), but that's what it kinda feels like when purchasing from there. I could be wrong, but that's just the feeling I have gotten the few times I have gone in there.

I know the feel of a store is a bit nit picky, but the atmosphere of the buying environment goes a long way to earning my business. That's kind of the reason I haven't been in a K-Mart in like 15 or more years. Last time I was in one, it was the one on Rodney Parham, and it just felt really weird in a way I can't explain. I just feel more comfortable in a Wal-Mart, so that's where I would rather go. :) If it is a part I need fairly quickly and doesn't cost a whole bunch, I will go in to Harbor Freight. But if it's something I can hold off on for a few days, I will go that route no matter where it's from. I am sure you are the same way about some stuff. ;)

Davenlr

11-11-09, 07:13 PM

Curtis Vance is guilty, and KATV did an awesome tribute to Anne Pressly on their 6pm newscast. Very Very well done.
They covered a couple minutes of the trial outcome, and a good 5X that on Anne.

arxaw

11-12-09, 08:23 AM

Piazza Boots Reporter From Courtroom for Texting
http://www.katv.com/news/stories/1109/677189.html

Stoopid reporter.

steveken

11-12-09, 09:09 AM

You know, this is something that occurred to me the other day. I was trying to go up University, but it was blocked off between 12th street and right around the Sears area on the northbound side. Couldn't tell what was going on, but it made traffic a nightmare around there with the cops not letting people through.

Now, here's where my thoughts come into play. Instead of every newscast reporting on someone getting stabbed or shot, some place getting robbed, someone running over someone, or stuff like that that really has NO impact on my life, why couldn't they send out a truck to do a quick piece on what was going on that was so bad to divert traffic and back up the interstate like they did? That surely is more "relevant to me and my family" (as KARK likes to say in their news) than having to hear about which s.o.b. shot this one and all that.

I mean, if I knew the people I might give a crap if some crime had occurred against them, but only maybe. If things are going around the town and affect me and a bunch of other people like a traffic incident, that surely would be more "relevant" than any of this crime crap that I could give a rats ass less about. I am just saying that it would be nice if the news stations would stop with the whole "if it bleeds it leads" mentality and get on with reporting news that actually matters to people. That's what Court TV, Law & Order shows, and all those Judge Whoever shows are good for, right? Let the blood lusting people go to those sources for their "news".

Anyway, that's my $0.02 worth. It is worth even less than that in the current economy, but what are you gonna do. :)

ad5kl

11-12-09, 01:52 PM

Curtis Vance is guilty, and KATV did an awesome tribute to Anne Pressly on their 6pm newscast. Very Very well done.
They covered a couple minutes of the trial outcome, and a good 5X that on Anne.

Glad to see justice has been served. Hopefully he gets the death penalty, he is living trash who doesn't deserve the air he breathes.

It won't bring her back but it may bring some kind of closure for her family.

Davenlr

11-12-09, 09:33 PM

steveken

11-12-09, 09:49 PM

Steve, it was probably just the long line of people from the Health Dept trying to get swine flu shots, and blocking Univeristy :) I totally avoid any contact with the roadways around UALR unless I have a job AT UALR.

Now to get back on topic: Im getting KTAL from Texarkana on 15 (6-1), but not getting even a blip on ch 13. Is AETN Gurdon off the air?
Nope, nothing at all like that. There was absolutely nothing on University until the north side of the 630 bridge. Apparently, from the brief glimpses I could get, something happened with some dirt or something like that. Probably part of the new wall fell down off the golf course. And all of this was well north of UALR.

On the main topic: I have ClearQAM Comcast hooked up to my TV, but the only HD channel I have been able to get is 3-1 which is AETN/KETS, but the channel is labeled as PBS-HD even though there is a huge AETN bug in the bottom left. I am guessing that those stupid ass traps they put in the line are blocking out the ClearQAM frequencies that I am supposed to be getting by law in the clear.

Davenlr

11-12-09, 09:59 PM

I get PBS-HD off my internet cable, but its up on one of the higher channels, forget now, since I dont watch it, just plugged it into my Aquos to make sure the QAM tuner worked.

steveken

11-12-09, 10:15 PM

Yeah, so did I back at the old house. I am fairly certain its because of those stupid filters since I am only paying for the limited basic. It's not like I even wanna watch their crap. I pay enough for DirecTV, this is just for backup. PBS-HD was 103-8 if I remember correctly. I will give it a few more weeks to ensure that whatever supervisor that's supposed to come look at it does. I figure after that, I can pull the filters and be done with them.

byrdnest

11-12-09, 10:17 PM

OK, he's been sentenced, get back to the show already.

arxaw

11-13-09, 07:46 AM

It's good that nobody from comscat reads this forum (yeah, right).

RockyF

11-13-09, 08:43 AM

It's good that nobody from comscat reads this forum (yeah, right).

I know at least one person from Comcast reads and participates on this forum . . . Me! However, I am just a lowly commercial producer in the local ad sales area, and I don't have any interaction with the folks over on the tech side. I'll only be employed here for about two and half more weeks anyway, so I really don't have control over the complaints. Not only that, I live outside of Comcast's coverage area, so I'm stuck with the even worse Charter service!

steveken

11-14-09, 09:18 AM

So, it turns out that there is something wrong with the cable run from the amp over to where my wire connects up to their splitter by the curb. The upstream dBmV is really high for some reason. It's at like 55.2dBmV when it should be quite a bit lower than that. It's fine at the start, but when it gets to me its not. I guess they might have nicked the cable or have a bad splitter thing or something.

What this all means is that when I try to put my splitter in the line, it kills my cable modem after a few hours. Not real sure if its the splitter itself or not, so I got the Comcrap guy to give me a new 2-way one while he was here. I haven't tried putting it in the line yet. I may wait until the maintenance tech comes out on Monday to fix the line before I do that. Just kinda frustrating to be paying for something that doesn't work like the TV part even though I don't watch it.

Oh well, at least they narrowed down the issue.

Davenlr

11-14-09, 11:06 AM

I was really hoping when Verizon bought out Alltel, they would start running FIOS here, but I guess not. That is the one service I would be tempted to drop DirecTv to get. Glad they got your problem narrowed down at least.

steveken

11-14-09, 01:00 PM

Oh hell yeah, I'd drop directv for FiOS real quick. I just want it for the Internet part. They have amazing speeds. Right now the best we can hope for is like 50Mbps from Comcrap. I doubt anyone around here could afford it though. Comcrap really needs to lower their broadband rates. They are ridiculous right now.

Davenlr

11-14-09, 03:55 PM

And you thought you were having a bad day: http://www.katv.com/news/stories/1109/677940.html

arxaw

11-14-09, 07:03 PM

Damn. There goes their proposed power upgrade to 1,000kW.

http://www.kfsm.com/news/kfsm-news-nwa-satellite-truck-lost-in-river,0,1411223.story
http://www.kfsm.com/media/alternatethumbnails/story/2009-11/50459994-12143756-400300.JPG (http://www.kfsm.com/news/kfsm-news-nwa-satellite-truck-lost-in-river,0,1411223.story)

Davenlr

11-14-09, 07:39 PM

Hope they had insurance. I recall a couple years ago, a news outlet in Milwaukee, Wi drove their truck out onto the lake in winter to cover a story on ice fishing, and the truck broke through a soft spot and sank. The comments left on KFSMs site had me laughing....Got some funny one liners there.

BTW, if anyone cares, Hogs Vs Trojans, G17 KU 12100 V 29270 HD

LRNate

11-16-09, 12:09 PM

Davenlr

11-16-09, 02:31 PM

You need to point it at Redfield, ar to get KETS.

steveken

11-16-09, 03:40 PM

Every since I moved to 72210 from 72211 I have come to the realization that the entire damn 72211 zip code must be just way way too close to Shinall to get OTA reception very well. It just seems like the mountain just overwhelms receiving equipment in that area. Over here in 72210 I am having a lot easier time getting stuff. Or at least I think I am. Maybe its just that I have gotten a little better at doing it. :)

LRNate

11-16-09, 04:09 PM

Thanks guys. It's pointed straight at redfield, 150' from north, just wanted a boost of about 10%-20%. Is this possible? @steveken: Rabbit ears were fine but the signal seemed unstable--sometimes jumping between 95%-15%--and the rooftop was overkill. The homemade, six coat hanger antenna is strong and steady for ~6 mi away.

steveken

11-16-09, 05:09 PM

I never could get my home made antenna to work very well. could have just been my half assed stuff I was using. I had to go to walmart and buy a Philips MANT910 to get all the channels real well. This was over off Kanis/Bowman area.

arxaw

11-16-09, 05:11 PM

LRNate,
You may be getting impulse noise or FM radio interference that commonly plagues VHF reception. Try an FM trap to see if the problem goes away.

If you're close to Shinall, an amp may overamplify the noise problem or the signal going to your tuner and make reception worse.

A "booster" is just another name for an amp. A "preamp" is an amp that is installed on the antenna mast, before the signal goes into the house. Hence the name "pre-amp." It is nearly always the best type of amp to use.

VHF sucks for OTA DTV broadcasting but KETS/AETN doesn't care. They gave away a perfectly good UHF channel (47) they were assigned for the DTV transition.

Davenlr

11-16-09, 05:32 PM

I betting its interference also, since that Winegard antenna he is using should be pulling in KETS real well. Its fairly powerful around town. Shouldnt be needing a pre-amp for it. Its got 5 db gain on ch 7. Are you using new coax LRNATE, or old stuff? How long a run of coax?

LRNate

11-16-09, 06:24 PM

Great info guys, thanks. I'm glad you suggested the trap--I was about to jump on a preamp. The coax is from a previous dish, already up there, and is probably 5-6 years old. There's about thirty feet of it, but I could clean it up to twenty. Goes straight to the tv, not split.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Davenlr

11-16-09, 07:10 PM

LRNate: Give me your signal readings on each of the LR channels, as well as channel 18 and 26 (if you get a signal at all on those). And not to suggest you are dumb or anything, but you do have the small element end of the antenna pointed at 150 degrees, correct? Check the coax end outside to make sure its not corroded, and if it is using crimped on connectors you might want to consider replacing the outside coax connect with a compression connector, being that old. Any water getting under the crimp could cause the coax shield to rust, making your ground connect bad, and allowing interference in.

LRNate

11-16-09, 08:08 PM

Me, dumb? Why are all my channels snowy? Kidding. As long as I can get KETS with the outdoor, I can get all others on my indoor. But my outdoor right now has ch 4 with a jumpy 20-60%, ch 7 is 93%, 11 is 67%, nothing on 16, and 38 is 68%. I have nothing on ch 18 or 26 (which ones are those?). They are compressed except for one at the house. If the cabling is a likely culprit I can scrub it with a wire brush or replace it. But the antenna itself should be sufficient?

Davenlr

11-16-09, 08:21 PM

I checked out your antenna on Solid Signal, and it should be more than adequate, unless you are pointing it into the side of a hill. If you are pointed at Redfield, I would expect your other channels to be jumpy or missing completely, so thats good. Ch 38 is on the same tower as KETS, so it should be solid. What receiver are you getting these readings off of? Some read lower than others. 38 reading 68% seems a little low to me. It should be 90 or better on most meters if you are pointed at Redfield. I would definantly look at your coax connector (and if you are using a balun to convert the 300 ohm antenna to 75 ohm coax, check that the two wires are not twisted, and not laying on, or contacting any metal). If you still cannot get it to work, post a plot of your signal levels for your exact address (you can omit the address in the printout) from www.tvfool.com, so I can check the gain of your antenna vs the loss of your system to see if its working the way it should be.

LRNate

11-16-09, 09:22 PM

No receiver- directly to the TV. The strength meter is built in. There are a few hills around, but we're still talking LR here (close to Walmart). I'm using the balun transformer included with the antenna, no surprises there, but I'll make sure that coax connection is off the antenna. It's dark when I get home, but this weekend I'll double check the connections, stick an fm filter on it, and if necessary replace the coaxial, and post my results. Thanks davenlr, your suggestions and advice are appreciated.

Davenlr

11-16-09, 10:19 PM

Type your address in here, http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90then click on KETS ch 7 button. It will show you a google map with KETS's coverage at your house. If you are in one of the blue or purple spots there, you might need to increase your antenna height, or get a higher gain antenna. Any other color, you should get fine with the antenna you are using. Be looking forward to hearing what your results are this weekend. I hate standard time myself. Should be light when I get off work, not when Im trying to grab a snooze before getting up in the morning :)

steveken

11-16-09, 10:49 PM

Dave, he is in the same exact area I used to live in.

Nate, I used to live on Point West Cove. I HAD to get that Philips MANT910 antenna and put it outside for me to get all the stations. That was about all the wife would let me get. LOL That was just me though. Like I said, I didn't have much luck with the home made job and didn't have the money to spring on a Winegard or anything like that. Those are just too big for the wife to tolerate, especially since we had DirecTV anyway. The OTA junk was just fooling around for me. :)

The biggest thing that is hurting you around there is the multipath from the mountain. I figured that out a long time ago. That's why you have to just keep putzing with it until you find that sweet spot with your antenna. You *should* be able to get KETS there no problem, its just finding that perfect spot to get it. Azimuth AND elevation of your antenna will more than likely make a big difference. When I got it, my antenna was kinda cockeyed a little bit, but it worked.

I know these guys say you don't need an amp and that an amp really should screw it up, but in my case the amp in the antenna I put outside was the only thing that actually helped get the signals in. That whole Point West area over there is just really screwy. :)

Davenlr

11-16-09, 11:25 PM

As he will see if he pulls up the KETS coverage map overlay for his address. He is using an outside antenna with 5db gain on channel 7. That is far and above anything the MANT is capable of. While a CM7777 might help him, its seems overkill, since he is only using this antenna for this one channel.

By the way, that guy that lived over there that I gave my MANT to, never got on again to report how it worked out for him in his apartment, and didnt reply to any of my emails, so I dont know whats up with that. Thought I was trying to be helpful. In any case, Im not going to recommend a UHF only antenna to someone trying to pick up VHF, especially if it costs him money. He has a good antenna, it should work. Might just need to move it around a little as you suggest. Im pretty convinced the old coax might also be a problem. I dont think they were using compression connectors back 6 yrs ago for DISH. If anything, a channel 7 bandpass filter would be his best bet, since he is only trying to get that one channel. Those are still available I believe.

arxaw

11-17-09, 08:40 AM

With all the hills & valleys in that area, the antenna may well be sitting right in a dead spot for KETS 7. Moving the antenna up, down, left or right a foot or two may solve the problem. Or there may be a problem with the balun, coax or connectors. Or FM/impulse noise interference.

At that distance and with the antenna being used, amplification should not be needed. With so many TV stations in that area, a CM7777 may overload the tuner.

steveken

11-17-09, 10:10 AM

Yeah, I know its above what the MANT is supposedly capable of, but the amazing thing is that it works very well. I don't get it either. I guess its just dumb luck really. And I wasn't trying to say go buy a MANT at all. Just saying that is what worked for me for a really low price. I just needed one for outside and everything else was just too darned expensive. All I am saying is that, even though it is labeled as UHF only, it will work on VHF too somehow. Again, probably just lucky.

In any case, I definitely wouldn't put anything like a CM7777 on his. That definitely would overload the tuner like Sam said.

Kinda sucks that that guy you lent that antenna to disappeared. Oh well, maybe that means its working for him and he has no more need for us. LOL

haley-SEA

11-17-09, 12:24 PM

I'm sure you'll all collectively sigh at my noobness but I need some help. I live in 72211. My desire: KETS. I made an indoor antenna that works amazingly well for NBC, CBS, FOX, and ABC. But not PBS. I installed a Winegard 7000R compact yagi antenna (I know, should have gone bigger) and it gives me about 50% KETS. I can watch it, but there are occasional quick dropouts. My questions: 1. Is a preamp/booster the same thing? 2. Will one increase my signal enough for a strong KETS signal? 3. Which one would you all recommend?

Sorry for the late response, and I know that Dave, Sam, and Steven have chimed in.

Preamps: They are a Godsend in rural areas away from the transmitters, but they won't make a signal magically appear out of nowhere. They will help lock a weak signal that is on the "bubble" and overcome the receiver's noise floor, but the amps will also overload your tuner close to the transmitters. Things have gotten better since the analogs are gone as overload goes, I used to get a very weak image of KASN-analog occasionally on channel 23 back in the day 39 miles from the transmitter.

Antenna: I took a look at the Winegard 7000R...it should work for you, there is some directivity (good for the odd-duck KETS 7) but unless you are "DXing" the big gun antennas are overkill in Little Rock. That said, the 7000R is designed to include the low-VHF channels which are no longer used in Little Rock--sadly LR still has the 2 VHF highbanders (4 here if I count KETZ and KETG).

Location, Location: That is important. I have several hot and dead spots at my domicile. I found one that I could shoot through a clear spot and no trees within a 1/4-1/3 mile from me to aim at Little Rock. Everything that is "full power" from Shinall Mtn (even KKAP which I never watch) locks most of the time 24/7.

Coax: Good RG6 with compression connectors rocks. Once I discovered compression connectors, I replaced all of my old crimp-style ones with compession. There is less likelyhood to get moisture in the coax.

LRNate

11-17-09, 12:46 PM

We've lived on the north side of the hump from Point West for about 1 1/2 yrs, and the cable was already there so it might not be that old, but I'll replace it anyway. I mounted the antenna on a 6ft mast on the house. When I can get up there i'll check all connections and stick the filter on it, grab a compass to get it to the exact degree, if nothing i'll lower it a bit, then replace the coax, then finally I'll try the preamp. Most evenings the reception is decent with no dropouts, but last night it started pixellating every ten secs or so--enough to drive me nuts--just a little more signal and I can finally cancel my dish locals.

Arkyman

11-17-09, 04:27 PM

I'm still alive guys......still alive and kicking here in Yellco:D

arxaw

11-17-09, 05:38 PM

Hey Arkyman, I was afraid you fell of the edge of your DMA.
How's reception these days?

... Most evenings the reception is decent with no dropouts, but last night it started pixellating every ten secs or so--enough to drive me nuts...Damned VHF.

If your TVFool's correct, your reception should be a piece-o-cake. I think there may be something physically wrong somewhere (coax, connectors, etc.), or you've got some hellacious RF interference going on.

What type of tuner are you using?

LRNate

11-17-09, 06:22 PM

It's going straight to my tv. That's good news that it should be working--now I just have to figure it out. The tvfool also changed KETS to yellow once I dropped the elevation four feet. So we'll see. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

Davenlr

11-17-09, 06:41 PM

If you do order a preamp, make sure it is a Channel Master 7777, and also order a Ch 7 JOIN-TENNA. It will allow you to pass JUST channel 7, so the other channels will not overload your amplifier. Be looking forward to your reception report, and PLEASE dont buy coax at radio shack :) Their stuff sucks. There is a satellite installer on Markham street just east of the 430 overpass in the same parking lot as the BBQ place. They can make you a good quality cable to length with the compression connectors already on it, if you dont feel like buying the tools to do your own. Sorry I dont remember the name, but its where I buy all my DirecTv dishes and LNBs at. Nice people.

LRNate

11-18-09, 04:20 PM

Ok...so the jointenna is like a channel trap. I just ordered one. I'll try that first without preamp. Ran by Radio Shack last night looking for fm traps but no success. I wonder, should I assume my coax is in good enough shape if I can pull in ~95% KATV? If none of this works I'll replace cable and grab preamp.

Also, one curiosity question: Since the first one worked so well, I'm about to build a cleaner indoor antenna (that's not out of scrap wood) and was wondering if it would make any difference to add a few more whiskers to the design. Is there such a thing as a 5- or 6-bay antenna? I've only seen 4 bays or groupings of 4 bays.

Dave is it Custom Satellite?

Davenlr

11-18-09, 06:23 PM

2, 4 or 8 bays. The problem with adding whiskers, is it changes the feedpoint impedance from the optimum 300 ohm, causing one whisker to cancel out another, and so forth. You almost need computer modeling software to keep the impedance close to 300 ohms (or 75).

The jointenna is a special bandpass filter. It does two things. It has two imputs, and one output. One input passes all the channels from 2 through 59 EXCEPT the channel its designed for, in this case, channel 7. The other input filters ALL channels EXCEPT channel 7. It then combines the input from channel 7, and the input without channel 7. This allows you to use it two ways. With ONLY the channel 7 antenna connected, it ONLY passes channel 7, and nothing else. With a channel 7 antenna on the channel 7 input, and another antenna on the other input, it combines the channel 7 only antenna with the other main all channel antenna, without the two of them interfering with each other. You can use it at the channel 7 antenna outside (and use a 75 terminator resistor on the other input) to feed just channel 7 down the coax, or you can put it behind your TV and hook your homemade antenna to the main input, and the channel 7 antenna on the roof to the channel 7 input. It will then act as a filter for everything coming in from your outside antenna except channel 7, FM, and everything else.

Try the coax you have first, see how it works.

Arkyman

11-19-09, 01:40 AM

[QUOTE=arxaw;17552991]Hey Arkyman, I was afraid you fell of the edge of your DMA.
How's reception these days?

I still get good reception on most of my channels. Getting 5.1 again..put my Pr9032 back up with the Winegard Amp (UHF). Havent forgotten about you and the 4228.....but I have not made any trips that way in a long time.

LRNate

11-19-09, 11:08 AM

Thanks Dave, I'll just make another 4 bay this weekend. I should receive the jointenna in a week and will post my results. Should be fun to mess with. It will at least act as a nice combiner. I'm starting to feel like Ahab chasing the whale here. It will be mine!

Davenlr

11-19-09, 11:38 AM

You think its bad now, you should have been trying when they were using channel 5 at low power :)

arxaw

11-19-09, 11:39 AM

LRNate, FM traps are available at solidsignal.com

The satellite dealer where you can get good coax is Custom Satellite on W. Markham.
501 221-DISH
http://i46.tinypic.com/34xg6y9.jpg

arxaw

11-19-09, 11:42 AM

Arkyman, no problem. Whenever you plan a trip, just give me a holler.
-- Sam

Davenlr

11-21-09, 10:38 PM

haley-SEA

11-22-09, 06:19 AM

Interesting...I just mounted a Winegard HD6010 on my roof, and used the FREE 50' of RG59!!! with no connectors that Summit Source included with the antenna (what a joke) to connect the antenna to my Insignia HD Radio Tuner. Since all I had was crimp on RG6 connectors, I just brute forced them on temporarily.

In any case, I was unable to pick up the oldies station east of me, in Des Arc on it. Of course, it only comes in barely full quieting with the quantum and a 7777 preamp, so no surprise there. What was a surprise, was picking up http://www.kbcnradio.com/ from Harrison full quieting on it. It picks up something on just about every frequency, although most are very noisy. Will make for fun DXing anyway. All the HD radio stations in Little Rock come in full scale. Tom-FM, which hasnt had any song/artist info on their HD2 channel since I got the receiver, tonight doesnt even have the HD2 channel on...After trying to tune it in for about 10 seconds, the receiver reverts to the HD1 Tom-FM main channel. Wish they would fix that, I love Tom-FM HD2.

Anyways, happy Turkey Week.

Actually KBCN 104.3 is in Marshall (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FM149471.html), per their COL....that is a monster signal (coverage maps on the FCC site for FM are *very* conservative), I can pull it in here as is the case now (its weak though) on the Sangean HDT-1/and ragged, past-its-prime RatShack VU190. You also should be able to hear KZLE 93.1 Batesville (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FM657275.html), at least on the Quantum. For oldies, you could also try KWAK-FM 105.5 Stuttgart (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FM107871.html)...I've picked that up in the car in Pine Bluff, but can't here because of KWRF-FM in Warren also on 105.5. You're biggest issue will be adjacent-channel interference, especially from the "HD"/IBOC stations that will make 88.9, 89.3, 94.7, 95.1, 95.5, 95.9, 99.3, 99.7, 100.1, 100.5, 101.9, 102.3, 104.9, 105.3, 106.5, and 106.9 useless in Central AR for "DX".

For those unaware and as a public service ;) , its only a week, and two days--December 1 @ 9:00pm before the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (http://www.cbs.com/specials/victorias_secret/) airs on CBS which will likely be censored by KTHV. Perhaps there will be monster tropo that night from Fort Smith (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS612723.html) or Memphis (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS598628.html), I'd hate to have to settle for hit or miss standard def from WXVT Greenville MS as a last resort.

arxaw

11-22-09, 10:10 AM

Dave, did summit charge you their extra "package handling fee" ?
Talk about a joke. It's how they get their prices low, inflate the shipping fee and add a handling fee.

Haley, good luck getting VS on an alternate channel. Just don't look for cbs KOLR 10 to come wafting in. I can rarely even watch them here without impulse noise breakups. :rolleyes:

steveken

11-22-09, 10:35 AM

I've always wanted to listen to one of those HD radios. I guess just to see what it sounds like. I just haven't ever known anyone that has a receiver and I am not going to spend the money on one without ever hearing it. :) I guess I might be able to go into Best Buy to hear it or something, but it might be hard to discern anything special about it with all the rap and booming bass that usually accompanies that area. How much is a cheap HD radio? Are they reasonable?

Trip in VA

11-22-09, 10:42 AM

There's a portable unit for $50, it's an Insignia.

I got my Sony XDR-S3HD for about $80 on eBay and even if you don't like IBOC, it has an AMAZING analog tuner too. Took it up on Poor Mountain right under the tower of 200 kW of WSLQ-FM and it managed to hear FM signals where other radios just splattered.

- Trip

steveken

11-22-09, 11:15 AM

Yeah, $50 is just a bit too much. Maybe $25 or $30, but not $50. Oh well, maybe they will drop eventually. As much as I dislike local radio, I don't know if I would even wanna keep it very long if there is as much car dealership ads on HD as there is on regular. If they don't have near as many car commercials, then it might not be so bad. Seems like the ad execs around here only call car dealerships for ads.

What is IBOC? I don't know much about this stuff, so I am not familiar with the different terminologies.

Trip in VA

11-22-09, 11:18 AM

IBOC is the name for HD Radio that contains a huge lie about its sound quality. :)

(IBOC = In-Band On-Channel. Some would debate whether or not that acronym is true either.)

- Trip

steveken

11-22-09, 11:20 AM

Ok, shows how much less I know than before. Huge lie about its sound quality??? And that IBOC doesn't make much sense either.

Trip in VA

11-22-09, 11:24 AM

There's nothing "HD" about "HD Radio." It's just the name they chose to make it sound better than it is.

The sound quality on IBOC radio can be pretty bad. They're limited to either 96 kbps or 112 kbps (most are the former) and so with a single stream it sounds okay, but multicasting takes its toll pretty quickly. (AM Radio is even worse, I'm told, though I haven't heard it first-hand.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FM_spectrum_IBOC.png

This picture should help explain what IBOC means. The main audio carrier is in the middle, and on the left and right sides you see the digital signals. They're supposed to be "in-band on-channel" digital signals. You can see from the picture that it's really not very true.

- Trip

Trip in VA

11-22-09, 11:33 AM

I feel I should clarify my statements more.

IBOC proponents like to claim that FM digital has "CD-quality sound" and AM digital has "FM-quality sound." Everything I've heard about AM digital disagrees with that statement. On FM, this might be true for limited multicasts. My personal example is the local NPR station. 89.1-1 gets 48 kbps and it sounds pretty good. Maybe slightly better than the FM, though nothing to write home about. 89.1-2 gets 32 kbps, but is all talk, so there's not a whole lot to hear. 89.1-3, however, gets 16 kbps and airs alternative music. It sounds pretty bad.

- Trip

Davenlr

11-22-09, 12:32 PM

SAM: No, they didnt charge me anything extra, just the standard $11 shipping UPS which arrived in two days. Give me a couple REALLY strong FM stations in Springfield to look for.

Steveken: None of the HD Radio stations I have listened to have any ads on the HD2 channel so far. As Trip says, sound quality is NOT any different than a good quality FM tuner provides. On Tom-FM, when it kicks from analog to digital, you actually can hear a sound quality increase (better treble, tighter bass), but on the rest of them, I actually cannot hear much of anything different about the sound. HD stands for hybrid digital, not high definition. I got my tuner at Best Buy for $140. The Sony trip has is the most highly recommended tuner, however, they do NOT sell it in Arkansas, and I did not feel like ordering it off Amazon. AM HD Radio is only available here on KARN and only during the daytime. It does sound good (for talk radio), with none of the whistles and static normally heard.

Haley: Thanks for the DX targets, will try them out this afternoon. Yea, after I posted that report, I found out "Harrison's" station was really in Marshall, and I know how high up THOSE hills are.

haley-SEA

11-22-09, 12:35 PM

Haley, good luck getting VS on an alternate channel. Just don't look for cbs KOLR 10 to come wafting in. I can rarely even watch them here without impulse noise breakups. :rolleyes:

Channel 10 is occupied here with one of AETN's veehacheff transmitters (KETZ El Dorado). The Monore LA CBS station is also VHF (KNOE RF 8) and far,far out of range here, and Sheveport's CBS affiliate (KSLA RF 17) for a UHF'er is woefully underpowered compared to its major (and also UHF) competitors.

That leaves WXVT (in SDTV), followed by KFSM, and WREG as possible primary "VSDX" targets :D

Davenlr

11-22-09, 12:39 PM

For those unaware and as a public service ;) , its only a week, and two days--December 1 @ 9:00pm before the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (http://www.cbs.com/specials/victorias_secret/) airs on CBS which will likely be censored by KTHV. Perhaps there will be monster tropo that night from Fort Smith (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS612723.html) or Memphis (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS598628.html), I'd hate to have to settle for hit or miss standard def from WXVT Greenville MS as a last resort.

Get your AMPS ready, a check on all the TV Guide sites show NONE of the LR stations will be carrying VSFS this year, again. Its telethon time (and Big Ugly Dish time).

haley-SEA

11-22-09, 12:50 PM

Give me a couple REALLY strong FM stations in Springfield to look for.

KTXR 101.3 (provided that 500W KZTS 101.1 hasn't increased power yet). Most of the rest are close to or on the same frequencies as the locals in LR metro.

RockyF

11-22-09, 01:10 PM

Get your AMPS ready, a check on all the TV Guide sites show NONE of the LR stations will be carrying VSFS this year, again. Its telethon time (and Big Ugly Dish time).

Or just wait until Dec. 9th when the CW will rebroadcast it, just like they usually do. AFAIK KASN hasn't pre-empted it in the past.

haley-SEA

11-22-09, 06:05 PM

Or just wait until Dec. 9th when the CW will rebroadcast it, just like they usually do. AFAIK KASN hasn't pre-empted it in the past.

KASN used to air the CBS feed *and* the one by UPN and later The CW when they carried it a week later. But KASN didn't carry the CBS feed in 2008 (only the week-delayed CW airing). I checked TitanTV and cannot see any listings past Dec 5. However, I did see what KTHV is using as their fill in programming....

Operation Smile (Paid)
KTHVDT - 11.1 - Tue, 12/01, 9:00 PM 1 hr

View Additional Airings (http://www.titantv.com/airings/MS8769880/Operation-Smile-Paid.aspx?scheduleid=724990264&channel=12&stationid=4199&psipid=590&contenttype=2&major=11&minor=1&hdcapable=1&context=4404ef76-e0af-4ff2-808a-c17af3c8cdb3)

ad5kl

11-23-09, 12:00 PM

haley-SEA

11-23-09, 03:32 PM

Until they get the HD bugs ironed out, I will listen to the stations online. I just got a Sanyo R227 wifi radio & I can hear 14,000+ stations. Pretty good sound quality actually. Lots better than AM & way many more choices. Pretty neat little rig.

I wanted to get something so I could hear my favorite Dallas stations while visiting my folks in Hot Springs Village - hopefully moving to the Village in a couple of years.

On those devices, can you update the station lists with software/another pc or do you have to settle for the stations that are preloaded? Since I've gotten DSL, I seldom listen to my XM radio in the house save for a couple of the exclusive talk services (*NOT* Howard Stern BTW, whom I blame much of the problems on SIRIUS/xm on)

Davenlr

11-23-09, 05:48 PM

I also would be interested in a mini-review of the Sanyo R227. Personally, I didnt even know such a wireless device existed, and if its commercial/subscription free, Id be very interested.

I have a XM docking station in the house, but found that tuning it in online with the computer sounds better, and I get some channels on the computer that for some reason, the XM radio wont tune...

Nevermind...found it: http://us.sanyo.com/Internet-Radio/Internet-Radio-R227
It uses a database like DirecTv's OTA tuner.

haley-SEA

11-23-09, 06:45 PM

http://i49.tinypic.com/34zgg1k.jpgFirst skip of the winter 2009-2010 logged here today...for those in that sub-hobby.

arxaw

11-23-09, 08:22 PM

Are you sure that's not just KY3 firing up their pirate analog station again? LOL

Seriously though, what channel was it?

haley-SEA

11-23-09, 09:12 PM

Are you sure that's not just KY3 firing up their pirate analog station again? LOL

Seriously though, what channel was it?

A unid channel 2 from Mexico. One of the Televista stable of networks airing a telenovella (soap opera). Skip was very weak today, but should improve as the winter solstice approaches. A sure sign of that starting to build is the CB radio/10m ham radio bands starting to skip...50Mhz ham radio (6m) lies just below the low veehacheff tv channels

Here is a good site to check for real-time observed propagation--its ham radio spots but the 50mhz and 144 mhz spots are good indicators

http://www.vhfdx.net/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=50&Map=NA&mycall=&myloc=&freq=&prop=

Davenlr

11-23-09, 10:46 PM

Havent heard much skip on CB lately (I have one in my work truck). Actually, not even close to as much as I would expect in this part of the solar cycle. I fired up my ham radio today (Butternut all band vertical, chain link fence as a ground plane :) and found out my antenna tuners switches and buttons all need a heavy dose of tuner cleaner ! Tried to make a contact with Curcau? in the Caribbean on 40M. He was 5/9+20, and with 100W out, I couldnt get him.. Oh well.

Keep me informed on the skip though, this weekend, I am going to attempt to repair the rear element on the quantum. The other two bent element are not as bad as I thought, and a little heat should allow them to bend back close to original positions.

ad5kl

11-24-09, 10:54 AM

The Sanyo wifi radio has 8 preset buttons for stuff you use daily. You can also setup your favorite stations with a Reciva.com acct (no fee.) You add the radio's id # to your acct & your stations magically appear as a My Stuff folder on your radio & you can update any time you want with more stations. It takes a little getting used to, with a slight buffer delay while the station loads. But it is really a great idea, I can go to sleep listening to a station in Istanbul or Rio De Janeiro if I want. It is strange not hearing distant AM stations fade. I setup mostly talk stations around the nation since that is a great cure for insomnia. A nice perk is the ability to listen to mp3's on my home network.

Only gripe is the display light is a bit too bright for overnight use, even at lowest setting. But a snip of window tint will calm it down.

Balock

11-25-09, 12:26 AM

Sounds like you have it best up there in Eureka Springs Sam. At least you have a choice.
KETS (cant schedule, cant get aspect ratio right, totally piss poor operation) and VHF to boot
KARK Good technically, good news but has a totally religious slant. Ok if you like feel good stories.
KATV Good technically, news is geared toward oldsters, just cant get into it. Excellent sports coverage tho.
KTHV Good video, audio has low level hum, cant watch the news when my woofer is vibrating.
KLRT Good technically, news is first rate, but conflicts with prime time programming I want to watch
KASN Never watch it
KARZ Good technically, but what is its purpose? I expected them to carry NBCs sports channel, but so far, it just seems like KWBF with a few changes. Maybe it IS KWBF/ Hmmmm.

Been a long time since I've been on here, but after watching KATV during the network shows the past couple of nights, have to make a comment or two:

KETS/AETN: Couldn't agree more. I watch NOVA now and then but not like I used to. Does AETN have exclusive rights to PBS in the state? I don't know anything about PBS' rebroadcasting agreements.
KARK: Agree here too, I like more news not feel-good
KATV: Improving technically (but see below), still hate the "Nightside" name and last night's news broadcast was DARK...looks like they're still running the old studio equipment and had the lighting turned down to 80-90%.
KTHV: My wife can't take the volume that loud, so our woofer doesn't vibrate so much :) I don't like the morning show as much since BJ retired so flip between it and KARK's. I don't know if they realize that CBS's morning show is available in HD.
KLRT: Don't watch it too much but seems to be a good overall operation
KASN: My wife watches it for Smallville and that's about it.
KARZ: Don't ever watch it.

re KATV: Monday's Castle episode was broadcast in 4:3 OTA...might as well have watched it on Dish in SD. Tonight's V episode was HD until the last section when, 10 seconds or so after returning from the commercial break, it switched from 16:9 HD to 4:3 (looked like SD but need to verify it on the big TV). Is someone on vacation this week?

I haven't watched their news in soooo long...Ned's starting to look (and sound) old. Never thought it would happen! :) 'Course since I can recall their ad campaign about him being upset over missing the high by 1 degree I guess I'm not so young either...

haley-SEA

11-25-09, 07:49 PM

KTHV: My wife can't take the volume that loud, so our woofer doesn't vibrate so much :) I don't like the morning show as much since BJ retired so flip between it and KARK's. I don't know if they realize that CBS's morning show is available in HD.

Hate to say this but CBS's The Early Show is produced and broadcast in 4x3 SDTV. CBS remodeled their "Early Show" set to be "HD Ready" a couple of years ago, but have dragged their feet on the final conversion. The CBS Evening News was the last of the "old big three trio" to convert to HDTV for network nightly newscasts.

As the local news market goes, its pretty stagnant IMHO (warning, dead horse time). There are a couple of stations that have potential in some areas (KLRT, KTHV), as the others go--one station (KARK) is bogged down by a cheap owner, and another station (KATV) is bogged down by management and ownership that is slow to change.

I still think that KARZ is missing the boat in not doing a 7am newscast...that would be easy to get their KARK crew to do an hour and that would put the pressure on KLRT to get out of their morning infomercial habit. KTHV has jumped the shark in mornings with the departure of BJ Sams and Robyn Richardson (big losses). Alyson just seems like a KATV host in waiting. At KARK, Melissa Simas was able to counter-balance the "goody-goody" image of Matt Moser over on KARK's morning show--but she's promoted up to nights now. The new cohost on KARK mornings seems lacking. KATV as usual is living in the past.
(disclaimer: feel free to disagree, I just call 'em like I see 'em).

Whoever finally pulls the trigger on HDTV local evening news first will have a heads up. Whoever does it in mornings will have a bigger head start. But it still is presentation and substance that will win over in the long run.

Balock

11-25-09, 11:18 PM

Hate to say this but CBS's The Early Show is produced and broadcast in 4x3 SDTV. CBS remodeled their "Early Show" set to be "HD Ready" a couple of years ago, but have dragged their feet on the final conversion.

Ok, my mistake. I could swear I had seen it in HD while watching skip from one of the stations down south. Maybe it was GMA on KATV instead, but I haven't watched that in a long time. I tend to switch to Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares on BBCA around 7am while my wife's getting ready to leave for work.

I have to agree on the state of local news around here...stagnant. I very rarely watch long enough to get more than the major headlines and sometimes weather (tend to get that online or from TWC instead). I won't get into the (lack of) grammer & english language skills of the newer, younger reporters. Seeing news operations in other markets when I'm travelling for my job is a breath of fresh air.

Speaking of the travelling, does anyone have a recommendation on a decent portable antenna that can be packed in my suitcase? I bought a Hauppauge USB HD stick not long ago...decent receiver but it came with a very short telescopic magmount. It only works well within a few miles of the transmitter from the hotel rooms. TIA

Davenlr

11-25-09, 11:33 PM

Davenlr

11-26-09, 09:26 AM

Good Morning Haley...See you are blogging away already. I was in Star City yesterday, trying to find Laniers Steak house, which turned out to be 2 miles south of town off a dirt road :) GPS had NO IDEA what the name of the dirt road was, so was unable to find it. Had to resort to the old school "Stop at a local gas station and ask the clerk" method :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Arkansas HDTV members.

FTA folks, live Macys Parade feed on ABC news mux on G28 11956 v 19533

CBS is supposed to be the HD LEADER? Showing Macys in SD? WTF?

RockyF

11-26-09, 09:47 AM

FTA folks, live Macys Parade feed on ABC news mux on G28 11956 v 19533

CBS is supposed to be the HD LEADER? Showing Macys in SD? WTF?

Business as usual. CBS is airing the "Thanksgiving Day Parade" in SD. NBC carries the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" starting at 9 am in HD. It's the same parade, but CBS doesn't mention Macy's and does it in SD. It's been this way for the last few years. I assume it's related to lack of morning HD capabilities of CBS that was mentioned above with the Early Show.

Balock

11-26-09, 01:34 PM

A mant+power supply should fit nicely in a suitcase. Wally World sells them. While Steveken managed to get all the locals with his in one position from WLR, I was never able to get them all at once over by Camp Robinson, although turning it in different directions, angles was able to lock on all the stations ok. Should be about the only antenna I can think of that would fit in a suitcase and still work. Good luck explaining what it is to Airport security scanning personnel tho :)
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11019010&findingMethod=rr

Thanks, Dave. The price is reasonable, so I guess I'll pick one up before I have to hit the road/air again. The little magmount has worked good in one of two hotels in Chicago (I think maybe 6 transmitters but didn't log them). Tried it in NE Dallas on the 19th floor...no luck. Most of the transmitters were too far away for it, plus probably some local qrm.

Davenlr

11-27-09, 08:59 AM

We have been saying that for several years now. The problem is AETN is CHEAP. It costs more money to power a UHF transmitter than a VHF transmitter. Rather than pony up for their viewers, they took the cheap route, assuming most of their viewers would be able to get their signal from cable or satellite. Then to add insult to injury, they downrez the pristine 1080i/60 transmittions to 720p/60 in order to cram three extra channels on their transmitter.

Its for these reasons that most all the regular donators to AETN on here have opted out, and will no longer be donating.

I purchased a KU band system and installed it in my yard so I can watch the national PBS station in full 1080i, which had the side effect of also being able to watch all the college football games, and Nascar races without commercials, and several other niche channels that are quite interesting.

FWIW, I can pick up channel 48 from Jonesboro (agape church channel) almost weekly, KAIT about once a week, but have never logged the PBS channel from Jonesboro. So even on UHF, they are CHEAP. Low power, low antenna, or something.

I wish a corporation in the state would purchase a PBS HD affiliation and put a high quality, single channel PBS station on the air for those that cannot receive it directly from Washington DC.

Davenlr

11-27-09, 09:55 AM

Haley: You will like this one. Was getting a 35% signal on ch 48 pointed at 225 degrees. Checked all the other texas channels, and zip. Figured it was Jonesboro, so rotated the antenna to 045 and nothing. Rotated back to 225 and peaked the signal. Tried three receivers, and finally, the dish converter locked. It was Jonesboro, but off the back of the yagi. When I point the yagi at the station, I cant get it. Must be reflecting off something over in Little Rock in the Heights. Very weird.

arxaw

11-27-09, 10:25 AM

Dave, is that a DTVPal or DTVPal Plus?

Davenlr

11-27-09, 10:55 AM

Dave, is that a DTVPal or DTVPal Plus?

TR-40 DTVPal original. FWIW, the Zenith box never locked (signal was right on the line between red/yellow, bouncing into the yellow, and my Pansat 9200HD was showing 33% bouncing occasionally up to 50% (It takes at least 5 seconds above 50% to lock on that one). So between the three (all three hooked to the same antenna BTW), the DTVPAL has the most sensitive tuner.

arxaw

11-27-09, 11:26 AM

I've often wondered if better reception of certain channels on one box vs another may be dependent on the coax length and impedance mismatches, antennas being used, and channel that's being received? Or if there are QC issues between identical units of the same model?

I have a TR-40 and a Zenith DTT901. Connected to rabbit ear/loop antenna, the Zenith will lock channels the TR-40 can't see at all, or can't get a good lock on.

Davenlr

11-27-09, 12:56 PM

Well, I guess anything is possible, but all my coax runs from the splitter to the boxes are approx the same length. I do know, there are several "pots" and "caps" on the receivers front end, and they are roughly preset at the factory. With FM tuners in peticular, lots of the DXers tweek the front end for greater sensitivity, or greater selectivity, or both. So you are probably correct in that one box from the factory might be more sensitive than the one next to it on the assembly line. Across the band, however, the Zenith box I have is several notches less sensitive than my other two DX boxes. I figured, with the praise it gets, I just got a crappy one.

Davenlr

11-27-09, 01:07 PM

DTV Pal DVR!
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05757709000P?keyword=dtvpal

And this is one of my BIGGEST gripes. There are several Sears stores within minutes of my house (or WalMart, or insert your store name here), but when you shop on their web site, you find that almost NONE of the stuff you want to buy, is available at your local store. They want to SHIP it to your local store, where you can pay 10 or 11% sales tax for the privilege to pick it up. Screw all that. If its not in the store, buy it direct or from Amazon or some other online retailer without the sales tax, and more than likely, free shipping. And the retail stores wonder why they arent making any money. They dont carry crap. If you dont believe me, check Radio Shack. Almost 90% of the stuff on their web site is flagged as "Online Only".

steveken

11-27-09, 02:58 PM

I also would be interested in a mini-review of the Sanyo R227. Personally, I didnt even know such a wireless device existed, and if its commercial/subscription free, Id be very interested.
They exist all over the place. There's like 3 or 4 of them that I remember seeing on the Internet. All they are is like a version of something like iTunes that has a list of stations it can use and it knows about. You just choose from them. The sound quality is okay, but only decent to listen to if you get a high bitrate stream.

I have a XM docking station in the house, but found that tuning it in online with the computer sounds better, and I get some channels on the computer that for some reason, the XM radio wont tune...

Do you pay for the Premium XM Radio Online streaming? That is the ONLY way it would be better than listening to the radio itself as it pulls down the feed from the sats. The "free' online stream from XM is extremely pitiful and, quite honestly, should be pulled offline because its just not worth listening to. It is a 32kbps stream. Before the merger, it was 64kbps and adequate at best. Their "premium" stream is something like 128kbps I think is what I read. If its just a matter of sound quality because of your speakers hooked to the docking station, just upgrade those. :)

LRNate

11-28-09, 06:15 PM

Well guys I've got some results. This morning I was looking at a 40% KETS signal and now I have it at 85-90%. Thanks everyone for their help and cheers, Dave, it's because of the jointenna.

First I used a compass to line up the antenna to 150' and walked around the roof with a cell phone in one hand and the antenna in the other. Turns out the best reception was about four feet lower and pointed at ~165'. This got me to 45-50%.

I hooked up the ch 7 jointenna to both my rooftop and my new homemade antenna. I was afraid the combiner would cut my dbs and I wouldn't get anything on KETS. All of you guessing interference were right on the money. My signal shot up to around 88%. I've got a strong signal on all network channels. Goal: achieved. No booster needed. No rotor needed. As long as the VHF won't get knocked around by next year's leaves, I'm all set.

HD Frontline, NOVA, Independent Lens, Austin City Limits (Pearl Jam last week), globetrekker, UA grad student documentary on the crater of diamonds, exploring Arkansas, no commercials --all FREE-- and people are pulling their donations why? Because it's not all 1080i? Did I mention it's free? Perfect=enemy of good. I'm going to keep sending a few dollars their way (much rather give locally than to the real housewives of dishnetwork)--because I'd sure hate to see it go away. And now that I can pull it in with some reliability I'll be an even bigger fan.

Everyone, thanks again. Dave, et al, the next round's on me.

Davenlr

11-28-09, 06:32 PM

Glad it worked out for you. Voodoo science, those OTA antennas are. BTW, the reason Im pulling my dontation to AETN isnt because they are using 720p instead of 1080i, its because they refuse to show PBS network shows in their original timeslots, then crop the 480i recording and upconvert it so you THINK its HD, cause its viewers to spend loads of extra money on join-tennas and jump through hoops to pick up their underpowered signal, when they were originally assigned a channel by the FCC which would have worked perfectly, with no problems, just like all the other stations, but would have cost AETN a little more electric each month, so they took the cheapskate route. They also censor episodes which could be construed as not conforming to Christian beliefs to a timeslot in the middle of the night, and break the episode into multiple weeks, making it next to impossible to actually watch. But most importantly, they dont answer their Emails from subscribers complaining or asking for explainations. I just felt my month would be better spent donating to the World Wildlife Fund, so thats what I did.

Davenlr

11-29-09, 12:16 AM

Speaking of KETS, however, I hope you are watching Ed Sullivan: The 60's special. Really well done editing and performances. At least the switched the aspect ratio to 4:3 uncropped in the first 10 seconds of the show before it really started :)

arxaw

11-29-09, 09:54 AM

Recently, I was channel hopping and stopped on KAFT-1. Don't remember the show but it was supposed to be 4:3 aspect ratio. Whomever was working at AETN changed the aspect ratio three times during the first minute of the program, before finally deciding it should be shown in blurry, 16:9 stretch-o-vision.

<sigh> Back to KOZK (http://www.optv.org/)...

haley-SEA

11-29-09, 10:28 AM

If I lived in the Dumas area instead of near Star City I would actively support Mississippi Public Broadcasting (www.mpbonline.org) . The WMAO signal can't make it over the ridge most of the time.

I'm stuck with AETN's VHF, stretchovision, censorship, silly scheduling. There are a few good local productions made by them, but usually those are shown in improper aspect ratio.

AETN has already made their bed with VHF, but at least the stretchovision and censorship could go out the window, and the scheduling could be improved. If the network would address properly those three issues, I would renew my membership which expires in January.

As things stand, I will not. They've had months to fix their issues while off the air (OTA in Central AR) this past spring.

arxaw

11-29-09, 02:12 PM

They'll never get another dime from me until I can watch them without dropouts and they address the aspect ratio incompetence.

I hope all their donations go in the toilet.

Davenlr

11-29-09, 03:08 PM

Yea, I preferred their original plan, even though they were running extremely low power on channel 5, they TURNED OFF the three subchannels, and fed through the ORIGINAL 1080i network feed unaltered, during prime time. It was by far the BEST HD available in Central Arkansas. Now, its in the basement, as will be their donations unless the Christian right bails them out.

LRNate

11-29-09, 04:07 PM

No, Ed Sullivan bores me to tears. I pretty much only watch the shows I mentioned above, maybe Nova Science Now and Rick Steve's stuff. I just think the OTA KETS is much better than the dish: more channels, higher quality, free. And it would suck to have to go back to dish--plus all those high school students out of a job, right? :)

Maybe there are other options I'm not considering.

I'd be upset if I had watched it deteriorate. But I spent too much time as a kid growing up between FS and LR and turning the antenna between the two. Even on your best days you'd still having a snowy, crappy picture compared to today's count-the-knuckle-hair resolution. I reckon my standards are low.

BTW, what did they censor?

Davenlr

11-29-09, 04:12 PM

A two hour Nova documentary on the life of Darwin. Then they were two weeks behind on the Nova episodes for months. I dont know if they have caught up or not. I watch PBS on free satellite. BTW, the Ed Sullivan thing is just a Rock and Roll collection of original performances by the 60's breakthrough bands...Beatles, Hermans Hermits, Mommas and Papas, The Doors, Rolling Stones, etc. Two hour show, edited down to one hour. The other hour was AETN begging for money and offering the CD's of the music for $150. Hahaahahahaha.

Trip in VA

11-29-09, 06:34 PM

And seriously who watches AIRS or should I say listen to the fourth channel of AETN?

Hey JT:

It's not like the AIRS channel uses up much bandwidth. If anything, audio-only subchannels are probably the best type just because they're so limited as far as bandwidth use.

- Trip

LRNate

11-29-09, 06:49 PM

The other hour was AETN begging for money and offering the CD's of the music for $150. Hahaahahahaha.

Typical of public tv as well as public radio, from coast to coast. Compare this to forty minutes of commercials every two hours on any other local station every day. It's a shame about the Darwin show. Embarrassing, more like it.

Davenlr

11-29-09, 07:01 PM

I dont so much mind the beg-a-thons, and I really only watch one network show with commercials, and use a DVR to skip those. Most of my viewing other than Nova and Nature, is Nascar (watch the live commercial free feed) and college football where I dont miss anything during breaks anyway.
Movie channels, etc. If it wasnt for Major League Baseball, and the movie channels, I could dump Directv and never miss it.

Davenlr

11-30-09, 12:55 AM

Any of you guys looking to up the storage on your media center PCs or DirecTv DVRs, the WD 2 TB green drive is on sale for $139 with free 3 day shipping at newegg.com. I paid $199 for mine two months ago. Just bought another one... Can never have enough storage on a media center PC :)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136344

Johnny Angell

11-30-09, 09:15 AM

A two hour Nova documentary on the life of Darwin.If by censored, you mean they didn't run it, that's wrong. They did run the program, I've watched the first half and haven't gotten around to watching the 2nd half yet.

ad5kl

11-30-09, 10:36 AM

Just curious what the monthly going rate for an HD cable converter box is around Arkansas? I have Time Warner in Dallas & I get free HD & a basic HD box is 6 bucks & a DVR is 12.

Reason I'm asking, I just bought my folks in Hot Springs Village a 2nd HDTV and Dad wanted to get all the HD channels which isn't doable with the TV's internal tuner (HD stuff is up in the 700's on their cable.) He got a 2nd HD box & this is weird - 1st box is $15/month then 2nd box is over $20! Suddenlink said the 1st box was a "promo" fee & 2nd box had some kind of "streaming" fee tacked on for the menu guide.

I think my folks are getting soaked & should go with a dish, but I know the dish companies nickel & dime you also with monthly box fees. They are up to $140 for regular digital cable with HD, 2 boxes & a cable phone line with Suddenlink now. Can I buy them 2 cable boxes outright since they don't do pay-per-view or any premiums?

arxaw

11-30-09, 11:58 AM

Did they try a channel scan with the TV's tuner?

Some of the HD channels in the 700s on cable boxes may still show up on a TV'S QAM tuner. If they are found, the numbers are just different and you have to go through the list of found channels to figure out what is what.

I would never pay $140 a month to watch television. I have Dish Turbo HD Bronze + locals, which is nearly all HD channels. My cost for this package plus two HD boxes (one of which is a DVR) and taxes is right around $50 a month.

Not sure if they still offer this package - check with Dish or a local dish retailer. If they ever force me into a higher package at some point, I'll just drop pay TV completely and go OTA-only.

ad5kl

11-30-09, 12:26 PM

Yeah I'll check out Dish. Their actual cable bill is now 110 + 30 for phone, but I agree it is way too much. I did the channel scan & it got the locals on channels 100 - 114 or so but no Discovery, etc. Guess those are encrypted (I found some in the high 90's but they were dark) so buying a cable box probably wouldn't do me any good. I'll check out Dish - only downer is they will have to get a land line again (they don't like cell.) But the telcos should be ready to deal since they are losing customers daily.

Azanon

11-30-09, 01:50 PM

ad5kl

11-30-09, 03:33 PM

I don't get all the censorship about it. There is nothing seen that violates FCC guidelines & you see similar stuff in most tv shows anyway.

haley-SEA

11-30-09, 09:17 PM

So has anyone heard if KTHV is going to censor the Victoria Secret show Tuesday night yet again?

(edit) nm - just checked their schedule and they have "operation smile" (rated G) schedule for the Victoria Secret Fashion show timeslot. It's a good thing KTHV is making these important decisions about what I should or shouldn't be watching!

Any suggestions on how to fight this? Would complaining to CBS help?

I'd complain to Gannett (which is KTHV's owner). Perhaps they'll have an opening for a GM in South Carolina before next year's VS show. :D

Granted, overall KTHV preemptions of CBS programming during the Gannett era (both pre-Audas and during his tenure) pale in comparison to KATV, KARK (pre 2000), and to the pre-Gannett era (before 1995) of KTHV (remember when CBS Sunday Morning was never seen on KTHV until a year *after* Charles Kuralt retired) due to paid religion and old movies, and a CBS summer series Grapevine in 1992 got also preempted/censored during the Bob Brown-era of KTHV. Even when David Letterman got his late night CBS show if I can recall started out delayed by 30 minutes locally. Still, Larry Audas using his personal religious views to justify his refusal to air Victoria's Secret is just over the top and another embarrassment to Little Rock and the people of Arkansas.

Azanon

11-30-09, 10:36 PM

Just saw this at KTHV:

"The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will not air Tuesday evening, Dec. 1 on KTHV/CBS, but will air Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. on KASN/CW, channel 38"

Davenlr

11-30-09, 10:51 PM

Makes you wonder why KASN doesnt just show it Dec 1st. Boy I hate all these people in this state that think its their duty to police what I watch on TV, like I am to stupid to make my own decisions. Ill be watching it Dec 1st. They can all KMA.

Davenlr

11-30-09, 11:05 PM

If that was true, KATV would have "LOST" their ABC affiliation a long time ago, when they preempted ABC's #1 series, Lost, to show retarded basketball games in its place. These are all reasons, IMHO, for the FCC and congress to get rid of the rule prohibiting viewers from subscribing to out of market affiliates.

arxaw

11-30-09, 11:08 PM

... I'll check out Dish - only downer is they will have to get a land line again (they don't like cell.) But the telcos should be ready to deal since they are losing customers daily.If the incumbent land line carrier in their area is AT&T, they can get free installation by ordering online. They can keep their existing phone number, if they order the AT&T land line before disconnecting phone service with the cableco.

Cell service is awful at my house. I'd much rather talk on a land line than a garbled cell phone.

Davenlr

11-30-09, 11:15 PM

If you check out DirecTv, you might find you can bundle the satellite service and the telco together as well. If your parents are into sports, DirecTv has much more available than Dish. If they just want cheap HD cable channels, Dish is probably a little cheaper.

Davenlr

12-01-09, 12:23 AM

Trip in VA

12-01-09, 02:34 AM

Dual HD usually looks like crap, especially during sports.

- Trip

RockyF

12-01-09, 07:58 AM

Yes, I believe they showed it after midnight, in standard def. Hopefully this year, they will show the SD basketball games on 7-2 or 7-3, and show Lost in HD on 7-1. Unless of course, for some reason, they are going to get the BB games in HD, then I dont know what will happen. Theoretically with a stat-muxer, they could show two HD streams, but BBall is gonna hog a lot of the bits. I do know one thing, if they decide to show em both at once, they have the best engineer in the business to pull it off.

Fortunately, ABC has solved a bit of this problem for us. Lost will be on Tuesday nights this spring instead of Wednesdays. KATV has been doing their tape delayed Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel in HD for some time now, which at least gives me some hope that the shows that do get pre-empted for basketball this season will at least be in HD in any overnight runs, I mean I DVR everything anyway, so I don't really care if it comes on at two in the morning. However, so far KATV doesn't seem to have the shows it's pre-empting right now for basketball resheduled, like they've done in the past. Arkansas at Oklahoma is scheduled for tomorrow night, most of the shows it's pre-empting are reruns, except for a new episode of "The Middle." Friday night, they are airing a Razorback Basketball Special instead of ABC's Disney Animation special. So far neither "The Middle" nor the Disney special appear to be scheduled for tape delay, but I'm sure that could change. I didn't double check to see if the Supernanny and Ugly Betty episodes from Friday night aired.

Edit: Looking thru the listings at www.titantv.com, it appears KATV has a few non-basketball pre-emptions lined up in the next few weeks as well, a St. Jude Children's Hospital special on Sunday at 6 and Billy Graham on Friday, Dec. 11 at 7, pre-empting AFHV and Supernanny respectively.

As for the Victoria Secret show, as I pointed out last week, the airing scheduled for next Wednesday on KASN is a CW network airing, not just KASN. I don't know why KASN is not airing it tonight at 9 though, they have done that in the past.

dmatch

12-01-09, 09:54 AM

... I do know one thing, if they [KATV] decide to show em both at once, they have the best engineer in the business to pull it off.You mean the one who still has yet to arrange getting the KATV-DT2 (RTV) EPG data correct? ;) Also, the time is not correct on KATV-DTs.

Heh, the devil made me say that.

dmatch

Suddenlink Help

12-01-09, 10:22 AM

steveken

12-01-09, 11:27 AM

Wow, now we have SuddenLink people trolling around here like Comcast people do on Twitter? Interesting. Hey, SuddenLink person, talk to your company about their idiotic choice of names! SuddenLink doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in me to trust your company. It, to me, means suddenly its here, suddenly its not. Crappy crappy name.

Anyway, after a couple of weeks of playing with ClearQAM in my new house, I am of the opinion that maybe this area of town doesn't get a true PBS-HD feed like I did at my old house. I mean, the channels says "PBS-HD", but I am still seeing nothing but AETN bullsh*t plastered all over it. It in no way looks like the PBS-HD I was used to seeing over in West Little Rock.

Also, on the ClearQAM side, I seem to be unable to get my Windows 7 Media Center or Hauppauges WinTV to get KASN. Sometimes it will get it, then other times I will go back and its mysteriously scrambled again. Not quite sure what's up with that. Plus, I can't get WinTV to do two recordings at the same time.

Anyway, just thought I would throw that out there just so anyone who might care what ClearQAM in Otter Creek is like will know. :)

ad5kl

12-01-09, 01:35 PM

Good Day,

I saw your post regarding the price your parents are paying for Digital Cable - Phone - and 2 HD Boxes. If you would like, I would be happy to check and see if we can get them into a better bundle to same some money. If you are interested, please feel free to contact me at tina-AT-suddenlink-DOT-com.

Thanks!

Thanks Tina,
I have sent an email with their plan details - I appreciate any help you can provide.

Davenlr

12-01-09, 05:31 PM

You mean the one who still has yet to arrange getting the KATV-DT2 (RTV) EPG data correct? ;) Also, the time is not correct on KATV-DTs.

Heh, the devil made me say that.

dmatch

I think all the program schedule data comes from RTV directly. If I am not mistakes, KATV just "pays them a fee" to run that channel for them...they just downlink it and shove it out. I had to call this weekend, because it just did a freeze frame and stayed that way. About two minutes after I called, it switched and there was a completely different show on, (which just happened to be the east coast timeslots show).

Thanks for the heads up on "The Middle". I record and archive every one of those episodes. Its the only show on network TV I watch....Ill have to find an alternate. ABC-HD, switched to DVS-S2, and my receiver wont do that, so might have to actually catch it in SD if KATV doesnt tape delay it in HD.

Davenlr

12-01-09, 05:35 PM

arxaw

12-01-09, 05:55 PM

haley-SEA

12-01-09, 06:17 PM

Looking thru the listings at www.titantv.com (http://www.titantv.com), it appears KATV has a few non-basketball pre-emptions lined up in the next few weeks as well, a St. Jude Children's Hospital special on Sunday at 6 and Billy Graham on Friday, Dec. 11 at 7, pre-empting AFHV and Supernanny respectively.

As for the Victoria Secret show, as I pointed out last week, the airing scheduled for next Wednesday on KASN is a CW network airing, not just KASN. I don't know why KASN is not airing it tonight at 9 though, they have done that in the past.

KASN until last year has carried the CBS airing of the VSFS when KTHV passed on it. But I don't know what the reason why KASN (or KARZ) won't pick up tonight's airing. I thought that when a show was preempted in advance, another station was fair game to pick up the program (as is the case of KARZ picking up the early 11am ABC College Football games).

Traditionally, Fridays and Tuesdays have been big (non-sports) preemption nights for KATV. This was one hazard and concern of ABC moving Ugly Betty to Friday nights.

steveken

12-01-09, 07:23 PM

A welcome to the forum before your slam would have been hospitable :)

Yeah, I know, but I just didn't want to. :) Haven't we figured out by now that I can be quite the dick? Just kidding. My apologies. Even with their 13 other posts, I should have welcomed them here.

steveken

12-01-09, 07:25 PM

Balock

12-01-09, 09:43 PM

How hard is it to "borrow" a FTA setup from someone if I were to maybe want to test one out before purchase? Is it very big or cumbersome? I think that maybe if I were to show how it works to certain people, I might be able to get one eventually.

An FTA setup can vary quite a bit. A simple one can be built using a 30" dish and a Ku LNB and can be quite portable. Many are built from 1.0-1.2m (40-45") dishes, including old PrimeStar dishes. The sizes just go up from there to the classic "BUD" (Big Ugly Dish) of 10-12ft--not so easy to borrow!

The trick would be knowing someone who has one of the smaller dishes and the right equipment (LNB and receiver). If you're really really lucky, a next-door neighbor with an FTA setup might let you hookup a switch, a long piece of coax (100-200ft max) and a receiver to an existing antenna. If you borrow a portable setup, then pointing the antenna is your next step. There are plenty of instructions around to do that.

www.DBSTalk.com and www.satelliteguys.us both have active FTA forums (I believe the latter is more active). Satelliteguys is down right now while moving to a new hosting server. Both have regularly updated lists of sats and channels available. Also, they are both strict about keeping discussions limited to TRUE FTA and not the pirating of subscription services (Dish/DirecTV).

Davenlr

12-01-09, 10:53 PM

Unless you are a big college football fan, or like to watch PBS a lot, borrowing a dish/receiver wont do you much good.
#1: 90% of the good stuff is on C band (minimum 6' steerable dish, preferred size is 10')
#2 90% of the good stuff is in HD, which means a fairly expensive $400 receiver I doubt anyone is going to have laying around.
#3 40% of the good stuff, and about 100% of the network stuff is now using DVB-S2 which only the current crop of new receivers can pick up, and which are using such little error correction, a 10 to 12 foot dish is almost mandatory.

For the stuff you can get with a SD receiver and 30" dish, check out http://www.ftalist.com

For the current pricing on dishes and receivers, check out http://gofastmotorsports.com and click on the Ricks Satellite link.

Davenlr

12-02-09, 12:19 AM

For any other "The Middle" Fans, DirecTv guide shows this Weds episode will air on Saturday 12/5 at 3:30AM in HD. We shall see :)

steveken

12-02-09, 09:22 AM

For any other "The Middle" Fans, DirecTv guide shows this Weds episode will air on Saturday 12/5 at 3:30AM in HD. We shall see :)
Thanks for the info on FTA stuff guys. I didn't know if it were as easy as someone picking up their small setup and bringing it over for a demo to me and, mainly, the wife. If it really is getting that complicated where you have to use big dishes and expensive receivers, I might just not even think about it anymore. We have a good setup going here for now even though we pay out the you-know-what for the service.

I love "The Middle", Dave. It is an awesome show. I mean, I am so much like Mike its unreal. Every time he goes to say something on that show, I say it before he does or at the same exact time. It's like I am the writer or something, lol. There are very few shows that are like this. I absolutely love that show and hope they don't get rid of it.

Now, Kelsey Grammar's new show "Hank" on the other hand, I don't see lasting very long. Seems like he just gets a bunch of shows that evidently he likes, but just don't fly with the American viewer. Maybe it might stay, dunno. It does have its funny moments.

RockyF

12-02-09, 09:54 AM

Now, Kelsey Grammar's new show "Hank" on the other hand, I don't see lasting very long. Seems like he just gets a bunch of shows that evidently he likes, but just don't fly with the American viewer. Maybe it might stay, dunno. It does have its funny moments.

Steve, Hank's already been cancelled.

steveken

12-02-09, 09:58 AM

Steve, Hank's already been cancelled.
Sweet! One less thing to fill up my DVR! LOL Wait, that didn't sound very nice. Please understand that I have like a crapload of shows recording on it. It stays at like 10% most of the time. LOL

RockyF

12-02-09, 11:59 AM

Sweet! One less thing to fill up my DVR! LOL Wait, that didn't sound very nice. Please understand that I have like a crapload of shows recording on it. It stays at like 10% most of the time. LOL

I've been in a similar position, but I've found a simple solution: Shows I don't like, I just don't record or watch. :D

Seriously though, between my wife and I, we've probably dropped about half the shows we watched last year, some not so much because we didn't like them, but we just kind of got tired of them, and realized they weren't important to us anymore.

steveken

12-02-09, 01:30 PM

I've been in a similar position, but I've found a simple solution: Shows I don't like, I just don't record or watch. :D

Seriously though, between my wife and I, we've probably dropped about half the shows we watched last year, some not so much because we didn't like them, but we just kind of got tired of them, and realized they weren't important to us anymore.
Yeah, we have tried that too, but the problem is, we find MORE shows we like and want to watch. LOL

We wouldn't record them if we didn't like them. She has her Medium that I don't like. I have my Fringe, 30 Rock (which she kinda likes), Battlestar when it was one, and Ghost Whisperer that she hasn't gotten into. I put Scrubs back into it when I realized it was coming back on, but I think it might have runs its course around here with the way it keeps coming and going.

Anyway, I have a rule I am about to put forth.....as more shows go off the air, we DON'T replace them until we get REALLY low on stuff to watch. If we wanna watch it, we will download the torrents on each others computers and watch them that way. Maybe then we will stay clear. :)

ad5kl

12-02-09, 04:03 PM

Thanks Tina,
I have sent an email with their plan details - I appreciate any help you can provide.

Never heard back from SuddenLink. Back to shopping for dishes.

steveken

12-02-09, 04:22 PM

Never heard back from SuddenLink. Back to shopping for dishes.
in their defense, its only been 24 hours roughly. but then again they are a big company that really could give a rats ass less about their customers. :) You WILL be a lot happier with DirecTV I think. Then again, people are happy with their Dish even though I don't think the quality is quite as good, but thats just my opinion.

ad5kl

12-02-09, 05:13 PM

in their defense, its only been 24 hours roughly. but then again they are a big company that really could give a rats ass less about their customers. :) You WILL be a lot happier with DirecTV I think. Then again, people are happy with their Dish even though I don't think the quality is quite as good, but thats just my opinion.

Yeah email is kinda slow, maybe they haven't received it yet :D It's a hoot that they responded quickly on this board but not directly to their email address.

I have Time Warner here in the Dallas area & that's as much of a cluster-F as it gets. But I can usually get a quick response from them, not to mention they are cheaper on the nickel-dime things like box rentals. I can actually rent a HD box here for $6 (non DVR) and the HD DVR version is $12. No extra hidden fees for HD service.

SuddenLink charges my parents $15 for 1st HD DVR - there is no option for a less expensive, more user friendly HD-only box for the um, primarily elderly market in Hot Springs Village. Then surprise if you get a 2nd set - the 2nd box fee jumps to $24 including a "streaming" fee! Good grief. End result is over $140 a month for regular HD cable with 2 DVR's & phone service - and without any premiums or internet access. On the Arkansas Cable Telecommunications Association website they list $77 a month for cable & phone - even with box rentals they shouldn't be up to $140. I have contacted ACTA about SuddenLink's pricing discrepancy (intentional or not.)

If they weren't going to respond to my email, why would they bother getting on this board? If it was for damage control, it is backfiring as I type. I just dread having to setup a land-line phone & dealing with all that just so I can get them a dish. You'd think in these rough times the cableco's would be a little more cooperative - since that is usually the 1st elective bill that is eliminated when money gets tight.

steveken

12-02-09, 05:19 PM

I don't understand why you need to get a landline phone for them. Noone requires that anymore.

Davenlr

12-02-09, 05:22 PM

Never heard back from SuddenLink. Back to shopping for dishes.

If they decide to go with DirecTv, email me for my account number and a special phone number to call to subscribe, I will ge $100 off my bill, and they will get $100 off their bill.

Davenlr

12-02-09, 05:24 PM

I don't understand why you need to get a landline phone for them. Noone requires that anymore.

To make phone calls on. I think their current phone service is via cableco VOIP, and he said earlier they detested cell phones.

steveken

12-02-09, 05:42 PM

If they decide to go with DirecTv, email me for my account number and a special phone number to call to subscribe, I will ge $100 off my bill, and they will get $100 off their bill.
Damn it, you beat me to it.

steveken

12-02-09, 05:43 PM

To make phone calls on. I think their current phone service is via cableco VOIP, and he said earlier they detested cell phones.
But they can keep the high speed Internet and go with Vonage for $14.95 a month for 500 minutes (which I figure is more than most older people would use)

ad5kl

12-02-09, 06:51 PM

Thanks guys, I have already recieved a note from Joe at the Arkansas Cable Telecommunications Association to get my parents' info so we can be contacted asap. Just out of convenience I am going to explore this option but may take you up on your $100 offer if it doesn't pan out.

steveken

12-02-09, 06:53 PM

Yeah, I would go through them first. If anyone can do something about AmazingifyougetserviceLink, then I would think the ACTA can. They should punish them severely for price gouging customers on the costs of the boxes. That is just ridiculous.

Davenlr

12-02-09, 08:34 PM

ALRIGHT: The Middle is in HD on WPRU from Puerto Rico...and no frickin basketballs eithers.

steveken

12-02-09, 11:14 PM

But you have to have a setup that is unrealistic for the normal consumer to have to get it.

Davenlr

12-03-09, 12:31 AM

haley-SEA

12-03-09, 08:32 AM

arxaw

12-03-09, 08:50 AM

... I just dread having to setup a land-line phone & dealing with all that just so I can get them a dish. No land line is required for satellite service. But if your parents drop cable phone, they'll need a land line to replace it, since they detest cell phones. If you order an AT&T land line on the internet, they waive installation charges, and there are other online-only deals on local/long distance calling packages, and bundling with DSL or DirecTV.
http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=9326

If they are not technically inclined, I would not recommend VOIP service. It won't work when the power is out or if their internet is down.

steveken

12-03-09, 09:21 AM

Ill admit, most people these days dont have a 6' dish and HD FTA receiver, but its actually cheaper than a DirecTv 18" dish system when they first came out, and there are never any subscription fees. With SageTV, you can even get the codes for the stations and plug them into the EPG so you can DVR schedule them if you have a capture card or HDPVR connected to your computer that outputs IR codes to the sat receiver to change channels. Its definantly a hobby system more than a dedicated replacement for "cable", since the channels tend to come and go, and you have to keep up with satellite/transponder changes...BUT, aint no one telling you that you cant watch Victoria Secret, The Life of Darwin, or The Middle, or NOVA when they are supposed to be on... And commercial free football and nascar events is just the icing on the cake. The most fun though, is finding the live uplink trucks sending raw video from BREAKING NEWS events. The best part, is the website where people post their live feed finds in real time, so you dont have to scan 18 satellites trying to find something...90% of the time, if its on, someone has found it and already posted all the info to watch it.
The bad part, they change formats about every two years, SD, then 4:2:2 video, then 4:2:0 HD mpeg2, now 4:2:0 DVB-S2 Mpeg4....you always have to upgrade or replace your receivers every few years as the tech advances, unless you happen to have a built in computer satellite receiver card and a FAST computer that you just download the new codecs for. Ive passed up at least 15 ten foot dishes sitting in yards unused in the past month, travelling across the state, so they are out there for the free disassembly and hauling off if you are willing to knock on the farmers door and ask if you can have it. The biggest obstacle for most, is a clear line of site from 76 degrees to the western horizon. Im good from 76 to about 120, and then hit trees, so for the PBS sat, I needed a second stationary 4' dish, but its all fun, and most of the stuff is cheap, or free for the asking except the receivers, and the best of those is only about $400.
Yeah, that is the biggest number one issue with the whole thing....the cost of the receivers. I know I can get some big dishes for free too cause a lot of people are giving up on them, but I will not be able to convince the wife to let me pay that much every couple of years just cause the tech changes.

Plus, now that I think about it, I am not real sure how the homeowners association would like the 10' dish in the yard. I definitely have the LOS for it. I have absolutely NO trees within like at least 300 yards of my house.....at least. I would definitely be able to get them. Someone needs to invent a dish that blends into the side of your house so you can get all the signals by using your house as the dish. :)

Anyway, yeah, commercial free would be nice, but I really don't watch that much nascar or football. Now, if I could get commercial free feeds of MLB, THAT would make me do it in a heartbeat. LOL Oh well, maybe one day, but not anytime soon. I seriously think the HOA would kill that project before it started.

steveken

12-03-09, 09:22 AM

Comcast is to purchase NBC-Universal (which includes the NBC TV network, NBC O&O stations, MSNBC and other cable networks owned by NBC-Universal) pending regularity approval. Stories via The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/media/04nbc.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1259845526-iElqph9EGM6bvluGMN61aQ), MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34247302/ns/business-media_biz/), BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8392931.stm).

You know, I completely meant to post that up Tuesday when I found out about it. I just forgot is all. That will really suck if Comcrap buys another channel to ruin like they did TechTV. Oh well, NBC is in the crapper lately anyway, guess it couldn't hurt.

steveken

12-03-09, 09:24 AM

No land line is required for satellite service. But if your parents drop cable phone, they'll need a land line to replace it, since they detest cell phones. If you order an AT&T land line on the internet, they waive installation charges, and there are other online-only deals on local/long distance calling packages, and bundling with DSL or DirecTV.
http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=9326

If they are not technically inclined, I would not recommend VOIP service. It won't work when the power is out or if their internet is down.
In all honesty, how often does that REALLY happen? I mean, HSV has a pretty decent power infrastructure I believe, so power outages wouldn't be an issue. Even if it does, you get a good UPS and plug the modem and the VoIP box into it and you are good to go for at least a little while when the power goes out. And I have no idea about "Sudden"Link's Internet service in that area. Does it go out very often? For as much as they charge for their shinola, I wouldn't think it would go out very much if any. So, all in all, the usual scare tactics for not getting a VoIP solution usually don't hold much water if you do a little preventive procedures to ensure against that kinda thing.

Suddenlink Help

12-03-09, 09:31 AM

Never heard back from SuddenLink. Back to shopping for dishes.

Hi ad5kl -

I did receive your email yesterday, and forwarded it to the Manager that will be able to help in finding the best bundle for you parents. Unfortunately, that Manager was out of the office yesterday. She is in today, however, so I should have some info that I will email to you shortly.

Thanks for your patience.

haley-SEA

12-03-09, 10:35 AM

... That will really suck if Comcrap buys another channel to ruin like they did TechTV. Oh well, NBC is in the crapper lately anyway, guess it couldn't hurt.

I've never gotten over Comcrap's purchase of TechTV, it was one of my favorite channels (remember The Screen Savers) in the early 2000's. I had D* (back in the dark ages of SD distant networks) and was was living in Star City itself before early 2003. The location I lived at that time was facing a hill and a water tower--so I had DNS service for Fox and CBS (the CBS required a waiver from KTHV which I was granted :D)

The (now ex-)wife got a job offer in Central Arkansas and we moved to Little Rock, because of where we lived (apartment with no common spaces or a balcony) the sat dish was a no-no, plus she wanted digital cable (ugh). Found out after moving, was that the complex lacked "home run" wiring and that the Comcast Internet wasn't available in that building. I noticed that TechTV was not on the Comcrap lineup, but this G4 was. After a separation (and eventual divorce) I downgraded to limited basic. I then moved to a smaller apartment in the same complex, but Comcrap wanted to charge a large fee to just "move service". I canceled service and roughed it with analog "rabbit ear" reception until spring (of 2004) and got "digital cable" on a promotion, but then dropped it after it rose to over $80 per month (no HBO's, no DVR's)...I then downgraded to LB again partly because of cost and also because I was PO'd about Comcast purchasing TechTV to basically kill it off.

I moved back in this area about Christmas time 2004. I swore off ever subscribing to cable again. The money I would have spent on getting started with a SD subcription to Dish (or DirecTV) instead went to purchase an antenna and my first STB a month later (a US Digital/Hisense box which I still have). I still watched (and DX'ed) on an analog TV until getting my first HD monitor in December 2005. I went 13 months OTA only until getting Dish in early 2006 (back when they offered only 5 national HD channels).

ad5kl

12-04-09, 10:39 AM

steveken

12-04-09, 11:58 AM

The HSV manager for SuddenLink contacted my parents & was able to place them on a promo for 20% off for 6 months and got them on a $20 phone promo. Got them down to around $105 from $140. They will work with us when that rate expires. I'm glad it worked out to their satisfaction.

Oh my! How generous!!! *rolls eyes*

I still don't understand why these companies have to charge so much. Yeah, I know it costs for content on cable tv (providers of content are always super expensive) and there is fees you have to pay for interconnecting to other phone networks (even though devices like the "Magic Jack" have to pay the same thing, but still only charge customers $20 a year for access). There really is no need for prices to be that high. Even more so when the companies will readily work with you by giving you discounts like that. If they can afford to give people a 20% discount, then they should lower all prices for everyone by 20%. There is no need to make a 300% profit per customer every month. Quit being money hungry whores!!! LOL